Buch lesen: «The Librarian's Secret Scandal»

Chapter 1

The smell of stale air and cleaning chemicals lingered as Lily Masterson left Montana State Prison. Sunlight made her blink a few times, bringing her out of a fog of hugely unsettling emotions. She couldn’t even begin to categorize them. Her nerves were a jumbled tangle of friction. Her stomach still churned. Her heart still beat heavily. A sob lodged in her throat. She hated that.

“Maybe you should wait a few minutes before you drive back to Honey Creek,” the victims’ officer said.

Lily didn’t know what a typical prison worker was supposed to look like, but this one resembled more of a schoolmarm with her short, curly brown hair, round glasses and short, plump frame. The woman had met her at the prison entrance when she’d first arrived and stayed close through the parole hearing.

“I’m fine.” It was a lie, but all she wanted was to get away from this place.

“Are you sure? Most victims don’t come to these hearings alone. We usually meet them somewhere in town and drive them here.”

Well, Lily wasn’t like most people, then. She refused to succumb to that kind of weakness. It made her helpless, and she wasn’t.

“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks for asking.”

The truth was she’d barely made it through the hearing. While one part of her struggled with the reminder of the trauma she’d suffered, the other was mad as hell. She’d thought she was over this by now. Facing Brandon Gates shouldn’t have been as hard as it had been. That’s the part that made her mad. Why was she crumbling after she’d worked so hard to be strong? She’d gone through extensive therapy and aggressive self-defense classes. She’d picked herself up and started a new life and damn it, no one was going to take that away from her. Not again.

But being that close to Brandon Gates for the first time in fifteen years had thrown her. Crushed her. Talking about how he’d violated her and its devastating effect on her while he stared across the room like a dead deer was even worse. He hadn’t looked at her, but his demeanor, his presence, still bothered her.

The victims’ officer kept pace beside her. Lily thought she’d walk her to the exit and then let her be on her way, but apparently the woman was going to escort her all the way to her truck. Lily didn’t want that. She’d talked to the woman before the hearing and they’d had a nice conversation, but it was time to leave.

“I can make it from here,” she told the woman with a forced smile.

“Sometimes seeing them after so long is more disturbing than you think, and that’s okay. It’s perfectly natural to feel that way.”

Lily was sure the officer had seen a lot of women break down after testifying at their rapist’s parole hearing, but she didn’t want to be one of them. “I’m fine, thanks.”

Lily walked with the officer a few more steps and then stopped. The officer stopped, too, and seemed to understand Lily’s growing impatience.

She handed her a business card. “All right, but if you need to talk to anyone, just give me a call. I can help you find someone good.”

Lily took the card even though she had no intention of using this. She’d already gone through therapy. She refused to depend on that again. She’d moved on. This was just a minor setback. Chances were he wouldn’t be released anyway. What board would do that after hearing her testimony?

“You’ll be notified of the board’s decision in about a week. Maybe less.”

Lily nodded with another forced smile and started walking again. “You take care now,” the woman called after her.

Lily kept walking, glancing back once to make sure she was finally rid of the woman. Seeing the officer heading back toward the prison settled her nerves a notch.

Reaching her Dodge Ram pickup truck, she kicked the front tire on her way to the driver’s door to vent some of her frustration. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to go to the parole hearing and hold her head high, show that dirty rat how strong she was. Climbing into the truck, she sat there for a minute, unable to shake her tension. She couldn’t let her daughter see her like this. Not on top of all the talk flying around Honey Creek. She’d expected some talk around town, but she hadn’t expected it to be as bad as it was. That was two things she’d underestimated.

Starting the engine, she wiped an escaped tear and backed out of the parking space. She drove toward the end of the row a little faster than she should have. Okay, a lot faster. She couldn’t wait to get away, to put the prison behind her and out of sight. The residual image of Brandon’s face lurked in her mind, the way he stayed focused on the parole board and ignored her. Would it have been better if he had acknowledged her?

Her stomach churned with nausea. Maybe once she returned to Honey Creek she’d recover.

A black SUV crossed in front of her. She didn’t see it coming and didn’t have time to avoid a collision. She slammed on her brakes, but her truck hit the SUV broadside. Her airbag exploded and her mind blanked for a second.

When she could think again, she saw that she’d sent the SUV head-on into a light pole. Its front end was crushed. So was the passenger side. Her truck didn’t appear to have sustained much damage and the engine was still running. Her heart hammered and the shock of the wreck intensified the tremble in her limbs.

A man stepped out of the driver’s side of the SUV. He was tall and muscular but lean. Lily opened her truck door and hopped out, steadying her wobbly legs as she approached the man.

“I am so sorry. Are you all right?” she said.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he stopped when she did, his eyes full of annoyance.

When he didn’t answer, she asked, “D-do you want me to … call for help?” She’d left her cell phone in the truck. She started to turn.

“No. Don’t do that. I’m okay.”

She faced him again. He’d lowered his hand and now his gaze took her in, a slow and observant once-over.

She stiffened a little. At least he wasn’t as annoyed anymore. “Your neck …”

“It’ll be sore for a few days but I’m all right.”

After studying her face a bit longer, he glanced back at his SUV and then walked to the front. There, he stood and surveyed the damage.

Lily was mortified. She wanted to crawl out of her skin and escape until this was over.

“I have insurance,” she said quickly.

He looked at her.

“I—I was … I guess I was … a little distracted,” she stammered.

“Places like this have that effect,” he said.

Was he kidding? She didn’t know what to say.

“It’s probably going to be totaled,” he said.

Great. She couldn’t remember what her deductable was. A thousand probably. And her rates would go up after this, too.

“That’s all right.” As if.

“I liked my SUV,” he said.

She hadn’t thought of it like that. “I’m sorry.” Could she disappear now?

The victims’ officer came running toward them. She must have barely made it into the building when she’d noticed the crash.

Here we go, Lily thought. Lord, she wanted to go home.

“Oh, my God … are you two okay?” The officer stopped, breathing rapidly from exertion.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Lily said. “Neither one of us is hurt, but I’ll call the police for an accident report and we’ll be on our way.” She tapped the toe of her shoe on the pavement and looked toward the road leading to the checkpoint.

The officer followed her look and then her gaze passed over the wreckage of the man’s truck. “One of you isn’t going anywhere without help. You’ll need a tow.”

“We probably need an accident report,” Lily repeated, knowing she sounded harried. “You know … for insurance. So as soon as we call….” She could drive home.

“We don’t need to call anyone to come out here,” the man said.

She stopped tapping her foot. “Really?”

“No one was hurt, and this is a private parking lot. All we need to do is stop by the sheriff’s office and fill out a form for insurance.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” Then all they needed was a tow truck. How long would that take?

His eyes grew more curious and then he really looked at her. It made her nervous. As if she wasn’t nervous enough.

“Maybe I should get someone to drive you home,” the officer said to her. “You look a little shaken.”

“No. I can drive.”

“You were just in an accident.”

This lady was really starting to irritate her. Did she hound all the victims who came here? Lily didn’t respond, just looked toward the road again. Oh, to be on it, driving away from here, on her way home.

“Wait a minute,” the man said, which brought her head back around. “You look familiar.”

How could he possibly know her?

“Where are you from?” he asked.

She didn’t want to tell him.

“Wes Colton.” He stuck out his hand. “Honey Creek County sheriff.”

Momentarily stunned, she numbly took his hand. Colton. He was a Colton?

“You’re from Honey Creek?” she asked, her astonishment coming out in her tone.

He smiled. “Yeah. You’re Lily Masterson, right? You took over for Mary Walsh at the library.”

“That’s me,” Lily said, cringing inside. The resident bad girl. There was only one reason he recognized her. All the gossip. Honey Creek was rampant with it these days.

“You know each other?” the officer cut in.

“No,” Lily all but snapped.

“Not really,” Wes answered conversationally. “We both live in Honey Creek. It’s not far from here.”

“I know where that town is.” The officer smiled. “Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

Quite.

He nodded toward the prison. “Might be a bad sign that we’re both here.”

Lily was getting good at forcing humor. She laughed.

Great. Would he guess why she was here? If the victims’ officer didn’t give her away….

She glanced at the woman. Her eyes had widened but she remained quiet.

“What brings you here?” she asked Wes.

“I came here to see my brother.”

Of course. She remembered. Damien Colton was in prison for murder, except the man he had supposedly murdered had recently turned up—dead again. Damien was Wes Colton’s brother. Talk about his impending release was all over town. Lily looked more closely at him. He was handsome and young. She thought she remembered someone saying he was thirty-three, which was too young for her forty years.

“What about you?” he asked, and she wished she would have kept her mouth shut.

“Oh….” How was she going to answer that? No one from Honey Creek knew what had happened to her. “I was just … visiting a friend.”

The officer angled her head a little, a silent question in her eyes.

Lily ignored her, but she couldn’t ignore Wes. The amusement that had pulled a smile from his mouth faded.

Surely he’d heard all the rumors. Some weren’t rumors, either. Before she’d left Honey Creek, she’d done anything and everything to spite her holier-than-thou parents. That was so long ago, though, and so much had changed since then. She’d changed. Why was it so hard for everyone to see that?

“What kind of trouble did your friend get into to land himself here?” he asked.

She thought fast. “Robbery.”

The officer’s eyebrows lifted.

“Must be someone close to you if you’re willing to visit him here.”

“He’s just a … a … friend.”

The officer’s eyebrows lowered and her eyes turned sympathetic. She knew why Lily was lying.

Lily met her gaze and hoped she read the message not to say anything. When the officer remained a silent observer, she didn’t know if that was worse. Pity was for the vulnerable.

“You’ve been away from Honey Creek for a while,” Wes said, appearing oblivious to the exchange. “What brought you back?”

Another subject she didn’t particularly want to discuss. But he wasn’t pressing on her reason for being here so she wouldn’t complain. “My dad. His health isn’t so great right now. Stage two stomach cancer. He’s gone through the surgery, but he’s still in treatment and we don’t know how things will progress from here. I came back to help him. Without Mom around it’s hard for him to care for himself.”

He nodded and his blue eyes showed his admiration. They also showed self-assurance and intelligence that went along with his honorable reputation. She checked his left hand. No ring.

“That’s very kind of you to do that,” the officer said, sounding out of place in the conversation. Was that because she’d noticed Lily looking at Wes?

Checking for a ring. Oh, lord….

He had really nice hands. She’d heard he was a nice man, too. And a sheriff..

Something about that appealed to her.

She stopped herself short. Why was she thinking like this? She hadn’t been back in Honey Creek long, and was too caught up in the gossip going around about her to pay much attention to potential love interests. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone. So why had those thoughts even crossed her mind? Was she interested in Wes? He was attractive, but …

Lily tipped her head back and looked up at the big, blue sky. “At least the weather is nice.”

Wes looked up with her, but not for very long. He was studying her again.

“Sure is,” the officer said, drawing out the word sure suggestively.

And Lily snapped her head down to see the officer smiling.

The officer turned to Wes. “So, you’re a sheriff?”

“Yes. Honey Creek County.”

“Oh, well,” the officer beamed, “Lily’s in good hands then.”

Wes chuckled.

Lily loved the sound. “Should we call for a tow now?”

“Of course,” the officer cooed. “And then maybe you could let Sheriff Colton drive you back home in your truck, Lily,” the officer suggested, doing a bad job of pretending to be nonchalant. “He’ll be needing a rental car anyway.” Her smile was more genuine now, but held a tinge of slyness. Maybe she understood why Lily had lied and only wanted to make sure she made it home all right.

Not.

The officer had noticed their exchange and was now matchmaking. Was she like this with all the victims?

“Sure.” Anything to be gone from here as soon as humanly possible. She looked at Wes. “I can drive you back to Honey Creek.”

He dipped his head. “I’d appreciate that.”

After the tow truck had left with Wes’s SUV and the prison worker had gone back into the building, Wes got into Lily’s pickup. As she started the engine, he covertly looked at her. She had thick, long black hair and a pair of amazing blue eyes. Her breasts were just the right size and shape in the short-sleeved collared cotton shirt she wore, and she looked nice in the knee-length jean skirt.

She started driving. He hadn’t argued over who should drive. He thought he should, but he also had the impression she needed the control … or the sense of it. He faced forward. The truck was quiet and she stayed focused on the road.

It was strange thinking of her as the wild and uninhibited woman she’d been before she left town. She seemed like such a lady now. Professional. Friendly, if a little nervous. He wasn’t sure if it was the accident or the real reason she’d come to the prison. He knew she hadn’t been telling him the truth when she said she’d come to see someone. She got a scared look when she’d told him. And the way she’d said just a friend signaled a lie. Just a friend, yeah, right. Whoever she’d come to see, he wasn’t her friend. Besides, that whole exchange with the prison officer had been weird.

He’d gotten good at recognizing when someone wasn’t on the up-and-up. Too many times he’d trusted his first impressions only to learn it was all a facade, especially with women.

Now he was more than a little curious about what had brought Lily to the prison. He’d make a call in the morning. He knew people at the prison.

“Have you always lived in Honey Creek?” Lily asked.

Good. She felt like talking. “No, I moved away after high school and joined the navy.” He didn’t want to get into his SEAL training. It had been a youthful impulse, but as soon as he’d grown up enough he’d realized the daredevil employment wasn’t really all that impressive. It didn’t pay well, either. Neither did being a sheriff in a little town like Honey Creek, but he liked the sense of community and being close to his family—however dramatic they could be at times.

“How did you go from the service to law enforcement?” she asked.

“After I was with the navy, I went through training and worked as a peace officer for a while. Worked my way up the ranks and then ran for sheriff here.”

“You’ve been back some time then?”

“A few years.”

She nodded conversationally.

He was glad she didn’t ask more about his background with the navy. “You have a daughter, don’t you?” he asked just in case, redirecting the topic.

The smile that formed on her profile was warm and lovely. The sight revved his interest. When he’d first seen her get out of her truck, he’d almost forgotten all about the wreck. She was tall, which he liked since he was six-two, and slender and she had smooth skin.

“Yes,” she answered. “May. She’s fourteen going on thirty. Or so she thinks.”

Wes smiled in return. “Sounds normal. I put my parents through hell at that age, too.”

“She’s adorable until she opens her mouth. And boys don’t have those hormones affecting their emotions.”

He chuckled. “It’s different, but I think the torment is the same.”

Now she chuckled. He liked the sound. It was soft and genuine.

“How long has it been since you left Honey Creek?” he asked.

“Fifteen years.”

That sparked his interest. “You were around when Mark Walsh was supposedly murdered.”

“Yes. I remember that.”

Some of the gossips said she’d slept with him, too. He saw her lips tighten and she adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, almost as if she were preparing herself for questions; or maybe she wondered if he thought what most others thought and didn’t like it.

“When was the last time you saw him?” he asked, watching her.

She gave him a warning glance. “Are you wondering if I knew where he went instead of dying like everybody thought?”

“I’ll try anything if I think it might help me find his killer.”

“The last time I saw him was at the post office with his wife, about a month before he died … or everyone thought he did.”

“He never contacted you after that?”

“No.” Her voice sounded sharper. She knew why he’d asked that question. The rumors. Could she blame him? He had no way of knowing unless he asked.

Before he could explain that, she added in the same sharp tone, “And just for the record, I didn’t sleep with him.”

He almost smiled at her defensiveness. He’d bet his badge that she was telling the truth. When some people lied, their defensiveness gave them away. But Lily’s was driven more by vulnerability. He wondered if she knew that about herself. that she protected her vulnerability with defensiveness.

The way his interest kept intensifying the longer he spent with her made him check himself. He believed her about Walsh, but how much of the other rumors were true? There were a lot. He didn’t want to involve himself with a Jezebel. But if the talk was exaggerated.

“Is it true you danced naked in front of the market on your twenty-fifth birthday?” he asked, making sure he sounded teasing.

She gave him two quick looks as she drove, without smiling. “Trying to find out if all the gossip is true?”

“What if I was?” He was serious now, because he really wanted her to tell him.

“I’d want to know why.”

“I think you know the answer to that.” He looked at her suggestively. He wasn’t asking in the capacity of sheriff.

She concentrated on driving. He waited for her to reply, but she didn’t. Maybe she didn’t like it that he’d asked. Maybe she wondered if he was like many others in Honey Creek, buying all the talk. He never took rumors to heart, but right now he wanted the truth.

“Aren’t you going to answer my question?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you danced naked in front of the market?”

“And I went sailing for two weeks with a man I met in Vegas. Two of his friends went with us. I jumped from airplanes. I went on a safari in Africa and survived a hurricane in Barbados. I raced dirt bikes. I got in fights with other women. I even tried mud-wrestling.” She stopped talking and he found himself absorbing everything she said. She’d left a couple of things out. “Oh, and I drank a lot of whiskey, smoked pot and broke up a couple of marriages.”

Wes knew that one of the women whose husband she’d taken was still angry and not at all happy she was back in town. “The quilting group had a lot of fun with the sailing thing,” he said. And the rumors were X-rated.

Lily rolled her eyes. “I heard about that group.”

“Quilting’s just their excuse.”

He liked how that made her smile. But she didn’t say any more.

“Not going to comment on the sailing thing, huh?”

“What do you want me to say? It’s all true. Is that what you want to know? Is that why you’re asking me all these questions? Yes, I went sailing with three men.”

He stared at her. The rumors hadn’t been kind. She’d gone sailing with three men and had sex with all of them. More than once.

She looked over at him, her expression matter-of-fact. She wasn’t denying anything, nor did she appear ashamed. But he was pretty sure that was a cover-up. She wasn’t proud of her early adulthood.

“How did the quilting group find out about that?” he asked.

“I was friends with your sister Maisie back then.” She sent him a challenging look.

His older sister could get a little overbearing sometimes. “She does love a good tabloid tale.”

“She tried to turn me into one.”

“Sorry, but she didn’t have to try very hard.”

“I’ve changed since then,” she said, sobering.

“I’m starting to see that,” he said, making sure she saw he meant it.

Soft satisfaction made her eyes glow warmly and she resumed her concentration on driving.

“Why did you do it?” he asked.

“What? Behave that way?”

“Yes.” He didn’t want to hear any more about her sailing trip.

“You didn’t grow up in my household.”

Her father was a minister and her mother didn’t work. “Too strict?”

“Strict. Judgmental. Relentless. Yeah. Nothing I did was good enough. So I thought it’d be neat if I showed them what bad really was.”

He heard the regret in the form of sarcasm in her tone. “You wish you hadn’t done the things you’ve done?”

“Not everything. The safari was a great experience. So was rock-climbing and jumping from planes and even sailing, except for the company I had.”

Her hands adjusted on the wheel again, and now she seemed to be getting upset. He didn’t want to upset her, especially since he was enjoying this, and her. He didn’t question her further.

Looking ahead, he noticed they were almost at the outskirts of town.

“Will you just drop me off at the sheriff’s office? I have a Jeep I use for work there. I can drive that until I take care of my SUV.”

“Sure.” A few minutes later, she pulled to a stop in front of his small office, a redbrick building with white trim and a sign that said Honey Creek County Sheriff.

“It’ll be interesting explaining this to my deputies,” he said, more to keep her from leaving before he could ask her out on a date.

“If any rumors start that I had a tryst in Deer Lodge, I’ll know where it started.” She smiled, but he could tell she didn’t want that to happen.

“No deputy of mine would do that, and I certainly wouldn’t. I’ll just stick with the truth … I met this beautiful woman at Montana State Prison….”

She started laughing. Once again, the sound reached into him, this time strumming a stronger infatuation.

“Yeah, that would stir up a few questions.” She grew somber as she said it.

“Nobody needs to know we met there. I’ll just tell them you totaled my SUV.”

He loved the flirtatious glint in her eyes. “And you can tell them I wrecked you for any other woman.”

“You might have.”

Her eyes blinked in response, an indication of the flurry of thoughts, and, he hoped, some warming emotions his reply had set off.

“Do you have any plans Friday night?” he asked.

Her smile came and went on her face, as if the idea first tantalized her and then made her shy away. “You’re asking me out on a date?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“No … well, yes … I mean, you’re the sheriff.”

“Amazing, isn’t it? Me, sheriff of Honey Creek County.”

“I don’t mean that. It’s just … you’re … And I’m …”

“I’m a man and you’re a woman. Are you trying to tell me you’re …” He lifted his eyebrows and let his expression finish his meaning, even though he was teasing.

“No!”

“Then go out with me. Dinner. Friday night. I’ll pick you up or we can meet somewhere. Whatever you’re most comfortable with.”

She stared at him. And then turned and looked through the windshield.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. I can already tell,” he coaxed.

“I don’t know …”

“I promise I’ll behave.”

Finally she looked at him.

“Friday night. Seven o’clock,” he said.

Again, she seemed to waver between accepting and not. “I don’t think now is a good time. With all the talk around town.”

“All the more reason to go out with me. It’s like you said, I’m the sheriff. It’ll be good for people to see you with me.”

“Or bad for you to be seen with me,” she countered.

“I don’t care what people say. It’s the truth that matters.”

Her eyes grew soft with warming affection. Just what he wanted to see. He grinned. But she was going to turn him down. He could tell.

“Think about it,” he said.

She smiled a little and nodded. “I will.”

“Think hard.” He smiled.

She laughed, as soft as the look in her eyes. Damn, he liked her.

He opened the truck door and stepped out, turning to face her. “At least I know where to find you.” The library.

“Don’t you dare.” But her lovely smile proved she was kidding.

“See you soon, Lily Masterson.”

The last thing he heard before closing the door was another warm laugh. Feeling good, he headed for the office with a little extra verve in his step.

When he reached the door, he looked back. She hadn’t pulled into the street yet. She was still watching him with a soft smile. And that told him all he needed to know.