Chapter Twelve

Jessica stumbled into the kitchen at noon the next day, wondering how she’d ever slept so long. The room was empty, and she let her gaze roam the counters. There were various appliances lining the walls, but she couldn’t find the one she really wanted—a coffee maker.

“It’s over here.”

Jessica turned toward Leslie’s voice. She sat at the table near a counter across the room. It had a single-cup coffee maker, and an old-fashioned one that made a huge pot of coffee. “I had trouble finding it, too,” Leslie said.

“Austin keeps this kitchen so tidy and organized,” Jessica said. “I’m usually here for dinner, so I don’t look for coffee until after the meal, and he always has it made.” She crossed the room, examined the pods and picked a flavor. As it started to brew she said, “Thanks for all you did last night.”

“I’ve informed them if they want to talk to you again they need to call me.” Leslie took a sip from her own coffee. She had a laptop open in front of her, and various papers scattered around. “If they call you, you call me. Understand?”

“Got it.” Jessica glanced out the window at the ranch, which spread for miles and miles. “Where are the men?”

“Out,” Leslie said.

“That answer sucks.” Jessica picked up her coffee. “Out where?”

“Not sure,” Leslie said. “They all left around eight, except for Holt, who is upstairs in his office. They said they’d be back later.”

She supposed that wasn’t so strange. Hawk would be patrolling the streets. Kyle and Wyatt were with the horses. She remembered Austin was at the bakery, but why wasn’t Reed with his woman? Maybe he was helping at the ranch too, she thought.

“I need to get to the house so I can clean,” she said.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Leslie said. She picked up her phone, tapped a few keys, then handed it to Jessica. On the town’s message board there was a listing asking for people to help clean Jessica’s house and put it back in order.

“Oh shit,” Jessica said. The idea of the townspeople finding her stash of sex toys, or the box of toys for her Little time, made her head swim.

“Don’t worry, I think Hawk and Holt hid all that stuff.”

Jessica looked at her attorney, who laughed in response.

“I hope so,” Jessica said.

“You should know reporters have been coming into the bakery to question you, at least according to Austin.” Leslie took a drink of her coffee. “If one of them finds you, your answer is ‘No comment’.”

“Got it,” Jessica said. This wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d have to deal with. “Do you know anything about evidence? Do they have any, I mean?”

“Nope,” Leslie said. “As far as I can tell they consider you a suspect because your ex says you did it. To me, he’s shifting the blame. He’s the guilty party.”

Jessica took a drink. She was afraid if she opened her mouth to talk about Grant a string of cuss words would spew forth, and it would cause anger, anger that would be hard to get over.

“Don’t worry, you’re going to be out of this soon,” Leslie said. “Go back to bed and rest.”

“I think I’ll go to the bakery,” she said. She put her hand on the counter. Where was her phone? Had she had it earlier when she’d come out of the bedroom? She couldn’t remember.

“Hawk has your phone,” Leslie said, as if she’d read Jessica’s mind. “It started dinging early this morning and he didn’t want it to wake you.”

She realized he was trying to protect her, but it didn’t make her happy. One glance around the room showed a landline on the wall. She crossed, picked up the phone, then stopped, handset in hand.

“I can’t remember his phone number,” Jessica said.

“Curse of the modern world.” Leslie picked up her phone and moments later she rattled off a number.

When Hawk answered he said, “What?”

“Thanks for the great greeting,” Jessica said.

“What are you doing out of bed?”

“Don’t bark at me,” she said. “I want to go home, but I don’t have a car. Come and get me.”

“Nope.”

Jessica held in her anger and formulated a response that would, hopefully, get her what she wanted.

“The town is going crazy,” he said. “The retirees plastered the buildings with those fliers, and people are putting up “Save Jessica” signs.”

Jessica held the phone against her thigh as she wiped away tears. She didn’t want him to hear her crying. By the time she lifted it back to her ear she heard, “TV crews and all.”

What had she missed? “TV crews?” she asked.

“The media is all over town, some local, some from Amarillo.” She heard a car horn blast, and then another. Then she heard Hawk yell out, “Thanks, I’ll let her know.”

“Let me know what?”

“That the bank employees support you,” he said. She didn’t know how to respond and he said, “Are you okay, baby girl?”

“No,” she whispered.

“I’ll be right there.”

By the time Jessica hung up the phone, Leslie was beside her. She led her to a chair and said, “How about something to eat? I can make you a sandwich.”

Jessica nodded, because she didn’t think she could form words. She also didn’t think she would be able to eat without it coming right back up. Moments later, Leslie set down a plate with a huge sandwich and a pile of potato chips. Despite her fears about not being able to eat, Jessica’s stomach rumbled at the sight.

She picked up the sandwich and took a big bite, then mumbled her appreciation as she chewed. Roast beef with horseradish sauce, lettuce, tomato, and a bite of onion.

“Delicious,” she said after she’d swallowed. She took another bite, and by the time Hawk showed up about fifteen minutes later she was working on the second half of the sandwich.

Leslie left after he arrived. He took a few of her chips and they ate in silence. When the plate was empty he put his hand on hers and said, “Nick Dole offered us his hunting cabin if we want to get away from the craziness. It’s near the lake, but there are no neighbors. We’d have time by ourselves.”

“When can we leave?” she asked.

“I’ve asked the sheriff for three days off,” he said. “He wasn’t thrilled about it, but he said he understood. I’d like to leave after dark tonight, so we can see if anyone is following us out there. Holt offered us a ranch truck, so nobody will notice mine, or yours.”

“Perfect, except for the bakery.”

“The girls are going to keep it running, and Austin will stay on too.” He ran his finger over the plate. She could tell by the look on his face there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He ran his finger over the plate again.

“Liar.”

“Business is booming,” he said. “Aurora is helping man the counter while the girls cook.”

“I’ll have to remember to give them both a raise, and to do something nice for Aurora and Austin.” She paused for a moment. “Did you pay the ladies who cleaned the house?”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “They wouldn’t take it. And don’t worry, I put all our toys in the truck before they came in the house.”

Jessica giggled. “The rangers won’t see us leaving town as running, will they?”

“I’ve already talked to Jackson about it,” Hawk said. “He’s just doing his job, and I think Nate has convinced him to look in another direction.”

“I hope so,” she said. “I hope so.”

***

By the time they arrived at the cabin around ten, Jessica’s nerves had settled. For the most part, anyway. She’d ordered groceries from the market and Mags had them delivered to the ranch. Tomorrow she would make a huge pan of lasagna, one of Hawk’s favorites, and later meals would be sandwiches and whatever they could think of.

After Hawk parked the truck, Jessica took off her seatbelt and turned to him. “I’ve slept most of the day.”

“We’ll tire you out,” he said with a laugh. “Let’s unpack the truck.”

Hawk turned off the security alarm. They carried in groceries and suitcases, and Jessica looked around the cabin. “This place is nicer than my house.”

Hawk laughed. “Nick does have oil lease money.”

“True.” She sat down on the sofa after she’d put up the food. “He spends lots of money in the bakery, so I’m not going to complain about him being rich.”

“What should we do?” she asked.

“Wanna watch a movie, sweet pea?”

Jessica closed her eyes and nodded. His use of sweet pea let her know what sort of movie to pick. She got up and looked around. There was a huge entertainment center in what she thought would be a bedroom. Shelves surrounded both sides of a large flat-screen TV. She ran her fingers over the spines as she examined the titles. Hawk came in the room and moved the table from in front of the sofa. He left, and she turned her attention to him and watched as he put down a huge bag of popcorn, and several candy bars. He left once more and came back with drinks.

“Found one yet?” he asked.

She picked out an animated version of Robin Hood and handed it to him. “How about this one, Hawk-Daddy?”

“Perfect.” He took it from her and said, “Go change.”

In the bedroom she dug around in her suitcase and found her baby-doll pajamas. She changed quickly and when she came back, Hawk was sitting in the middle of the sofa, his legs splayed. He pointed between them and she sat down on the floor, savoring the feel of his warmth as his legs surrounded her. He started the movie, then handed her the bag of popcorn. Seconds later he started to brush her hair. She hadn’t even seen the brush when she’d come in, but feeling the bristles go through her strands was perfect.

He guided the brush through her hair as she ate popcorn. Every bit of stress she’d had earlier in the day flowed out of her body as he brushed. She took a drink from her soda, then turned toward him, a kernel of corn in her hand.

“Want a bite?”

“Not yet.” He gently tapped the brush against her head and she turned back around. When he divided her hair she knew what came next. She laughed at a scene on the TV as he started to braid her hair, first the left, then the right. When he was done she placed her cheek on his left thigh. He stroked her hair, and she felt more loved, more cared for than she ever had before.

“Thank you,” she said. “Remember what I said, I love you.” She wasn’t sure where that had come from, just out of the blue like that.

Her eyes were drooping, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she fell asleep. She wrapped her arms around his calf and nestled against him.

“I’m going to take care of you, sweet pea,” he said. “There is no way anyone is going to accuse you of something I know you didn’t do.”

“Thank you,” she said. She wanted to tell him they were already accusing her of it, just not charging her with it yet. Instead she closed her eyes and just lay there with his legs wrapped around her, waiting for sleep to take her.

***

It had not been easy to unwrap her arms from his leg, get up, and then pick her up and carry her to bed without waking her, but Hawk managed it somehow. Now he stood next to the bed, looking down at the woman he loved. It took every ounce of his willpower not to hunt down Grant Dobbs and beat the man senseless.

It was obvious to him that Grant Dobbs had killed his mother, or had someone do it for him. And he’d done it close to Bookman Springs so he could blame it on Jessica. She was the perfect patsy. He sat down in a chair near the bed and watched her as she slept. With her hair still in braids she looked so young, so innocent. How anyone could do this to her was beyond his comprehension.

But then again he didn’t know Grant Dobbs. He’d never met the man, and she’d never talked about him. Jessica wasn’t good at letting her feelings be known. She’d told him she loved him for the second time. He hated that it was this situation that had forced her to say it. Or maybe it had just forced her to realize it. He wasn’t sure which one was true, but now he knew she loved him. He’d always loved her.

His phone buzzed and he whispered a soft curse. He’d taken hers so she wouldn’t want to answer it, or call anyone. Once his was in his hand he checked the ID. It was Nate Willis. He knew the ranger had a minimal role in the investigation now because he’d had dinner with a suspect. He wasn’t sure why he would be calling now, but there was only one way to find out.

Once he was in the hallway he answered the call.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to answer,” Willis said.

“I thought about it.” Hawk looked back toward where Jessica slept. “What’s up?”

“I’m at the ranch, and I have all your weapons.”

“There’s no way you tested all of them already,” he said.

“The coroner determined she was shot twice with a revolver, a .38 Special. You don’t have one.”

Hawk said a silent prayer that most of the weapons they had around the house were shotguns, or .45s. “Thanks for the information. Holt’s at the house. You can give them to him.”

“I will,” Willis said. “Listen, I’ve been talking to Jackson. The man is a bulldog, and once he gets the scent of something he sticks with it. But I think I’ve managed to turn him around to my way of thinking, which is Dobbs killed his mother and is setting up Jessica.”

Hawk was silent for a moment, but then he said, “Thanks for that.”

“I have an idea, one that might help us to get to the truth.”

“What is it?” Hawk asked. He was ready to hear anything Willis had to say if it would prove Jessica was innocent.

“I don’t want to tell you something that you’ll try if Jackson says no.” The ranger paused. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, I do,” Hawk said. “But if I can do anything, you tell me immediately.”

“Or you’ll kick my ass?” Willis asked.

“Just so you know,” Hawk said. “Jessica means the world to me, and…” He stopped himself just before he said he’d kill Dobbs if given the chance. If something happened to the man he would be the first suspect.

“I’ll come by tomorrow after I talk to Jackson.”

“We’re at a friend’s hunting cabin,” Hawk said, although he didn’t really think of this as a rustic hunting cabin. “Call me tomorrow and if we need to come into town we will.”

“Will do,” Willis said. “Be careful.”

“Keep me informed,” Hawk said. They disconnected and he went back to his chair and focused on Jessica. He said a prayer that Willis had an idea that would work. He would do anything in his power to see that it did.