“I’m sorry.” The apology sounded genuine.
“You’ve made me realize that in some ways I’ve been living in a cocoon where most people don’t do really bad things. I can agree that Ray might have been murdered, and that the cargo transfer was anything but routine. I’m having trouble believing I’m in danger, though.”
“Maybe you’re not. I can’t swear to that one way or the other, but I also can’t afford to act as if you aren’t. One man is already dead.”
She nodded. “I get it, Buck. I do. But what’s bugging me is that I’m asking questions I wouldn’t have asked a week ago. That’s what I hate.”
“I wish I could say I understand that, but the truth is I’ve been so damn suspicious for so many years I wear it like my own skin.”
“That’s sad.”
“It wasn’t in the world I used to live in. It even saved my life more than once.”
She stared at him. “Then how do you know you can trust
me?
”
“Because you mentioned the cargo exchange to the police. You wouldn’t have done that if you’d spiked Ray’s coffee.”
She gasped then. “Oh, God!”
“What?”
“I just thought. I wasn’t the one who poured the coffee for Ray and the other guy. Claire was getting some for a couple of customers, and she just filled their cups at the same time and put them on the counter.”
Buck grew very still. “It’s opportunity, but it’s not proof. The other driver could have had something to do with that.”
She couldn’t disagree. “They went over to the condiment bar. But why would she have questioned that driver if she was involved?”
Buck’s expression turned grim. “Maybe she didn’t. How would you know?” Then he said something that truly chilled her. “I think they’re worried about both you and me.”
Chapter 7
W
ell, didn’t that blow everything all to hell, Buck thought after he left Haley at the college for her play and returned to the La-Z-Rest, from where he could watch the comings and goings in the parking lot. The best thing he could do for Haley would be to disappear.
But how could he keep watch on the lot and Haley if he pretended to leave? If the tox screen showed poisoning, she would become an important witness. They must realize that.
He sat drumming his fingers, scanning the info Bill had sent him for any connection among the drivers who’d had mixed-up shipments. This was a great nest from which to observe, but if everyone knew he was there, and the bad guys suspected his purpose, it would do him no damn good.
But his major worry was Haley. If Claire was involved, that signified real trouble. Especially if Buck’s presence had aroused suspicion among the gang.
When he thought about the Listons, though, he knew it had to involve more than the brother, if Jim was involved at all.
Step back, he told himself. While he was perfectly capable of living on the sly in the countryside around here, it would make his job more difficult. What was more, it would prevent him from keeping a decent eye on Haley, and his sense of foreboding about that had increased a hundredfold since she told him about Claire’s call today. It bothered him even more to have learned that Claire had had the opportunity to drug Ray’s coffee.
Claire, with her husband’s well-to-do sheep ranch, with its recently acquired and very expensive alpacas.
Then there was Jim Liston, showing up at his parents’ run-down farm in a car so expensive it could probably pay to spruce the place up for them. How would that make them feel? Or were they part of it?
Of course, narrowing in on this small handful was a danger. There were thousands of people in this county, and any one of them could be involved.
But he couldn’t help but notice that two nails were sticking up higher than the rest: the Listons and Claire.
He decided he needed to do two things: the first was make it look like he had absolutely nothing on his mind but Haley. That wouldn’t be hard, if she was willing to play along. The woman was enthralling and sexy enough to get his motor humming with a mere glance.
Then he had to make a night recon of those two homesteads to see what he could find. Because until he eliminated the Listons and Claire, they were going to sit right at the top of his radar, rightly or wrongly. He
had
to find out.
As soon as he checked out those two places, he decided he should get rid of the rental car. If people thought he’d be traveling in his truck cab, they’d think he’d be too damn obvious to be up to anything. And they’d be right, of course.
Scanning the email in front of him and the list he’d been making, he tried to see some kind of pattern. He almost had the feeling that some information was missing, but that was probably just a blind spot on his part.
He hated to think he might have disrupted the pattern, that his mere presence might have endangered Haley when he wanted to protect her.
Thinking of Haley dragged his gaze back to the parking lot, and all the patience he’d learned during his years as an MP deserted him. He found himself willing a switch to take place, willing that box truck to show up and do something suspicious.
That was when the phone rang, making life even more complicated. It was Bill.
“The honchos want you to come back.”
“What for? They were all hot enough to send me out here.”
“You’re asking me to explain them? From what one of them said, you’ve probably gotten all the information you’re going to get, and given that none of our shippers has yet complained about a later arrival, we don’t really have to worry yet. Plus, I talked to the sheriff out there and he said Liston’s death was purely accidental. Whatever’s going on, they don’t think it’s big enough for you to plant yourself out there. They’re paying you to drive.”
“I’m staying,” Buck said flatly.
“You can’t. They want you off it.”
“Consider me off it.”
“Then why won’t you come back?”
“There’s a woman.”
“Tell me you’re not lying.”
“There’s a woman,” Buck repeated. “I want another week of my vacation, or you can fire me.”
Bill fell silent for a minute. “A woman.”
“Seriously.”
Then Bill gave a laugh. “Women will do that. But I can tell them that absolutely and positively you’re not working this anymore? Because part of what was bugging them was paying you for driving when you’re not.”
“Cheap bastards,” Buck said. “No, I was getting ready to back out. I haven’t learned a damn thing. It’s like hunting a needle in haystack and I don’t have a metal detector. Something bigger is going to have to happen to figure this one out. In the meantime, there’s a lady and you just freed me up to spend all my time with her.”
“Fine by me,” Bill said. “Just make sure I don’t hear otherwise.”
“You won’t.” He’d make damn sure of that.
When he hung up, he revised his estimation of whether someone in the Seattle terminal was involved. The question now was who.
* * *
Haley stayed for the cast-and-crew party, but only for a little while. She was tired, and somehow the bonhomie of the people she had worked with over the past two months just rasped on her. Serious things were going on, things that might involve people she knew. Things that involved a murder.
Tonight, for the very first time, she noticed how dark the parking lot was. Oh, there were pole lights, but they left dark spaces between them and the parking lot, full of cars, provided plenty of easy hiding places.
She stopped, never having noticed that before, and felt her stomach flutter. God, she couldn’t allow this to continue. She could not, would not, live in fear of things that had been familiar and safe forever.
Setting her chin, she began to stride in the direction of her car. She was halfway there when she caught sight of a shadowy figure standing near it. She froze and considered running back inside.
“Haley?”
Buck’s voice. Relief washed through her. He started walking toward her, moving in and out of the dim puddles of light.
“Sorry, I guess I frightened you.”
She couldn’t deny it, but she didn’t want to admit it, either. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“I know, you said you’d be late because of the party.”
“Then why did you come?”
“I was thinking about trying to gate-crash to give you these.” He held out a bundle and she almost gasped as she saw a dozen yellow roses wrapped in florist’s green paper. “Oh, Buck!”
“It seemed like the right thing to do for an actress.”
She held them close and drew in a fragrant breath of their beautiful scent. “They’re wonderful! Thank you so much.” No one had ever given her roses before, and her throat tightened a bit at the gesture. She reminded herself that he’d just done it because she had finished a play, and for no other reason.
“Well, since you’re out early,” he said, “how about I take you for a late dinner?”
“At the truck stop?” As if there was any other place.
“Better than a bar at this time of night,” he pointed out reasonably.
There was no way she could argue with that, but suddenly the roses didn’t seem quite so beautiful. Of course he wanted to go to the truck stop. To keep watch. Her heart sank, and she scolded herself. She knew why he was here. Why did she seem to keep hoping it was something more?
Part of her wanted to claim tiredness and just be done with it for the night, but another part of her quickened a bit. What if they saw a transfer? Hadn’t she already decided that she wanted to break out of her rut?
“Sure,” she said.
The diner was busy enough when they arrived, but not too busy, and they couldn’t get seats by a window. Not that it mattered, Haley thought. If there was going to be a cargo transfer of any kind tonight, it was unlikely to happen when there were so many people around.
Buck spoke when they were seated. She noted that he had chosen to face the window. “I’m sorry I can’t recommend the broiled lobster or the beef tournedos,” he said with a charming wink. “I think you already know this menu pretty well.”
“Another time for lobster,” she smiled back, as if they were any normal dating couple.
“Did you manage to eat before the performance?”
“Not a thing. I got nervous again.”
“But don’t you know just about everybody who was there? Wouldn’t that make it easier?”
“Actually, I think it made it harder. If they were all strangers I’d never see again, I doubt I’d have been half as nervous.”
He laughed, and the sound drew the attention of other diners. Haley looked down as she realized how many guys were looking their way, and wondered if this was going to make life harder for her after Buck left. Until now, the excuse of never seeing a customer outside of work had worked pretty well.
But Hasty would keep an eye on things. In fact, she no sooner had the thought than Hasty appeared at their table.
“Hi,” he said, measuring Buck and then looking dubiously at Haley. She almost wanted to sink, wondering what he thought of her. But the whole town had been gabbing, as near as she could tell, so this couldn’t possibly surprise him.
“Hi, Hasty,” she said, hoping she looked relaxed.
Buck stuck out his hand. “Buck Devlin,” he said.
Hasty wiped his hand on the towel at his waist and shook Buck’s hand. “I know who you are.” But then Hasty seemed to catch himself, and he smiled in a friendly manner. “Be good to our Haley, hear?”
It sounded nice, but the intention was clear. Haley felt her cheeks heat. Did everyone in this county think she needed a protector? She wasn’t exactly a kid anymore.
“Funny,” Buck said amiably, “I got the same message from the sheriff.”
At that Hasty laughed. “Okay, okay. I’m not trying to play the heavy. Just don’t like to see my girls go someplace they might regret.”
With that Hasty strolled away, pausing to talk to a few other people before returning behind the counter. Meg came up to take their orders and Haley chose something light so it wouldn’t keep her awake. Buck, she noticed, ordered as if he were about to run a marathon.
“This is so embarrassing,” she said after Meg walked away.
“Why? I think it’s nice you have so many people concerned about you. That should make you feel good.”
“But they’re acting like I don’t have an ounce of sense.”
“No, they’re acting like a wolf has just walked into a sheep pen. You’ve told me yourself this place isn’t like the big, bad world beyond. I come from out there in that big, bad world. Their concerns are reasonable.”
“Are they? Do I have a reason to be concerned?”
“I hope not,” he said after a moment. “Dammit.”
“What?”
“Oh, I’m so out of practice talking to a woman it’s not funny.”
“Why?”
“Bad experience a number of years ago. I pretty much limited myself after that.”
“Honestly? You’re afraid?” The thought astonished her. He didn’t seem like he was afraid of much.
“Self-protective,” he corrected. “Not afraid. I just don’t see getting involved like that again until I get to know someone really well. I jumped before I looked last time.”
“Oh.” Well, there was little chance he was going to get to know
her
well. Her stomach sank, so she forced herself to sip her soda and pretend everything was fine.
“Look,” he said after a moment, leaning toward her and lowering his voice, “I hope you don’t have a reason to be concerned. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt in any way. But the truth of the matter is I want you like hell. I keep on wanting you. I tell myself to ignore it, to squash it, that there’s no way it could be good for either of us, and I keep right on fantasizing about you and wanting to touch you in every way possible.”
She couldn’t have imagined a less romantic place for such a declaration, and she had to fight not to look around to see if he’d been overheard despite how quietly he was talking. She could feel her cheeks flaming as brightly as if she were having another allergic reaction.
“Told you I’ve forgotten how.”
She swallowed hard and shook her head the tiniest bit. “Actually,” she said, and cleared her throat when her voice came out funny, “actually, that’s the nicest thing a guy’s ever said to me.”
“Really?” He sat back looking amazed. “Is everybody around here blind?”
She felt her flush deepen. How in the world could she respond to that?
“You don’t have to answer that.” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his almost tentatively, as if he expected Hasty to suddenly arrive with a cleaver. “There are some things you need to know about me.”
Her heart climbed into her throat. This couldn’t possibly be good, especially following right after what he had said about wanting her. That had lifted her high instantly, and now she was sure she was about to crash.
“I don’t always walk the line,” he said. “That’s part of the reason I’m sitting with you right now.”
Her heart thudded heavily. “What do you mean?”
“I get in trouble. Well, I got into trouble. I was working on a case, the order came down to drop it, and I didn’t drop it. I pursued it and found out why some people had tried to call me off. It’s not good to embarrass generals.”
She gasped. “No!”
“Yes. In this case, the perp was a prominent man’s son. In the process of going after him, I got shot.”
“Oh, Buck, no!”
“Yes. I can’t give you the details. Believe me, they’re so highly classified now I could spend a long time in jail for telling you. So let’s just leave it at that. A very important man stood to be embarrassed and have his future wrecked because of something his son had gotten involved with. So I had to be shut down. I was. Firmly. I took a bullet that bruised my spine and paralyzed me for a while, and then I was swiftly discharged for medical reasons. Part of the bullet is still lodged in there. It won’t cause any problems, but it was a good excuse to usher me out. And I got the message. Don’t mess with the big dogs.”