Justice Reborn (Cowboy Justice Association Book 8) (14 page)

What a slimebag.

Evan would admit to having a kink or two in the bedroom but his encounters with females were strictly consensual. If a woman even hesitated then the answer was a firm no.

In his career he’d spent more time than he liked to remember with low-life assholes who abused females. He liked this situation even less because Lydell was pretending to be an upstanding family man who was a good person, someone the public could trust. The lack of genuine emotion on the man’s face in the video turned Evan’s stomach. It was as if the girl was a
thing
, not a human being. Evan had seen it before in the eyes of the suspects that had paraded through the Marshal Service and this one was no different. Except that his suits and shoes were more expensive along with a well-practiced veneer of civilization.

After Lisa – no, Josie, he’d need to remember that – spilled her guts he’d had so many questions, none of them answered by watching the recording. If anything, it only spurred him on even more.

How did Josie’s friend Amy get the recording?

Why did she have it?

What had she been planning to do with it?

How did Lydell find out she had it?

How in the hell did Evan get pulled back into the life of an investigator and cop?

Honestly, he’d thought that was all behind him but now here he was digging into people’s backgrounds and planning protection details. Like he had never left the job.

Reaching for the phone, he did his best to ignore the troubling voice inside of his head that kept repeating the same thing over and over.

You’re getting pulled in again. Run while you can. You don’t want to do this, do you?

His head was saying no but his heart… His heart was a whole other deal. He couldn’t leave Josie to the tender mercies of a man like Lydell who would kill to keep this video under wraps, nor could he hand her over to the authorities and let her take her chances with their protection. It had to be him. It was the only way he could be sure to keep Josie safe.

“Mitchell.”

Reed Mitchell’s usual terse greeting came through the phone loud and clear. Just as the sheriff had intended, Evan was sure. Reed was a member of the group of lawmen that Evan had been a part of before he quit. They banded together and shared knowledge as much as possible, making their jobs much easier.

“It’s Evan. How are things in the cold north?”

“It’s a chilly spring if that’s what you’re asking,” Reed replied with a chuckle. “How the hell are you, man? How’s Florida? And most importantly, when are you coming back?”

The last one was a doozy of a question that Evan had no answer for.

“It’s hot and humid but other than that it’s good. It’s a nice change, if you know what I mean. How’s Kaylee?”

Kaylee was Reed’s wife and a bestselling erotic romance writer. Boy, did Reed take a lot of shit because of that but he smiled through it all, probably because he loved his wife and worshipped the ground she walked on.

“Kaylee’s good. Busy, actually. She’s on a deadline and that means we eat a lot of frozen pizza but I don’t mind.” Reed cleared his throat. “It’s great to hear from you but I’m guessing you didn’t call to catch up. If you’re looking for a job, I actually know of one. The guy who took over Logan’s town is stepping down due to family issues back east. The mayor is looking for a replacement. I think you’d be just the man for the job. I know Logan would recommend you in a heartbeat.”

The mere thought of going back to small town law enforcement made Evan shudder. He wasn’t ready to give up his freedom. Not yet, anyway. Of course, that all might change when the money ran out and he had to support himself somehow.

“That’s really generous of all of you,” Evan hedged, hoping to find a polite way to say thanks but no thanks without pissing off a good friend. “I’m actually not looking at the moment, although it sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Logan had good support from the town, which is important.”

“He has excellent things to say about the job. Are you sure you’re not interested? I could make a call to Logan. Just say the word.”

“Not right now. I’m still working on that project for my family.”

“Well, let me know if you change your mind. So if you didn’t call to catch up and you didn’t call for a job…”

The sheriff let his voice trail off so that Evan could fill in the blanks.

“I’ve got trouble here, Reed. Big trouble. A friend of mine is in real hot water and I need some help. She’s in danger and you should also know that she’s wanted for questioning by the police for a crime she says she didn’t commit. I believe her. If you’re not comfortable helping me because of that I’ll understand.”

He had to give credit to Reed; the man didn’t hesitate for a minute. “If you say she’s innocent that’s good enough for me. I get that she’s wanted by the cops but how is she in danger?”

Evan sighed and sat back in the chair, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Josie was still downstairs.

“I should probably start at the very beginning. Do you have a few minutes?”

“For you? Absolutely. Shoot.”

There were several stops and starts along with a handful of questions, although Reed tried not to interrupt if he didn’t have to. When Evan was done, he waited in the silence to hear what the lawman had to say and whether he was truly willing to help now that he knew everything.

“That’s a hell of a story. You’ve seen the video?”

“I have. It would definitely put a crimp in Lydell’s future political ambitions. The asshole. If you saw it, you’d know what a worm he is.”

“First things first then,” Reed responded. “We need to protect that video. It may be the only thing that can convince a judge or jury that your girlfriend isn’t guilty. Can you send me the file? I can save it on separate servers to keep it safe.”

“She’s not my–”

Reed snorted and laughed. “Don’t even bother denying it. You like her. I bet she likes you too, although this seems like a bad time in her life to be starting a relationship. But once you get past this bump in the road everything else will seem minor.”

“Bump in the road? You’ve lost your mind.” Evan pulled the thumb drive from the port on the laptop. “I just loaded the video on that secure shared drive we used on the Mammoth case.”

“Got it. I’m going to take a look at this before I store it. Any objections?”

It wasn’t something Evan would wish on his friends but he understood their curiosity. “Go ahead but keep a barf bag close at hand. The guy’s a sleaze.”

“Makes figuring out who the bad guy is a simple task. Now I’ll also look into the girl’s background, run some facial recognition and see if we can figure out who she is. I know you’re worried about her so I’ll try and see where she might be. Look for credit card transactions. Stuff like that. I’ll also look into Lydell as well. Maybe get Jason looking into it too. The asshole might have a few other skeletons in his closet if he’s willing to kill over a sex tape.”

Lydell craved power. He’d wanted power over that girl and now he wanted power over the country.

“At some point we have to release this recording,” Evan pointed out. “As someone who spent most of their law enforcement career trying to avoid press and cameras I’m sorely lacking connections there. I don’t suppose you have any that we can trust implicitly.”

“I don’t but I bet Jason does. I’ll reach out to him and see what he can dig up. Now let’s talk about protecting Josie. What do you have in place?”

“So far no one has found her. She thinks the fire last night was the men after her but I just saw a local bulletin on the Internet and it was just a couple of guys drinking too much and smoking in their room. They accidentally set fire to the mattress and drapes and it spread quickly. So that means they still haven’t found her.”

“Yet.”

Evan was determined that it would stay that way. “She’s using an alias and paying cash. She dumped her car and cell back in D.C. She’s going to be tough to find. In the meantime, I’m keeping her with me here at the house. And I’m loaded for bear. They’ll need to come through me to get to her.”

The setup here at the house wasn’t ideal but it would have to do.

“Security system? Cameras?”

Wincing, Evan shook his head and then remembered Reed couldn’t see him. “Not on this old house. Hell, I don’t even have a television. But I’ve protected dozens if not hundreds of witnesses. I’ve got this, so don’t worry. It’s the one thing I’ve been trained to do if you think about it.”

“If you say so.” Reed sounded reluctant but didn’t push the subject. “I’ll get on this and give you a call in a few hours to check in. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I’m just damn grateful for what you’re doing. I really appreciate this. I can’t even tell you how much.”

“I think I have an idea. Take care of Josie and we’ll talk soon.”

Keeping Josie protected and safe was Evan’s number one priority and he had a few ideas as to how he could make that happen.

Chapter Sixteen

E
van had forbidden Josie to work today but when he was done with his phone call, he found her in the half-cleaned out kitchen, up to her elbows in suds, washing the dusty dishes that had been sitting in the cabinets for who-knows-how-many years. Once again…stubborn. It was going to get her seriously hurt or killed if she wasn’t careful. He’d do anything and everything to protect her but she had to cooperate and do her part.

By obeying his every command.

It didn’t seem like much to ask.

“I thought I told you to relax. Do you call this relaxing?”

The little miss didn’t even flinch at his scolding tone; instead she had the gall to smile and toss her auburn ponytail over her shoulder. She shouldn’t look so damn cute being contrary but he couldn’t help but notice the smattering of freckles on her nose and cheekbones. He had an almost overwhelming urge to kiss each and every one but luckily he didn’t give in. This time, at least.

“Actually, I do call this relaxing. It gave me something to do with my hands and it calmed my mind. I can’t just sit around here and wait to be murdered, Evan. Those men want me dead and last night’s fire was only a preview of things to come.”

About that fire… At least this was one way he could ease her fears.

“I saw on the local news site that it was just two guys drinking too much and smoking. They set fire to a mattress and the drapes. Nothing nefarious, honey. Just a couple of guys out of hand. They haven’t found you.”

The way Josie sagged against the kitchen counter with relief tore at Evan’s heart. She was terrified and he needed to find a way to ease her mind. She wasn’t as helpless as she believed.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “It’s only a matter of time though.”

“Not necessarily. You were smart. You dumped your car and cell phone, haven’t used your credit cards or your real name, and lived on cash. It’s going to make it tough for them, if not impossible. But I’m not advocating sitting around here and waiting for them to find us. I think we need to be slightly more proactive.”

Her brows pulled together as she pondered his words. “Proactive? Are we going after them? That doesn’t sound like the best idea.”

“I was thinking we might work on some of your self-defense skills and also your shooting skills. Have you ever fired a gun, honey?”

Josie pulled the plug from the sink and dried her hands on the kitchen towel. “Yes, but I wouldn’t say I’m a great shot or anything. I’ve only done it once at a friend’s bachelorette party. She didn’t want to go see strippers—she wanted to shoot at the rifle range.”

Interesting friend. Evan bet her husband to be was probably just as happy that there weren’t any naked men involved in her celebrating.

“You don’t need to be great. Let’s see if we can make you a halfway decent shot. How about we head to the range before trying some hand to hand combat?”

“I thought you wanted me to relax? This doesn’t sound relaxing.”

“You had your chance. Now it’s time to work.”

There was much to do and not long to do it in.

*   *   *   *

Every bone and muscle in Josie’s body ached but she wasn’t going to give up. After a few hours at the shooting range where she’d managed to do fairly well for a newbie they were now in the backyard of Evan’s home, circling each other like a couple of sumo wrestlers. He was trying to teach her to defend herself in case someone tried to come after her and she was simply trying to survive the lesson. So far, if the attacks had been real she would have been screwed. And dead. Oh so dead.