The Secrets on Forest Bend Read online

  “And how many people are usually eating this feast?”

  The fact that she cared enough to question him was promising. “It’s awfully isolated. Not many people are interested in going out there for a day of fishing.”

  “Fried fish, cold beer, and a day on the lake, what’s not to like?”

  Besides being beautiful and sexy and owning her own business, she liked to fish. If Snake-Eye was right about what she was made of, then for once in his life he had stepped into a pile of gold dust, instead of the pile he usually stepped in. Ruben and Mamacita had it all wrong this time.

  The evening ended the same way Sunday had, only better. He took his time undressing her, enjoying every inch of silky smooth skin. Nibbling and caressing his way around her body until he couldn’t hold back any longer. She was open about what she wanted, and he found it exciting. He was happy to accommodate any request.

  Afterwards, they took a shower together, his third of the day and by far his favorite. He had trouble deciding which he enjoyed most, applying soap to Jillian’s body or letting her soap him. Either way, having their bodies sliding against each other while their lips kept them anchored was a pleasant experience. One that led them straight back to bed.

  “Are you going to slip out in the middle of the night again?” she asked.

  “No, I left a double helping of food for Rover and he can wait on his morning shot. I’ve got some comp time coming and don’t have to be in till eleven. I’ll have time to go by the house.”

  She smiled and laid her head on his chest. “Well, I guess you can teach an old cop a few new things.”

  In the morning, they started again, slow and languid in the soft light. He took his time, tracing the contours of her body with his lips and letting his hands follow until he was certain she was as sated as he was. They were resting contentedly, arms and legs in a tangle, when he worked up the courage to ask her a question. “Could I put my cop hat back on for a second and ask you something?”

  She stiffened slightly. “What is it?”

  “Do you ever take old guns in for trade? I need a used gun, not too old. It can be in working order or not, as long as it looks good. I could pay a couple of hundred bucks. Do you have anything like that?”

  “Don’t get anything used. I’ll find you something good and get it for you at cost. It won’t be much more, but it’ll be dependable. You can’t afford to have something that’s not reliable.”

  “It’s not for me. It’s for a case. You remember the gun I came here about that first day? I think the guy you turned it in to sold it to someone else.”

  “And for that you get the big bucks? I knew that when you set the picture down. So, are you going to work some kind of sting on him?”

  He rose on one elbow. “I’m going to try.”

  “In that case, I’ve got just the gun you need. And it won’t cost you a thing. It’s an old .45. I never use trade-ins, but for some reason I took this one about a year ago. I haven’t done anything with it. It’ll be perfect. So what’s the plan?”

  “It won’t be anything elaborate. I’m just going to find someone to turn it in and then follow it.”

  “The store’s going to be closed Friday for Billy’s memorial. I had to set it up. His mother wouldn’t have anything to do with it because he killed himself and that’s a sin. Anyway, I’ll go downtown Friday afternoon and turn it in.”

  “He might recognize you.”

  Jillian sat up in bed. Her voice hummed with excitement. “That won’t matter. I’ll say what a good job he did last time so I came back to him.”

  “It’s too dangerous. I can’t involve a civilian. If things go wrong, he might come after you.” The thought of Jillian tangled up in this mess put a knot in his stomach.

  “You’re in this alone, aren’t you? If you weren’t, you wouldn’t need to ask me for a gun or look for someone to turn it in. What do you plan to do once you have him?”

  He hesitated. “Threaten him. Try to make him walk away. I know you won’t like it, but I can’t arrest him. If I did, it would be bad for the entire department. Lots of people already think cops aren’t any better than crooks. If this came out, it would be a disaster for good cops everywhere.”

  “It wouldn’t do your career any good either, would it? I have a pretty good idea what happens to cops who turn in other cops.”

  Adam jerked up and swung his feet off the bed. “This doesn’t have anything to do with my career, and if you think it does, you don’t know me. I’m thinking what it would do to the department and every good cop that works in it.”

  “I know that,” Jillian said, her tone softer. “I mean you have to be careful. You’re two steps behind me. I figured all this out before you left the first day. Only I didn’t know you then, and I thought you were going to let it go entirely, maybe just try to warn him off.”

  “If I had my way, he’d be in jail with the other crooks, where he belongs.”

  She got up and wrapped the sheet around her. “You’ve got to use me. You can’t go to Internal Affairs. They would have to make it public, and no one would forgive you for giving the department a black eye. I’m not some delicate thing you have to protect, Adam. I’ve been taking care of myself and doing a damn good job of it since I was twelve years old.”

  “Cooking and running a business, even if it is a gun store, is a world different than facing an armed criminal when he’s trapped. And that’s what Marshall is——a thief. I can’t risk it. I won’t risk you.”

  “I started this and I’m going to finish it. If you think I’m willing to stay back on this one, you don’t know me very well, either.”

  He didn’t answer, so she kept going. “I have the gun downstairs. Come on, I’ll get it for you.”

  They threw their clothes on and hurried down. Jillian went straight to the storeroom and began looking in boxes for the gun. She had just found it when the front door opened. The alarm beeped twice as it was turned off.

  “Who is that?” Adam whispered.

  “It’s Cara,” Jillian said, peeking around the corner.

  “I thought the store didn’t open till ten.”

  “It doesn’t, but it’s her first time to open on her own, and I guess she wanted to get in early. It takes a while to get things set up, especially with the baby.”

  “Do you want me to hide back here? I don’t want to embarrass you.” They were both barefooted and had severe cases of bed head. He badly needed a shave. “We look like we just got out of bed,” he whispered, and they both laughed.

  “Hey, it’s my store. I can do whatever I want.”

  Jillian stepped into the store. “Good morning, Cara. You’re here early.”

  Cara jumped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in here. Megan was up at first light. I spent an hour trying to get her back to sleep before I gave up. I didn’t know how long it would take me to open, so I came on in. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

  “Not at all. I was just looking for something I left back here.”

  “Hello, Cara. It’s nice to see you again.” Adam came out and stood beside Jillian.

  Cara jumped even higher than she had the first time. “Good morning to you, Mr... er, um, Detective...”

  “Adam.”

  “It’s nice to see you again, too, Adam.”

  She was wearing a large, brightly colored scarf around one shoulder and across her front. Adam had never seen anything quite like it.

  “Megan was anxious to come to work,” she said, patting a lump in the scarf. Just then the lump started to wiggle and let out a small cry. Cara reached in and pulled out the baby. “This thing works great. Thanks, J. R., Megan likes it because she’s close to me yet I have both hands free to do things. I can even nurse her without anyone realizing it.”

  Adam immediately began looking around the room, trying to find someplace safe to avert his eyes. Cara chuckled. “I think I’ll go in the back to feed her and put her down before I start work.”

&
nbsp; Before Cara could begin nursing Megan, Adam hurried out to his car, stepping carefully in his bare feet, to get his camera. While Cara fed the baby, he and Jillian carried the gun to the front of the store where the light was best. They placed it on a clear spot on the floor and shot pictures from every angle. They took several that showed the serial number, and he recorded it in his notebook.

  “All right, you can be the one to turn in the gun, but that’s all you can do. I don’t want Marshall to see us together, so when you’re finished, leave immediately. There’s a restroom and some potted plants to the right as you come in the door. I’ll be standing behind the plants. I should be able to get some good pictures without him seeing me. Hold the gun out, by the barrel, and turn your face to me. That way I can get a picture of you handing him the gun. Do you have any questions?”

  “What do you want me to do after I give him the gun?”

  “He can’t have any idea we’re in this together. When you leave, go to the Starbuck’s around the corner. Wait for me there. I won’t be long.”

  They stood, and he handed her the gun. “I still don’t like involving you.” He ran his hand down her arm and looked in her eyes.

  “You can’t go through life protecting me. I’m not the needy type.”

  “I know that. If you were, I probably wouldn’t be this interested.” She grinned, and he pulled her close and kissed her. Cara chose that minute to come out of the storeroom.

  “Megan’s down for the count,” she said. Now it was her turn to look away. “We won’t hear a peep from her for a couple of hours.”

  Jillian pulled Adam into a back corner of the storeroom and kissed him again. “How much time do we have before you need to leave for work?”

  “Not enough for what I have in mind.”

  Adam and Jillian were in the back room with their arms around each other when the front door slammed open. He lifted his head. “It’s too early for customers, isn’t it?” Jillian’s closed shop was beginning to feel like a major department store.

  “Maybe Cara went outside to get something from her car.” Jillian looked toward the front of the store, but a wall was in the way.

  Adam motioned for Jillian to wait as he stepped quietly to the door. He heard voices, but couldn’t understand them. Kneeling down so his head was near the floor, he looked quickly around the corner, then snapped his head back.

  “I can see Cara. Some man is holding her arm and pointing a gun at her.”

  The man was stocky and had a good start on the beer belly that would most likely define him in later years. His sandy hair was disheveled, and his face had the pasty look of someone who spent too much time indoors.

  “I’ll bet it’s her husband, Trevor. She’s gone to a lot of trouble to keep him from finding her.”

  Adam glanced around the storage area. “Do you have a weapon back here? There must be something with all these guns.”

  “I’ve got guns, but they’re not loaded. All the ammunition is on the other side of the room and to get to it we’d have to cross in front of the door. There’s a loaded gun under the counter, just below the cash-register, but he’d see you if you went out there. Did you bring your weapon?”

  “No, I was trying to appear innocent and trustworthy. I even left my ankle holster at home.” He could kick himself for that decision. The first time in years he’d left home without a weapon and look what happened. Hard Luck had better not find out about this.

  “I’ll go out. It’s my store. It’ll seem normal.” Jillian started for the door, but he grabbed her arm.

  “You have to take the baby and go out the back door. Take my car and get away from here. You can call for help on my radio. Wait for me at the IHop on the feeder road.”

  “We discussed this. I’m not a hot-house flower. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to protect me.”

  “Damn it, for once will you listen to me?” He held both her shoulders. His voice was low, but intense. “I’m not trying to protect you. I’m trying to protect the baby.” Okay, I am trying to protect you, but I have enough sense not to say it out loud. “You know as well as I do that once he starts shooting, the bullets could go anywhere. These walls aren’t any protection. The baby could get hurt easily. You have to get her out of here before he realizes where she is.”

  “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Now you know how I feel about you helping bring Marshall down. You have to leave, now. I’ll call you when it’s safe.” He kissed her quickly and handed her his keys.

  She tip-toed to the crib and lifted the baby. At the door she whispered, “Be careful,” before stepping outside.

  Megan didn’t wake when Jillian gently lifted her out of the crib or as she put her on the seat beside her. Trying to race barefoot over the gravel to Adam’s car, she’d resented him for making her leave, but once in the car, she realized he was right. Megan’s safety was the most important thing.

  The minute she left the parking lot and turned onto the street, Heather appeared beside her. “What’s happening? What’s going on? Where did you get the baby?”

  “As if you didn’t know. I suppose you’re going to tell me you didn’t have anything to do with it. You probably told that guy where to find Cara.”

  “I did not.” Heather managed to sound insulted, a sure sign she was lying. “I don’t even know who you’re talking about or who this baby is. I would never do anything to hurt a kid.”

  “Of course you would. You have many times. Every little girl that beat you at any pageant had some type of accident. One fell and broke a leg, and Patty Zykorie ran into a glass door and has a big scar on her face.” Jillian’s voice began to rise.

  “Maybe, but that was a long time ago.”

  “You messed up every one of their marriages by whispering insinuations in their ears. That hurt their kids, and it wasn’t so long ago.”

  “But I would never do anything that put you in danger. You know that.”

  “Well, that’s true at least. You don’t want to mess up your only chance for a new body.”

  Jillian pulled to the side of the road and started pounding on the radio. “Come on! How do you turn this thing on?”

  “Calm down and look at it. Your cop boyfriend does it while he’s driving, so it can’t be that difficult.”

  Finally, she saw a switch and turned it on. “Officer needs assistance. Officer needs assistance. Can anybody hear me? We need some help.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I can hear you. What’s your location?”

  “I’m at J. R.’s Guns on Weaton Road. That’s just off the I-45 feeder road near the county line, a few miles south of Conroe. A white male is holding a gun on his wife. Detective Adam Campbell is also there, but I don’t know if he’s armed. He’s the one wearing khakis and a brown print shirt. The gunman has on a ratty black T-shirt with no sleeves.”

  “We have a unit on the way.”

  “You better send an ambulance, too.”

  “Are you in the building, ma’am?”

  “No, I took the baby and drove away.”

  “Good. Don’t go back until you get the all clear from the officers.”

  Jillian looked up and saw a rusty pick-up coming down the road in her direction. “Oh, no. Why would Snake-Eye come here at this time of the morning?”

  “I told him to,” Heather said. “I suggested he check to see why the cops were asking questions about you. That was before you called the police. I didn’t know what was happening, only that you were in trouble.”

  “Well, I’ve got to stop him. He’ll make everything worse.” Jillian honked and stuck her arm out the window. When he slowed down, she put her head out. “Don’t go in the store. Cara’s husband is in there with a gun. Adam, Detective Campbell, is trying to get to the gun I keep under the register.”

  “Okay, I won’t go in. I’ll just pull up in front and honk. That should distract the malcontent long enough for your friend to make his move.” Snake-Eye drove away before Jilli
an could object.

  As soon as Jillian and the baby were out the door, Adam tried to smooth down his hair and button his shirt. There wasn’t anything he could do about his bare feet, so he tried to slip behind the counter quickly.

  “Hey, man,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  “Who the fuck are you?” The man jerked Cara around to face him.

  “I’m Adam. I work here. Who are you?”

  “You work here, uh? Well, you look like you just got out of bed. What have you been doing with my wife?”

  Adam looked down and saw that his shirt was buttoned crooked. “Nothing, man. I just met her five minutes ago.” He tried to ease closer to the register, but Trevor had the gun pointed at him.

  “That’s a likely story. She’s such a slut she wouldn’t care how long she’d known you. Anyway, she’s supposed to be working for some woman.”

  “J. R.’s not in yet. This is my first day, so I don’t know what’s going on.” He face was slack, but his eyes never stopped moving as he judged the distance from his position to the gun under the register. Which could he reach quicker, the gun or Trevor?

  “What’s going on is this little tramp tried to run out on me and take my baby with her.” Trevor slapped Cara across the face as he spoke. “Where’s the kid, bitch? What have you done with my son?”

  “It’s not a boy, Trevor. She’s a girl.”

  “A girl? You can’t even do that right.” He hit her again.

  “Hey, man,” Adam said. “This is crazy. The kid’s not here. Who ever heard of a baby in a gun store?” He took another step closer to the register.

  “Stay right there, jerk. I haven’t finished with you.”

  “Okay, man. I’m cool. Let me open the register, and you can have whatever’s inside. Then you’ll have enough to take off.”

  “I’m not leaving without my kid.”

  The front door opened, but Adam didn’t look up. Shit. I told her not to come back until it was safe. Now I have two people to watch out for, three if she still has the baby. One deep breath told him it wasn’t Jillian.