Lone Star Justice Page 3

  Maddie wasn't afraid for herself. She'd had worse threats than a prankster who liked to play with knives. But she couldn't get the picture of Anne out of her mind. Or the fact that Anne's tongue had been cut out. She couldn't, wouldn't, risk her daughter's life just to show some jerk she wasn't afraid of him. John's words had come back again and again. Go visit some family until this nut is caught.

  But Maddie had no family left. She'd lost her mother and younger brother when she was just sixteen. Her aunt had died a few years back, and her father…well, he was gone, too. And good riddance.

  Matt kept insisting he could take care of them, keep them safe. "Come on, Maddie. You know me, you trust me. Who would be better to watch over you and Brandy?"

  As soon as Matt had spoken those words, she'd realized there was only one person she could trust to keep her daughter safe.

  Rand. He'd loved her once. He probably hated her now, and he would hate her even more when he learned what she'd done.

  But she knew he would love his daughter.

  Maddie took a leave of absence from her job--the job she loved, the job she'd worked so hard to get. She didn't want to run away, but she had to get Brandy out of Montgomery, at least for a while. Until the person trying to scare them got tired of the game and went looking for someone else to mess with. Until they found the scum who'd killed Anne

  They'd thrown a few clothes into a suitcase, put Domino in his carrier, left Matt a note asking him to keep an eye on the house, and now they were on their way to Greendale, Texas

  Home. The only place she knew her daughter would be safe.

  If Maddie had only herself to think about, Greendale would be the last place she'd run to. But the small town where everyone knew each other seemed like the perfect haven. Any stranger would stand out, be talked about. She'd know if anyone tried to follow them there.

  Almost more frightening than being stalked, though, was the idea of seeing Rand again.

  She glanced over at her daughter, just waking up from a long nap, Domino curled in her lap. Brandy yawned and rubbed her eyes. She'd slept most of the trip, leaving Maddie with her runaway thoughts. Domino protested his interrupted nap with a loud meow and the flexing of his front paws." How much farther?"

  "About another hour. Then you'll be safe. We both will." If Rand is still there. What if he'd left? Moved away? She hadn't seen or talked to him in fourteen years. Things changed.

  She'd changed.

  He was probably married, and his wife wouldn't be happy to see his first love pop back into his life unannounced, especially with a daughter in tow.

  When the Greendale water tower came into view, Maddie pulled to the shoulder of Highway 80 and parked. Now that she was here, she was almost afraid to cross the county line. She knew she was being silly, but the old feelings of guilt and betrayal bubbled up inside, making her heart pound and her hands shake.

  Brandy scooted upright in the passenger seat. "Why did you stop here?"

  Maddie leaned her head back against the headrest and rubbed her tired eyes. "I just need a minute to pull myself together before I cross the county line. I knew coming back would be hard, but I didn't realize until just now that coming back scares me nearly as much as staying in Montgomery."

  "Why would you be afraid of coming back to Greendale?"

  "A lot of really bad things happened here just before I left, and I'm not sure how welcome we'll be." Boy, was that an understatement. Her whole world had been torn apart. She'd lost everything and everyone that spring. What had made her think she could show up out of the blue and ask Rand to protect her daughter? But what choice did she have? If he didn't want to help, he could tell her to leave.

  Maddie put the car in gear and pulled back onto the highway.

  The Stardust Motel sat just inside the city limits of Greendale. As she signed the register, she wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed to find that the new owners were people she'd never met. At least they didn't know her, either, and wouldn't be spreading gossip about her return before she could prepare Brandy for what might be ahead.

  After they'd settled into the small, fifties-style room and put food and water down for Domino, they walked across the motel parking lot to the Bluegrass Café. Most of the tables were filled with farmers and long-haul truck drivers that Maddie didn't recognize. She chose an empty booth near the back and scooted onto the bench seat.

  Brandy took the seat across from her and pulled a menu from the stainless steel holder. She flashed a cheeky grin and said, "So when are you going to tell me your deep, dark secrets?"

  "Let's at least order our food, okay?" Maddie smiled at her daughter. Despite the trauma of the past few days, Brandy had maintained her sense of humor.

  When the waitress had taken their order, she stepped back and looked intently at Maddie. "You look familiar. You from around here?"

  Not ready to face the past with the locals until she'd come clean with Brandy, Maddie shook her head. "No, we're from Oklahoma."

  The waitress frowned and shook her head. "I'm real good with faces, and I coulda sworn I'd seen yours before."

  Maddie just smiled and turned her attention to her daughter. The waitress walked away, muttering under her breath.

  "Mom, you lied to her."

  "I know, Brandy. I'm sorry. But I have to tell you about my past before someone else does. Are you sure you're ready to hear it?"

  "Ready? I've waited my whole life for you to tell me why you took off without telling my dad you were pregnant. Now spill."

  ***

  Rand wondered if he was coming down with the flu. All morning he'd been jumpy, waiting for something to happen. But Greendale was as peaceful as always. Andy was back home where he belonged, chastised and vowing to voice his complaints from now on instead of painting them on walls.

  Rand rolled his head around to relieve the tension in his shoulders. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Or soon would be. He'd felt exactly like this the day his parents were killed.

  He needed to get a life. Find a woman and settle down, start a family. He was thirty-two years old, for Pete's sake. It was time. But no one had touched his heart since Maddie had left it bleeding and broken.

  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake his restlessness. He'd flipped through the latest bulletins to see if anything there explained his jumpiness. Nothing more than the usual. He'd logged onto the Internet and cruised through the government web sites to read the latest terrorist updates, but nothing had changed in the last couple of days.

  With a sigh of disgust, he slapped his hat on his head and stalked out of the station. Maybe he'd park near the highway and catch speeders and red light runners. And if anyone gave him any lip, he'd toss them in jail for the night.

  Feeling like he had ants in his pants, Rand made another turn around the town square, looking for strange cars or anything out of place, but saw nothing. The short hairs on the back of his neck felt like they were standing at permanent attention as he pulled onto Highway 80. Something was coming, and it wasn't good.

  He checked his watch as he parked behind the Depot Museum. Three-thirty. Traffic would start picking up soon as the commuters returned home from their jobs in Dallas. If someone wanted to sneak into town, that would be the best time to do it.

  As he settled in to watch and wait, he called the station to let Linda Johnson, the dispatcher, know where he was. Otherwise she'd chew him out when he returned to the station.

  He sat there for an hour, until his stomach rumbled, reminding him he'd skipped lunch. But he hadn't felt like eating when his stomach was tied in knots. He didn't know what he was watching for, but so far he'd seen nothing more serious than Mr. O'Toole jaywalking and Randy, the Peterson's Labrador, relieving himself on a light pole.

  When Cody Wills, his second in command, pulled up, Rand was glad to see him.

  "Linda sent me to take over so you could go eat."

  "Thanks. I think I'll run by th
e café and grab a bite. Stay here and keep an eye out."

  "Want to tell me what I'm supposed to watch for?" Cody was a good deputy, always ready to take on the tough jobs. He often complained that nothing ever happened in Greendale. He'd rarely had to pull his gun in the four years he'd been on the force.

  "I'm not sure yet. Something's up. Just keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place. Call me if you see something."

  "Yes, sir! You can count on me, Sheriff." He pulled off a snappy salute.

  Rand forced back a grin and returned the salute, then pulled out onto the highway. His eyes scanned the cars as they passed, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. When he pulled into the café parking lot, he noted a couple of cars he didn't recognize parked at the motel. That wasn't all that unusual, either.

  He decided he'd check them out after he'd eaten and stepped into the cool, air-conditioned restaurant. Nancy King greeted him with a sexy smile and a murmured off-color suggestion. Rand pulled his Stetson off and smoothed a hand over his hair. He and Nancy had dated off and on, nothing serious, but his mama had taught him to take his hat off when he greeted a lady and to keep it off indoors.

  Nancy pouted when he didn't respond to her invitation, then got huffy and businesslike. "You want a booth in the back or a table by the window?"

  "Put me by the window this time, Nancy. How's your mama doing?" Rand followed her to the red Formica-topped table and sat where he could watch the highway.

  Nancy grabbed a coffee pot and a white ceramic cup and put them on the table in front of him. "She's doin' okay, I guess. Her arthritis is botherin' her some, but the warm spell is helpin' a bit."

  Rand nodded and said, "That's good. Bring me whatever's on special, would you?"

  As she bustled away to place his order, Rand turned and swept his gaze around the room. His skin itched something fierce, a sure sign something was coming down. On the left side of the room, Jeb Hawkins and Marcus Daly played a hand of cards over steaming cups of coffee. At the table behind them, Millie Landers and Jenny Wright gossiped over glasses of sweet iced tea and slices of homemade pie.

  He continued his perusal toward the back of the room, skimming over a young teenager eating lunch with her mother. Strangers, probably passing through on their way to Dallas. But something brought his gaze back to the pair.

  Red hair, the color of the sunset over Lake Tawakoni. Bobbed short, but he could remember when he'd run his fingers through hair that color and they'd snagged in riotous curls. He shook his head. It couldn't be. He'd been thinking of her all morning, that's all. He was putting two and two together and coming up with five.

  When the girl caught him staring and grinned at him, he jerked his gaze back to the window. Maddie would never set foot in Greendale again, and she sure as hell couldn't have a daughter that old. There had to be plenty of women with hair that color. He'd just never seen another one.

  And he'd hoped to never see one again.

  ***

  "Mom, that Sheriff was staring at us," Brandy hissed during a break in Maddie's dialogue.

  Maddie spun around, but all she saw was the back of a male head, hair cropped so close you could hardly tell what color it was. Maybe he was someone she went to high school with. "I knew coming here was a bad idea."

  "No, it wasn't. You couldn't help what happened. They shouldn't blame you for it." Brandy reached a hand across the table and laid it on top of Maddie's.

  Maddie turned her palm up and grasped her daughter's hand. "There's more to the story, but we'd probably better finish this conversation back at the motel. The rest is something I don't want anyone else to overhear." She scooped some bills from her purse and laid them on the table. "Are you finished with your burger?"

  Brandy shoved her plate away. "Yeah, but don't look now. We have company."

  ***

  Rand stopped behind the redhead and cleared his throat. The teenager watched him, her eyes wide, but she didn't make a sound except to say, "Mom?"

  The redhead let out a deep sigh as she turned slowly toward him. He hoped he was wrong. Please, God, let it be anyone but Maddie. But when she lifted her face and those emerald green eyes met his, he knew that prayer wasn't going to be answered. "Hello, Maddie."

  Her face paled and she closed her eyes for a moment. Then she seemed to summon strength from somewhere deep inside and met his gaze head on. Her chin lifted in an oh-so-familiar gesture. "Rand. I didn't expect to see you here."

  The girl's wide-eyed gaze, full of questions, bounced back and forth between them.

  He nodded toward the girl. "Is this your daughter?"

  A blush bloomed in Maddie's cheeks, but she nodded. "This is Brandy."

  The girl stood and stuck out her hand. Rand fumbled his Stetson into his left hand and shook hers. "She looks like you did at that age, Maddie."

  "You knew my mom when she was thirteen?"

  This kid was thirteen? Maddie certainly hadn't wasted any time after she left Greendale. She'd been gone almost fourteen years. Rand had to work hard to keep the anger from his voice. "Yes, I did. We grew up together. Right, Maddie?"

  Maddie stood and gathered her purse. "That's right. And if you'll excuse us, we were just leaving." She grabbed Brandy's hand and brushed past him, not slowing until she'd crossed the parking lot to the motel.

  He watched until they'd closed the door to room 116 behind them. At least now he knew why he'd been tied up in knots all day. Maddie Cooper was back in town, all grown up and sophisticated. And not a bit happy to see him, it seemed. He didn't know how he felt about seeing her again, either. Mostly like he'd been punched in the gut. And she had a daughter. He knew exactly how he felt about that. Betrayed, vindicated, hurt.

  At least now he knew where to find the trouble in Greendale.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Maddie resisted the temptation to turn and see if Rand was still watching her. She knew he was--she could feel his gaze burning into her back. She wanted to slam the door behind her, but she forced herself to close it quietly. She couldn't resist the temptation to throw the deadbolt and hook the chain, however.

  Brandy dropped cross-legged onto the bed and rested her elbows on her knees. With her chin in her hands, she looked up at her mother. "That was rude. What's gotten into you? First you lie to the waitress, then you're rude to the sheriff. I'd get grounded for a month if I acted like that."

  Maddie dropped her purse onto the pea-green armchair without answering and walked into the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and neck in an attempt to ward off the shaky, faint feeling that had seized her limbs. Now was not a time to show weakness. When she felt steady on her feet once again, she went back into the room.

  'You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't as ready to face these people as I thought. We should leave, go somewhere else." Anywhere else.

  "Where would we go? You said we don't have any family. All our friends are back in Oklahoma, where there's also some kind of nut after us." Brandy picked Domino up and nestled him into her lap the way she always did when she was troubled. "I don't want to go someplace where no one would know or care if he kills us."

  And therein lay the problem. If they ran again, every person they came in contact with would be suspect. They would live in fear, not knowing if the people around them were friend or foe. At least here Maddie could distinguish between the strange and the familiar. "You're right. We have nowhere else to go. But I'm afraid we may not get the help here that I was hoping for."

  "Why not? The sheriff seemed nice. And he's certainly a hunk in that uniform."

  "Don't say that!" God, that's the last thing she needed, for Brandy to form a crush on Rand.

  "Geez, all I said was he was cute--for an old guy. So, is he the one?"

  "The one what?"

  "Come on, Mom. You know what I'm talking about. Is the hunky sheriff my dad?"

  Maddie dropped onto the bed beside Brandy and ruffled her hair. "You're pretty smart for a kid. Yeah, Rand is your dad. But he do
esn't know about you, remember, and I'd like to keep it a secret for a little while longer, okay?"

  Brandy's brow knotted in confusion. "But why don't you want him to know? Do you think he'd be ashamed of me?"

  Maddie's heart nearly broke at the pain in her daughter's voice. "No, of course not. But I'm sure he still believes the worst of me, and he's probably angry that I showed back up here. I'd rather wait until he and I get the past sorted out before I hit him with something this big." She placed a finger under her daughter's chin until Brandy met her gaze. "Do you understand?"

  Brandy shrugged and ducked her head again. "I guess so. But it's not gonna be like I always dreamed it would be."

  So much for believing her daughter had been just fine not knowing her father. "You've dreamed of meeting him?"

  "Sure, sort of. I always pretended he was out there somewhere, trying to find me. And someday he'd show up at the door with his arms full of presents, and…oh, never mind. It was just something stupid I used to think about when I was a kid." A tear slipped down her cheek and she brushed it away. "Dumb dream, huh?"

  Maddie's eyes filled with tears as she hugged her tightly. "No, it wasn't a dumb dream at all. I had one almost exactly like it."

  With a shuddering breath, Brandy lifted her head. A shaky grin creased her face, emphasizing the dimple in her right cheek--the one exactly like Rand's. "You did?"

  "Yeah, I did. For years I prayed he'd come find me and tell me everything would be okay. That he still loved me in spite of what my father did. It never happened. But we were okay, you and I. And we'll be okay again, when this is all over, right?"

  The phone rang, startling both of them. Who on earth would be calling her here? No one knew where she was. She hadn't told a soul besides Detective Thacker and Matt where she was headed, and she couldn't imagine why either one would track her to this motel without a really good reason.

  With a trembling hand, she picked up the phone.

  ***

  Rand slammed the office door behind him and tossed his hat in the general direction of the file cabinet. Maddie's back reverberated through his mind. And without a word of apology. Not a word of explanation. Not a word about why she'd come back, or why she'd left in the first place. She certainly hadn't looked glad to see him, so she hadn't come back to pick up where she left off. As if he'd give her a chance, anyway. When he'd needed her the most, she'd left him without a backward glance. Maybe it was partly his fault, but if she'd really loved him, she wouldn't have turned tail and run just because he needed time to get over what had happened.