Edge: A Tortured Heroes Novel Read online

  I nodded. “She thinks I had something to do with her break-in. Of course she does.”

  “Just simmer down,” he said, turning on the aw-shucks charm again. Somehow, it stirred me even more.

  Something crashed to the floor in the kitchen and my heart stopped. Beckett froze and turned toward the sound. It could have been anything. It might even have been Addy or Arlene coming in. But fear and experience told me it probably wasn’t. God. Tommy. No. Not now. Not here. I had to get Beckett Finch the hell out of my shop and fast. If he saw him. If he put two and two together, the truth wouldn’t matter. I’d lose everything I’d worked so hard to build.

  “It’s okay,” I said, putting a light hand on his sleeve. Beckett tensed. His biceps were rock hard. “She’s upset. Like you said.”

  The radio squawked at Beckett’s hip. Without looking, he reached for it and flicked a button to silence it. “If you think of anything.”

  I put up a hand. “We should talk again. You’ve got your hands full this morning. I suppose the good news is this sort of thing doesn’t happen very often in a place like Crystal Falls.”

  “No,” he said, sighing. “And people around here don’t adapt to change very well.”

  His words fell heavy as their meaning sank in. “Shit,” I murmured. “If Garnett thinks I …”

  Beckett smoothed a hand down my upper arm. He meant to soothe me, but his touch ignited a firestorm of emotions in me. He was still looking over my shoulder toward the kitchen. Damn, Tommy.

  “How about I meet you later?” I said. “We can talk somewhere else, away from prying eyes. I mean, when you’re off-duty?”

  It had just burst out of my mouth before I really knew what I was saying. Beckett shifted his weight and blinked rapidly. I was pretty sure I’d just accidentally asked him out. My jaw dropped as I tried to think of a way to backpedal. The noise in the kitchen grew louder. I prayed it was only Addy opening cupboards, but couldn’t take the chance. In for a penny, in for a pound.

  “My treat,” I said. “Drinks?”

  Beckett’s smile sent heat skimming through me. He cocked his head and put his hat back on. “You’re on,” he said. “You know where to find The Willows?”

  The door to the kitchen started to open. “Just off exit four. I’ll meet you there at eight.”

  Beckett’s cocked brow damn near melted me. He tipped his hat and walked out the front door just before Tommy came back in.

  Chapter Five

  Beckett

  “Dr. LeFeorge gave her a clean bill of health,” Crane said. We’d just finished our work at the crime scene. Garnett threw a fit when I called in the forensics people from Austin. I had to call in a favor to do it. If Garnett weren’t Garnett, they would never have agreed to get involved. For her part, she didn’t want anyone outside of Crystal Falls near her place. Crane had proven invaluable in talking her down. Garnett was a cousin to him on one side of the family or the other. Hell, half the people in this town were likely related if you traced it far enough back. That could be a good thing when it came to criminal investigations. The trouble was, suspicion of outsiders ran rampant and Garnett was liable to ignite a witch hunt if we couldn’t keep her calm.

  “If he can just keep her away from the store for a few days, I’ll be thrilled,” I said. “It’s not good for her heart and she’s got plenty of people who can chip in and help get things cleaned up.”

  “Yep,” Crane said. “I’ve got my Aunt Margie working that end. It’ll sit better with Garnett if it’s family. You know how she is.”

  Nodding, I leaned in the door of my cruiser. The sun hung low in the sky. We’d spent the entire day at Garnett’s. Nobody saw anything. Nobody knew anything. That was strange as hell for Crystal Falls and I didn’t like it one bit.

  Crane closed his leather notebook. He preferred doing some things the old-fashioned way with pen and paper. I couldn’t get him to use a tablet to save his life. It drove Ramona nuts because it usually fell to her to transcribe his notes at the end of the day and enter them into the system.

  Crane caught me staring at Lila’s place. She was closed for the day again. Her business had been lighter than usual but that didn’t necessarily mean anything ominous. Everybody downtown had been too busy gawking at Garnett’s store.

  “It’ll blow over, boss,” Crane said, following my line of sight. I straightened. I hadn’t wanted to be too obvious.

  “You think?”

  Crane shrugged and blew out a breath. “Maybe. Probably. Who knows? You know how Garnett gets.”

  I tapped the top of my cruiser. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. She’s had a bug up her ass about Lila Kelly since she put the open sign in her front window.”

  Crane smiled. He had a slight overbite that made him look perpetually boyish. “So have you, boss.”

  “Zip it.”

  “Now, don’t get me wrong. Can’t say as I blame you. She’s uh ... well ... that woman’s something else. Every single guy in town has been trying to make time with her. You think it’s just muffins drawing a crowd? Er ... well ... today notwithstanding.”

  Blood pounded in my ears. Protective rage set my nerves on fire. The thought of any other guy in town so much as looking at Lila had me wanting to drive a fist through my car door. It seemed to come out of nowhere and took me off guard. I kept my expression still as stone, hoping Crane hadn’t been looking too hard at me.

  I checked my watch. I was due to meet Lila at The Willows in less than an hour. I’d have just enough time to grab a shower and change.

  “You ready to call it a day?” Crane asked. “You were supposed to go home like three hours ago. So was I.”

  “Yeah? Well, you could probably use the overtime. Don’t mention it to your uncle, he’d never approve it.”

  Crane smiled. “I’ll have Ramona sign my time card. You heading back to the office?”

  “What? No. I’m cooked. Gonna make it an early night. Rangers are playing at eight.”

  “Uh huh.” Crane had that lopsided grin on his face. He knew me well enough to know something had me distracted. Of course, he’d guessed. Maybe meeting Lila after hours, today of all days, was a bad idea. He was right, Garnett would settle down. I just hoped when the dust cleared, she came off her absurd accusations against Lila. Idle talk like that coming from Garnett could ruin Lila’s business before it really got off the ground. If nothing else, I could use tonight to make Lila understand that. It was bullshit, but she’d need to pay proper homage to Garnett once and for all.

  “Anyway,” Crane said. “You want me to tell Ramona you just went home?”

  “Yeah. She can reach me on my cell if she needs me for anything. I want some extra patrols through here for the rest of the week.”

  “Will do. I mean ... I’m not doing anything tonight and I don’t even watch baseball. And if you’re okay with a little overtime, how about a lot?”

  “Don’t push it.” I smiled. “Let the night shift handle it. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Crane gave me a crisp salute. He’d spent some time with the Army Reserves. I gave it back and climbed into the cruiser. From my rearview mirror, I watched a black sedan pull out of the alley behind Lila’s place. Massachusetts plates. I got a partial before it turned the corner and headed toward the freeway.

  I could follow. Every instinct in me told me something wasn’t right. Lila had been cagey, distracted when she let me into her bake shop this morning. And she hadn’t been alone when I knocked on the door. She was hiding something. I believed her when she told me she hadn’t heard anything when Garnett’s store got broken into. But she was lying about something else.

  A thousand things ran through my mind as I pulled into my driveway. The whole town knew I lived in the brick ranch on McDonald Trail. I’d kind of inherited the place from the outgoing sheriff six years ago. He sold it to me for ten grand under market. Messy divorce.

  I took a quick shower and put on a clean black t-shirt, jeans, and a worn
pair of cowboy boots. I parked the cruiser in the garage and grabbed the keys to my pick-up off a ring by the back door. It took less than twenty minutes to drive to The Willows. Half of me wondered whether Lila would even show. Maybe whoever drove that black sedan would draw her away. I sensed the mystery of her was inside that car.

  I parked in the back. Enough people in town knew my truck. I had nothing to hide, but it was better if this date with Lila stayed private. Date? Is that what it was? She thought she’d played things slick this morning. But I knew damn well this invitation had more to do with her need to get me out of the shop than anything else. Still, the thought of seeing her after hours got my blood humming again. Damn it to hell.

  “Booth in the back?” I said to Rachel, the main hostess at The Willows. She was young, cute, discreet. Oh, she knew who I was but she didn’t call me by name.

  “Sure thing,” she said, grabbing two menus. “I think your date is already here waiting for you at the bar.”

  I slowed my step. Heat spread through me as I caught Lila before she saw me. Damn. The woman was a chameleon. I’d only seen her in her pin-up model attire at the coffee shop. Tonight, she wore her wavy black hair down. It fell to the middle of her back and bounced when she turned her head. Her ass filled out a pair of Levi’s in all the right places. She had on a pair of high-heeled sandals showing off her painted toes, fire-engine red. When she turned and spotted me, dammit if the blood didn’t rush straight to my cock. She sucked Coke through a straw and slid off her stool.

  “You’re late,” she said, extending her hand to mine.

  Shit. She was right. It was almost eight thirty. That wasn’t like me and I felt like an ass. She glowed. Without a drop of make-up she was the Lila I knew, but someone else completely. Light as ivory, her skin glowed. She had a thin dusting of freckles across her nose and cheekbones. Those emerald-green eyes of hers flashed. Kelly. Lila Kelly. She was the kind of woman they used to call Black Irish, I think.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, taking her hand. I shook it, though the urge to bring her fingers to my lips burned strong. Not here. Not now. I couldn’t keep thinking with my dick.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “But I’m starving.”

  “Good. I recommend the Angus burger. If you’re not too fancy, that is.” I gave her a wink and a little blush crept into Lila’s cheeks. Shit. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was just as off-kilter around me as I was near her.

  Rachel led us to a booth in the back like I asked. I slid into the seat facing the door. Lila arched a dark brow then slid in opposite me. “You do that without even thinking, I suppose,” she said.

  “Do what?”

  “Always face the door? Scanning for trouble? Tell me, Sheriff Finch, are you packing tonight?”

  Fuck. She was working me. I liked it. But everything in me wondered if the biggest trouble I’d find tonight was sitting in the booth across from me.

  “So, a dart board, huh?” I said. The waitress came quickly and Lila took my suggestion. We both ordered burgers. I asked for a beer but Lila stuck with Coke.

  “Like I said,” she answered. “It was something like that.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “I figured Crystal Falls would be quiet. Peaceful.”

  “Hmm. And your last place wasn’t?”

  She twirled her straw between her fingers. Her fingernails matched her toes, blazing red. “What do you want to know about me, Sheriff?” she asked. When she raised her eyes to meet mine, hers caught fire.

  “I didn’t bring you here to interrogate you,” I said.

  “Didn’t you? Anyway, I distinctly remember inviting you, not the other way around.”

  “So you did. You do that a lot?” I kept a half-smile when I said it, but her eyes flickered. I hoped I hadn’t offended her with the question.

  “Which thing? Go on dates? Ask out men I barely know?”

  The waitress came with our order. I got comfortable in the booth, draping my arm across the back. Lila got comfortable too. She licked her lips as she reached for her burger, grabbing it with two hands. I found I liked watching her eat. She did it with gusto, her eyes getting heavy as she savored the taste.

  “So, what do you think of us so far?” I asked, dragging a fry through ketchup.

  “Crystal Falls?” she asked, covering her mouth as she chewed. “So far so good. Everyone’s been pretty welcoming. It surprised me. Er ... I suppose not everyone.”

  “Ah,” I said. “Mrs. Morris.”

  “I take it my attempt at an icebreaker with her didn’t do much good. I brought her a muffin basket the other day. She thanked me, but ... well …”

  “Not a lot of warmth from her, huh? Yeah. I was afraid of that. She’s pretty set in her ways. I’m sorry about that.”

  “Is she really all right?” Lila set her burger down and wiped her hands on her napkin. “I mean, what happened last night was awful. I just thank God she didn’t get hurt.”

  “She’ll calm down. And we’ll figure out what happened.”

  “She didn’t have an alarm? Security cameras? Nothing like that?”

  It was an innocent question, I supposed. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Lila might know more than she was letting on. It was ridiculous really. Nothing more than my usual cynicism. My gut instincts about people were always right. That particular skill had saved my life more than once.

  Lila smiled at me but my vision blurred for a fraction of a second. I knew if I closed my eyes, I’d be right back there in Laghman Province. My gut instincts about people were always right. One blistering hot night, eight thousand miles away, I’d prayed to God they weren’t.

  “Beckett?” Lila’s light touch on my hand snapped me back to the present.

  “Sorry.” I smiled, reaching for another fry.

  “Where’d you go?” Her question was innocent, nothing more than small talk. Still, I shivered at the memory my answer would conjure.

  “It’s been a long day,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “Hmm. Maybe this was too much. You probably need to get back home. Get some sleep.”

  “No!” The word came out sharper than I wanted. Partly because I didn’t want to screw this up with her. Mostly, because sleep was the last thing I needed. If I slept, I might dream. I might see Jody’s lifeless face, his blood-filled eyes. I might hear Henny’s screams mixed with my own.

  We finished our meals in companionable silence. Lila waved the waitress off when she brought a dessert menu. It got a laugh out of me.

  “Busman’s holiday?” I asked. She shot me a wink as I paid the bill.

  “Come on.” I slid out of the booth and held out a hand for Lila. Her eyes darted over me. She hesitated for a moment, then put her hand in mine. Hers was so small, but she held me in a firm, formidable grip. I realized in the hour we’d been sitting here, she’d managed to tell me very little about herself I didn’t already know. And I’d done the same.

  “Feel like a walk?” I asked her. The Willows had an outdoor patio that led down to a boardwalk. The place bordered a little man-made pond that was part of the La Bonita Condos.

  Lila hesitated for a second and I sensed it was in her to tell me no. But she didn’t. I think she was just as curious about me as I was her. I desperately hoped it was for the reasons I wanted. God. Would I ever be able to just trust a person or a moment again? Had I ever been able to?

  “It’s beautiful out here,” she said, drawing her arms around herself. We passed the parking lot and I grabbed a worn leather jacket out of my truck. She didn’t protest when I put it around her shoulders.

  “It gets chilly out here when the sun goes down,” I said. “We can leave if you’re too cold.”

  “No. It’s fine. Thank you.” My jacket was huge on her, hanging past her ass. Still, I liked it on her. For whatever reason, I was starting to feel pretty territorial around this woman.

  “You never really told me what brought you to Crystal Falls,” she said as we reached the boardwalk. It
was lit with strings of little white Christmas lights. The still waters of La Bonita Pond reflected them like a thousand diamonds skimming over the surface. They lit Lila’s eyes too. She stood so close to me, I could feel her breath kiss my neck as she turned to face me.

  It hit me like a thunderbolt, igniting my blood and taking my breath from me. I wanted this woman. Badly.

  I wanted to taste her lips. Savor her. Where my jacket fell open, I could see her nipples pebbled beneath her t-shirt. At that moment, I would have given just about anything to feel her pressed against me.

  “Same as you,” I answered, somehow finding a way to keep my voice steady. “Peace and quiet. Slower pace.”

  “Hmm. So, you’re a city boy, are you?”

  “Partly,” I answered. “We moved around a lot when I was a kid. My dad was a Navy pilot. But Corpus Christi was where we spent the most time.”

  “I figured it was something like that,” she said. “I mean, you’ve never seemed like a through-and-through Texan. Not like everyone else in Crystal Falls.”

  “And you? What did you leave behind to come here?” I drew closer to her as a slight breeze picked up. She didn’t move away. My fingers itched to touch her. I wanted to fold her in my arms and protect her from the wind. The temperature had dropped at least fifteen degrees since we came to The Willows.

  “Not much,” she said. “I don’t really have any family left. Not close ones anyway. And Boston was just ... I don’t know ... too big.”

  “Boston. Had to have been some real culture shock coming out here. Do you think you’ll stick it out?”

  The question was loaded. I knew it. My need for her answer burned through me along with my other, baser urges. Dammit, I wanted to taste this woman. It thundered through me, threatening to drive out my reason. I was starved. I couldn’t even let myself think about how long it had been since I’d so much as touched a woman. It had been so much easier to keep things level if I didn’t let myself feel this.