CHAPTER SIX

On his way in Carl called for an amber alert on Amber Phillips. The information would hit the Internet, radio and television airwaves in a matter of minutes. There wasn’t much that could be done in a lot of situations – he often hated the rules for how long they were forced to wait on potential runaways, as an example, but at least the response time on obvious child abductions was much faster than it had been when he was growing up.

Despite his best efforts, Carl had to hit the office. He would rather have avoided any possible location where Tammy could find him. Like trying to avoid indigestion after too many helpings of spicy chili. But he could hope.

The Wellman County Sheriff ’s Department was part of a small cluster of government buildings off the main square in Wellman. It stood alone and was a red brick affair that looked like it was designed by somebody who didn’t much like anything that wasn’t functional. That was okay. Carl didn’t need all the extras.

Today, however, he got several that he could have done without. The first had been Tammy – who was now waiting outside of his office and looking just as contrite as she could manage. Next to her was Mike Lazenby, the District Attorney. Lazenby kept his hair perfectly coiffed, had stylish suits that were perfectly tailored, was showered pressed and clean every day and still managed to emit a quiet air of sleaziness. It must have been serious, because Mike almost never came over to Carl’s office.

Carl ignored Tammy completely. “What can I do for you, Mike?”

Mike looked away from Tammy, who he had been blatantly studying, and turned to Carl. “Morning, Carl. I needed to talk to you.”

“Figured that part out all by myself. Come on into my office.”

He unlocked the door and slid inside. As soon as Mike was through the door Carl closed it and locked it again. He did not like being disturbed.

There was a coffee machine on the counter next to his desk, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. As soon as the machine was bubbling and hissing he sat at his desk and looked at Mike. “What’s on your mind, Mike? You don’t normally come over here to chat me up unless there’s a reason.”

“Lament Blackbourne.” Mike’s blue eyes rolled toward the heavens for a moment and then looked back at Carl. “She’s planning on making your life a living hell, Carl.”

“We know that already, Mike.”

“Well, she’s gearing up with some serious lawyers, fellas from Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles.”

“I still have all the documentation, Mike. Everything. I made sure I even had extra copies made, so I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Earl is being, well, he’s being Earl. He wants this to go away.” Earl Perkins was the county commissioner. He was also a dick.

“Earl can’t always get what he wants, Mike. I know he’d like it if I somehow vanished, but I’m not gonna.” There was absolutely no love lost between the two men, and Mike was caught in the middle. Earl might not like Carl – and then again he might, Carl could never really get a feel for the man – but had to work with him. Besides, Carl made his life easier.

“Carl, you need to take this seriously.”

“Mike, I’ve had threats from the Blackbourne clan before. I will again. So she has lawyers? So do I. So does the county. I also have enough insurance to cover against any possible wrongdoings and as we’ve already had one run through by investigators that said I was clean and behaving myself, I don’t see where this is anything but more noise being made.”

“Lament Blackbourne isn’t like most of them, Carl. She’s smart and she’s connected. Not locally, maybe, but she has deep pockets and a lot of pull with the right people.” Mike looked like he was winding up for a long sermon. That was the thing about him that Carl normally didn’t much like. The man was good at his job, but he loved to hear himself speak a little too much.

“Tell her to bring it. I’m ready if she is.”

Mike looked at him long and hard, trying to get a read. Carl tried to look like an open book, the better to get the man on his way. Apparently it worked. “Well, okay then, Carl.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. Carl might have felt he’d hurt the man’s feelings, but he knew better. Mike didn’t have feelings.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday for lunch, Mike. We’ll go over a few things.”

“See you then, Carl.”

Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a smirk of satisfaction on the man’s fat face as he held the door open for Tammy.

Old habits die hard. Carl rose from his seat when she came into the room. It was his only kind gesture.

“How have you been, Carl?” Tammy’s voice was a bit nervous. That was fair – he was armed, after all.

“What can I do for you, Tammy?” He kept his voice level and calm. His pulse was jackrabbiting and his blood pressure was high enough that it was singing in his damned ears, but he could fake it with the voice at least.

“I...” She looked away from him, down at the tile floor of his office. He made a note to talk to the janitors about maybe actually mopping just for shits and grins. When she looked up at him he could tell that she wanted to say something, wanted him to say something. He offered nothing at all.

After ten seconds – a few hundred years, something like that – he looked at his watch pointedly and then looked at her. Damn it, she was beautiful. He hated her for that. The idea was to tell her to get the hell out of his office and maybe write a letter. He might even promise to read it if she would just get the hell out of town that much faster. She hated Wellman. She said so often enough.

But damn it. He looked at her face and saw the soulful expression in her eyes and all of the good came rushing at him, wanting to creep back in when he wanted nothing to do with it.

No. Not this time. Not again. Every damned time they got together she wrecked him.

“Tell you what. Write it down if that’ll make it easier.” His voice was colder than he expected. He was okay with that, too. She did that to him. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to run from her. He wanted to send her packing. He wanted, he wanted, he wanted.

“It’s my dad, Carl. He’s sick.”

Tammy’s father was a down-to-earth man. He was a good man. He was also the coach of the football team back when Carl had played in high school. Despite all the fallout from Carl and Tammy over the years, he’d never had a bad thing to say or think about the man.

One gesture. One word, and they’d be back to talking. They’d maybe try to make amends and be friends again and from there, who could say what would happen?

“Yeah? Give him my best when you see him.”

He walked over to the door, doing his best to ignore the look of shock on Tammy’s face. She was shocked, too. She had to be, because it was killing him inside to say the words to her and he’d always been the one to break before.

He could feel Tammy’s eyes on his back as he held the door for her, carefully not looking in her direction. He felt her leave the room, smelled the faint scent of her damned perfume, the one that always made him want her so badly, and then closed the door to his office as soon as she was through the doorway.

Maybe she’d take the hint. Maybe.

And maybe he could remember not to answer the door when she knocked later. And maybe he’d check the caller ID when she called and not answer.

Yeah, because that always worked out so well.

“Damn. Just stay away from me. Do that for me, okay girl?” He spoke only to himself. He’d never have the nerve to actually say the words to her. She might listen.

* * *

Tammy walked through the blazing heat of the day to the car waiting outside for her. As soon as she saw the sleek black sedan, she heard the engine start.

It was a nice car, the sort she’d never be able to afford in a million years, and what she’d been aiming to buy for what seemed like almost that long. Some people knew how to handle money and some didn’t. Tammy most assuredly did not.

No one climbed out and opened the door for her, but Tammy slipped into the rear passenger’s seat of the oversized sedan and immediately sighed at the escape from the oppressive heat.

“How did it go with your friend?” The voice was soft and feminine. The woman who was speaking had a cultured accent that was hard to place. If forced, Tammy would have guessed somewhere in England.

She looked at the pale skin, the long hair, the creamy complexion and felt a flare of jealousy. Tammy knew she was an attractive woman; she certainly got her share of looks, but next to the woman she was facing she felt overweight and lumpy.

“He’s upset. I knew he would be.”

“Yes, well that was the idea wasn’t it?” The woman smiled. Even her damned teeth were perfect.

“Look, what’s the point of getting Carl upset?” Tammy needed to know. Much as she wished she could say this wasn’t screwing her up, it was. She loved Carl. He was her first, and they had a lot of history. There was nothing about the situation she liked.

The woman leaned toward her and put a hand on Tammy’s knee. Despite everything, she felt a tiny sexual thrill from the contact. “That’s not your concern. I have reasons for wanting your Sheriff Price distracted. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“You planning on hurting him?”

The woman leaned back and stared until Tammy finally looked away. Not a word was spoken. Instead the woman opened her purse and pulled out an envelope. “I’ll be in contact. In the meantime, if you see him try to keep him distracted. It’ll be better for everyone involved.”

Tammy took the money. She didn’t bother counting.

After a moment of silence the woman leaned forward. “Can we drop you somewhere?”

“Yeah. Just over at the hospital if you could. I need to see my father.”

“Of course.” The woman nodded and a moment later they were in motion, heading down the road to the hospital where her father was getting his chemotherapy. Tammy closed her eyes and tried to put herself into a happier frame of mind.

The last thing she wanted was for her father to be upset. He had enough on his plate already.