Chapter Sixteen

Carla sighed as she sank back into the window booth of the little diner. She had enjoyed a large meal and now didn’t want to move. She had been surprised at how friendly everyone seemed toward her, having feared that the whole town would think she was a thief.

“I didn’t realize I was so famished,” she told Matt with a smile.

He grinned down at her. “You should take these now, too,” he insisted, pulling the bottle of pills from his pocket. “I’ll get us some more coffee.”

Aiden suddenly rushed in, almost knocking into the waitress as she brought their drinks over. He had an older guy with him that Carla didn’t quite recognize.

“Hey, Aiden. Ben, I haven’t seen you in a while.” Matt greeted them as they slid into the seats opposite them.

“Is your brother here?” Aiden’s voice trembled as he frowned at them.

“Sheriff’s just arrived, boys,” Maisie, the waitress announced as she took away the dirty plates.

“Good, he needs to hear this too.” Aiden looked stern and Carla felt a thud in her stomach. Judging by his and his friend’s expressions, something was very wrong.

“Hey, Aiden. Thanks again for your help yesterday.” Dyson smiled as he shook his friend’s hand. “Hi, Ben, long time no see. Have you met Carla?” The sheriff slid into the booth on her other side as the two officers pulled up a couple of chairs to join them.

“Oh, yeah, this is Aiden’s brother, Ben.” Matt introduced them, and Carla smiled shyly up at the stranger. He was good-looking and now she could see the family resemblance.

Ben was also introduced to the officers, who looked much more relaxed than Carla remembered from earlier.

“There’s a couple of things,” Aiden began, frowning. “It turns out that one of the horses went missing yesterday. I found it on my way home, assumed it had just broken free or something. Anyhow, when my security guys were checking through the tapes they saw the horse being taken by some guy. Looks like that fuckwad Pearson. He must have found his way up to the ranch and followed me when I went after Carla.” He handed something over to the police sergeant, which Carla guessed must be the security footage.

“So that’s how he found me,” Carla gasped. “I couldn’t figure out how he’d know where to look.”

“Yeah, we’ve been wondering about that one ourselves,” Dyson told her. “I assumed the cops would find that out once they got to Sheridan.”

“But why was he over at your place to start with?” Matt asked with a frown.

“Ben’s got something to tell you.” Aiden looked serious and the two cops looked up as the waitress brought over more coffees.

“I’m real sorry,” Ben blurted out. “I had no idea I was causing any trouble.”

Carla felt both guys stiffen at either side of her and they eyed the poor guy suspiciously.

“What did you do, Ben?” Dyson’s voice was deep as he stared at his friend.

Ben swallowed, clearly aware that they were all gawping at him. Carla felt sick in her stomach, just knowing this wasn’t going to be good.

“I happened to mention to an old college-buddy that my brother had a date with this hot girl,” Ben began. He looked sheepishly at Carla. “I had no idea he’d know you. I’m real sorry.”

“Tell ’em who this ‘buddy’ of yours was, Ben.” Aiden spoke through gritted teeth.

“Well, he’s not a friend, exactly, just someone I used to know. I got talking with him in a bar over in Wyoming a couple of days ago when I was visiting over that way.” Ben looked totally embarrassed.

“Does this guy have a name?” Matt’s voice sounded tight as he asked, and Carla felt even more unnerved.

Ben sighed. “Steve Hutchings.”

Carla felt her stomach roil and she actually thought she was about to throw up.

Ben looked beseechingly at Carla. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I had no idea the danger I was putting you in. It wasn’t until I met up with Aiden again this morning that he told me and…”

She managed to smile at him. “It’s okay. You weren’t to know.”

Sergeant Biggleswade narrowed his eyes at Ben. “So you mentioned to Steve Hutchings that your brother had a date?”

Ben grimaced. “Yeah. I’d seen Carla before. She wouldn’t have noticed me but I just said ‘hi’ when she came up through town the other day. I thought she was real pretty, but a bit young for me, you know? Anyhow, when Aiden told me about this beautiful brunette he was taking out the following night I realized it had to be the same girl.”

Carla gulped. She did recognize Ben. She now remembered him as the friendly guy who had greeted her when she first arrived in town.

“I was at a bar over in Sheridan when I bumped into Steve Hutchings. I didn’t recognize him at first, it’s been a while, you know? Anyhow, we got talking and he asked about the family, just general stuff, and I mentioned that my kid brother had a hot date with this gorgeous new girl in town. At first I thought he was just being polite, you know—though I’d have to admit it’s not exactly Steve’s style—and he sounded quite interested so I described her to him.”

“Pity it had taken a couple of days before we arrested the fucker,” Officer Graves moaned. “They’d damaged the CCTV once they realized they were being recorded, but we managed to get it fixed eventually. None of them had got too far as they were too busy fighting over the missing cash. That, and they were stupid enough to think they’d got away with it ‘cause we had no proof. The poor old guy was too badly shaken up at first to help with descriptions so we just had to play it by ear for a while.”

“So you told Steve and he told Jerome where I was?” Carla frowned.

“Yeah, looks that way. I’m real sorry, sweetheart. I had no idea I was putting you in any kind of danger. I didn’t even realize he knew you—he never said. It was only when I mentioned to Aiden today that Steve had asked after him that he told me what happened yesterday. I would never have…”

“No, hang on.” Carla’s mind whirled as she tried to piece it all together.

Matt frowned in confusion. “So, do you know Steve Hutchings, Aiden?”

“No, he was at college with Ben, that’s all,” Aiden replied with a sigh. “We never met.”

“Yeah, we just knew each other—not exactly what you’d call best buddies or anything,” Ben explained, seemingly anxious not to be associated with the guy. “I knew he had a younger brother and I just asked after his family—just being neighborly, you know? He knew a little about my folks so he did the same. It was just small talk, really.” Ben shook his head sadly and Carla’s heart went out to him.

Something had occurred to her, though. “But if they were all still arguing about the missing money, then why would Steve tell Jerome where I was? If they all thought it was a put up job, like you said”—she turned to the cops—“then surely Steve would already assume that Jerome knew where I was?”

Dyson seemed to have picked up on her train of thought.

“Just a minute,” he turned to the uniformed officers who were still enjoying their coffees. “When you questioned Carla last night didn’t you say that Steve Hutchings had alleged that she and Pearson were in on this together?”

“Oh, shit!” Biggleswade clearly caught on quick. “So the fuckwad’s right—it is a conspiracy.”

“The clever bastard!” Dyson exclaimed, shaking his head.

“Are you gonna enlighten the rest of us or do we just assume you’ve all gone mad?” Matt asked with a withered look.

Dyson chuckled. “Pearson reckons he only knew Carla was here ‘cause of an anonymous tip off on his cell phone. The cops at the station had one too, pointing them toward Cavern County. We’re tracing the cell that was used to make the calls, but I’d bet my life on it the dang thing’ll have Hutchings’ prints all over it.” He shook his head incredulously. “Then, when the cops catch Pearson with her they’re meant to assume that the reason he knew where she‘d be was that they were in on it together. Ever since we took him in Hutchings’s been bleating on that Pearson had planned for Carla to take off with the cash and arrange to meet up with him later.”

Carla looked horrified.

“It’s okay, darlin’. No one believes a word of it, do they, guys?” Matt stroked her hand gently as he turned to the cops, who were shaking their heads.

“Not for a second,” Sergeant Biggleswade confirmed, throwing Carla a wink.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell Turner that the fuckwad’s right about Hutchings trying to do a number on him.” Officer Graves chuckled as they all stood up.

“I think we’ll hold that little ace up our sleeves just a little longer, don’t you? It’ll be fun to watch Pearson sweat a while.” The sergeant grinned wickedly as they all strolled back toward the sheriff’s office.

Dyson opened the safe where he had hidden the cash and Sergeant Biggleswade’s briefcase.

“Well, thanks for all your help, Sheriff. We’ll be in touch.” The sergeant shook everyone’s hand before they all made their way back out to the parking lot.

“You take care, missy.” Officer Graves actually gave Carla a quick hug after saying his good-byes to the others.

“I always knew there was something odd about Steve Hutchings,” Carla told them as they parted company. “I even wrote about it in my journal.”

“I think that journal’s gonna prove real useful in convicting them all,” the sergeant told her with a smile of approval.

“I can’t wait to see what else it’ll be useful for finding out,” Dyson whispered into her ear and she felt her stomach lurch. She turned back to Sergeant Biggleswade, who was about to climb into his car. “You are taking it with you, aren’t you, sir?”

The officer tapped his brief case. “Oh yes, miss. I think it’ll be our most useful piece of evidence in this whole case.”

She smiled, content that Dyson wouldn’t get his eyes on her private thoughts. She was surprised to see how smug he appeared, though, when she turned back to him.

“How are you feeling, darlin’?” Matt asked as they all piled back into the sheriff’s office.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, relieved that it was finally all over.

“I really am sorry,” Ben said as he and Aiden went over to her.

“It’s fine. You probably did me a favor,” she told him with a smile. She gave him a hug, just to reassure him. He really was remorseful.

“We’ll catch up with y’all later. Maybe a drink tonight?” Aiden asked as he put his arms around her.

She immediately looked over to the twins for an answer, and was surprised how unhappy they looked. In fact, they were both seething. Was it because she was in Aiden’s arms? Or because she’d just hugged Ben?

“Yeah, we’ll meet you in the bar around seven,” Dyson replied abruptly in a deep voice.

Carla clenched her thighs as she felt the effects in her groin.

Aiden threw her a wink as he left with his brother.

“Am I free to go now?” she asked once they were alone again. She was astonished at the dismayed looks the guys suddenly gave her. She frowned. “I mean, I’m not under arrest or anything?”

Dyson shook his head slowly. “No, baby, you’re not under arrest.”

She was taken aback at how sad they both looked.

Chewing the inside of her cheek, she gazed from one handsome face to the other. Something was clearly bothering them and she wracked her brain to figure what it was.

“You’re free to do whatever you want now, darlin’,” Matt explained softly. “You’re safe. That fuckwad—in fact, the whole gang of ‘em—is in jail and with your evidence they won’t be going anywhere in a long time.”

“Sheridan PD have asked me to make a note of any forwarding address for you, though.” Dyson sounded very formal as he spoke, but couldn’t hide a tiny tremor in his voice. “It’s just in case they have any more questions or need you to attend the trial.”

She suddenly felt sick. “Y-you think I might have to go there and face them?”

Dyson shook his head. “It’s possible, but we hope not. The way those fuckers were singing like jay birds, it looks like they’ll all have admitted to everything anyhow. It’s amazing what they’ll let slip when they’re trying to blame each other!”

Carla nodded.

“So you don’t have to stay in Cavern County if you’ve got other plans,” Matt told her gently.

She felt her stomach churn, wondering if he was trying to tell her to go in the nicest way he could find.

“Oh, right, I see.”

“Do you have any plans?” Dyson asked her warily.

“Well…no. Actually I thought I might be in jail by tonight so I didn’t really think about it,” she admitted.

Her mind whirled. She hadn’t considered her next move—everything had just happened so fast. And the cops seemed to have taken any decision-making away from her yesterday so she had been feeling like she was in a state of limbo. Last night had been magical though, and she felt a thud in her stomach as she wondered if it had really meant that much to them after all. They certainly seemed sincere, and they’d been lovely to her all day. She badly needed some thinking time.

“I just want to go and explain everything to Mr. and Mrs. Bellingham,” she told them. “I didn’t mean to leave them the way I did, and I really like them, you know? I don’t want them to think badly of me.”

“No one thinks badly of you, darlin’,” Matt assured her quietly. “Everyone around here knows what happened. Even Trevor Melrose. It’s like I said, word soon gets ‘round in a place like Cavern County.”

She stared up at his handsome face. His green eyes seemed to have paled and lost their twinkle.

“You are pleased that I wasn’t involved in the robbery, aren’t you?” she asked them.

“Yeah, of course,” Matt replied incredulously. “Not that we ever had any doubts on that score. We trusted you all along, you should know that.”

“Thanks.” She managed a weak smile, still pondering what was making them so miserable.

“Shop’s still open if you want to say good-bye to your friends,” Dyson told her, glancing at his watch.

Carla swallowed hard. “Okay.” She nodded. “I won’t be long.”

“Take as long as you like, darlin’,” Matt replied as both men turned to go back into the building.

Carla swallowed a hard lump which had lodged in her throat. Dyson told me to say goodbye. They want me to go.

She watched their gorgeous bodies disappear into the sheriff’s office before turning to head up the street. She had been dreading facing her employers again after being branded a thief, but she felt even worse about the two handsome hunks wanting her to leave town.

“There you are! Maisie said you were around here someplace!” Delores was sweeping the front step of the shop when she arrived at the little store. The older lady flung her arms around Carla, embracing her in a hug that almost knocked all the air from her lungs. Then she held her at arm’s length while she examined her.

“Looks like a nasty bump to me,” Delores frowned as she studied the large bruise on Carla’s forehead. “How ya feelin’, honey?”

The kindness of the woman was too much for Carla, who suddenly burst into tears. Delores took her in her soft, warm arms and held her for a few minutes while she sobbed.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” Frank suddenly appeared in the doorway, ushering them both into the shop.

Luckily there were no customers just then, and Delores led her through to the back room.

“Here.” Frank offered Carla a cup of tea when she had finally recovered slightly and she took it gratefully.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

“What on earth for?” Delores looked stunned.

“You must think I’m awful,” she replied, choking back more tears. “I’m not a thief. I didn’t steal the money. It was for Mr. Roberts.”

“We know all that, silly,” Delores threw her arms around her once more as she hugged her. “This is Cavern County, remember? Nothing escapes our nosiness!”

“Ain’t that right.” Frank laughed.

Carla managed a small laugh. They sure were lovely people around here.

“I th-thought you’d all believe Jerome,” she told them with a sniff.

“Him? Never told us a thing, honey. Just asked questions—too many of ’em for our liking. That’s why we called the sheriff. We knew something was wrong. Turns out we were right.” Delores squeezed her a little tighter.

“I’m so glad you did. They might never have…”

“Now don’t you go thinking like that, honey.” Delores admonished her kindly. “It worked out and that’s what counts. I hear they’ve picked him up and put him where he belongs—behind bars. Good riddance, I say. We were more worried about you. No one knew where you were and he was obviously looking for ya. I’ve never seen those Shearers so riled up in my whole life!”

“That’s for sure,” Frank agreed with a nod. “Never slept all night, they were out looking everywhere for ya. Whole town was out there, too.”

“Really?” Carla was stunned as she stared at him.

“Oh yeah. We don’t do nothin’ by halves ‘round here, honey.” Delores laughed. “Sheriff rounded up all the menfolk—some of the women, too—and arranged a complete search of the whole area. The Shearers never stopped looking. Scared to death they were about what the fuckwad would do to you if he found you, although no one knew what the hell was goin’ on. We kept getting snippets of intel but it was Aiden who pieced everything together for us.”

Carla nodded. “His brother didn’t mean to do anything wrong,” she told them. “He didn’t know anything about it, either.”

“Oh, we know all that,” Frank waved a dismissive hand to her.

“Aiden’s been a real help, too.” Carla sniffed.

“We know. He was the one that found you that night, wasn’t he? He’d re-traced your steps back from the Melrose, I hear. Got talking to some waitress at the café—Maggie, I think he said. Seems he’s pretty smitten with her.” Delores gave Carla a knowing look which made her smile.

“Maggie’s lovely,” Carla concurred. “She’s a good friend.”

“Yep, you’ve got lots of good friends around here, honey.” Delores smiled at her, offering her a plate of cookies.

Carla felt the knot twist in her stomach. “I know. I’m sure gonna miss everyone,” she said as another tear trickled down her cheek.

Delores frowned. “Why? You’re not leaving, are ya?”

Carla nodded sadly.

Frank sat down, stunned. “Sweetie-pie, those boys must be devastated.” He shook his head.

“I’ve never known them care for anyone the way they do for you, honey,” Delores added with a sigh. “You sure you have to go? There’s plenty folks ‘round here who’ll miss ya. And those Shearers must be beside themselves.”

Carla wiped her sleeve across her face. “They’re the ones that want me to go,” she whispered. “Dyson just told me to come say goodbye to you.”

She placed her cup on the table as a torrent of tears burst down her cheeks, and Delores threw her arms around her once more.

Smothered in the warm softness of the woman, Carla let herself go, sobbing and crying herself out. Eventually she pulled away slightly and Frank handed her a large handkerchief.

“Why don’t you sit down and tell us exactly what he said, missy? From the way those guys have been talking about you lately there ain’t no way in hell they’ll want you to go. There must be some mistake.” Frank’s voice was soothing and Carla stared up at him.

“W-what did they say?” She hardly dared ask, and sat down at the little table as he urged.

Delores sat next to her with Frank opposite.

“You must know how much those guys love ya, honey?” Delores sounded incredulous. “I guess they never actually said as much, but, hey—they are guys after all.” She snickered.

Carla felt a tiny smolder of hope warm her stomach. She shook her head. “They never said anything,” she whispered.

Delores burst out laughing. “That sounds about right to me,” she chuckled.

“Just ’cause they don’t say it don’t mean they don’t feel it,” Frank told her sagely. “We men can’t always find the words, but we try to show how we feel by the things we do. Does that make any sense to you, sweetie?”

Carla stared at him, recalling the way those guys had treated her. They had been so kind and tender with her, and so passionate. Her stomach burned as she remembered the way they had made her feel, and she sniffed, wiping her face with the handkerchief. Even though she hadn’t confided in them about the trouble she was in they had spent all night trying to find her, to save her. They worried about her because they cared.

“I think you need to go and speak to them face to face, honey,” Delores told her with a smile. “’Cause there ain’t no way those guys would want you leaving town, ya hear?”

Carla nodded.

“And besides,” Delores added as they all stood up, “we need you back behind this here counter.”