Of all the surprising things to happen in Hopewell—and his hometown had seen both a tornado and a group of people win a fifty-million-dollar jackpot in the last two years—spotting his former girlfriend Claire King strolling down Main Street had to be in Benton Lawson’s top three unexpected events. He’d been innocently looking forward to a saskatoon scone as a reward for passing his CPR requalification, and there she was.
Her change in hair colour from brown to blonde had confused him for a moment, but her bright green eyes were unmistakeable. They ought to be—he’d stared into them often enough when he’d dated her two summers previously when he’d been working in Alberta.
They’d both been out for a bit of fun, so it hadn’t been a serious relationship. Benton had been upfront about the fact that he was only helping out on his uncle’s ranch until his cousins were back on their feet after an accident and then he’d be returning home to the Royal Oak Ranch in southern Manitoba. Claire had been fine with that, especially since she’d been hesitant to get involved with somebody local on her first Royal Canadian Mounted Police posting. It had worked out for everyone involved, and they’d had a good time while it lasted.
But now she was here.
When she didn’t speak, Benton repeated his question. “What kind of official undercover police business are you on, Claire?”
“I’m not sure if I should tell you,” she began.
“I’m a smart guy. I’ll be able to keep up.” As the youngest Lawson brother, he was used to his family treating him like he was too young or inexperienced to understand the situation. He wasn’t about to let Claire pat him on the head and send him on his way without an explanation.
“Do you remember how we first met?”
“Of course.” It was hard to forget the first time he’d walked into a police detachment to file a robbery report. He’d had no idea what to expect, but it hadn’t been a scary, stunning brunette behind the front desk who ended up being the constable who took his statement.
Will Lawson, Benton’s uncle, had a cattle ranch northwest of Edmonton, Alberta. After a double blowout on a trailer, Benton had been sent back to the homestead to retrieve spare tires from the barn. He’d waited for a black pickup and a long horse trailer to pull out of the ranch’s driveway and had waved at the driver behind the wheel. The driver waved back. When Benton had arrived at the ranch, he noticed that three of the ranch’s ATVs had gone missing.
The fact that he’d politely waited for the thieves to make their getaway made him feel like an idiot, but Claire hadn’t teased him once. She was completely fixated on the fact that he might be able to identify somebody in the crew. His description of the driver was vague at best, but he’d been able to give her several details to help identify the truck and trailer.
She’d been impressed with his observation skills. What Benton hadn’t known until she told him later was that a constant stream of local farmers and ranchers had come into the station in the previous weeks to make their own reports of various thefts on their properties. His description was the first solid lead they’d had.
“That gang hit two more ranches after you left, despite us looking for the vehicle and trailer.” Claire picked up an unopen water bottle from the console between the truck seats and held it up. When he nodded, she cracked it open and took a long drink. “The first time, the crew made a mistake. The ranch wasn’t empty. The family’s van had to go in for repairs, but the mom and kids were still on the property during the day while the dad and ranch hands were in the field. She surprised them behind the barn.”
“Did they…” Benton didn’t want to think the words, let alone say them.
“She got pushed around a little and locked in a closet. The kids were locked in a bedroom. But the gang got bolder after that. The next time, the family was home again. They beat the couple who owned the farm and robbed the house as well.”
Benton’s grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles turned white. He’d met a lot of his uncle’s neighbours. They’d all been good people who’d jumped to help the family when his cousins were hurt. “Are they alright?”
“They will be. We think after the increased and more intense scrutiny, the gang decided they’d pushed their luck too far. They vanished after that.” She blew the tips of her fingers, a gesture he’d seen before when she was describing her childhood allowance after she went to the candy store, but this time the grin was missing. “They were smoke. There were a couple scattered reports last summer in Saskatchewan, but nothing we could definitively link to them. Until a month ago when we got a hit on the truck and horse trailer you reported as part of a robbery report. Here.”
“They’re in Hopewell?”
“In the general area. A farmer north of Hopewell reported strangers loitering around his property before he was robbed.” She had another sip of water. “I was assigned here because of my familiarity with the case, and because I had only been at the Bonnyville Detachment for a short time before the robberies occurred. My superior officers figured I had the best chance of going unrecognized.”
Benton didn’t know much about police work, but this whole situation sounded like a big assignment for a fairly inexperienced constable to handle on their own. He also wondered why Claire hadn’t looked up any acquaintances she had in the area to give herself a friendly face to turn to. “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming? We’re not dating anymore, but I thought we were friends.” They’d ended things on a good enough note that he would have been happy to help.
“I’m undercover! Nobody is supposed to know I’m here. I’m surprised you even recognized me with this blonde hair.”
Benton scoffed. Claire was a gorgeous woman no matter her hair colour. She was very fair for a brunette, but he could see that it worked in her favour as a blonde. She was fit and worked out to stay that way; he’d picked her up from the local gym more than once. Her smile was outstanding. He would have noticed her anywhere. “Then why were you loitering in front of Flour Power? Shouldn’t you be acting unobtrusive? What was that about?”
“I’ve been avoiding you and your family’s ranch so we wouldn’t run into each other before I could figure out a way to warn you off. It was working until I spotted a familiar face walking down Main Street.”
“Mine?”
“No, of course not! A man’s face from a blurry security camera still. We think it’s the same man you described. I couldn’t risk him noticing me, but they would have already seen you around town. You’re freaking everywhere. When you started talking to me, I went along with it because I figured that they wouldn’t think twice about someone who was with a local.”
The full impact of his friendly greeting hit him like a truck. “I really messed up your cover, didn’t I?” If Claire was supposed to be new in town, her lie was well and truly exposed. The gears in his brain started turning, trying to figure out how he could fix his error. “Can we make it work for you? Now that everybody knows that I know you, I could show you around, maybe introduce you to some people. It would be a lot more efficient than you trying to make connections on your own. Plus, I’d be able to let you know who else had just arrived recently.” His family had their fingers in so many pies that Benton could offer her contacts across the entire southwestern part of the province and beyond. He was the perfect person to help.
“I should really stay away from you.”
“It’s too late for that. I hugged you in front of my future sister-in-law’s bakery half an hour ago. My family definitely knows about you already. At least let me introduce you to them.”
“Just as friends?” she confirmed.
“Absolutely. As friends.”