Just Down the Road (23 page)

Addison asked a few questions, but he’d heard all he wanted to hear. Sadie was dead, and now it was his responsibility to take care of Jamie. If that meant protecting the boy with his life, Tinch knew he would.

The sheriff sat down in one of the dining room chairs and folded her arms. “Except for a few relatives, no one knows that either of you are connected to Jamie. We’re not dealing with professional killers here. There’s a good chance these guys think they’ve gotten away with the murder, and I’d like to keep it that way until I catch up to them. We don’t have much to go on right now. A few people around the trailer park saw a man parked outside Sadie’s place a few days ago, but I couldn’t get a description worth putting out on either the man or the car.”

“So they’ve been back to the scene of the crime?” Tinch asked.

Alex shrugged. “The company that rents out a few of the trailers in the park said someone called and wanted to rent that exact trailer. When the receptionist said it needed to be cleaned, the caller claimed that wasn’t necessary.”

“They’re looking for something,” Tinch added.

“That would be my guess.” Alex stared at him. “Something besides the boy. If they don’t find it in the trailer, they might think Jamie has it—or knows where it is. The next step could be to find him.”

“He didn’t come with anything but the ragged clothes on his back.” Tinch said what all three of them already knew. There was no way Jamie had anything the men wanted, but that might not stop them from coming after him. They might think he knew something.

“So, what is the plan?” Addison sat down beside Tinch, brushing his leg as if she’d done so many times.

The sheriff leaned forward. “I’m thinking, maybe they’re stupid or desperate enough to show up at Sadie’s funeral. We could put it off a few more days. I could get the paper to run a story about how this woman died alone without any relatives. If the drug guys read it, they just might think they could get a good look at Jamie and find out where he’s staying.” She looked at Tinch. “I don’t want you or Jamie or Addison there. I’ll have men watching. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot these guys if they show up.”

“If that fails, I’ve got a team in Dallas digging up who Sadie worked for. Maybe we can track it that way. I’d really like to find out who did this, but my first priority has to be keeping the boy safe.”

“Both chances of catching them are long shots.” Tinch frowned. “I’ve never lived looking over my shoulder, but it’s a habit I plan to pick up. Between the doorbell at the gate and the dogs, no one will get on my property without my knowing it. Tomorrow I’ll call Denver Sims and see if he won’t come by and help me make the Rogers place more secure.”

“Won’t you have to check with the owner?” Alex asked.

Tinch shook his head. “I bought the land today. All that’s left to do is the paperwork. The way I see it, there are only two ways to get to Jamie. One, across open fields from the Rogers place, but I’m guessing these guys are lazy. A locked gate will probably keep them out. Two, they come through my front gate. If they do, no matter what time it is, I’ll know they’re coming.”

Alex asked Tinch to walk her out while Addison went up to check on Jamie. They were at her car when she said, “The autopsy showed signs that Sadie Noble was raped postmortem. We have DNA, but even if they’re in the system, it will take time.”

Tinch nodded. “I don’t want the boy to ever know that.”

She agreed.

“And.” He lowered his voice. “I’m dealing with the funeral home in cash, so there will be no paper trail to me if they check. Tyler said he’d write it down as a county burial, if it’s okay with you.”

“Fine. Is the doc staying here with you?”

“She is until I get security at her place. You got a problem with that, Sheriff?”

He caught her smile in the porch light.

“No problem at all. In fact, that’s the only good news I’ve heard today.” Alex straightened her tall, slender frame. “I’m only thinking of her safety, of course.”

“That and the boy are the only reasons she’s here,” he said, more roughly than he’d intended. He wasn’t any better at lying than the sheriff was.

When he walked back inside, he found Addison upstairs, curled up next to Jamie. Tinch had no way of knowing if the boy had cried out or if the doctor thought this might be the best place to hide.

He pulled off his boots and slipped in on the other side of Jamie.

Addison’s arm circled above the kid.

Tinch turned out the light and reached for her hand. He didn’t say a word as he gripped her fingers in his. She didn’t pull away, and Tinch fell asleep wondering why he hadn’t settled for a nice sweet kiss when she’d asked him. The way she’d kissed him would flavor his dreams for a long while.

The answer as to why, he refused to acknowledge, but it kept circling in his mind. He hadn’t settled for less because he wanted more. Much more.

T
UESDAY

O
CTOBER
4

T
URNER
R
ANCH

A
DDISON WOKE UP LATER THAN USUAL
. J
AMIE WAS STILL
asleep beside her, but Tinch was already gone.

She showered and put her clothes back on, knowing she could get a clean pair of scrubs when she got to the hospital.

Then she rushed downstairs, planning to dart to her car and hopefully not see Tinch at all this morning. After the fool she’d made of herself last night, she needed time to think about what to say to him. First she’d asked for the kiss, then she’d attacked him. She’d wrapped her legs around him so tightly he couldn’t have gotten away if he’d wanted to.

Apparently, he hadn’t wanted to, since he’d kissed her like he was a dying man and she was his last breath.

She made it to the porch before she saw him walking
across the yard, a bridle over one shoulder and his hat low against the morning sun. For a few moments, Addison was unable to look away. There was something so beautiful in the rough strength of this man. This man, she remembered, who handled a rifle last night as easily as he’d handled her.

“Morning,” he said when he noticed her.

“I have to go,” Addison said. She didn’t move. If she headed toward her car, she’d have to pass him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be that close to him. Not yet. Her nerves were still too raw. Just thinking about how she’d acted made her blush.

“About last night,” he started as he faced her straight on.

“Forget about last night.” She couldn’t, wouldn’t talk about how she’d acted. “It never should have happened. I owe you an apology. I was wrong about saying you were wild. Apparently, I’m the wild one. It was bold of me to ask for a kiss and then attack you. My behavior was appalling.”

Tinch pushed his hat back and stared at her as if he were trying to converse with an alien. “I was thinking about holding your hand while we slept. It was nice.”

“Oh.” She felt as if she’d just been sunburned from the inside out. “I forgot about that.”

A slow smile dimpled one of Tinch’s cheeks. “And about the other. You didn’t attack me, Addison. I was there and I remember every detail that happened. If anything, it was me who got out of line, not you.”

“Thanks for that.” She’d expected him to deny what had happened or brag about it. Maybe even tell her that she was some kind of nut job. That seemed to be the usual plan of action with men she’d had dealings with, but then she’d never met anyone like this cowboy before her.

“It was nice.” He moved a step closer. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

“You didn’t frighten me.” She could feel herself shifting from foot to foot and moving her arms. Her father’s voice echoed from childhood, demanding she stop fidgeting. “Can we talk about this later? I have to go to work.”

He stepped away from the porch, giving her plenty of room. “We don’t have to talk about it at all, Doc.” He raised his hat a few inches and then settled it back low on his head. “You have a good day.”

She almost ran to her car. Part of her wanted to say she wouldn’t be back tonight. She didn’t know what she was doing here anyway. Jamie had settled in and Tinch could take good care of him. She should just go home and call to check on the boy. But Addison couldn’t stay away. She cared about Jamie and wanted to help him, but she knew down deep inside that she was coming back to see Tinch, not the boy.

As she drove the ten miles to the hospital she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d held her. To her surprise, she realized the man had been giving, not taking. He’d been pleasing her, something that no one had ever done before.

She had a slow day, with time to catch up on paperwork and even take a nap in the break room. Georgia Veasey told Addison she looked tired and asked if she was feeling all right.

Addison couldn’t tell the nurse, her good friend, anything. Even if she’d wanted to and it had been safe, she had no idea how to explain what was happening between her and the neighbor just down the road.

How did she explain that for the first time she wanted someone for no other reason than she needed him?

About five the emergency room was empty. Addison called Tinch to tell him she’d bring supper, and then she changed into jeans and a sweater and left the hospital.

Thirty minutes later, when she walked into Tinch’s house, Jamie ran toward her. “Food,” he shouted. “I’m starving. Uncle Tinch let me ride a horse by myself today and we rode for miles and miles.”

Addison smiled, realizing she’d been waiting all day to get back to this place. “How about we eat and then you can teach me to play Chinese checkers?”

Tinch pulled a soda from the refrigerator. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got a few hours’ work to do with a horse I got in today, if you don’t mind staying with Jamie. I’d rather he not be around this mare just yet.”

“She’s mean,” Jamie said between stuffing French fries in his mouth.

“No,” Tinch corrected. “She’s hurt. The vet stitched her up, but I need to change the bandage and she’s not too happy about having anyone close.”

“Of course I’ll stay with Jamie.” Until that moment, she hadn’t thought about how hard it must be on him to get his work done and watch over a four-year-old.

“Thanks,” he said, then leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Before she could react, he was out the door and Jamie started asking her questions about which food was his.

As they ate, Jamie told her about his day. “We cleaned out a closet today and boxed up a bunch of clothes.” As he tried to feed the kitten lettuce, he added, “We also picked which room is going to be mine. Tinch says I can put my things in there, but I don’t have to sleep in it until I’m ready. He says its okay to sleep with you and him.”

“You know, Jamie, my house is down the road. At some point, I need to go back home.”

“I know”—Jamie looked like he might cry—“but not tonight.”

“Not tonight, but soon.”

Jamie nodded. “Tinch says one of the pups can sleep in my room when I decide it’s time for me to bunk in there. He says when they’re grown they’ll be the best guard dogs around. No one will step foot in our house without them barking.”

“You and Tinch talk a lot today?”

“Sure, we talk all the time, and you know what?”

“What?”

“He never tells me to stop talking or be quiet like my mom always did. He lets me ask as many questions as
I want to, but he says for me to remember the answers ’cause there ain’t enough time in this world to answer them twice.”

Addison laughed. She could almost hear Tinch saying those exact words.

“I told him my momma always called me a bother. You know what Tinch said?”

Addison couldn’t wait. “What?”

“He says it don’t matter what folks call you, it’s what you answer to that’s important.” Jamie frowned. “I don’t got no idea what he means, but it made me feel better.”

At nine Addison put Jamie to bed and stayed with him until he fell asleep. When she heard Tinch banging around downstairs, she climbed from the bed, slipped on his old shirt that she used as a robe, and tiptoed down to join him.

He was sitting at the bar downing a cold sandwich and a glass of milk. For a moment she thought he looked exhausted and wondered if all the worry over Jamie had taken its toll.

He must have heard her coming, for he straightened and looked toward the stairs. His hat was propped far back on his head, as if he hadn’t quite realized he was finally inside, and his shirt and jeans were so dirty he must have wrestled the horse.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked.

“Only if you promise not to ask any questions.”

“Deal.”

She climbed onto the stool across from him and propped her elbows on the bar. “I could warm that up for you.” She pointed to the steak sandwich that had once been hot. “Though it’s still not much worth eating.”

“No thanks.” He tossed his cold supper back on his plate. “I wasn’t that hungry anyway. It’s been a long day. A vet over in Clifton Creek brought over a half-wild Appaloosa mare who got into a roll of old barbed wire. She was cut all the way to the belly.”