Delivering Justice
“Will do, boss. I’ll see if the sheriff can meet you at the hospital to take statements. Maybe he can help figure out who she is.” Russ knew Tyler well enough to realize that he wouldn’t be able to walk away until he knew the mystery woman was all right.
Silence meant Russ was taking care of that phone call right now, which was good because if someone had already reported her missing, then Tyler might be able to bring back more than medical supplies. He might be able to give her an identity. And if that second set of tire tracks had someone frantically searching for help, Tyler could ease that burden, as well.
“Sheriff said no one called in an emergency or missing person’s report,” Russ said.
Tyler feared as much.
“Said he’ll meet her at the hospital since he’s tied up on another interview right now,” Russ continued.
If no one was looking for her, then Tyler had to consider other possibilities for those tire tracks.
“Much appreciated,” he said to Russ. “Have someone ready to take Digby from me so I can head to the hospital as soon as I get back to the barn. And send out a search team in the chopper to make sure there’s no one out here lost.”
Tyler thanked Russ before ending the transmission and starting the journey back toward the redheaded mystery. He couldn’t completely ignore the fear that he’d return to a lifeless body. She’d been upright and responsive so he’d take those as positive signs. Being away from her while she was vulnerable had his blood pressure spiking faster than a pro volleyball player. He picked up his pace, needing to see for himself that she was still okay.
At the faster speed, he crested Diablo’s Rock in half the time. Part of him wondered if she could have managed to crawl away. She’d seemed determined and half-scared out of her wits—a combination that could be dangerous—or deadly—and left him wondering what really had her so freaked out.
He found her right where he’d left her. His pulse had slowly wound back to a decent clip when he saw that she was still conscious. And yet something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on was eating away at him. What was the creepy, fire-ants-crawling-on-his-spine feeling about anyway?
Danger, for one thing, in the form of poachers. Sure, there were poachers in South Central Texas. People looked for trophies and illegally hunted on the large ranches in the area, which created a dangerous situation for all involved.
The O’Briens worked diligently to keep the land free of people who trespassed to hunt or steal game, so that risk should be minimal. If it wasn’t poachers, then what was it? The fact that so many things didn’t add up?
A beautiful single woman alone on a four-wheeler in territory she didn’t know and wasn’t dressed for? Yep. That made about as much sense as a deer eating barbeque.
“Help is on the way,” he said, trying to give her hope to hold on to, wishing he could do more. He knelt next to her and opened his medical supply kit.
“Thank you,” she managed to get out.
“My apologies if this hurts.” It was going to hurt. That gash on her forehead was deep and had him worried. He poured clean water over it and then dabbed antibiotic ointment onto an oversize gauze bandage, pressing it to her forehead to stem the bleeding. She seemed determined not to give in to the pain. Or maybe she was just too weak.
It didn’t take long for the cavalry to arrive. Tyler heard the chopper moving toward them before he got a visual on it. A helicopter was the only logical choice for rescue workers to use in order to access this part of the land. Otherwise, they’d have to take her on one helluva bumpy ride to get her to a main road, and that could jeopardize her condition.
Tyler saw the chopper moments before the pilot landed.
From there, it was only twenty yards to reach him and Red. The land was flat enough to manage easily on foot.
As emergency personnel neared, the mystery woman squeezed Tyler’s hand.
He glanced at her and saw that same look of fear in her eyes. What was that all about? Didn’t she realize this was the help she needed?
Depending on how bad that blow to the head was, she might not recognize them as the people who would help her. That had Tyler more worried than when he’d found her. Just how badly injured was she?
The blow she’d taken to the head looked bad. He’d give anyone that. But her panic looked like she was in one of those horror flicks being chased by an ax murderer.
“It’s okay. I know these men. They’ll take care of you,” he tried to reassure her. Tyler had known the EMTs, Andy and Shanks, for years. They were good guys. Dougherty would be piloting the chopper. Tyler didn’t need to see him to know that.
So what was up with the way she kept squeezing his hand, looking like she was trying to say something?
Chapter Two
The heel of Tyler’s boots clicked against the white tile floor in the hospital hallway as he neared room 367 to check on Red.
He removed his gray Stetson before crossing the threshold, pausing long enough to finger comb his hair and chew on the facts. No one had reported the mystery redhead as missing or reported the accident. That had not been the news he was expecting and it made him worry that some other outsider was on his property, hurt, lost or just a damned fool who was hunting illegally and ditched the redhead when her ATV overturned. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on had his radar on full alert and it was more than just finding her in the condition he had.
Tyler pushed open the door at Bluff General and walked inside Red’s room. Her eyes were closed. The bed had been raised so that she was halfway sitting and she had an IV attached to her left arm. He’d seen enough of the inside of hospital rooms to know the IV most likely contained fluids and possibly antibiotics to stem infection. All good things that her body needed to recover.
In fact, the fluids seemed to be working magic already because there was a rosy hue in the creamy complexion on her cheeks now. Her forehead had a proper bandage on it and his makeshift head wrap had been replaced with clean, white gauze.
Since she looked to be resting peacefully and he didn’t want to disturb her, he figured this would be a good time to visit with her doctor and find Tommy to see if he’d managed to get a statement or put a name to Sleeping Beauty here.
Her eyes fluttered open and he felt like a fool for staring at her.
“How are you?” he asked, for lack of anything better to say. Even through the gauze and tape she was stunning.
“Better,” she managed to squeak out. Her throat sounded scratchy. It was the dry air.
He set his cowboy hat down on the chair and moved next to her bed. Now that she seemed able to speak, maybe he could find out if there were others on his land or if he should call off the search.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
She made a move to speak but coughed instead. Her gaze locked onto a large white mug situated on the wheeled table next to her bed just out of reach.
“You thirsty?” he asked as he moved to the mug.
“Yes, please” came out on a croak.
At least she was talking and making sense. Those were good signs.
“Were you alone earlier?” he asked as he held the oversize mug filled with ice water toward her. She eagerly accepted but didn’t answer.
After a few small sips, she leaned her head against the pillow, but her eyes never left Tyler’s face. Those sea-green eyes stayed fixed on him, panic and fear still there.
“Do you know who you are?” he asked, setting the mug down on the tray and then repositioning it so that she could reach water whenever she wanted.
“Jennifer,” she said, throat still scratchy but sounding much better. Her voice had a nice pitch to it. “Who are you?”
“Tyler O’Brien. My brothers and I own the land you were on earlier.”
Her gaze darted toward the door and then her eyes widened in fear, so Tyler turned to follow her line of sight.
A decent-looking man in his early thirties walked in. His gaze ricocheted between Jennifer and Tyler. He was several inches shorter, so Tyler guessed he was around five foot eleven. He was on the thin side, built like a runner, and had sandy-blond hair. A fresh-looking pink sunburn dotted his tanned nose and cheeks.
Tyler didn’t recognize him.
“Honey,” the man said with a sigh and he seemed to pour on the drama if anyone asked Tyler. “I’ve been so worried about you.”
Tyler glanced at Jennifer in time to see a moment of sheer panic, so he stepped in between them, blocking Tan Face’s path.
“Name’s Tyler.” He stuck out his hand.
“What happened to you, honey? Are you all right?” Tan Face said, sidestepping Tyler and his hand.
“Hold on there, pal,” Tyler said, placing his hand on Tan Face’s shoulder, ensuring he couldn’t get to Jennifer’s bedside. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“James Milton,” he said, puffing out his chest like a cobra, looking none too thrilled that Tyler had put a hand on him.
“Do you mind?” he asked. “My fiancée is lying in a hospital bed and she’s none of your business.”
Fiancée? Tyler didn’t normally misjudge situations. His instincts were usually spot-on. Red seemed scared of the man. But if the two of them were engaged then he needed to take a step back. Some lines shouldn’t be crossed no matter how irritated the man’s presence made Tyler.
He let go of the man’s shoulder. It might be better to take a wait-and-see approach to this one. Tyler told himself that he’d leave as soon as he knew she was going to be fine. Besides, he needed to make sure she had no intention of suing him for having an accident on his land. As crazy as that sounded, he’d heard of people doing that and more.
He ignored the little voice that said he was lying to himself about why he was sticking around and that it had to do with an attraction.
Milton made a dramatic scene of rushing to Red’s side once he was free of Tyler’s grasp. The man was fresh-from-a-shower clean and had on dress slacks and a button-down shirt. Not exactly the kind of clothes one would wear on an ATV adventure, so the logical question was why would he let Red go alone if he cared about her as much as he professed?
“I didn’t know what to think when you disappeared,” Milton said to her.
Tyler folded his arms and leaned against the wall. The panicked expression on Jennifer’s face intensified. He’d probably regret this later, but he had to ask, “About that, James. What happened exactly?”
“I’m fine,” Red interjected, her gaze darting from Tyler to Milton.
Tyler didn’t have a strong reading on the guy other than general dislike and her reaction wasn’t helping. Milton’s concern came off as insincere. Tyler had learned long ago to trust his instincts. This guy looked like he was putting on a show.
The door opened and the sheriff walked in.
Milton turned and the look on his face when he caught sight of the sheriff was priceless. Also, it strengthened Tyler’s intuition that this guy was up to no good. This was about to get interesting.
Tommy introduced himself to Jennifer and Milton, and then shook Tyler’s outstretched hand.
“I’ve been worried sick about you, darling,” Milton said, turning to Jennifer, and Tyler thought the man was overselling.
She managed a weak smile.
Tyler noticed that she stiffened when Milton took her by the hand. Not exactly a warm reception for her fiancé, and that got Tyler’s mind spinning with scenarios, none he liked.
“Do you have ID?” Tommy asked.
“Did we do something wrong, sheriff?” Milton produced two Louisiana driver’s licenses. His and Jennifer’s.
“Just routine under the circumstances in which—” Tommy glanced at one of the plastic-covered cards “—Ms. Davidson was found.”
When Tommy took down the information and then returned the cards, Milton refocused on Jennifer.
“I can’t believe I almost lost you,” he said, his voice had more syrup than Granny’s pancakes when she’d started losing her sight but refused to wear glasses.
If anyone asked Tyler’s opinion, and Tommy would as soon as they were alone, he’d say the guy was a fake. That didn’t exactly make him a criminal.
“Mr. Milton, do you and Ms. Davidson mind answering a few questions?” Tommy asked.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Sheriff, but I’d like to spend some time alone with my fiancée,” Milton said.
Tyler would bet his horse Milton would. He stifled a snicker.
“But I do understand that you’re just doing your job,” Milton added and Tyler was sure it was part of the concerned-fiancé act.
“Given that you seem to sympathize with my position, I hope you won’t mind if I ask Ms. Davidson a question,” Tommy said.
“Of course,” Milton responded.
“Ma’am, would you be more comfortable giving me your statement alone?” Tommy asked. “I’d be happy to clear the room.”
Milton balked at the request. Before he could puff up again, Tommy held out a warning hand.
“It’s part of the job,” he said to Milton. Then he turned his full attention to Jennifer. “Ma’am?”
She looked to be contemplating her answer.
“Why on earth would she want that?” Milton’s cheeks turned a shade of red as he focused on Jennifer.
Her weak smile died on her lips as soon as he turned back to the sheriff and didn’t that make the hair on Tyler’s neck stand at attention. Was she being manipulated? Abused? Milton didn’t seem to want her to speak up for herself.
Tyler ground his back teeth, thinking about a man being physical with the opposite sex.
“No, thanks,” she said to Tommy.
“Were the two of you riding ATVs earlier today?” Tommy asked Milton.
“Yes, and I lost her on the trail so I left and went back to our motel to wait for her,” Milton said.
Tyler’s eyebrow shot up about the same time as Tommy’s. Tyler also noted that she’d deliberately kept the truth from him earlier about being alone on the trail. He’d seen the tracks himself. What was she hiding?
The two of them might have gotten into a fight and it could have gotten physical. He could’ve taken off and then she could’ve chased after him before the crash.
“You decided to leave her unprotected in unfamiliar territory?” Tommy asked.
“We’d had a fight.” James turned toward Jennifer with a stern look.
“I searched everywhere for her once I lost her on the trail. I figured she was mad and needed to blow off steam.”
“Do you realize there are black bears in these parts of Texas?” Tommy asked, incredulous.
“No. I didn’t. I would never...” Milton let that sentence hang in the air. “I searched for her everywhere and couldn’t find her so, like I said, I decided to give myself time to cool off, as well. I went back to my room, got worried, and when she didn’t answer her cell I called around local hospitals.”
“But not the police station?” Tommy asked.
Milton shook his head.
“Did you take off before or after she’d been in an accident?” Tyler asked, since he hadn’t had a chance to brief Tommy on the situation yet.
Milton whirled on Tyler.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“I was just wondering if you knew she’d been in an accident before you took off to ‘cool down’ as you said,” Tyler elaborated.
“If I’d known anything had happened, I’d have stayed with her,” Milton shot back, turning his attention to Jennifer with another overexaggerated look.
That rang more warning bells.
And there was another thing bugging Tyler. If these two were engaged, wouldn’t she be wearing a ring?
“You said the two of you were getting married,” Tyler began. “Set a date yet?”
“We’re working on it,” Milton said. “Why?”
“Just checking to see how far along your plans are,” Tyler said coolly.
“And why would that be any of your business?” Milton asked, not bothering to hide his disdain. He’d been reasonably respectful to Tommy since he was the law, but the man must see Tyler as an inconvenience. A lot could be said about a man who treated people poorly if he saw them as beneath him.
Tyler shrugged, his casual demeanor was clearly getting to the guy. “Thought it was customary for the woman to wear a ring.”
Milton’s gaze shot to Jennifer. “We haven’t made it that far. I just asked her.”
Tyler studied Jennifer’s reaction. Her expression was blank, her eyes dead as she forced a smile.
She was doing exactly what Milton said and yet she feared the man. Had Tyler read this situation wrong? Sure, none of it was adding up and she looked less than thrilled to be around Milton, but no one was forcing her to be with the guy.
Tyler couldn’t figure why anyone would stay in a bad relationship. And yet it happened all the time.
“There are two sets of tracks leading up to the accident. And one left. How do you explain that, Mr. Milton?” Tyler asked.
“I can’t because I wasn’t there,” Milton responded.
“Is that true?” Tommy asked Jennifer.
She glanced up at Milton first, and then nodded.
If she was going to corroborate Milton’s story, then maybe Tyler needed to mind his own business. He’d tried to defend a few buddies who were in the middle of domestic fights and had learned just how quickly tempers could escalate. Tyler wasn’t afraid of Milton; he could handle that jerk. But he couldn’t make Red leave the guy.
If she wouldn’t give him anything to work with, then he had to come at this from another angle.
“Have the two of you had any lifestyle changes lately?” Tommy asked Milton, picking up on Tyler’s tension. “In preparation for the wedding?”
Milton’s face scrunched up. “No.”
“Haven’t taken out any life insurance policies on each other? Named the other as the beneficiary?” Tommy pressed.
“No. Nothing like that.” Milton’s face looked ready to explode from anger. “Am I under arrest, Sheriff?”
Not yet, Tyler wanted to say.
“Can I see you in the hall for a minute?” Tyler asked Tommy.
“I was just about to suggest the same thing,” Tommy said and then turned to Milton. “I’ll be back as soon as I take a statement from the landowner.”
The door had barely closed when Tyler turned around and asked, “How is it that a man could, first, leave his fiancée outside in a strange place alone and, second, not call the police when she’s missing for hours?”
“Good questions,” Tommy said. “He’s a jerk. I just don’t have anything that I can charge him with. I need something solid in order to take him in.”
“Did you notice how scared she looks?” Tyler asked. “Or the fact that he was so concerned about her that he decided to take a shower before he bothered to figure out where she’d gone or what might’ve happened to her?”
Tommy frowned, nodded. “It’s not illegal, though.”
“His story doesn’t add up and he’ll most likely run out of town the minute our backs are turned.” Frustration ate at Tyler.
“You’re right on both counts, but he has every right to go where he pleases for now. As far as I can tell no crime has been committed.”
“He’s hurting her.” Tyler clenched his fists.
“Which is a shame, but not against the law unless someone witnesses it or she steps forward on her own to press charges.”
“It should be.” Tyler knew this guy was up to no good.
“I’ll stay on him. If he so much as makes a wrong turn while he’s in town I’ll question him for it,” Tommy said.
“There has to be more you can do than that,” Tyler said.
“We can scare him,” Tommy said after thinking about it for a minute. “We better get back inside. I don’t want to leave him alone with her longer than we have to.”
“I have a few more questions for him,” Tyler said through clenched teeth.
Tommy paused before opening the door. “Go ahead and ask everything you want. See if you can get him to mess up and admit to something. Without her willing to go against him, we have nothing otherwise.”
Milton stood, rising to his full height when they reentered the room, which was still considerably less than both of the other men.
“Earlier, you said you lost your fiancée after a fight?” Tyler took up his position leaning against the wall near the doorjamb.
“She was tired and decided to turn back but I wasn’t ready to go, so I told her how to find her way to our original meet-up point.” Was Milton changing his story?
“I thought you said the two of you got into a fight,” Tyler said.
Milton glanced down and to the right, a sure sign he was about to lie.
“That’s what we fought about,” he said, quickly recovering, as pleased with himself as if he’d just won the big stuffed animal at the state fair.
Clearly the man had just made another mistake. First he said he lost her, then he said that she turned back on purpose—which was it?
“You can’t have it both ways, so pick one,” Tyler said point-blank.
“Well, originally she said she was going to turn back, but then I got a bad feeling about her being out there alone in a place she didn’t know and so I turned back to look for her, thus find her.” Another satisfied smirk crossed Milton’s features.
If that wasn’t a sack of dung bigger than a bull, Tyler didn’t know what was. Who did Milton think he was fooling?
Tyler’s right hand fisted. He flexed and then forced it to relax.
“Good that you had time to clean yourself up, you know, while you were so busy being worried about your fiancée here,” Tyler pressed.
Another frustrated pause.
“When I couldn’t find Jennifer I figured she got angry at me for leaving her, so I decided to be ready to smooth things over when she came back to the motel,” Milton said.
“Even though you couldn’t find her when you went looking for her? You still assumed she’d be able to find her way back?” Tyler asked, not letting up. “And where was this meet-up point you mentioned?”
Milton didn’t answer.
In all honesty, the man could walk out at any time. But then, that would leave Jennifer alone with Tyler and the sheriff. No way did James Milton want that.
“What are you doing in town, anyway?” Tyler continued.
“We came for the...nature. We wanted to get out of the city for a long weekend and decompress before kicking our wedding plans into high gear,” Milton said. “Life from here on out is going to be crazy, isn’t it, honey?” Milton shot another look at Red.
“What trail were you on? Do you remember anything about it that stuck out?” Tyler asked.
“Not really.” Milton shrugged.
“Was it rocky or were there trees?”
“Trees,” Milton said, trying a little too hard to sound convincing.
“Which direction did you come from?” Tyler asked.
“We came from the north,” Milton supplied.
Tyler didn’t immediately respond.
“You sure about that?” he finally asked.
“Yeah. North, right, honey?” Milton said, glancing down at Jennifer.
She managed a weak smile and a nod.
No one got to Diablo’s Rock from the north on an ATV. Tire tracks at the scene indicated the opposite. Tyler slanted a look at Tommy.
“That’s impossible,” Tyler said. “Tracks came from the south.”
Anyone could get confused in an area they aren’t familiar with, but this guy wouldn’t be confused about direction because he was wearing one of those expensive compass watches.
“Guess I didn’t notice.” Milton shrugged. “If I’m not under arrest, then can we be finished with this conversation?” His lips flattened, indicating his patience had run out.
Well, guess what, buddy? So had Tyler’s.
And they were far from done.
Chapter Three
“Where’s the doctor?” Milton asked, rotating toward Jennifer and effectively turning his back on Tyler and Tommy. “How much longer do you have to stay in here?”
“In a hurry to go somewhere, Mr. Milton?” Sheriff Tommy asked, blond eyebrow arched.
“I’d like to get her home where I can take better care of her,” Milton said. “It’s impossible to get any rest in one of these places.”