The Lawman's Noelle (Men of the West Book 31) Read online

  “Noelle! When did you come in?”

  At the sound of Jessi’s voice, Noelle looked toward the swinging double doors that separated the kitchen from the dining area. At the moment, the batwing doors were still rocking on their hinges from Jessi shouldering her way through them.

  “About five seconds ago,” she told the waitress. “I was afraid your shift had already ended.”

  “Not a chance,” Jessi said with a weary smile, then inclined her head toward the tray of food she was carrying in both hands. “I’ll be right back.”

  While she waited for Jessi to return, Noelle pulled off her jacket and draped it over her lap. Since she’d driven into town only to pay the waitress for her bill from the other day, she hadn’t taken the time to put on makeup or change out of her work clothes. And though she realized she looked worn and shabby, she wasn’t concerned that she might run into Evan. In fact, it would probably be good for him to see her like this. Maybe then he wouldn’t get the urge to kiss her again.

  Why are you worried about that, Noelle? After running to your bedroom and slamming the door, you’ve neither seen nor heard from the man. He’s clearly decided that you’re too crazy for him. And that was all for the best.

  The mocking voice in her head was probably right, Noelle thought. But a part of her wasn’t yet convinced that she’d seen the last of the deputy sheriff. When he’d kissed her that last time at the door, he’d known all about her baggage. She’d made it clear to him that she’d given her small fortune back to her parents and that she would never be rich again. She’d even confessed to him that she wasn’t looking for a man. Yet he’d kissed her anyway, and nothing about the way his lips had moved over hers had felt as if he was disinterested.

  “Okay, here I am,” Jessi announced as she hurried behind the bar. She stopped in front of Noelle. “What would you like? Coffee? Cinnamon roll?”

  “Right now I want to pay you for my bill from the other day. Do you remember the amount?”

  The redheaded waitress waved a hand. “Forget it. Consider it my treat.”

  Noelle opened her handbag and pulled out her wallet. “Thanks, but no way will I let you pay for my absent­mindedness.”

  While Jessi rolled her eyes with disapproval, Noelle placed a bill large enough to cover the cost on the countertop.

  “Why can’t you accept things without an argument?” Jessi wanted to know.

  “Because I know you’re like me. You need every dime you make. That’s why. Now you quit arguing and take the money.”

  Seeing that Noelle was serious, Jessi stuffed the bill into a pocket of her apron, then rested her elbows on the countertop.

  “So, are you ready to tell me about this thing with you and Evan Calhoun? When I first saw you two talking together the other day, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”

  The warm café held the homey scents of bacon, coffee and apple pie, and Noelle realized that since she’d moved to the Carson City area, it was one of the few places she’d come to feel comfortable in. Probably because it was simple and mostly full of hardworking people like Jessi.

  “There’s nothing to tell, Jess, other than what Evan said about me finding him in the gulch.”

  “Well, something sure had you stirred up the other day. You’ve never left here without paying before!”

  Noelle grimaced. “I didn’t do it on purpose, Jess.”

  The waitress let out an annoyed wail. “I never thought you did. I’m just saying—”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll admit it. Evan did have me stirred. He’d asked me out.”

  Jessi’s blue eyes grew wide. Then, leaning closer, she lowered her voice. “You mean, like out on a date?”

  “He considered it one. But I didn’t. We went to visit his grandparents up near Virginia City.”

  “Oh, my! That’s even more important than a date! How in the world did this happen? Had you ever met him before that day he had the accident?”

  “No. I’d never heard of the Calhoun family or the Silver Horn Ranch. But then, you know my social circle is limited to this café, the feed store and the grocery store. I don’t keep up with local news or events.”

  Jessi sighed as though a Cinderella story was actually unfolding before her very eyes. Noelle refrained from groaning out loud.

  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be with a man like him. He’s so—” Jessi’s expression turned starry-eyed. “Strong and rugged. And the way he looks in his white shirt and jeans. It’s like he’s all shoulders and long legs. Sometimes he’s wearing a badge on his chest and a pistol on his hip, and that’s when he looks like nobody else in the room. But I guess you’ve already noticed that.”

  “Apparently, not as much as you,” Noelle said wryly.

  Jessi let out a sheepish laugh. “Sorry. I guess I did sound a little dreamy, didn’t I? But gee, it’s just so exciting to hear about you going out with Detective Calhoun. Did you visit the big ranch?”

  “No. And before you start getting all these ideas, there was nothing romantic about the day. It was just a simple outing. That’s all.”

  Well, except for those two kisses, that was mostly the truth, Noelle thought.

  Shouldering her handbag, she rose to her feet. “I’d better be going. I have a lot to do back at the ranch.”

  Jessi frowned. “You’re not going to have anything to eat? At least stay long enough for coffee.”

  “Not this morning. I came by just to settle my bill. I’ll see you later.”

  Rounding the bar, Jessi followed Noelle to the door.

  “Why don’t you drive back into town tonight and watch the Christmas parade? Come by my apartment and we’ll go together. It’ll be fun.”

  “Thank you for asking, Jess, but I don’t want to burn all that gasoline just to watch a parade.”

  Jessi scowled at her. “Just a parade! Noelle, how can you be so jaded? It’s the Christmas parade!”

  Feeling ashamed of herself, Noelle wiped a weary hand over her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just not in a festive mood.”

  With her birthday drawing near, she couldn’t help thinking how her father had sometimes called her his Christmas baby. But that had been when she was a young child and years before she’d learned the truth about him and Phillip being partners in deception. So much had changed in her life since then. Her brother was gone, and her parents were not much more than a tangle of fond and painful memories. Now she had no close family to acknowledge her birthday or to join her in celebrating Christmas. Evan had implied that this year, the holidays might be different for her. But she couldn’t imagine how. She didn’t have someone like his grandparents to envelop her in warm love. She didn’t have someone like him to kiss her beneath the mistletoe.

  Folding her arms, Jessi studied Noelle with disapproval. “You’re never in a festive mood. I don’t get it, Noelle. You told me that you moved here to the Carson City area so you could be happy. I’m not sure you’ve ever reached that state of mind.”

  “Well, thanks for reminding me that I’m a sour bore,” Noelle retorted, then opened the door and stepped onto the narrow concrete sidewalk that ran alongside the front of the café.

  Ever persistent, Jessi followed. “Okay, run home and pretend that you’re not lonely and miserable. That will fix everything.”

  “I don’t want anything fixed. I’m happy just as I am. Now you’d better get back inside before a customer starts hollering for a waitress.”

  Giving Jessi a wave, she climbed into her truck and drove away from the Grubstake. But once she was completely out of her friend’s view, her shoulders slumped and tears burned her eyes.

  Run home and pretend that you’re not lonely and miserable.

  Was Jessi right? Was that what she’d been doing the past four years since
she’d come to Nevada? Pretending that her heart was healed and ready to find love and happiness? No. She wasn’t fooling anyone, including herself. If she was over the past, then she would’ve wrapped her arms around Evan and hung on tightly. Instead, she’d run from him and all the passion he was making her feel.

  * * *

  Later that day, Evan was working in his office when his partner walked into the small room. Vincent Parcell, tall with dark hair, took a seat on a corner of Evan’s cluttered desk.

  Evan asked, “Have a nice lunch?”

  “Lunch, hell! Where did you get that idea? I’ve been working the pharmacy robbery for the past three hours. Why didn’t you show up?”

  Leaning back in the chair, Evan pointed to the report lying in front of him. “Before I could leave the building, Captain Ridder caught me. He said you could handle the pharmacy case. He wanted me to look at this.”

  Now thirty-two, Vincent had been working in the investigation arm of the office for two years when Evan had been promoted to detective. Since then, the men had become close friends. Though there wasn’t that much difference in their work experience, Evan felt as though Vincent was light-years ahead of him in finding evidence that others missed.

  “What is it?” Vincent asked.

  “The coroner’s report on Watson’s body. He’s ruled it a homicide.”

  Vincent rubbed a hand against the day-old stubble covering his jaws. “Not too much of a surprise there. It wasn’t like the man had any reason to be on a country road without a vehicle or anything around.”

  “Right. Well, listen to this,” Evan said. “The coroner discovered a needle puncture in his back. Someone injected him with a lethal dose of phenylbutazone.”

  A thoughtful frown wrinkled Vincent’s lean features. “Isn’t that the stuff you use on horses for pain?”

  “That’s right. It’s normally called bute by ranchers and the people who deal with horses.”

  “So that bruised-looking area on the shoulder—the spot we thought was from a blow or a fall—was that where the stuff was injected?”

  Evan nodded. “If the drug is administered into muscle, it destroys the tissue.”

  “Hmm. Don’t figure Watson stabbed himself in the back.”

  “No more than he carried himself to that country back road and then fell over dead in the pasture.” To think they’d found the corpse only a couple of miles from Noelle’s house sent a cold shiver down Evan’s spine. She might not lock her doors whenever she was out of the house, but he was going to make damned sure she locked them at night before she went to bed.

  “Watson wasn’t a rancher,” Vincent reasoned. “He was a truck driver. And from what his family and friends told us, he’d been out of work for several months. Where could the killer have gotten this drug? Is it only dispensed through a vet?”

  “Yeah. It’s a controlled substance. But most ranches will have a bottle of it sitting around in case of emergency. It also comes in paste form for oral use, but clearly that doesn’t come into play with Watson’s death.”

  Vincent eased off the desk and walked a few steps over to his own desk. As he took a seat in the swivel chair behind it, he said, “Well, now we’ve got to go through all the man’s contacts and try to figure out which one of them could’ve had access to the drug. Shouldn’t be that hard to figure out which ones work around horses or ranching.”

  Evan shook his head. “Before you start getting tunnel vision, Vince, you might need to know that dogs are sometimes treated with it, too, and in a few cases, even people. Not very often. But the possibility is there.”

  “Oh, hell. That puts a kink in things. But at least we have something to start with.” Vincent ran a hand through his hair, then rolled his head from one shoulder to the other. “I’m dead tired. For some reason, I couldn’t sleep last night. That sexual-assault case kept going around in my mind. I want to make sure we have enough evidence on that creep. He needs to be behind bars for the rest of his life.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that case. Noreen tells me that she feels confident about the evidence. I can assure you that she’s not about to make any plea deals.”

  Noreen, the district attorney for Carson City, also happened to be his father’s girlfriend, so Evan not only was acquainted with her through courthouse dealings but also saw her from time to time on the Silver Horn when she came out to have dinner with Orin. Although she had the fierce tenacity of a bulldog in the courtroom, outside it, she was a lovely dark-haired woman with a soft heart. She’d changed Orin’s life for the better, and no one in the family cared one whit that she was nearly twenty years younger.

  Vincent left his chair and went over to a tiny table jammed between a pair of tall file cabinets and filled a foam cup with coffee from a stainless-steel percolator. Behind him, Evan warned, “That stuff is so old it’s turned into black licorice. Why don’t you make a new pot?”

  “Why don’t you?” Vincent countered. “You’ve been lounging around here in the office all day.”

  “Yeah,” Evan said with good-humored sarcasm. “I spend every day lounging around the office wondering if I’m going to enjoy my retirement as much as Granddad.”

  “Never. Your granddad has a lovely wife to keep him company. When you get old, you’re going to be alone with nothing but a TV to stare at.”

  “Look who’s talking about a wife. You divorced yours.”

  Vincent took a sip of the coffee, then made a sour face. “No. She divorced me. I wasn’t home enough to suit her.”

  Both men were well aware that Vincent had divorced his wife because she’d become an alcoholic and had refused to get help. But Evan never reminded his partner of that fact. Vincent had already suffered more than any man should have over the breakup of his marriage. Evan wasn’t about to pour salt into the wound.

  “So is your dad still seeing Noreen?” Vincent asked as he returned to the chair at his desk.

  Evan nodded. “Their relationship appears to be strong and steady.”

  “So he’s not a bit worried that she might be after his money?”

  Knowing he was talking about Bianca, Evan leveled a pointed look at him. “No. But not all women are like my ex-fiancée.”

  Vincent clapped his hands loudly. “Hallelujah. You’re finally seeing the light.”

  Was he? Ever since Evan had left Noelle’s house the other night, he’d not been able to see anything but her. He’d not been able to think of anything but her. She’d given up a husband and riches to live a life that would be best for her. And now, after four years, she said she was happier for it. But would she always feel that way? After a while, would she start regretting her choice to give up all that wealth? Would she get tired of working herself weary with very little to show for it and decide to head back to Arizona?

  If that ever happened, he’d be left out in the cold.

  You’re going to be left out in the cold anyway, Evan. If you don’t think so, just remember how she ran away from your kiss and left you standing at the door like a frozen idiot.

  The voice in Evan’s head was suddenly interrupted by Vincent’s.

  “Evan, that’s your phone, not mine. Are you waiting on me to get up and answer it for you?”

  Cursing under his breath, Evan reached for the phone on his desk and was surprised to hear his half sister, Sassy, on the other end of the line.

  “Hi, Evan. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important. I tried your cell, but the connection kept dropping.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he assured her. “Everything is quiet at the moment. How are you and the baby doing?”

  “My belly is bigger than a giant pumpkin now,” she joked. “But seriously, we’re both doing okay. Only three more months to go, and you’ll be an uncle again.”

  Evan smiled at the thought. Sassy and Jett�
��s three-year-old son, J.J., was quite a rounder. But for some unexplainable reason, the boy was all polite manners whenever Evan appeared on the scene. Everyone in the family had laughingly accused Evan of threatening the little imp with jail time.

  “So you and Jett don’t know the sex of the baby yet?”

  “Oh, no! We didn’t know with J.J., and that’s the way we want it with this one. We’ll know whenever it arrives,” she told him happily. “Now I’d better get to the point before you get sidetracked with work. I’m calling to invite you to our Christmas party. It’s a week from Friday night at seven. Can you make it? Dad and Noreen are coming. And our brothers are, too.”

  “Sure. I’ll do my best. Do I need to bring anything? Other than gifts and myself,” he added with a wry chuckle.

  “Don’t bring gifts or food. But it would be great if you’d bring a date.”

  “A date! Pregnancy has done something to your thinking, girl! What gave you the idea I’d bring a woman to the party?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Vincent’s head fly up. No doubt the word date had caught his attention. Except for his outing with Noelle the other day, Evan hadn’t taken a woman anywhere in months and months. Oh, for a while after he’d broken up with Bianca, he’d tried to get back into the dating scene, but nothing about it had given him any pleasure, and he’d given up. Still, Vincent was always trying to set him up on a blind date, even though Evan continued to balk at the idea.

  “It’s the Christmas season,” Sassy said. “The time when miracles happen. And I can hope, can’t I?”

  “It would take a miracle, all right,” Evan muttered.

  “Well, Dad says you took someone to see your grandparents the other day. Why don’t you invite her?”

  Evan turned his chair so that Vincent couldn’t see his face. “Noelle?”