Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association 7) (12 page)

Christ, were they thirteen years old? He needed to know what she’d say before he asked.

“You could ask me and find out. Isn’t that usually how it’s done?”

Dare’s thumbs were tapping out an unheard rhythm on the faded denim covering his knees. “We’ve kind of gone about this backwards so I’m not sure. So, would you go out with me, Rayne?”

Her head said no but every other part was saying yes. “Sure. I will.”

Dare nodded, still not looking at her directly. “Good. That’s good, I mean. How about we see a movie and then have dinner on Saturday night? Sound good?”

“Fine.” This was awkward. Hopefully the date wouldn’t be this bad.

“Sophie sure will be surprised,” Dare observed. “Your sister probably will too.”

Craptastic. Rayne hadn’t really thought this through. The whole town, including Camy, was going to be all up in their business. Asking nosy questions and generally being busybodies.

Rayne slapped her forehead and groaned. “Camy knowing about this is kind of a nightmare. She’ll be a pain in the butt when she finds out. She’ll have you measured for a wedding tux before our first date is over.”

Rubbing his temple, Dare grimaced, shifting in the leather seat. “Sophie might not be much better. She’s always telling me to get a woman. Says I won’t be so grouchy.”

“I hope you’d be less grouchy,” Rayne retorted with a giggle. “But we do need to think about this. If this…thing…between us doesn’t work out it’s going to be tough to explain to everyone. Heck, if it does work out it’s going to be difficult to explain. Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone for awhile. Just until we know how this is working.”

If the truth were known, Rayne wasn’t sure they’d get past the first date. She might clobber Dare during dessert for being crabby or just plain uptight.

“You mean, sneak around?” Dare sounded incredulous and she didn’t blame him. Everybody in Valley Station, and its close by neighbor Fairfield, knew pretty much everyone else’s business. There weren’t many secrets, or at least the salacious stuff was out in the open. The boring crap no one cared about.

“We could date out of town,” Rayne suggested. “Drive separately. That kind of thing. Not for long. Just until we figure out whether we’ll kill each other or not.”

“I guess we could give it a shot. If people find out then we’re no worse off than if we hadn’t tried. It might help not to have any pressure for the first few dates. I think it’s a good idea.”

So it was settled then. They were going to sneak around like what they were doing was horribly wrong. It said too much about her that it gave her a small thrill to think of the subterfuge.

Rayne needed help. Deep therapy, apparently. Surely she was psychologically damaged in some way to get a kick out of the situation.

“So you can call me and let me know where to meet you. Or can you? Because you’ve been ducking my calls for over a week.”

Dare held his hands up in surrender. “I swear I’ll fill you in on the case completely on Saturday night. How does that sound?”

“Like the best I’m going to do,” Rayne sighed. “I’ll see you then.”

The chances were high she’d see him before that, but they were going to pretend they barely knew one another.

“See you.”

This time Dare did exit her vehicle before bounding up his front porch steps two at a time. She waited until he was inside then backed down the driveway, heading for home. Camy didn’t realize how successful the evening had been.

Rayne had a date with Sheriff Dare Turner.

She better pick up those ice skates for hell. It had to have frozen over.

Chapter Thirteen

D
are scrolled through the background information he’d been able to piece together regarding his murder victim Patrick Moulson. The man was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky before he joined the Army after high school. Four years later he was discharged and never seemed to find his place in civilian life. He’d drifted from one job to another while dating one girl after another, never settling down. That wasn’t against the law of course, but it spoke of someone who might be troubled or easily swayed into crime, especially if money was hard to come by.

Moulson’s bank account was as bare as his apartment in Salt Lake City. Hardly any furniture, a closet half full of clothes, and an empty refrigerator were all he’d left behind when he’d come to Montana. Dare still hadn’t been able to find where Moulson was staying while he was here. He’d checked every hotel and motel between here and Billings, turning up nothing. If the man had slept in his truck that too had disappeared without a trace.

Unless Patrick Moulson was a magician, personal belongings like clothes and vehicles didn’t generally just fade away. They had to be hidden or disposed of. That meant an accomplice. It was a good bet that the accomplice was the shooter and had hidden any evidence that Moulson was in the area, but that simply challenged Dare all the more. Unless they’d dug a gigantic hole somewhere that truck could still be found. It might have a clue as to the identity of the killer. Or even just the why of the situation. He’d settled for that right now.

The forensics team hadn’t done much better. Fingerprints confirmed Moulson’s identity but all the other prints had led to a dead end. Rayne kept her shop clean and neat but there were still prints from at least half a dozen people, none of which were in the system.

Ballistics were run but the bullet hadn’t matched anything in the database. It was beginning to piss him off.

His phone vibrating in his pocket pulled him from his thoughts. “Turner.”

“Hey Dare, it’s Tanner. Got a minute? It’s important.”

Tanner Marks didn’t use that word lightly so Dare was all ears. “Of course. What’s going on? Is there something I can help you with?”

“I think you and I need to start working together, my friend. You know I’ve been working on this bank robbery, right?”

Dare had looked at the footage but hadn’t seen anything that would help the investigation, so he wasn’t sure where Tanner was going with this.

“I do. Have you found something?”

“We did. Remember our two victims from the bank robbery? The ME pulled the slugs and ran them through the system. When the ballistics came back this morning it matched your unsolved murder. How’s that for a strange coincidence?”

The hair on the back of Dare’s neck stood straight up. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“Neither do I,” Tanner agreed with a short laugh. “Somehow your break-in and murder are connected to my bank robbery. I’d bet on it. I’d like to get together and compare notes if you don’t mind.”

This was the first positive news Dare had received in days. “Absolutely. I can drive over there if you like. You name when.”

“How about tomorrow around ten? We can go over the evidence and then have some lunch and catch up while we figure out our next steps.”

Dare quickly agreed and ended the call. Finally, a break in the case that might lead to solving Moulson’s murder once and for all.

*   *   *   *

Rayne hadn’t wanted anyone to know about her date with Dare tonight, but keeping anything a secret from her best friend Misty Monroe was almost impossible. Within just a few minutes of their phone call, Misty had known something major was up and didn’t relent until Rayne confessed.

In truth, she was glad to have someone to talk to about the forthcoming evening. She was incredibly nervous and not at all sure she’d done the right thing by agreeing to this date. Sexual attraction didn’t necessarily equate to any sort of real compatibility, so this whole endeavor could be headed for a failure of massive proportions the likes which few had seen before.

“So what are you wearing tonight?” Misty asked. Rayne had her friend on speakerphone as she stood in her bathroom making up her face. “That red dress always looks nice on you.”

“Way too dressy,” Rayne protested, slowly and carefully drawing on eyeliner. “He mentioned dinner and a movie which says casual to me. I was thinking black jeans and a sweater. It’s chilly tonight and I don’t want to freeze my fanny off.”

“Hmmm…black jeans say casual and dressy. That’s good. What sweater? And what shoes? Boots or heels?”

Rayne held up the two sweaters she was deciding between – one cream and the other purple. “Purple with the three-quarter sleeves. And black flats. I want to be comfortable tonight. I’m already short so heels wouldn’t fool anybody. Dare is about seven feet tall so anything I wear would be just a drop in the bucket anyway.”

Misty giggled on the other end of the line. “Dare is a big one. He’s taller than Jared so that makes him around six-three or four.”

And every inch muscle from the looks of him. Rayne wondered how many hours in the gym he had to put in to keep that mouth-watering physique.

She sat down on the edge of the tub with a groan, almost ready to call Dare and cancel the whole darn evening. “I think this is a mistake.”

“No. No, it’s not,” Misty pressed. “You two are attracted to each other. A date is the next natural step. You’ll just wonder what could have happened if you don’t go.”

“Nothing is going to happen tonight. Just dinner and a movie. No happy-naked-fun-time. Not on the first date.”

“This from the same woman who told me I needed to get laid. You were right, by the way—now it’s my turn. Don’t say never. If it happens tonight, it happens. Since when have you become the morality police?”

It truly wasn’t Rayne’s normal attitude about sex. She’d always been of the live and let live persuasion and didn’t believe that women should be slut shamed for enjoying something men clearly did. It was a natural biological function, not to mention fun as hell with the right partner. She’d had long-term and short-term relationships along with a couple of one-night stands, and she was okay with her sexuality.

But with Dare it was different.

Not in a bad way. He was smoking hot and devastatingly handsome. He was also something else, something that made her wary. He would never hurt her or force himself on her. That wasn’t it. It was something else that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she knew she was right to be cautious.

“Maybe I’m becoming more careful in my old age,” Rayne smirked, standing to finish putting on her makeup. Right now she had eyeliner but no mascara. “I just think that this relationship might not work out, and sleeping with him tonight might make ending things that much harder.”

“Do you realize that you haven’t even gone out with him yet but you’re already planning on how to break up with him? That’s a bit harsh, not to mention pessimistic. Dare’s a nice man. Grouchy as all get out, but nice.”

“We’re just so different.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But you’ll never know unless you go out with him. Go finish your face and have fun. Just relax and have good time. Worst case scenario you get to see a movie tonight. That’s not so bad.”

Rayne had been on some terrible, no-good dates. The kind that made you want to crawl out of the restaurant’s bathroom window so you could escape. She doubted tonight with Dare was going to be that bad, although there was a better than average chance they’d end up sniping at each other about something.

“I’m sure everything will be fine. I’ll call you with the details.”

“Call me in the morning.”

“I’ll call you sometime tomorrow.”

“In the morning. If Dare doesn’t spend the night you don’t have any excuse,” Misty laughed delightedly. “Call me or I’ll call you.”

“Fine—in the morning, but late. I want to sleep in.”

“You’d sleep better with a handsome hunk of man in your bed.”

So very true, but still quite scary. Rayne had a feeling one night with Dare wouldn’t be enough.

Chapter Fourteen