Bones Of Contention: The McKinnon Legends - The American Men Book 3 (8 page)

“I’m glad to hear you say you’re better. At the risk of sounding like a total ass after a full week of avoiding my calls and e-mails, why have you called me now?”

“You are not an ass, Josh. If anything, I have been.”

“No, Jamie. You have just had a lot to digest. This is a nice surprise, though. I figure that after a week of you avoiding and dodging my attempts to see you again that you would be the last person to call me,” he said idling in his driveway. “Obviously, you have been on my mind a lot this week. I’m worried about you, and I’m very glad you have finally called.”

She was not quite sure how to take him. “You are right. Under normal circumstances, I usually do not call men. I’m still just a little old fashioned that way, Sheriff. However, this is not about me. It is about solving Debbie’s murder so my feelings of what are proper and improper are secondary.”

Josh was disappointed. “So, I’m gathering from this you have some other reason besides calling just to talk? You know that is the only way for us to get to know each other better.”

He heard the silence on the other end and wished he could start this conversation over, moving his sunglasses to the top of his head to give him access to pinch the bridge of his nose. Working nights never agreed with him. It usually turned him into a walking zombie, and the art of seduction had never been his best hand.

“My car has returned. It is sitting in the faculty parking lot.”

Josh did not like this turn of events one bit. The timing was too coincidental.

“Are you in your office?” he asked feeling a sharp surge of fear for her safety as he made the u-turn in his driveway and headed back toward Lubbock. Instantly, any hint of softness was gone.

“Yeah, why?” she asked puzzled at his change. She could feel the tension crackle through the phone.

“Stay there. I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Lock your door, do not go outside to look at it, and do not let anyone into your office. Understand?”

“Josh, you are overreacting. The guy who brought it back is legitimate,” she argued. Yet, his reaction brought out the fears she was subconsciously suppressing and not allowing to bubble to the surface.

“How do you know that for sure, Jamie? Tell me. How do you know, damn it?” Josh was almost yelling into the phone.

“Because, he doesn’t fit the profile, that’s how, damn it!” she said mimicking him.

“Please, Jamie, stay put. Don’t take any foolish chances. You don’t know that the car is not bait. I’ll be there as quickly as I can get there.”

Josh gunned his truck. It would take him over an hour to get there. He hoped she stayed in her office. If not, then he would take drastic measures.

Calling the F.B.I., Josh let them know Jamie’s car had miraculously turned up. If what he suspected were true, there were a string of murders from Florida to Texas. This guy was crossing back and forth across the southern part of the United States. He just happened to be making his way back to Lubbock, again.

That was, if he wasn’t already here.

Jamie was not about to stay put. She wanted more information and the only way to get it was to meet with Trey. He was the last known connection to Debbie’s murder.

She could not involve Josh any further. As much as she might want an ally in this fight, it could not be Josh. He had a child to consider. This was her fight and the more information they had the more likely the outcome would be in their favor.

She picked up the card Trey left on her desk and called the cell number listed. It was twice in one day she had called a man who was not a colleague. Maybe, she could learn a few new tricks.

After a quick conversation she agreed to dinner, figuring her painting could wait another day. He seemed genuinely pleased at her change of heart promising to meet her at seven o'clock that evening.

“Are you sure I cannot have my driver pick you up? It would be no imposition, I assure you,” Trey offered.

“Thank you. Let’s take this one step at a time. Shall we?”

He agreed it was fair enough.

She had less than two hours to get home, change, and make it back across town to the restaurant.

Stopping by the reception desk, she dropped off the keys to her old car to Leslie along with instructions for Josh.

“Tell him also, I’m sorry, but I could not wait for him. Also, tell him I’ll be out tonight. He can call me later if he has questions.” She wrote her home number down with instructions for him to leave a message. She would catch him when she got home from her date.

Driving across town, she dashed into the grocery store to pick up a few items. She wished she had time to stop at the post office to pick up her mail, but she realized it would have to wait until later. Checking her watch she had exactly forty-five minutes to feed the dog, shower, change, and then get to the restaurant. She was cutting it close.

Turning onto her street she could not miss Josh casually leaning up against the hood of his truck. He was not happy. His expression was dark.

“I see you listen to me about as well as my daughter,” he said flatly while pushing off the grill of his truck.

She did not reply, taking out the bag of groceries from her back seat and then shutting the door with her hip. “How did you find my house?”

He was not about to tell her that he or one of his deputies had been watching her all week as a precaution. “I have connections.”

Jamie just stared at him in wonder.

“Did you bully Leslie?” she asked shaming him.

“Not exactly.” He scuffled his feet with his hands in his pockets. “I looked you up in the faculty directory on your desk." He had, the first day he was in her office. "It showed a post office box."

“Josh, she is just a kid. You were wrong.”

“Maybe.”

She cocked her head sideways with a look that told him she did not believe him.

“All right, ok. So, I may have come on a bit strong with her, but I have every right, Doc.” Josh was convinced, and she was not going to change his mind. “I am an officer sworn by the State of Texas. I swore by the oath of office making my job to protect and to serve. I’m a peace officer, Doc, not a diplomat.”

“You have no jurisdiction in Lubbock.” She was not sure if she was flattered or angry. Maybe, she was a little of both.

“I’m not trying to arrest you, so screw jurisdiction. Can’t you see? I’m trying to protect you.” He could feel the muscles in his jaw tighten. At the rate she was pushing him, he could well turn her over his shoulder and drag her off just to make a point. So much for gentlemanly ways, he admitted. His mother would be appalled. He was appalled.

“I do not need protection. I also do not have time for this, Josh. I’m late enough as it is.”

“Jamie, please, will you just listen to me?” he softened taking the bags from her. “Your car showing up like this stinks to me. It is just too coincidental, and if you weren’t being so headstrong about all this you would see it, too.”

She already did.

“I know it does,” she agreed. “Why do you think I called you?” she said looking at her watch.

“We know nothing about the man who brought your car back. He could be anyone.”

“He is not just anyone, Sheriff. He is a real estate broker in Florida.”

“Are you going some place? You keep looking at your watch,” he asked feeling uncomfortable with her obvious plans.

“Yes. I have a date with Trey, and I’m going to be very late at this rate.”

“A date with Trey?” He calmed his breathing. To push her would gain him nothing. “Fair enough. However, you are not going anywhere without an escort, and I need to know where you are going in advance so I can secure the area beforehand.”

He knew he was being pushy and he could not have cared less. He needed to take things under his control and having her out in an unsecured area without the benefit of a bodyguard was potentially suicide.

He watched her stop in mid-motion of slipping the key into the deadbolt lock. Slowly, she looked up at him.

Uh’oh, he thought. He had just stepped into a minefield.

“An escort? You mean as in a bodyguard?”

So, she thought, he does not want me going out alone and unguarded. She guessed the fact she had lived her whole life alone had slipped past him somewhere along the road. She was used to dealing with crises by herself. Therefore, this was no different. It was not the first time her life had been threatened. However, in all fairness to Josh, he did not know that to be the case.

She informed him in no uncertain terms she could go to dinner with anyone of her choosing without his permission and without his company.

“I’m not saying you need my permission.” Josh's insides were tied up in knots. She was an intelligent woman by all accounts. He was failing to comprehend why she was digging in her high heels.

“Your connection to Debbie places you in danger even if you hadn’t been the one to identify her, but you did identify her. Please, don’t sit down on this one. Choose something else to fight me on, but please not this. Please, rethink this date with Trey.”

“I have given it thought. I may be blonde, but I’m not stupid, Lawman.”

“I know that, Jamie. You are a very intelligent woman. What I’m saying is this guy may not be the killer, and probably isn’t. You’re right in he doesn’t fit the profile. Yet, he may be endangering you by having brought you the car, and I’m saying he could be just as much a target as you now that he has touched this case.”

This was something she had not considered.

“I refuse to live my life in fear.”

“I don’t blame you one bit and no one is asking you to either. I’m just saying we need to use our heads and move cautiously. At least until we solve this thing.”

She was not as concerned as Josh. She had moved since Debbie’s disappearance. She lived in a safe neighborhood where everyone looked out for each other. “I’m going to be fine, Josh. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

She made her point by waving to her neighbor across the street. “Hi, Mr. Owens,” she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Jamie, is everything alright? Is he bothering you?" Mr. Owens asked, drilling holes into Josh like he did the nasty reporters.

"Just a friendly little disagreement," she reassured him as Josh flashed Mr. Owens his badge, letting him know Josh was one of the good guys. With that assurance, Mr. Owens returned to his home.

“Jamie, I found you with ease. It isn’t like you are hiding, and there are other victims. He has struck again, and if I’m right, he has hit not just once, but four times in the last week. Use your head.”

She stopped and looked up at him. Her feelings were swirling inside her like water in a whirlpool threatening to pull her under.

“What are you asking of me, Josh? What exactly is it you want me to do here? To completely lock myself away from the world on the off chance it really was me instead of Debbie who was supposed to die?” she asked standing on her front porch.

She did not give him opportunity to answer.

“No,” she paused in thought.

“No,” she said this time more firmly, shaking her head and confirming her stance. “I will not let you place me in a world where I cannot live my life. I will not live in fear, Josh. Not after all this time.”

Josh was not asking her to shut herself off from the world. He just wanted her to take precautions.

“I happen to like my life just how it is.”

She did like her life to a degree and having him, a complete stranger, waltz in here and tell her how to run her life just was not sitting well. He cared. Something she could ill afford.

She was going to be late if she kept this up. She needed to have him leave.

He was stalling her. “Do you have time to give me a few moments to discuss a few details we have on the new murders? You might be able to give me some insight into the mind of the maniac.”

“No, I really don’t. I’m late as it is.”

Furthermore, she did not want him inside her home. She had not allowed anyone inside since she bought the place a couple of months back.

Josh changed his tactics.

“Well, if you are hell-bent on going, then let me make you feel like an important celebrity having your own personal bodyguard. I have been trained by the best personal security company in the world, and I can promise no one will even know I’m there.”

“I will know. Thank you for the offer, but really I’m good.”

She did not need a guardian angel. She did not need him hovering either. She was a grown woman who could take care of herself.

“I clean up pretty good,” he teased. “Who knows, you might actually like having me hanging around.”

She was sure he did clean up nicely and probably would like having him around. Probably, she would like it too much.

She held back her smile. “Nice try, but no thank you, Sheriff McKinnon. I think it is best you leave.” Her remark hung heavy between them.

He stood there staring at her trying to figure out how to talk her out of this date. He figured anymore arguing would only push her further into the arms of this stranger who showed up out of the blue.

“All right. I’ll not stay where I’m not wanted, but heed my advice, Dr. Gillman: Be careful and do not take anything for granted. Understand? Here is my direct cell number. Call if you need anything. Would it be too much to ask you to call me once your safely home and tucked in for the night?”

He did not move until she nodded her head in agreement. Turning, he left the porch and went back to his truck. He was angry at himself for handling her and the situation so poorly. He should have just remained in the shadows and let her live her life blissfully ignorant of the fact he was shadowing her every move.

She watched as he drove away wondering why he even cared. More to the point, why did she?

Jamie pulled into the parking lot of the upscale restaurant. Taking a deep breath and gathering her strength, she opened the door to her SUV. It had been months since she had accepted any kind of invitation to go out, and she had never really been good at the games people played in the rituals of courtship. She was nervous, wiping her palms on the hem of her dress.