Only By Your Touch (2 page)

Jeremy had a knack for asking dozens of questions at the most inopportune moments. “I don’t know. I guess maybe it means he doesn’t feel like smiling. You don’t always feel like smiling, do you?”

They reached the pet-food section. Chloe tapped a sack of puppy kibble. “Down to business, big guy. You have a hungry puppy waiting for you at home.”

Chloe bent over the stacks of dog food, struggling to shift the forty-pound bags so she could read the ingredients on the sides. Jeremy homed in on a bag with a picture of a golden retriever on the front. “Here’s a good one!”

“That’s six dollars more than anything else, Jeremy. How about this kind here?” Chloe strained to shift a bag with a picture of a black Lab on the front.

“But Rowdy’s a golden ’triever! He needs golden ’triever food, Mom!”

“Sweetheart, the pictures don’t mean anything.”

Her son’s bottom lip started to quiver. A year ago, Chloe would have stood firm, but recently, she had fallen into the habit of giving in whenever possible. Jeremy had an asthmatic condition that, according to his doctor, was caused by emotional stress. The
breathing attacks frightened Chloe, and whether it was wise or not, she would go to almost any lengths to ensure he didn’t have one.

“Jeremy, I—”

“Please, Mom!” His eyes filled with tears.
“Please?”

Chloe was about to give in when a deep voice said, “Excuse me.”

The raspy baritone, coming from so close behind her, made Chloe jump. She wasn’t surprised when she turned to find the beaded stranger standing almost on top of her. Her heart kicked hard against her ribs. “Oh, hello again,” she managed to say with a semblance of calm.

This time, one corner of his hard mouth actually turned up, not exactly a smile but close. He extended a ballpoint pen. “I think we missed this when we were picking up. I spotted it lying under the edge of a shelf.”

“Oh, thank you.” Chloe took the pen and slipped it in her purse.

He glanced at the sacks behind her. “I couldn’t help overhearing the puppy-food debate. I happen to be something of an expert, if you’d like some advice.”

“You are?”

His half-smile deepened into a grin that softened his stern countenance. “You could say that, yes.” He turned to Jeremy. “Your mom’s absolutely right about the pictures, son. They mean nothing.” With impressive strength, he flipped over a bag to reveal the list of ingredients. Tapping the print with a long finger, he said, “This is the number to check, percentage of protein. Too much is bad for a pup’s skin and may cause hot spots.”

Jeremy ducked behind Chloe to peer around her hip at the stranger. Under the best of circumstances, the child was timid around men, and given their recent
discussion about Native Americans, he was warier than usual.

The stranger’s smile blinked out. After studying the boy for a long moment, he directed a burning look at Chloe. All warmth gone from his voice, he said, “You can take the advice for what it’s worth. No skin off my nose, either way.”

She stared bewilderedly after him as he strode off. She didn’t know what had upset him, but his gruff tone had frightened Jeremy and set him to trembling.

She smoothed a hand over Jeremy’s curly hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

The child clung more tightly to her leg. “See? He doesn’t like us.”

Chloe could think of no better explanation. “I guess maybe not.”

Twenty minutes later, when Chloe pushed a brimming cart to the checkout counter, the dark stranger had already left. Still upset over the way he’d frightened Jeremy, Chloe was glad to find him gone.

The clerk greeted them with a friendly smile. An older woman, she had a wiry, no-nonsense look well suited to someone working in a feed store. Propping her elbows on the counter, she took in the cart of merchandise, her blue eyes dancing with amusement. “Looks like you found everything.”

Chloe nodded. “And then some. I’m afraid we went a little overboard.”

“You must be the new gal over at the sheriff’s department.”

Chloe was momentarily taken aback. “Why, yes. How did you know?”

“I’ve seen your car parked over there—or one like it, anyway. You could have been a tourist, but when you mentioned the puppy, I figured you had to be the
new gal. You’ll get used to our grapevine. Jack Pine isn’t very big. Gossip travels fast, and a new hire at the sheriff’s office is hot news.” She thrust out a hand. “Lucy Gant.”

Returning the handshake, Chloe said, “Chloe Evans and my son, Jeremy.”

“Hi, Jeremy.” Lucy grabbed a jar of individually wrapped candy from a nearby shelf and unscrewed the lid. “Help yourself, young man.” Jeremy politely selected one piece. “No, no, take a handful,” Lucy urged.

Jeremy helped himself to several candies. “Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Lucy said. “I got a soft spot for boys. Have two of my own.” She watched Jeremy wander away to look at the animated displays in the front windows. “Handsome boy.”

“Thank you. I think so.”

“I heard your last name is Owens.”

“That’s amazingly close. I guess there really is a grapevine.”

“Anytime you want to know anything about anybody, honey, just come see me. How do you like the new job?”

“I love it. The people I work with are really nice, it pays pretty decent, and the health insurance is great.”

“With the cost of insurance nowadays, that’s a plus. You get weekends off?”

“Unfortunately, no. I work the three-to-eleven with Wednesdays and Fridays off. But I lucked out on a sitter. Deputy Bower’s daughter, Tracy, stays with Jeremy. He absolutely adores her.”

Lucy nodded. “Nice girl, Tracy. Spittin’ image of her mama, that one.” Lucy leaned across the counter to pass a scanner over the bag of dog food. “Sheriff Lang’s a decent fellow. A little too laid back to be a
good lawman, but nice. We graduated the same year. He went off to college.” She tapped her chest. “I got married to a good-for-nothing, gave him two sons, and then got left to raise them alone.”

Chloe knew how hard that was. She laid a red puppy collar on the counter. “I’m sorry to hear that. It must have been very difficult for you.”

“I managed. All things considered, I was better off. He was a mean-tempered man and quick to rile.”

Chloe’s throat tightened. She and Lucy Gant had a great deal in common, it seemed.

The older woman shook open a sack and glanced after Jeremy again as she began bagging items. “So what did you think of Crazy Ben?”

“Pardon?”

“Ben Longtree, the fellow who about knocked you down.”

“Oh! I really couldn’t say. I spoke with him only briefly.”

Lucy’s mouth thinned. “I’m not your mama, but I’ll give you a piece of advice anyway. Watch your step with that one.”

Chloe lifted a rubber chew bone from the cart. “No worries. I’ll probably never see him again.”

“Trust me, honey, you’ll see him again. When a man gets that look in his eye, he always comes back around for another sniff.”

A cold sensation moved through Chloe. “Oh, I don’t—”

“Cash or charge?” Lucy interrupted.

Thanks to her ex-husband, Roger, Chloe’s credit cards were all maxed out. “Cash—or rather a check. You do take checks, I hope?”

“Sure. If it bounces, I know where to find you. That’s forty-two dollars and ninety-three cents. The advice is free.” While Chloe fished through the
jumbled contents of the purse for her checkbook, Lucy rattled on about Ben Longtree. “I always did say he’d come to no good. Wasn’t no surprise to me when he up and killed a man a few years back.”

Chloe gave the clerk a startled look.

“Figured that’d get your attention. One blow of his fist—next stop, the funeral parlor. Happened down in Riverview. I figure Ben was probably drunk. Quarter-breed Shoshone, you know. Mix Injuns with booze, and you get trouble every time. Not that I’m racist or anything.”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jeremy was still out of earshot. “He actually killed someone?”

“Deader than a doornail. Highfalutin lawyer got him off. Self-defense and lack of malice, they said. Ha. Money talks. That’s the truth of it. A cold-blooded killer’s walking our streets, all because he could buy himself an innocent verdict.”

Recalling the burning anger that had flashed in Ben Longtree’s eyes, Chloe had no trouble believing he had a hot temper. “How terrible.”

“He’s a mean one—make no mistake,” Lucy continued. “His father beat on his mama every day of their marriage. The apple never falls far from the tree. I could tell you some stories that’d curl your hair.”

“I’d better pass. My little boy is sensitive.”

Lucy went on as if Chloe hadn’t spoken. “There’s some real strange happenings up on that ridge.”

“What ridge?”

“Cinnamon Ridge, where Longtree lives. You don’t know nothin’ about nothin’, do you? I take it you’ve never driven out that way. Beautiful place. A quarter section of Ponderosa pines, bordered on three sides by forestland. From the house, you can see clear into next week. Isolated, too. Not many people venture up
that way, but those that have can tell you some mighty spooky stories. Wild animals milling around everywhere. And rumor has it that Ben has been seen walking a grown cougar on a leash.”

“A grown
what?
”

“A mountain lion. We got a lot of them in these parts, but most folks don’t make pets of them.”

“I don’t imagine so.”

“There’s something strange going on up there—mark my words.” Lucy rubbed her sleeves and shivered. “Take that wolf of his, for instance. Who in his right mind would have a dangerous critter like that for a pet? Claims it’s a hybrid, but no one believes it. Looks like a real wolf, don’t it?”

Chloe recalled the creature that she and Jeremy had encountered in the parking lot. She wasn’t surprised to learn that Ben Longtree was its owner.

“What if the thing attacks someone?” Well into gossip mode, Lucy ignored the check Chloe laid by the register. “Mandy Prince over at the Clip and Curl thinks Ben is dabbling in witchcraft. She got into all that hocus-pocus stuff at college, and she thinks that cougar could be his familiar.”

Chloe struggled not to smile. Granted, Ben Longtree had been surly, but it struck her as being a little outrageous to accuse him of practicing witchcraft.

“He’s a big man,” Lucy went on. “If he’s a witch, maybe a regular-size house cat isn’t big enough to suit him.”

Chloe nudged the check closer.

“Something is attracting those animals to his place. Maybe he casts some kind of spell over them. Even as a boy, he was a strange one.” She arched her eyebrows. “You heard about the two young fellows that vanished up that way?”

“No, I don’t believe I have.”

“Went out bow hunting last summer and never came back. There’s a number of folks who think Ben killed them and let his critters eat the evidence.”

Chloe’s stomach lurched. She shot a pointed glance at Jeremy, but Lucy just kept talking. “Ben gets fighting mad if anyone pesters his critters. Those boys were out hunting. What’s to say they didn’t accidentally wander onto Longtree land and shoot one of the deer?”

“I suppose that’s possible.”

“More than just possible. Then they up and vanish? Ben Longtree had a hand in it—mark my words.”

“I’m sure Sheriff Lang would take action if he thought that were the case.”

“No evidence,” Lucy volleyed back. “You gotta have a body—or bloodstains or something. You can’t arrest a man on supposition.”

Exactly,
Chloe thought. And so far, Lucy had spouted nothing but supposition.

“You know what I think?” Lucy asked in a stage whisper. “I think something more dangerous than witchcraft is happening on that ridge. When Ben came home after that murder trial, he was flat broke. Now he’s rolling in it.” She pointed to a poster on the bulletin board. “How can a man without a job offer that kind of a reward?”

Chloe turned to regard the poster in question. It read

$10,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE PERSON/PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR WOUNDING WILD ANIMALS NEAR CINNAMON RIDGE.

Below the large block print were particulars, namely that the weapon being used was a .22-caliber rifle, and
that the intent of the shooter was to maim the animals, not kill them.

“Why would anyone want to wound helpless animals?” Chloe mused.

“The thing that bothers me is, where did Ben Longtree get ten thousand dollars to give away?”

Chloe had no idea, and suddenly she wanted to get out of there. She glanced at her watch. “My goodness! Look at the time. It’s almost four.”

The clerk barely paused to draw breath. “No more’n a year after he came back to town, he started building that big, fancy house he lives in now. You can bet he didn’t foot the bill with his mama’s social security checks.”

“This is very interesting, Lucy, but we’ve got a hungry puppy waiting at home. I really need to be going.”

Lucy held up a finger. “The way I see it, honey, I’m doin’ you a favor. If, by chance, Ben does come sniffing around, you’ll know to run the other way.”