determined the pain would not slow him down. “You were the only one I could talk to. Do you remember that?”
“What does any of this have to do with last night?”
Colt reached the sink and spun back around. “Now you’re doing it. That was a question not an answer. But I never believed my father could murder anyone. Especially not my mother. He loved her. I know he did.”
Nodding, Lacie seemed to agree. “I remember you saying that back then. All this time and you still think the same? Both your parents are gone now. What difference could it possibly make at this point?”
Limping over to the table, he stood beside her. “I have to know for sure. You can see that, can’t you?”
He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, gazed earnestly into her eyes and pleaded his case. “Help me, Lace. Together you and I can find the truth. I know we can.”
“Ah.” It hit her then—at last. “You were inside the sheriff’s office last night looking for old case files. Your father’s murder case.” She was shocked. “How in the world did you manage to break in?”
“Uh...I didn’t exactly break in.”
“But then how—” Amazed she hadn’t thought of it sooner, the answer came instantly. “Louanna. Our night dispatcher let you in. Why? Did you offer her a bribe?”
He backed up, ran a hand through his shaggy hair and ended up making it messier than ever. “She’s a second cousin. My aunt asked her do it for me. Seems everyone in town owes my aunt June for one thing or another.”
His expression changed suddenly—darkened. “You won’t mention that I told you? And you won’t turn her in to your stepfather? Louanna needs her job. I didn’t get a chance to find the files before you arrived.”
Lacie popped up out of her chair. “I won’t do anything to endanger Louanna’s job. Besides, nothing was taken or destroyed. Why can’t you talk to the sheriff about the old murder case? He was there and participated in the first investigation. He should...”
She lost her train of thought as she remembered finding Colt in tears behind the school one afternoon right after his mother died. Her heart had gone out to him then and there. Come to think of it, she may never have gotten her heart back. Not to this very minute.
But she couldn’t let him know that. They were not those same two kids. Far from it.
Colt took her by the elbow. “Can you really picture the sheriff helping me? You know he’s never been too crazy about the Chance family.” Touching her was making him crazy as the electricity between them zinged through his veins.
“True,” she said and suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I do remember my stepfather never liked it when you were hanging around. And he hated when I went to the Bar-C.”
She glanced down to where his hand was holding her arm. Trying to pull free, she drew in a breath. “I won’t say anything to the sheriff.”
At this point he almost didn’t care. All he cared about, all he’d ever cared about, was being with her.
But she went on to explain, “I make it a habit not to speak to him unless I’m forced to. We aren’t exactly a close-knit family. What would you need me to do?”
Hearing that should have relaxed him. “I knew I could count on you.” But there was no relaxing when her eyes grew wide and she licked her bottom lip.
A war was going on inside him. He needed to kiss her more than he needed to breathe. But he didn’t want to scare her off. He needed her help.
Sidestepping closer to her, he backed her against the kitchen counter. “Be my partner in the investigation,” he murmured against her lips.
Tightening both hands on her shoulders, Colt couldn’t help himself. He pulled her against his chest and leaned in even closer. “Be my everything—for now.”
He whispered a kiss over her lips. Instead of pulling away, she pressed against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. A dark lust roared in him. And when she moaned, he deepened the kiss.
Shuddering with need, his erection grew hard against her belly. He cupped her bottom with both hands and growled, deep and low in his chest. He couldn’t catch his breath. Had stopped thinking minutes ago.
“Wait a moment.” Suddenly she lifted her head and pushed at his shoulders.
He was too far gone to understand the change in temperature between them. Dipping his own head, he went back for another taste of those sweet lips.
“Whoa,” she said past a raspy voice and stepped out of his reach. “I... I’ll help you with your investigation because now I’m curious, too. But as far as—” she waved a hand between them “—anything else...it’s a no go. I don’t know who you are anymore. And you don’t know me. This isn’t happening. Not now. Maybe not ever.”
* * *
Much later that day, while Lacie finished up her paperwork, she found herself still mulling over everything she’d said to Colt. At that moment, kissing him, she’d wanted exactly what he wanted. The need had been racing headlong through every cell in her body. But she’d put a stop to things between them before they went too far. And she knew why.
She’d been scared. Afraid of getting too close. The two of them had changed. Maybe they could be friends again, and work together for answers, but any more than that and her heart wouldn’t stand it.
After he healed and did a little investigating, he would be going back to his previous life. He’d always hated the small-town ways of Chance, Texas. His talk about leaving had given her the backbone to leave town herself at the age of eighteen. But she’d tried the big city and found it wasn’t for her. She wanted to stay in Chance.
She’d get her questions answered—and now Colt’s questions, too—but after that she would be making a permanent home here. Colt would be long gone.
Her shift now over, Lacie filed her forms and stretched her cramped limbs. No one was left in the station but her and Louanna. Deputy Robert Lopez, the man who’d been the sheriff’s assistant for as long as she could remember, was in his cruiser, spending his shift making passes through town and waiting for any calls.
This might be a good time for her to do a little digging for Colt. Earlier today she’d asked the day dispatcher where the old case files were stored. Apparently, when the new station had been built, the old files were either destroyed or put in storage boxes and stashed in a closet. They’d all be put on the computer someday—when the county could afford the help. But as of now, they were just catching dust.
Heading down the darkened hall and turning on lights as she went, Lacie wondered what she would find in the Chance murder file. She remembered the day of the murder, though she’d been quite young. But she remembered it vividly because things in her own home had changed forever that day, too.
Flipping on the overhead light in the oversize closet, Lacie glanced around at dozens of cardboard boxes. They didn’t seem to be in any order. No wonder Colt hadn’t had the time to find the file last night. It might take weeks to sort through all this stuff.
She’d been at it for almost an
