of the man who murdered Jake Pierson’s partner. Jake was the first FBI agent assigned to the money-laundering investigation and Jim Willis had been his partner. Since this whole thing started, Wes had gotten to know both of them. Jim had been a good friend to both him and Jake. He shouldn’t have died like that, shot by a hit man who was after Jake for information the investigation had uncovered.
The note found on Jake’s partner’s body hadn’t been signed, but it was on a special kind of stationary that had bothered Wes ever since he’d seen it. The stationary was expensive. Not just anyone would use it. He’d been all over town tracking down possible sources. One lead had taken him to the Colton ranch, where he’d found some in his dad’s office. Was that significant? Probably not. The stationary could have been ordered from an office-supply catalog. Anyone could have ordered some. It would be tough narrowing down a suspect that way. And of course, there were no prints on the paper other than those belonging to the hit man.
A knock on the open door brought his head up. Deputy Ryan King stood there. He was a six-foot lean-framed man with fine, light brown hair whose light green eyes kept the women coming around, but he never strayed from his wife.
“Come in,” Wes said.
Ryan closed the door and moved closer to Wes’s desk. “Sorry to bother you, Sheriff. I’m not one to give gossip much thought, but my wife told me something I thought you’d want to hear.”
Leaning back in his chair, Wes waited.
“She goes to that quilting group that meets in town. You know the one?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“Well, Terri said there was talk about you and that Masterson woman spending time together. Someone saw her drop you off here at the office and said you looked like you were getting along really well.”
How long before it got around he’d just left the library? Wes chuckled. Didn’t those women have anything better to do than talk about people?
“Some people take offense to you getting messed up with someone like her,” Ryan said. “You’re the law in this town. If people don’t respect you….”
“It’s been fifteen years since Lily left this town.”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s your integrity in question.”
“She isn’t the same person. She’s grown-up now. People will see that after a while.”
“But if you continue to see her …”
Now he was beginning to get annoyed. “It’s just talk.”
“People are wondering where you were with her, where you could have met her.”
“It doesn’t matter how or where I met her.” He looked pointedly up at his deputy. “I could have met her anywhere in town before that.”
“I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business. It’s just … your reputation.”
“I’ll worry about my own reputation, but thanks for letting me know.”
“Come time for reelection …”
Wes looked up from the pile of papers on his desk and lifted his brow.
Ryan frowned, but relented.
When his deputy had left, Wes couldn’t focus on the mound of work he had to do. Maybe he should pay more attention to what the town was saying. What if something got around that would hurt Lily? What harm would it be to use Ryan as a way of monitoring the gossip? He didn’t care what was being said, but Lily did. And that was reason enough for him.
He picked up his phone and dialed Ryan’s extension.
Chapter 3
“You’ve got one of the best pair of blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” Levi Garrison came into step beside her. “Has anyone ever told you that?”
May Masterson rolled those blue eyes that were so like her mother’s and didn’t slow down on her way to her next class. Levi easily kept up with her. He was tall and had a long stride.
“I’m serious. I meant to tell you that the other day.”
“When you were making fun of my mother?” Jerk.
“Yeah, well, about that …”
“Say anything smart and I’ll knock your front teeth out,” she said without looking at him. He was one of the most popular boys in eleventh grade. He was a football player and active on committees. He was smart, too, but not as smart as her. May knew her GPA was higher than this yokel’s.
“I’ve been meaning to apologize for that. You took it all wrong anyway.”
“How else am I supposed to take it when someone asks me if I’m as good as my mother?”
“That wasn’t me. I didn’t say that.”
“No, you said I was prettier.”
“You are.”
She sent him a glare.
“You took it wrong. I wasn’t after you that way.”
“You said I had a nicer tail.”
“I was just havin’ fun. Who cares if your mom was easy when she was in high school? That was a long time ago.”
May stopped and curled her hand into a fist. She raised it and brought it back for good momentum.
Levi caught it as she began to swing. Her fist fit into his hand.
His green eyes flared with something hot. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to make you mad.”
“What do you care?”
He made the mistake of letting his gaze fall to her chest before meeting her eyes again.
She pushed him with her free hand. “Leave me alone, you jerk!”
“Hey.” He let go of her fist. “I’m trying to be friends here.”
“I don’t want any friends.” Not here anyway. She missed her friends in Sacramento. No one called her a slut there.
She pivoted and marched down the hall again, dodging other students, bumping someone’s shoulder. A girl narrowed her eyes at her as they passed each other. May flipped her off.
Levi took hold of her wrist and pulled her to the side of the hall, twirling her smoothly. Her back came against a locker, but not hard at all. Levi was agile in the way he handled her. She didn’t want to like that about him.
He put his hand on the locker above and beside her head and leaned closer. “I said I was sorry.”
Her breath got stuck in her throat.
He
