Shotgun Sheriff

She expected an immediate answer. A damn right or some other manly affirmation. But Reed paused. Or rather he hesitated. His hands went to his hips, and he tipped his eyes to the ceiling.

“What?” Livvy insisted.

Reed shook his head, and for a moment she didn’t think he would answer. “Shane and Marcie had a stormy relationship. I won’t deny that. And since you’ll find this out anyway, I had to suspend him once for excessive force when he was making an arrest during a domestic dispute. Still … I can’t believe he’d commit a premeditated murder and set himself up.”

Yes, that was a big question mark in her mind. If Shane had enough forensic training to set up someone, then why hadn’t he chosen anyone but himself? That meant she was either dealing with an innocent man or someone who was very clever, and therefore very dangerous.

Because she was in such deep thought, Livvy jumped when a sound shot through the room. But it wasn’t a threat. It was Reed’s cell phone.

“Kirby,” he said when he answered it.

That got her attention. Kirby Spears was the young deputy who’d assisted her on the scene and had carried the footprint castings back to the sheriff’s office so a Ranger courier could pick them up and take them to the crime lab in Austin.

While she took a sample of one of the spatter droplets, Livvy listened to the conversation. Or rather that was what she tried to do. Hard to figure out what was going on with Reed’s monosyllablic responses. However, his jaw muscles stirred again, and she thought she detected some frustration in those already intense eyes.

She bagged the blood-spatter sample, labeled it and put it in her equipment bag.

“Anything wrong?” Livvy asked the moment Reed ended the call.

“Maybe. While he was in town and running the investigating, Lieutenant Wyatt Colter made notes about the shoe sizes of the folks who live around here. He left the info at the station.”

That didn’t surprise Livvy. Lieutnenant Colter was a thorough man. “And?”

“Kirby compared the size of the castings, and it looks as if three people could be a match. Of course, the prints could also have also been made by someone Marcie met during her two years on the run. The person might not even be from Comanche Creek.”

Livvy couldn’t help it. She huffed. “Other than you, who are two possible matches?”

“Jerry Collier, the head of the land office. He was also Marcie’s former boss.”

She had his bio, and it was one of the ones that Reed had picked from the file as a person who might be prone to breaking into the cabin. Later, she’d look into his possible motive for stealing a phone. “And the other potential match?”

Reed’s jaw muscles did more than stir. They went iron-hard. “The mayor, Woody Sadler.”

“Of course.”

She groaned because she shouldn’t have allowed Reed to stop her from arresting him. Or at least thoroughly searching him. Mayor Woody Sadler could have hidden that phone somewhere on his body and literally walked away with crucial evidence. Lost evidence that would get her butt in very hot water with her boss.

“I’ll talk to him,” Reed said.

“No. I’ll talk to him.” And this time she didn’t intend to treat him like a mayor but a murder suspect.

In Reed’s eyes, she saw the argument they were about to have. Livvy was ready to launch into the inevitable disagreement when she heard another sound. Not a cell phone this time.

Something crashed hard and loud against the cabin door.

Chapter Three (#ulink_279fa409-8abf-50c2-9dc8-f91b1f239b82)

Reed drew his Smith and Wesson. Beside him, Livvy tossed the UV lamp and her glasses onto the sofa so she could do the same. Reed had already had his fill of unexpected guests today, and this sure as hell better not be somebody else trying to “help” Shane.

“Anyone out there?” Reed called out.

Nothing.

Since it was possible their visitor was Marcie’s killer who’d returned to the scene of the crime, Reed approached the door with caution, and he kept away from the windows so he wouldn’t be ambushed. He tried to put himself between Livvy and the door. It was an automatic response, one he would have done for anyone. However, she apparently didn’t appreciate it because she maneuvered herself to his side again.

Reed reached for the doorknob, but stopped.

“Smoke?” he said under his breath. A moment later, he confirmed that was exactly what it was. If there was a fire out there, he didn’t want to open the door and have the flames burst at them.

There was another crashing sound. This time it came from the rear of the cabin. Livvy turned and aimed her gun in that direction. Reed kept his attention on the front of the place.

Hell.

What was happening? Was someone trying to break in?

Or worse. Was someone trying to kill them?

In case it was the or worse, Reed knew he couldn’t wait any longer. He peered out from the side of the window.

And saw something he didn’t want to see.

“Fire!” he relayed to Livvy.

She raced to the back door of the cabin. “There’s a fire here, too.”

A dozen scenarios went through his mind, none of them good. He grabbed his phone and pressed the emergency number for the fire department.

“See anyone out there?” Reed asked, just as soon as he requested assistance.

“No. Do you?”

“No one,” Reed confirmed. “Just smoke.” And lots of it. In fact, there was already so much black billowy smoke that Reed couldn’t be sure there was indeed a fire to go along with it. Still, he couldn’t risk staying put. “We have to get out of here now.”

Livvy took that as gospel because she hurried to the table, grabbed the files and the other evidence she’d gathered and shoved all of it and her other supplies into her equipment bag. She hoisted the bag over her shoulder, freeing her hand so she could use her gun. Unfortunately, it was necessary because Reed might need her as backup.

“Watch the doors,” he insisted.

Not that anyone was likely to come through them with the smoke and possible fires, but he couldn’t take that chance. They were literally under siege right now and anything was possible. The smoke was already pouring through the windows and doors, and it wouldn’t be long before the cabin was completely engulfed.

The cabin wasn’t big by anyone’s standards. There was a basic living, eating and cooking area in the main room. One bedroom and one tiny bath were on the other side of the cabin. There was no window in the bathroom so he went to the lone one in the bedroom. He looked out, trying to stay out of any potential kill zone for a gunman, and he saw there was no sign of fire here. Thank God. Plus, it was only a few yards from a cluster of trees Livvy and he could use for cover.

“We can get out this way,” Reed shouted. The smoke was thicker now. Too thick. And it cut his breath. It must have done the same for Livvy because he heard her cough.

He unlocked the window, shoved it up and pushed out the screen. The fresh air helped him catch his breath, but he knew the outside of the cabin could be just as dangerous as the inside.

“Anyone out there?” Livvy asked.

“I don’t see anyone, but be ready just in case.”