Should Have Been Her Child

Interest peaked Nevada’s dark brows. “Like what?” she asked eagerly.

“Once I leave here, I’m going over to the sheriff’s department,” Victoria stated firmly. “I want answers. Or if not answers, at least some reassurance that the law is moving on this case.”

A wicked grin suddenly appeared on Nevada’s pretty face. “Hmmm. You might meet up with some resistance there,” she said.

Victoria knew the younger woman was talking about Jess. Although she hadn’t known the nurse before the undersheriff had left the area and Victoria behind, Nevada had heard about their relationship. At least, what the general public knew about it and the bits that Victoria had volunteered to her. But she’d not told the other woman everything. No one, not even her family members, knew how much she had loved Jess Hastings or the devastation his leaving had caused her. She’d kept most of it hidden. After all, she was a doctor. She couldn’t be needy herself. She had to take care of the needy.

“I didn’t say I was going over there to see Jess,” Victoria pointed out. “There are other officers in the department, including the sheriff.”

Nevada shook her head. “I heard Sheriff Perez is in Santa Fe on some sort of conference. You won’t be talking to him.”

Victoria refused to be deterred. Tomorrow when her patients started in about John Doe’s body, she was going to have some sort of information to put their curiosity to rest. “Then I’ll see Deputy Redwing,” she told Nevada. “He was at the ranch with Jess, so he’s obviously working the case.”

Nevada’s black eyes suddenly glinted with interest at the mention of the young Native American lawman. “I wouldn’t mind talking to him myself,” she purred.

Groaning, Victoria reached for the door. “I know you’re having fun playing the field now. But eventually your heart is going to be broken and when it is, you’ll be wishing you never heard the word ‘man.’”

Nevada chuckled. “Sometimes a girl has to take a chance, Victoria.”

“Hmm. Well, I’m all finished with taking chances. I’ll leave that up to you, Nevada. But when you find yourself trying to glue the pieces of your heart back together, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

Minutes later as Victoria headed across town she began to doubt her decision to visit the sheriff’s office. Sticking her nose further into the investigation would probably only make matters worse. From his attitude the other day, Jess would like nothing better than to deal her a pile of misery. More than he already had, she thought grimly.

But this whole matter was interfering with her work. And she wasn’t about to let anything come between her and her patients. Even Jess Hastings.

After parking in the first available space near the sheriff’s office, she pulled off her lab coat, then glanced hurriedly in the rearview mirror. Except for a few loose tendrils, her dark hair was still pulled in a loose knot of curls atop her head.

She smoothed back a stray wisp from her forehead, but stopped short of applying powder or lipstick. If she did happen to run into Jess, she didn’t want him thinking she’d spruced up for his benefit or any of the other law officers.

Inside the building she stopped at the first desk she came to. Seated behind it, a blond, middle-aged woman dressed in a police uniform was talking on the telephone.

Placing her hand over the receiver’s mouthpiece, she questioned Victoria, “Can I help you with something?”

“I’m Victoria Ketchum,” she explained. “I’d like to talk with Deputy Redwing if I could.”

The woman shook her head. “Sorry. The deputy isn’t in right now. Is there someone else—uh, did you say your name was Ketchum?”

Victoria didn’t miss the sudden spark of recognition in the woman’s eyes. “Yes. Dr. Victoria Ketchum. I wanted—”

“I think the lady wants to talk with me.”

Both women turned their heads at the approaching male voice and Victoria’s heart sped into overdrive at the sight of Jess striding her way.

Turning toward him, she said coolly, “I wouldn’t want to take up your time, Officer Hastings.”

The smile on his face matched the frost in her voice. “I’m sure what we have to talk about will only take a few minutes.” He gestured for her to precede him down a short corridor. “Come along to my office.”

She’d rather crawl into a rattlesnake den than join him in the privacy of his office. But with the other woman watching, she could hardly put up a fuss. Especially when she figured that even on a slack day it would be hard for anyone to get a word with Jess without an appointment.

As she walked past him, he told the woman officer, “Don’t disturb me with any calls for the next few minutes, Sharon. I’ll get any messages after I’m finished with Ms. Ketchum.”

Finished with Ms. Ketchum. He was so right, Victoria thought grimly. He’d done that a long time ago. But as she followed him out of the room, she wondered why nothing between the two of them felt finished. Instead, she had the gnawing feeling it was starting all over again.

Chapter Three

Jess’s office was located through a second door on the right of the large hallway. Somewhere, farther in the back of the building, Victoria could hear raised male voices, although she couldn’t decipher the words being said. No doubt the muffled shouts were unhappy complaints from arrestees.

Across the hallway, several officers were grouped around a table littered with coffee and soft drink cups. Deputy Redwing was not among them, so the woman at the front desk must have been telling the truth about the man not being in the building. It would be her unfortunate luck that he was out and Jess was in, she thought dismally.

The room Jess ushered her into was small. Inside the cluttered space was a large desk with a comfortable leather chair, two tall file cabinets and, for visitors, a couple of straight-backed wooden chairs. Beneath a wide window on the south wall, a table held a coffeemaker and all the fixings. Atop one of the file cabinets, a radio was playing at a very low volume. After a moment she realized it was tuned to a local country station.

Closing the door behind him, he said, “Have a seat, Victoria.”

It was more of a command than an invitation. She decided to ignore it and stand.

“I don’t want to—take up that much of your time,” she reasoned.

“You’ve already said that.” While he eased his long frame into the leather chair behind his desk, he gestured for her to do his bidding. “So why don’t you let me be the one to worry about my time?”

She was on his turf now. If she tried to resist him too much, she’d only wind up making a fool out of herself, she decided. And it probably would be better to take Jess sitting down. He’d always had a bad habit of weakening her knees.

“Now,” he said after she’d made herself comfortable on the wooden chair. “What were you wanting to see Deputy Redwing about?”

Victoria forced herself to meet his gaze. And just like three days ago, she felt jolted all the way to her toes. “About the body, of course.”

His gray eyes flicked keenly over her face, then dropped to her thin yellow sweater and on down to where her crossed legs were exposed by the slit in her brown skirt. He was the only man who knew what she looked like beneath her clothing and she could only hope that time had dimmed his memory.

“What about it?” he asked.

She released an impatient breath. “What’s happening in the investigation? Have you found out anything?”

Crossing his arms across his chest, Jess leaned back in the chair and continued to study her for several long seconds. “Funny, you didn’t think there was anything to get in a stew about a few days ago when we found the body. Now you’re wanting answers.”

Her nostrils flared as she tried to hold on to her temper. Back in the days when she and Jess were a couple, she’d not even possessed a temper. But then he’d never done anything to hurt or anger her. That hadn’t happened until he’d gotten the wild idea to tear off to Texas.

“I still don’t think there’s anything…sinister about the man’s death,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I’m not the one wanting the information. It’s my patients.”

One brow arched with sarcasm. “That’s a good one, Victoria. Better than most I hear.”

His mocking attitude caused her lips to purse with disapproval. “It’s true, Jess. I can’t—these past few days in my clinic have been—well, do you know what it’s like trying to tell a man what he should be eating to lower his cholesterol while he’s asking me what the sheriff’s department is doing about the poor fella they found on the T Bar K?”

A bland smile crossed his features. “I’m sure it’s just as frustrating as people coming in here trying to tell me how to do my job.”

“But you have the choice of telling them to leave. I don’t.”

His expression didn’t soften. “You have a mouth. Use it. Explain that the poor fella who died on the T Bar K is none of their business. That should be easy enough.”

She passed a hand over her forehead and realized as she did that her fingers were trembling and beads of sweat had popped out on her skin.