Debra Webb - In Self Defence

“We’ve got a call into Branch. We want him to have a look at the dead guy—the victim—before we do anything else.”

And now they arrived at the meat of the situation. Branch Holloway was a US marshal. Well, well, this wasn’t just any dead guy—this was a dead guy with some connection to the Feds. Maybe an escaped prisoner from one of Tennessee’s federal prisons. Or a fugitive from the most-wanted list. Her mind ticked off the numerous possibilities that would require the involvement of the Marshals Service.

She asked, “What’s the connection to the Sauders?”

Colt removed his hat and plowed his fingers through his hair, the tension in the set of his shoulders warning that he was losing his patience with her. “Sarah says she’s never seen him before. She woke up from a dead sleep, heard someone downstairs and did what she had to do to protect her family.”

Skeptical, Audrey asked, “Where’s her husband?”

“He’s on his way home. He was out of town. One of my deputies is inside with Sarah and her kids.”

“Did you ID the victim?”

A truck pulled into the yard alongside the sheriff’s. Big black crew cab with four-wheel drive. Branch Holloway .

Colt touched her arm. “I’m gonna need you to step back outside that yellow tape, Rey.”

Now that Branch was here, Colt had to go all cocky and by the book. Colt and Branch had been rivals since high school. Showing up your high school nemesis trumped giving a tip to the girl whose heart you broke any day of the week or, in this case, night.

“Anything else about this incident I can run in tomorrow’s edition?” She wasn’t leaving without something more—at least not willingly.

“Colt, what’s going on?” Branch removed his black Stetson as he approached. He gave her a nod. “Rey.”

“Marshal.” She returned his nod and smiled as if she’d been waiting all night for him to appear.

When she’d left home headed to college, one of the few things that had stuck with Audrey was the image of Branch Holloway. Back then he’d been a star quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers. He’d graduated a couple of years before Colt and her. Like Colt, the man was the quintessential cowboy. She and her best friend Sasha had harbored secret crushes on Branch Holloway. His college football career had made him a real-life celebrity right here in Winchester.

Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with this cowboy?

But she hadn’t, and however much she’d lusted after Branch, her gaze shifted to Colt. Way back in eighth grade she’d promised to marry Colton Tanner as soon as they both graduated from college. They’d been boyfriend and girlfriend from seventh grade until he cheated on her with her archnemesis near the end of senior year. A blast of fury burned through her even now. She’d wasted all that time only to have her heart shattered. As if she’d telegraphed those thoughts to the man responsible for all her pain, Colt met her glare, and she could see the regret in his gray eyes.

Colt Tanner and Branch Holloway had been the hottest, most popular guys in school. Colt had the coal-black hair and pale gray eyes. Branch was blond with gold eyes. He and Branch were both tall and athletic; still were nearly two decades later. Both had been hometown heroes. Except Colt was a cheater. Damn him.

“Well, I’ll let you gentlemen get back to business.”

Both tipped their hats at her and bid a good night like true Southern gentlemen.

Audrey turned and marched to the end of the sidewalk and then back down the gravel drive, cringing with each slide of a leather heel between the crushed rocks. She would snap a few photos and hurry back to the paper to update the front page. The Future Farmers of America’s upcoming annual pig-catching contest would have to be moved to page two.

By the time she found the perfect angle for a photo of the house and the crime scene tape, Colt and Branch had gone into the house. Audrey took a few more shots with her cell phone and headed to her car.

“Hey there, Miss Anderson.”

She hesitated as she reached for the door. Deputy Calvin Stevens grinned at her.

“I guess the full moon brought out the crazies tonight,” he said.

“Guess so.” She leaned against the door and waited as he came closer. Cal was a big flirt. If he’d been inside the house she might be able to get a little more for her story. She glanced around. How odd that no other reporters had shown up yet. “But it looks like I’m the only one who arrived to watch all the fun,” she teased, scanning the road in both directions. “I haven’t seen another reporter.”

“Sarah Sauder’s daddy called the sheriff direct and the sheriff called the coroner. They wanted to keep this quiet.” Cal grinned. “I figured the sheriff called you personally.”

Well, well. So how did Brian hear about this? Maybe he was the one with the real source in the sheriff’s department. “I’ll never tell,” she said with a wink.

“You probably saw this kind of thing all the time in the big city.” Cal gave her a look that said he’d made it his business to learn a whole lot of things about her. “I heard about all those awards you won.” The deputy leaned against her car, close enough for her to smell his freshly applied aftershave. Did he keep a bottle in the glove box of his county cruiser?

“I spent a lot of time in the field.” The statement wasn’t really an answer to his question, but she suspected he wouldn’t notice. He was making conversation with the newest single lady in town. A small-town tradition.

“The sheriff says you trained with cops all over the country.”

Only a slight exaggeration, taken directly from the bio on her website. “Wherever the story took me, I immersed myself in the community, including law enforcement.”

Cal chuckled. “Is it true you helped to capture a serial rapist?”

“I did.” The story had won her the esteemed Courage in Journalism Award. “I was following up on a victim who had survived an attack by the elusive killer when he came back to finish what he’d started.”

Audrey had connected with the victim. She’d felt at ease talking to Audrey when she didn’t feel comfortable talking to the police. The younger woman had called, said she felt like someone had been watching her for a couple of days. Audrey had urged her to call the police but she refused. What else was there to do but go over to her house and try to help? Still, she had no intention of becoming a victim herself. En route she’d called the detective assigned to the case and let him know what was happening.

By the time she arrived, the rapist was already in the house with the victim. Audrey grabbed her courage with both hands, walked in and distracted him until the cops showed up. Looking back, walking into that house knowing the guy was inside was foolhardy, but she hadn’t really had a choice.

“You are one cool lady, Miss Anderson.”

“Why thank you, Cal. You should call me Rey. Everybody does.”

He shrugged. “All right. Rey .”

“It’s hard to believe this guy broke into Sarah’s house.” She made the statement as if she was personal friends with Sarah Sauder and she knew all about the dead guy.

“For sure.” Cal glanced at the house, then checked in both directions to ensure no one was nearby. “Especially considering he came all the way from Chicago to do it. Sarah swears she never laid eyes on the guy before. Kind of hard to believe considering he came this far.”

Chicago. Interesting. Audrey nodded. “Just totally crazy, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes, ma’am. Sheriff Tanner no sooner ran the man’s name than some detective from up there called and wanted to know what was going on.”

“So this guy has a record?” It was possible someone from Chicago was attempting to horn his way into the local drug trade—not that there was much of a problem in the Winchester area, but most towns had at least some drug issues. Still, why break into a Mennonite woman’s house? Unless, being from Chicago, he lost his bearings and broke into the wrong house. To an outsider, the roads around here all looked alike. At night, they all looked alike even to Audrey. Not so surprising, considering she had lived everywhere but here since she left for college.