Delores Fossen - Cowboy Above The Law

But she should have.

Unlike Bobby Joe, Mitch was not well liked, and he had a nasty temper. Court had had to arrest him on several occasions for fighting. That was why Court hurried to get between them. He didn’t mind arresting Mitch again, but he didn’t want the man hitting Rayna. Mitch was a big guy, around six-two, and he was heavily muscled. A build that suited him because he worked with rodeo bulls, but his fists could do a lot of damage.

“Why isn’t she locked up?” Mitch snarled.

“Because I haven’t done anything wrong,” Rayna answered.

“Right. You killed my brother, and now you shot his dad.” His gaze flew to Court. “Please tell me you’re not covering for her.”

“No need. There’s no GSR on her, and at the time of the shooting, someone was attacking her. What do you know about that?”

That put some fire in Mitch’s already fiery brown eyes. “Are you accusing me of something?”

“Not at the moment. Right now, I’m asking a question. Depending on how you answer it, I’ll make an accusation or not.”

Rayna shook her head, maybe asking Court not to fight her battles, but he wasn’t. With everything else going on, he hadn’t had time to work on who’d attacked Rayna, but because of their history, Mitch was an automatic suspect.

“No. I didn’t go after her. Didn’t have anything to do with this hell-storm that hit town today.” Mitch snapped toward Rayna as if ready to return some verbal fire, but he stopped, smiled. “Looks like somebody worked you over good.”

“Was it you who did it?” Court pressed, getting Mitch’s attention back on him.

The man had to get his teeth unclenched before he could speak. “No. I wouldn’t waste my time on a killer. But I can’t believe you’d just let her walk. She had motive to shoot your father.”

“Yeah, and so do you,” Court reminded him. “In fact, I seem to remember you pressing my dad and the rest of us to put Rayna behind bars. We did, and she was acquitted. End of story.”

“No, hell, no. It’s not the end.” He flung his index finger in her direction. “If she’s capable of killing my brother, she’s capable of anything.”

“Apparently not,” Rayna spoke up. “I’m not capable of convincing anyone that not guilty means I didn’t do it.” She spared Court a glance to let him know he fell into that category, too.

“Because you bought off the jury or something. I begged Warren to try to reopen the case against you—”

“There’s no case to reopen,” Court interrupted. He was getting a glimpse of what Rayna had been dealing with for the past three years. “She can’t be tried again because that’s double jeopardy.”

“Then find something else. Conspiracy or tampering with evidence.” Mitch paused only long enough to curse. “Next week is the third anniversary of my brother’s murder, and no one has paid for that.”

And no one might pay. Court kept that to himself though. Simply put, Rayna had been their one and only suspect.

“Why’d you go to my father with all of this?” Court asked.

Mitch huffed, clearly annoyed with that question. “I went to him because I don’t get anywhere with Egan and you, that’s why. I figured I could get him to sway you into doing something. Warren told me to let it go. To get a life. Can you believe that?”

Yeah, he could. Warren could be steel-hard and cold. Even though his father hated that Rayna had been acquitted, he hated even more that Mitch was blaming the McCalls for that.

Mitch rubbed his head. “I can’t let it go. I keep dreaming about Bobby Joe. Nightmares. It’s as if he’s trying to tell me from the grave to get justice for him.” He looked up, blinked, the expression of a man who felt he’d maybe said too much. Or maybe Mitch just hadn’t wanted them to hear the raw emotion that was still in his voice.

“There is no new evidence to charge Rayna with anything,” Court said. “Not Bobby Joe’s murder and not my father’s shooting.”

“Then you’re not looking hard enough,” Mitch snarled. His face hardened. “And she’s responsible for that. She’s got you convinced that she’s the same girl you loved back in high school. Well, she’s not.”

Mitch moved his hand toward Rayna as if he might take hold of her, but Court snagged his wrist.

“It’s time for you to go,” he warned him.

Mitch threw off Court’s grip with far more force than necessary. “You should have known she’d pull something like shooting your dad. The signs were there. Even Janet said so.”

Court pulled back his shoulders. “Janet?”

“Yeah, the new waitress at the diner across the street. I was in there earlier this week...” Mitch stopped. He must have realized Rayna’s and Court’s expressions had changed.

“What did Janet say about me?” Rayna demanded.

Some of that fire started to cool a bit, and Mitch got quiet for several long moments. “She knew a lot about you. About what’d happened with Bobby Joe. She asked me questions about it.”

Court jumped right on that. “What kind of questions?”

Mitch volleyed some glances at both of them and shook his head. “Things like how often Rayna came into town and such.”

Bingo. It meant she was spying on Rayna. “Did Janet ever say anything about hurting Rayna or getting back at her for some reason?” Court asked.

Mitch’s eyes widened. “No. Of course not. She wouldn’t have. I mean, what with her being a private detective and all.”

Now Court was certain his own eyes widened. “What made you think she was a PI?”

“She let it slip, and I saw her ID once when it fell out of her pocket. I thought you knew.”

Court glanced at Rayna to see if she had any idea about this. She didn’t. She shook her head.

“I thought you knew,” Mitch repeated. “After all, Janet was working for your father. Warren’s the one who hired her.”

Chapter Four

Answers. That was what Rayna needed right now. Along with another place to stay. She only hoped she managed to get both soon.

Her place wasn’t exactly safe, so that was why Court had brought her to the guesthouse on the grounds of his family’s ranch. She felt as if she’d slept in the enemy’s camp. With her enemy, since Court had stayed the night with her. She was betting though that there hadn’t been much sleeping going on. There certainly hadn’t been on her part. She hadn’t been able to turn off her mind. Hadn’t been able to forget that someone was trying to frame her for murder.

Again.

If Bobby Joe was truly behind this, then she prayed he’d just go ahead and show his face so she could put an end to this once and for all.

Since the cabin wasn’t that large, Rayna had no trouble hearing someone moving around in the kitchen. Court, no doubt, because she also smelled coffee. While she wasn’t especially anxious to face him, she did need some caffeine, and maybe he would have updates that would give her those answers. Specifically, updates on his father. She needed to know if Mitch had been right when he said that Warren had hired the now dead waitress.

If he had, then maybe this was Warren’s twisted way of trying to send her to jail. This time for good.

But Rayna had to mentally shake her head at that thought. From all accounts, Warren could have been killed when he was shot. If this was a plan he’d orchestrated, he wouldn’t have put his life at risk like that.

Rayna took a deep breath to steady herself and walked into the kitchen. Not a long trek at all, only a few yards. She immediately saw that she’d been right about it being Court in the kitchen. Right about the coffee, too, because he was pouring himself a cup.

“You’re up and dressed,” he commented, sounding relieved.