Fayrene Preston - The Barons Of Texas - Kit

“Actually, I wasn’t thinking of the ranch. I was thinking about you. What would happen if you had an accident and needed help?”

She slipped her hands into the fleece-lined pockets of her jacket. “My managers know where the cabin is, along with my routine. If I was missing for more than a few hours, they’d come straight here.”

“What happened to your lip?” he asked, causing her to take a quick mental left turn.

Her hand flew to her mouth and the split lip that remained slightly swollen. “I must have bitten it.”

“Must have?” His gaze roamed her face, searching. “Don’t you know for sure?”

“I bit it.” She didn’t want to tell him the truth. Despite her reassurances to herself, she still couldn’t help feeling that she could have handled Cody better.

“It must have been a hard bite.” He reached out and gently touched the spot. “And it looks like a fresh wound.”

Heat flashed through her. She recognized the feeling from that long ago summer night when he had taken her in his arms. Why couldn’t she forget? She moved her head slightly, dislodging his touch. “It’s fine.”

In a casual move, he shifted the lapel of her jacket aside, baring the portion of her sweater he had seen when she had gestured. “Is this your blood?”

She glanced down at her sweater. She hadn’t realized her lip had bled so badly. That damn Cody. “What’s brought you all the way out here? If you had just waited, I would have been back soon.”

With a quickness that nearly took her breath away, he stepped forward and slid one hand along the side of her jaw, tilting her face up. “Kit, would you tell me if you were in trouble?”

His move and question took her by surprise. His touch warmed her skin. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Are you in trouble? Because if you are, I’ll help.”

With his hand on her, she could barely think. Could he have heard about her argument with Cody? But no, that didn’t make sense. For better or worse, she had taken care of the matter. “Why are you here, Des?”

He let his hand drop away. “You’re needed back at the homestead.”

“Why? I don’t have any appointments scheduled until this afternoon.” She didn’t have a clue what he was thinking, and instinct honed over time kept her from trying to find out. With Des, it was better if she kept her distance. “Oh, never mind. I was about to head back anyway. I’ll just close up.”

“Wait.”

His grim tone halted her as she was about to turn. She eyed him cautiously. Because of her father’s cruelty in keeping her and her sisters under his thumb, and later, because of her wariness of Des, she’d never been close to him. But even she knew he wasn’t acting normally. “What is it?”

“Someone’s been killed, Kit.”

“Oh no! Who?”

Death on the ranch wasn’t a complete shock. Working with large animals, as well as heavy machinery and equipment, offered too many chances for accidents. But she always hated to hear about it.

“Cody Inman.”

She stiffened. How could that be? After she had left, he hadn’t even been supposed to go to work, only draw his check from the paymaster and leave. “Cody Inman?” she repeated to make sure she’d heard correctly. “But I saw him right before I rode out this morning.”

“That’s what Tio said. A little while after you left, Tio went into the barn to start his work and found the body in one of the empty stalls. Since you weren’t around, he came to me. I called the sheriff, then drove out here to get you.”

She nodded. “Of course.” How had Cody managed to get into an accident on what should have been his last few hours on the Double B?

“How awful.” However Cody had acted toward her, she felt a deep pang of sadness for him. Just last night he had been so alive, dancing and laughing with her. But then he’d begun to drink and come on to her, and then this morning…

Questions raced through her mind as she tried to grapple with the fact that a man she had argued with mere hours before was now dead.

“How did he die?”

“You don’t know?”

Confused, she stared up at him. “How would I know?” He didn’t answer. “Des? How did he die?”

“It looks like a blow to the head with a blunt object. Perhaps a shovel.”

The air went out of her. “Are you saying Cody was murdered?”

“That’s right.”

“But I don’t understand. How could such a thing have happened?”

“That’s what the sheriff wants to question you about.”

“Okay, I’ll close up here and be there as soon as possible.”

“No. Just leave Dia here and come with me. We’ll have someone bring a horse trailer out for him.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“The sheriff will be waiting to talk to you.” He paused. “So, now do you want to tell me how you got that split lip?”

She hadn’t told him. And for the most part, Des didn’t say much on the drive back to the homestead, which was fine with her. She’d given him the general outline of what had happened, but no details. Her morning encounter with Cody was still not something of which she was proud. It had been a situation she had let get out of her control.

Thoughts of Cody and the way he had died kept her busy. She kept trying to come up with scenarios for what could possibly have happened, but for the life of her, she couldn’t come up with one that made sense.

But then, Des also occupied a large part of her mind. She attempted to ignore him by fixing her gaze on the passing landscape, but time and again his nearness drew her thoughts and senses back to him. Despite her attempts to ignore him, it had always been like that. With resignation, she wondered if it always would.

When he finally pulled up to the saddle barn, she breathed a soft sigh of relief.

She didn’t recognize several of the cars and trucks parked there, but she did recognize the sheriff from a picture she had seen in the paper, put there when he had first come to their area nine months earlier. A tall, lanky man in his late thirties, he stood beside one of the trucks, speaking on a cell phone, but as soon as he saw them, he hung up and waited expectantly.

“Have you had any dealings with this sheriff?” Des asked quietly as he cut off the engine.

“No. Any problems we have with the men we try to handle ourselves.” Her hand went to the door handle.

“Wait a minute.” Des leaned over and clasped her wrist, and his arm pressed against the softness of her breasts.

Heat filled her lungs and, uncontrolled, her nipples hardened. No matter what, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from responding to him.

“Listen to me, Kit. The sheriff’s name is Moreno, and his reputation is that he’s ambitious. So I want you to say as little as possible, and when in doubt, let me answer for you.”

“What are you talking about?” She pushed against his arm.

He straightened away, but the severity of his tone didn’t lessen. “Don’t volunteer anything he doesn’t ask. And if I tell you not to answer a certain question, don’t.”

She glanced through the windshield at the sheriff, whose gaze was now trained on her. “He just wants me to tell him what happened.”

“Actually, he wants you to make his job easy by confessing. Right now, you’re the only suspect for Cody Inman’s murder.”

Her mouth dropped. “Suspect? Confess? But that’s ridiculous.”

“It’s also the truth. So just be careful what you say.”

“This is absurd.” Suddenly she felt as if she were suffocating. Cody was dead, and Des was focusing his entire attention on her. It was too much. Her legs were shaking as she climbed out of the truck.

“Ms. Baron.” The sheriff touched the brim of his hat in greeting.