Chapter Twenty-Five
A week passed before Maggie got a call from the sheriff. A week of working at her shop, then heading out to the Denning ranch to stay with Colton. They’d fallen right back into their routine. Cooking dinner—sometimes with Dade’s help—watching movies, playing poker, making love.
Not being alone anymore, the routine had altered a little. She insisted on their lovemaking being confined to Colton’s room. She would die of embarrassment if Dade or one of the ranch hands walked in on them in a…compromising situation. Some nights they would saddle up a few horses and go for a ride. While the horses grazed, Colton would put down a blanket and make love to her under the stars.
It was pure heaven.
When Sheriff Ryder called asking her to come down to the station, the high she had been on for the past week died. He told her they had no leads, but were ready to release some property of hers that had been taken for DNA and fingerprint testing.
Colton insisted on accompanying her to the station. She didn’t argue. Having him around was calming. She was coming to rely on it. That was the problem.
They stepped into the small building that housed the police station and headed toward the back to the sheriff’s desk.
“Thanks for coming,” Ryder said with a nod, standing to shake both of their hands. “Have a seat.”
She took a seat beside Colton across from the sheriff’s desk and started twisting her hands together. Grasping her palm in his own, Colton squeezed reassuringly. Her nerves calmed immediately. How did he do that to her with just a touch?
“I’m sorry I don’t have more information for you.” The sheriff’s face was grim. “The perpetrator was good. He didn’t leave a hint of himself in your place.”
“You did your best. Thank you.”
Ryder rubbed a hand across his tense jaw. “Have there been any more incidents? At your shop? Your home?”
She shook her head. “Nothing has happened in over a week. I’m still staying with Colton at the ranch, for the time being.”
Sky blue eyes slanted her a look she couldn’t decipher.
“Well, then I’m afraid for the moment there’s nothing more we can do. I don’t think this is over though, so keep a wary eye out.”
She nodded.
“I have some things we took from your place for testing. We’re done, so you can take them now.” He handed over a small box with some picture frames, silverware, papers and jewelry…all coated with powder. “We were hoping to get some prints, but the bastard must have worn gloves.”
She rifled through the box, looking at the broken remains of her home; sadness and anger welled inside her.
At the bottom of the box, something caught her eye. A gold chain.
She didn’t wear gold.
Jewelry wasn’t really her thing, but when she did wear it, she preferred silver. Digging out the chain, she held it up. A gasp left her lips, and her heart started to race. She recognized the necklace, had seen it the other day. The pendant matched a set of earrings. A very specific set of jewelry. A gold heart with a ruby stone.
“Oh my God!”
“Maggie?” Colton gripped her hand tighter. “Sweetheart, what is it?”
“Where did you find this necklace?” she asked, ignoring the question.
The sheriff scanned the papers in the open file on his desk. “It was found on the floor by the bed. We thought the perp might have grabbed some of your jewelry, but dropped this on his way out. We hoped there would be a partial fingerprint on it, but no such luck,”
“This isn’t my necklace.” The clasp was broken. It must have fallen off when—
“Then it could belong to the person who ransacked your place.” Ryder smiled, a triumphant gleam in his eye. “Now, we have something to go on.”
“Wait,” Colton interrupted. “But that’s a woman’s necklace. Are you saying the person who did this to Maggie is a woman?”
“Look’s possible.”
“It’s not only possible. It’s a fact. I know whose necklace this is.”
Both men turned to stare at her.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I saw this necklace on Natalie Brake just last week.”
She should have known. The woman hated her. Hated her shop, hated she was with Colton. Had that hatred pushed Natalie to throw a rock through her window and destroy her apartment?
It appeared so.
“Tom,” Ryder called to his deputy two desks away. “Call Judge Harper. Get me a warrant to search Natalie Brake’s home. Now!” The young man grabbed the phone on his desk, eager to follow his sheriff’s orders. Ryder rose, tugging his hat and jacket on. “I’m going to pick up Natalie.”
Anger and disbelief warred inside her, making her gut turn sour. “I want to talk to her.”
The sheriff paused. “Maggie, I can’t let you do that.”
Rising from her seat, she pleaded, “I have to know why she hates me this much. Please.”
Those words. Those ugly, red words, flashed in her mind. People had disliked her before, even flat out hated her. But no one had ever resorted to violence. She needed to know why Natalie did this. What was it about her that caused people to leave her, attack her, want to get rid of her? She needed to know.
Ryder sighed. “I can let you watch the interrogation. As the victim, you have that right, but you can’t be in the room. You can’t talk to her. Otherwise, the case could get thrown out.”
She nodded. It would have to do.
The sheriff placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before hurrying out of the station to pick up her attacker.
Natalie Brake.
She sucked in a deep breath, desperate, but determined to discover why the woman hated her this much.
****
Colton stood with Maggie in the small observation room. It wasn’t really a room. More like a tiny closet. Through the one-way mirror, they could see Sheriff Ryder questioning Natalie. The woman did not look happy.
Good.
Natalie had terrorized Maggie, broken her window, and destroyed her home. The woman should be unhappy. She should also be scared, because he was going to make sure she paid for what she did. He was going to ride ass until she was locked up for a good, long time. When he thought back to how his ex had tried to hurt the woman he loved, his blood began to boil.
“We have proof that you were in Maggie Evans’ apartment.” Ryder’s voice came through the small speaker attached to the wall.
“You don’t have crap, because I was never there. I told you, I didn’t do anything to Maggie. That stupid bitch is just trying to blame her problems on me because she’s jealous.” Long, fake fingernails tapped on the metal table. “I bet no one is even after her. She probably did all this to herself just to get attention.”
That was Natalie. Always someone else’s fault. Even after he discovered she was cheating on him, she blamed him, saying because he didn’t follow her to college she got lonely. Hell, he had gotten lonely, too, but never thought that gave him clearance to find company elsewhere. The vain woman only thought of herself and her needs.
“We have proof,” Ryder repeated.
“Oh yeah? What?” the woman shot back with heat.
The sheriff pulled out an evidence bag containing the gold heart necklace. Natalie’s eyes went wide with recognition. She touched her throat where, today, she had on a silver necklace with a blue teardrop pendant.
“I believe this is yours. It was found in Maggie Evans’ bedroom. You said you’ve never been to her apartment before, so how did it get into Maggie’s bedroom? My guess is that it fell off your neck when you ransacked her place. The clasp is broken. It would have slipped right off without you even knowing.”
He watched from behind the glass as she reached out to touch the bag then caught herself, closing her hand into a fist.
Her gaze darted back to Ryder. “I want a lawyer.”
Her voice was cool, but he knew Natalie. He could hear the fear behind those words. Something was off. She sounded worried, but not worried because she had been caught. Worried about something else. What else was there to be worried about? What was worse than getting caught? Something was definitely wrong here.
“I know my rights, and I want a lawyer.”
Ryder put the necklace back into the small box he had with him. “I’ll get you a phone.”
“Let’s go.” Maggie turned to him.
She was hunched in on herself. The fear that he had seen in her eyes the past few weeks replaced by sadness. It killed him. He wished Natalie were a man so he could kick her ass.
They left the station and got in his truck. He didn’t ask her where she wanted to go, just drove back to the ranch. He was beginning to see it as their home. Hopefully she was, too.
“I always knew Natalie didn’t like me, but I never thought she hated me this much. What did I do to make her so angry?”
He gripped the wheel so tight he thought he’d rip it right off. Damn his ex for doing this to Maggie.
“You did nothing, sweetheart. Natalie Brake is a mean, selfish person. Trust me. She fabricated some slight in her mind and ran with it. When she wants something and someone is in her way, she doesn’t care who she hurts to get it.”
She turned to him, bright green eyes dim. “But what did she want? My store? My absence? You?”
His jaw clenched. “It doesn’t matter what she wanted, she’s not getting it. The store is yours, you’re not leaving, and she already had me. It’s her fault we broke up. Not yours.”
“If she hadn’t cheated on you, would you two still be together?”
He heard the apprehension in her question. She still didn’t fully grasp how deep his feelings went for her. Showing her wasn’t working. Maybe it was finally time to tell her.
He pulled into the driveway. Turning off the truck, he reached across the seat to grab her hand. “Listen to me, Maggie. Natalie and I were done even before she left for school, we just didn’t realize it at the time. We tried to make the long distance thing work, but it didn’t. We would have broken up eventually, because we weren’t right for each other.”
She gazed up. His next words were very important. He had to say them right.
“I didn’t care for her. Not like I care for you. I didn’t love her.”
Her breath hitched. Those dim eyes brightened like two glowing emeralds. Her lips parted as she edged closer.
“Maggie, I—”
“Hey, you’re back! How’d it go?”
Worst timing ever. He was going to kill his brother.
Maggie slipped from his grasp, opening her door. She hopped out to meet Dade, who was walking toward them. “Not well.” She accepted a hug from him. “I’ll let Colt tell you about it. I’m pretty worn out. I think I’ll go lie down before dinner.”
Getting out of the truck, he shut his door and watched her walk into the house.
“What happened?”
“You have shitty-ass timing, that’s what happened.” He glared at his brother.
Dade widened his stance, crossing his arms over his chest. Giving his best big-brother look, he stared him down. “And just what does that mean?”
Colton placed his hand on the warm hood of the truck and recounted the story. Going to the police station, discovering the necklace was Natalie’s, watching the interrogation.
“Damn. Natalie Brake? I never would have thought. I mean, I know the woman can get a little crazy sometimes, but I never would have pegged her doing all this. Did she say why she did it?”
He pushed away from the truck, running a frustrated hand over his head. “No, and the thing is, when Ryder showed her the necklace, she recognized it, but…I don’t know. It wasn’t a look of guilt, more like a look of fear.”
“Jail time is a scary thought for most people.”
“I guess. It’s just so—so—”
“Frustrating, because she’s not a man so you can’t kick the crap out of her for terrorizing Maggie?”
His head rose, eyes going wide.
Dade smiled. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I know my little brother.”
“Yeah, well, too bad you don’t know me a little better or you would have stayed in the damn house for five more freaking minutes.”
“Ah.” His older brother walked over to lean against the hood of the truck with him. “Is this my shitty-ass timing part?”
“Yes.” He glared. “I was just about to tell Maggie how I felt about her, and you had to go and ruin the moment.”
His brother’s large palm smacked him on the back of the head. It didn’t hurt, but was surprising. “What the hell was that for?”
“Idiot! You don’t tell a woman you love them for the first time in your truck right after she just went through a traumatizing ordeal.”
“And exactly how many women have you confessed your love to?”
Dade went silent.
Huh? Had his big brother loved someone at one point in his life? He knew he’d dated a few girls in high school, but nothing serious ever came out of those relationships. There was a woman a while back who lived down in Aspen, but that only lasted a few months. He always assumed his brother was single by nature. Had some woman broken Dade’s heart?
“Women like romance, Colt. Do something special, a nice dinner, a horseback ride. Set the mood, then tell her you love her.”
“And what makes you the expert on women?”
“Are you kidding? No one is an expert on women. Not even other women. I’m just trying to give you some brotherly advice.”
Realizing he was just taking out his frustrations on his brother—who was only trying to help—he sighed. Clasping a hand on his shoulder, Colton gave it a small shake. “I know, thanks.”
“Anytime.”
“I better go check on Maggie.” He headed toward the house.
“Want a little more advice?”
Colton stopped and turned around. “Lay it on me, brother.”
Dade bent down to pluck out a wildflower from the ground. “Flowers and food make everyone feel better after bad news.”
He grinned. “Then I better get cooking.”