Taming a Texas Devil - Katie Lane Page 0,48
chair across from it. “Hell, I’m not even sure it’s Sam’s femur anymore. Maybe his truck broke down and he just decided to ditch it and hitch a ride out of town. People have ditched their broken-down vehicles before.” He glanced up at Dixie who was still standing there staring at the gun. “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed about me catching you practicing. Every law officer practices his arrests. It’s scary confronting criminals. Especially people who have guns and you might have to shoot.” A thought struck him. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re still worried that you might have to shoot someone.”
Her gaze lifted from the gun on the desk and held his for a long moment before she nodded. “You.” Before he could get over his surprise, she grabbed the gun off the desk and pointed it straight at him. “I know Sam Sweeney is your father. I saw the picture in your wallet.”
His surprise fizzled. The truth was out. He was angry at himself for not throwing the picture away years ago. It did nothing but piss him off every time he looked at it. And yet, it was the only picture he had of his mother where she looked truly happy. Damn Sam to hell.
He got to his feet. “Put the gun down, Dixie.”
Her hand was shaking badly, but she didn’t lower the gun. “I can’t. I have a town to protect.”
The fact that she thought she had to protect the town from him hurt like hell. “You really think I killed Sam Sweeney?”
A flicker of doubt showed in her beautiful green eyes before they hardened again. “Why else would you keep the fact that he’s your father a secret?”
“He’s not my father. My father died when I was three in an oil drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Sam Sweeney was my mother’s boyfriend. Nothing else.”
She looked surprised, but still determined. He couldn’t help feeling proud that she wasn’t going to let him off easily. A good law officer wouldn’t. “Then why didn’t you say that? Why did you keep it a secret?”
“Because it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter that you’re the officer investigating Sam’s missing person’s case and you have a close connection to him? I’m not stupid enough to fall for that, Lincoln. It matters and you know it. And Sheriff Willaby knew it too.”
“Sheriff Willaby didn’t know shit. He was only grasping at straws because he hates the Double Diamond boys.”
“And yet, he grabbed the right straw. You. Did you convince the Double Diamond boys to help you?”
He was proud she was being tough, but he was also losing his patience. Especially when she was holding him at gunpoint like a criminal. “Put down the gun, Dixie, and we’ll talk.”
“Not until you tell me the truth, Lincoln. You taught me a deputy is responsible for the safety of every person in their town. And no matter what my heart says, my brain says I can’t give in without answers. Why did you keep your relationship with Sam a secret? Is he the one who hit you? Was he abusive? How often did he hit you?”
He had to give her an A+ on interrogation. She’d just hit a sensitive nerve. “I didn’t kill Sam,” he snapped “The reason I didn’t tell anyone the truth of my connection with Sam is because I wanted to forget it. I wanted to forget how my mother had fallen for an abusive asshole. How she had put up with him hitting her . . . and me. And mostly, I wanted to forget how she fell apart after he left and couldn’t pull herself back together. If she couldn’t have Sam, she didn’t want to live. Not even for me.”
Dixie stared at him. “She took her own life?” When he didn’t answer, she covered her mouth as her eyes filled with sympathy.
It was the last thing he wanted. He’d spent years after his mother’s suicide being looked at exactly the way Dixie was looking at him now. The people in his town had referred to him as “that poor Hayes boy.” Which was why he’d become such a troublemaker in his teens. Back then, he would have rather been a belligerent bad boy than a poor pathetic kid who had lost his mother and father. Now he’d rather be an asshole.
He took the gun from her hand and tossed it onto the desk. “Never let a sob story distract you from doing your job, Deputy