Page 75 of Surly Sheriff
And if she remained, she placed everyone she loved in danger.
It was only a matter of time before Vasily found her.
Her uncle knew she and her sister were behind his downfall all those years ago, and he’d scour the earth for them and exact his revenge.
And there would be no mercy for Beau.
For Bella. The twins. Nate.
Even the towns’ folk.
Her presence put them all in danger.
She rushed from the room, climbed the stairs, walked down the hallway into the attic above the garage, and beelined to the hidey hole she had crafted in the cupboard set under the low-hung eaves. Several minutes later, the small backpack she had hidden months ago hung heavy between her shoulder blades, she reentered the hallway and made for the main bedroom.
And stuttered to a halt in the doorway.
Beau’s smell clung to the air, thick and intoxicating, and for a moment she thought he was in the room.
But he wasn’t. He would be gone most of the day, escorting a prisoner who had violated her parole conditions by crossingstate lines to Des Moines where officers from Illinois would collect the woman.
Beau’s absence was almost … fortuitous,she thought, blinking rapidly.
She batted away the tears with her fingers and continued to the closet. His scent was thicker in the confined area, and she waded through it with a heavy tread. Grabbing items from the shelves haphazardly, she filled her duffel. It didn’t really matter what she packed. She would discard all of it within a day or two.
Her eye caught the hamper with dirty washing.
Beau’s flannel shirt he had worn yesterday draped over the side.
Without second-guessing her actions, she stuffed the shirt into the bag.
In the bathroom, she selected a few essential toiletries. Just enough to make it obvious she was leaving out of her own volition. The last thing she wanted was for Beau to launch a manhunt for his missing wife.
She didnotneed her face plastered across the media.
Pivoting, Rae almost tripped over Kismet. The dog sat in the bathroom doorway, puzzlement written all over his canine face.
Beau’s words from months ago darted into Rae’s mind. “It was fate that I found him. Met you.”
Gah! Fate, indeed. More like karma biting her in the ass.
She sidestepped Kismet and rushed across the hardwood floor, adjusting the strap of the duffel on her shoulder. At the doorway, she stopped and slapped a hand to the doorjamb. Twisting her neck, she looked back at the bed, remembering …
Beau stumbled into the room close to midnight last night, the parolee leading him and two fellow deputies on a merry chase through the county before they apprehended the woman. Still awake, engrossed in a new romantic suspense by a favoriteauthor, she had set aside the book when he climbed into bed after a quick shower.
“I’m beat,” he said, collapsing back onto the mattress.
Rae moved nearer, and Beau wrapped his arm around her, pulling her snug against him. She draped her top leg over his, scraped a fingernail through his slightly damp chest hair, and looked up at him through half-mast lids. “How beat?”
His hand resting on her hip splayed wide and his fingers dug into her flesh, nudging her nearer. He tilted his chin and met her gaze, a smile ghosting across his lips. “Been reading a naughty scene, have you?”
She chuckled. “No.” Once, when Beau had caught her all hot and bothered after reading a heated love scene, he insisted she read it out loud to him. It had resulted in quite a satisfying scene of their own. And since then, she shared all the raunchy parts with her husband. “But seeing you walk naked across the floor gave me an idea. And it’s been a while …” Her hand drifted down, and her fingers closed around his already swelling cock.
His expression grew serious. “How areyoufeeling, Rae?”
She had caught the flu two weeks ago, resulting in a nasty chest infection, a strong course of antibiotics, and several days in bed. Making love had not been on the agenda, but seeing as tomorrow was her first day back at the store… “I’m good. Very good,” she said.
Beau grinned and shifted onto his side.
