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Chapter Two

Jackson left the house, his blood boiling and pooling in his loins, his cock rising hard and hot between his thighs. Damn, Becca was even more beautiful now than she had been years ago. The sixteen-year-old had been an emerging woman, more tempting than she could have known. But now, more beautiful than ever, she would be more than he could refuse.

He shook his head as he jumped in his truck and turned the ignition. He almost hadn’t shown up at the house. Had avoided the funeral and the showing like a plague. He had known Becca was there, and had known she would be as tempting as she always had been.

Slipping the vehicle in gear, he pulled quickly away from the curb and headed home. Good thing she was leaving tomorrow. Distractions like Becca were more than he needed right now. His uncle’s death six months ago had left the sheriff’s position to him until the next election, and Jackson still hadn’t solved the riddle of his uncle’s murder. And he knew damned good and well it was murder.

His last conversation with Tobias Montgomery, the tough, ex-Marine turned sheriff who had helped raise him, played through his mind.

“Something’s up, son,” he had told Jackson quietly as they sat on the porch of the Tobias family home. “That mayor’s dirty dealin’. I can smell it.”

He had spit a stream of tobacco juice off the side of the porch before leaning back in his chair. Tobias had been in his fifties, robust and healthy, and as agile-minded as he had been in the Marines.

“How so?” Jackson had watched him curiously.

He had known Mayor Whittaker all his life. The man was a sleaze ball, but he had never been an illegal sleaze ball.

Tobias had shaken his gray head slowly. “Not sure,” he had grunted. “But I’m tellin’ you, Jackson, I know him. He’s flashing money he shouldn’t have, and meeting with some real slick characters of late. He’s edgy, and his wife’s death was too suspicious to suit me. That was a fine woman he was married to.”

Tobias’ voice had been somber. Margaret Whittaker had been Tobias’ girl before she married the other man. When Tobias had joined the Marines and went off to Vietnam, she had married the only son of the caretaker rather than waiting for him to return. Tobias had never gotten over it, as far as Jackson knew.

Jackson had wondered at the time if his uncle’s affection for the deceased woman hadn’t had something to do with his suspicions concerning the mayor. Now, Jackson wasn’t so sure. Tobias’ sudden “hunting” accident just didn’t ring true, especially considering the fact that Tobias wasn’t a hunter. A fisherman, a bullshitter, but not a hunter.

Like any proud southern boy, he had his hunting rifles, he shot trap when the occasion called for it, but he didn’t hunt. “Won’t eat it, I ain’t killin’ it,” had been his reasoning. Now he was dead. The official report being that he had tripped, causing his rifle to go off and blow a hole in his chest. By the time Jackson had gotten home the body had been cremated and any chance of another coroner’s exam shot to hell. And Jackson was left to figure out what the hell had happened and why. He was no closer now than he had been six months ago.

He pulled into the sheriff’s office and sat in the gathering darkness, staring at the aging stone building that housed the jail, as well as his office. He didn’t trust his men or the mayor. And the few friends he had grown up with were mostly gone now. Not that he was an outsider, except in the sheriff’s department. There, he was feeling more and more alone amid the few deputies who seemed much too friendly with Whittaker.

All but Bryan. Bryan Matthews had been Jackson’s only addition to the force. He wouldn’t be there if it hadn’t been for Jackson’s brother-in-law.

“Hire the boy,” Ted had suggested quietly after Jackson had taken office. “He’s dependable and needs the experience.” At the time, Jackson had been aware of the general atmosphere of insubordination that he was facing.

He could fire them, he knew. Roby and Martin, the two deputies causing him the most concern. But it would be harder to keep track of them that way. They were involved, but how he wasn’t certain, and he needed to know how.

It wasn’t adding up. The influx of drugs in the county was no more than a few peddlers from larger cities that were weeded out on a regular basis. There weren’t many strangers in town, and few unusual occurrences unless you counted the short disappearances Whittaker made. Where the hell he went, Jackson had yet to figure out.

He shifted in the truck, frowning in irritation as his throbbing cock reminded him of Becca once again. Dammit. He doubted very seriously she would ever return now that her aunt was dead. Despite her indecision over keeping the house, she was a city girl. He could see it all over her. Damned fine city girl. But a city girl, all the same.

He drew in a deep breath, willing his stubborn hard-on to return to a relaxed state. Hell, maybe he had been too long without a woman, but one-night stands weren’t his thing, and now wasn’t the time for a relationship. It would be fine, he thought. Damned fine to curl up with Becca, hear her moaning in passion, her slender body undulating beneath his.

“Dammit,” he growled, his hand clenching on the steering wheel as his cock seemed to harden further.

“Hey, Sheriff,” Bryan hailed him as he caught sight of the truck after leaving the sheriff’s building. “Sure is a pretty night, huh?”

The kid was too damned green, Jackson thought.

“Evenin’, Bryan. It’s a fine night,” he agreed as he pulled the keys from the ignition and got out of the vehicle. “You off for the night?”

“Yep. Calling it a night,” Bryan nodded as he pushed his blond hair back from his forehead and stopped on the sidewalk as Jackson approached. “I thought I might drive out to the lake. There’s a few friends meeting up there tonight.”

Bryan shifted from one foot to the other as though standing still was too much for his body to handle. He was like a pup, always ready to dive into the next adventure.

“Be careful. Give me a call if anything starts looking rough. Don’t play Superman. You’re not made of steel,” Jackson warned him.

Bryan grimaced. “You’re as bad as that danged brother-in-law of yours. I’m not stupid either, Sheriff.”

There was a shade of offense in the kid’s tone. Jackson sighed. Damned kids didn’t know the dangers that existed out there.

“I’m aware of that, Bryan.” He nodded. “Just a warning I’d give to any of my men. No offense intended.”

“Yeah. Okay then. I’ll be careful,” Bryan promised. “Sorry, Sheriff.”

“No apology needed. Night, Bryan.” Jackson moved off then, heading for the double doors.

“Hey, Sheriff,” Bryan called out again, his voice pitched low now, questioning.

Jackson turned back to him, seeing the hesitation on Bryan’s face.

“What is it?”

Bryan scratched his head, frowned, and glanced around the area as though making certain they were alone. “I heard something strange today.”

Jackson waited patiently as Bryan stepped nearer.

“Roby got a call, and whoever he was talking to got pissed enough to start yelling. I was standing there…” Bryan grimaced. “I feel like a tattle tale. I’m sure it’s nothing, but the man was cursing him loud enough to wake the dead. I couldn’t help but overhear.”

“And?” Jackson stiffened as tension invaded his body.

Bryan shook his head again. “And it was just damned strange. Could have swore the words were Arabic, ya know? Or something similar. When did we get foreigners in town?”

Jackson shrugged, fighting a sense of excitement. “Hell, who knows who Roby has pissed off this week.”

Bryan chuckled. “Hell if that ain’t the truth. I figured it was nothing, but you know, after the Towers…” Bryan sobered.

“Yeah. I know.” Jackson nodded. “Go have fun, Bryan. You know Roby. He keeps everyone pissed.”

“Yeah, guess so.” But Bryan sounded as uncertain as Jackson felt. “I better go then.”

Jackson watched as Bryan turned and headed to the parking lot. He searched the area carefully, his eyes narrowing as he assured himself no one had overheard the conversation. It might be nothing, as he had tried to convince Bryan, but it wasn’t the first clue he had come across. Now, he just had to figure out what the hell it meant.