Page 27 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

Yes, that was possible. Then, Helen might have killed Mellie in a jealous rage.

But how did the other two murders play into this?

The only thing Rory could think of was that Helen had maybe decided to keep going and try to pin the murders on Ike.

Then again, all three murders could have been designed for that right from the start, and jealousy might not have anything to do with this.

“I know this shooting happened a long time ago,” Rory said to Aileen, “but I want to use it and the other circumstantial evidence that we have to get a search warrant for Helen’s house.”

Aileen made a sound of agreement. “I can help with that if you want.”

“I do. Thanks.” Rory wasn’t going to turn down an offer like that. Aileen still had a lot of support in town, and even though the former sheriff would never bend the law, she would be able to cut through the red tape much faster than he could.

“All right. I’ll get right on that,” Aileen assured him. “Are you going to talk to Frank and ask him about the shooting?”

“I am. Thanks again, Aileen.” Rory ended the call and immediately pressed Frank’s number. It took four rings before the man finally answered.

“It’s late, Deputy McClennan,” Frank snapped. He’d obviously seen Rory’s name on the screen.

Rory didn’t bother with an apology, and he got right to the point. “Think back to that shooting in the barn when you were a teenager. Do you believe Helen could have been the one to fire that shot?”

Frank was silent for so long that Rory wasn’t sure the man was going to answer, but he finally said, “Yes.”

“Any reason you didn’t tell the cops that?” Rory asked.

“It would have only made matters worse. And the shot wouldn’t have hit Mellie or me since it was fired into the hayloft. We weren’t in any kind of real danger.”

“Maybe, but someone shot at you,” Rory reminded him. “I’d think you would want to say who did that.”

“I didn’t have any proof,” Frank insisted. “It would have been my word against Helen’s. Her family had power and money. Mine didn’t. I would have likely ended up losing my job, and my name would have been mud in Renegade Canyon.”

Rory wished that wasn’t true. But it was.

“If you truly thought Helen had fired the shot, why did you continue to see her over the years?” Rory asked.

Frank sighed. “Helen was there for me after my wife died. I was an emotional mess, and if I hadn’t had Helen, I wouldn’t have gotten through it.

I owe her. She also helped me get my ranch.

She used her family’s influence to get me the best deal possible on the place and even lent me part of the down payment. ”

Rory thought of what Aileen had said about Helen not being able to let go of Frank, but it seemed to Rory that the same could be said of Frank. He didn’t press the man on his feelings for Helen. Instead, he went in a different direction.

“Will you voluntarily agree to a search of your house?” Rory asked. “I could get a warrant,” he added.

Frank muttered some profanity. “Do the search. I consent to it,” he said, surprising Rory. “Just not tonight because I’m about to head to bed. But you can send someone out first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you,” Rory said, but he was talking to the air because Frank had already ended the call.

“That was easier than expected,” Eden muttered. She stayed quiet a moment. “You’re mentally comparing Helen and Frank to you and me.”

He nodded. Then shook his head. “I don’t think you’d shoot at me if I was with another woman.”

She surprised him by smiling. “Well, I might have when we’d been teenagers. Especially if you’d been with Tracy Muldoon.”

He smiled, too, because Tracy had been the head cheerleader, and she’d made no secret that she wanted to replace Eden as his girlfriend. Tracy had done that via the mean-girl route of making Eden’s life miserable in high school.

Her expression turned serious, and the levity of the moment was gone. “No, even then I wouldn’t have shot at you.”

She hadn’t needed to spell that out. “We were both cops in the making even back then.”

“Yes,” she muttered, and she didn’t take her gaze off him.

The energy and the heat between them went up a notch, and that’s why Rory didn’t kiss her. Didn’t touch her. If he did, there’d be no turning back.

But then, Eden leaned in and kissed him.

Not a sweet peck on the mouth, either. She really kissed him, instantly making it long and deep. Instantly cranking up that heat and energy even more.

Rory was about to issue a warning that his resolve wasn’t that strong right now, but Eden didn’t give him a chance. Hard to talk when they were French kissing. And when things were escalating to beyond just this kiss.

Turning, Eden moved her leg over him and shifted her position until she was on his lap. That didn’t just amp up the heat. It caused it to skyrocket, and it snapped every bit of his restraint. It suddenly didn’t matter that sex could turn out to be a mistake.

Nope.

Because it was going to happen.

That was the problem, and the huge advantage, of being with someone whose body and mind he knew so well. Rory could feel this wasn’t just a kiss to soothe. This wasn’t about soothing at all. It was about feeling. It was about needing.

It was about them.

He slid his arm around her, snapping Eden closer to him, until her breasts were pressed against his chest. And he did some escalating of his own. The kiss went from hot to scalding. The need went from urgent to an absolute necessity.

Rory had to have her now.

Thankfully, Eden seemed to feel the same way.

She took those scalding kisses to his neck, doling out some torture and pleasure with the flick of her tongue over his skin. She knew all his hot spots. Hell, she’d been the one to discover them since they’d been each other’s firsts. They had a long history of torture and pleasure.

Needing to do some kissing of his own, Rory turned the tables on her and went after her breasts. Eden’s hot spots. He pushed up her top, shoved down the bra and used his mouth and tongue on her nipples.

Eden moaned, that sound of pleasure he knew all too well. A sound that shot through every part of his body. Especially one part that was urging him to move faster. To take everything she was offering.

Rory did just that, and he pulled off her top. Rid her of the bra, too. And the battle began. Because the clothes were obviously the enemy now, and they wanted each other naked.

Even then, the kissing and touching didn’t stop, and somehow they managed not to injure themselves when the battle of the clothing escalated. Eden yanked off his shirt, sliding some tongue kisses on his chest while she fumbled with his jeans.

Rory ended up helping her with that, which led to some rolling around on the floor while holsters, boots and jeans all came off.

The frantic pace continued when they were naked—their mouths met again, and the kiss roared past the hungry stage.

The pleasure and need consumed him, and he was ready to take her here and now, but Eden said something that got through his lust-hazed mind.

“Condom,” she muttered through her gusting breath.

Hell. He’d nearly forgotten again, and the last time, he’d gotten her pregnant. Since he doubted she wanted that to happen again, he forced himself to move away from her and locate his jeans. Then, his wallet. Then, the condom he kept there.

Eden made her way toward him, and the second he had the condom on, she straddled him, taking her inside him. The pleasure wasn’t just a roar now. It was an avalanche of all the sensations that confirmed to him that this wasn’t a mistake.

Eden was the right woman.

And despite the investigation, it was the right time.

Eden started the maddening strokes, taking him deep inside her, and he could see the pleasure on her face. Could feel it in her body as he slid his hands down her breasts and stomach. She rode him, drawing out every bit of that pleasure. Building it. Making them both climb.

And desperate.

Because that’s what happened with great sex. The need became overwhelming, impossible to stave off. But Rory held on, savoring it. Savoring her. And when Eden’s body finally found the release, Rory let himself take the plunge with her.

Yeah, this was right.