When Jude returned to the table, she rejoined them.
“Kenny’s in Beatty,” Jude said, grimly.
Her breath caught. The tiny town of Beatty was settled, like Furnace Falls, on the Nevada side of Death Valley. “That’s only twenty minutes from here.”
“I don’t want you to worry. He’s been checking in with his parole officer as directed, hasn’t missed an appointment.” Jude studied Beckett for a moment. “There’s no proof that he orchestrated your prison attack.”
Beckett rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t make this all up.”
“Are you sure?”
Beckett and Jude stared at each other.
“What are you really doing here, Beck?” Jude said finally.
“What do you mean? I just told you.”
“Showing up now, pretending you need to protect Laney. Why?”
A vein jumped in his jaw. “Not pretending anything. She’s in danger.”
“Is that something you’re telling yourself so you can justify coming back to Furnace Falls?”
“No.” He slapped both palms on the tabletop. “I’m not making it up. I wouldn’t do that.”
Jude’s expression hardened. “You’re not going to get your home back. This town believes you killed Pauline Sanderson, and that’s never going to change, so if this is a ploy…”
“Is that what you think, Jude?” Admiral looked up at Beckett’s harsh tone, and Laney rubbed the dog’s ears to soothe him as Beckett continued. “We’re cousins. Our dads grew up together and so did we. You know me. We went all the way from first grade through high school together.”
“I knew you. You were competitive, wanted to win at any cost.”
“What high school boy doesn’t want to win?”
“Yeah, but you wanted it so much that you almost killed Dan. He was a good guy. He’s still a good guy, in spite of what you did to him. He’s made a life for himself without his vision.”
Laney wanted to cover her ears. The pain that had rippled out from that decades-old accident had shipwrecked not only Dan’s life but Beckett’s too. “Jude…”
Jude ignored her. “My job is to keep order in this town and to help Laney when I can since you left her high and dry.”
Beckett jerked to his feet, earning a startled yip from Admiral. “All right. You’ll never believe me that I’m innocent. I understand that. But this isn’t about me anymore. It’s not a ploy—it’s real. Kenny is going to come here to hurt her.”
Jude crossed his arms. “I will look into it.”
Beckett let out a grunt. “Will you? Why doesn’t that comfort me?”
Jude leveled a stare at Beckett. “I’ll look into it because I’m a cop, and if there is a threat, Laney deserves protection, but it shouldn’t come from you. You’ve done enough. Get on out of here, Beckett. This isn’t your home anymore.”
Now she really did feel the burn of tears behind her lids. Not his home. She wasn’t sure it was hers anymore either. Would there ever be a person she’d want to make a home with? Could she ever stake everything on another man who pledged faithfulness in sickness and in health? She caught her lip between her teeth and closed her eyes against the sudden dizziness.
Beckett tensed. “What’s wrong, Laney? Are you sick?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re so pale…” Beckett started.
“I said I’m fine.” She hurried off. It took every ounce of her strength to push her way across the floor. She had to keep going. There was no other choice. Snuggling Admiral under her chin, she rushed out of the dining room before either man could say another word.
CHAPTER THREE
Beckett wasn’t sure what to do with himself, but he was certain as the sunrise that he couldn’t leave until he was reasonably confident Kenny or any of his henchmen weren’t in the vicinity. Plus, he had another nagging concern that Laney was not in good health. She was the kind of person who never admitted when she was feeling poorly anyway. He recalled her completing a double shift at the hotel before she had consented to seeing a doctor for an undisclosed ailment, which turned out to be an appendix about to rupture.
She’d disappeared somewhere, and he couldn’t very well do a room-to-room search.
He figured he might as well make himself useful while he waited for her to reemerge, so he repaired a broken shutter in the recreation room and a couple of missing shingles to the roof. In spite of the heat baking down on him, he surveyed the property from his bird’s-eye view. The camping area, a flat acreage with trailer hookups and platform tents, was nearly deserted. The swimming pool and cabana area was empty, as was the horseshoe pit. There were only one or two cars in the front lot, indicating a mere handful of guests were staying in the main house. Fall was usually gearing up for prime visitor time. Not now.
Perhaps the new resort, complete with all the modern trimmings, that had opened up fifteen miles away was luring away customers. His gut told him the real reason. A murdered woman on the property, the owner jailed for the crime? Not exactly the ideal ambience for a family vacation. His release was now public knowledge, which would further dissuade patrons. If the hotel failed, what would Laney live on? Fifteen acres of sun-blasted ground unsuitable for pretty much anything? He climbed down from the roof, steeped in new worry. The hotel was all he had to give to Laney, and it had to survive to support her.
Wiping the sweat from under the brim of his old fire-department baseball cap, he put his tools back in the shed and strolled past the empty picnic tables that hugged the late-afternoon shade. Sooner or later Laney would have to show up for the dinner service. He made sure to keep an eye out, popping into the kitchen to lend a hand. Herm was there like he’d been since shortly after Beckett’s father took ownership. He glanced up from filling a hefty platter with sliced brisket.
“Beckett,” he said. His grin revealed one missing front tooth, which he told everyone was from a Vietnam
