Her Cowboy Distraction(16)

       
           



       

"Did you get any sense of the size of the man? A smell coming from him or any idea of what he was wearing?" Cameron continued.

Lizzy frowned. "No, nothing like that. It all happened so fast. He was  definitely tall and strong." Her frown deepened. "But, I'm not sure he  meant to kill me. I think maybe he was going to just hold on to me until  I passed out."

"Why would you think he wasn't trying to kill you?" Daniel could no  longer hold on to his silence. The idea of somebody squeezing the life  out of Lizzy not only terrified him, but filled him with an unexpected  simmering rage.

"Before he let me go he said that it was a warning, that I should leave town."

Cameron's frown was as deep as Daniel's. "He told you to leave town?" Cameron said.

"He said 'Leave town, bitch. This is a warning, Lizzy, get out of town,' or something like that," she replied.

"'Lizzy'? He called you Lizzy?" Mary looked at her in surprise.

"So he knew you by name," Cameron added.

Daniel could tell by the widening of Lizzy's eyes that she hadn't really  processed that information yet. "Yes," she said, her voice fainter than  it had been. "He definitely knew me by name. But, if he'd wanted to  kill me, I got the feeling he was strong enough to snap my neck like a  twig. I really believe it was a warning for me to leave town."

"But, why?" Mary asked in obvious confusion. "Why would anyone want you to leave Grady Gulch? Everyone loves you, Lizzy."

"Apparently somebody isn't a big fan of mine," Lizzy replied darkly.

"Anyone giving you problems? Maybe a customer you fought with?" Cameron  asked, and it wasn't lost on Daniel that he'd asked the same kind of  questions about Candy after her murder.

"No, nobody," Lizzy replied. "Everyone has been extremely nice to me  since I've been in town. There's only one person the whole time I've  been here who looked at me like I was a piece of dog poo on her shoes,  and I know she wasn't the one who strangled me."

"Who is that?" Mary asked.

Lizzy directed her gaze to Daniel, who answered the question. "Maddy  Billings was in earlier." He didn't need to say any more. He knew that  both Cameron and Mary knew the history between him and Madison Billings.  "Denver Walton was with her," he added.

"If Maddy was going to have her boyfriend strangle anyone, it would be  you, Daniel," Cameron said dryly. "Still, I'll check him out."

"Maybe Deputy Collins will find something. Maybe the attacker dropped  something as he ran away or left some footprints or something," Lizzy  said, a slight edge of desperation in her voice.

Cameron looked at his wristwatch. "He and Deputy Temple should be checking in anytime now."

"You know, I was already planning to leave here in the next couple of  weeks. Maybe it's time to move up my timeline," Lizzy said.

Daniel wanted to protest. He definitely hadn't been ready for her to  come into his life, but he also knew he wasn't ready to let her go … at  least not yet. But, he kept silent.

After all, what right did he have to ask her to stay there and face any  more potential danger? He had nothing to offer her and knew that even if  he did, she had her promise to her mother to fulfill.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but I'd rather you stick around here for a  few more days," Cameron said. "You're at the center of this particular  investigation. You heard his voice, and even though you don't remember  anything else specific about him right now, it's possible that once some  of the shock wears off you'll remember some little detail that might be  important."

Daniel could feel the fear wafting from Lizzy, knew that her natural  instinct would be to flee from here, where she had no ties and  absolutely no reason to remain.

Still, he knew she would agree to stay because Cameron had asked her to,  and Daniel knew he'd never sleep peacefully again with the thought of  Lizzy alone in that little cabin behind the café.

"You can stay out at my place," he heard himself saying. "I've got  plenty of guest rooms and you'll be safe there." It was impossible to  read Lizzy's eyes as she turned to look at him.

"That's a great idea," Mary said before Lizzy could protest. "And I'll  get busy hiring a couple of new waitresses to fill the vacancies."

"I'm not a vacancy yet," Lizzy said. "Even if I stay out at Daniel's, I  don't intend to quit working here." She raised her chin slightly. "He  can chase me away from my cabin, but I'll be damned if he'll make me  quit my job before I'm ready to."                       
       
           



       

"That's up to you," Cameron said, "although I definitely think it's a  good idea if you move out of the cabin until we have this all settled."

"What about Courtney?" Lizzy asked. "Rusty can probably take care of  himself, but I don't want her and little Garrett to stay out there all  alone."

It touched Daniel that, despite the fact that she was the one who had  been attacked, her thoughts were for her friend and her little son.

"I'll get Courtney and Garrett settled in at the motel for the rest of  tonight and then we'll figure something out for them more permanently  tomorrow," Daniel said.

At that moment Deputies Temple and Collins walked in, both of them  wearing expressions of defeat. Daniel felt not only his own  disappointment but also everyone else's at the table.

"Nothing," Deputy Collins said with a frown. "We couldn't find anything  in the area. We searched in the direction Courtney said he ran and found  nothing there, either. He must have run hard and fast, but he didn't  drop or leave anything behind that we could find."

Cameron drew a weary hand through his dark brown hair. "Ben, why don't  you head out back and see to it that Courtney Chambers gets moved from  her cabin to the motel for the night."

"Will do," Ben Temple said and immediately turned and went out the door.

"And Jim, see if you can find anyone who might have seen a car parked  around this area, or somebody running down the streets," Cameron  continued.

"Do you think this has something to do with Candy's death?" Lizzy's  voice sounded smaller than usual as she looked at the sheriff.

He hesitated a long moment. "I don't know. To be honest, it's just too  early to tell. If it was the same person who attacked Candy, then I  don't know why he didn't wait until you were alone in the cabin to  attack you. He took a chance doing it out in the open, where somebody  might see. And then there's the matter of the weapon. He used a knife on  Candy, but you haven't mentioned him having any weapon."

Lizzy shook her head. "All he had was his arm wrapped tight around my neck."

Cameron rose wearily to his feet. "Right now my gut instinct tells me  these are two isolated incidences, but I'm not ruling out any connection  between Candy's killer and what happened tonight." He turned and looked  at Mary, and his gaze softened. "You make sure you lock up tight here,  and we'll continue patrols."

"Our living quarters are secure," she replied.

He nodded. "Make sure they stay that way. Doors locked whether you're in  there or not." He turned his attention to Daniel. "Take this woman to  your place, where I know she'll be safe for the rest of the night."

"I'll keep her safe." Daniel felt his determination rumble in his chest.  Nobody would hurt Lizzy as long as she was with him. He'd make sure of  it. He turned to look at her. "Shall we go pack your things?"

She nodded and together they got up from the table. "Call me if you  think of anything else," Cameron said as they headed for the back door.

"Trust me, you'll be the very first person I call," Lizzy promised.

It wasn't until they stepped out into the dark of night that Lizzy edged  closer to him, as if fear alone controlled her movements.

He hated that. In his brief relationship with Lizzy she'd appeared  fearless, and it broke his heart to know that some of that charming  courage had been stolen away from her by an unknown attacker.

"Wait here," she said just outside the cabin door. "It will just take me a few minutes to gather up my things."

Daniel stood at the door and listened to the sound of her packing. He  stared toward the back door of the café. If he had his way he wouldn't  have wanted her to continue working, but it wasn't his call. It had to  be hers, and apparently she didn't intend to let anyone chase her away  from the café.

What was going on in Grady Gulch? Who was behind these attacks? Like  Sheriff Evans, Daniel wasn't convinced that Candy's murder and the  attack on Lizzy were related, but the idea that they might be was  horrifying.