Page 19 of Caught By A Cowboy

“Don’t youdaretalk about her!” I swear he’s just a hope and a prayer away from me snapping his scrawny little neck. “I knew she was coming to see you that night…” I bite down hard on my back teeth. “We argued about it.” All my regret causes the words to come out weak, and I have to pull myself back together. “Do you really expect me to believe all on that same night, she drove to your house, ended up in a car wreck, and you just so happened to disappear from town without an explanation?” I stare long and hard at him.

“I never saw your mom that night, wherever she was goin’, it wasn’t to see me.”

“So where were ya? You told Officer Chambers you were with…” I take the little, black book out from the back of my jeans and flip it to the relevant page. “Candy…How original.” I give him a judgmental scowl as I take the switchblade from my belt and flick it open.

“I… I couldn’t tell Chambers where I really was.” Billy's attention lifts up from the blade and I see the shame in them. “I can’t tell anyone.”

“Billy, you’ve been tied up here for three days, I'm rapidly losing my patience. I’d say, right now, you're in a life-or-death situation. If you can’t give me evidence to prove that you weren’t the one who was fightin’ with my mom when her car went off the road, I’ll have no conscience about killing ya.” I touch the tip of the blade to his throat, letting him know I mean it. This piece of shit wouldn’t be my first, and he sure won’t be my last.

“Eleanor Chambers!” He blurts out a name I was not expecting to hear. “I was with Eleanor.” His answer throws me off, and I keep the confused frown on my face as I rise back up on my feet. “The night your momma died, I was with her, and I’llleave it for you to figure out why I couldn’t tell Officer Chambers his momma was my alibi that night.” He rests his head back against the pillar I got him chained to, and sighs as if a weight has just been lifted from his chest.

“You and Eleanor?” I check, still trying to get my head around what he’s telling me. Eleanor Chambers is one of the most judgemental people I’ve ever met. She thinks she’s better than everyone in Clearwater Creek, especially since her son became deputy sheriff. There’s no way she would cheat on her husband.

“It’s been going on for a while,” Billy sighs. “She was the one who suggested I asked Marie out, she was worried people were getting suspicious. Figured it might throw them off.”

“So, you usedmymom as a cover-up so you could carry on having an affair?” I squeeze the knife in my hand a little tighter.

“At first, yeah, but then I got to know her. I was starting to get real, genuine feelings for her. I liked that there were no obstacles.

“You play poker with Hank every Wednesday night. How do you look him in the eye?” I shake my head at him in disgust.

“I guess the same way you sleep at night, Jace. The mind has a way of switching off the bad we do.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” I bore my eyes into him, wondering how much this fucker knows. I may not be the friendliest person in town, and I know all my ink can be intimidating to some, but there are very few people who see the side of me that Billy McGee’s seeing now. I prefer it that way.

“It means I’m not stupid. I know what you do. Every single ranch within a fifty-mile radius has gone bust over the past ten years, ain’t no other landowner can afford to refuse the offers them Gendrys are making so they can build that damn road. I don’t believe for a second that you're earning all your revenuejust off cattle.” He narrows his eyes and tries to emanate a little power.

“You ain’t giving me many reasons to keep you alive right now, Billy,” I warn him

“Listen, I don’t care about how you make your money, or what ya do. That’s your business. But you can’t keep me chained up in here. I’m guilty of a lot but, Jace, I didn’t kill your mom.” The windows don’t let in much light, but I can see how pale he is. Maybe bringing him here just on a hunch was a little extreme, but I’m determined to find out what happened in the last few moments of my Mom’s life and get justice for her.

“So why leave? If you were with Eleanor that night, and you're innocent, why did you leave town for a whole damn month? Do ya know what the medical examiner told me, Billy?” I press the point of the blade into his cheek so it makes a dimple. “He said it was highly likely that there would have been wounds on the perpetrator as well as injuries from the car wreck. Seems like a good reason for someone to lay low to me.” I watch his reaction, looking for any signs of guilt.

“I get how it looks, but that wasn’t why I stayed away. Eleanor called me soon as she heard what had happened. We both knew because of the interest I’d been paying to ya momma that Hayden would have to question me. We couldn’t have anyone prying like that, especially not her son.”

“You’re fuckin’ disgraceful.” I shake my head and light myself a smoke, still unsure if I can believe him.

“Says the devil to the damned,” he sniggers and I smash my boot right into his cocky face to make sure he regrets his words. Even if they are fuckin’ true.

“I may have fuckin’ killed a few men in my time, Billy, but none of those men have been innocent. They all got what was coming to ‘em.” I point my finger in his face. “Now I gotta decideif you're one of those men.” I turn to leave and he calls out my name desperately.

“Please, don’t leave me again, there are rats in here. I hear ‘em scurrying in the dark. Speak to Eleanor, she’ll tell ya I was with her. She’s an honest woman.”

I burst into a sarcastic laugh. “You expect me to believe that an honest woman would cheat on a man like Hank Chambers?” I shake my head at the irony.

“So what now, you're just gonna leave me here, again? You said yourself you ain’t ever killed an innocent man. I’m innocent of this, Jace. So what are ya gonna do with me?” He’s trying hard to be brave, and Momma always told me that Jesus loves a trier. I’m just not convinced. Right now, Billy McGee looks nothing like the man who walks around town in his fancy suits, with his shoulders back and his head held high. He looks weak, he’s completely at my mercy, and that’s how he’s going to stay until he tells me everything he knows.

“I haven’t decided that yet. Soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know.” I slam the door on the way out and fix the lock on the chain before I leave. This old, derelict cabin that sits in the dead end of nowhere used to belong to my grandad. My father told me that he was a loner and that he liked simplicity, and I can relate to that. His old cabin is perfect for this kinda thing; many a man has bled out on his rotting floorboards. I’m thinking, the time has come for me to upgrade to something easier to clean.

I reward my horse, Buck, for his patience with a pat on his neck before I jump up on my saddle and start heading back toward the ranch.

Billy's cries for help dull out as I ride further away from him, and I laugh to myself when I think about the energy he’s wasting, ain’t no one to hear him out here.

I get back to the ranch half an hour later and as I’m leading Buck into the stable, I spot Maddison around the corner of the house hanging laundry on the line. She’s looking confused as she pulls each garment out of the basket and figures out the best way to hang it, and just watching her makes me forget how ugly the world can be. Her eyes eventually meet with mine and when she catches me staring and blushes, all the pressure of my guilt sinks low and heavy into my stomach. A man like me wanting a girl like her is bad enough but to take her, and to keep her, is beyond selfish. Maddison MacKenzie is a good person. She’s light and I’m dark. She’s flawless, and I’m tainted, yet now that she’s here, there ain’t a single part of me that's willing to give her up. I raise my hat and nod at her, before taking Buck to his stall and then getting in my truck so I can head into town.

“I need a phone.” I check there’s no one around before I slam a handful of twenty dollar bills on the bar in front of Sawyer.

“A burner?” He looks suspicious.

---