Page 32 of Seized by the Lawman

Chapter 11

“WHY DIDN’T YOU tell me?”

At the sound of Nix’s voice behind her, Melly lifted her chin and looked at him. “Tell you what?” she asked around the nail she had clenched between her teeth.

“About the accident,” he said gruffly.

“I wouldn’t call it an accident. It was a fender bender and I was checked out by a doctor after. I didn’t even need stitches.” She touched the small white bandage on her forehead. She’d gone to the hospital not because she was worried about the small cut on her head, but because she needed to make sure the baby was okay. The doctor had listened to the baby’s heartbeat and everything seemed fine with a recommendation that she rest. She turned her attention back to nailing the board.

“That board isn’t straight. If they’re not flush with each other the nails will go in crooked which makes it easier for the cows to breakthrough,” he muttered.

With a sigh, she used the claw of her hammer and pulled out the nail. It was bent so she grabbed another from her utility pouch. “I’m still learning.” She heard his footsteps. She didn’t look to see where he was standing, but she could feel him—could feel the warmth of his pensive gaze on her back. “If you have something to say, why don’t you just say it rather than breathe down my neck.”

Several silent seconds passed until he finally said curtly, “Randy told me you thought you saw someone standing in the road. That’s what caused you to wreck.”

“I did see someone in the road.” She pounded the new nail in, careful to keep the boards flush as Nix had suggested.

“I took a look at the truck.”

“It’s totaled. Another check against me.” She sighed. “Now I have to get dad’s approval for a new truck.”

“The front tire was tampered with.”

Had she heard him right? Dropping the hammer, she stood, narrowing her eyes on him. “Tampered with?” She’d chalked the incident up to coincidence.

He nodded, his jaw was noticeably tight. His buff arms were crossed over his massive chest. He looked angry. “The tire had a small cut in it. Not enough to give you an immediate flat tire, but a slow loss of air so that if you slammed on your brakes or swerved to miss something you’d lose control.”

She blinked, wrapping her head around his statement. “I had just gone into town to run a few errands. I wasn’t in there long.”

“It doesn’t take long to slice a tire.” He pushed his hat back on his forehead, showing her the steely glare. “Tell me what exactly happened.”

She blew out a long breath and swiped her sweaty palms down the thighs of her jeans. “Look, Nix, I don’t want my father to know about this.”

“It was an accident. Not just an accident, but someone intentionally slit your tire.”

“We don’t know that, but if you tell him he’ll become the overprotective father again and smother me. He’ll see this as an excuse not to give me the ranch.”

“Melly…”

“No. I know him. Trust me.”

“Then trust me. Tell me what happened. I won’t tell Carson. I promise.”

“I saw a woman. I didn’t get a good look because it was so quick. I swerved and slammed on the brakes, maybe not in that order because I can’t remember. She was wearing all white, there one second, gone the next.”

His lips thinned. “Did you see anyone suspicious in town? Anything unusual happen prior?”

She shrugged. “Not really…no, wait. There was a reckless driver who was playing chicken with an uncoming car.”

“What do you mean “playing chicken’?”

“Nothing serious. Just an idiot driver. Probably drinking.”

“Did you get a make, model, or color of the vehicle? Could you identify the driver?”

“It was a truck. Red. And no about the driver. It was dark.” She grabbed her thermos and sipped at the now tepid water. “I didn’t think a lot of it at the time. Do you really think someone did this to me and the two incidences are related?” Her stomach soured.

“I don’t want to assume, but it’s important to always be cautious. I had the lock tested for fingerprints, but as I guessed, there were none. I even looked back at the surveillance video here, but the camera on that side of the property doesn’t reach into the field. That needs to change, and I’ve already called in a security team to install new cameras. You’ll have a system set up so you can view all angles of the property on a monitor inside your house and on your phone in real time.”

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