Free Lone Star Justice by Tori Scott Page B

expression troubled. "I hope you're right, Mom."
    Of course I am. I'm always right, remember? Now, let's get some sleep, and tomorrow we'll see about moving into that house." She headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth, but Brandy's next question stopped her in her tracks.
    "Mom, who will take care of me if anything happens to you?"
    ***
    By ten-thirty the next morning, Rand had made arrangements for a town meeting. Linda had been on the phone since the moment she arrived at work, alerting the members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, the Rotary Club, and the Quilting Guild. Cody and another deputy were on the streets, quietly alerting as many of the residents as they could.
    Rand had walked into his office at seven to a call from Detective Thacker about the break-in at Maddie's home. The detective wanted to know if Rand had any idea what the intruder might have been looking for. Rand had honestly told him no , but it seemed the stalker hadn't given up on the idea of harassing Maddie.
    All the more reason for tonight's meeting. He was going to need help--and lots of it--to keep Maddie and Brandy safe.
    As he stood at the window overlooking the square, he could survey most of the center of town. He saw Cody talking to Doc, and the emphatic shake of Doc's head. Cody's frustrated gestures. Doc's crossed arms and belligerent stance.
    This was going to be harder than he'd thought. Most of the older residents still remembered his parents' murder with vivid clarity. There was a festering wound of resentment that had never been lanced. And Maddie had run, bringing the focus of the blame unwittingly against herself. Maybe if she'd stayed, had stood her ground with her head held high, the blame would have centered solely on her father, where it belonged. But when Jacob Cooper died in jail before the trial, there had been no closure for the people of the town. Or for him.
    He'd blamed Maddie for years. He'd even tried to track her down once, just so he could vent his frustration and anger face to face. But he'd loved her so much, and hated her with equal passion, that he was afraid of what he would do if he actually found her, and he'd given up the search. Seems as if that had been the best thing, after all.
    If he'd found her and learned she was already pregnant with another man's child, he might have committed a sin as big as her father's.
    As he watched, Doc stormed into the clinic and slammed the door. A moment later, Linda called out, "Rand, line two."
     He crossed to his desk and picked up the phone. As soon as he punched the button, Doc roared, "What is the meaning of this, Rand? How can you even think of trying to help that woman?" The way he said that woman made Maddie sound like some kind of prostitute.
    "I'll explain it all tonight, Doc. Seven o'clock at the Chamber."
    "You'll explain it to me right now, Sheriff, or you'll explain it to the voters in a recall election."
    Rand clenched his jaw and bit back the retort straining his vocal chords. "If you want to know what it's all about, you can come tonight, or you can read about it in the paper next Friday. It's up to you."
    "I don't understand why you're sniffing around that girl again. Have you forgotten about what she did? Or are you thinking with the bottom half of your brain again, just like you did back then? She wasn't good enough for you then, and she still isn't."
    "That's enough, Doc. Maddie didn't do anything to my parents. She's not responsible for her father's actions. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject. If you want to hear the rest, be there tonight." Rand slammed the receiver into the cradle with a curse and kicked his chair back against the credenza.
    What had gotten into Doc? Rand had never heard him talk that way about anyone before. He'd delivered nearly every baby in town, including Maddie, and had always watched out for them, taken an interest in their lives. But something must have happened between those two, something that went