Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (4 page)

Karlie nodded and walked with him toward the front of the barn. 
She'd
made a lot of bad decisions lately, her first was coming to this town at all.  There weren't many other options for her, but she could have found something.  She could ride and rope,
and work cattle,
some ranch would have hired her as a hand, but she knew Cassie, and wanted to work with horses.
 

Big mistake there, because of one tall, dark-haired, handsome jackass of a deputy.

CHAPTER TWO

Karlie and Cole
rode to the police station in complete silence.  Karlie looked out the window the whole time, wishing she were anywhere but here.  Emotion welled up inside of her and she felt tears sting her eyes.  Karlie wasn't a crier,
she thought it was a waste of time and water.  Usually she faced the world with a stiff upper lip and a rigid determination to make things better for her
self
o
n her o
wn, because she knew nobody else was going to do that for her. 
Katie
, her twin sister,
was the crier, in touch with her softer side. 

T
his was
going to be
an exception.  If she didn't let got of some of the anger, sadness,
hopelessness and
regret, she felt like she'd explode. 
With her almost empty wallet,
thanks to the ATM card she'd given Jake on her account to pay the bills,
there wasn't even a hope she was going to be able to make bail
. 

Karlie
knew it was probably going to be
set
high
, because of the seriousness of what she'd done
.  So, until they arranged a trial, she was going to have to be a
guest
in the
Bowie
jail.
  Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked out at the dry
Texas
landscape
,
saying goodbye to her freedom
with each mile they got closer to the jail
.

Cole pulled his truck up in a spot right in front of the station, then came around and released her seat belt, and helped her out.  They went inside and there was a gray-haired woman at the front desk who looked at them curiously, as Cole led her into a glass-fronted room that had a counter with a camera and screen, and a finger print blotter.
 

Karlie knew she must look a mess, she probably had mascara down to her chin.  She hated taking a photo the way she looked, but she couldn't do anything about it.
  With a sniff she walked in front of the screen and faced the camera, then Cole got behind the camera and snapped a shot.  The bright light blinded her and she saw spots as he gently took her arm and opened the cuffs.  She rubbed her wrists then he took her hand and pressed each finger on the blotter and transferred black ink fingerprints to a card.

He looked up at her and said with sadness in his tone, "Dammit, Karlie, why the hell didn't you just let
Gabe
bring you in?  It's killing me to do this to you."

Karlie pinched her lips tight to stop the sob that wanted to escape, but the tears were another story, it seemed like
once
she'd let them loose, they weren't going to stop.
  Cole wiped a couple away with this thumb then took her arm and led her back out of the room,
and
through a door and to a gate with bars, where he put in a key and opened it then led her inside.

Panic flooded through her
when Cole opened a cell door,
and Karlie
dug in her heels
. 
Cole
pushed her a little
to encourage her to move forward
, and she
went inside and walked over to the single cot
against the wall
and laid down
.  T
ucking her hands between her knees
, Karlie faced the wall, a
nd
her body began shaking
,
as she
gave in to the scalding tears forcing their way out
.

"I'll bring you some lunch in a little while," Cole told her and locked the door.  She didn't want food...the way she felt right now, she probably wouldn't be able to eat a
gain until this mess was over.

She didn't know how, but she'd fallen asleep and didn't stir until keys in the metal lock of the cell woke her up.  Disoriented for a second, she looked at the white wall in front of her, then down at the rough sheet on the cot where she was laying.  Her eyes felt like they had sandpaper in them and she rubbed them, then sat up on the cot, and turned toward the door.

It wasn't Cole standing inside the cell, but Gabe standing there with a white paper sack in his hand and a soft drink.  His face was blank as he walked over and h
eld it out
it to her saying, "Cole said to bring you lunch...here it is."

Karlie felt the endless supply of tears start again, and she'd be damned if she let this man see her cry.  She laid back on the bed and turned toward the wall
again, then
told him
in a watery voice
, "You eat it, I'm not hungry...but thank you."

"You've got to eat...I'll leave it on the bench over here.  Eat it when you're hungry," he s
aid and she heard him walk away, then lock the door
, before he left
.

Gabe thought Karlie Upton looked about as pathetic and dejected a
s any
prisoner he'd ever seen.  Guilt washed through him, but he stomped it down and told himself the woman was getting exactly what she deserved for what she'd done...and for making a fool of him.
  If she wanted to starve herself to death it was no skin off of his nose.  But her sad blue eyes had lost their spunky sheen from when he'd encountered her on the highway, and he felt a strange sense of loss.

Walking into Cole's office, Gabe sat down in the chair in front of his desk.  He didn't like the look on Cole's face either, serious and concerned.  "You bring it to her?"
Cole asked him.

"Yeah...she said she wasn't hungry," he told him, his hands gripping the chair handles.  Dammit, why the hell was he worried about the damned red-haired hellion too?  Because
even though Karlie Upton had lassoed him and tied him up,
she'd apologized and called help
for him
.  And he
had
threatened to send her dog to the pound.
  That didn't make what she'd done right, but after he cooled off and thought about it,
Gabe admitted he
probably could have handled the situation better.

Cole looked up at him and asked, "You said she propositioned you?  I'm about to call Judge and see if he'll set bail, are we adding solicitation to the
assault
charge?"

Gabe's lips ticked up and he said, "Well, she didn't come right out and say it...but she sure poured it on with those blue eyes and fabulous breasts
.
"
he chuckled
then finished, "She actually tried to make me believe she was offering to help fix my cruiser.  It had blown a hose and was overheated."

"She's a top-notch mechanic, so she could have meant exactly that," Cole informed him.

Gabe snorted, "No shit?"
  He couldn't imagine the leggy redhead under the hood of a car, she didn't look like the type
, but then again she hadn't looked like the type to rope him either.

"No shit--she rebuilt and souped up that Lincoln herself when she was sixteen."

Gabe shook his head
, then told him,
"Well,
I didn't know,
I thought she was just trying to get out of being arrested.
.
." With another shake of his head Gabe asked the question that had been bothering him since it happened, "
How the hell did
a woman who weighs a buck twenty-five tops rope and tie me so fast I didn't know wh
at was going on?"

Cole hooted then belly laughed, "
Karlie
didn't mention she's
a professional team roper?
  She and her twin sister, Katie are ranked
as the
number one female team in the country.
"

Gabe groaned and shoved a hand through his hair, "Don't tell me there are
two
of them!"

"To many a cowboy's
delight and despair," Cole told him then grinned, "
Those two were hell on wheels as teenagers.
Could be because they were raised by their uncle
, Jerry
.
 
He was their only family, and he didn't know a damned thing about raising two girls.
..but he was one of the best damned
r
opers I've ever seen.  They grew up on the rodeo circuit, traveling from place to place with him.
"

Okay, now Gabe really felt guilty...he'd been wrong about the beautiful cowgirl.  Well not wrong, but she
could
have meant she'd fix his car
,
when he thought she'd
been propositioning him for sex. Of course, that's all that had been on his brain every time he looked at her. 

He also f
elt damned sorry for her growing up the way she had.
  That couldn't have been easy for her and her sister, and
could
explain why she was so out-of-control.
 
Gabe wasn't an asshole, he
did have
some compassion.
 

Before he could change his mind, Gabe told
Cole,
"Reduce the charge to resisting."

Cole's eyebrows lifted and he smiled, "Thanks, man...I wasn't going to ask.  What she did was serious, and it's
damned nice
of you to do that.  She owes you an apology too."

Gabe grinned, and told him, "She did apologize...right after she tied me up."

"Well, bless her heart," Cole said then guffawed.

Minutes, blended into hours, and
Karlie
hadn't
move from her position on the cot, but she did fall asleep again, then woke up when keys jangled in the lock again.  She glanced over her should and saw Cole walking in.  He didn't have on his uniform now, he was in jeans and a t-shirt.  This was the Cole she knew, and she sat up and looked at him.

"You need to eat your lunch, sugar.  It's dinner time now..."  His green eyes were filled with concern, as he came over to sit on the end of the cot.

"I'm not hungry, but thanks for getting it for me," she told him in a raw voice.  All that crying had more than
make
her face a mess, she though as she tried to swallow.

"Doesn't matter, you'll probably be out of here shortly.
..
Judge set your bail."

She shook her head and then asked, "When's the trial date?"

Cole looked at her curiously and said, "It's not set yet...arraignment is in the morning.  You need me to get an attorney for you?"

Her lips trembled and her eyes filled again, and she admitted, "Can't afford one until I sell my horse, I have to call Kate.  He's the best cutting horse on the circuit, so he should sell fast...hopefully."

"You don't want to sell your horse, darlin', that's your bread and butter."

"I don't have a choice, and I quit the rodeo, so I won't be needing him anymore," she tried to keep her chin from trembling, but failed.  God, she was such a damned blubbering mess!  She needed to get a hold of herself.  Drawing in a deep shuddering breath, she said, "I'll just stay in here, until he sells."

"Don't you win a lot?  Where the hell is all the prize money you
've
won?"

"Jake wiped me out...I was stupid and gave him a card on my account
to pay my part of the bills
.  I had to draw out
what was left of
my savings to get here.
 
I think he knew I was leaving and h
e was trying to make sure I stayed with him.
"

"Who the hell is Jake
and what the hell do you mean you quit
?" Cole asked and his brows furrowed together over his green eyes.