Before Memories Fade Read online

  “I retired about four years ago.”

  She studied him. “You must be going wild with all that time on your hands.” Had he been looking for her ever since he left the FBI?

  “I keep busy. Believe it or not,” he said, leaning toward her, “I took up gardening.”

  She laughed. “I don’t believe it.”

  He cocked a brow at her. “I did and I love it. You should see the vegetables I’ve grown.” He leaned back to pull out his phone, and the dark mistrustful side of her figured he was sending a message to the armed men waiting for his signal. She watched him thumb through what turned out to be photos until he found one of a cabbage bigger than her head. He thumbed again, coming up with a bunch of perfectly straight, bright orange carrots. “Admit it, you’ve never seen such beautiful vegetables. Wait until you see the tomatoes I can grow.” He put his phone away.

  “What do you do with all of these vegetables you grow?”

  “Harvest them, can and freeze them.”

  “You do that? Not your wife?”

  He smiled. “I never married, if that’s what you’re asking. You?”

  She shook her head. The waitress brought their meals. She tried to eat, thinking this could be her last meal as a free woman. But then again, she hadn’t really been free for most of her life. Her father had warned her about going out on her own. He’d wanted her to stay and run the logging company and sawmill, but she’d wanted more. Now the logging and sawmill operation made a whole lot more than the garage and gas station she’d inherited. She didn’t miss the irony in it since her bad decisions had led to this moment.

  “Our growing season here isn’t half as long as you have down south,” she said, still sure he wasn’t serious, but part of her wishing with all her heart that he was.

  He shrugged, as if seeing that she was having trouble believing any of this. “I never told you, but I was a fairly good art student at one time. I’ve gotten back into painting. It’s just a hobby, but it keeps me busy.”

  Gertrude didn’t know what to believe. She was still in shock at seeing him after all these years. She’d held most of the memories at bay, afraid to let them in for fear they would drown her.

  “How did you find me?” she asked.

  “I’d flagged your file, hoping you would turn up,” Ike said. “There was so much that didn’t get said before you disappeared. In case you don’t remember, I told you I was in love with you and that I wanted to marry you. You promised to give me an answer that night at dinner.” His gaze probed hers and she felt his pain and her own. “I should have known you wouldn’t show up.”

  She had to look away, heart aching. She’d desperately wanted to stay, to marry this man, to make a new life. But she’d known that she would only drag him down. He was career FBI. He’d already jeopardized that just being with her. He should have arrested her after he found her, following the Ralph Conrad bust.

  Instead he’d tracked her down only to take her in his arms and teach her about not just lovemaking, but love itself.

  “It wouldn’t have worked,” she said, unable to look at him. “You knew who I was, what I was capable of. It would have cost you your career.”

  “It was a choice I was willing to make, or I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me.”

  She shook her head. “I couldn’t let you do that.”

  “Well, that’s all water under the bridge in less than three days now, isn’t it?” he said. “Do you know who that woman is sitting in the corner booth with the young man?”

  The question surprised her. She frowned and turned to glance at Luna and the deputy marshal. “I told you. She’s the new hairstylist in town. The man is a deputy sheriff.”

  Ike nodded. “She’s also Luna Declan. I remember her because her father was the insurance investigator whose company insured the museum jewelry.”

  * * *

  IKE SAW HER shock and sudden fear. “I doubt it’s a coincidence that she just happened to open a salon here in Buckhorn now.” Gert appeared dumbstruck. He lowered his voice as he leaned toward her. “Add to that, she’s here with the law. My car’s just down the street. Let’s get out of here. The statute of limitations will be up by the time we get to Vegas. I’ve already returned the brooch...”

  She put down her fork and looked at him in surprise. Her gaze went to the door. He saw what she was thinking. She knew him, knew that he was compulsive about being on time. He’d been late because he’d been to her house. He’d found the brooch and her getaway bag. “Are you really offering me a way out?”

  He nodded and smiled. “I have a plan.”

  Gertrude pushed her salad away only partially eaten. He hadn’t done much better on his meal, he thought as he, too, pushed it away and looked around for the waitress. He spotted her in the kitchen at the back.

  Reaching for his wallet, he said, “Go on out. I’ll pay the bill and meet you outside.”

  She didn’t move. He glanced up at her as he tossed more than enough money for their dinner and a healthy tip. He saw it in her face and felt his heart break for her.

  “There’s no one waiting outside, Gert. I promise.”

  She nodded and slowly got to her feet. He watched her go to the door, before he rose and walked over to the booth where Luna Declan and the young cop sat.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “I need to have a moment with Ms. Declan.”

  The cop started to question what was going on, but Luna stopped him, saying she would only be a minute. She rose and followed Ike far enough from the table that the cop wouldn’t be able to hear.

  “I know what you’re doing here in town,” Ike said without preamble. “You’ll find what you’ve come to Buckhorn for.” He remembered her as being very sharp when he’d lectured at her class that day.

  He knew he was right when she said, “When?”

  “When you get back to your shop. Not now. Later. See that your dad gets it. Because this is over.”

  For a moment, she held his gaze before she looked toward the door that Gertrude had disappeared through. “You’re sure about that?”

  He nodded, hoping like the devil it was true. Or would be in a matter of days.

  With that he turned and walked out while Luna went back to her date. As he left the café, he wasn’t even that sure that Gert would be waiting for him.

  * * *

  “WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?” Jaxson asked as she slid into the booth across from him.

  “That’s a former FBI agent who lectured in one of my criminology classes back at university,” she said, and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “He just wanted to say hello. Small world, huh?”

  “What’s he doing in Buckhorn?” the lawman in Jaxson asked.

  She shrugged. “I didn’t ask. I assume he’s just passing through since he’s retired.” She thought just the opposite. There was one obvious explanation for why he was with Gertrude. He was taking her in, still FBI or not.

  But there might be another explanation, she thought. She’d gotten the impression when he’d talked about the heist to her class and she’d brought up the money-laundering bust in Vegas that he knew Irene Southerland rather well. She had suspected there was more to the story.

  Wasn’t it possible that he’d come to save Gertrude? What a love story that would be, if true. She wondered what would happen now. If what he’d told her was true, she’d find the brooch in her apartment. Her father would be pleased. Wasn’t that what she’d hoped for?

  She changed the subject, asking about Jaxson. He’d been reserved at first, but she could see him loosening up. As he told her a story about being the youngest in his family of overachievers, she realized that she liked him. She could relate.

  “You like your job?” he asked when he’d finished.

  Luna thought about what she’d done with Gertrude’s hair earlier today and the other cuts and blowouts she’d done. That wasn’t her real job though, was it? “I do,” she said even as she glanced toward the window. It was too dark to see where Ike and Gertrude had gone, but at least there weren’t a half dozen cop cars with flashing lights outside right now.

  By now her father would have made the call. The FBI would have Gertrude Durham picked up before the deadline unless they knew that Ike had already done it. She realized that her father had never planned to let her take it any further than that.

  Whatever happened now was out of her hands. She’d done her part. She’d proved her theory that Gertrude Durham was Irene Southerland and the getaway driver in the jewelry heist.

  “I’ve enjoyed this,” Jaxson said as they finished their meals. “Maybe we could do this again?”

  “I would love that,” she said, meaning it. But that would mean staying in Buckhorn. Was she really considering making this her life? She smiled, thinking how her mother would have approved.

  * * *

  GERTRUDE STOOD IN the darkness, heart pounding. It was too late to run. Ike had found the brooch, found her bag. It was over. She watched the dark two-lane highway. A set of headlights appeared. She stood frozen, back to the wall of the building next door to the café as a semi shifted down before driving too fast through town.

  She jumped when Ike touched her shoulder. “What now?” she asked on a trembling breath. There were still a couple of days before the statute of limitations ran out. She knew the lawman in Ike would see that the brooch was returned, but did that really mean it was over?

  He drew her to him. “I thought we’d go to Vegas, just as I said. Feeling lucky?”

  Was he serious? Vegas? She’d thought she’d put that city behind her. “Am I lucky?”

  He smiled. “I hope so. It will take a while driving there, but I’m hoping by the time we hit the city limits you’ll finally give me an answer.” She frowned and he laughed. “You never said whether or not you’d marry me.”

  She looked into his handsome face. Was this really happening? He bent to kiss her. His mouth took hers, the kiss transporting her back as if the years had never happened. She melted into his arms, feeling as if she’d finally come home.

  When he drew back, his gaze met hers. “I love you,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

  “I love you.” No truer words had ever come from her mouth.

  He smiled as he put his arm around her shoulders and they walked to his car. They had a long drive ahead of them and a lot of time to catch up on.

  If they reached Las Vegas without any trouble, Gert already knew what her answer would be.

  * * *

  LIKE EVERYONE ELSE in Buckhorn, Luna hadn’t missed the bust down at the gas station and garage. It was the most excitement anyone had seen for a while with the town brimming with armed-to-the-teeth FBI agents. But by then she knew they weren’t going to find anything incriminating.

  She’d just come back after driving straight through to Denver to leave her father the present Ike had left in her apartment. Once she reached the house, she put it on his desk, knowing he would find it when he returned from the case he was working on. She didn’t leave a note. He’d know where it had come from, but he’d also be able to honestly say that he had no idea how it had gotten on his desk.

  Then she’d turned around and driven back to Buckhorn in time to see the town stormed by FBI agents. Jaxson had called. He thought she might want to spend his day off this week horseback riding in the mountains. She’d loved the idea.

  She thought about their first kiss. It hadn’t happened yet, but she could imagine it nonetheless. She was staying in Buckhorn. Her father might be surprised by that. Or not, especially after he found out about Jaxson.

  But the deputy marshal wasn’t the only reason she was staying. She’d fallen for Buckhorn and its residents. She figured Gertrude would be back for another cut and color, especially once Luna heard about the Vegas wedding. It seemed Ike and Gertrude were planning to stay in Buckhorn when they returned.

  Most everyone just assumed the FBI raid on Durham’s Garage and Gas had been a mistake since no one had gotten arrested. With the statute of limitations having run out and the brooch returned, Luna hoped that would be the end of it.

  She smiled to herself, realizing that she made a better beautician than she had an insurance investigator. And she loved happy endings. She was pretty sure she would get one in Buckhorn.

  * * *

  “I TOLD YOU something was wrong,” Vi Mullen said when she cornered Earl Ray at the café a few days after the FBI raid.

  “Sorry, what was wrong?” he asked innocently.

  “You know darned well,” she snapped as she slid onto the stool next to him. “The FBI weren’t fooled by her. Or are you going to try to tell me different?”

  “Well, since they didn’t find anything, I’d say you both got it wrong,” Earl Ray said and took a bite of his cinnamon roll. Bessie made the best he’d ever tasted. He’d fallen in love with her the first time he’d bitten into one.

  “They thought they would find something, so that means there was something to find,” Vi said.

  “Innocent until proven guilty, I believe is the way it actually goes.”

  “Ha!” she exclaimed. “You don’t think it’s odd that this man shows up in town and whisks her away to Las Vegas for a quickie marriage right before the FBI bust down her door and search her place?”

  “No, I think it’s romantic,” Earl Ray said. “Vi, even the FBI makes mistakes.”

  “Nothing suspicious about him being a former FBI agent either,” she said under her breath.

  “Let it go, Vi,” he said. “By the way, that new beautician in town sure did a great job on Gertrude’s hair before she and Ike eloped. Everyone in town is talking about it and the marriage. I was thinking that you might want to visit Luna and see what she can do with yours.” He finished by giving her hair a critical eye. “Everyone is saying it knocked twenty years off Gertrude. Might do the same for you.”

  Vi opened her mouth, but no words came out, a miracle in itself. She shoved to her feet and stood beside him at the counter for a few moments as if wanting to say more, but fortunately didn’t before storming out.

  Bessie came out of the kitchen chuckling. “She’s never going to forgive you for that,” she warned her husband.

  “Maybe she’ll never speak to me again.” He grinned at his wife. “This cinnamon roll is the best you’ve ever made.”

  “You say that every time,” she said, giving him a playful swat on the arm before returning to the kitchen.

  Earl Ray watched her go, thinking how lucky he was. Gertrude too. Everyone was saying that she was a changed woman. He liked the idea that people could change. He was also a sucker for a happy ending.

  * * *

  ISBN-13: 9780369719263

  Before Memories Fade

  Copyright © 2022 by Barbara Heinlein

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  B.J. Daniels, Before Memories Fade

 

 

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