The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“So how’d it go?”

Diana wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. The midday sun beat down. She was grimy and dirty in the old t-shirt and blue jeans she wore and must have been a sight as she lifted the wheelbarrow to dump the manure on the pile.

“Enlightening, but a waste of time. But I guess I know now how the town views me,” she said.

Jed watched her with his dark eyes, giving her all of him. He was truly in his element. His shoulders were so wide and solid that she wondered how it would feel to lean into them. His newer dark blue jeans were coated here and there with dust, and today he wore a brass belt buckle engraved with a herd of horses. It looked new, and she couldn’t remember having seen it before.

“What happened?” he asked, his deep voice letting her know he was genuinely interested.

She wondered if he ever took off that faded cowboy hat. And then she glanced away, considering how much she should say. “Well, first I was denied gas. Apparently, whatever my mother did will continue to haunt me, and I can’t even begin to comprehend all of it. But, I’m pretty sure, lying and stealing were at the top of her list. Then the woman who wanted a lawyer turned out to have an agenda, and she sees me as my mother’s daughter in every sense. She’d gotten herself into a fix with Todd—his latest conquest, who he wants driven from town. Is she being honest, hell no. But Todd, what he’s doing, there should be laws to stop him. I’m also starting to piece together that Andy’s job is little more than a common thug. He cleans up after his daddy and gets rid of all the unwelcome trash with no regard for who he hurts.” She glanced away, realizing she was still mad at being thought of the same way that she had been as a scrawny kid, when the townspeople had all stared down their noses at her. It was a pain that wouldn’t go away. And when Bonnie let it slip that her mother had drugged Todd, and stolen money from his wallet. She wondered for a minute if she’d been trying to kill him. Maybe that’s what Todd and Andy thought too and that’s what put Todd and Andy’s wrath in motion. But why would she drug him? What did she hope to accomplish? But then again, with Faye, nothing she ever did made any sense; she was a druggy, a thief, an abuser and a w***e. She always acted on pure emotion. She’d never had a conscience.

“Andy’s always cleaned up after his old man. Don’t know why. If you want peace, Diana, you ain’t going to get it by taking cases that go against Todd or Andy. So what did you tell this client?”

“That I won’t be used that way.” Pain pierced her heart, and she looked down at the wheelbarrow to hide it. How nice it would be to be accepted for who she was, not for something Faye had done. She thought about what it would be like to have someone watching her back, like Andy did Todd’s, and she wondered if Todd knew how lucky he was. But in that same moment she was angry at both of them for thinking they were above the law.

Jed reached for her hand, his so big and calloused, surrounding her as he pulled her behind him.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

He yanked the passenger door of her SUV open. “Get in. Where’re your keys?”

Diana didn’t argue; she could feel his eyes burning into her as she slid into the passenger seat of her SUV for the first time since she had bought it, dug the keys from her purse that was tucked in between the seats, and handed them to Jed. He shut her door and walked around, sliding in and starting her car competently. He eased her SUV down the driveway and turned onto the highway. He said nothing as she admired the way he drove, and wondered where they were going.

“I don’t have much gas and was planning on heading to Marysville to fill up,” she said as she leaned over slightly, glancing at the gauge.

“That’s one problem I plan on rectifying right now.”

Diana blinked and didn’t miss that Jed’s expression appeared dangerous when he glanced over at her before looking back at the road.

“Oh” was all she could say, and she settled back, realizing some things about Jed. He didn’t talk much, and he wasn’t Andy.

When Jed pulled into the gas station, there was someone else filling up. The same man who had told her earlier to get lost hurried out of the station. The expression on his ruddy, lined face let her know that he was ready to send her packing again.

“Stay here,” Jed said as he climbed out and tilted the brim of his cowboy hat up. The larger man appeared to stumble and then stared at Diana through the windshield before turning back to Jed. Jed twisted off the gas cap, stuck in the nozzle, and started filling the SUV with gas. “Howdy, Rex. Heard you had a gas shortage earlier.”

“Jed, you don’t know her. She’ll rob you blind, get you in a whole whack of trouble. You weren’t around when she used to live here with her mother. Those Claremont’s are trouble.”

Jed left the gas nozzle in and moved closer to Rex, and all Diana could see was a wide expanse of back as he towered over the middle-aged man.

Rex, obviously not without some smarts, took a step back and stammered, “Come on, Jed. Open your eyes. Or has this woman got you fooled, just like her mama strung Todd Friessen along for years? Could always tell a whopper of a story right before she robbed a man blind.”

“Enough,” Jed said. “What the hell is the matter with you? You should be ashamed, Rex. From what I heard, she was a little girl tossed into the street. Whatever her mama did or was; don’t put that on Diana. She never did anything, from what I’ve heard, to deserve how she was treated—then or now. I want you to think long and hard about that fact. Her mother got arrested and thrown in jail for a long time. Diana had her world turned upside down, and it ain’t right to put on her what her mother did, just like you ain’t responsible for the idiotic things your parents did. And just remember something, Rex, you pull this kind of crap on this lady again, and what you’ll get is a war with me.”

“Are you threatening me, Jed?”

Maybe that was what had Diana slipping out and standing beside Jed, this problem was hers, and he was on taking something he shouldn’t be.

He spared her only a passing glance, and in that glance, she didn’t miss his annoyance.

“Jed—”

He cut her off with just a look before she could say another word.

“Rex,” Jed continued, “right is right, and wrong is still wrong, I’ve warned you about being fair. So think twice about pissing me off. You know I won’t ask a second time.” Jed never moved a muscle, but his voice was laced with enough warning that Diana was sure he’d follow through on everything. Jed returned to filling Diana’s vehicle. “We’ll be inside to pay for the gas in a moment.”

The man’s face colored, and then he shook his head. There’s no charge, Jed—”

Jed cut him off. “Rex, let me tell you something. The gas is going to be paid for, and you’re going to give Diana a receipt. Because one thing that isn’t going to happen is a visit from the sheriff to cause Diana more grief with an accusation that she didn’t pay. That she’s a thief.”

Diana raced back to the SUV and grabbed her wallet just as Jed screwed the gas cap back on, and he followed Diana to where she paid for the gas.

Again, he didn’t let her drive. As he pulled out of the gas station and turned the opposite way from home, she asked, “Jed, where are we going?”

“To put an end to this crap.”