Tainted Obsession: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 7) Read online

  TAINTED OBSESSION

  COWBOY JUSTICE ASSOCIATION

  SERIALS AND STALKERS

  BOOK SEVEN

  OLIVIA JAYMES

  BLONDE AMBITION PRESS

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  About the Author

  1

  Cameron Houston didn’t like being the last one in the office in the morning. He was an early bird, up before the sun, and he liked to be there before everyone arrived so he could sit at his desk, drink some coffee, and go through his emails and to-do list.

  He’d been doing this for years and it had become an ingrained habit. When a person grew up in a house with seven brothers and sisters, two parents, two dogs, three cats, and a parakeet named Bob, they needed all the quiet time they could find. It didn’t hurt that he could hit the shower first, making sure he had hot water.

  But this morning he had to wait for the dishwasher repairperson, and although he’d had the first appointment at seven-thirty, that meant he didn’t get into the office until after ten.

  The dishwasher was also a write-off. He’d need to buy a new one.

  “How did your appointment this morning go?” Logan Wright asked when they were both filling their coffee cups.

  Logan was Cam’s boss, a good friend, and a damn fine lawman. Years ago, he’d brought in a serial killer, then did it all over again with the murderer’s son.

  “My dishwasher has sung its last song, apparently. It would cost more to fix it than to just buy new. That machine is less than six years old. My mom and dad have a dishwasher in their house that has to be at least twenty years old and it still works fine.”

  “That was back when things were built to last,” Logan replied. “Now they want us to buy new every five years. Ava and I have put three dishwashers in our home in the last fifteen years. And we’re not that hard on them. We use it once a day.”

  Cam lifted the lid to the donut box, but since it was late in the morning, his favorite variety was already gone.

  “I think Reed took the last chocolate frosted, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Logan said. “They’re his favorite, too.”

  “No big deal. I’ll have a cruller or a vanilla glaze.”

  Logan wandered away as Cam surveyed his extremely limited choices. He wasn’t starving as he’d had breakfast earlier, but he allowed himself a donut every Friday.

  “I have what you’re looking for.”

  He turned to see Shelby, the new administrative assistant, holding out a small paper plate with a chocolate donut on it.

  “I remembered that you were going to be late this morning, so I grabbed one of these for you.” When he didn’t say anything, she began to look nervous. “Unless you weren’t in the mood for it today. It’s fine. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have assumed anything.”

  She was about to go back to her desk and her movement was what snapped him out of his mini-trance.

  “Thank you,” he said quickly. “That was so sweet of you. Yes, I’d like it if you’re sure…”

  It was his turn to sound a bit nervous. Maybe she really wanted it.

  “I’m sure. I saved it for you.”

  Her cheeks were pink as she handed him the paper plate before hurrying back to her desk.

  With his hot coffee and favorite donut, Cam got to work. He was researching missing persons today and it was going to be tedious and boring. A little sugar rush would help him through it.

  At the end of the day, the whole office went to a nearby sports bar for Friday happy hour. They didn’t do it often, usually once every few months, but it was nice to hang out with his co-workers in a more casual setting. Sometimes their significant others would join them, and they’d all stay into dinnertime.

  “Sit here,” Knox said, patting the chair next to him. His wife Jenna was sitting on his other side and the empty chair was next to Shelby. “The first round is on me.”

  Cam wasn’t going to argue with a man who wanted to buy the group drinks.

  “Win the lottery?” Cam teased, easing down into the seat.

  “We’re celebrating,” Knox said. “Jenna and I just signed the papers for our first house together.”

  “Then I should be buying the drinks,” Cam replied, slapping his friend on the back. “And congratulations. That’s fantastic.”

  “Yes, congratulations. That’s wonderful,” Shelby said. “You must be so excited.”

  “We are,” Jenna replied with a grin. She pulled her phone from her purse. “I don’t suppose you want to see pictures?”

  Shelby did, indeed, want to see them so the phone was passed back and forth with Cam as the conduit as Jenna explained each photo.

  “We were lucky to get the house,” Knox said. “There was a lot of interest.”

  The ladies stood and went to the old jukebox in the corner to feed it some quarters and pick out a few songs.

  “You know, I think Shelby likes you,” Knox said with a huge grin. “You should ask her out.”

  “I like Shelby but…”

  “But what?”

  “If it doesn’t work out, then we’re stuck working together,” Cam pointed out. “And that can get awkward as hell pretty damn fast. I like my job and I don’t want to leave. And to be honest, she’s the best admin we’ve ever had. Logan, Jared, and Jason would kick my ass if I was the reason she left.”

  Shelby was also quite attractive with her caramel-colored hair and bright green eyes. She was petite, barely reaching his shoulder and looking like a huge gust of wind might knock her right over. She didn’t talk much but she was the most efficient person in the office, anticipating their needs before they could even ask.

  “She’s not permanent,” Knox explained. “She’s going back to school in the fall so this is just a summer gig for her. So she’s leaving in a few months, no matter what.”

  That did make things a bit…different. Cam hadn’t dated in awhile; his last breakup had gotten nasty. They’d wanted different things, but she’d blamed Cam for not wanting to change. When he’d pointed out they she didn’t want to change either, she’d told him that it was the guy’s responsibility to change, not the woman’s. Cam had a picture of the next twenty or thirty years being told that so he’d noped right out of there.

  He didn’t mind being alone most of the time, but he had to admit that it would be nice to have a girlfriend to share things with.

  Cam glanced over to the jukebox where Jenna and Shelby were talking. She was wearing a big smile and seemed much more animated than she did in the office.

  “It could still make the rest of the summer weird,” Cam said. “And I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. She may not even like me.”

  Knox rolled his eyes.

  “I could pass her a note before study hall. Shit, she likes you. We all know it. We all see it. She even saved you a donut this morning. She’s never done that for anyone else and we all have favorites.”

  “Maybe she thinks I’m too s
tupid to get my own donut and she has to help me. Maybe she just feels sorry for me.”

  “Because you’re so ugly and pathetic,” Knox laughed. “Half the females in this bar are looking at you. If anything, you’re too good-looking. That’s your problem. You intimidate women by being too handsome.”

  “I don’t think that’s my problem.”

  Cam had a couple of mirrors in his home, and he didn’t think he was all that great looking. He wasn’t butt-ugly, but he was no George Clooney. His siblings had always made fun of the fact that he was so damn tall. At six-four, he was the tallest in his family by three inches. His mother used to joke that she must have taken some good vitamins when she was carrying him because he’d been big for his age his entire life.

  It had been an asset, however, when he’d played high school and college football, although now he had a jacked-up knee and a bad hip. He wasn’t even forty yet, but he could tell when it was going to rain by how his leg ached. And he lived in Seattle where it rained pretty much all the time.

  “Just talk to her,” Knox urged. “What’s the worst thing that could happen? You have a nice conversation with a beautiful woman. That’s not a tragedy.”

  Cam wasn’t a smooth ladies’ man. He wasn’t socially awkward either. He was just a guy somewhere in between that still got nervous when it was time to ask out a woman.

  It wouldn’t hurt to talk to Shelby. She seemed like a lovely woman and Knox had a point. What was the worst thing that could happen?

  When she sat down next to him, he tried to start a conversation.

  “How do you like your job with the firm?”

  Shelby smiled, showing off a dimple in her right cheek.

  “I like it a lot. Everyone is really nice and the work is interesting.”

  Cam must have had a dubious expression on his face.

  “Okay, maybe making coffee and running errands isn’t all that interesting but the other day I helped Luke look through missing person files for a cold case. And yesterday, I went with Ryan to a crime scene and took notes and photos for him.”

  “Ryan took you to a crime scene?”

  “The body was covered by a tarp. There was a lot of blood, though.”

  She said the last part with a delicate shudder.

  “Are you interested in becoming an investigator?”

  It took a certain kind of person to do what they did, working with murderers and stalkers. If one wasn’t careful, it could really mess with the head. They’d lost a few guys who became literally depressed at the constant stream of violence and depravity.

  “No,” she gasped, shaking her head and laughing. “Absolutely not. I’m working on an accounting degree. I’m looking forward to a nice, boring desk job in a mid-sized financial firm where the most exciting thing that happens is that they get a new brand of coffee for the break room.”

  “Reed ordered a new brand for us last year. Miles better than the old one. By the way, thanks for the donut this morning. I hate it when I’m late to the office. I assumed that I would miss out and get stuck with something with sprinkles.”

  “I like sprinkles. And you’re welcome. You do come in early, don’t you? You’re always there when I come in and I try to be early, too.”

  “I like it when the office is quiet. I’m usually the first one in, and that’s saying something because I don’t think that Logan or Jason actually sleep like human beings. They always seem to be awake, day or night.”

  “Jason intimidates me a little bit,” Shelby confessed. “I’m not sure why. He’s just so…”

  She didn’t need to specify as to why. Cam got it.

  “Jason’s a good guy but he can come off a bit remote. Many years ago, he was taken prisoner by a drug cartel. He’s never told the story but from what we’ve all heard he was tortured every day and they even put him through mock executions. I’ve met his family and they said that he’s much more quiet and reserved now than he used to be. But trust me, he’s a fantastic person. If you needed him, he’d be there. No questions asked. All the Andersons are like that.”

  Maybe he shouldn’t have told Shelby because now he could see tears shimmering in her eyes. She had a soft, sensitive heart.

  “He’s okay now,” Cam said quickly. “Has a lovely wife and kids. He’s a happy man by all accounts.”

  “It’s just so awful,” Shelby whispered. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

  “He escaped,” Cam explained. “It was a miracle, really. Then he went back in and brought down the whole cartel.”

  Cam was proud to work with the legendary lawmen that ran this firm. He could only aspire to be half as good.

  “Wow, that is impressive. I didn’t realize when I took this job who I was working for, but I’ve read articles about Logan Wright and his friends catching that serial killer.”

  Wade Bryson. And then more recently, Wade Bryson’s son. The crazy hadn’t fallen too far from the tree in that family.

  “I heard this is just a summer job for you.”

  Cam wanted to change the subjects since talking about murder and death usually weren’t a good idea when it was almost dinnertime.

  “It is. I go back to school in the fall.” She shifted in her chair and shrugged. “I dropped out a few years ago. But I’m ready to go back now.”

  “University is expensive. I had to pay my own way, too. There’s no way my parents could pay for college for eight kids.”

  She had the usual reaction when he mentioned his family size.

  “Eight kids? That’s…a lot of children.”

  “My mom loves being a mom. She loves babies, and now she gets to be grandma, too. They really enjoyed being parents and having a big family. I think they would have had more but my mom had some health issues.”

  “I’m an only child.”

  “Did you like that?”

  “Most of the time. Sometimes, I was a bit lonely, but I had friends and cousins. I will say that I had a major adjustment period when I went to live in the dorms my freshman year.”

  “We could pick the only children out the first day of school,” Cam laughed. “They seemed shocked that they had to share a closet and a bathroom. They needed absolute quiet to study or sleep.”

  “With ten people, I’m guessing it wasn’t all that quiet at your house.”

  “Only in the early mornings before everyone else got up. That’s why I get up before the chickens even though I live alone now. Force of habit.”

  At the other end of the table, Ryan asked Cam a question about an open case and the discussions turned in a more work-like direction, keeping him from getting to know Shelby better.

  But he liked her. He did want to spend more time with her. To do that, he was going to have to ask her out.

  When the party started to wind down much later, Shelby stood and slung her purse over her shoulder so she could leave.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” Cam offered. “It’s getting dark out there.”

  Knox and Luke were grinning, and even Jack’s brows were raised comically.

  “That would be nice. Thank you.”

  If she noticed that everyone in their group that was left was looking at them, she was too polite to say anything. They walked silently down the sidewalk to where her car was parked.

  “Thank you,” she said again, keys in hand. “That was very thoughtful of you.”

  It was now or never. Well…not really. He could ask her out on Monday if he didn’t do it this evening, but if he didn’t do it now, he might second guess himself later. If she said no, he’d be disappointed, but he’d live.

  “I was wondering if you might be interested in having dinner sometime? Maybe a movie? Whatever you like.”

  Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. She was surprised but she didn’t look unhappy about it.

  “That…that would be nice. I’d like that.”

  “If you give me your number, I’ll call you and we can make plans.”

  They eac
h pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers. He sent her a quick test text and her phone chimed.

  She hadn’t given him the number of Dial-A-Prayer.

  He held open her car door for her and she climbed in, waving as she drove away. He watched as her red taillights disappeared into the night.

  It had been a good evening. Friends, food, and now he had a date.

  Whether dating someone he worked with was a good idea? He didn’t know for sure, but he knew that he liked her.

  He was looking forward to finding out just how much.

  2

  Shelby closed her apartment door behind her and leaned back against it with a sigh. She had a date. Almost.

  Cam said he was going to call her, and she sincerely hoped that he did. She had to admit to herself that for the last few weeks, she’d had a bit of a crush. He was handsome, nice, intelligent. Everyone seemed to like him, and he never talked down to her or treated her as less than even though she was only a temporary admin. She’d felt like an idiot saving that donut for him this morning, but she’d known he would be in late and that he’d be disappointed. She couldn’t stop herself from saving just one of his favorites.

  Clearly, she’d showed that she was interested. She hadn’t been trying to be obvious. On the contrary, she’d been trying to play it cool whenever she was around him but for some reason, he made her feel like a schoolgirl. Her stomach fluttered and her heart beat far too fast whenever they were in the same room together. At the sports bar, she’d been a mess until she finally relaxed.

  Dropping her purse on the kitchen table, she grabbed a small bottle of ginger ale from the refrigerator when she heard a knock at her door. She’d barely been home for two minutes. There was really only one person it could be.