Most Eligible Sheriff. Cathy Mcdavid
where any thief could find it? Ruby McPhee’s sister, apparently. Climbing the porch steps, Ruby counted the third chrysanthemum from the right. The key was there, exactly where Scarlett said it would be.
Small-town living, Ruby told herself as she opened the trailer door—only one lock, no dead bolt—with shaking fingers. Inside, she felt less anxious than she had outdoors, but not much.
At the front window, she pushed aside the curtain. Early morning sun cast lengthy shadows across the yard, the exaggerated silhouettes of tall ponderosa pines resembling daggers.
Okay, she was letting her imagination get the best of her. No one, not even her boss at the Century Casino or her closest friends, knew her exact whereabouts. Just her sister and the Las Vegas police detective assigned to her case. The one who had recommended she lie low for a while after her stalker violated the order of protection against him and showed up at her work, looking for Ruby and threatening a coworker.
Her case. Lie low. Order of protection. The words had a scary ring to them, and Ruby was tired of being scared. That was the whole reason she’d come to Sweetheart, Nevada, this out-of-the-way little mountain town. To be safe and to sleep through the night undisturbed by sudden noises and bad dreams.
She let the curtain fall back in place and inspected the single-wide trailer. It was old and sparsely furnished with the barest of necessities. So typical of her sister, who rebelled at the thought of lingering too long in one place.
Ruby sighed and started toward the narrow hall leading to the single bedroom. Despite a lack of creature comforts, the trailer would suit her purposes just fine.
Something caught her eye as she passed the worn checkered sofa. A framed picture, the only one in the room, sat on an end table. She picked it up, recognizing the photo as one taken a few years ago at their mother’s birthday party. Her heart immediately softened.
Like most identical twins, Ruby and Scarlett were the spitting image of each other. So much so, they were nearly indistinguishable when dressed the same. But unlike most identical twins, they weren’t inseparable and didn’t share some sort of psychic connection. They’d grown apart during high school and had never quite bridged the gap that widened when their mother remarried.
Until now. Scarlett had come to Ruby’s aid when she needed it most. Perhaps blood really was thicker than water after all.
Replacing the picture, she removed her smart phone from her purse, sat on the sagging sofa and dialed her sister’s number. Scarlett answered on the first ring. She sounded so happy, Ruby almost forgot her own worries. Almost.
“You made it,” Scarlett said. “Any problems?”
“None. Thank you, MapQuest.”
“I really, really appreciate this.”
“I’m the one who owes you.”
“They’re going to put that guy away, Rubes. Don’t worry about it.”
“Right.” Ruby shivered at the reminder. How could she not worry?
She saw herself coming home at 3:00 a.m. and walking unsuspectingly into her darkened condo. Heard again the strange scuffling sound, then heavy breathing as an inky figure emerged from behind a corner. Felt strong hands grab her by the throat and squeeze, cutting off her air supply.
Only a miracle had enabled her to escape with minimal injury.
Forcing a calming breath into her lungs, Ruby changed the subject. “Things okay with you and Demitri?”
“Wonderful. Fantastic. It’s going to work this time.”
“I’m glad.”
Scarlett had left Sweetheart for San Diego around midnight. Three hours later Ruby was in her car and leaving the Vegas city limits.
Her sister was meeting her off-and-on-again boyfriend for yet another reconciliation while Ruby was taking her sister’s place. Literally. Occupying her trailer and filling in for her at work.
The two sisters had spent the better part of the previous evening on the phone, with Scarlett describing in detail her job, her boss and his wife, their family, the Gold Nugget Ranch where she worked as the only female wrangler, and the layout of the town.
Ruby had asked endless questions and scribbled pages of notes. Still, she worried about her ability to pull off the switch. Especially the job part. While once an accomplished rider, she hadn’t been on a horse in eleven years. Hopefully, it was like riding a bike.
“If things go well,” Scarlett continued, “and I’m sure they will, I won’t need my job anymore.”
“Would you be happy living in San Diego? You’ve always been a country girl.”
“I’ll be happy anywhere, as long as I’m with Demitri.”
Scarlett’s boyfriend worked as a marine biologist at SeaWorld. Currently, Ruby corrected herself. He traveled extensively and often spent months at sea aboard a research vessel. Well, working in their favor, Scarlett wasn’t a homebody. Another distinction between the sisters.
“You’d better hurry,” Scarlett said.
Ruby glanced at her watch and mumbled a curse. She—Scarlett—was due at the Gold Nugget in twenty minutes.
“Boots!” she blurted.
“In the bedroom closet. Jeans are in the dresser. Good luck.”
“What about—”
“Gotta go, sis. Demitri’s leaving. Bye.”
With that, Scarlett disconnected, and Ruby was left to manage on her own.
She hit the bathroom first, washing the lack of sufficient sleep from her face and arranging her hair in a simple ponytail. Ruby, assistant manager of the casino’s exclusive VIP lounge, wore carefully applied makeup and elegantly styled her long tresses. Scarlett the cowgirl didn’t bother with makeup or styling her hair. Too much trouble.
In the bedroom, Ruby ransacked the closet and bureau drawers, finding jeans, a shirt, a belt, socks and boots. As she dressed, she reviewed her pages of notes laid out on the bed.
Scarlett had only worked at the Gold Nugget Ranch for three months. Nowhere near long enough to have earned vacation time. It was also May, the start of the guest ranch’s busy season and a month before some huge town-wide wedding event. The ranch couldn’t spare her.
That didn’t matter to Scarlett, however. If Demitri wanted her to come to San Diego and give their relationship another go, she’d do it and damn the consequences.
When Ruby had told her sister about the stalker and the detective’s recommendation that she leave Vegas, Scarlett, always the more daring of the two, proposed that they change places. No one would find Ruby, and Scarlett would have a chance to visit Demitri without losing her job.
Ruby’s boss, sympathetic to her plight, had given her the time off, with the promise she return after her attacker’s arraignment. While it was doubtful her stalker would plead guilty, it was hoped he’d leave Ruby alone, not wanting to make his case worse by committing another crime.
Crazy as it sounded, the old switching-places scheme might succeed. Ruby and Scarlett had done it before. Frequently, in fact, when they were younger.
Once, Ruby had impersonated Scarlett and taken a difficult calculus test for her during their junior year in high school. Another time, Scarlett had broken up with Ruby’s boyfriend when Ruby didn’t have the nerve.
This could work. Ruby just needed to stay focused and keep her wits about her. Not give anyone cause for suspicion.
She didn’t require MapQuest to find the Gold Nugget Ranch. There were plenty of signs in town pointing the way. She read them in between looking anxiously in her rearview mirror or over her shoulder—habits that had become second nature last month when the stalking started, and increased last week after the attack in her condo.
At