Molly Stockholme had taken her time telling Caroline about her father's body.

Stepping out onto the dirt track of Serenity's main street, Caroline recalled the middle-aged lady's expression. Fake. No other word for it. Molly's thick black eyebrows had curved upwards as she assisted Caroline into the uncomfortable chair at a table in the Spirit of the West Saloon.

Molly's breath had reeked with the remnants of whisky from the night before, and something else, much worse besides. However, Caroline wasn't there to condemn the woman on her profession. She'd been there to bear witness to her father's final moments.

Asshole.

Caroline would never forgive him. As Molly's sweaty hands clutched desperately at hers while she explained, blow for blow the indecent actions of her father's last movements, the young woman had sworn she no longer loved him.

Right then and there. That was the point. He'd crossed the line, only, just...

Caroline blinked away moisture from her dark eyelashes.

Molly's words faded away. Caroline brought herself to stand up tall under the glare of the late summer sun. She took a hold of the material of her grey skirts and shook out the creases. Passing a hand across the side of her head, she palmed her breeze-swept hair down under control.

Caroline drew in a huge breath before rounding the corner and striding onto the Sheriff's boardwalk.

She caught sight of the tall figure she'd watched through the window earlier. He had taken off his dark jacket and appeared to be struggling to release his neck tie from his throat.

Smiling to herself, she spied on him from the open doorway. Would he be as attractive when he turned round as he looked from above?

To give her the answer she required, he tore off his tie and tilted his head to glare at her with rich, dark brown eyes. The sight of his thick, black haired chest under the top of his slightly unbuttoned shirt, left her flicking her gaze around quickly for another focus.

Heat raised in her cheeks and she thanked the good Lord that she hadn't bothered with the rouge this morning.

The dark haired man straightened up and strode his way towards her. He came to a stop at the threshold in an almost military style, it sent her off her keel. Faced with such precision and purpose, Caroline shrank back into the facade of a little girl once more.

He stared. He kept on staring. Not saying a word.

Rumbles of chatter and clattering plates and pans rattled across the street from Frank's Canteen. It echoed as if from another time and place.

The man placed his hands on either side of the doorway. She noticed that he wore no wedding ring. He didn't take her in as she was used to. No gawping from foot to neck. No lingering leer at her scalloped neckline.

He looked at her.

"You've saved me a journey, Miss Ashbury. Miss Molly has delivered the news, I take it? Please accept my condolences."

His deep voice throbbed through the woodwork underneath her feet. She swallowed and attempted to get her thoughts in order. Although, her traitorous eyes insisted on training in on his open neckline.

"Why, of course." She spluttered while she dug her nails into her palms. "I am grateful to receive them."

The blasted man continued to fix her with that deep glare. She had to take a hold of the situation. Get a grip on herself.

"Do you have any more information on the death of my father?"

The words sprang free from her lips, alive and loose without her permission. She wrenched her eyes from his body and focused on the scrappy floorboards next to the pristine toes of her boots.

"Maybe you'd like to step inside and take a seat for a while, Miss Ashbury?"

The way he drawled over the syllables of her name almost made her giggle. Would she ever get used to the accent out here?

"That would be nice." She conceded and followed his lead as he backed up into the darker interior.

An acrid scent of vinegar stained the room. She didn't want to know what it had cleaned up or covered over.

The Sheriff gestured the dining chair in the center of the room. She nodded and settled herself in, her eyes watched him perch upon the corner of his desk to the left of the door. The furniture groaned under his weight, causing her to purse her lips together quickly so that she hid her grin.

He raised himself off the surface, his hands spread widely behind him to even out the weight distribution. A thin trickle of sweat ran down from his hairline to the curve of his jaw. He appeared to be as uncomfortable as she. It made her want to ease his awkwardness. Perhaps getting him to focus on the job at hand could help him relax.

She pushed her hands deep into the material over her lap and widened her smile along with her eyes.
"Do you have any news?" She asked.

He blinked for a second. His fingertips turned white as they gripped tighter to the rim of the walnut desk. He crossed and uncrossed his legs.
"Not yet. But rest assured, you'll be the first to know."

Caroline caught his wandering gaze and fixed it tight.
"That's good to hear. And yet, not so good."

The Sheriff cleared his throat and spoke in a gentler tone, he held her eyes the whole time he talked.
"I wish I had better news for you, Miss Ashbury. I can imagine your impatience. If there's anything I can do to assist you at this time, or, any other for that matter, don't hesitate to let me know."

Caroline smiled and rested her hands flat upon her knees.
"I'm very grateful, Mr...?"

Standing straight, the Sheriff towered across the strip of light of the doorway in between them.
"Sheriff Bailey, Miss. Sheriff Calvin Bailey."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Sheriff Bailey. If there's anything I can do to help your inquiry, you only have to say."

He smiled. She found herself grinning in return, then gasped and covered her sinful mouth. What would he think of her now? Flirting like a child while they discussed her father's murder. She certainly didn't intend to send him such a shameful message.

Sheriff Bailey, Calvin, crossed the room before she could act and had a hold of her hands in a split second. He leaned down so close to her face that she could smell the lingering cologne on his skin. His body heat resonated through his dusty clothes.

Her mouth fell open and her heart banged in response. She'd hardly ever been in such close proximity to a man before. At least, not such a man.

She'd arrived in Serenity ten days ago and holed herself up in the relative safety of her father's rooms. Now, gasping her air from the same pool of oxygen as Bailey, she wished she'd gotten here sooner.

Alive.

That was it. He made her come alive. The reality coursed through her blood vessels, causing her cheeks to burn once more. She had to get better control over her emotions or they would land her in a world of trouble. She sought to accomplish the mission of her visit. Her voice squeaked somewhat, but held true enough for her purposes.
"Can I count on your discretion, Sheriff Calvin Bailey? If such information, as in the distasteful kind, might arise?"

Calvin Bailey's dark eyes flickered and lost their intensity. He leaned back from her.

"I mean to say..." Caroline hadn't intended to scare him away and she sought to placate his nerves as quickly as possible. "That as you well know, I'm sure, that Mr Ashbury was no saint. In fact, far from it. Of that I am aware."

Her voice tailed off into the dusty air, her eyes followed Calvin Bailey's tall frame while he straightened upright and ran his strong hands down the sides of his bearded face. The downward curve of his lips led her to believe that he was as unhappy with her situation as she was herself. Or, perhaps she wished it so. A harshness entered her words.
"Either way, I would like to be informed of any up and coming lines of inquiry in addition to any hearsay or witness reports you may become proxy to."

Calvin Bailey snorted. Literally, snorted.
"I don't mean to step on your toes here, Miss Ashbury..."

"Caroline."

"But, it seems to me that the case is a simple one of, and I hope you'll pardon me for being blunt with a lady here, a case of death by misfortune one might say."

"How so?"

"The bath happened to be full, and your father had partaken of a whole bottle of Clayton's best liquor that night. My bet would be on him speaking out of turn to the wrong person and paying the price."

"And that would be an acceptable price to pay?" Her words lost their strength. As did her legs. She thanked goodness that she had the chair to rely on.

He ignored her response.
"So." Calvin dug his hands into his pockets. This one simple action forced Caroline into doing something she'd never thought herself capable of.

The first few tears proved tough to get going. However, after they rolled their lonesome tracks down her hot cheeks, she gathered more ready on the brims of her eyelids. Once blinked free by her thick eyelashes, they too cascaded in ever-growing streams.

She briefly glanced up to see the effect it had.

Calvin sank to his knees in front of her and reached out to take her in his arms, but thought twice, then placed his hands, oh so gently on her clasped hands across her lap. Moisture welled in his eyes.

Caroline shuffled in her seat and a sickly smile crept in at the corners of her mouth.
"It's perfectly alright, Sheriff. I understand your meaning. I only wish that my father had been an easier man. Then I may never have been left to deal with his fallout in such a way." Caroline tilted her head to the left as her voice became weaker. "He really did have an attitude problem."

Calvin ducked his head, but not quite quick enough to hide his smile.
"No family is without its faults, Miss Ashbury."

"Caroline."

"Let him cast the first stone, as they say, but there is something you could assist me with."

"Name it."

Calvin stood up tall and stepped back. The void of daylight between them held no warmth.
"A list of all the people he would have counted as enemies. Anyone he ever crossed, upset or heck yeah, ever even sneezed on. I need to know them all. You think you can do that for me, Miss Ashbury?"

"Yes." Caroline spoke clearly and precisely. Calculating each articulation of every syllable. Now was not the time to seem wanting. She had him and like a fish on a hook, she needed to reel him in. "And please, call me Caroline."

He took to stroking his beard. Was he weighing her up? She forced a full smile across her face, then pushed herself up off the arms of the dining chair and onto her unsteady feet.
"It will be a long list of names, Sheriff Bailey."

Calvin stepped across the space between them and took her elbow, maybe in an attempt to secure her balance? His voice came out low, making her shiver.
"We will find whoever is responsible, I can guarantee that. I won't rest until they're behind bars. You have my word."

Caroline shook involuntarily. Goosebumps raised on her forearms. She stared at them and blinked hard while she recovered her composure. Why did this man affect her so? She'd dealt with them before. Always had them eating out of the palm of her hand in the space of half an hour. Why should this unkempt, rough uneducated man be any different?

She lifted her chin and turned to leave. Her words as cold as ice.
"For that, I thank you."

Calvin bowed his head and glanced at her from under his heavy eyebrows.
"At your service, Caroline."