Deadly Texas Summer

by Colleen Thompson

  “Fortunately, we’re both adults,” Emma assured him, “and if there ever comes a time that one of us forgets it, then it’s time to pull the plug on this arrangement and send me packing, pronto. Deal?” With a tentative smile, she stuck out her hand.

  “You’ve got it.” Beau shook on it, wondering where, if the time ever came when he did feel ready to get to know another woman, he’d ever find these brains, heart and fierce determination, all wrapped up in such a gorgeous package. “Now let’s go and see that picture. River here can chaperone.”

  Feeling fortunate but a little guilty that neither his suitcase nor the truck had been spotted by his family yet, he put off his reunion to head to the guest wing, walking beside Emma on her crutches.

  “So how’d the rest of your trip go?” she asked as she made her way over the tiles. “Your ex-partner have any helpful suggestions for you?”

  “None that don’t involve time, money and a lot of lawyers,” he said ruefully.

  “Because of Wallace, right?” The glance she cast his way was sympathetic.

  Beau sighed. “Even without him, I’m afraid, I would have trouble enough on my hands. The ranch has got some issues, financial challenges my father did a damned good job of hiding.”

  “So this new deal you have going with Green Horizons Energy...?”

  “I won’t lie. It could make or break us,” he admitted, “which is one reason I damned well need to know if anyone from the company had a thing to do with Russell’s death.”

  She stopped her awkward shift-swing forward on the crutches to look him in the eye. “And if they do? What will you do then?”

  “Start scrambling for all I’m worth, I guess. Try to find a way to expand our sales of breeding stock.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea. With average temperatures rising worldwide, I’d imagine the kind of heat-and disease-resistant cattle that do so well in south Texas could help those struggling with change.”

  “That’s an interesting angle,” he said, never having considered the way a scientist might view a business rooted in the past.

  “I’m no expert on the industry, but if you ever want to bounce around ideas—” she shrugged “—I’d be happy to serve as a sounding board.”

  “I appreciate that.” He felt a rush of warmth at her offer. “Especially from someone dealing with the problems you are.”

  “Maybe we ought to try trading troubles some time,” she suggested with a wry half smile, “just to switch things up.”

  “I might take you up on that,” Beau deadpanned, “with the possible exception of the potentially murderous ex-husband.”

  “That’s fair,” she agreed, moving her laptop to the room’s writing desk, where she sat down and unlocked the secured screen. Watching her take that commonplace security precaution got Beau to thinking as he stood behind her while River lay nearby.

  “Did you ever get to look at Russell’s computer after his death?”

  She shook her head and glanced up at him. “I turned it over to the sheriff, but it was locked.” Keeping her gaze glued to the screen, she opened up a folder. “And I’m not volunteering to try to crack the password in case Fleming decides to destroy evidence he doesn’t approve of. Or worse yet, try to somehow pin it on you.”

  Beau grimaced, fearing she was right. And wishing the state authorities would hurry up and take over this investigation.

  “Here it is,” she said as an image filled the center of the screen.

  He bent over, bracing a hand on the back of the chair where she was sitting. “Can you enlarge it any more?”

  “Not without losing all definition.” She shook her head. “Not a lot to go on, is there? Too close, too much light from the flash, and—”

  “He’s armed. That’s clear enough,” Beau said, though it was impossible to discern more than the fact that the intruder was carrying a handgun, “and I can see he’s wearing dark clothes. Long sleeves, even in the summer heat, and—Did you find another shot? One taken before or after this one?” Because Beau couldn’t begin to be sure, not from this angle with this partial view. But there was something about the body shape, the way the man held himself, that nudged a suspicion. A suspicion chewing around the edges of his consciousness like rats gnawing at an engine’s wiring.

  Shaking his head, he dismissed it, certain he was wrong.

  “I’ve gone through all of them, and this is it,” she said. “Our only other chance is finding another camera out there that may have captured the same person when he stepped out of this lens’s range.”

  “Then we’d better get on it as soon as we can. I’m going to need to see my family first, though, and grab a little lunch. Have you eaten?”

  “No, but food can wait.”

  “It’ll be hard enough getting around on that leg. We don’t need your energy flagging, too, so what about this? I’ll meet you in a half hour with some drinks and sandwiches to take with us. Sound good?”

  She nodded. “Sure, but is everything okay, Beau? Ever since you I showed you that photo, you seem a little... You didn’t know who—”

  “I have a lot of my plate, that’s all, and a hell of a lot of ranch business to deal with before the day is through,” he insisted, unable to keep himself from sounding hurried and impatient. “So the faster we can collect any evidence you might’ve missed and get it safely into the right hands, the happier I’ll be.”

  * * *

  Something was wrong with Beau. She heard it in his voice and saw it in the way he rushed off, promising to be back for her again in thirty minutes.

  Emma’s gaze went to the open photo, and she wondered if, unlikely as it seemed, he had seen something in it. Something that explained how a man who’d been kissing her so passionately, holding on to her as if he’d never let go only minutes earlier, had cooled so abruptly. Or maybe it wasn’t the photo but the lie he’d told her weighing on her, the one where he’d implied that he would give up on the deal that might be his only chance to save his legacy if he learned that Green Horizons was somehow wrapped up in Russell’s murder.

  Was that it, then? Had he recognized—or thought he might—someone from the company? And was Beau, for all the doubts his cousin was spreading around about his parentage, really willing to give up his hold on power, privilege and all the trappings that went with being the sole heir to the ranch and the fortune that came with it?

  Did those born and raised to wealth and power ever willingly walk away? Her own modest background might not offer much of a frame of reference, but the history books and the news were both brimming with examples of rich men and women willing to lie or cheat, even kill, to hang on to what they had. Was she foolish to believe that Beau was any different...or that she’d gotten any better at judging men by what they said or how they looked?

  All she know was how she’d felt when he was kissing her, when their eager bodies began an interrupted conversation... She closed her eyes, catching her lower lip between her teeth before her thoughts were interrupted by her ringing cell...

  Stomach clenching, she reached for it, the throbbing of her heartbeat drumming in her ears. Would it be Jeremy again, out to fool her into answering another of his calls? Could he somehow know, or guess, that she’d had another man’s hands on her?

  In an instant, the ugly names rushed through her brain again, the terrible accusations she had heard so often. Forcing herself to slow her breathing, she whispered to herself, “Stop it. Stop this right now,” angry that she was doing her tormentor’s job for him.

  Blinking back tears, she glanced down at the phone’s screen and blew out a long breath. “Lieutenant Williams,” she said as she connected with the Ranger, “I’m so glad to finally hear back from you.”

  But once he started talking, her relief wouldn’t last for long.

  * * *

  Aunt Alicia gave Beau a concer
ned look from her favorite lounge chair on the lanai, where palm-leaf fan blades spun lazily above to stir the warm air. “I’ve done my best to discourage them, but I’m afraid that the boys have been going on nonstop about our visitor, begging me to wake her up and make her come to breakfast, lunch, out to the Crazy Cow for ice cream sundaes...”

  Beau winced, though he kept his eyes on his two sons, who were shouting, “Daddy, look what we taught Maverick!”

  Cort stood by the poolside as the smaller Leland floated in the center of the pool, one arm over a lime-green noodle, though after years of lessons, both boys swam like minnows.

  “Ready, Leland?” Cort directed while the oversize pup trotted around the pool’s edge, looking anxiously from one boy to the other.

  Leland gave his freckled brother a thumbs-up before sucking in a noisy breath and then relaxing, face-first, into a dead man’s float. When he didn’t stir for a few seconds, Maverick barked frantically and then leaped into the pool to splash toward him. Beau watched, smiling to see Leland sneak another breath while the young dog completed his rescue mission, grabbing the boy by the swim trunks and towing him back toward the poolside.

  “Hey, let go of those!” Leland sputtered as he grabbed on to the edge.

  Maverick raised his sodden head, coming up with the dripping swimsuit while Cort howled with laughter. “Oooh! Leland’s skinny-dipping!”

  “Hey! Give those back!” Leland yelled.

  “Excuse me,” Beau said on his way to head off Maverick at the pool steps and rescue Leland’s trunks before the dog could begin a game of keep-away sure to give his aunt conniptions.

  Handing the suit back to Leland, he ordered, “That’s a pretty neat trick. Next time, though, we’ll need to work out a G-rated version. Put it back on, or wrap up in a towel at least because it’s time for you guys to run inside and get dressed. You’re starting to get burnt.”

  Both boys complained about leaving the pool, as they always did, but he could see that they were exhausted from their time out in the sun.

  After they headed inside to dress, with Maverick trotting at their heels, Beau sat down across from his aunt and poured himself some lemonade from the pitcher on the small table between them.

  “So this woman,” his aunt said carefully. “You’re taking her for a private tour of the ranch this afternoon. Could that mean—”

  “It means I’m doing the bare minimum as a host by taking her to look for one last piece of missing equipment from her study,” he assured her for the sake of lowering her expectations. “That’s all, truly. I know the boys have taken a shine to her, and you like her as well.”

  His aunt smiled up at him from behind a pair of outsize rhinestone-rimmed sunglasses. “She’s an engaging young woman, with the loveliest manners.”

  “Wallace sure doesn’t think so. She’s been aggravating the fire out of him about her student’s death investigation.”

  Aunt Alicia raised her own lemonade as if in tribute. “No wonder you’re so taken with her, then.”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way.” His brain called him out on the lie, replaying the encounter in the den in excruciating detail.

  “And so good with the children,” Aunt Alicia went on.

  He raised a palm in protest. “Please stop.”

  “Pretty, too, with those green eyes and a figure I can’t imagine any man would find fault with.”

  “Her figure’s got nothing to do with anything,” he said irritably, trying desperately to get Emma’s body off his mind, the heated lushness of her mouth when she had kissed him... “You have to understand. And make the boys understand, too. She’s only here until she’s well enough to return to her job and her life in Austin.”

  “It’s not like that’s the moon. And anyway, in this day and age, distance isn’t something a couple can’t overcome.”

  He shook his head. “That may be true, but we are not a couple. And we won’t be. Can’t be. Ever.”

  “You don’t like her, then? Because I know for a fact you’ve spent time with her at the hospital, sent her flowers—roses.”

  “Have you been spying on me, Aunt Alicia?”

  Her eyes widened in a look of wounded outrage. “Spying? Really, Beau. The things you say. You know I would never intrude on your privacy, but you are a Kingston after all, the head of the ranch and family—”

  “For now, at any rate,” he grumbled, thinking about Wallace’s newly authenticated will.

  “So you should know that people can’t help taking note of what you’re doing. And some of those people happen to consider themselves my friends.”

  Beau rolled his eyes at the way she talked about the family as if it were some sort of Elizabethan dynasty. Unfortunately, some of the suck-ups in this community subscribed to the same theory, including those who’d previously made his life hell because they didn’t feel he was deserving of the honor.

  “I should have never brought her here,” he said. “I should’ve known you’d only start again.”

  The subject had come up several times since Beau’s return, especially since his father’s death. How it wasn’t right for a man in his prime to spend his life alone. How his sons were not too old to learn to love another woman. And it’s a fact, his aunt had told him after they’d picked out his father’s gravestone, that I may not always be around to help you raise them. With my brother and my sister both gone now, I can’t pretend any longer that I’m going to live forever.

  He’d assured her that she absolutely would, if he had anything to say about it. But he wondered if her less-than-subtle nudges were her way of letting him know that the care of two lively boys, regardless of how insistent she was about doing so much of the work without help, was getting to be too much for her.

  “If I’ve made a few suggestions,” she said, “it’s only because I want you to be happy. And if pretty Dr. Emma isn’t for you, I know of any number of nice young ladies, beautiful, accomplished women who would be absolutely thrilled for the chance to meet the—”

  “Anointed one?” His voice dripping with sarcasm, he scarcely registered the clicking of the dog’s nails on the tile. “They wanted what my brother was, not some bastard whose father could barely stand to be seen with him in public.”

  “Please don’t say that,” his aunt pleaded, a note of frailty in her voice. “It’s not true. Your father was grateful to have your help. He told me himself he’d underestimated how much of a rancher and a businessman you are.”

  “And they sure as hell don’t want a man who’s about to watch his one-hundred-forty-seven-year-old legacy crumble into dust.”

  “You won’t fail this ranch.” Aunt Alicia pulled off her sunglasses to blink at him with watery blue eyes. “You’ll be the one to save it.”

  “Even if I do manage to save this place from Wallace’s scheming—” the harshness of Beau’s voice elicited a distressed whine, following by an insistent nudge at his leg “—that woman, the same damned woman you’re suggesting that I invite into our lives, our hearts, my damned bed, could easily prove to be the final nail in this ranch’s coffin.”

  When the dog licked his hand and nudged him harder, Beau said irritably, “Knock it off, Maverick. Enough with the clingy act.”

  Annoyed, he pushed the shaggy head away, only to realize that the dog so distressed by his tone and volume wasn’t Maverick, but the far more sensitive River looking at him with anxious brown eyes.

  River, whom he’d left down in the guest wing with—

  Beau looked up sharply, toward the patio door entry leading into the pool area. The gaze he met there was green and stricken, the face pale as Emma stammered, “Ex-excuse me. I didn’t mean to intrude,” before turning on her crutches and thumping back inside.

  Chapter 13

  About twenty minutes later, Emma opened the door of her guest room to a knock to find Beau standing be
fore her, his straw hat in his hands and a soft-sided cooler slung over one broad shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry,” he was quick to say, his eyes like bitter chocolate. “Sorry you happened to overhear my conversation. I didn’t mean—I had no idea you were standing there.”

  She jerked her chin a little higher. “So you’re not sorry you said it,” she challenged, “only that I happened to embarrass you by showing up while you were being honest.”

  Upset that Lieutenant Williams had told her it could be several weeks before his current caseload allowed him to complete his review of the evidence, she’d been rushing to find Beau to vent her frustration. Instead, she’d run headlong into the truth about the rancher. He might have shown her and River kindness, might even be attracted to Emma on a purely physical level. But he had his own priorities, and they had nothing to do with her.

  He raised his palms, as if in surrender. “Of course I am. But you have to understand. My aunt, my sons—they’re all pushing for something I can’t have. Not even if I start to—”

  Cutting himself off, he shifted his gaze and shook his head. “You know what? We ought to get going. We can finish this conversation on the way or over lunch.”

  “Not until you finish your sentence. ‘Not even if I start to’ what?”

  His dark eyes found hers once more. “Not even if I start to forget,” he said, his voice a low rumble, “all the reasons why wanting you is a terrible idea...”

  He reached for her, his hand rising toward her cheek.

  Exasperated with his moodiness, she stepped back out of range. “Not a good idea. Remember?” she asked, glaring. I’m out to destroy you—or your ranch, at any rate.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “I know you’d never do a thing like that,” he admitted, “not intentionally. When you overheard me, I was only worried, that’s all, and trying to deflect my aunt’s—”