Forbidden (Southern Comfort)

by O'Neill, Lisa Clark

  If only. “You know I’m not at liberty to say, Mrs. Huggins. Let’s just call him a person of interest.”

  Sally gave the flyer another, more thorough, once over. “Sorry, Joshua. You know I’ve got a memory like an elephant, but I can’t say as I recall this one.”

  Josh pulled out the second flyer, the one showing the man as an albino. “Do you by chance recall seeing this man?”

  Glasses in place, Sally studied the flyer a moment. And a moment was all that it took before excitement had her hands fluttering. “I certainly do!” Her exclamation caused several customers to turn in their seats. “He was in here, oh, must have been a few days back. Almost got in a fight with those boys over yonder.” She flicked a hand toward the teens.

  Josh’s boot slipped off the foot rail as he straightened in disbelief. Holy crap. Copeland had been on the money.

  “They was calling him names, and snickering, being disrespectful, just like I said. Man can’t help the face God gave him, I always say.” She tapped her finger on the flyer. “Well this one, he was having none of that. He would have torn a strip off their hides, if not for his buddy.”

  Josh’s heart beat double time. “His buddy?” he prompted.

  “Yes’sum. A real swell-looking blond fellow. Bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Well, exceptin’ for yours, honey.”

  Josh ignored that and grabbed Sally’s fingers. “If I came in here with my sketch pad, or you came down to the station, do you think you’d be able to describe what he looked like?” He knew the diner didn’t have a security camera.

  “I’m sure I could. But if you want another opinion, you should ask Ted.” She gestured toward the long-haired teen currently demonstrating his spit-wad shooting prowess. “He got a real good look at that other man. Made Ted just about run right out the door.”

  CLAY’S cell phone jangled, and Kim smirked as he slid it from his pocket.

  He supposed every time the phone rang from now on he’d have visions of red condoms dancing in his head like so many X-rated sugarplums.

  Pausing under the meager shade of a large oleander, Clay wiped the trickle of sweat that slipped down his neck. “Copeland,” he said on a sigh.

  “You were right,” an excited voice gushed. “Holy crap, you were totally right.”

  It took him a moment to place the voice as Harding’s, another to translate what he meant. “You had some luck?” he hazarded a guess. Damn, but it was hot.

  “The albino composite did it. I showed it at a local diner, and some people there remember seeing our perp. He almost got in a fight with a group of kids, just like you said he’d be inclined to. And the really spectacular part of this is that they also remember the man he was with. I’ve got at least two witnesses who can help with a composite. I thought you and Agent O’Connell might like to interview them, so they can tell you what they remember.”

  Well holy crap, Joshua. That was indeed exciting news. Clay hadn’t expected it so soon.

  “We might have a visual on the albino’s partner,” he told Kim, hand covering the phone’s receiver.

  Kim made the facial equivalent of holy crap, giving him two thumbs up.

  “Okay,” he told Josh. “Agent O’Connell and I are on our way to the station. Are you in route with the witnesses?”

  “My ETA is about twenty minutes. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Right. See you then. And Harding?” he said before hanging up. “Nice work.”

  IT was late when they finished the interviews, after factoring in waiting around for Spitball Ted’s parents and sitting through an endless litany of Sally Huggins’ stories.

  Josh Harding had apparently been an adorable, well-mannered child.

  Who would have guessed?

  Clay dropped Kim at her hotel room, and felt like a shit as he considered dialing Tate for the umpteenth time.

  He’d called once, at six o’clock, to say he was still working.

  And again, at seven, to say the same.

  He knew that Max couldn’t wait forever to eat, so at eight he’d told her to go ahead and feed him. Twenty-four hours into their official relationship, and he was already destined to disappoint her. He should probably just head back to Justin’s and spare them both the pain of facing that awkward truth. She’d tell him that it was really no problem, but there would be hurt and a little resentment in her eyes. She’d probably pout.

  Withhold sex.

  Send off all those behavioral clues women used to indicate you’d displeased them.

  He’d apologize again – although he already had, profusely – and then feel defensive and slightly hunted that he’d been required to do so.

  The whole situation was just a disaster waiting to happen.

  Nevertheless, he pulled into the parking lot behind the B&B. Luckily, he’d had the foresight this time to bring a change of clothing, just in case Tate let him spend the night. And provided he decided to stay.

  Who was he kidding?

  The second she blinked at him he’d fall headfirst into her bed.

  Disaster or not, he just couldn’t seem to keep this from happening.

  Gathering up his duffle, he locked his Glock in the glove box and set the alarm before heading inside, as curious little boys and weapons did not a good mix make.

  He wondered if the little guy was sleeping. It had to be past his bedtime. Feeling a rush of disappointment for that missed fast food dinner, he climbed the step to the back stoop and knocked gently, hoping Tate would hear him.

  A few moments later, the door swung open, and he was enveloped in sweet-smelling female. Peaches, he thought, unable to stop himself from burying his face in her hair. And when she took his hand, pulling him inside, he waited for the recriminations.

  “You must be totally starving. And I know you have to be exhausted from working so late. I take it things went well today?”

  “We had a good lead come in,” he told her, listening for the other shoe to drop. For the hints that she’d grown tired of waiting, that she was upset with him for letting down Max.

  “That’s great,” she told him instead, squeezing his fingers in her soft hand. “Any word yet on locating Casey?”

  “Nothing positive. But we’re a good bit closer to identifying her abductor. The composite really helped.”

  In fact, if it hadn’t been for Tate, this entire investigation wouldn’t be happening. If she hadn’t seen that man talking to Casey, the girl’s disappearance wouldn’t have been given the attention it deserved, and he never would have put the observations he’d made earlier that day into use.

  “I’m so glad,” Tate said genuinely, “that I could help.”

  The smell hit him as they entered the kitchen – cookies, fresh-baked – and even as his mouth watered he caught sight of an obviously sleepy Max. The little boy glanced up from the truck book he’d been studying and smiled brilliantly when he discovered Clay.

  “Mr. Clay!” And then suddenly he was around Clay’s legs. “Mommy made you dinner, and I helped mash the potatoes, and I baked cookies for you all by myself. Well… Mommy took them out of the oven, but I got to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet, and I didn’t even drop any. And I saved the biggest one for you, ‘cause you’re the biggest, even though that one had the most chips. And I’ve just got to put my fingers over my nose because your pants really stink.”

  Laughing, charmed, utterly taken aback, Clay sank down to Max’s level. Bright green eyes blinked at him over small fingers, and Max grinned from behind his hand.

  If there was a man in the world who could resist that face, his name certainly wasn’t Clay Copeland.

  “Thank you for making me dinner. And for saving me the biggest cookie.” He reached out, stroked Max’s hair. “I’m sorry I got here so late. Maybe we can do McDonald’s another time.”

  “That’s okay,” Max said diplomatically. Though he kept his hand in place. “Mommy said that we could have just as much fun making dinner at home, and she was right, ‘cause I l
ove making chocolate chip cookies. And it was even more fun making them for you.”

  Clay looked from the child to the mother. Felt love settle, just settle, more comfortably than he could have believed. This, he realized, was what it was all about. It was why people put forth every effort to make relationships stick.

  It was why perfectly reasonable men did completely insane things like go and fall in love on their vacations.

  Sighing, ridiculously content, he straightened and held out his hand. Max slapped it in their now customary manly exchange. “Do you think you could show me to the shower, my good man, so that I can get rid of these really stinky pants? I don’t think your mama would appreciate it much if I came to the dinner table smelling like a brewery.”

  “Moms are funny that way,” Max said philosophically, which had Clay fighting not to laugh. Then he took Clay’s hand and headed toward the back stairs. “I’ll show you where the shower is, so that she won’t get mad and make you eat mushrooms.”

  So Clay showered, changed his clothes, and ate a delicious if reheated dinner that showed absolutely no trace of mushrooms.

  Later, after he’d put Max to sleep with a story, and he and Tate shared a bedtime ritual of a different nature and lay tangled together beneath her sheets, Clay realized the other shoe was still on.

  And about that, he felt they should talk.

  “Tate,” he whispered softly, stroking the arm draped over his chest.

  “Hmm?” She stirred, shifted.

  “I just thought that you should know… I mean, I’d like you to be aware… that what happened tonight is par for the course. My job is very demanding. It makes it difficult to have a life. Especially one with commitments.”

  Tate made the effort to open her eyes. “Are you saying that this is just about sex?”

  “No.” Offended dignity made him stiffen. “If this was just about sex I wouldn’t have…” Stopping that train of thought before it quickly derailed, he shook his head in consternation. “That’s not what I was trying to say.”

  She waited a beat. “Are you setting up an out?”

  “A what?” Clay’s tone held suspicion.

  “An out,” she repeated. “You know, like when they put that little disclaimer on the packages of cigarettes portending that smoking may be hazardous to your health? Then they market the hell out of them anyway, and fall back on their disclaimer when the entire population comes down with lung cancer. We told you these things were no good for you. It’s like a ‘Get out of Morality Jail Free’ card. They don’t have to feel guilty when things go into the crapper, because they’ve already established their ready-made excuse.”

  She leaned up to study his face. “So I was wondering if that was what you were doing. Protecting yourself from future guilt by warning me ahead of time. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Tate. My job made me do it.”

  “I’m not…” He started to protest, but then blinked at her, looking chagrinned. “I know that’s how it sounds, but I promise not to use my job as a fallback excuse for a lousy relationship.”

  “Good.” Tate snuggled in again. “I know your job is demanding. Believe it or not, mine is, too. Not just running the inn, but being a mother. And I can’t promise that I’ll always be perfectly understanding, just as you can’t promise you will be either. It’s difficult, in a new relationship, when there are three people to consider instead of two. Any relationship is going to be work, and ours might present some bigger challenges than most. You might get irritated when Max comes down with the flu, and I have to cancel our dinner plans. Or worse yet, when you come down with the flu because Max sneezed all over your coffee. I might get irritated when you have to fly off to Nebraska instead of us going camping for the weekend. It will be hard as hell to only see you if and when your schedule allows. But unless I’ve read the situation wrong and have made a lot of erroneous assumptions, those are just some of the issues we’ll have to deal with, as part of the regular program.”

  The hand stroking his chest went still. “I’m willing to deal with them as they come along. Are you?”

  Blown away by her perspicacity, by her firm grasp on the situation, Clay lay there for another moment, too stunned to speak. She’d shocked the hell out of him tonight. Sweet as she was, Tate Hennessey was no man’s fool – not any more. And he’d do well to remember that in the future.

  A future, he realized, that they both saw happening together.

  It was terrifying, and… terrifying, and yet comforting at the same time.

  “I’m in,” he said after a moment.

  “Good.” Then the hand on his chest began inching lower, and Clay groaned as it closed around his member.

  This, he thought, rolling over to pin Tate beneath him, was a program he could definitely get used to.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  JR Walker ambled into the Bentonville UPS store a mere ten minutes after it opened, stewing over the mess his idiot cousin had made. Probably, he mused, he should have stopped him from beating that girl. But a little sadism could foster sales in certain quarters, so he’d seen no reason to stop the filming.

  Until Billy Wayne climbed off and she wasn’t breathing.

  JR had even done CPR – he still remembered how – but to no avail.

  And now they had a murder on their heads.

  How the hell had he managed to be related to such a fool? But then it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise – JR’s entire family had been worthless. From his junkie mother who more times than not forgot that he needed food, to his asshole of an uncle who’d been as free with his fists as he’d been with his gin.

  Fury twisted inside him, quickly suppressed. That was something he hadn’t allowed himself to think about in years.

  “Hey, Rob.”

  JR blinked himself back to the present. He’d been standing in front of his mailbox. Staring into space.

  Not acceptable behavior.

  He turned, managed a smile, and put on some aw, shucks. He was Rob. It was something he couldn’t forget.

  “Hey, Julie.” He exaggerated his drawl, scratched the deep brown hair of his wig. Just another tobacco-chewing local yokel – easy to recognize, easy to forget. “I didn’t even see you,” he told the woman whose acquaintanceship he’d been cultivating for the past couple months. Since it was impossible to remain anonymous in a small town, that left hiding in plain sight.

  “No kidding,” Julie chuckled, which did unflattering things to her jowls. But as her friendliness worked to his advantage, he kept his personal distaste in check. No way would she link “Rob” to anything, should it ever come to that. “You looked like your brain had been sucked out by aliens.”

  “I was having one of them, whaddaya call it, senior moments,” he said as he opened his box, gathered his mail. And glancing at the small stack, made a face that said more bills.

  “I think you have to be a little older to qualify for a senior moment.”

  “Tell that to my brain.” And grinning, adjusted his pants under his padded gut.

  Julie, stupid sow that she was, just kept talking as if he cared. Something about her decrepit mother, who really had senior moments, and oh! – some of the mirth-provoking situations that caused. As she was droning on, the WANTED poster behind her reached out like a fist to grab him.

  Remarkable, actually, how well the artist had captured Billy Wayne.

  “Hey,” he interrupted Julie’s nonsense, as absolutely casually as he could. “What’s that poster over there all about?”

  “Oh.” Julie’s eyes lit at the opportunity to pass on the latest gossip. “That man is wanted for questioning in some kind of abduction. Took a girl from that carnival they have goin’ outside town.”

  “Is that so?” The fist tightened, and squeezed.

  “Yep.” Julie was utterly delighted. “And that’s not all.” She turned and lifted a stubby finger, which stilled in a flash of confusion. “Well huh. I wonder where the other one went.” Moving to the table over which th
e sign hung, she peered under it, toward the floor. “Here it is!” Triumphant, she scooped another paper off the floor. Then ripping a piece of tape off the dispenser she wore clipped on her belt, affixed the second flyer to the wall.

  And as she stood back to admire her handiwork, JR’s vision began to gray.

  “The FBI man who brought this in said that the guy might use a disguise, and that he could be one of those, what are they called? Albinos.”

  “Is that so?” he repeated weakly. Then clearing his throat, managed to look impressed. “FBI, you said?”

  “Uh-huh.” Then she lowered her voice. “But between you, me and the fencepost, he smelled like he’d been drinking.”

  If JR hadn’t been going into free-fall, he might have found that amusing. But since his brain quickly calculated that Billy Wayne had to have been identified from that incident at the diner, where he’d simply refused to wear a disguise – and where JR, as usual, had gone along to make sure the imbecile stayed out of trouble…

  As himself, he remembered, infuriated. Because he hadn’t wanted to risk anyone seeing “Rob” with Billy Wayne.

  But how the fuck had they managed to tie that incident to the missing girl?

  Julie kept yammering away, mistaking speechless rage for fascination. “My cousin Jenny’s boyfriend – do you know Jenny? No? – well anyway, Jenny’s boyfriend works down at the sheriff’s office as a dispatcher, and he said that the FBI man and his girlfriend saw this guy at the carnival, and that they were this close to stopping him from taking that girl. Because, you know, they saw them talking and stuff. Wild, huh? He abducted someone right in front of the FBI?”

  But JR had stopped listening. He hadn’t heard anything past the word girlfriend.

  He knew who that girlfriend was.

  Julie stopped blabbing. “Are you okay Rob? You got that alien look again.”

  Nausea roiled, but he smiled through it. “Just surprised about all this, I guess.”

  “I know what you mean. You don’t think about that stuff happening around here. But that’s not even the worst of it. They think he killed another girl.”