Finished, she fell back on the plumped pillows and shut her eyes.
“How could taking a shower be so tiring?”
“Maybe because you were thrown from a horse and dragged halfway across the arena,” TJ said.
Lisa opened her eyes. “You’re exaggerating.” She looked at Mom, saw the anxious look, the concern. “Don’t you have to get back to the ranch? It’s a long drive.”
“We’re fine. You just worry about getting well.”
Worry had put dark circles under Mom’s very green eyes. Lisa’s heart did a dance. She may have lost her family years ago, but this woman had stepped in and was just as precious to her as her own mom had been. In jeans and shirt she didn’t look that much older than TJ.
“A couple more days and I won’t know this happened.”
“Sure,” TJ mocked. “We just bandaged the worst looking scrapes I’ve ever seen. You’re leg is almost raw and your arm isn’t a whole lot better. That shower must have been pure hell.”
“Getting clean was worth every second.”
Men’s voices were heard from the kitchen. “They’re scrounging for something to eat. I’d better head them off or they’ll eat everything in the kitchen.”
Mom scooted out of the room.
“Heaven help them.” TJ smiled as they watched her leave. “I brought what I thought you might need yesterday. If I missed anything, let me know.”
“I will. But I won’t be here that long.”
“Your injuries will take a while to heal.”
“I want to go home today. I need to, TJ.”
TJ looked at her friend. “I know how hard this is, honey. But you have to let your body heal so you can take care of yourself. Besides, you’re not safe.”
Lisa stood. “I want to know who did this to me. And I want to talk to Max about Harold.”
“You should stay in bed.”
“I’m fine.” Ignoring the aches and pains, she slipped her feet into a pair of slippers, forced herself to keep her back straight and followed TJ out of the room. She had work to do. A few aches and pains weren’t going to stop her.
Sure enough, the guys were in the kitchen crowded around the table and bar, munching on cookies and drinking coffee.
They stood when Lisa came in, rushed to help her.
She raised a hand. “I’m okay. Just point me to a chair.”
She stifled a chuckle when five big strong men grabbed for a different chair.
“Never mind,” she said as she went to sit in the breakfast nook. “Now tell me what you’ve found. And don’t even think about leaving anything out or I’ll get you. Big time.”
Douglas came over, put a hand on her shoulder. “How do you feel this morning?”
“How do you think she feels, Douglas?” TJ snapped.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t ask dumb questions,” she mumbled, taking a seat next to Lisa.
“We don’t know much,” Max said. “The authorities are still investigating. No one saw a thing. The rodeo honchos are in an uproar with two major incidents in such a short time.”
“Whoever did this is the same person who killed Tempest,” Lisa insisted.
“Probably,” Darin said. “Believe me, I’m looking into it as much as I can.”
“What doesn’t make sense is that you were considered the prime suspect in Tempest’s murder, now you’re a victim, which could take you off the suspect list. Are you as confused as the rest of us?” Max said.
“More so. Because I don’t know the why of any of this unless my accident was a ruse.” Seeing their questioning looks, she explained. “What if I asked too many questions and the killer wanted to divert the cops’ attention.”
“Doesn’t make sense,” Darin said. “They already have you in their line of fire. As of today, you are their only suspect.”
“Then what if they went too far—cut the cinch a little too deep? What if they wanted to make it look as if I killed Tempest? Wouldn’t this be a good way to take myself out of that suspect column?”
She watched their reaction. Douglas’ face turned red. Max shook his head. Darin’s eyebrows shot up. Dugan and Donovan looked at each other in disbelief. Mom had tears in her eyes, and TJ looked mad enough to fight. She loved them all.
“They wouldn’t think that,” TJ said.
“They might,” Darin argued. “It would be just like them.”
Lisa turned to Max. “Has Bernie found anything on the blonde?”
Max shook his head. “Not enough of her facial features to go on.”
“Tell him to dig into Harold’s life. All of it. And when he’s finished, check out Tempest. If there’s anything to be found, he’ll find it.”
Max chuckled. “You’re not working now, Lisa. Let the rest of us do the work.”
She gave him a look. She would work. Not one of them—not Max, TJ, or any of the rest of the family were going to stop her.
“We’re on it, okay?” Max said. “By the time I get back, Bernie will probably have a pile of papers to read. By tonight, I’ll know as much about the Wheatleys as there is to know.”
“Can you get a copy sent here? I’d like to stay in the loop.”
“Lisa, you’re supposed to be in bed. Recuperating. Not working a case,” Max complained.
“Listen to Max, he’ll get the job done,” Douglas chimed in. “But sending the papers over here is a good idea. I’d like a look at them myself.”
“No problem.”
Lisa turned to Max. “Did I hear that right? It’s no problem to send the papers here for Douglas to get his hands on, but I’m to be ignored?” She turned back to the rest of the men. They were a handsome lot. None as handsome as Douglas of course, but they’d grab any woman’s eye. They had her best interest at heart so it wasn’t easy to come down on them. “I’m hurt. Not dead. I’m also a damned good investigator. Don’t think I’m going to stay in bed and let the rest of you dig into this and keep me in the dark. It won’t happen.”
They looked at one another, then started talking, which of course ended in bickering.
Mom shook her head.
As head of the family, she rarely pulled rank. Today she did. “That’s enough.”
They turned silent, as if they were little boys instead of grown men.
Lisa and TJ exchanged smiles.
“Lisa has every right to be involved. She could have been hurt much more seriously. Even lost her life. That’s enough reason to stay involved, so change your attitude. She’ll stay here until she recovers and the person is found who did this. Everyone will cooperate. Understood?”
Lisa gasped.
“You heard me, Lisa. Until then, the family will protect you. Douglas, with the help of one of Max’s private investigators, will keep you safe until then. Darin, you’ll keep Max and Lisa informed on anything you find. Together, they’ll get to the bottom of this.” She turned to TJ. “Taralyn, you’ll see that Douglas gives her the right foods and makes sure she’s comfortable.” She looked at her watch. “The rest of us are going back to the ranch. Dugan has a job to get back to, and Donovan can’t be away from the ranch too long.”
She smiled at her family. “We’ll all do our jobs, find out who did this, and get back to normal.”
“Nothing to it, Mom,” Douglas said with only a trace of irony.
After a dozen hugs and even more promises to take care of herself, Lisa saw the last Callahan leave.
All except Douglas.
They looked at each other across the silent kitchen. “Mom’s something else, isn’t she?”
Despite a pounding headache, Lisa smiled. “She’d make a good drill sergeant.”
“What do you mean? She is one. Didn’t you just hear her?”
Lisa chuckled. “So you’d better do your job, buster. Or else.”
It wasn’t easy being the mocking, sassy, other sister to the man who took her breath away.
He came toward her, that half-smile on his face, a twinkle in those ve
ry green eyes.
She felt her bones melt and braced herself. The next days or weeks wouldn’t be easy.
But she wasn’t sitting around doing nothing, waiting for someone else to find who did this. She’d get to work and see what she could find.
Maybe then, she could escape Douglas’ constant nearness.
If she didn’t, she was going to go nuts.
She let out a sigh of disappointment when Douglas gathered cups from the table and took them to the sink.
For a minute there, she almost thought he was going to kiss her.
Chapter Eleven
After eating a bowl of Mom’s cure-all, chicken noodle soup, followed by a small bowl of banana pudding, Lisa, with Douglas’ help, limped back to bed.
“Can I get you another pain pill?”
“How about another Tylenol?”
He found the bottle on the table next to her bed, held it up and shook it.
“Can’t open it with one hand.”
“I know that.” He gave her two. “More?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ll rest now.”
“You shouldn’t have gotten up. Stay in bed the rest of the day.”
“We’ll see,” she said.
The bluish tint under her eyes and the pain in them made him want to gather her in his arms and try to make it better.
Before he could act on the impulse, her eyes shut.
Whether she was asleep or just wanted him to leave, he didn’t know. At the door, he looked back. Her eyes were still closed which, he hoped, meant she would rest.
He’d seen her scrapes in the ambulance, knew how they must hurt. He winced at the thought. He didn’t want to think about Lisa being in pain.
He tried to busy himself by putting away the food, cleaning up the dishes. Then, he paced. Up and down the hallway, through the living room, into the dining room, back down the hallway.
After the conversation this morning with the family, they’d managed to come up with zero. Nothing made sense. Logic told them it had to be someone from the rodeo. There was no evidence or even a hint the culprit was one of the spectators. It was also logical to assume that the same person who killed Tempest had tried to kill or hurt Lisa.
Lisa’s scenarios sounded like legitimate arguments until you tried to set them up as reality.
Why would anyone go to such lengths to either make her look more guilty or take her out of the guilty column altogether?
Douglas wanted the bastard behind this. “I’ll get you. And when I do, you’re going to wish you’d never put Lisa in pain.”
When the doorbell rang two hours later, he was still angry. But the intrusion brought back Lisa’s vulnerability.
With extreme caution, he went to the door.
She stood there, five-foot tall, brown eyes smeared with darker mascara. The look on her face made his heart clench. “How did you get here, Patty?”
“Mom dropped me off. You’re not going to send me home are you?”
“Who told you Lisa was here?”
At one time or another, everyone in the family had met Lisa’s little sister. To some, she was a pain-in-the-butt, to others a mild nuisance. Everyone tolerated her for Lisa’s sake.
“I called Mike. He gave me his cell number the night he took me home. You know, the night the cops took Lisa away.”
He thought she might burst into tears if he didn’t let her in. He looked for a car. “Where’s your mom?”
“Like I said, she dropped me off on her way to work.”
Which meant he’d have to get her home. Damn! He couldn’t leave Lisa for a minute. What were they thinking? They weren’t. A thirteen-year old couldn’t be expected to. Her mom was another story.
He opened the door to let her in.
She looked around. “You have a nice house.”
“Thank you.” From what Lisa had told them, Patty’s family lived from hand to mouth, could barely pay the rent each month. They were lucky Lisa took such an interest in the kid.
“Where is Lisa? Can I see her?”
Behind the bravado of too much make-up on a too-young face, Patty was scared. For one quick moment, he saw what Lisa saw in the child. She was young and vulnerable and she needed a mentor. He couldn’t think of a better one than Lisa.
“I’ll look. Last time I checked she was asleep.”
She followed him down the hall. Giving her a quick glance before he opened the door, he saw her distress. She was biting her lower lip, probably to keep from crying.
“She’s all right, Patty. Really. Some scrapes and bruises, but she’ll be okay.”
“That’s what Mike told me, but I have to see for myself.”
He opened the door. Before he could say or do anything, Patty slipped past him and went to stand beside Lisa’s bed. She stood there, looking down at Lisa, her shoulders shaking.
Douglas went to her, put an arm around her thin shoulders and squeezed. “She’s fine.”
“She’s not. Look at her,” Patty whispered.
Lisa’s eyes popped open. Seeing Patty and Douglas staring at her, she moved a little, testing to see how bad the pain was. Not as bad as earlier. She forced a smile, held out her good arm. Patty fell onto her, sobbing.
“I’m okay, Patty. Really.”
“When I found out, I…I thought you might die…like that other woman…I couldn’t stand it.”
Patty couldn’t stop crying. Lisa looked over the girl’s heaving shoulders at Douglas. He must have understood the silent message because he took Patty by both shoulders and gently pulled her away.
“I’ll get you something to drink. Would you like a soda?”
Patty nodded, her eyes not leaving Lisa.
Douglas put a chair next to the bed. “Now you two can talk.”
Patty sat down, dried her eyes with the back of her hand. “I was so scared.”
Douglas handed her a box of tissues.
“Me, too,” Lisa said. But she didn’t want Patty to know how really frightened she’d been then or how frightened she still was.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I have a few scrapes. In a couple of days I’ll be good as new.”
“You’re going to miss the rodeo.”
Lisa sat up straighter. Patty jumped up and put a pillow behind her head.
“I didn’t think of that. Maybe I’ll make the last few days anyway.”
Patty’s brown eyes widened. “You think you can?”
“Of course I can.”
“What are you two cooking up?” Douglas asked, bringing in a tray and setting it on the bedside table.
Lisa smiled. “You don’t want to know.”
“Probably not.”
He handed Patty a glass of soda, Lisa a cup of tea. “Can I get you anything else?
“Nothing.” Lisa smiled. “You’re pampering me. If I want to eat, I’ll come to the kitchen. If I want anything else I’ll give a yell.”
“You’re the boss,” he said.
When he left the room, Patty looked at Lisa. “He’s really nice.”
“Yeah. He is, isn’t he?”
“You like him a lot, don’t you?”
Jeez! Was it a woman thing? Could only females see what men never did? “I do. But,” she whispered, “don’t tell him.”
Patty giggled. The sound made Lisa feel better.
“I missed you,” Patty said. “I tried calling your cell phone and the apartment. Then I called Mike. I was worried.”
It was true; they talked almost every night, at least for a few minutes, sometimes longer. “I’m laid up for now, but we can still talk on the phone.”
“For sure?”
“For sure. Now. Do you have anything to tell me? Any problems?” There were always problems at home, but to Patty’s credit, she didn’t dwell on them. “How about Alex? Is he still tormenting you?”
“He is.”
“It’s because he likes you. Remember when we talked about this before?”
/> Listening to Patty discuss Alex, schoolwork, and her other problems, Lisa realized how glad she was she had entered the Big Sister/Little Sister program. It hadn’t been easy. They did a criminal background check, asked for her driving record, demanded three references and took their time in giving her an all clear.
She thanked God every day they had partnered her with Patty.
Patty needed her and she needed Patty. The girl reminded her of herself after her parents passed away. Though Lisa had been older, she remembered the lost feeling, like she was alone, realizing even now, how lucky she was to have the Callahans fill that void. Though Patty’s parents were still here, they had problems. As a Big Sister, Lisa was able to fill that empty space brought on by illness on her dad’s part and neglect on her mom’s. Lisa hoped mentoring the child so early in her life would make a difference.
Douglas once told her she was the game changer; that because of her, Patty’s life would be a better one. She hoped he was right. Patty meant a lot to her.
Patty’s parents and the executives on the board of the Big/Little Sister program wouldn’t allow Lisa to see Patty again if she was indicted for murder.
The thought chilled her.
When Patty wound down about her own problems, she asked a couple of questions about Tempest’s death. “Do they know who did it?”
Lisa shook her head. She didn’t want to worry Patty. And quite frankly, after her accident, didn’t know what HPD thought. “The police are investigating.”
Patty bit her lip again. “Someone cut your cinch and wanted to hurt you. What if they try again?”
“Hey! You don’t have to worry. I’ve got a half-dozen guys trying to find the truth and a lot of people looking out for me. It won’t be long until this is over.”
“You sure?”
It was one of Patty’s favorite questions.
Lisa couldn’t count the number of times she’d reassured and comforted the girl. She would for quite a while longer if the cops would stop looking at her for a murder. Patty’s self-confidence needed bolstering. It was one thing that was sorely lacking in the Wells’ household.
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Can I help?” Patty asked.
Lisa chuckled. “You bet.”
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