Texas Hold 'Em

by Christie Craig

  Leah Reece needed someone to lean on. And as crazy, as utterly ridiculous, as it was, he wanted to be that person.

  “You didn’t have to come here.”

  “I know,” he said. “I wanted to.” The way he’d wanted to kiss her last night. The way he’d wanted to rid her of her clothes. His mind churned, and he realized he hadn’t considered if coming here was right or wrong. He’d done it on impulse. Suddenly, noticing Leah wasn’t standing alone, he nodded at the three women beside her.

  Her posse of women, he thought. And they all looked willing to let Leah lean on them. But somehow he got the feeling she didn’t regularly lean on anyone. One of the posse was a blonde, tall and attractive. One was an older, dark-haired woman, and the other was a redhead who barely looked legal, but dressed like she was.

  Leah spoke up. “Austin, who is… just my neighbor, this is Sara, Evelyn, and Jamie.” She waved her hand to each one as she spoke their names.

  Just her neighbor? He pushed the thought aside to deal with later. More important matters warranted his attention. “What happened?”

  “Nothing happened,” Leah said.

  “This happened!” The older woman pointed to a box on the counter. She shot him a quick look, pleading him to talk some sense into Leah. “Where I come from, when people send you bloody packages, it’s not ‘nothing.’ ”

  Leah shook her head. “I panicked. After I calmed down, I realized the organs are either chicken or turkey. Someone probably bought them at the grocery store.”

  “I don’t care if they belonged to Big Foot or where they bought them,” Evelyn snapped. “They were put in a shoe box, had a threatening note on top, and were dropped off at our doorstep.”

  Austin stepped closer. “Where’s the threatening note?”

  Everyone looked at Leah.

  “She has it,” said Sara, the blonde, speaking for the first time.

  Leah pulled the sticky note from her pocket and slapped it on the counter. “It’s not really a threat.”

  Austin read the four words. Don’t piss me off.

  “Well, it’s not a love letter,” he told her.

  “My words exactly,” said Evelyn. “I like this guy. Where have you been hiding him?”

  “He’s just my neighbor,” Leah repeated, and damn if it didn’t hurt more the second time. Did she let any neighbor unhook her bra and jeans and…

  “What’s not to like? Except the black eye.” The redhead shot him a look of interest.

  One he wasn’t even the slightest bit flattered by. She was way too young, and… and didn’t have dimples. He pushed that thought aside.

  “It was a stupid prank,” Leah said.

  “Sorry, but I agree with Evelyn. This is more than a prank.” His mind started forming questions and he spouted them out. “When did it arrive? Did anyone see who dropped it off? Has anything similar to this ever happened before?”

  “You sound like a cop,” Redhead said. “I like cops. Is that how you got the black eye?”

  “I’m not a cop,” he said, but she was right, he was acting like one. He needed to watch himself. Then again, someone needed to figure out exactly what was happening before someone ended up hurt. Someone being Leah. “But we should all be thinking like one.”

  “I think we should be calling one,” Evelyn said.

  Austin looked from Evelyn to Leah. “She might have a point.”

  “Call them for what? To interrupt their donut time and have them tell me that they don’t have time to be looking into dead cats? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and I’m not doing it again.”

  She stormed off into a back room, but not before he spotted the emotion in her eyes.

  Evelyn looked at him and sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on. She’s never been so unreasonable.”

  Austin heard Evelyn, but his mind was still digesting what Leah had said. “So this has happened before?” he asked the three women remaining.

  “No,” Evelyn said.

  The blonde spoke up. “But Leah just said… or basically just said it has.” Her gaze turned to Austin. “It’s never happened here.”

  “No one ever told me getting bloody packages was involved in my internship,” said the redhead.

  “What’s Leah hiding from us?” Evelyn glared toward the back where Leah had disappeared.

  As eager as he was to find Leah, he guessed his best bet at getting information was from these three.

  “When did this arrive?” he asked.

  “Twenty minutes ago,” Evelyn said. “Which means it’s not too late to call the police.”

  He didn’t want to tell her to do it. Something about Leah’s tone earlier sent a warning straight to his gut. “Did someone deliver it? Who found it?” His gut said it was a big, bald guy. The two incidents had to be connected.

  Jamie, the redhead, spoke up. “I saw the man who left it. He looked Hispanic, early thirties maybe; he tapped on the window and set the box down in front of the door. I thought it was kittens. Then I saw the blood.”

  Hispanic? “Was he tall, short, dark-skinned?” The thought that it might have been DeLuna had Austin’s mind spinning.

  She hesitated as to think. “Sort of tall, not as tall or as built as you.” She smiled. “Not very dark-skinned. Just olive. Dark hair, but more brown than black.” She lifted one shoulder as if proud of her description.

  And damn if that description didn’t match DeLuna to a T. Not that it didn’t also describe half the Hispanics out there. “You didn’t recognize him, then?”

  “No,” she said.

  Have you met Leah’s piece of shit half brother? What he wouldn’t give for a picture of DeLuna right now. “Would you recognize this man if you saw him again, or saw a picture?”

  “Maybe.”

  Could he show her DeLuna’s picture without Leah finding out? He started formulating a plan. “You know, I have a friend who’s a detective. Can you give me your number? He might want to talk to you.”

  “Of course you can have my number.” She shot him a sultry look. He saw Evelyn rolling her eyes.

  “So do you think this detective will take care of everything?” Sara asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m not even sure if he’ll look into it. Leah may need to make an official report.”

  “And it appears that we have about a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening,” Evelyn said. “I really don’t understand what’s gotten into that girl. She’s been in a frenzy these last few days. Worried about her brother and then her place is broken into.” She looked at Austin. “Maybe you could talk some sense into her?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “We aren’t really—”

  “Don’t lie to me. You were the first person she called. And there was enough heat in the look you two gave each other to deep-fry a chicken.”

  “I thought he was just her neighbor.” The redhead sounded upset.

  “And it wasn’t too long ago you thought Santa was real, child.” Evelyn looked at Austin and pointed to the back. “She’s in her office, first left and last door on the right. See if you can make her see reason.”

  Austin got to her office door. It stood ajar. She was on the phone. Pausing, he stopped to listen.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “WHY THE HELL would Rafael send you a dead chicken?” Luis asked Leah.

  “It wasn’t a whole chicken.” Which made it worse. Leah closed her eyes. Why had he done it? To scare her. To remind her that he or his dear friend Cruz had killed her cat. But more important was why this had all started. What did Rafael want with Luis?

  “What have you done, Luis?” She gripped the phone.

  “I haven’t done shit,” Luis answered.

  “You saw Cruz. Why did you see him?”

  “I told you I accidentally ran into him,” Luis barked. “Jeezus, Sis, get off your high horse, would ya?”

  “I’m not on my high horse.”

  “The hell you’re not. What if I was accusing you of
something you didn’t do? How would you feel?”

  “There has to be a reason this is happening, and it has to do with you seeing Cruz.”

  “I admit your house getting broken into and you getting dead chickens is weird, especially after Rafael called you. But I swear I’m telling the truth. I saw the guy on the street and spent less than three minutes talking. But what I don’t understand is why you hate that guy so much.”

  “Because he nearly raped me! Because—” Damn, she wanted to pull those words back into her mouth.

  “He did what?” Luis’s tone turned dead serious.

  Leah dropped her chin on her chest. She’d never told Luis. Why should she? He’d been too young and… she’d wanted to shelter him from… from more ugliness. He hardly even remembered their mom. And when he got old enough to ask about their father, she’d told him he’d died right after he was born. Sure, when Rafael showed up in all his glory, a few months after she’d seen her dad’s obituary, Luis learned Leah had lied to him.

  He’d been eleven and pissed that she’d robbed him of a chance to meet his dad. Leah hadn’t held back then. It was the only time Leah remembered really losing her temper with her brother. He didn’t want us, Luis. Why would you want him?

  Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Her mother’s words vibrated through her head. It had been seven years since her mother’s death, and her father hadn’t bothered to come to see them. Absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder; people chose to be absent when they didn’t care.

  “When did Cruz do this?” Luis asked, dragging her from the past.

  Leah took a deep breath. “A long time ago. Forget about it.”

  “Like you’ve forgotten.”

  Actually, his killing Snowball had been his most unforgettable crime. She hadn’t told Luis that, either. He’d loved that cat.

  “Luis, I’m worried about you. If you’re into something illegal, you have to stop.”

  “Illegal? Give me some goddamn credit. Once. Just once I almost did something, but I didn’t even do it. And right now the only illegal thing I want to do is beat the shit out of Cruz. I friggin’ can’t believe you didn’t tell me this.”

  “Luis, what happened isn’t important. I’m worried about you now. Promise me you won’t go to your place for a while?”

  “I can’t crash at Cassandra’s place much longer. She’s gonna think I’m mooching off of her.”

  “If it’s a problem, I’ll send you a couple hundred dollars and you can get one of those weekly hotels.”

  “No, I can stay here,” he muttered.

  She paused and her brother’s earlier words repeated in her head. “So it’s a girl you’re staying with? You didn’t tell me it was a girl.”

  “I didn’t tell you? Oh, crap, how could I not tell you? Oh, I know, it’s because I take after my damn sister, who freaking doesn’t tell me shit! Like about some asshole raping you.”

  “I said he tried to rape me. He didn’t do it. And you were too young. And I’m telling you everything now,” she said.

  “I swear to God, Leah, if I see Cruz again I’m knocking his teeth down his throat.” Even though he was angry, she heard the brotherly love in his voice.

  “Look, I appreciate you wanting to defend me. But that happened years ago, so leave it alone.” There was a pause. Deciding to change the subject she asked, “Are you coming up Sunday?” He usually came up every other weekend. It wasn’t enough for her, but it seemed plenty of family time for him.

  “I don’t know, if I don’t have too much make-up work,” he said.

  I told you that you shouldn’t have skipped classes. She bit her tongue to keep from reprimanding him. “Are you going to bring your girlfriend… Cassandra?”

  “The last time I introduced you to a girlfriend, you asked her if she was on the pill.”

  “Well, the question seemed appropriate since you were barely eighteen and I walked in and found you two screwing on my sofa.” Leah snatched her stress ball from her desk and squeezed.

  “You weren’t supposed to be home until a day later. Besides, I thought you should have been happy we didn’t use your bed.”

  “Seriously?” she asked. “The bed had sheets and I could have changed those. I couldn’t sit on that sofa for a month.”

  He moaned, reminding her of the disgruntled teenager he’d been not so long ago. “Look, I need to run. I’ll call later about this weekend. And for God’s sake, be careful. If you see hide or hair of Cruz or Rafael, call the police. Then call me. I swear to God, Sis, I won’t let either of them lay a hand on you. I’ll kill ’em.”

  “You’re not going to kill anyone!” she said. “But I love you for wanting to protect me.”

  They hung up, and she must have heard or felt something. She turned and saw the door slightly ajar.

  Austin Brookshire stood there. Frowning.

  Friggin’ great. How much of her conversation had he been privy to?

  Austin took a deep breath, hoping to come off calm, but calm was the last thing he felt. Someone had tried to rape her and she thought this was the same person breaking into her apartment and sending her bloody packages, and she wasn’t calling the police?

  She wasn’t doing shit but waiting for him to strike again? And she hadn’t even told him.

  He stepped inside the office and closed the door. The click of the door shutting seemed too loud. She stood from her chair and again he noticed how small she looked. Vulnerable. Fragile, almost. And damn if he didn’t want to volunteer to take care of her.

  “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that eavesdropping is rude?” she said with bravado. But the courage in her voice was all bluff. Odd how he could read her so well.

  He stepped closer. “I didn’t exactly have the proper upbringing, remember?”

  The words no longer slid off his tongue when he realized this was the first time he could remember making light of his past. And for some reason that seemed important.

  “Well, someone should have enlightened you.” She wasn’t backing off.

  He shifted his gaze. The office was small. Feminine and filled with cat paraphernalia. Her scent of waffle cones hung in the air. He inched forward another step. With her standing less than a foot from him, he could see the fear in her eyes.

  “What’s going on, Leah?”

  She had to tilt her chin to look him in the eyes.

  She opened her mouth, and he saw in her expression that she was going to lie to him.

  “The truth,” he insisted.

  She closed her mouth almost as if reconsidering. “It’s complicated.”

  Slowly, he reached out and put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him.

  He felt her give, and she rested her forehead on the center of his chest. She needed someone to lean on, and damn was he glad he’d come here.

  He dropped his chin down and buried his face into her soft brown hair and wrapped his arms around her back. Inhaling her scent, he held her for several seconds. Then he inched back and with one hand gently raised her chin to look at him.

  “Let me help uncomplicate it,” he said. “I’m good at that.”

  As if realizing how close they stood, she pulled back. Her eyes had a watery sheen to them.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. “Because I’ve only known you a few days and”—she waved a hand between them—“this feels complicated.”

  Damn if he didn’t agree with her. This, whatever this was, felt complicated. But now wasn’t the time to consider that. “Who’s Cruz?”

  “This is something I have to deal with.”

  “Why?”

  Her shoulders slumped. “He’s someone I knew a long time ago. And he’s not a nice person. My brother ran into him, and since then everything’s gone crazy.”

  “Ran into him where? San Antonio, isn’t that where you said he was?”

  She shook her head as if his questions were unimportant, but the more information Austin could get the better he’d be.


  “No. He ran into him in Austin, where he lives.”

  “But he’s in San Antonio?” For some reason that seemed to be important, as if it mattered, but he couldn’t put his finger on the reason.

  Leah brushed a strand of her hair back. “He’s back now.”

  She was telling the truth, but only part of it. “Is Cruz this asshole’s last name?”

  She frowned. “It’s not important.”

  That pushed his button and his gut clenched. “He tried to rape you and you say it’s not important.”

  “That was years ago.”

  “But it was yesterday that your apartment was broken into, and less than an hour ago someone sent you a pack of chicken guts. And it doesn’t sound like this is the first time you’ve gotten a less than desirable delivery, either.”

  A knock sounded at the door. Leah took a step back, then called out, “Come in.”

  Evelyn poked her head in. “Our appointments are showing up.”

  Leah nodded. “Just put them in rooms, I’ll be right out.”

  Evelyn hesitated. “Are we calling the police?”

  “No.” Leah said. “No one was hurt. And I don’t want to scare off business.”

  Evelyn frowned at him. “And I thought you had enough charm to make her see reason.”

  “She’s not so easy to charm,” he said.

  Leah huffed and walked out.

  Evelyn walked in and leaned closer. “Can I trust you to look after her?”

  He nodded.

  She let go of another sigh. “Do you not find it suspicious that she doesn’t want to call the police? First with her place and then this?”

  Yeah, I do. “Some people don’t trust them,” he said. But there was usually a reason. And he needed to figure out why.

  He checked to see if Leah was out of earshot. “Where’s the package?”

  She quirked an eyebrow. “It’s up front behind the counter. Why?”

  “Can I… take it with me? And the note, if it’s still up there.”

  She studied him. “You know, Jamie’s right. You act like a cop.”

  “Not a cop,” he said. “But I know a few.”

  She tightened her brows, still looking slightly suspicious. “Well, I was going to make giblet gravy with it,” she teased, “but sure, take it.”