by Snow, Nicole
Dad’s jaw quivers. He glances at me and then back at Drake. “Avery has a son?”
Drake nods. “They’re both bad news. They’ll do anything to get ahead and satisfy their appetites.”
Appetites. That’s what he calls it. A dark, evil word that hollows me out.
“I don’t know,” Dad says, rubbing his chin again. “You’re sure about all this?”
I’m holding my breath, waiting to hear more, and not about the son.
Did Gramps make us get married to save me from Avery Briar? Did he think Avery would have me offed so my parents would inherit everything and sell it to him?
It made sense. Drake told me about the missing girls everywhere in Jupiter’s wake. Ice runs down my spine.
I look at Drake. An amazing warmth fills me at the danger he’s willing to face down for me.
He’s truly incredible. More than just a shield. More like a knight in shining armor.
Slowly, Drake nods. “Sure as shootin’. I’ve done my homework ten times over.”
Dad stands, sighing as he folds his hands behind his back. “Well, even if Dad left North Earhart to us, I’d never let Molly sell to Jupiter Oil. Their reputation precedes them. They were always disorganized. Briar taking over was supposed to fix that when he came up from Texas to buy them out. He was a slick professional, flush with cash, a long track record of turning other acquisitions around by breaking their backs and piecing them together again. It just made things worse than I could’ve imagined.”
I stand up, too, but have to ask, “Then why did you bring him out here with papers for me to sign? Why let Avery Briar get anywhere near us?”
“Because he approached us, Annabelle. I wanted you to have a choice.” Dad crosses the space between us and takes my hands, squeezing with a heart-stinging fierceness. “Believe me when I say, if you’d shown an interest, I’d have pointed you in a different direction. We’d have looked at a far more reputable company, or offered to help you run Earhart. I’m sorry it has to be this way. I should’ve stepped in sooner, or used a different approach, but your mother was convinced you’d listen to her.” He smiles sadly. “You usually do. This time, I’m glad you didn’t.”
Truly, I hadn’t this time because of Drake, but Dad’s apology is so sincere. There’s still unfinished business with Mom – even if I get why she acts out sometimes far more than I ever did, I can’t keep letting her treat me so horribly. But talking to Dad like this gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, someday I’ll be able to have a real conversation with her that could change everything.
I don’t say that, though. This is about him and me today.
I’ve always known that he loved me, but the way he’s proven it today means more than he’ll ever know. My throat threatens to close up, so I just lean in and whisper, “I love you, Daddy. Thanks.”
“I love you, too, baby girl.” He pulls me close and hugs me. “Only wish I’d told you more often.” Releasing me, he cups my face with both hands. “Your mother loves you, too. She never had anyone show her how to love, so it still scares her. If you knew how badly she missed you every summer, every spring and winter break, while you were here with your grandfather, you might find that easier to believe.”
“I do believe you, Dad.” I have to blink away tears. “I understand so much more now. About everything.” I kiss his cheek.
He nods and steps back, giving my cheek a little pinch before turning to Drake.
“Walk me out, Mr. Larkin. The mailman was dropping off your mail when I pulled in, so I grabbed it for you.”
“Sure, but the name’s Drake,” he says, falling in step beside him.
Dad smiles. “Then I guess you’d better call me Gary.”
I’m still blinking at the tears in my eyes when I say, “Dad, Drake and I are going to town for supper this evening. Would you care to join us? You could even bring Mom, I guess. We can eat wherever she wants.”
“I’m sure she’d like that,” he replies. “The restaurant at the hotel is decent. Let’s meet there at seven.”
I know our original reason was partly to show Erin my ring, but this is more important. “Perfect.”
As they walk out of the room together, I drop onto the couch.
Holy crap. What a day.
14
Make Me Prouder (Drake)
I follow Gary out the front door and down the porch steps, grateful he’d seen the look I’d given him when I said Bella didn’t know about the will, and understood it.
He’s smart. Smart enough to know the tale about marrying her for Jonah’s sake was a pile of shit.
It’s my cover. A partial lie built on a framework of truth. Yeah, I respected the hell out of Jonah Reed, but not enough to go along with this scheme if camaraderie was all we had.
Jonah never acted like he caught onto me, the real reason I agreed, but he may have known it, too.
He knew about Winnie.
Knew how I’d rant and rave and wake up screaming in my sleep some nights. Knew I couldn’t let her go. Knew I had this weird fixation because she was my friend, she was innocent, she didn’t deserve to die like she did, and the world threw her away and shoved the dirt over her grave like a piece of forgotten fucking garbage.
He knew I wouldn’t stop looking till I caught her killer, even if I put my own ass in the fire.
Our mutual hatred of Jupiter Oil, and Avery Briar, is what made me brothers with a man older than my own father.
“So what are you, really?” Gary asks as we arrive at his car. “A rogue FBI spook? A guy who left a biker gang? A vigilante with an axe to grind?”
His outlandish questions don’t surprise me, but I still don’t have an answer. A vigilante is the closest, yet I shake my head. “None of the above.”
“Then why in God’s name are you using my daughter as bait?” His voice turns cold, deadlier than a man as soft as him might seem.
His eyes are as green as Bella’s, and full of distrust.
Fuck.
Like it or not, he hit the nail right on the head. I hadn’t wanted to admit how it seemed, not even to myself, yet that’s exactly why I’d agreed to this wedding sham.
I knew they’d come. And even if she needed protection when they did, it was Bella who’d flush them out of the woodwork.
Avery was sneaking around for a while, looking for a way to strike, especially once Jonah took ill.
The old man knew it and was concerned for Bella. He wanted somebody capable to pull this off, and not just legally. If it got dirty, he wanted a man behind her who knew how to fight, to shoot to kill, if the bastards ever decided to abandon high pressure sales tactics in favor of something deadlier.
I’d been thinking along the same lines as Gary is right now. That she’d draw Avery in like a nightcrawler on a hook. It tore part of me up at first, haunted my conscience, but if I know anything about Bella, she’s proven one thing – she won’t back down easy.
She’d be doing this, standing up to her folks and Jupiter, if I wasn’t in the picture.
Better that I am. Better that she has someone to stand in the way of her and the worst.
Because the absolute fucking worst could be around the corner. Any day, any time.
“I’m not using her as bait. Not the way you think,” I say. “Check the employment records at North Earhart. I’m personal security. Have been for four years. First for Jonah, now for Bella. I’ll intercept any move Avery makes toward her, and I’ll make sure it gets him busted. One of those moves will be enough to have him arrested, charged, and convicted. Jupiter Oil will lose any standing they have around here, and at least five states and thirty towns will be better off once he’s out of commission.”
Gary glances toward the house.
“His asshole son’s already in jail,” I say, making it more convincing.
Frowning, his gaze turns back to me. “He is?”
“You seen the mug shots? The vicious-looking guy with the dragon tattoo? That’s Avery’s kid.�
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He gives me a raised brow and then shakes his head. “Wow. This is all making more and more sense. Dad would’ve gone to extremes to take down an opponent. Especially a rival oil company as messed up as Jupiter.”
There’s one part that still doesn’t add up, but I don’t mention it. Why the hell did Avery let Dragon get arrested in the first place? There’s got to be a jailbreak coming, or something more sinister.
Not wanting to belittle Jonah’s love for Bella, I say, “It’s not just about that. Not entirely. Jonah loved your daughter very, very much, and was truly concerned for her safety.”
“Remorse is a hell of a thing,” he says. “There were so many times I wanted to call him. Wanted to ask if he needed anything, but I was afraid he’d hang up, shut me out of his life again.”
I nod, fully understanding what he’s saying.
I think about calling Angie all the time, but fear the exact same thing.
She’d told me to leave after Dad’s death, that she’d wished I’d never come home, and who could blame her? I swore I’d abide by that wish.
My hope is that once Avery’s son gets nailed on record for Winnie’s murder, maybe sis will understand. I’d known it was him, and knew where he’d been, but she’d called me about Dad missing before I’d gotten to his location.
Gary opens his car door. “Hold on, I’ve got your mail.”
I’m surprised he truly has it, I figured that was just an excuse. I take the stack of envelopes rubber-banded together. “Thanks.”
“I have to help,” he says. “And need to know what you need. What I can do. How do we get rid of Avery Briar? You name it.”
His request is as sincere as his apology to Bella. I’m happy about that. She needed to hear everything he’d said. He’s her father.
“Actually, keeping Avery close could work in our favor. He believes he has an in with you and your wife. If he thinks he’s making progress legally, it might prevent him from doing anything rash.”
Edison blows a loud horse snort from where he’s standing in the corral. Damn.
That reminds me of the binocular covers I found. Someone was watching the house, and I’ve got an ugly suspicion I know who.
“It’ll also help us know where he is and isn’t,” I say coldly.
“You’re right. I’ll make sure Molly stays in contact. They’ll both think they’ve got a fighting chance.”
I don’t know if he needs the proof, or if I need him to believe everything I’ve said. I pull the binocular covers out of my back pocket anyway.
“I found these in the pasture today, along with tire tracks. Those two men in jail weren’t the only ones here that night. A third was watching and drove back out to the highway in plenty of time to be almost ran off the road and call those men in. Convenient.”
Gary’s eyes widen. “Christ. I asked him what he was doing out here at that time of night. He said he has a drill site not far from here.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “He’s lying. I’d know about any Jupiter prospects this close to home because Jonah would’ve hired someone to burn it down.”
Gary cracks a smile. “He would have. He was a hell of a man, even if he always let his own stubbornness get the better of him.”
“He was,” I agree.
Gary holds his hand out to me. I clasp it, give him a hardy shake.
Too many people turn out to be rattlesnakes once you see their true skin. It’s a relief when the opposite happens sometimes.
Then he climbs in the car and shuts his door, rolling down the window. “I’ll see you at the restaurant, but be warned, I’m not letting Molly in on any of this just yet. I can’t. Not with Annabelle—” His Adam’s apple moves as he swallows. “Not with everything at risk if something goes wrong. And if it does, if there’s even a whiff of that, you need to call me, Drake. Got it?”
“Consider it done.” A deal’s a deal, and Gary Reed’s a lot more trustworthy than I would’ve thought.
He hands me a business card. “Here’s my cell number. Keep in touch.”
I tuck the card in my pocket with a nod.
An odd sense of dread fills me as he drives away.
There’s no good reason for it. Nothing’s changed. Except that I’ve admitted to myself I’m not in this for Bella, or even Jonah.
This was my old fight from the beginning. My hunt for the goddamn Dragon.
* * *
Years Ago
I had a fuck of a time coming home.
Civilian life has a lot of creature comforts and a whole lot less explosions and angry assholes trying to kill you, but it’s missing one thing – familiarity.
Maybe that’s why I clench onto every little bit of old life in Kinsleyville, Montana, before I left for the Army like a kid hugging a security blanket.
But that’s why there’s Timber’s, a hometown sports bar that’s always felt like a second home.
I had my first legal beers here with my buds between tours when I came home old enough to drink. Hell, I even drank with Dad a couple times, seeing how this was his favorite watering hole, before he had to give it up as his condition got worse.
Cheers, it damn sure isn’t, but the regulars do know everybody’s name.
There’s always something going down here, good or bad.
Some nights it’s whiskey therapy for Pete who’s going through his third divorce.
Others, it’s karaoke with Linda, who takes a break from the pull tab station to blow out her lungs doing wild renditions of eighties classics. That woman’s singing gave me stories to tell the guys back in camp on those dark nights in the deserts and windswept mountains, when we just needed to lighten the fuck up and laugh at something silly.
Mostly, though, it’s one quiet girl I still look forward to who blends into the background.
Winifred May. She’s the same small powerhouse who was the only one brave enough to save my ass back in seventh grade.
I thought she’d proven herself damn near every game growing up when we had each other’s backs. Then I got rowdy when I was older, and one day, she saved my ass for real.
I’d gotten myself in a scrap with Jackson Crowley, the local bully, and he’d been about to bust my fucking nose while all the other kids jeered. He was a mean SOB, the kind who’d scare other kids off with nothing more than a glance.
Not Winnie. She’d walked up and thrown a heap of mud right in his face, giving me the edge I needed to knock him down. It was the only day anybody ever dared get a jump on Jackson.
We took off running, laughing, instant friends who got to be the talk of the school that summer for the drama we stirred up.
I sit down next to her and order up a brew, some new Pilsner tonight. She gives me an instant side-eye and mutters, “lightweight.”
We both laugh.
“Taking it easy tonight. Gotta be back early to start looking for jobs like a normal human being. The Army stash won’t last forever. How’re the kids, Winnie?”
She smiles. “A frigging handful. It should’ve been easier with three out of the house, but Drew...you know how that’s going.”
Sadly, I do.
While I was graduating high school, Winnie’s parents were killed in a car accident. That’s how she got stuck in Kinsleyville, rather than accepting her scholarship to UCLA to study history.
I told her she’d make it out there next year at first. Then the next. But then it just made her sad, and I didn’t know what the fuck to say when life pulled her down, trapping her like she’d always feared.
She was left raising four younger siblings on a meager income from the Rez, plus whatever work she could get.
I offered up and down to help her. Said I didn’t need the money when I was busting ass for Uncle Sam with no time to spend it, but she was too proud. And later, I found out she was right when she told me to save it for my own family, for Ang and Dad.
“Don’t tell me he’s still hitting the scene? Thought you said he agreed to try reha
b?”
“Yeah. Keyword, try.” She huffs out a sigh. “It lasted about a week, Drake. Then I found another pipe in his room and a fresh stash.”
“Fuck,” I growl. “Winnie, I’m sorry. If you need me to do something, let me know. I’m not talking about another counselor. You want me to find those assholes he’s hanging out with, supplying him with this shit, you just say the word and I’ll–”
“I need you to listen,” she says, taking a long pull off her drink. “Just listen. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, and you’re the only one who does. And you...you kept your promise. You’re still my friend after all this bullshit.”
I smile at that, even if she’s tearing out my heart.
Same old Winnie.
She was born tough, and she’s only gotten tougher. I slap her shoulder and give it a friendly squeeze.
Goddamn.
Maybe in another life, we might’ve had a thing. One of those storybook childhood sweetheart love stories where life’s just dandy and everybody gets a happy ending.
But it’s not like that, honest. And even if she’s real pretty, I can’t think of her like that.
I always get the same feeling around her I get with Angie. I love this girl like a sister. She knows my secrets, and I know hers.
“You’ve got yourself an ear and a shoulder anytime, lady. You know it.”
I first heard about her little brother’s trouble during my last tour. He’d started acting out in school and falling down a hole. First with booze, then weed, then he moved to the harder shit.
Lately, she hasn’t said much, but it isn’t hard to read between the lines. The kid’s hitting the drug scene hard, maybe fucking dealing, something that threatens to make their hard life worse every day it’s going on under her nose.
“You’re a good friend,” she whispers, leaning in and grabbing my arm in that friendly way she has. It’s also a heart-wrenching indicator she needs me tonight. “It’s happening this weekend. That’s when I’m gonna sit his butt down and have a heart-to-heart. I said I just wanted you to listen, but look, I’ll be honest. I might need...a favor.”