Bones Of Contention: The McKinnon Legends - The American Men Book 3

by James, Ranay

  “God, save us from hormonal teens,” Josh said briefly, almost defeated. Their relationship had become extremely strained over the last several months. Lately, slamming doors and raised voices superseded laughter and easy going quiet times in the McKinnon household. He loved her completely. He just did not know or understand her anymore.

  “I was the same way when I was her age. Just don’t let her get to you,” she encouraged knowing it was probably falling on deaf ears. This interaction between father and daughter must be more the norm than the exception pulling from her own experiences.

  “Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” he exhaled heavily stepping back down to the bottom landing. “There just seems to be a monster inhabiting all the McKinnon children from twelve to twenty-two. To think I have seven more years of this. I’ll be an old man by then.”

  His humor was not lost on her as she softly laughed at his fatherly plight.

  “Hey, don’t think your family has the market cornered on that. Look, Josh, raising a teen is never easy even with two parents and a normal childhood. Jesse has neither. You want me to try and talk to her?” she asked more seriously.

  “No, that is not necessary, but thanks for the offer anyway.” He helped her on with her coat and opened the front door walking her out to her Explorer. “I’m sorry I dragged you out here for nothing, Doc. It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said opening the SUV door for her.

  “And it still is, but I’m an outsider. I’ll call her tomorrow after she has had a chance to give it thought. Deal?” she asked standing on the running board of the truck with the car door between them.

  “Deal. May I call you later?” he asked hoping Jesse did not scare her away. It would not be the first time a woman he was romantically interested in decided to walk away not wishing to deal with his daughter. Jesse could be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where his love life and home life was concerned. The other women really did not matter in the grand scheme of things. Somehow Jamie did matter and he did not want to see her walk away, not because of his daughter’s teenaged moodiness.

  “You better. You still owe me a movie,” she smiled before closing the car door.

  “I’ll call you later,” he promised, feeling good about the progress they made today. “We need to get together tomorrow for another lesson if you are up for the challenge.”

  “And you had better be prepared for me to sweep you off your feet and straight to the mat,” she teased.

  Too late for that he admitted in his heart.

  She smiled, waved, and drove away just as Davis made the turn into his driveway to escort her home.

  Jesse let the curtain drop seeing the interaction. She was not blind nor was she stupid. These two were more than friends, and she vowed she would never share her father with another woman, not after her mom had treated him so badly. He did not need a wife, and she did not need another mother. They had each other and that would be enough. She would see to it this one left, just like all the others.

  Chapter 16

  December 11, 2010

  “Can you come out here and train today?” Josh asked after calling to explain he needed to do several patrols over the next few days covering for a deputy on vacation and one out with a sick baby.

  She hesitated in saying no. Yet, she declined with good reason. “Thank you for the offer, but I need to grade a final set of papers and finish averaging my grades to be turned in for the semester tally.”

  What she was not telling him was she was having second thoughts creeping into her mind of their dating each other, and those thoughts make her uneasy. They made her uneasy but not because she did not want to be with him. It was because she really did in a way that scared her to her marrow.

  He had made good on that movie, and ever since they had been out nearly every night over the last three weeks. She was reeling from the feeling of being with him. Their time together was full of stimulating conversation, feeding her need for a man who challenged her mentally and understood her drive and her life’s work. He did understand, and he applauded her efforts and dedication.

  The physical side was also heating up. Their training was taking on a whole new dimension. Full of sexual tension, both needed to work it off. Their workouts were becoming very intense and very physical. The effort helped. However, it was not enough, and never would be enough, to stem the high tide coming in if they continued seeing each other on a personal basis.

  It would be so easy to fall in love with this lawman. It was something she could not afford. She had a very good personal reason, but now her career was also a consideration.

  “Josh, I don’t know. The timing is just not good.” She was thinking more than just the present.

  She just received the word she had been waiting eleven years to hear. It was a dream coming true for her or most any forensic anthropologist and archeologist.

  The invitation to London had finally arrived.

  She was on the very short and very distinguished list of scientists invited to participate in the inventory of the British Museum and Royal treasures.

  Over ten thousand years of national treasure and history was there just waiting for her to identify, catalogue, and touch. Even though it was not nearly as well known as Cairo for its antiquities, the British treasures were definitely not lacking. They were just different.

  Just because the museum and archeological time period had not received the international attention equal to the Egyptian Dynasties, it did not mean there were not still many secrets to be discovered buried in the history of the island left behind by its Viking and Pre-Roman invasions. The early Celts were a fascinating people who had mystified anthropologists for generations and who scientists were just beginning to understand. She could bring a unique perspective to the research.

  And if that were not enough motivation, the museum had just received, on loan, an exhibit of unsurpassed importance consisting of excavated artworks and remains from the Island of Crete dating from the mid-fifteenth century B.C.

  They wanted her to examine the artifacts before they became public displays, hoping to get additional knowledge to share with the world of the Minoans, a relatively unknown civilization.

  Eight sets of remains were found buried under the ruins of a Villa believed to belong to a very well-to-do nobleman. It was a rich find given there was so little left for archeologists to study. After the eruption of the Island of Thera, now known as the Island of Santorini, the subsequent tsunami wiped the slate of the civilization almost clean.

  She was torn. Regardless of the fact she was walking into a dream opportunity, she still wanted a relationship with Josh. She wanted both. However, it was a complication she did not know if she needed given the recent turn of events. The timing was just so wrong. It would force her to choose between her career and her personal life. She would be gone a minimum of two years, maybe more depending on where the research and findings took her.

  That aside, in the immediate moment, she was sure she could not spare the four to six hours for the round trip to his ranch plus the training time. Those two things alone would siphon off any remaining time she accidentally might have left in the day.

  “Then stay here and save the drive time,” he offered. “I have lots of space.”

  It was impulsive to ask.

  “I don’t want to impose.”

  “Come out, Jamie, please. It is no imposition.”

  It would solve several issues. He needed to see her again. After their last date night two nights ago, he had finally gotten the chance to kiss her. After he so nearly kissed her in his living room, she had shied away from him even touching her, and as hard as it had been, he respected her space.

  Not so after their last date.

  He had kissed her thoroughly not waiting for her permission, taking what he wanted. If she had resisted in the least, he would have immediately backed off. She had not resisted, and that contact affected him deeply. He thought she tasted like honey, literally. She heated
his blood, and he understood their chemistry was a heady, dynamic mix.

  “She is mine!” he heard the voice in his head as he kissed her, his mind laying claim to her body and soul. Their chemistry mixed, blended, and changed as they shared that first kiss. She was inside him and he was finding he had a driving need to be with her.

  He had it bad for this woman, knew it, and could care less that he did, and he was having a hard time keeping his mind on task.

  He had lost a small fortune to his cousin Chase in a poker game all because of Jamie. Needless to say, the ribbing he received was more than just good-natured. The comments flying around the game room at Robert’s ranch were not fit for polite company, and Chase was not going to let him live it down.

  Did he care?

  Hell no, he did not care and told Chase so in no uncertain terms just before telling him to mind his own damn business.

  He had to see her. It was becoming a forceful need. They needed to train, and he needed to devote time to his paying job. So did she. The deadline on her grades was looming. He was quick to point out the positives of her spending the weekend with him at the ranch. He assured her she would have her own room complete with private bath.

  Jamie could finalize her students’ grades and finish the final papers while he was patrolling. What he was not so quick to point out was Jesse was off at a swim meet, and then she was going to be spending the weekend with a friend since he was working crazy hours. Lilly, his housekeeper was visiting family for the Christmas holiday in England. They would have the house to themselves, and somewhere between Friday night and Sunday afternoon he was going to have some quiet time with her by the fire, stretched out on the sofa relaxing, just enjoying being together.

  “I don’t know, Josh,” she sighed as the workers began to install her security system, hammers beating a steady rhythm as they reinforced her back door. She stepped out onto the front porch away from most of the noise.

  She was undecided. Spending time with him sounded tempting. Nevertheless, she had to finish her grades. Finals were over and she needed to post grades for her classes, still lacking a single set of scores.

  “The authorities found four more victims, Jamie,” he had no plans of telling her just yet. The police found the last body just that morning. The last victim was a thirty-two-year-old mother of three thought to have been dead since Thanksgiving Day, seen last by her ex-husband when he came to pick up the children for an extended vacation.

  She was discovered by her neighbor who came over to place a UPS package inside her door thinking the woman was out of town on business as she often was.

  The scene was identical to three others between Sweetwater, which was west of Abilene, and the Texas-Louisiana border. The bastard was working his way west from Florida just as Josh had suspected. It was a pattern their killer demonstrated five years earlier. History was repeating itself. Only this time he was killing in multiples of four coinciding with the phases of the moon. The bastard had already ruthlessly killed at least twenty women in the last thirty days. Tomorrow night’s moon was going to be full. He was not taking any chances with Jamie.

  “Oh, Josh. That is terrible,” she shuttered at the thought of the loss of innocent life and the children who would have to grow up without a mother.

  “He is moving closer and your alarm system still needs to be installed. I need to keep a closer eye on you and you need to train. I have an alarm system so you should be safe even while I’m out and about as long as you stay indoors.”

  “I have Davis,” she softly protested.

  “His mother is ill, Jamie. He really needs to go see her,” he countered. “He will stay by your side if necessary, but it really isn’t if you come out here.” Dirty pool. He did not care.

  There was no way she would ask Davis to take the watch with his mom needing him.

  “Barbara?” she was dodging him.

  “Barbara is off active duty until Sunday, and it’s her and Mason’s kid’s birthday. Before we run down the whole list, Robert is still in Caracas, Chase has the flu, and James is on concert duty covering some big shot in Orion’s Band. All the others are on assignments in various places. I’m it, baby, until Davis and Barbara get back.”

  He asked her to plan on being there through Sunday evening. “Davis has agreed to drive your Explorer out. I’ll let him take my truck back into Lubbock before he leaves for the weekend to see his mom. I’ll take you home Monday afternoon and take the watch on Monday night at your house.”

  He heard her hesitation.

  “Jamie, I want to see you, and you coming out here is the only way that will happen this weekend. Come stay as my guest. I’ll be in and out and it will be quiet for you. You can get work done here. They are installing the alarm system at your house.” He heard the noise in the background. “You will never get anything done there.”

  He was right on that count, she conceded. Workers in and out would never allow her to concentrate. “Alright, give me a chance to gather up a few things. May I bring Killer?”

  He agreed. If it got her here, he would have agreed to a whole kennel of dogs. He asked her to bring riding clothes. He wanted to take her out on the ranch for a tour.

  Lilly left food in the freezer before leaving, knowing that even though he was a great cook expertly knowing his way around the kitchen, he would not have the time. It was a good thing. Almost as soon as Jamie arrived, he was gone. One passionate kiss and he was out the door. To protect and to serve; he had a job to do and so did she as she settled in to finish her grades.

  “Killer, you have got to love technology,” she said out loud as she hit the send button, e-mailing the remaining grades into the registrar’s office. It was another semester for the books as the old regulator clock above the mantel struck eleven.

  It was after midnight when Josh came home for a short visit from his long night of patrol. Short of seeing his baby girl for the first time in the nursery window years ago, what greeted him was the most beautiful site he had ever seen--Jamie and Killer curled up on his couch. Both were sound asleep.

  Chapter 17

  Jamie woke slowly. Killer whined sitting on the foot of the bed shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. It was obvious what he needed.

  “Okay, Boy. I’ll take you out.” She rolled over looking at the clock. It was just after six. Slipping on her robe and heading for the kitchen door, she let him out the back door, watching as he scampered off into the pre-morning darkness.

  Josh was home. His patrol car was parked beside her SUV.

  Standing against the door jamb as Killer took care of business, Jamie gave into the urge to inhale the jacket hanging on the hook. It was Josh’s. She remembered the heady smell from the night before as she curled her face into his neck as he lifted her into his arms and took her off to her bed. He lay beside her briefly, still fully armed and in uniform, before she drifted back off to sleep.

  “Morning beautiful,” he spoke softly behind her.

  Startling her, he apologized. “I should have warned you,” he said snaking his arms around her, pulling her back tightly against his chest. “Is the mutt out?” he asked giving her a squeeze just below her breasts. Moving her hair to the side he kissed her neck, lightly marking the tender flesh behind her ear.

  She nodded subconsciously and turned into him. Draping her arms around his neck, she was thinking if she had any sense whatsoever, she would take two large steps backward. This man was trouble. He smelled wonderfully clean having just come out of the shower, hair toweled-dry.

  She was not a morning person and her brain never functioned before eight o'clock in the morning, which explained why she was finding herself draped over this handsome lawman when she should have known better than to allow him this much open territory. She was giving him a mixed signal which was never a good thing.

  “I’d keep him on a leash, Doc. I have a pack of coyotes hanging out near the ranch lately. They would like nothing better than to make a s
nack of the mangy little mutt.” Josh was thinking he wanted to make her into a snack, guessing his resolve to remain as neutral as possible where she was concerned and to let her set the pace of this relationship was slipping.

  Josh’s whistling brought Killer running back into the house where he made a bee line for his warm pillow still laying scant few feet from the fire. Josh had stoked that same fire back to life before coming into the kitchen.

  Closing the back door against the morning chill, he did what he had wanted to do since the moment he walked into the kitchen, and as he captured her mouth, Jamie’s mind was warning her not to venture where angels feared to tread.

  Chapter 18

  Jamie watched in fascination as eggs, fresh vegetables, and cheese became a beautiful omelet. They worked companionably, side by side, in his very functional kitchen. He admitted that it was cook breakfast to keep his hands busy or he would not be held responsible for taking her back upstairs.

  She laughed accusing him of being a very naughty boy. Not even bothering to deny the accusations, he conceded she really had no clue just how naughty he could be.

  That unabashed confession made her laugh, because ironically she had her suspicions, and as she expertly sidestepped the blatant suggestion of her joining him for a nice dessert up in the master bedroom, she voiced there was nothing subtle about him this morning.

  Finally, understanding how this weekend was going to play out, she forced his sheepish confession of his leaving out certain details about this weekend.

  No kid, no housekeeper, and no bodyguard.

  Even on their dates there was a guard present. When he was with her, he claimed she was too much of a distraction. More was the truth he wanted to focus on her, not her protection. They were alone for the first time. It was a sudden realization that excited her sending a small shot of adrenaline through her veins with the anticipation of the unknown.