Chasing_Bliss_Google

by Lexi Blake, Sophie Oak

  He shrank back in his booth as the door opened and someone he actually knew walked through. Michael Novack strode in, his dark eyes looking around the bar. He was dressed in jeans that had seen better days, a black T-shirt, and a beat-up leather jacket. He looked dangerous and mean.

  Crap, he hoped Novack wasn’t looking for Lucy. She took a shift here sometimes when the tourists were light at Trio. What Lucy saw in the man, he had no idea. But her eyes got soft when he walked in the room. Lucy seemed to be a little masochistic.

  And so was fucking Cade Sinclair. He was an idiot and a masochist. He’d had every chance to get his shit and run. He’d walked straight out of the shop and gone to Gemma’s with one thought. He would get his duffel and be gone before she could turn those blue eyes on him again.

  And the first thing he’d seen was the enormous bill from the hospital.

  And he’d come here because the dude who ran Hell on Wheels had always wanted to buy his Camaro.

  He had the money to pay Gemma’s bill. He did not have his freaking duffel bag.

  What was he going to do? Walk in and hope that Gemma thought he was a fucking hero for selling his car? It had been an easy decision to make. He loved his dad, but his dad was gone. Gemma was here.

  He loved Gemma.

  He was stuck. He knew he didn’t deserve her, and he still couldn’t walk away.

  A huge figure loomed above him, shutting out most of the light from the bar. Sawyer stood roughly six foot six, with the shoulders of a linebacker and a perpetual frown that would send most men running for their lives. His long black hair hit just below the shoulders, and despite the fact he worked the bar, he didn’t pull it back or put it in a hair net. He let those locks flow and didn’t bother with a shirt. His massive arms were on display along with a sleeve of some scary ass tats that ran from his right hand all the way up to the base of his neck. He wore only a leather vest and jeans.

  Nell Flanders had described him as trapped between two worlds—his Native American culture and the modern world. Cade kind of thought he was trapped between asshole and violent asshole.

  “You going to make love to that beer now that you’ve played with it?” Even over the loud rock and roll thumping through the dive, Cade could hear Sawyer’s low growl.

  And if Sawyer wanted to mess with him, he might take that beating. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. “You going to try to throw me out now that you have what you want?”

  Sawyer snorted and slid his body into the other side of the booth. “You sound like a whiny asshole. And I didn’t exactly get what I wanted. I wanted to pay five thousand less.”

  “I’m not running a fucking charity, Sawyer. You’re getting a damn good deal as it is. That car is in mint condition.”

  “Why now?” Sawyer leaned over, sliding a bag to Cade’s side of the table.

  Cade stared down at it. “I need the money. It’s only a car.”

  “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

  Cade opened that bag, his eyes going wide. “Cash? You’re giving me thirty thousand in cash?”

  Sawyer’s frown deepened. “Well, you won’t keep it for long if you keep shouting out that you have it. Do you want to get knifed on the way out of here?”

  Cade looked around the bar. Yeah, it was the kind of place where a knifing would be considered an everyday activity. The crowd was rough, the owner even rougher. “It’s not like I can’t handle myself.”

  Sawyer stared.

  “I know how to handle myself.”

  “Yeah, well, you’ll excuse me if I escort you to your bike. I don’t need more trouble with the sheriff. He doesn’t care that the place is under new management. He only cares that his wife almost died here.”

  “Died?”

  Sawyer shrugged. “She wouldn’t have been the first. Won’t be the last. But I try to keep the murders outside. Less cleanup that way.”

  Yeah, he needed to find Lucy a new second job. “If Lucy gets raped or killed, I swear you’re going to answer to me.”

  Sawyer’s eyes got infinitely dark. “Yeah, you give a shit about Luce. I bet you do. You think I haven’t seen a hundred of your kind come and go? You give a shit about her until something better comes along. I grew up with Luce. She’s like my sister. She was supposed to marry my brother.”

  Lucy had been engaged? “What happened?”

  A bitter smile crossed Sawyer’s face. “What happens to most of my people. Prison. Got two brothers. One’s in prison. The other’s serving time in the US Army. I don’t see the difference, if you ask me. Someone had to keep our mother going, so I came home. And if you ever accuse me of hurting Luce again, I’ll break both your arms, and then we’ll see how well you work.”

  “I’m trying to look out for her,” Cade argued.

  “Yeah, I see how you look out for her.” Sawyer stared at him. “You looked out for her right up to the moment that rich blonde walked into town.”

  It was Cade’s turn to laugh. “I should tell you to fuck off, but it’s obvious you care about Lucy, and she’s my friend. My friend. There’s never been anything between us. And Gemma is broke. Who do you think this money is for? I’m not after her cash, dude.” Her breasts. Her hips. That sassy mouth that spit bile half the time and sucked his dick the other half. Those were the things he was after.

  Sawyer sat back. “She said she was crazy about some new guy in town. She wouldn’t give me his name. I kind of thought it was you or the other one.”

  “Nope. Me and Jesse are just friends with her. Ty from the ski lodge likes the hell out of her, but she won’t give him the time of day.”

  A shudder went through the big guy. “Good. He’s a walking venereal disease. Besides, we all grew up together. When you have that long a history, getting out of the friend zone can be impossible. So who is it? I don’t know many new people in town.”

  “Lucy likes to go for broke.” He gestured to where Novack was sitting in a booth across the bar. “You know who Michael Novack is?”

  Sawyer’s skin flushed, and his jaw became a rigid line as he looked at the other man. “I know him.”

  “So you can start worrying about him and stop threatening me.”

  Sawyer’s fingers drummed along the surface of the table. “Good to know. Look, man, I don’t get into town much. How about we help each other out? You tell me if Luce is getting into trouble, and I’ll let you know some information about that tourist you and Jesse have been looking for.”

  A cold chill swept through Cade. “If you know something, you better tell me right fucking now.”

  “You love this girl?”

  “Yeah.” It wasn’t like his love meant much, but his heart was hers and it would be until the day he died.

  Sawyer looked like he didn’t want to go into it, but he finally sighed and gave it up. “Fine. We had an asshole tourist with a New York accent walk into the bar yesterday.”

  Now Cade was interested. They’d scoured the local motels for Patrick. He never would have thought the urbane dickhead would dare to enter a place like Hell on Wheels. “About six foot, skinny dude?”

  “He was wearing a fucking tie.”

  Sounded like their guy. “Yeah, that’s him. Did you talk to him?”

  “At length. He was asking around. Tell me something, what did he do?”

  His blood started to boil every time he thought about what had happened in the diner. “He tried to kill my woman.”

  Sawyer sat back. “Fuck. That makes sense. He came in late last night talking about needing to find a guy. I thought he was asking about drugs.”

  “What exactly did he say?”

  “Well, first he wanted to know what kind of wine I had,” Sawyer explained. “Fucking tourists. Red and white. He complained about the lack of a Sauvignon Blanc and then he proceeded to ask where a guy could hook up. I told him if he was looking for a buddy for the night, he should go to Trio.”

  Yeah, Sawyer didn’t like the sheriff, and that seemed to i
nclude his partner, Zane. “Just get to the point, man.”

  “Fine. He asked about everything in a real roundabout way. It was obnoxious. I kept thinking if you want drugs, say it so I can punch you in the face and kick you out of my bar. I hate dealing with addicts.”

  Cade could do one better. “He’s a lawyer.”

  Sawyer made a gagging sound. “Fucking lawyers. He walked around the bar talking to the regulars. I overheard him asking where he could find a man who needed a little cash. Again, a suit walks in, I start thinking drugs. He said he needed it real bad. So, I’m thinking well-dressed junkie.”

  Cade wanted to throw up because he knew what Patrick was looking for and it wasn’t drugs. “He’s looking to hire a hit man.”

  Sawyer nodded slowly. “Yeah. I get that now. He’s serious about killing your woman. And he talked to one man in particular for a real long time. They sat in a booth together for over an hour. It was why I was upset about Luce being involved with him. I thought he was making a drug deal. It wouldn’t be the first time former law enforcement went bad. Now I know it’s darker than that.”

  Cade picked up the cash and shoved it Sawyer’s way. “Put that back in the safe. I’m going to take care of a problem.”

  Novack thought he could make some quick cash by killing Gemma? Cade was going to beat that notion out of him. He would lay fists into the asshole until Novack told him exactly where Patrick was.

  “Hey, think about this for a second.” Sawyer tried to stop him.

  He strode across the bar, his boots thudding on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he heard the door open. More witnesses to the crime he was about to commit. Novack’s head came up, looking at the entrance. He muttered something Cade couldn’t hear. Now the jerk was talking to himself.

  That freaking tic above his eye started up again. His blood threatened to boil over. “Hey, Novack. You got something to say to me?”

  There was a loud bang as the door closed, but Cade’s eyes were on Novack.

  Novack scowled as he looked up. “You motherfucker.” He turned his face down. “He’s in the wind. Asshole decided to have a conversation at the least opportune time.”

  A big body rushed past Cade, slamming out the front door. Cam?

  Nate Wright walked up, pulling his hat off. “Goddamn it. Why didn’t we see him?”

  Novack slid off his seat. “He was hiding. People do that when they’re committing crimes. Or hiring people to commit worse crimes.”

  What the hell was going on? He pointed to Novack. “Sheriff, I think Patrick Welch hired this jerk to kill Gemma.”

  The sheriff’s eyes narrowed in irritation, but they weren’t focused on Novack. “I know. Why do you think he’s wired right fucking now?”

  Sawyer walked up behind Cade. “What the hell is going on, Sheriff? I don’t know if you recall, but this is unincorporated territory. Don’t you think you owe me the courtesy of informing me you’re working in my business?”

  “Oh, yeah, because you would be cooperative.” The sheriff squared off with the bar owner. “And you know this is perfectly well within my jurisdiction. When you stop catering to criminals, I’ll let you in on my operations. This isn’t your fucking kingdom.”

  “Damn straight it is. You watch me, Wright,” Sawyer practically snarled.

  “No. You watch me. You think I will ever forgive you for what happened to Logan here? Never. I’ll shut this place down if it’s the last thing I do.” Wright got up in the big guy’s face.

  Sawyer stared down at him, rage plain on his features. “That is between me and Logan. You get the fuck out of my bar. I see you working in here and I’ll sue the whole damn town.”

  Cam ran back in, shaking his head. “He’s gone, Nate. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn it.” Wright shot Cade a nasty look. “You, come on. Mike, let’s get out of here. Let’s hope he calls again. Damn it.”

  “I better not see any of you in my bar again.” Sawyer shoved the bag toward Cade, who took it. “Except you. I want that car and the pink slip here tomorrow, and it better be in perfect shape. You know what the sheriff says about me. I don’t know why Welch came after Novack when everyone knows I’m a killer.”

  Cade looked back at Sawyer, who shouted at someone on his staff. Nate pulled him along. “What the hell is going on?”

  “You just fucked everything up.”

  Yeah, he got that a lot.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Henry Flanders opened the door with a smile that faded when he caught sight of Gemma. “Miss Wells, this is a surprise.” He shut the door behind him a little as though trying to keep whoever was inside from seeing out. “If Nell has done something to upset you, you should get over it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you, but I’m not letting you hurt her feelings.”

  God, she really did have a crappy reputation. “I’m not going to hurt her feelings.”

  “She came here to talk to Nell about a case. She’s not some monster.” Jesse stepped in front of her.

  Nice. The Neanderthal hormones were taking over.

  Henry frowned her way. “I’ve read up on Gemma and her former career. I know the kinds of cases she handled. I know women like my wife tend to annoy lawyers because she tries to keep them honest.”

  She rolled her eyes because she could feel Jesse getting brutally pissed off. If she was going to keep Henry’s head in one piece, she needed to bring in the big guns. “Nell! Nell, I’m trying to join the good fight and Henry’s standing in the way!”

  Henry Flanders’s face went tight as the door opened and Nell smiled.

  “Gemma! How lovely. Please come in. Henry, why didn’t you tell me we had guests?” Nell’s blouse wasn’t buttoned properly. She’d missed one right in the middle, and Gemma caught the hint of a scarlet red bra.

  Not what she would have thought Nell would wear because that was shiny material. No cotton on that thing. That bra wasn’t humanely sourced—or at least that wasn’t its purpose. That bra was meant for nasty sex.

  Henry wasn’t trying to protect his wife’s feelings. He was trying to keep from getting cock blocked. Unfortunately, she couldn’t worry about that this second. She needed answers, and Nell was the only one who might be able to help.

  Jesse frowned, obviously figuring out what Gemma had. “Sorry, man.”

  “Yeah.” Henry’s frown disappeared, and an evil glint appeared in his usually peaceful eyes. “It’s okay. Come on in. Nell made some lovely tofu burgers. I will make sure you get one while your woman is talking to mine.”

  Gemma nearly laughed at the look on Jesse’s face. The meaning was clear. Jesse would be enjoying fake meat for as long as she kept Nell talking. Well, unfortunately, Jesse was going to have to take one for the team.

  Henry led Jesse away as Nell led Gemma into the house. Nell’s house was everything Gemma would have thought it would be. The roof was covered in solar panels and there was a small windmill in the yard. Inside, the cabin was neat and sported a huge wall of bookshelves and all kinds of activist stuff. She had three working petitions laid out, and a bunch of stickers and T-shirts for her upcoming protest at Tremon Industries.

  “It’s nice to see you, Gemma,” Nell said. “How can I help you? I was glad to hear you’re okay. What a terrible thing to be allergic to. Strawberries are a gift.”

  “They’re certainly a gift to the hospital,” she replied. “The bill they sent me should keep them going for a while.”

  Nell’s eyes flared, righteous indignation making them sparkle. “Health care is something I’m working on. I will protest that hospital. You did not ask to be allergic to strawberries. Health care is a right, not a privilege.”

  If she didn’t take control, Nell might start singing again.

  “How many letters have you written to Tremon?” Gemma looked around the pretty living room. No TV. Was that the handle of a flogger poking out of the very sweet-looking flowered couch?

  Nell used her ankle to shove the item in question
out of the way. She didn’t even blush. “Probably a hundred or so. Please sit down.”

  Yep, she caught sight of a ball gag. Nell was a freak. It made her way more comfortable. Nell always seemed perfect. But then honestly, why would getting freaky in the sack make her less perfect? It merely meant they had something in common. She took a seat across from Nell. “Have you ever written a firm called Giles and Knoxbury?”

  “Oh, yes. Many times. I’ve been writing them for years, asking them to rethink their corporate politics. I’ve asked them to review many cases and rethink taking them. It’s a horrible firm. It’s number five on my hit list. I have several hit lists.”

  Gemma bet she did. Nell Flanders looked to be in her thirties, but there was a perpetual air of innocence about her that made her seem younger when she talked. “So they know who you are.”

  “Absolutely,” Nell agreed. “I’ve actually protested against the firm before in person. They were defending a corporation against a group of farmers who had their organic farms bought out under false pretenses. They were supposed to continue organic practices, but the company immediately started using pesticides.”

  Recognition sparked through her brain. “Holy shit. You’re the one who sent four hundred pounds of rotten lettuce to Mr. Giles. That was legendary at the firm.” No one who worked there could possibly forget that day. Or that smell.

  Nell smiled. “I was trying to make a point.”

  “So they definitely know you. Tell me what you think is wrong about the Calvin Township case. And do you have any more of those pictures?” She was looking for anything to jog her memory.

  Nell retrieved the photos and handed them over. “They’re mostly family photos. I use them to humanize the victims. It’s too easy to see them as names and dates on a report. It’s harder when you see that they’re actual people.”

  She had to agree. Nell was smart when it came to running her particular business. And apparently she had quite a reputation. It struck Gemma that she and Nell weren’t so unalike. They were both chasing something. Gemma had chased her career, and Nell chased justice. At least at the end of the day, Nell would have done something good.