by Lucy Farago
“I don’t want her anywhere near that ranch or that family. What the hell have you done?”
“What you asked me to do. Grace set up a meeting with his office. I stopped it, but she’s persistent.”
“I know. Makes a father cringe.”
“Is that what the shooting lessons and self-defense classes were for?”
“She told you that?”
“She told me a lot of things.” He wanted him to know last night wasn’t just sex. He was her father. And she loved him.
“There are a lot of assholes in this world,” he said. “She needed to know how to protect herself. She wanted to join the force. But the last thing a cop wants is to see his only baby girl put herself in danger day after day.”
Cowboy leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “You must’ve been happy when she changed her major.”
“Just exactly how much did she tell you?”
Cowboy shrugged. He’d told him enough to let him know that a lot can happen in one day. But the rest was none of his business.
“She’s better suited for journalism anyway.”
He wasn’t going to argue there. “And you hired me to watch her, not lock her up and stand guard. If you’d told her the truth, maybe it would’ve been different.”
“I couldn’t tell her. She can be stubborn.”
Cowboy suspected it was a trait she’d inherited from her father. “Right, so how did you expect me to stay close to her?”
“You thought getting in her bed was the answer?” He started to pace.
If Cowboy was fourteen, he might have been intimidated. “No, sir. Like I said, it just happened.” Maybe he could’ve handled things differently but, as he’d learned, what ifs were pointless.
“I don’t want her going to that ranch.”
“I understand that, but try to stop her. Especially now that you’ve dragged Jessie’s car out of the river. You said it yourself when you hired me—Grace will want answers. And nearest I can tell, you didn’t teach her to sit on the sidelines. It’s why she’s a good reporter. She goes after her stories with a vengeance.”
“Never thought teaching her to stand up for herself would come back and bite me in the ass.”
“Parents never do. How did you know where to look anyway?”
“A couple of bikers.” He took a seat in the only armchair. “They spotted tire tracks and the broken guardrail and called it in.”
“And is there any way Jessie made it out alive?” Until a body was found, no one could know for sure.
“If she survived, why didn’t she contact Grace? They’re like sisters. If Jessie was alive, I can’t see her not calling my daughter. And the undertow in that part of the river is impossible. If our divers weren’t tethered, they’d never have made it out. It could be a hit and run. Her front end was banged up. But that guardrail didn’t look right.”
“Someone helped the car go over?” To make it look like an accident?
“We won’t know until forensics is finished.”
Grace was going to need someone. Would she turn to her father? Not likely. The thought of Grace dealing with this on her own didn’t sit well with Cowboy. The thought of her hating him didn’t either. He’d have to make her understand that what had happened last night hadn’t been anything he’d been paid to do.
“Okay, now why don’t we talk about the real reasons you brought me in?”
Irvine finally stopped his pacing. “Didn’t we just discuss this?”
“Yes, sir.” He’d try a different approach. “I think we need to discuss the other reason.”
Chapter Thirteen
What the hell was happening with her life? Grace tried not to think about how much she never wanted to speak to her father again. If she moved to the other side of the country, would it be far enough for him to stay out of her life? Maybe she’d immigrate to Canada. She liked it there, away from the man’s watchdogs. If it wasn’t friends on the force, it was the dry cleaning guy, the woman at her local grocery store, the damn kid who delivered her paper. She’d accepted his overprotective nature because he’d seen the worst of society dregs, but hiring a bodyguard without her knowledge was beyond insane.
Daniel, or whatever his name was, she refused to think about. All her faculties needed to be focused on finding Jessie. She hugged her knees up to her chest and wondered how long she could lock herself away in this hotel room. She wouldn’t mourn, not yet. Her only hope was that Jessie hadn’t been in the car when it went into the river. What had Jessie been doing on that road?
Earlier this week she’d never have believed Jessie capable of keeping Grace out of the loop. She’d have told her where she was going and why. Now, three people had kept secrets and two of them meant everything to her. Daniel, well, Daniel was a mistake. Went to show, you couldn’t trust anyone. He’d been helping because he’d been paid to babysit her. How much of what he’d fed her was bullshit?
It hurt to think she’d gobbled up his lies. Seething, she jumped off the bed and booted up her laptop. She searched her old contact files, found the one she wanted, and used the hotel phone.
It rang twice. “Hello.”
“Josh, it’s Grace.” She put him on speaker.
“Grace? Hey, how are you? Man, I haven’t heard from you in forever. Everything good? You still busting out those stories?”
It was good to hear his voice. They’d parted amiably, and if not for his career choice, she suspected they might still be together. He’d been offered a nice job with a mining company up north and she hadn’t been able to see herself that far removed from civilization. “I work for a Dallas paper. Things good with you?”
“Things are great. I get to do what I love.”
“Blow things up?”
He laughed and for the first time this morning, she smiled.
“Josh.” Grace heard a female voice whining in the background.
“I’m sorry. I’ve caught you at a bad time.” At one point that might have bothered her, but now, not so much.
“She can wait. Tell me why you called.”
“Do you know a man named…” Who did she ask about? Because what kind of name was Cowboy? “Do you know a man named Daniel Bailey?”
Josh was silent for so long she thought he hadn’t heard her. “Josh?”
“Do you know Daniel Bailey?” he said, his obvious wariness some concern.
“You do know him. How?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Unless the two of you dated, it’s not.” He was stalling, the asshole.
“First tell me if you know him.”
Did she know him? No, she didn’t and that was the problem. “No, I don’t know him.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“And why are avoiding the answer? He’s connected to my father, all right?”
“Well, in that case, you have nothing to worry about. Daniel is a good man. One of the best actually.”
“And you know this how? Is he a drinking a buddy, fishing buddy? How?”
“We work together from time to time.”
If she’d been holding the phone, she’d have dropped it. “Are you telling me you work for ICU?”
“Damn, I forgot how sneaky you could be. Why didn’t you just come out and ask?”
“That’s not an answer.” She was starting to remember the long fights they’d had over the dumbest things. Mostly his habit of answering her questions with a question. Seriously, he should’ve been a shrink instead of an explosives engineer.
“Look, Grace. Daniel—”
“Cowboy,” she corrected.
There was another short pause. “Cowboy’s a good guy. However he’s connected to your father, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“My dad hired him to act as my bodyguard… without telling me. I just found out. He name dropped you a few nights ago when we were having dinner.” Son of a bitch. Shit she was stupid. “It was a tactic to get me to trust him.” And it worked.
“Cowboy aside, why does your dad think you need a bodyguard?”
“I don’t. You know my dad.” He’d crossed over the line this time and she wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily.
“I do. But ICU doesn’t come cheap. If he thought enough to hire the best—”
“I think he called in a favor. So it isn’t that big a deal.” Honestly it probably hadn’t cost him one red cent.
“No, I don’t think so. He might have called in that favor, but Ryan is not in the business of assigning bodyguards willy-nilly. He put Cowboy on you for a reason.”
“I don’t understand. Why would your boss care?”
Josh snorted. “I gave up trying to figure out that man a long time ago. Mind if I ask what’s going on?”
She proceeded to tell him about Jessie, their apartment being ransacked, and the possible connection to Senator Stanton. She told him how she and Cowboy “met” but left out last night. She wasn’t ready to think about what happened…or how he’d made her feel. Plus, it was weird, thinking about another man while talking to the man who used to be the love of your life.
When she was finished, Josh gave her his take. “If the Stantons are connected to your friend’s disappearance, that’s a problem. Senator Stanton might or might not be clean, but his old man is connected up to the wazoo. Tread carefully, Grace. I don’t want to read about you in the paper. Stick with Cowboy. He’s good at his job.”
Considering how he’d conned her, she’d have to agree. “What do you do for ICU?”
“What I love to do,” he said in such a way she could almost see him smiling.
“Still playing with matches?”
“Big ones. And you should know, my boss, who is many things except stupid, handpicks who he wants to work for him. He has plenty of people vying for a spot on his team. There are a few of us who aren’t ex-military or ex-law, but we’re experts in our fields. Cowboy is neither and yet he was chosen, one of the youngest from what I hear. You have a good guy on your side.”
Did she? She didn’t need a babysitter, but she might be able to use his help. She and Josh said they’re goodbyes and promised to stay in touch. After she hung up, she considered her options.
Regardless of her father, she’d be returning to Stanton’s ranch. And if ICU was as connected as rumored, she was going there with Cowboy. Now that he didn’t have to hide the real reason he’d been helping, she could use him for ICU’s resources. She was nothing if not practical.
He had a friend, her ass. Why hadn’t she seen it earlier? Had she been so stupid as to allow his good looks and charm to get the better of her? She refused to believe it. He was just really good at his job. It had been a con, she reminded herself. A broker, pfft. Hook, line, and sinker she’d been caught… and admittedly gutted. She’d liked him. And for that she’d never forgive him.
If Jessie was dead, and that was an if she refused to accept without concrete proof, she was going to track down those responsible.
*
Hours after Irvine left, Cowboy debated knocking on Grace’s door. The GPS unit he’d dropped in her purse and Deroy told him she was still in the hotel. He’d gone to the bar to see if she’d wandered out but came up empty. He was about to call Monty to track her phone when a knock sounded at his door. He hoped Irvine hadn’t decided to go another round. It had taken great patience on his part not to vent every frustration he’d had with his own father. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Grace.
“Hello,” she said with far too much cordial politeness.
This couldn’t be good. Had she come to tell him off? If so, he was going to sit there and take it. He knew her well enough to know her trust was a rare commodity. He’d not only withheld the truth, but probably fed her ridiculous ideas about humanity.
“Hi,” he said, stepping aside to let her in.
She glanced around the room like she’d never been in it before, like they hadn’t spent the previous night together. She took a seat on the couch. She’d changed into a pair of tan cotton capris and a white peasant top. With her auburn hair braided to one side and cascading over her shoulder, besides breathtaking, she looked calm, serene almost. The calm before the storm? He took a seat in the armchair and waited for his cue.
She crossed her legs. “You have nothing to say for yourself?” She held up a hand. “Wait, let me. You were doing your job?” She quirked an eyebrow and continued. “Sleeping with me wasn’t part of your job, that I know. So I was a perk? A bonus?”
A gift, but he remained silent. She wouldn’t believe him and she needed to say her piece.
“What I don’t get is why you were helping me find Jessie. I mean, I understand some of it. I’m Peter Pan and you’re my shadow. But you searched the senator’s house. My father wouldn’t pay you to do his job.”
Cowboy wisely said nothing.
Grace continued, “Was it a tactic just to get me to trust you? Like telling me you know Josh?”
“I do know Josh.”
She met his gaze dead on. “Yeah, so he told me.”
As Josh would never say anything negative about a team member, that was a good thing.
“He also said you were good at your job. Can’t say I can argue. You got me to trust you and that’s not easy.”
Did she know he could see the pain he’d caused her? She tried to hide behind a cool stare, but he saw past it. And felt ever the more shit for it. He should say something. “Grace—”
“No bullshit, Cowboy. I know the truth now, and sleeping with you was a momentary lapse in judgment brought on by fear and deep concern for my friend. It won’t happen again. So you don’t have to lie to me.”
He couldn’t exactly tell her the whole truth. Even if he trusted her enough to keep his secret, it wasn’t only his to tell. Because Jessie’s body hadn’t been found, he’d go on the assumption she was still alive. Even though it wasn’t likely. He settled for the most he could give her. “I wasn’t hired to find Jessie. I was hired to keep you safe and away from the senator. But here’s the truth. When I read the file I knew I wanted to help find her.” That was the truth. “When you pushed yourself onto Stanton, a part of me…the part that’s going to get my ass chewed by my boss, was happy to go with you. Your father wants you as far away from the Stantons as possible. I told him that wasn’t going to happen unless he wanted to lock you up.”
“I guess that’s not your concern anymore. He must have fired you.”
“He wanted to.” Though in truth, Cowboy believed getting him fired was the last thing on Irvine’s mind. Grace being only one of the reasons he’d been hired.
“Wanted to?”
“When I told him about the party and how we’d been invited, he changed his mind.” Not that it mattered. He’d called Ryan to tell him the bad news, that he wasn’t getting paid for this job because Cowboy was doing it for free. Ryan wasn’t around but Elaine told him the job was pro bono, a favor to the chief.
“Ah, I see. He knows he can’t stop me from going.”
“Are you going?” Had she changed her mind?
“Of course I am. And you”—she pointed a finger at him—“are coming with me.”
He’d planned to. What he hadn’t planned was her cooperation. “You’re okay with that?”
“You have access to resources I don’t have. Hell, you have access to resources my father doesn’t have. Let’s be honest, because that’s the only way we’re going to help Jessie. Odds are not in Jessie’s favor. Her car was found in a particularly bad part of the river. But if I stop to think about it, even for a second, I’ll be of no use to her. If she’s alive, I have to find her. If she’s…” She inhaled sharply. “If she’s gone,” she said, her eyes darkening, “then justice needs to be served. Either way, we have to keep looking. I can do this alone if I have to. But why not make you earn your paycheck?”
“Now you’re using me?” He wasn’t sure how to take that.
“At least I’m being honest.”
She grinned, the smile not meeting her eyes.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You realize I still have to do my job? I can’t let you do anything I think might get you hurt.”
“Fair enough. You can be the fall guy. But let’s get one thing clear. We stick to our original bargain. For real this time. I tell you what I find, and you tell me what you find.”
“I didn’t break our bargain. I may not have told exactly how I got my intel, but I did share what I found.” He was about to stand and realized he’d be towering over her. He remained seated. “Do we have a deal?”
She stared at him a good long time before she finally agreed. “Deal. Now about my father. He hired you to watch over me, correct? Not to report my every move?”
“Correct,” he said, wary of where she was headed. “And not exactly.” His suspicions were right; Irvine had had more than his daughter’s welfare on his mind.
Suddenly she uncrossed her legs and stood, pointing a finger at him. “You. That’s how he found out I had a meeting with Stanton.”
“Guilty, but in my defense it was before we’d met.” And slept together.
She sat back down. “Well that’s better than him having me followed,” she said absentmindedly before snapping her attention back to him. “What do you mean, before we met? Like it would have made a difference?” She blew out an incredulous breath. “Please. As if. My father would’ve been all over you if you didn’t report back to him. Know me or not, you were reporting back to him. Of course, you must’ve known sleeping with me might get you fired.”
His phone rang, stopping him from making a fool out of himself. Because he’d been about to tell her that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of being fired. He’d been so into her that nothing else had mattered. Now if that wasn’t cornball, nothing was. “I should answer that.”
She waved him off as she reached for her own phone. “I have messages to check.”