by B. J Daniels
“I was here yesterday evening. I saw Jet leave—with a woman,” Drey said, turning the conversation to the reason they were both there. “It was Lena Franklin.”
“So she is involved,” he said with a curse.
“They left to go to Grass Range. They didn’t take Jet’s sports car. Apparently Lena has a rental.”
Hawk had been watching the lobby and now touched her arm and motioned in that direction. “There’s Jet with a redhead. Is that Lena?”
Drey nodded.
The two of them were leaving. He watched Lena give the valet her ticket as the two waited. A few moments later, the couple stepped outside as a car pulled up and the valet driver hopped out.
“I wonder where they’re going,” Drey said.
“I’m more curious how long they will be gone.”
She shot him a look. “Are we breaking into their room?”
He smiled over at her. “I would like to know if they’re sharing the same room.”
“What I want to know is what they hope to achieve.”
Hawk took a sip of his coffee. What he wanted to know was how her husband fitted into all this—if he did. He knew he wanted to think the worst of Baxter.
Of course there was always the alternative. That the man wasn’t a crook—that he’d met Drey, fallen for her and married her. That Ethan had realized just how special she was. Any man with a brain would want her. She was smart and pretty and fun and—
Was it possible the man really was away on business—no matter what the FBI thought? And that he knew nothing about what was going on at the house with Drey and Jet? And Jet was simply taking advantage of his brother’s absence by trying to get rid of Drey?
“I just had a thought. Jet isn’t trying to get rid of you. If he was, he could have. What if he is just trying to get you out of that house? What if there is something in there that he needs?”
Drey nodded. “That’s what I’ve been thinking, as well. Things have gotten moved around. Like the drawers in the kitchen. The contents had been moved to other drawers. I thought he’d done it just to mess with my mind. But if he’d been looking for something...”
Hawk smiled over at her. “See, we really are a team.” He saw someone he knew across the room. “Wait here a minute, okay?”
* * *
DOWN IN THE KITCHEN, Gigi took a bite of the chili. “This your own recipe?” she asked as she stepped over to the stove. It was nothing short of amazing.
Billie Dee looked embarrassed. “It was my mother’s but I tinkered with it a little. Do you like it?”
“It makes me want to lick the bowl,” Gigi said honestly.
“Gigi has her own restaurant in Houston,” AJ said.
“You like to cook?” Billie Dee sounded surprised but happy to hear that.
“I tinker a little,” she said. “I’m picking up a spice I’m not used to in chili.”
“Watch her, she’ll steal your recipe,” AJ joked.
“She can have it, if she wants it,” the cook said. “It’s nutmeg, just a touch.”
Gigi nodded, tasting it now. “Interesting.” She finished her bowl and put it and the spoon in the sink. “I should get going.”
“Going?” AJ asked in surprise.
“I need to check in on my restaurant. There was a fire,” she told Billie Dee.
“Don’t go back to the motel. Stay with me upstairs,” her friend said, just as she had yesterday. “There’s plenty of room. It will be just like in the dorms at boarding school.”
“You’re also welcome at my house,” Billie Dee said. “I have a couple of guest rooms. I understand if you prefer a motel.”
She felt as if all of this had happened too quickly. She needed some space. Some time alone to think. “I appreciate the offers, but I really do have to take care of some business and I could use some time alone.” She looked to Billie Dee. “I see you’re engaged,” she said, having noticed the large rock on her ring finger.
“You met him. Henry Larson. He’s a local retired rancher,” the cook said.
“With two really handsome sons,” AJ added. “One’s a little young for you, but the other...” She grinned.
“You and your cowboys,” Gigi said with a shake of her head before turning back to Billie Dee. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” To AJ, she said, “You, I will definitely see tomorrow.”
* * *
DREY WATCHED HAWK leave the table. She’d hardly touched her coffee. She’d seen the change in Hawk. He was no longer holding her at arm’s length. He was no longer angry and upset with her. But what had caused it? She suspected it was her marriage. Had he really thought she wouldn’t go through with it?
Her marriage. That thought almost made her laugh. So far it hadn’t been much. And now with Hawk acting the way he was...
She had enough to think about without worrying about Hawk’s change of attitude. Seeing Jet and Lena together still blew her mind. It always amazed her what a small world it was. Where did Ethan fit into this puzzle? Wasn’t it still possible that he had nothing to do with any of this?
As the days went on, though, she was having a hard time believing he was in Mexico City on business. She saw Hawk talking to a woman behind the check-in counter. To her surprise, she witnessed the woman pass Hawk something. A key card?
“Ready?” Hawk said when he returned. He was grinning and looking like the cat who ate the canary.
She quickly slid out of her seat as he tossed money onto the table for a tip and let him lead her out of the café.
“Is that what I think it is?” she whispered, motioning to the key card in his hand.
He smiled. “Come on. Let’s do some sleuthing.”
Once inside the elevator, he pushed the button for the sixth floor. The elevator door closed. Neither of them spoke until the door opened again.
“Five hundred twenty,” Hawk said, and they started down the hall.
She followed him and stood keeping an eye out while he used the card to get them into the room. The moment the door opened, he swiftly pulled her in.
“We don’t want them to know we’ve been here,” he warned in a whisper.
“You think this is the first hotel room I’ve ever searched?” she asked with a grin. “I’ll start over here.” She made her way to the open suitcase lying on the large king-size bed. She went through Jet’s carry-on suitcase quickly and found nothing of interest.
Turning, she saw Hawk come out of the bathroom. “I found two more bottles of the same antianxiety medication, only these were prescribed to Jet by two different doctors.”
Drey groaned. “So he isn’t finished with me.”
Hawk shook his head. “I thought about dumping them down the drain, but I’m not sure we want him to know just yet that we’re onto him.”
He stepped over to the small desk and opened the laptop lying there. She watched but saw that it was password protected. When he looked up, their gazes met.
“He has to be the one monitoring the house,” she said.
Hawk didn’t comment but turned to the other items on the desk. “I wonder why this is out,” he said, pointing to several bottles of glues. Looking about the room, he said, “Lena’s suitcase isn’t here.”
She checked the closet. “You’re right.” Was it possible they weren’t sharing the same room? They’d looked pretty chummy when they’d left the hotel both times.
Hawk stepped to the adjoining room door. They both fell silent as he tried the knob. It swung open. “They have connecting rooms,” he said as he stepped in and she followed. In this room, the king-size bed had definitely been slept in.
She headed right for Lena’s suitcase. This one took longer because the woman didn’t travel light.
“Anything?” he asked next to her.
“Nothing.” She was feeling disappointed as
they wandered back into Jet’s room when she heard someone at the door. Someone slipped in a key card.
Hawk grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her toward Lena’s room. They started toward the door to leave the room. Hawk was no doubt thinking the same thing Drey was. Once Jet and Lena entered his room, they would slip out of hers and into the hallway to make their great escape.
But at the door, they could hear voices still out in the hallway.
“I don’t care,” Lena was saying, sounding annoyed. “I’m already sick of this town. What was Ethan thinking, building here?”
“Some people think this is paradise,” Jet said. “My key’s not working. Try yours.”
“Some people don’t know their—”
Realizing what was happening, Drey and Hawk looked at each other wide-eyed and scrambled away from the door as a key card was put into Lena’s lock just feet away.
Back in Jet’s room, Drey could hear Jet still trying to get his key card to work. Hawk pulled her into the closet between some of Jet’s clothes and closed the door as they heard Jet’s door start to open. Hawk pulled her close at the sound of footfalls only feet away. She leaned against him, trying to catch her breath.
In the light leaking in under the closet door, she saw someone approach the closet and held her breath. Hawk held her more tightly, but the shadow disappeared as she heard Lena call Jet into her room.
“Just get what you need and let’s go,” Jet complained. “I can’t believe after I had to wait on you, that you still weren’t ready.”
“I didn’t realize how cold it is here. It’s supposed to be summer. If you hadn’t rushed me earlier...” Drey could hear Lena digging in her closet. A hanger pinged against another empty one. “Oh, this is much better. You like?”
“It’s a fine jacket. Come on, I’m starving. I hope we can find a decent breakfast somewhere around here.”
Drey listened to what sounded like the door closing. The voices died off. She slowly let out the breath she’d been holding, but Hawk still held her as if he didn’t want to let go of her. She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned against his strong, solid body. She didn’t want to leave his arms either. This is where I belong, she thought. This is where I’ve always belonged.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
HAWK BREATHED IN Drey’s sweet scent as he held her. He could smell the shampoo she used to wash her hair that morning. It was the same kind she’d used when they were together. The scent alone ignited that old passion in him for her.
“That was close,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“Too close.” Being in the small space near Drey brought back a rush of memories of the two of them. She hadn’t tried to open the closet door and step out. Instead, she leaned against him as if captivated also by this innocent moment of intimacy between them. He’d been tempted to dip his head and nuzzle her neck. To place a kiss in that hollow spot on the side of her throat. To press her even tighter against him.
But he didn’t want to break the spell. He’d always wanted this woman. There’d never been another who made him feel like this. He felt his desire quicken and knew she had, too. Still, she didn’t reach to open the closet door for another few moments.
“I think they’re gone,” she said, her voice filled with emotion.
“I think you’re right.” With a sigh, he reached past her and opened the closet door so they could step out. “Let me check the hall.” He moved to the door, opened it a crack and looked out. The hallway was empty. “Let’s take the stairs.”
But once in the stairwell, they both froze at the sound of a familiar voice.
He turned and pressed one finger to his lips, not that it was necessary. He could see that Drey had heard it, as well.
“Do we have to run?” It was Lena’s whine. One of the footfalls stopped, followed shortly by the other. “Why not take a perfectly good elevator?”
“I wasn’t waiting for the damned elevator again. What is your problem now?” Jet demanded, his voice sounding farther down the staircase.
“I turned my ankle.”
“You have to be kidding.” He let out a loud sigh. “How bad is it? I’m going to need you to be able to walk.”
“I turned my ankle, that’s all. I just need to rest it for a moment. I’m not going to hold up your great plan.”
“I’m not the only one whose head is on the chopping block. So keep that in mind.” It sounded as if Jet was climbing the stairs to go back to where he’d apparently left her. Hawk could hear him talking more quietly to Lena. “How’s your ankle? Here, let me rub it.”
Lena giggled. “That’s not my ankle and you know it. We could go back to the room. Order room service and spend the rest of the day in bed.”
“I’m sick of hiding out in the room,” Jet said. “This is almost over. We’re almost home free. Until then... Can you put weight on your ankle?”
“It hurts but I’ll manage.” Lena made a rude noise but the sound of the footfalls began to diminish again. Hawk heard a door open below them and then silence.
* * *
“YOU CAN’T GO back to the house,” he said to Drey as he walked her to the SUV. They’d both said nothing in the hotel. “You heard them. They aren’t finished with you.”
“We already knew that they weren’t finished. But if I move out, we’ll never know what this is about.” Jet knew where Ethan was. If he’d lied about him being in Mexico City, then he had to be confident that Ethan wouldn’t call her himself with another story. But was Ethan working with them? Or were they taking advantage of big brother being gone—just as she’d suspected?
“Drey, this could get dangerous. Look at the lengths they’ve already gone to.”
“What would you have me do?” she asked, feeling despondent. Sleuthing with Hawk had been fun. For a while it had been like old times. She’d forgotten the danger she was in. She’d also forgotten for a while earlier that she was married.
But she reminded herself that it didn’t mean that things were different between them. Yes, they were attracted to each other. How they could possibly put the past behind them and find each other again, she had no idea. It didn’t seem possible after the years they’d stubbornly resisted each other.
Not to mention, she was married. It was a fact. Even if Jet and Ethan were in this together, Ethan would be returning at some point. She had to believe that so she could right this wrong. She had made a mistake. She couldn’t stay in this marriage—and not just because she was still in love with Hawk.
“I have to stay in the house. Ethan—”
“Seriously? You’re going to keep waiting for him to show up?” Hawk shook his head, pulled off his Stetson and raked an irritated hand through his hair. “So you’re sticking by your man? Even though he deserted you on your wedding night? Even though he hasn’t called or tried to contact you for days and you have only his lying brother’s word that he’s in Mexico?”
It would have been so easy to fall into Hawk’s arms and let him soothe away the hurt of Ethan’s sudden departure on their wedding night. Hawk made her feel wanted and needed.
She had worried that she was making a mistake when she’d married Ethan, but she’d gone through with it. She’d made vows to him. If he turned out to be a criminal or even the jerk his brother kept telling her he was, she would deal with Ethan and her marriage then.
Wasn’t it bad enough that she already felt that she’d betrayed him because she hadn’t loved him as much as she had Hawk—still did love Hawk? Yes, her marriage was a mistake in hindsight. But she had to draw the line at adultery. Maybe it was old-fashioned, but she wasn’t raised that way. She said as much to Hawk. “What would you have me do?”
Hawk sighed. “You’re right and I love you for being the way you are. But it’s killing me not being able to touch you the way I want to. Damn it, can you at least admit that you mad
e a mistake?”
“Can you?” She met his gaze and held it.
“I made a huge mistake letting you go. I’ve regretted it every day since then. I let my own stupid stubbornness keep me from coming after you all those years ago. Worse, for not knocking down this wall that’s been between us on the day you returned to Gilt Edge. Instead, I stood back and let you marry the wrong man.”
“Just like that, you can forget about the past?”
“No, not just like that. This has been a long time coming. Only my mule-headedness has stood in the way. Every time I saw you, it tore me up inside. But taking that first step to get you back seemed impossible...” He locked eyes with her. “Then I heard you scream the other night. I didn’t give a damn about the past. I just had to get to you to make sure you were all right.”
He reached out and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I’m going to fight for you, Drey,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “You belong with me. So if you’re telling me you want to stay in this marriage—”
“I’m not saying that. But you have to understand. I gave up everything for this marriage, including any chance I might have had with you. So no, I can’t bail before I talk to Ethan.”
“While you’re waiting, though, you have his crazy brother-in-law and your old friend from college wanting to harm you.”
“As for Jet and Lena, I’ll deal with them.”
He swore. “If you’re determined to stay in that house, you won’t deal with them alone. I’ll camp outside until your husband shows up. Then he can explain to me why he left you alone, knowing how much trouble he was in.”
His cell phone rang. He answered it. “It’s Flint. He wants to see us both. He’ll meet us at the ranch.”
* * *
THE SHERIFF COULD see that he’d walked into something the moment he stepped through the door of the ranch house. The sexual tension between Drey and Hawk was almost palpable. Drey immediately excused herself to go to the restroom. The moment she disappeared up the stairs, he turned to his brother, “What’s going on, Hawk? I just got a call from one of the FBI agents.”