Provoked

by Riley Murphy

  “Cat! No!” Charlie screamed as her sister fell back into her. The force knocked Charlie off her feet and she tumbled backwards. One minute she was rolling on the ground and in the next there was no ground beneath her. “Cat!”

  “I got you.” Cat gasped, but it was a futile effort. Charlie had fallen through the opening of the hatch and neither one of them had the strength to pull her back up. “I won’t let go. I promise.”

  They frantically stared at one another and then Charlie asked, “How deep is it?”

  “Ten or twelve feet maybe, but I’m not going to let you go. We need to pull you up. You have to try and—”

  Sharp’s foot landed on Charlie’s shoulder. The scuffed brown leather loafer had a symmetrical diamond pattern on it. Funny, that’s all Charlie got a chance to process before he shoved her back.

  “Cat!”

  “No!”

  Charlie tried her best to absorb the shock of her fall, but the wind was still knocked out of her when she hit the ground.

  “Charlie? Charlie! Are you okay?”

  Were her ears ringing? No, that was a phone sounding off in the distance. After she shook her head a couple of times she heard Kelli Sharp’s fury.

  “Who the fuck? What the hell is he doing here? Yeah, I’m almost done. I’ll signal to be picked up.”

  Charlie stood and tested both legs. No breaks. She’d be bruised though. She ran her tongue along her top and then bottom teeth checking to make sure they were all there. Satisfied, she called, “Is someone coming? Is it Dad?”

  “I don’t know, but it looks like Sharp’s going to have a heart attack. Wait, I see dust way off in the distance. Maybe Dad is coming.”

  Charlie decided not to look around. Blackness was her friend and today? Right now? Snakes and spiders didn’t exist. But she couldn’t ignore the dust. She spit a couple of times and then remembered, calling up, “Hey, that wouldn’t be Dad. He knows better than to drive on the sand.”

  A shadow fell over her, and then in a blink of an eye Cat was yanked up and out of Charlie’s line of vision. “Cat?”

  “Bite all you want. I love pain. I enjoy giving and receiving.” She heard Cat grunt and panicked.

  “Leave her alone!”

  There were the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle and then silence. The quiet was so horrible that Charlie held her breath until Sharp appeared, bending over the hatch to speak to her.

  “Give your mother a message for me. Tell her she was right about me. I am the stone cold bastard she accused me of being. I enjoy knowing she’s in pain. I live for it. Give her the box, and tell her…tell her that now that I have the key, the pearl goes to the highest bidder.”

  When he disappeared from her sight she felt her way around the blackness, searching for something to stand on. All she found was the metal box. Did she dare step on it? What if Cat was badly hurt?

  An ear-piercing whistle sounded, freaking her out even more. “Catherine?”

  “I’m here.” The second her sister appeared above her through the opening, Charlie’s relief was a tangible thing. She almost collapsed when she heard Cat say, “Sharp is getting the hell out of here.”

  Recalling the whistle, Charlie asked, “On a horse?”

  “Yeah, more like three hundred and ninety-two horses.”

  “What?”

  The incessant noise that was building in volume, Charlie guessed, was from a large vehicle engine. It sounded so loud that Cat shouted, “He’s taking off in a Hummer H2.” When the whir of the engine tapered off, she asked, “Do you know that vehicle can go zero to sixty in seven point eight seconds?”

  This was the kind of thing Charlie missed. Cat was so calmly bizarre at times that it made the whole world around them seem laughable. “He’s gone then?”

  Cat lifted her head and scanned the horizon, saying as she looked back down, “Yep.”

  “Was it Dad who scared him away?”

  Her sister rolled over and sat up. “I don’t know. It looks like one of our ATVs. I mean who else would it be, but…?”

  “What?”

  “Uh-oh.”

  Charlie was back to freaking out again. Cat never had “Uh-oh” moments. When shit happened she rose to the occasion. “Who is it? Who’s coming?”

  “This may leave a pee stain. What the hell is he doing here?”

  Charlie winced, afraid to hear the answer to her next question. She kept herself busy, bending over the metal box and pushing it into the square of sunlight that beamed through the hatch. “Who?”

  “It’s Cannon.”

  Even though she’d already guessed this, she hated having it confirmed. She stopped what she was doing and snapped up straight. “Are you sure?”

  Cat leaned toward the hatch entrance, glaring down. “Am I sure? Of course I am. Do you think now is a good time to tell him we’re twins?”

  Charlie’s heart pounded in a combination of fear and excitement. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”

  “We have less than a minute to decide. Do you want me to wing it?”

  Giving Cat the reins was never a good idea, but Charlie didn’t know what else to do. “Okay. He could already know about us. Mom and Dad could have ratted on us.”

  “We’ll see.”

  When Cat got up and disappeared out of view, Charlie called, “No flirting with him.”

  “Pipe down and stay quiet. Here he comes.”

  Charlie stood in the shadows listening as the hum of the ATV engine cut out. He probably looked great with his hair all messy from the wind. But yeah, that was the last thing she should be thinking at the moment.

  “Catherine.”

  Oh boy, he didn’t sound great. He sounded mad. Really, really mad.

  “Hi, Neil.”

  Oh, God. And Cat sounded too chipper.

  “Where is he?”

  “Who?”

  “Kelli Sharp. I thought I saw his truck take off. Are you okay? You look different.”

  “I do?”

  Charlie had the imagined visual that Neil was advancing on her, even as Cat backed up.

  “What’s the matter with you? Why did you take off like that last night? I can help you with Sharp and Wilde.”

  “Did Jude come with you?”

  Charlie was ready to climb the walls. When was her sister going to apologize for stealing his car?

  “No, he did not. He’s got his hands full with a very big problem. One you made worse when you stole those items.”

  “I’m not important enough to him, is that it?”

  Charlie’s mouth dropped open while she waited to see how Neil took that comment. Cat was going to ruin everything for her if she didn’t get her head out of her ass.

  “Do you want to be important to him?”

  Holy shit on a salty cracker, her sister was going to answer that deceptively conversational question. If she did, Charlie knew that Neil would drop the hammer on her.

  Don’t answer. Don’t answer. Pleeeeeease don’t answer, she silently repeated.

  “Yes. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I want the guy to be a mamby-pansy over me, but a little attention thrown my way by him would be nice.”

  Charlie squeezed her eyes closed. Here it came.

  “I think I understand.”

  He what? She frowned. Wasn’t he the least bit jealous? He’d come all the way here for her. No, he came for his car.

  “I’m sorry for taking your car. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “We both know you did, but we’re not going to talk about that right now. I have something else I want to discuss.”

  “Shoot.”

  Oh, Cat was so going to get it when Charlie got her hands on her.

  “Do you remember when you said I thrilled you?”

  There was a pregnant pause before her sister burst out “Yes.”

  “That my unshakable authority over you made you breathless?”

  “Sure,” her sister drew out before rushing to ask, “Why are you taking off your b
elt?”

  “Didn’t you promise me that you’d worship my leather and how I use it on you? That I could use it on you at anytime and anywhere I liked?”

  Charlie stepped forward and almost tripped over the box. She’d never said those things.

  “Didn’t you beg me? Didn’t you cry sad tears when I told you the instances you would experience my leather against your skin would be very few and far between. That I’m choosy like that?”

  Charlie was stumped. Neil sounded so sincere. Was it possible that she had done and said those things in the heat of the moment? Admittedly she’d been carried away in all the hotness, but she hadn’t been rendered unconscious.

  “I loved watching you during those times. How you bit your lip, and made those little kitty noises.”

  Huh. Maybe she had passed out from ecstasy.

  “I did not bite my…” Cat caught herself and thankfully changed her tone of disgust along with her line of dialogue. “I wasn’t myself. I got carried away by you, sir.”

  Finally a little humility. Charlie let out a relieved breath only to suck it back in when Neil ordered, “Get down on your hands and knees.”

  “But I—”

  “The only butt I’m going to pay attention to is yours. Get down and get it up into position.”

  Cat wasn’t going to do it. Neil was her guy. Her sister shouldn’t be waving her ass in front of him for a spanking. She opened her mouth to call out, but the heavy thump she heard, followed by Cat’s yowl stopped her.

  “Oy, that was a little excessive.”

  “Yeah, well, the real Catherine Wood wouldn’t think so.”

  Charlie clenched her fists and bought then up to her chest, barely breathing. If there was ever an “Uh-oh” moment this was it.

  “Really?” Cat stood and was in full view again, but Charlie still couldn’t see Neil. She watched as her sister shifted her weight from one foot to the other and massaged her butt cheek. “I am the real Catherine Wood.”

  “And yet you’re not the one I know. Where is she? More importantly, who is she?”

  At that line of questioning Cat’s demeanor instantly change. She lost the “fuck you” attitude and bowed her head, saying, “She’s my twin sister. My twin vanilla sister.”

  “Which one of you stole from Wilde?”

  “She did. But it was for a good cause. Our mom is not well. We need the money so she can go to the Mayo Clinic and be operated on.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but if everyone stole money when they had a good reason for needing it we’d have nothing but anarchy.”

  “Jude stole from people too.”

  Cat sounded really pathetic. Would Neil cut her a break?

  “Stealing is stealing. The act doesn’t change simply because the victim is a criminal.”

  And that would be a big fat no.

  Neil’s presence appearing in the hatch overhead was so jarring, Charlie jumped. “Oh.”

  “Hello there. You must be…?”

  “The name’s Charlie.”

  He shifted, and one side of his face came out of the shadows to glow in the afternoon sun as he studied her. Truthfully, Charlie had preferred him in silhouette because when he was in shadow, she hadn’t been treated to the dead-angry expression he was currently sporting. “What do you say we get you out of there before I leave?”

  He was leaving? Weren’t they supposed to fight about what she and Cat had done?

  “You’re leaving?” It was Cat who posed that question.

  “Yes.” Charlie hated when he turned away to speak to her sister. She felt abandoned. It was the worst feeling in the world. “I’m assuming that Kelli got what he was after?”

  “He took the key,” Charlie called. She didn’t want him to ignore her, but when he remained turned away, she added, “Mr. Sharp said, now that he had it, the pearl was going to go to the highest bidder.”

  Neil’s attention was on her in a flash. “The Pearl?”

  Charlie held her hands out. “I don’t know. It has nothing to do with the box. He never got near it. See?” She pointed. “It hasn’t been opened.”

  Neil stalked back to the ATV and grabbed up the rope her—correction, their father had given him. If all this map and treasure bullshit had anything to do with what he thought it did, there were bigger players than Kelli to worry about. Now that he knew Sharp was out of the picture, as far as gunning for Cat…and/or Charlie, he needed to do what he’d promised Wilde he’d do and save his brother from losing his manhood.

  He went to the hatch and lowered the length of rope. Then he dropped to his haunches and explained, “I want you to tie this around the box like an old fashioned Christmas gift.”

  Charlie nodded and Cat came up beside him. “What can I do?”

  Neil didn’t look up. “You can help me pull your sister up after we deal with the box. Then you can spend the next few days or weeks, depending how long it takes Wilde to track you down, trying to figure out how you’re going to apologize to him.”

  “Are you going to tell him I wasn’t Charlotte?”

  Now he looked up. “Who the hell is Charlotte?”

  “I mean Charlie.”

  “I’m not going to tell him anything about you. I might, however, offer to mentor the poor bastard. He’s going to need all the help he can get if he takes you on as a partner.”

  “Did he say he would?”

  Her expression was so hopeful he didn’t want to crush her by telling her what the guy had said. Instead he shook his head and then turned back to focus in on Charlie.

  “I think I got it.”

  She smiled up at him. Through the dirt smudges covering her face and her hair scattered in every direction, she was still the sexiest little tiger he’d ever seen. There were so many things wrong with contemplating having a relationship with her. Too many to count, so he wouldn’t.

  When he had the box hoisted halfway up, with Charlie helping him guide it, he stopped pulling and pinned her with a look that told her he meant business. “I thought we still had a lesson to finish, but now that I know you’re not who I thought you were, the lesson is pointless.”

  He read the panic in her eyes when she said, “No. I have a lot to learn. You could teach me.”

  He began pulling again. The instant he had hold of the box, he told her, “My time is too valuable to spend it with a liar and a thief.” He shifted the box aside on the ground and slowly undid the knots. “I thought you were something, tiger. I thought you were something special.” He leaned forward and looked directly down on her. “I asked you to listen. I thought you were a good listener, but obviously you’re not because you did the one thing I never wanted you to do.”

  She stared, unblinking.

  And he stared right back. “You disappointed me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Charlie kept looking at the window. Neil was out there somewhere, waiting to be picked up. He’d arranged for an air taxi. Two of his service guys were going to be dropped off in order to drive his cars to his place while he took the taxi back to the city. He hadn’t said much to her or Cat on the return to the ranch. He hadn’t even let her ride beside him. That really burned. Almost as much as knowing that if he hadn’t spoken with her father she wouldn’t know anything about him leaving.

  Her shoulders slumped. He hated her.

  “Hey, gloomy Gus, at least try to appear like you give a shit.” Cat knocked her shoulder into hers. “This is important.”

  Her sister was right. She couldn’t let her totally trampled heart get in the way of the next few minutes. They’d waited years for this. She gave herself a mental shake and paid attention to her mom sitting at the dining room table. It was a large rustic wooden one that had a trestle bottom and instead of chairs surrounding it there were two long benches on either side. Her mom had always maintained that chairs only got in the way, but Charlie suspected she preferred the bench seats because she enjoyed sneaking up behind her daughters to hug them when they were havi
ng their after school snacks, or doing their homework. God, Charlie suddenly missed those days.

  Odd, but now it was her dad who was doing the hugging from behind after he’d carefully put the box down in front of her mom. He whispered something in her mom’s ear that made her halfheartedly smile. Even though it was small, Charlie loved to see that. Her mom hadn’t been smiling much over the last few years and now with this health scare it was even tougher to find joy on her face.

  But then she noticed her father had no smile, little or otherwise. He was standing right behind her mother and appeared so tense he’d break with the least little push. It was almost as if he was waiting. Standing guard. Ready to catch her mom if he had to.

  “She’s terrified.”

  Charlie didn’t answer Cat, only nodded as she watched their mother’s hands tremble so badly that when she unclipped the latch on the box, the metal tapped out an uneven series of ting, ting, tings.

  “I have the strength to do this. I have to do this. I will do this.”

  Charlie heard her mom whisper as though convincing herself. She turned to Cat, but her sister was too entranced, watching.

  She reached down, ready to pat Cat’s knee to get her attention, when her dad’s guttural denial paralyzed her.

  “No!”

  She didn’t want to look, she could barely think, but when she twisted to see what had happened she was paralyzed in a different way. Her mother’s hands weren’t shaking now as she lifted a square of material out of the box. Charlie couldn’t say what it was made of or even guess what size. She was too busy watching the play of emotions across her mother’s face before her mom closed her eyes, as if saying a prayer, then bent forward and looked inside. Whatever was in there held her attention for the moment, giving Charlie the chance to glance at the material. It was a tiny scrap of flannel. Brown with tiny grey blotches on it.

  “Oh God. Thank God,” her mother cried, snatching up the cloth and hugging it to her chest. She fell back and leaned against her dad who looked as if he was going to shatter in two. When he slammed his eyes closed it was the first time in her life that Charlie saw how old her parents were. She’d never noticed the changes time made on them. Over the years they were always Mom and Dad. Happy and healthy. In love. But now reality brought clarity. Her parents were no different than anyone else on the planet. They weren’t timeless superheroes who couldn’t be injured. There might not be any spilled blood visible to the eye, but both of them were bleeding right in front of her.