“So do I.”
“But since he’s not…I’m glad you are.”
Hallie closed her eyes to slow the dampness welling, then swallowed over the lump in her throat. “So am I, sweetie.” So am I.
Chapter 8
There were some things a man should never have to get used to, and the sight of violent death was one of them. Brady kept his gaze on the timber in the distance as Ryan Sandoval, the county’s chief criminal deputy, ran down what they’d learned so far—three cousins, partying through the night and into the morning; a dispute over one cousin’s girlfriend, who happened to be another cousin’s ex-wife; too much booze and an easily accessible loaded handgun. Now one of the cousins was going to the hospital, one was going to jail, and the third was going to the medical examiner’s office.
What a waste of three young lives.
“Hell of a way to start a Sunday morning, isn’t it?” Ryan commented.
“Hell of a way to start any morning…or to end any life. Has the family been notified?”
“Yeah. After calling us, the guy called his father. His parents live just down the road.”
Brady started to speak, but a familiar call on the radio cut him off.
“County two, this is county fourteen.”
He pulled the handheld from its pouch on his gun belt and pressed the mike button. “County two.”
“Hey, Brady, this is Mitch. We got a call to your address—something about your daughter. I don’t know anything else, but I’ll be there in a minute. Thought you’d want to know.”
The muscles in his stomach clenched, and a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time began building inside him—pure, unadulterated fear. Was Lexy all right? What about Hallie? And why the hell did it happen now, when he was at least ten minutes away?
“Go on,” Sandoval said with a sympathetic look. “We’ve got this covered.”
“Thanks.” As he returned to his SUV, he told Mitch he was on his way, tossed the radio onto the passenger seat, buckled up as he started the engine, then peeled out in a spray of gravel and dirt.
He made it back to town and to his house in nine minutes, and they were the longest nine minutes of his life. This wasn’t good, he warned himself as he crossed the yard to the porch in about three steps. Neither Lexy nor Hallie was in his life for the long haul, and getting this involved with them could only hurt in the end.
Unfortunately, his self wasn’t listening.
He took the steps in one stride, jerked open the screen door and burst into the living room. Mitch was sitting in the easy chair, and Hallie and Lexy were on the couch, both apparently none the worse for whatever had happened. As she’d done the night before, Lexy threw herself into his arms.
“I’m sorry!” she cried. “I know it was stupid, but I was sure I’d meet Hallie before I got to the highway, and I would’ve, too, if that jerk had left me alone! But I’m sorry, and I won’t ever do anything like that again, I swear!”
On occasion his job put him in the position of comforting a distraught female, usually when he was making a death notification, and he’d never been at ease with it. Last night, when he’d found himself holding Lexy, he’d been just as awkward. Today… Maybe with practice, as with most things, it got easier, because the urge to push her thin, trembling body away wasn’t nearly as strong as the urge to hold her until the shaking stopped.
“Mitch, you want to fill me in?”
The deputy did so quickly.
“Anyone come to mind who matches that description?”
“No one who drives a red car, or would try to pick up a kid on the street, especially your kid.”
Brady shifted his attention to Hallie. “And you couldn’t make out anything on the tag?”
She shook her head. “I can’t even tell you what state it was. It was coated with mud….” Her forehead wrinkled in a frown as she slowly added, “But the car wasn’t. It was relatively clean.”
So some bastard had deliberately obscured his license tag before he’d tried to force Lexy into his car. Was he one of the men who’d followed her last night? And why? What did two men want with a purple-haired teenager with an attitude?
Mitch got to his feet. “We’ll look out for the car, Brady, but…”
But without a make, model or tag number, their only chance of finding it would be pure luck.
Hey, sometimes it happened.
Freeing one arm from Lexy’s grip, he shook hands with the deputy. “Thanks, Mitch. I appreciate it.”
Once the door closed behind the deputy, Lexy drew back. “I know you’re pissed.”
“I’m not—” He considered it and decided that now the fear was almost gone, pissed was exactly what he was. “I told you you couldn’t stay alone. I called Hallie to stay with you. I did that for a reason.”
“Yeah.” She ventured an unsteady grin. “But I thought it was because you wanted her to be here when you got back.”
That wasn’t his reason, merely an added benefit. But he kept any hint of that out of his expression and continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “So as soon as I was gone, you went out by yourself and damn near got kidnapped.”
His voice got louder with each word and made her flinch at the end. Hanging her head, she said, “Hallie cussed, too, and she never cusses.”
Well, almost never. He’d heard a few words from her…but he liked that she didn’t swear. It was sweet, refined…and exactly the opposite of Sandra and his mother.
He seated her on the couch, then took the chair where the deputy had sat. “Have you had any problems like this at home?”
Lexy shook her head.
“No one ever hassles you?”
“Just Sandra and Adam.”
“Adam…her husband?” After her nod, he asked, “What does he do for a living?”
“I don’t know. But he makes a lot of money and has a lot of creepy guys working for him.”
That didn’t sound encouraging. Brady made a mental note to find out what he could about Adam Napier the next morning. “When this guy grabbed you, what did you do?”
Lexy shrugged. “I told him to let go. He didn’t, and I tried to pull loose, and he tried to talk me into getting in his car, and then Hallie came.”
“If it ever happens again, if you think some stranger’s even thinking about touching you, scream. Kick. Bite. Kick him in the testicles. Gouge out his eye. I guarantee, when you’re standing there holding it, he’s gonna leave you alone.”
“Ewww, that’s gross.”
“Maybe so, but it’s not as gross as getting raped or beaten or murdered. Damn it, Lexy—! Do you know how lucky you are? Do you have any idea what he could have done to you?”
An uncertain look came over her face. “I—I don’t think he meant to hurt me.”
Brady swore under his breath. “Men don’t force girls into their cars if they don’t mean to hurt them.”
“I—I—” She shuddered, rubbing her wrist, then jumped to her feet. “I’m gonna go clean up.” Her boots made clomping noises as she crossed the living room to her bedroom, then headed toward the bathroom.
“Daughters are the reason fathers get gray hair,” Hallie said softly.
Brady sighed, then dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’m glad you were there.”
“If I’d been a couple minutes earlier, I could have caught her before she left the house and it never would have happened.”
“Don’t blame yourself because there’s some bastard around here who likes little girls.”
“Do you think that’s all it is?”
He moved to the sofa, propped his feet on the coffee table and tilted his head back to gaze at the ceiling. “Hell, I don’t know. Why Lexy? Her appearance is sure to draw attention. People may not notice a teenage girl with brown hair in shorts and a T-shirt, but they damn well won’t forget seeing her. I just can’t figure…”
After a moment’s silence, Hallie said, “Well, you’ve had an eventful morning for your day
off. Did everything turn out okay with your emergency?”
“There isn’t any ‘okay’ for that situation. A man got drunk and in an argument, and killed one cousin and wounded another. They grew up together, have been best friends all their lives, and now…”
“I’m sorry. Do you need to go back there?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Barring any other emergencies, the rest of the day is mine. I think I’ll get my leg irons out of the truck and chain Lexy to the couch. She can watch TV, listen to her music, sleep if she wants. What do you think?”
“I think she might take your self-defense advice to heart, and your eyes are too pretty to risk.”
He directed a hard look her way. “My eyes aren’t pretty. That’s a girly word.”
“Well, I’m a girly person, so I can use girly words.” She mimicked his position, which required moving a foot or so closer. Now less than half a cushion separated them. “That night in the bar, I thought your eyes must surely be as dark as the rest of you, but then I saw they were this incredible blue…and shadowed. Wounded. Haunted.”
Brady could tell she was looking at him, but he didn’t turn his head to meet her gaze. He was too comfortable the way he was, to say nothing of the fact he didn’t want her to see whatever was in his eyes at the moment. She was too good at noticing things no one else ever did.
“So now you’re playing the strong, silent type,” she teased as she fixed her gaze elsewhere.
“I am the strong, silent type.”
“It’s easy to be silent when you’ve intimidated everyone into not asking questions for you to answer. I, however, am not easily intimidated—at least, by you—because I am the—”
He turned only his head to look at her and warned, “No labels.”
She turned her head, too, and smiled a little. Her hair was combed straight back from her face and secured in a ponytail—a severe style that not many women he knew could pull off. Instead of looking severe on her, though, it emphasized the delicate, elegant lines of her face.
Damn, she was beautiful.
Her smile slowly faded, and her hazel eyes took on a dazed look as her lips parted on a soft breath. It took no more than that to make him hard, to make him want her more than he could recall ever wanting anything. He remembered all the reasons why he shouldn’t, all the risks in getting involved—caring too much, losing too much, getting hurt again—and at that moment he didn’t care. He wanted to make love to her, to be as intimate with her, both in bed and out, as a man and woman could be. He wanted to face all the risks and dangers.
He just didn’t know how to do that and survive.
But one more kiss….
As he started to move toward her, her expression turned heavy with regret. She scooted away, turning on the sofa so she faced him, so her legs in front of her kept him from getting close.
“You don’t want me to kiss you?”
“Oh, I want that and a lot more…but it wouldn’t be wise.”
He knew she was right but asked anyway. “Why do you say that?”
“You don’t want to get involved.”
“Neither do you.” Then he added, “And you don’t want to get hurt.”
“Neither do you.”
“But casual affairs aren’t in your nature.”
She smiled ruefully. “You were my first—and look how casual it’s turned out. I told you, I’m the Madison family screwup. I can’t even do a one-night stand right.”
“You can blame that on me.”
“I don’t want to blame it on anyone. If I’d gotten it right, I never would have gotten to know you and Lexy, and that would be my loss. In my stronger moments, I know I’ve already risked more than I can afford. One of these days, Lexy is going to go home. One of these days I’m going home. And I’ll miss both of you very much when that happens.”
“And in your weaker moments?”
“In my weaker moments, I want to adopt your daughter, and beg, plead, seduce—whatever it takes to get just one more night with you.”
One more night. Was it really so much to ask? They wouldn’t be doing anything they hadn’t already done. Three nights together wasn’t likely to cause any more problems for them than two nights, was it? They were adults. They knew what the future held. If they accepted it, if they both went into this with their eyes open and expecting nothing more, wouldn’t it be all right?
No. Their first night together, they hadn’t even known each other’s names. They’d been total strangers, and the sex had been purely physical. The second time they’d known a lot more about each other. He’d danced with her, held her in his arms in front of her entire family. He’d known about her three divorces, her pain, her insecurities. There had been some emotional connection.
Now they knew each other entirely too well. They were past the stage of having sex. If he made love to her, it would have to mean something and there would have to be at least the potential for a future.
But he couldn’t offer that potential. As much as he liked her, as much as he liked the changes she and Lexy had brought to his life, he knew they weren’t permanent. More, he knew he was neither ready nor willing to try to make them permanent. There were still things she didn’t know, things he wasn’t prepared to deal with.
And if he spent another night with her knowing that, she would be hurt, and he would suffer for it.
He pushed himself to his feet and started toward the kitchen. “If weakness is a problem, you need to eat to keep your strength up. You want an early lunch or a late breakfast?”
“Hmm…late breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her just before he left the room. Detouring to his room, he locked up his gun, hung up his gun belt and put the handheld radio in its charger, then went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A breakfast to keep Hallie strong…. He set out eggs, cheese, bacon and sausage. That should make a good start.
But damned if he didn’t wish they could both choose to be weak.
Just one more time.
“This is not my idea of fun.”
Giving Lexy a chiding look, Hallie offered the sales clerk her credit card, then waited while the woman ran it through.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Did you miss your nap today?”
“You’re not funny.”
“I wasn’t trying to be. Tell me—did you get your lovely disposition from your father or your mother?”
“I didn’t get anything from Sandra but a hard time.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If you’ll sign here,” the clerk said, then gestured toward two men at the end of the counter. “Tell them which vehicle is yours and they’ll start loading it for you.”
“It’s the blue pickup right in front.” She’d borrowed Brady’s truck for this trip into Tulsa to pick up the tile for Neely’s bathrooms and entry, and to choose and order the wood flooring for the rest of the house. Though she’d tried her best to avoid it, she’d caught herself more than once wishing it was her own house she was shopping for, with the prospect of sharing it with her own family.
The house part she could do. She still had zero desire to return to Beverly Hills to live. She hadn’t given it much thought—the idea of leaving Oklahoma was one she preferred to avoid, since it also meant leaving Brady and Lexy—but one of these days soon she would. Maybe she would just hang a map of the country on a wall, close her eyes and throw a dart at it, then live where it landed.
Or maybe she’d find someplace not too terribly far from Heartbreak and Neely.
And Buffalo Plains and Brady.
And what? Exchange awkward greetings with him when she went to visit Neely and Reese? Maybe even have another one-night fling in a year or two? Or maybe find out on one visit that he was seeing someone else, and learn on another that he was married?
Perhaps, instead, she would make her home on whatever little bit of American soil was as far away from Buffalo Plains as possible without leaving the country.
“Hallie.�
� Reaching across, Lexy waved her hand, with nails painted black, in front of Hallie’s face. “Hey, snap out of it. She’s been finished, like, forever. Let’s go.”
Giving a start, Hallie tucked the credit card and receipt in her wallet, then followed Lexy outside. As soon as they were settled in the truck, the girl said, “Let’s go to a movie.”
“Sorry. Not this time.”
“Oh, come on. I just spent three hours with you in the floor place. Now let’s do something fun.”
“We were only there two hours—” Hallie glanced at the clock on the dashboard “—well, two and a half. Now I’ve got to deliver this tile to the guy who’s going to lay it.”
“Shouldn’t he be picking up his own tile?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never built a house before. But he’s doing some special patterns that require a lot of cutting, and he asked me to pick it up for him, so I did.”
“You just do everything anyone asks, don’t you? Your sister says, Come watch over my house, and you drop everything and come. Brady says, Watch over my kid like she’s three years old, and it doesn’t even occur to you to tell him no. Except me. I ask to go to one lousy movie, but no, we can’t do that.”
“Sweetie, I have thousands of dollars’ worth of tile that took five weeks to get in from the manufacturer in the back of this truck, where anyone can reach it. I can’t park outside a movie theater for two or three hours and just leave it there.” She pulled onto the expressway that would take them back to Buffalo Plains and Heartbreak, merged into the traffic, then glanced at Lexy, slouched in the passenger seat. “And why shouldn’t I help out my sister and your father? Why shouldn’t I spend time with you? I like you.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Brady’s the one you like. You’re just trying to get on his good side.”
She’d already been on his good side, Hallie thought with a faint smile—and, heavens, was it good. Of course, she would never say anything like that to Lexy. “Is it PMS, normal crankiness or just being a teenager that’s got you in such a mood?”
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