by Lexi Blake
“I tried to tell her that you’re a big boy now,” Mike said, shutting the driver’s side door. His loafers crunched against the gravel. “But she was worried. The appeals court hands down its verdict any day now.”
Yes. He’d forgotten about the appeals. The thought of having to go back into court was not pleasant. “I am fine. Nothing to worry about.”
Jessie looked around. “I don’t know. I’ve heard some crazy stories about this place.”
“It is nice place.” Bliss was the nicest place he’d ever been.
“Nice enough for a Sommerville. I saw him last night at that bar. What the hell is Caleb Sommerville doing in a place like this?” Jessie asked. She’d been the one to recognize him that day so long before.
Alexei turned to her. “Please to not be telling that around town. He is hiding.”
Jessie sighed. “After what happened to him, I can’t blame him. You know they shot his wife right in front of him. By the time the State Department finally found him, he’d been held captive for months. They said he’d been held in what looked like a box.”
A box. Caleb had been caged in a small space for a long time, his body encased, surrounded. For most men, it would make them claustrophobic. What if it had the opposite effect on Caleb? What if he needed to feel surrounded to be comfortable? An idea started to play in his mind.
Mike shook his head. “Poor bastard. Well, at least he had someone as powerful as Eli Sommerville on his side, or he would have been left there to die. Guess he didn’t deny his family name then, did he?”
“He has a lot of friends,” Alexei said with a frown. “If he wishes to be anonymous, this is his choice. I suggest you to be leaving him alone. I would not take it kindly if his secrets get out when he does not wish them to.”
“You’re close to him?” Jessie’s eyes assessed him.
“He is my partner.”
“I would listen to him if I was you.” A tall, dark-haired man turned the corner. He’d obviously heard a good portion of the conversation. “Caleb here is Alexei’s partner. We take partners real damn seriously here in Bliss.”
Caleb stood with the other man. He stared a hole straight through Alexei. “You aren’t going to blackmail me, are you?”
He was so stubborn. “I tell you this.”
The dark-haired man held out his hand. “Wolf Meyer. Nice to meet you. And I spent a good twenty minutes of my life explaining that to Caleb. He’s got a thick head. I tried to explain that if a man like you wanted money out of him, you would put a gun in his face and demand it.”
It was good to know he had a reputation. “I would not to hurt Caleb for the world. He save my life.”
“Yeah, I told him that, too.” Wolf turned to the other two. “Feds?”
Mike looked offended. “US marshals.”
Wolf rolled his eyes. “Same shit, different uniform. Caleb, you have everything you need?”
Caleb nodded. “I think I can handle it from here.” Wolf walked away, but Caleb stayed. “Are they your handlers?”
“Not any longer.” At least he hoped that was true.
“We’re in town to make sure he’s okay. There are two men he testified against who are up for an appeal. I’m nervous they might come after him. These are powerful men with long arms, if you know what I mean,” Mike explained.
Caleb turned to him. “Impatient bastard.”
Alexei shrugged. “I wait long time.”
“Dr. Sommerville, will you talk to him?” Jessie asked. “It would be better for everyone if he stayed in protective custody.”
“My name is Caleb Burke. If you insist on formality, you can call me Dr. Burke. I changed my name a long time ago. It’s legal. Use it. As for Alexei going back into witness protection, that’s not a good idea. He has responsibilities here. Don’t worry, if someone shoots him, I know how to stitch him back up.” Caleb gestured toward the town square. “Enjoy your stay in Bliss. Come on, Alexei. Walk with me.”
Alexei waved good-bye to his handlers. Maybe they would get the idea that he wasn’t going back.
“How did the job hunt go?” Caleb asked gruffly.
He sighed as they passed The Trading Post. It was the one business in town he didn’t have the courage to go into and ask if they were hiring. The neat storefront was one of the mainstays of the town. They sold everything from groceries to books to sporting goods in the multi-story structure. It was also run by Logan Green’s mothers.
“I will keep searching. I will try other towns this afternoon.”
“Yeah, you keep right on walking, buddy. Maybe you should try some other states.” Logan leaned against the side of his county-issued Bronco, his eyes narrowed.
“Just keep walking.” Caleb nodded at the deputy but didn’t speak to him.
Alexei stopped. “Logan, perhaps we could talk.”
He needed to figure out a way to make this right with the deputy.
“I think I’ll pass. I remember what happened the last time we talked.” The deputy’s eyes were rimmed with red. It was obvious he hadn’t been sleeping much.
“I am so very sorry for the pain you went through. I would do anything to make it go away.”
Logan stood up, his stance predatory. “You didn’t do much when that fucker was trying to kill me, did you? I believe I would have been termed an acceptable loss in your books. Tell me something, asshole, did I play my part? Was I a good distraction? Did me getting my ass tortured buy you the time you needed to save your own sorry self?”
“I did to save Holly and later Jennifer.” It was his reason, but the words felt hollow in the face of Logan’s obvious pain. How could he tell the deputy that he still had nightmares? He could still hear the low, animal moans Logan made as his life was altered forever.
“Yeah, I’m sure that helps you sleep at night.” Logan slammed his fist onto the roof of his Bronco.
Caleb took a couple of steps closer to the deputy. “Have you been drinking?”
“You know what, Doc? That’s none of your fucking business.” The deputy took a step back.
Caleb wouldn’t let it go. “It certainly is if you’re both on duty and driving around. You carry a gun, Logan. You can’t do this. And what’s wrong with your eye? Is that a contusion? When did it happen?”
“Don’t touch me, Doc. It’s fine. I got in a fight last night. You should see the other guy.” Logan stepped out from behind his car. “You should remember that, you big Russian asshole. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m not a pushover, and you won’t be able to use me again.”
Yes, he could plainly see that Logan’s youth had been taken from him in a brutal way. And he might not live for long if he kept getting drunk and fighting.
Logan looked at his car but pocketed his keys. “I think I’ll avoid the doc calling my boss. I’ve had about enough of this town’s interference in my life. And Markov, you should leave. There’s nothing for you here. Not a damn person is going to hire you, and Holly will wake up one day and see you for the criminal you are.”
Alexei watched as he took the steps of his mothers’ store two at a time.
“He should get that contusion looked at.” Caleb was shaking his head as the door to The Trading Post opened and closed.
He felt utterly helpless. There was zero chance the deputy would ever accept help from him, but it was so obvious he needed it. He knew the look on the young man’s face. He’d seen it a thousand times on his own. It was the look of a man who had nothing to lose and wouldn’t mind going out in a blaze of glory.
“Holy shit, you really aren’t tricking anyone, are you? You honestly give a shit that Logan is hurting.” Caleb stared at him as though seeing him for the first time.
“I cause him pain.”
“No, some asshole named Luke caused him pain.”
“Luka.” He could still see Luka as Stefan Talbot killed him. So much death. So much pain, and he was still causing it.
“You couldn’t have spared him. What would that mob boss
guy have said if you had told him, ‘Hey don’t hurt the cop who arrested me. I think we should be a kinder, gentler mob?’”
He had a point. “I don’t think Pushkin would have liked that.”
“Nope. It wouldn’t have gone over well. He would have shot your ass, killed Logan, and I don’t like to think about what he would have done to Holly.” Caleb’s face went pale. “You can’t imagine what a man can do to a woman.”
Alexei could. He’d killed a man once, a member of his own group who had tried to rape a young woman. He’d managed to cover it up by letting the woman flee and blaming the whole thing on her. Alexei had given her money and helped her disappear. But he didn’t talk about it with Caleb. Caleb was lost in his own nightmare. Caleb’s nurses had been raped. “They were trying to do good, Caleb. They knew it was a risk.”
“They were dumb kids.”
“Yes, well, sometimes dumb kids change whole world. And sometimes they die. Why am I not responsible for Logan, but you are for nurses and wife? You did not pull trigger. You did not rape. You did not offer them up to save yourself.”
“How do you know that?” He asked the question between gritted teeth. “How do you know I didn’t beg them to take the women and not me?”
“Because I study you. You are man who walks away from wealth and privilege to help others. You are man who saves someone when it would be better for you if he die. I did not only come back for Holly, Caleb. I came back because I falls down for Holly, but I also came back because I admire you. I think you are lost and you are worth being found again.” He might turn away. Caleb could run. Caleb could think he was playing a game. For all Alexei knew, Caleb could think he was coming on to him. But he wasn’t going to lie to the man.
“You fell for Holly.” Caleb’s voice was tight, thick with some unnamed emotion. “The other way makes it sound like you’re clumsy, and we both know you aren’t that.”
Alexei didn’t smile, but he felt a little joy in his chest. Caleb wouldn’t respond by offering him affection, but not fighting him was the way the man gave acceptance. For all that the confrontation with Logan hurt, Caleb’s lecture on English warmed him.
“Are you going to come with me?” Caleb asked, putting a hand on his arm. “I’m supposed to meet Holly at the clinic in fifteen minutes.”
He should go into Creede. He should continue his job hunt. But the thought of being with Holly again, of watching Caleb preparing her… He needed to see her. “Yes, I will join you.”
Alexei stepped out into the street. The clinic wasn’t far away. He could consider it his lunch break. After he’d spent some time with Holly, he would feel better about finding a job.
Caleb stepped out with him. “I had Wolf tell me what to buy. I don’t know what kind of training the SEALs give out, but it obviously covered sex toys.”
He heard the squeal of tires just before he felt a sharp shock of pain and the whole world went black.
Chapter Twelve
“I can’t believe how big you got!” Stella stared down at Micky while she poured coffee into Holly’s mug.
Her boss was dressed in her typical uniform of jeans, a ridiculously over-the-top Western shirt, and white boots embroidered with loud red roses. She’d left off her cowboy hat, but her helmet of blonde hair was on full display.
Micky grinned up at her. All morning he’d taken everything in with an eager embrace. “Well, I couldn’t stay a kid forever, Ms. Stella. I had to go and turn into a whole heap of man. I hear you recently got married. That’s a shame because I’ve had a crush on you ever since that day I tried your butterscotch pie.”
Micky might like guys, but he knew how to butter up a woman, too. Holly remembered that day well. It was one of two times Micky had been allowed to come to Bliss. He’d been twelve.
“Don’t even try your flirtatious ways on her, baby,” she said with a smile. “She got married to a billionaire.”
Micky laughed. “Seriously? Yeah, you probably don’t want little old me. Tell me something, Ms. Stella, why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be jet-setting to some exotic location?”
Stella waved him off. “Sebastian likes it here. He waited a long time to come home. Now I can’t get that old man out of Bliss. Oh, we took a nice long honeymoon, but in the end, this is home. And I wouldn’t stop working. What would I do with myself? And who would feed these people? Zane Hollister? I don’t think so. He thinks his wings and bar food beat my waffles. He is wrong. And the man has no idea how to make a chicken-fried steak.”
Stella walked off to serve another table, vowing revenge on Zane. The two had gotten into a friendly rivalry. There was talk of a chili cook-off.
“This place is different, you know.” Micky finished off the coffee in front of him.
“I know.”
He shook his head. “No. You’ve been here too long. You don’t see it anymore. I’ve wanted to live here all my life. At first it was because it seemed simpler, and I missed you so much. But I found Great-Granddad’s diary one day. It was stuffed away with some other papers in Dad’s office. Did you know Great-Granddad built the cabin you live in with his own hands?”
That was surprising. She hadn’t thought a Lang would know how to hammer in a nail. That kind of work was left to servants. “I know your grandmother thought he was crazy.”
“He built it back in the forties. It was a fishing cabin back then, but the community started building up in the sixties.”
“Yes, I’m sure the venerable Judge Lang adored all the hippies moving in.”
Micky wagged a finger her way. “See, Dad being an asshole made you prejudiced. Judge Albert Lang was my great-grandfather, and he had a lot to say about this place. He was retired by the time the commune, as he called it, came to town. He loved it. He loved the people. He loved how the cowboys and the hippies somehow got along. He used to go to the weekly protests with a lawn chair and a beer and cheer on the craziest sign. And the protesters courted his vote. He said this place was magical. He was a judge for thirty years. He saw horrible things in his courtroom, but he would come here and he would feel clean again.”
She would love to read that diary. But she also didn’t want Micky to have misconceptions about Bliss. “Terrible things happen here. It’s not paradise.”
“I know. It wasn’t back then, either. And what’s with all the alien sightings? Granddad talks about him and some young vet putting down an alien invasion back in the sixties. I think he might have been going senile by then.”
Not the way Mel told it. “We have some characters around here.”
“Yes, and I want to be one of them. I want to be who I am and not apologize for it. I want someplace where I’ll be accepted and relied on not because of what my last name is, but what I’m willing to do to help out.”
She loved his enthusiasm but couldn’t help but think about his future. “Micky, baby, I don’t know how much of a future there is for you here. It’s hard to find a job. There aren’t a lot of opportunities.”
“There’s a college in Alamosa,” he explained. “After that, we’ll see. I only know that I don’t want to go back to Denver or Washington. I want to figure myself out. I want the world to be big and small at the same time. Big enough that I can lose myself in it, and small enough that I can find my way home. Here, Mom. With you.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand. She’d had so many dreams for him. From the moment he’d been placed in her arms, she’d had big plans for his future, and now she saw clearly that he dreamed better than she ever had.
Happiness. Family. A place to call home. Those were what mattered.
It was all in reach. It was past time to grab it.
“I’ll support whatever you want to do, baby.”
Micky’s eyes had gone wide and they were staring past her. “Oh, god, that man is hot. And there’s two of him. Support me in finding my own crazy, hot cowboy ménage. Please, Mommy. Buy me those two.”
And he was slightly demented. “Try to rememb
er, I’m your parent. I do not want to hear about your sex life. I wouldn’t want to hear about it if you were straight, either.”
He had the most mischievous look in his eyes. Holly was well aware he played it straight around his father. Now he was indulging in being himself. Way too much. “That is the hottest cowboy ass I have ever seen.”
She winced. It was great that Micky was enjoying his newfound freedom, but this was still a small Western town. She turned to see who the recipient of her son’s admiration was.
Everyone in the café had stopped as though waiting to see if the bomb was going to go off. Stella’s mouth sort of hung open, and she stood very still. The whole café reminded Holly of a collective possum in the presence of a large predator. They held still in hopes that the predator wouldn’t eat them.
Max Harper turned and stared at Micky, his eyes narrowing. Rye stood beside his brother.
“Did you hear what that kid said?” Rye asked.
Max frowned. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
Oh, fuck. The baddest-tempered man in town was staring at her sweet, apparently way-too-sexually-precocious baby boy. Max liked to start fights. He really liked it. Max was at least two hundred pounds of pure muscle. And Micky was right. He had a great ass, but Holly wasn’t sure he wanted to hear that from another man.
Max started to stalk toward their booth.
Holly stood. How would Rachel handle this? Rachel was the only one truly capable of handling her husband. “Now, Max, he is seventeen years old. You can’t beat him up.”
Max ignored her. “What did you say to me, young man?”
Micky turned a nice shade of green, proving that he had a healthy sense of self-preservation. She tried to get in between her baby and the tiger whose tail he’d pulled.
“I said you had a nice backside, sir.” Micky sounded like he gulped a little between words.
“You are not helping.” She sent her son what she hoped was an intimidating stare.
“And you’re of a homosexual persuasion?” Max asked, his voice low.