by Jane Godman
When they’d gone, Brayden locked the door and turned to look at Esmée. Rhys was in her arms, his head nestled sleepily into the curve of her neck. Just looking at them brought him such deep joy that he was momentarily speechless. He would never get tired of that feeling. Chasing rainbows and searching for dreams...he’d leave that to other people. In the strangest of circumstances, he’d found everything he wanted. Right here, right now, right behind his own front door. His only remaining doubt now was how soon was too soon to tell the woman he’d known for just over a week—the woman with whom he’d agreed there’d be no strings—that he wanted more?
“I don’t feel like I’m doing anything to help you find Demi.” The note of frustration in Esmée’s voice brought him back down to earth.
“Was that what tonight was about?” He quirked an eyebrow at her. “I got the feeling there was a hint of family matchmaking going on.”
“Maybe that was the plan as well.” Her gaze scanned his face. “I don’t want to disrupt your life, Brayden.”
“Esmée, you’re in my life...and that suits me just fine.” He reached out a hand and stroked Rhys’s curls, conscious of her bemused expression as she watched him. “Now let’s get this little guy to bed.”
Chapter 16
Two days later, the morning started out in a mad rush as they all overslept. Waking in Brayden’s arms was heavenly, but the realization that she had exactly half an hour to get herself and Rhys ready and out the door sent Esmée scrambling wildly toward the bathroom. By some miracle, they left the house showered and clothed only a few minutes later than Brayden’s usual time.
“Breakfast in the car is not a proper meal.” She handed an aluminum foil-wrapped packet of toast to Rhys, who was already in his child seat in the rear of her vehicle, and one to Brayden.
“Totally worth it for an extra hour in bed with you.” He was unrepentant as he kissed her. “I’ll follow you to Sarah’s. If you leave her house for any reason, let me know.”
After the drama of the car trying to run her down a couple days earlier, Brayden wasn’t comfortable about leaving her, but Finn had called him about an assault that had taken place during the night. The unconscious victim had been taken to the hospital and the chief wanted Brayden to get down there and see what he could discover. Esmée was still hoping to hear from Quinn about an interview with Serena.
“I’ll be fine with Sarah and Hester,” she reassured him. “I’ve got my laptop, so I’m planning to start making some notes on what I’ve got so far. If Quinn talks to Serena and she agrees to speak to me, I’ll be at her place with your sister.”
She could tell he was still worried and wished they had more time so she could tell him what his concern meant to her. After everything she had been through with Gwyn, to have this man look at her with that expression in his eyes, to put her and Rhys first, to know that their safety was his priority...
“Timing.” Brayden appeared to be reading her mind. “Why can’t Keene and the rest of the world just take a few days off and leave us in peace?”
She laughed. “We wouldn’t be here now if things hadn’t gotten a little crazy.”
“You’re right.” He looked stunned. “If it wasn’t for the Groom Killer, we might never have met.”
Esmée pointed to his car. “We don’t have time for this conversation now. Go.” She softened the message with a swift kiss. “I’ll see you later.”
As she drove, Rhys talked about the kittens in between each mouthful of toast. Esmée indulged in a pleasant daydream. Should she get him a kitten and a puppy? Maybe she should concentrate on deciding where they were going to live and then finding them a home. And making sure Roper Keene was safely behind bars. The thought of the man who was targeting her made her shiver. Even though Brayden was following close behind, she felt the loss of his presence. She wanted him right next to her, close enough to touch. Always.
When they reached Sarah’s place, her friend was waiting on the doorstep with Hester beside her. Esmée pulled up right alongside the property, giving Brayden a wave as she did. Having watched her lift Rhys from the car and go inside, he drove away.
Once they were in the house, Rhys went straight to Sarah’s comfortable sitting room. The kittens were becoming more adventurous and Rhys gave a cry of delight to see them spilling out of their basket. After watching him play with them for a few minutes, Esmée placed her laptop bag down.
“You’re sure you don’t mind both of us invading your space today?”
“Whatever it takes to keep you safe.” Sarah put a hand on her arm. “I couldn’t believe it when you told us about the latest incident.”
“If it wasn’t for Brayden’s quick thinking you’d have been killed.” Hester lowered her voice so Rhys didn’t hear.
“I know.” Esmée rubbed her rear end reminiscently. Although Brayden had broken the brunt of her fall, she’d still taken a whack when she hit the sidewalk. The bruises on her buttocks were an interesting variety of colors.
“When will this end?” Sarah wrapped her arms tight around her own waist. “It’s bad enough that we have a serial killer in town targeting bridegrooms, but now there’s someone out to get you...”
Tears sparkled on the ends of her lashes and Esmée placed an arm around her shoulders. This was hard on all of them, but it was doubly difficult for Sarah, who had lost Jack to the Groom Killer. With everything else that was going on, she wasn’t even able to grieve in peace.
“This will be resolved,” she said. “The truth always comes out in the end. The Groom Killer will be caught and the person who is targeting me will be found. In the meantime, maybe we need to teach Rhys that kittens shouldn’t be carried upside down?”
Sarah managed a laugh and the three women sat on the rug to play with Rhys and the cats, who were already developing their individual personalities. Some time later, Esmée went into Sarah’s small study and opened up her laptop. She had a number of interviews to collate and pictures of different locations to organize. Maybe she was allowing her closeness to Brayden to influence her, but even though she had no real evidence to support her conclusion, she didn’t think Demi Colton was guilty.
Perhaps that should be her starting point. A hunch. All the evidence pointed in the opposite direction. Almost everybody in Red Ridge believed Demi was the killer, but Esmée, a stranger in town, who knew nothing about the victims, or the suspect, had a gut feeling that the feisty Colton bounty hunter was innocent. With that in mind, she started to type.
She’d been working for about half an hour when her cell phone buzzed. She checked the display and saw it was Quinn.
“Serena said she’ll talk to us, although she wants to make it clear up front that she doesn’t know where Demi is.”
“That’s okay. I just want to get her impression of what’s going on.” Esmée shrugged her shoulders, releasing her muscles from their cramped position. “I’ll meet you there.”
Since she knew Brayden was going to the hospital to conduct an interview, she sent him a message instead of calling him. When she returned to the sitting room, the kittens were asleep and Rhys was seated on the sofa next to Hester, who was reading him a story. Esmée stooped to kiss his cheek.
“I’ll be back soon. Quinn and I are going to speak to Serena Colton.”
“You will be careful?” Sarah looked up from her knitting with an anxious expression.
“I’ll drive straight there and back. Promise.” She waved as she went out the door. “Back in an hour. Two at the most.”
* * *
The guy in the hospital bed had been beaten so badly, there was barely an inch of flesh that wasn’t bruised. Both his eyes were so swollen he could barely open them, his nose was spread halfway across his face, his bottom lip was split and he was missing several teeth. In addition, he had broken ribs and the fingers on both hands were damaged after the attacker had viciou
sly stamped on them.
Brayden took a seat next to the bed. “Damn it, Ray. I hope you weren’t planning on entering any beauty contests.”
Ray Findley worked in the tire shop close to the Pour House and Brayden had known him since they were at school together. “Don’t make me laugh, Bray. Hurts.”
“Who did this to you?”
Ray was the most inoffensive guy Brayden could think of. He was hard-working, friendly, lived at home with his widowed mom and volunteered most weekends at the Red Ridge Animal Sanctuary. The only out-of-character thing he’d done lately was that he’d been seen around town with Hayley Patton, Bo Gage’s fiancée. Since Bo’s murder, Hayley seemed to be on a mission to work her way through Red Ridge’s available men. Brayden could have given Ray some advice about that situation, if he’d asked. Hayley was one of the police department’s K-9 trainers and she’d fluttered her eyelashes in Brayden’s direction a few times. Even if he’d been interested, he knew trouble when he saw it. Even before her engagement to Bo, Hayley had always been a whole lot of trouble wrapped up in a pretty package.
“Didn’t get a look at him. I left Hayley’s place around midnight.” Ray winced with the effort of talking. “Next thing, something hit me over the head from behind. Guy started beating the crap out of me. I tried to get up...got to my knees once, I think. He kicked me in the ribs and I went back down.”
“Did he give you any idea what it was about?” Brayden asked. “Or say anything at all?”
“Not a word. Nothing that I heard anyway. I must have lost consciousness.” Ray struggled to sit up straighter and Brayden helped him by raising his pillows. “Next thing I knew a couple of guys who’d just left the Pour House were standing over me. They called 911.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have done this? Anyone who might have a grudge against you?” Ray was silent for so long Brayden began to wonder if he’d heard him. “Ray?”
Ray sighed. “I’m not the only guy Hayley’s been dating.”
“I’d heard that.” Since Hayley had taken to flaunting a different guy each night, the whole town had heard it.
“You think I’m a fool?”
“I just want to find out who beat you up, Ray. I’m not judging you.” Brayden had long ago given up finding fault with other people’s relationship decisions. It had happened right around the time Ava had laughed in his face as she told him their baby was imaginary.
“I suppose you could start with the other men she’s been seeing. It may take you some time.”
Brayden stayed awhile longer, taking down a few more details. When he left the hospital, he checked his cell and found a brief message from Esmée telling him she was meeting Quinn at Serena’s ranch. He tried calling her but her phone went straight to voice mail. From the timing of her text, he guessed she was probably driving. When he tried calling Quinn, he got no answer from her, either. Deciding to try Esmée again later, he drove to the K-9 training center.
When he entered the building, both Danica Gage and Hayley were inside. Although Echo was experienced, there was no such thing as a fully trained dog and it was important to constantly work on his partner’s skills and fitness. Over the past few weeks, they had been spending time focusing on Echo’s scenting abilities and Danica was walking a random route around the center, hiding a variety of objects in different places.
“Can you take Echo through this morning’s routine?” Brayden asked, when Danica finished. “I need to speak to Hayley.”
“Sure.” Danica held out a treat to Echo and he pranced eagerly alongside her to the start of the training course.
Although Hayley looked like she’d been crying, she had carefully reapplied makeup to disguise her puffy eyes. Brayden held open the door to the office. “Shall we go in here?”
For a moment, she appeared to consider refusing. Then, with a muffled sob, she followed him. Brayden closed the door behind them.
Hayley flopped into the only chair and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t deal with this. I don’t know anything about what happened to Ray.”
“Hayley, a nice man, who you’ve been dating, got badly beaten as he left your place last night. I know you’ll want to help with the investigation any way you can.”
She lowered her hands, showing him a tearful face. “Ever since Bo was killed...” She had been using those words about a dozen times a day ever since her fiancé’s murder.
Brayden sympathized with Hayley over Bo’s death. Up to a point. Like most people in Red Ridge, he wasn’t sure how deep Hayley’s feelings went. He suspected Demi, who had only been engaged to Bo for a week when he dumped her for Hayley, had cared more for the dead man. Did any of that matter when it came to finding out who had attacked Ray? Probably not.
“Let’s start with the names of the other guys you’ve been seeing. One of them could have done this out of jealousy.”
Persuading her to give him the names wasn’t easy. “None of them are anything serious.”
“They may not know that, Hayley.” Brayden handed her a piece of paper and a pen. “How about you write me a list?”
Her expression shifted from sorrowful to sulky. Scribbling down a few names, she thrust the paper back at him. “If I wasn’t missing Bo so much...” The tears made a reappearance.
Brayden tucked the list into his top pocket. “Ray will be glad to see you when you get off work.”
Hayley dropped her eyes from his steady gaze. “I, um, I have a date.”
For a moment, Brayden considered telling her to cancel and make sure she got her selfish little ass down to that hospital. He decided against it. As much as it would hurt Ray if she didn’t show, it would do him good to find out exactly how shallow she was before he got too involved.
“If you think of anything that could help catch the person who did this, give me a call.”
The conversation had left a bitter taste in his mouth and, as he went in search of Danica and Echo, Brayden’s mind turned to Esmée. He wasn’t so hard-hearted that he believed the whole world was made up of Avas and Hayleys, but if he hadn’t met Esmée he could have gone through life unaware anyone could have so much generosity of spirit. When she entered his world, her agenda had been to find out about his sister. Within days, she had wrapped him in her warmth. She had the biggest heart of anyone he’d ever known, always giving and asking nothing in return.
Just the thought of Esmée made his heart race. He checked his watch and judged she must have arrived at the Double C Ranch by now. She was with Quinn and Serena, and Judson Colton’s cowboys wouldn’t let anyone near the place without permission. She was safe. He decided to give it another half hour before he called her.
* * *
Having checked the GPS on her phone, Esmée took a route that skirted around the center of town toward the Double C Ranch. She was on a quiet stretch of highway when the car began to vibrate wildly. Although the tarmac was smooth, it felt like she was driving across the surface of the moon.
Immediately aware that she had a flat tire, she pulled over to the side of the road. Checking that the doors were locked, she took a moment to analyze the situation. She knew how to change a tire. She’d been in this situation once before and had managed just fine. It was just that she had this crawling feeling down her spine...
Was this a coincidence? Her eyes scanned the area. She really was in the middle of nowhere. All she could see for miles around was grass and a few trees. But that was a good thing. There was nowhere for a hulking ex-boxer to hide.
Cowering in the car wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Before she panicked and called Brayden, she should at least check on the damage to the tire. If it was something she could fix herself, she could be on her way in ten minutes, fifteen at the most.
Unlocking the doors, she slid from the car, still unable to resist a quick look around even though she knew there was no one there. Wh
en she reached the back of the vehicle, she sucked in a breath, staring in dismay. Both rear tires were completely flat.
Both? There was no way that was a coincidence. Had someone let the air out while she was in Sarah’s house? It seemed the only possible solution.
She was reaching into her pocket for her cell phone when a car approached on the opposite side of the road. Fear gripped her and she momentarily froze before darting back toward her own vehicle. As she pulled open the door, the other car slowed and she registered that the car was bright pink and the driver had long blond hair. There was no way it was Roper Keene in disguise. Relief flooded through her at the same time that she realized she knew the driver.
Lulu Love drew alongside her and slid her window down. “Bummer.”
“You could say that.” Esmée relaxed slightly. “I only have one spare and both rear tires are flat.”
Lulu drummed long, candy-pink nails on the steering wheel for a few seconds. Her eyes were hidden behind designer shades. “How about I drive you into town? That way, you can pick up another spare. The guys in the tire shop can either drive you back out here and change your flats, or they can bring the tow truck out and take your car in so they can do the repairs there.”
Esmée experienced an insane rush of gratitude toward this woman she had met only once. It was so strong she wanted to hug her. She actually wanted to go over to the car, lean in and embrace her. Since Lulu didn’t look like a hugger, and she didn’t want to waste any more time at the side of this road, she nodded. “Let me get my purse and lock my car.”
Once Esmée had secured her vehicle, she got into the other car with a word of thanks.
Lulu flapped a dismissive hand. “No problem.” She swung into a U-turn and headed back on the road toward town.
Esmée reached for her cell. She was going to be late for her meeting with Quinn and Serena and she wanted to let Brayden know what was happening. Before she could make her calls, Lulu’s voice halted her. “Lose the phone.”