by Barb Han
“That’s a tough break.” Dade had seen firsthand the damage when a relationship went sour. If that’s all there was to this, Kyle would be in the clear.
“I lost my job because of her father. He owned part of the company I worked at. Had me fired when I refused to give up my son.” There was so much venom in the guy’s expression now. This seemed to go a little deeper than a father’s love for his child—there was a bigger story behind this kind of hatred. But it did offer a plausible explanation as to why the guy would want to close out the rest of the world. The thing Dade couldn’t reconcile was, wouldn’t the guy want revenge on his ex?
“Cute kid,” Dade said.
“He’s my world,” Kyle admitted, and there was so much love and admiration in his voice that Dade believed it. “But she almost cost me that, too, planting ideas in his head about me.”
“I can see why you’d need a minute to reboot,” Dade stated. He couldn’t help but think about his own situation with his father. Had the Mav ever loved his kids as much?
“I don’t always know the right things to say or do, but I’d do anything for that kid.” Kyle drained the beer and crunched the can in his fist. “I came here for a fresh start, but that witch won’t leave me alone. She already has everything—our house, our dog, our son for most of the time. And that’s not enough for Daddy’s spoiled princess. She wants me to disappear. I should never have married up. I was out of my league and had no idea what the fallout would be when she didn’t get her way.”
“Sorry to hear it. That’s rough on you and has to be hard on the kid, too. It’s obvious you love him.” Dade couldn’t believe he was about to say that making mistakes seemed par for the course for a parent. And yet a nagging voice said it was true.
“Liam’s the best kid. He doesn’t deserve any of this, and especially not the way I yelled at him a few weeks ago. The pressure of everything has been getting to me. He dropped a glass of milk by accident and I went off,” Kyle said, and there was so much torment in his eyes.
A former father-in-law with money who was used to giving everything to his little princess wouldn’t take any of this well. Dade had enough experience with powerful men to realize how much they were used to getting their way and how determined they could be to bend another’s will.
A court battle and a woman hell-bent on waging war could make anyone a little crazy, and especially with a child involved. Could it make Kyle want to lash out at all women?
“Do you live next door?” Kyle asked. “I haven’t seen you around, but then I’m not here much.”
“Carrie’s a good friend of mine. We’ve known each other since we were little kids.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Always starts out that way, before they get your heart, and then you’re not the man either one of you thought you were when they trample all over you.”
Kyle had suffered a bad breakup, was deep into a fight for his child. But that brought up a good point. Would he risk losing the kid?
“What are you doing for work?” Dade asked, wondering if that had anything to do with his coming and going at odd hours.
“Anything I can.” He shook his head. “Mostly construction jobs here and there around Texas.” That could explain why the guy kept an odd schedule. “The crazy thing is that the judge wants me to show consistent income, and I need that in order to pay child support. But my ex’s father is doing everything he can to keep me blacklisted from working as an accountant, where I could make a decent living.”
“Tough situation,” Dade agreed.
“They haven’t heard the last of me.” Kyle banged his fist on the counter. “I won’t give up on being in my son’s life. He’s not happy with me right now, and I messed that up. I should’ve been calmer and handled the whole situation better.”
Dade had to admit that he felt a certain tug toward believing the guy based on his passion for his kid. All parents should be so dedicated. But he was trying to keep his personal feelings out of it and look at the situation objectively, for Carrie’s sake.
“Sorry about your situation,” Dade said, watching for his reaction.
“I’ll figure it out,” Kyle said.
“Next door. She’s been through a lot and deserves a break.”
Kyle’s posture tensed. “Guess I’ve been too caught up in my own mess to think much about anyone else. You could say that I’ve been a class-A jerk to pretty much everyone around me.”
“A bad relationship can do that.” Dade was satisfied that Kyle wasn’t a threat. He made a move toward the front door.
“Thanks for stopping by. I haven’t really talked to anyone in months,” Kyle admitted. “Guess I’ve been holed up here, licking a few wounds.”
Dade understood constructing walls. He was starting to see the cost of them, too. Those same walls keeping him safe would shut everyone else out. Construct them high enough and he’d never be able to see over them.
“Easy to see why,” Dade stated.
“I don’t want to be that guy who everyone sees coming and crosses the road to avoid. I figured it would be better if I just kept to myself completely.” Worry lines creased Kyle’s forehead and bracketed his mouth. “I used to be pretty social before all this—” he glanced around “—before my life was held up in court and waiting for visitation while trying to pull together enough scratch to make my child support payments and keep a roof over my own head. Once this nightmare is over, I should get out more. I had no idea how difficult it would be to move to a new city and go back and forth to see my son.”
“It can’t be easy,” Dade agreed, figuring Kyle was spilling his guts because he hadn’t had anyone to talk to in a long time. He’d isolated himself and Dade was even more grateful for the love and support of his brother and sisters. They kept him from going too far and vice versa.
“You wouldn’t believe how much my soon-to-be ex freaked out when I took Liam fishing. She said that I violated my visitation and called me a flight risk. Me. I’m a guy who grew up in Austin and only left to move to San Antonio to be closer to her family after college.” That deep well of anger surfaced every time he spoke about his ex. “She got a court order for supervised visitation, complaining that I took him out of town without permission. It’s been too easy to stay under the radar, and especially with everything that’s been going on. I should’ve gotten the hell out of that relationship when my future in-laws started telling us when and where we’d go on vacation.” He flashed his eyes at Dade. “I’m not exactly the roll-over-on-command type, and my marriage was affected. Eventually, it cracked, then broke, but I got a great kid out of it.”
“Sounds worth it to me.” For the first time, Dade thought about having a family of his own. The notion of having his own child hit him.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve had one focus for the past few months,” he admitted. “But, hey, is everything okay next door?”
“She’s had a rough go lately,” Dade stated. “Have you seen anyone hanging around, looking in her windows?”
“Now I really feel like a jerk for the other night.” Kyle rubbed the day-old scruff on his chin. “I ripped into her for her trash getting into my yard. I owe her an apology for that.”
“She mentioned it.” Dade shot a warning look and Kyle acknowledged.
“No, I haven’t seen anyone around, but then, I’m probably not the right guy to ask. I’ve been keeping my head down and sticking to my own business,” Kyle admitted.
“Someone’s been leaving her unwelcome gifts, like a rose on her back porch and a stuffed animal out front.” Dade specifically mentioned the items to see if the guy flinched. One little twitch could give away if a person was lying. Kyle’s body language didn’t change, which gave Dade the impression the guy didn’t know anything as Dade had already suspected.
“This person make threats or is he just leaving her stuff?” Kyle’s brow shot up.
Fair question. “Someone’s keeping tabs on her.”
“That’s pretty creepy, if you ask me.” Kyle’s posture tensed. The horrified look on his face gave Dade the impression this was all news to him.
“She’s not liking the attention, but the guy won’t show his face, so she has no idea who he is,” Dade continued. “Her ex had been harassing her and something happened to him.”
“Like what?” Kyle seemed genuinely shocked when it dawned on him. “He was murdered?”
Dade nodded.
“Damn.” He rubbed that scruff again. “I had no idea any of this was going on. I feel like an even bigger jerk. Guess it’s time to pick my head up and out of the sand and be a better man.”
Kyle said all the right words. Dade could admit it, and some of them even hit him in an unexpected place and got him thinking about his own actions with his father.
“What can I do to help?” Kyle asked.
“Let me know if you see anything suspicious going on at her place.” With everything going on he figured Carrie would be safer at the ranch. If he could talk her into it, and that was a big if.
The two exchanged cell information.
Getting her to agree to stay with him at his place was going to be his second order of business for the day. “She might not be around much, so I’d appreciate a second pair of eyes on her place.”
“Yeah, man, whatever I can do. When I’m home I’ll make sure no one’s hanging around or bothering her,” he said.
Loud barks cut through the air. The owner was unmistakable as another round fired off. Coco.
Dade glanced from Kyle to the back door.
“Go out this way. It’s faster,” Kyle said. “I’ll come with you.”
Dade was already gunning toward the door. “Call the sheriff.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dade’s heart threatened to explode at the thought of something happening to Carrie. Dammit. He shouldn’t have left her alone.
Coco barked wildly, so he bolted toward the sound.
“Sheriff’s up to speed. Said he’s caught up in something else, but a deputy will swing by as soon as he can. Said it might be a while,” Kyle said from behind him.
“Does he know the guy he’s been looking for might be right here?” Dade bit out as he reached her house.
“He didn’t say.”
The back door was locked, and Coco was going wild inside. Dade took off his shirt, wrapped it around his fist and punched out the glass so he could unlock it. If someone was in there he hadn’t come through the back, so he wasn’t worried about trampling on evidence.
Inside, Coco darted toward him, whining helplessly. The dog running to him was bad, because she wouldn’t leave a stranger in the house. Dade’s heart pounded his ribs, and the thought of never seeing Carrie again smacked into him like a rogue punch.
Sure, he had feelings for her...intense feelings. But this was a whole new ballpark, and he realized he wanted forever. He’d messed everything up in high school and let her go without clueing her in. He wouldn’t do the same thing twice. Dade would find her and tell her exactly what was going on in his mind, his heart. She could reject him and that would be okay. Well, not fine, but he’d learn to live with it. Not trying would cause regret enough to fill a lifetime. And Dade couldn’t live with that.
“I’ll look out front. You good with checking the house?” Dade asked.
“Yes. Go.”
Dade bolted to the front door as he heard the distant sound of tires peeling out. And gunfire. Damn. He pulled his cell as he redirected toward his truck.
Kyle must’ve heard, too, because he flew out the front door. “There’s no one here.”
“You sure about that?” Dade asked.
“I’ll double-check.” Kyle immediately disappeared into the house.
Dade called security.
A bad feeling settled over him when Timothy Andover, the guard working this shift, didn’t pick up. Dade climbed into his truck and started the engine. He flew down toward Timothy’s post. Come on. Come on.
He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as he gunned it.
Timothy’s van was parked at the street entrance. His was the only vehicle. Dade roared up beside it and cursed when he saw the door open with the young guard splayed out on the floorboard, blood all over him.
Dade jumped out of the truck and immediately started administering CPR. Timothy was unconscious and he wasn’t breathing. The hole in his chest was pumping blood. Dade cursed again in between rounds. The shooter must’ve used a silencer.
Dade fumbled for his cell and called 911. After relaying the information, he called Kyle.
His new friend made it in a couple of minutes.
“I gotta go,” Dade said. “Ambulance is on its way. Out here that could mean twenty minutes. Will you stay with him?” Dade started to explain why, but Kyle was already shooing him away.
“Call me when you find her,” Kyle instructed. “Let me know she’s okay.”
“Will do. Keep an eye on Coco for me. Make sure she doesn’t get out.” Dade’s cell rang, and he fished it out of his back pocket after wiping blood on his jeans. He needed to go, but the other vehicle was long gone by now and he had no idea where to look.
“Sheriff Sawmill,” he said, hoping for some good news.
“I’ve been apprised of the situation. An ambulance is on its way to your location,” Sawmill said.
“Carrie was taken by the person who shot Timothy,” Dade said.
“I’ve issued a BOLO, be on the lookout, for the person who took her,” Sawmill said.
“Wait a minute, are you saying you know who it is?”
“Samuel Jenkins’s aunt, Marla, has been found dead in a broken down RV on a remote corner of the Billings property on the outskirts of town.”
“Murdered?” Dade asked.
“The cause of death is pending autopsy,” Sawmill said.
“What condition did they find her body in?” Dade pressed. The name finally clicked. Samuel was the man from the alley on the first night Dade had seen Carrie again.
Sawmill didn’t respond.
“Sheriff, you owe it to me to give me some answers. It might mean the difference between life and death for someone I care about very much.” There were no ends to which Dade wouldn’t go to find Carrie.
“There are no signs of trauma,” Sawmill said. “But she was wearing the warm-up suit that Ms. Palmer described as hers.”
Damn. Damn. Damn.
“Ms. Hardin wasn’t the only deceased person found in the RV,” Sawmill continued. “A white male believed to be in his early forties was found as well. The cause of death is believed to be a gunshot wound, and according to the coroner, the victim has been dead for at least four days, maybe more. He fits the description of Nash Gilpin. Indications are that he was murdered elsewhere and brought here postmortem. I’m on-site, and there are pictures of Carrie taken in her shop and in her home pinned on the walls. The filling from a stuffed animal similar to the orca found on Carrie’s property is pinned to the wall.”
“Did Samuel kill Brett?” Anger roared through Dade for not figuring it out sooner, for not being able to protect Carrie. He remembered that Samuel had been in the shop the morning after the alley assault. He could watch her from his aunt’s house across the cul-de-sac. He would have access to the house even with security roaming around.
“We found tranquilizers onsite and dosage information on giving it to a dog the size of Tyson and a person roughly Carrie’s weight. There’s chloroform, too,” Sawmill supplied.
Dade issued a sharp breath. “Carrie wouldn’t have thought anything about him knocking on the door. She might’ve thought he was scared or needed something.”
“A half-used roll of gauze with a fake blood vial from one of those party supply stores
is here. He might’ve given her the impression he’d hurt herself,” Sawmill said. “We couldn’t pick up DNA from the stuffed orca but I’d bet money this filling will match.”
“Any idea where he would take her?” Dade asked.
“That’s the question,” Sawmill said in an uncharacteristic break of character. Dade could hear frustration in the man’s voice. He’d let another murderer slip through his fingers. Maverick Mike’s killer was still on the loose. The high-profile case brought a whirlwind of unwanted attention to Cattle Barge.
Samuel wouldn’t hurt Carrie. Not right away. But if she fought too hard—and she would—he could end up hurting her in the struggle.
Voices sounded in the background.
“I’m being summoned and I need to go,” Sawmill said. “Dade.” A beat passed. “I’m really sorry.”
“I know, Sheriff. If I think of anything that can aid the investigation, I won’t hesitate to call,” he said.
“Call my cell directly,” the sheriff offered before severing the connection.
Dade relayed the information to Kyle as the ambulance roared onto the street.
“I can take care of this,” Kyle said. “And then I’ll make sure her dog’s okay.”
Dade thanked Kyle and then walked over to his truck, searching his mind for anything that might give him a clue. Samuel definitely wouldn’t take her back to his aunt’s place. That’s the first place anyone would look.
Before long the sheriff would send a deputy to process the place as a crime scene and maybe evidence would be found, but Carrie’s life depended on Dade fitting the pieces together now.
The roses. The stuffed animal. The summer dress. What did those things have in common?
And then it occurred to Dade. Samuel would take her on a date.
He knew exactly where.
Chapter Seventeen
The old fairground was a twenty-minute drive from Carrie’s house and far away from downtown Cattle Barge. The place on the outskirts of town had been shut down for the past ten years or so but had been bustling once a year for almost a month at a time when Dade was a kid. As soon as he confirmed his suspicion, he’d inform Sawmill. The sheriff’s current location was on the opposite end of the county.