Genuine Cowboy

by Joanna Wayne

  “Then what is it?”

  “There have been two other unexplained deaths that could be connected to Bastion.”

  “You mean besides Brock’s?”

  “Right. The first death happened when Orson was just twelve years old and swimming with a friend in a backyard pool.”

  “Did the pool belong to Orson’s family?”

  “No, it belonged to a family that was out of town. They managed to break the lock on the gate to get in. Details are sketchy, since the drowning was quickly concluded to be an accident, but the other boy was said to be a good swimmer. Orson claimed he got his foot caught in the drain somehow and got trapped underwater. He said he tried to save his friend, but that he died before he could get him loose.”

  “That could have happened.”

  “It could have. What makes it suspect is that Orson didn’t admit to being with him when he drowned until another neighbor said he’d seen Orson break the lock on the gate. When confronted by the police, Orson admitted to being there, but said he got scared and ran home when the kid died in the water. The victim’s body was found on top of the water with bruises around his legs.”

  Eve shivered at the thought of Orson’s being capable of such cruelty when he was only six years older than Joey was right now. And if Orson had killed that boy, some family had needlessly suffered through the heartbreak of losing their child.

  She looked to make certain Joey was still okay. He waved and grinned. She placed her hand on Sean’s knee. “And the second instance?”

  “It happened much later, during Orson’s sophomore year in college. He and a girlfriend went to Cancún on spring break. She was found dead in the room, overdosed on booze and drugs.”

  “That one doesn’t sound particularly suspicious.”

  “Except that the young woman’s friends all said that she’d had a bad trip on acid the year before and that she hadn’t touched illegal drugs since. It was also reported that Orson had flown into a jealous rage the day before and had accused her of getting it on with another reveler.”

  “But the death was still ruled an accident?”

  “Yes. If Orson was involved in either of those deaths, he managed to present convincing arguments in his favor and was never considered a serious murder suspect.”

  “One of the characteristics of a true psychopath,” Eve said. “Along with signs of cruelty showing up early in life. That’s what was confusing in Orson’s profile. Now even that part makes sense.”

  Sean put an arm around her shoulders. “Both events could be circumstance. I didn’t tell you this to upset you, but I didn’t want to keep things from you, either.”

  “I need to know the truth. It helps me to know exactly what I’m facing.”

  “You’re facing a lunatic.”

  “That’s not a psychological term.”

  “I’m not a psychological kind of guy. I’m more into the commonsense, big picture approach.”

  “Which means?”

  “Sitting around waiting for Orson to either get captured or make his next murderous move is hell on your nerves, and it’s not that great on mine.”

  “I can leave.”

  “Yeah, wondering if you’re about to be killed at any second would make me feel great.”

  She threw up her hands. “What do you want, Sean? I’m definitely open to suggestions.”

  “Let’s get out of here. The three of us. We’ll fly to Europe, take a winter vacation until Bastion is captured. It’s not like I’ve got a job to hurry back to. And I’ve always wanted to visit Venice.”

  “It could take weeks or months before Orson is captured.”

  “It could take years, but we don’t have to make a lifetime of decisions right now.”

  “You don’t ever have to make a lifetime of decisions, Sean. You said as much last night.”

  “I knew that would come back to haunt me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Eve said. “That just slipped out before I thought. I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate it.”

  “We can get a flight out tomorrow afternoon at three. They have first-class seats available and I have plenty of points to get them.”

  “How would a horse whisperer ever acquire that many points?”

  “I’m good at what I do. A billionaire from Spain flew me over once a month for two years to work with his favorite mount.”

  “So you just checked the airline schedules without even asking me?”

  Sean tucked a thumb under her chin and tilted it, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Say yes, Eve. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  This was all happening so fast. On the surface, she loved the idea of running away to Italy with Sean. But if they stayed too long, she’d only fall harder for him. Joey would get used to having him in his life, only to lose him when this was over.

  “I have to have time to think about it.”

  “I don’t see what there is to think about. If nothing else, we’d have a great vacation.”

  He made it sound so easy. Maybe it was. “I’ll give you an answer in the morning.”

  “And within twenty-four hours the three of us can be strolling along the Grand Canal.”

  ORSON KICKED THE BACK of the chair, sending the cheap piece of spindly wood banging against the wall of the deserted camp house where he’d been hanging out.

  He hadn’t broken out of prison to live like this. Mexico and señoritas by the dozens were waiting on him. He’d made three major mistakes in his life. The first was letting himself get arrested for the death of his worthless stepbrother.

  The second was trusting his former cellmate Bodie Greene to follow Orson’s exact plans for the murder of Brock Worthington. If Bodie hadn’t screwed up, Eve would have gotten life in prison for the deed and Orson wouldn’t have had to go to all this trouble to kill her now.

  The third mistake was in not killing Eve when he’d had his hands around her bony neck. One more squeeze and she’d have died gasping for breath. He couldn’t even blame Troy Ledger for that. The guy was just doing what your average halfway moral jerk did—saving a damsel in distress.

  Orson wasn’t average. He was Mensa-smart and brazen enough to do what other bastards in the world were too dumb to do. This wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his last night in Texas, but it would be good enough to send him off with a bang.

  He laughed at his own clever turn of thought.

  Tomorrow he’d get the money from Alyssa and then he’d pay a visit to the basketball court in the park near his nephew’s school. It would be much easier to kidnap him from there. Nick would love Mexico once he got used to it. And Alyssa would send money for years, in hopes Orson would keep her son safe.

  It was a win-win situation.

  Not quite as perfect as he’d planned. But close enough. All he’d miss was seeing Eve Worthington’s face when her world went up in smoke.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sean watched as Eve slipped quietly from his room. He’d tried to coax her into staying longer, but she insisted she needed sleep if she was going to make a make a major decision in the morning. And if she stayed, they both knew that one restless turn and touch in the night and they’d be in the throes of passion again.

  The lovemaking tonight had been every bit as hot, as consuming, as it had been the first time. In some ways, it was even better, though he wasn’t sure that was possible. He was learning where to touch her and how much pressure to use to make her moan in pleasure. Eve seemed to instinctively know how to drive him mad with wanting her.

  But when the lovemaking was over, he’d felt the tension developing between them like sharp edges on a sparkling diamond. He’d probably been too honest with her last night when he said he’d never been able to make a relationship work long-term. But they sure wouldn’t have a chance of making this work if he started out lying to her.

  Yet, here he was, lying to himself, pretending that he actually had a chance with her. She needed him now, but what was the chance s
he’d want him in her life when the crisis was over?

  Too restless to think about sleep, Sean got out of bed and pulled on his jeans and the denim jacket he’d left thrown over the back of a chair. He’d never owned a robe in his life. Didn’t plan to start now.

  He wandered down the hallway to the extension that created one wall of the courtyard garden. He hadn’t been in it since he returned. His mother had loved that spot, and Sean hadn’t been ready to buck up against those memories.

  He wasn’t sure he was ready now, but he found his way there anyway. The garden was secluded, entered on one side through a guest room and on the other side via the master suite. Needless to say, Sean did not go though the room where his father slept in the big iron bed he’d once shared with Sean’s mother.

  Sean took a deep breath of the bracing air. And then he saw the figure standing in the shadows near the back wall. Startled, he started to dash back through the door and go for his gun.

  “I guess you couldn’t sleep either?”

  His dad. “What are you doing out here?”

  Troy stepped away from the wall. “Reliving the good times.”

  “Didn’t the doctor tell you that you needed to get your rest?”

  “Sometimes I rest better out here than anywhere else. Lots of nights when I couldn’t sleep, I’d come out here to keep from waking your mother. She’d wake up, anyway, the first time she rolled over and I wasn’t lying there beside her. Sometimes we’d dance in the moonlight. Mostly, she danced and I just held her until whatever problems that were keeping me awake seemed not to matter anymore.”

  “I don’t need to hear this.”

  “I think maybe you do, Sean. You listened to your mother’s family for years. You’ve heard exaggerated versions of all my shortcomings. You’ve heard how I was never good enough for Helene. You’ve heard how she planned to take you and your brothers and leave me. Now maybe it’s time you heard my side of the story.”

  Sean dropped to the metal bench and propped his bare feet on a cold, hard stone. “Fair enough.”

  “Your mother was too good for me, Sean. She may have been too good for any mere mortal, but she was definitely too good for me.”

  Troy began to pace the narrow, meandering walkway. “She was upper crust. I made just enough money wrangling to pay the entry fee of every rodeo I could get to. But from the moment I met her, I knew that all I wanted was to love her and do my best to make her happy.”

  “So what went wrong?”

  “Between us? Not a damn thing, except that it was a constant struggle to keep our heads about the poverty line. Your mother never complained, and she could stretch a dollar so far you’d swear it was made of rubber. She loved you boys and she loved me, and that was all she needed to make her happy. I know you were young, but you have to remember how happy we were back then.”

  The memories rained down on Sean with hurricane force. Laughing at Dakota’s ridiculous knock-knock jokes. Taking turns jumping off Troy’s shoulders at the swimming hole. Family nights when they watched movies together and had popcorn fights.

  Happy was all he remembered until the happiness died.

  “Why was Mother leaving you?”

  “She was never leaving me. She was going to visit her parents, but she was never leaving me.”

  “But at the trial…”

  “I know what some of the neighbors testified about your mother being afraid of me, or keeping secrets about me from her parents, Sean. All I can tell you is that if they were accurate, they were taking things out of context.”

  “Why would they?”

  “Human nature, I guess. People got caught up in the heinous nature of the crime. The sheriff kept saying I was guilty and they started believing it. Not everyone, but enough that things just started snowballing against me.

  “But it’s my fault, too, Sean. I didn’t fight for myself. I didn’t care what happened to me. I couldn’t stand it that I woke up in the mornings. I couldn’t bear the thought of keeping on breathing and going through the motions of life when Helene would not be there with me. I just drowned in my own selfish grief.”

  The anguish in Troy’s voice tore at Sean’s soul. It was difficult not to believe he was telling the truth. The man’s soul was tortured. But Sean had needed to hear this years ago. He’d needed a father. He’d needed something to hold on to when he was only thirteen and his world was disintegrating in his hands.

  “I wanted to die back then, too,” Sean admitted for the first time in his life. “I tried to kill myself. I just didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger.”

  Troy walked over and stopped beside Sean, so close that their shadows mingled into one. “I let you down, son. I let all of you boys down. Helene may never forgive me for that. I’ll never forgive myself, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorrier than you can ever know.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I’m glad we had this talk. I just wish it had come seventeen years ago, when I so desperately needed my father.”

  “I can’t change the past. But I’m here now. The rest is up to you.”

  Sean felt a clammy emptiness invade his soul as he walked away. He wished that a few words from his father could change things the way they’d done when he was a boy. He wished he could reach out to his father and say that all was forgiven and that they’d just start over and things would be fine between them.

  But words couldn’t reach his soul. He didn’t even turn when he heard Troy walk back into the house and close the door behind him.

  EVE WOKE UP AT SIX, a full hour before the alarm clock would go off. She slid out of bed, a little nervous, but still eager to start the day. She’d lain awake for hours last night before she’d finally made a decision.

  Going to Dallas and putting herself in Detective Conner’s hands was risky at best. Staying at the ranch, hoping Orson Bastion wouldn’t track her down, was like waiting on a lit fuse to blow. Given enough time, he’d find her. When that happened, she knew that Sean would do everything in his power to protect her and Joey.

  That might not be enough. And even if it was, Joey would still be exposed to the violence.

  Sean had the only viable solution. Change continents. Bastion would never travel to Europe to chase her down. Even if he had the money and the will, he wouldn’t risk flying on a fake passport. More than likely, he wouldn’t even risk airport security to fly inside the states.

  As far as falling for Sean, that was a moot point. She already loved him. Joey’s attachment was the more difficult issue, but somehow they’d work it out.

  Eve spent the next hour packing. She wouldn’t take much—one suitcase for her and one for Joey, plus a small carry-on. If she forgot something they had to have, they could buy it in Italy.

  By the time she finished, Joey was twisting and turning. He’d wake soon, so she’d have to hurry if she wanted to be dressed before he got up. Rushing to the guest bath just down the hall, she brushed her teeth, washed her face and dressed.

  “Momma. Where are you?”

  Eve added the usual touch of blush and lip gloss and went back to the bedroom to check on her son. She’d tell Sean her decision right after breakfast. She’d wait until the last minute to tell Joey, leaving him just enough time to tell the horses goodbye, and not enough time to get anxious before they were off on their adventure.

  Italy with Sean, instead of Texas with Orson Bastion. She pinched herself hard to convince herself she wasn’t dreaming. The only thing that proved she wasn’t was that tiny shred of apprehension that wouldn’t quite disappear.

  “EVE, THIS IS COLLETTE. Have you seen the morning news?”

  “No, we’re just having breakfast. Sean made pancakes. You should come join us.”

  “Don’t let anyone turn the TV on until I can get there to pick up Joey.”

  The urgency in Collette’s voice sent rivers of fear coursing through Eve. She pushed her chair back from the table and walked to the family room so that she was out of hearing range of the others. “W
hat’s happened, Collette?”

  “It’s bad, Eve. Really bad. But wait until I get Joey out of there before you deal with it.”

  “Just tell me,” Eve insisted. “I can handle it.”

  “There was an explosion last night.”

  “Where?”

  “In Dallas.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Orson Bastion?”

  “Please, Eve. Don’t make me talk about it. I’ll start crying, and it’s best if Joey doesn’t see me that upset.”

  Eve’s stomach churned. “Has there been another terrorist attack?”

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “Then get over here on the double.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Eve picked up the remote, fighting the urge to flick on a local cable news channel and find out what kind of explosion had Collette this upset. Whatever it was, she refused to let it sabotage her plans. Nothing short of Orson’s arrest could make her want to deal with the kind of frenzied terror she’d heard in Collette’s voice.

  Sean came to the door of the family room. “Was that Gordon on the phone?”

  “No, it was Collette. She’s on her way over to pick up Joey.”

  “Is that all? You look upset.”

  “Collette sounded near hysteria.”

  “About what?”

  “She refused to say, except that it’s about something she doesn’t want me to see on the news channel until Joey is out of the house.”

  Sean’s muscles clenched and the veins in his neck bulged into corded lines. “It’s that son of a bitch Orson again. I’d love to get my hands on that bastard and show him what it feels like to be on the receiving end of misery.”

  And Eve prayed he’d never get close enough to Orson to get that chance. She wanted him to stay far away from Orson’s sick brand of evil.

  “I’ll see if Troy feels up to taking Joey for a walk to the horse barn. If Collette’s that upset, she’ll only frighten Joey.”

  Eve nodded and tightened her grip on the remote. It seemed an eternity before she heard the back door slam shut.