Little Bird (The Tangled Series)

by Gaines, Liza

  “The grave was for Meg.”

  The sound of Lee’s voice drew her attention and Savannah looked up to find him staring directly at her. He held her gaze just long enough to let her know she’d been discovered before turning his attention to Mike. Blood rushed to her cheeks until they burned with her embarrassment. Good lord, he’d just caught her checking him out!

  Mike, either oblivious to what had just happened or pretending to be, explained, “Meg was his other dog.” Savannah nodded mutely and Mike continued, “I assume that also explains all the blood?”

  Lee glanced down at himself and shrugged. “Mostly.”

  Mike ran both hands through his hair and sighed. “Okay, so, what the hell happened here tonight?”

  Lee leaned forward in his chair again, his arms folded on the table in front of him. “I’d been out and it was a little after one when I got home. Meg was already dead in the driveway, she’d been stabbed, and Toby was nowhere to be seen.” Toby lay on the floor next to Lee’s chair now, and Lee reached down to ruffle the dog’s ears as he spoke. “I figure he got scared and ran off. Meg was always the guard dog around here. Anyway, all the lights in the house were on and the front door was busted open. I came in and there were three guys tossing the place.” Lee grinned at Mike, his expression that of a man who enjoyed the occasional tussle. When Lee continued, his natural southern drawl was over exaggerated for affect, “A scuffle ensued.”

  “You always were a good brawler.” Mike laughed, grinning broadly.

  Lee shook his head, drumming his fingers on the table. “Not good enough this time. I was out numbered and they were all at least ten years younger than me, I’d guess.”

  “But you have old man strength!” Savannah blurted. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished fervently she could call them back.

  Both men slowly turned to look at her, dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Fuck, she’d really stepped in it now. She knew Mike had recently turned thirty-six and figured Lee must be right around that. That wasn’t old. God, why’d she have to say that?

  Lee raised one brow, his eyes locked with Savannah’s as he spoke to Mike. “I think she just called us old, Hoss.”

  “No, no! That’s not at all what I meant.” Savannah stammered. She was babbling but couldn’t seem to stop herself. “One of my friends always says if two guys are going to fight you always back the older one. Even if the younger one is stronger and faster, the older one is smarter and more experienced, and that’s more important. My friend, he calls that ‘old man strength’ but it doesn’t really mean the older fighter is an old man or anything, just that he’s older than his opponent.”

  Lee glanced at Mike before asking Savannah, “Has this friend of yours ever even been in a fight?”

  Savannah chewed her lip and thought for a moment before admitting, “No, I don’t think so.”

  Lee laughed. “I figured as much. How old are you anyway, sweetheart?”

  “I’m twenty-six.” She wasn’t sure why but she felt like he was mocking her so she hastily added, “And I’m not your ‘sweetheart.’ How old are you?”

  “I’m thirty-seven. Which, I’d have probably thought was old when I was twenty-six, too. Although I notice I’m not too old for you to leer at like you’ve never seen a man without a shirt on before.” As Lee finished, a wide grin spread over his handsome face and despite her embarrassment Savannah’s heart skipped a beat.

  Savannah gasped, a hot blush rising on her cheeks, but before she could gather her thoughts to respond, Mike jumped in. “All right, that’s enough. I didn’t leave my wife alone in our nice warm bed at O-dark-thirty just to listen to you two have some fucked-up bitchy-but-somehow-still-flirty pissing match. Can we get back to the reason we’re here? Three guys broke into your house, kicked the shit out of you, and left.”

  Savannah, eager to change the subject, spoke up. “What I don’t understand is, if they’d killed Meg, they obviously had at least one knife. So why didn’t they just kill you, too, and be done with it?”

  Lee shrugged, his eyes still on her. “Well, they did say they’d be back. They think I have something they want and maybe they think if I’m dead they won’t find it. Or maybe they’re cowards. There’s a big difference between killing a dog and killing a man. Maybe they don’t have the stomach for the latter. Anyway, they seemed far more interested in getting the fuck out of here than they did in sending me to my untimely demise.”

  “And you didn’t shoot them because…” Savannah’s voice trailed off as she gestured toward the gun on the table.

  “I was unarmed when I came through the door and they were unwilling to cooperate long enough for me to fetch a gun.”

  Mike chuckled. “Okay, so you think you have something they want. Any idea what that might be? Did they say anything else?”

  Lee ran one hand through his hair and sighed.

  “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea.” He paused for a moment to give Mike a troubled look. “They kept asking, ‘Where is she?’ I asked who the fuck they were talking about and one of them finally said Cara.” He turned to Savannah and added, “My ex-wife.”

  Mike groaned. “Shit. Do you know where she is?”

  Lee shook his head. “No. I called her apartment and her cell before I called you. No answer, no voicemail at the apartment. And the cell voicemail was full and wouldn’t accept new messages.”

  Savannah frowned. “When was the last time you talked to her?”

  Lee shrugged. “Three or four months ago. She called and said she was cleaning out the storage unit she’d gotten after we split up. She’d found some things of mine she wanted to return so she came over and dropped a box off. It was just some books, a few pieces of clothes, stuff like that.”

  “Yeah, but you guys have been divorced, what, five or six years? It took her all that time to return a few books?” Mike narrowed his eyes. “I don’t suppose you still have the box?”

  “I do. I just shoved it in the closet and pretty much forgot about it until now. I’ll dig it out later.” Lee got up and brought the full pot of coffee to the table with three empty mugs. He retrieved a mason jar of sugar and a carton of whole milk before sitting down again.

  Savannah cleared her throat. “So, maybe this is too obvious, but why haven’t you called the cops?”

  “I feel like that might be a bad idea. Cara sometimes got herself into some sticky situations with her work, investigative reporting type of stuff. If this is somehow related to that it could be almost anyone, including people you’d think you could trust.”

  “So, you think this is some big conspiracy or something? Against some run of the mill journalist?” Savannah didn’t ask Lee where he kept his tinfoil hat, only out of respect for Mike, but her skepticism was probably obvious in her tone. This whole situation seemed a little over the top.

  Lee laughed. “Probably not, but right now I’m not going to take any chances. And she’s not just ‘some run of the mill journalist.’ Don’t you ever read the paper?”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “It’s not even six a.m. and that’s the second time today someone has asked me that question.”

  “We need a plan here. Did Cara still have the apartment in Middleburg?” When Lee nodded Mike continued, “Okay, so at least for now, it seems like most of the work will be out here, although we should probably talk to her co-workers in DC. It’s an hour each way for us to drive out here, I still have a business to run in the city, and Savannah doesn’t even own a car.”

  “The rental cottage is empty right now, and it’s furnished. You’re welcome to use it. But that doesn’t help your clients in the city much.”

  “No, actually that’s a great idea. Savannah can stay out here and do a lot of the legwork on this end. I’ll have to rent a car for her, or something, but that’s not a big deal.”

  Savannah was shocked. “What? You want to leave me way out here in the middle of nowhere? Uh, news flash but I only work for you eight ho
urs a day, I have my own life in the city the other sixteen hours.”

  Mike rolled his eyes. “It’s just for a few days. You’ll be fine. This is what, Tuesday? I’ll bet you’re happily back in that closet, err, I mean apartment of yours by Friday.”

  Lee cleared his throat and gave Mike a meaningful look. “Don’t you think this might be a little over her head, Hoss?”

  Savannah glared at him. She didn’t want to be left out here in the country but she wasn’t going to let this jerk say she couldn’t handle the job.

  “Look asshole, I know I haven’t really put my best foot forward here this morning, but I know my job and I’m good at it. Believe me, I’d be thrilled to go back to the city and pretend I never met you, so if that’s what you want just say so. But with the situation you’re in right now, you’re an idiot if you don’t take all the help you can get.”

  Mike leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. He struggled unsuccessfully to keep from laughing as he gave Lee a sideways glance. “She is good at her job.”

  “And she’s feisty, too.” Lee laughed and looked at Savannah. “All right, we’ll give it a shot, sweetheart.” He winked at her and turned back to Mike. “You don’t need to rent her a car. She can use my truck. I don’t drive it much anymore except to haul horses.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. This guy was an insufferable jerk. She’d called him an asshole and chewed him out and all he did was laugh and wink and call her “sweetheart.” This would be a long few days. With a sigh, she looked at Mike. “I need to go home and get a few of my things.”

  Mike nodded. “We’ll head back now. Savannah can get what she needs and, Lee, you can get cleaned up and get some sleep. You’ve been up all night.”

  Lee walked them to the door. “Come back this evening and we’ll have some supper and figure out where to start.”

  Back at her apartment, Savannah packed a duffle bag with some clothes and personal necessities, and a second bag with her laptop, camera, and other equipment. She was just finishing when her cell phone beeped with a text message from her best friend, Joni.

  Getting so nervous for Thursday night!

  Shit, she’d forgotten about Thursday. Joni Lawson was an artist and she was about to open her first solo exhibition at an art gallery in Georgetown. Thursday was opening night and Joni would be devastated if Savannah missed it. She’d just have to make time to get back into the city for a few hours if they were still looking for Cara.

  Savannah quickly texted back.

  Call me if you have a few.

  Less than a minute later the phone rang. “Joni!”

  “Sav! Can you believe it’s almost Thursday? God, I’m getting so nervous. What’s up with you? I stopped by your office this morning but you guys weren’t there.”

  Savannah lay back on her bed with a sigh. “Yeah, you aren’t going to believe this shit. Some friend of Mike’s has a situation he needs our help with. But he lives way out in the middle of nowhere Virginia and I’m going to have to stay out there for a few days. Don’t worry! I’ll be back for your show. But I think I might wither up and die if I have to stay out there very long.”

  Joni laughed. “Meh, it’ll be a nice break from your fast paced city life.”

  “I doubt it. I like my fast paced city life. Besides, the guy is kind of a jerk. And he keeps calling me sweetheart. How lame is that?”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty lame. Is he hot? I mean, it’s still annoying but if he’s hot, at least you’re not getting called sweetheart by a Neanderthal.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “Yeah, actually, dude is smokin’, which just makes it even more disappointing he’s an ass. I mean, he caught me checking him out. I saw him; I knew I was caught. But, as if that weren’t bad enough, he called me out on it right in front of Mike. I wanted to crawl under the table and die!”

  Joni started giggling helplessly. “That is awesome! What did Mike do? I’ll bet he lost his shit laughing.”

  “Actually, no, he seemed kind of pissy about it. I’d like to think that was out of loyalty to me but I’m sure it had more to do with the fact he was tired and grumpy. I’m home packing a few clothes and stuff now. Mike and I are going back later for dinner and then Mike will leave me there. I’m just dreading this.”

  Joni sounded surprised. “Wait, you’re actually staying with this guy?”

  “No. Well, sort of. Long story but I’ll be staying right next door.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be over before you know it. Look, I have to go. I have a meeting with the caterer to approve the final hors d’oeuvres for Thursday night. Sorry. Call me if you need me and I’ll see you Thursday.”

  Savannah sighed as she hung up the phone and got up to pack another bag. She’d need a dress for Joni’s party.

  One thing Lee Jackson couldn’t tolerate was feeling powerless. As a result, his current situation had him unsettled, to put it mildly. He knew it would be useless to try to sleep when he was feeling like this. Instead he focused on picking up his house and getting himself cleaned up.

  It wasn’t until mid-afternoon when he had completed those tasks that his idle mind was forced to confront his situation. Lee couldn’t make heads or tails of it though. He hadn’t talked to Cara in several months and before that they’d only spoken once since the divorce was finalized. Keeping in touch with his ex-wife wasn’t high on his list of priorities and seemed to be one thing the two of them could actually agree on. So why would anyone think it might be worth the effort to break into his home and kill his dog just to try and find her? Then again, contemplating why it happened probably wasn’t important. It happened and the only thing he could do now was figure out what to do about it.

  Lee was equal measures furious and heartbroken about Meg. He was a soft touch for animals in general, and dogs and horses, especially. He’d had Meg since she was a puppy and her absence was palpable. His own sadness only intensified when he noticed Toby sulking around the house. Taking pity on the dog, and maybe needing the companionship a little himself, he stretched out on the couch and did something he never did: he invited Toby to join him. He laughed when the dog jumped up and settled himself on the furniture, taking great pleasure in the previously forbidden luxury and resting his head on Lee’s knee with a heavy sigh. Lee missed Meg fiercely but at least he still had Toby.

  Staring up at the ceiling, Lee wondered what Cara had gotten herself into, what she’d gotten him into. They’d been divorced nearly six years and she was still fucking up his life. Lee snorted, annoyed with himself. That wasn’t really fair. Once upon a time, he’d done more than his share to fuck up her life, too. Probably they were even. Maybe he even had this coming. Still, it pissed him off and frustrated him because he had no idea what to do about it.

  When he’d talked with Mike and Savannah earlier it had been quite clear Savannah thought he should call the cops. Mike had remained silent on that particular point but she’d seemed bewildered by Lee’s reasoning. Though, to her credit, she hadn’t argued with him. She had argued though when he’d insinuated she might not be capable of handling the case. Lee was honest enough with himself to admit that had probably been unfair. He trusted Mike. If Mike trusted her, that should have been good enough for him.

  Lee chuckled, thinking about the ferocious look on her face when she’d told him she would happily go back to the city and pretend she’d never met him. It might have been more convincing if he hadn’t caught her looking at him like he was her favorite kind of candy. Not that he didn’t believe she thought he was an asshole. He was sure she did. He just didn’t particularly care and it wasn’t really relevant. Savannah might not like him but she wanted him, even if she wasn’t brave enough to admit it. The only question was what he intended to do about it.

  It seemed safe to assume Mike and Ginny would disapprove of Lee screwing around with her, but that didn’t really concern him much. They’d been friends for a very long time and Lee had done much worse over the years. They woul
d get over it.

  More importantly, fucking Savannah had real potential to complicate his current dilemma. After all, she was supposed to be helping him find Cara and any drama between the two of them might get in the way of that goal. Since Lee had the feeling she didn’t share his casual approach to sex, things could get sticky in a real hurry.

  Besides, she wasn’t really his type. Well, not exactly, anyway. Inexperienced naiveté wasn’t his thing. When he fucked, he liked to be in control, he needed to be the dominant partner, but he didn’t want a wide-eyed innocent under him either. Lee wanted a woman who was confident and sure, self-aware and comfortable with her sexuality.

  When he’d caught Savannah giving him that hungry look he might have dragged her into his bedroom right then, Mike be damned, if she had looked right back at him and owned her interest. That kind of confidence always got him hot. But instead, she’d looked away, blushing and embarrassed. So not his type.

  On the other hand, physically she was just what Lee liked. Savannah was short, maybe five foot three or so, and he nearly towered over her at six foot two. Despite her small stature, she wasn’t a waif. She was curvy in all the right places with full hips, even fuller breasts, and an ass that made him want to do very bad things to her. If she’d just been more confident and forward, there wouldn’t be any question about what he would do.

  Lee snorted and gave Toby a nudge off the couch before getting up. These thoughts weren’t getting him anywhere except hard, which was more than a little frustrating since he was trying to convince himself he wasn’t interested in Savannah. But he could tell himself anything he damn well pleased. That didn’t change the fact his dick was definitely interested even if his head wasn’t really in the game. Better to go find something else to do to keep himself busy because continuing this train of thought wasn’t going anywhere good.