Outside, Sean surveyed the property. Not much had changed over the years. The place could use some maintenance, but overall, it was still in good shape. The quiet hit him more than anything else. Even quieter than Glenn’s neighborhood in town. So unlike LA. Nice.
He shortened his strides to keep pace with Callie. She skipped instead of walked and carried on a steady stream of conversation, only about half of which he understood. And she seemed to have completely overcome her initial shyness.
When they reached the barn, she pointed at the huge mound of manure. “See. ’Nure.”
Sean grimaced at the odor and breathed through his mouth. “Awesome.”
“No, it’s yuck. It stinks.” She let go of his hand and moved closer. Cocking her head, she studied the pile. “Mommy was right. Grandpa did do the ’nure yesterday.” She turned to Sean with a mystified expression. “How comes I don’t ’member?”
At a loss, he shrugged.
A moment later, she skipped to the garden. “Wanna pick a ’mato?” she called to him.
“Sure.” Definitely better than looking at a mountain of shit.
Callie guided him to a plant with tomatoes larger than her hands. “Aren’t they ’mongous?” she exclaimed.
“Uh, yeah.” He picked one and sniffed. The sun-warmed tomato smelled delicious. He inhaled deeply.
“The ’mato smells good, but the green part stinks,” Callie announced with profound certainty.
Sean smiled. How long had it been since he’d eaten a homegrown tomato? A homegrown anything, for that matter. Probably not since his parents moved from Ramona to Phoenix when he went away to college. Savoring the memories, he collected two more tomatoes to enjoy later.
“We gots ’chini, too. Lots.” She made a disgusted face. “It’s squash. Yuck.”
He helped himself to a couple zucchini. “May I have some corn?”
“Yeah. It’s yummy. It gets all over my face when I eats it. Up to my ears, Grandpa says.”
Sean snapped off three pieces of corn and glanced toward the house. “Your grandpa sounds like a fun guy.”
“Yeah. He likes to play tickle and wrestle. Mommy thinks he wishes I was a boy.”
“Why?”
“So I could plays boy stuff.”
He adjusted his armload of vegetables. “Does he tell you stories about when he was a little boy?”
Her mouth twisted to the right as she thought. “Nope, ’cause he never was a little boy. He’s always been old.”
Sean chuckled. “I bet Hal has some funny stories about where he used to live. Has he told you any?”
She pondered again. “No, ’cause he and Grandma always lives here.” She turned in a full circle, surveying the property. Her cute face quirked with puzzlement. “Where is Grandma?”
Damn. Not in my job description. “Uh…let’s go see if Jess…er, your mommy, is off the phone.”
She scowled and stiffened with defiance. For a moment, he thought he might have a “resisting arrest” situation on his hands. He exhaled with relief when she decided to come along peacefully. In fact, she took off running.
By the time he reached the empty kitchen, she was racing through the house, hollering for her mother. As he reached the end of the hallway, the bathroom door opened. Memories of that afternoon gave his dick a yank.
“Callie, I’m right here,” Jess called. She scooped up her daughter, who barreled out of a bedroom.
“Mommy, Mommy, where is Grandma? When she coming home?”
Jess turned red-rimmed eyes and a blotchy face to Sean. “What happened?”
Shit. Obviously, the phone conversation with Hal hadn’t gone well. The bastard. Even if he didn’t give a damn about his missing wife, he should at least care about Jess and Callie. Sean fought the urge to wrap his arms around both of them.
“Sean, what happened?” she repeated.
“We were talking about Hal, and…and Molly just came up.”
“You were interrogating my daughter? A four-year-old. How dare you?” She tightened her hold on Callie.
“We were just talking. Lighten up.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to answer her question.”
Callie’s eyes had grown larger and larger with their rising voices. Well, shit, we’re scaring her. He stepped closer and ran a hand down her hair. She laid her head on Jess’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, kiddo. Grandma had to go away for a while, but she’ll be back as soon as she can,” Sean said, hoping he sounded soothing and, even more, hoping it was the truth.
Callie’s lip quivered. “Where did she goes?”
Shit. Think, Burke, think. “She…uh…she didn’t tell us, so it’s like a…a game to guess where she is. Your mommy and I and a lot of other people are looking for her.”
Another lip quiver. “Likes hide-n-seek?”
He gave her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, like that. You’re smart.”
Callie blinked and sniffed. “I’m a good hider, too. Wanna finds me?”
“Sure. I’ll count to fifty, okay?”
“Yeah.” She wiggled out of Jess’s arms. “No peeking,” she called, running down the hallway to the living room.
Jess wiped at her eyes before meeting his. “Thanks. Crisis averted. You were great. I-I’m sorry about—”
“No problem. Hmmm. I have forty more seconds. What should we do?” He glanced down the hallway. “I have an idea.”
He tangled his fingers in her hair, and before she could object, he gently pulled her to him. His eyes drifted closed as their lips met.
He still had ten seconds left when Callie screamed.
Chapter 9
Before the reality of the scream even registered in Jessie’s brain, Sean had pushed her aside and raced down the hallway. “Stay behind me.”
When he stopped abruptly at the entrance to the living room, she bounced off his back and landed on her butt. Dazed, she blinked up at him when he turned around and extended his hand.
“Callie?” she gasped, her heart pounding.
“Uncle Chad has her in a tickle hold. My God, she sounded like she was being skinned alive.” He pulled Jessie up and snaked his arm around her waist to support her.
When she saw her uncle playing with her daughter, she sighed with relief, and her heart slowed to a normal rate. She chuckled and then laughed. “It’s a girl thing. We scream. It’s in our genes.”
“Does that mean I can use my Y chromosomes as an excuse when necessary?” he asked, giving her a squeeze.
“Don’t count on it.” She drew a deep breath and pulled away. “Uncle Chad, what’re you doing here?”
Unsmiling, he released Callie, who crumpled into a giggling, gasping heap at his feet.
“I came to find out where the hell my sister is. No one’s keepin’ me in the goddamn loop.” His eyes narrowed when he recognized the person with her. Her uncle marched across the living room to where they stood. “And what the hell is he doin’ here?” A scowl creased his forehead as his gaze bounced between the two of them.
Jessie put a finger to his lips. “Uncle Chad, language.” She jerked her head toward Callie. “You guys grab a beer in the kitchen, and I’ll put on a movie for her.”
Uncle Chad stomped away, but Sean stayed behind. “If he tries to gouge my eyes out, am I allowed to defend myself?”
“He wouldn’t attack your eyes.” She grinned wickedly. “Be careful, though. Before he became a cement contractor, he used to castrate bulls.”
* * *
Chad Brown was already nursing a beer at the kitchen table when Sean entered. The older man hadn’t gotten him one from the fridge. Figuring the omission was intentional but refusing to be intimidated by it, Sean helped himself to a cold brew. He chose the out-of-reach seat on the opposite side of the table, sat down, and balanced the chair on its rear legs. The two men sized each other up for several moments. Chad’s eyes held undeniable dislike.
“No one answered my questions. Let’s start with
why the hell you’re here,” Chad growled.
“I’m helping Jess look for Molly.”
He snorted with cynical disbelief. “And where the hell is my sister?”
“If we knew, we wouldn’t be looking,” Sean said with a straight face.
“Smart-ass. You always were too smart for your own good. Except when you decided to break Jessie’s heart. That was stupid…and cruel.”
“Now wait just a damn minute. I didn’t—”
“Shut up. I’m not interested in your excuses. I fucked up thinkin’ you were a good guy. Turns out you aren’t any better than the dickhead she ended up marryin’ to get over you.”
Sean frowned. “That’s why she married Drake Hargrove?”
“Duh, as you kids say. You damn well broke our hearts as well as Jessie’s. Only one happy about the whole mess was Hal.”
Sean’s frown deepened. “Why was Hal happy?”
Chad scoffed. “No way did he want a pig for a son-in-law.”
Puzzle pieces that had been floating around in Sean’s head for eight years started falling into place. No fucking way. That bastard wouldn’t…
Before he could explore the shocking possibility, Jess joined them. She poured a glass of wine before sitting down.
“How you holdin’ up, baby girl?” Chad asked.
She closed her eyes. “I’m scared. I’m confused. I’m exhausted. And that’s the good news.”
“It’s gonna be okay. We’ll find her.” Chad patted her hand. “I’ve been out lookin’ all day. And callin’ everyone I can think of. Where does other stuff stand?”
Jess described in detail what had been done to find Molly. Sean wasn’t surprised when she chose not to disclose his suspicions of Hal and Nate. Granted, Molly had been missing only about twenty-eight hours, but he had hoped Jess would start to open her eyes to the closest-male probabilities.
The mood in the kitchen grew more somber by the second. When Jess described Drake’s phone call and revealed he’d come to the house armed, Chad shot out of his seat and bellowed with rage. Callie even came running from the living room.
“What’s wrong with Uncle Chad? Is he hurt?” she asked, clinging to Jess.
“No, munchkin, he’s okay.”
“Good. I don’t likes people to gets hurt.” Her mouth opened in a long yawn.
Jess gave her a hug. “You’re tired. Go put your jammies on to watch the movie.”
The little girl trudged out of the kitchen.
“What’re you gonna do about the son of a bitch?” Chad asked, still standing.
“I saw Mr. Swanson—remember the attorney—today about getting a restraining order. We’re going to talk again on Monday.”
“Restrainin’ order or no restrainin’ order, if that bastard comes near you again, I’m gettin’ out my old tools and cuttin’ off his gonads. Too bad they’re probably so small we won’t be able to make us even an appetizer of Rocky Mountain oysters.”
Sean’s balls shriveled like they’d been dunked in ice water. Jess arched her eyebrows with an I-told-you-so grin. He swallowed hard.
“Your little one needs to get to bed. I better go.” He sighed. “You keep in touch better, baby girl. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
Jess stood up and hugged him. Chad’s eyes glistened while he held her tight. The closeness Sean remembered between uncle and niece was still there.
After the hug, Chad cleared his throat and turned to Sean. He did the classic two-finger, I’m-watching-you gesture. Then he sighed again, his shoulders slumped, and he lumbered out the back door.
Before it closed behind him, he yelled to his dog, “Goddamn it, Buster, quit diggin’ in that manure. You’re gonna earn your sorry self a bath.”
When the barking faded away, Sean asked, “You haven’t changed your mind about staying at my place, have you?”
She hesitated. “Callie’s so tired. She won’t sleep as well if she’s not in her own bed.” Jess shrugged. “And Nate’s just down the road. Maybe I should stay—”
The back door swung open.
Chad loomed in the doorway, his face grim. “Sean…out here.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
Something in the man’s expression told Sean this had nothing to do with his gonads. He nodded. “Stay here,” he ordered Jess.
“What in the world?” she asked, and took a step.
He grabbed her shoulders and glared directly into her eyes. “Stay…with…your daughter.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded.
Wordlessly, he followed Chad outside onto the patio.
“Don’t be obvious, but look at Jessie’s car,” her uncle said.
Sean kept his face directed at Chad, but his eyes focused on the car beyond in the driveway. The problem was immediately obvious: She had two, possibly four, totally flat tires. They’d been slashed, not deflated. Drake.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Yeah, fuck.”
While keeping his head stationary, his gaze swept across the property. Lots of places to hide. But the asshole had to get here somehow. Where was his rental car? Sean’s eyes scanned the road in both directions until he spotted a vehicle sitting on the shoulder about four hundred yards toward the Wheaton intersection.
“He’s parked down the road toward town,” Sean said.
“I couldn’t see him—eyesight’s not that great anymore—but I figured the asshole might still be around. I’m takin’ Jessie and Callie home with me.” Chad pushed past Sean, heading for the house.
Sean grabbed his arm before he got there. “That won’t work.”
“Why the fuck not? They sure as hell aren’t safe here.” He yanked his arm free.
“I already knew that from Drake’s visit this afternoon. I convinced Jess to stay at Glenn’s apartment, but now she’s wavering.”
“Your brother’s place? With you? No way.”
“Listen to me. Drake knows everyone but me. He doesn’t know my name, and I don’t live here. I’m staying at Glenn’s apartment, which he damn well wouldn’t be able to figure out. The girls will be safer there than with you.”
Chad’s eyes narrowed. “Safer in some ways. Maybe not in others.”
“I won’t hurt her. I want to protect her…and Callie.”
Chad jammed his hands in his jean pockets and glared at the ground. “I get your goddamn point, but I still don’t like it.”
“Deal with it. I’ve thought it through. It’s the only scenario that makes sense. You, Nate, Luke, Karla, her other friends—no good. Besides, I’m a cop. I’m trained to handle assholes like Drake.”
Chad exhaled with resignation. “Okay. You’re right. But how are you gonna get them out of here without him seein’?”
Sean thought a minute. “We’ll go back inside and turn off the patio light. After Callie falls asleep, we’ll check if Drake’s still there. I’m sure Jess can find some binoculars…and…and a lamp timer. See where my truck’s parked?”
Chad glanced out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah.”
“It’s not that visible, and in the dark, I can get them into it without Drake seeing. You’ll watch from inside with the binoculars to see if he follows me.”
“Gotcha.”
“You wait another half hour and turn on the patio light as you’re leaving. We’ll set the timer to keep a lamp on in the bedroom for another hour. We’ll all be safely home by the time the asshole discovers no one’s here,” Sean explained.
“What if the bastard trashes, or worse, sets fire to the place?”
“Even Drake’s not that stupid.”
* * *
“You should go to bed, Jess,” Sean said, sitting down next to her on the couch in Glenn’s living room. “You’re exhausted.”
“Yeah, but going to bed would be a waste of time. I’m so tense, there’s no way I can sleep.”
He ran his hand down her arm. “Relax. Drake can’t find you and Callie here.”
But it wasn’t j
ust Drake making her nervous, as Sean’s gentle touch reminded her. “I want to believe that, but I can’t.”
“Look, I have two loaded guns in the apartment—”
His words, meant to reassure, added another layer of tension instead. “What if Callie—”
“They’re hidden up high. She can’t get to them. I don’t expect to have to use them. I just want you to know I’m prepared for anything.” He tucked a stray strand of hair from her ponytail behind her ear. His fingers lingered before trailing down her neck. “Relax, babe.”
Yeah, right. Wishing she didn’t like his touch, she scooted away on the couch. “I can’t stop worrying about what Drake might be doing to my parents’ house. If he—”
“While you were putting Callie to bed, I called Luke. He’s on duty, so he’s going to check things out. If Drake’s still hanging around, he’ll tell him to get lost. And he said he’d set up a patrol to keep an eye on the place all night.”
Why did Sean have to be such a nice guy—most of the time? He made it hard to remember she hated him.
“As usual, you have it all figured out,” she said, hoping being bitchy would douse any inappropriate ideas—by him or her.
He leaned back against the cushions and crossed an ankle over his other knee. God, why couldn’t she feel as calm as he looked?
“You’re wrong. I don’t have it ‘all figured out.’ But I had a breakthrough today.” His jaw tightened, and his hazel eyes grew icy. “And when I do figure it out, believe me, you’ll be the first to know.”
“What’re you talking about?”
Sean didn’t respond. He seemed lost in thought.
Just as well. She was too tired to put on a kick-ass front, too exhausted to even talk. She scooted down on the cushion so she was more reclining than sitting. With her eyes closed, she flexed her shoulders and rolled her head from side to side, but the muscles remained stiff. Her chest felt tight; her head ached. No way was sleep in her future.
She heard and felt Sean move but kept her eyes shut. Maybe he’d head for the futon, which he’d made up earlier. His absence would at least remove one source of her tension.
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