Living Fast: Steele Ridge Series

by Adrienne Giordano

  Reid waved a hand. “Mags, where are we on these guys?”

  “Looks like they got in via the back door.” She turned to Brynne. “Talk to your landlord about replacing that lock. A four-year-old could get past it.”

  Brynne nodded. “I've asked three times. This time, maybe he'll listen.”

  “I'll talk to him if you want,” Mags said. “We sent the one Reid caught to the hospital. Then we'll process him and run him through the system. For now, he's not talking. We're fingerprinting and hopefully we'll get a hit on his partner.”

  Reid glanced at the shop, all lit up, the light spewing onto the street. “All her customers, the people in and out of there, that's gotta be a nightmare to lift prints.”

  “Could be worse. You said they were in the desk. We started there. You never know. We could get lucky. You didn't recognize them?”

  “Nah. I didn't get a good enough look at the second guy. He's white. Brown hair. Hood-rat jeans hanging low on his ass.”

  Maggie jotted notes as Reid talked and Brynne stood there, doing nothing, feeling helpless. For many reasons.

  She rubbed her hand over her forehead, pressed in on the center where an unrelenting pounding wore on her. Two ibuprofens hadn't done the trick. Between stress and fatigue, an entire bottle might not handle the job.

  Reid looked over at her, even in the dark his blue eyes locking on to her. “Headache?”

  “I'm fine. Tired.”

  “No doubt.”

  “Okay,” Maggie said, “I think we're finished for now. Brynne, I'll call you when I have something.” She flicked her pen toward the shop. “They should be wrapped up in another half hour. If you want to head upstairs, I can run the keys up to you. Heck, I can lock it up for you and run the keys back tomorrow if you'd like.”

  Small towns. In some ways, such a gift. An offer like that would never be made in the city. But here? Where she'd grown up, it was the neighborly thing to do.

  “Oh, Maggie, thank you. Randi said I could stay with her tonight, so I'll just wait until y'all finish and I'll lock everything up.”

  “You look beat, Brynne. You've had a heck of a day.”

  Reid touched her arm. “Why don't I run you over to Randi's so you can settle in? I'll come back and get your keys.”

  “Absolutely not. You've done enough today. In fact, you should go and I'll get a ride to Randi's.”

  Maggie nodded. “I can run her over to Randi's. I have to be here anyway.”

  Reid shook his head. “Why should she stand here and wait?”

  Maggie laughed. “Oh, boy. Here he goes. Stubborn as a constipated mule. And I know that look. He's bent on his plan. Brynne, save your energy and let him take you to Randi's.”

  “Thank you,” Reid said.

  Maggie shook her head, laughing a little. “Whatever, cuz.”

  She left them standing in the street alone, and Brynne poked his arm. “I'm not your responsibility. You don't have to do this.”

  “I know you're not my responsibility. And, yeah, I do. We don't know each other well. But we both grew up in this town and if this happened to Evie, I'd want—no—I'd expect someone to help her. Human decency.” He hit her with one of his flashing grins. “So, shut up about it and get that fine little ass of yours into the truck. I'll drive you around back so you can grab some clothes from your place.”

  Fine little ass? Apparently, she'd been riding around with a blind man all night.

  “Aside from the fact that you're totally inappropriate at times, you also have vision problems.”

  “Babe, my vision is twenty-twenty. Just had it checked.”

  She followed him to the truck, didn't complain when he opened the door for her, but then he grabbed her around the waist and boosted her into the passenger's seat.

  “Yikes!” she said, grabbing on to his shoulders. “Holy smokes, soldier, I can still climb into a truck.”

  “Yeah, but it took you ten minutes to get out before. I just shaved nine and a half off.”

  Brynne's mouth dropped open just as he shut the door. Her mind circled around a snappy comeback. Nothing. Shoot. Fatigue had completely zapped her mental agility. Next time. She'd get him next time.

  She looked over at the shop and then at the parking space just to the right of it where hours earlier, Nelson had almost died. She was still wearing the damned bloody dress. I need a shower. And a fire pit to burn her dress. After today, she never wanted to see it again. She rested her head back, fought a wave of tears clawing their way up her throat.

  Breaking down here, in this truck, wouldn't do. No way. She'd get to Randi's, curl up under a blanket, and then she'd let loose.

  In private.

  Reid hopped into the driver's seat, jammed his key in the ignition, and glanced at her. “Not giving in yet, huh?”

  “What?”

  “You. You're about to pop off. I see it. You won't let it happen.”

  “Not yet. I will, though. When I lie down, it'll happen. I promise, Dr. Phil.”

  Reid snorted. “That'd be the day.”

  He rested one hand on the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the shop.

  “What?” she said again.

  “Thinking.”

  “About?”

  “A few things. Your security system for one. You don't use it or what?”

  “At night I set it. Today, with all the chaos, I just locked up.”

  “From now on, every time you leave the store, you need to set it.”

  “I will. Our town isn't immune to crime, I guess.”

  Reid grunted. “In one day, the innocence was lost. Unbelievable.” He shook his head, continued to study the front window with the mannequin and the killer red skirt.

  “What else are you thinking about?”

  “Your ex-husband.”

  “My…” She stopped. Lord, where did that come from? “You don't even know him. What brought that up?”

  He shifted toward her, his big shoulders moving closer. “Hear me out on this one. Today you've been through two things that most don't experience in a lifetime.” He held up a finger. “Your friend—your male friend—got shot soon after leaving your store.” He held up a second finger. “And then that same store was broken into.”

  “What does that have to do with Kurt? My husband. Ex-husband.”

  “Is he jealous?”

  “You think my ex-husband shot Nelson and then broke into my store?”

  “Jealous men do stupid shit. They get vindictive. Maybe he doesn't like your relationship with Nelson. And maybe he's making you pay for it by terrorizing you.”

  “Ha. Good one. But I don't think so.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he dumped me. For his twenty-two-year-old stick-thin intern. He, in fact, couldn't wait to get rid of me. Besides, I've been friends with Nelson forever. He never had an issue with it.”

  “Okay then, that leaves one thing.”

  “What's that?”

  “We heard one of the burglars talking about checking the desk. They were looking for something. Something specific.”

  “Money probably.”

  “Then why not go straight to the register?”

  Brynne sighed. She couldn't think right now. “I don't know.”

  “It just makes me wonder what they were looking for. And they were pretty friggin' specific, referring to someone as a fucker. Something tells me they weren't talking about you. If they were talking about you they'd have said bitch. Not fucker.”

  Her back went up. What was he getting at? “Then if they were looking for something, something I didn't put there, who did?”

  “How about your friend Nelson?”

  Brynne threw her hands up. “Oh, please. You're accusing someone I've known since middle school, someone I love, of hiding something in my shop?”

  Mr. Arrogant shrugged, then pulled out of the parking space. “Why not? Don't you think it's an interesting coincidence? He was in your store before meeting you at the B. Then
he gets caught in a random drive-by shooting—and when does that ever happen in our sleepy little town?—and right after, a couple of guys bust into your place. And, seriously, those guys showed up right after the cops left. They were waiting.”

  “Oh, my God. Just…” She put up both hands. “Please stop. I'm tired now. The man sells insurance. What could he possibly have put there?”

  “I don't know. Maybe, when he wakes up, we need to ask him.”

  The man was barely alive and all they were talking about was a possible motive? “No way. He’s like family to me and I'm not going to accuse him of putting my livelihood in jeopardy. Not without some kind of proof. If he came to me with an accusation like that, I'd be devastated. I won't do that to someone I love.”

  She turned and faced front, stared out the windshield at the pitch-black road leading out of town. Inside all that darkness, hidden from her, sat the mountain she could view from her bedroom window. Every morning she sat for a few minutes, staring at it, taking in nature's beauty and setting her mind right for the day.

  She needed that view now.

  Peaceful and calm, that view gave her faith in the world. Hope for beauty throughout the day.

  And right now, she had little of either.

  5

  Despite not getting home until two, Reid was up by seven and wandering his mother's backyard with a mug—his favorite with the American flag on it—full of his mama's wicked strong pecan coffee. One thing about his mother, she knew how to keep her boys happy.

  Unlike Jonah, whom Reid was killing time waiting on. His brother needed to get his skinny ass out of bed so they could tour the property and figure out what needed to go where for this training center.

  And, yeah, it'd been Reid's idea to do it early. More to irritate his little brother than anything, but now that he'd gotten in so late, his plan bit him on his own ass.

  What else was new?

  Even so, the dawn sky had been amazing with bright orange streaks thrown against the mountain. All these years, no matter how desperate to escape he felt, the mountain still drew him back. In all the places he'd been, nothing compared to sunrise in the Ridge. He'd watched that sunrise from the tiny porch of the bunkhouse just down the dirt road that stretched around the property. The bunkhouse, a leftover from Tupelo Hill's original owners who'd built the tiny cabin for farm workers, offered much-needed privacy, so Reid had claimed it as his own.

  “Reid Sullivan Steele,” his mom called from the back door, “what are you doing?”

  He turned and grinned. Sure as shit, without him asking, he knew she'd already gotten eggs, ham, and grits started for him.

  Like he said, their mother knew how to keep her boys happy.

  “I'm waiting for your baby boy to get his butt out of bed so we can figure out where to put a firing range. I guess I got nothing better to do than wait on him.”

  Truth of it was, he didn't have anything better to do. But his mom and Jonah didn't need to know that.

  Get a life, man.

  Mom shook her head and added an eye roll kicker. “You know this project excites you. Stop being stubborn. Besides, what else do you have on your schedule?”

  Well, shit.

  When he didn't respond, she laughed. “Come inside, my boy, and have breakfast. The shower is running so your brother is up. You have a few minutes to eat.”

  His mother moved away from the door just as his phone buzzed. Who the hell was texting so early? Had to be one of his army buddies from overseas.

  Mags. And what was she doing up so early after the night she'd had? He tapped the message and read it. Was he awake? Unfortunately, yes.

  He put his thumbs to work on a response.

  Yeah. Waiting on Jonah. What's up?

  Gotta talk to you. I'm coming by.

  This had to be about last night or Mags wouldn't be rushing over here at seven in the damned morning.

  Sure. Mama making brkfst.

  He shoved his phone in his back pocket and headed inside where the aroma of grilling ham reminded him he hadn't eaten in over twelve hours.

  He smacked a smooch on Mom's cheek and topped off both their coffees.

  His mother had gone casual this morning in her favorite Levi's—and how cool was a mom wearing Levi's?—and a V-neck shirt. Her silver-streaked dark hair was still wet on the ends from her shower and the familiar smell of that perfumey soap she'd used since he was a kid reminded him of simpler times. Ah, to be fifteen again.

  “You know,” she said. “It wouldn't kill you to give Jonah a break on this training center. I think it'll be an excellent project for you while you're deciding if you're going to break my heart and take the job in Georgia. And who knows? It might lead to other work.”

  Guh. One thing he didn't want to do on four hours of sleep was deal with a guilt trip while having the what-are-you-doing-with-your-life talk with his mom.

  Eight months ago, he'd had it all figured out. Career military. That was him. Special Forces was brutal and with the savagery he'd seen, the emotional drain could make a man crazy.

  At times it had.

  Nightmares, panic attacks, paranoia. All of it plaguing him at one time or another. He'd managed, even allowing himself to give in to the misery once in a while because he was a firm believer in the old adage about the only way to the other side was through it.

  So, yeah, he'd let the pain in and then he got busy acknowledging it. Acknowledging it meant not losing his mind.

  And when he didn't think he was losing his damned mind, he got off on the work.

  Fighting for the greater good.

  Corny?

  Probably. But he was a believer. A proud American who saw the world as a place that could be better.

  Now, without that beret on his head, he wasn't sure who he was. All he knew was that he had to get out of tiny Steele Ridge and make a life for himself.

  Again.

  Ready to steer his mother off topic, he swung to the other side of the giant farm table and dropped into the chair facing the stove. “Mags is coming by.”

  “So early?”

  “Yeah. She just texted. Needs to talk to me about something.”

  Mom moved to the fridge to get more eggs. For Mags’s sake, he hoped she was hungry. Even if she wasn't, she'd know enough to eat and save herself from the puppy eyes Mom would level on her.

  Outside, a car door slammed and a minute later, the thunk of boots landed on the porch.

  In came Mags, and based on the number of wrinkles in her shirt, it’d seen more than a full shift. His cousin was a freak for pressed uniforms.

  Dark circles ringed the bottom of her eyes, and her hairband had given up the fight, letting a few wisps free.

  Reid held his coffee cup up. “Grab a mug. You look beat. Slept any?”

  “Hi, Aunt Joanie.” She set her hand on Mom's shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Sorry to crash in, but I'm starved.”

  “Don't you apologize. Just sit your fanny down and take a load off. You know I love cooking for y'all. I missed this when my boys were scattered all over.”

  Welcome to the party, Queen of Guilt.

  After pouring coffee, Mags slid him a sideways glance and sank into the chair next to him.

  “I don't know how you military boys pull all-nighters,” she said. “I'm fried.”

  Reid shrugged. “You get used to it. Plus, you had an unusual night. A shooting and a robbery. When the fu…”

  Mom swung back, pointed the spatula.

  No swearing. At least not around his mother. Another thing he had to adjust to in civilian life. Fucking miserable. He smacked his lips together. “Uh, when has that ever happened?”

  “Not as long as I've lived here. Aunt Joanie, pretend you're not hearing this conversation.”

  “Did you say something, sweetheart?”

  Mags grinned at her and as itchy as he was to run from his hometown and make a new life for himself, being in this room with two of his favorite women? Couldn't beat that. />
  He slugged more coffee, praying the caffeine would kick in any time now and even out his pissy mood. His cousin obviously had something on her mind and he'd need all cylinders for it.

  By the way she looked, the exhaustion lying on her like wet cement, she would have gone home for some sleep if it hadn't been important. “What's up?”

  She set her mug down, fiddled with the handle. Stalling.

  “Mags, come on, it's me. Spit it out.”

  Her eyes shifted toward Mom, who shoveled eggs into a bowl. With him staying in the bunkhouse, Mom didn't necessarily know his comings and goings and he hadn't had a chance to fill her in on last night's activities yet.

  “Brynne,” Mags said.

  “What about her?”

  “How well do you know her?”

  A steaming bowl of ham and eggs hit the table. Next came the grits and then Mom turned back to wait on some toast she'd popped in. “She's a sweet girl,” Mom said.

  “Aunt Joanie! You're not supposed to hear this.”

  Mom tossed her hands up. “Sorry. Forgot.”

  Holy crap. Really? Mags needed to chill. His mother wasn't deaf and she could absolutely keep a secret. Total vault. They all knew it.

  “I know her a little,” Reid said. “Not that well.” Mom went to work buttering toast and Reid pointed at her. “I know you're listening. I also know the gossip mill has filled you in about the shooting and you probably know I was with her at the hospital last night.”

  Mom set the toast on the table. “You need to be careful. I know you can't help yourself, but don't throw yourself into danger.”

  “I'm fine, Mom.”

  “I heard Brynne's friend was the one shot. Right there on Main Street. What is happening around here?”

  Over the rim of her mug, Mags eyed him. “So, that's the extent of your relationship with Brynne?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I knew her sister back in the day. Before yesterday, I didn't realize who she was. Why?”

  Mom cleared her throat and set all the pans in the sink. “I'll give you two privacy. Leave these dishes. I'll clean it up when you're through.”