by Debra Webb
Weeden appeared to be leading him deeper into the less populated countryside. Lucas wasn’t worried. He was armed and ready. Let the bastard make a move.
The red warning of brake lights beamed in his face.
Lucas slammed on his brakes.
Weeden’s car slid sideways on the road.
Lucas was going to collide with Weeden’s car.
Heart pumping, Lucas cut to the right to avoid
T-boning the vehicle.
The deep shoulder of the road threw Lucas’s car into a tailspin. He struggled to regain control, but couldn’t.
His car plunged off the road…down…down…
A tree stopped his forward momentum.
The air bag exploded, slamming into Lucas’s body and forcing him against the seat.
An eerie silence was broken only by the ticking of the cooling engine.
One headlight shone on the trees in front of him.
Lucas gasped. The air bag had knocked the breath out of him. He tried to clear his head and take a mental inventory of any injuries he might have sustained.
His chest ached and…his left leg felt twisted or jammed somehow.
Phone. He reached for the console and fire shot through his right arm. He gritted his teeth against the pain and reached again. It wasn’t there. Probably fell to the floorboard, he reasoned.
The sound of someone moving down the embankment on foot snapped Lucas to full attention.
It wouldn’t be help… There was no one out here but Weeden and Clare Barker.
The pain making him growl with agony, he tried to get to the weapon in the shoulder holster he wore beneath his jacket. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
He couldn’t do it. Damned right shoulder had to be dislocated.
He reached for the door handle with his left hand. Incredibly, the door flew open. Lucas hit the seat belt release and tried to scramble out of the car. Pain roared through him.
A shadow blocked the moonlight.
He looked up into the face of Tony Weeden. His arm was raised high above his head.
Before Lucas could react, something crashed down on his head.
The pain went away.
Chapter Sixteen
High Noon Saloon, 8:40 p.m.
Joel was worried. Lucas had not checked in with him all day. The last time they talked was when the High Noon closed up last night. When Joel and Laney arrived to set up for opening around five-thirty this evening there had been no sign of Lucas. No indication that he had slept in the office. His cell phone went straight to voice mail.
Lucas wouldn’t just disappear and he certainly wouldn’t fail to check in.
Simon and Victoria had been attempting to locate him, as well. Simon had put in a call to Lucas’s cell carrier in hopes of learning at least his last known location, by finding out the last cell tower his phone had reached out to. It would take time to muddle through the necessary approvals and Joel sensed that time was short.
Lucas was in trouble.
With the end of the work week approaching, the crowd at the High Noon was thick and rowdy. Good for Laney’s bottom line but not so good when Joel was distracted. A guy had to be thankful for small favors, however, and one really good thing was that Kingston hadn’t returned.
Maybe he’d ended up in jail or his father had shipped him back off to rehab. The guy needed rehabilitating. For Buddy’s sake if not his own.
Lucas had spent the entire day yesterday searching for Clare Barker and Tony Weeden. He’d hit all the motels and hotels his first day in town. Then he’d moved on to restaurants and delis. At the top of his priority list were the cheaper and more out-of-the-way places. He’d found nothing. Like Joel, the man was feeling a little desperate about the situation. But even desperation wouldn’t throw a man like Lucas so far off his game.
Joel scrubbed his chin. The only way Lucas would stay out of touch this long was if he had found serious trouble. Simon and Victoria had known him far longer than Joel and the consensus was the same. At this point they had to assume that Lucas needed backup. The problem was no one knew where to look. By late afternoon Simon and Victoria had arrived in Beaumont and were laying out a search grid, with every member of the Colby Agency’s Houston office contributing to the search. Backup from the Chicago office had arrived by nightfall. Among those who had arrived was Jim Colby, Victoria’s son.
The police had been notified but there was little they could do with no place to start and no evidence of wrongdoing by Clare or her son.
Part of Joel wanted to be out there looking for the older man but he couldn’t risk diverting his attention from Laney and Buddy. Damn, this case was growing more complicated and murky with each passing day.
His gaze settled on Laney behind the bar. Like last night, she was on her A game. The crowd was jovial and the money was pouring into the cash register.
No matter how hard he tried to fight it, every time he looked at her, he couldn’t stop the images and sensations and sounds from the hours they had spent making love from echoing through his mind…from tensing his muscles with the need to cross the room and touch her.
She had opened completely to him and he had fallen in deep. As crazy as it sounded, considering the short period they had known each other, he now understood the stories his brothers had told him about finding their true loves.
Something grabs you and won’t let go.
Joel had no idea what tomorrow held but he sure didn’t want to spend it without Laney and Buddy in his life. Even the notion of never seeing them again made his gut twist. Laney had been hurt so badly he wasn’t sure how she would see them moving forward. He hoped she would at least consider the idea of exploring this bond between them. For the first time in his life, Joel desperately wanted to have a real relationship. Laney and Buddy made him long for a family of his own.
Not to mention the way Joel had fallen for the kid. God, he loved his nieces and nephews and he’d do anything in the world for any or all of them. This tyke had stolen his heart from the get-go. Maybe that midlife crisis Jeep hadn’t done the trick. Maybe there was no outmaneuvering the need to bond with the opposite sex and procreate. Oddly, the idea of having children of his own didn’t scare him in the least.
Laney caught him looking and grinned. They’d had breakfast a second time this morning. Buddy had set the menu and helped with rolling out and cutting the fresh biscuits.
Joel’s throat tightened. As if all these years of bachelorhood had suddenly grown too heavy and had to be shrugged off, he wondered what it would feel like to hold a child of his own. To feel the weight of his baby in his hands and know that for the rest of his life that tiny human would mean the world to him.
He gave himself a mental shake. Stay focused, man. Maybe he should check on Buddy. See how Tatum was holding up in the kitchen. The man had been prepping and cooking all afternoon and things hadn’t slowed down since the last time Joel checked. It may be good for business, but Tatum was obviously going to need help in the kitchen if this pace continued.
Weaving through the crowd slowed Joel down. The bank certainly couldn’t complain about this level of business. Somehow that situation had to work out for Laney. She had worked too hard to have it all yanked from under her. If the bank gave her any more trouble, maybe he’d just have to see what he could do to help. If she allowed it. Laney Seagers was one independent lady. And she damned sure knew how to bring him to his knees. The idea of being so vulnerable to a woman should feel intimidating but somehow it didn’t. It felt right.
Buddy sat atop a stainless-steel table in the middle of the kitchen. An array of big pots hung on the rack above his head. The last time Joel popped in, Buddy had two big wooden spoons and was using the pots for drums. Now, a Lego village was taking shape under his careful attention.
“Hey, Buddy!” Joel gave the boy a gentle punch to the shoulder. “Looks like you’ve about got your village finished.”
“I think we need a fire truck.”
Joel grinned. “Oh, yeah? I’ll have to see what I can do about that.” He’d decided that he would be worse than all three of his brothers put together when it came to spoiling kids. All these years he’d shaken his head at the way they spoiled their own. Joel would be eating crow on that when the time came.
Slow down. He was already mapping out fatherhood and marriage wasn’t even on the table.
Somehow Laney and Buddy made him seriously consider all those things. No, they made him want those things.
Buddy stuck his thumb to his chest. “I don’t need a fire truck.” He crossed his legs, his little cowboy boots scrubbing against the tabletop. “Uncle Tater does. He’s trying to burn the place down.”
The kitchen was thick with humidity and a heck of a lot warmer than the saloon, even with that crowd out there. “Maybe I’d better check on him.”
Buddy nodded. “He’s over’helmed.”
From the looks of things, Buddy was right. Tatum had three deep fryers going and the grill was loaded down with hamburger patties, chicken breasts and piles of thinly shaved beef. The massive toaster oven was loaded down with buns and sandwich rolls. He had to hand it to the guy, he was organized.
“You got this under control?” Joel dared to ask even after the old sailor shot him a narrowed look.
“Does a cat have climbing gear?” He glanced at the wheel hanging in the window that separated the kitchen from the saloon. The wheel was full with tickets from the waiter and waitresses. “In five minutes that wheel will be empty. Five minutes after that it’ll be full again. It’s a good kind of cycle and I’ve got my system.” He waved his hand at the grill.
Joel gave him a nod. “You’re a better man than me.”
Tatum grinned. “A better cook, for sure.”
Joel checked the back door before heading back out to the saloon. Tatum paid no attention. He was too focused on the grill and the fryers. The oven took care of itself, it seemed. Put the bread in at one end, and it rolled out the other onto what looked like a baking sheet.
The saloon was packed now. So far no one was looking for trouble. Joel hoped it stayed that way.
Because he couldn’t help himself, he propped at the end of the bar to watch Laney in action. Tonight there were two other bartenders, both female, dressed in the staff garb of a High Noon T-shirt, blue jeans and boots. One hustled between tending bar and waiting tables, depending upon which side of the bar was the furthest behind.
Laney had been going full speed for the past two hours. But Joel had watched her for more than a week now. The woman didn’t take breaks until the last customer was happily served.
One of the other bartenders strolled up to him. “You need a drink, Hayden?” Her eyes glittered with a big smile stretched across her shiny lips. The lady was a flirt. But then, flirts and amateur psychologists made the best bartenders.
“No, thanks.” He gave the lady a smile. She sashayed away, hoping to impress him with her practiced walk. Didn’t work. He only had eyes for one woman.
He watched Laney a minute longer. Long enough for her to toss him one of those smiles that tugged on his heartstrings and then he wandered out into the crowd.
Near the swinging doors two men and a woman appeared to be having a strained discussion. Joel changed directions and headed that way. The lady stormed outside and one of the men followed. The other filtered back into the crowd.
Maybe not a good sign. Joel lingered at the door watching the couple. The woman slapped the man; he crushed her against his car.
Well, hell.
Joel strode toward the two, reached his destination just in time to snag the fool’s arm before he slapped the blonde. “I don’t think so, pal.” He whipped the guy around and shoved him back. “Time for you to go home or to jail. Take your pick.”
Behind him the woman took off. Good for her.
“That bitch started it,” the guy bellowed. “She offered me her services for twenty bucks and then she tried to drag another guy into it to double her money.”
“Whatever she offered you,” Joel warned, “you don’t hit a woman. You walk away.”
“Whatever. I’m out of here.”
Joel watched until the hothead had climbed into his truck. Across the lot a snazzy sports car peeled out onto the highway. Some folks just didn’t have the sense to enjoy leisure time safely. That kind of behavior got innocent people killed.
A frown tugged at his brow when the blonde started ranting. What the hell was she doing now? She stood at the edge of the lot, evidently shouting at someone who had already driven away. Joel headed in that direction. The sports car was the only one to leave in the last couple of minutes. The truck driven by the guy who’d argued with the blonde peeled out next but the blonde appeared to pay no mind to him.
“What’s the problem now, ma’am?”
She whipped around, her eyes wide and wild with something like fear. This was the first good look he’d gotten of her face. She looked familiar… .
Damn. “You’re the one who showed up with Kingston,” he accused. The sports car that had hauled ass out of the lot flashed in his mind again. Not the vehicle Laney had taken the Louisville Slugger to, but a car along those lines.
She started to back away. “I had nothing to do with it. I just did what he told me.” She glared at the highway. “Then the bastard drives away without me.” A cold, hard reality rammed Joel right between the eyes.
Kingston had been here.
* * *
LANEY DEPOSITED THE two cold longneck bottles of beer onto the counter. “Enjoy, gentlemen.”
The night’s take was on the way to exceeding even the best of her Friday or Saturday nights. Hot damn. She wiped the bar where the two patrons had moved on to a table. With Mr. Teague offering to help and business booming, things were looking up.
Her hands slowed in their cleanup work and she smiled to herself. Things were looking up at home, too. As terrified as she was of getting her heart broken again, she had decided that Hayden was worth the risk.
Joel, she reminded herself. She’d promised to call him Joel from last night on. Seemed only right. When a woman knew a man that intimately, first names were a given.
Her body quivered with remembered desire as snippets of all the times and ways they had made love flashed through her head. No one had ever made love to her like that. As incredible as it had been, it had felt natural and right, as well. No regrets come dawn. Just the relentless desire for more.
Maybe tonight. She trembled at the idea.
Okay, Laney. Don’t go falling head over heels after one night.
Giving herself a swift mental kick in the seat of the pants, she turned to go to the kitchen and check on Buddy. It hadn’t been ten minutes but—
Smoke rolled from the serving window.
Smoke detectors started to wail.
Laney rushed toward the kitchen door. Tatum burst through the door, almost colliding head-on with her.
“That son of a bitch!” Tatum coughed, his face red as a beet. “He took Buddy. I couldn’t stop him. He had a gun.”
Laney pushed past him. The kitchen was thick with smoke. “Buddy!”
The back door was open, allowing the smoke to drift out of the room.
Laney’s heart sank.
Buddy’s Lego village was scattered on the table and floor.
She ran out the back door.
He was gone.
The narrow alley behind the building was vacant save for Tatum’s old truck and the Dumpster.
Inside, panicked voices shouted… The music died… But Laney couldn’t move.
Her baby was gone.
11:55 p.m.
JOEL WANTED TO KILL Terry Kingston. Not once had he ever really wanted to take another man’s life until now.
The bastard didn’t deserve to live.
The saloon had been cleared, thankfully without injury. The fire department and police had arrived. Two uniforms and an evidence tech had scoured the parking area and the kitch
en. For all the good it would do.
The blonde, whose name was Margo Rucker, was being interrogated by the police. Margo couldn’t give the license-plate number of the rental Terry had been driving, but she had helped complete the description Joel had gotten when the car spun out of the parking lot. An Amber Alert had been issued for Buddy.
The ache that accompanied that last thought made breathing impossible. He had to find that child. If Kingston got him hurt, Joel would kill the son of a bitch.
Laney was a mess. She paced back and forth in front of the office, furious the police wouldn’t let her at the woman and terrified for her baby.
She wouldn’t let Joel comfort her or even touch her for that matter.
Tatum had fallen completely apart. He might be a big bad ex-sailor but he was also a father and a grandfather. The guy sat on a bar stool, his head down. The rest of the staff had been interviewed by Joel and the police and then sent home.
Joel’s cell vibrated. He dragged it from his pocket. Simon Ruhl. He hoped this was good news for a change. In the last update he’d gotten Lucas was still missing.
“Hayden,” Joel said by way of greeting.
“Anything new on Buddy?” Simon asked.
Joel forked a hand through his hair. He wished he had better news to report. “The woman, Margo, said Kingston had spent the past two days coming up with this plan. She has no idea, she claims, where he was going from here. Houston PD has sent a couple of detectives to interview his father.”
Luck had, unfortunately, been on Kingston’s side tonight. Though he’d arranged for Margo to distract Joel, he hadn’t anticipated the rear entrance being locked. But then the toaster oven had jammed and a fire had started. Tatum had put it out easily and quickly, but then he’d opened the back door to let out some of the smoke. Kingston had seized the opportunity. Margo had gotten the text message to “go” the instant Kingston had a way in.
Low-down dirtbag. If he got that boy hurt…
Margo had further stated that Kingston had been drinking but she’d seen him far drunker. Hopefully that was good news. Joel hadn’t mentioned to Laney that the guy had roared away from the parking lot like a bat out of hell.