She’d been so wrong when she’d believed he was a simple, commitment-phobic bachelor. He had a lot to him, layer after layer that she didn’t have the first clue about. But under it all there seemed to be a hurt, a sadness, he was determined to cover with bravado. And it disturbed her that she wanted so badly to know what it was.
She liked to be in control. She liked to determine what happened next in her life. But ever since she met Troy, she’d been losing control of her heart a little each day. And whenever she was around Reed, she felt as if she was in some kind of crazy free fall. And as exciting as that was, as invigorating, she just had to make sure she didn’t crash and burn.
She clamped down on her thoughts and focused on the task ahead. When they’d reached the city they’d tracked down the apartment Tiffany Maylor shared with a redhead, only to find out Tiffany was out partying—a fact that wasn’t so surprising. But the fact that she was partying with Teddy Wexler, Jr., was a little more interesting.
By the time they’d reached Teddy Jr.’s condo deep in the heart of the glitziest area of Dallas, the baking Texas sun was disappearing over the horizon. Josie looked up at the building. Almost solid glass, the high-rise condo reflected the late afternoon sun, looking like a solid spire of fire. “Don’t you have to be buzzed in to a place like this?”
Reed shrugged. “We’ll figure out another way.”
They needn’t have worried. A young blonde who could rival Honey in looks blocked the elevator door open and gave Reed a big smile that grated along Josie’s nerves. “Are you going to the party?”
“Sure are.” Reed grabbed Josie’s hand and they jumped on board and zoomed to the building’s top floor.
Music was throbbing from Teddy Jr.’s condo, and many more glamorous women filled the room. Josie glanced around, feeling short and top-heavy. In this sea of beautiful women, it would be a miracle if they found Tiffany. But Teddy Jr. was much easier to locate.
One hip cocked, he leaned against a chrome-and-black bar in the living room, a highball glass in one hand. He looked just like his father—handsome enough but with a touch of snideness about him that left a greasy feel in the air. His dark hair and height reminded her of Reed, but that’s where the similarity ended.
His lips twisted into a smirk. “Tanner, isn’t it? Hell of a long time since I’ve seen you. What are you doing here?”
“Have a few questions for you, Teddy. First off, is Tiffany Maylor around?”
“Tiff? Hell if I know.” The younger Teddy Wexler threw his arm around a redhead who’d gotten her magenta locks straight from her hairdresser. His gaze flicked over Josie and landed square on her chest. A little smile curved one side of his mouth, as if with one glance he thought he knew all about her…and one thing he knew without question was that she belonged to him. “Who’s the babe?”
What she wouldn’t give to smack some reality into this neanderthal. “J. R. Dionne. I’m a private investigator.”
“Private. I like that. Wanna investigate me in private?” He didn’t bother to raise his eyes to her face.
“So I hear your father had a thing with Honey Dawson?” Reed took a step forward, angling his body toward Josie as if to claim her.
A thrill shimmered up Josie’s spine. Suddenly she was having trouble focusing on what Teddy said or did or if Tiffany Maylor was in the room or not. She could think only about how close Reed was. Close enough to put his arm around her shoulder. Close enough to lean in for a kiss.
God help her.
Teddy Jr.’s eyes snapped to Reed. “Honey Dawson? That bimbo? I don’t care about brains, if you know what I mean, but nailing her would be like making love to a rock. Guess my old man’s standards have slipped. If he had any to begin with.”
The magenta-haired beauty giggled and snuggled in tighter to Teddy’s side.
“Do you know all this about Honey from experience?” Josie asked.
Teddy’s lips twisted in something that resembled a snarl. “I have my standards.” As if to prove just how low they were, he gave Miss Magenta an openmouthed kiss.
Interesting. And easy to see through his kissing game. They could cross Teddy Jr. off the list of men who had slept with Honey. Not that the fact made him happy. Nor did it make him less of a suspect in Honey’s disappearance, not that they’d considered him before. But just as with Jimmy or Neil Kinney, jealousy could be a powerful motivator.
Teddy brought his steel-gray gaze back to the cleavage she wasn’t showing. “So why are you hanging out with this second-string loser when you could be with me?”
Josie could guess the come-ons had more to do with Teddy’s rivalry with Reed than it did with her, large chest or not.
“Honey Dawson, Teddy,” Reed cut in. “Why is your father trying to find her?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Hell if I know. She doesn’t seem worth it to me.”
Judging from the expression on Reed’s face, he wasn’t buying the Teddy-doesn’t-care-about-Honey bit, either. “So you know nothing about the fact that Honey gave birth to twins? Twins your father says are his?”
“Right,” Teddy drawled.
Josie shot him a frown. “You don’t believe the babies are his?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“My old man has a lot of money, and Honey Dawson is a gold digger. Pure and simple. He gets a lot of action for an old guy, but he’s not stupid.”
It was a good point. Josie would think the judge would be careful to use birth control. He was a married man, after all. Still, as eager as he seemed to produce more little trophy winners as a testament to his glory, he could have planned to get Honey pregnant all along. “How much does your mother know about Honey and the twins?”
Teddy Jr. gave her a smirk. “Portia is my stepmother.”
“Okay, your stepmother. How much does she know?”
“I don’t have a damn clue. There are some things Portia chooses not to know.”
“And the fact that your father has affairs is one of them?”
“Oh, darlin’, you’re not from around here, are you? I don’t think anyone could keep her head buried that deep in the sand. Even Portia.”
That only left the solution to the problem. Making the babies and Honey disappear. “Does Portia want those babies, too?”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Portia wants the easy life. Just like I do. I don’t see that including kids, do you?”
She couldn’t argue with that one. As much as she ached to have a family, it wasn’t because she thought it would be easy. In fact, taking care of Troy had given her a taste of how tough, and worth it, it could be.
Teddy flashed a smile at Reed. “Here’s a question you can answer for me, Tanner. You were the one screwing Honey. Those babies should belong to you, shouldn’t they? Or weren’t you up to the job?”
Before Josie knew what was happening, Reed had balled his hand into a fist and smashed it square into Teddy Jr.’s nose.
BOBBY COLLECTED HIS BAG from the carousel and made for the airport’s exit to catch a cab. Lights twinkled in the night beyond the glass doors. As he stepped from the airport, the heat of the city hit him broad in the face.
It was nice to be back in Dallas.
San Francisco probably had its good points, but he sure hadn’t seen any of them. Cold, windy weather. A damp fog that chilled the humor straight out of him. And far too many men holding other men’s hands for this Texas boy’s comfort.
No wonder he hadn’t been able to get the job done.
He’d had to ditch the weapons he’d bought in California. Tanner and the busty blonde had gotten a pretty good look at him, first at Fisherman’s Wharf and then in Chinatown. If they did manage to give the cops a decent description, the last thing he wanted was for them to find any kind of weapons on him.
No matter. The client had bought them anyway, and the client had money to burn. But if he wanted to get his share of that money, this time he had to make sure he took care of the targets.
And he had to do it ASAP.
Chapter Twelve
Josie pulled a bag of frozen okra from the freezer. Judging from the solid lump of ice crystals cementing the pieces of vegetable together, the bag had been in the freezer since long before Reed had moved from the ranch. It would have to do. At least she wasn’t planning to eat it.
She brought the bag into the living room, where Reed sat on the couch, feeding Troy. He held the bottle tight in his palm, his long fingers wrapping around the entire circumference, gripping it hard, as if life itself depended on not letting it go.
Troy sucked ferociously, arms flailing. In the baby’s agitated state, Josie would be willing to bet he was swallowing as much air as formula. “You need to relax. He’s picking up on your stress.”
“I’m not stressed.”
“Right.” She pulled the bottle from his hand and flopped the bag of okra on his purple knuckles. “Hold it to your eye. For the swelling.”
“Thanks.” He brought the bag to his face. Flinching, he settled back in the threadbare couch.
She gathered Troy from his lap and plopped down next to him. “That will teach you not to fight.”
“Teddy Jr. is an ass.”
“No argument on that from me. That doesn’t mean you had to be an ass, too.” Their visit to Teddy Jr.’s condo had degenerated into a fistfight between the two men, stopped only by a couple of strapping football types pulling them apart. They hadn’t been able to ask any more questions, and they never did find Tiffany Maylor.
“Oh, come on. You liked seeing me be an ass. It’s better than just standing there and letting him spew his crap.”
Some part of her knew she should be horrified by the stupid show of swaggering, testosterone-fueled violence. But the truth was, it had kind of turned her on. But then, everything about Reed seemed to turn her on, a tendency that was really starting to worry her. “I like to imagine there are other ways to handle people like Teddy Jr. Better ways.”
“You like to imagine? And here I didn’t think you had an imagination.”
At his teasing, a flutter moved through her stomach despite her best efforts to squelch it. The problem was, she had plenty of imagination. Way too much. Just looking at him leaning back in the couch, his T-shirt hugging his tight stomach and stretching over his shoulders, made her imagine running her fingers under the cotton. The way his legs splayed wide made imagining anything but what was under the bulge in those jeans impossible. And that mischievous smirk on his face…
She shook her head and looked down at the baby. If she needed a reminder of how serious this case was, how mismatched she and Reed were, she had only to look into Troy’s tender face. They wanted different things. She wanted a family, and she didn’t have a clue what he wanted. Maybe he didn’t, either.
No, the only thing they did have in common was this case. They needed to find Honey. They needed to discover who was behind the threat to her and her twins and the attack on Missy. And she needed to keep this crazy crush she had on Reed Tanner under wraps. “So what is the whole story between you and Teddy Wexler, Jr.?”
The grin fell from his lips. “You saw the picture. We went to the same high school, both played football.”
“Now, I can’t imagine that.” Reed was tall and fit, but he wasn’t exactly the body type she associated with football. “You’re not bulky enough.”
“In these parts, everyone plays football. Or at least every boy who’s good enough to make the team.”
“And you both were?”
“We both went out for quarterback. But his daddy is important. Mine ran out on my mother before I was born.”
“So you were rivals. There’s a lot of that rivalry thing going on around here, isn’t there?”
He looked at her as if he had no idea what she was referring to.
“You and Teddy Jr. Honey and that other cheerleader.”
“Tiffany Maylor.”
“It must be something in the water.”
He gave a short laugh that sounded a little hollow.
She couldn’t figure him out. With all the secrets people around here seemed to be keeping, she couldn’t help feeling Reed was hiding the most. “Was that important to you? Being first-string?”
He gave her a puzzled look. “That was high school. I’ve gotten over it.”
“Sure you have. That’s why you just started a brawl in the middle of a party. Were you rivals for Honey, too?”
“Anything Teddy Jr. had with Honey was in his imagination. He asked her out while she was with me, and she turned him down. End of story.”
“But she got involved with his father.”
Reed lifted the bag of okra from his face with his good hand and flexed his bruised fingers, grimacing.
“Why do you think she did that?”
“If I had to guess? I’d say it was money and influence. Maybe even more influence than money.”
“What do you mean?”
“The judge is a powerful guy. He can make things happen around here.”
“Like he did for his son.”
“Right. I’m betting after Honey was cut from the cheerleading squad, she wanted to even the odds for next year.”
“Even the odds?”
“Tiffany Maylor has a wealthy and powerful father. Owns a string of jewelers. Runs in the same circles as Jerry Jones himself. Honey probably figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some political clout on her side. Balance the odds.”
“Did she mention that to you?”
“Did she say she planned to have sex with the judge? Of course not. Did she wish out loud she could even the odds? All the time.”
Josie considered all he’d told her and all she’d seen at the courthouse and the Wexler Ranch. It didn’t add up. She could understand the rivalry between him and Teddy Jr., a rivalry that Jimmy Bartow seemed to feel toward Reed as well, though for a different reason. But what about Reed’s reaction to Portia Wexler? How did that fit into any of this? There was more. A lot more he was holding back. “So how about you and Portia?”
“Me and Portia? I don’t know Portia. Never met her before today.”
“Why did he and his first wife divorce?”
“If you believe rumors, Portia filled Honey’s role back then.”
“She had an affair with the judge?”
“Until he got his divorce and married her.”
“Do you think she would hire someone to go after Honey and the babies?”
“Maybe. That means the guy in San Francisco was lying when he told Missy he was working for the babies’ father.”
“You know, there’s still the chance that you’re the babies’ father.”
He nodded. No tightening of his expression. No looking away. “And I didn’t hire anyone. So sure, Portia could be on the list. So could Tiffany Maylor.” He laid his hand on a thigh and balanced the okra on top.
He had a point. But Josie didn’t want to talk about the cheerleader. She needed to know what was behind his reaction to Portia. And she needed to know for personal reasons she didn’t care to examine too closely. “You still haven’t explained what happened at the ranch. Why did you try to defend Portia from my questions?”
“I wasn’t trying to defend her.”
Now, that was an evasion even he had to recognize. She lowered her chin and stared up at him.
“Okay, okay. Why do you think I was trying to defend her?”
Truth was, she didn’t know. On the way back to Reed’s ranch, she’d thought his reaction to Portia was caused by some past connection between them. But if he had never even met her until today, that left her with nothing but the crudest of guesses. “You like Portia? You’re attracted to her?”
His eyes widened and his mouth opened as if horrified at the idea. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“She’s an attractive woman. A former beauty queen. And a lot of men like older women.”
He held up his injured hand as if to block the idea from rea
ching him. The bag of frozen okra fell to the hardwood floor. “I do not have the hots for Portia Wexler. If anything, she reminds me of my mother. Now you, on the other hand, are much more to my taste.”
The inflection he put on the last word made a shiver of warmth ripple over Josie’s skin. But while she couldn’t control her traitorous body’s response, she was not going to let him get her off track. “So you protecting Portia, does it have something to do with your mother?”
Reed’s expression went blank.
Josie could swear the pressure in the air changed. It grew thicker, heavier. She could feel the weight in her chest. “You used to have to take care of your mother, protect her, keep her from getting upset.”
“I’m not going to talk about my mother.”
“With me?”
“With anyone.”
Josie had struck a nerve. She knew that. But she also knew she had only scratched the surface. And she was not going to back off. She looked down at Troy, now sleeping, his head tilted to the side and drool dribbling out one corner of his mouth.
There was too much at stake to agree to Reed’s terms.
“I’ll just have to ask Esme.”
He thrust himself up from the chair. Okra crunching underfoot, he paced across the floor and stopped at the bay window. He stared out the window toward the shabby barn and the metal-pipe fencing, with its peeling paint, that formed the corral. “This case is not about my mother. I don’t want you asking Esme or anyone else about her. Got that?”
If there was anything that set Josie off, it was an implied threat. And although she knew she should keep her mouth shut, she couldn’t quite manage it. “Or what? What are you going to do if I talk to Esme? If I learn whatever it is you’re hiding?”
“I’ll hire another investigator.”
“Then you’d better start thumbing through the Yellow Pages.” She pushed herself out of the couch and carried Troy into the makeshift nursery. She was shaking so badly, she feared she’d wake him. Luckily, he was deep in baby sleep. A bomb probably couldn’t rouse him. She lowered him into his crib and strode back to the living room.
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