by Debbie Mason
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s great. I, ah, better take off though. I have to get ready for my shift.”
Chance put down his fork. “Not sure I approve of you working there, kiddo. How does your mom feel about it?” Knowing Mary as he did, he had no doubt she felt the same. Her husband had taken off when the girls were young. Mary had done a good job raising them on her own. She took her job seriously. Chance may have wished a little less seriously when he and Kate were dating. But as an adult, he understood why she’d been so strict and overprotective.
“She doesn’t care.”
“Doesn’t sound like the Mary I remember.”
“She’s changed.” Nat raised a negligent shoulder, adding defensively, “Doesn’t matter anyway, I’m old enough to do what I want.”
He didn’t like to hear that Mary had changed. That because of Kate and the baby’s deaths, Nat had in some way lost the mother her sister had growing up. Sending money may have gone a ways in assuaging his guilt, but he now realized it hadn’t been enough. He should have been here for Mary and Nat.
“You’re still living with her, aren’t you?” She gave him a reluctant nod. She knew what he was getting at. She should. “You live under my roof, you live by my rules” was something he heard pretty much every time he visited the Porter household. The refrain was directed at Nat. Mary never had to say it to Kate. She was as much the perfect daughter as she had been the perfect wife.
“What happened to college?” Nat had been a straight 4.0 student. She’d had big dreams. No one had doubted she’d accomplish them, least of all her mother and sister.
“Mom…” She crossed her arms, looking past him. “It doesn’t matter. It was just a stupid dream.”
His chest tightened. Too many dreams had ended that night. He wanted to give Nat’s back to her somehow. “No, it wasn’t. Your sister wanted that for you. We all did. I…” He hesitated, unsure how to ask, not sure he should, but he needed to know. “Nat, the money was there for you to go to college. I’ve been sending checks to your mom monthly since… since I left town.” Money had always been tight for them. He’d made sure it was the one thing they didn’t have to worry about. He had more than he’d ever need.
Nat stared at him. Then her face crumpled, and she bowed her head.
“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry.” He got up from the stool, walking around the island to her side. He folded her in his arms.
She lifted her face from his chest, looking at him through tear-filled eyes. “I thought you didn’t care about us anymore. But… but you did.”
“Of course I did. I always will. I gave your mom my contact information. Told her to give it to you.” He’d told Ray to keep an eye on them, too. He didn’t have to ask his family. It’s something they’d automatically do. He’d assumed Nat didn’t want to talk to him. He hadn’t blamed her. But now it looked like that wasn’t the case.
“She didn’t. I don’t understand why she’d…” Her brow pleated, then she briefly closed her eyes. “Uncle Earl. He’s over all the time talking trash about…” She winced.
Chance didn’t give a shit what Earl said about him, but if he’d conned Mary out of one red cent of the money he’d sent her, then he did have a problem with him. “Earl still gambling?” He worked to keep the angry suspicion from his voice.
Obviously not hard enough, he thought, when Nat’s shoulders sagged. “Mom gave him the money.” She moved away from him, retrieving her cell once again. Her delicate jaw tight, she stabbed at the keys.
He took the phone from her. “I’ll handle it.”
“But…”
“Nat, leave it to me.” He nudged her chin up. “I’m going to look into this. And you, you’re going to start looking at schools. Okay?”
He saw the hope flare to life in her eyes before she extinguished it. “I missed a lot of time my final year. My marks… I’ve been out of school too long. I don’t think I—”
“No excuses. Do you want to go to college or not?” No matter how much he wanted her to go, in the end, the decision had to be hers.
“Yes, yes I do. I really do, but I don’t think Mom will—”
“Let’s take this one step at a time. You look into schools. Pick the one you want to go to. Then we’ll figure out the rest from there.”
“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so glad you’re home. Everything’s better with you here.”
He tensed under the weight of her expectations. He was in town long enough to put the Drugstore Bandits behind bars and to make sure Ray was all right. That was all. He didn’t want someone else depending on him, someone else to take care of, someone else to fail. Patting her shoulder, he stepped away. “You better get going or you’ll be late for work. With tourist season around the corner, you might want to give Sawyer a heads-up.”
“What if I don’t get into school? I need my job. I make good tips.”
Jesus, if she only knew how much he’d given her mother. She didn’t need to work. “All right, wait until you decide what you’re doing and go from there. Now get out of here. I have to get to work, too.”
With a hug for him and Princess, she headed for the door, then stopped and turned. “Chance, maybe I should talk to Mom and Uncle Earl. I don’t want him to make trouble for you, and he will.”
No doubt he’d try. But Chance had enough on Earl Skully to bury him. “This is between me and your mom, kiddo. You let me worry about it.” For someone who liked his life uncomplicated and without ties, it wasn’t lost on Chance that his life had become increasingly more complicated the moment he set foot in Christmas.
* * *
Vivi left the gray stone correctional facility no further ahead than when she went in. Darwin Callahan was a silver-tongued devil and a good-looking one to boot. But as her dad used to say, “A con is a con is a con.” And he would know, because he’d been one. She supposed she had him to thank for her ability to spot Darwin Callahan’s tell within five minutes of sitting across the table from him. The man knew more about the Drugstore Bandits than he let on.
Which meant Chance was probably right and the Callahans were somehow involved. Then again, from the brief glimpse she’d managed to get of the visitor’s log, Darwin didn’t have a shortage of company. And other than a gut feeling he was hiding something, Vivi had nothing concrete to base her suspicions on.
As she headed for the parking lot, she caught a glimpse of two tall, broad-shouldered men in tan uniforms coming her way. They walked with the swagger of men confident in their ability to take down anyone standing in their way. The type of men who’d make a woman swoon if a woman was into big, bad, and dangerous.
Vivi wasn’t, but she was a woman who valued her freedom. And if the deputy wearing the champagne-colored Stetson saw her, he’d probably lock her up and throw away the key. She ducked behind the nearest car. She didn’t want to deal with him today.
And it had nothing to do with him stomping on her foolish dreams again. They’d shriveled up and died two days earlier. Nor was it because of the pitying looks she was once again on the receiving end of, thanks to him. No, it was because she didn’t want him to know what she was up to. He’d shut her down. Again.
She had as much right to keep her best friend safe as he did. And as far as Vivi was concerned, the only way to keep Maddie and her family safe was to know exactly who and what they were up against. Vivi might not have the muscle or firepower behind her—or the law—but she could find out things he couldn’t. Given their past history, the last person a Callahan would open up to was a McBride.
Crouched beside the black Impala’s driver’s-side door, she held on to the handle and slowly raised herself up to look out the windshield. At the sight of two very fine uniform-covered backsides, she let out the breath she’d been holding. When Chance opened the correction facility’s doors, Vivi used the handle to pull herself upright. The ear-piercing shriek of a siren rent the air. Dammit! She’d set off the frea
king car alarm!
She ducked, punching the door on her way to the ground in hopes of turning off the alarm. No such luck. She turned, duckwalking to the back of the vehicle. She was about to make a run for her car, only to be cut off by a tan wall. A tan wall that had on brown, scuffed cowboy boots. She tipped her head back, way back, and looked into the beard-stubbled, pissed-off face of Deputy Chance McBride.
Relax, she told herself. Best defense was an offense. She plastered an innocent smile on her face. “Hey, how’s it going? Did you happen to see a set of keys? I seemed to have dropped them.” She patted the asphalt.
Crickets. Not a sound, not even a manly grunt. Not even a quirk of his oh-so-perfect lips. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her. She was screwed.
“I don’t know about you, McBride, but if I had a dollar for every time I heard that line, I’d be rich.” The auburn-haired sheriff looked down at her through his mirrored shades. “Come on, gorgeous, you can do better than that.”
“So could you. Those are the worst lines I’ve ever heard.” Vivi stood and hefted her messenger bag over her shoulder.
“Feisty for a woman who got caught red-handed trying to steal a car,” the sheriff said to Chance.
A uniformed guard came out and aimed a key fob at the Impala, turning off the alarm.
Vivi rolled her eyes at the sheriff’s smirk. “I wasn’t trying to steal a car. The alarm went off when I bumped into it while looking for my keys. Once Silent and Annoying recovers his voice, he’ll tell you he knows me.” She went to walk past them. “Have a good day, boys.”
Chance’s hand shot out, stopping her midstride. “I’ve got this, Walker. I’ll meet you inside.”
“He speaks,” Vivi said, at the same time trying to free her arm. She glared at him when he tightened his grip. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll have you charged with harassment.”
Walker laughed as he strolled off. “Sounds like I’ll be starting without you, McBride.”
“You have two minutes to tell me what you’re doing here. You better make it good, Slick, because I’m this close”—he held his thumb and forefinger in front of her face—“to throwing you in jail.”
“For what? It’s a free country, McBride. I can come and go as I please.”
“You went to see Callahan, didn’t you?”
“So what if I did?”
He leaned into her, closing his hands over her shoulders. “I told you to stay out of it. And what do you do? You put yourself on his goddamn radar. And that puts your girls and their kids on there, too.”
In her gut, she knew he was just trying to scare her. Callahan was not a murderer—he was a drug dealer with no history of violence. But that didn’t stop the shiver of unease from creeping up her spine. “He doesn’t know who I am. I told him I’m a reporter from New York and that I’m writing a book about the East Coast Mobs’ connections to the Colorado drug trade.”
She couldn’t tell because of his shades, but she was pretty sure he rolled his eyes. “You think he’s stupid enough to buy that?” His sarcasm-laced voice seemed to validate her suspicion about the eye rolling.
“Yes, I do. And if you weren’t being such a jerk, I’d tell you what I found out. But you are. So I won’t.”
“What are you, fifteen? If you learned anything that pertains to this case, you have an obligation to report it.”
“A little thing called the shield law says I don’t. And if you don’t back off, McBride, I’m calling my lawyer, who also happens to be the district attorney.”
“Jesus, you’re a pain in the ass.” He took her chin in his hand. Her reaction to the feel of his strong fingers on her face was reflected back to her in his mirrored shades. She hoped to God it was just the smoky lenses that made her look all flushed and starry-eyed. Had to be, because she was not feeling the least bit starry-eyed. Flushed with temper? Definitely. “When are you going to get it through your beautiful head that I’m not trying to mess up your career? I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
Okay, so maybe he still had the power to put stars in her eyes. Not good. She put her hand over his to remove it from her face and noticed his scraped knuckles. She frowned. “You didn’t beat up Callahan again, did you?”
He flexed his hand. “No.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she’d had enough. “We’re done here.” She put her hands on his chest to push him away. The movement caused her to back into the car, her messenger bag sliding off her shoulder and hitting the trunk. The Impala’s alarm went off.
* * *
After her run-in with Chance, Vivi had no intention of continuing her investigation into the Callahans. She figured she’d pushed her luck enough for one day. But when the needle on the gas gauge veered too close to Empty, and the sun’s rays glinted off the gas tanks at Callahan Automotive, she took it as a sign from God and pulled into the strip mall.
She drove to the tank closest to the open bay doors where several men worked on high-end sports cars. A couple looked her way when she got out of the car. As she removed the gas cap, she lifted her chin and smiled, earning her a wolf whistle.
“What’s a gorgeous gal like you doing driving a heap of junk like that?” a friendly giant with red hair and beard asked from where he stood under a blue Mustang up on the hoist.
“Stop flirting with the customers, Pat,” a gravelly masculine voice ordered.
Pat winked at Vivi. “You’d flirt with this one, too, boss.”
She followed his gaze. Just the man she was looking for. She would have known him without Pat giving his identity away. He looked like what she imagined Darwin Callahan did thirty years ago. Six-feet-plus with a leanly muscled body, Jake Callahan had black, wavy hair and a square jaw. His blue short-sleeve uniform shirt accentuated his dark-inked tattoo sleeves and gray eyes that roamed her face and body without seeming to do so. He approached, wiping the grease from his hands with a rag.
“Pat’s right. What are you doing driving this piece of crap?” His knowledgeable gaze ran over the red, rusted-out compact. “You’re leaking steering fluid and oil. And your muffler’s about to fall off.”
She fit the nozzle into the tank. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Probably worse once I take a look under the hood. How long have you had her?”
“About four hours.” Vivi didn’t want Maddie to know what she was up to and decided to rent a car while she was in town. It had ended up being cheaper to buy one.
His lips curved slowly in an amused smile. “You piss off whoever you bought her from?”
“I don’t think so. I bought the car from Earl…”
“Enough said.” He extended his hand. “Jake Callahan. I’m booked solid for the next couple of days, but I’ll try to fit you in and see what I can do for you.”
“Vivi Westfield. And that’d be great. I really appreciate it.” She felt like rubbing her hands together. She’d just been given the perfect opportunity to get the answers she was looking for. But he was being so nice that she felt kind of bad for the subterfuge. And while physically he was his father’s son, she had the feeling the similarities ended there.
A white four-by-four pulled up to the garage. She recognized the driver—Natalee’s boyfriend, Zach.
“Might be best if you park it until I can get you in. What’s your number?”
She bent her head, letting her hair fall forward to shield her face as she pulled out the nozzle and gave him her number. She took her time fitting the hose on the gas tank, briefly closing her eyes when she heard a familiar voice call out, “Hey, Jake. Hey, Vivi.” Zach bounded over to them. “Whoa, what are you doing driving that piece of shit?”
“Language, little brother,” Jake said, his gaze moving from Zach to Vivi. “You two know each other?”
Vivi was too stunned to respond. Zach was a Callahan? And he was dating the sister of a woman Chance believed his brother Jake had killed. There was something wrong here.
“Yeah, met her the other
day. She’s Chance McBride’s girlfriend,” Zach said. His fingers curling into fists at his sides were at odds with his laid-back smile. Probably nervous she’d reveal his secret. He wouldn’t want his brother to know he was dating Natalee.
“Is that right?” Jake said with a dangerous expression on his face.
“No, it’s not. Chance and I aren’t dating anymore.”
“But you are the woman who was asking my brother Mike a bunch of questions the other night. The night of the brawl.”
“It’s not what you think. I’m a reporter. I’m writing—”
“Not interested.”
“Guess our car date is off?”
“Smart lady. Now if you—”
Vivi spotted a white Suburban with a Christmas Sheriff’s decal on the passenger-side door coming down the road. Please let it be Gage, she prayed. But Gage would tell Chance. She dug two twenties from her back jeans pocket, practically flinging them at Jake. “Thanks, gotta go.”
She jumped in the car, patting the dashboard when she turned the key. “Come on, baby. Don’t fail me now.” Vivi gunned the engine and tore out of the parking lot at the same time the Suburban pulled into the strip mall. She was about to release a gratified breath when the Suburban pulled a U-ie. The vehicle’s reversal didn’t necessarily have anything to do with her, she reassured herself. Any number of things…
She heard the siren and glanced in the rearview mirror. Nope, not any number of things. It definitely had to do with her. Chance glared at her from behind the wheel of the white Suburban, gesturing for her to pull over. She thought about ignoring him, pretending she didn’t see him, but then white smoke began billowing from underneath the hood of her car. A loud bang followed, and the hood popped open. She slammed on the brakes. Chance slammed on his.
Not fast enough.
Chapter Sixteen
McBride, this isn’t funny. Let me out of here now,” Vivi yelled, rattling the cell door.