Cowboy Brothers of Rainbow Canyon: A Western Contemporary Cowboy Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  “Speak straight, Amy. Cut the bullshit and tell me what you’re gettin’ at.”

  “It’s really simple, Wyatt,” she said, speaking as if I was a moron. “Jess was on my side the whole time. I hired her as a private investigator, sure, but she let me know that she had other ways of getting information from targets. Ways I was more than happy to pay her extra for.”

  “How many times am I gonna have to tell you to cut the bullshit, Amy? What the hell’s goin’ on with Jess?”

  “You can be smart when you want to be, Wyatt. But you’re so, so stubborn. It’s like you’re trying to blind yourself to the most obvious truths, even when they’re right in front of your face.”

  “Cut. The. Bullshit, Amy.”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll lay it out for you nice and simple-like,” she said, her voice almost gleeful. “Jess has been working with me the whole time, like I said. I’m serious as a damn heart attack about getting what I want, and I was willing to go to whatever length it took. So when Jess told me she’d be willing to do anything, and I mean anything to get close to you, I was all over it.”

  “Go on.”

  “The accident, the memory loss, the needing to stay at your place until she came back to her senses –that was all part of the plan. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, everything else was part of it, too.”

  Whatever was going on, it was clear Amy had figured out that Jess and I were involved. “You’re telling me that, what, Jess got me to fall for her as part of her job? That’s what you’re sayin’ to me?”

  “That’s right,” she said smugly. “And now that she knows exactly how much you’re worth, she’s gonna help me get my hands on what you should have given me from the get-go.”

  I said nothing for a long moment, trying to wrap my mind around what Amy was telling me. Jess was some kind of plant? She’d made the whole damn story up about losing her memory. A big, barking laugh came out of me. I couldn’t help it. The whole thing was too damn ridiculous. And more than that, I didn’t believe a single word Amy had told me.

  “What?” Amy asked, anger in her voice. “What the hell are you laughing at?”

  I let the laugh run its course, and when it was dying, I wiped a tear from my eye before speaking. “You’re so fuckin’ full of shit, Amy. I know you’ve got a lyin’ streak in you, but this really takes the cake.”

  A chilly silence came from the other end. “You fucking prick!”

  Just as I’d suspected, I’d seen right through her nonsense. However, there was still the issue of Jess – Amy bringing her up like this was a good reason for me to think she knew something of her whereabouts.

  “Call me whatever you want,” I said. “But I know you know where Jess is. And unless you want this situation to go all kinds of sideways, you’d better start talkin’. No more lies, Amy.”

  A long silence followed, as if she was trying to weigh her options. “I know where she is, alright. And if you want that choice information, there’s only one way it’s going to happen.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “The settlement. You sign it. Give me everything I want. I tell you where Jess is, and you never see me again.”

  “Simple as that, huh?”

  “Simple as that.”

  “How about this – you tell me where I can find Jess before I call the fuckin’ cops. That sounds pretty simple from where I’m standin’.”

  “You want to bring the police into this? Fine. I’ll make sure they know exactly what kind of man you are. Won’t take much for me to get them on my side once I tell them my vicious, abusive ex is threatening me.” She snorted, an ugly sound. “A few self-inflicted bruises in the right places, and you’re fucked.”

  Amy had always been willing to play dirty, but this was a new low even for her. And she was right about the cops. They’d make this whole mess even messier. I didn’t want to give her what she wanted, but if it meant Jess and our baby were safe…Hell, there wasn’t a price I wouldn’t pay.

  “I give you what you want and that’s it? You tell me where Jess is, and I never see your damn face ever again?”

  “Sounds like a deal to me.”

  “Then we’ll do it.”

  “See, Wyatt? Things can be so simple when you get your ego out of the way.”

  I wasn’t in the mood for any more bullshit. “I’m comin’ now. Be there in an hour.”

  “No, you’re not. First of all, I’m not telling you where I am right now. We’ll meet in a public place, and we’re going to do it on my time. Let’s say tomorrow at six in the evening. I’ll let you know the exact place. Sound good?”

  I spoke through gritted teeth. “Sounds good.”

  “Until then, Wyatt. And let me just say how happy I am that you’re finally seeing reason. You’re going to be so happy at how smoothly this whole process is going to go now that you’re doing the right thing. Talk to you soon.”

  The line went dead, and as I put my phone back into my pocket it took all the restraint I had not to slam the fucking thing down on the counter.

  But I had a plan. Amy thought she was going to play me, but that wasn’t what I had in mind, not at all.

  I returned to my cabin as cool winds whipped around me. Once inside, I hurried to my filing cabinet and took out one of the folders where I’d been putting documents about the divorce. After dumping the contents on the kitchen table, I went through them, trying to find the exact piece of information I was looking for.

  Amy had moved since the divorce proceedings had started, likely in an attempt to keep me as far from her as possible. And she hadn’t told me the address. After sifting through a plethora of papers, I spotted it. Her new place was in downtown Houston, likely in some fancy-ass condo she’d been planning on buying with my money.

  I checked the time, seeing that if I left right then, I’d be able to make it to Houston before the sun went down. I was fixing to pay Amy a little surprise visit. If she thought she had this all wrapped up with a neat bow, she was about to find out how wrong she was.

  I needed to make sure Jess and the baby were safe.

  Nothing else really mattered.

  Jessica

  It was all about waiting for the right time. Tied to the chair in the bedroom of Amy’s luxurious condo, I stared at the room, memorizing it.

  Her place was expensive down to the last detail. Marble floors, antique furniture, and a view that looked out over the city at night. In the corner of the room, on a small column, was an ornate vase. It reminded me of the story the Walker family had told me about the vase Amy had stolen on her way out. I wondered if it might be the same one. Sure looked big enough.

  But I wasn’t concerned about the finer points of her decorating skills. What I was looking for was a way out.

  I couldn’t believe I’d managed to get myself in a situation like that. Kidnapped by a psycho ex-wife, held hostage as a bargaining chip for her to fleece the Walker family out of their fortune. I was mad as hell, ready to make my move and turn the tables.

  But the timing. I didn’t think Amy was a killer, but she was armed, and she was desperate. Whatever schemes she’d been trying to run on Wyatt hadn’t worked. Kidnapping was her last-ditch effort, and not at all planned. When people got desperate, they did stupid things.

  The bedroom door opened, and Amy stepped through. She’d changed into some casual but pricey clothes. Why she wanted even more money, I couldn’t tell. Amy already seemed to be very comfortable. I guessed part of greed was not knowing when to say when.

  “How are you, Jess?” she asked, sitting down on the side of her massive bed.

  “Do you care?”

  She cocked her head to the side, almost appearing hurt by my comment. “Do I care? Of course I care. What kind of monster do you think I am?”

  “The kind who’d kidnap someone and hold them hostage.”

  “Fair point, I suppose.” She smirked at me, shrugging.

  I leaned forward and spoke. “Amy, I don’t k
now what you’ve got planned, but I’m guessing whatever you did before we met didn’t involve committing a felony.”

  Amy said nothing. She only stared at me as if I were an interesting specimen in a zoo.

  “This is insane, you have to admit it.” I tried reasoning with her. “But you haven’t gone too far. It’s not too late to let me go and put all this behind you.”

  She scoffed. “Please. You think I’m going to let you out of here so you can go to the police and tell them what I did?”

  “No,” I said. “I want to put this behind me too, and so does Wyatt. You let me go and I’ll make sure that you get whatever you want. And I promise I won’t go to the police.”

  “Easy to say,” she commented. “But I don’t trust you for a second.”

  “Please, Amy. You have to see how bad this is.”

  She stood up, stepping closer to me. “Oh, honey, you haven’t seen bad. Bad is what happens to traitorous little bitches who stand in the way of getting I want.”

  “I’m sorry I ruined your plans,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice even rather than sarcastic. “But this doesn’t have to go any further.”

  Her eyes were furious slits. “Your apology means absolutely nothing to me. You fucked up, Jessica. And if you being tied up in my bedroom for a little while is the worst thing that happens to you, consider yourself lucky.” Then she smiled, as if pushing the anger aside. “Besides,” she continued, “I already spoke to Wyatt. He’s finally, finally ready to play ball.”

  “What do you mean play ball?”

  Another pleased smile. “He’s coming to see me tomorrow. And he’s finally agreed to give me what I want. All I have to do is tell him where you are, and I become the richest bitch in Texas. Pretty simple, huh?”

  “Pretty simple, if threats and kidnapping are what you consider reasonable.”

  She scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. “You want to talk about reasonable? How about me giving Wyatt opportunity after opportunity to handle this like adults, and him stonewalling me every time.”

  “Nothing reasonable to me about trying to fleece the Walker family for their entire fortune.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not their entire fortune. More like half of it. And as far as I’m concerned, that money is owed to me. Wyatt and I were married, and half of what he’s got is pretty standard. At least that’s what my very expensive lawyers had to say.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I sneered at her. “You’re a spoiled, entitled woman, and in my opinion, what you deserve is less than nothing.” The words came out of my mouth dripping with venom.

  Amy didn’t seem too bothered by my words. She shrugged blithely, as if I’d told her I wasn’t a fan of the curtains. “Whatever. There’s nothing you can say to me that I haven’t heard before. Trust me – Wyatt’s made it abundantly clear that he thinks I’m out of line. And that’s fine. All the more motivation to resort to drastic measures to get what I’m owed.”

  “You think you’re going to get away with this? You think you can just kidnap someone and hold them for ransom and everything’s going to work out fine?”

  “Of course I do!” she exclaimed. “I’ll meet with Wyatt tomorrow, I’ll get my money, and…”

  “And what?” I asked, wanting to hear the rest of her delusional plan.

  She smiled a strange, almost sweet smile. “I don’t know what you think is happening with you and Wyatt. But let me tell you that it’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I may have been a touch dishonest with Wyatt when we first started seeing one another. But all’s fair when it comes to love and war, right?”

  I said nothing, curious.

  “I did what I had to do to make Wyatt see that he and I were perfect for one another.”

  “You mean you lied through your teeth the entire time.”

  Another dismissive hand wave, this one nearly causing the drink in her hand to slosh over the rim. On top of desperate, Amy was most definitely drunk enough for things to easily get out of hand.

  “I put forward a certain face. But isn’t that what everyone does when they start seeing someone? Pretty normal, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Lying, cheating, stealing – you consider that normal?”

  “I’ll admit, things got a little out of hand between the two of us. Passions were heated, that’s for sure. But that’s what you should expect when you’re dealing with something as intense as love.”

  Shock reverberated through me as I realized what she was saying. “You’re telling me you’re still in love with Wyatt?”

  Another sweet smile. “I’m surprised you even need me to tell you that. All of this business I’ve been doing …”

  “You want to keep him in your life.”

  “That’s right. Wyatt needs time to understand his true feelings for me. And if he needs a distraction while he does, I’ll have to learn to live with that.”

  No doubt she was referring to me as the distraction. The woman was totally delusional. Her kidnapping me to get him to hand over the money was cold and calculating, but at least there was some sort of rational end game.

  This, on the other hand, was totally, bat-shit, off-the-wall crazy. And it scared the hell out of me. I wasn’t simply a bargaining chip, I was –in her eyes— the woman standing between her and the man she was destined to be with.

  “It’s not going to happen,” I said. “You and Wyatt. I don’t know what reality you’re living in, but it’s not the same one as everyone else. Wyatt and you are done, divorced, and the sooner you accept that, the better.”

  She locked those icy blue eyes on me as she slowly finished the rest of her drink. When she was done, she set the glass on the nightstand and rose, her eyes still on mine as if she were trying to destroy me with a look.

  “Listen here, you little bitch,” she seethed, her words coming out in a hiss. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You think you’re special? You think you mean anything to Wyatt?” She scoffed. “Please. A man like him with the money he has, he could have any woman he wanted for as long as he wanted. And he’s going to see that once I’m back in his life.” She looked at me with sympathy. “He doesn’t really want you.”

  Anger rushed through my body. I should’ve kept myself in check and not fallen for her games, but I couldn’t help myself. “That’s what you think, huh?”

  She offered a prim smile. “That’s exactly what I think.”

  “Then if you’re so damn special, why am I carrying his baby?”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I’d made a huge, huge mistake. The color instantly drained out of Amy’s face, and her arms fell to her sides. She’d been cocky and confident, but she sure as hell hadn’t been ready for the bomb I’d dropped.

  “You what?”

  There was no going back now. “I’m pregnant. And it’s Wyatt’s baby.”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s not possible.”

  “It’s possible and it’s true. The sooner you accept it, the better.”

  Amy had no intention of accepting reality. She was as far from it as possible. She glared at me as if I’d said the most unbelievable thing imaginable, something that, if true, would totally turn her life upside down.

  “I know that’s not possible,” she said, still trying to keep a cool edge to her voice. “Do you know how many times I tried to get pregnant? I had to lie about birth control to do it, but for months I tried. No –that man’s shooting blanks, and you’re trying some kind of sick head game. I’m not going to fall for it.”

  She seemed so pleased after she spoke, like she’d laid down the real truth. It was almost as though I had a way out, that I could simply let her believe her delusions. But I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

  “I have proof,” I bragged, saying what should have remained in my head. “I took pregnancy tests, and I can tell you for sure that Wyatt is most definitely not shooting b
lanks.”

  However furious she was before, this pushed her over the edge. Her body tightened into a coil before she burst over to me, her finger inches from my face. “I don’t know if you’re a liar or just a little slut. But it doesn’t fucking matter. You’re going to be out of our lives soon. And if you know what’s good for you, you’d better learn to keep your little bitch mouth shut. Got it?”

  I said nothing, my eyes locked onto hers.

  “Actually,” she said, standing up straight and tucking her hair behind her ears. “I have a better idea.”

  She left the room, her shoes clicking on the tile floor. My heart raced as she left – I imagined her returning with the gun and doing something unthinkably drastic. I yanked at my restraints, but to no avail. When she came back into the room, it wasn’t with a gun in her hand but a sock and a roll of duct tape. Before I could react, she shoved the sock into my mouth and sealed it with a strip of the tape. I struggled, trying to push it off my mouth but not succeeding.

  “There we go,” she said triumphantly. “One way to shut your lying mouth.”

  She admired her work. As she did, a booming knock sounded through the home. I recognized the knock – I’d heard it on my bedroom door enough times for it to be familiar. Wyatt was here.

  Amy pointed another accusing finger in my direction. “You stay put, got it? Not like you have a choice. This will all be over soon. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll live to see the other side of it.”

  She stormed out of the room, leaving me alone. I struggled with the ties that bound my hands behind me. The knots were tight, but with a little doing I could untie them – not like Amy was an expert on knots. I fidgeted, and they loosened on my wrists. But being free was only the first step. Amy was still armed and totally deranged. I’d have to choose my next moves very, very carefully.

  I had no idea how it was all going to play out. But if Wyatt was really there, it was going to end.

  One way or another.

  Wyatt

  “Coming!”

  Amy’s sing-song voice on the other side of the door grated on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. She wasn’t expecting me, which was what I’d wanted. But she had to know who it was. My knock made that loud and damn clear.