by Debra Kayn
"Where does he go?"
"Hell, if I know."
"Could he want to go back to where he lived with his mom? He's probably missing her terribly," she said.
Wyatt grunted. "Claudia wasn't much of a mother."
Stunned into silence, she refrained from asking more. She also had a different opinion, believing a child would miss his mom, regardless if she was a good parent or a bad one. As a child, she only had a mom—a good one, but she yearned for a dad, even knowing that he'd wanted nothing to do with having a child and chose to not be involved in her life.
"Claudia had a drug problem. She'd get clean, shape up, and then for months be on a road of self-destruction," he said.
"You shared custody with her?" She closed her mouth, not meaning to pry into his past.
"Went to court twice to try and get full custody, but the judge thought they belonged with their mom, even with all the evidence I provided about her addiction."
Nothing she could say would help his situation. She could only listen.
"Now, their stepdad is threatening to take me to court to try and get them every other weekend." He shifted, stubbed out his smoke on his jeans, and pocketed the butt. "He can spout off all he wants, but if he comes around here, trying to see them again, I'll kill him."
She stepped away. Never in her wildest thoughts would she imagine that's what was bothering him. The man Travis was spying on yesterday must've been the stepdad.
"I don't think the court would allow a change in custody. The stepdad isn't a blood relative and your ex-wife—"
"Ex-girlfriend. We weren't married."
She swallowed. "Without your ex in the picture, the stepdad has no claims to the children. They don't biologically belong to him."
"That's what I hope." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight. Let's go inside, and I can send my kids home."
"Are you sure you want to do that tonight?"
"Yeah, they're looking forward to watching movies." He walked her inside.
Five minutes later, the kids had their shoes on, told her thanks for dinner, and carried the extra tacos home with them. When the door closed, she remained in a funk. While glad that he stayed, she only had the urge to hold him until all his worries disappeared.
She led him to the bedroom. Silently, they both stripped out of their clothes.
A chill swept over her, and she slipped between the sheets. Holding the blanket up, inviting him in, she snuggled against him, covering them both up.
His body remained tense. Only his hand moved as he played with her hair. Settled into the crook of his arm, she gazed at his profile as he stared up at the ceiling. The whiskers of his beard moved slightly, and she suspected he gritted his teeth.
She never imagined in such a short amount of time; she'd feel such emotions for a man who was once only a hot guy she had a crush on. That during her low times after her grandpa had died, that watching Wyatt ride on his motorcycle from afar gave her something to focus on, instead of feeling sad.
She wanted to give that comfort he'd unknowingly given her.
Pushing up, she crawled on top of him and wiggled down on the bed until the covers were over her head. She kissed his left hip, his abdomen, and his right hip.
His cock hardened without her even touching that part of him. Rubbing her hands along his muscular thighs, she used her tongue to lick the length of him.
Wyatt stretched his legs underneath her. Circling her tongue around the head of his cock, she opened her mouth and took him in, sucking softly. Since meeting him, every time they'd been together, they'd been rushed. She hadn't had time to just be with him. To explore. To learn.
Tonight was as much for her as it was for him. She needed to have the closeness, the slowness, the time to try and understand what was happening to her. Being with him seemed like so much more than a fantasy or a few one-night stands.
She took more of him in her mouth and slowly sucked until he almost slipped out of the hold of her lips. Then, she went down again, using her tongue to caress him.
Wyatt moaned and removed the blanket over her head. Without letting him go, she peered up at him. He had his hands clasped behind his head, watching her.
The power he gave her in that one look overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes and bobbed her head, giving him steady, firm, deep.
His hand molded atop her head. So caught up in pleasuring him, when he came in her mouth, she only then realized she'd dug her nails into his thighs.
Taking her mouth off him, she raised her head. "I'm sor—"
"Don't you dare fucking say it." He pulled her up and tucked her against his side, holding her tightly. "It was the best, tiger."
She snuggled closer, looped her arm around him, and closed her eyes. And wondered if she was half in love with Wyatt Carr.
He kissed her head. "Give me a few minutes, and then it's my turn."
She smiled against his chest. He was going to break her heart because she couldn't walk away from him.
Chapter 12
Wyatt
CARRYING A PIECE OF plywood, Wyatt climbed the ladder, carefully balancing the board on his right arm and using his head.
"Four more steps, boss," shouted Tony over the music coming from the boombox.
Near the top of the ladder, the wood lifted off him, taken by Tony and Matt. He grabbed the crossbeam and stepped up on the second-floor rafter. By the end of the day, they'd have the roof on the new construction.
He took the hammer off his toolbelt and grabbed a handful of nails. As Tony lined up the plywood, he nailed it down.
The sun beat down on his shoulders. Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his arm, he moved over while Rocky brought up another piece of lumber. They all took turns, one after another.
"Boss?"
He walked to the edge of the roof and peered down to the ground, spotting Carter waving his arm. The bright neon-colored shirt beside his employee caught his attention before he absorbed what Carter was yelling.
"What are you doing here?" he yelled down at Jess.
His daughter flapped her arms. "Dean picked up Travis at..."
The hammering behind him cut out the rest of the sentence. But he'd heard enough. He climbed down the ladder, sliding halfway, and stormed across the dirt yard.
"Where is Travis now?" he demanded.
"I don't know." Jess hurried to keep up with him as he headed toward his motorcycle. "I saw him getting into Dean's car from the bus. I yelled for him, but they took off. Once the bus dropped me off, I ran all the way here instead of going home."
"Good girl." He handed her a helmet and yelled at Roddy. "Keep them working until dark. I want that roof on, and the site cleaned up."
Roddy saluted him. He got on the Harley. His daughter climbed on behind him. Waiting until she pushed the footpegs down and wrapped her arms around him, he took off the moment she was settled securely behind him.
It took ten minutes for him to make it across town to the house where Claudia had raised the kids. Spotting Dean's car in the driveway, he parked at the curb.
"Stay on the bike. Don't move. Do not follow me." He jogged across the grass to the front of the house.
Banging on the door, he looked around for any sign that Travis was here. His son knew better than to take off with Dean or anyone besides him or their grandma. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere but home after school.
For how often his kids had complained about Dean when they'd lived with their mother and stepdad, he had no idea why Travis would voluntarily go with him. Not when life had changed, and he was living with him permanently.
Impatient, he banged his fist on the door again. Dean was home. His damn car was in the driveway.
"Yeah, hang on, I'm coming," yelled Dean from inside the house.
The door swung open, and Dean stood shirtless in front of Wyatt. He curled his fingers.
"Where is he?" Wyatt looked beyond Dean to the interior of the house, read
y to push his way inside to get to his son.
"Who?" Dean lifted a shirt and slipped it over his head.
"Travis." The motherfucker was going to play stupid. "You took him from school."
"I went to the gas station and saw the kid walking out, so I gave him a ride. He hates riding the bus, and I've picked him up...for years." Dean's gaze went toward the street, and he lifted his hand in a wave to Jess.
Wyatt shifted, cutting of Dean's line of vision toward his daughter. Dean's days of being the lazy ass stepdad were over. He wasn't going to stand here and listen to how life used to be. The kids were with him. He'd raise them the way they should've been brought up from the beginning.
A car pulled into the driveway. Aware that Dean's house always had a steady stream of people coming and going, he suspected the high volume of visitors was the one reason his ex could never stay clean for more than a couple of months. It was also the reason why his children used to run wild. Dean and Claudia never allowed them to hang around the house if there were people around.
Without any proof that drugs were being sold and used, there was nothing he could do. Now that Claudia was dead, he shouldn't have to put up with her husband. He was nothing to the kids.
"He better be at home," said Wyatt.
"Or what?"
He got in Dean's face. The people arriving shouted out, asking if there was a problem. Wyatt held his ground. He wasn't afraid of the deadbeats looking for any excuse to try and rough him up. He'd had a lifetime of protecting himself and looking out for what was his.
Wyatt lowered his voice. "If Travis isn't at home, I'll be back."
Walking away from the house, he got on his Harley, made sure Jess was settled behind him and headed home.
At the apartment, he parked. "Go and see if your brother is inside."
Jess handed him the helmet and ran to the door. Using her key, she disappeared inside.
Ready to take off again if Travis wasn't home, he sat on his Harley. Concern for his son left him jumpy. Excess energy threatened to send him into a panic.
He would do anything for his kids.
If someone else touched them, hurt them, even looked at them wrong, he would choke the life out of the person.
Jess reappeared, slamming the door. "He's not here," she yelled.
Damnit. "Go inside. Lock the door. I'm going to find him."
"I'll look around here." Jess kept coming in his direction.
"No." Using his feet, he rolled the bike away from the curb. "Go inside, Jess."
He already had one of his kids missing. He needed to keep Jess safe.
A motorcycle rode toward him. Recognizing Roddy, Wyatt stopped and pointed for Jess to go back to the apartment. To his relief, his daughter hurried to the door, glancing over her shoulder, and finally shut herself inside, obeying him.
Roddy shut off the engine of his bike, reached behind him, and undid the Bungee cord on his seat. "You forgot your tool belt at the worksite."
"Do me a favor and drop it by the door, I'll get it when I get back."
Roddy's gaze sharpened. "Problem?"
"My son took off again. I'm going out looking for him."
"Want help?" asked Roddy.
Even knowing that Roddy's type of help included Tarkio Motorcycle Club and that help always came with a favor in return, Wyatt said, "I'd appreciate it. I'm going to go over to the school and work my way back here."
"We'll fan out all over town." Roddy removed the satellite phone from the bag on his Harley. "Someone from Tarkio will come to the apartments and notify us if he comes back. What color shirt is he wearing?"
Rubbing his forehead, he tried to remember what his kid wore that morning when he'd left for school. "A, uh, black shirt with a blue and white flannel over it."
"Got it." Roddy held the phone to his ear. "Go on. I've got it covered on this end."
He rode off, roaring out of the parking lot. Hyper alert to his surroundings, he looked for his son. Something had to give.
Either Dean needed to disappear from their lives and leave his kids alone, or Travis needed a good ass-whipping and learn not to run off all the time. He couldn't be looking for his son every damn week, imagining the worst.
Kids disappeared every day, stolen out from under the school system, kidnapped by non-custodial parents, and whisked away by strangers who were intent on brainwashing them until they'd lost all sense of who they were and where they'd come from. Hell, there were even the Rajneeshees in Oregon who enticed runaways to join them from surrounding states, including Montana.
Chapter 13
Joey
THE DISHES IN THE CUPBOARD rattled. Joey grabbed onto the edge of the counter. It was several seconds before she realized there was a loud rumble coming from outside, and the earth wasn't shaking under her feet.
Hurrying to the front of the apartment, she opened the door and looked out. A gang of about fifty bikers riding motorcycles rolled into the parking lot. The bikers wore black leather vests and stopped in front of Unit B.
The last thing she needed was trouble at the apartments. It was hard enough to keep the reputation up that Mountain View Apartments was a safe, family-friendly environment.
Stepping outside, she shielded her eyes against the setting sun. The bikers were parking. Curious if they had anything to do with Wyatt, considering he rode a motorcycle, she closed the door and slowly walked along the sidewalk to Unit B.
She couldn't stop anyone from having guests, but since taking over the apartments from her grandpa, she'd never once seen a gang of bikers hanging around the place.
Recognizing Rabbit as one of the Tarkio members congregated in the parking lot, she waved. Though Rabbit wore a biker vest when he played pool, she'd never seen him away from the bar.
Rabbit got off his black motorcycle and approached her on the sidewalk. "Joey."
"Hi." She stopped in front of him.
"Have you seen a boy running around with a flannel shirt on. Black hair. Teenager." Rabbit gazed around.
"No, I've been inside." Feeling protective, she crossed her arms. "Why?"
It was unfair of grown men, especially bikers, chasing down a kid, for whatever reason. They'd likely scare the boy to death.
"His dad is looking for him. He might've run away," said Rabbit.
Her back stiffened. "Wyatt's son?"
Rabbit nodded. She gasped, pressing her hand to her chest. To have the motorcycle club out looking for Travis meant Wyatt hadn't found him. Unless, he hadn't heard because he was working.
"Where's Wyatt?" She shook, afraid something bad had happened, and Travis hadn't snuck off to be alone.
"He's out looking for his son."
Her heart pounded. Why couldn't she have been outside working? She might've seen Travis before he was able to hide from his dad. School let out a couple hours ago. He could be anywhere.
She swallowed. "Do you know where Jess, Wyatt's daughter is?"
"She's safe."
"That's great, but do you know where she is?" she asked.
"In the apartment."
She walked toward Wyatt's place. Her fear that something terrible had happened urged her into a run. One of the bikers stood outside the door.
She reached around him, and when the man put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, she shook him off. "I'm the apartment manager. I need to see Jess."
The man let go of her and dipped his chin, stepping away. She knocked.
The door opened. Jess spotted her and lunged. She caught Wyatt's daughter and led her back into the apartment.
"Are you okay?" She held Jess, rubbing her back.
"Travis is missing." Jess sniffed. "Dad took off to go look for him."
"He'll find him." She led Jess to the couch and sat beside her, holding her hands. "I'll stay with you until your dad brings Travis home."
"I don't know why he never listens. If he's hiding somewhere, I'm going to smack him when he gets back. He can't keep putting dad through all the worry
. It's hard enough for him to raise us on his own when he's not used to us being here all the time."
Though she agreed with Jess, she only wanted Travis home. She'd hoped giving him a job would help him focus on other things, and having money in his pocket would help him feel better about all the changes in his life.
"Have you eaten?" she asked.
Jess shook her head.
She patted Jess's hand. "Let's see what you have in the kitchen, and I bet we can figure out something to make. That way when they get home, you guys can all sit down and eat."
"Dad usually orders pizza for dinner and picks it up on his way home. I guess he can't do that tonight..." Jess pointed to the cupboard. "There's cereal, Campbell's soup, and peanut butter."
She turned around. "Pizza every night?"
"Pretty much." Jess folded her arms across her chest. "Sometimes, he gives us money when he knows he'll be working until dark, and Travis and I will walk over to Annie's and eat."
At least at Annie's Restaurant, they'd have a homecooked-style meal. She looked in the cupboard. The Carr family wouldn't starve, but they also needed a meal to fill them up. She'd seen how they liked to eat. A PB&J sandwich wasn't going to do it.
She looked in the fridge. There was a package of ground beef already thawed. She checked the date on the package. Bingo.
"We'll make hamburgers." She glanced at Jess, staring at nothing. "Are there six pieces of bread?"
Jess walked over and opened a different cupboard and removed a brand-new loaf. She got busy making patties. Wyatt's daughter anticipated her next need and got a skillet for her. Both of them worked quietly, only interrupted by a phone call that caused them both to jump in surprise.
Hoping it was Wyatt, she found Jess telling the person she needed to stay off the phone.
Jess hung up the call, her cheeks flushed. "It wasn't my dad. It was just a boy from school."
At fifteen years old, Jess was old enough to have a boyfriend. She glanced at Jess, understanding that her heart must be pulling in two different directions. She'd wanted to talk to the boy, but her concern for her brother won out. Wyatt or Travis could phone home, and nobody wanted to miss the call.