Nathan’s brows dipped. “Of course, I will.”
Clayton left us on the sidewalk, and Nathan tossed his arm around my shoulder. “We’re just out for an afternoon stroll to onlookers. You just lead the way.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his touch sent me into a tizzy. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I wished his words were true.
We took it slow through town, stopping a few times as people approached Nathan. Had I known my way around town, I might have left him so we could get done quicker. I held the bank heist money in one hand and my crystal in the other.
It wasn’t until we were standing in front of the bank that any hope I had vanished, and my shoulders deflated.
“Please tell me that isn’t the bank where your mom died.”
He sighed. “Yep. Maybe the money isn’t going to help us after all.”
Nathan’s Uncle Dan waved as he passed and pulled into the bank parking lot. A man was sitting on the sidewalk in front of the building, resting his head in his palms.
“Do you think he’s okay?” I asked.
“My uncle will take care of him.” Nathan gestured with his finger toward where his uncle was headed in the young man’s direction.
The man rose to his feet. His hands gestured wildly as they exchanged heated words.
“Maybe you should go check on him.” I said gesturing to Uncle Dan.
Before Nathan could even cross the street, the man who’d been sitting met our gaze and started slowly started to walk off.
My stomach grumbled as the sun began to set. Our day had been wasted. A dead end.
“Come on. Let’s get you something to eat, and then we’ll call Clayton to come and pick us up.”
I snapped the heist money and held it up. “Too bad we can’t use this.”
He chuckled and took it from me, stashing it in his pocket. “That would be the quickest way to get the FBI into town.”
Nathan took me to this dive of a place. I almost balked at the idea of entering a building that looked like it might fall down around us. There was a neon sign above the entrance that wasn’t lit up. Mitchell Brothers BBQ.
“This place might not look like much, but the barbecue is to die for,” Nathan said as he pulled the doors open.
The crowd inside was bustling, unlike what I’d expected from the outer appearance. Tables were strategically scattered around the place. Waitresses dressed from head to toe in black were walking around, carrying trays of food to the tables.
Broken peanut shells littered the floor. They crunched beneath our feet as Nathan rested his hand on my back and pointed to a table in the distance near the dance floor.
“Food and dancing?”
“They bring in a DJ on the weekends. We’d have to come back tomorrow if you want me to teach you the two-step. We’re lucky to get a table, seeing as they’re closing early tonight. Several of their workers are in the rodeo.” Nathan chuckled as we approached the table. He pulled out my chair.
The linoleum tabletop shined from the last cleaning.
We hadn’t been seated for a minute when Amanda appeared at our table. “Are you following me?”
“What are you doing here, squirt?” Nathan asked as he handed me a menu.
“We’re seated across the room.” Amanda gestured over her shoulder to a table full of girls.
“Staying out of trouble I hope,” Nathan said.
Amanda rested her hand on her jutted hip and raised a brow at her big brother. I’d been there before, just with my big sister instead. There was nothing like having an authority figure watching your every move.
“We’re just going to eat and then leave,” I reassured her. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you.”
“Thanks, Cassie.” She lifted her chin in acknowledgment before spinning around and darting across the room.
A waitress appeared in the next five minutes. We placed our orders, and she returned with our drinks before leaving us again.
“I’m sorry the money led to the bank,” I said, reading the disappointment in his eyes. “Maybe the thief took out a safety deposit box to keep the money safe and hidden, or maybe he opened an account with the money that wasn’t ruined from the paint explosion.”
“If that were the case, that would confirm my suspicion that the robber still alive was local.”
I rested my hand over his. He lifted his gaze to mine.
“Don’t lose hope. I’m not done yet.” I gave him a sad smile.
He took my hand in his and held it. “What more can you do?”
I shrugged. “I have a few ideas still up my sleeve.”
Food arrived a short time later, and as promised, the barbeque was to die for, and I’d only had the ribs. They had a full menu of stuff I still needed to try.
“So why did you leave town? Monica seems nice.” I held up my hand. “You don’t have to answer that; I’m prying, just ignore me.”
Nathan’s lips twitched as he lifted the beer to his lips. “We were good together. It just turned out we wanted different things. I wanted to leave, and I asked her to come with me. She wanted to stay.”
“So, it was geography?” I asked.
“It was more than that, but...” His eyes widened as he stared over my head, making me glance over my shoulder.
A mountain of a man was headed in our direction. Six-foot-something, he would tower over me. His scowl was deeper than any I’d seen on Nathan’s face. His cowboy hat had a wide brim, his belt buckle even wider.
“Murray.” The mountainous cowboy’s voice was deep and threatening.
Chapter 13
Nathan rose and extended his hand. “John.”
They shook hands, but the vibes around them were sharp and cold like shards of ice.
I stood and wiped my mouth, holding out my hand to the newcomer. I was on the clock again; my job as a girlfriend was becoming easier. “Hi, I’m Cassie.”
“I’ve heard about you.” John looked at my hand and then dismissed it, meeting Nathan’s gaze again.
Well, alrighty then. I rested my hand on my hip.
“You’re being rude to my girlfriend, John. That’s not okay.”
John glanced at me again, as if seeing me for the first time. “What are you going to do Nathan, arrest me?”
I huffed out a breath and met John’s scowl with my own. “Listen here, you jackass. You’re ruining our dinner, so if you don’t mind…”
“I do mind,” John said and gestured to the door. “Let’s take this outside and settle it like men.”
“You’ve got it.” Nathan pulled out his wallet and dropped a few bills onto the table.
“You can’t really mean to fight in the streets.” My whisper was loud as I grabbed my purse and followed behind them. “You’re an FBI agent for heaven’s sake.”
They pushed through the doors and headed around the corner to the alley. They stared death rays at each other. The air was thick with emotion. The stars in the night sky were hidden beneath clouds as if they, too, didn’t want to witness this disaster. Lightning flashed in the distance. The two men squared off as I held my breath, debating if there was any way I could stop them from this childish act.
Time seemed to move slowly as they glared at each other, as I waited to see who would make the first punch. Neither of them moved.
“You two knock it off,” Monica said as she appeared from behind me. Both men grinned and then laughed as they pulled each other into that manly pat on the back version of a hug.
“You should have told me you were coming to town,” John said, nudging his cowboy hat out of his eyes.
“What, and ruin the show you just put on?”
“Wait, I don’t understand,” I said, holding up my hands in the air.
John took one of my hands and kissed my palm. “Cassie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Monica came home and told me all about you.”
My brows dipped as I turned to Nathan.
He blushed as
he slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “John and I were best friends. We used to compete against each other, and, well, the stands weren’t filling up, so we’d devised a plan to get more people to attend.”
“We staged a dislike for each other, fighting over a girl.”
Monica waved her fingers. “I was the girl.”
“And what started out as fun and games turned into something stronger, didn’t it, honey?” John said, pulling Monica into his arms, bending her over his arm, and kissing her senseless.
“So, let me get this straight. You were best friends with Nathan, and you stole his girlfriend?”
“Well, when you put it like that, I sound like an ass.”
“What other way is there to put it?” I asked, resting my hands on my hips, seeing these two in a different, very manipulative light.
“Nathan and I had already separated before he’d left town,” Monica said, as if explaining.
“And you just stepped in and swept her off her feet?” Cassie growled.
“It’s fine, Cass. They belong together,” Nathan said, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Besides, I stole her from him first.”
“Dude, that was first grade and you picked a flower from your mother’s prized rose garden and gave it to her. How was I supposed to compete with that?” John said.
“What girl could turn down the prettiest rose this side of the Mississippi after he told me I was just as pretty?” Monica said, leaning into John’s chest.
John smiled at Monica before pressing his lips to hers in a kiss that heated my cheeks. They broke the embrace, and John whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby,” Monica said, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Now feed me before I have to kill you and reconsider my options.”
I chuckled. This entire situation was crazy, but I liked Monica. She was as nutty as my family. Not that I’d let her get within ten feet of Nathan. My stomach twisted at the thought.
“You two are coming to the competitions, right?” John asked.
“Aren’t you too old to still be competing?” Nathan teased. “I’d hate for you to break a hip.” Nathan chuckled.
“I’m not competing anymore. I’m a judge.” He held out his hand and shook Nathan’s again. “Swing by the house tomorrow afternoon. I’m barbequing.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Nathan said, backtracking.
Monica took John’s hand and started pulling him out of the alley. She pointed at me. “Cassie, you two should show up. I promise embarrassing stories.”
I smiled. Nathan dropped his arms from around my waist and took me by the hand.
“That was interesting.”
“I would have warned you, but there wasn’t time.” Nathan glanced at me and grinned.
“You had me fooled.”
“John is Uncle Dan’s son. Our families used to vacation and rodeo together. They still do sometimes. Amanda and Marty still ride together. They’re thick as thieves.”
There was no question that Amanda and Marty were close, but I think there was more to their story than just being on the circuit together. When they’d been over, I watched as Amanda’s entire demeanor changed from a take-charge type of girl into one a bit shyer as Marty approached. Not that I’d mention that to Nathan.
“So where to now?” I asked.
Nathan led me up the street. “I need to make one more stop if that’s okay with you.”
The streets were deserted this time of night. We walked hand in hand almost to the outskirts of town near where the rodeo was set up. He turned at a brick sign that read, Millville Cemetery.
‘You know I’ve had dates take me to a lot of unusual places, but the cemetery is a first for me.”
Nathan chuckled. “You aren’t scared, are you?”
“Ghosts and zombies don’t scare me,” I teased and forced myself not to rub at the goosebumps forming on my arm. I wasn’t lying. Those things didn’t scare me; it was the thought of being buried alive. My sister Mercy had touched me once and made the mistake of telling me how I was going to die. At the time we were young and it was just a game. It was soon after we realized that she’d accurately predicted other deaths.
So now, I stayed clear of places where those things might come to pass. I fought hard to control my thoughts from straying and making it worse. I watched my step as we walked. I scanned my surrounding. There wasn’t a threat in sight. No yawning pit for me to fall into, no skulking villain lurking nearby to make that happen.
Tension knotted in my shoulders as Nathan stopped at a grave. Jenna Murray was carved into the stone’s surface. Roses sat in the attached vase. She’d been forty-three when she died and had died on her birthday.
“How awful that she died on her birthday. That must make celebrating her life more difficult since you mourn her too.”
“She was still in her prime,” Nathan said, lowering to his knees. He picked the stray leaves resting at the bottom of the stone and tossed them away. “Every year on her birthday my dad would buy her a cake and Mildred would help me make some dried pasta necklace or something as equally stupid, and my mom would disappear for two hours of her birthday without fail. My dad used to tell me that she deserved it. It was her me-time.”
“She was probably going to the spa or getting her nails done,” I offered.
Nathan chuckled. “Mom didn’t bother with her nails. They stayed dirty digging in her flower gardens. She used to tell me the more time she spent with her flowers, the more peace of mind they gave her.”
Flowers made her calm? If that was the case, maybe I should try something similar.
I ran my fingers over the beautiful petals. The crystal vibrated against my chest. Maybe there was something to this. Maybe his mother had solved how to de-stress. “Maybe I should try to grow a garden.”
Nathan pulled dimes from his pocket and used his finger to dig a tiny hole next to her headstone. He placed them in the hole and covered them up.
“Are you trying to grow a money tree, because, let me tell you, I’ve tried. It didn’t work.”
“I always leave her dimes. She likes to put them in my path.”
“You know they check in on us, right? One of my sisters is like a ghost whisperer.”
Chapter 14
“She would have liked you, you know.” Nathan’s rested his palm on my cheek in a tender caress. His gaze softened as we sat in the grass beneath the Texas sky. He leaned in. His breath was hot against my mouth as he stared into my eyes. “Thank you for helping me.”
He pressed his lips to mine in a heated kiss making my heartbeat quicken. His lips were warm and moist, sending shivers of desire down my body to places long neglected. My body responded to his touch and eagerly responded to his kiss.
His gentle lips caressed mine until he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. Our heated breaths mingled and matched in intensity.
“Why did you stop?” I asked.
“I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
I rested my palm around his neck and pulled him close to whisper against his lips. “You make me feel alive, and I haven’t felt that in a long time. I’m ready to explore this, whatever it is.”
Gone was the gentle kiss, replaced by something more akin to desire and demand. He covered my mouth and pulled me into his arms so, when I felt something hard against my head, it took a minute to pull out of the sexual haze I’d been heading into. I broke the kiss abruptly, leaving the warmth of his hold and his mouth.
“Give me your money,” a man growled as he yanked me to my feet, holding the gun to my head.
Nathan stared up at us, about to stand. “Stay right where you are and empty out your pockets, or she dies.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
There was a desperation in this man’s voice as his fingers bit punishingly into my arm. It took me only a second to realize I recognized him. The man from the bank was holding me at gunpoint.
“Here,” I said, offering my purse. “Take whatever’s in there.”
He cocked the trigger and gestured toward Nathan. “Throw it to him so he can add in his cash. I know he has money. I saw you two at the bank.”
I tossed Nathan my purse. He slowly slid his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out the cash. “I’m afraid you only get the cash; I won’t give up the badge.”
The man’s grip on me tightened at his newfound realization.
“No one has to get hurt.” Nathan showed that each of the compartments was empty but his ID. “Let her go.”
“Your phone, too, and empty out your pockets.” He gestured with the gun then pressed it harder into my temple.
Nathan held out his hand as if to still the robber’s actions. “Okay, okay.”
Nathan pulled out his phone and shoved it into my purse before pulling out the tainted hundred-dollar bill from the heist. He yanked open the evidence bag and took the bill out. The evidence bag fluttered to the ground as Nathan shoved the bill into my purse.
He tossed it at my feet. The tension in the air was thick.
“Pick it up.” The robber kept his gaze on Nathan while holding the gun to my head as I slowly bent to retrieve my purse.
“Let her go.”
The man tsked. “She’s my ticket out of here. You stay put, and no harm will come to her. If I even think that you’re following us, I’ll kill her.”
“What guarantees do we have that you’re not going to kill her anyway?” Nathan asked, slowly rising to his feet.
“If that were the case, I’d shoot you first and kill you both. Are you sure you want to test my word?”
“It’s fine,” I pleaded with Nathan. “I’m fine, Nathan. He hasn’t hurt me, and I don’t think he will.”
The man wrapped his arm around my chest and started walking us backward into the darkness of night. He called out as we moved between headstones. “Stay put, or she dies.”
I almost tripped, and he had to stop me from falling. “Sorry.”
“Don’t try anything funny,” he said as his hold on me tightened, his hand pressed hard against the crystal at my neck. We were almost at a backward run when he stopped and turned me in his arms.
Pay Dirt (Bennett Dynasty Book 2) Page 6