Cowboy Secrets

by Alice Sharpe

  “Am I? A crazy, drugged-out lunatic tried to kill me. I bet you wish he’d succeeded. Then I’d be out of your hair forever. I wish I would have died with Danny!”

  “Tess!” Doug said, his eyes almost spinning. “Don’t talk like that, please, honey.”

  “It’s the truth,” she sobbed. “I wish I were dead.”

  Her declaration practically ignited the air in the room. Doug’s expression turned even more bewildered and when he finally spoke, his voice sounded shaken. “Oh, Lord, what have I done? How do I fix this? Tell me what you want.”

  “I want you to love me,” she whispered.

  Sierra took a step toward comforting her, but Doug held up his hands and shook his head. It was he who walked to Tess’s side and draped an arm around her shoulders. “I’ve always loved you, baby,” he said as he helped her to the sofa, where the two sat down. Tess’s trembling hands worried the bottom hem of her sweater as Doug continued talking softly to her. “Sometimes I’m a tad selfish, I know that. But hurting you...well, that was never my goal. If you want, I’ll help you face whatever lies ahead.”

  “I don’t know how you can,” she said.

  “Listen. Mona and I split up, this time for good. I’ll rent us an apartment with great security. We’ll get to know each other again. Trust me just this one more time. Give me another chance, please, Tess.”

  She stared at him for several seconds and then nodded.

  “Good. We’ll leave right now if you want.”

  “What about Gary and the documentary?”

  “Gary will understand. We can meet later if he’s still interested. As of right now, you are the main priority.”

  “Then I’d like to wait until after the wedding,” Tess said. She looked up at Sierra. “Are you okay with this?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll give you the contact information for the detective we talked to at the LAPD. All I want is for you to be safe and happy, Tess.”

  “We’ll drive in for that X-ray now,” Doug said.

  An unexpected tap on Sierra’s shoulder surprised her and she whirled around. Two hands caught her arms and steadied her. She looked up into Pike’s eyes and a jolt of pain shot through her chest. It was obvious to her that he’d rather be anywhere on earth than standing next to her.

  “We need to talk,” he said as he lowered his hands and backed away.

  She followed him from the room.

  Chapter Eleven

  Despite the dark circles under her eyes, Sierra looked as gorgeous as ever to Pike. Her creamy skin glowed, begging him to extend a hand and touch her. Instead he spoke. “Robert is here to talk to you. He’s waiting in the kitchen. He’s also sent a crew out to the gold mine.”

  She blinked. “Who is Robert?”

  “Sorry. Officer Robert Hendricks. He’s an old friend.”

  They were standing in the foyer and Sierra glanced back at the sofa at Tess. “Does he want to see us both at the same time?” she asked.

  “No. He said you go in first and then Tess. When did Doug show up?”

  She lowered her voice. “A couple of hours ago. Tess must have told him about the documentary, probably including the fact that they’d lost their actor for the voice-overs. He came to try to finagle a job out of Gary, but Tess just convinced him to take her back to LA.”

  Pike’s brow furrowed. “What? I thought she was adamant about not going back there.”

  “So did I. I’m beginning to think the past three or four months have been a cry for his attention. Maybe he’ll finally understand she needs some guidance.”

  Pike rubbed his forehead. “You’re going to have to give me a minute or two to wrap my head around Doug providing guidance.”

  She touched his hand. “Pike, I want to tell you that I’m sorry about last night. I regret, well, things.”

  He looked down at her, desire pulsing through his veins like acid. “What exactly do you regret?” he asked.

  “We’d all had such a lousy couple of days. I wish I hadn’t dumped that on you, too.”

  “So you don’t regret walking away from me exactly, just the way you did it?”

  She nodded.

  “Water under the bridge,” he said. “Have you made plans to return home?”

  “Not yet. I was waiting for Tess to decide what she wanted. Now that it appears Doug is back in the picture I’ll make arrangements.”

  They stared at each other. He could not bring himself to break the connection until she raised her hand and touched his cheek so gently it stopped his heart. He nodded once, opened the front door and left.

  * * *

  AS BEST MAN, Pike dressed in his good suit, a tailored black ensemble with a longer-than-average jacket and country tailoring at the shoulders. He didn’t wear it very often; in fact, he found a folded wedding invitation to Gerard’s first wedding in the pocket. The joy of that day had been eclipsed a few years later by a tragic accident. Pike tossed the embossed paper into the fireplace before he fed Daisy, made sure she was comfortable and took off for the main ranch house. The dog had been acting squirrelly that day. He had a feeling motherhood was impending and he hated leaving her alone.

  On the other hand, he wouldn’t miss seeing Gerard and Kinsey tie the knot for the world.

  He found the outside of the barn illuminated with tiny white lights, and when he walked inside, he realized he was the only one there. For a second, he stood inside the door and gazed around at what the film crew had done to ready the space for a country wedding.

  Lanterns hung on every post, casting warm yellow light. A few parabolic heaters kept the space warm. Bales of hay had been lined up in rows to act as seats for the guests, while wedding bells consisted of his dad’s collection of old cowbells strung together on ropes. A makeshift arch had been draped with evergreen boughs and a lopsided but charming cake, decorated with what appeared to be cookies, sat amid a small sea of twinkling champagne flutes on a trestle table covered with a gingham cloth.

  He sat down on a hay bale and folded his hands between his knees. His eyes closed for a moment, but he found no relief from his ping-ponging feelings. As happy as he was that Gerard had found love a second time, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever find it even once.

  A voice came from behind him. “What do you think? Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”

  Pike jumped to his feet and turned to find Ogden and Leo walking into the barn. Ogden carried a guitar. “Yeah, you guys did great,” Pike said.

  “Going to be a nice wedding,” Leo said. “We took the precaution of locking the dogs in another outbuilding. Frankie said we couldn’t trust them with the cake.”

  “Good thinking,” Pike said.

  Over the course of the next thirty minutes, members of the household filtered into the barn while Ogden played the guitar and Oliver filmed the arrivals. Chance and Charlie stood with Pike for a while before sitting down. Doug made his trademark big entrance, but not alone this time. Instead, he carried Tess to a bale of hay, where he helped her sit. There was a blue walking cast on her foot now, but what was really different was the smile on her face. For the first time in a long time, his little sister actually looked happy. As did Grace and Harry, who arrived holding hands.

  Sierra showed up at last wearing a slim skirt and an ivory-colored scoop-necked sweater. He recognized Grace’s green cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders. She looked stunning.

  “This is lovely,” she said as she paused in front of him. Her hair was gathered at the nape of her neck, but glistening tendrils fell against her cheeks. Her sparkling eyes gave the diamond pendant a run for its money.

  “Beautiful,” he said as he stared at her.

  “I talked to Detective Hatch this afternoon. He had big news. I haven’t shared it with Tess yet. May we talk after the wedding?�
��

  “Sure,” he said.

  Frankie and Gary ushered in Gerard at last. Gary was still protecting his shoulder and chose a bale of hay near the back on which to perch. Frankie found a seat next to Chance and Charlie as Pike and Gerard walked to the arch.

  “You ready for this?” Pike asked his big brother.

  Gerard’s blue eyes danced. “I can’t wait.”

  Holding a modest bouquet and dressed in rose, Lily entered next and slowly moved up the makeshift aisle. Oliver changed position to catch everything with the camera. Ogden played the guitar until Lily stopped to stand beside Pike. Then he began strumming the familiar tune of the wedding march.

  All eyes turned to witness Kinsey float into the barn, a vision in white. As pretty as the dress was, it was the way she looked at Gerard that fascinated Pike. He glanced at his brother and saw the same look of anticipation. His gaze moved to Sierra, whose head was still turned.

  Leo began the ceremony and Kinsey and Gerard didn’t take their eyes off each other’s faces until they finally exchanged vows, rings and kisses and Leo pronounced them husband and wife.

  Again, Pike’s gaze strayed to Sierra and this time he found her looking straight at him.

  * * *

  “RAOUL RUIZ IS DEAD?” Pike said a little later as he and Sierra stood off to the side, their heads bent in conversation.

  He was so close she could smell his aftershave, a scent she hadn’t realized until that moment had earned a spot in her subconscious. “He apparently overdosed,” she said. “Detective Hatch says he’s been dead at least four days, maybe more. They found his body in Tess’s blue car parked in a remote way station out in the desert. The speculation is that he decided to take off for parts unknown after he killed Dwayne.”

  “Then he couldn’t have been in Idaho when you and Tess were attacked,” Pike said.

  “Nope. And they found his phone on his body. He hadn’t sent any texts to Tess. It doesn’t appear he had a thing to do with the mine.”

  “Did you tell Officer Hendricks?”

  “I called him. He’d already talked to the LAPD. He said the techs found a few interesting things in the mine, including a gas lantern and a matchbook that was apparently used to light it.”

  “Did they find fingerprints on the lantern?”

  “None. He thinks they must have worn gloves, which makes sense considering how cold it was.”

  “What about the matchbook?”

  “It’s for a bar called The Pastime. Why does that sound familiar?”

  “We parked across the street from it the day we took Tess in after her overdose,” Pike said. “It’s a local hangout.”

  “I didn’t realize I had even noticed it. Well, the matchbook was apparently ground into the dirt and damaged. The lab is looking at it.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “Besides footprints and things like that, pretty much. He said he’d be in touch.”

  Pike nodded but looked distracted. “I guess the million-dollar question, now that Raoul has been eliminated as a suspect, is who else wants you and Tess dead.”

  “Me? Oh, no. I was an afterthought.”

  “Were you? You’re forgetting how spooked you were when you arrived on this ranch. You were looking over your shoulder, remember?”

  “I kind of forgot about that,” she said. “But that has nothing to do with here. That started on the last night I worked back east.”

  “Maybe that’s where it started. A couple of things have bothered me all along. Why did they ask Tess to bring you with her? And why not just shoot you? If the purpose was murder—they had guns—why risk throwing you in a pit?”

  “Good questions. But maybe those facts fit with it being the old LOGO employee. In that case, the intent wasn’t murder, just sabotage.”

  “How would someone like that get Tess’s number?” Pike protested. “How did he know to call himself Danny? How in the world did he find the mine in that weather?”

  “Tess could have told him, or he could have looked it up. Information is easier to get than it used to be, you know.”

  He shook his head.

  “And one of the crew could be involved,” she said.

  “I can’t believe that. I know, I know, I’m the one who suggested it, but it just doesn’t make sense. There were two men in the mine and the entire crew has an alibi for that time period—they were all out with us at the hanging tree. So now you have a snitch, a crazy ex-employee and someone else all in on a reckless act of sabotage?”

  “It looks like it,” Sierra said.

  “I don’t buy it. Anyway, I mentioned all this to Officer Hendricks and he said he would contact Seattle police and see if anyone has a record. Have you remembered anything else about the attack? Have you figured out what they said that bugged you?”

  “No. But I had another dream about a bald guy.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

  She’d apparently never mentioned her recent nocturnal preoccupation with hairless men. “Never mind,” she said.

  “Did you book a flight to New York?”

  “I’m on standby.”

  “You’ll need a ride to the airport.”

  “Doug and Tess are flying out very early tomorrow. I’ll ride to the airport with them.”

  “When are you going to tell Tess about Raoul?”

  “In the morning, during the drive. No need for her to lay awake all night trying to figure things out.”

  For several heartbeats they stared at each other. This was it. They’d caught up with the news. There was no more to say; it was time to walk away and not look back.

  Pike took the first step. “Then this is goodbye.”

  She swallowed. “I guess so.”

  He touched her hair and kissed her forehead. “Have a good life,” he whispered, then turned and walked over to join his brothers. Sierra told herself she was exhausted and went to bed.

  * * *

  SOMETIME AROUND MIDNIGHT, she gave up trying to sleep. Not knowing who would be up and wandering around the house, she dressed in jeans and a sweater, grabbed what she needed and quietly exited the room so as not to wake Tess. Parking herself on a stool in front of the counter, she opened her laptop and typed breaking news into the search engine.

  This time, the philandering baseball players had been kicked off page one and replaced by a trio of photographs. One was of the murdered call girl, the next was Ralph Yardley and the last was the blonde Sierra had trailed to the back of Tony’s Tavern in Dusty Lake, New Jersey. Natalia Bonaparte, the article reported, was wanted for questioning in the murder of Giselle Montgomery. Police had found Natalia missing and her apartment ransacked.

  How in the world did these two women tie in together?

  And look at poor old Yardley, caught in a scandal. She almost felt sorry for him.

  She wanted to talk about all of this to someone, and with a start realized that someone was Pike. How long would that last?

  She admitted to herself that she may have panicked and broken it off before she had to. They could have enjoyed each other for another couple of nights before she left for New York and real life inserted itself between them. She closed her eyes, rubbed her forehead and then stood abruptly, strode to the mudroom, grabbed her jacket, stuffed her feet into her ruined boots and marched outside.

  The sky was clear, the air cold, the moonlight reflected off the snow. She made her way to the barn, which was now dark, found a lantern and turned it on. The three dogs ambled out of one of the open stalls and stared at her. The place was still set up for the wedding, and she stood there for a second recalling the touching ceremony she’d witnessed.

  To be honest, she’d watched Pike more than the wedding couple. He’d looked so sexy in that suit, so sure of him
self, so independent. Frankie and Chance had joined him after the ceremony and she’d watched their fond interaction with a touch of envy. She’d told Pike once that he was easy to love.

  She suspected that she was not.

  A horse whinnied in a nearby stall and she and the dogs approached it to find the same mare she’d ridden to the mine two nights before. The big animal nuzzled her neck then bumped her cheek with a soft, velvet nose.

  Sierra stared into the mare’s big eyes. “Are you antsy, too, girl? Looking for some action? I know how you feel. Now, if you and me were in New York, we could clip-clop down to the diner no matter what time of day or night and gab with the night shift. You’d like Billy. He wears a bolo tie, very Western. Or maybe we could go to a bar. I could use a glass of wine. What do horses drink? Water? Yeah, we could get me a nice pinot gris and you an icy trough of Perrier with a slice of lemon. But here we are in Idaho.” She looked down at the three dogs, who were leaning against her legs. “What the heck do you guys do in the middle of the night when you’re restless?”

  One dog whined, one yawned and one cocked his ears as the mare blew hot air on Sierra’s hair.

  Sometimes it didn’t pay to think things through. Sometimes, a person just had to rely on their gut or whatever it was that propelled action, no matter how ill-advised.

  She quickly saddled the horse, doused the lantern and led the beast outside. Once astride, she took off on a moonlight ride. She’d only been to her current destination one time before, but she was pretty sure she knew how to find her way.

  * * *

  PIKE OPENED THE door on the first knock.

  Some part of him had known it would be Sierra.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked. It was a natural question given the past several days. Her cheeks were pink and her teeth clattered together.

  “No, no. I put my horse in your barn. I hope that’s okay.”

  “You rode over here?”

  She nodded. “I saw your lights on—”

  “What are you doing here?” he interrupted. She bit her lip. More than anything in the world he wanted to usher her inside, but not until he understood what her presence meant.