Reluctantly, and maybe a little pacified by the praise of his wheels—it was a pretty sweet ride—the stranger said, “Fine.”
At Jimmy’s nod, Wade and Caleb let go of him.
“I get it,” he said with a resentful look at Rob. “You’ve got friends. That’s okay. I’ve got friends, too.”
Wade stepped up to Rob’s side, clapped a hand to his shoulder. “We’re not friends, pal. We’re family.”
The fellow sighed and walked toward the Charger’s door.
Jimmy stepped in between him and it. “What part of ‘you’re gonna answer some questions’ did you not understand? I need to see some ID.”
He stopped moving, but didn’t reach for his walled.
“Or I can arrest you for assault,” the chief put in.
“You’d have to arrest him, too.”
“Him?” Jimmy asked, sending a look Rob’s way. “I’m not gonna arrest him.”
The guy frowned, then said, “Don’t tell me you’re family, too.”
“Stepbrother-in-law or something. It’s complicated. ID?”
The guy yanked his license out of his wallet and handed it to Jimmy. Jimmy read the info aloud, probably because he knew Rob wanted it. “Dax J. Russell from Passaic New Jersey.” He glanced at another cop who’d finally come across the street to back him up. “Run this for me while I talk to Mr. Russell?”
Nodding, the other cop headed back across Main Street, and up the sidewalk to the Big Falls Police Department.
“You want to tell me what your business is in town, Mr. Russell?”
“It’s personal.”
“Well, it stops being personal when you assault the police chief’s stepbrother-in-law at a local business. Matter of fact, if Rob wants to press charges, I’ll have to arrest you right here and now.” He glanced Rob’s way. “You want to press charges, Rob?”
“All I want is some answers.”
“All he wants is some answers,” Jimmy said.
“And I’d like them privately,” Rob went on.
Jimmy met his eyes, nodded once, turned back to the guy. “I’ll tell you what. We’re gonna stand over by the pop machine, give you two a minute to yourselves.”
The stranger was furious. Rob totally understood why. Small town, everyone related, cops defending the locals. They were playing right into every stereotype this guy probably had before arriving in Big Falls. But it didn’t matter, he needed answers and he needed them now.
Not enough to invade Kiley’s privacy or unearth whatever secrets she was keeping—though it was damned tempting to try. He only needed to know enough to make sure she was safe. Anything beyond that would be breaking his own rules.
As soon as everyone was out of earshot, he looked the man in the eye—the one that wasn’t swollen shut and turning purple—and said, “Why are you looking for Kiley?”
“Is that what she’s calling herself now? Kiley?”
“What do you want from her?” Rob asked again.
“She owes me money. If you’re involved with her, she’ll owe you too, soon enough. She’s a crook. A con artist, pal. And you deserve her.”
Rob lifted his brows.
“That’s all I have to say. Have me arrested if you want to hear more. I’ll give your brother the cop all the details, and when I finish, she’ll be in a cell right next to me.”
Someone pulled up behind the Charger, waiting for the gas pump. Rob got right up in the guy’s face. “Get out of town. You hear me? Get out of town. If I find you anywhere near Kiley again, it’s not gonna be pretty. Whatever happened between you is over. Done. Cut your losses, and move on, friend.”
“Cut my losses?” He sneered, but then winced due to his split lip, ruining the effect as he got into his car and cranked the engine to life. It sounded like thunder. “You deserve her. But just so you know, her name’s not Kiley. It’s Kendra.”
He laid rubber as he left of the station.
* * *
Kiley had gone through several boxes to decide on the best-looking curtains, and was hanging them when she heard Rob pull in. She had planned to drive to a flea market in Tucker Lake today to look for bargains for the ranch with the fifty bucks she’d made, but for some reason, she’d come home instead.
The living room was really taking shape. The braided rug looked like it belonged there, and the mismatched furniture was in a nicer arrangement. A big truck had pulled in earlier with a delivery that had her just about giddy. A big screen TV and wall-mount kit, with a card that said, “Happy Housewarming, Love Dad.” Not her dad, of course. Rob’s dad, the billionaire turned small-town saloon owner, RJR McIntyre. Bobby Joe to his friends.
She heard the door close, but remained where she was on the small step ladder, straightening bronze colored sheer panels over the tall windows.
“Wow, this place looks fantastic.”
She smiled, hugely pleased. “I’ve always been good at making a place feel homey,” she said. Even when she lived in a closet, she thought. Then she turned to look down at him, gasped in horror and almost fell off the ladder. “Oh my God, what happened? Were you in an accident? Did you wreck your truck?”
“No, and no. It’s…a long story.” He was standing in the kitchen, looking through the doorway at her.
She hopped off the ladder and got up close, frowning at one part of his face after another and wincing. His lip was split, and he had a bruise forming on one gorgeous cheekbone.
“You have to tell me. But sit down. You can talk while I fix you up.” She pushed him backwards into a kitchen chair. “You got into a fight, didn’t you?”
“That I did. That I did. And for once, my oversized, meddling family was a good thing to have around.”
She spread a dishtowel on the counter, then cracked an ice cube tray onto it, wrapped the ice inside and pressed it to his cheekbone. “Keep it there ’til you can’t stand it, and then move it to your poor lip.”
He replaced her hand with his. “Thanks.”
“So what happened?”
He sighed. “Some big guy from Jersey has been showing a photo of you around town and asking about you.”
She frowned for a long moment, processing that, and when she did, it felt like something in the center of her chest melted a little. “You got into a fight because some stranger was asking about me?”
He shrugged. “The fight wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Still, you...you defended me?”
“Of course I defended you. You’d do the same for me.”
She wasn’t so sure she would. Her philosophy was to always do what was best for herself. Getting in front of a set of fists on someone else’s behalf didn’t seem like the kind of thing she would do at all. But then, unbidden, the image of some big guy pounding on Rob’s face came floating into her mind, and her imaginary reaction was to jump on the ape and beat him about the head with her fists.
Wow. That was different.
“Who won the fight?” she asked at length. Because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“The family intervened before it got very far. But I’m confident I did more damage than he did.”
“The daring daughters of Vidalia Brand?” she asked, wide eyed.
“Sounds like an Irish folk group. But no, it was the uh, the scrapping sons-in-law of Vidalia Brand, with back-up by the boisterous brothers of Robert McIntyre.”
“I have to hear this. I’m fascinated by this family of yours. I’ve never known anyone like them.”
“Probably never will, either.”
She took his hand and led him back to the living room like a lost child, but when his thumb rubbed the back of her hand, it felt intimate and scary.
“I was at Wade’s garage. That’s the building on Main Street, right across from the gas station.”
“Right. Got it. What were you doing there?”
“I was talking to him about that old heap in the barn. It’s in a lot better shape than what you’re driving, from what I ca
n tell. So he’s gonna come get it and see if he can bring it back to life. By the way, we need to move some crap in the morning, early. He’s sending a tow truck and we need to make sure he has a clear path to haul the thing out.”
She nodded. So not only the fight, but his entire day, had been about her. That was just...weird. “That’s awfully nice of you.” They were back in the living room, standing in front of the sofa. He was still holding her hand. And she was starting to like it.
“That’s what friends are for. So anyway, Selene sent out a group text with this dude’s mugshot. She said he’d been in the diner asking about you, and acting all angry and impatient. While I was talking with Wade—”
“Wait, that’s what that text was this morning?”
He nodded. “Yeah, they do that.”
“Like a Brand-McIntyre All-Points Bulletin.”
“Exactly like that,” he said. “You catch on fast.”
She nudged him toward the sofa. He sank onto it and winced when he leaned back. He had more damage than just what showed on his face. She ran to the kitchen, grabbed more ice in another dishtowel, and brought it back to him. He leaned his head on the sofa’s arm, stretching out to his full length. She sat on the edge, laid the ice bundle in her lap, and started to unbutton his shirt. She did the first button quickly, and was almost finished with the second before she realized how silent and still he’d gone. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes, but she couldn’t stop either. Her hands trembled as she released the third button. She tried to make the fourth one quick, and pushed his shirt open.
And then her gaze kind of got stuck on his abs, because damn. And when she tried to focus elsewhere, it stopped on his chest, and her heart started hammering.
His hand covered hers on his chest. She jerked her eyes to his, and saw the fire behind the pain. He was feeling all turned on, too. Oh my God, this was getting complicated.
She tried to remember what she was supposed to be doing, looked at his chest again, focused on the purple bruises forming on his ribcage, and laid the ice there.
He sucked air through his teeth at the cold, and she pulled his shirt closed over the towel, just so she could think straight.
“Are they broken?” she asked in a whisper. Her stomach was all knotted up.
“Nah, just bruised.”
“So tell me the story,” she said. Because she needed a distraction from thinking about what sex with him would be like. Pretty amazing, she’d bet. “You were talking to Wade, and...?”
“I saw the guy filling up at the gas station and went over to talk to him. That’s all I planned to do. Talk to him.” He paused. “Probably. Maybe not. Wade wanted to back me up, and I told him to stay out of it.”
“And did he?”
“He sent out a family APB, and then he headed over to back me up. By that time, I was in the process of kicking the oversized thug’s ass into next Christmas when Jason and Joey appeared out of nowhere to pull me away from him. And Jimmy was standing there with one hand on his gun threatening to make an arrest.”
“Jimmy....”
“Kara’s husband. He’s Chief of Police.”
“I’m never even gonna learn all their names, much less their jobs.”
“I’ll make you some flash cards.” He gave her that smile of his that made his eyes crinkle up and sparkle. And then he winced, probably because it hurt to smile.
Kiley closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Rob. I’m really, really sorry if someone I pissed off is in town trying to hunt me down and causing problems for you.”
“But not surprised,” he said.
She straightened, found him looking at her face. She tried to look right back, but it was hard. His shirt slid open again as he shifted position. Her eyes kept darting to his magnificent, broad, strong, tanned chest.
“Why do you think I’m not surprised?” she asked, only half paying attention to the question or its answer.
“You didn’t act surprised. Didn’t ask who he was or what he wanted or—”
“Sue me for being more concerned about your cuts and bruises than about the guy who put them there.” He was watching her face, looking into her eyes like he could see inside her.
“You need a doctor.”
“That would be cousin Sophie. You haven’t met her yet. But no, I don’t need her for this.”
“Well, you at least need some ibuprofen. Be right back.” She headed into the bathroom, waited there, trying to get clear on how a normal person acts when they hear a stranger has come looking for them. Surprised, right? But she’d already blown that. Maybe they would also be baffled and unsure why anyone might be looking for them. And maybe they’d be curious or even a little bit scared.
She wouldn’t have to fake that part. She’d wronged a lot of people in her life. But she’d kept a list. She never knew why she was doing it, but she had… ever since her first scam, selling Kevin Henderson a joint made out of rolling paper and pencil shavings in the sixth grade. But she’d written down the name and address of every person she’d ever conned, with the dollar amount beside it.
It occurred to her that maybe she was supposed to pay them all back. But that was a stupid idea. It would be next to impossible for her to do. She didn’t even have a job. And what good would it do, anyway? Most of them probably didn’t even remember. Some of them didn’t even know they’d been scammed.
And yet, the thought occurred to her again. It kept doing that every couple of weeks or so.
It felt as if there was a cocoon in her core, one she’d always sort of sensed there, but now it was breaking open. Something was alive inside it, some new part of her was emerging. It was scary as hell.
Okay, okay, this all bore thought, but later. She shook loose a couple of ibuprofen from the bottle in the medicine cabinet, took them back downstairs and handed them to Rob, who was hobbling back from the kitchen with an open long neck in one hand.
“Rob, you should’ve let me get that.”
“It’s purely for the pain,” he said, sinking back into his spot on the sofa, moving slow, grimacing a little.
When he lay down, she put the two tablets into his hand and said. “So is this.”
He swallowed the pills with a drink of beer. “Thank you, Kiley.”
“I think you were the one who said doing nice things for each other would be good for our business relationship. I’m just following your suggestion. So on that note, why don’t you relax here and let me make our dinner tonight.”
He nodded, but when she turned to go, he caught hold of her hand and pulled until she sat down beside him again. “Do you know any oversized thug who would have reason to come looking for you?”
“Of course not.”
He touched her face, turned it so he could look her right in the eyes. “I promise I won’t judge you, no matter what you ever tell me about yourself. You get that, right?”
“Yeah. I get that.” It was hard to believe, but she was starting to think it was the truth.
“And you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. But I’ve gotta ask you for a promise in return. I’d really be grateful, Kiley, if you could promise not to lie to me. I’d rather have you tell me nothing at all, than tell me a lie.”
His eyes were so intense that she knew this was a big, fat deal to him. And she’d like to know why. Hell, he was so big on honesty that maybe if she asked him, he’d tell her.
She took a deep breath, then sighed and figured what the hell. He’d fought for her today. She probably owed him something. “Okay. I promise that I’ll…try my best not to lie to you. And the answer to your other question is, yeah, I can think of several thugs who might have an ax to grind with me.”
He lifted his brows and she thought his surprise was real.
“Sometimes...in the past...I’ve...maybe...used men, a little bit, to get...you know, what I wanted.” Then she shrugged. “But I mean, they used me to get what they wanted, too, so it’s really pretty much even. Though they�
� probably wouldn’t see it that way.”
He nodded. “This guy, he called you a criminal and a con artist.”
That hurt. She frowned hard in reaction to it and said, “I am not a criminal.”
Rob seemed to consider that for a long moment. “He said you owed him money.”
“That really doesn’t narrow it down much,” she admitted. “Did he give you a name?”
“Dax J. Russell.” Rob pulled out his phone and scrolled to the photo Selene had sent. “From New Jersey.”
“I’ve never even been to Jersey.” He turned the phone to show her the guy’s face. She looked at it, then frowned and looked closer. “My God, he’s huge.”
“Huger in person.”
Lowering the phone, she looked into Rob’s eyes and said, “I don’t know this man, Robby. That’s the truth. I’ve pissed off a lot of men in my past, but this guy is not one of them.” She handed the phone back to him.
He was looking at her hard, looking for signs she was lying. And that hurt a little, though it shouldn’t. She closed her eyes, lowered her head. Part of her wanted to tell him that she’d been both of those things, a criminal and con artist, for her entire life. Right up until she’d decided to change.
And it was only just then that she realized something inside her was changing. Up until that moment, it had only been words. A vague intention. I’m going to change. Now it felt more like, I’m changing.
“He said your name wasn’t even Kiley. Just as he left, he said that.”
She blew air between her teeth. “Well now I know he’s a liar. What is it, then?”
“Kendra,” he said. “Wasn’t that your sister’s name?”
She blinked. Just hearing her sister’s name brought the pain rushing back to her. “Yeah.”
“Where was she when she died, Kiley?”
Don’t tell him. Don’t tell him. Don’t tell him.
Oklahoma Moonshine (The McIntyre Men #1) Page 8
