by Jenny Penn
The only obligation he wanted to be bound to was Heather and Konor and the family they were building. Of course, a family needed to be supported, so he wouldn’t be resigning until he figured out just what his next step would be.
Actually, Alex knew what his next step was⎯he was headed to the Bread Box for lunch. It was packed as usual, though, and he couldn’t help but notice Miss Tara wasn’t in attendance at the table with all the other ladies from the personnel office. Unfortunately, Gwen was there with her pool of girlfriends, and Alex knew what Heather thought of that.
Gwen was a sore subject between them. It was all his fault. Years ago, when they’d been teenagers, he’d been an ass. That had bred an insecurity in Heather when it came to trusting Alex with other women. Gwen hadn’t helped the situation by sneaking into his bed a few weeks back. Worse, Heather had walked in on them, and Alex had almost ended up losing her a second time.
There wasn’t going to be a third.
Alex would make damn sure of that.
Chapter 9
Tara raced home at lunch to shower and change clothes, but her day still didn’t improve after that. Not that she’d really expected it to. Not when she had dinner with her aunt and uncle to look forward to with dread.
It was tenser than usual that night with Tara being on the receiving end of her uncle’s sour looks. After Glenda had informed her that he was looking for her, Tara had raced up to the mayor’s office, only to find herself embarrassed anew when she found her uncle meeting with several of the council members. That was when he’d suggested that they have their conversation over dinner.
Not that they actually talked about anything over dinner. That came after the long tense meal, when her uncle invited her back into his study to discuss the day’s events. Tara knew what that meant. She was about to get a lecture and had to remind herself that, despite her uncle’s somewhat overbearing ways, he had her best intentions at heart.
“Please, have a seat, Tara.” He waved her to one of the chairs facing the massive desk that dominated the stately, wood-paneled room he led her into.
Tara settled down into one of the large, uncomfortable seats as she watched her uncle fix himself an after-dinner drink. He carried the crystal glass over to the desk and took his own grand seat, pulling it into the hard ebony wood before him as he cast a serious and somber glance over at Tara.
“First, I want to start off by assuring you I understand how it is you might be feeling the need to enjoy a little fun these days,” her uncle began in that tone that warned her this would not be a swift conversation. The best, quickest way to the end it was simply to agree.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“Yes.” Her uncle sighed and leaned back in his seat as his eyes skipped toward the door that led back to the hall and the dining room beyond. “Sometimes we all need to have a little fun, and marriage…that’s not much fun at all, is it now?”
“Yes, Uncle.” Tara had little choice but to agree, though silently she railed against the idea that marriage was supposed to be anything but fun. At least, if you married the right person, it was rumored to be good, but Tara worried there was no right person out there for her.
“But that’s no excuse for failing your family,” her uncle insisted firmly, sighing as he glanced back over to her.
“Excuse me?” Tara wasn’t exactly sure what her uncle meant by that but feared she knew who’d put that idea into his head. Her father. And it didn’t shock Tara in the least to hear him brought up.
“I talked to your dad earlier today, and he set a few things right, a few things I hadn’t understood.” Her uncle took a sip of his brandy and clearly savored the moment, even as Tara tensed in her seat.
“Such as?” she pressed, almost certain now that she knew what would come out of her uncle’s mouth next.
“Such as your accusation that Richard mismanaged your trust.”
“He did!”
Every muscle in Tara’s body tensed as she felt her ears go hot. She hated having to have this argument again, but it seemed like she’d be spending the rest of her life having it no matter what she felt.
“He got you a twenty-three percent rate of return,” her uncle shot back, smacking his glass down onto his desktop.
“He spent my money on other women!”
“Please,” her uncle huffed. “How much? A couple of thousand? That’s nothing.”
“Not to me.” Tara rose up out of her seat, tired of having to defend herself to her family. “I don’t care if it was only a dime. He was my husband, and it was my money. There should never have been any other women.”
“You can’t possibly be that naive.” Her uncle stared up at her as if she were the one who was crazy in this family. Maybe she was, but that didn’t change the way she felt.
“It’s my money, it’s my life, and I’m not going to let some man run it for me. I can manage my own trust.” Or, at least, Tara was going to try.
“Oh, don’t get all feminist on me now.” Her uncle waved her back into her seat. “Sit down and relax.”
Tara obeyed the first half of his command but couldn’t manage the second half. Instead, she sat there stiffly and indignantly. “I’m not going back to Richard.”
“I’m not asking you to.” Her uncle frowned and made a face that conveyed his outright distaste for the rest of what he had to say. “After all, I know about you and your deputies. I know you’re having a little fun right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make smart decisions.”
“And what decision would that be?” Tara asked, almost certain she knew the answer.
“I think you should let Richard manage the trust.”
“No. Never.” She’d have to be dead first.
“Come on, Tara, be reasonable. The man is a genius.”
“Then let him go manage your money,” Tara shot back. “He’s not getting anywhere near mine.”
She couldn’t be clearer than that. That didn’t mean her uncle wasn’t about to object, or would have if the phone hadn’t rung. It wasn’t the house line but his cell, and he fished it out to frown at whatever was flashing across the screen. Whatever, whoever it was, it wasn’t enough to gain a response right then. Her uncle dropped the phone on the desk and turned his shrewd gaze back on her.
“I know how betrayed you must feel by Richard’s infidelities,” her uncle began again, clearly working hard to sound reasonable. “But I also know what you did to him. You got your revenge, Tara, and now it’s time to start thinking beyond the past.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Tara was headed toward the future and had a grand speech ready to go, but she didn’t get a chance before her uncle’s phone began buzzing once again.
He glanced over at it, his expression hardening into a look she’d never seen him wear before. Tara had seen it on her father’s face, though. It normally showed up right before he got violent. That was always a good time to flee.
“Well, this has been enlightening.” Tara shoved out of her seat as her uncle glanced over at her. “But I can tell you have other business to attend to.”
“Tara⎯“
“I’ll give everything you said some consideration,” Tara assured him, even though she was lying through her teeth. She was not going back to Richard. Neither was she listening to this lecture anymore. “But you have to forgive me. It’s been a long day, and I’m tired.”
“Fine.” Her uncle picked up his phone. “We’ll discuss this more later.”
Later she’d be moving out and not putting up with any more lectures, but Tara didn’t tell him that. She just nodded and rushed for the door. She made it through it without giving away any of her true emotions, but once on the other side, she couldn’t help but collapse against the wall, trembling and fighting for a deep breath. As she stood there feeling like she’d barely escaped, she could hear the angry rumble of her uncle’s voice through the wall.
“I told you never to use this number. You shouldn’t even have it!”
“You little bitch! I’m not paying you a god damn dime…Prove it! Trust me, Gwen, you don’t want to start a war with me.”
Gwen?
Tara’s nose wrinkled. She knew a woman by that name that worked down at the government building and had a reputation that made most of the women there look down on her. She was considered one of the availables. They were a clique of clerks who dressed a little inappropriately, flirted a little too obviously, and were rumored to have slept with bosses and customers alike.
The idea that she might have slept with Tara’s uncle really shouldn’t have shocked her, not with his attitude toward marriage. It did, however, make her more determined than ever to find her own house. She needed to get the hell out of this crazy family.
* * * *
“You are completely, totally, out of your mind.” Travis stared at Bryant in amazement before smirking and shaking his head. “That’s supposed to be my job.”
Bryant didn’t argue that but glanced up as a car went racing down the highway out of town. With their cruisers parked so their windows were even with each other, each deputy had staked out a direction that allowed them to cover the entire empty stretch of highway. Talking kept them from falling asleep while they waited for something, anything, to happen.
It was a little past midnight, and the best action Bryant and Travis could hope to entertain themselves with was a good-sized speeding ticket. While the truck was going well over the limit, they weren’t dumb enough to chase the driver down. Not when the driver was the sheriff.
Travis watched the taillights of Alex’s truck disappear into the night and shook his head. “You know I would have thought that Alex and Heather finally getting together would have put the man in a better mood, but he’s still a dick.”
“Ain’t that right?” Bryant muttered and returned back to his own crazy suggestion. “But the man has a point about discretion, and there is nothing more discreet than the club.”
“How the hell are we going to convince Tara to join the club?” Travis asked, still not seeing any brilliance in anything other than Bryant’s gaze.
“She’s not joining the club,” Bryant shot back. “She’s joining us at the club, and I think a woman with Tara’s passions would enjoy the club.”
“I think a woman as skittish as Tara will be terrified of it,” Travis countered instantly, his eyes shifting to the headlights of the vehicle bombing down the road, headed into town. He glanced at his radar and clocked the son of a bitch at well over twenty miles in excess of the posted speed limit. “I think I got a live one.”
“No.” Bryant turned to watch the sedan fly past. “You got the mayor. Wonder where he’s headed to this time of night?”
“Probably over to Gwen’s.” Travis snickered and settled back in his seat. He wasn’t about to write that ticket, or that death sentence as it would more likely turn out for his career.
“That’s nasty.” Bryant wrinkled his nose.
“That’s the rumor.” Not that Travis put much stock in most rumors, but this one had been around long enough and had enough support that he didn’t doubt it. More importantly, he didn’t care. “And if you take Tara out to the club, you’re going to have to parade her around naked. More to the point, she’s got to agree to that.”
“Please.” Bryant huffed and rolled his eyes. “Killian and Adam had Rachel out there, and we didn’t get to see her naked.”
“I wouldn’t⎯“
“The sheriff had Heather out there, and we didn’t even get a peek at a boob!”
“You’re not the sheriff.”
“I’m going to go ask the Davis brothers.” Bryant was clearly not giving up on his dream.
Travis had to admit that he wouldn’t mind sharing that dream. That is if Bryant could pull it off. “Maybe you should go talk to GD. I hear he’s feeling more mellow these days.”
“Yeah, well, I hear that he’s planning on quitting the club.”
“No!”
“Yes.” Bryant nodded, smiling in the face of Travis’s shocked amazement. “GD’s settling down with a woman named Kitty Anne of all things.”
“Kitty Anne? Really? You talking about the blonde who tried to get Cole arrested in the whorehouse raid?”
That had been some time back, but not that long ago. It had also been the first time the women had all come together to work against the men. That had not been taken as a good sign. So the men had responded appropriately. They’d gotten Kitty Anne arrested for prostitution. Actually, GD had arranged the whole damn thing, which just made it more amusing to think that he’d picked up the woman in the process.
“Yep, GD is that slick.” Bryant nodded, appearing to read Travis’s thoughts. “And I’m telling you, now is the time to ask him for a favor.”
“Hmm.” Travis considered that for several minutes, weighing the possibilities in his mind. The truth was obvious. The fantasies far outweighed the reality of what might happen. “Okay, but it’s on you to talk Tara into this.”
“Not a problem.”
Travis didn’t care how confident Bryant sounded. He knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. The rest of the night should have been, though. However, not a half-hour later they got a call from dispatch. Some kind of disturbance had been reported, and somebody had to go check it out.
Bryant and Travis volunteered. They were closest, and a fight with a drunk, which was no doubt what they were dealing with, sounded like a good way to enliven a long shift. With lights flashing and sirens off, they cruised back into town and down Main Street, looking for the source of the scream that had alerted the 911 caller that a woman was in distress.
There wasn’t anything to see on the streets, but there were a lot of alleys that divided the small historic section of Pittsview. Those had to be checked on foot. So, Travis pulled his cruiser over and got out, taking his flashlight with him, even as Bryant pulled in behind him. They covered each other as they began to clear through the shadows cast by the buildings that surrounded them.
The shadows weren’t that deep. The buildings weren’t that tall. There really wasn’t much area to search. What was shocking was finding something.
* * * *
Tara was out by the pool’s edge, staring at the moonlight reflected on the smooth surface. It was quiet and peaceful, and she couldn’t sleep. The weight of all of her decisions felt heavy that night. Sometimes she couldn’t help but doubt her own convictions.
Was her uncle right? Were all marriages doomed to be nothing more than emotionless partnerships? And was that better than spending her life alone? Tara didn’t know.
What she did know was that, amongst those old questions, a new one had slipped in despite her best efforts to keep it out. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be married to either Travis or Bryant. Surely it would never grow emotionless, but could it always stay hot? Or was she just naïve to wish that it could?
Tara suspected that she was simply naïve and foolish. Travis and Bryant weren’t the marrying kind. They weren’t even the dating kind. The best they’d probably ever be was the kind of men who indulged in a fling, and flings tended to last just long enough to give a woman ideas that were best not entertained.
She feared it was already too late for her as she sat there wondering just what the deputies were up to right then. The idea that they might be up to another woman sort of sickened her. No matter how much Tara told herself that she shouldn’t care, she did.
It was already too late, so instead, Tara tried to convince herself that it was only natural to covet the kind of pleasure that Travis and Bryant had introduced her to. It wasn’t them. It was their moves…
and their stamina….and their expertise…their rough hands and thick dicks and the way they⎯
The distant ring of a telephone snapped Tara from her wandering thoughts.
It wasn’t her phone, and she glanced toward the darkened house, wondering just who was calling at this late of an hour. Her aunt and uncle and the rest of their staff had all bedded down for the night or headed home—or so Tara had thought—but it wasn’t her uncle who answered the phone as she would have expected.
Instead, she heard her aunt’s voice floating through the open window of their bedroom. The light snapped on, and Tara could barely make out the tip of the other woman’s head as she started to move around. She didn’t, however, have any trouble hearing her aunt as she began to scream.
“You did what? Joshua, are you insane?”
Joshua? That was her uncle, and Tara couldn’t help but wonder just where the hell he was and why he was calling so late. Whatever the answers, they couldn’t be good. They were, however, juicy, and Tara was getting a full half of the story as her aunt continued to berate her husband without regard for who might overhear.
“You gave that whore my ring? My ring? Oh, don’t feed me that crap, Joshua. Get it back! What? What do you mean dead?”
That word caught Tara’s attention, and she couldn’t help but go a little cold inside as she strained to catch every word, but her aunt had moved farther away, and all Tara caught were the occasional high point as the woman’s voice tipped up with her outrage. Tara didn’t need to hear much more, though, to figure two obvious things.
Somebody had died, and her aunt was missing a ring.
Those were two damn good reminders that she had made the right choice in divorcing Richard. That wasn’t the life she wanted to live.
Chapter 10
Wednesday, June 25th
The air inside the station house the next morning was somber and full of tension. A heavy silence weighed on all the deputies as they each took turns glancing at the sheriff’s office. The county DA had shown up along with the sun, bright and early that morning. He wanted to talk to Alex, privately. Bryant suspected he knew why.
