“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you, Roni. But I thought it was best you know what kind of monster you and Patsy were dealing with,” Nathan told her.
She took a seat at the table again. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you told me and I didn’t hear it from someone else.” She put her hands on her cheeks. “Oh, my God, no…three bodies?”
She trembled thinking how close both she and Patsy came to being numbers four and five.
Nathan leaned down and put his hand on her shoulder. “Be glad you and Patsy weren’t added to the list.” He picked up his hat, and tipped it low on his forehead. “I’ll leave you two alone. The FBI may want to speak with you and Patsy, Roni. Someone will be in touch but until then, goodnight you two. Take care.”
Linc walked him to the door. When he came back, Roni was still sitting at the table. She looked pale but he knew how strong she was. He sat down beside her and took her hand in his. He kissed her palm. She gazed at him.
“He murdered those people…” Roni shook her head as if she was willing it not to have happened.
“Well, that’s something the CSI and Sheriff’s department will have to figure out. They have to prove he did it after all, but Nathan seems to think he probably did. He has pretty good instincts about this kind of thing.”
She leaned into him, snuggling against his chest. He liked that she needed him. He put his arms around her holding her close. He kissed the top of her head.
“I’m just glad I was with you that night.” Linc swore under his breath. “And I’m glad Patsy shot the bastard too.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Let’s go upstairs.” She stood.
Linc took her hand and led her up the stairs to the bedroom. Once inside the room, he kissed her just the way he’d been wanting to from the minute she threw herself into his arms earlier. He cupped her face in his hands and nibbled on her lips then moved his lips across her cheek to her ear. He ran his tongue around the shell of it, and then nibbled on the lobe. She shivered in reaction, and he grinned against her neck. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair and lifted his head.
“Something funny, Lincoln?” she asked him with one eyebrow cocked high.
He grinned at her and tried to kiss her, but she moved back from him. “No, baby, nothing funny, at all, I just love the way you react to my touch.”
She moaned and leaned into him again. Linc kissed her, lifted her up, and placed her on the bed. He lay down beside her, facing her. She turned to him. He wondered if he’d ever get enough of her. He lifted her sweater over her head, and then groaned when he saw the purple bra. He laid his forehead against hers.
“You’re going to have purple panties on, aren’t you?” He sighed.
Roni laughed. “How’d you know?”
Linc unsnapped her jeans and slid them off. He growled low in his throat. “Thought I was ready to see them…I guess I wasn’t.”
Roni smiled at him, a giggle slipping from her throat. “I want you so much, Lincoln Cole.”
“I want you more,” he whispered as he moved his mouth to her neck. “I’ll always want you.”
“Can we take a bath?”
“What? You want to take a bath…now, when I’m so hard. I’m not sure I can get my jeans off.”
“I’ll get them off you, don’t worry about that. Come on. I’d love to sit with you in that big tub of yours. I’ll even let you wash my back.”
Linc groaned. “I’ll wash every inch of you, darlin’.”
He rolled off the bed and put his hand out. “Come on.”
“Seriously, you’ll take a bath with me?” She climbed to her feet with a big smile.
“I’ll do anything you ask of me.” He led her to the bathroom and as it turned out, bubbly heaven.
THE NEXT DAY, VERONICA and Lincoln were in the barn wiping down the horses after having taken a ride. Lincoln pulled her into his arms and started kissing her. More than happy to oblige him, she put her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his thick hair, and knocking his hat to the floor. Lincoln placed his hands on her hips and pulled her tight against him. She could feel his hard cock pressing against her even through their coats.
“God damn it! I knew this was why you broke our engagement.”
Veronica and Lincoln sprang apart to see Cameron standing in the doorway of the barn.
“Oh my God,” Veronica muttered. “Cameron…”
“Save it.” He glared at Lincoln. “I knew you were a real bastard. I knew all along you wanted her.”
Lincoln didn’t deny it. Veronica watched as he stood there staring at Cameron. Then Cameron walked toward him, stopping a few feet from them. She suspected he wanted to stay out of reach. “You really are a cocky bastard, aren’t you?”
Veronica felt Lincoln’s arms go around her waist from behind.
“I’d like to knock that smug grin off your face,” Cameron told him.
“You can try,” Lincoln said in a low tone of voice as he stepped around Veronica to stand in front of her. Cameron moved closer to him and swung his fist, hitting Lincoln squarely on his jaw. He stumbled back a step or two bumping into Veronica and almost knocking her to the ground. He straightened himself up, and strode toward Cameron. When Cameron pulled his fist back to hit Lincoln again, Lincoln’s fist shot out and he caught Cameron in the nose. Cameron went down, his legs buckling under him. Veronica ran to him.
“Cameron, are you all right?” She glared at Lincoln accusingly. “You broke his nose.”
Lincoln’s eyebrow rose as if in surprise.
Cameron moaned and stared up at Veronica. “What would you expect from one of the town bad boys? Do you seriously think he wants you, Veronica, for anything more than a trophy? Or perhaps, just to get back at you for you rejecting him years ago. Have you even thought of that? I know all about your past with him. It seems Dr. Gleason likes to talk when he’s been drinking.”
Veronica glanced at Lincoln waiting for him to deny it. Her heart prayed for him to deny it.
When he didn’t, she looked back to Cameron. “You’re just saying that to make me doubt Lincoln’s…”
“Love? Has he told you he loves you? How long were you seeing him behind my back? Long enough, I’m sure. If he told you that he loves you then tell me, and I’ll go. Otherwise, I have to believe he’s stringing you along to pay you back for the way you treated him. We men love our revenge on the woman who broke our heart,” Cameron told her.
She stood and stared at Lincoln. “That isn‘t true, is it? Are you just getting back at me? Stringing me along to satisfy your pride because I shot you down when I was just a kid. Now you want to do the same to me?” God, she hoped not, but Cameron had said enough to put the doubt in her mind, although she knew it had always been hiding there.
Lincoln just stood there staring at her. He shook his head slightly, but he didn’t say anything. Why wouldn’t he deny it? Dear God, help her.
Was it possible she’d fallen in love with a man who’d only wanted petty revenge? A man who wanted to hurt her because she’d hurt him all those years ago. He’d never gotten over it and he had the perfect opportunity when she returned to Dry River. He didn’t love her at all, and he never would. The pain almost brought her to her knees. She stepped closer to him and slapped him, the sound echoing across the air.
“You are a bastard. Don’t come near me again. If you have an emergency, you can call Patsy. I won’t come out here again.” She started to help Cameron up but Lincoln grabbed her arm. He swung her around to face him. She could see her handprint still raging red on his cheek.
“Is that really what you believe, Roni? You believe after all this time that I’m using you to exact some kind of revenge on you for not going out with me when I asked you…once…a lifetime ago?”
She stared at him. She wasn’t sure what she believed anymore. There’d been plenty of opportunity for him to express how he felt about her, but he hadn’t. Why hadn’t he? Because he didn’t love her, that’s why.
“I don’t know what I believe right now, but your brutality speaks volumes,” she exclaimed before yanking her arm away from him. “I’ll get my stuff from the house later.” She nearly pulled Cameron up from the ground, before walking him to his car.
Once there, he tried to pull her into his arms but she simply ordered him to follow her to the hospital. Driving wasn’t easy between the weather and the tears in her eyes. What did she mean to Lincoln? What had she ever meant to Lincoln? Perhaps Cameron had it right, he hadn’t loved her, and it was all just an ego boost to salvage his pride. Dear God! She loved him so much, and now she felt like such a fool.
A little while later, Veronica sat in the hospital emergency room with Cameron while the doctor set his nose. Lincoln had broken it. Veronica was there only because she felt she owed it to him so when Cameron glanced over at her, she refused to acknowledge him.
“You’ll be coming back to Phoenix with me now, won’t you?”
Veronica blew out a breath. “No. I told you it was over, Cameron. I’m not in love with you anymore.” She shrugged and mumbled. “If ever I was.”
Cameron stared at her. “Are you crazy? You think Cole loves you?”
Veronica smiled sadly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never know but it doesn’t matter and it’s none of your business. You and I are done.” She stood. “You’ll be fine, now.” She started to walk out of the room.
“But, I was hoping when we got married that your parents would fund me the money to open another practice…” He sputtered to a stop when she spun around and glared at him.
“So, you didn’t really love me either. You just wanted to marry me to get close to my parents, and their money?” She clenched her fists to contain her anger. Two men, neither of whom loved her, but had no trouble lying to her.
“I did love you…do love you. It was just a thought.”
“Shut up, Cameron. I’m so glad I came back here and got away from you. I can’t imagine how miserable I’d be if we’d married.” She pulled back the privacy curtain to leave.
“That’s fine, Veronica. I have another woman anyway. She may not be as pretty as you, but she’s a helluva lot better in bed.”
Veronica couldn’t help but think how ridiculous her life had become. She burst out laughing, and continued to laugh all the way to the parking lot.
Over the next few days, Veronica worked as hard as she could to keep Lincoln out of her mind. She never heard from Cameron again. Did he seriously think what he’d said about another woman, would upset her? She just didn’t care. She only hoped he’d returned to Phoenix. He knew he’d lost because she was in love with Lincoln, even if Lincoln wasn’t in love with her.
Why hadn’t Lincoln spoken up? Why hadn’t he denied what Cameron accused him of, and tell her that he did love her? Was it all really over?
Damn you, Lincoln Cole. She must have said this in her head, and occasionally aloud, at least a hundred times a day since it happened. Anytime he crept into her mind, and that was every couple of minutes, she’d curse him. The only time she didn’t think of him was when she was working on an animal. She managed that because she was able to keep her concentration solely on the animal. It was the nights, which got to her the worst.
It seemed like forever since she’d fallen asleep in his arms and her nights, the nights she could’ve been sleeping with Lincoln, she lay in her bed and cried. She knew Patsy had no idea what to say or do, she only knew Veronica was hurting. Veronica was looking tired and haggard, and everyone was noticing. People commented that they were worried about her, but she did her work as usual so they left her alone.
Now the day started bitterly cold and didn’t get any better. The temperature stayed below twenty all day. The weatherman was calling for more snow and suddenly, Veronica was more than glad she lived behind the hospital. She only hoped that if an emergency call came in, she’d be able to get to it. The van didn’t have four-wheel drive and some of her patients lived on back roads that seldom saw a plow. She’d just have to deal with it when the time came, which it probably would. It might be time to consider investing in a four-wheel drive vehicle. She glanced up from her desk when her door opened, and Patsy walked in.
“It’s starting to snow and we have two more patients. So if you take one and I take one, we can get out of here early,” Patsy said.
Veronica nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
She got up and along with Patsy walked out to the waiting room. Carrie sat at her desk, busying herself with something, and smiled up at her. Veronica explained what they were going to do to expedite them all getting out before things got bad. Carrie got a sudden worried look on her face.
“You know what? I don’t like the idea of either of you being out on the roads so both of you need to stay with me tonight.” Veronica saw Carrie and Patsy both give a relieved sigh.
“Thanks Roni. I’d appreciate that. I hate driving in this stuff. You’d think I’d be used to it by now since I’ve been here for several winters now.” Patsy smiled at her. “I’ll have to call my neighbor and have her check on Runt though. I know she won’t mind. She loves her too.”
“I just worry about the other drivers on the road as well as the bad conditions. There are idiots who either drive too fast or too slow.” Veronica added. “Thank God, I just live behind the hospital.”
Veronica called one patient in, while Patsy took the other. It wasn’t going to be long for either of them. The two kittens in her care just needed shots. Once everyone left, the girls closed the office, and together they braved the bitter cold and snow to walk around to the house. After flipping the lights on, and shedding their damp coats, Veronica flopped down in one recliner, Patsy hit the couch, and Carrie sat in the other chair. Veronica kicked her shoes off and rubbed her feet.
“I’m hungry,” Patsy told them as she got up and headed for the kitchen. “Roni, if you have bacon, how about some BLT’s? I’ll make them. You all just get comfy.”
“I do have bacon. All the fixings actually, so have at it.” Veronica smiled as she poured them all a glass of wine.
Patsy started frying the bacon and soon the little house smelled good enough to make most men, and dogs, drool. Veronica swirled the wine in her glass, but didn’t take a drink. Her mind was on Lincoln as usual. What was he doing? Was he even thinking about her?
God, she missed him so much. She had to get past this. The longer time passed, without him even trying to reach out to her, was all she needed to know that he’d used her for his own pleasure. He’d managed to get the revenge he’d been waiting years for, even beyond what she deserved.
When her cell phone rang, she picked it up, looked at the caller ID, and pressed ignore. It was Cameron calling, and she refused to talk to him even though she hadn’t heard from him in quite a while. He had to move on too. She wished him well, but there was no way they’d ever get back together. Even if it was true that Lincoln didn’t love her, never loved her, she was sure about Cameron in the same way. She sure as hell didn’t feel like talking to Cameron today or any other day.
Patsy brought the sandwiches in on a tray. She handed each of the other girls a plate with their sandwich and chips on it. Veronica thanked her and truly appreciated her hard work, but set hers down on the coffee table. She really wasn’t hungry. Patsy picked the plate up and handed it to her again. Veronica glared at her.
“You have to eat. Giving me the evil eye won’t work. Eat.” Patsy pushed the plate at her again but when a sudden and loud knock sounded on the door, she nearly dropped it just as both Veronica and Carrie flinched in reaction too.
Veronica stood and peered through the peephole to see Nathan and another man on her porch. What they were doing out in a snowstorm was beyond her thinking, but it was Nathan so she opened the door to them.
“Hello Nathan. Get yourself in here out of the snow.” She smiled at the other man. He was certainly easy on the eyes with his handsome good looks, dark hair, and dark eyes. Nathan and he were s
hedding their overcoats when he seemed to freeze in motion. Veronica looked to see what he was staring at and when she saw it was Patsy, she was surprised to see her friend wearing an expression of shock, which quickly disappeared beneath a calm façade.
“Well, if it isn’t the big bad FBI Agent, Micah Turner,” she sneered.
Veronica saw Agent Turner clench his jaw and a muscle twitched in his cheek as he narrowed his eyes at Patsy. He handed his coat to Nathan who hung it on a hook by the door.
“Miss Murphy,” he said with a professional nod.
Veronica noticed Nathan’s mouth twitch at the corners right before he ran his hand over it. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was sure fire going to find out. She gave Nathan a questioning glance when he looked her way, but he just shrugged.
“Roni, this is Agent Micah Turner. He’d like to ask you and Patsy some questions about Chapman.”
“Please have a seat, Agent Turner. Can I get you gentlemen any coffee?”
Both waved off the offer.
“Micah, please and thank you for your time,” Micah said taking a seat in one of the chairs after motioning for Veronica to return to hers. “Tell me what happened to you on his ranch, please.”
Veronica told him about Chapman and everything that happened to her while she was there with him. She glanced at Patsy who sat staring out the window as she told her story. Agent Turner, Micah, made notes in a pad and glanced in Patsy’s direction every few minutes. When she finished telling her tale, he cleared his throat.
“Now you, Miss Murphy, tell me what happened. All of it,” Micah demanded without looking at her.
Patsy stood, came to stand so he could see her, and glared at him. “Same thing I told Nathan and Mont. I don’t see any reason why I should have to keep telling it.”
Veronica watched Micah blow out a breath, and that muscle ticked near his jaw again. “Humor me, Patsy.”
With an annoyed huff, Patsy sat down and told him everything up until Mont took Chapman away.
“Do you think he killed those women?” Veronica asked rubbing her hand against the arm of the chair.
Lincoln Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 4 Page 13
