by Donna Grant
At least that’s what he told himself. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t be sitting in front of Beverly’s home.
With no other choice, he climbed out of the truck and adjusted his hat before he made his way to the house. At the entrance, he paused and looked inside at the wide foyer as he ran a hand down his shirt. His gaze lowered to the floor as he stepped over the threshold.
“I was beginning to wonder if you’d come inside,” Beverly said as she appeared in a doorway, a beer in each hand. “Close the door and get your cute ass in here so you can begin your story.”
Shane wasn’t sure if anyone had ever called his butt cute, but it made him smile. He shut the door and removed his hat, carrying it in his hand as he walked to the doorway where Beverly had been.
He found a tidy room done in all cream with accents of gold. Or was it rose? He didn’t know the correct name of the color, and soon forgot when his gaze landed on Beverly. She sat on the sofa watching him. She smiled and motioned to the overstuffed chair opposite her. Shane made his way to it and set his Stetson on the glass table between them before grasping the cold bottle of beer.
“I have something stronger if you need it,” she said.
He took a long drink, letting the cold liquid slide down his throat. “This will be fine.”
“I can’t cook to save my life,” she suddenly stated. “But I have a young man who will deliver anything I want. Let me know when you get hungry, and I’ll make a call to one of the restaurants.”
Shane gave her a nod. “That sounds fine.”
She pulled out a narrow device and set it on the table between them. “I thought I’d spend the evening flirting with you, and maybe even get a kiss if I was lucky. Seems that will have to wait. Unless you want to start off with the kiss,” she offered with a wickedly sexy smile.
In the course of his life, Shane had never done anything without thinking it over repeatedly, and yet he had the desire to yank Beverly to her feet and kiss her.
“Keep smiling at me like that, cowboy. I like it,” she told him with a wink.
“Why me?” he asked. “I’ve seen the men pursuing you. Why do you want me? I’m nobody, and I have very little to my name.”
She crossed one leg over the other and held his gaze. “I don’t care what you do or don’t have. It’s always been you, Shane. You just never noticed me.”
“Yes, ma’am, I certainly did.”
“I’m not getting any younger, and I figured I’d never know if you were interested if I didn’t tell you what I wanted.”
His thoughts briefly drifted to the past. “You may regret that.”
“There are a great many things I regret, but being attracted to you isn’t one of them. Now, as much as I want to keep discussing this, I get the feeling timing is an issue. Why don’t you start your story?”
He ran a hand over his jaw. “It really should be Brice and Naomi sitting here, but since they can’t be, I’m here. I’m going to tell you this to print it, but all names have to be omitted.”
“I’ll see it done,” she promised.
“It started when Naomi Pierce returned to town to visit her best friend, Whitney Nolan.”
Chapter 32
Naomi couldn’t remember a time when a picture had ever been so important. Most of her work was done digitally, but she had always been obsessed with the development of pictures. And she was glad that she had learned the process and kept up with it all these years.
She hung the last photo on the string and blew out a breath. Her back ached, her eyes hurt, and she was thirsty, but the work was now done.
The thump of Brice walking up the stairs in his boots was now a familiar sound. It brought a smile to her face because he came straight to the door to check on her.
“Hey,” he called. “How’s it coming?”
She walked to the door and opened it a crack before moving aside the quilt and slipping into the hall. Without a word, Brice pulled her into his arms and held her. That simple gesture did so much to bolster her. In the comfort of his embrace, the world couldn’t touch her.
If only she could stay there.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.” She straightened and glanced out the window to see that it was late afternoon.
She was the one who’d decided to work through lunch, but she had assumed she’d finish quicker. She was paying the price now with a dull headache that signaled she had gone too long without anything to eat or drink.
Brice took her hand. “Come on.”
They walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where he pushed her onto one of the island stools as he began getting things from the fridge and pantry.
Naomi turned her head to the windows, but after a moment, she closed her eyes and yawned. Something cold was placed in her hand. She looked to find a bottle of water that she quickly opened and drank.
She licked her lips and set the empty bottle aside. “Thanks. Any word about Whitney or Cooper?”
“There’s no change in Whitney, and there are two deputies outside her room along with her parents inside with her.”
Naomi shoved back her hair from her face. “I want to see her.”
“You will soon,” he said as he began cutting some cheese, which he then handed to her. “To tide you over,” he explained with a grin.
She gobbled the slices as quickly as he handed them to her.
“As for Cooper,” Brice continued. “He’s awake, though groggy. Based on what Jace told us, Cooper is pretty pissed about everything. Unfortunately, he didn’t see anything that can help in the investigation.”
Naomi swallowed her bite and slipped from the stool to grab another bottle of water. “How long will he be in the hospital?”
“Another day for observation,” Brice said with a shrug. He put down the knife and pulled out a slip of paper from his back pocket. “Do you think you can forward one of the pictures to this email?”
She took the paper and read the email address. “Sure. Who is it?”
“Our county paper. It seems my sister had the brilliant idea of having them run the story.”
Naomi couldn’t believe her ears. “That’s a great idea.” But then she frowned. “Except I’m not sure I want my name listed.”
“None of our names will be printed,” he assured her.
“How can you be so sure?”
Brice popped a piece of cheese into his mouth. “The editor of the paper has been flirting with Shane for months. He finally asked her out and offered her the story.”
“And she wants to run it?”
“She sure does. Beverly is determined to find out who the men are, and she’s willing to put her life and career on the line to help us.”
“I haven’t met her, and I like her already,” Naomi said.
Brice brought the knife to the sink and wiped off his hands before grabbing a box of crackers and returning to her. “Beverly is outspoken and unstoppable. I wish I’d have thought about talking to her earlier. With this story going out in the paper tomorrow, along with the picture, we just might bring all this to an end quickly.”
Naomi jumped up. “I need your computer. And please tell me you have a scanner.”
“I do,” he said and walked her to a stack of boxes in the family room.
After moving some of them, Brice found the printer and hooked it up while she ran upstairs to grab one of the prints. By the time she returned, the laptop was open, and the printer was on and waiting.
She sat on the sofa and quickly scanned the picture before signing in to her email account and sending it off to Beverly. Naomi lifted her gaze to Brice and smiled.
“Is Caleb still outside?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Want to invite him in for dinner?”
Brice gave a shake of his head as he moved the computer and sat beside her. “He won’t come in.”
“He can’t stay out there all night.”
“Sure he can,” Brice said with a chuckle. �
�We both did it often enough when we were on missions. He has food and water to get him through the night. Then I’ll go see him in the morning.”
She leaned her head against Brice’s shoulder. “No one has bothered us here.”
“They’d be fools to try.”
* * *
Raymond softly set down the receiver of the phone on his desk and lifted his eyes to Larry, who was leaning against a filing cabinet. “Call the others. Our … poker game … tonight is cancelled.”
“Why? Who was that on the phone?” his friend pressed.
“My contact at the paper. It seems Beverly Barnes is revamping the entire front page for tomorrow’s edition.”
Larry frowned, shrugging. “So.”
“So, her new story features a copy of the photo Naomi Pierce took.”
“Oh, hell,” Larry murmured and pushed away from the cabinet.
Raymond controlled the rage that bubbled within him. “I thought you said you looked for the film?”
“I did,” Larry stated. “There was nothing in her rental car. It must have been on her.”
“You think?” Raymond snapped. He slammed his hand on the desk and drew in a deep breath to dam the tide of anger that took him. “We had a chance to halt all of this. What the fuck went wrong?”
Larry ran a hand down his face. “Naomi should’ve died when I pushed her. The fall alone should have kept her down long enough for the horses to trample her. I still don’t know how she survived.”
“Luck, I suppose.”
“Can we stop the story from printing?”
Raymond cut his eyes to Larry. “Everything is digital now. I could burn the building down, but the information would still be in the cloud. And you forget, the story won’t just be on paper delivered to every home. It’s online, as well. There’s nothing that can stop this from getting out.”
“What do we do then?”
Raymond stood and smiled. “There is an easy way to get ahead of this.”
Larry stared at him a few minutes before he grinned. “We frame Ethan, Curtis, and Billy.”
“That’s the easy part, but there’s another step I want to take.”
“What’s that?”
“Curtis is the one in the picture. It won’t take long for someone to figure that out. We need our three comrades to meet in the mayor’s office where Curtis, in a fit of despair, will pull out a gun and shoot the others before taking his own life.”
Larry issued a half-shrug. “The only part that will be a problem is getting Ethan to agree to have the meeting there.”
“I’ll tell him I’m coming, but we’ll make sure he doesn’t know about the other two. There’s no way he can refuse them once they’re there.”
A glance at his watch had Larry frowning. “You’d better make the call.”
“You notify the other two.”
Raymond opened a drawer and pulled out one of the burner phones and dialed the direct line to the mayor’s office. Just as he expected, Ethan was more than happy to stay late and take a meeting before their poker night.
After disconnecting the call, Raymond considered the other players in this game. It would be nearly impossible to get to the Easts. Everyone knew the ranch had state of the art security that was updated yearly.
Then there was Naomi Pierce. No one had seen her since she left the hospital the day before, but he doubted she’d left the area. Though that’s what Naomi’s mother wanted everyone to think based on the reports coming in.
Raymond had no reason to believe that Naomi hadn’t gone back to DC, but he had a nagging feeling that warned him the meddling bitch was still around.
He’d had the world in the palm of his hand until Naomi arrived. Somehow, she’d been able to get through the layers of fear and threats they had piled on Whitney and got her to talk. Raymond dearly wanted Naomi dead. He wanted to take his knife and cut her for every minute she had disturbed his carefully laid out life.
If she was still in the area, he’d find her. And as long as Whitney remained in her coma, there was no one to point the finger at him. At least there wouldn’t be once Ethan, Curtis, and Billy were dead.
Larry’s tall frame filled the doorway. A suspicious man would take Larry out of the picture, as well. While Raymond was cautious and distrustful, he didn’t doubt Larry for a minute. They had been through too much together.
He was Raymond’s enforcer, the one who either got another to kill or killed himself. He had more on Larry than his friend had on him.
“It’s all set,” Larry stated. “Your four o’clock is here.”
Raymond walked to his friend and handed him the burner. “Get rid of that before you leave.”
“I’ll be back once I’m finished.”
Raymond paused on his way out the door. “Do a little more digging into Naomi Pierce. I want to see if she really did leave.”
“I’ll go have a talk with her mother. If Diana knows anything, I’ll get it out of her.”
“Carefully,” Raymond cautioned. “We don’t know how much the Easts know.”
Larry’s brows snapped together. “Since when have you feared Clayton East?”
“I don’t fear him, but I’m not going to underestimate him either. Someone with his kind of money has connections, just like I do. So be careful,” he repeated. “And while you’re at it, do some digging on the Harpers, especially Brice. We might get lucky.”
Larry looked away, offended. “I’ve never let you down before.”
“Heed my words now and you won’t.”
“In a few hours, our three comrades will be gone and unable to point to you, and you’ll know where Naomi is.”
Raymond reached for his hat from the hook and set it on his head. “If Naomi is still in the area—”
“I’ll take care of her,” Larry said over him.
“My friend, you’re big and strong. Most times, that’s enough to scare the shit out of people. But Clayton East was a SEAL.”
Larry snorted. “That doesn’t scare me.”
“He taught Brice and Caleb all he knows. And those boys were in the military themselves.”
“They’re nothing. You act like I should fear them,” he said with a sneer.
Raymond put his hand on Larry’s shoulder. “We’ve always done everything together. I want to make sure no one dares to end that.”
“They won’t,” Larry stated and walked out.
Chapter 33
Brice’s eyes flew open. He lay silently on the bed with Naomi snuggled against him. The house was quiet, just as it should be, but something was wrong.
He put his hand over Naomi’s mouth as he turned toward her. She woke instantly, her body tensing.
“Get your shoes on,” he whispered.
She turned her head, their eyes meeting in the moonlight. She nodded slowly as trepidation tightened her features. As much as he’d wanted to spend the night making wild love to her again, something had cautioned him against it.
Naomi’s exhaustion sent them to bed not long after dinner, but he suggested they sleep with their clothes on. Now he was glad he’d made that call.
With slow movements, she lifted the sheets and got to her feet. Brice’s gaze was on the doorway. He kept it there as he rose and reached for the pistol on the side of his nightstand. He didn’t bother with his boots. It would make too much noise. On silent feet, he moved to the side of the window and peeked outside. He saw nothing, but his gut was telling him that something was out there.
If Caleb had seen anything, his brother would’ve let him know. The fact that there had been nothing from Caleb was worrying. Brice refused to even consider that something might have happened to his brother.
His gut clenched painfully as he recalled the last time he’d thought he lost someone in his family. Abby had been shot. Thankfully, it hadn’t been serious, but it could have been. Back then, none of them had been trained for an attack.
Brice and Caleb had sworn never to be unprepared again. Clayt
on had helped with that, as had their military training. Whoever was in the house was about to get a rude awakening.
He glanced at Naomi to find her staring at him. Backing away from the window, he gave it a wide berth and made his way to her. He took her hand to find it ice cold.
“Keep your hand on me at all times,” he whispered. “I’ll get us through this.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. As soon as he turned to face the doorway, she put her hand on his back. He raised his gun and aimed it before he started slowly walking toward the entrance.
Once he reached it, he paused and looked over his shoulder at Naomi. Her fear was evident, but she was holding it together. Brice wasn’t sure where to take her. The best scenario was his truck, but that was exactly the place he would target if he were after someone. He would have to leave her in the house while he sorted things with whoever had come for them.
The loud ringing of a cell phone broke through the silence of the night. The light from the phone lit up on the bedside table. Naomi started to turn away to answer it, but Brice grabbed her arm and shook his head for her to leave it.
It felt like an eternity before the ringing finally stopped. A few moments later, there was a ding of a voicemail.
As much as he wanted to find out who called, he wouldn’t. Because he knew someone was on the stairs. He pushed Naomi back and down so she would make the smallest target possible.
Then he drew in a deep breath. As he released it, he spun around the door and aimed his pistol down the stairs.
Only to find Caleb on his stomach with his gun aimed at him.
Both pulled up their weapons simultaneously.
Caleb jumped to his feet and put his back against a wall. He shot Brice a crooked grin. “I feel like I’m back in the Army,” he whispered.
Brice shook his head and leaned into the bedroom to get Naomi. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked Caleb.
“I saw a man headed this way.”
That wasn’t good news. Brice watched Naomi rush to get the phone. His head swung back to Caleb. “How the fuck did you get in?”
