Dillon parked his truck along the street in front of the woodsy landscaping of Stillwater Inn. It was a nice building and location, but it could also be in a horror movie. Too many dark places to hide outside. Dim lighting inside. Stillwater Inn…creepy.
“I’ve heard that happens a lot in this town.”
“I need to know where my father is.”
Her earnestness was a dart hitting the center of what drove him. “Well, let’s go join the party, then.”
She got out of his truck when he did. He locked it and walked around to her.
“They’re going to kick us out,” Hallie said as she walked beside him toward the inn. “We weren’t invited.”
“They won’t even know we’re there.”
“What if they do?”
“We’ll say we’re with my parents.”
“They won’t believe us.”
“Stop worrying so much.”
She looked around. “Why are we here anyway? Nobody’s going to do anything in front of a bunch of people.”
“I need to make sure my mother is all right.”
She turned to him and he saw the warm admiration in her eyes. She liked his reason.
“I can also see who’s here. Who my parents talk to, who Samuel talks to.”
“Bo Fargo?” The name rolled off her tongue with a sneer.
“Yes. Him, too.”
Dillon took Hallie’s hand, glad she trusted him now. She didn’t pull away and the tiny smile told him she liked the gesture. Up the stairs to the porch, he opened the door for her and they entered.
Inside the foyer, a banner hung above the heavy wooden double doors of the bar. Health and Prosperity Hour. An interesting twist on a regular happy hour. The doors were open to a loud throng of women in cocktail dresses and men in suits. He and Hallie were in jeans.
“This is never going to work,” Hallie said.
“Come on.” He led her to a vacant table, tucked back in the corner and adjacent to the doors. The dim lighting would help conceal them.
“Tonic?”
Dillon looked up at the waiter and shared a quick glance with Hallie. She shrugged and nodded. Dillon took two glasses and handed her one. The waiter moved on.
Dillon clinked Hallie’s glass. “To meeting you.”
She smiled. “To meeting you.”
Her green eyes twinkled and her thick brown hair glimmered in the soft light.
Back to the reason he’d come here, he searched the room and found his parents. His mom was drinking a bottle of water. That stunned him for a second. She was at a party and drinking water. He looked around again. Everyone was drinking water. Was his mom doing the same because his dad had ordered her to or was she finally starting to listen to Dillon? The bottle she held wasn’t just any kind of water. It was Samuel’s tonic water. He hoped she drank it just to fit in and didn’t buy all the crap that jerk fed everyone. Though she appeared a tad detached, she was holding up fine. His dad was immersed in a conversation with another man.
A little to the left, the crowd parted and he saw Samuel Grayson standing with his second in command, Wade Herrington, and that goon who’d kicked him out of the inn the last time he was here. Wade was speaking to Samuel in what appeared to be a low-volume discussion. Samuel nodded and Wade wandered away. He was a tall, lean man with blond hair and an unsmiling face. Dillon’s mom had told him that Wade ran the community center for Samuel.
Samuel turned to the goon and said something that made him nod. Just before the crowd closed over Dillon’s view of them, the goon glanced over at him.
“Damn.”
“What?”
“We’ve been spotted.”
* * *
“Gemma.” Ford leaned over her bed and touched her shoulder, trying not to let the sight of her half covered by the blanket seduce him. He’d managed to keep his hands off her throughout the evening. It helped that she’d been distant. He didn’t want to ask why because he didn’t want her to tell him that it was his own distance that bothered her. One kiss and they’d be burning up the stairs again.
Her eyes popped open.
“Sorry,” he said. “I had to wake you.”
She sprang up to a sitting position. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Get dressed. You have to come with me.”
“What? Where?” She blinked tiredly and pushed her messy hair off her face, messy hair that he yearned to have his fingers in just now.
“I can’t leave you here alone. You go where I go, and that’s the Stillwater Inn.”
“Why do you have to go there?”
“We. I got a call about a disturbance at the Stillwater Inn.” He pulled the covers off her.
“Hey.”
“Come on. Get dressed. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
Grumbling under her breath, she got out of bed and went into her walk-in closet, giving him a nice view of her body shimmering in a thin, knee-length nightgown before he could turn to leave the room. Sexy and petite, she was adorable when she was awakened from a dead sleep and forced to get moving. He wished he could hold her in bed while she fell back asleep.
He went downstairs and waited, only to be rewarded again when she appeared in a dark blue cotton tank that hinted to stiff nipples—she’d gone braless—and denim shorts that showcased her legs.
“Ready.” Gemma yawned as she headed for the door, oblivious to what she was doing to him.
Ford fought to keep from looking at her all the way to the inn. She caught him a couple of times, especially once she stopped yawning. Maybe that’s why she stopped yawning.
He spotted Bo out in the street, next to an older blue-and-white Chevy pickup truck, and was glad to have something else to occupy his mind. There were two kids standing between two big men who had henchmen written all over them. He’d seen them with Samuel before. He’d also seen the kids. Dillon and Hallie.
Ford parked and he and Gemma walked toward the group. Bo looked speculatively from Gemma to him.
Ford ignored him. “What’s the problem?”
“We caught these two out here drinking,” Bo said.
“That’s a lie,” Dillon retorted. “We were inside and these two dragged us out here.”
“This was in the truck.” One of the henchmen held up a six-pack of beer with two cans missing.
“They planted that in there!” Dillon protested. Beside him, Hallie’s eyes spat darts of anger at Bo and she folded her arms.
“Arrest them,” Bo ordered. “Maybe after a night in jail they’ll rethink underage drinking from now on.”
“We weren’t underage drinking,” Hallie argued. “That’s just another one of his lies! Just like he lied about looking for my father.”
Ford studied Bo, who gave nothing away. It was pointless to question him or the henchmen right now. They’d all lie. Hallie was right about that.
“Grayson having a party?” he asked Bo, nodding toward the inn.
“Health and Prosperity Hour,” Dillon sneered.
Ford hid a smirk. Kind of like happy hour for health nuts?
“It’s an adult party. These two shouldn’t be here, and they made a mistake drinking in the truck.” Bo turned threateningly to the two kids. “One they’re going to learn not to repeat.”
Why had Dillon and Hallie shown up here tonight? The two had been together the night of Gemma’s second attack, and they’d been together on the Fourth of July. Were they just two kids out for a fun night of drinking as Bo claimed or was it something else? Given their proximity to Samuel and Bo every time he saw them, he doubted this was a simple case of young love.
“Why don’t you two come with me,” he told them.
“W
hat?” Dillon raged. “That’s so unfair! You’re actually going to listen to that puke?”
Bo took an intimidating step toward Dillon. “I’ll arrest you myself if you don’t watch it.”
Planting a hand on his superior’s chest, Ford stopped him. “I’ll take care of it.”
Gemma took Hallie’s hand. “Come on. It’s okay.”
Seeing Hallie following Gemma, Dillon looked at Ford, hesitating.
“Take them in,” Bo demanded.
Casting a glare back at Bo, Dillon walked angrily toward Ford’s Escalade. Ford followed without cuffing either teenager, not caring what Bo thought.
When the kids were belted in the back, Ford drove away from the inn.
“You’re actually going to arrest us?” Dillon demanded. “I thought you were different from the rest.”
“We’ll go somewhere we can talk.”
With that, Dillon relaxed against the seat and Ford drove back to Gemma’s house. When he pulled into the driveway, he received curious looks from all the occupants.
Catching Gemma’s glance, he tried to reassure her. “Trust me on this.”
On the way to the front door, Hallie looked back at her grandmother’s house. Dillon put his hand on her back, as though keeping her from trying to bolt.
Inside Gemma’s living room, Ford took out his notebook and a pen. “Sit down.”
Hallie sat on the sofa across from the two blue-and-green wingback chairs and Dillon sat next to her. Gemma went into the kitchen.
“Start from the top,” Ford said. “Tell me what happened.”
Hallie glanced at Dillon, who nodded and turned back to Ford.
“Why didn’t you arrest us?” he asked.
“I don’t always do what Bo tells me. I do what’s right. Now start talking, or I will arrest you.”
“We went there to make sure Dillon’s mom was okay,” Hallie said.
“I’ve been following her,” Dillon added.
Ford tried to remember if he’d seen Dillon’s parents in Grayson’s tent on the Fourth of July and couldn’t. “Why have you been doing that?”
Gemma appeared with four colorful glasses and a matching pitcher full of water. Putting them on the coffee table, she handed one to Ford. “Thanks.” He put the glass down on a table beside one of her pretty chairs.
“Because I saw a D tattooed on my dad’s hip and I’m worried he’ll hurt my mom.” Dillon said, taking a glass from Gemma.
“Has he hurt her in the past?”
“Yeah. He beats her. But he’s got her too scared to do anything about it.”
Gemma slowed in her movements as she handed Hallie a glass next. News of any woman being beaten by her husband wouldn’t go over well with her.
“Your mother doesn’t want to be a part of what your dad is doing?” Ford continued his questioning.
Dillon shook his head. “No way. He forces her to do everything.”
“And when she refuses he gets physical?”
“Yes. Mostly he slaps her but lately he’s been getting worse. Shoving. Punching.”
Looking down, clearly bothered by Dillon’s revelation, Gemma sipped her water.
“Has she had to go to the hospital?”
“No.”
“And no police.”
“No.”
So there was no record of the abuse, and her son had taken it upon himself to protect her. No son should have to do that.
“Were your parents at the inn tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And the beer?”
“Those apes planted it in my truck!” Dillon burst out.
Ford believed that. “Why did you take Hallie there? You have a reason to want to keep tabs on your mother, but why involve Hallie in something that could potentially be dangerous?”
Hallie didn’t answer and Dillon’s quick glance over at her alerted him.
“You and your grandmother are new to town, isn’t that right, Hallie?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you say that Bo lied about looking for your father? Is he missing?”
She didn’t respond right away, flashing a nervous look at Dillon.
“It’s okay, Hallie,” Gemma said. “You can tell him.”
“Go ahead. Tell him,” Dillon encouraged.
Slowly, Hallie turned back to Ford. “About four years ago, my dad was having an affair with a woman who was from Cold Plains, though he didn’t know it at the time. She disappeared, and he couldn’t find her.”
Ford’s alertness sharpened tenfold. “Four years ago?” Jane Doe had been murdered then.
Hallie nodded. “About a year ago, my dad found out she was from Cold Plains. And then he learned that Samuel Grayson was running a cult here. He wondered if she knew and had a reason to come back. He moved us here so he could do his own poking around. Samuel must have caught him, because he disappeared just like the woman.”
“I didn’t see the Missing Persons report.” Had Bo tried to cover it up? “When did he disappear?”
“Three months ago.”
“Who was the woman?” Could it be his Jane Doe? He dug into his shirt pocket for the computer-enhanced photo he always carried with him.
“He never revealed her name. Everything I’m telling you he told only my grandmother. He was too afraid of anyone else getting hurt, and he kept his affair secret to protect me. My mother died shortly before he met this woman and he thought I’d be upset.”
“He didn’t tell your grandmother the woman’s name?”
Hallie shook her head. “To avoid any connection between his family and her.”
“Have you ever seen the woman?”
“Grandma showed me a picture. It was the only picture my dad kept of her.”
“Is this the woman?” He showed her the photo.
Hallie leaned forward. “Yes, I think that’s her.” She looked up. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know her name.” And neither did Hallie. But she’d just given him the biggest lead he’d gotten so far. A lover. She must have run away from Grayson long before she was killed. But somehow their paths had crossed again. Four years ago. Why? Had Grayson been searching for her? Had she unearthed something about him? Something that threatened him enough to kill her?
“Did you file a Missing Persons report?” he asked.
“Yes.” Now she sounded angry. “But we were forced to go through Bo Fargo.”
Bo had covered it up. “I’ll take care of that.”
Dillon elbowed her with a smile, a silent I-told-you-we-could-trust-him communication.
“How did the two of you link up?” Ford asked.
“We bumped into each other at the inn,” Dillon replied.
“The Stillwater?”
“Yeah. I followed my dad. He met Grayson and some other people there. Bo Fargo and a few of his thugs. I heard my dad tell my mother that Wade Herrington would be there. She didn’t go with him, but he sounded excited to meet the man.”
“Who is Wade Herrington?” Gemma asked.
“Grayson’s right hand,” Ford answered. “He runs the community center and other things less visible to the public.”
“Why was your dad excited to meet him?” she asked Dillon.
“He’s working his way up the whacko food chain, I guess. Wade is important to Samuel. Maybe my dad wants to be important, too.”
Or was he taking orders from Herrington?
“I also saw Lacy Matthews at the inn with her boyfriend,” Dillon added.
“Alan?” Gemma breathed anxiously.
“Alan Chapman?” Ford asked. He’d seen the man with Grayson, and also one of his henchm
en.
“He’s a big dude,” Dillon said. “Like my dad.”
“If Lacy was there, she wasn’t involved in anything they were doing,” Gemma said.
Ford didn’t think it was a coincidence Grayson had been meeting at the inn around the time of Jed’s murder. It would place one of his goons at the inn with an alibi. Ballsy, but that was the way Grayson operated.
“Tell no one about this conversation.” Ford looked at Hallie. “If you want to find your father, and you—” he looked at Dillon “—if you want to help your mother, you’ll both be quiet. And you’ll stay away from Samuel Grayson and anyone associated with him. Understood?”
Hallie nodded. And Dillon said, “Yeah.”
“No more going to his parties.”
Both teenagers nodded this time.
“No more sneaking around of any kind. You’ll be in your houses before dark until I say it’s safe to do otherwise. Understood?”
“What about my—”
“I’ll watch over your mother,” Ford interrupted. He had to make sure these two did not try to take on an investigation that was far, far, above their heads. The last thing he wanted to hear about was the disappearance of two innocent teenagers.
* * *
Late the next morning, Gemma watched Ford standing at the kitchen table in front of his laptop, wondering if now was a good time to tell him her period was a week late and she was worried. She didn’t know him well enough to gauge how he’d react. She only knew he’d lost everyone he’d loved and had a barrier thicker than the Earth’s mantle around his heart. Not to mention the complication of Jed’s murder and now the discovery of Jane Doe’s lover.
After they’d dropped Dillon off last night, they’d driven Hallie home and questioned her grandmother. She hadn’t revealed anything more than her granddaughter had. Ford had searched Felix Taylor’s things, but there again, nothing had turned up. She could tell he was frustrated.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Sending a message to someone.”
She had wireless hookup in the house and he must have found it. “Who?”
Stopping in the middle of typing, he looked up and didn’t answer. Didn’t he trust her enough to tell her? She thought they’d crossed that boundary.
Perfect Wyoming Complete Collection: Special Agent's Perfect Cover ; Rancher's Perfect Baby Rescue ; A Daughter's Perfect Secret ; Lawman's Perfect Surrender ; The Perfect Outsider ; Mercenary's Perfect Mission Page 63
