“Absolutely, so what would you like to talk about?”
“Them.”
They both laughed. Enjoying Zandra’s company tremendously, Zoë was surprised. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a heart-to-heart with another woman, and had enjoyed few female friendships over the years. Most women seemed to want to gossip or indulge only in small-talk, two things she couldn’t stand. Zandra was different, shielded yet still forthcoming, and Zoë liked her more as the minutes went on.
“You know, I’m really happy you’re here,” she informed Zandra. “Seriously, thanks for this, if I have one more conversation about cows I think I’ll lose it.”
Zandra snickered. “Yeah, they’re pretty one minded when it comes to something they’re passionate about. Boone can’t divulge details about cases, of course, but he still loves to talk about work. And Rory talks about little else but animals.” She shrugged. “He was studying to be a vet tech, before—” Her expression darkened. “You know, right, about what happened to me, and what he did?”
“Yes. Ethan told me. Please don’t be upset with him. He wanted to make sure I heard the truth and not rumours.”
“Actually, I’m glad he did. A lot of people do gossip about it, but Ethan knows exactly what happened. Besides, it’s still hard for me to talk about so, really, I’m not the least bit upset he told you.”
“Good. He’s close to your family, isn’t he? I mean beyond being Boone’s friend. He’s close to you and Rory too, and seems really protective over you two.”
“He is. I guess it’s because he’s been Boone’s friend for so long, he sort of watched Rory and I grow up. He’s like another big brother.” She smiled. “I had a crush on him, when I was younger. He was so handsome. I mean, he is handsome, but I just can’t look at him like that anymore. He truly is like my brother.”
“Better for me then, less competition.”
Zandra rolled her eyes. “As if I’d be competition.”
Her lack of confidence jabbed Zoë. Much more than she would have ever imagined. “Oh, please,” she returned, hoping to smooth over Zandra’s words, “there has to be someone in town who’s pining for you. So, spill it. Who is it?”
“Nobody, really. Well, um, maybe there is someone. I mean, he might be interested in me, I really can’t tell.”
Zandra sounded like an unsure teen. Zoë leaned forward a bit. “Who is it?”
“Cole.” The name came out hesitantly, and was accompanied by a slight wince.
“The veterinarian?” When Zandra nodded, Zoë smiled broadly. “Ooh! Good for you, he’s a hottie. I mean, I haven’t met him yet, but Ethan pointed him out when we drove past him the night we went to town for ice cream. I’m not into blonds, but he’s hot.” Zandra blushed, smiled, and then averted her eyes. “So, you’ve got the hots for Cole, but you’re not certain he feels the same.”
“Right.”
“Okay. Then ask him out for a coffee and see what happens.”
“Oh, no! No, no, no, no, I could never do that.” She sighed deeply. “Besides, he, well, I’ve seen him out with Faye, our new doctor, a few times. I don’t know if they’re together but it wouldn’t surprise me. She’s a doctor, so she has something in common with him, and she’s beautiful.”
“So? You’re beautiful.” When Zandra stared disbelievingly at her, Zoë decided to set her straight. “You are. I would kill for your huge eyes. And your eyelashes! My God, am I jealous! I bet many a man has dreamed of kissing those lips of yours. And honey, your body is rocking. You’ve got the goods, you just have to employ them.”
Zandra smiled. “That’s not me. I mean, even before what happened, I’m just not a flirty type of person.”
“Huh. Well, no matter. We’re going to hit The Goose next Saturday looking fantastic. Is there a spa in town?”
“No, the closest one is in Lethbridge.”
“Well, shit. Okay, never mind, we’ll have a spa day on our own. We’ll give each other manis and pedis, and then find something awesome for you to wear. You, my dear, are going to be such a knockout, Cole won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”
“If he’s even there.”
“Oh, you leave that to me. Cole and Ethan are friends, so I’ll get Ethan to invite him.”
At another blush of Zandra’s cheeks, Zoë mentally patted herself on the back. Her friend had a crush on a man who, from what she’d heard from Ethan, seemed to be a great guy. Matchmaker mode engaged, she decided to bring the two together. If Cole truly was seeing Faye, then she’d abandon her plan. However, if he was single, and she detected his interest in Zandra, well then she’d go full throttle with her cupid ways.
29
His stomach already clenched with his deceit, Ethan swore it tightened more as Boone slid into the booth across the table from him in the diner and placed a manila envelope on the tabletop. He stared at it as if it were radioactive. Its contents could spell disaster for his relationship with Zoë and, while still unclear if he was in an actual relationship, he didn’t want it to end. He never should have asked Boone to do this.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” his friend questioned.
He shook his head. Nope, no way. He didn’t want to see what was inside. Before Boone could speak again, Cookie made an appearance, carrying the carafe that seemed omnipresent in her hand, causing Ethan to groan inwardly. He liked her but was in no mood for the friendly chitchat he knew she’d unleash on Boone. She’d tried to engage Ethan in a conversation when he’d arrived earlier and he saw she suspected something was amiss with him. The last thing he needed was her prying, even if it was born of concern.
“Well, hello stranger,” Cookie chirped out and then smiled at Boone. “I haven’t seen you in here for a while.”
“I’ve been working, but I’m in town for a bit now.” His tone was friendly enough and Ethan discerned that only someone who knew Boone as well as he did could detect the slight urgency in it. Boone, too, wasn’t eager to indulge in conversation with Cookie but would be polite. Like Ethan, he wouldn’t want to alert her to the tension at the table. It was palpable, seeming to engulf Ethan to such a degree he found it difficult to take full breaths. He’d rather be anywhere else than where he found himself, and again cursed his decision to enlist Boone’s help.
“Well, it’s always nice to see you. Are you ready to order?”
Boone glanced at Ethan and then, after delivering a broad smile to Cookie, shook his head. “Not quite yet. I’ll have a coffee though.” Ethan could see how Boone’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. The envelope’s contents were damning, he was now sure of it, and his heart began to hammer wildly.
“Of course,” she said as she turned his cup over and filled it, “but you boys drink too much coffee.”
“It maintains this face,” Boone quipped, with a grin.
Cookie laughed. “Well, there’s your coffee then. We wouldn’t want that face to change.” She winked good-naturedly and then moved away.
Ethan stared at the envelope, feeling Boone’s eyes on him. Trying to calm his racing heart, he asked the question he didn’t want to voice. “How bad is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
He jerked his head up. “What?”
“It’s nothing, absolutely nothing.”
“No criminal record?”
“Nope.”
With great relief, he drew in a deep breath, feeling as if he could breathe for the first time in days. “What about her finances? Ex-husband?”
“There is no ex-husband.”
“What do you mean?”
Boone picked up the envelope. “It looks a little thin, right?” He nodded, and Boone slid a few pages out and then laid them on the tabletop before him. As his brow creased at the lack of paper before him, Boone continued. “Those are copies of her birth certificate, driver’s license, health card, and passport. All perfectly acceptable, except that’s where it ends. She’s never had a car accident, ticket, or fine. She’s never travelled o
n the passport, and she’s never been hospitalized. In fact, according to Health Canada records, she’s never been seen by a doctor. Ever.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Not for a synthetic identity.”
Ethan’s heart dropped. Synthetic identities were always created for unlawful purposes.
“These pieces are good, too, really good,” Boone went on. “It was only the lack of action on them that alerted me to them not being genuine forms of identity.” He slipped the pages back into the envelope and then leaned forward a bit. “There’s more. I ran facial-recognition using this ID and found another identity for her, same pieces, under the name Kathryn Matthews. She worked, had an apartment, car, cellphone, the works, under that name but it was synthetic too. There’s work records for her up to a few weeks ago, then nothing. It’s as if Kathryn Matthews disappeared, but there’s no missing person report on her.”
Boone glanced around the diner before continuing. “Then, she popped up in Edmonton, as Zoë Pennell, and bought her truck and cellphone. She paid cash for both, using an address in Edmonton she’s never lived at.” He shrugged. “Toronto police aren’t looking for Kathryn Matthews so it doesn’t seem like she’s involved in anything illegal but, shit, who the hell gets a synthetic identity in order to work? Especially as a cook? I even ran her picture to see if she’s a wanted illegal alien and nothing came back. Nothing on Interpol either. She doesn’t truly exist under either of those names. God knows what her actual identity is.”
Cookie approached again, and Ethan squashed his desire to sigh deeply at her appearance. She looked between him and Boone oddly, as if she could tell something was wrong. Perhaps she picked up on his mood, he wouldn’t be surprised. He probably looked at devastated as he felt. Everything seemed surreal at the moment and, as if in slow motion, Cookie turned her attention to Boone.
“Ready to order now?”
“Sure, I’ll have a banquet burger with all the fixings, fries, and onion rings.”
She smiled. “It’s always the same. I probably don’t even have to ask you anymore, do I?”
“Probably not,” he agreed.
“How about you, hon?” she asked as she turned to Ethan. “What can I get you?”
“The same,” he managed to get out, certain he wouldn’t be able to stomach it, but knowing she’d question him if he didn’t order.
“You got it. Coming right up,” she chirped and then briskly walked away.
Boone’s brow furrowed. “You know, she always calls you ‘hon’, but never calls me that.” When he received nothing but a stare in return, he leaned forward again, dropping his voice. “Look, the only good news I can offer is that, for whatever reason she obtained this identity, it doesn’t appear to be criminal.”
“Then why get it?”
When Boone didn’t answer, Ethan sighed. “Could she get this on the street?” At the cock of Boone’s head, he elaborated. “If, say, she was running from someone, could she score those pieces of ID on the street?”
“Pieces this good? I doubt it. The driver’s license and the health card, sure, asking the right people, yeah, she could find those. The RCMP has investigated tons of cases of synthetic driver’s licenses and health cards. The passport though, no, not one this good.” He spread his hands on the tabletop. “We could do this, Witness Protection, but I checked and she’s not in the system.”
His mind spinning with the information he’d received, Ethan looked out the window but a low curse from Boone caused him to look back sharply. “I thought you were just banging her, but the look on your face ... you’re falling for her.” He made it sound like an accusation. “How deep in are you?”
“Deep,” he admitted.
Boone swore again. “What’s going on with you? This isn’t like you at all.” Agreeing with that, Ethan had no explanation for why he’d lost a hold on his emotions when it came to Zoë. Unable to offer a reason, he merely stared at Boone. “Shit, well, she has to go. I don’t know what she’s up to, but it can’t be good.”
“She’s not a criminal. She’s running from something, or someone.”
“Okay, let’s say she’s running. She knows you used to be a cop, she knows Myles, and she knows I work for Witness Protection. Why hasn’t she asked for help?”
“She’s scared.”
“Bullshit.” At the sharp look Ethan unleashed, Boone shrugged. “I’m not buying that. She’s done a number on you, that’s apparent, and you have to send her on her way.”
In an attempt to get Boone to understand, Ethan leaned forward. “I agree all of this is strange and yeah, I want answers too, but I’m telling you that you don’t understand the whole situation. She’s unlike any woman I’ve ever known. She’s so damn strong. Fearless.” Boone didn’t look convinced and Ethan sighed. “She is fearless, but I confronted her a while back when her story didn’t add up to me and, I’m telling you, she was scared. Whatever she’s running from scares the hell outta her.”
“Then why doesn’t she ask for help?”
“I just told you she’s scared!”
He blurted it out louder than he intended to, and Boone sat up rigidly, his expression condemning. Knowing his friend still wasn’t convinced, Ethan tried to get through to him again.
“Look, you don’t know her. I do. She’s scared.”
As Boone’s look softened, his posture relaxed. “Then she needs our help. Maybe I should talk to her. Or Myles even.”
“No. If you do, you’ll spook her, and she’ll run. I know it.”
“It might be for the best.”
Glaring harshly, he could hardly believe Boone had voiced such a thing. “How can you say that? She needs help.”
“And how long are you going to let this go on if she doesn’t ask for help?”
“I don’t know.”
“What if whatever she’s running from catches up with her? What then? What if it endangers your men? Your ranch?”
“I don’t know,” he repeated. “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it, but I won’t turn her away if she needs a place to hide. I can’t.”
Boone looked pissed with his answer, but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t push Zoë, end of discussion. Turning his head, he looked out the window again. Lunchtime had plenty of people out and about and, as his eyes took in several folks he knew, he wondered how much he truly knew about Zoë.
30
Climbing the stairs with him, Zoë stole a glance at Ethan. He’d been quiet ever since returning from lunch, and his reticence had lasted throughout the afternoon, and then extended into the evening. She worried Boone and he had had words over her. Ethan had been upset when learning of Boone’s aggressive flirting with her the night they were all at The Scruffy Goose. Perhaps he’d called his friend out on his behaviour and the two had argued. Maybe it’s more than that, maybe Boone found out something about you. No, that couldn’t be the case. Ethan wouldn’t look into her past, nor have Boone do it, he’d promised not to. His quietness had a different cause, and one he apparently didn’t want to discuss with her. Part of her wanted to question him about it, but a bigger part reminded her she’d refused to confide in him and she had no right to demand he confide in her.
They entered the bedroom, she turned to him and, grabbing his face roughly, delivered a wicked kiss. He grunted in surprise before returning it with an equal intensity. As she sucked wantonly on his tongue, she undid his belt, then his jeans, and yanked them and his boxer-briefs past his hips. Stroking his growing erection, she bit his bottom lip gently and then licked his lips.
“You’re certainly eager tonight,” he remarked.
“You seem like you had a rough day,” she replied with a slight shrug, “and I want to make it better for you.”
“I’m fine,” he assured her and then moaned when she twisted her hand around him. “But please, don’t let me stop you.”
With a salacious grin, she dropped to her knees before him. Maintaining eye contact with him, she gra
bbed his hips and then pushed forward to engulf him with her mouth.
“Holy shit,” he said, a harsh rasp to his voice.
She went to work, alternating a strong suck with a swirling tongue, keeping her eyes locked with him the entire time, knowing he’d like it. He did. His fingers wound through her hair and he held her head tightly, not moving it, just hanging on while she worked him.
His eyelids drooped, and he grazed his teeth over his bottom lip. “I’m almost there.”
While she appreciated his warning, she intended to please him fully. As she sucked harder, she felt him throb in her hand, certain she felt his seed rise along its underside. He climaxed, and she accepted all he gave her. She then continued to lightly suck and nibble on him until he pulled away.
“Okay, I’m getting a bit sensitive there.”
When he offered his hands, she took them in hers and he pulled her to her feet to plant a soft but passionate kiss on her hips. As he pressed his forehead to hers, he grinned.
“To what do I owe that surprise?”
“I told you, I wanted to make you feel better.”
“Wow, I should have more bad days then.” When she didn’t respond, he shook his head a bit. “I’m fine, really. Confused, actually, as to why you think I’m in a bad mood. I’m not. Just a little tired I guess.”
Calling bullshit on that, she could tell something occupied his mind but, again, she had no right to question what plagued him. Instead, she pulled his T-shirt up and over his head and then tossed it on the floor. As she ran her hands over his pecs, he looked her up and down.
“Something’s wrong here.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, you still have all your clothes on.”
With a soft laugh, she stepped back and then slowly, locking her eyes with his once more, peeled off her clothing. After an appreciative visual run-down of her body, he gestured to the bed with his head.
“Get on the bed.” He moved to the nightstand to extract a condom, and she watched him put it on. Turning back to her, he cocked his head. “I said get on the bed.”
Done a Runner (Wanted Men of Bison Bluffs Book 1) Page 12
