by Jodi Thomas
Wilkes fought the urge to strangle the janitor. “Did she say anything to you?”
“Yep. She said ‘good night.’” Nigel kept scratching. “No, that’s not right. She just said ‘night,’ or it might have been just ‘bye.’ No, come to think of it, she said ‘night bye.’ No, that don’t make any sense.”
Wilkes jumped back in his car. He’d kill Nigel later. Right now he had to find Angie. Ever since he’d met her, he had the feeling she was a guppy in a shark tank.
If her van was gone and she hadn’t come to his ranch, Wilkes could think of only two places she’d go. The sheriff’s lake house or back to her cabin. He checked in with Uncle Vern as he drove through town. The dessert was half gone, and they hadn’t seen Angie.
Only a few low lights shone at the sheriff’s place. Wilkes parked farther down the road thinking he could walk into the back of both the sheriff’s place and Angie’s cabin. That way, he’d see trouble before anyone saw him.
When he climbed out of the Tahoe, he pulled his .45 from the glove compartment and shoved it deep into his coat pocket. It was the first time he’d felt the weapon in his hand since the army. The army, where he’d learned to work hard and not feel. After Lexie’s letter there was no joy and tired muscles seemed to dull the pain.
When he’d first heard about Angie’s trouble, he’d thought it was all in her mind or simply some jilted boyfriend, but tonight he swore he could smell trouble in the air. His muscles tightened preparing for anything that might come.
His hand closed around the doorknob, and he burst through the back door of Dan Brigman’s house without knocking and came face-to-face with teenage lust.
The O’Grady boy, who should be away at college, was wrapped around a female body with most of her clothes missing.
For a second, in the shadows, he saw the red hair and thought it was Angie. Only, nothing else fit. The color was off, and brown hair was mixed in with the red. The body wasn’t rounded in all the right places as Angie’s was and the girl didn’t look as if she needed the bra that now lay across the coffee table.
Wilkes tried to remain calm. The young couple simply froze.
“Is the sheriff here?” he asked as if he hadn’t seen a thing.
Tim O’Grady, to his credit, moved in front of the girl. “He left ten or fifteen minutes ago, maybe more, Mr. Wagner. I wasn’t watching the clock.” Tim grinned. “We figured we’d hear a car when he came back. Didn’t know you’d be breaking into the place, but I’ll be sure to let the sheriff know you did.”
Wilkes didn’t know which he hated more, that he hadn’t found Angie or that he was now Mr. Wagner, marking him as one of the older generation. “Sorry to bother you, kids,” he started. “I was just looking for a woman.”
Tim smiled. “Might try a bar or church. That would probably be your best bet, Mr. Wagner.”
“I’ll consider that. I’ll leave you two before your girlfriend freezes.”
He was gone before either of them could say goodbye. As he ran down the deck steps, he glanced back and saw the two shadows blending together again.
When Wilkes made it to Angie’s cabin the lights were on, but no one was there. Carefully he circled the place. Two cars had pulled up, leaving fresh tracks, and two cars had pulled away. Three sets of footprints. One was Angie’s small feet, he guessed, and the others were two men. If the sheriff hadn’t returned to his house, there was a good chance he was with Angie. If so, she was safe. Only, who belonged to the third set of prints?
Wilkes walked back to his Tahoe and climbed in. Maybe he should go back to his ranch and wait. After all, she’d texted him that she was fine. He always seemed to be overreacting with Angie. Maybe it was because she seemed so helpless. Maybe he just hadn’t cared about anyone in so long that he was overdoing it.
“Mr. Wagner?” a girl’s voice whispered out of the darkness.
Wilkes turned and saw Lauren Brigman a few feet away. “Evening, Lauren,” he tried to say calmly as if teenagers often walked out of the night and scared the life out of him.
“I thought that was you,” she said as she came near his window. “My dad rushed by here a few minutes ago. He climbed out of a van and hurried to his cruiser. When he saw me, he said he had to run to the office for a few minutes.”
Wilkes started his car. “He have a woman with him?”
“Yes, that new woman who works at the museum. She was driving the van and it looked like someone was following behind her. Are you with them?”
Wilkes nodded trying to make sense of what was going on. “Did the woman look frightened?”
Lauren shook her head. “No. She smiled at me. We met once before out here. If you’re heading to my dad’s office, mind giving me a lift? I’ll ride back with Pop.” Her voice cracked as if she was about to cry. “I haven’t been alone with him much this weekend.”
Wilkes didn’t have to ask why. “Sure, hop in. If he’s not in the office, I’ll bring you back.” If he didn’t find Angie at Dan’s office, he’d circle by Angie’s place again. She’d said she would be packing and moving back to her cabin tonight. Maybe she’d just asked Dan to check out the place for her and left the lights on so she wouldn’t have to come back in the dark. She’d mentioned once that it looked as if someone had tried to get in her back door. Angie had laughed and said they either couldn’t get in or had broken in and found nothing to steal.
Wilkes tried her cell again. No answer. He called the ranch. The only change there was Vern’s account of how the cake had disappeared.
The third set of footprints by the car tracks at her cabin bothered Wilkes. Dan and Angie were not alone. Nigel had mentioned a man in a suit was with Angie when she left. She must not have trusted him if she’d stopped by to pick up the sheriff. She must still not trust him if the sheriff was following her.
He tried the sheriff’s cell. It went to voice mail and by the time he left a message he’d be at the county offices.
Angie’s cell went right to voice mail. She must have turned it off.
Wilkes needed to think, but that wasn’t easy to do with a college freshman riding along with him. He managed to be sociable enough to ask her how she liked school, and she never stopped talking.
He didn’t really listen, but when he saw Angie’s van parked in front of the county offices, Wilkes relaxed. He even managed to wish Lauren a great year as he climbed out and headed for the sheriff’s office.
Lauren waved goodbye to Wilkes as a carload of screaming teenagers pulled up. They ran to hug her as if she’d been gone a year.
When he stepped inside the county headquarters, Angie, Dan and some stranger in a suit were all leaning over a book on the sheriff’s desk.
All Wilkes saw was Angie’s smile. He didn’t care about the rest. One smile was enough.
The sheriff introduced him to Agent Dodson from the FBI and explained that Angie was being asked to help in an ongoing investigation back in Florida.
Wilkes noticed none of them went into any more detail, which didn’t bother him.
Angie grinned and said now that she understood what was happening, and she’d turned over something the agent said would be helpful, she had no worries. There was no reason for anyone to be looking for her.
The agent agreed. “Thank you, Miss Harold. I’ll make sure your father’s ledger gets into the right hands.” He lifted the book as if it were a treasure.
Dan didn’t seem convinced. “Someone was following her. How do we know they’ll go away now that the ledger is in the right hands? That might not even be the reason he was here.”
“Of course it is, Sheriff,” Agent Dodson explained as if he was speaking to a child and not a fellow officer. “I’ll make sure we announce that we’ve found the crucial evidence tomorrow. Once they know, whoever is following her will see no reason for hanging around. They migh
t have planned to break into her office or cabin, but apparently that wasn’t as easy as they thought it might be.” He looked at the two men who stood beside her. “Miss Harold, it appears you have your own bodyguards, but trust me, I’ve worked many cases like this. Once whoever is bothering you realizes he has no chance of getting what he wants, he’ll disappear.”
She kissed both the sheriff and Wilkes on the cheek. “Thank you both.”
When they walked out, Agent Dodson told them he was driving back to Amarillo so he could catch the first flight out. Dan took his daughter’s hand and asked her if she was up for a banana split. Wilkes and Angie were left standing outside the offices.
Angie stared at him, then climbed into her van. She lowered her voice, though no one could have overheard. “I think I’ll just go back home tonight. If you’ll keep Doc, I’ll pick him up tomorrow. Thanks for everything, Wilkes.”
Wilkes knew the routine. She was making it easy on him. Giving him a way out. Letting him know there were no ties. Damn. Didn’t she know he didn’t want an easy way out?
He was so mad at her he couldn’t say a word. He just closed her door, climbed into his own car and followed her to the lake.
When she got out of her van, she wiped her eyes on her baggy sleeve as she walked up her steps. “You didn’t need to follow me. I’m fine.”
Wilkes was getting tired of those two words. Maybe she was fine, but she didn’t look fine and he sure as hell didn’t feel fine.
He stormed up the steps and caught her arm. “I got something to say first.”
She turned. “I know, whatever we had is over, right? I can guess what’s coming. You don’t have to spell it out. I got it the moment you kissed Lexie. It just took me a while to let it sink in. I’m sorry I was so much trouble, but thank...”
“Angie, shut up.” He pulled her against him and kissed her hard.
She didn’t try to pull away, but after a moment he realized she wasn’t kissing him back, she was simply waiting for him to stop.
When he straightened, she whispered, “Wilkes, I don’t want to be the substitute. I saw the way Lexie kissed you. I could never compete with that.”
Lexie hadn’t been on his mind since he walked out of the café. Her kiss had been nothing but cold. Only done for show. She wanted him back because she thought she could have him, but he’d been on the leash before.
“This isn’t about anyone but me and you, Angie, but you’re right, you can’t compete with Lexie. You could never get that low.” He moved his hand up and lightly brushed the curls away from her neck. “When I kissed you the other night, it scared me half to death. Not because I could feel again, but because I could feel so much more than I’ve ever felt. It was like someone opened a window, and I took my first breath of fresh air.”
His fingers played along the tense muscles at the back of her neck. “All I’ve thought about the past few days is what my life would have been like if I hadn’t found you. What if I’d married Lexie and never known the feeling I had with you after one kiss.”
She shook her head. “You’re moving too fast.”
He knew he was. In truth he had no idea if the one kiss was simply a bolt of lightning that would never hit again or an every time kind of thing that would leave him half drunk on her for the rest of his days. Either way, she was right; they couldn’t rush this between them. Not this. It was too special.
Wilkes knew he’d been rushing into things all his life. One date with Lexie and they were a couple. One night after graduation he joined the army. He hadn’t even asked Lexie if that was what she’d wanted. And finally, when he couldn’t find happiness, he’d rushed into running the Devil’s Fork, and into feeling nothing. Hell, he even took pride in holding everyone away.
Slowly, he lowered his hand from her throat and took a step back. “Your kiss meant something to me, Angie, but you’re right, I am rushing you. How about this—we continue to see each other as much and as often as it feels comfortable, but I swear I won’t touch you. I’ll give you time. We’ll get to know each other. We’ll talk. Hell, we might even fight, but no matter what we give these feelings a chance to grow.”
“All right,” she answered with measured doubt in her voice. “I think I’d like that.”
“There is a ‘but’ to this agreement,” he added.
She waited, her hand shaking slightly in his. The fear in her eyes told him she was afraid to hope.
“When, or maybe if, you do come to me, you come full out. No holding back. No playing games. No maybes. I’ve had a lifetime of games and promises that weren’t meant to be kept. I’m always jumping into things. This time, I’ll take my time. But you, Angie, once you know for sure, you have to run headlong into the wind.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.” He looked down into those big eyes and hoped he could hold to this agreement he was making. “Don’t kiss me on the cheek, Angie. I hate that. It’s an almost affection.”
“So no kissing at all.”
“None that I initiate, but if you want, you can kiss me anywhere, anytime.” He winked. “I wouldn’t mind that at all. I’m a hard man to resist. I will not start it or end it. You have to do both, but while you’re kissing me I promise I’ll be kissing you back.” He had to give her the reins in this or she’d bolt.
“This is the strangest bargain I’ve ever heard of. You’re not going to touch me, but I can kiss you or do whatever I want to you.” She hid her smile with her fingers. “That might give me a wild idea or two.”
“Do you agree, Angie?” If she said yes, he’d just signed up to be tortured.
She tilted her head first one way and then the other. Curly hair bounced. “All right. I think I like this plan. And when we are alone I might just take you up on your terms. I think it might be nice to be in control for once in my life.”
She turned to go inside, then paused and faced him. “I’ll be by to pick up Doc Holliday tomorrow.”
“All right.” He watched her, feeling as if this one bargain might keep him from rushing for once in his life.
She followed him to the edge of the porch. “Take one step down,” she ordered.
He backed up.
“Another one,” she added.
He moved down one more step. Now her face was even with his.
“Did you mean it? I set the pace? You’ll not advance, but only welcome my kiss.”
“I meant every word.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, she leaned slightly and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was quick, but it was a real kiss.
When she took a step back, she smiled, obviously proud of herself for being so brave.
“Good night, Angie,” he said with a grin.
“Good night, Wilkes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lauren
SMILING AND STUFFED with ice cream, Lauren kissed her pop good-night. It was late, but they’d had so much fun pigging out on banana splits that they’d stayed in the booth at Dairy Queen and talked for over an hour.
She told him about her date with Reid Collins, leaving out the part about Polly’s meeting with Reid in the hallway at the frat house. She’d told him all about what it had looked like when she got back to the dorm and found Polly bleeding. Only, she left out any hint that it might not have been an accident. She talked about Tim and Lucas and all the other kids from Crossroads who were also at Tech, leaving out how Lucas had kissed her wildly and then broken up with her, even though he probably never thought they were a couple anyway.
Strange, Lauren realized as she walked out onto the midnight deck and stared at the moon dancing in the water. She had a feeling that for the rest of her life she’d be leaving out parts of every story she told her pop. There was a time she’d rattled on about everything that happened at school. Now he was gett
ing the PG version of her almost R-rated life.
Everything in her life seemed to be changing, like sand shifting beneath her feet. For the first weekend in years, she didn’t know if Lucas was in Crossroads or still at Tech. He hadn’t called.
She saw the light go off in her father’s bedroom and knew she was the only one still awake. The decision to come home had been a good one, not just for Polly, who seemed to be coming back from the dark side, but for her, too.
She walked along the shore and spotted Tim sitting on a rock that jutted out almost into the lake. When they’d been little, they would climb up on that rock and make up stories. Since both were only children, Tim was probably as close to a brother as she’d ever have.
“Evening,” she said as she climbed up on what they called storyteller’s rock. “It’s too cold to be moon-bathing tonight.”
“No kidding. I’m afraid to try to stand up. My butt’s frozen to the rock.”
Lauren laughed.
“It’s not funny, L,” he complained. “In the morning some fisherman will come along here and notice my butt left out here frozen. He’ll say, ‘Wonder who lost their bottom out here overnight? Must have been a left-behind.’”
Fighting down a giggle she said, “That’s about the saddest joke I’ve ever heard.”
They sat in silence for a while, not really needing to talk. Finally, she asked, “How did you get on with Polly tonight? Sorry I disappeared on you guys. I ended up spending some time with my pop.”
“We made out,” Tim answered, giving only the facts.
“What? Tim!” Lauren found that hard to believe. Oh, not about Polly, she had sex in hallways and elevators, but about Tim. He’d had very few dates and usually woke her up when he got home just to tell Lauren how bad it was.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t go all the way, but it might have happened if I hadn’t stopped.”
“Let me guess, Polly has no stop button?”
