“I love you, too, babe.” Matt’s words were barely audible, but from the muscle popping out in his son’s cheek, Redfoot knew Jose had heard.
Jose set down his coffee, got up, and dropped into the chair next to Matt. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” he growled.
“One down and one to go,” Redfoot muttered. Looking at the booth where Ramon sat, he rubbed his chin and went to spit trouble in the eye.
Sky pulled up at the diner. Lucas and Shala were on their way, and he was meeting them here.
Getting out of his truck, he spotted Redfoot’s truck. Strange. Redfoot generally only visited the diner on Wednesdays. Sky was about six feet from the entrance when a chair crashed through the front window and bounced against the sidewalk. Swearing, he ran inside. He was barely through the door when he spotted Jose going toe-to-toe with someone—no, not just someone, but Maria’s Matt. Two Texas Rangers, Phillip’s men, stood to one side trying to break them up.
A loud crash echoed from the back of the room. Sky’s attention shifted. His heart plummeted. Ramon Cloud had Redfoot’s shirt bunched up in his grip and had his right fist drawn back as if ready to strike. Shooting across the room, knocking down a few chairs, Sky grabbed Ramon by the arm.
“Don’t even think about it!”
Ramon’s eyes widened. He ducked. Redfoot’s fist shot forward and hit Phillip, who was standing behind him. The blow took the ranger square on the nose. Phillip, caught totally off guard, lost his balance and landed in the middle of a table where three men had been eating and enjoying the fight. Scrambled eggs and coffee cups flew.
“Stop this!” Sky yelled at Redfoot, then turned to help Phillip up. When he saw one of the CSI guys grab Redfoot by the arm and draw back his fist, he jumped in the way. “No! He’s my dad!”
The man started to drop his fist, but before he relaxed all the way, Jose charged. Sky spun and grabbed his brother’s arm. Jose swung without looking, clipping him on the jaw. He staggered backward, knocking Phillip down again, this time onto a different table, right into a plate of grits.
“Sorry!” Jose leaped over him to grab Ramon, who had Redfoot by the shirt again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sky saw the new diners shoving Phillip off their table. They looked none too gentle. Sky’s own jaw was stinging, and he wasn’t sure at first where he was most needed. Jose was physically removing Ramon from Redfoot, so he decided to help his friend.
Turning, he saw Phillip reaching inside his shirt. Realizing his friend was going for his firearm and knowing that would only lead to disaster, Sky yelled, “No guns!” Then he jumped in the middle of the fight. More fists flew. Grunts and groans and the sound of shattering plates filled the room. Then a voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
“She’s taking her clothes off, guys! And she’s hot.”
After a few final bangs and clatters, Sky could have heard a pin drop. Every head in the place turned, Sky’s included. Shala Winters, fully clothed, stood on the counter. She shot the crowd a nervous smile and waved, then grimaced at Lucas standing behind her, his mouth pressed to the diner’s microphone.
“Now that I got everyone’s attention,” Lucas continued. “I want you all to take a deep breath. We’ve got your chief of police and I’m counting at least four Texas Rangers in the room. If this goes on for much longer, it’s going to end ugly. None of you want it to end ugly, do you?”
“Is she really going to take her clothes off?” someone called out. It was the first guy Sky yanked by the arm and tossed out of the diner.
“What are you doing?” Phillip asked as Sky began directing people to leave.
“Cleaning house,” Sky replied. “Before things start back up.”
“Oh, hell no.” Fury radiated from Phillip as he wiped blood from his mouth and knocked egg from his hair. “A few of these guys are getting booked and charged. We can start with that one.”
He was pointing at Redfoot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Maria shoved into the police station. Her heart raced as she chewed on the bits and pieces of information Sky had given her. Redfoot and Jose were in jail. Why in the hell would Sky put them in jail? All he’d told her was that he thought he could talk the rangers into letting them go, but for now they were incarcerated. He hadn’t enlightened her on why they were locked up, just that she should stay home and not come rushing up to the station like a mother hen.
Well, good luck with that. She was a mother hen when it came to her family. And this was her family. The day Estella died, Maria had stepped willingly into the role and never looked back. And after her talk with Jose at the hospital, Maria realized that she’d failed in some ways. Her own issues with Jose had blinded her to what was happening, but she could see clearly now. God have mercy on anyone who stood in her way.
The door swished shut behind her. After leaving the bright sunlight outside, the front room appeared dark. When Maria’s eyes adjusted, she saw people everywhere milling around, which was odd for a Sunday. She recognized the two highway patrolmen who sometimes assisted Sky, but the other three men standing there staring at her, two of whom looked as if they’d been in a fight, were complete strangers. Not that it mattered. The person she wanted to see was absent. He was probably in his office.
As she started moving, one of the strangers stepped in front of her. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. Get out of my way. I’m here to see Sky.”
The man must have spotted her determination, because he stepped back. Maria moved down the hall and shoved open Sky’s office door. Her foster brother stood in the middle of the room arguing with a new stranger. Another beat-up stranger. Sky’s own face appeared slightly swollen.
She snapped a hand to her hip. “What the hell happened?”
Sky scowled. “Phillip, this is my foster sister, Maria. Maria”—he motioned to the man—“meet Phillip. He’s with the Texas Rangers.”
“So he’s the one who wants to keep dad and Jose in jail?”
“That would be me,” Phillip replied.
“What did they do?”
As Maria stepped closer, scowling, the ranger stepped back. “They started a brawl at the diner.”
She notched up her chin. “Redfoot wouldn’t start anything.”
“My face says differently,” said the ranger.
“He didn’t mean to hit you,” Sky inserted. “He was aiming for Ramon.”
“Ramon?” Maria asked. “Ramon Cloud?”
Sky nodded.
“Why would he go after Ramon?”
“It’s complicated,” Sky answered.
“Well, uncomplicate it! I swear to God, I’m not leaving without—”
“Redfoot is seeing Ramon’s mom,” Sky blurted.
Maria rolled her eyes. “No, he’s not.”
“He admitted it,” Sky said.
“You misunderstood. I want to see him.” She swung around to go upstairs to the jail cells, but Sky grabbed her.
“I can’t let you go up there.”
She jerked away. “Watch me.”
Sky got between her and the door. “It’s locked.”
“Then, unlock it!”
Sky scrubbed his palm over his face. “You don’t want to go in there.”
Maria’s heart burst. “Oh, God, is he hurt? How bad?” Her gaze shot to the man beside Sky. “I swear to God, if you hurt him…He’s almost seventy years old!”
“No,” Sky said. “It’s not…He’s not the only one back there. Just go home.”
“Is Jose hurt?”
“No one’s hurt!” Sky snapped. Then his shoulders collapsed and he seemed to give up. “Aww, crap. Matt is back there, too.”
“Matt Goodson? My Matt?”
“Yes, your Matt.”
Maria’s mind reeled. “How is he involved with Ramon and Redfoot?”
“He’s not. His problem was with Jose.”
That didn’t quite compute. “Jose and Matt fought? Why?”
“I don’t
have a friggin’ clue. But it’s best if you just stay—”
Maria stared her brother right in the eye. “You open that door, Sky Gomez, and let me get to the bottom of this, or I swear to God and every spirit Redfoot believes in that I’ll spend every second of my life finding ways to make the rest of your days holy hell.”
“I’d let her go back there,” Phillip suggested. Sky turned and glared, but the ranger said, “Hey, they’re locked in the cells. What’s going to happen?”
Sky shook his head, turned, and stomped up the stairs. Maria followed.
“You don’t eat enough to keep a bird alive.”
Shala looked up at Lucas. The two of them were sitting at his kitchen table. “I’m sorry. It’s not the food. I just…Guilt and turkey sandwiches don’t go well together.”
“Dare I ask what you’re feeling guilty about?”
“Everything. Redfoot gets attacked. Jessie gets shot. And now that fight—”
“Whoa. I guess I can see—maybe—taking some blame for the first two, but I don’t see any correlation between you and what happened at the diner. Why is it that women have the need to take on guilt?”
Shala selected a potato chip from her plate, broke it in half, and fed it to Sky’s two dogs. They sat on each side of her. Lucas had been right about them; they’d become her constant companions.
“Maybe the fight isn’t my fault, but…a man at the diner told me that ever since I came into town crazy things have been happening.” She frowned. “Then he asked if I needed a map to see how to leave.”
Lucas frowned. “You should have told me that while we were there. Which one was he?”
“I don’t know. He had on a navy shirt. But he didn’t threaten me or anything.” She picked up another chip and popped it into her mouth. Glancing at Lucas she said, “Sky looked furious when he saw me on that bar.”
Sky’s friend sipped his tea. “Yeah, I’ve never seen that side of him. But, don’t worry. He knows I put you up to it.”
Shala grinned. “I have to admit, I never saw a fight end so quickly. How did you know it would work?”
“It’s a trick I picked up in the Gulf War. I know how to say those words in five different languages. Works every time—except once, and I had no idea it was a gay bar.” He laughed. “Live and learn.”
“You’re an intriguing guy, Lucas,” Shala said. When he didn’t reply, after a moment she asked, “Did you ever get to talk to Sky? I think he was hit pretty hard.”
Lucas chuckled. “It’s going to take more than that to take Sky down. He’s tough as nails.”
Shala recalled the newspaper picture of him, ten years old and standing in front of that house fire. Something told her that Sky wasn’t as numb to pain as everyone thought. She reached down to pet Sundance, who nudged her leg with his nose.
“Do you mind if I borrow Sky’s laptop?” Lucas asked. “I’m going to shoot a couple of your pictures to someone else to run a check.”
“Not at all.”
He was halfway across the room when the dogs jumped up and barked. Lucas swung around and froze.
“What is it?” Shala asked, staring. Lucas and the two dogs seemed primed for action.
Sky’s friend pressed a finger to his lips and cocked his head to the side. A second passed, and then Shala heard it, too. She said, “Please tell me that was just a car back-firing.”
The dogs barked again. Lucas didn’t answer. Instead, he walked over to a cabinet, touched a keypad lock, and pulled out a huge rifle that looked like something Rambo would have carried. When he glanced up at her, gone was the joyful man she’d been staying with. He looked rock hard and deadly serious.
“Go sit in the hall bathroom for a while. Now!”
Before he moved aside and let Maria pass, Sky yelled through the door. “Everyone better be decent—a woman’s coming in!”
Maria stepped through. This wasn’t the first time she’d been here. Last summer, the women’s club had decorated the jail’s top floor and held a dinner in the seventy-five-year-old cells as a fund-raiser to help support art classes. Dinner Behind Bars had brought in over five hundred dollars. This time, though, it wasn’t charity. Men she loved were imprisoned.
She saw Jose and Redfoot standing in one cell. Across the way were Matt and Ramon. Ramon had blood all over his shirt from his nose. Matt lay stretched out on a cot, staring up at the ceiling. One of his eyes looked swollen shut.
Maria looked back at Jose and Redfoot, unsure if their face bruises were new.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Jose said. “Damn it, Sky. Make her leave.”
The cot squeaked in the cell across the way. Matt sat up and studied Maria with his one good eye.
“What the hell happened?” she asked everyone.
Someone began calling Sky downstairs. He gave both jail cells a firm look and said, “I’ll be right back. Behave.”
“Someone please explain what happened,” Maria insisted. Sky’s footsteps tapped down the old stone stairs.
“Your old man happened,” Ramon said. “With my mom.”
Maria looked at Redfoot, unbelieving. “Just tell him he’s wrong. You’re not dating Veronica.”
“Oh, he’s not dating my mom. He’s just screwing her!” Ramon’s voice bounced around the old stone walls.
“Do not talk about your mom like that,” Redfoot ordered.
“Really, ol’ man? I can’t say it, but you can do it?”
“Respect her, damn it!” Redfoot said. His tone had Maria second-guessing her earlier claim.
“Respect her?” Ramon bellowed. “Is that what you were doing in the hospital—respecting her?”
“Stop it!” Maria shouted. She sensed Matt looking at her, and she wanted to yell at Sky to bring the keys to open the door so she could check on him. His eye had to be hurting like the devil. But would he welcome her concern? At the hospital he’d seemed determined to believe the worst.
“We weren’t doing anything in that hospital bed,” Redfoot growled.
“I know what I saw.” Ramon struck the bars with his hand. “I can’t believe you have the balls to stand there and say you haven’t slept with her.”
“I didn’t say I hadn’t slept with her,” Redfoot replied.
“So you’re admitting it?”
“Yes.” Redfoot stood straight. “I admit it.”
“You do?” Maria asked, stunned.
“You arrogant son of a bitch,” Ramon snarled. “You’re going to do right by her. I’m going to go to the tribal council about this. You’re supposed to be one of the respected elders.”
“Sit down and shut up, Dad,” Jose said. “And Maria, get your ass home.”
“I don’t take orders from you!” Maria retorted.
Matt let out a laugh. “You tell him.”
Jose leaned toward the bars. “Don’t you even start.”
Maria stared at the two men. “Why in God’s name were you two fighting?”
“Why don’t you tell her the truth?” Redfoot spoke up, directing his question to Matt. “Tell her the things you are hiding from her.”
Maria looked from Matt to Redfoot. “What’s he hiding?”
“That he’s cheating on you,” Jose snapped. “The scum—”
“That’s bullshit,” Matt said. “Why don’t you tell her about that waitress you had all over you this morning?”
Maria glanced from one cell to the other, confused. Then she heard footsteps behind her. Turning, she saw it was one of the troopers.
“Sky had to run out on an emergency,” the man told Maria before eyeing the occupied cells. “But which one of you is Matt?”
“I am,” Matt said.
“Your wife just called and said your lawyer is on his way.”
Maria grabbed the trooper’s arm, shell-shocked. “His wife?”
The cop looked concerned. “Uhh, that’s what she said.”
“You no-good piece of shit!” Jose yelled.
Everyone starting talkin
g at once. Redfoot was saying something unintelligible, Ramon yelled something about his mother, and Matt just kept repeating Maria’s name. It all seemed to echo, bouncing to and fro across the rocks of the old building. Slapping her hands over her ears, Maria swung around and left.
Sky entered Lucas’s place, gun in hand. His friend sat facing the door in his recliner, a rifle at his side.
“Anything?” Sky asked, looking around for Shala. She was at the kitchen table, setting up a game of Scrabble. Their gazes met and held, and he fought the need to grab and kiss her. He didn’t do public displays of affection. His kiss good-bye this morning had been a spontaneous act that still had him questioning his sanity. Holy hell, these last few days were mixed up.
“Nothing,” Lucas replied. “I said that you didn’t have to come. I heard two shots. Could’ve been someone shooting a rattlesnake for all I know.”
“How close? Which direction did it come from?”
“An educated guess, a mile, maybe a little more. There’s a wind blowing. It sounded as if it came from the northeast.”
Sky nodded, his gaze on Shala again.
Lucas added, “Someone threatened her at the diner.”
“What?” Sky eyed Shala. “Who? Why didn’t you tell me?” He walked over to her.
“It wasn’t really a threat,” she answered. “He wore a navy shirt, a button-down, and I remember some kind of logo. And I think you had enough on your plate right then.” She reached up and touched his jaw. “Is it sore?”
“I’m fine.” He took her hand and held it, then looked back at Lucas. “I’ve got Pete combing the area. I’m sure Phillip is going to want to talk to Shala, but not before things calm down at the station.”
Lucas nodded. “Just call and I’ll bring her down.”
Sky was staring at Shala, fighting another urge to kiss her. He let go of her hand. “I’ll see you,” he said at last.
“Later,” she said, and Sky took off before he cratered and did something like kiss her again in front of Lucas.
After he left, he went about his business. There seemed to be a heck of a lot of business to attend to. Not that it stopped him from thinking about Shala.
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