by Robyn Grady
He brushed a wave of hair away from her flushed cheek.
“Point is,” he said, “you’re free of him.”
“It’s a lesson. Now I walk away from other people’s bad decisions, no matter who they are or what they’ve done.”
Dex was about to agree when his cell vibrated in his pocket.
When he hesitated, Shelby told him, as she had that first night, “It could be important.”
Dex knew Tate was safe with Zeb. Teagan apparently had a “friend” to look out for her. Perhaps the private investigator he’d hired had some news. Back home in Australia, Brandon might have tracked down some important link that had led to a breakthrough in his father’s situation. Or there could have been another attempt on Guthrie’s life.
Dex connected. As he listened, cell pressed hard to his ear, he felt as if a giant landslide had knocked him off his feet and dumped him flat on his back. He’d been prepared for almost anything but, dear God, not this.
He thanked the officer on the other end of the line and disconnected. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought it would come to this.
“There’s been a fire,” he said.
Shelby’s face flashed with horror then she gripped his arm. “Where? Is anyone hurt?”
“My home’s been gutted, burned to the ground.” Cursing, he threw open the car door. “The authorities want to see me at my earliest convenience.”
Thirteen
He stood behind the police tape, glaring at the destruction that had once been his home. Beside him, Shelby held on to his middle as if she were worried he might toss himself onto the rubble.
“I’m so sorry, Dex,” she said as a flaming Californian sun rose higher in the sky behind them.
He tried to make light. “It was just a house.”
A very fine house he’d been comfortable living in. Had been proud of. But brick and timber could be replaced.
“I’m angrier about what could have happened if anyone had been inside. If I hadn’t booked that suite…if you or Tate had been in there…”
Before his studio’s latest box office hit, he might have struggled a bit with budgets and trying to placate his brother Cole whenever they seemed to be dipping into the red, but life in L.A. had been relatively easy. Until that blackmail letter had shown up. Since then everything seemed to have been turned around and tossed upside down.
“Is there any chance it was an accident?” Shelby asked.
“Experts will find out soon enough.”
“And if they find the fire was set intentionally?”
Then there’d be questions to answer. He’d spoken with his P.I. extensively on the phone when he’d first heard, as well as in person when they’d touched back down earlier. The streetwise ex-cop didn’t have any strong leads yet. Surveillance cameras had been installed inside as well as out. Would the authorities be able to trace any evidence back to the perpetrator? If they did, the story behind that other, long-ago fire would surely come out.
Dex rubbed his brow.
What was he going to do? What could he do, other than find a good lawyer? And double his efforts to keep those he cared about safe.
“They’ll find evidence,” Shelby said, her hands weighing on his arm. “Whoever’s behind this is not only serious, he’s deranged.”
Shutting his eyes, wishing he could bury it all, he edged away. “I’ll handle it.”
“I know it’s hard,” she went on, “but you have to tell the authorities everything, and tell them now. Things could get worse. You know that, right?”
Under his breath, Dex growled. He’d had a brilliant time with Shelby in Mountain Ridge. He was grateful to have got to know another side of her—vulnerable but resilient… But right now he remembered why he wasn’t in a hurry to settle down. Why, up until Shelby, he hadn’t been a fan of anything other than short but sweet.
He loathed being pushed. He certainly wasn’t ready for a woman to run his life. He had a brain. His own set of rules.
“Dex? Did you hear me?”
He walked away toward the southern end of his charred property. Shelby followed.
“Why don’t we get in the car right now and—”
“I thought you were going to walk away from other people’s bad decisions, no matter what.”
That set her back for a moment.
“This is different,” she finally said. “You can’t fool around with this. You have to get it out in the open, and fast.”
He walked again.
She called after him, “If that friend of yours won’t turn himself in, you’ll have to do it for him.”
“And put him in prison?”
“If he were a real friend, he wouldn’t put you in this kind of position.”
“People make mistakes.”
“Maybe I should invite Reese and Kurt to dinner then.”
“You can’t compare your situation with this.”
Her head tipped at a defiant angle. “Maybe not.” She went on, “But you have to go see this friend. Let him know what’s happened. If you give him the chance, he’ll see he has to come forward before this jerk will ever get off your back. And if your friend doesn’t want to step up—”
“Shelby, I won’t turn him in.”
“Damn it, Dex, someone will get hurt!”
“Someone could’ve been hurt when you rammed Romeo’s Mustang.”
She had no idea what she was asking him to do. People got over soured love affairs. A stint in a state prison was on a whole other level. Particularly when he and Joel could end up sharing a cell, given that he’d withheld evidence of a crime.
Shelby persisted. “What about Tate?” From Oklahoma, they’d flown straight to Seattle to safely deliver Tate into Teagan’s temporary care before returning to confront the escalating problem here. “He can’t come back here until someone’s locked behind bars.”
He held his head. Tried to envisage how the pieces would fall.
“Dex, you have to face this—”
“Okay, okay.” He exhaled heavily, then making a decision, lowered his voice. “I’ll speak to Joel. Tell him what he needs to do.”
“You mean it?”
He had to see the insurance assessors. He’d contact Joel tomorrow, too. Shelby was right. Last time they spoke, Joel was a sorry excuse of his former self…broke, disillusioned. But it was time to go to the unwitting source of this nightmare and, face-to-face, see if they could put their heads together to work out who lay behind it all before he made his statement to the police. But right now he only wanted to forget all the drama for a while.
They drove to the hotel in silence. Back in the suite, while he poured a scotch and sat on the balcony thinking how different and busy this view was from the Scott ranch’s front porch, he heard a faucet begin to run. Then Shelby called out his name.
Before they’d arrived, he’d had the bodyguard thoroughly check out every nook and cranny of this living space. Still, as he moved into the master suite, dread began to creep into his stomach and set in. He had professionals on the case but without any clue as to the identity of the person behind this mess, he would always be waiting for the boogeyman to jump out of a closet. Maybe next week, maybe tomorrow. Maybe today.
Then he saw Shelby, wearing a bath robe and standing in the doorway that led to the attached bath. When she sent him a warm, “I’m here for you” smile, a measure of that bad energy was turned into good.
“How you holding up?” she asked.
“Getting there.”
She shook out her hair…ran a hand down her throat. “I feel gritty.”
Imagining the taste of ash in his mouth, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Gritty is the word.”
When she shrugged, the bulky white robe she wore dropped to her feet.
/> “How’s a long cool soapy shower sound?”
Exhaling, he whipped the shirt over his head and wandered over. “Like heaven.”
“I thought I could help work some tension from between your shoulders.”
He didn’t need convincing.
He dragged her close, captured her mouth with his and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
As his tongue wound with hers, sweeping and probing while her long warm fingers splayed over his sides, down toward his thighs, Dex crushed her closer. This had been a long sorry day. He’d been stirred up by her pushing earlier but, right now, Shelby’s special brand of tension relief was precisely what he needed.
* * *
Looking like a hobo, his old friend opened the door, clapped Dex on the shoulder then went straight back to the computer. “Got some hot tips for the games this weekend,” Joel said.
Edging inside, Dex took in the run-down state of Joel’s surroundings. It seemed that his friend’s situation had gotten a lot worse since his last visit, which, admittedly, was a while ago. It was hard to believe this man was once a financial mind to be reckoned with. One bad turn in his life, followed by a hard time getting on his feet again…add addiction and finally “who gives a crap anymore” to the equation, and this was the result.
Joel had mentioned hot tips.
“Where do you get money to gamble?”
Dex examined the magazines and empty pizza boxes littering the floor and table, then screwed his nose up at the stink.
“This place smells like a dead toad.” And some of the scent was human. “For God’s sake, when was the last time you had a bath?”
Scowling, Joel rubbed one bleary eye. “Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in so long, I forgot what you looked like.”
No point beating around the bush.
“Someone burned my house to the ground.”
Joel’s gaze widened until Dex thought his eyes would pop out. When he’d digested the news, Joel resumed his jaded expression and shrugged. “You’d be insured.”
Hardly the point.
“Someone knows about that original fire.” The one you lit. “They want money to keep from going to the authorities.”
“After all this time?” Sitting back in his lopsided castor chair, Joel drove a hand through the nest on his head. “What are you going to do?”
“We don’t have a choice. We need to go to the police, tell them what happened and let them sort it out.”
“Me?” His grin was almost amused. “What has this got to do with me?”
Had he been listening? “I received a note asking for money. Not long after that, someone set a lit match to a mini-coffin in my yard.” He cursed aloud. “I should have gone then, straightaway, to the police.”
“But you didn’t. You stood by me. You didn’t rat me out.” When Joel’s mouth crimped into a gray smile, something scratched at Dex’s brain. He hesitated before going on.
“Now we need to fix this.”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Hollywood.” Joel looked around at the squalor. “I’m not exactly a man of means anymore.”
Dex’s frown deepened. Was Joel blaming him for the way his life had turned out? “I did all I could for you.”
“Comprising what exactly? A few cash handouts. From a guy who drives a Lamborghini.”
Dex’s head snapped back. “What the hell are you getting at?”
On a burst of energy, Joel pushed to his feet. “You were supposed to be my friend. When I came to you, you could have given me a job. But, no. You stood back and watched me sink lower and lower. You had a beach house.” Joel threw out his arms. “Welcome to my paradise.”
“Mate, you have to help yourself. I can’t fix this for you.”
“Oh, you so totally can.”
When Joel sent him a cold smile, Dex froze then staggered back. As the realization fully slapped him in the face, he flinched.
“You’re behind the notes?” he asked. “That fire yesterday?”
“You weren’t taking me seriously. I had to do something to get your attention.”
Dex’s chest and throat began to burn. The edges of his vision turned red. “My brother could have been in that house.”
Joel held up his hands. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. Never have.”
“Then look at what you’re doing!” Dex’s arm slashed sideways. His fist slammed the wall. “What are you? Insane?”
Joel’s smug expression folded. He rubbed his nose and tears brimmed in his eyes. Finally he ground out, “I can’t do it on my own.”
Standing here amid this mess, Dex thought of all the years he’d made excuses for this guy, how he’d never ended the friendship when clearly he should have. He’d let this BS ride and ride. And it had come to this.
He growled.
“You get your act together and pay the police a visit first thing, tell them about your problem—” Dex headed for the door “—or, by God, I’ll do it for you.”
* * *
That evening, as he had dinner with Shelby at an exclusive country club, Dex was still stewing over his meetings with Joel and, later, his lawyer, when Teagan called. Immediately Dex thought of Tate and his mood lifted.
“Hey there,” Dex said, putting down his wineglass. “How’s the kid?”
Sitting across from him, Shelby mouthed, Teagan? Dex nodded.
“Your ego will be happy to know,” Teagan said down the line, “that your little brother is missing you.
All he can talk about is riding ponies, feeding ducks, collecting coins and how much he loves Mountain Ridge.”
Dex remembered riding over those plains then joining Shelby on a blanket in the hay. A warm smile spread across his face.
“It’s a special place, sis,” he said. “You ought to visit sometime.”
“Sounds as if you plan to go back.”
His gut twinged. “I have that problem to work through before I can think about that.”
Over the course of a telephone call then a face-to-face when dropping Tate off, he’d told her everything. Teagan knew precisely what problem he was talking about.
His sister sighed down the line. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you all day.”
Dex recalled the ultimatum he’d given Joel, as well as the advice his lawyer had given, and his stomach rolled over. But there was no going back.
“Don’t worry,” he said at the same time he reached across to squeeze Shelby’s hand. “It’ll all be sorted out tomorrow.”
“You sound sure of that,” Teagan said. “Have you found out who’s behind it?”
“Thankfully, yes.” Dex glanced around the busy room. “But we can talk more later in the week when I come up to fetch Tate.”
Beside him, Shelby frowned while Teagan’s tone changed from concerned to puzzled. “Tate doesn’t need to be shunted around any more than he already has been. He can stay here for a while.”
“You have a business to run, remember?”
“I could say the same for you.”
Dex coughed out a laugh. “Forgive me for taking time off.”
“You got caught in a trap. Can happen to the best of us. But you need to concentrate your energies on ironing out that mess, not babysitting.”
“Shelby will be with Tate when I can’t be.”
Teagan made a considering sound. “I wonder what Shelby thinks about that.”
“She looks after children, Tea. That’s why I hired her. That’s why she’s here.”
“Is it? Just saying, you don’t have to have Tate around to keep Shelby in your life.”
“You think that’s why I want Tate back with me?” To keep Shelby? He’d make himself clear. “I gave our father my word that I would look after him.”
Sitting back, not looking pleased, Shelby placed her palms on the tablecloth as he ended the call.
“You’re not seriously considering bringing Tate back here now, are you?”
“You heard what I told Teagan.” He’d given his father his word, and that was that. He gazed down at his plate. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“We don’t know what the fallout will be. Who can say for sure that your friend will go to the authorities? What if he gets it into his warped brain to go AWOL and throw a gasoline can at your car next time?”
This should have been a celebratory dinner; today at last he’d discovered who was behind those threats. Only more and more this felt like a last meal. From the start he’d known Shelby liked things done her way. She could be downright stubborn. Yesterday, looking over the remains of his house, she hadn’t called off the dogs until he’d caved. She was onto him again now. Hell, she was right. Again. Nothing was final until it was done. But the simple fact was he didn’t want to hear it now. And she was talking still, going on and on, putting her arguments forward. Teagan thought he needed Tate in the picture as an excuse to keep Shelby around. In fact, the way he’d been feeling since he’d landed back in L.A., if Tate wasn’t in his life…
No. He cared for Shelby. He was just uptight, simply longing for simpler times. That easier life in Mountain Ridge.
He picked up his cutlery and dug in. He had this under control. “This discussion is closed.”
As other patrons chatted on about their golf or bridge games over the tinkling background music, Shelby seemed to capitulate.
“Okay,” she said. “And if Teagan allows it…if they decide to even let you out of the state after tomorrow, you go and bring Tate back.” Her chin lifted. “But I won’t be here.”
He studied her for a moment. “Shelby, are you threatening me?”
“No threat. You hired me to care for Tate, but not like this. I have a conscience.”
“Conscience…” His jaw tightened. “What about trust?” Trust in him.
“This isn’t about trust. It’s about safety and the law.”
