An unexpected bump against her legs made her jump. She looked down to see Thirty-one arching against her calf.
“Hullo, you.”
She picked up the little cat and its purr filled the stall. Squirming upward, Thirty-one rubbed her head hard against Rio’s neck. The effect was instantaneously soothing.
With one last pat for Tully, she carried the cat out of the stall, latched the door, and leaned against the wood to nuzzle the striking orange-and-black fur. She’d never been able to consider having pets because of the time and cost commitments. That priority might have to change.
Footsteps interrupted her thoughts. The sight of her sister coming slowly down the aisle took her aback. Bonnie waved almost shyly.
“Hi,” she said when she reached Rio and the cat. “I came to see if you’re okay.”
“Aw, thanks, but I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I was coming down to steal some cookies, those ones you baked to try out for The Loon Feather, and I heard Kate go whacko on you. Is David in trouble?”
Rio’s brows shot up in surprise. She’d never heard Bonnie say a negative word about Kate. In fact, she’d seemed enamored of the woman.
“She’s not so whacko as she is rich, Bon. And David got hit hard by the recession so she thinks she has a solution. I think he just needs to economize—not all that different from what you and I do all the time. But it’s hard. And don’t go spreading anything around.”
“I never would.” Bonnie gazed at her a long moment. “That cat likes you a lot.”
“Weird, huh?”
“I really like it here, Rio. I’m not sure I want to go back to Minneapolis. I thought I’d miss it, but going back feels scary now.”
“Don’t you miss having our own place?”
“It’s strange, but I don’t.”
“You’ve made some good friends here. Like Dawson?” Rio teased.
“I don’t know what to do with an ordinary guy. He’s so . . . normal. He gets a little moody sometimes and doesn’t say a lot. But I think he likes me.”
“Boys are weird, Bonnie. Wonderful but weird. Just accept that and things will go easier.” She laughed and hugged her sister with one arm. “But we can’t mooch off of David much longer. We aren’t helping him cut costs. We’ll see how much my first paycheck is. If it’s enough to pay rent and help out, then we’ll work something out for a little while longer.”
“You’ve got friends, too, you know. David likes you almost as much as Thirty-one does.”
“What do you mean?” Her heart skipped a nervous beat, wondering what Bonnie suspected.
“He says it’s nice having someone who likes to cook, and who likes to help in the barn.”
“Oh. That.” Her fears calmed again. “It’s not just me. You’ve been doing chores, too. Still, once I figure out what our own finances truly are, we will have to find us a place.”
“But then, maybe it could be around here. School starts next week.”
“You’re excited about that?”
“Yes.”
“So . . . Hector is in the past? Once we find him, I mean?”
They hadn’t heard from him in a week, and Rio didn’t know whether to hope he’d finally given up or worry that he was planning something awful. Chief Hewett had returned Bonnie’s phone without any information about where the calls had originated. The analysis took time, he’d told them.
“I never thought much about Hector’s language, his threats, his bragging,” she said. “He talked like all the other guys. Now that I’ve met one who doesn’t . . .”
For first time since the fire, Rio said an honest-to-goodness prayer of thanks for the disaster. If in its aftermath Bonnie could see past the false strength of gang leadership, it was worth losing clothes and posters and plastic horses.
“Good for you, sis,” she said. “I mean it. I’m proud of you for figuring it out.”
“I think I would have anyway.”
“I think so, too.”
Rio pulled a saddle pad off the bar on the front of Tully’s stall and dropped it on the floor. “Sit with me a minute. It’s so peaceful out here. See if Thirty-one will let you hold her.”
Thirty-one did. She curled into Bonnie’s lap as if she knew a peace accord was needed. The air settled on them with the ozone tang of threatening rain. For a moment the barn felt like the safest place in the world.
“I was really mad at you that night. The night you dragged me to Crossroads.” Bonnie took a small silvery object from her pocket and held it for Thirty-one to sniff. “I didn’t want to admit in front of those older, cooler guys that I needed my big sister to come and rescue me. But I did.”
Unexpected tears pricked at the corners of Rio’s eyes. “Wow, Thank you. That really does help everything. I’m so sorry it had the consequences it did, but I’d do it again to keep you from Boyfriend.”
“He was old, like forties old. He had very plain but scary eyes.”
“You saw him? I barely got a glimpse.”
“I talked to him for about two minutes. He told me Hector was lucky to have such a gorgeous girlfriend. But he didn’t mean it.”
“Oh, he did. Just not in a nice way.”
“I know. I know what he does now.” She shivered. “I’m more creeped out by him than Hector. Boyfriend was smooth, mean smooth like he was in total control. I could tell even Hector was a little afraid of him.”
“Then I’m glad you’re nowhere near them.” She watched Bonnie turning the object she held slowly in her fingers. “What’s that?”
Bonnie hesitated and then held out a square silver money clip holding an actual folded bill. “I found it outside the car when Paul and Hector brought me to meet Boyfriend. I think it’s Paul’s. It’s got that big ‘I’ engraved on it. I assume for ‘Inigo,’ like on that belt he wears and that cap he’s got. There are two one-hundred-dollar bills in here. I thought if I just kept it, Paul might try harder to find us because he’d need the money. But now, since he seems to be hiding with Hector, maybe we could just use it ourselves. He owes us that much.”
Rio stared at the clip. “Where would he have gotten this much?”
“I don’t know. The other weird thing is that there’s a name on the back of each bill. People do that like for birthday presents and things, but to have two of them?”
Rio pulled the money free of the holder and unfolded it slowly. Just as Bonnie had said, there were two bills bearing Franklin’s face and across the back of each, in what looked like plain ballpoint ink, was a girl’s name.
“Keep it,” Rio said, putting everything back as it had been. “You’re probably right. Whenever he gets in touch, you can tell him you have it.”
Bonnie rested her head on Rio’s shoulder, adding more shock to the whole interaction. “I’m glad he doesn’t know where we are now.”
“Yeah, sweetie, I am, too. Let’s hope they find him soon. I’m ready to be done thinking about him. You know what? It’s been a weird day. Let’s have a slumber party in my room and bring the cat. We’ll sneak her in.”
Bonnie laughed and gave her a tiny squeeze. “That’s so naughty of you. I love it.”
Naughty. Her father had always stressed what a role model she had to be for her brother and sister. She hadn’t wanted the job, but once her dad was gone, she’d had no choice. Tonight it didn’t seem like Bonnie needed role modeling as much as simple camaraderie. Or maybe it was Rio who needed it. Either way, a little naughty would be nice.
SHE AWOKE THE next morning to her alarm and the sound of sneezing from down the hall. She frowned, since Bonnie still slept curled up on the opposite end of the bed. The nose-blowing that followed had to be Kate. What? The regal Kate was sick? How could that be?
She shook her sister awake.
“C’mon, time to head out. You wanted to see Jill go—her division starts at eight-thirty.”
“Time is it?” Bonnie mumbled.
“Seven. Where’s the cat?”
As if she’d heard, Thirty-one meowed softly and padded into the room through a door opened five inches.
“Oh no, where were you?” Rio clambered out of bed and grabbed her. “Did anyone see you?”
Thirty-one jumped from her arms to the bed and nuzzled a sleepy, giggling Bonnie. “She knew it was Naughty Night. I think she was out helping us be naughty.”
“She better not have been too bad.”
Rio dumped the cat out the front door on the way to Stella’s scones and jam. When they reached the kitchen, a surprisingly violent sneeze from gentile Kate greeted them.
“Gesundheit,” Rio said. “Are you catching something? I’m sorry.”
“No. I don’t feel ill one bit,” she said, reaching for a tissue from a box on the table. “It’s completely allergies. I don’t understand, this usually happens when there are cats or rabbits or chickens near, but David doesn’t keep animals in the house. I can’t figure it out.”
Rio choked as if she’d swallowed a scone whole, but Bonnie covered her mouth with both hands and leaned in to Rio’s ear. “On purpose,” she whispered through her fingers.
Rio glared at her.
“Rio.” Kate’s voice made her start guiltily. “I owe you an apology for last night.”
“No,” she replied, relieved. “It was a strange night. Nobody really knew what to say.”
“I shouldn’t have disparaged you for helping. I . . . well, if I’m perfectly honest I was just a bit envious you’d been so resourceful.”
Okay, now she did feel guilty. “Resourcefulness is something you learn living on a shoestring,” she said. “It’s had to be second nature for us.”
“Do you like him?”
“Him?”
“David.”
“Uh. Yes. Of course. Who wouldn’t? He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
“I’m wondering if it’s more than that. You’ve learned so quickly how to help him the way he needs it most. He already seems to rely on you.”
Rio couldn’t tell if Kate was telling the truth or being mildly catty again.
“I need to earn my way around here, that’s all. I’m not used to living on charity. I intend to find any useful thing that will help until we can leave.”
“I did one of the most foolish things of my life when I broke up with David all those years ago.” Kate sat primly in her confessional state. “I didn’t realize how wounded he was after the war. Nobody understood post-traumatic stress well then. David had been stern, decisive. The war softened him rather than hardened him, and I thought he didn’t care anymore. When Stella offered me the chance to come and see him again and I realized he’d never married, it gave me hope—to make amends. I thought you should know that.”
Wounded? Post-traumatic stress? The words swam in Rio’s mind, making no sense. He’d admitted to being bitter about the war, but he’d never seemed unduly scarred by it. She shook her head and focused back on Kate.
“Wait. You’re saying you’re here to win him back?”
“I’d like to try. I thought it best if I stated my feelings to you honestly. I don’t know what you’re trying to start with him.”
“Whatever we become is already started,” she said, and hesitated. She and David had agreed to keep their attraction a secret, but this moment she wanted with her whole being to tell Lady Katherine every detail about the shiver-inducing relationship she already had with her ex-fiancé. She wanted David right there with his arms around her telling Kate she was far too late. Instead, she held in the jealousy, the desire, the recent memories of David’s beautiful body next to hers. “I can’t tell you what we are, but I won’t stop trying to be his . . . friend.”
“Fair enough. I can live with that.”
Bonnie caught her eye again. This time she wasn’t laughing. “What the . . .?” she mouthed.
Rio ignored her.
“I also think you should know Stella called David’s father this morning. He’ll be here in two days.”
“But he didn’t want that,” Bonnie blurted.
“It’s all right, pet,” Stella soothed. “He doesn’t know what he needs right now. His father will have some solutions, and in the end David will thank him.”
“The affordable hay idea was brilliant,” Kate added. “But one load of cheaper food won’t solve the problems.”
“It’s a start,” Rio protested. “Why do you insist on manipulating him?”
“David is a dreamer, not a businessman. He’s made this place work with a lot of help already. He can continue on if he’s willing to take the advice of those who have helped him.”
Rio wanted to scream in frustration for David. “Does he know?”
“Not yet.”
“He deserves fair warning. If you don’t tell him I—”
She was interrupted by the buzz of her phone in her pocket—a call, not a text. She fished it out and stared at Paul’s number on the illuminated screen. Her head went light.
“What?” Bonnie asked.
“Hang on, it’s work,” she lied.
Chapter Twenty-Four
* * *
RIO DASHED OUT the back door with no further explanation. Her heart pounded as she prayed it truly was Paul. In a tiny corner of her brain, she believed Hector didn’t have the guts to talk voice to voice. It was the only thing that gave her courage to answer the phone.
“Hello?”
“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Their corny joke brought tears to her eyes. She hadn’t truly realized until that moment how worried she’d been about the jerk.
“Paul, where have you been? Where are you now?”
“I can’t tell you that. Are you okay?”
“No thanks to you, idiota. Are you?”
“I’m with Heco.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Get away from that asshat, and tell the police you had nothing to do with the fire. And what’s up with all the threatening text messages? I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not sending them.”
“I have no choice, Rio. Hector isn’t going to let me out of his sight until he finds you and Bonnie.”
“But why? Bonnie is nothing to him. And he’s gotten more than revenge for a stupid scratch down his face.”
He gave an odd almost conspiratorial laugh. “Shit, girl. You should see the scratch. It’s still healing. Gonna leave a good scar.”
“Which is not good. He deserves to be hurt, but I don’t want him to think of me whenever he looks in a mirror. He burned down our house, Paul. Isn’t that enough to end your blind loyalty to him?”
“I am not loyal. I’m a fuckin’ prisoner. I go along because I don’t want him thinking I’m a prisoner. And he doesn’t want Bonnie. He needs something Bonnie has.”
“What?” Her senses prickled. Dread dripped into her stomach like acid.
“Something that belongs to Hector’s friend.”
“Who, Boyfriend? Someone needs to stop him; he’s a sociopath.”
A long pause followed. She didn’t push. She needed this information no matter how much it scared her.
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“What does Bonnie have?”
“We don’t know. But BF is leaning on Heco hard. He’s given him only a little more time to find Bonnie. He says she knows what she has, and he’d better get it before anyone else does or . . . he doesn’t say what the consequences are.”
The words should have terrified her, but somehow, in Paul’s hushed, secret-agent voice they sounded more ludicrous than threatening.
“Well, it turns out I have an advantage, Inigo.”
“What’s that?”
“I know what she has.”
“For God’s sake, what?”
“We thought it was yours. It’s a silver money clip with the initial ‘I’ on it.”
“Damn! I need to get it from you. Where are you? We have to meet.”
“No way. Not a chance until I
think about this and figure out how to keep Hector and that evil, pimping Boyfriend out of it.”
“Rio, come on. Get me out of this hell.”
“I don’t want to hear about hell, mano. You turned your back on us. You had to have known what Hector was planning, and you did nothing. I don’t care about myself, but you owe Bonnie. She adores you. So I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“You don’t understand.”
Rio took a calming breath and stopped pacing the back deck. She forced herself to sit in the bench rocker and keep her cool.
“Absolutely true. Are you willing to tell me where you are?”
“I told you, I can’t. Hector would kill me if you went to the police. Don’t go to the police, Rio, please. These guys are dangerous.”
“What cop shows are you watching? That’s so cliché I’m laughing my ass off. Tell him I’ve already been to the police, because of his stupid ass text messages. The Minneapolis cops will find him. All we have to do is wait it out.”
“What if he finds you?”
“Hector? Hah! He’s not smart enough.”
“Rio. You’re killing me.”
“I didn’t get you into this mess. If you die it’s on your head. Only you won’t because Hector needs you. You’re the best hope he has of learning where I am.”
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“I’ll think about it. But only if two things happen. First, neither Bonnie nor I gets another threatening message from him. Second, you call me sometime from a phone that Hector has no access to, and where he can’t hear you. Maybe, we can work something out.”
Another long silence followed. This one lasted nearly half a minute. It ended with a long, clear sigh.
“I don’t know when that will be. He doesn’t trust me. He takes my phone randomly to check texts and send them.”
“That’s precisely why you haven’t gotten any from us. And you won’t. Or any calls. Find a different phone. That’s the deal.”
Beauty and the Brit Page 25
