Brought to His Knees-Tough Guys Laid Low By Love
Page 77
In the light of day, everything was different. Regret ate at him and anticipation clawed at his body. The entire room hummed with an awareness he hadn’t felt in years. He closed his eyes, letting the memories of the devil flood through him. He imagined her long legged, confident stride leading her through the front door of the office. It was only a matter of time before she would be there in reality. And when she came bursting into the room he didn’t know how he’d keep himself from either strangling or fucking her. One way or another, he knew he was screwed. The air filling his lungs was hotter. The uneasy feeling coursing through his body was only ever caused by one person. Mavis Tanem.
Shaking his head, he tried to block out all the memories of them together. He’d loved her hard, given her everything of himself, yet she’d left and, in the aftermath, broken him.
He glanced across his small office, fighting away the memory of her fiery green eyes and auburn hair. He sighed; it’d been a busy morning, between dodging the phone calls from Corrine and trying to get ahold of his brother Hart. Weston Tanem was missing and Hart was the only person who would know exactly where he’d gone. Bowie just prayed he could get the information out of his idiot brother before Mavis showed up raising hell over her brother’s disappearance. Even if Mavis was the devil herself, Bowie still cared for Weston Tanem as if he were a brother. Bowie would do whatever it took to find Weston and bring him back home. Even if that meant facing the woman who’d broken his heart and darkened his soul.
Nerves soured Mavis Tanems’ stomach. She swallowed back the bitter taste of regret as she knocked on the old pine door. The wooden floor of the porch creaked as she shifted from foot to foot, hoping to get to the bottom of her brother’s disappearance as fast as she could. It had been ten years since she’d set foot on Six Bar Ranch, or even in Tanem, Texas, and those feet were burning to get the hell away again.
Mavis glanced over her shoulder toward the barn where she’d once spent many hours playing in the hay loft with her brother. As twins, they’d spent nearly every moment together from conception till high school. She closed her eyes, fighting to keep back the tears.
Where the hell are you Weston? Her throat closed as she fought back the burning lump of emotion. He was all she had left.
“Hey Mavis.” Hart Sinet’s soft, masculine voice saved her from her emotional breakdown. She opened her eyes, breathing in deep to steady herself before meeting the grief–stricken blue eyes of her brothers’ best friend.
“Hey.” She’d wanted to say more but her voice seemed to slip away with each breath.
Dark eyebrows rose beneath a worn straw cowboy hat. “Come on inside.”
She nodded, her eyes adjusting to the bright light as she lifted her sunglasses from her head. The large living room was brighter than she remembered. Two oversized leather recliners sat in the middle of the room, facing one huge flat screen TV. She smiled despite the heartbreak. Her brother had always wanted a huge TV.
So much had changed since she’d stormed out of the house years earlier. No longer were the walls plaster and cracked with age. They’d been replaced with tongue and groove pine. The golden hue brightened the room. A large antique brass mirror hung over a new stone fireplace.
Her gaze snagged on the new stone fireplace. Her heart thudded, ready to burst, as she realized her brother had finally done the one thing she’d begged her father to do. He’d replaced the old cast iron wood burning stove. Instinctively she ran a hand across the scar on the side of her head. Even after twenty years she could still feel the pain from the burn, and her heart sank.
“Weston always said you left because your dad wouldn’t change anything around here, especially that old stove.” Hart’s easygoing voice calmed her frayed nerves.
Her brother had been partially right. “That was just one of many reasons I left, Hart. You spent most of your childhood here, you should remember what it was like for me.”
Hart shrugged his shoulders, easing his hat from his head.
She turned back toward the recliners. A large studded brown leather couch sat facing the fireplace and to the side of the recliners. The cowhide rug on the floor she recognized. It had been there since she was a kid. He’d kept it in the same spot her mother had thrown it.
Silence rang in her ears, as memories of her childhood nagged at the edge of her mind, waiting to rush in and rip her apart.
A large callused hand grasped hers. “Sit down, Mave.”
Deep blue eyes stared into hers, searching. They reminded her of his older brother’s. Though Hart’s weren’t as dark or dangerous.
She sat down on the one side of the large brown sofa. Warmth enveloped her. Wes had picked a great, relaxing sofa.
“Hart.” She cleared her throat, pushing down the remorse of knowing she might never speak to her brother again. “No bullshit. Where’s Weston at? I’ve got to be back in Houston for a drill prelim by Friday. I don’t have time to play with cattle. So if this is just one of his crazy stunts to try to get me back on this damn ranch, I’m going to kill you and him both.”
Raising cattle had been her brother’s passion. Her blood ran black and thick, just like the Texas oil she drilled for.
“Well…” One large, tanned hand ran across his forehead, stopping to rub the middle. “There’s kinda a problem. For once I have no damn clue where he’s at.” Hart’s blue eyes misted. “Honestly I don’t have a clue. This isn’t just a crazy stunt, it’s real.”
Mavis’s mind went blank. If Hart really had no clue, then Wes was really missing. Her brother was a flake about a lot of things but, since high school, he’d kept Hart and her well informed whenever he was going somewhere. Something was wrong. She needed to call her best friend and private investigator, Laney, again. Maybe she’d learned more about Weston’s disappearance, as Laney still lived in Tanem.
She shifted on the couch. “Laney sent me a copy of the police report. It said you reported him missing Monday.” Four days ago. Damn, why hadn’t Hart called her earlier? She waited for a nod from Hart. “How long had he really been gone?”
A smile tugged at Hart’s mouth. “Well, that’s the problem. We rode to Hamilton last weekend with this woman we know. Then Saturday I headed home to get ready for a shipment of heifers. Right before I left we all got into an argument over some stuff.” He scratched his head. “It was a bad argument and actually the woman stormed off, and me and Wes got into it then. I left and he said he was going to spend the rest of the weekend with her in Hamilton.” He squirmed in the chair. “The guy didn’t show up with the heifers, so I tried calling Wes and Shelia. Neither one answered, so I called the hotel they were supposed to be staying at and the lady said he never had a reservation and hadn’t checked in.”
Her head ached. Wes and Hart had always been stupid about women. “I don’t understand.” She sat up straighter, leaning forward to look Hart in the eyes. “Why would Wes stay behind? This ranch means everything to him. He’d never leave anyone in charge of cattle shipments, not even you.”
“Well, it was a pretty bad fight and Shelia is damn good looking.” Hart stopped, swallowed, and shook his head. “Anyway, I called the sheriff and he was going to check up on the hotel, but so far nothing has turned up.”
Had she landed in seventh hell? “Hart, you can’t be serious. I can’t believe the two of you go off with women you don’t really know just because they’re hot! Haven’t y’all ever watched Criminal Minds?” The last she screamed, near hysterical.
How could this have happened? A part of her didn’t want to believe it. Weren’t twins supposed to feel when the other one was gone? She didn’t. All she felt was anger.
“Well…no. I mean, look, on a scale of one to ten that woman was a damn twelve. Plus, one night…” A smile split his face. “Well, anyhow, Shelia’s not a serial killer or anything.”
Idiot.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you serious right now? I swear I think you and Wes share a brain or a dick or maybe both. Who kn
ows?” She jumped up from the couch, marched past him and toward the home office.
“Hart, where the hell is my brother’s laptop?” She flung the wooden door open, revealing a clean, neat office.
Her father had kept papers piled everywhere inside the room. Not Wes. No, Wes was neat and organized, something he must have inherited from their mother. The large mahogany desk had zero clutter. On the left were three picture frames and the right side had a bin for files and folders with labels and everything.
Her boots echoed in the large room as she strode behind the desk to examine the contents. The pictures were one of them with their mother, one of them with all the Sinet brothers and their mother, and an aerial of the ranch. He really loved the land and all its history.
“I didn’t mean anything a minute ago. It’s just…” Hart leaned on the door frame shrugging his shoulders.
She pinned him with a raised eyebrow. “I know exactly what you meant, Hart. And I still mean what I said. I’m surprised there aren’t more rumors about you two.”
A smile brightened Hart’s face. “Yeah well we sure give folks a lot to talk about.”
This time she couldn’t help but to smile with him. “Yeah y’all do.” She plopped down into the oversized leather chair behind the desk.
Hart’s spurs jingled as he eased to the front of the desk. “His laptop is either in the cabinet or his room. I know it has a password and don’t have a clue what it is.”
Exasperated, she sighed and stared at the aerial photo. “Me either, but maybe we can figure it out. I suppose I can go to town and take it to your dad. Sheriff Sinet can probably get someone to figure out the password.”
A bark of laughter flowed from Hart. “Sure thing. I’m sure Sheriff Sinet is already on high alert for you.” A mischievous smile played on his face.
“Great.” The Sherriff probably hated her for what her father had done to Bowie.
She rose, taking one last look around the room she had once been forbidden to enter. Satisfaction welled inside her. Her father could never scream at her to get out again. He’d lost. Her brother had never turned his back on her. Pride and love flooded her.
“Thanks, Hart. I’ll head on to town and try to find the Sherriff. In the meantime, try to remember everything you can about that woman.”
Hart shrugged. “I’ll try. When you see Sherriff Sinet, don’t cut my brother any slack. Everyone around here is scared of him. He needs someone to put him in his place and you always knew how to.” With that and a wicked smile Hart turned and walked off.
Dread began to settle throughout her. His dad was no longer sheriff? Damn, which brother was he talking about? Last she’d heard Terrell was working at the high school and Bowie had gone into the military. Maybe he meant Spur. He was surely old enough to be working now.
“Which brother?” Her voice was pitched a little too high for her liking. Pride was a bitch that did not like letting her admit the thought of running into Bowie “Chief” Sinnet sent shivers down her body. She sent up a silent prayer that of all the Sinet brothers she’d run into Spur. He was too young to remember her or what she’d done to Bowie.
The small office closed around him. Mavis Tanem stood just inside the doorway staring at him. Her eyes were wide and vibrant green, as she took him in from head to toe. His gut clenched with a mixture of fear, hate, and lust. Damn her. Ten years had done nothing to rid him of feelings for her.
He rose from the leather desk chair he’d been reclining in. His heart beat hard, aching from the years he’d spent trying to forget about her.
“So…” Her hesitant tone told him she was nervous. Good. She should be nervous.
“Have a seat.” He gestured toward one of the two wooden chairs in his small office.
She nodded, breaking eye contact with him as she lowered her slender frame into the chair.
He swallowed hard, remembering her body. Dread settled in him. He was so screwed. Now was not the time to think of her. In fact there wasn’t a good time.
Bowie couldn’t help himself. He stared at her. The years had been good to her. Mavis had curved in all the right places. Instead of the innocent, youthful curves she’d once had, now she was all woman. Her green shirt hugged against her tanned skin, clinging in just the right places.
“Bowie…” Her voice had firmed, no longer hesitant but, instead, determined.
His gaze rose from taking in every single inch of her he could see to stare into her deep green eyes. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat, buying time before he had to really speak to her.
“I’m sure as hell glad this isn’t uncomfortable or anything.” She shook her head, disgust rolling off of her.
What the hell did she have to be disgusted by? And who did she think she was to come storming into town being a smartass? The idea of her still retaining some of that sweet, innocent girl he had known vanished. Mavis Tanem had grown up to sound just like her father.
Chills rolled down his spine. He’d be damned if he let her run over him the way her father had.
“I’m sorry the chair isn’t up to your high standards, and I imagine that stick up your ass must not be feeling too good right about now either, so let’s get this visit over with.” He watched as fire flashed in her eyes. Smiling inside, he knew he’d hit a nerve. “What can I do for you today Ms. Tanem?”
She narrowed her eyes. Her full lips were drawn into a tight line. “First you can find my brother. Then…” Her lips parted, forming a smile too sweet to be sincere. “You can go to hell, you arrogant bastard.” Mavis’ tone dripped with contempt.
“Well, well, well…” He leaned toward her across his cluttered desk. “You sound just like another Tanem I knew, although he didn’t have an ass like yours.”
Why was he engaging in any talk besides about her brother? Bowie knew he shouldn’t, yet every cell of his being felt alive for the first time in a very long time.
Their eyes locked. Hers raged with anger. He knew he’d pushed her with his last comment. He’d meant it though. She sounded just like her father, and by the way her back snapped to attention at the mere mention of him, Bowie knew she was pissed.
Her lips parted. He waited for her to explode with anger. Instead she swallowed hard, the tanned skin around her neck begged for his touch. His fingers itched to graze across that flesh and, at the moment, he wasn’t sure whether they itched with desire to caress her or to strangle her.
“Bowie, I will say this one time and one time only.” Her eyes bore into his. “My dad was a bastard. I hated him. After I left, I spent years working to destroy him the way he did both of us. I’ve accepted the fact that he was a mean asshole and I’m a bitch, but if you ever imply I’m just like him again I’ll cut your nuts off and hang them from the hitch on my truck.” Her voice sent a chill through the room.
He doubted she was playing around. Darkness peeked out of her. She’d changed in more than just a physical way. Whatever she’d done to get back at her father had changed her. While Mavis’ eyes were still vibrant, they held a hint of danger in them he’d never expected to see.
Silence hung in the air. There were a million unanswered questions he had but knew he was better off getting her out of Tanem, Texas as soon as possible.
“Message received.” He nodded, pulling the Texas A & M ball cap he wore off to lay it on his desk. While his father had worn a uniform every day to work, Bowie liked to blend in. His gun and badge were the only part of the uniform he wore.
He pulled a notepad from underneath a pile of complaints he’d deal with later. “So, tell me what my idiot brother told you.” He clicked the pen in his hand, ready to get his mind off her and onto getting her brother back.
She sighed, finally relaxing back into the wooden chair. “God, they’re a pair. When we were all little we should have split them two up and beat them whenever they talked to each other. It would have saved us all a hell of a lot of trouble.”
“Naw, they would have just gotten into more trouble alone
.” A grin formed on both of their faces.
Common ground had been found. Bowie was no longer skating on thin ice around her. They both loved their brothers and that topic was a safe one. At least if they focused on brothers they wouldn’t be forced to talk about their past and he wouldn’t go to jail for strangling her.
“True.” She reached into her bag, pulling out a clipboard. He glanced at it, noticing the entire page was covered in her sloppy handwriting. “I talked to Laney and she suggested I write down every place I could think of that Weston would take a woman. Then I talked to Hart and added about another hundred places. It’s like a needle in a haystack. My brother could be anywhere with anyone. I’ve warned him that one day someone was going to knock him in the head and rob him, or worse.”
She slammed her clipboard down on the desk, jarring the frame holding a picture of him and his family. “Sorry.” Her voice softened with an edge of grief. “I’m just so mad at him. How could he have been so careless? And Hart was no help either. They need a keeper, someone to manage them.” She wiped at her eyes.
Mavis had never liked for anyone to see her cry, especially him. Even as children she’d always tried to hide her tears from him. He’d never understood and still didn’t.
“You have every right to be mad. Hart and Wes live like frat boys, except when it comes to the ranch business. That’s what got Hart’s attention.” He waited, hoping she’d volunteer some information she’d gotten out of Hart.
Mavis nodded. “He called me and told me Weston was missing. I thought he was just messing with me. They try these stunts to get me on the ranch about twice a year. I just figured it was another one. But when Hart said there was a problem on the ranch and he couldn’t get Wes, I knew it wasn’t a stunt.”
He jotted down her statements, as her voice pitched then softened, and hardened. He didn’t have to look up to know her emotions. Mavis was hurt, angry, and determined to find her brother.
He set the pen down, raising a hand to stop her. “Hart mentioned a woman. Did he say anything about her to you?”