by SUE FINEMAN
Callie ran down to her room while Bo used the phone in his bedroom.
Two minutes later, Callie came down the hall toward Bo’s room by the back stairs, carrying her suitcase and tote bag. “Callie, Neen will be here any minute, behind the building. Greg and I will distract Tommy Ray while you get away.”
Her eyes held panic. “What about Brady?”
“He’s all right with Mom.” He carried her suitcase down the back stairs and set it beside the back door. “I’ll be there as soon as we get rid of Tommy Ray. Trust me, Callie.”
“I do trust you, Bo.” She gave him an unexpected hug. “Thank you.”
Bo gazed into her eyes and wanted more than a friendly hug, but this wasn’t the time or the place. Greg stood guard at the front door, and without another word to Callie, Bo walked down to help him. As if Greg needed help facing trouble.
“I told you there’s no women staying here,” said Greg.
“Then you won’t mind if I have a look around the place.”
Bo stepped up beside Greg. “I mind. Who are you?”
Tommy Ray took a step back and spit tobacco juice off the porch. Bo felt like grabbing the hose and washing it away. What a slob!
“Sheriff Tommy Ray Caldwell, Caledonia County, Texas. I have a warrant for Callie’s arrest. I know she’s here, so let me at her.”
Sheriff? Bo felt angry heat build inside him. Callie didn’t tell him Tommy Ray was a sheriff, and she sure as hell didn’t say she had a warrant out for her arrest. First the kid and now this. What else hadn’t she told him? The woman used those expressive eyes to hide behind and that soft Southern drawl to talk around the truth.
Greg leaned on the doorframe, blocking Tommy Ray from coming inside. “Is your arrest warrant good in Washington or just in Texas?”
Tommy Ray stared at him. “Who in the hell are you?”
Greg slowly pulled his wallet from his hip pocket and searched through it until he found his DEA ID. It had expired, but right now, he had as much jurisdiction as Tommy Ray Caldwell. More, since he and Bo owned the building.
Tommy Ray glanced at Greg’s ID with a flicker of surprise. “I don’t give a shit if you’re J. Edgar Hoover himself. I’m taking my wife, so get the hell out of my way.”
Bo heard the back door click shut. He needed another minute or two for Callie and Neen to get away safely. “Give me one good reason for letting you in here.”
“I want my wife, and I want her right now.”
Tobacco juice ran down the corner of the jerk’s mouth and dripped on an already dirty uniform shirt. Tommy Ray Caldwell was the most disgusting piece of shit Bo had seen in quite awhile. Why would a woman like Callie give him a second look?
Greg propped his hands on his hips. “Your wife and kid aren’t here, so get lost or I’ll call the police.”
Uh oh. The slimy cop hadn’t said anything about a kid. Greg had just confirmed that Callie and Brady were here, or had been here.
Greg glanced at Bo. “I’ll call Dave and see what he can do.”
Bo nodded. Dave Montgomery, Greg’s best friend, was an FBI agent. A cop like this one should be locked up, and that would take someone with clout. Federal clout.
Greg backed away and headed for the phone in the bar, leaving Bo alone with the redneck cop from hell. “Get lost. Your wife isn’t here.” Bo stepped back and tried to push the door closed, but the cop slammed it open with one hand and punched Bo with the other.
With a surge of anger, Bo fought back with a fist brought up under Tommy Ray’s chin. His teeth snapped together and he wiped blood and tobacco juice on his shirtsleeve.
“You dirty son-of-a-bitch.” Tommy Ray came at Bo with a vengeance, with both fists. Bo had him in height, but the sheriff was stocky and solid, and Bo’s left arm was right down there next to worthless.
Bo kicked him in the balls, thinking it would disable him, but Tommy Ray decked him, laid Bo out on the floor, and then kicked him in the side of the head.
Greg came to the rescue. One punch from Bo’s macho brother was all it took. Tommy Ray flew back through the door and down the porch steps. The cop struggled to his feet, yelled, “I’ll be back,” climbed into his truck, and sped away.
Helping Bo up off the floor, Greg asked, “You all right?”
Bo touched his head and came away with blood on his fingers. “If I didn’t have this bum elbow—”
“Yeah, I know.”
The room wouldn’t hold still, so Bo leaned on the doorjamb. “We did some damage, but we also made him mad. If you hadn’t mentioned the kid—”
“I didn’t—”
“The hell you didn’t.”
Greg plowed his fingers through his hair. “Clean up and we’ll go talk to Callie. Dave said he’d call some people, get an investigation started, but we can’t wait. Somebody has to do something about him before he gets his hands on Callie again.”
“And the kid,” said Bo. “Brady’s back and behind are covered with scars.”
Somebody definitely had to do something, but Bo was livid. Why in the hell hadn’t Callie told him her husband was a sheriff?
And why was there a warrant out for her arrest?
<>
“Where are we going?” Callie asked. She lay on the backseat, so no one could see her.
“My house,” Neen replied.
“I don’t want to get anyone else in trouble.”
“Callie, my husband is an expert on trouble. He knows how to take care of himself, and so does Bo. They’ll be all right.”
“I hope so,” Callie whispered mostly to herself. Tommy Ray liked to push people around, and she didn’t want him to hurt anyone, especially Bo. Bo hurt enough already, with his sore elbow.
Minutes later, the garage door lifted at Neen’s house and she drove in. They didn’t get out of the car until the door came down behind them. Callie still shook with fear. She knew it wouldn’t take Tommy Ray long to track her down here, and she didn’t have enough money to buy another bus ticket.
How did he find her so quickly? It took him over two months to find her in Tampa. She thought she had more time.
Callie hated being dependant on other people like this, and she hated putting other people in danger, but this time she didn’t have a choice. She had a little boy to think about, an innocent child who didn’t have anyone else to take care of him.
No one but his mama.
<>
Minutes later, Bo locked up and followed Greg home. Still angry, Bo walked in and stabbed a finger at Callie. “You have some explaining to do. Why didn’t you tell me your husband was a sheriff, and why is there a warrant out for your arrest?”
She backed up a step. “You’re not gonna turn me in, are you?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Hell no he’s not,” said Greg. “Back off, Bo.”
Bo’s hands fisted, but he fought the urge to flatten his brother’s nose. Greg liked to live on the edge, but Bo didn’t. This kind of surprise he could do without.
Neen glanced from one face to the other. “Will someone please tell me what happened? Why is your cheek bruised, Bo, and is that blood in your hair?”
Greg rubbed his fist. “Playing bully may work in Texas, but it doesn’t fly in this state. He came after Bo, and before it was over, we both got a piece of him.”
“Neen, do you have an ice bag? I’ll need some damp paper towels, too.” Callie pointed to a chair, and Bo sat down while Neen walked into the kitchen.
A law enforcement officer should know better than to attack people, but Tommy Ray Caldwell apparently made his own laws. And Callie... Bo didn’t know what to think about Callie. She looked like Snow White, had a voice that aroused his body, and cooked better than Mom, but the woman was more than a nuisance. It was downright dangerous to be around her.
Bo held the ice bag to his cheek while Callie cleaned the blood from the side of his head. It was the first time he’d been in a fight in ages. Greg was the fighter in the family
, the troublemaker. Bo had always been the peacemaker, the responsible brother who tried to smooth things over. Not this time. This time he wanted blood.
Callie’s face creased with worry. “What am I gonna do with Brady if Tommy Ray gets a search warrant for The Brothel when we’re there?”
“You can’t stay at The Brothel.” Bo wanted them gone, but he didn’t want another injured or dead kid on his conscience. Maybe he could find them another place to stay while the FBI investigated.
Disappointment and determination warred in the violet depths of Callie’s eyes. “I thank you kindly for all your help. Now, if you’ll tell me where to find my son, I’ll be going.”
Frustration erupted and Bo jumped to his feet. “Going where?” She couldn’t leave now.
“Anywhere. You don’t want—”
“Don’t tell me what I want,” he snapped. She’d put him in a tough spot, and she knew it. She should have told him everything the first day.
Neen glared at him. “You and Brady can stay with us, Callie. Greg needs someone his age to play with, and if Tommy Ray comes here, I’ll shoot him myself. I hate bullies.”
Having Callie and Brady stay here with Greg and Neen would solve the problem temporarily, but they couldn’t stay here forever.
Bo exchanged a long look with Greg, and then turned to Callie. “Callie, what does he really want?”
“You mean besides revenge for me leaving him?”
“Yeah.”
“He wants whatever Daddy put in the safe at the ranch house, and he can’t open the safe.”
Now they were getting somewhere. If he could trust her to tell the truth. “Do you know the combination?”
“Well, yes, but I told Tommy Ray I didn’t. I wish I’d opened it before I left, so I could get a look at that agreement Daddy signed giving the ranch to Tommy Ray. Now it’s too late.”
Bo cocked his head. “There are other ways to open a safe. Why didn’t he drill out the lock or hire a locksmith?”
“He tried drilling it himself, but he ruined Daddy’s drill and two others before he gave up. And Tommy Ray wouldn’t hire a locksmith. He didn’t want anybody else to know what he was doing.”
Greg plopped a hand on top of his head and paced. “Tommy Ray is here and so is his truck. It takes days to drive to Texas from here. If you fly out tonight, you’ll have a couple days to do what you need to do before he gets back.”
Neen, the pilot in the family, shook her head. “I can’t fly anywhere tonight, Greg. I have an appointment with Chance in the morning and a dentist appointment in the afternoon, and I can’t cancel either one.”
Greg shrugged. “Then they’ll go commercial.”
“I hope you’re not including me in this plan,” said Bo. Still, he couldn’t pass up a chance to get away from the business for a few days.
“What if Tommy Ray finds Brady while I’m gone?” Callie asked.
Neen said, “If Greg doesn’t tear him apart, I’ll shoot him.”
Greg gazed into Callie’s eyes. “He’ll be all right, Callie. We’ll take good care of him.”
Neen looked from Greg to Bo. “Two tickets or one?”
Greg raised his eyebrows. “Bo?”
He couldn’t let her go alone. “Okay, all right. I’ll go with her. Two days, Greg. Only two days.” He couldn’t spare any more time than that or the business wouldn’t open on schedule. Greg seemed incapable of doing anything or making decisions without him. His brother was an excellent detective, but he didn’t know the first thing about running a business. It was about time he learned, but Greg wouldn’t learn anything if Bo did it all for him.
While Neen called a travel agent, Greg and Bo walked into the kitchen to talk in private. Greg said, “The work on the business can wait until you get back.”
Bo stared at him. “Are you saying you can’t do anything without me?”
“Hell, no.”
All the years of pulling his brother out of jams, covering his ass with Mom, and talking the principal of their high school out of putting him on suspension grated on Bo in that moment. “Fine, then burn it down. I don’t give a shit. I’m sick and tired of putting in sixteen-hour days and hurting too much to sleep at night, while you’re there for maybe four hours. It’s your turn, Greg. Take care of things yourself for a change.”
“Dammit it, Bo, I have things on my mind, a pregnant wife, and—”
Bo glared at his brother. “It’s always been about you, what you have on your mind, what’s going on in your life. When is the last time you asked about me? Have I ever once asked you to bail me out of trouble?”
Greg opened his mouth and then closed it without speaking.
“Right.” Bo loved his brother, but he was tired of carrying the heavy load by himself. He couldn’t physically handle the work, and his heart wasn’t in it.
“Fine. I’ll take care of things here.” Greg tossed the money from his wallet and a credit card on the counter and walked away.
Three hundred and twenty-three dollars.
Greg and Neen seemed to think Brady would be okay in Tacoma, but Callie had her doubts. What if Tommy Ray found him and hurt him to punish her? And he would. Still, she wouldn’t be gone long. Bo said two days.
Bo’s anger hurt Callie right down to the bone, but he didn’t scare her like Tommy Ray. Bo thought she’d manipulated him, and she had. She’d always been an honest person, but this situation with Tommy Ray had forced her to say and do things she wouldn’t normally say and do.
It hurt to look at the bruise on Bo’s face and the lump on his head. He wasn’t hurt too bad, but if not for her, Tommy Ray wouldn’t have touched him.
Bo had agreed to come with her, so he couldn’t be too mad, could he? And she really did need to empty the safe. Tommy Ray might sell the ranch off, but he couldn’t have the contents of the safe. Those things belonged to her parents and grandparents, and now they belonged to her. If she hadn’t been in such a hurry to get out of there, she would have emptied it before she left. She hated to sell any of Granny’s jewelry, but she’d have to sell something to pay Bo and Greg for the trip. It wasn’t their bill to pay. It was hers.
Greg carried her suitcase upstairs so she could wash off the paint and get ready to go, while Bo drove back to The Brothel to pack for the trip. Bo obviously didn’t want her here, and she didn’t stay where she wasn’t wanted, so as soon as they got back, she and Brady would move on. Would they ever find a safe place where they could make a new home, someplace Tommy Ray couldn’t find them?
When Callie came out of the bathroom, Bo lay on the bed with one pillow under his head and another under his elbow. It must hurt like the dickens. She sat beside him and gently massaged his arm above and below his elbow. Granny used to say that sometimes all folks needed to ease their pain was for somebody to put their hands on them.
He gazed deeply into her eyes and she felt his unspoken questions. She’d hidden Brady, neglected to tell him what Tommy Ray did for a living, and the warrant... Tommy Ray told the judge a pack of lies to get that arrest warrant. She’d never touched Billy Smith’s car. She didn’t belong in jail, but Tommy Ray did, especially after what he’d done to her in Tampa. Of course, without witnesses, it was his word against hers, and he was a sheriff. Even if he was arrested, he’d talk his way out of it.
Bo closed his eyes. He’d probably taken a pain pill. Poor guy. His bruised face and the lump on his head would heal, but her hands-on comfort wouldn’t stop his arm from hurting. It didn’t make sense to suffer like this if a doctor could do something for him.
Bo’s mother lived right down the street from Greg and Neen, and she brought Brady over so he could say goodbye. Katie, a pretty girl with long blond hair and blue eyes, walked over with them. Carol’s friendly smile warmed Callie right down to her toes, and Brady looked so cute with his first real haircut. She hated to leave him behind, even for a few days, but she couldn’t take him along. Not this time.
Callie touched his hair. “You lo
ok so grown up, baby. You be a good boy for Aunt Neen, ya hear?”
“Yes, Mama.”
Brady asked if they were going on a big airplane, and Bo said, “Yes we are, but Neen knows how to fly a plane, and she has a small plane of her own.”
“No kidding? I want to be a pilot someday.”
Just as well, thought Callie. He wouldn’t be running the ranch. Nobody ran anything at the ranch these days.
At one time, Daddy had a nice tractor with a hay wagon, and Mama owned several pieces of jewelry, but after her parents died, Tommy Ray sold it all. Callie learned to ride as soon as she was big enough to sit on a horse, and the two horses left after the tornado came through were more than mounts. They were family pets. Tommy Ray didn’t care. He sold them anyway. She and Brady cried that day, and Tommy Ray smacked them both. He wouldn’t let her go to church that Sunday because she had a black eye. Tommy Ray never went, but Callie went every Sunday until Tommy Ray started beating on her. He didn’t like anyone to see her with bruises, so he made her stay home, out of sight. She felt lonely and isolated, and desperately unhappy. Every day she spent with Tommy Ray, Callie feared for her life, and for her son’s life.
She’d still be stuck at the ranch, waiting for Tommy Ray to come home and beat on her, if her friend hadn’t driven out from Austin to check up on her. Callie packed a few things and they left as soon as Brady came home from school. If Tommy Ray hadn’t tracked her down in Austin, she wouldn’t have gone to Florida. Back then, she was too scared to fight back. She still trembled with fear when she thought of the things Tommy Ray had done to her.
Greg dropped them off in front of the terminal building. They checked their luggage and walked out toward the gate. Bo stopped cold. “I forget to get my pain pills out of my bag.”
“You left them in the kitchen, and Neen put them in my tote bag. Do you need one now?”
“No.”
It took Bo three times to go through the metal detector. The last time, he emptied his pockets, backed through, and held his arm out in front of him. The rest of his body was through before the alarm went off. The guard motioned him through. “My son was in Bosnia. He has a plate in his leg.”
