“What are you doing here, Lance? Haven’t you heard of knocking, or calling?” I went to reach for my gun, but he was suddenly inches from me, grabbing my wrist.
“No need to draw that. I’m here peacefully.” His southern accent was thick as he spoke. More signs of emotion. I didn’t know if I could deal with an even more unbalanced Lance right now.
I jerked my arm away from him. “Coming in here uninvited isn’t coming in peace.”
Nodding once, he backed away from me until he was in the doorway again. “I wanted to apologize for what I did before.”
Surprised, I crossed my arms over my chest, tempted to grab for my gun anyway. I felt safer with it in my hands. Lance was unpredictable, having so many sides to him. He appeared more vulnerable in that moment than I ever saw him before.
Watching him as he turned around to head into the main room, I stepped out of the shower, hesitant to join him. Maybe locking the door and calling for help was a better idea, but considering I never did what I should, I followed him out. He was sitting on my bed, shoulders hunched and head down. When he looked up at me, tears were forming in his eyes.
“I have gone down the wrong path with my life, Riley. Sure, the money is good, and I live like a king, but this isn’t the life of an honest man. I’m a goddamn criminal.” He shook his head, ashamed of what he’d become.
I shifted uncomfortably, not sure what I should have been doing. Heart to heart talks made me nervous. Did I pat his head, or shoulder, or sit next to him? Was I supposed to tell him that he could be a changed man, and that I would be there to support him? Yeah, right. He deserved to be in jail. I had no sympathy for someone that chose the life of crime, not caring whose lives he’d ruined in the process.
When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “My daughter is hidden away because her mother wanted to take her away to California. I have so many properties in my name, no one is going to find her. But I feel terrible, Riley. She doesn’t get to see me, or her mom. What kind of father does that make me?”
“You should probably speak to a lawyer about this, Lance. Or maybe a therapist. Yeah, a therapist.”
“I feel like I can open up to you,” he said, turning his head so his gaze could meet mine.
No! I didn’t want to talk. “You don’t even know me.”
Lance smiled. “You were always the girl that helped the old women in town clean their houses and made them dinner. Betty always talked about the good things you did, even though your parents were shit.”
“You still don’t know me.”
“I know you used to cry at school. Kids would make fun of you for wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row. You would hide in the janitor’s closet.”
“If this is you making your case, you’re doing it wrong. A lot of people know that shit.” I was getting irritated. I didn’t know how any of this meant that he knew me enough to spill his problems.
He stood up, taking a step toward me. “Remember when we were in tenth grade, you were home alone, and Bobby Latrell showed up at your house with the wrong intentions?”
My mouth fell open and back stiffened. “How do you know about that?”
“Just as he was about to take advantage of you after knocking you down, he heard something outside that spooked him. Then he never came back when he went to check it out,” Lance continued.
“Why are you bringing this up? What does this have to do anything?” I demanded, pushing hard at his chest when he came too close.
He took a step back from the push, gaze never leaving mine. “Luke and I took care of him for you.”
I stopped, raising my eyebrows in question. “What do you mean, you took care of him? No one ever saw him after that.”
The conversation was taking a turn for the worse. Fear started to trickle up my spine at what could have happened with Bobby. The guy obviously had bad intentions when he showed up to my parents’ house that day. There was no denying what he planned on doing. When I was younger, I had no idea how to defend myself. I tried my best to get away, but he was faster and stronger. We’d ended up in the kitchen, where I tried to grab for a knife in the drawer, but he’d taken my head, slamming it into the counter until I bled all over the place. Then he shoved me down to the floor, working on his pants at the same time. Laughing, as he said no one would care if something happened to me. No one even knew I existed.
Those were memories I tried to bury. I remembered being relieved when he went outside. I managed to climb to my knees to reach for the knife, but my head was hurting so bad, I ended up passing out on the floor, only to wake up covered in blood from my wound and a knife in my hand. Neither of my parents had come home that night, so I kept the entire thing to myself. It was something I wanted to forget, because what he’d said was true. No one would have given a shit about me if I told someone.
“We were just going to beat him up, tell him to stay away from you, but Luke got carried away. He ended up smashing the kid’s face until he couldn’t breathe, choking on his own blood.” Lance said, running a hand through his hair. “We would have checked on you after that, but Dad was so angry, he made us leave.”
“You killed him? Why are you telling me this?” Was he trying to warn me that they’d do anything to protect what was theirs?
Lance shrugged his shoulders, turning to pace the room. “I just wanted you to know we always had your back.”
I glared. “If you did, then why sell drugs to my addict of a father and whore out my mother?”
“I couldn’t do anything about that. The businesses were my father’s,” he replied lamely.
“But why? Why do anything for me?” I didn’t get where he was going with any of it.
“Luke has always had a thing for you. Not sure why, but he felt protective, and I couldn’t let him do things by himself. When he heard Bobby bragging about getting in your pants, he insisted we follow him to make sure he didn’t do anything to you. We got lucky that night. The fool told all of his friends that it would be soon, and it so happened that he chose that very night.” Lance’s phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his back pocket, glancing down at the screen. “I’m telling you this because I want you to take Luke away from this place. He’s a good man, and hasn’t made many mistakes. Not like I have.”
“You two murdered someone!” I cried. “How the hell do you come back from that?”
Lance scowled. “I’ve killed several people, for much less. Luke did that to protect you.”
“Sounds to me like Luke needs anger management. No one should get that mad.”
“His girl was almost raped. Of course he was going to kill a man for it!” Lance stared at me like I was a complete idiot.
“I’m not his girl,” I grumbled, looking away.
Laughing, Lance shoved his phone back into his pocket as he headed toward the door. “This place still reeks of sex. Plus, he’s been missing since he took off with you from the party. Sheriff’s station says he called in. Luke never calls in.”
“There’s nothing I can do about Luke. He’s made it pretty clear where we stand, and that I’m not of interest to him. What I don’t understand is why you’re here.”
He paused, a hand on the door handle. “I know you’re not here for Annie. You were bitten here in Luna Hill, which means you’re the one that was out in the woods that night. Werewolves have an excellent sense of smell, and yours was all over that place.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“Because I wanted to see if I could bring you into the Pack. Luke would never forgive me if I claimed you as mine.” He let go of the door handle, meeting me face to face. “You’re not here for Annie, I know that much.”
“Then why do you think I’m here, Lance?”
“You came back to find your mother, and kill her.”
My head reeled back as if he’d slapped me. “I hated the bitch, but I would never kill her.”
Lance’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “New wolves tend
to lose control more often than older ones. What happened to your mother was a wolf out of control. Blood was everywhere, her body ripped to shreds. The only thing untouched was her face, mouth gaping open like she’d been screaming the entire time.”
“You know a lot for someone who wasn’t there,” I accused.
“I’ve seen the pictures of the crime scene. I don’t think Luke can protect you on this one, but if by chance you manage to get out of it, I think you two can make a good life.”
“You came here to tell me this shit? I didn’t even know where the woman was.” I clenched my fist as anger coursed through me. Any normal person would feel remorse, wish they got to know their mother better, but not me. My parents had damaged me so badly, it was hard to even consider the possibilities of a normal life with them.
“You should have come to me first, Riley. I would have let you get the revenge you needed, but now everyone knows. They’ve seen the body. Now, Luke has no choice but to consider you a suspect.”
“Why would he consider me a suspect?”
“You show up out of nowhere after so many years, and suddenly your own mother is dead? The woman who abandoned you, for whoring and drugs? The dots aren’t hard to connect, Riley. He’s bound to realize that he has no option but to investigate you.”
I plopped down on the bed, shoulders hunched. “I didn’t kill her, Lance. Can’t you sniff the body?”
His eyes darkened. “I’m not a fucking bloodhound.” Then he sighed. “Luke wouldn’t let me see the body.”
“Luke could probably tell it wasn’t me, then. He can smell, too.” I said, the fear melting away.
“The scent is surely gone, Riley. She’d been dowsed with gasoline, but someone must have scared them away before finishing the job.” He opened the door. “But I bet you did it.”
“I didn’t fucking—” I was cut off when I saw Luke standing outside of the motel, hand raised to knock on the door.
Luke’s gaze went from me to Lance, eyebrows moving downward in anger. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Lance slapped his brother on the shoulder as he passed him. “Just came to apologize to Riley for what I’ve done.”
Was it just me, or was the whole visit still confusing? He went from coming on to me, to talking about his daughter, to talking about Luke, to accusing me of murdering my mother. Coming out of my thoughts, I realized Luke was now in the room with the door shut. He was looking around, as if he were trying to find evidence of me and Lance doing something nasty.
I really didn’t feel like dealing with him, but I knew why he was really coming by. It wasn’t so we could talk about the night before. No, he was going to question me about my mother. Pressing my lips together in determination to not say anything, I watched as he pulled a chair over in front of me so he could sit down. He took a seat, leaning back a little so his legs widened a bit. There was a lot of tension in the room, and it only seemed to be getting worse. Neither one of us were saying a word, and the sheer discomfort I was feeling made me want to run. Then I would be a suspect running. That would look great.
“I need to know where you were the night your mother was murdered,” his voice came out gruffly.
“You know I don’t have an alibi, Luke.”
Luke ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Why did you have to come back, Riley? How am I supposed to prove your innocence?”
Annoyed, I gripped the edge of the bed. “How does Lance get away with it?”
Staring at me, Luke glowered. “Are you admitting to this?”
“No! I haven’t seen her in years, Luke. I came down here for Annie, not her.” I stood up, throwing my hands up in the air. “She has to have other enemies. Hell, she sleeps with other women’s husbands. There has to be a giant-ass list of pissed off wives in town.”
I wanted to throttle him, but every time I looked in his direction, I also wanted to jump his damn bones. The guy was so sexy sitting in that chair. My desire was growing by the second, just thinking about straddling him...
“Riley, focus.” Luke tried not to smile, but was almost failing. He knew exactly where my thoughts went. “If you came down here for Annie, you would have left already.”
Damn, he had a point there. Defeated, I sat down on the bed, looking down at my boots. They were new, too. I spent way too much money, but at least I had what Mary gave me. That was if I could actually complete the job she’d hired me for. So far, too many other things were getting in the way. Now, I had a murder to deal with. Hopefully she wasn’t keeping me on a timeline. I’d called several times, so it wasn’t like I didn’t try to keep her updated.
Looking up at Luke, I realized he was still waiting for me to say something. Finally, I gave in. Hopefully, telling him the truth wouldn’t bite me in the ass. “I didn’t even know about Annie when I came to town. I went along with it when Lance brought it up to me. He asked if I came down for her, and I said I did just to keep him off my ass.” Taking a deep breath, I continued, “I was hired by Mary to find her daughter, because Lance has the child hidden. She wants me to get proof of Lance’s infidelity, too.”
Surprised, Luke rubbed his jaw, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re down here to take his daughter away from him? You realize that is kidnapping, right?” His voice was rising the more he spoke.
“I’m not taking her!” I held up my hands in defense. “I’m trying to find her so Mary can go get her.” When he just kept shaking his head, I grew annoyed. “He can’t hide their daughter, because that’s kidnapping also.”
Slowly, he nodded in agreement. “True. Why doesn’t she just come down here herself?”
I shrugged. “Some people would rather not get in a position that might become physical.”
He understood that a little too quickly. When he nodded without asking any questions, I had to wonder if Lance ever became physical with Mary. She never mentioned it, but then again, it wasn’t really my business.
“I need to see something that shows why you’re really here.” He was back to trying to eliminate me as a suspect.
When I got up, I went to my bag to get the contract I had Mary sign. Finding it, I handed it to him, watching as he scanned the document. When he came to the signatures at the end, his forehead wrinkled up. “This isn’t Mary’s signature, Riley.”
“What? What do you mean?” I snatched the paper away, trying to find something wrong with it.
He sighed audibly. “She usually curves her ‘y’ differently. Her handwriting is loopy, and this one is smaller, tighter. Plus, it looks like the person who signed this hesitated, as if trying to figure out the best way of signing it. Whoever put you on this case wasn’t Mary.”
“Do you know her number?” I demanded, grabbing for my phone.
Luke nodded, taking his out. “Yeah.” He showed it to me as I found the one I had. We compared, and he shook his head. “Unless she uses a new phone, that number isn’t hers.”
I grabbed my laptop, turning it on so I could do some investigating. “I’ll find out whose number this is.” My heart was pounding hard, my hands shaking. “I can’t believe this is happening. Why would someone pretend to be Mary?”
Like a pro, I started typing some information to gain access to a database that I wasn’t actually supposed to be in. My hacking abilities had greatly improved over the years, after Alex got me in contact with one of his ex-military buddies. I knew one day I might get caught, but at that moment, I didn’t care. I checked phone records all the time for my job, and it was now so automatic, I barely had to think about it.
When I brought up Mary’s number, I sat back, frowning. “It’s a burner phone.”
“Someone wanted you down here for a reason.”
“Maybe to frame me for murder?”
Thinking, Luke sat on the edge of the dresser, his hands at his sides. “I don’t know, but it’s possible.”
“Or someone wanted me to find Lance’s daughter, bring her out in the open.” There was a lot of infor
mation I didn’t have, so I couldn’t begin to think of why the Mary imposter wanted me to come down.
Luke’s face was an expression of concern. “I think your mother’s murder may be related to why you’re here. This is another reason why you should leave town. Take Annie back to Chicago, and forget about this place.”
I set the laptop down on the bed and went to him, pushing his legs apart so I could slip between them. He leaned back, trying to put some distance between us, but then I put my arms around his neck. “I can’t leave you, Luke.” I brushed my lips against his.
Suddenly, I was falling, trying to catch my balance by grabbing onto the dresser. Luke moved so fast, I didn’t even see him get away from me. He was now by the motel door, breathing heavily. “This. Us. Can’t happen. You don’t belong here.”
Before I knew what I was even saying, I said, “Then come with me.”
Chapter Eleven
Luke’s mouth opened as if he were about to say something, but he closed it, pressing his lips together hard. “You’d be smart to avoid us Thatchers, Riley. You’re so much better than all of us here.”
Why was he trying so hard to stay away from me? I wanted to ask him about Bobby, but decided that could wait for a later time. It just didn’t seem appropriate, considering I was trying to get him to open up to me. Usually, I was the one running. Plus, I hated difficult men, and Luke was all kinds of complicated. What could have possibly happened to him to make him that way? He and Lance were so different, it would be hard to believe they were brothers, if it weren’t for their looks.
Deciding to test out my speed again, I moved, suddenly appearing in front of him. I slammed him up against the door, pressing my body against his. He sucked in a deep breath, eyes wide at what I could be up to. When he tried to push me away by placing his hands on my hips, I grabbed them, moving them to my ass.
The man was completely stiff, unmoving, as if he was afraid to do anything. I leaned in, nipping his ear lobe. He groaned, head falling back against the door. “Please don’t do this.”
“Don’t you want me, Luke? Don’t you want to sink your cock into me?” I asked softly, running a hand down the front of his pants. Oh yeah, he was ready. The man wanted me so bad, the evidence was straining against his jeans.
Never Die Page 8
