by Miley Maine
“No, we’d have gotten there soon enough.” He scooted his chair closer to me and dropped his voice. “Look, are you telling me you trust him?”
“If you’re asking if I’d swear he’s innocent, no. I don’t know him that well.”
“Then why are you getting mad?”
I grabbed my glass and gulped my merlot, which was probably super trashy of me, but I didn’t care. “I’m not mad.”
“Bree, I know you,” he said.
“You don’t know me.” I placed my glass very carefully on the table. I might be a hick, but I wasn’t trashy enough to actually break a glass in public. “You knew an eighteen-year-old who looked like me,” I spat.
He stared at me for a long minute before he replied. “You’re right. I did know you, but obviously you’re an adult now, an adult that has a child and a job and owns a ranch.” He gritted his teeth. “So that is why I’m asking you for your thoughts on the doctor.”
I leaned back in my seat. “Why can’t you argue with me? Now I feel like an asshole.”
A grin spread across his face. “I’m trained to defuse arguments.”
With an amused smile, the waiter laid our entrees in front of us, pork tenderloin for him and chicken picatta for me. “What if I want you to fight with me?” I asked.
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “I probably won’t.”
“Ugh. Look.” I pointed my fork at him for just a second. “I’m glad y'all are here. I don’t want terrorists to incinerate Texas because I refused to open my eyes and see what was going on. But just, you know.” I tasted the chicken, which was delicious. “Watch it.”
“Watch it how?”
“You can’t waltz back into Laurel Bay with your big, fancy job after being gone for five years, and then proceed to tell us who’s evil and who’s not.”
He nodded. “Noted,” he said. But he wasn’t nearly as condescending about it as he could have been.
“Jeez, you are good at that,” I said.
“At what?”
“Making me feel like a nutcase who’s overreacting.”
“You’re not a nutcase,” he said.
“Okay, Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected. Tell me why you suspect the doctor.”
“The servers in his office. Most medical professionals don’t have that kind of set up. Most rural Texans don’t either. A few gamers do, but he isn’t a gamer,” he said in a low voice as the waiter collected our empty plates.
“That’s why you asked him if he played video games. How do you know about computers?”
“I have a minor in security management,” he said. “Quite a few of those classes were in cyber security and I took some programming classes, too.”
“Wow,” I said. Even though I resented that he left, I was proud of him. Maybe one day I’d have that kind of expertise, too.
He wiped his mouth with his napkin. He sighed. “One uncomfortable conversation down, one more to go.”
“Oh, Lord.” By now, the waiter had brought our dessert. The scent of vanilla made me want to devour it all in one bite. I dipped my spoon into the crème brûlée. “I’m scared to ask.”
He pulled an envelope from his pocket and slid it toward me.
The raspberry flavor mixed with vanilla burst on my tongue. I closed my eyes, savoring the taste before looking at the envelope. “That looks ominous,” I said.
“Just don’t get mad,” he said.
I figured it would be hard to get mad at someone who looked and smelled so good. That fresh pine scent was back, and I could have breathed James in all night long. “I don’t know that saying that has ever helped anyone in the history of the world.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re lucky I just had the best crème brûlée I’ve ever seen or heard of, so I’m in a good place.”
He smiled. “I didn’t want to interfere with the lawyer you’ve already talked to about filing bankruptcy, so I called a friend in Houston. I went ahead and made an account with your name on it, and I transferred the ten thousand dollars in. It belongs to you now.”
I just sat there, unable to respond. The guilt doubled and then tripled. “That’s too much.”
“It’s in an account with your name on it. You can use it now, or you can never touch it. I’ll never know if you use it or not.” He smiled again, showing off his straight teeth. “Hell, if it were me, I’d sell the ranch and spend it on a month-long vacation. You were right,” he said. “The ranch was never my dream, but that didn’t mean I had to abandon my father completely. I could have come home during the summers and helped. I could have called and asked how things were going.”
I switched from wine to tea a few minutes ago. If I’d kept up with the wine, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow. “I get that it was complicated.”
“Yeah. My dad refused to accept that I wanted to leave. I never could understand why.”
“I think he didn’t want to lose you, but he wasn’t even aware of that himself.”
“When I was eighteen, I thought he wanted me as free labor. And if he didn’t get that, then he didn’t want a son at all.”
“I don’t think that’s true at all. But I can see how you’d feel that way. Walter is not exactly easy to read.” I tapped my chin speculatively. “Hmmm. I wonder who else is like that.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.”
“I always thought Walter was a gruff, unfeeling guy and maybe a bit of a jerk when we were kids. Now I can tell he’s got more going on under that bluster. He adores Ian.”
“I can tell,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that.”
Thoughts of selling the ranch had crossed my mind. I’d even spoken to a few potential buyers. But if I did sell, I’d probably only break even and I’d still owe the bank. “I don’t know what to say,” I huffed. “I guess I should start with thank you.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “You were right when you said we don’t have huge salaries, but I work all the time and I don’t spend much money. Old habits and all.”
“It’s not a big deal to you, but it is to me,” I said.
Earlier, my guilt had doubled. Now it had tripled and quadrupled all during one dinner. But there was still some small hope blooming in my chest, too. Maybe when James was gone and the dust had settled from my confession about him being Ian’s father, I could go back to school and get my degree, too.
So I wanted to be a veterinarian and not a super spy, but that didn’t mean I couldn't do a little poking around of my own. The morning after my date with James, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said about Dr. Smith. Well. And I also couldn’t stop thinking about James, but that was a harder problem to solve. I didn’t want to be attracted to him, but I was. I wanted him in my bed again, too. Sticking with his gentlemanly manners, he’d walked me to the door last night and kissed me goodnight.
I’d been so close to inviting him in, but I refrained. Two nights in a row seemed excessive. The last thing I needed was to expect him to play the boyfriend role while he was in Laurel Bay. He was here to work, and that was what was best for all of us.
I didn’t call ahead to Dr. Smith’s clinic. I just showed up and told his receptionist that I was out of penicillin for my cows and my boss wasn’t in the office. She said he wasn’t in the office, so I wondered aloud if I could have a vial for my cow with an infected cut since, according to the internet, penicillin is basically the same whether it's for animals or humans.
The receptionist said sure, got up to get a sample vial, and then handed it to me. Damn. I hadn’t thought that out very well. I left and went straight to Dr. Smith’s house.
His wife let me in and told me he was still home. Instead of loitering in the foyer like I usually would, I crept sideways into his office, the same one where he’d stitched James up. The row of computer towers were humming. But if these computers were for some nefarious purpose, wouldn't he hide them? Dr. Smith was rich by Laurel Bay standards; he had plenty of rooms. He could run these servers from anywh
ere in the house. Or maybe figured he’d keep them out in the open so it seemed less sinister than a bunch of wires hidden by cobwebs in an unused room.
“What are you doing?” a male voice said in a harsh tone.
I jumped about ten feet into the air.
Shit. Dr. Smith was standing right behind me.
“Uh,” I stammered. Clearly I wasn’t cut out for the FBI or any type of spy work.
“Bree?” His face was stern, but not furious. I glanced at his hands. No gun. No knife. Whew. He stepped toward the computers, blocking me from looking at them, and crossed his arms. “Do you need something?” he asked.
“I, um. I needed some penicillin for my cow. And my boss isn’t at her office right now, so I stopped by your office. Then I remembered I wanted to ask if I could bring Ian to try riding Millie sometime.”
“You want Ian to learn to ride?”
“Yes. He’s at home with Walter and Mary all the time. I think it would be good for him.”
“Well. I’d never argue with that. Bring him anytime. My wife would love to work with him,” he said.
“That would be awesome,” I said.
“Is that all?”
“Uh. Yeah.” I pointed at the painting of Millie on the wall. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Don’t look back, don’t look back.
Shit. That was not smart. I figured I better leave the sleuthing to James after all.
14
James
Another day, another failure, and no suspects.
After fourteen hours of analyzing data, talking to the engineers at the power grid, and connecting with the home office, I was beat. My shoulder, which had been fine that morning, was throbbing and even my eyelids were tired. I wanted nothing more than to drive straight to my father’s farm, shower, and crawl into bed with Bree.
After the initial rockiness of our date last night, Bree seemed to relax and really enjoy our time together. I didn’t get her home until after ten. I kissed her goodnight on the porch and left. She hadn’t invited me in and, not wanting to wear out my welcome, I didn’t ask.
At nine pm, I pressed a cold Coke can to my face. My brain was fried and no amount of caffeine was going to get me focused at this point.
The screen of my phone lit up. I expected it to be Jennifer, but it wasn’t. It was from Bree. It said simply:
Can you come over?
I replied that I could be there in seven minutes. I brushed my teeth and straightened my shirt. It might be a polo shirt, but I could still be neat.
She was waiting for me on the front porch, sitting in the wooden swing. Her hair fell in loose waves and she was barefoot, wearing only a white cotton sundress that showed off her pretty tan skin. I had to pull my eyes away from the curves of her calves where her legs were crossed.
“We used to sit out here all the time,” she said.
Had she called me over to reminisce? Not that I wasn’t happy to do it. I sat down next to her, not touching.
She clasped her hands together. “I went to Dr. Smith’s office today.”
“Are you sick? Did you get cut again?”
“No, I wanted to see if he had anything else weird going on.”
“Bree!” I jumped up from the swing to stand in front of her. “What did you do?”
“First, I went to his office. I made up a story about needing some penicillin for one of the cows. That didn’t go anywhere. So I went to his house and his wife let me in. I didn’t think he’d be home, so I kind of crept into his office. I was looking at the servers when he showed up. Scared the daylights out of me.”
“Bree.” I bowed my head. What had she done? This was my fault: I had told her about my suspicions and she’d decided to go see for herself.
“What?” she demanded.
My heart sped up so fast that I heard the blood rush in my ears. What the Hell was she thinking? I rose from the swing to stand in front of her. “You cannot get involved in this.”
“Don’t gripe at me,” she hissed.
“I’m not.”
“You are,” she said emphatically, still trying to keep her voice low. “And you can’t tell me what to do.”
“I actually can when it comes to this. Do not, for any reason, get involved.”
“I’m already involved. These criminals are in my town!” She stood up, too, putting herself right in my space. She put her finger right up to my chest. “I chose to tell you this. I didn’t have to.”
“If you interfere with a federal investigation, I can have you arrested.”
Her mouth fell open.
Shit. I’d gone too far. I hadn’t even meant to say that. She said I was so calm last night: where was that right now? I knew exactly where it was—my chill had flown right out the window as soon as she’d put herself in danger.
I took a step back and a very long deep breath. I needed a drink. Or ten. Yelling wasn’t going to do me any good and it wasn’t going to help convince Bree not to do this again either. And it was clear that if I upset Bree, my father and Mary would happily boot me right off the property once more.
Once my blood was no longer rushing through my ears, I sat back down on the swing. I patted the spot next to me. “Would you sit back down?”
“What if I don’t? Are you going to arrest me? Have me thrown in jail?”
Okay, I deserved that. “Sit. Please.”
She sat, but she kept her body as far away from mine as possible.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” I turned my head to look at her. “It wasn’t fair. And it wasn’t true. I wouldn’t arrest you. But I would go to some pretty extreme lengths to protect you.”
“I’ve been to Dr. Smith’s house hundreds of times. He’s not going to do anything to me,” she said.
“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen. People change when they get desperate and they’re afraid.”
“So you don’t trust anyone?” She frowned. “How do you work like that? Not trusting anyone?”
“I trust some people.” Sometimes it was hard when I’d seen people kill their own children—their brothers, their sisters, their husbands and wives. I’d seen people lie, cheat, and steal, not to survive, but for greed or just the fun of it.
“Do you trust me?” she asked. She had a weird look in her eyes and her mouth trembled. I had no idea why she was reacting so strongly to this conversation.
“Yes. Of course I do.” I reached out and put my hand on hers, and she didn’t pull away. “Which is why I’m asking you not to pursue this. If you hear something, call me. Will you do that?”
“You really think he could be involved?”
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” I said.
“Okay. I won’t.”
“Thank you. And I am glad you told me you went over there.” I pulled her close to me and she slid over, not resisting. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. Tonight, her hair and skin smelled like strawberries. The feel of her in my arms had my blood rushing for a different reason. I willed myself not to get hard, but it was a close thing.
Not the time, buddy. The last thing she needs right now is for you to get turned on.
“You said you were scared?” I asked.
She snuggled closer, fitting her body against mine. Her breasts pressed right up against my ribs.
“It was weird,” she said.
“Weird how?” Stay focused, I reminded myself. This was a new problem for me. I’d questioned many attractive women. Never once had I been distracted by anyone’s looks while I was working. Of course, I wasn’t really working right now, and no other woman had ever talked to me about a case while sitting halfway in my lap.
I shifted my hips, trying to adjust my erection without being too obvious about it. My cock stubbornly refused to cooperate.
“He looked angry and flustered, but he was trying to hide it.”
“Can you tell me what time this was?” I asked.
“About eight-thirty.”
“This morning?”
/>
She nodded. I closed my eyes for a second. She’d been in possible danger all day and I’d been clueless.
“Okay,” I said. “Let me grab my tablet. I’m going to take some notes.” I got my iPad from my car and sat back down on the swing with her. As she spoke, I entered in all the relevant details: the times she was at his office and home, who she talked to, and what their interactions were like.
“Okay, thanks for telling me. I’ve got everything written down now,” I said.
“Do you have to work any more tonight?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m finished for the night.”
A hint of a sly smile formed at the corners of her mouth. “In that case, do you want to come upstairs?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.” I smoothed her hair back from her forehead. “Would you rather go back to the hotel with me?”
“It would be nice not to have to be quiet, but I don’t want to leave without talking to Walter and Mary.” She scrunched her nose up. “And people would see me coming in with you, and it would be a whole big thing.”
“Ah. Would people give you a hard time?” She was right. If people had a problem with her sleeping with me, she would be the one left here to deal with it when I went back to Houston.
The thought of returning to Houston sent a pang through my heart. I wanted this case wrapped up as soon as possible, but I was not ready to leave Bree, not at all.
My arm still twinged, but it was healed enough that I could tug on her, and when she shifted toward me, I lifted her body until she was fully seated in my lap. I groaned as her weight pressed onto my aching cock.
“You weren’t fooling me when you were trying to hide this earlier,” she said, brushing her palm over my erection.
“I didn’t think I was,” I said. “But I was trying to be professional.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, Agent Wakefield, is this how you usually question suspects?”
“No. Just you,” I said, slipping my hand under the bottom of her dress. I couldn’t stop the way my hips bucked up as my hand encountered her bare bottom. “No panties,” I said. “How does that work in a dress?”
