22. Elliot
CHAPTER 22
ELLIOT
“Y ou doing okay?” Tucker drops into a chair beside me.
I take a drink of the sweet tea in my glass as I watch Bradyn and Kennedy dancing on the makeshift stage that will serve as the ceremony area and the dance floor for the reception tomorrow.
“Doing fine. Why?”
“Maybe because you’re over here sulking, which, big brother, is very unlike you.”
I shake my head. “I’m not sulking. In case you forgot, I was shot a few days ago.”
“You’ve been shot before.” Tucker crosses his arms. “And if I remember correctly, less than a day later, you got yelled at by the charge nurse for being down in the children’s ward, chasing monsters out from beneath beds.”
“It was a necessary job. Someone had to do it.” I eye him, grinning. “What is it, Tuck? Do you have a monster I need to get rid of?”
“No thanks. I’ve been successfully chasing my own monsters away for years now.”
I laugh. “Look at you, all grown up.”
“Spill, Elliot. You’re out-sulking even Dylan.” He gestures toward his twin, who is currently dancing with our sister while she laughs at something he said.
“I’m just tired.”
“Not sleeping?”
“No.”
“Well, maybe this will help. I know Mom said no work at the rehearsal dinner, but—” He reaches into his pocket and withdraws his cell. Once unlocked, he turns it around and shows me a photo of the man Nova described.
“You found him?”
“Ivan Davis. Arms dealer located here in Texas.”
“How did you find him?”
“I have friends in high places.” He grins. “Anyway. My guess is he’s who you’re looking for. He’s not the type to get his hands dirty, but he is the type to hire it out. And he has the funds to do so.”
“Then if we can trace proof of payment from him to the guy who attacked her or the one who shot me, we might be able to find something.”
“Already on it,” he replies. “I’ve got things running as we speak.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s my job.” He studies me, his bright blue eyes so like our mother’s. “Is the redhead what’s bothering you?”
“Excuse me?”
Tucker shrugs. “I noticed she’s not here. You’re sulking. I can put two and two together.”
“She’s engaged.”
“So I hear. She remember him?”
“No. But her memories are coming back little by little.”
“Then that’s what’s bothering you.”
“Please, Tucker, tell me what’s bothering me.”
“She’s going to remember him and go home.” Never one to beat around the bush, Tucker just blurts out exactly what he’s thinking.
Unfortunately, he’s not wrong.
“I want her to get her memories back.”
“Do you?”
I turn toward him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You care about her.”
“She’s a client.”
“No. You may be able to lie to her and convince yourself, but you forget who was there when you found Renee,” he says. “I was right there beside you, and I remember that broken look on your face. You cared about her, and she was a client too.”
“So you’re saying, because they look similar, you think I’m treating Nova like I did Renee?”
“I don’t think it has anything to do with what she looks like. Not anymore. It’s how she makes you feel. You care about her,” he repeats. “On a deeper level than just her being a client. I’ve seen the way you look at her. And even as you cared for Renee, you never looked at her that way. You’re falling for Nova. As in, willing to do something stupid kind of falling.”
I could deny it. I should deny it. But Tucker will just continue to argue with me. “She’s engaged. And I need to figure out who shot her and get them put away so she can go back to her life and I can refocus on mine. I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Good.” Tucker reaches out and clasps a hand on my good shoulder. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth.”
“Thanks.”
He squeezes my shoulder gently then gets up and heads over toward where our mother is dancing with our father. After he cuts in, I decide that sitting here and bringing the mood down is not the best way to celebrate my brother’s impending nuptials. The last thing I want to do is bring down his night.
With that in mind, I leave the outdoor area where we’ll be holding the ceremony and head toward the barn. Bobby sticks his nose over his gate and whinnies, so I walk over to offer him a sugar cube from the container we keep in the barn. “Hey, boy. I’m hoping to be back to riding soon. We’ll be back out before you know it.”
He eats the cube, so I pet his face, running my hand over his long nose.
As she always does, Nova haunts my mind. Surfacing to remind me just how fast I fell for a woman I barely know.
Bootsteps just outside the barn have me turning my head. I’m assuming it’s Bradyn or Tucker, coming to chase me down. Instead, Brett walks into the breezeway.
“Brett.”
“Evening, Elliot. I saw you come in here; hope it was okay that I followed.”
“I didn’t realize you were coming to the rehearsal dinner.”
“I wasn’t. I just dropped Nova off and wanted to come in to talk to you.”
Here we go. I turn toward him. “What is it I can do for you?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone then crosses the distance between us. Turning the camera so I can see it, he shows me an email from his captain.
Ivan Davis was found dead this morning. I need you and Nova back ASAP to work this. I’ll have the files on my desk first thing Monday morning.
Knots twist in my gut, and my heart sinks. She’s leaving. “Guess you’ll be headed back to Dallas then.”
“We are. Nova wants to stay for the wedding, so she’ll be doing that while I get things ready, but I’ll be picking her up Sunday morning, and we’ll be going back.”
I nod. “We’ll keep trying to trace a payment from Ivan to the shooter in the park, the attack at the hospital, or the deputy who was paid off to look the other way.”
“No need. I have local PD on it. They’ll be working directly with us. You can send me whatever you have, and we’ll handle it from here.”
So he’s going to try and mark his territory. “We’ve been working this case.”
“And now you’re not needed.” He takes a step closer. “Look, I get that you were military and you run this search and rescue business now, but Nova doesn’t need your help. She has me. Not to mention the fact that we’re both actual cops. Let us handle it, and I’ll call you if we need any runaways tracked down.”
I’ve never been known to have a temper, but right now, I want to throw him through a wall. “If Nova tells me to drop it, I will. Otherwise, I’ll keep working this thing until it’s done.”
He shakes his head. “You just aren’t getting it, are you? Nova may not remember me now, but she’s my fiancé. We’ll be getting married—soon—and I won’t have some cowboy getting in the way of that.”
“Jealousy isn’t a great color,” I tell him. “Again, I’ll be asking Nova what she wants. She asks me to drop it? Fine, I’ll drop it. Until then, I hope you have a safe trip back to Dallas.” I gesture toward the exit. “You can get off my property now.”
“She’s not interested in you.”
“I never said she was. I just don’t take too kindly to men trying to intimidate me on my own property.”
Brett turns to leave but pauses by the door. “I am grateful you saved her, but I think you’ve let that get to your head. Leave the heroics to those with badges.” He doesn’t wait for a response before leaving. I turn, hands balled into fists, as I fight the urge to slam them through the nearest wall.
Why am I so full of anger? Of pain? God, I need help. Because I don’t know how to move forward alone.
“Are you okay?”
“I need a minute,” I tell Lani.
“I just saw that tool leaving here, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t take a cheap shot at a guy who got shot recently. Of course, I don’t actually think you needed backup; I was just looking for a show.”
“I’m fine.” I turn to face her.
“Elliot. That guy is a jerk, and clearly, he made you mad.”
“He told me to drop the case and leave it to the real cops.”
Color floods her cheeks. “I’m sorry, how is he still walking?” She turns to leave. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t bother with him,” I tell her. “He’s not worth it.”
She whirls on me. “He comes onto our property and says that to you, and you won’t let me rip him a new one?” The woman is slow to speak most times, but when she’s angry, it’s like gasoline on a fire.
“No.” I smirk, a calmness settling over me. “Let him have his perceived victory over me. I don’t need to prove anything.”
“You’re darn right you don’t. What a jerk. You guys have saved more people than he could ever dream of. And you have a lot of friends in law enforcement.”
“It’ll be fine, Lani. I’m letting it go.” I take a deep breath, her flare of temper calming my own. “So I take it you’re not a Brett fan?”
“Ugh. Not even a little.” Lani reaches out and pets Midnight as the mare sticks her head over the gate. “My guess is Nova will realize what a jerk he is and be done with him.”
“She agreed to marry him before.”
“Doesn’t mean she still feels the same way. We all know a good knock on the head can sometimes be just what we need to think clearly.”
“A little knock on the head? She was shot and nearly died.”
Lani smiles. “I know, and that’s not how I meant it. I just—I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
My little sister has always been perceptive. She would’ve made a great addition to our team if she hadn’t followed her own calling into medicine. But even I think she’s off on this one. Nova hasn’t made any indication that she feels anywhere near like I do.
“I saved her.”
“Sure, but that’s not how she looks at you.” Lani steps forward and wraps both arms around me.
“Then how does she look at me?”
“Like she wants you to keep saving her.”