Chapter 15
“Are you ready to retire to bed?” Kendra asked Grayson. “I thought we would go swimming as bears, fish even, but then we had to deal with Ivan so it’s getting late. Besides, I guess we need to let your wounds heal for another day.”
“Yeah, true, and we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow,” Grayson said.
“Your sister’s birthday party?”
“Yeah. But if you have any cases, or we get a lead on Younger or Billy in the morning before we go, we’ll take care of them.”
“We’re not missing your sister’s birthday party.”
Kendra was so adamant that he suspected it was because her sister would never again be able to have another birthday party, which was really important to her. He didn’t blame her. He understood how Kendra was feeling. He felt the same about his sister and what could have happened to her.
“Nope, we won’t.” Yet before Grayson had met Kendra, he might have done so if the case had been important enough to take care of.
Now, he had a new perspective on how precious his family was.
Especially after his sister had run afoul of Younger and Billy, and learning that Kendra had lost her own sister to a kidnapper.
“Shower time?” he asked.
“For me. You have to wait longer to take a shower.”
“Yeah, all right.” Grayson couldn’t help sounding annoyed at the prospect.
“Don’t look so glum. I’ll fix you right up.” Hand washing Grayson’s body would be pure joy for Kendra.
Then he appeared to get her meaning and smiled. That’s what she liked to see.
They went into the bathroom, and he shucked his clothes while she prepared a bucket of warm water, soft washcloths, and bodywash. Then she began to wash him, taking care to avoid his stitched-up wounds.
He chuckled as she swept the washcloth over his side. “That tickles.”
She laughed. “Sorry about that.” She continued carefully to wash him. His arms, legs, torso, back, neck, face, hair.
Then she washed his manhood, and it instantly rose to the occasion. She chuckled. “You are so…virile.”
“You make it happen.”
But she figured that if anyone was to wash him, his body would react that way. Still, she loved it.
She finished washing him, carefully dried him off, and then began bandaging his sutured wounds. “I’ll join you in bed in a minute.”
Grayson nodded. “All right. I’ll be waiting for you.”
She went into the shower while he left the bathroom. She washed up, wishing Grayson could have joined her. Then she turned off the shower and dried off, eager to cuddle with Grayson.
When she joined him, he was naked under the covers. She skipped putting on her PJs and joined him. His erection was tenting the covers. She smiled. And then they made love.
With Grayson, it was so satisfying and exhilarating.
Grayson enjoyed making love to Kendra. She was so lovable.
Sleeping through the night with her was extra special.
But early that morning, he received a call from his brother, grabbed his boxer briefs, yanked them on, took his phone, and hurried out of the bedroom before Kendra woke.
He was surprised the call hadn’t already awakened her.
He closed the bedroom door and answered the call. “Yeah, what’s up, Marcus?”
“Hey, I need to get a gift for Ivy, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t get the same thing as you.
I’ve been busy with cases and haven’t had the time to check in with you.
Dad got her a car, with the provision she doesn’t run off again, but we think this last experience she had was enough to make her realize how dangerous it was. ”
“Good. I got her roller skates, and Kendra got her crystal, heart-shaped earrings.”
“Kendra did? Wow. Okay, I’ll try to figure something out. I guess you’ve been staying with Kendra.”
“Yeah.”
“It sounds like she has gotten under your skin.”
Grayson chuckled. “She’s amazing.”
“I would say so if she has hooked you.”
“Most definitely.”
Fully dressed in jeans, T-shirt, and tennis shoes, Kendra came out of the bedroom, kissed Grayson's chest, headed into the kitchen, and started a pot of coffee.
“Hey, Kendra’s up. I’m going to make some breakfast, but we’ll be there for sure.”
“Good. Ivy has been bugging me to call and make sure you are still coming. That you’re not getting distracted too thoroughly. I’ll let you go. See you soon.”
Grayson smiled. His sister was too funny. Though she knew him well. Especially when it came to how he already felt about Kendra. He joined her in the kitchen at her back and put his arms around her waist, then nuzzled her neck.
“Who was that?”
“My brother. He wanted to make sure he didn’t duplicate our gifts for Ivy, but also, she has been bugging him to check with me to make sure that I’m going to the birthday party.”
Kendra chuckled and turned around in Grayson’s arms. They kissed, locking lips, tonguing each other, enjoying the moment.
They pulled their mouths away from each other. “I’ve got a case. Do you want to go with me on it?” she asked.
“Yeah. We’ll grab eggs, ham, and a muffin for breakfast after we get the guy.”
“Woman,” Kendra said, handing Grayson a cup of doctored coffee with cream and sugar, just like he liked it. “But you need to get dressed first.” She ran her finger down his bare chest.
He laughed. “That would probably be a good idea.”
They drank their coffee together, and then he hurried off to the bedroom to dress.
Kendra grabbed a thermos for each of them, her roller skates, a packed bag so she could stay with Grayson overnight, and the crystal earrings for Ivy. She figured if they were running close to the time of the birthday party, they could just go to Whitefish and be ready for it.
Grayson came out of the bedroom dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and boots. He glanced at the things she had gathered. “Looks like you’re ready to go.”
“Yeah, and we won’t have to return here in case it takes us a while, and we need to head to the birthday party right afterward.”
“So who are we going after?” He led her out of the house. She locked it, and he unlocked the SUV.
“Christy McQueen. She is out on bond for drunken driving, evading arrest, and wrecking four cars, which caused five people to be seriously injured. She took off her monitor this morning, missed a court date, and is thought to be at her uncle’s place.
” Kendra gave Grayson the address, he entered it into his GPS, and they headed for the house.
“It’s fifteen minutes away on the other side of Kalispell. ”
Grayson got a Bluetooth call from Rowland, and Kendra hoped he had news about Younger or Billy.
“I’m sorry to say that neither Younger nor Billy tried to cross the border into Canada. Not that they didn’t plan to, but they just never made it.”
“So what’s next?” Grayson asked.
“We’re still looking for them.”
Grayson turned down another street. “We’re going on a fugitive hunt right now, and then we need to go to Whitefish to celebrate Ivy’s birthday.”
“Good show. I’ll keep you apprised of what’s going on here if we learn anything,” Rowland said. “Good luck on your mission and have a fun time at your sister’s birthday party.”
“Thanks, Rowland. We will.”
When Grayson and Kendra arrived at Christy McQueen’s uncle’s house, Grayson and Kendra went to the front door and tried to reach the woman, but were told she wasn't there. They identified themselves as bounty hunters, and Kendra knew they recognized that Christy was wanted.
"Well, she's not here," the gray-haired woman said. She smelled of marijuana and beer and looked like she hadn’t eaten for days. Though marijuana in small amounts wasn’t illegal in Montana.
"Are you her aunt?" Kendra asked.
"Yeah, but she still doesn’t live here, and she isn't here."
"We have word that she is," Kendra said. "If you're hiding her, you can be charged with obstruction of an investigation."
The woman glanced back at a man who joined her at the front door. He reeked of pot and beer too, but where his wife was thin, he made up for it with a huge beer belly. "What do you want?"
"Are you John McQueen, Christy’s uncle?" Kendra asked.
"Yeah, what do you want?" His voice was gruff, and he looked like he was ready to pick a fight.
“Christy has to turn herself over after removing her ankle monitor and missing her court date," Kendra said.
Uncle John glanced back at his wife. She shrugged.
"Did you hear me tell your wife that you could be dealing with obstruction if you don't have Christy come out and turn herself over to us?" Kendra said.
They couldn't enter the house to grab the woman, but Kendra sure wished they could.
Grayson folded his arms across his chest, looking like he was perturbed with them. He towered over the uncle by half a foot and was definitely more muscled.
"You don't want to be on the wrong side of the law," Grayson said. “If Christy doesn’t come out and go with us, we’ll call the police, and they can arrest her. The rest of you, too, if you have any outstanding warrants. But all we care about is taking her in.”
Kendra didn't know if the uncle, or the aunt for that matter, had ever had any trouble with the law. She never knew what might happen on a job if one of the other occupants was armed and dangerous, especially if protecting their own.
“If she's here and she steps out of the house, she can be arrested. There's a warrant out for her arrest. Now if she goes with us, we'll turn her in, and she'll be better off than if she runs the risk of being captured by the police and taken to jail," Kendra said.
"What difference will it make?" the uncle asked.
"She cooperated, and we'll tell them that. If she doesn't, you two can be taken in and detained for aiding and abetting," Grayson said. "I'm sure you don't want that. Even if you're squeaky clean and don't have any charges yourself. If you do have a criminal record, it could go badly for you."
The uncle appeared to consider Grayson's sincerity.
Kendra saw a curtain move, and Christy peered out the window. Kendra smiled. "Fine. We'll let the officer in charge know she's here, that you're not handing her over, and he can arrest the lot of you." She pulled her phone out. "No problem."
The aunt shoved her husband, as if to tell him to give up his niece before they were arrested. Kendra suspected they had been in trouble with the law.
"Christy, come here," her uncle said.
When his niece wouldn't come, her uncle said to Grayson and Kendra, "I'll be right back."
His wife stayed at the door, as if she were the bouncer, not allowing them entry in case they thought to rush inside the house.
Then they heard Christy say, "No, Uncle, you can't do this to me."
"Both your aunt and I have been in trouble with the law. You know that. We can't be part of this." He pulled her to the front door.
Christy was trying to get loose, but though her uncle didn't look that strong, he had hold of her, and she wasn't going anywhere.
"Okay, here she is. Take good care of her."
"Come on, Christy. You'll go with us to the police department, they’ll detain you, and take it from there.” Kendra handcuffed her and put her in the back of Grayson’s SUV.
“We’re not bonding her out,” her uncle told Grayson.
“The judge probably won’t allow it anyway. They generally don’t in a case like this where the bond is forfeited.”
“Her mother put up a bond so Christy could get out of jail, and now her mother has to pay the money for Christy’s stupidity.”
“Yeah, if you’re going to put up the money or assets for a bond, you have to be sure the person being bonded out is going to do the right thing.” Grayson inclined his head to the uncle, who sighed and shut the door.
Kendra was waiting at the car, having overheard what the uncle had said to Grayson. “So he’s not going to put up a bond for her, if she could even get one.”
“Nope. He’s smart enough to know she’s a flight risk. I overheard the uncle talking to the niece about both her aunt and uncle having had run-ins with the law,” Grayson said.
“Yeah, I got that impression when you mentioned that to them. Their whole stance changed.” She climbed into the passenger seat while Grayson got into the driver’s seat.
Then he drove them to the police station, dropped off Christy, and picked up the bond money. “We need to run by the office, and then we’ll get breakfast, and head to your place to pick up your skates and Ivy’s new skates?”
“Yeah, if Rowland and his men catch Younger and or Billy, the more power to them. That business will have to wait until we return. The rest of the day is Ivy’s time, and after that…”
“Our time.”
He smiled. “For sure.” Then he headed for Whitefish and his home, but on the way, he ordered breakfast at a drive-thru. “You’re staying the night at my house, right?”
“Yeah, unless…”
“No unless. Tomorrow, if Rowland has news, we’ll return to Kalispell.”
“That’s a deal. Sometimes I don’t know when to quit.”
“Me either. Until you came into my life,” he said.
“Oh, wow, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Then they got a call from Rowland, and Grayson put him on Bluetooth. “We’ve found the three missing women that you identified from their ID that we’ve been looking for, who Younger and Billy kidnapped.”