Chapter 21 #2
Leaning down so that his mouth was close to my ear, Wolfe whispered, “You know how hard it is not to beat a man for callin’ you sweet thang?”
I chuckled, my eyes dropping to the bar. “He didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Maybe not, but I bet if I kissed you right here, he wouldn’t dream about sayin’ it again.”
Lifting my face to his, my lips twitched with the urge to smile. “Feel the need to mark your territory?”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a strange feeling stirred inside me.
One I didn’t like all that much. I hadn’t given much thought to how much time I was spending with Wolfe and Rhys, but the idea of being their possession was something I hadn’t considered.
I'd endured being someone’s property for so long, I had no desire to ever go back to that.
Then again, when I was with Rhys and Wolfe, I felt whole for the first time in my life. I felt … well, protected. They allowed me to be who I really was, and they made sure I knew how much they wanted me. It was a good feeling.
Which meant it was nothing like my previous experience. In fact, it was the opposite, and perhaps that was why I liked that Wolfe got all dominant and possessive.
“Damn straight, darlin’.”
I had spent the better part of five years “belonging” to someone.
However, I'd been a prisoner, unable to make decisions for myself. That wasn’t the case with Wolfe and Rhys, I knew.
They didn’t make me feel smothered, trapped.
Plus, I actually liked people knowing that I was with Wolfe.
We’d kept things on the down low, mostly because I wasn’t just with Wolfe.
I didn’t think Wolfe or Rhys cared what people thought, but I still worried what people would think if they knew I was with both men.
More so because I didn’t want it to cause problems for Rhys.
If it were up to me, I would shout it from the rooftops.
It wasn’t up to me though.
And I understood where Rhys was coming from. When I really thought about it, I realized how unnatural the three of us together were. But when I was with them, I realized how right it felt. I was conflicted.
My biggest issue was that I did not want to rush into something because they offered me a sense of purpose, of belonging.
Of security. Most importantly, I didn’t want to be dependent on them.
I wanted to live my life, be who I wanted to be.
And it was true, they hadn’t tried to change me, but I knew they wanted to wrap me in cotton and protect me from the world.
“Here you go,” Reagan said, passing over the beers. “Give the girl some breathin’ room, Wolfe.”
I took the three beers over to the men, leaning in and setting them on the table.
When a firm hand landed on my backside, I straightened suddenly.
“Sorry, sweet thang,” the man who’d asked for the beers said. “Hard to keep my hands from wanderin’ to somethin’ that fine.”
“Well, you better find a way to keep ’em to yourself before I rip them from your fuckin’ body.”
The rough rumble of Wolfe’s voice from behind me had me taking one step back from the group.
“Ah, hell, Caine. Why didn’t you say somethin’? If I’d known you were sweet on the girl, I wouldn’t’ve touched.”
“Shouldn’t be touchin’ anyway,” Reagan called from the table next to us, where she was grabbing two empties. “Why do you dumb cowboys think we want your filthy hands all up on us?”
Reagan sounded as though she was teasing, but I had to wonder.
“Keep your fuckin’ hands off my girl,” Wolfe demanded, then steered me back to the bar.
His girl?
For whatever reason, there was a churning in my belly. The sweet kind. The kind that made me want to jump on Wolfe, to kiss him right there in front of everyone. I'd never thought I'd feel that way about anyone who wanted to claim me. But when Wolfe said it…
“My girl,” he declared again. “And the whole fuckin’ bar should know that.”
I let out a squeal when Wolfe pulled me into his arms and crushed his mouth to mine. I tried to resist him at first, but I gave in quickly. The man’s mouth could do wicked things to me, make me forget my manners or where I was.
When he finally pulled back—after a couple of catcalls and whistles—we were both breathing hard.
“Well,” I huffed, stepping back. “I think you effectively staked your claim.”
“I’d say so,” Reagan said with a laugh.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to work. You can sit right there and watch.”
“Oh, darlin’, you know how I like to watch.”
Heat infused me. Yeah, watching was one of the things Wolfe did enjoy. And I had to admit, I liked it, too. Especially when…
I shook off the thought before my mind went directly into the gutter. I was at work and did not need to be thinking about all the deliciously dirty things Rhys and Wolfe had done to me over the past week.
Feeling slightly guilty for letting my mind wander, I peered up at Wolfe. He was watching me. A crooked smile tilted his lips and he winked.
I sighed.
What else could I do?
Rhys
“Sheriff Trevino, my name is Joanna Tannenbaum. I’m a detective with the Houston Police Department. I’d like to speak to you about a missing person I’ve been personally looking into. When you get this, please give me a call back.”
I jotted down the phone number the detective rattled off, a nervous tension tightening my gut. After disconnecting from the voicemail, I dialed the number.
“Joanna Tannenbaum,” the woman greeted, her tone curt, professional.
“This is Sheriff Rhys Trevino. I’m returnin’ your call.”
“Thank you for calling me back, Sheriff. I’ve been working a cold case, and I came across some information I thought you could help clarify.”
I didn’t respond.
“Anyway,” she continued, “let me start by saying that this case is not official.”
“Not official?”
“An actual missing person’s report hasn’t been filed; however, there is a case file,” she clarified. “It’s regarding a Jane Doe, who… You know what? Would it be possible to meet with you in person to discuss this? It’s … well, it’s something I’d rather not talk about over the phone.”
Inviting the detective to Embers Ridge could pose a problem.
Then again, she had contacted me, which meant she knew exactly where to find me if she chose to.
Odds of her finding whatever it was she was looking for were about fifty-fifty, regardless of whether I brought her to town or she came on her own.
“Tomorrow mornin’,” I suggested. “At my office.”
“What about Sunday? Say, nine o’clock. That’s the only time I’m off for the next week.”
“All right. Sunday mornin’. Nine a.m.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. I think this is information you’d be interested in having.”
I would agree, even though I couldn’t guarantee her unofficial case involved the Jane Doe from a year ago—a.k.a. Amy Smith—but I had a feeling that it did.
“See you Sunday morning at nine,” she concluded, then disconnected the call.
I hung up the phone and stared down at it. Although the woman hadn’t mentioned anything about Amy, I had a strong suspicion that her past had just caught up with her.
By the time I was off shift, I was exhausted. Rather than go over to Reagan’s and get shit from the local hotheads, I opted to go home. I hadn’t spent a whole lot of time there lately, and it seemed like a good night to sit back and relax by myself.
I hadn’t been in the front door three minutes when my cell phone rang.
“What’s up, Sheriff?” Wolfe questioned, his tone steely.
“Nada. Just got home.”
A heavy pause hung between us for a second, and I started to wonder if Wolfe had expected me to simply spend all my time at his place.
As much as I enjoyed the time I'd spent with Wolfe and Amy, I still needed time to myself. Plus, I had a million things on my mind. The least of which was not the fact that I had a meeting with a Houston detective on Sunday morning, and sure as shit, if I had to face Wolfe, I would give myself away. Until I knew exactly what it was about, I didn’t want to share the news with anyone.
“Okay then. I’ll let you go.”
“Wait,” I blurted. “What’s up?”
“Nothin’. Just thought you’d stop by the bar on your way home. That’s all.”
“Sorry. Got a lot of shit on my mind right now.”
“No worries. I’m gonna take Amy home tonight. She said she really wants to sleep in her own bed.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I understood Amy’s need to go home. She’d spent a significant amount of time with both of us, and things had been steadily intensifying between us from the get-go. The woman was probably in need of some alone time, too.
“Is Reagan gonna be there?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Tell ’em to call if they need anything.”
“Sure. Later.”
The call disconnected abruptly and I leaned against the counter with a heavy sigh.
It was evident Wolfe did not like it when things didn’t go as he’d planned.
Not that I was privy to the man’s plan. We’d taken things one minute at a time for the past couple of weeks, and truthfully, I was having difficulty trying to figure out what I should do next.
This thing between us—as hot as it might be—was moving a little fast.
I was all for the sex. No arguments from me on that front. However, the rest was new for me. I hadn’t had a relationship since my early twenties, and that one hadn’t been nearly as time-consuming as this one was.
Truth was, I didn’t know how to do relationships.
Especially not with two people, although that was what I wanted in the long run.
I just hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly.
I knew a big part of that was due to Amy and her past, but someone had to put the brakes on, and I figured it might as well be me.
Plus, it would do Wolfe good to see that I wasn’t going to jump through hoops for him. I'd never been that guy, and no matter how hard or how fast I was falling for Wolfe and Amy, I refused to ever be that guy.
Now I just needed to figure out how to balance it all out.
If that was even possible.
Kelly
“Sir?”
I peered up from my desk, my eyes scanning the man who’d rudely interrupted me. “What is it?”
“Remember how you told me to let you know if that Jane Doe file was ever opened?”
An icy tremor raced down my spine as I sat up straight. “Yes.”
“Looks as though someone’s been checking into it.”
I masked my expression, not wanting to let on that this was possibly the worst news I could’ve received.
“Do you know who?” I asked, keeping my tone casual.
“Detective Joanna Tannenbaum.”
Son of a bitch.
I should’ve known that woman was going to be trouble. She’d only asked me about Amy at least half a dozen times since I'd concocted the story of Amy going to take care of her sick grandmother. I had no idea why Jo was so interested, and I didn’t like the fact that she was so fucking nosy.
“Did she say what she was looking into?”
“No, sir. She actually claimed she hadn’t looked into it, but her IP address was used to access it.”
“Thank you, James.”
“Yes, sir.”
When James turned and left the doorway, I leaned back in my chair, my chest burning.
I knew I shouldn’t have let this go on this long.
I should’ve taken care of her long before now.
But after I'd been promoted to Houston police chief, I had gotten a little lax. I had more to worry about than the stupid woman who should’ve been six feet under.
And maybe lax wasn’t the right word. I had to admit I could’ve taken care of her long before now.
I'd tracked her from the day she left the hospital near Embers Ridge.
I'd kept tabs on her when she stayed with that nurse, then when she hopped from motel to motel.
There for a while, I thought she was going to leave the state, but she never did.
Instead, Amy backtracked to that damn small town.
She bought a house and settled in not too long ago.
I figured I had time to deal with her. After all, a year had passed, and no one had tied Jane Doe back to me.
So, I had backed off these past couple of weeks.
I wanted to let her get comfortable, to think I wasn’t going to come after her.
There’d been some masochistic pleasure in knowing that I could get my hands on her whenever and wherever I wanted.
She couldn’t run from me, and she damn sure couldn’t outsmart me.
But the fact of the matter was, she should be dead.
It was true, from the second I'd laid eyes on her way back then, I had wanted her fiercely.
I'd been excited to take her virginity, to ride her hard, to make her submit to me.
Only that damn uncle of hers had caused problems from the beginning.
And after I'd had to take care of them, Amy had changed. She’d become a headache over the years, and I had no idea why I'd kept her as long as I had.
And then she’d thought she could just leave me.
I could still feel the rage burning just under my skin.
It had never gone away completely since the day I'd sat at my desk and watched as she moved through the house and packed her things. But she had hesitated. I knew she wouldn’t leave me.
She didn’t have the gumption. She was too stupid to make a decision like that on her own.
But I'd been tired of waiting for it. Admittedly, she’d gotten braver.
So, I'd followed my instinct that morning when I had hightailed it back to the house.
And that was when the rage won out. I'd been blinded by fury to the point I hadn’t been able to stop beating her. But she just wouldn’t die. It was as though she had something to live for, but I knew better.
When she had finally stopped fighting back, I had knocked her unconscious.
She’d suffered so many broken bones, and I figured the broken ribs had punctured her lungs.
Hell, I'd figured if her injuries didn’t kill her, the elements alone would have.
That was the only damn reason I'd dumped her out in the middle of fucking nowhere. I knew she didn’t have any family, no friends.
No one would be looking for her. And when I'd been asked about her, I'd fabricated a story about her moving up to Pennsylvania to take care of her ailing grandmother.
It had been hard to let her go, I'd explained, but necessary.
At least the last part had been true.
“Shit,” I grumbled, glancing out the window.
Looked as though I was going to have to put a plan in place. I'd known it would come to this one day, and I'd actually looked forward to it. However, I wasn’t a man to react. I had to have a plan. I might not be able to get my hands on her right away, but it would be soon.
And this time I would make sure she was dead before I dumped her body.
Hell, I'd bury her myself just to make sure.
And if I needed to take care of Joanna Tannenbaum, I'd take care of her, too.
No woman was going to alter my course. Not now. Not ever.