Scott’s Secret (Broken Wheel Ranch #8)
Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Scott Gould woke with a jerk when he heard screaming, and realized a pillow was over his face. It took him several moments to realize that he was the one screaming, and he was the one who held the pillow to his own face. “Fuck,” he said as he quickly sat up in bed and unable to handle the darkness of his hotel room, he jumped to his feet and turned on all the lights, even the one in the closet, then opened the curtains. He sighed with relief when he saw the parking lot lights shine into his room. He sat back on the bed with his forearms on his knees and hung his head, still breathing hard.
He knew what woke him, and it wasn’t pretty. He had yet another nightmare from the time he and his former SEAL teammates had been captured, then tortured for information. Not that anyone wouldn’t, but if people didn’t believe him, he had the still healing wounds and scars to prove it. The fuckers that had held him captive had tried to remove one of his kidneys. Thank goodness he and the others had been rescued in time before they had been able to complete the task. However, they hadn’t been in time to prevent his captors from making the cut deep into his body in order to extract the kidney.
Scott jumped to his feet to try to burn off his memories, but instead, he headed to the bathroom and let the ice-cold water cascade down his body. With the stench of his fear induced sweat washed away, he began to feel a little better. He turned the water off when it started to warm. He knew he was punishing himself by taking cold showers, but that was the only way he could dispel the horrendous memories. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he looked at himself in the mirror, and not liking what he saw, he hung his head, laid his hands on the edge of the counter, and shook his head.
He leaned back to get his thoughts straight, then looked at himself in the mirror and started talking, “God, I know you’re there, you were there when I asked you to send help to us while being tortured. I don’t always talk with you, because I know you’re there for me. I need a favor of you today. Please, please, don’t let me encounter some asshole that pushes my buttons the wrong way when I seek what and who I am looking for today.” He continued to stare into his own eyes and shook his head sadly. He smirked on his next statement, “I don’t know if I have enough bail money on me, but if I do encounter some asswipe, give me the patience not to end up in jail. Let me find what I’m looking for unheeded and I will be on my merry way. That’s all I ask. Oh, and if I do happen to need bail money, get a message to Clark Riceman, he’ll come bail my sorry ass out.”
Scott continued to stare into the mirror, and when he was satisfied with what he asked for, he nodded once and continued getting ready for the day. When he went back out to the bedroom area, he picked up his watch and swore. It was only four in the morning and he didn’t think anything would be open that early. With his socks and shoes in his hands, he walked over to the window and looked out. When he saw lights come on in a building on the other side of the parking lot of the hotel, he grinned. The building was a restaurant and it was confirmed when the lights to the tall sign in the front came on.
Thinking he’d wait an hour, he quickly made himself a cup of coffee and sighed in relief when he noticed all the extra supplies he had. When he’d checked into the hotel, he’d told the front desk that he was a gigantic coffee drinker, that he basically mainlined it and asked for extras to be brought to his room. The front desk clerk must have liked him because she walked away after telling him to wait, and returned with one of the plastic bags that had ‘laundry’ written on it and handed it to him. It was at least half-full of the coffee supplies. He’d also asked for another set of clean sheets, and though she gave him a funny look, he only shrugged and said it was a fetish of his to make his own bed. He only had to say he was former military, and she immediately left and came back with another bag with several sets of the bedding. Her only response was that her brother had been in the military and was the same way.
With a sigh of relief, Scott had checked in. Now, with a fresh cup of coffee brewing, he stripped the bed from his sweat soaked sheets, and let it air out. He decided he’d make it up again before he left for the restaurant. With the old bedding in the hallway for the cleaning lady to pick up, he settled into one of the chairs near the table and turned on the TV. He didn’t really pay attention to it, until it came to the weather, and he wrinkled his nose at the screen when it indicated it would be in the mid- to upper-nineties that day. He made sure he had plenty of deodorant on before he left the hotel room. As he waited for the sun to come up, and with the TV on for white noise, he pulled out his journal and wrote of his trip from Yellowstone to Phoenix.
It had supposed to have taken eighteen hours, which would have been two days, but because of his injuries, he had taken his time and made it in five days. He’d been all over the world when he served in the military, however, he had hardly ever seen any of his own country. On the way down, he’d driven through Idaho and spent a lot of time at a rest stop just staring at the Grand Tetons. He made a vow to go back one day when he was completely healed, and settled into a routine of his life. He hated everything being up in the air with where he would be working or doing once he returned to Erin’s Way.
“Hell, maybe I’ll find a woman and she’ll love camping as much as I do and we’ll go on our honeymoon there.” He had spoken out loud and looked at the ceiling with a grin as he’d talked. “Did you hear that? I’ll keep that as our little secret too, but I wouldn’t be mad at you if it happened.” When a weird shiver went down his spine, he only shook his head and got up to make another cup of coffee. From Idaho, he’d come south through Utah, and into Arizona. He figured once he found Patrick Clemmons and explained the situation to him, and if he agreed to go back to Colorado with him, then he would go home through New Mexico. That would give him another state to cross off the list of the ones he’d traveled through.
He couldn’t believe that he was calling Erin Riceman’s ranch home, but since his ordeal on his last mission, with the military, that was the only place he seemed to feel safe. He didn’t know if it was because his former teammates lived there, and he knew they would have his back, or that his best friend, Manny Sanchez, lived there, or that no one from the outside was allowed on the ranch unless they had permission. Whatever it was, he liked living at Broken. It was only fitting, because on the inside, he felt like something had broken in him when he’d been captured and tortured. Right now, his only goal was to find this Clemmons person, get him to come back to Colorado with him, then settle in and try to have a normal life. Until he returned, he was at the mercy of the unknown, and he didn’t know how he felt about that. Sure, he could handle anything that came at him, but he was still healing, and it might be hard, he had the confidence he could handle whatever came up.
Shaking his head to get rid of the maudlin thoughts, he got his second cup of coffee and settled down to write. He lost all track of time and didn’t really surface until he saw a splash of sunlight come across the table. He looked around and grinned when he saw it was seven in the morning. That was the time his stomach started to growl, and after dressing his feet, putting his journal in the safe in the closet, he made sure he had his side piece strapped to his ankle, then quickly made up the bed. With the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door, he set out for his day. If his plans panned out, he’d go out to breakfast, get a good meal in him, then head out and look for Patrick Clemmons. Instead of driving to the restaurant, Scott opted to walk since it was only two parking lots away.
When he reach the restaurant he looked up at the sky, and whispered, “No assholes today, please. I’m not in the mood.” He quickly opened the door and walked in. He only paused long enough to take in the smells of breakfast cooking, and nodded when someone called out to take a seat wherever they liked. Scott immediately went to the back of the room, sat at a table in the corner with his back to the wall, and didn’t have long to wait before he saw a woman hurrying toward him.
“Good morning, would you like coffee?” the waitress asked, and Scott was so dumbfounded by not only her beauty, but also her voice, it sent a shiver of desire down his spine, and he could only thank God that he was sitting at the table and it covered his instant erection.
“Please,” Scott said, and had to clear his throat several times before the word would come out without sounding like he’d eaten an entire truck of gravel. He took a sip of the water she’d brought with her, and watched as she walked away. He thought she had said she’d give him a few moments to look at the menu, and that she was going to get his coffee. He didn’t recall because he had felt his head was suddenly stuffy. With a shake of his head, he opened the menu and by the time the waitress returned with his coffee, he was ready to order.
He looked at her and caught sight of her name tag and smiled. “Julie, good morning. I’d like the three egg Denver omelet, with extra bacon, home fries, rye toast, a large orange juice, and if you happen to have a never-ending cup of coffee, I’ll take that too.” He smiled as she wrote furiously on her pad, then looked at him with a grin.
“I can do that.” She reached for the menu and was quickly gone.
The entire time Scott waited for his food, he couldn’t take his eyes off Julie. To him, she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. At one point, he looked at his cup and scowled as he looked at her through lowered eyes. It took almost five minutes to realize that her slight limp might be due to a prosthetic leg. He couldn’t be for sure, but sometimes she moved cautiously, like she wanted to make sure her feet were solid beneath her before taking a step. He wanted to know her story.
When she returned, she had his plate of food, and asked if he wanted anything else. After saying he was good, she went over to a table of people that just sat down. The only other interaction he had with Julie was when she came by twice more. The first time was to see if everything was okay, the second was to bring him his bill. As he went up to pay, he looked at her with a smile.
“I’m not being creepy or anything, but when do you work again?”
“I’m off tomorrow, then the two days after that I’m on the lunch shift, and on Friday and Saturday, I work the dinner rush.” At his frown, she gave him her hours, and he said he would be back.
“Not to be creepy,” she said with a smirk, “but are you in town for long?”
“I’m looking for an old friend. I have his address, and if I can hook up with him, I only have to convince him to come back home with me.” At her look, he held up his hands with a shake of his head. “All is good, he has some friends back home that are missing him, and I’ve been sent with the task of bringing him home.” It wasn’t exactly true, but it was close enough. Until he got to know her better he would stick to the story he’d just told her. At the thought of getting to know her better, he had a secret smile and couldn’t wait for it to happen. He didn’t know if she questioned him to get to know him, or to pass the time, but he answered her questions so he could continue to be with her.
“Where’s home?”
“A horse ranch in Colorado.”
“Damn, that sounds like heaven. I always wanted to work with horses.”
“Why haven’t you?”
“Life got in the way, and I had to look out for my sister. Now that she’s almost established in her career, maybe I’ll finally follow my dream.”
Scott had his receipt in his hand, and grabbed a pen, he quickly wrote down his name and number, and handed it to her. “I’ll be here for the next week. If you really want to go to Colorado, give me a call.”
“Thanks,” Julie said as she looked down, read the words, then looked back at him with a smile. “Scott.”
“You’re welcome, Julie. I’ll be back for dinner both Friday and Saturday nights. Think of any questions you might have, and I’ll answer them. I’m not talking out my ass here, nor am I a bad person, but where I live and work, we are in need of more help. If you have a challenge, it’s even better.”
Julie scowled at him. “What do you mean by a challenge?”
Scott looked over both his shoulders then leaned in, and nodded when she leaned in closer. Their heads were barely an inch apart as he spoke softly, “No one outside of where I live, and my former commander knows, but on my last mission as a Navy SEAL, we ran into some problems. I don’t know you enough to get into the details, but let’s just say that I have scars both inside and out. The people I work with are mostly all former military, both the women and the men. They all have some sort of challenge.”
“Like what?”
“TBI, a missing limb, scars, nightmares, fears. The owner not only works with us, but she also has us work with horses that have been through hell.”
“Rescues?”
“Yes.”
“Damn, I’ll look forward to seeing you on Friday then. I’ll make sure to have a list of questions. Oh, if this helps, it starts dying down around nine, but we serve dinners until ten.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Julie. I look forward to seeing you again.” Scott tipped an imaginary hat to her, and he felt his step lighten as he walked out of the restaurant. On that high, he quickly made it to his truck to go out and look for Patrick Clemmons.