Chapter 17
Carrying an armload of magazines and a bag filled with snacks, Duke walked beside Suzy into the county hospital. A weird tension hovered over them. He could kick his own ass for being such an idiot.
Love. What the hell was thinking? He couldn’t drop a bomb like that in casual conversation and expect it not to be a big deal. Suzy was probably second guessing everything after that boneheaded move.
But the thing was, saying the word out loud was so natural and easy. As though his heart had known for months what his head hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. Too bad letting the word slip showed him exactly where Suzy was at.
He couldn’t let that bother him. Heck, he’d thought about being with Suzy since the day they’d met. It made sense his feelings were in a different place than hers. He just hoped he hadn’t freaked her out.
He kept his thoughts to himself as he walked to Heather’s hospital room. The door stood ajar, and the sound of Parker’s laughter reached him before he stepped foot in the room.
A wide, beautiful smile broke out on Suzy’s face. “Sounds like your sister has visitors.”
As much as he loved seeing Parker, Duke dreaded seeing Lane. Maybe it was better to get this over with. No way he could avoid his business partner forever.
Bracing himself, he swung into the room with a tight smile and relief loosened his chest at the sight of Celine sitting with Parker in her lap. Heather sat up in bed.
And no Lane in sight.
“Hey, you two,” Heather said. “I didn’t know if you’d come back today.”
“Not only did we come back, we brought gifts.” He hoisted his offerings in the air. “Suzy picked some stuff out at the store that should keep you occupied for a while. We would have been here sooner but…” he glanced at Suzy, not knowing how much to divulge.
Celine darted her gaze between them. “But what?”
“We ran into some issues,” Suzy said. “Everything’s okay,” she rushed to add. “But I haven’t had a chance to talk to Lane yet. I didn’t want to stress him out even more, and after earlier, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him.”
“I heard about that,” Celine said, wrinkling her nose. “He lashed out, Duke. I’m sorry he took his frustration out on you.”
“Wait,” Heather said. “What happened?”
“Start with whatever this trouble is you ran into,” Celine said.
Parker clapped his hands and giggled.
“I’ll start with picking up this little guy and getting a hug.” Suzy scooped Parker from Celine’s lap and placed kisses on his cheeks.
The little boy returned the kisses, adding layers of slobber on Suzy’s face.
“Okay, you’ve got your love now tell us the story,” Celine said.
Duke tried not to cringe at the word love as he set down the bags and magazines then took the chair next to Celine. “When we went back to Suzy’s place, she realized someone had been inside her apartment.”
“Oh my God. Were they inside when you got there?” Heather asked.
“No.” Suzy held Parker tight as if absorbing comfort from her nephew. “But between something that was taken and things left, it was obvious.”
“What was obvious?” Lane gruff voice barked from the doorway.
Duke tensed. He should have asked if Lane was still here before settling in for a visit. He stayed seated, working his jaw back and forth. As much as he wanted to jump in and handle things, he didn’t want to overstep. Suzy had her own way of dealing with her brother, so he’d let her take the lead.
Besides, anything he said to Lane right now probably wouldn’t go over well.
“Someone broke into my apartment while I wasn’t there,” Suzy said. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. We spoke with Spencer, I won’t be going back until it’s one hundred percent safe.”
Lane’s jaw tightened. “I don’t like this. I’d feel better if you’d stay with me.”
“I don’t really care about how you feel,” Suzy snapped.
Lane flicked his gaze toward Duke.
Duke refused to break eye contact. He wouldn’t back down. Not when it came to Suzy. Tension crackled in the room, the beeping of the monitors and the ticking of the clock the only noise until Parker let out a loud wail.
Celine hopped to her feet. “Come here little man. Let’s check your diaper and get you a snack, okay?” She reclaimed her son and hooked a diaper bag over her arm. She lingered at Lane’s side. “Make this right.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and walked out of the room.
Suzy stood with her fists anchored on her hips, fire shooting from her narrowed eyes.
“Yeah, Lane. Make this right. You were an ass to Duke and he’s done nothing but be a good friend to you.
There’s no reason for you to rush in and try to play protective big brother here.
I don’t need it. Haven’t in a long time.
And I won’t stand here and let you use me as an excuse to be a dick. Not to Duke.”
Lane huffed out a breath through his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She shook her head. “You and I can talk about that later. We have our own stuff we’ve dealt with, but this is about you two. Leave me out of it.”
Duke pushed up from the chair and faced off with Lane. “We don’t need to do this here with an audience. Suzy’s right. It’s between us.”
“Fine. Let’s step into the hall.”
Duke offered a weak smile to Suzy and Heather then dipped out of the room.
He shut the door then frowned. “Where’s the deputy who’s supposed to be standing guard?
” Chances were slim Heather was a target, but it wasn’t certain.
He’d been told someone would stay and watch out for her in case they had their sights set on the wrong person.
“Blake was here but there was an accident. I got a call and was asked to help out.” Lane stared down at his dirty boots as he spoke.
A lump lodged in Duke’s throat. “You could have called me.”
Lane lifted a shoulder. “You’re looking out for my sister. Figured I could do the same for yours.”
“Thanks.”
Finally, Lane glanced up and met his eye. “Listen, about earlier. I know I was out of line. I was scared shitless. I left Suzy behind before and that’s eaten me up for years. I’ve been trying to make up for that since I came back home, and I felt like I was failing.”
“I get that. Trust me. But the crap you said cut deep. I need to know if you really think I don’t belong here. Doesn’t mean I’ll leave, but it’ll make me think twice about staying in business with you.”
Lane winced. “Rough Ride Security wouldn’t exist without you. I couldn’t do any of this without you. When you showed up at my house it annoyed the hell out of me—you annoyed the hell out of me.” He cracked a small smile.
“Really? You hid it so well.”
“Ha. Well, you being in Hillmore helped me more than I wanted to admit. I couldn’t have won back Celine if it weren’t for you, wouldn’t have let my guard down to this town I thought I hated. You forced me to tear down walls I’d built since childhood. I owe you everything.”
Shit. A vise crushed his chest, but he couldn’t let the stupid emotion show on his face or Lane would never let him hear the end of it.
“And what about Suzy?” he asked. “You still think I’m not good enough for her?”
Lane shrugged. “I don’t think anyone is.”
“Probably not,” Duke agreed. “But I’ll try damn hard to be the man she needs—the man she wants.”
Lane grunted. “I guess it’s not up to me to decide what’s best for her anymore. It never really was. Just know that if you hurt her, I’ll have to kick your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try.” He grinned but wouldn’t blame Lane one bit for taking a swing if he did something stupid enough to mess things up with Suzy.
“I’ve done it before.” Lane grinned.
Shaking his head, Duke rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Sure. Tell yourself whatever lies you need to feel better. Now that we’ve got this shit taken care of, I’m going back in that room to much better company.”
Lane clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Sounds good.”
Relief loosened his muscles. Problems still loomed large around him, but at least he’d taken care of one of them. No matter what, Lane wasn’t just his business partner. He was his buddy, even if the guy could be an ass sometimes.
He stepped into the room and caught Suzy’s eye.
She arched her brows, nerves pinching her expression.
He gave a little nod. He and Lane were good. Now he could focus all his attention on the one Tipton who held his heart.
Suzy brought the bag of snacks to Heather and sat it on the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay. My headache is getting better and I’m not as nauseous as I was earlier.”
“Maybe a bunch of junk food wasn’t the best idea,” Duke said.
“Are you kidding?” Heather swiped the bag and placed it on her lap, clutching it as if she thought her brother would steal it. “Everyone here has been great, but the food’s rough.”
Suzy grinned. “I told him chocolate was the answer to everything, but he didn’t believe me.”
“He never was the best listener,” Heather said. She grinned for a second before her smile crumpled. “I’m glad you and Lane worked everything out. I really do like him and Celine. It was nice of them to come and sit with me.”
“He’s a good guy most the time.” Suzy hadn’t asked for details about Duke and Lane’s conversation before Lane had gathered his family and taken off. With her and Duke with Heather, there was no reason to stay and Parker was ready for his nap.
She’d hugged her brother before he left, assuring them they were fine as long as he stopped being a jerk.
Duke grabbed Suzy’s hand and pulled her to the chair beside him. “I’m glad we talked. Now we can focus on more pressing issues.”
Heather sighed. “I can’t believe Chrissy’s still in town. Hanging around like a leech, sucking the life out of everyone she touches.”
“Which reminds me,” Suzy said. “Do you know of anyone she’s close with that would come with her to Wyoming and help her carry out her plan?”
“Gosh, I hope not,” Heather said. “I never imagined Chrissy would be capable of so much destruction. I’d hate to think there are two people I know who are so evil.”
“Sometimes good people do bad things,” Duke said.
“Like vandalism and making homemade bombs?” Heather shook her head then winced. “Someone who does those things is making horrible choices to hurt people. There’s nothing good about that.”
Suzy squeezed Duke’s hand. He’d been tricked into doling out Chrissy’s sick form of justice at one time. It wasn’t impossible to imagine she’d manipulate someone else to take up her cause again. “Does she have close friends? A boyfriend back home?”
“She hangs out with the same people she did in high school, but she’s never been a real girl’s girl if you know what I mean.
Catty, bratty, and selfish. Not someone many people would go to bat for.
As for guys, yeah there are always one or two panting after her.
But she hasn’t been serious with anyone in a while.
She’s always been hung up on Duke, and most people in town know that. ”
“Would she be able to make a bomb?” Suzy asked, drawing back on her earlier conversation with Duke.
The picture being painted in her head was of a woman who didn’t like to get her hands dirty. Who used people to get what she wanted, twisting the truth until she found a weakness. That didn’t sound like a woman who’d take the time to learn how to make a homemade bomb then execute it perfectly.
Heather glanced at Duke and shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like it, but who knows?”
“It’s hard to picture,” he agreed.
Another thought hit Suzy. “Whoever built the bomb, what are the odds they waited until they got to Hillmore?”
Duke frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s never been here before, and I assume there are very specific things she’d need to make the bomb.
How would she know she’d find it all here?
If this was part of her plan, why wait to make it, hoping she’d be able to buy what she needed?
It’d make more sense to purchase the supplies first. She’d have to have wiring, chemicals, stuff like that right? ”
“I don’t know details, but yeah,” Duke said. “And none of that stuff could be bought here.”
“What about in your hometown? Could she find it there, or know someone who could?”
“Maybe, but it’s hard to say for sure. I can put in another call to the sheriff’s department. See if there have been any crimes involving this type of thing. Any people they’ve dealt with who’d have this knowledge. Could at least give us a name of someone to talk to.”
“Mom might have some ideas,” Heather said. “Call and ask her.”
“We can both ask her when she gets here,” Duke said.
“Excuse me?”
“Riley called earlier. Mom jumped on a plane first chance she got and is on her way here now. She didn’t want you to be alone.”
The side of Heather’s mouth inched up. I’m not surprised. She’s not one to sit around and wait on things. Suzy, you’re going to love her.”
Suzy’s stomach tied itself in knots. If she thought facing down a woman who wanted to torment her was scary, meeting Duke’s mom was down tight terrifying.