Chapter 13
Rebel
“Where’s Rochelle?” I stride up to the bodyguards. “Is she on her own?”
Tex pulls himself up to his full height, throws his shoulders back. “She’s at the cabin. Why?”
I take off running.
He’s on my heels in a flash. “What the fuck is going on?”
“You left her alone,” I snarl. “What the fuck were you thinking? Why aren’t you doing your job?”
“She’s not alone,” he says. “Besides the fact that there’s security detail running all over this place like it’s a fortress and not a wedding venue… yes, I did pick up on that… there are protocols for times when I have to leave her side at this or any event.”
“Who did you leave her with?” The cabin comes into sight. There’s a guard standing in the shade out front. When he spots us coming, he straightens.
We pound straight past him. The door slams against the wall when we rush through it.
“Ro?” I yell out when I see that the room is empty.
Tex scans every nook and cranny of the silent cabin.
A low buzz catches my attention. What is that?
He moves efficiently through the small main room, while I march straight for the bathroom. A moan comes from inside.
Fuck. Is Ro hurt? The door slams against the wall before I realize that wasn’t pain. She’s in the tub. Hair piled on top of her head. One hand under the water between her legs.
Holy shit.
“Fuck. Sorry.”
Ro screams.
Spinning around, I misjudge and slam into the wall. I grab my forehead which now hurts. “Oof. Fuck.”
“Rochelle.” Tex’s voice rumbles into the room.
A moment of utter silence follows as I dart from the room.
“Get out.” Rochelle screams.
Tex backs out of the room, his shoulders tight and his gaze glued to the ceiling. “Won’t happen again.”
A sopping wet cloth flies past his shoulder and lands with a splat.
He shuts the door between Rochelle and us. Hands on his hips he stares at the door like he’s trying to come to terms with whatever he saw. Or… the way it affected him.
Turning around, he sees me and remembers what we were here for.
It seems like he’s trying to think up a way to cover.
“Not a word.” I walk out of the cabin. Rochelle will need her privacy after that experience. And I need a pain killer. That was fucking awkward.
Tex follows me outside. “Explain to me what is going on.”
“Rogue and Ivy left.” I dart a glance at the other detail.
“You’re relieved,” Tex tells him.
The man nods and leaves.
“Nicole Hawthorne has someone here. Under our noses.”
He puts up a finger to signal my silence as he scans the area. He follows it up with checking the perimeter of the closest cabins before returning. “Rook filled me in.”
“We thought they would leave, but they didn’t.” My gaze strays to the door of Ro’s cabin.
“You think they’re after her too?”
“She was run off the road like Rogue, Ivy, and Dizzy. It’s possible that Nicole places some of the blame for Alec’s death—”
“Are we sure Alec’s dead?” Rochelle appears in the doorway.
Her cheeks are flushed and her glossy, dark locks are piled high on top of her head in a messy bun.
She avoids meeting Tex’s gaze, choosing to focus solely on me.
Probably because she’s still embarrassed.
That buzz didn’t leave much to guess about what she was doing in her alone time.
“Did you talk to the detective on his case? Those photos…” she shudders.
“It was hard to be one hundred percent certain.”
“It was confirmed this morning.”
“Thank God.” She clasps the base of her throat. The heavy weight she’s been carrying since the night Alec attacked her seems to lift, though to some degree, she will probably carry that experience around with her throughout her entire life.
Tex’s expression is less readable. “This woman wants to place blame for his death?”
“We believe so.” Rogue said something earlier about Nicole threatening Dizzy over Alec’s death, and then West clinched it. “She might have seen this event as the perfect time to deal with multiple problems.”
“We leave then,” Tex says. “Go inside. Pack your bags.”
“No,” Rochelle says. “We don’t need to do that.”
“The bride and groom aren’t even here. There’s no point staying in a risky situation,” he insists. “The sooner we leave the better.”
“They’re on their way back,” I say. “They’ll stay close by until tomorrow morning. Despite everything pointing to the contrary there will be a wedding tomorrow.”
“I’m not leaving.” She stands her ground. “As my employee it’s your job to work out how to protect me no matter the situation.”
“We increase security around her then,” Tex says. “Give me two or three of your guys. We’ll up the manpower wherever she is on the ranch until we either find the issue, or the wedding is over.”
“Actually…” I swallow. What I’m about to ask is unfair. And after everything Ro has been through, I hate that I’m contemplating putting her in a vulnerable position.
“You want to use her for bait,” Tex guesses, his expression turning stony. “No fucking chance.”
“I don’t like it either. But the device they retrieved was wiped clean. Rogue couldn’t find anything to tell us who she is working with. If we can draw this fucker out—”
“It’s not happening.” He crosses his arms over his chest, his biceps bulking up. How the fuck is he so wide?
“I want to do it.” She juts out her chin.
“This is a bad idea. You’re opening yourself up to danger unnecessarily.” Tex turns on her. “You pay me to protect you. Let me do my job.”
“You will be protecting me,” she says without looking at him. “At a distance.”
“Can I talk to you?” He grasps her elbow. “In private.”
“No need.” There’s a flash of something in her gaze that I haven’t seen in a while. She tugs her arm from his grip. “Will doing this help?”
“If it works.” Which we’re not sure it will. “We really thought whoever it was would leave when Rogue and Ivy did, but that didn’t happen.”
“This is a bad idea,” Tex repeats.
“What do you want me to do?” Rochelle asks, her question directed at me.
“We need them to think that you’re unguarded and that they have a chance of getting to you while you’re on your own.
” Whoever we’re dealing with has had ample opportunity to study Tex’s strengths and weaknesses.
The man is all strengths. He fucking excels at his job.
It’s why we convinced him to take on the role in the first place.
“How do you expect us to manufacture that?” He glares at me.
Summer and West run toward us.
“Thank God.” Summer flings herself at me.
I catch her when she slams into me. “We’re all good, red. Ro’s fine. I’m fine. Tex is fine.”
“Did you tell her?” Summer presses her mouth to mine.
“About Alec, yes. And Nicole’s desire for revenge too.
” I hold her close to me when she turns to face Rochelle and Tex.
“We’re trying to work out how to convince the perp to go after Rochelle.
It’s going to be hard to get anyone who has been around her to believe that Tex isn’t watching her every movement. ”
“Even if they’re only working this gig they’ll have noticed she has her own bodyguard,” West adds. “And they will probably be suspicious of anything that feels serendipitous.”
“Not everyone is analytical like you,” Summer tells him before turning to Ro. “But unfortunately, I think he’s correct. We need you and Tex to have a public falling out.”
“What are you saying?” Ro asks.
“Fire him.” They could argue. “Loudly. In front of people. Preferably a lot of them. And then claim you want to be alone and run off.”
“What should we argue about?” She stares up at Tex.
“Come up with some grievance,” I tell her when he doesn’t speak. “This plan only works if you make it seem legit.”
“You should make a show of escorting him off the property,” Summer says. “There’s another entrance onto the ranch. It’ll take you a good hour to skirt the ranch and hike in via the trail. You should ask Owen for directions. He could meet you…”
“Someone needs to watch Ro,” Tex says. “I won’t leave her unguarded.”
“West?” He’s less conspicuous than the rest of us, and the way he handled that knife last night tells me he can handle an enemy.
“We still don’t know when the others will return.” He stubbornly crosses his arms.
“It’ll be a couple hours still. They haven’t been in the air long.”
“Fine.” He huffs. “The devil knows I need something to keep me busy until the others return. But when they do, you better be in place, Tex. Because I will be going to get my sunshine.”
I study him. That’s the most human he’s been since we met. Did being around my kitten do something to change his vibe?
I smirk. “Aww, you’re missing Dizzy.”
“Shut the fuck up,” he suggests like he’s finally becoming a Maddox.
I turn serious. All brotherly ribbing aside, the man is clearly worried. “I’ll let you know when their ETA at the airfield is concrete.”
“What’s your training?” Tex demands. “Unless you’ve got the appropriate skills—”
“Threat assessment and surveillance. Defensive and offensive tactics. I don’t carry a firearm, but I have hand-to-hand combat training. And I do have weapons training.”
“You just randomly have all those skills?” Tex eyes him suspiciously.
“It came with my legacy,” West says to him as he turns to Ro. “Trust me, Rochelle. I am the one you want watching you.”
Tex narrows his gaze on West, but keeps his mouth shut.
“All right. I need to get ready for the bridal shower,” Rochelle says.
“I need to go too. I left the box with the cake stuff in the car. I better take it to the kitchen and let Adira know.” Summer pulls away from me, then slips back to peck me on the cheek. “It’s going to be a strange bridal shower without the bride.”
“It is,” Ro says. “How will that work?”
“Video call, maybe. Or we’ll record it for her.” Summer walks with Ro to her cabin door before they separate. Ro turns back to us. “When do you want to do it?”
“Sooner the better,” I say.
She disappears inside, which leaves Tex, West, and me in a weird standoff. I still need to talk to my brother about this morning’s trip to the pit.
“Can you handle this?” I ask Tex.
“I said it was a bad idea.” He heaves out a heavy breath. “Not that I wasn’t capable. We’ll do it after the bridal shower. Outside the main house. That way most of the workers and security will be in one area.”
“It should get around quickly.” And hopefully it’ll draw our quarry out before another day closes.
“You can watch her back,” Tex tells West. “But understand I will be watching you.”
“Got it,” West says.
Tex stalks into the cabin after Rochelle.
“I think I want to be around to see what they come up with,” I tell West once Tex is out of earshot. After the buzzing and the awkward embarrassment. “I have an inkling there’s plenty of pent-up frustration there to let loose.”
“Any new information come out of your visit to the pit?” West asks while we walk toward the ranch house. “That might point us in the right direction.”
The bridal shower is going to take place in the Hearts’ sun-soaked sitting room.
Tables covered in pale blue linen and patterned China have been dotted around the room.
The florist was adding centerpieces of purple peonies to each table when I walked past earlier.
The female guests and queens will congregate there shortly and us men will be banished.
We were supposed to roast and toast the groom, have a few beers and some fun at Rogue’s expense.
Instead, we’re setting traps and trying to figure out who doesn’t belong.
“It looks like the knife you found probably is the one used on the goat. Agent Lane is sending it to the closest lab for fingerprinting.”
“That’s going to take too long. We need answers now,” West says, stopping a few yards from the house. “We’re on a clock.”
“Just over twenty-four hours until the ceremony.” As if we aren’t all very aware. “We have a lot to do if we’re going to pull this whole thing off. And more trouble than we started the day with. It looks like the knife is Owen’s. It came from his hunting kit.”
“He wouldn’t kill Stains.” West frowns.
“No, he wouldn’t.” That goat wasn’t just any old goat.
It belonged to Ernie’s momma. It was the only thing she left behind.
Ernie’s entire connection to her. Owen’s no doubt conflicted feelings for his baby momma aside, Stains wasn’t going anywhere until he was too old to stick around.
“He went ten rounds with a tree when he realized.”
“That should at least narrow down our suspects,” West says. “We can eliminate anyone who didn’t have access to his gear.”
“And plenty of people who did. Like the rest of Summer’s brothers,” I say. “There’s one more thing.”
His gaze is questioning. His phone starts to ring.
“Agent Lane wants to talk to you about finding the knife. He wants to talk to Dizzy too,” I add as he glances at the device’s screen.
West’s expression takes a sharp turn into cold hostility. He answers the call. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You might have to—”
“Micah,” West says, cutting me off. “What did you find out?”
“Did you know that raccoons make over two hundred individual sounds? And over fifty of those are used in their mating rituals,” the man he called Micah says loud enough for me to hear and then laughs before growing serious. “Your FBI agent is legit.”
He too wanted to make sure. Perhaps he and I are more alike than either of us wants to admit.
“And my other query?” West moves a few feet away. His expression darkens. “What do you mean you can’t locate him?”
He pauses to listen to the other man.
“You’re right. This is more urgent,” his voice grows curt.
The other man must say something that appeases him because his jaw loosens.
Eventually West says, “Call me if anything develops.”
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Couldn’t be better.” He tucks his phone into his pocket, schooling his features as he does. “Can you excuse me? Something has come up. I need to go handle it before I take over covering Rochelle.”
“I’m going to call Rogue,” I say. “Fill him in on everything.”
“Find out when they’ll touch down. Let me know.”
“Will do.” Hopefully we’ll have drawn out the threat before they do.