Chapter 17
17
F or a moment, Conrad’s world tilted on its axis. While his gaze was locked onto Nikki’s, the world righted itself. The undeniable attraction grew stronger the more he tried to ignore it. He was no longer the only suspect in a murder case. Could he be more to Nikki than a friend? Did he have a right to ask for more?
The questions had to be placed on hold. A killer was still on the loose. Harrison Guidry had been the first victim. Would there be more?
Was Lukas Wayne dead? Did Beau fear he would be next?
“What if Lukas is dead?” he asked Nikki, breaking the sensual moment that had been happening between them.
“It’s possible,” she reasoned.
“And what if Beau fears he’ll be next?” Conrad said. “What if he’s running because he received information the trainer was killed?”
“Good questions,” Nikki said after blowing out a sharp breath. “We don’t exactly have a motive established for killing my father or the trainer.”
“What are the top three reasons for murder?” he asked.
“Greed, jealousy, and revenge,” she supplied.
“The deal they were making with an unknown millionaire could’ve gone sour,” Conrad said. He was spit-balling, but this line of thinking made sense. “That might hit on two of the three reasons. Plus, we’re seeing how jealousy and ego work together with the deal the twins are delivering on now.”
“Why wouldn’t Beau ask for help if he suspected someone was killing the three people involved in the deal and that he might be next?” she asked, moving over to the coffee machine. She retrieved a mug andthen filled it with fresh brew.
“There could be a number of reasons, right? For one, the killer might be connected. He didn’t disclose who the deal was being made with. Horse racing involves gambling and can draw all sorts of criminal elements.” Conrad threw a couple of slices of bread in the toaster. “Jelly?”
“And peanut butter if you have it,” she said.
He nodded. The toast popped up, so he slathered the other ingredients on top before setting the slices on a plate and handing it over. They moved to the table and sat down.
Nikki looked a little too good in his concert T-shirt. She must have dressed in a hurry because she still had it on with a pair of jeans. She probably wanted to grab clean clothes from her car.
The note. He thought about the note he’d left inside the cupholder.
“Do you want me to run out to your vehicle and grab clothes?” he asked.
“How do you know that I brought extra stuff?”
“You came here to have a serious discussion with your father.” He noticed the hint of vulnerability in her eyes when she asked. “It’s just a guess, but I figured he would’ve invited you to stay over, or you would have booked a room somewhere nearby. A conversation like the one you intended to have could take a couple of days to work up to or lead to a lot of baggage being stirred up. Either way, you strike me as a person who’d want a backup plan.”
She shifted her weight from left to right. “Am I that easy to read?”
“No,” he said quickly. He bit back the words he wanted to say, which had to do with them having a special connection. “It’s what I would’ve done. It’s logical.”
“No one has ever called me predictable before.”
“Believe me, you’re anything but predictable.” Again, he wouldn’t go into all the ways in which she was different than anyone he’d ever met. Suffice it to say she was special in every sense of the word.
She took a seat at the table.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said. “And, yes, I would appreciate a change of clothes, which can be found in my trunk.”
“Keys?”
“In my purse, which is in the bedroom. Sorry.”
He didn’t mind. “I can use the exercise.”
His cell started buzzing as he hit the back stairwell. After fishing it out of his pocket, he saw the group chat blowing up with messages. He held onto it as he jogged to the bedroom, retrieved keys, and then headed back downstairs.
Outside, the sun was a little brighter this morning. He hesitated for a split-second on the porch, then reminded himself that he had his freedom again. No more monitoring. No more ankle device.
At least suspicion had been cast away from him, where it belonged. The real killer could be found now that law enforcement had widened the search to include Lukas and possibly Beau.
But, Beau? Was he capable of killing Harrison?
What did they really know about Beau’s background? How he had grown up? How he had been treated? Had he been abused? Or had his mother truly cared for him? Had his life been hard? Beaumont had taken responsibility for his kid in death. What about in life?
Untangling Beaumont’s financial dealings would take time. The man had offshore accounts and dummy corporations. He had made deals that weren’t meant to see the light of day by the government for tax collection purposes or anyone else for competitive reasons. He had made deals with some of the wealthiest folks in the south, betting on the future offspring of his best racehorses.
Half the reason the family hadn’t put up a bigger fight to remove Harrison Guidry as counsel was to pick his brain. He knew more about the ins and outs of Beaumont’s business dealings than anyone else.
Had he been trying to make side deals now that Beaumont was gone? Profit from their ignorance?
These were all good questions to track. Finding answers would prove to be the tricky part.
Conrad retrieved the bag from the backseat, and the note from the cupholder. He walked inside the main house, wondering if it would ever feel like home if Nikki wasn’t there. Because last night, he’d felt a shift.
“I wrote this for you,” he said to her as she polished off the last bite of toast. He dropped the piece of paper on the table.
She picked it up and smoothing out the edges. “Thank you for wanting to check to make sure I was okay. Believe me, getting back to you was my first priority.”
He would lead her to her father’s murderer. She wanted to figure out who killed Harrison as much as Conrad wanted to.
She excused herself to go change and returned fifteen minutes later while he was on his second cup of coffee.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“I’m free to roam around,” he said. “Are you?”
“Not as long as there’s a reward for my safe return.” She bit down on her lip. “I should make a call to Heath. Tell him to call off the dogs.”
Conrad held out his cell. She stared at it like it was a bomb about to detonate.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “He’ll have your phone number.”
“Only until my other phone is returned from the sheriff’s office, which should be any time now that I’m no longer the lead suspect,” he stated.
“Okay,” she said after sucking a breath. She took the offering and tapped the screen. “He won’t answer a strange number, so I texted him to call this number if he wants to speak to me.”
The cell almost immediately buzzed.
“First of all, I’m okay,” she said into the phone, turning her back and walking over to the window. She paused for a few beats, and he could swear he heard her stepfather screaming from across the room. “You need to cancel the reward,” she said calmly when he quieted. “Now, Heath.” Another pause. More screaming. “I’m safe. Isn’t that the most important thing here?” She took in a slow, deep breath. With her free hand, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m serious. You’re putting me in more danger than you real—”
She must have been cut off because she stopped mid-sentence.
“Heath, listen to me,” she finally cut in. “No. You don’t need to know where I am. Suffice it to say that I’m safe. I’m calling to let you and my mom know that I’m okay and you don’t have to worry about me.” Another beat paused. “I’m not with a killer. For your information, Conrad isn’t—”
Cut off again.
“He’s been—”
Third time. Was it the charm?
A sharp breath later, she said, “I’m ending this call because we’re going around in circles, and you’re not hearing me.” With that, she lowered the phone and tapped the screen. She stood there for a long moment, staring outside.
“I don’t know who he is anymore,” she said.
Those words struck a chord. How far would Heath go?
The urge to call home struck. Nikki needed to check on her mom. “Do you mind if I use this one more time?”
“Go ahead,” Conrad urged.
She thanked him before texting her mom. The phone buzzed a few seconds later.
“I’m okay, Mom,” she said before her mother could go off on a rant. Nikki realized how stressed out her mom must be. Guilt wrapped around her chest and squeezed the air out. “I’m sorry I didn’t contact you before now.”
“I’ve been worried,” her mom said, sounding like she’d aged ten years in the past couple of days.
“I should’ve called the second I could,” Nikki said. “My phone is missing, and I haven’t had access to a new one until recently.”
“What happened? Are you hurt? Heath said someone was holding you hostage,” her mom continued.
“No, it was a misunderstanding.” She wondered how well her mom knew the man she’d married. Could she quiz her mom about Heath’s business? His ethics?
“That’s not what Heath said,” Mom stated.
“I know, but he was wrong,” Nikki tried to explain. “I’m safe, and you don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’m confused. If you weren’t taken, then how did you end up with that man?”
“With Conrad?” Nikki was confused.
“Did you call Heath?” Her mother was bouncing topics. When Nikki really listened, she could hear a slight slur to her mom’s voice. Had she been drinking? At this time in the morning?
No. Couldn’t be.
“What are you doing right now?” Nikki asked.
“Sitting outside, drinking my coffee,” her mom supplied. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you call Heath?”
Now she could tell it wasn’t a slur, her mom was half-whispering. What did she know? Something was off.
“Are you all right, Mom?” Nikki asked.
“Yes,” her mom whispered. “Be careful. It wouldn’t hurt for you to disappear for a while. Do you have money?”
“What? Where is this coming from?” Nikki asked.
Heath’s voice came through in the background. He was calling for his wife to come inside.
“I have to go now,” Mom said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. You don’t need to worry.”
“Okay,” her mom said with a breathy sigh. “I have to go now.”
Was her mom in trouble?
“Wait,” Nikki said, but it was too late. Her mom already ended the call.
She turned to Conrad. “I have to go. There’s something wrong at home. I don’t know what it is, but my mom didn’t sound right. She told me to disappear.”
“I’ll go with you,” Conrad said.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
He glanced down at his ankle. “I’m free of the… That’s not what you’re worried about. You’re worried about leaving the property while those bastards who caught us are still out there somewhere?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
He set his coffee mug down. “Do you think they’re still out there?”
“I know they are.”
“Waiting for…what? You?” he asked. “We can let Sandy know so she can alert the other deputies along with the highway patrol.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” she said. “Although, I gave her as much information as I could about them already, and she can’t be everywhere.”
Conrad left the room and then returned a few moments later with a shotgun in hand. “This should help level the playing field.”
“I can’t let you use that,” she said. “You’ll end up in jail for real this time.”
“Self-defense,” he quipped, skimming her cuts and bruises. “And I wouldn’t shoot an innocent person. Ever.”
Nikki sighed. They wouldn’t find the person who killed her father sitting around the ranch. They still haven’t had a chance to study the crime scene to search for evidence. She wanted more than anything to make one hundred percent certain her mom was okay. As much as their relationship was complicated, this was the woman who’d raised her. If she lost her mom, Nikki would be an orphan. The thought struck harder than a physical blow.
“What about Beau?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we split up? You follow Beau, I check on my mom?”
Conrad was shaking his head before she finished her sentence.
“Not an option,” he said.
They would be exposed once they left the relative safety of the ranch. Was the risk worth taking?