Chapter Seventeen – Gone with the Wind
Chapter Seventeen
Cooper
GONE WITH THE WIND
Performed by Kelsey Hart
The first three weeks of November vanished in a blur as I dealt with another teenage overdose, continued to work a series of break-ins in my parents’ neighborhood, and made security plans for a huge charity event at the Harrington Ranch that would overlap with the town’s annual winter festivities.
I was stretched thin, running on instinct and obligation, and still, no matter how hard I tried to stop them, my thoughts kept circling back to the stunning piece of havoc living next door.
I’d ordered Andie not to ghost me, and she hadn’t. Not entirely. She answered every text I sent, usually faster if it involved Luca or the dog, and yet she’d still neatly avoided the one question that mattered—whether she’d come with me to my parents’ birthday party.
The cautious part of me, the one forged by Eden’s betrayal, said it was better if she didn’t. Whatever Andie had brought with her to Rivers had clearly not stayed buried. Getting involved with someone carrying secrets like hers wasn’t smart for me, my kid, or this town.
Plus, the phone call she’d made while I was assessing the locks on her house still haunted me. She’d said I love you to a man. I hadn’t heard his reply, only the deep timbre of his voice.
On paper, Andie had no family. But paper lied. If she was hiding, whether in witness protection or behind a bought identity, it was possible the man she’d called was simply family. It was unsettling how badly I wanted that to be true.
Inviting chaos into my life was reckless.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the pull to fix whatever was broken in hers. To make sure she wasn’t just feeling safe but actually was. To do that, I needed her trust. Except, walls like hers didn’t come down easily.
She hadn’t asked me to dig into what happened at her house, but I had anyway.
I’d checked doorbell footage from my place, the Romeros’, and a few houses closer to downtown.
Nothing had shown up. It was possible her break-in was connected to the string of them near my parents’ place, and yet my gut was screaming hers was different.
So I’d crossed another line and quietly started looking into the people in her orbit. I’d told myself it was about protection. About doing my job.
But the truth was simpler and worse.
I wanted Andie. I wanted her with an unrelenting hunger.
She was an addiction that hadn’t even hit my bloodstream yet, but wouldn’t let go.
I needed one night to find out what kind of storm lived behind her gray eyes, if and when she actually let go of control.
I needed to see how hot that tension between us could burn.
Maybe, once we were done, whatever this was between us would have burned itself out, and I’d be able to break free of the snare she’d trapped me in. Or maybe, once we were tangled in bed together, she’d lower her guard, and I’d find more to like. More I wanted to keep.
Except, it was unlikely a woman who’d survived eight years in hiding would give up all her secrets simply because she gave me her body.
Even knowing that, it didn’t stop me from craving her. Didn’t stop my body from tightening up at the mere thought of her as I drove toward the Harrington Ranch the day of the big birthday bash.
The glimpses I’d gotten of her these last few weeks hadn’t been nearly enough to fuel my new habit, whereas my son had been lucky enough to see her nearly every day. The fact that I was jealous of my kid said more than I wanted to admit.
This had to stop. I couldn’t afford the time I spent thinking about her. Not with Swift Rivers all but imploding around me. We either moved forward a step, or I had to rip her out of my veins for good.
Which was why, when Cleaver had suggested we meet up at the fire road behind the ranch to check in on his undercover operation, I’d readily agreed. I’d talk to him and then drive to the hotel and get an answer from Andie about the party.
As I pulled up beside Cleaver’s truck, he emerged from his rig. I took in his patchy beard and rumpled clothes as he strode over to meet me as I’d rolled down the window. He looked worn out already, and we’d only been at this for a few weeks.
Cleaver jumped in without a greeting, saying, “I’m not sure I’m making any headway.”
“Undercover work takes time,” I reminded him.
He rubbed hollowed-out eyes. “And in the meantime, we had another teen OD.”
I felt his frustration in every fiber of my being. Another kid, another teen like Luca, had nearly lost their life.
My voice was sharp when I asked, “Have you learned anything new?”
“Randy came home pissed the other night, ranting about some bitch and how he’d show them who they were fucking dealing with. Someone had taken a knife to his forearm.” He shrugged. “But with my brother, that could just be someone teaching him what ‘no’ really means.”
My stomach twisted, thinking of Andie again. The someone who’d done a number on her would be someone just like Cleaver’s brother. I pushed that thought aside and forced my head back to the topic of drugs.
“Nothing like this speedball mix has shown up in any of the bigger cities—here in California or anywhere else in the country. We’re the first department to log the composition in NFLIS.
If this shit were coming across the border, it would’ve hit San Diego or LA before it ever reached us, which means it’s probably being made nearby.
And if Randy’s tied to it, this might be our only chance to stop it before it spreads further. ”
Cleaver cupped his hands, blowing on them as an icy breeze kicked up, swirling the pine needles and oak leaves on the ground around his feet.
“Who’s he been interacting with the most?”
“He’s been hunting a few times with Gary Sutton and his kid. Gary works for my uncle at Smythe Construction, so there’s a potential tie to Carter there.”
“Okay. I’ll dig into Sutton’s financials. Maybe we can get an angle on this by using him.”
Cleaver’s phone buzzed, and he looked down, rolling his eyes. “Randy wants me to pick up food. That’s all he’s been using me for right now. A damned errand boy who also happens to foot the bill.”
“You’re frustrated. I get it. But you’re doing what we need you to do. It’s important, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the moment. And the department will foot the bill. Just keep the receipts.”
He nodded, jaw working as if he wanted to say something else, and then just shook his head and headed off toward his rig.
I let him leave first and forced myself to wait another fifteen minutes before moving on to my next stop. My mind should have been working on the case and the new pieces Cleaver had handed me. Instead, every part of me was anticipating seeing Andie.
The guest parking was packed, so I pulled around back to the smaller lot the employees used and parked the sheriff’s SUV next to Andie’s. Her vehicle was in the same spot she’d been parked in the night of the Romeros’ wedding. A predictable habit that a woman on the run probably shouldn’t keep.
I’d just climbed out of the Chevy Tahoe when Andie stepped out the back door of the castle, her gaze fixed on the new marquee by the barns.
This structure was nothing like the canvas tent they’d erected before.
It was far classier—almost like it belonged beside the castle.
Plastic piping shaped to resemble wrought iron framed dozens of glass panes, and the domed roof caught the light, glimmering beneath storm clouds threatening to burst at any moment.
Andie crossed the grounds with her phone pinned between her ear and shoulder, scribbling something on the clipboard in her hand.
Her steel-gray sweater dress clung to every curve before flaring just above her knees, and a deep-purple belt was cinched at her waist that matched the spiked heels on her feet.
Her hair was twisted into her signature topknot, not a single strand out of place.
It wasn’t the way she was perfectly put together that stopped my heart.
It was the force of her. The stunning picture she made striding across the grounds with effortless, sexy confidence.
Still, I almost preferred the way I’d seen her on Halloween, in sweats with a bare face and hair tumbling around her shoulders.
I’d gotten a glimpse behind the professional mask she wore, and I wanted more of that.
I wanted to see what she looked like with all her guards removed, when there was nothing but just the raw, untouched Andie left.
As she hung up the phone, I jogged to catch up, calling out to her, with my breath forming a hazy mist in the early morning air.
She whirled around, and my stopped heart hammered back into action when her first reaction upon seeing me was to smile.
A bright, beautiful smile that tugged at the corner of her lips and crinkled her eyes before it slipped away, returning to the courteous one she gave everyone.
“Hi. Are you here to meet with Lance?” she asked.
Even in her heels, I towered over her by at least half a dozen inches. “No. The security plans for the charity event are under control.”
She shivered as the wind picked up. Without thought, my hands went to her arms, rubbing up and down over the wool dress. “Where’s your coat?”
“Didn’t think I needed it. I’m just checking to ensure the custom glassware arrived.”
I held out my hand, indicating she should lead the way to the fancy marquee. She hesitated, but after another shiver, she headed for the doors.
As we stepped inside, we were greeted by two giraffes flanking the entrance, and a surprised grunt escaped me.
I’d expected the classic setup I’d seen at the Romeros’ wedding, but instead, it was as if we’d stepped inside a safari—an old, black-and-white cinematic one from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Life-sized animatronic animals mingled with stacks of luggage covered in travel stickers.
Exotic flowers mixed with palm trees, and round tables stood at the ready, waiting to be decked out.
Even unfinished, it was incredible.