Chapter Nineteen
Chapter
Nineteen
Keane grabbed the creamer. It wouldn’t be Garrett’s
favorite, but he would survive and his Master would find a way to make it up to
him.
He bit back a grin that was probably loopy and would totally
give him away as a dude who couldn’t stop thinking about the two most amazing
people in the world.
There was still a part of him that couldn’t quite believe
last night had happened. But it had. He’d woken up well rested and happy and
wrapped up in Olivia. When he woke up, Olivia was still asleep, but Garrett had
been lying there, his eyes on her, all the love he had in that gaze.
And then it turned to Keane, and his intensity hadn’t
changed.
It had happened and it was done and they were good. They had
a future and it was all because of that gorgeous, wild redhead. That quiet
moment of pure connection was something he’d been waiting for all his life.
He wasn’t alone. He wouldn’t ever be alone again. He would
always have them.
Life was changing again, but in a new and precious way. New
town. New home. New job. A whole new family. Apparently a new truck, because
Jack had seemed clear that his seventeen-year-old piece of crap was going to be
sacrificed to his office.
He should push back at the idea of allowing someone else to
buy him a car. But if he had the money, he would use it to spoil them. He would
give them everything he had. They needed a safe vehicle, and he needed one for
work. So if Jack Barnes wanted to cube his truck and buy him a new one, he
would accept it.
Air conditioning. He bet the air conditioning on a vehicle
Jack bought would work. And the radio.
“Keane? I’m surprised to see you here.” Deputy Morgan had on
part of her uniform. She was dressed in her khaki pants but had pulled on a
T-shirt. Her hair was back in a ponytail. She had a basket on her arm. “I live
one block away and even I avoid this place when I can, but the kitty waits for
no one.”
She indicated the cans of cat food in her basket.
“We ran out of coffee, and I have a delivery I need to
oversee,” Keane replied. “I offered to go to the big store, but Olivia said
this was faster. She’s got a meeting this afternoon.”
With Scott the douchebag, who better not have something to
do with what had been going on lately. If he did, Keane was going to take care
of him. Thank the universe the asshole was due to leave tomorrow. Keane was
sure he would try to convince Olivia to go out to dinner with him. He would
find out how willing Keane was to share his woman. Which was only with Garrett.
Who was really his sub now. Two gorgeous, smart, strong
submissives. It made a man proud.
Morgan’s eyes widened slightly as though she was surprised.
“You do not look like a man who got arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. You
seem different.”
He shrugged. She wasn’t wrong. He felt like a different man.
The whole jail scene seemed so far away now. It was funny how something great
could erase the pain if a man let it. “I was convinced the world is not ending
and no one is going to dump me. Finding out how much the people I love trust me
did wonders for my mood.”
“I’m sorry about last night,” Morgan said with an apologetic
frown. “I’ve personally seen what the system can do to innocent men and women
when it goes wrong. I read through your file late last night. You got a raw
deal. You were lucky the young woman had the strength to come forward. And you
were brave to start over. Please know I won’t misjudge you again if you allow
me to get to know you.”
When had he ever had a sincere apology from a law
enforcement officer? Not even when they released him from jail. This was
another gift Olivia and her family had given him. “Thank you. Olivia considers
you a friend, so let’s wipe the slate clean and start over.”
She nodded and seemed to relax. “I appreciate you giving me
another chance because I think you might be a very good man to know. Olivia has
good taste. Well, usually. And we talked to the bartender. Tim came in this
morning. He says you weren’t around when he finished Olivia’s drink. He handed
it straight to Miranda. You do not have to worry about the sheriff coming after
you again. He’s actually in a good mood when it comes to you.”
“Why?”
“Oh, because Jack Barnes had to eat a little crow, and the
sheriff is afraid of that man. He should be,” Morgan allowed. “So there’s no
worries. Well, except we need to figure out who came for Olivia. I was hoping
to sit down with Garrett sometime today. I don’t have his cell, so I was going
to go out to the ranch and hope I caught him. After I feed the cats, of
course.”
That was a surprise. “Why do you need to talk to Garrett? He
didn’t recognize the guy at all. I think you need to sit down with Scott
Whittiker. He’s been circling around Olivia for a week. I think I saw him at
The Barn last night. I can’t be certain, but he’s shown up at most of the
places we’ve been to in town. Honestly, even if he doesn’t fit the description,
I worry this is all some kind of play to get Olivia scared so she’ll turn to
him again.”
Morgan snorted. “She would never even look at him again. He
betrayed her. She wouldn’t go back even if she hadn’t found two men she seems
to be fully in love with. It’s good to see her happy. It really is.”
Her happiness was everything to him. “You might know that
about her, but I don’t think Scott does. Scott thinks he knows her, but he
seems shallow.”
“But he does have an alibi for the fire,” Morgan replied
softly, almost sympathetically. “I could have seen slashing her tires so she
would have to accept a ride from him, but we now think that the figure we
caught at the airport was a woman. We sent the footage to an expert who puts
the height at five foot six. Scott is five ten.”
It was disappointing. He wanted Scott to go to jail.
“I want to talk to Garrett because I’m starting to think
this is way more than a simple guy-wants-girl-back case. I think it’s more
complex. I don’t like the fact that Scott’s ex showed up in town at the very
same time all of this started.”
“Are you talking about the woman named Jessica? The one who
said she saw me?” He’d heard about the eyewitness. Olivia had called the woman
several colorful names. His woman was creative with a curse word.
Morgan nodded. “Yes. Why would she claim that? Unless she
had a reason, and it sure wasn’t saving Olivia. I’ve looked into her socials
and she hates Olivia. She never names her, but she rants about how money makes
women think they’re entitled to whatever and whoever they want. She sees Olivia
as a rival. I think she needs help. She’s not well.”
“Are you going to bring her back in for questioning?”
“I tried to speak with her,” Morgan replied. “I went out to
her family home. Her mother died a couple of years back and her father’s in
Houston with his new wife. The brothers took over the homestead. Her brothers
claim they haven’t seen her. She checked out of the motel room she was staying
in.”
“So she’s in the wind.” The idea made Keane’s gut twist. He
didn’t like the thought of someone who hated Olivia being out there possibly
watching her.
“I don’t know about that.” Morgan frowned and looked up at
the ceiling where old speakers blared music. She pointed up. “See. This is one
of the many reasons I don’t come here if I don’t have to. I can’t tell if
that’s a glitch or some torture Stephen Gunderson came up with.”
He should get Olivia. She should hear what Deputy Morgan was
saying. He leaned in because the music was quite loud. “We should talk to Liv.”
Morgan nodded. “Yes. I’m glad she didn’t come here alone
because I’m worried this isn’t about Scott.”
“What do you think?” Keane asked.
“I’ve put together something else. After Scott left Jessica,
she couldn’t afford to stay in New York on her own. She applied for a job with
Gladen Farms. She’s been his social media manager for half a year. The company
is a member of the Barnes-Fleetwood consortium.”
“But then wouldn’t she have gone through a vetting process?”
Not that Jack Barnes did that himself, as they learned the night before.
“Gladen Farms is an ancillary member of the consortium.
Barnes-Fleetwood wouldn’t have any say in who they hire for their operations,”
Morgan explained. “It’s not like O’Malley Ranch or Miranda’s parents. They were
ground-floor members. They all use the same legal staff and office staff. The
ancillary members don’t, so I assume Jack doesn’t even know Jessica is at
Gladen Farms. I want to know if there’s been any trouble with Gladen. Olivia
mentioned she had some ass to kick. I thought it was about business. I wonder
if this isn’t some kind of revenge.”
Or a cover-up. He listened to Olivia and Garrett, even when
they got caught up in work discussions. They’d been a bit obsessed with one
thing at work. His subs had been talking about Gladen Farms. The situation
there was what Garrett was worried about in a legal sense. It couldn’t be a
coincidence. “Olivia’s been investigating Gladen Farms and their practices.
She’s going to present it to her father and recommend they be removed from the
consortium.”
Morgan’s brows rose. “What did he do?”
“They aren’t following organic practice, and she thinks he’s
been paying off the USDA inspector.” He probably shouldn’t have told her, but
he couldn’t risk it. “They haven’t moved yet because Garrett wants to make sure
they have everything covered. It’s a political situation, according to him.”
“Well, it might be about corporate politics, but bribing an
official is a crime. Shit. This is worse than I thought. Does Barnes know?”
He shook his head. “They want to get all their ducks in a
row before they go to her father. It’s been kind of chaotic with the wedding
and the redesign. I think she wants to make it as simple and easy on him as
possible.”
Morgan put down her basket and pulled out her cell phone.
“Now I understand why someone would want to burn down the office. He thinks she
would keep the evidence there. Is he dumb enough to think she doesn’t have a