Chapter Nine
“Oh shit.” Daniel wiggled his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his cell. “Sorry.”
Grace removed herself from his lap and stood. With her back to him while he answered his phone, she tried to compose herself. She scrubbed her hands over her face, then combed her fingers through her hair, hair that had just left his hands. Her scalp still tingled from the onslaught of sensations his mouth had created. She wrapped her arms around herself to stop a shiver. No one had ever kissed her that way and never had her body been more primed for what surely would have happened had that call not interrupted them. She’d nearly slept with a man she barely knew.
She turned to see he too was standing, the phone pressed to his ear, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“Sorry, I, uh, I got distracted,” he was saying. He looked up and gave her a devilish grin. “Yeah, that I figured out,” he said to the caller. “Tell me something I don’t know.” There was a pause and then his expression morphed to serious. “Are you sure?”
His caller mustn’t have liked that because when Daniel held the phone away from his ear, she could hear yelling.
Daniel cringed, then gingerly put the phone back to his ear. “Don’t get your Calvin’s knotted up. I was just making sure. Sheesh. Why don’t we talk later, when you’re not PMSing.” Then he shut off the phone. “No offense,” he said to her. “It was more to shut him up.”
“Friend?”
“The computer nerd I told you about. That picture was taken in New York.”
“Wow, that’s impressive.” How exactly had he figured that out?
“Sounds more impressive than it is. When he enlarged it, he found a street sign in the background. He mapped it and, with satellite pictures, found the exact park where it was taken.”
“Now what?”
“He does a little more magic. We need to find out who Lyle’s looking for. Tell me something. The last time you heard from Jessie, was it by phone, text, email?”
“It was a text. I still have it. Want to see it?”
“Sure, that would be good.”
Remembering she’d taken her purse into the bathroom, she went to fetch it. It gave her time to shake off the last remnants of what had happened between them. It was for the best that it hadn’t gone any further. It went so against her character she’d have regretted it later. Or maybe not. Now she’d never know.
She pulled her phone out and dumped her purse on the chair. After finding Jessie’s last text, she handed him the phone.
He read it and looked up. “Do you mind if I scroll through her other texts?”
“I guess not.” Then she waited.
When he was finished, he asked something she wasn’t prepared for. “Does this sound like Jessie?”
“What do you mean?”
He read Jessie’s text. At three p.m. she says: “Grace, changed, spelled c-h-a-n-g-d, flight to five. have to check something, spelled s-o-m-thing out. Movie tonight?”
“And?” she asked, remembering how she’d laughed at the spelling mistakes.
“She texted you every day. That morning she said…” He scrolled to the morning text. “Had breakfast in diner across the street, now shopping on the River Walk. Want new cowboy boots? Lol.”
“You know my opinion on boots,” she pointed out. “She was being funny.”
He smiled. “I get that. Two hours later, she texted you again to tell you she was back at the hotel and packing, then leaving for the airport. The day before she told you when she was going to bed. You texted her when you woke up.” He continued to scroll through the messages as he read a few out. “‘Lunch at Luke’s, very cool.’ You: ‘lunch at Jerry’s, I hate you.’ Jessie: ‘Final meeting with Senator Stanton, tell you all about it when I get home.’ She let you know when she got up, when she checked into the hotel, she even sent you a text from inside the cab she took to go come out here.” He looked up from the phone, an expectant expression on his face.
“I told you, she wanted me to know where she was at all times. It’s our thing. You know… in case anything happens.” Which it had. She hadn’t wanted to sit back on the bed, but she needed to get off her legs. A fat lot of good knowing where she was had done.
“Right. Then why would she tell you she had something to check out and not tell you what that was or where she’d be? Does that sound like her?”
“You think the message was from someone else?” Grace tried to swallow and couldn’t.
“I’m not sure, but the tone of the text doesn’t sound like the others. And don’t you find it odd that she wanted to meet up for a movie? You said you didn’t go to movies.”
She stood and grabbed her phone. “I thought she was being funny again. How did I not see this?” She re-read Jessie’s last text.
“You have a lot on your mind,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She stepped away from his touch. She didn’t deserve his reassurances. “I should’ve seen this. It’s our thing. We do it so much, it’s comical. I should have seen this,” she repeated staring down at her phone.
“If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t have noticed.”
“You did.”
“Yes, but I’m an outside observer. I don’t have an emotional attachment to this.”
“It puts her disappearance far earlier in the day. I’m going to have to call my dad. I was debating telling him about Lyle. I guess since he’s going to find out I disobeyed his direct orders, I might as well tell him everything.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
“How many of these other ones,” she said, indicating the phone by showing him her screen, “do you think don’t belong to her?”
“Honestly, just that one. It’s got some spelling mistakes and doesn’t fit the others.” He took her by the hand and led her to the bed where he sat them both back down. “Stop beating yourself up over this. It’s not going to help her and certainly not going to help you. Call your dad. I’ll give you some privacy.” He kissed her cheek and stood. “I’m going to check out the stables if you want to join me when you’re done.”
She nodded, her body too numb to do much of anything else.
She watched him leave and then reluctantly called her dad.
* * *
It was odd, Cowboy thought, being in a stable that smelled like fresh cedar instead of horses. Stanton had spared no expense in creating a new home for the expected thoroughbred. Everything was state of the art. From surveillance cameras, high in the gabled dormers, to the cooldown shower for the horse. It held four spectacular stalls with red wrought iron gates. In a few days, a very lucky horse would be living here. It was a sweet sixteenth birthday present. Stanton was explaining that his daughter and granddaughter would be living at the ranch indefinitely and eventually more thoroughbreds would be added.
The topic had changed so quickly, Cowboy hadn’t had time to ask if his daughter had split from her husband. He reminded himself to have Monty look into it. He could talk to the kid and might eventually have to, but sure as fuck not without her granddaddy or mother around.
He’d met the senator in the kitchen a few minutes earlier. They’d drank a cup of coffee, and after Lily had made them breakfast, they’d come out to the stables. Grace had yet to come out of her room. That couldn’t be good. How long did it take to tell your father you’d gone against his wishes, considering he already knew? He sure as hell hoped the cop hadn’t been dumb enough to tell his daughter he’d hired a bodyguard for her. Besides being fairly certain she wouldn’t be receptive to the idea, he liked their little collaboration to find Jessie. Right now it was his only option without clueing Stanton in as to what he was really doing here.
“Well, what do you think?” Stanton said, standing dead center in the new stables. “My ranch hands approve, but their expertise lie elsewhere. As I said, this was to be my wife’s project. But she needs to put her energy somewhere else for now. Have I forgotten anything?”
He hadn’t forgotten much. “How well can your granddaughter ride?”
“She’s not a seasoned rider, if that’s what you’re asking. But I installed cameras outside the stable in the paddock and surrounding area. The alarms are silent. If she decides to take the mare out on her own, my security will be watching her. Sorry to say that girl has a mind of her own. She’ll also have someone here to give her lessons. She’s never been one for sports but has always loved animals.” He went over to where a brand new, very expensive saddle straddled a wooden pony. “We figured we’d kill two birds, so to speak. Get her fit doing something she likes,” he said, patting the saddle.
Yeah, she struck him as the princess type. “Then you might want to consider adding a mounting step until she gets used to it on her own. You don’t want her falling off or getting frustrated.” And quitting after she’d broken a nail. Not good for her, not good for the horse.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll get on that right away. How soon can we get the animal out here?”
“Three days. They’ll need to stop every three to four hours to water and feed the horse. She’ll need a break too. Horses won’t urinate while the trailer is moving. As they shouldn’t keep her cooped up more than eighteen hours, they’ll have to unload her a few times. We want her to arrive healthy and in good spirits.” He leaned on one of the closed gates.
“Good, three days is good. You’ll be here when she arrives?”
“Of course.” He’d made certain his contact had selected the right horse for a sixteen-year-old to grow into. This might be just an assignment for him, but no way did he want to be responsible for some kid getting hurt. “If you’ll hear me out, I have a suggestion for you.”
“That’s why I brought you out here.”
“No, it’s not about the stables,” he glanced around the high-end interior, “or even the horse. It’s about Ms. Irvine.”
“Oh? Are you looking out for my reputation? You seemed to like her.”
“I still do. I’ve had numerous conversations with her in a very short time and she appears genuine with her intentions to tell the true story.” He’d thought about this last night and had come up with a perfect way to keep Grace with him when he had to be here. “This is Texas. People like their horses. They also like family men. Your gift to your granddaughter expresses both sentiments.”
“I’ve already decided to extend her an invitation to the party. You too, of course.”
“Great, but I think she can be an asset to you when the horse arrives. You know, to make a grand show it.” What better way to keep an eye on Grace than to have her with him?
Stanton sighed, running a hand through his hair and generally not looking happy.
Last night Cowboy had thought most of what Stanton preached to Grace had been bullshit. He was a politician. And Cowboy knew the family. But he’d seen it in Grace’s eyes when she spoke. She’d begun to believe Stanton’s version of the unfortunate turn of events in his life. Cowboy might not know her very well, but he didn’t figure her as gullible. She’d glimpsed something good in Stanton. So why now would the man be upset at the suggestion he include Grace? “I’m sorry—” he began, thinking it better to keep the man on good terms.
“It’s frustrating. There are more important things I need to focus on. But as my father keeps pointing out, that’s life in the public eye. And if I want to keep doing what I’m doing, I have to let everyone know I’m not the bad guy. You’re right, Daniel. Good suggestion.” He slapped Cowboy on the back, like they were old friends.
Something tightened in Cowboy’s chest. He wasn’t one for getting sick but right now his stomach wasn’t liking his breakfast. He told himself to breathe. It was nothing and would pass.
“There you are,” a female voice said.
“And there is the light of my life,” Stanton answered, opening his arms to give her a big hug.
“Granddaddy, you’re gonna suffocate me if you keeping hugging me like that.”
“Sorry, baby girl. I just can’t seem to get enough of you.” He let her go but kept one arm around her shoulder. “Daniel, this is my granddaughter, Ella. Ella, this is Mr. Bailey. He’s bringing your horse. Found you a good one too.”
Thinking it would be rude not to, he shook Ella’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Ella.” He tugged his hand free.
“Daniel,” she said in such a sweet, innocent voice, her grandfather didn’t notice she addressed him by his first name.
The fact that she remembered was another reason to stay clear of the kid.
“Where you looking for me for a reason?” Stanton asked her.
“Just wondering where you went off to is all. It’s lonely in that big old house and William hasn’t come up yet.”
“I know, but your mama comes in soon. And I took the entire two weeks off. When I’m done with Mr. Bailey, we’ll have lots of time together. Maybe we can go into town and buy that riding outfit?”
“I’m down for that,” she said. “Is Mr. Bailey going to join us? He’s the expert.”
She shot him a sideways glance that if the man standing protectively beside his granddaughter had seen, he’d have punched Daniel in the nose. Thankfully for him, Stanton was clueless to the young woman’s flirting.
“Thank you,” Cowboy said before Stanton could extend the invitation, “but I have to get Ms. Irvine back to town and see about travel arrangements for your horse.”
“Oh, the pretty woman in the kitchen? She’s nice. Lily was serving her breakfast. She’s probably done eating by now.”
Grace had come down. Good. “Thanks for letting me know. Senator, if we’re done here, I really do have to see a man about a horse.”
Stanton laughed. “You know, being a rancher, I always wondered where that saying came from.”
“It’s a saying?” Ella asked. “Why would anyone say they have to see a man about a horse if they don’t have to?” She rolled her eyes, for the first time looking like the teenager she was, instead of the more mature person she wasn’t. “It’s dumb.”
She had a point. And he guessed he should watch what he said around her, but he wasn’t going to explain to a senator’s granddaughter that it was better than saying a guy had to take a piss. He’d leave that up to Stanton.
“Yes, darling. There are a lot of dumb things people say. Like ‘I’m down with that.’ for instance.” He tightened his hold around her shoulder, squeezing her to him. “Let’s go walk Daniel inside and say our goodbyes.”
“I was going to stay down here. Maybe check out the horses.”
“Hmm. I guess that’s all right. But leave the ranch hands alone. They have work to do.”
As they left the stables, he debated telling Stanton his granddaughter needed… what…a chaperone? But then he saw a kid Ella’s age saddling up in the yard. Ella gave Stanton a quick peck on the cheek and then ran off to catch up to the teenage boy.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Stanton said, following Cowboy’s gaze. “I should probably stop her.”
He’d actually been thinking that better she go after a kid her own age, but he kept silent.
“My wife would agree with you. That’s my foreman’s son. He’s seventeen,” he nodded toward Ella’s target. “He’s been working here for summer break before he goes off to college. Rick, that’s my foreman, assures me the boy knows to watch his manners and be respectful. Honestly, they’re kids. Ella’s a smart girl and she’s been taught right. As long as it doesn’t go too far, it’s the summer. Let them have fun. Life is short,” he said, his tone melancholy. “Plus, her brother is a real good snitch. I trained him well.”
No doubt Stanton was thinking of his son and the life he’d never had—a life Cowboy had taken. He forced himself to walk alongside the father who’d had to bury his son, absentmindedly listening to him talk about a granddaughter he deeply cared about. After they’d collected Grace, he listened as Stanton invited her back to the ranch, watched as her face lit up in surprise and then excitement. He suspected part of her, the journalist, might very well be thrilled with finishing what Jessie had started. That wasn’t a bad thing. Then when it was all said and done, he made himself shake hands with the man who’d never know the real reason his son wasn’t with him. Would it make any more palatable? For either of them?
* * *
“Hey,” Grace said ten minutes into their drive with only the country station and the constant worry that he wasn’t really seeing the road keeping her company. “Did you catch my disease?”
“What disease?” Daniel asked, surprising her by having actually heard. He was that far gone.
“Wandering mind disease. I’ve been alone in this car since we left the ranch. Probably a little before. Everything okay?” She’d have taken it personally, but Daniel hadn’t been himself since he and the senator had returned from the stables.
“Sorry. Being… on a ranch brought back old memories.” He leaned forward, his finger hovering over the off button on the radio. “Do you mind?”
“No, go ahead. Not good memories?”
“No.” He stretched, then settled back in the driver’s seat. “How did the conversation go with your father?”
“Surprisingly better than I expected. It was like he knew I’d go against his orders.”
“You are a grown woman, capable of making your own decisions.”
“Would you mind repeating that to him? Because he told me if I didn’t back off he’d have me arrested. I have a pile of unpaid parking tickets he found and is now holding over my head.”
“I take it that’s not going to stop you?”
“No, but we’ll let him think it does.”
He grunted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Just in case, though, I paid those tickets.”
“If it makes you feel better, I think he knows you’re not a little girl and doesn’t like it. I suspect daughters will always be their daddy’s little girls.” He drove into the oncoming lane and efficiently past the truck in front of them.
“Do you want kids?” The question, truly none of her business, had come out of nowhere. “Sorry, that’s a tad personal.” She pulled her hair back in a makeshift ponytail, twirling the end in her hand as she stared out at the Texas fields.
“No, it’s okay,” he said. “I don’t stay still long enough to consider having children.”
“You mean you don’t stay in one place long enough to have a serious relationship?” Again, not that it was any of her business.
“That too.” He laughed. “I’m always on the go, rarely home. That wouldn’t be fair to the mother or my child.”
She turned her head and caught him staring. “No, I guess not.” She squirmed. He really should focus on the road. “Is the broker business that busy?” she asked. A group of cows meandered across their pasture.
“I find what people want. People want a lot of things.”
She let her hair fall across one shoulder. “Can you find my friend?” she asked, a lump thick in her throat.
“I’ll try,” he said with such sincerity, the tears she held at bay threatened to spill.
She didn’t have a lot of faith in people, but for some reason she believed him. “Okay, Daniel. What do we do next?” She turned her head and found him again looking at her. Lucky for him they’d stopped at a red light or he’d get another lecture on keeping his eyes on the road. It was a bad habit.
“Depends how upset your father was. Is he going to make problems for you?”
“Knowing him, he’ll have someone spying on me by the time I get to my hotel.”
Thankfully he turned his attention to driving when the light turned green. “Do you want to return to Dallas?”
“Oh hell no. I’m not going to let him intimidate me. I discovered things he hadn’t. He can bark all he wants. He doesn’t have an invitation to Ella’s sweet sixteen.” Proud of what she’d accomplished, she grinned. “But I have to go shopping. From what Ella said, the event is formal and I didn’t bring formal wear.”
“We’ll go together.”
“You like shopping? You’d be the first guy I know to admit that.”
“I like it as much as getting my teeth pulled. Getting others what they need is cool, but doing it for myself is tasking. But I left my party hat at home. Let’s spend the rest of the day going over Jessie’s article, maybe search for more clues, and tomorrow morning we’ll go shopping. We can grab some breakfast and then find something to beautify us. Well, me anyway. You’re already beautiful.” He shot her a quick glance, giving her a half smile that normally would have curled her toes. Now, it just made her nervous.
“Eyes on the road.” She narrowed her own eyes. He was going to get them killed and then she’d never get to relish the fact that he found her beautiful.
“Yes’m. Sorry. Keep forgetting you’re the fussy type.”
“I’m not fussy. It’s a practicality. You take your eyes of the road and you might miss some jerkoff doing the exact same thing. Then boom. Road kill.”
“Are you inferring I’m a jerkoff?” he said, indignantly giving her another sideways glance.
“I’m inferring no such thing,” she said, a sudden and very naughty image of Daniel and his right hand popping into her head. That had to stop.
“Suggesting, then?”
She cleared her dry throat. “Nope.”
“Well that’s good,” he said, nodding his head once.
“I’m calling you a jerkoff.” She’d nearly stuttered trying to void that image from her thoughts, where it did not belong. “Eyes on the road, and we’ll be fine.”
“You’re a might bossy. You know that?”
“I’ve been told. Now, our next move?”
“You have this fear of crashing? Is that because of your mother?”
“No, but have you seen the statistics on texting? People die because they can’t put their phone down.”
“I’m not texting.”
“But it’s all about taking your eyes off the road. It only takes a second. As I don’t want to be in a see-what-happens-when-you-get-distracted ad, keep your eyes on the road.” She wasn’t being bitchy or unreasonable. Facts were facts. “And if you keep looking at me I can’t watch you without you noticing I’m watching you.” She smiled to herself. He really did have a magnificent profile. Those gorgeous lips, the ones she’d kissed this morning… and was he laughing at her? “Hey,” she scolded, “what’s so funny.”
“It’s not as much funny as flattering. Never had a woman tell me to look elsewhere so as not to catch her watching me. You’re cute. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Cute?” she said with some disgust. She was not cute.
“Oh now, don’t get mad. I like cute. It goes great with beautiful,” he said, giving her yet another long sideways glance.
“Okay, enough. No more talking until we get to the hotel.” Then she could smack him. Which is what she wanted to do now, except he was driving.
Laughing and turning the radio back on, he obliged her.