Chapter Thirty

It was after four in the afternoon and Matt entered his parents’ home. Sweat sheened his sunburnt skin. He had showered, changed into clean clothes and boots, but the sweltering heat was unrelenting. He’d driven directly over, not finding Carolina at home. Miller said she wasn’t at the office. This was the last stop, before he hit the barn.

“Cory?” he called from the foyer. No answer. He took out his cell to text her. Leaning on the entry table, he noticed a note written on the pad his mom kept by the house phone.

He reread the message that Cory had written. Dr. Jeff Haverty, Hilton Gardens Airport, Room 816, five. It was nearly four thirty.

“Hey, Mom? What’s this message doing here?”

Sarah came into the hall wearing an apron. “Since your cousin is home with the baby, all the office calls are forwarded here.”

“Did Cory give this message to someone? Who’s it for?”

His mother picked up a pair of reading glasses and focused on the message. “I have no idea. And she’s gone—”

“Who went where?” Matt’s stomach hit the floor with the force of a fifty-pound weight.

“You asked about Corinth. Your sister went into town. She’ll be back around seven.”

“Did she go shopping with Carolina?”

“Land sakes. Your sister said she had a meeting. Probably with one of her friends.” Flustered, Sarah shook her head. “And Carolina hasn’t been here since this morning.”

“Wait, Carolina was here? When?”

“Early. Came in for a cup of coffee and then left. You’re acting odd, Matt. My goodness, Carolina’s flying out. Just a day to go and you’re doing fence maintenance. Couldn’t someone else be assigned that job? One of the other men around this ranch?” his mom asked as if bewildered.

“We’re short-handed. Brandon has some project he had to get done and Brock had the day off.”

“Son,” his mother began in a softer voice. The one she used when any of them got out of line. “Carolina is getting on a plane and this is how you’re handling it? If you’re running scared, don’t. She’s as confused as you. You’re a McLemore and made of tougher stuff.”

If anyone knew how sideways this was, he did. “This is not a case of me running scared. Things have gotten complicated around here.”

“Which is why, this is a time of action!” His mom peered over the rim of her reading glasses and wore a look of steel determination. “You gotta take hold of those complications by the horns. Stand your ground. Follow your heart. The details will work themselves out.”

Matt considered the details in front of him. Carolina and shopping. Carolina and this message. She was MIA. Haverty had probably sent her some bullshit text. Knowing that little firecracker, she’d go over and kick Haverty’s condescending ass. He had to get to the hotel to make sure Dr. Rodriguez didn’t need backup.

“Stand down, Mom,” he teased, mock saluting. “I’ve got my marching orders and I’m on it. Thanks.” He kissed her cheek and left.

Inside his truck, he gunned the engine. This is what he got for not taking care of that sack of shit. Some jackasses never learned. Riled up, he wanted to punch something or better yet, someone. Jeff Haverty would be a good start.

Matt parked at the front entrance of the hotel. Inside the lobby, he didn’t see a dark-haired beauty. There was a bar and restaurant. Carolina wasn’t in either. Matt slowed to a stop. He got out his cell. No texts from Caro, which was odd considering how many they’d traded these last two weeks.

The ones he’d sent had gone unanswered. At first, being out on a fence line with little cell reception, it was part of the frustration of getting his work done. Had pushed him to work harder, faster.

He dialed Carolina’s phone. No one picked up. As he stared at the screen of his cell, the messages seemed to burn into his mind. What if Carolina had come here and Haverty had gotten her alone in his hotel room? Haverty was exactly the snake she’d described, but what if the fucker turned on the charm? A blast of heat flew up Matt’s neck. He knew what he’d do if he were in Haverty’s shoes. He’d be ruthless and do whatever it took to win Caro back.

Fury rose and filled his chest. If he found her with Haverty, he’d lose his shit exponentially. That motherfucker was history and when he got hold of him he’d pound that fact into his arrogant face! And get arrested in the process. Instead of going upstairs and knocking out the good doctor’s front teeth, he’d do the saner thing. Call the shithead down to the lobby. Then they’d step outside, where he’d pound that jackass into the ground!

The prosecutor and his attorney had warned him how getting into one more fight would play out. Nothing on Earth would stop Matt if Caro needed his help. He barrelled into the hotel lobby, fired up by the various scenarios he’d played over and over in his head. Guest registration was empty and he hit the bell in rapid succession.

A man wearing a navy vest hurried out of the rear office and smiled as he approached the front desk. “Yes, sir. Checking in?”

“No. I’d like to see if a guest is here. Haverty in room 816?”

“Hmm, Haverty? I can place a call to the room. But I can’t tell you whether or not any guest is here. Hotel rules.” The man placed a call but no one answered. The hotel clerk set down the receiver. “No answer. Would you care to leave a message?”

“Has he checked out?”

“I can’t say.” The man shrugged as if to explain.

Matt rubbed his forehead. His choices had shrunk to a factor of one. No point in standing around. He rode the elevator upstairs, brooding over what was to come. On the eighth floor, the elevator doors peeled apart.

Confronting a man in a doorway again gave Matt pause. There was no getting around this dirty deed. Once it was over, he’d feel better than this fucked-up state. Exiting into the hall, it was quiet. Getting closer to 816, he heard a squeak-squeak noise. There wasn’t a cleaning woman or housekeeping pushing a cart. The sound got louder and was accompanied by a muffled banging.

Matt stood before the hotel door, and held up his fist to pound. But he froze mid-knock. The sounds were coming from inside the room. He tried the knob. It was locked. He inhaled to steady his thoughts. The scent of Carolina’s perfume wafted in the air. It had to be his imagination.

It was then he heard a woman’s voice. He distinctly heard a feminine keening pitch. His instinct to kick the door down reared up. The woman cried out a second time… not in pain. The thudding, squeaking, moans, and cries suddenly jostled his idiot mind. Sex. Haverty was banging some woman into a hotel bed.

What if it wasn’t just some woman? Matt gripped the doorframe. He fought not to tear the fucking door down. Crazy shit rattled around in his skull. It didn’t matter that some might say she wasn’t worth it but that was pure bullshit.

Matt saw red. He’d kill the bastard!

In a flash and from experience, he saw how this would go down. If he got hold of Haverty, this wouldn’t be a fistfight. The vengeance running rabid in his blood turned savage.

Bitterness filled Matt’s throat from the charring ruin of his insides. Breathing hard, he told himself: a murder charge would wreck his parents, bankrupt Evermore, and ruin a hundred years of ranching his family had fought and forged in sweat and blood!

As if in an outer body experience, he headed toward the stairwell. There was no turning back. There was only one step after another.