Chapter 10
How long will it last?
Gabe tortured himself with the answer to that question, even as he tried to resist the need to go find Chloe at Lara and Tate’s house. She’d wanted to see them after work today, and although Gabe didn’t like it, he’d accepted that he couldn’t stalk her like a maniac every minute of the day. He’d end up just as bad as her crazy ex-fiancé.
Okay, maybe not like him. He wanted to be with her because he was crazy about her, not because he wanted to hurt her. And he worried about whether or not she was happy and safe every damn minute of the day now. He wanted her to be as ecstatic as he was right now.
Chloe made him so fucking happy that when it ended he was bound to come crashing down.
Don’t think about that now. This is about Chloe.
Right now, everything was about the woman who made his chest hurt, an unfamiliar ache that he wasn’t sure was ever going to go away. She was smiling, laughing, and happy and Gabe felt like it was one of the greatest accomplishments he’d ever had. Chloe was born to be sweet and happy. Anything else was completely unacceptable. Her sexy sensuality was inherent. She didn’t need to do a damn thing to make him hard. It just happened immediately, every damn time he saw her. It was hard for him to fathom that any man would ever want to change her, make her ashamed of any part of her.
She was pretty damn flawless as far as he was concerned. Now that the real Chloe was steadily coming back, she was fucking perfection.
“Do you have a minute? I was looking for Chloe, but your cook said she was gone.” The male voice came from the doorway of Gabe’s downstairs office.
He looked up from the paperwork he wasn’t really reading and saw Zane Colter standing at the entrance to his office.
“Yeah. I’m not busy. Chloe went to Tate and Lara’s place. She should be back pretty soon.”
Of all the Colter brothers, Gabe knew Zane the least. He was close to Marcus because he’d spent a lot of time with him and Blake as kids, and Blake was his best friend. Zane was the youngest male, just a year and half older than Chloe. Barely into his thirties, he was already known for having one of the greatest scientific minds in the world.
“Come on in.” Gabe motioned to a chair in front of his desk. “What’s up? Do you have news on Ellie?” While Gabe wanted Chloe to know what happened to her friend, he was also afraid of how finding her body would hurt her. When there was no news, there was still hope.
Zane unceremoniously sat down in the chair. “No. I just wanted to see how she was doing. I’m going to be around for Thanksgiving. I just decided to come a little early.”
Gabe eyed the quiet man carefully. Zane was the type of guy who would hold everything close to his chest, never giving away a secret. He had no idea that Gabe already knew about Chloe’s miscarriage, and all about her relationship with James, so Zane probably thought he had to tread carefully. “You think she’s dead?” Gabe asked bluntly.
Zane shrugged a pair of broad shoulders that were encased in a warm sweater. He was wearing jeans, and what appeared to be a comfortable pair of hiking boots. A brief thought flitted through Gabe’s mind that Zane looked exactly like what he was…a science geek. He kind of liked that about the youngest Colter brother.
“I’m not certain. I can’t find any proof that she is.”
“You’re still looking?”
Zane nodded. “Yeah. Chloe ran herself ragged for the first month. She spent every day going to places that Ellie talked about, places she went, but there was no sign of her. I was afraid she’d fall over from exhaustion and desperation. I told her that since I’ve hit a wall in my research project, I’d keep looking. I haven’t turned up much of anything. Ellie lived a quiet life. Other than Chloe, she has a few friends, but none of them have seen her since she disappeared. I’ve studied her habits, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
“How does somebody just disappear without a single clue as to what happened to them?” Gabe grumbled. “You would think someone knows something.”
“They do. But they aren’t talking,” Zane reasoned.
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “You suspect something.”
“Gut instinct, yes. But I have no proof,” Zane replied calmly.
“James?” Gabe was convinced that slimy bastard was capable of just about anything, which was why he got nervous whenever Chloe left his property. He wanted her to have her freedom, but he was also worried about her running into James.
“Yes. But there’s no real reason to believe it’s him.”
“I believe it. He tortured and mind fucked Chloe so badly that it’s taking a lot of time for her to feel normal again,” Gabe blurted out without thinking.
“I know,” Zane answered, his voice vibrating with regret. “We weren’t there for her. I don’t know why any of us didn’t see it.”
“Because she didn’t want you to. She was embarrassed. She hid it well. Too well.” There was no reason for Zane to be blaming himself now. James was over for Chloe, and nobody had seen the real truth.
“You know everything?” Zane asked flatly.
Gabe nodded. He and Zane were allies, and Chloe’s brother was trying to find clues to Ellie’s whereabouts. He didn’t mind affirming the guy’s suspicions.
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you myself,” Zane warned fiercely.
Gabe held up his hand in surrender. “I’m not about to hurt her. I’m trying to help her. She likes working here, and she’s happy.”
“I know. I talk to her on the phone every day. It was one of the reasons I wanted to visit. She sounds…better.” The murderous expression left Zane’s face, replaced by a look of concern. “But I’m not certain she’s ready for another relationship.”
“I think you need to let her decide what she does and doesn’t want,” Gabe told him rationally. “She’s spent years under another man’s thumb. Don’t make her live in the shadows again because you’re afraid she’ll get hurt.”
Zane’s gaze met Gabe’s, a gray-eyed stare so much like Chloe’s that it made Gabe soften toward the other man. He wanted his sister to heal and find peace. Gabe couldn’t fault the guy for caring.
“I want her to be happy. I don’t care how she does it,” Zane conceded. “I just don’t want her to get burned again.”
“If it’s any consolation, she told me flat out that she’s using me,” Gabe told him seriously. “I’m more likely to get wounded by this whole thing. I care about your sister. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to see her stay happy.”
Zane was silent for a moment before he replied. “I believe you. She sounds better. Just keep it that way.”
Gabe grinned. “I plan on it. I’ll go crying in my beer when she kicks me to the curb.” Although the statement was meant to make Zane feel more certain of him, Gabe was afraid there might be more than a little truth in his words.
“Better you than her,” Zane shot back at him, a small smile on his otherwise serious face.
“Anything I can do to help search for Ellie? I’ve got a jet and helicopter if you need it,” Gabe offered.
“I’ve got them, too. Air search hasn’t turned up anything. I’m more or less spinning my wheels right now. The police are less and less interested in the case as time passes. I’m not saying they don’t care, but I get the feeling that they think an extensive search is futile now.”
“What do you think?” Gabe asked curiously, wondering why Zane wasn’t giving up.
“I think if I’m stubborn enough I’ll find a way to get to the truth. Ellie deserves that.”
“You’re watching James. That’s why you’re here early for Thanksgiving,” Gabe concluded.
Zane nodded slowly. “As much as possible. He’ll give something away eventually. Most sociopaths do. He wants fame and glory. He wants to be noticed. That’s his idea of winning. Eventually, he’ll tip his hand.”
Gabe’s respect for Zane Colter raised a notch; he couldn’t help but admire the man’s tenacity and patience. Personally, he wanted to kill James for what he’d done to Chloe. He wasn’t sure he could see the bastard again without beating his head into the ground.
“You know where to come if you need anything,” Gabe told Zane sincerely.
“Right now I’m just waiting for something to happen. I feel like shit knowing that there’s a woman who might be out there needing help and I can’t find her. I always liked Ellie,” Zane admitted. “She’s a good person.”
Gabe wasn’t going to tell him that in all likelihood, Ellie was probably dead. He probably already knew that anyway. Zane wasn’t much older than Chloe, and he’d obviously been well-acquainted with his sister’s best friend. In fact, for a geek scientist, he looked pretty bummed out and stressed over the whole thing. If he wanted to continue to hope, Gabe wasn’t going to stop him. But he knew it would take a miracle to find Ellie alive. There were only a few farfetched scenarios that would make that possible.
“She was Chloe’s best friend. I’m sure she was a good person.” Gabe couldn’t see Chloe having a buddy for that long who wasn’t as sweet as she was.
“Chloe really doesn’t want to talk to my brothers about her relationship with James, but I think she should,” Zane contemplated. “If someone in town is involved with Ellie’s disappearance, I think it’s better if they know the truth. All of them have a hell of a lot of power, and anybody would think twice before pissing them off.”
Gabe had thought the same thing. He’d rather the whole family know about Chloe’s abuse so they could all be on alert. If they did, James would be unlikely to approach her ever again. “I agree. But we’d have to convince Chloe. She doesn’t really want to talk about it again. She just wants to move on.”
“I understand why, but I think it’s important. My brothers are going to want to kill him just like I do, but I think they can manage to deal with it without murdering him. Blake has his political career to deal with, and Marcus isn’t around much. Tate will be pissed, but he’s a master at keeping cool when he has to be.”
“I’m leaving it up to Chloe,” Gabe answered supportively. “But I’ll tell her why we think she should tell.”
“I guess I’d better get home. I don’t remember, but I think I left the house kind of a disaster,” Zane commented as he scratched his head.
“You don’t remember?” Gabe was curious. “Exactly how long has it been since you were there?”
“I stayed there for a while when Ellie disappeared, but I tend to forget unimportant things when I’m on the trail of a scientific discovery. I was on a roll back then, but my theory didn’t work.”
The poor guy looked so disheartened that Gabe said, “I’m sorry. I’m sure it’s your first error.”
“Nope. Science is always trial and error. I’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Don’t you have somebody to clean up your place while you’re gone?”
Zane shook his head. “I meant to hire somebody, but I forgot.”
“I know some people. I’ll arrange for them to maintain your place, and I’ll keep an eye out myself when you’re gone,” Gabe offered.
“Thanks,” Zane said, sounding relieved.
“No problem.” Gabe knew lots of people who could use a job as a caretaker. A man as smart as Zane couldn’t be that disorganized.
Zane rose from his chair and started walking toward the doorway. “Give Chloe a hug for me. And tell her I love her.”
Gabe nodded once, a lump the size of Texas in his throat at Zane’s willingness to say how much he cared about his sister. He swallowed hard before answering. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I wish he’d do something to give me some help. I’m used to observation, but this case is personal. Something happened to Ellie, and I need to find out what and why. She wouldn’t have just run off. She doesn’t have the type of personality,” Zane rumbled.
Gabe got up to show him out. “What was she really like?” he asked as he climbed the stairs. He talked to Chloe about her friend, but he never pushed for details. He was afraid it might be too painful for her right now.
Zane was so silent for a moment that Gabe wasn’t sure he was going to answer. Finally, he spoke. “Sweet. Very organized, and incredibly smart. But she has a stubborn streak. She could have done anything with her life, but she chose to skip college and help her mother by going to work right after she graduated. I wanted to help her, but she refused to accept any financial help from me or Chloe. By the time her mom remarried and was more financially stable, Ellie thought it was too late for her to go back to school. She stayed in a dead-end job because it was safe. Probably working for James as his office manager seemed like a major step up. But it ended up being her downfall.”
“We don’t know that,” Gabe reminded him as both men stopped when they reached the front door.
“I think we do,” Zane answered, sounding angry now. “But I’ll find her, even if it means I’ll only be bringing her body back to Rocky Springs. She loved it here. She belongs here.”
Gabe slapped him on the back, feeling a little guilty for hoping the body wouldn’t be recovered because it would be painful for Chloe. He hadn’t really known Ellie, but now that he knew how much Zane wanted to bring her home, Gabe wanted that, too. It would probably be best to get closure for everyone, including Chloe, Zane, and Ellie’s family. “Good luck.”
Zane slipped out the door with a single nod. Gabe closed it behind him.
If James was responsible for Ellie’s disappearance or death, Zane was going to figure it out. Chloe’s brother was determined and he was pissed, two things that were very powerful when mixed together.
Although he’d been speaking of the power that Tate, Marcus, and Blake held, Zane had the same influence. He was at the top of his field, and well-known by just about anyone who studied science. He was also incredibly wealthy, and knew the same people his brothers did.
Gabe glanced out the window, noting that it was dark now. He wished Chloe would come home. He got twitchy when she was out in town after dark alone.
Unable to stop himself, he reached into his pocket and sent a text.
I miss you.
He waited, his heart racing, for a reply.
I miss you, too. On my way home.
Gabe released a sigh of relief, glad that she was safe, and elated because she considered the ranch home.