Cowboy Cool: Book 5 (Cowboy Justice Association) (18 page)

“Who’s taking a cruise?” Linda popped her head into the conversation. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Linda,” Reed interrupted, his voice deep enough to capture everyone’s attention. “I can tell you’ve done major renovations to your home and I’m very impressed. Would you mind showing me around?”

It was the perfect thing to ask as Linda was a proud homeowner and she and her husband had done quite a bit of the work themselves. And it served the double purpose of stopping the sales talk cold.

Thank you, Reed.

Their hostess was delighted to show them all the little touches they’d added in the home including cedar closets and bamboo flooring. By the time they returned to the main party, the actors were accusing one another of being the murderer. Again. It was becoming rather tiresome and it looked like many of the guests shared the opinion. Most were simply ignoring the play being performed in their midst.

“I’ll be right back,” Kaylee told Reed and headed for the nearest bathroom, leaving him to the tender mercies of Cheryl, Brent, and Walt.

A true introvert, Kaylee was exhausted from being in a room full of people, even people she adored. She needed a few moments to herself to catch her breath. Locking the door behind her, she touched up her lipstick and ran a comb through her unruly hair.

Pulling open the door, she was surprised to see Brent waiting on the other side. Assuming he wanted the bathroom, she smiled and tried to side-step him but he held out his arm so she couldn’t pass.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

“Um, sure.” Kaylee stepped into the hallway as another guest needed the restroom. “What do you want to talk about?”

Brent shifted on his feet, his eyes looking down to the floor. “That guy you’re with…Reed? Are you serious about him?”

It was a good question but far too personal for them to be talking about. Brent was a good friend but he wasn’t a close friend like Ava. She wasn’t going to discuss this with him.

“That’s really none of your business,” she said firmly. “Is that all you wanted to talk about? If so, we should go downstairs.”

“Wait.” Brent’s hand, surprisingly strong, grasped her arm and kept her from leaving. She winced at his tight grip. “Listen, that guy is no good for you. I can tell.”

She stared down at where he held her and then looked up into his eyes. “Let me go.”

“He’s–”

“Let me go.” This time she said it louder and there was no doubt she meant it. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and for the first time she wondered if Brent might actually be someone who wanted to see her harmed. He’d never been this intense before.

“Dammit, Kaylee–”

Another hand dropped onto Brent’s arm and she looked up in relief to see Reed. Brent’s grip loosened and then fell away and Reed stepped in front of Kaylee, an impenetrable wall of man and muscle.

“When a lady asks you to unhand her, you should do exactly that.”

If Kaylee had been Brent she would have been shaking in her shoes. She could feel the tightly coiled tension in his body as if he were only waiting for Brent to give him a reason.

“I just wanted to talk to her.” Brent’s tone was defensive and almost child-like as if he’d been denied dessert.

“Fine. You can talk to me and I’ll pass on a message.”

Kaylee couldn’t see Brent from her vantage point but she could hear him snort and then stomp down the stairs out of the corner of her eye.

“That guy has a real attitude problem.” Reed turned so she wasn’t looking at his broad back anymore. “What do you think of your friend now? Not so harmless, is he?”

“Not so harmless,” she conceded. “It doesn’t prove anything though.”

“It doesn’t disprove anything either. Did he tell you what he wanted?”

Kaylee rubbed her aching arm. “He wanted to talk about you. He thinks you’re no good for me.”

“I’ve never presented myself as anything different but he’s not any better.” Reed’s expression was cold and remote. “If he fucking hurt you…”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Can we go home? I don’t think I really care anymore who shot that guy.”

“I was ready to go the minute we got here. Let me get the car and I’ll pick you up in front of the house.”

“I’m perfectly capable of walking. You worry too much.”

“It’s fucking cold outside. Can’t you just do as you’re told once in your life? Do you always have to be so damn independent?” The words had come out as a snarl and Kaylee’s indrawn breath must have tipped Reed off that he’d stepped over a line. “Sorry. I just don’t like it when men manhandle a woman. In my town I wouldn’t need to kick anyone’s ass because there would be a bunch of good ol’ boy cowboys who would do it before I even got there.”

Poor Reed. He didn’t like caring about anything and here he was…caring about what happened to her. He was trying to play it off as business, but as pissed off as he was she guessed there was a little something personal there as well. It made her feel a little better about things. She was getting to him too. Not as much as he’d gotten to her, but she’d shaken his world.

“We don’t kick a lot of asses around here,” she replied, keeping her tone calm and even. “But thank you, I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

They descended the stairs and sought out Linda who didn’t seem all that upset that Kaylee had a nasty headache. Apparently Brent had stomped out of the house moments ago with the excuse of having to get up early and work the next day.

“I’m just sorry you aren’t here to see the killer unmasked,” Linda said, clasping her hands with glee. “It’s the best part of the evening.”

“I’m almost positive the murderer is the dead man’s secretary,” Reed answered, his attention already on the front door.

Linda’s mouth went slack and her eyes widened. “That’s right. How did you know?”

“While everyone had opportunity, only one character had one of three major motives—money, love, or power. The secretary. But really I just followed my gut.”

Reed had to be an excellent policeman from the look of things. Kaylee hadn’t a clue who did it from what she’d seen acted out.

They retrieved their coats and Reed leaned down for a too quick kiss.

“Will you please wait inside? I’ll circle the block and bring the car around.”

“The fresh air will do me good. I’ll walk with you.” He started to protest but she laid her hand on his arm in a soothing manner. “It’s not far and I want to go home. If I stay here any longer someone is going to try and entangle me in a conversation that I can’t get away from. Okay?”

His lips twisted and she knew that she’d won. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”

“So noted. Let’s get out of here.”

They walked down the driveway and across the street, the neighborhood quiet and deserted now that darkness had descended. Reed’s arm was wrapped around her protectively trying to fend off the whipping wind that was making a mockery of the barrette that held her thick hair back.

They were almost to the car when the clip flew from her hair, then landed and skittered on the road. Muttering a few four-letter words, she turned from the warmth of Reed’s body and instinctively scrambled to retrieve it, but the inky blackness of the night wasn’t cooperating.

“Kaylee, forget about it. You’ll never find–”

It came out of nowhere.

The brighter than usual headlights blinded her for a moment as she knelt in the middle of the street. The engine roared as the driver accelerated, tires squealing loudly in her ears. Like a deer she froze, too terrified to move out of the way. Her heart stopped beating and time seemed to slow down as the car barreled toward her relentlessly, inevitably. She put up her hands to cover her eyes but something solid and unyielding hit her from the side instead and she sailed through the air before landing on something hard as the car flew by, her fall broken by Reed’s own body.

She shook her head, trying to make some sense of what had happened. “Are you okay?”

Reed was rubbing the back of his head and groaning as he sat up but he appeared to have no major injuries. “I’m going to be bruised like a son of a gun but other than that I’m fine. What about you?”

Her heart was beating again although at a much faster clip than normal. She had to suck in air to her aching lungs as she may have also forgot to breathe when that vehicle had been bearing down on her.

“I’m good. Thanks to you. I froze.” She pressed a shaking hand against her forehead. “I didn’t know whether I should move right or left and in the end my legs weren’t listening anyway.”

She sat up and swept Reed’s hair away from a cut above his eye. “You might need some stitches.”

He brushed her hand away and stood with a groan. She tried to grab his arm so he would stay put, but he easily shook her off so he could look up and down the street.

“The bastard got away,” he growled. “Son of a fucking bitch.”

Reaching down, he easily lifted her to her feet but he held her until she was steady enough on her legs not to crumple in a heap on the pavement. The reality of what had just happened was becoming more real with each passing moment.

Someone had tried to run her down.

She couldn’t seem to stop shaking. She had to lock her knees in place and wrap her arms around her torso to comfort herself.

“Maybe it was an accident?” Her tone was hopeful but his expression was anything but. His grim features told the story, truth and all.

“He was accelerating, not hitting his brakes. He also had his brights on so we would have trouble seeing.”

Leaning against the mailbox, Kaylee tried to calm her breathing and heart rate but fear had crawled inside of her and wasn’t going to surrender easily.

“Now he wants me dead? Who would do this to me?”

She didn’t even want to say the word. Scaring her was one thing, killing her was something else entirely. Reed pulled her into his arms so she could lay her head on his chest, his hand smoothing her hair.

“I don’t know for sure honey, but Brent left right before us. I think it’s time someone had a chat with him.”

Chapter Seventeen

R
eed wanted to punch something, maybe put a hole in the wall or door. And then do it again and again. Anything to take his attention away from the pain in his heart.

He
cared
about Kaylee.

What a clusterfuck. This wasn’t simply business, this was damn personal. If anything happened to her the perpetrator was going to wish he’d never been born. Reed had let one woman down in his past but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Kaylee down. He’d protect her with his life.

“Why don’t you soak in the tub and relax a little,” he offered, needing some space to deal with the events of the evening. Still filled with the horror of watching that car speeding toward her, he couldn’t seem to turn off the images that kept playing over and over in front of his eyes.

“Will you join me?” Not surprisingly, she’d been clingy since he’d knocked her out of the path of the vehicle. She’d also stayed by his side when they’d talked to the police in Linda’s kitchen. She’d come to depend on him which was another thing that was all fucked up. He needed to find this asshole and then get the hell out of here. Things could only get worse between him and Kaylee. If he cared, then dammit, she probably did too. He sure as shit didn’t want to hurt anyone but nothing about his life was going to change. Not even for her.

Of course talking to the police in Linda’s home meant that the secret was out about Kaylee’s stalker. Guests had come streaming out of the front door when the red and blue lights of the police cruiser pulled up in front. Linda had insisted they come back inside where a woman who said she was a nurse had cleaned up his cut and applied a few butterfly bandages. She’d warned him it was going to scar but he didn’t give a shit about it. The fact that Kaylee was alive was the only important thing.

“In a few. Go on upstairs.”

She walked up the stairs reluctantly, clearly not happy but he needed to get his head on straight. If he went up there right now, he’d say or do something stupid that would only serve to make the situation worse.

Pulling his cell from his pocket, he pushed a few buttons and then stepped out on the back patio to make his call in private. The cold air was biting but it helped to focus his mind on something other than Kaylee trapped in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.