Cowgirl Crazy (#2, Cowboy Way) (24 page)

“
Okay,” Heather said pushing off
to walk down the two steps. Ryan followed behind her, and stood by
the front of the truck, while she made the call. Once it was done,
she walked around to lean beside him on the truck. “So you love
Twyla, huh?”

“
Doesn’t matter if I do or don’t.
Her family hates me now, and she probably does too,” he said
pushing away from the truck. He took one step back toward the
trailer when he heard his ring tone. He spun back toward Heather,
who was staring at the screen of his phone, which was in her hand.
“Says, mom,” she said with a curious smile, as she held it out to
him.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Ryan ran over and snatched the phone from
Heather’s hand. His hand shook as he fumbled for the talk button,
and his heart pounded in his chest. Something had to have happened,
and whatever it was it probably wasn’t good.

“
Mom?” he said around the knot in
his throat.

“
No, this is Montgomery County
Hospital. Is this Ryan Easter?”

After a dull thud in his chest, Ryan’s heart
sank to his toes and settled there. “Yes, ma’am, this is he,” Ryan
replied breathlessly.

“
Sir, I need you to come here as
soon as possible. We have your mother here and need to talk to her
next of kin. We found your number in her cell phone.”

The rage he’d just moved beyond by pummeling
Jared Wilkins came right back, bigger and brighter than it had been
before. This had to have something to do with the bastard who was
his stepfather. If it didn’t, Clarence James would be there with
her and they wouldn’t be calling him.

“
Is my stepfather
there?”

“
Um, uh, no sir,” the nurse
replied hesitantly. “How long will it be before you get
here?”

“
I’m up by Dallas, so probably
several hours, but I’m on my way.”

“
The sooner the better,
please.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Ryan said, hanging
up the phone with the sick feeling in his gut telling him whatever
he found at that hospital wasn’t going to be good. The bastard had
finally done it. He’d killed Ryan’s mother. A tremor rocked through
him, and Ryan grabbed the truck as his knees went weak.

“
Hey, what’s wrong?” Heather
asked, putting a hand on his arm.

“
My mom is bad off and I have to
get to Houston. Can you take me to get my truck?”

“
Where is it?” Heather asked,
sliding her hand to his back when his knees tried to buckle
again.

“
I don’t’ know.” Right now Ryan
didn’t know much of anything, other than round two of his shitty
day was about to begin. And his stepfather was likely to end up
worse off than Jared Wilkins before this day ended.

“
What do you mean you don’t
know?”

“
The hospital had it towed, and I
don’t know where it is.” Ryan swung his gaze to hers, as
desperation gathered inside him. “I’ve got to get to
Houston.”

“
I can take you, but we really
should wait for the police,” Heather said.

Just that quick, Ryan had forgotten about the
police that were on their way. His priority, his whole life had
shifted with one phone call.

“
I’ve got to get to Houston,” he
repeated, scrolling through his phone looking for a number to a cab
company. “I’ll call a cab or—” Ryan looked up when he heard tires
squealing on asphalt. As if things couldn’t get worse, Zack’s
pickup slid to a stop beside Heather’s and before it even stopped,
he flew out of the door and ran full out toward Ryan.

The look on his face said that Ryan was about
to join his mother in Heaven very shortly. Right now, that might be
the best place for him. It was a lot better than the hell of this
reality. With a deep sigh, Ryan handed his phone to Heather,
waiting for it.

Sirens blared in the distance, just as Zack
took a flying leap at him. The impact jarred his teeth, then Zack
landed on top of him on the ground. Ryan lost his breath, as his
bruised ribs crushed inward. Zack landed a blow to his chin that
stunned him. Ryan sucked in a breath finally, and gathered his
strength to push upward and roll Zack under him. He wasn’t going to
hit him, but he did try to hold him down. That didn’t work long,
Ryan saw the world spin as Zack rolled him again, and delivered
another blow to his jaw.

Ryan lifted his arms to shield his face, just
as another punch landed. At least it landed on his forearm instead
of his just now healing eye. Or worse his barely healed nose. “Stop
it, Zack!” he growled.

“
Stop hell, I’m just getting
started, asshole!” Zack shouted and tried to pry Ryan’s arms from
his face.

"Zack, get your ass off of him!" Heather
shouted. Over the blood pounding in his ears, Ryan heard loud
sirens, tires on gravel, then running feet.

“
Step back ma’am,” a firm
authoritative voice, that could only belong to a cop,
said.

“
You two turn over on your bellies
and put your hands over your heads.
Now.
”

Breathing hard, Zack shot him a glare then
slid off of him. Ryan rolled, and groaned as a shot of pain sliced
through his ribcage. He spread his hands over his head and waited
for the cold steel bracelets he knew were coming.

Fuck this was not what he needed right now.
His mother was in a hospital and he was going to jail. He could
feel the tension in the arm that jerked his up behind his back,
before the cold metal touched his skin. It looked like he and
Heather’s plan had worked perfectly, but they hadn’t figured on one
thing. Zack showing up at exactly the wrong time to throw a wrench
into things.

“
Which one of these two assaulted
you ma’am?” the policeman asked as he jerked Ryan up to his
feet.

“
Neither of them. The guy in the
trailer assaulted me.”

“
Another one?” The cop asked with
a groan. “Looks like y’all are all going to jail until we figure
this out.” He pushed Ryan toward his squad car, and he stumbled. He
glanced back and saw Zack being pushed toward another car, as the
ambulance pulled up and skidded to a stop in front of the
trailer.

The cop turned him sideways and Ryan stepped
in, as the cop pushed the top of his head down to shove him inside.
Ryan got settled and the door shut. Through the tempered glass, he
saw Heather talking to one of the cops with her hands waving and
her neck rocking. He wouldn’t be surprised if the mouthy brunette
wound up in a cell beside his. The cop she was talking to didn’t
look too happy.

Ryan groaned and laid his head against the
seat to close his eyes. This was a nightmare. It had to be. Nobody
could have a day like this. He needed to find out how Twyla was
doing, if they were going to release her from the hospital. But
that wasn’t his business now. Her daddy wasn’t going to let him see
her again. He needed to focus on getting his ass out of jail and
getting to Houston for his mother. But he didn’t even have his
wallet to bail himself out. It was in the truck they towed. He was
screwed and would probably be spending the night in jail at
least.

Frustration built inside of him, and Ryan
fought the burning behind his eyelids. All he could do is go along
for the ride on this runaway train. He wasn’t in control. He could
only roll with the punches, and deal with what he could control.
Right now that was keeping himself from bawling like a baby, and
feeling sorry for himself. That wasn’t going to get him
anywhere.

The cop who’d stuffed him in the car finally
got into the front seat. With a glance at him in the mirror he
cranked the car, mumbled something into the radio, then Ryan was on
his way to the pokey. As they pulled out he saw the medics carrying
Jared Wilkins out of the trailer on a stretcher. The man still
didn’t seem to be moving, and Ryan prayed he was just hurt, and
that in his rage he hadn’t killed the slimy bastard. If he was
dead, Ryan had no hope of getting out of jail anytime soon. He’d
probably be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Please don’t let him be
dead
.

***

Twyla had just settled on the loveseat with a
sandwich and a soda, when loud knocking came at her door. If it was
the landlord she had a few things to say to that man. She was not
going to pay him two-hundred dollars a week for a place that
smelled like a ferret. He was going to clean her damned carpet.
After her fallout with her parents, when they saw how and where she
was living, she was primed for it. Because of it, her daddy tried
to force her back to the ranch, had actually started pulling her
clothes out of her closet, when her mother finally stopped
him.

Thank God, her mother had a little sense and
at least she realized Twyla was a grown woman. It had taken both of
them to get her father back in his truck, so they could leave.
Twyla hadn’t been in any shape to deal with that, and she still
wasn’t. There wasn’t a damn soul she wanted to see right now. Not
Ryan, certainly not Zack or her parents.

Twyla just wanted to be left alone.

That damned interrogation the police had put
her through before she left the hospital had taken every ounce of
energy she had left. She couldn’t handle anything else right now.
All she wanted was this sandwich, a nap and a little peace. Whoever
was at the door could just go away. She was not answering that
door.

The knocking continued, so Twyla reached for
the remote for the new television her daddy had brought back as a
peace offering. She turned the volume up as far as it would go,
then tossed the remote on the table. She imagined her mother was
behind that gift, but she was thankful to whomever decided to get
it for her. At least now she’d have something to do other than
watch the wallpaper at the corner of the kitchenette slowly peel
away from the wall.

Twyla didn’t hear the knocking any more now,
but she imagined the people in the house next door would complain
to the landlord about the Jerry Springer free-for-all blaring from
her apartment. Jerry Springer had nothing on her life lately
though. The show that usually made her feel better about her own
life, was making her want to cry today.

Her life was such a damned mess. Twyla had no
idea how she was going to fix things either. She was out of the
dancing business, out of the shooting business too for at least two
weeks. Two weeks of no income would mean she’d probably be kicked
out of this nasty little apartment. Then her life would really be
at rock bottom.

Who got kicked out of an apartment like
this?

Someone who should be on the Jerry Springer
show, instead of sitting here watching it on the television. Maybe
she could pawn the new TV to get through this week at least. Her
rent was due on Friday. She’d just have a Jerry Springer-fest until
then.

God she was bored already. And to make matters
worse, she discovered after she got home she was freaking out of
Twinkies. Hell, the next two weeks were going to be sheer
hell.

The window beside the door rattled from the
knocking now. With a sigh, Twyla sat her sandwich plate on the end
table and walked to the door. Twyla glanced out the window and saw
it was Heather on her doorstep. She flipped the locks and swung the
door inward.

“
I’m getting damned tired of
standing on your doorstep while you ignore me,” Heather grated as
she pushed her way inside. “I went to the hospital and you were
discharged already. I figured you’d be here.”

Twyla snorted, and walked back to the sofa.
She picked up her sandwich and sat down. “I wouldn’t be here if my
parents had their way. They tried to drag me back home,” she said
then took a big bite of her sandwich.

“
Well it’s a good thing you’re
here. I need help untangling the damned mess your brother and Ryan
have gotten themselves into.”

Twyla stopped with the sandwich halfway to her
mouth. “What do they have to do with me? What they do or who they
do it with is not my problem. They can untangle their own messes
from here on out. I’m looking out for me from now on,” Twyla
informed, lifting her chin. She dragged her eyes back to her
sandwich, and took another bite then chewed it angrily.

“
Turn down that damned TV!”
Heather shouted, grabbing the remote, before Twyla could. She
pressed the off button, then threw it back down “You have enough of
your own drama going on. You don’t need to watch that crap. And now
I’m right in the middle of it, thank you so much.”

“
What do you mean?” Twyla asked
angrily. “It was pretty damned peaceful until you got here.”
Finally peaceful. Boring as shit, but peaceful. Twyla took another
nibble off the corner of her sandwich. She was not going to let
herself get upset again.

“
Your brother and Ryan are in
jail. Are you sitting here telling me you don’t give a
shit?”

The bite of sandwich turned to sawdust in
Twyla’s mouth. She grabbed her soda and took a long drink. “In
jail?” she asked incredulously.

“
Yeah, I just thought you’d want
to know. But if you don’t care, I sure as heck don’t. I’ll just be
going,” Heather replied shortly, as she turned to walk back toward
the door.