Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (8 page)

"I don't have any money, Katie...Jake made sure of that..." Karlie took off her hat then smoothed her hair and put it back on.  "I have a new job here, and I'm staying.
..so just go back to
Dallas
and leave me alone.
"

Gabe noticed that Karlie's eyes had filled with tears and wondered why.  He dropped his arm from around Katie's shoulders and grabbed her to ask, "What's wrong, Karlie?"
  She just shook her head and turned away from them and walked over to a cowboy she'd danced with earlier, and went back to the dance floor.

Turning back toward Kate, Gabe shoved a hand through his hair then told her,
"I'll
try to
find out what's wrong with her
,
Kate...
f
or her to leave you, her job and the rodeo, which she seems to love, out of the blue
,
doesn't make much sense unless something happened."

Kate nodded and told him, "That's what I was thinking too, and i
t'
s why I came here.  I thought I could find out what's wrong and talk some sense into her."

Gabe put his hand at the small of her back and led her back to their table.  After they sat down, he asked her, "Tell me about this Jake guy...could he be the reason she left?"

"Could be, but I wouldn't know," she said then took a sip of the beer she'd left on the table.  "He didn't let her talk to me outside of the arena,
he didn't let her talk to anyone really,
and she didn't talk about him
,
or their relationship
,
to me.
  All I do know is that he's a bull rider, and they were living together in his travel trailer
for the last six months...they'd only
talked for about three
months
before she moved in with him."

"Did he ever hurt her?" Gabe asked and gritted his teeth waiting for the answer.

"Not that I know of, but his old girlfriend, who's a barrel racer, said he'd roughed her up some.  I never saw any bruises on Karlie, though."

"Where is he now?"

"In
Dallas
...
we pull out tomorrow for
Houston
, that's why I came tonight to try and talk to her
.
 
I brought JoJo to her
too
...he's at the Double B
," Katie said then took another sip of her beer.
  "
This
was
obviously
a wasted trip
though
, because
I know
when
my sister gets in the mood she's in now, she ain't talking to me til she gets damned good and ready.
  She's stubborn as a mule.
"

A thought suddenly occurred to Gabe when he
replayed
what Kate had said to her sister
in his mind
, "Why is Jake so pissed about her taking her dog with her?"

"It's not
her
dog, Sarge is
his
dog."

Fuck
, Gabe thought, she'd pulled another Karlie...
she'd
stolen
the
man's dog.  Hopefully, the guy didn't file a police report, or she
could
wind up in the pokey again.  The good thing
was
that damned ugly dog couldn't be worth much, so it was probably a misdemeanor, if she got charged. 
T
he odds were
, though, that
she wasn't giving him back.

Gabe took a sip of his beer then said,
"Well, he's probably going to have to get over it, because I don't think she's going to give him up
.
"
  Hell, she'd hog-tied him on the side of the road for trying to separate her from the mutt. 

Kate shook her head again, and laughed, "I never could figure out what Karlie saw in Jake or in that ugly dog...but she was attached for sure."

Gabe didn't want to ask, but it fell out of his mouth anyway, "To Jake or the dog?"

"Both," she said and Gabe flinched, almost envying the infamous Jake.
  Katie leaned over and kissed his cheek then said, "Well, I'm heading back to
Dallas
, before it gets too late.  I can't rope in the next event, but I can barrel race...It was nice meeting you, Gabe."

"Nice meeting you too, sugar.  Give me you cell number and I'll call you if I make any headway with Karlie," He put
her number
into his phone, then took her
phone
and put his in there, so they could stay in contact.  "I have to warn you, there's a lot of
dead
space around here where cell phones are concerned.  If you need to call Karlie, you'll probably have to call the Double B."

"Yeah, I've been trying to call for a couple of days, and she didn't answer...that must be why.  Or, she just didn't want to talk to me..."

He saw Kate's eyes
darken with sadness, a
nd he leaned in to kiss her cheek,
then reassured
her, "I don't think it's you, honey...something else is going on, and I'll do my best to find out what it is, I promise."

She nodded then slid off the stool and picked up her purse.  "Thanks, Gabe...you're a sweetie," she told him then gave him that thousand watt grin and wiggled her fingers, before she turned and walked toward the front door.

His eyes moved back to the dance floor where he saw Karlie in the middle of the floor dancing to a slow song with yet another man.  He gritted his teeth when he saw the cowboy pull her tighter against him an
d
she slid her
arms slid around his neck.  Gabe had seen enough
.  He
took the last swig of his hot beer and then stood up
, and looked in her direction one final time
.  She dragged her eyes away from the guy she was dancing with and looked at him
and he quickly turned his gaze toward the door, then headed that way
. 

One of the night duty
deputies
would probably b
ring him back to the Double B
, or he'd call Luke
.  He wasn't going to be able to drive home tonight, and he sure wasn't going to make the deputy drive to Cole and Sabrina's tonight, it was too far. 
As much as he hated to, he was just going to have to
stay at the Double B and go home early in the morning.
  He was sure there was an extra bed out in the bunkhouse.
..if he had to he'd sleep in his damned car.

Pushing through the front door into the night, Gabe's ears were ringing from all the noise he'd just left for the sudden silence. 
He breathed in the night air and let it out slowly to clear his lungs of all the smoke and pollution inside of the bar. 
He trekked across the street and across the parking lot, then w
alked inside
the station
.  It was a lot different at night than it was during the day
, he thought, i
t was almost
too
quiet after the hustle and bustle i
n the building during the day.

There were only two deputies on duty tonight, and one was working
the
dispatch
desk
.  He walked over to the deputy
at the desk a
nd smiled, "Hi, I'm Gabe Kelly...you must be
Logan
?" he said then stuck out his hand.

"Yeah, that's me...
" he said then shook Gabe's hand before saying, "
Gabe Kelly...why does that name ring a bell?"
then scratching
his head.  The man looked a little bi
t
slow, but his eyes finally lit up with recognition and he said, "Oh! You're Cole's new Chief Deputy
!
"

"Yeah, that's right.  Started last week...so, is there any way you can give me a ride out to the Double B ranch?  I rode with someone and they're staying in town a while.
..my cruiser is out there.
"

The man shook his head and his smile dropped, "I would if I could, but Junior is out on a loose cattle call, and I can't leave.  Only two of us
are
on duty at night, and I have to watch the phone...sorry."

"I'll just hang around a little while then and wait on Junior, if you don't mind that is," Gabe told him dreading having to wait. He was tired and aggravated and just wanted some sleep.  He hadn't slept much last night thinking about a certain redhead, who he wasn't going to be thinking about anymore.
  If she wanted to tease a hundred cowboys a night, that was her business...but he wasn't going to be one of them.

"That's fine, I'll radio him and let him know you're waiting.  Maybe he'll hurry up,"
Logan
said then keyed the mic and called him.

"Thanks," Gabe said as he walked to the line of plastic chairs against the wall and plopped down in one
near the corner
.  Maybe he could catch a cat nap, while he waited on the other deputy, he though and slouched down crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.

A minute later they popped open when someone came through the door of the station and stomped over to the duty desk.  "Where's Gabe?" Karlie demanded and put her hand on her hip.  She hadn't even seen him when she walked in the door.

"Gabe who?"
Logan
asked her then shook his head and said, "Gabe Kelley?"

"I don't know what his last name is, but he's the only damned Chief Deputy you h
ave, seems like you'd know him," she sassed
and he saw the deputy's face redden
.

"Look,
Miss
...he's only been here a week or so, and he works
days
.
.."
Logan
informed her then looked at her through narrowed eyes, "
Have you been drinking?"
  He stood up and

groaned, knowing if he didn't do something, she was gonna let her mouth put her in one of the cells for the night.
 

Rushing over there, he cringed when
she
slammed her hands on the desk and
leaned toward the deputy to say, "I've had less than one beer about three hours ago, so I'd say
no
, I
haven't
been drinking
.  So, if you'd
just tell me where the hell he is
,
you can get back to your crossword puzzle
,
"
she spat then eyeballed the half done puzzle book on the desk by the phone, before looking back up at Logan.

Grabbing her shoulder,
Gabe
spun her around to face him, and grated through his teeth, "Karlie, you need to apologize to
Logan
and get the hell out of here."

She huffed out a breath then said, "Why the hell didn't you tell me you were sitting there and I wouldn't have anything to apologize for!  You rode with me you big dumb lunk, I figured you needed a ride home."

Gritting his teeth, Gabe told her, "I don't need a damned thing from you.  Now, get out of here and go back to your cowboy
,
I have a ride."

Karlie snorted then pointed her finger at him, "So that's what this is about...you're mad, because I was dancing," she said then poked his chest.  "Well let me tell you something,
bucko
, my sister and I
might be twins, but we
aren't interchangeable
, or a matched set
.  You go catch a ride with
her
!  Ya'll seemed cozy enough to me!"

Gabe glanced over her shoulder and saw
Logan
standing behind his desk paying rapt attention to their conversation, with a smile on his face. 
He grabbed Karlie's arm and pulled her toward the door, then through it to stand on the stoop above the steps.