Give Him the Slip (20 page)

"Hey, you're the one who wants this interview. Me, I'm happy
to head on back to my old man's place. I could sure use a drink right about
now."

"Home? He's coming home?" Branch sat forward in his
chair.

Joe Brown scowled at Luke, then asked, "Tell us what you know
about Jerry Grevas's murder."

"He was dead when I got there. I don't know how it happened
or why. All I know is that when I saw him lying among the rocks up at the lake,
I did my civic duty and called the cops. They had no cause to haul my ass down
here. Chief Harper did it out of habit."

"What brings you back to town, Luke?" the reporter
asked.

"You can call me Sin. I'm back because I need a place to stay
for awhile. Plus, I wanted to visit Maddie Kincaid. Met her in a bar in Dallas
awhile back and we hit it off. Tell you what, Joe, if I'd known women the likes
of Maddie were moving to Brazos Bend, I'd have come home long ago."

"What is he doing!" Maddie exclaimed.

"He's coming across as a real jerk, that's what," Kathy
observed, now recovered from her earlier upset.

Maddie couldn't disagree. She might not know the man intimately,
but she darn well knew him well enough to know he wouldn't be copping such an
attitude and spouting such outrageous lies without a reason. She'd bet her
favorite sandals that the reason had something to do with Jerry Grevas's death.

Maddie heard the doorbell chime in the entryway. On television,
Joe Brown asked, "So, you're not home for good?"

"I'm home for no good," Luke replied, flashing a wicked
grin. "Y'all know me. I haven't changed that much since I left Brazos
Bend."

"Yes, he has!" Branch protested.

Yes, Maddie agreed, he had. He'd become a federal agent. A federal
agent who worked undercover. That's the answer to her question. That's what
Luke was doing.

A low-level fury hummed in Luke's blood, reminding him of how it
felt to be sixteen and living in Brazos Bend again. Damned thick-headed country
hicks. Wouldn't listen to a word he said. Hauled his butt off to jail just like
old times until Austin stepped in and got him sprung. It'd pissed him off
royally until it occurred to him that they'd handed him the perfect opportunity
to connect with the underbelly of Brazos Bend society, with the added benefit
of making Branch crazy.

Branch wanted his sons back in Brazos Bend. But he wanted them to
return as the men they'd become, not the good-for-nothing boys who'd left. That
didn't suit Luke's purpose. He needed to come across as his same old sorry self
in order to connect with drug dealers and other low-life scum in Brazos Bend.
That's how he'd discover the details of whatever trouble had led to Grevas's
killing and whether Maddie might still be in danger.

So, Luke decided the time had come for Sin once again.

It was easy to slip back into the arrogant asshole mode. He'd done
a version of it many times during his days in the DEA. This time he'd play the
wealthy playboy, and Branch would live with it. If the subject wasn't so
serious, if Maddie weren't mixed up in the middle of it, Luke just might have
fun.

The patrolman taking Luke to get his truck peppered him with
questions about the state champion football team of which he'd been a member
his sophomore year in high school. Luke had relatively good memories of that
year, so he didn't mind talking about it. A bit distracted, he didn't notice
that the patrolman took the wrong road to the lake until the police car stopped
in front of Callahan House.

"Not here. My truck's up at the lake."

"Sorry. Chief Harper told me to bring you here, and I'm to
get right back to the station. I don't think he likes you very much. We did
bring your dog back, though. The district attorney said to tell you he took the
mutt home for the night."

Good. One less thing to worry about.

Luke strolled up the sidewalk toward the front door. He lifted his
foot to climb the first step, when a voice drifted from out of the shadows off
to his right. "Luke? Is that you?" Maddie.

Abruptly, he turned, stepped over a flower bed filled with
begonias, and walked across the grass toward the gazebo. With the moonlight,
the starlight, and the lamplight beaming from the windows of Callahan House, he
was able to see her clearly.

She sat on the porch swing, the bandage gone from her head,
wearing clothes that looked familiar. Her eyes gleamed like a cat's in the
shadows. She smiled at him and some of the anger running through him abated.
"What are you doing out of bed?"

"I'm feeling so much better. The headache's gone and as long
as I move slowly, it doesn't hurt all that much."

"That's good." He took a seat beside her on the swing.
"I've been worried about you."

Dryly, she replied, "I'm surprised you had time. I caught
your performance on the local news."

Well, hell. He hadn't exactly counted on that. "Um, about
that..."

"As much as I'd like to listen to you fumble around
attempting to explain, I understand that it's part of your cover."

"You do?"

"You've decided to stay, haven't you?"

Luke fidgeted in his seat like a schoolboy. She'd think he was
staying for her and that's not what this was all about. Was it?

"You want to solve the murder, don't you?" she asked.

"I can't say I care all that much about the fact that Jerry
Grevas is dead since I wanted to murder him myself."

"No, you didn't." Confidence rang in her voice.

Honey, if you only knew.

She took his hand in hers. "If it's not the murder, then it's
the mystery. You want to know what's going on here in Brazos Bend."

Luke tried to recall the last time he'd sat in the dark holding
hands with a woman. He couldn't. "You think you're pretty smart, don't
you?"

"What I think—what I know—is that I'm relieved. I'm so glad I
don't have to face this alone."

It was the perfect opportunity for him to tell her his stay was
temporary, to explain that he'd leave Brazos Bend as soon as he'd satisfied his
curiosity. Yet, all he did was ask, "Even if it means you have to hang out
with the notorious Sin Callahan?"

She laughed, a soft, melodious chuckle that flowed over him like
wine. "Hey, compared to some of the guys I've hung around with, Sin
Callahan is a pussycat."

"A pussycat!" He stiffened in mock offense, his gaze
zeroed in on her mouth. "You better watch what you say, Ms. Kincaid. As we
say here in Texas, them's fightin' words."

"Nonetheless, it's true." She folded her arms, plumping
up her cleavage. "Talk trash all you want, Callahan, but you're not the
type to clean out my bank accounts and leave me stranded in Hong Kong. You're
not one to make contributions to a terrorist organization in my name, with my
money. You're darn sure not the type of man who'll turn me into his unwitting
drug mule."

Talk about spoiling the moment. Luke stretched out his legs,
crossing them at the ankles. "Are we talking about the previously
mentioned Cade, Liam, and Rip?"

"You remember their names?"

Yeah. And what sort of a name was Rip, anyway?
That
should have clued her in from the first. "They were your boyfriends."

She paused a long moment before saying, "They were my lovers.
The only lovers I've ever had."

Luke took a moment to digest that bit of news.
Three? Only
three?
"But you're Baby Dag—"

She put her finger up to his lips. "Hush. Don't say that
aloud, even when we're alone. You never know when someone might overhear.
Didn't they teach you that in undercover school?"

"Three guys. And each one of them was a bastard?" When
she nodded, he continued, "Jesus, lady. You need to keep better
company."

Now her voice went smug. "I am now, aren't I?"

Luke shoved himself to his feet and moved to stand in the gazebo's
doorway, staring out into the grounds of his father's estate. He needed to be
straight with her. To be honest. Why was it so hard? In the past he'd had women
who'd wanted more from him than he wanted to give, and he'd never had this
problem telling them the way it was. He needed to spit the words out and be
done.

His mouth was as dry as sand. "Look, Maddie, I don't know
what you're thinking, but... hell... I don't know what I'm thinking, but I
don't want... I can't... oh, hell."

"Do you know why you came to Brazos Bend?"

Crickets chirped and a bullfrog bellowed and Luke silently
chastised himself. He came because he didn't do right by her the first time.
He'd let her come back here alone, and she nearly got killed.

Maddie tried again. "Were you worried about me?"

"Yes. Yes, dammit, I was!" he snapped, rounding on her.
"For good reason as today has clearly pointed out. I shouldn't have sent
you back alone, Maddie. I'm sorry."

"Stop that. It wasn't your fault that Jerry went postal on
me, Luke. Look at this from my point of view. You worried about me. You cared.
You genuinely cared. And it didn't have anything to do with who my daddy is or
how full my bank accounts are or the fact that I know the Bala Hissar bj
technique."

"The
what?"

"One of my dad's former lovers was into Eastern
enlightenment. She'd been part of the Beatles entourage. She wasn't bashful
about answering my questions. Here's the deal, Callahan. I know you and I don't
have a future. Our goals are different, our hopes and dreams are polar opposites.
I'm not looking at you as a long-term anything, so you don't need to be afraid
about that. But right here, as of right now, I'm going to count you as my
friend. All right?"

He had to drag his brain away from Bala Hissar. Friends? She
wanted to be friends? Was this the conversation girls gave guys when they
wanted to blow them off? Or did she mean real friends? True friends. Friends
like Terry Winston.

"Not a good idea, Kincaid," Luke replied. "My
friends tend to end up dead."

"One
person. That happened once. Don't
project it over the rest of your life." She offered her hand. "So, be
my friend, Luke Callahan?"

Luke stared at her hand, all milky and soft in the moonlight, her
nails natural and painted a pretty pink, and he silently admitted that he
didn't want to be her friend.

He wanted to be her lover.

Unable to stop himself, he asked, "So, just what kind of
friendship are we talking about, here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it one where we wave at each other as we pass on the
street or is it a beer-and-ball-game friendship? Or, is it deeper than that? Would
we pitch in to paint one another's houses?"

"Don't like house painting, Callahan?"

"Despise it."

"I see. Well, then, yes. I'm talking a two-coat
friendship."

"Wow. Serious, then."

"Yep."

Luke rolled his tongue around his mouth. He should stop it here.
Don't
go there, Callahan. Don't tempt the fates. You'll be sorry and she'll be sorry
and it'll get ugly. For both our sakes, just shut the hell up.

Instead, he popped the most important question of the
conversation. "Is it a friendship with privileges?"

"Privileges?"

"Do I get to be number four?"

"Number... oh.
Those
kinds of privileges."

"Uh-huh."

"Hmm. Well, I have to think about that. Is it a deal
breaker?"

A ball breaker. He wanted her so bad his teeth ached. "No.
I'm not that big of a jerk, Maddie. I just think it's best to get everything
out on the table, so to speak. Hey, you're the one who brought up
techniques."

Damned if she didn't grin. "So, are privileges something
you're in favor of?"

"I would say yes to that." Considering it was all he
could do not to jump her right here and now. He wanted his hands on her. His
mouth on her. He wanted to be inside her, to feel her wrapped around him, soft
and warm and wet.

"As I consider this question, there's something you should
know. I haven't had sex in over two years."

Whoa. That jerked him right out of his fantasy. No sex in two
years? "You're kidding."

She shook her head. "Not since the night before Cade planted
his pot in my purse."

Jealousy whipped through him. Hell. Maybe he'd be better off not
knowing much about ol' numbers one, two, and three.

Luke rubbed the back of his neck. Two years. There'd be some
pressure there. "Just curious, here. Does your, uh, dry spell make you
more likely to go with privileges or less likely?"

She shrugged indifferently, but the gleam in her eyes gave him
hope. "I'd say... probably... hmm... probably more."

Good. That's good. That's real good.