Keeping What's His: Tate (Porter Brothers Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

“Funny, isn’t it, how you always manage to have a woman to give you support, but you sure as fuck never manage to return the favor, do you, Tate? To miss something, it has to belong to you, become a part of you. I never missed you, because you can’t miss what you never had.”

Chapter 13

Tate heard the pain in her voice that the darkness kept hidden from him. He reached down, turning on the lamp sitting on the table at the end of the couch. Sutton blinked at him several times when the dim light flooded the room.

“I’m going to bed.”

“Why did you come back?”

Her head fell back against the wall. “I don’t even know. Perhaps to tell you the truth, to make you feel as miserable as I was. I honestly don’t know.” She brushed the tears away from her cheeks with her shaking hand. “I told myself that I only wanted to see you and explain. I couldn’t bear it that you hated me, that Rachel hated me.”

Tate stared at her hard, feeling as if he had overlooked something important. “What did you want to explain?”

“Nothing that matters anymore.” This time, she managed to slide along the wall until she reached her bedroom. When she went inside and would have shut the bedroom door behind her, he reached his hand out, pushing the door open, and she stumbled, almost falling. Tate grabbed her arm then helped her sit down on the side of the bed.

He crouched down in front of her. “Tell me now. Pretend Lisa wasn’t there that day. What were you going to tell me?”

Her lips remained stubbornly closed. Her injured pride of seeing another woman with him would never allow her to tell him.

He hadn’t asked Lisa to be there that day. He hadn’t been aware she was in the courtroom until the hearing was over and she had come up to him.

His hands went to each side of Sutton’s hips, spreading out flat on the bed and pinning her in place.

“Go away, Tate. Just go away! God knows it won’t change a damn thing.”

“One thing you never learned about me is I’m stubborn as shit. I’m not going to leave until you tell me.”

Sutton’s shoulders slumped. “I never cheated on you with Cash.”

“You went out with him, told him I broke up with you.”

“I did,” she acknowledged her deception. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

“No.”

She sighed dejectedly. “I didn’t think so.” Sutton fell back on the mattress, her arm covering her eyes. She remained silent so long he thought she might have fallen asleep.

Her voice when she began talking was so matter-of-fact it was like she was discussing someone else, not them. It was as if she was distancing herself to get through the explanation so he would leave her in peace.

“My dad told me after you were arrested that he would make sure you went to jail and lose custody of your brothers and sister if I didn’t break up with you.”

Tate remembered the day he had called her and her father had answered the phone. He moved to sit down on the bed next to Sutton as she continued to tell him what had happened.

“I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want you losing your temper with my father if you knew he was trying to break us up, so I called Cash and asked him out. I knew, when you found out, it would be over between us.”

“You fucked him to keep me from going to jail?” The harshness in his voice made him wince. He felt like the ass she was calling him all the time.

He saw tears sliding down from under the arm she had pressed to her eyes.

“I didn’t sleep with him. I know it seemed like I did, but I didn’t. I looked like hell because my dad and I got in a fight when Cash showed up to pick me up the night before, and I fell down the steps. Cash caught me and took me to the emergency room. I spent the night there. When I got out, Cash drove me to school because I didn’t want to go home.”

Tate remembered how stiffly she had moved, thinking it had been because she had spent the night losing her virginity to Cash. Instead, she had been injured while trying to protect him and his family.

He bent over, burying his face in his hands. “Jesus, all you had to do was tell me, Sutton. I would have fixed it.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “How exactly would you have fixed it? You would have just ended up in more trouble, so I let you believe it and went to prom with Cash. I even watched you drive away from the prom after only being there for an hour with Lisa. I left town as soon as I had that diploma in my hand.”

“You came back, though.”

“I knew my father would keep the agreement and drop the charges. I was hoping we could be together again, that you would see you would lose your family if you didn’t quit growing weed. Then Lisa came out with you and kissed you. You want to have a good laugh? You still want payback? I’m going to give it to you. I still was going to talk to you and tell you the truth. I was getting out of the car when you went into the diner. I was going to talk to you then, but Lisa had waited for me outside the door, and she stopped me.”

“She must have seen you. She told me to go on inside, that she needed to make a call. What did she say to stop you?”

“That I should leave, that you two were together, that you were going to get married.”

“And you believed her? You had only been gone a couple of months. You should have known I wouldn’t have married her so quickly after breaking up with you.”

“I thought so, too, until she told me she was pregnant. I knew you would marry her if she was pregnant. She begged me not to interfere, saying the baby needed a father.”

“I’m going to kill that fucking bitch. If she was pregnant, it wasn’t my kid. I used a rubber every time I fucked her,” Tate said hoarsely. He had only been with Lisa prom night and the night after she had shown up at the courtroom.

“I stayed in the same hotel you stayed with her that night. Treepoint only had the one hotel, and I was never any good with driving at night. As soon as the sun came out, I left, and you were still inside with her.”

“That was the last night I spent with her. I told her the next morning that I didn’t want to see her again. She was talking about moving in with me and the others.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t pregnant?” Sutton asked, dropping her gaze to her own abdomen.

“If she was pregnant, it wasn’t mine,” he stated again with certainty. He sure as fuck was going to have a talk with the lying whore as soon as he could step out in daylight again.

“Will you leave now? I’m tired.”

“I’ll leave, but we aren’t done talking. We have a few things that need to be settled.”

“We have nothing left to talk about. It won’t change anything and will only dredge up memories that are better left buried.”

“Secrets have a way of being dug up when we least expect them to be. I don’t fucking appreciate the way you didn’t have any faith in me. You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“I gave you a chance; you just didn’t want it. You let me walk away from you. You didn’t even fight for me. You nearly beat Mike Rodes to death for stealing your coon dog. I didn’t mean as much to you as a damn dog.”

“The dog was mine. I don’t give up anything that’s mine. I hadn’t made you mine yet. That was my biggest mistake. I knew you were innocent, and I didn’t want to push you. I shouldn’t have cared that you were a virgin and just been the asshole everyone thinks I am. I won’t make that mistake ever again.”

Sutton’s eyes widened as she lifted herself into a sitting position. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not a nice guy. Everyone in town will tell you I’m a mean son of a bitch. I should have claimed you when you were seventeen. I fucked up. I won’t do that again. I’m giving you fair warning, Sutton: you’re mine.”

“You can’t just claim me,” she sputtered angrily.

“Watch me.” He stared down at her confidently, his eyes settling on her breasts, seeing the erratic pulse beating at the base of her throat.

“You come near me, and I’ll shoot you.”

Tate walked to the door. “You can try.”

“I will,” she threatened.

“You’re mine. You can believe that,” he stressed before turning on his heel to face her again. “You want me to prove it to you now? The only reason I’m leaving is because I don’t want our first time together to be when you’re drunk, but if you’re sober …”

She hastily shook her head. “I’m drunk.”

He stared at her doubtfully. “You don’t seem drunk anymore.”

“I am!”

His lips quirked in a smile. She was the only one besides his family who could actually make him laugh.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then. Night, Sutton.”

“Go to Hell!”

“If I go, you’re going with me. I’m not letting you go. My daddy would roll over in his grave if I let you get away from me twice.”

“Your daddy was crazy.”

“Yes, he was, and he taught me everything he knew about growing pot and women.”

“I wish your mother could hear you. She would beat you over the head with her cast-iron skillet.”

Tate gave her a predatory look. “I wish she was alive, too. She would tell you something, too.”

“What?” she snapped.

“That you don’t stand a chance.”

Chapter 14

A loud knocking at the front door woke her from the alcohol-induced sleep she had fallen into after Tate had finally left her bedroom last night. Hastily pulling on her robe, she opened her bedroom door and was startled when she saw Tate standing in his bedroom doorway. He placed a finger against his lips, silently telling her to be quiet.

“I have to see who it is,” Sutton whispered.

Once he nodded, she padded barefoot to the window beside the door, peeking out. She saw a large figure that she didn’t need to see his uniform to recognize. She turned back to Tate who was staring at her from the hallway.

“
Knox
,” she silently mouthed.

At his nod, she opened the door, motioning the sheriff in before closing it behind him.

“Morning,” she greeted him, though his attention was on Tate as he came farther in the room.

“Did you leave the house last night?” he asked Tate without returning her greeting.

“No.”

The sheriff turned his attention to her. “Were you here with him all night?”

“No. I went out for drinks with Cheryl. Why?”

“Helen Stevens was shot and killed last night. She was found in her car that was parked in the carport. One of her neighbors heard a shot then found her. It was around eight-thirty. Were you here at that time?”

“No, I was still at King’s. I didn’t get home until after twelve. Why do you think Tate could have done it?”

“The state police think Tate was trying to rob her or take her car. They think he accidently shot her when she put up a fight.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Tate snarled. “I’m not an amateur. If I shoot someone, it damn sure wouldn’t be an accident.”

“Are you saying you deliberately shot her?”

“Don’t be fucking stupid. I didn’t leave the house last night, and I wouldn’t attack a woman and kill her for her car. If I wanted to get out of town, Greer or Dustin would help me. Hell, even Cash would.”

The sheriff ran his hand over his bald head. “I’m going to take you in. Someone is running around town, killing people to make it look like you’re responsible.”

“If you take me in and the shootings stop, it’s going to make me look even guiltier. The shootings
will
stop, and they’ll get away while I’m locked up. That shit isn’t going to happen.”

“Tate, if you were in jail, that woman may still be alive.” Sutton bit her lip. Was she indirectly responsible for someone’s death because she had given him a place to hide?

“Maybe. Maybe not. We don’t know for sure. The two shootings could be connected, or I could just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he didn’t want to take the time to finish me off. Increase your deputies’ shifts and tell everyone in town to be careful,” Tate advised.

Knox nodded. “I think whoever is doing it has their own agenda, too. But if one more person gets hurt, I’m taking your ass in, and when I come to get you, I won’t be knocking on the fucking door.” He pointed a finger at her. “You don’t leave him alone at the house again.”

“I won’t,” she promised.

“I’ll try to find out if Lyle and Helen had anything in common. Hopefully, I can turn up something.”

“Thanks,” Tate said. Sutton could tell it was laced with reluctance.

Knox gave him a sharp nod.

After he left, she brushed past Tate, going to her bedroom.

“What bug crawled up your ass? I’m the one in trouble.” Tate leaned against the bedroom doorway, crossing his arms over his chest.

“If I didn’t give you a place to hide out, that woman may still be alive.”

“I doubt it. Whoever shot her must have known what time she was supposed to come home. They were waiting for her.”

“You think she knew her murderer?”

“Yes.”

Fear that someone was randomly killing the townspeople had Sutton thinking of packing up and returning to California.

“So, you think it was just a coincidence that I was in town when the shooting happened? Or do you think they could have seen me and decided to use the opportunity?”

“They would have to know I’m hiding out here. Do you remember who you saw at King’s? Did anyone leave after you got there?”

Sutton thought back to last night carefully. “No, I really didn’t pay any attention to who was there. Do you want me to call Cheryl and ask her?”

“No, she might get suspicious. Wait until she calls you. She loves to gossip. She’ll think you don’t know and will call. Then you can feel out if she noticed anything strange.”

“Okay.”

“Why do you still wear your wedding band?”

She stared at him stupidly at the sudden change in conversation. “None of your business.”

“Are you still in love with him?”

“God, no.” Sutton shuddered in disgust at the thought.

“Then why wear his ring?”

“To remind me of him.”

“That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“It doesn’t have to. It does to me, and that’s all that matters.”

“Did you wake up on the bitchy side of the bed?”

“Yes. That happens when the cops wake me up, wanting to know if the fugitive I’m harboring killed someone else.”

“You know I didn’t kill Lyle or Helen Stevens.”

“Then go in and prove it the way any normal person would!” Sutton turned, scattering the neatly folded clothes out of her suitcase, searching for something cool to wear.

“Are you saying I’m not normal?”

“I don’t think ‘normal’ fits any of the Porter brothers,” she snapped.

The suitcase that was lying on two chairs pushed together fell to the floor, but she didn’t try to pick it back up. She grabbed a pair of crop pants and a T-shirt. Choosing her underwear, she then turned and nearly bumped into Tate.

“Why don’t you unpack your clothes?”

“Because I don’t know how long I’m staying. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a shower.”

“You wear your wedding ring to remember a bad marriage and don’t unpack even though you’ve been here a couple of weeks, and you think
I’m
the one who’s not normal?”

Sutton refused to engage in any further conversation with Tate. His sharp tongue always managed a snide comeback, and the more she tried to fight back, the more she unwittingly revealed. If he was determined to have the last word, he could have it.

She closed the bathroom door then took a leisurely shower, letting the water ease the stress of the sheriff’s visit and being closed in with Tate. If she didn’t get rid of him, there was going to be more than one killer loose in town.

Stepping out of the shower, she dried off then wound the towel around her body as she went to the sink to brush her teeth. She was rinsing the toothpaste out of her mouth when she gave a startled scream, seeing a man’s reflection in the mirror. The bathroom door burst open, and Tate came running in, carrying a rifle.

“What?”

Sutton only managed to point to the window where she now recognized Dustin. She spat out the remains of the toothpaste before furiously stomping to the window to raise it for the younger brother to climb in. When he was halfway in, Sutton lost it and began beating him on the back.

“Stop.” Tate put his hand around her waist, moving her away from the window so Dustin could climb in without further attack. “At least give him a chance to defend himself.”

Sutton jerked away from Tate’s touch. “I’m getting sick of being scared to death by someone coming by to see you. The next one who scares me, I’m going to shoot first and ask questions later.” She jerked the gun away from him before he could react then reached for her clothes.

Juggling the items, she stormed from the bathroom, going into her bedroom and slamming the door shut with her foot. Barely dried off, she tugged on the crop pants and top then dragged a brush through her wet hair and put it up in a ponytail. Then she sat down on the side of the bed and stared at the shotgun she had ripped out of Tate’s hands, and her blood ran cold.

It was his rifle, the one he had said the killer had taken from him. The distinctive scratches on the barrel showing how many women he had lain with were visible. The scratches all seemed old. Either Tate had grown out of the arrogant habit, or he hadn’t had sex in a long time. Sutton didn’t have to wonder which it was; Cheryl had confessed they had slept together as recently as a couple of weeks ago. She guessed women he fucked more than once didn’t deserve a new notch.

The sound of the brothers going into the kitchen had her curious enough to open the door and follow after them.

“Jo told Greer she had no idea why he was out in the woods. Since he wrecked his truck, he caught rides with anyone he could when he wanted to go out. She didn’t know who he had caught a ride with the night of his murder. He called her three hours before he was killed to tell her he was headed to Rosie’s.”

The bar was just a mile up the road from her house.

“Maybe no one gave him a ride home, and he started walking to town,” Sutton surmised.

“Jo said she got a call from him an hour before he was killed, but she was towing a truck, so she missed his call.”

“He was walking home, and he came up on the killer, or the killer used the opportunity to kill him,” Sutton thought out loud before moving to stand beside the front door, Tate’s rifle held seemingly casually in her hand. Keeping both brothers in her line of sight, she lifted the butt of the rifle to her shoulder, pointing it at Tate.

“What the fuck!” Dustin took a step forward.

“Dustin, stop.” Tate jerked him to a halt.

“Listen to your brother,” Sutton warned.

“I’m going to take that shotgun away from you and smack that ass.” Tate now took a step forward.

“Try me. You told me the killer took your gun, so how did Dustin have it?” Sutton pumped the handle, the distinctive noise bringing Tate to a sudden stop.

“I have more than one gun. I don’t carry that one anymore,” he explained, his brown eyes snapping in fury.

His answer explained why the notch marks seemed old and faded. She lowered the weapon.

“Do you mark the barrel of that gun when you get laid by a different woman?”

His silence had her wanting to shoot him.

“I should have known.” Her eyes went to Dustin. “Do you have the same disgusting habit?”

Dustin’s silence betrayed his guilt, too.

“Wow. I see you raised your brother to be a jackass, too.”

“It started out as a joke—”

“Keeping track of the women you sleep with isn’t funny; it’s disgusting.”

Sutton shoved the gun at him before she changed her mind and shot him.

“Woman, have you lost your mind? You don’t handle a shotgun that way. You could have accidently shot one of us.”

“My pap taught me how to handle a gun.”

When both men’s eyes narrowed at her, she gave them a sinister smile.

Dustin returned it with a friendly grin. “I forgot how much I like you. You fucked up when you let her get away.” His eyes traveled down her body. “How do you feel about being with a younger man?”

Sutton made gagging noises.

Dustin’s grin slipped. “That wasn’t nice.”

“The only thing worse, in my opinion, than being with a younger man would be to be with a Porter.”

“What’s wrong with being with a Porter? You’re the one who lied and cheated on Tate. If you didn’t look so good naked before you wrapped up in that towel earlier, I wouldn’t even be interested.”

Sutton held her hand out to Tate. “Give me the gun.”

Tate took a step back, the gun held tightly in his hand. “Calm down. He’s joking.”

“No, I—”

“Shut up, Dustin, before I save Sutton the trouble.”

“I’m going.” He raised his hands up in surrender. “I left the bag of clothes I brought for you outside. Come to the bathroom, and I’ll give it to you.”

Tate nodded before following his brother back to the bedroom.

Sutton went into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of cereal. She was sitting at the table, eating, when Tate returned.

“You didn’t make me a bowl?”

“Why don’t you call one of your women to come and wait on you hand and foot?”

“A simple ‘no’ would have been good enough.”

Sutton watched as he made himself a bowl of cereal. He was pale and moved stiffly. His overpowering presence made him seem better than he actually was. When she saw him almost drop the gallon of milk, she stood up.

“Sit down. I’ll make it for you.” Her fingers accidently touched his when she took the milk from him.

“Thanks.” He sat down at the table as she finished making the cereal for him then set the bowl down in front of him.

“Do you need another pain pill?”

“I already took it when I was in the bathroom.”

Sutton nodded as she sat back down.

“How did you meet your husband?”