Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right [The Chisholms of Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (21 page)

“I love you, Dillon. I’ll take you any way I can get you. Here. Vegas. It makes no difference to me just so long as you’re legally mine after the ceremony.” She saw his eyes light up and was glad she’d taken the time to make her views clear on the subject.

“We can talk more about this later. We’d better get dressed and get over to my parents’ house,” he said as he slapped her lightly on her ass through her towel and headed into the bedroom. With one last sigh, she followed him.

Christmas at the Chisholms’ was loud and raucous. Cassie and Alex Chisholm hosted the event for both sides of their extended families. Between their own eight kids, spouses, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and cousins, there were more than thirty people at the table.

Taylor’s brothers and sister, all attending college in Austin, joined them as well. Both their parents were dead. Their mother died of breast cancer when Taylor was eleven and her father died nearly ten years ago. The siblings’ home life was not good. Deacon Roberts had been an alcoholic abuser and few mourned his passing. However, he died when Taylor’s siblings were all underage, leaving Taylor to step in as guardian. When her father died, Taylor, despite having a lucrative and rewarding job in Washington, D.C., left it all to come home and care for her three siblings. All of them were now on the path to rewarding careers, and Taylor could relax and just be Levi’s wife and a mother to her newborn. Little Hunter had more devoted aunts and uncles than he could count on his pudgy little fingers.

Dillon and Abby got to the big house a little earlier than the rest of the family to tell his parents about their engagement. Cassie squealed in delight and gave them each a big hug and a kiss. Alex gave Abby a kiss on the cheek and hugged Dillon, telling him he had chosen well. Hugs and kisses were repeated each time someone new arrived and heard of the engagement. They were also celebrating Samantha’s and Ryan’s first wedding anniversary, which had been the day before, and Abby’s birthday. The day took on an even more festive air.

After dinner, while the men were cleaning up in the kitchen, the women began to grill Abby about a date for the wedding. Abby took their suggestions for a quick wedding in stride and told them honestly that she and Dillon hadn’t really talked about the date yet. They would choose a date after the house was finished and they were settled. Cassie asked Abby if she and Dillon would get an engagement portrait taken. After what had happened the last time she had talked one of her future daughters-in-law into doing an engagement picture, she only asked Abby to consider it and didn’t push.

When the men came in from cleaning the kitchen, Dillon moved directly to her and sat with her on one of the love seats. Grampa Lex started handing out the presents under the tree. He made sure everyone had a present then allowed them to open them all at the same time. He then handed out the next present. This went on for nearly two hours.

In addition to the engagement ring, Dillon got her a pair of leather motorcycle boots and gloves and the full line of products from Bath Boutique in the peach scent she loved so much. He also bought her a new saddle so she had her own whenever they wanted to go horseback riding. They went riding at least once a week. Dillon loved riding over the land as his ancestors had done and Abby enjoyed sharing that precious time with him.

Abby thought Dillon went overboard with the gifts and was a little shy about Dillon opening the presents she got for him. She purchased a new, hand-tooled bridle, as she noticed his was a little worn, and a pair of handmade leather gloves he could wear on the rare occasions it got cold enough in southern Texas. She’d gotten both items at the Western store in Deseo. She also found Dillon a sturdy watch that he could use while on the job. It was waterproof with a strong steel casing. Dillon made a big deal out of her presents and thanked her effusively.

Abby and the rest of the women had a blast talking in the living room while the men cleaned up the kitchen and dining room. The other women already knew about Abby’s stalker. Before Abby moved in with Dillon at the Ranch, Abby thought it was important to warn them about her stalker.

“Abby, have you heard anything more from the stalker?” asked Taylor. Immediately, all the women’s attention was on Abby.

“No, thank God. Moving out here to the Ranch seems to have made him back off. I still get nervous, though. I don’t want him to try something out here at the Ranch and have one of you get in the line of fire accidentally.”

“Don’t worry about us, Abby. We can take care of ourselves and we have big, strong men to protect us,” said Jordan as she patted Abby on the knee.

“Jordan’s right, Abby. Just make sure to keep yourself safe. We’re all taking extra precautions so you don’t need to worry about us. We’re just so worried about you. Promise you’re taking every precaution you can,” chimed in Samantha.

Abby was so moved by this display of concern from these women that a tear escaped down her cheek. She’d never had such good friends and now they would be her family as well. How did she get to be so lucky?

She especially got along with Jessie and Taylor. She wanted to share her concerns regarding a possible pregnancy with the two women but had not gotten a chance to be alone with either woman for several weeks. Someone else was always around. She would call Taylor tonight and get her advice. Taylor had been a daughter-in-law with the Chisholms longer than any of the others.

* * * *

Abby and Dillon went back to the house with enough leftovers to last nearly a week along with enough presents that it took Dillon three trips to bring them all in. When Dillon came in with the last load of presents, he noticed Abby was standing by the door with a letter in her hands. Her body posture was all wrong and she was shaking.

“What’s wrong, Abby?” he asked as he went to her and tried to take her in his arms. She held him off and then pressed the piece of paper into his hands. He took the paper with a sense of dread. He already knew what it was. The stalker had evidently dropped off a little something for Abby while they were out of the house. Furious, he tamped down his reaction while he read the letter.

Abby,

I love you and I know you love me, too. I’m sorry about your apartment. I just got so angry with you for moving in with Chisholm.

I know he’s forcing you to do these things. Threatening to fire you if you don’t go along with him. You don’t need him, Abby. I can take care of you. If you can’t get away, let me know and I’ll take care of him. I’ll do anything for you. I’ll be waiting.

Dillon’s phone was in his hand and he was dialing Rio’s number before he finished reading the note. When Rio answered, Dillon told him about the note and asked him to call Sheriff Decker. He put the note down on the table and carefully took the envelope from Abby’s hands. He wanted to preserve any evidence they could. Abby still stood as still as a statue next to the closed door.

“Where was it, baby? Where did you find the envelope?” He took her into his arms and rocked her gently. She didn’t answer and he gave her a little shake trying to dispel the faraway look in her eyes.

“Abby, where did you find the note?” he asked a little more urgently, trying to bring her mind back to the present. It must have worked, because she relaxed into his arms and wound her arms around his waist, snuggling into his body. He could feel her shivering.

“It was sticking out from under the welcome mat. I saw it there when I came in and I just picked it up and opened it. Shit. I didn’t think about fingerprints or anything. I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes.” They both heard a truck turn into the driveway. Rio had gotten here quickly. Dillon kept one arm wrapped around Abby and opened up the front door with the other, letting Rio inside the house.

“Where is it?” Rio immediately asked. “How is she?”

“It’s on the table. She’s shaken up but she’ll be okay.” At least Dillon hoped she would be okay. “It was wedged under the welcome mat outside.”

“That’s something, at least,” Rio responded as he headed for the table where he read the note without touching it.

“What do you mean? This bastard left something for her at our home, Rio.” Dillon was nearly yelling with frustration.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Dillon. Christ. All I’m saying is that at least we know he couldn’t get in the house. If he could have gotten inside, he’d have left the note inside instead of leaving it where he did. At least we know our security measures held up.”

“Did you call the sheriff?” Abby asked haltingly as she came out of her stupor.
He couldn’t get in. They were safe. He couldn’t get in the house.

“Yeah, he should be here in a few minutes. I’m going to walk around the perimeter and see if I can see any place this sick bastard might have tried to get into the house.” As he walked out the front door, he was pulling his gun from his shoulder holster. “Wait here for the sheriff.”

“I’m going to make some coffee.”

Dillon was glad she’d found something to occupy her mind and keep her hands busy. He knew her mind must be going a million miles a minute and her hands were shaking like leaves on a tree right now. He watched her closely as she went to the cupboard where they kept the coffee and measured coffee into the coffeepot, added water, and turned it on. By the time she was getting cups down for everyone, Sheriff Decker had shown up and Dillon filled him in on what had happened and what Rio was doing. Decker went outside to check the perimeter just as Rio was returning.

“Ground is too hard to get much, but there were vague footprints under most of the windows. He could have been checking for a security system and saw the infrared sensors at the windows. Doesn’t look like he attempted to break in anywhere.”

“Come have some coffee,” Abby told Rio. “It’s cold out there today.”

The sheriff had returned as Abby handed a cup of coffee to Rio. “I’ll take a cup of that, too, if you don’t mind. Well, Rio. I’m sure we both saw the same thing out there, so while I have to say it looks like he’s growing bolder—coming up to the house and all—it doesn’t look like he wants to let anyone know he’s here by setting off the alarms. The wording on the note is interesting. He seems to think Dillon is forcing Abby into a sexual relationship by dangling her job over her head.”

“I have a headache. I’m going to lie down for a little while. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“I’ll be in to check on you in a little while, baby.” He was glad she was going to be out of earshot for a while. He had something to say. When he heard the door to the bedroom shut, he turned to Rio.

“I want to know if Jaime Hernandez passed through security today.” Dillon knew his statement came out of the blue, but he felt down deep in his gut that Jaime Hernandez was the stalker. He knew it. Now he just had to prove it. He heard Rio on the phone to the front gate telling them he wanted a list of all persons let onto the Ranch today.

“If Hernandez came on the Ranch today, would that and the note be enough to get a search warrant for his place in town?” Dillon directed his question to the sheriff.

“Probably not, Dillon,” said Decker apologetically.

“What about if we had a writing sample of his and compared it to the note and they were a match? What then?” Dillon was thinking out loud, wanting something—anything—to stick.

“Well, if we could place him on the Ranch when the note was left, and the expert thought the two writing samples were from the same person, I believe I could get Judge Masterson to write a search warrant for Hernandez’s home and vehicle.”

Dillon took out his phone and punched in Xander’s phone number. It was Christmas and a Friday. There wouldn’t be anyone at the CRE offices until Monday morning. He couldn’t wait that long. He knew his brother would agree once he learned what had happened. When Xander picked up, Dillon quickly went through what had happened since they had gotten home. Xander promised to go to the office right away and find Hernandez’s employment application and bring it to Dillon’s house.

Twenty-five minutes later, Xander arrived and handed over the application to the sheriff, who took it in to the kitchen table so he could sit down and compare the writing. Xander stayed to support Dillon and find out if one of his employees was a stalker.

“My opinion won’t be enough to get the warrant. I’m not an expert, even though I’ve gotten some pointers from one. But I should be able to rule him out based on my comparison at the very least.” Decker grabbed the note that was now in an evidence baggie and placed it next to the employment application on the table before him. He pointed to several letters on the note and then found the same letter on the application, comparing them in his head. He studied the two documents for at least five minutes before he pushed them both away from him on the table.

Looking up at the other men, he told them, “I can’t rule him out. The way the individual letters are written on both the note and the employment application is too similar. If I was the expert, I’d say the same person wrote both. I’ll take both and fax them to my expert today. He may want to come down on Monday and take a look at them in person. He lives in Corpus Christi, so we should know something by end of day Monday. That’s assuming he isn’t away for the holidays somewhere.”

Dillon had grown more and more calm as the sheriff told them his opinion of the origin of the note. He’d known it was that little prick. He was going to hunt the asshole down and beat the shit out of him.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Dillon. I’d hate to have to arrest you just when Abby is going to need you. You can’t do anything with this knowledge right now. Remember. I’m not a handwriting expert. Keep your shit together and let me handle this. You’re not going to do Abby any good hanging out in a jail cell next to Hernandez. Let’s wait to hear from my guy, then we do this the right way. By the book. We don’t want this guy to skate by on a technicality like you beating a confession out of him. Based on what he’s done so far, he won’t get much jail time even if he’s convicted. He hasn’t hurt Abby physically. We’ve got property damage and vague threats. That’s it. Let’s make sure he gets the maximum penalty for the stuff he has done and not screw with it so you can feel all caveman-like.”