Trouble With the Law (23 page)

Terri Rhodes sure didn’t look like a woman who had given birth to a baby just a few weeks ago either.  Even though little Jayden was nearly half-grown when he was born, weighing in at a  whopping nine and a half pounds, she was already back in her pre-pregnancy clothes and looked fantastic.  Her pretty face looked worried to Ronnie though. 

She wondered if something had gone wrong with Trace. 
“Is Trace okay?”

“Trace woke up and
he asked for you.”

Allison Rooks wailed, and her knees buckled.  The cowgirl caught her before she crum
pled to the ground.  “He’s going to be fine, Allison,” Terri said walking to the edge of the porch.  “You need to calm down, or we’ll be treating you in here too.”

“He’s alive,” she said breathlessly.  “He can’t die now.”  Allison shook her head and her auburn hair danced at her shoulders.

“He’s not going to die, Mrs. Rooks,” Ronnie assured her walking to her side to take her other arm.  “He didn’t call you?  He said he was going to.”

“No, I thought he was d-dead
, until just a few minutes ago.”

“There’s a chair inside, let’s get you in there so you can sit down.”  Before you fall down,
Ronnie added mentally.  Trace should have called her.

Ronnie and the cowgirl led
Mrs. Rooks over to a chair and helped her sit down.  Trace moaned on the table as Jenny finished suturing his wound.  She stood up to wipe her forehead with the back of her arm.  “That should do it.”

“
Is he going to be okay, Jenny?” Allison asked in a strangled voice.

“He’s going to be fine.
  He’s a little weak from blood loss, and I’m sure he’s in pain, but the good news is, I don’t think his lung is punctured.  The pain was just affecting his breathing.”  Jenny’s eyes traveled to hers and Ronnie nodded.

“Thank, God!” Allison said and her body slumped in the chair.
  To Ronnie, Allison looked a whole lot less worried than she had a moment before, but then she sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes swung up to Ronnie.  “What the hell are you doing here?  Haven’t you done enough to him?  Is this your fault too ?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Trace heard high heels click across the tile floor, then his mother appeared at the table and took his hand.  “I’m mad at you too,” she said.  The relieved tears in her eyes contradicted her statement, but dammit, whatever the reason Trace didn’t want to see her crying.  He shut his eyes.  “I’m sorry for not calling you, Mama.” 

That had been on his list, but he hadn’t had time.
  He should have made time.

“They told me
they found your motorcycle crashed and you were probably dead.  Do you have any idea how that made me feel?” she said in that tone only a mother could take and make her son feel like shit.

“I know, and I’m sorry.  I was going to call you,” he said
, swallowing down the knot that formed in his throat. 

“But you didn’t,” she accused.  “I was actually making funeral arrangements, Trace
.  For when they found your body.”  Her voice rose an octave on each word.  Every word was like a nail driven into his heart.

“There’s no excuse
, Mama.”

“You’re da
rned right there’s not, and if you weren’t already dead, I’d kill you.”

Trace’s eyes flew open and latched onto hers. 
“I’d probably help you.”

“Why did you do that son?  Why did you want everyone to think you were dead?”

He huffed out a breath.  He might as well tell her the truth.  She would hear it soon anyway. 
If she hadn’t already.  “Because the way I left that ranch, if I didn’t do that the feds wouldn’t stop until they found me.  I shot an agent, beat another one up, and almost ran over two more.  And the man I worked for at that ranch is after me too, because I crossed him.  I had to do something.”

“And that was the best you could come up with?” Allison asked him narrowing her eyes.  “Faking your death?”

“At the time, yeah.  Ronnie was in danger and so was I,” he said.

“Why do you care what the hell happens to her?” his mother asked shortly.  “She helped send you to prison.”

“Well, she saved my life tonight.  And she’s trying to help me take Leland down now.  That’s not going to be an easy job,” Trace said.  “You know what he’s capable of.”

“You do too, but you were working for him,” she accused.

“Mom, I can’t tell you everything, but I was at that ranch for a reason.”

“No reason could justify you working there.  Working for him.”

“It was the only way I could get out of jail.  The feds made me an offer for an early release to help them, and I took it.”

“Why are you letting her help you?  How can you trust her?  She might be setting you up to send you right back there!”

Trace sighed and glanced at Ronnie who was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room looking worried.  He didn’t meet his mother’s eyes, because he couldn’t lie if he did that.  “I trust her, Mama.  Yeah, she unwittingly helped Leland put me in jail, but she’s trying to fix things.  Just give her a chance.  If things don’t work out, I’ll just hit the road.  But at least when I do, you’ll know I’m not dead this time.  I’m sorry for worrying you, but I can’t go back to jail.” 

He was surprised he said all that without choking on the words, and he almost sounded convincing to himself.  Yes, Ronnie had helped him tonight.  Yes, she appeared to be trying to help him take down his father, but he still didn’t trust her.  That would take some time.  But he was giving her a chance. 

That was saying something considering their history.

He felt someone move up behind him. 
“You are
not
going back to jail, Trace Rooks!  And you’re
not
taking off,” Ronnie said shortly laying a hand on his shoulder.

Terri walked up beside his mother and put her hand on her arm.  “I think ya’ll need to go outside and talk.  We’re going to keep an eye on him for a little while to make sure he’s stable.” 

Allison looked up and Trace knew she and Ronnie were having a stare off.  Trace huffed out a breath and closed his eyes, welcoming the fuzziness that the pain medication Jenny had given him brought.  A little rest would be a good thing for him right now.  Trace just hoped these two women didn’t kill each other while he was sleeping.

Two hours later
Trace woke up and although he felt a little better physically, he felt worse mentally.  Evidently the two women had recruited Terri Rhodes to get on his case too.  The petite woman was removing the IV from his arm.  “You know running isn’t going to solve your problem, Trace.  You’ll eventually run out of real estate.”

“Don’t
you start on me too,” he said tiredly.  He accidentally inhaled too sharply and a pain shot through his sternum.

“I’m just telling you like it is.  You need to let your mother and Ronnie help you.  Don’t be a stubborn ass, or a coward and just run off.  Your mother has been devastated,” Terri said with an edge to her tone
, as she placed a cotton ball in the crook of his arm and covered it with a Band-aid.

“Can I have something
else for pain?” he asked.  If she gave him more pain medicine, maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with them at all, or think about it.  Sometimes oblivion was a good thing, and drugs had their purpose.

“No, it will repress your breathing.  I’ll give you ibuprofen.”

Ibuprofen and a Band-aid?  That was the best they could do when a man got stabbed?  They’d probably break out blow-pops if he’d been shot.  “I need a shot for pain.  What you gave me is wearing off.”

“Well, you’re not getting
another one,” Terri said firmly.  “You can put on your big boy drawers and deal with it.  You’re not going to die.  I just gave birth to a ten pound baby.  Don’t think you’re gonna get any sympathy from me.  Be thankful he stuck it in your side instead of slicing your throat.”

“You’re a mean woman, Terri Rhodes.”

“The meanest.  Just ask my husband,” she said with a laugh.

Terri walked away to the cabinet, pulled down a bottle and shook out some pills, then poured a glass of water at the sink.  She walked back over to him.  “Sit up and take your medicine.”

Trace eased up to sit and held out his palm.  Terri dropped the pills there, and he took the water and downed them.  “Now, stick around and take your
medicine
,” she said as she took the cup from him.  “Ronnie is not going to let you go to jail.  She is the best damned attorney I’ve ever seen.”

“So, I’ve heard,” Trace grumped.  “Personally, I haven’t seen that side of her.  Did she tell you she is the reason I was in jail the first time?”

Terri’s head jerked back.  “No, she didn’t.”

“Yeah.  Ask her about it sometimes and maybe you’ll understand why I have no faith in her abilities.  Well, I have faith in her abilities, it’s her motivations that I question.”

“Well, I’m not getting in the middle of it.  But I know that if she wants to help you, Ronnie Winters won’t stop until she gets results.  And it’s obvious she wants to help you.”

“Thanks for patching me up,” Trace said
ending the conversation. 

He was weak, frustrated and in pain.  Now was not the time to get into this argument with Terri Rhodes or anyone else.  He was going back to that lodge and getting answers from those men they rounded up
.  Then he was going to find Ray Brown and end this situation so he could take care of himself.  He didn’t need help dong that.  Well, maybe he could use Dave Logan’s muscle.  “Can you get Dave Logan to help me get to the van?”

Terri sighed then nodded and walked out of the med shack.  Trace had no idea where Ronnie and his mother had gone, or Ethan and Jenny. 
He didn’t really care where they were, but Trace wanted to get out of here.  The sooner he got back to that lodge and got answers, the sooner he could find Ray Brown.  If that resulted in Leland being taken down, all the better.  If it didn’t, Trace was cutting his losses and moving on.

Dave walked through the doorway, and his body language gave away his frustration too.  “Come on, before those women drive me crazy,” he said as he stopped by the table.

“Ronnie and my mom?” Trace asked.

“No, those women at the lodge.  Caleb and Jamie have called me no less than ten times since they got to the lodge.  They can’t communicate
with them, and I told them not to take off their masks.  They have ten hysterical Latinas on their hands and three criminals who are doing everything they can to incite a riot there.  Caleb said it’s a zoo.”

“I’m sorry.  I should have just left well enough alone, I guess,” Trace said with a grunt as pain sliced through his side when Dave lifted his arm to put it over his shoulder.

“Nah, we needed to rescue them.  But we need to get rid of them, before we all wind up in a tortilla.  I hear Jamie had to stop one of them when she slipped her wrist out of the cuff and tried to sneak into the knife drawer in the kitchen.”

Trace laughed and hissed when it rumbled through his chest.  “Don’t make me laugh, man.”

“Your mother and Ronnie made you a cot in the back of the van,” Dave informed as he slowly led him across the room to the door.  “I’m sure they’ll have a robe and slippers for you back there too.”

Laughter rumbled in his throat, but he fought it.  “Dammit, Logan.”

“Sorry, I find it funny.  You get a paper cut and they want to wrap you in swaddling and nurse you.”

“A paper cut huh?” Trace hissed as they made it to the steps and he hesitated to catch his breath.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten worse buttering my toast,” Dave said smugly.

Trace looked up and saw his mother, Terri and Ronnie at the back of the van with their hands on their hips staring at him. 
They did look like a pack of mother hens.  He groaned, but not from pain.  Dave wasn’t kidding about them coddling him evidently. 

“You’re just jealous,”
Trace said with a short laugh that cost him a shot of pain in the ribs.  “Maybe you should let me work you over, so you can get some of it.”

Dave snorted.  “No thank you.”

He led Trace to the back of the van and the women stepped aside.  Sitting on the back ledge he scooted inside and laid down on the pillow that was propped against the back of the seat.  To his surprise, before they closed the doors, Ronnie hopped inside.

“You can sit up front, Red.  I don’t need you back here,” Trace said, holding his side as he readjusted his position to get more comfortable.  He wanted to sleep on this ride, not argue with Ronnie Winters.  From the look in her eyes, he could see that is what she was winding up for.  An argument.

“Nope, I’m right where I need to be.  You just lay back and shut up.”

Trace heard the
front doors of the van open and shut, before the engine roared to life and the van jerked as it started forward. 

“Hey, Logan,” he said breathlessly
as he lifted up on his elbows to absorb the jarring impact.  “Take it easy, man.”

“Stop being a puss, Rooks,” he volleyed
with a grunt.  “Roads are rough, and you have a nursemaid back there.”

Ronnie put her hand in the center of his chest and shoved him back flat.  “Don’t move around,
or you’re going to open up your stitches.”

“Stop mothering me, Red,” Trace said with a grunt.

“Stop being a terrible patient.” 

Trace knew she was right, he was being a baby.  His side hurt some, but he wasn’t dead.  He should be thankful.  But if he was being a terrible patient, she was being a worse caregiver hovering over him like she was.  If he had to put up with that the entire ride, he was going to go nuts. 
Trace laid his arm to the side.  “Lay down,” he invited gruffly.  “Maybe you’ll fall asleep and not give me hell the whole way back to the lodge.”

Ronnie’s eyes met his the
n traveled along his arm to his hand, before he gaze swung back to his.  She eased down beside him and laid her head on his shoulder, then the Shark Lady cuddled into his side, and put her hand over his heart.  Trace tightened his arm around her and she whispered into his shoulder, “I’m glad you didn’t die.”

He was glad when he heard her soft even breaths follow
the statement, because Trace didn’t know what to say to that.  Or what he was going to do with the softer side of Ronnie Winters.  He kissed the top of her hair and closed his eyes.  Right now he needed rest.  The nice soft bed the women had made for him, Ronnie’s softer body snuggled against his side, and the strange sense of peace that settled inside of him holding her made it impossible for him not to fall asleep too.

Cool air rushed into the van as the back doors were opened wide.  Trace’s eyes adjusted to the bright light which followed, and he saw his mother standing beside Dave Logan in the doorway.  His brain kicked into gear, and he realized two things.  They were back at the lodge, and his mother was with them!  “Mama, what the hell are you doing here?!?”

“I’m helping Ronnie Winters help you,” she said evenly. 

Ronnie sat up beside him, then scooted to the edge of the van and crawled out.  Trace sat up and carefully scooted to the door.  Dave took his arm and put it over his shoulder.  Ronnie
stood beside his mother.  Both women had their arms crossed over their chests and wore similar stubborn expressions.  The two former foes back at the ranch had banded together, and Trace knew that didn’t bode well for him.