Whisper In The Dark (The McKinnon Legends-- The American Men Book One) (20 page)

Robert did not even bother to hide his disgust with his younger brother’s tactics. “Such finesse, Chase. It is a wonder you ever have a woman.”

“Well, I do.” Chase was quick to point out. “And they are lined up out the door. You know why? It is because I don’t care about anything except giving them pleasure and seeing to their every need in the moment. That moment is all I offer, and I put everything I have into that instant with that one woman. I do not offer false hope of a future together and I have no qualms about walking away, but when I do walk I leave them in no doubt that they had my full and undivided attention. You, on the other hand, have divided your intentions. So can you blame her for being skittish?”

He looked at his brother with newfound respect.

“No. I guess not given her past experiences,” Robert said with a sigh.

“You know how to break a horse, Robert. The stubborn ones you don’t finesse. Just grab her by the bridle and hold on tight until she quits bucking.”

Robert’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said turning to see who was there.

George poked his head into the study.

“Sorry to interrupt. Couldn’t help overhearing that last part.”

“I’m sorry, George, Chase can be a little unorthodox and let’s just leave it at that. I have the utmost respect for Kate.”

“I’m sure you do, boy.” The old man looked grim.

“And I have no intention of following Cave Man’s advice.” He inclined his head in Chase’s direction.

George paused before answering.

“Maybe you should. He’s right, you know. Sometimes you have to be assertive with the stubborn ones.”

“Guys, enough with the advice on how to manage my woman. I have no intention of manhandling her.”

George sighed. “All right. Obviously Chase’s Plan A did not move you into action. Maybe Plan B will.” George looked over at Chase and back to Robert.

“Plan B?” Robert did not like the feeling in the pit of his stomach knowing he was not going to like Plan B at all.

George was grim as he looked at the two younger men. “Brice picked Kate up a few minutes ago. They headed toward town.”

“And you just now waited to tell me?” Robert went straight for his cell phone. Hitting the speed dial, he hoped she had taken the new phone he purchased for her. It went straight to voice mail.

“Damn it!” Robert was frantic.

He still did not trust Brice even if he knew he would not kill her. Kate was too powerful a tool for him to eliminate. That did not mean he would not hurt her or worse, seduce her. Dialing the sheriff, he warned him Kate was with Brice and asked for assistance.

“Did she go willingly?” Maxi asked.

“George, did she go willingly? Sheriff Maxwell needs to know,” Robert asked George and knew the answer even before he responded.

George nodded in the affirmative.

“Yes, Maxi, she did, but that doesn’t mean anything with her. Right now she is still in shock over the loss of the house.” Robert hoped his reasons were enough to sway the sheriff.

He did not want to add he had fought with her just an hour earlier and because of it she may have gone with Brice just to twist him up inside. If that was her goal, mission accomplished. He felt like he had a rope twisted around his insides slowly tightening the noose.

“I’ll have my officers look out,” Sheriff Maxwell relented but with stipulation. “I will not stop him, Robert. I have no legal reason if she went voluntarily. However, I will have him followed, let you know if we find him, and you can go get her just as long as you promise not to do anything rash.”

“Thank you, sir.” He breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Do I have that promise, son?” Maxi was not about to hang up without extracting his word that he would be a good boy once he caught up with Langston.

Robert promised with total self understanding and certainty that if Brice harmed one hair on Kate’s head, he was going to need a throng of lawyers to bail him out of some serious shit because he would jump so far down Langston’s throat Brice would find his tongue hanging out of his ass.

Chase had his moments, this being one, Robert acknowledged. Maybe he did need to stake his claim and sort it out later.

Robert fired off his command. “Chase, make the call to the hangar and get the plane ready.”

“Hot damn! And the flight plan?” Chase could feel this was going to be good. He really needed a good rush of adrenaline to spice things up a bit. It had been too long.

“I’ll let you know just before we leave.” Robert would commit no more than that for the time.

Kate did not have a passport or travel visa, so taking her out of the country was out of the question. However, he could get her out of the state. Who would think to look for them in Reno or Tahoe? He would fly them to Carson City and drive to the lake, but he was not divulging that information to anyone. Not even Chase.

Robert dialed his phone hoping to catch Brice. If he could get a triangulation on his cell, he could help narrow the search grid for the sheriff’s deputies.

“This is Brice.”

Robert felt his teeth set on edge the moment he heard Brice’s voice.

“Bring her home, Langston. I’ll not ask again.” Robert fought for control pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Well, good evening to you, too, and no, Kate is mine for the evening,” Brice said in false confidence beginning to doubt his plans for Kate’s evening out.

Robert wanted to crawl through the phone and kill Brice. Kate did not belong to Brice for the evening or any other way.

Kate was his. She just did not know it yet.

“May I please speak to her?” Robert’s voice was much more civil than he was actually feeling. The man was a schmuck, and there was no way he was going to let him try and seriously date her. He wanted nothing more than to get Kate home safe and drive Brice’s porcelain veneers right down his arrogant throat.

Brice handed the phone to her, returning his attention to the roadway. Why not let Robert talk to her? He had asked her out for a drink and she had accepted. He was not taking her by force, therefore had nothing to hide, at least not yet, anyway.

“Hello?” Kate had no idea who was on the other end, but had her suspicions.

“Kate, please have him bring you back. He might not be a danger to you, in the physical sense, but he cannot protect you against those who would be in a position to harm you.”

“Robert, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, but we are just going into town for a drink. I won’t be long. I promise.” She was not sure why she suddenly felt guilty for leaving as she did even if she felt justified at the moment she had said yes to Brice.

“Kate, just listen to me for a half a minute. All it takes is the blink of an eye for things to get out of hand and end up way south. And if that were not reason enough, you have just come out of a horrific experience and should be resting.”

“I had to get out of there, and you were locked away in your study with Chase arguing about Candice.”

Robert shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose again. Damn, that was not the conversation he really wanted her to overhear. He wondered what she was thinking, and he tried to recall what he had said.

Besides, she thought, he never would have let her leave and it raked her nerves to ask permission like some underage teenager with a curfew. The only way a person would know she was out of Robert’s cocoon of security was if they were watching the house. Given there were acres between the house and the highway and dozens of men now on the perimeter of the house, she felt relatively secure in the fact she was safe for at least a little while.

“Kate, just because you may be at risk does not mean you have to be holed up in the house like you are under house arrest. If you feel the need to get out, I can take you anywhere you would like to go. I just have to have a little time to prepare, that’s all. Please, Baby, just get him to bring you back. Will you do that?”

“Here’s Brice.” She ignored his request handing the phone back to Brice who could not help but gloat.

“You worry, too much, Robert. I did not force Kate to say yes. I did not have to.”

Robert looked over at Chase. The thumbs up sign indicating they had found Brice’s cell signal was all he had been waiting for to put his plan into motion. He silently took his index finger and circled it as the indication to round up the boys. It was time Reese and Chase earned some of the money he was paying them.

“Touch her and you will discover that I can sometimes be as rash as Chase.” Robert felt his blood go still and cold in his veins. It was a pure McKinnon warrior reaction. With them it was the same before any battle. It had always been so. It would always be.

“No need for all the posturing, Robbie. It is just a drink not anything meaningful.” Brice rubbed the salt in the open wound. He had something Robert wanted.

“Damn right it is just a drink. Get where you are going, stay in open public spaces away from the street, and I’ll meet you there to bring her back,” Robert commanded leaving no room for a prudent man to argue. He just hoped Brice was a prudent man. Robert had his doubts.

Robert heard Brice ask Kate if she wanted her security detail to come get her.

“The lady says no thank you for the offer. Good bye, Robert.”

Kate sat in silence for a moment after Brice hung up the phone. It had been a while since she had been in Texas, but she was relatively sure Fort Worth was still north on I-35 and to her knowledge no one had picked the city up and moved it to the east. They were now heading east on I-20 toward Arlington.

“Brice, where are we going?” she asked more than a little alarmed. The hair was standing up on her arms.

“To my place,” he replied just a little too casually.

She could tell he was lying from his body language; he rubbed his ear and would not meet her eyes even for a split second. Driving had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

“I do not want to go to your house. That was not what we talked about doing. I did not agree to that. I agreed to a drink, at a restaurant, in public. I need to let Robert know where I am.”

“Relax, Katherine. I’m not kidnapping you. I just figured you needed peace and quiet. We can sit out by the pool and watch the moon rise, maybe take a swim if you want. The pool is heated and I have several new swimsuits for unexpected guests. However, go ahead and call him if it makes you feel better.” Brice figured why not set her at ease. It would make things easier for both of them.

Kate reached into her lightweight sweater. Finding the phone Robert handed to her right after supper, she turned it on having turned it off after Brice picked her up. She knew Robert would be calling. She did not want or need the lecture. Yet, he was a very resourceful man managing to track her down anyway in spite of her plan. He had not sounded angry, only worried which surprised her that he had not gone on a rampage. She was still in the driver’s seat on this date owing Robert at least the courtesy of the call. He had been thoughtful enough to place his number first on speed dial.

She figured she would give Brice the benefit of the doubt and take him up on his suggestion. A swim would be nice and it looked as if his intentions were aboveboard. She would go along until she felt differently.

Dialing she heard Robert answer, and briefly she explained they were going to Brice’s condo for a swim.

“Kate, this is extremely important. Now is not the time for us to pull in separate directions. You are not as safe as you might think, so please, do not buck me. Ok?”

“Fine, whatever,” she sighed.

“Do not look over at Brice, act natural, and do exactly as I say. Do you understand what I’m asking?”

“Sure. I know why you asked me to come back and I can see your point of view.” She carried on the conversation casually, looking out the window at the passing traffic. She did not have to be a rocket scientist to hear and figure out she had walked into a trap.

“Did he specifically say he was going to his house?” Robert asked as he merged into the traffic heading east on I-20 gunning the van that was just barely street-legal.

“Yeah, that was my understanding,” she said trying not to stiffen.

“Just act normal. He lives out west of town in Benbrook now and you are heading east, correct?”

“I know you are right, Robert. I can be stubborn.”

Robert knew that was her way of saying she was sorry for falling into this trap, if that indeed was what this was. He was following his gut instincts, which usually were dead on target. And they were telling him Kate was in some kind of difficulty.

“I’m not far behind, maybe five or six miles at the most. If you can casually look out the side view mirror, can you see the gray sedan behind you?”

“Well, depending on traffic it is going to be about eight o’clock.”

“Ok, Kate, just so I’m clear. Are you saying that it is behind you and on the left side? What, a couple of car lengths back?”

“Ok, so again you are making perfect sense. No need for the lecture.” She tried to carry on as if things were normal. She was not sure she was successful. She felt her palms began to sweat.

“The gray car is one of mine. Once Brice stops the car, if I’m not already there, whatever you do, get to that car as fast as you can. Understand?”

“Thanks, Robert. I’ll call you before we start to leave Brice’s place to come back to your house. Will that be a good compromise?”

“Hang tight, Baby. I’m on my way.”

She heard the the van's Hemi engine kick in through the cell phone.

“See you soon?” She hoped the question did not sound in her voice. She was getting scared. Personal security was Robert’s livelihood. If he felt she was in trouble, she guessed she probably really was, and all standing between Brice and her life was the mysterious gray sedan.

Brice exited off the interstate, and they were now entering a plush neighborhood filled with gated mansions lining the immaculately clean, tree-lined street.

“Nice digs.” She undid her seat belt hoping he had not heard the click of the release above her voice. “Real estate development must be doing well these days,” she commented casually hoping he would not be tipped off to the fact she knew this was not his home.