Asking For Trouble (46 page)

The alarm was still blaring, and it masked
the sounds of him getting off of the roof, so he was thankful for
it. His truck was parked on the other side of the house, so he
snuck around the front of the house quietly, then ducked beneath
the front windows and darted back into the darkness on the other
side, holding his breath, hoping whoever was inside hadn't seen his
shadow in the bright porch light.

Sharp rocks poked the soles of his feet as
he made his way across the gravel driveway to his truck. He hadn't
thought to put his boots back on, another bonehead move, he thought
and gently lifted the handle on the door. Beau felt around in the
darkness and found his holster, and removed his weapon, then fished
under the seat until he felt his extra clip. He took both and
quietly closed the door, then slipped the clip into his pocket and
flicked off the safety on his gun.

Easing around the front of his truck, Beau
took off running for the right side of the house, where it was
pitch black, and he felt sure he could hide better. He saw where
the intruder her gotten in at about halfway down the wall, the
kitchen window was open. That fact also verified that it was indeed
a human, and not an animal that had tripped that alarm, and Beau
went on full alert.

Beau didn't know if any of the doors were
open, or not, so he had to go in the same way the intruder had. He
shoved his gun in the back of his jeans, and then hoisted himself
up on the window sill, then stifled a curse when he banged his head
on the bottom of the raised window. He rubbed the spot, then swung
his legs over into the sink and ducked to bring the rest of his
body inside. He quickly saw what the crash had been, her china
cabinet was laying on its face over to the left by the dining room,
and in the light above the stove, he saw shards of glass and broken
dishes littering the floor.

He slid down off of the counter and pulled
his gun out, then swept the rest of the room with his eyes, before
he walked quietly toward the doorway, with his gun ready, carefully
avoiding the shards of glass, or trying to. A couple he was sure
had drawn blood, because he'd felt the sharp pricks and his feet
were slick on the tile floor. But he was so focused on finding
whoever was in the house, before they got to Jazzie that was the
least of his worries.

Crouching when he got to the door, he swung
around the door facing and scanned the dim room with his eyes. When
he was sure the intruder wasn't in the living room, he raised back
up and walked further inside. Adrenaline caused his heart to pound
inside of his chest and it honed his senses to fine points, as he
searched for their visitor. He worked his way through the room,
then scanned the dining room, and didn't see anything. Next, he
moved down the hall and checked the bathroom and ground floor
bedroom. Working his way back down the hall, with his back to the
wall, Beau finally made it to the stairwell and swallowed down the
fear that the guy had gotten inside the bedroom where Jazzie was
hiding. One by one, he took the steps with his back to the wall,
focusing intently on the landing at the top.

If the guy was up here, he'd have him
cornered, Beau thought, and glanced over the top of the landing
down the hall, before stepping up there. The hall was empty, and
Beau's brows slammed together in confusion. All three doors in the
hallway were shut, and there was no sign of the prowler. Beau made
his way down the hall, and stopped at the first door, then put his
hand on the knob, and in one motion, flung the door open then swept
it with his gun and eyes. He did the same with the second door.

The windows in both bedrooms were closed,
and there wasn't anyone in there, unless they were hiding in the
closet, which he wasn't going to stop and check right now. He had a
bad feeling that he'd find the interloper behind door number three
at the end of the hall. The room where Jazzie was hiding...or had
been hiding. He heard the door knob rattle, and ducked inside the
second bedroom, with his back against the opened door.

He held his breath, when he heard the third
bedroom door open, then a male voice said, "Move...or I'll blow
your brains out."

Jazzie's whimper made his heart squeeze, but
he ignored it, and focused on the job at hand. Getting her away
from whoever had her.

"Why are you doing this? They're all in
jail..." she asked in a trembling voice.

"Because they're going to kill me if I don't
fix this situation...it's you and your brothers or me, and I choose
to live," he told her gruffly then evidently shoved her, because he
heard a thud against the wall. "Now move your ass!" he shouted.

Beau's hand tightened on the grip of his
pistol and he ground his teeth, waiting impatiently for them to
pass the door. He eased behind the door, so they wouldn't see him,
and peered through the crack, trying to take slow steady breaths to
calm his rampaging heart. Once they were beyond the door and headed
toward the landing, he stepped from behind the door and quickly
peeked out into the hall. Jazzie went down the stairs first, with
Hanson behind her.

Beau recognized him as Susan's second in
command, the man who had joined with the consortium, and double
crossed them on the mission at the warehouse. The same guy they'd
had in custody, but who had escaped when he and Susan had gone to
rescue Jazzie and Cole. Evidently the consortium blamed Hanson for
their present situation, since Glen Baker was dead and they
couldn't blame him. If he thought taking out the Ramos's was gonna
solve the problem for the consortium members, he was wrong. They
were nailed dead to rights, and there wasn't any wiggle room,
regardless of whether Frankie testified or not.

"I don't know where they are," Jazzie said
loudly, evidently talking about her brothers, and trying to talk
loudly enough to alert him where she was.

She hadn't seen him, so she didn't know he
was behind them. Beau had worked his way to the top of the landing,
and was standing there waiting for the opportunity to take out
Hanson. His gun was aimed at the man's head, but Jazzie was beside
him, and the guy's gun was pressed to the back of her head. The
front door burst open, and Cole and Gabe stood there with their
weapons drawn. Jazzie stumbled, then fell to her knees, and Beau
took the shot and hit Hanson in the back of his head. The man
slumped, then fell on top of her, pinning her to the floor and
Jazzie screamed and screamed. Cole and Gabe ran toward her, but
Beau skated down the stairs and got there first.

He pulled the man off of her, then picked
her up and hugged her to him. "Shhh, it's okay, baby..."

She sobbed into his chest and wrapped her
arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "Oh, god, Beau, I
thought..." she wailed, and her tears streaked down his skin. He
held her head to him and kissed her hair. "It's over, honey...it's
over," he cooed soothingly, and rubbed her hair.

"Nice shot, bro," Gabe said and nudged
Hanson's obviously dead body with the toe of his boot, then he
holstered his weapon. I'm going call the coroner," he told Cole and
he nodded.

"How the hell did you guys know something
was up?" Beau asked in confusion.

"The alarm is hooked up to the new computer
system at the office, and the land lines. When nobody answered the
phone, we knew there was trouble. The duty officer called me, since
it was Jazzie's address. I'd put them on notice when she moved in
here."

"I'm just damned glad she has that system,
or we might both be dead," Beau said without thinking and flinched
when Jazzie sobbed and emitted another low pitched wail.

"We're okay...just settle down, sugar." Beau
shoved his gun in the back waistband of his jeans, then pulled her
to his chest. "Everything is fine now."

"I need to check on the kids," she said
shakily, then pulled back to look up at him with worried chocolate
brown eyes. "I need to make sure he didn't find them," she said
frantically.

"You have the phone numbers where they are?"
he asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm going to call...it's late, but
I'm sure they'll understand," she said and took off for the
kitchen.

"Wait baby, there's glass all over the floor
in there," he yelled behind her and ran and grabbed her up in his
arms, then walked to the kitchen, gingerly picking his way across
the floor. He sat her down on the counter, and handed her the
phone.

"Thanks," she told him with a soft smile,
her watery red-rimmed eyes filled with love. Picking up a yellow
pad from the counter, she dialed the first number. After she'd
called both sets of parents, she huffed out a relieved breath, then
her body started trembling violently.

"They're fine," she chattered and Beau
stepped forward and pulled her against him.

"That's good, sugar...everything's fine now,
see..." he told her, but he knew it wasn't really, because there
was no way in hell he was leaving her and the kids out here alone
again, and his life was in Lubbock. Beau had some decisions to
make, and quickly...major decisions that would change his life
forever. The decision was one he swore he'd never make again, after
Jenny, but one that this soft woman in his arms, who had taught him
what love was all about, had convinced him was the only one he
could make.

Beau didn't really have a choice, he was
head over heels in love with her, and his life would mean nothing
if he couldn't spend it with Jazzie Ramos and the two children
she'd fallen in love with. He would love them too, do his damndest
to be a good father to them.

If she'd have him, Beau would spend every
minute of every day dedicated to making them happy, to create a
loving home for their motley crew. Not something he was familiar
with, but he was determined to learn. He was scared, terrified
actually, that he'd fuck this up, but he was also determined to do
his best to get it right. Failure was not an option.

***

Jazzie was so nervous her stomach was a
cauldron of acid, as she straightened bow ties of the three boys
she'd chosen to play with Lucy for the mini-recital tonight in
front of potential donors at the fundraising dinner and concert.
Instead of just a benefit concert, they'd decided to make it formal
dinner with a 'County Come to Town' theme, which included classical
sets, which she would participate in with a trio from the Dallas
Symphony Orchestra, as well as sets by Jess's band, which she was
also playing in, and then Glory Shine would finish the show with a
set.

They'd pulled it all together in a month,
which was a minor miracle.

At two-thousand dollars a head, the amount
of people in attendance alone would fund them for a year or more.
That had been Beau's idea, and she'd balked, but he insisted that
his mother's friends could afford it, and he told her that was the
level of donors she needed to attract for the foundation. He'd been
right, and she was thankful that he knew the societal ropes that
she would have hung herself with.

His mother's influence had evidently been
substantial, and far reaching, because everyone he'd asked had
purchased tickets...or a table. She and Beau's father had lived in
Amarillo, but had a lot of society friends in Dallas. And Beau knew
them all, because he told Jazzie his mother liked to show off her
perfectly well-behaved child, then send him off to entertain
himself, so she didn't have to bother with him.

Although Beau had grumbled fiercely, she'd
also called Chase Rhodes to help gather guests, because his mother
and father were wealthy and connected too. They were here tonight,
as well as a good number of their friends, but Chase told her he
had other plans. She figured he didn't want to see her...or Beau.
Jazzie understood, but she wished they could have just been
friends. When she'd told him firmly that was all they could be out
on the porch that night Beau came to her house, he hadn't been
happy, he told her she was making a mistake, but he'd accepted
it.

The Grand Ballroom at the stately Adolphus
Hotel in downtown Dallas, with its twenty foot ceilings and
beautiful antique crystal chandeliers, had perfect acoustics, and
was an ideal setting for this event. The elegant old hotel was
packed with wealthy dinner guests, which she hoped to convert to
donors. Jazzie had spent a fortune arranging this event, but Katie
Tucker, who had become her biggest supporter to date, was funding
the entire event. She peeked around the curtain and saw Beau
sitting at the head table with Karlie, Katie, Tommy, and the rest
of the Bowie contingency. Beau looked practically edible in his
black tuxedo, and he winked at her and gave her a thumbs up.

Her entire family was at the adjoining
table, and they looked proud and happy. Her mother looked gorgeous
in the new deep purple evening gown that Jazzie had bought for her,
and her father couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He looked
pretty darned spectacular himself in his tuxedo, with the grey
streaks in his hair making him look mysterious and
distinguished.

Even her usually grease-streaked brothers
had cleaned up well. They were there with their wives and seemed to
be enjoying themselves. Frankie was sitting there alone, seeming
too quiet for her liking. The trial was in full swing now, and he
was the main attraction, and that had to be tough on her sensitive,
scholarly younger brother. She caught his eye and gave him a wide
grin and a wave. Hesitantly, his lips curved up and he waved
back.