Beauty and the Brit (34 page)

“What? What’s wrong with you? Get in here before someone hears you.”

“There’s your invite. Go get her.” Bonnie’s eyes twinkled like a bloody Christmas elf while she turned the doorknob and shoved him through the doorway.

“You—”

The door closed on his reprimand, and Rio screeched. He stared at her sitting in her bed, a sheet pulled up to her chin.

“Hi,” he said.

“David?”

“Believe it or not, this was entirely your sister’s doing.” He turned to the door. “Go to your room now, Bonnie.”

“Going, going.” Her muffled chortle faded down the hall.

“
Are
you decent?” he asked.

She lowered the sheet, and the surprise in her eyes warmed. She wore the same skimpy tank she’d worn on the deck the morning he’d . . . He slammed a lid on his thoughts.

“I’m not going to stay,” he said unhappily. “They think I’m fixing a broken blind.”

“Well, dang.”

“You want me to stay?”

She patted the mattress. “You could . . . tuck me in.” She blushed prettily and looked away. “Jeez, I don’t say stuff like that.”

“You keep saying you don’t do and say all these cute little things, yet that’s what I see and hear.”

“You’ve messed up my brain. I can’t think normally when you’re around.”

“Okay with me.”

He sat. “It’s still a proper fiasco down there, and I didn’t know how to get away.”

“I know. If you and I had simply walked out it would have been . . . awkward.”

“I’ve spilled the beans to your sister. A little.”

“Obviously. She knows you’re here.”

“I asked if I could kiss you.”

“And?”

“She figured I already had.”

He placed his palm boldly against her breast. The white feather beside it peeked out beneath his thumb. Softly he kneaded, and she sagged back onto her pillow. Her shiver passed through his hand into his chest, trapping his breath.

“Tomorrow night,” he whispered. “I’ll figure out how to get away.”

“It’s your home. Just walk.”

“Okay.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, loving the mint and heat of her mouth and the very faint leftover musk from the barn. She moved her tongue to his and kissed him back, languidly, as if savoring the sweetest dessert. Warning flutters deep within his belly made him stop. He couldn’t afford to go further tonight.

“I’m serious,” she said, catching the back of his head and pulling it back so their foreheads touched. “You stood up to your dad once tonight. You know you can do it.”

“I’m tougher and meaner when I’m with you, remember?”

“Swell.”

He stood up. “I’m sorry to go.”

“If you knew how I felt right now, you’d be even sorrier.”

“Now that was just cruel.” He kissed her again and slipped away with only a promise in his eyes.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“W
HAT IF WE
did an Irish Christmas stew?” Rio asked absently, resting on a stool beside the bakery counter, chin in palm, looking at the row of cookies, cinnamon rolls, and pies freshly displayed in the case.

Apple, blueberry, and chocolate cream. A sense of warm accomplishment filled her. Bud hadn’t cared what besides apple pies she’d made, so she’d chosen what
she
wanted. And gotten praised! Now Bud was actually brainstorming menu ideas with her—new ideas for winter. He already liked the idea of a squash soup and a traditional Minnesota, meat-rich hot dish like she’d made for David her first night in his house. They’d been throwing ideas back and forth for half an hour.

“Or Swedish meatballs,” she said. “A hot dish with meatballs in it.”

“You ever made something like that?”

“No. But I have an idea. What if I try it out a few times the next couple of nights and see what happens? I’ll try the stew, too. We could have an employee tasting party next week after school starts.”

Bud laughed. “I’m sure up for that, and I’m sure Effie will love the ideas, too. She leaves the nursing home next week and can come down for an hour or so a day. I’ve been telling her about you, Rio. I don’t think she’ll want to lose you even when she does come back to work.”

His words both warmed and distressed her. Agreeing to stay on meant making decisions she’d put off since the fire. She’d assumed once Paul and Hector were found and the threat was gone, she’d be going back to Minneapolis. And after that . . .

She hadn’t let herself dwell on the death of her Wyoming dream. It hurt. The Dream had been her future. She’d be lucky to afford the present once she left David’s.

Maybe she didn’t want to leave David’s.

Not that she could stay forever. She and Bonnie were no small burden on his finances. Besides, she really did want her own place. Her own horses, her own garden, her own peace and quiet. It was all she’d ever wanted. If only her attraction to him wasn’t complicating everything.

“Rio?”

“Huh? Oh Bud, I’m sorry. I went daydreaming about ingredients.”

“It’s nearly quittin’ time for you. Have I ever thanked you for being an amazing jack-of-all-trades?” He smiled and headed back for the kitchen without waiting for her reply.

By the time she left The Loon Feather half an hour later, her bout of depression had passed, and she fairly buzzed with excitement. Her first payday was only three days away, and she still had enough left in her meager bank account to pick up what she needed for one of her recipe ideas. She pulled out her cell phone to see if David could reserve the kitchen for her tonight, only to find she’d missed a call from him. She dialed quickly.

“Rio!” He answered within seconds, breathless.

“Hi. You okay?”

“Where are you, love?”

“Walking to my car. Heading for the grocery store.” She frowned at the urgency underlying his normally calm, soothing accent.

“Could you come home instead?

“Of course. What’s wrong?”

“Bonnie’s had a fright. She got some messages from Mr. Black.”

Her stomach lurched. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“She’s all right, Rio. We’re here for her, but she’d like to talk to you.”

“I’m on my way.”

All the way back she fretted. She should have told Chief Hewett about the call from Paul, but she hadn’t. She hadn’t even told Bonnie. Part of her had wanted to protect her brother until he called back. Part of her wanted to keep Bonnie from worrying. But now, with dread in her heart, she knew she’d made the wrong decision.

When she arrived home, David, Jill, Kim, Kate, Stella, and David sat gathered around Bonnie like a wagon train in defense formation, but if she’d expected to find her sister sobbing, she’d been wrong. Bonnie chatted with Stella, who held her hand nodding and smiling. Jealousy flared and Rio knelt in front of them.

“What happened, Bons?”

“More stupid texts.”

“How many?

“Three right in a row. That’s what got to me. But I’m fine. He still doesn’t know where we are.”

Bonnie held out her phone. Rio turned it on and scrolled to the top of the list on the screen. All three messages were from Paul’s number. Jealousy disintegrated in the wake of fury. How dare Paul ask her to trust him when he wouldn’t do as she’d asked? She read the first text.

So you’ve heard from your brother. I’m disappointed Rio didn’t have sense to do as he asked. You have something that doesn’t belong to you, Bonnie. Text us.

“Text
us
?” Rio pressed her lips together to keep from swearing and scrolled to the next message.

I haven’t heard from you yet. This is dead serious now.

She pursed her lips even more tightly.

If you don’t stop listening to your sister, your brother will pay the price. And then so will you and Rio.

“That’s it!” Rio stood and furiously hit the reply button. She hadn’t made the wrong decision, Paul had. “I’m done screwing around with these two. I’ll tell him whose dead serious now, the bast—”

“Rio. Stop.”

David took the phone from her and turned it off. Rio seethed at the interruption. “I’m done waiting.”

“Calm down and let’s finish this without playing into their hands. Just talk it out for a sec. What did he mean, you’ve heard from your brother? Bonnie didn’t know either.”

She pressed her thumb and forefinger into the corners of her eyes and forced a deep breath. “Two mornings ago Paul called. He claimed Hector is forcing him to cooperate. It turns out Bonnie has something Hector wants, but there’s no way she could have known it. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, but Paul promised to call back. I gave him a chance to make this right.”

“What do I have? He can have it whatever it is!”

“That money clip.”

A gasp escaped Bonnie’s open mouth. “It’s Heco’s?”

“No. It’s Boyfriend’s.”

She paled.

“I’m completely lost,” said Kate.

David peered into her eyes and put a hand on each shoulder. Comfort flowed from his fingertips. Briefly, Rio told the story she’d gotten from Paul.

“I warned Paul he was on his own if either Bonnie or I got another threatening text. Well, I was wrong. He’s worn me down. Give me the phone and let me get the stupid money clip back so Hector will lay off.”

“Just wait,” David said. “I’ve called the police. Chief Hewett will be out here within the hour.”

“You what!” Rio glared at him. “You had no right to call on my behalf.”

“I made them call,” Bonnie said. “But why didn’t you tell me about this? If I’d known I wouldn’t have been so scared at first.”

“I didn’t want you to deal with it yet. And I didn’t want you to think it was okay to call Paul yourself. I forget you’re not a child in all this. I really am sorry. I made the wrong choice. Again.”

Bonnie slipped her arms around her and hugged her. “No, you didn’t.”

Rio’s tears slipped free for the first time.

Chief Hewett arrived half an hour later. A dark blue Ford pulled in behind his cruiser, normal-looking outside but with a barrier behind the front seat and a light mounted on the dash inside the driver’s door. The driver emerged, wearing a plain suit. A uniformed officer exited the passenger side.

“Good afternoon.” Chief Hewett nodded his hatless head as he approached the deck. “Everybody okay here?”

“We are,” Rio said.

“I have reinforcements today,” he continued. The other two men joined him. “Detective James Peterson and Officer Dan Crowley from the Minneapolis Police Department.”

They shook hands all around.

“We understand you have some information about a man known on the streets as Boyfriend,” the detective said. “We’re very interested in anything you can tell us.”

“We don’t know much about him,” Rio said. “My brother has claimed Boyfriend wants something he lost and my sister found.”

“Your brother is Paul Montoya?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me more.”

She recounted the story again, answering questions as best she could. Bonnie produced the offending money clip, and Detective Peterson examined it almost gleefully.

“Could you identify this Boyfriend if you ever saw him again?”

“Sure,” said Bonnie. “I sat right next to him.”

“Can you describe him?”

“He’s older, maybe in his early forties. A white guy, kind of distinguished looking.”

“Tall? Short?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know for sure, I never saw him standing. He didn’t seem all that big. Just a normal size. He wasn’t, like, super-scary or anything, but I got nervous when I saw how old he was. I’d thought he was a friend of Hector’s.”

Detective Peterson reached into a breast pocket and took out a photo. He handed it to Bonnie and Rio looked over her shoulder. The man in the picture wore a blue-striped dress shirt with an open collar. Sandy-gray hair waved around his ears. It looked like an official portrait of some kind.

“That’s him,” Bonnie said without hesitation.

The three police officers looked about as unprofessionally happy as cops could get.

Peterson smiled at Bonnie. “Miss Montoya, do you know you’re the first young woman to escape this man before he actually took her away to work for him? You’re very, very lucky. And we’re grateful for your help. Would you be willing to testify against this man in court?”

“Wait a second.” Rio leaped in. “She doesn’t know anything about his operation or whatever it is he does.”

“I understand. All we’d need is an ID under oath.”

“I could do that.” Bonnie lifted her eyes defiantly. “I’m really the only one who got away?”

“We have two witnesses who’ve worked for him, but they’re too fearful to help. Boyfriend is threatening and usually careful to the point of invisibility. He has a network of small-time gang leaders, like Hector Black, who take most of the heat for him. We’re reasonably certain that if Mr. Black started the fire at your home, it was under duress from Boyfriend.”

“So you know who he is?”

“We have a very good idea now, thanks to you. This is our first positive ID. His cover is that he’s an upstanding member of the community, and he’s desperate to keep his Boyfriend identity a secret.”

“So we can leave the money clip with you and be done with it. Except for her testifying?” Rio indicated the clip in Peterson’s hands.

“I’m hoping we can get you to help with one other thing, and that’s finding Hector Black. I’d like you to arrange a meeting with him so we can follow you and grab him, as well.”

Oh no. No way.

“This sounds too much like TV. I’m not into wires and stakeouts. And Bonnie sure isn’t doing any such thing.”

Officer Crowley, a young, beak-nosed man with a friendly demeanor, laughed. “No wires, no drama. We’ll be right there with you, nab him, and if he confirms the clip belongs to Boyfriend, we’ve got them both.”

“When would I do it?”

“Now that we have this information, we don’t want to lose the opportunity,” Peterson said. “I’d say let’s get this done, but you need to tell us when you’re ready.”

Rio glanced around the small crowd. Everyone, even Kate, who looked wilted and terrified for the first time in Rio’s memory, stood ready to support them. Enough was enough.

“All right. Tell me what I should do.”