Here Comes Trouble (39 page)

Read Here Comes Trouble Online

Authors: Becky McGraw

BOOK: Here Comes Trouble
7.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Ronnie
had been there for him when he
was in jail and hopeless, trying to repair the damage Terri had
done when she'd spilled her guts to that rookie cop. When he was
pissed at Terri for running her mouth, whoever Ronnie was had
thrown Joel a lifeline and supported him. While Terri had been busy
poking holes in his boat, she was patching them and him up, and
obviously cozying up to him at the same time.

Ronnie who was there for him, instead of her.
Ronnie wouldn't have rolled over on him like she had, she would
have been smarter than that. Just like his judge friends from
Dallas had been. Fresh guilt tore at her insides. That's over, she
reminded herself. He's not mad at you anymore, and it all worked
out...because of
Ronnie
...the Shark Lady.

Even though she was thankful to the woman for
getting Joel out of trouble, she also wondered just how close
they'd gotten while he was in jail. Even if Joel didn't want Ronnie
that way, didn't mean the woman felt the same way.

And Terri was going to meet Ronnie, who was
worthy of his sexy smile, in just a few minutes...was going to have
to smile at her too.

Terri heard banging down the hall then a thud
accompanied by a loud curse, and took off toward the bedroom. There
was no telling what Joel was doing in there, he was so damned
hardheaded and stubborn. Being laid up had made him mean and
ornery.

But all that was overshadowed by the fierce
love she felt for the sexy, handsome-as-sin, funny, good-hearted
and caring man. She had never felt for
anyone
before what
she felt for him. That is why she was jealous. It might be crazy,
but she didn't want anyone to see that smile, hear that sexy
bedroom drawl of his but her.

When she made it to the bedroom, she found
Joel sitting on his ass on the floor in front of the wheelchair.
His face was a thundercloud of frustration and anger.

"What the hell are you
doing
?!?" she
screeched as fear that he'd re-injured his leg shot through her.
What had taken the surgeon hours to repair, he could mess up in
seconds with this stupidity. "You should have called!" she
chastised him and held her hand out to help him up.

He didn't take her hand to get up, he used her
extended arm to pull her down onto his lap, then his arms closed
around her like tight steel bands and his mouth covered hers. Terri
pushed against his chest trying to loosen his grip, but he held her
while he ravaged her mouth. Soon red hot tingles of desire caught
fire inside of her and Terri gave up trying to get away, now she
couldn't get close enough to him.

Careful not to hurt his leg, Terri sat up then
straddled him and settled herself against his hardness. Joel
moaned, his hands moved to her ass and kneaded, then he jerked her
hard against his erection. Wildness and need built inside of her,
and she rubbed herself against him ramping up her excitement.
Kissing, nipping and sucking his lips, she kissed him greedily,
then her tongue found his and teased it into an erotic
dance.

Sucking in an unsteady breath, Joel shoved his
hands under the hem of her shirt and skimmed along her sides to her
breasts leaving a trail of fire. Her nipples hardened and he
abraded them with his thumb in slow erotic circles, as he kissed
her senseless.

They were like two horny teenagers groping
each other, and she loved it, wanted it, couldn't get
enough.

She pulled back and panted. "Is your leg
hurting?"

His beautiful blue eyes were hot and needy,
then that sexy grin appeared before he drawled, "I'm hurting, baby,
but no where near my leg. I want you so bad, I ache with
it...
only
you
."

His message was clear and it salved her soul.
Leaning forward Terri pressed her lips to his again. This time, her
kiss was slow and seductive, she savored his mouth like the
forbidden chocolate sundae she'd accused him of being by the creek.
His lips were decadent, delicious and oh so sweet against hers.
Joel opened to her and when his tongue tangled with hers Terri
moaned her pleasure into his mouth.

"Well it looks like your
nurse
is
giving you physical therapy, should I come back later?" a smooth
female voice said with humor from the doorway.

Terri gasped and pulled back from Joel with
heat surging to her face. His eyes and welcoming smile told Terri
the infamous Ronnie had arrived. Terri scrambled off his lap with
as much dignity as she could muster, and straightened her
clothes.

The woman's tall curvy body was highlighted in
all the right places by her pin-striped navy business suit, her
long legs shapely and muscular from wearing those skyscraper heels
every day.

Terri felt small and mousy in comparison to
the vibrant Amazon, but she wasn't going to be intimidated. "I'm
Terri Cassidy," she said taking a step toward her extending her
hand. You must be Joel's attorney," she said with a lifted
brow.

"Veronica Winters," the woman replied smoothly
and took her hand in a firm grasp. It didn't pass Terri's notice
the other woman didn't invite
her
to call her Ronnie, but
she did give her a knowing smile and a wink.

"Can ya'll help me up from here, I think I'm
stuck," Joel said with a frustrated laugh. Terri turned back toward
him and saw he was trying to wrangle himself up into the chair
again.

"Dammit, Joel--don't be moving around so much,
or your gonna hurt that leg again!" she yelled and ran over to him.
"You have to put the brakes on the chair, before you try to get
in."

Terri reached down and set the brakes, then
took one of his arms. Surprisingly, Veronica walked over and took
the other, and between them they managed to wrestle him up into the
chair. Terri lifted the leg prop and eased his leg up on
it.

"That comfortable?" she asked him stepping
back.

"Hell no, I'm not going to be comfortable
again for six weeks," he grumbled.

"Suck it up, Joel. We have things to talk
about," Veronica told him shortly and sat on the edge of the bed,
laying her briefcase beside her.

"I like her attitude," Terri told Joel with a
snort feeling better about the woman being here with every minute
that passed. Nothing in her demeanor said she was trying to come on
to Joel, or that she was talking down to Terri.

"Yeah, me too," Joel said and a grin cocked up
the corner of his mouth. "It's the only reason my ass isn't sitting
in jail right now. She scared the shit out of those guards, the
judge and everybody else who dared to cross her."

"Thank you," Terri said and her voice
shook.

Veronica looked up and studied her with
intelligent brown eyes for a second, then shook her head. "My
pleasure...just try to keep your mouth shut next time, and he
probably won't need me," she told Terri with a dry chuckle and a
wink.

"That was my first time ever talking to the
police, and hopefully it'll be my last," Terri told her
defensively.

"Stick to nursing..." she told Terri then shot
a look at Joel. "And physical therapy," she finished and threw her
head back and laughed. "He'll probably need a lot of
it."

Terri felt her face heat up and Joel looked
her way and frowned, then growled, "Shut up, Ronnie."

The best thing she could do would be get out
of here for a while, Terri thought. There wasn't anything she could
add to the conversation between Ronnie and Joel, that was for sure.
Ronnie nailed it, Terri would just stick to nursing.

"I'm going to Jenny's to check on her and the
baby. Your mama is over there for a few days helping her," Terri
told Joel then turned to leave.

"Terri?" he said in that sexy drawl that
reignited those damned tingles again.

She turned to face him and he gave her that
mouth-watering grin and his eyes sparkled as he said, "I love you,
baby...be careful."

Emotion shot to her throat so fast she almost
didn't catch the whimper that came with it. Her heart danced around
in her chest and little fingers of happiness sprouted there. He was
telling her that in front of Ronnie, to make sure Terri knew there
wasn't anything going on with her.

A wobbly smile spread across her face and she
told him, "I love you too, I'll be back in a little while." Her
smile strengthened and spread before she turned and walked out of
the bedroom.

Things might work out with Joel after all, she
thought.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

 

"So, what's up?" Joel asked Ronnie after Terri
left, pushing the wheels of the chair to put himself a little
closer to her.

"Well, firstly...you're officially off the
hook. The final report from the coroner came in and your DNA does
not match the skin under Karen's nails. The CSI guys also found one
of the cufflinks that match the bruise on Karen's neck in the
bunkhouse. A search of Larry's place in Dallas turned up the other
one. The medical examiner also agreed the killer was left handed,
so that excludes you as well. Time of death was between three and
five a.m. and you were not here. Even Terri's statement put you
home at almost five," Ronnie told him then tilted her head. "They
also found some papers with Karen's things when they searched the
bunkhouse."

"Oh yeah?" Joel asked and sat up straighter in
the chair.

"Yeah, Karen had an unsigned will in her
suitcase changing her beneficiary to Larry, and a copy of an
insurance policy. Did she have life insurance that you know of?"
Ronnie asked him with a lifted brow.

"Hell, no Karen wasn't much on worrying about
the future, she was too busy living in the present and spending my
money."

"Well she had a policy and guess who was her
beneficiary?"

"Larry Sims?" he guessed knowing that's where
she was going.

"Bingo, darlin'. That was signed, but when the
signature was compared to her checkbook, it was way
off."

"Think she found it and that's why she came
here? Why she left him?"

"I do. I believe he tried to get her to sign
that will, gave her a copy, then she found the insurance policy and
put two and two together that he was going to try and kill her,
after she got the settlement from you. That could explain why she
delayed that too."

"Damn," Joel said and shook his head. "Larry
and I haven't settled our business either. He owes me some
explanations on discrepancies the accountant found."

"There you go. Motive for trying to kill you
too," she said with a dark laugh. "He got rid of her, and he got
all the money you gave her from the divorce, plus the proceeds from
the insurance policy he took out on her, then if he got rid of you
too he kept all the proceeds from the business. He tried the easy
way first by trying to frame you for her murder."

"Damn, what an evil bastard, how the hell did
I think that man was my best friend for years? I never saw any of
it."

Joel felt like ten times a fool for believing
Larry was his friend, for letting him get close enough to him to do
what he'd done. Everything Ronnie speculated made perfect sense and
he should have seen it.

"I'm going to talk to the D.A. this
after---"

Someone knocked on the door and they both
looked there. A uniformed cop stood in the doorway with the same
green expression on his face that Dylan had worn earlier. Joel
figured he must've been out to view Larry's body too.

"I have a question for you, Mr. Rhodes. I
understand that you and Mr. Larry Sims were business partners and
friends?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Joel replied
tersely.

"Do you happen to know if he had an eagle
tattoo on his left forearm?"

Joel thought back to the pool parties they'd
had at the house and tried to recall if he remembered Larry having
a tattoo. Larry never wore anything other than a suit and
long-sleeved shirt at the office.

"Not that I remember..." he said shaking his
head. "Why do you ask?"

"Well the body is unrecognizable, and there
wasn't any ID with it. The report from the day of the shooting said
you suspected the shooter was your ex-business partner, so I
thought I'd ask."

Joel tried to picture Larry again out by the
pool, and a faint memory tickled his brain. "His brother was at our
house for a pool party a few summers ago...he had a tattoo, I
think," Joel told the officer, and another thought made ice water
run through his veins. "If that's his brother Chuck,
then..."

"Larry is still on the loose," Ronnie said
quickly and stood.

"And Terri just left to go to Chase's house
alone," he groaned and panic shot through him. With all the
different routes she could have taken to get there, Joel knew
trying to find her would be difficult. Driving would be impossible
with his busted leg anyway. Hell, he couldn't even walk.

He didn't even know Terri's license plate
number. The cops couldn't even look for her. Telling them look for
a petite brunette driving a big red pickup was not going to be
enough information for them to find her.

Other books

Jaguar Secrets by Khloe Wren
Stile Maus by Robert Wise
Small Beneath the Sky by Lorna Crozier
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Just Grace and the Double Surprise by Charise Mericle Harper
Here Comes Trouble
You must be logged in to Read or Download
CONTINUE
SECURE VERIFIED
Close X