Highway Song: A Smokey's Roadhouse Novel (41 page)

When we got there, the jury wasn
’
t there, and there were no spectators. I questioned Mr. Jameson with my eyes, but he only shrugged his shoulders. He didn
’
t seem to know what was going on either. Judge Andrews came in without fanfare, and though we all jumped to our feet, she waved us back into our seats.

“
There has been an unusual development,
”
she said. At her nod, a guard came in, guiding a handcuffed man by his upper arm. The man
’
s head was down, but the way he moved was familiar. A knot began to form in my stomach.

“
Raise your head,
”
Judge Andrews said.

He did, and his eyes locked with mine. I gasped, and clutched at Mr. Jameson.

“
Ms. Bruno, do you recognize this man?
”
Judge Andrews asked. I nodded.

“
Speak up, Ms. Bruno. Who is this?
”

I couldn
’
t fathom how he was here, or why, but there was no question in my mind, in spite of the extra fifteen pounds or so he was carrying.
“
That
’
s Octavio Mendez.
”

Octavio let loose with a flood of Spanish, in which I understood only the word
‘
puta
’—
whore. Judge Andrews tilted her head. Then she spoke to him in what sounded to me like flawless Spanish. Once more he spoke rapidly, and ended the sentence with the same word.

Judge Andrews looked up at us.
“
Thank you. You are dismissed. An officer from the district attorney
’
s office will be with you shortly to process your release. You
’
ll be free to go at that time.
”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Rex

“
I
don
’
t understand,
”
Amy said. That made two of us. Andy Sinclair stayed with us while Jameson went to get some answers. Just before the Assistant District Attorney came in with some paperwork, Jameson returned with the reason.

“
Amy was right. Octavio was stopped by the metal detector at the front door. He was carrying enough ordinance to wipe out the judge, jury, and everyone in the courtroom. I
’
ll never question profiling again.
”
Here he made a dramatic pause, waiting for us to ask what he meant. As soon as we did, he continued.

“
Because he appeared to be, shall we say, of an ethnicity that matched Amy
’
s pursuers, he was searched thoroughly. A sharp-eyed guard saw the initials OM in one of his tattoos. When you identified him, Octavio was foolish enough to say something to the effect that he should have killed you right after he shot that cop. Unfortunately for him, Judge Andrews is fluent in street Spanish.
”

Andy was the first to catch on.
“
Do you mean to say he confessed to the murder? Right in front of the judge?
”

“
That
’
s what she asked him. In typical arrogant bastard form, he answered that yeah, he
’
d done it, he
’
d do it again, he
’
d kill Amy first chance he got, and then he
’
d kill
her
. For good measure, he called her a whore.
”

“
Oh, my God!
”
Amy exclaimed.

“
A rather spectacular answer to prayer, assuming you
’
ve been doing that. The charges against you have been dropped. An assistant district attorney will be here any moment to process your release and beg you not to sue them for false arrest, considering you told them who the murderer was in the first place. I strongly recommend you make them settle for a tidy sum,
”
he added.

“
I just want it to be over, and I want as far away from this city as possible. There are hundreds of them. They
’
ll still come after me.
”

“
I rather doubt it. They
’
ll be too busy covering their asses in case Mendez talks. But you
’
ll be free to go wherever you want as soon as they turn you loose in a little while. Can I give you a ride somewhere?
”

Amy looked at me, and I winked. She said,
“
I think Rex and I can find our own way, but thank you. Thank you for everything.
”

“
You
’
re very welcome. It
’
s not often I have the treat of having an innocent client. It was worth every minute of my time. And besides, you signed the release that gets me a book out of it. What an ending this will be!
”

Within the hour, Amy was a free woman, and we thought it was truly over. We should have known better.

We hadn
’
t even set foot outside the courthouse when we realized there was a huge, noisy crowd out there.
“
What now?
”
I muttered. All we wanted was to be left alone. Well, almost all. I wanted to get her to a hotel and make passionate love to her all night long. It had been too long, and I
’
d thought I
’
d lost her for good. Now this crowd stood in our way.

Before Amy could answer, someone thrust a microphone in my face.
“
Rex, is it true you plan to marry your sister?
”

We managed to get through the circus of media outside the courtroom, and we got to a hotel where security was prepared to keep them at bay. But I couldn
’
t make love to her until we
’
d taken care of business. I called California.

“
We need some help here. Amy
’
s been exonerated, but we
’
re under siege by reporters talking trash about Amy being my sister. Is there anything you can do about that? She isn
’
t my fucking sister.
”

I listened carefully as the PR representative explained our options.
“
Okay, I
’
ll run it past her. Of course, I
’
m sure. Fuck off, Jack, I
’
m not doing it for publicity. Yeah, I know your name isn
’
t Jack. It
’
s an expression, moron. Fine.
”

Amy was standing in front of me, her sides shaking and her hand over her mouth.

“
What?
”

“
You expect them to help when you tell them to fuck off and call them a moron? That
’
s too funny.
”

“
Well, he pissed me off.
”

“
What did he say?
”

I dropped to one knee.
“
He accused me of marrying you to get the publicity turned around and get the fans on our side.
”

Her eyes grew round.
“
Who said anything about
…
? Oh, my God!
”

She
’
d noticed me taking the small box out of my pocket, where it had dug into my leg for days, waiting for the right opportunity.
“
Amy, will you marry me?
”

“
Oh, my God!
”
she repeated.
“
Rex, are you sure?
”

“
Why does everybody keep asking me the same fucking question? Hell, yes, I
’
m sure. I can
’
t let you out of my sight, ever again. Please say yes.
”

“
Okay.
”

“
Okay? Is that a yes?
”

“
Yes. As long as you don
’
t call me Jack and tell me to fuck off,
”
she giggled, as I lunged up from my kneeling position and tackled her.

“
Stop talking, woman. I
’
m going to fuck your brains out, and then we can talk.
”

Her eyes flashed at me, and she made a motion like zipping her lips together. I scooped her up from the floor and carried her to the bed, where I paused just long enough to slip the ring on her finger. Then I slipped everything else off of her and kissed her from her toes to her lips and back again. I think she especially liked where I paused in between and spent some time driving her to the brink of collapse. At some point, she pretended to unzip those lips and put them to good use driving
me
to the brink of collapse.

Best of all was when, drunk with passion, I joined our bodies into one. As I slid into her, I stopped and savored the sensations for a long moment. I belonged here, and she belonged here. The rest of the world could go to hell. I was claiming her as my own, and no broken marriage between my mom and her dad could stop me.

The next morning, we ordered room service, and it came with a copy of USA Today. I
’
d hated that rag since they ruined our lives, but the headline today caught my eye.
“
Thousands of Romance Fans Buy Out Beck
’
s First CD Since Girlfriend Released
”
it read.

With growing disbelief, we read the article together. It seemed our relationship didn
’
t offend everyone. A fan page on Facebook was dedicated to our romance, and already had thousands of likes. The fans were readers of romance novels who had embraced the
‘
stepbrother romance
’
wholeheartedly. And here we were, a living, breathing example of the storyline. The words
‘
fairytale
’
and
‘
taboo
’
featured almost equally in the story. I didn
’
t get it.

“
What the fuck? How many stepbrothers and stepsisters fall in love?
”

Amy was still reading.
“
Apparently it
’
s a huge thing. Don
’
t question it, Rex
—
it
’
s going to save your career.
”

“
Yours too,
”
I answered, grabbing her around the waist and throwing her down on the bed again.

Later, when we ventured outside the hotel, the crowd was waiting for us. But this time it was our adoring fans, who spotted the ring on Amy
’
s left hand. From that moment, fairytale was the only word for what happened.

We flew back to LA that afternoon, first class, courtesy of the label. Although the CD with no songs sung by Amy had just been released, we still had the first one ready, so they released it quickly as well. The previous tour and the one we
’
d been slated for without Amy were combined, and we played to sold out crowds everywhere.

At last, we were living the dream, and reveling in it. Amy had never been more beautiful, and I had never had to turn away so many groupies. They were unbelievable, loving Amy and me as a couple in one sentence, and trying to tempt me to cheat in the next. Had they always been this brash, this shallow? Or had it been me? Had finding my soulmate finally made me grow up at thirty-five? It seemed so, but then, we weren
’
t a normal couple, with a house and a white picket fence and two-point-five kids. We probably never would be.