Rustler's Moon (12 page)

He tried to relax, hoping she would, also. “I guess I should give you your hand back,” he said, without turning loose of her.

She laughed, and he felt a little of the tension between them ease.

He slipped her hand, still surrounded by his, in his pocket. “On second thought, I think I’ll keep it. I like the feel of your skin, Angie.”

She tugged and his whole body moved closer to her. “You have to give it back, Wilkes. I’m afraid it’s attached to the rest of my body.”

This wasn’t the time or the place, but he leaned close against her cheek and whispered, “Kiss me, Angie. I need to know if you still taste like honey.”

“I...” She might be trying to think of how to say no, but her body moved closer and she was no longer trying to pull her hand away.

“You can, if you want to, Angie. I wouldn’t mind.” For some crazy reason he wanted her closer. He was positive he wasn’t attracted to a woman like her, but his body hadn’t gotten the message.

“I don’t want to,” she said and stepped back.

He let her hand go. Her fingers slid out of his pocket, and before he could react, she was hurrying toward her door.

Wilkes stood on the first step and stared at her blocking the doorway. If she wasn’t going to kiss him, he doubted she would invite him in. “Thanks to the rain it was easy to tell no one has been around here. I found some deer tracks out behind your cabin and a few more on the trail to the lake, but nothing else. My guess is this isn’t a place even locals could find easily, and Mr. Mercury is not a local.”

“How do you know?”

“If he was, he wouldn’t have been dumb enough to follow me into the canyon after dark.”

“Thank you for checking for me,” she said.

“You don’t have to thank me, Angie. I’m happy to help. We’re friends. Well, almost anyway.” He headed toward his car. “You got a phone in there?”

She nodded. “A landline left by the owner. The sheriff said he usually rents the place in the summer, so he leaves it on. I’ve also got my cell.”

“Good. Call the sheriff and tell him what happened, then ask him for a ride to work in the morning. If a black car comes down the hill to the lake, it will have to pass Dan’s house. My guess is before it pulls down your drive, there will be a sheriff’s car following it.”

“What about my van?”

“Don’t drive it until I have a chance to take a look at it. Leave it exactly where it is. If he was waiting for you, he might have messed with your van just to make sure you didn’t run off.”

Angie stepped out onto the porch, her arms wrapped around her waist, her head shaking. “I’m afraid, Wilkes.”

He knew he should stay away from her, but in three steps he reached her. If ever there was a woman who needed a hug, it was Angie.

He wrapped her in his arms and held on tightly, half expecting her to bolt.

But she didn’t. She rested her head on his chest and cried softly. She must know something he didn’t. Maybe she knew the reason someone might be following her.

“Want to tell me why someone’s looking for you?” he asked as his hand cradled her head.

“No. I can’t,” she whispered. “I don’t have a clue.”

Several ideas of what she might have done came to mind, but none of them fit. She hadn’t committed a crime, or the police would have walked right up to the museum and arrested her. She couldn’t have escaped from a biker gang, no tattoos. However, he wouldn’t mind doing a complete search. Just for the sake of making sure, of course.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe here.” He doubted he was right, but the words might help. “If you get scared, run to the sheriff. If he’s not home, there’s a back road by the dam. It dead-ends at the north corner of my land. Cross over the cattle gate and you’ll be able to see the lights of my house.”

She straightened. “Thanks. I’m sorry I fell apart. I’m usually stronger than that.”

“No problem.” He moved his thumb over her cheek to wipe away a tear. “You don’t happen to want to kiss me, do you?” If she did, it might be interesting. If she didn’t, at least it would take her mind off the black Mercury.

She laughed, just as he hoped she would. “No, thanks.”

To his surprise Wilkes felt greatly disappointed.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lauren

F
RIDAY
NIGHT
OF
homecoming seemed magical. Lauren could almost feel the excitement in the dorm. Both her mother and her father had sent money for a new dress, and, for once, Lauren spent every penny. Red dress, black shoes and red-and-black wrap that cost almost as much as her dress.

Her date might not be the one she’d hoped for, but she was still excited. Her first real party on campus. Her first college game. Part of her saw this as the caterpillar she’d been all through high school finally turning into a butterfly.

She told herself she would have talked it over with Lucas if he had called, but she hadn’t heard from him all week. Lucas was special to her; he had been since the night he’d saved her life two and a half years ago, but he never once said they were boyfriend and girlfriend or that they shouldn’t date others. Maybe he
did
get in late Sunday night and maybe he
did
work every weeknight at the AG barn, but surely he could have called. They could have talked, or met for coffee downstairs.

Her roommate, Polly, sat across the room watching Lauren get dressed. “Now, let me get this straight,” she said. “The guy we went out with last Friday isn’t the one taking you to homecoming. You know, the redheaded one. Tim, right?”

“Tim is just a friend and he is
not
my date,” Lauren said.

“And the guy who calls, the one you talk all mushy-like to, isn’t the one taking you.” Polly looked terrible, hungover and depressed, but she seemed to be trying to get her brain working enough to figure out Lauren’s dating life for some reason.

“Right. Lucas is the one who calls and he’s working this weekend.” Lauren didn’t want to mention Reid Collins’s name because Polly would only ask more questions. “I’m just going with someone from back home. He probably asked me because his dad and my dad are friends.”

“Okay, but why didn’t he ask you out for a hamburger and not to a hundred-dollars-a-plate dinner if he’s just being nice?” Polly frowned. “Oh, never mind. My head hurts too much to care, so I’ll just get to the big questions. How come you have a date tonight and I don’t? I’ve been going out every night since we started rooming together. Now, the biggest date night ever, and I’m left behind.”

“I don’t know, Polly. Gotta go. See you.” Lauren grabbed her wrap and decided to wait downstairs for Reid. Every conversation she’d had with her roommate was always about Polly. The girl couldn’t have passed second-grade science. How could the planets rotate around the sun when Polly was convinced the world revolved around her?

Tim was the one waiting for her in the long lobby with its scattered, uncomfortable couches and a few study tables. In a sweatshirt and jogging pants, he obviously wasn’t going to the spirit dinner or even the game.

“Hi, Tim.” She smiled. “I can’t go hang out tonight. I’m going to homecoming with Reid, remember?”

“I know. I just dropped by hoping to get to tell you one more time not to go.” He looked defeated. “I know I’m wasting my breath, L.”

He’d used her initial, something he hadn’t done since middle school.

She didn’t appreciate his concern. Just because Reid and Tim were no longer friends didn’t mean she should turn Reid down. She’d gone to every one of Reid’s birthday parties since they were five. She’d known him as long as she’d known Tim. The only guilt she felt tonight was that she hadn’t had a chance to tell Lucas. Maybe, since they weren’t really dating, he didn’t have a right to know if she went out with someone else. But deep down she knew she should have told Lucas.

Before Lauren could answer Tim, Reid came through the far door looking Bond-like in a black suit with a Texas Tech tie. He was one of those rare people who’d been born into a family where everyone was good-looking, and he wore his genetic gift as easily as a second skin.

When she turned around to see Tim’s reaction, her old friend was gone. Vanished amid the columns between the seating areas.

“Evening, Lauren. You look hot!” Reid smiled. “Spin around for me. I’ve never seen your hair curled like that.” He made little circles with his finger. “You’re going to look good on my arm tonight.”

She twirled round, letting her long hair float like a cape. “I know I look better than in high school. My boobs finally filled out.” She laughed remembering how he’d teased her about being flat chested.

“I hadn’t noticed.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Lauren, just for tonight...could we forget that we’ve known each other since we were kids? I’d just as soon my frat brothers think I lucked out in finding a pretty and smart girl for a change.”

His compliment made her blush. “So no stories about how you lost your trunks in the town pool or how you...”

“No stories. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.” He took her hand. “I already got the call from my old man and your dad warning me that if I step out of line, they’d take turns killing me. Dad even said that since Charley is finally acting halfway sane, I could easily fall out of the favorite-son chair.”

“Really?”

Reid stopped walking long enough to stare at her. “Which really? That our dads called or that my oversexed brother is finally getting his life together?”

“The dads didn’t really call, did they?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid they did. Your dad said he’d shoot me in the privates if I made his little girl cry, and my dad just promised to murder me. He’s not too creative. Neither seemed to have any faith in my behaving tonight.”

Lauren almost felt sorry for Reid. “You’re lucky my mom didn’t have your number. She’s into torture. She’s been practicing on my dad for years. I think they separated when I was five just to allow him to bleed out slower.”

Reid shook his head. “Lauren, you really do look great, but you should know from the start that we’ll never make it work more than a date now and then. I don’t think I could handle a sheriff for a father-in-law and a mother-in-law who is a dominatrix.”

“I agree. For the sake of your health, you might want to avoid me as much as possible.” She smiled, thinking that on her part it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice. “Two dates a year, tops.”

“I can handle that. I picked this one and you can pick the next.”

He offered his arm as they walked out as if they were off to prom, but Lauren guessed neither of them was disappointed they wouldn’t last. By the time they were at the dinner in the Frazier Alumni Pavillion just outside the station, Reid was back to his usual egotistical self, telling her how lucky she was to go out with him.

Reid never had a problem with ego.

They sat with a group of his fraternity brothers. All nice guys, she thought, but by the time dessert was served Lauren had the feeling she wasn’t in the right place. There was somewhere her heart would rather be.

They all walked over to the game together. Reid was the life of the party and didn’t seem to notice when she grew quiet.

The football game was chaotic; everyone was yelling and cheering, making conversation impossible. Reid spiked his Coke, but didn’t insist when she refused his offer to add whatever was in his flask to her drink. The game turned from long to endless. A man behind Lauren tumbled into her, spilling his drink all over the back of her new wrap. A woman passing in the narrow space in front of Lauren managed to step on both her feet. Lauren lost all interest in the game and in trying to carry on any conversation with Reid.

Finally, gratefully, the date was over. Tech won, but the group she was with seemed too tired, or too drunk, to really care. Conversations and laughter circled in the cool air as lovers cuddled in the evening shadows and bells rang from the tower. Car lines snaked slowly down the roads through a campus decorated in red streamers.

Reid took her hand and walked beside her, but he spent most of his time talking to the others in the group. At one point one of the girls, who’d been flirting with Reid all night, asked Lauren if she had a roommate.

Lauren assumed the girl asked so she could lean across Reid, but she answered, “I was assigned one. Polly Pierce.”

The dozen people walking together all seemed to inhale at the same time. “Oh, really,” the girl who asked offered as a reply.

“Do you know her?” Lauren already knew the answer. None of them were looking at her, not even Reid.

No one answered her question. They just changed the subject and kept walking.

When she and Reid broke off from the others, he put his arm over her shoulders. “You cold? I probably should have taken my car, but I swear parking for the game is farther away than the dorms. You’d like my new car. Dad got it for me last spring when I pulled off B’s in every class.”

She wasn’t interested in cars. “What does everyone know about Polly that I don’t know? Everyone went silent when I mentioned her name.” Lauren had held the question in for as long as she could.

He didn’t answer for a minute. “It’s not something I should talk to you about, but you might not want to tell people who your roommate is. She showed up at one of our open house parties last week and it didn’t turn out well.”

“Why?” Lauren knew Polly was wild, so she doubted anything Reid said would surprise her.

“Because half the guys at the frat house have slept with her. Or maybe
sleep
is the wrong word. She made it clear when she showed up that she was there to drink and...” He seemed to have lost the right word. “Party,” he finally ended.

Lauren stared at him. “Did you, uh,
party
with her?”

He hung his head. “Well, yeah, but it was just a... We just hooked up for a few minutes one time in the upstairs hallway.”

“Oh. So it didn’t mean anything to you.” Lauren was torn between being mad at Reid and feeling sorry for Polly.

“Right.” Reid relaxed as if he finally made her understand. “It’s just something guys do in college. Look, I’m not proud of it. I would never treat a girl like you that way.”