The Bull Rider Wears Pink (13 page)

No again, she wasn't at home. And
the most shocking thing was that all her stuff was gone. The only things she
left behind were the short black skirts, leather jackets, and pink spiky pumps
she wore when working undercover, plus the IUD. He picked up one of her shoes
and threw it against the wall so hard it left a hole. He still hadn’t fixed it,
and a part of him still couldn't believe she left him. Hence this crazy job at
the rodeo.

“Maybe you should go to the doctor,”
Shannon
suggested bringing John's thoughts back to the present. The clown shrugged a
little. “Get something stronger.” Then he looked up at the moon. “Mighty pretty
night, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it's nice,” John replied. He
shoved his hands in his pockets.

Holy hell, the man was holding his
cards tight to his vest. John wasn't an amateur he knew how to break a drug
dealer. He decided to pull out the clergy card. “You see being a man of the
cloth.” He tugged on his collar. “It's hard to talk to the doctor about these
things. They think we should pray away our pain.” He wrung his hands in front
of his chest, trying to get Shannon's
pity through another wimpy gesture.

Honestly, John was tired of playing
the doormat. Especially since Cassidy had shown up. She used to know him as a
cool guy with a great swagger. Not that she was particularly impressed with all
that. But that was the man she fell in love with. Now she didn't even want to
admit that she loved him.

“Maybe you have something you could
lend to me,” John suggested to Shannon.
He put his hand out, palm up, fingers shaking. Again, playing the
wuss
wasn't fun.

“Well,” Shannon sighed. “I suppose, since you
are in so much pain.” He started to reach into his jean jacket pocket which
would have given John proof Mike Shannon was a drug dealer and one step closer
to wrapping up this stupid job. But Cassidy came out the back door and ruined
everything. God damn that beautiful woman. She must not have realized Mike was
out back.

Shannon
shoved his hands to his sides and stepped into the shadows. She saw him. “Hi,
Mike,” she said grimly. Cassidy didn't miss much.

Then, she turned to John. “There
you are,” she said with her mouth in a thin line. She knew what was going on
and she knew what she'd just broken up. However she also knew John needed to
maintain his cover.

“Kevin is asking for you and I
didn’t see you come back into the bar,” she said slowly. “H… he,” she stuttered
searching her brain quickly to come up with something, “wants to know the
difference between bluegrass and country music.
A…and if the
opening song for Firefly is country?”
She tugged on the edges of her
blouse.

Now that was creative. “I'll be
there in a moment,” John said. Even though he wanted to talk to the kid and
spend more time with Cassidy, he was still hoping to salvage this transaction
with Mike. He was a hair’s breadth away from obtaining evidence from the guy.

“No worries,” she said a little too
loudly. Cassidy was definitely rusty with the undercover stuff. “We're going to
head out soon anyway.” She shoved her hands in her pockets. “He can talk to you
in the morning before my ride.”

“After that embarrassment of a
wreck you had today, you're planning on riding again?” The man who was
supposedly hiding in the shadows said to Cassidy.
“And, what
the hell?”
Mike demanded to know. “Why did your brother complain to Bret
Bodner
about me?”

“Because a bull
almost stepped on my head.”

Hell no, John wanted to yell at
her, don't make the man even more defensive than he already is. John would
never get a deal out of the guy. Then John remembered
,
Cassidy wasn't a cop anymore. Just an ordinary citizen feeling attacked. She
turned to John. “I’m leaving, I'll see you tomorrow.”

“You girls should stay in your division,”
Shannon
continued sounding like the chauvinist he was. “That's why we have men’s and
women’s competitions,” he spoke slowly and loudly. They could probably hear him
in the bar.

Cassidy glanced at John. He could
tell she was annoyed that she had to talk to this stupid idiot. Nine times out
of ten drug dealers had been dropped on their heads as babies. But then there
was the tenth guy, who had above average intelligence and was the ring leader—a
Walter White type. That was the guy John wanted to find. Except first he had to
go through guys like Shannon
to work his way up.

“I've won the entire women's
competition,” she told Shannon.
“I have to compete against the men because there's nobody else for me to
compete against.”

“There's got to be some woman out
there who can beat you,” Shannon
replied. He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Then he found
a lighter.

“I need to get ready for my ride
tomorrow.” Cassidy turned and reached for the door handle.

“You shouldn't be riding bulls,” Shannon said after
taking a drag on his cigarette. “It will mess up your lady parts something bad,”
he added as Cassidy pulled the door open. The sound of music and a woman
laughing flowed out into the night. “You probably won't be able to have kids,”
the jerk added.

She stopped. Most likely she had
heard him over the noise of the bar.

Cassidy was the kind of woman men
always said inappropriate things to. The goal was to get her attention. She had
an aloofness
about her that anyone with an XY
chromosome felt the need to conquer. She turned around. “Who told you that?”

Shannon
's
face got red. Now that he had her attention, he wasn't sure what to do with it.
“Nobody.”
He shrugged. “I just know it for a fact. The
bucking loosens things up in there.”

“Well,” she started. “Here's
another fact to stuff in that ridiculous brain of yours. I don't plan on having
any more kids.” She glanced at John. “The shops closed,” she announced.

Now that hurt. If she was pregnant,
John wanted the child.

Without another glance at Shannon, or even a
see
ya
to John, Cassidy went back into the bar. She
didn't slam the door, that's how mad she was.

“She's one hell of a woman.” Shannon scratched
the back of his neck. “I don't understand why a woman like that would come
looking for a man like you.” He shook his head. “I mean,” he started, “no
offense, I know you're a good guy and all, but you're a wimp.”

“Thanks a lot,” John said. Holy
shit, he wasn’t making any progress on the drug dealing front. Then again, it
had taken Cassidy and him two years to be sitting at the table as members of
the bikers club. John had to break a few knee caps and Cassidy had to sign on
to appear in one of their movies before they received their membership cards
and appropriate tattoos.

John decided to try one more time
with Mike because he didn't have two years. Besides, he was already a year into
it. “Back to my leg,” he started. “I need something—”

“Like I said,” Shannon told him. “Go
see a doctor.” The man pulled the door open. Then he yelled, “Yee haw” as he
disappeared into the bar.

* * * *

Cassidy was back in her motel room,
taking the makeup off her face when there was a knock on the door. She knew who
it was. Good God, if John Risk told her he loved her
again,
she wasn't sure what she would do. Either hit him or
jump
into his arms, kiss him all over his body and devote the rest of her life to
him.

“Come back tomorrow,” she whispered
at John when she opened the door halfway. Kevin wasn't asleep but he wasn't
feeling well. A headache, flushed cheeks, and possible fever. Cassidy didn't
know what it was and she was a little scared. Her experience with the flu was
limited. Plus, it wasn't flu season.

John put his arms out at his sides.
“I'm sorry that happened,” he said. “You don't need to justify your bull riding
to Mike Shannon.” He leaned against the door jam. “I went outside to take a
piss and the guy followed me. So I figured it was the best time to work the
case.”

“Okay,” she said. She started to
close the door. It was nice of John to apologize, he didn't do that often but
she couldn’t stand around and
chit chat
. She needed to
return her attention to Kevin. She could hear him coughing.

John stuck his boot in the door
jam. Then he ran a hand through his hair. “I know I'm lacking but I don't have
any other words,” he told her. He looked over her shoulder. He could see Kevin
lying on the bed, laptop on his chest. “Can you step outside for a few minutes
to talk to me?” he asked. There was a glint in his eyes.

“No.” Cassidy shook her head which
took a lot of will power, there was always a point in every case when John was
getting close to solving it and he looked even more desirable than he did in
everyday life. “Kevin's not feeling well,” she explained. She glanced back at her
son. Then she tried to close the door again. Even though she'd screwed up
plenty of times in the past when Kevin was sick, she was going to try and do it
right this time which meant no John Risk.

“Just for a minute,” John begged.

“John,” Cassidy said in a low
voice. “Those days of you backing me against a wall and pounding yourself into
me are over. I'm a single mom now. I've got to take care of my kid.” She
stopped a moment and pushed the hair out of her eyes.

“But—” he sputtered.

“And, since you're so interested in
redemption, I'll be honest with you.” She lifted her chin. She didn't mean to
say so much but it had been a long day. “I'm hoping this time I can be there
for him, make up for all those other times I wasn't there because I was there
for you.”

John eyed her for a moment.
Finally, he said, “I understand.”

But he didn't understand. He was
just saying that because he read it in some stupid book or saw it on a rerun of
Oprah. John Risk wasn't compassionate, sympathetic, or even perceptive. He was
a predator.
A hunter of bad guys and loose women.
Yesterday afternoon Cassidy had stepped naked into his crosshairs.

She tried to close the door again
but his foot was still there. So, she gave up and returned to the bed. She put
her hand on Kevin's forehead as she sat down.

“What's wrong with the kid?” John
asked softly. He had followed her in.

“I don't know,” she replied
wearily. “He's warm and his cheeks are flushed.” She stuck her knuckle in her
mouth,
then
pulled it out. She didn't want John to
know she was worried and feeling a little overwhelmed.

“You're concerned about him?” John
asked gently. He looked down at Cassidy with kind eyes.

Okay, so that was perceptive. She'd
give him that one but not compassionate or sympathetic. People don't change.
Especially people like John Risk.

“Yes,” she whispered. She gulped
down the lump in the back of her throat.

John sat on the side of Kevin’s bed.

Kevin pulled the headphones off. “What?”
he groaned. “I'm not in the mood for a sermon right now or to be pawed.” He
pushed Cassidy’s hand off his forehead.

John ignored him as he lifted
Kevin's arm with the tips of his fingers. The man was being careful. Kevin
wasn't contiguous, was he? Oh dear Lord, Cassidy didn't know.

“Cassidy,” John said. “Do you know
he's got spots all over his arm?” John studied Kevin's face leaning in close. “They're
on his face too.” He turned and looked at Kevin's other arm. This time he
didn't touch the boy.

“I thought it was acne,” Cassidy
explained. Her voice wobbled. She folded her arms around herself. If there was
a bad mother award to be given out, Cassidy would win the trip to Vegas hands
down. How could she not realize it was something worse than acne?

“This one looks pussy,” John said
pointing to a mark on Kevin's wrist. Then John turned the night stand light on.
He studied Kevin's face some more. “I don't think its acne.” He turned back to
Cassidy. “Wouldn't that come on slowly? Kevin didn't have any marks at the bar
tonight.”

Oh God. Cassidy didn't know. Yes,
she was officially a failure as a mother. Instead of being home with her son checking
for evidence of a contagious disease she was licking John Risk in some pretty
private places earlier in the day. She put her face in her hands. “I'm a
terrible, terrible mother,” she moaned.

John stood over her. “I don't give
a rat’s ass if you're a horrible mother or not.” He gave her a shake on the
shoulder. “You have to get this kid help right now.”

John was right Cassidy had to pull
it together and care for her son. Later, once Kevin was okay, she would beat
herself up for not realizing sooner he was sick. And while she was at it, she would
beat herself up some more about having unprotected sex with John Risk, plus add
to the mix wearing a pink thong while bull riding. It was a day of bad decisions.

She picked up her car keys. “I'll
bring him to the emergency room.” She reached for Kevin's jacket. “Sweetie,”
she said to Kevin. “Can you get up?” She reached for his
hand,
he had his headphones back on. She'd pull him up if he didn't move, maybe he couldn't
move.