You're the One That I Want (15 page)

Behind them, Casper heard Scotty say, “Don’t worry
 
—they’ll be fine. I’ve seen this before.”

“So have we,” Grace said, and maybe she was right; they wouldn’t be fine.

Casper shut the door behind him and rounded on Owen, barely resisting fisting his collar, slamming him up against the wall.

“Calm down
 
—”

“What are you thinking?”

Owen held up his hands and sank onto the old sofa, family pictures on the wall reminding Casper to breathe as Owen rubbed his chest as if trying to restart his heart. He glared at Casper, looking ten years old, indignant, confused. “Stop shouting.”

“I’ll stop shouting when you stop opening your stupid mouth! Really? Proposing? That’s your brilliant plan?”

A knock, and before he could bark,
Stay out
, Scotty came in. She took one look at Casper and closed the door. Leaned against it and folded her arms. “He’s got a point, Owen. If I remember correctly, you proposed to me. What is this, your panic go-to?”

Owen looked appropriately stricken. “Sorry, Scotty. I
 
—”

“Forget it. I’m glad I walked away from that in the nick of time.”

“Hey! What do you expect from me? She had my baby,” Owen said. “And she’s standing there, and my brain just went blank
 
—”

“So you
propose
d
?” Casper turned, ran his hand over his head. “Might I remind you, she’s already taken.”

“Maybe I should say that to you.” Owen pushed up from the sofa, landing hard on his feet. “I hate to say this, buddy, but if we’re looking for proof as to who Raina fell for first, I think the answer’s pretty clear.”

Casper lunged for him.

Owen dodged, and there was Scotty, stepping in, using her elbow to land a jab in Casper’s chest. “
Ho
-kay, that’s probably enough.”

Casper rubbed his chest. “I should have never brought you back
 
—”

“That
is
a good question, Bro. Why did you bring me back if you didn’t want me to do the right thing by her?”

“Because you’ve never done the right thing in your entire life! Why would you start now? I thought you’d take a look at the colossal responsibility it is to raise a daughter and run for the hills. Face it, Owen, you’re not right for them.” There, it was out. Or almost all of it. His voice pitched low. “The ‘right thing’ is for you to agree to sign away your parental rights so I can legally become her father.”

Owen stared at him, his expression slowly morphing from shock into something Casper knew too well.

The same emotion he’d felt when he realized Owen had slept with Raina.

“Wow,” Owen said, his voice lethal. “So this is what it feels like to be betrayed by your own brother.”

Everything
 
—the fury, the heartache, the pain of watching the woman he loved bear his brother’s child
 
—burrowed down, centered in one blinding core of heat. “Yeah, this is
exactly
how it feels to be betrayed by your own brother. Trust me, I should know.”

Silence.

Scotty blew out a breath. “Casper, let’s go to the sheriff’s office.”

She reached for him, but he jerked away from her. “Not on your life. I’m not leaving him here with Raina.”

“What do you think I’m going to do, grab her by her hair and drag her to my cave?” Owen snapped.

Casper wanted to strangle him with his bare hands.

The door creaked open and John stood in the gap. He looked at Casper, then at Owen, his expression grim. “Kyle’s here.”

Kyle Hueston. The local deputy. Casper didn’t move. “Why is he here? I haven’t killed anyone. There’s no need to drag me in like a criminal.”

“Yet,” Scotty said. “And let’s keep it that way. C’mon.”

“I’m not going in.”

“Yeah, actually, you are,” Scotty said, but she stayed put.

“He’s not staying here with Raina.”

Something sparked in Owen’s expression. Then he sighed. “Get outta here and go clear your name. I promise not to make any sudden moves.”

“Casper . . . ,” Scotty said.

And then he was saved by Raina, who pushed the door open. She looked at Owen, then turned to Casper. Her hand landed on his chest, right over his thundering heart.

“Casper, take a breath here. I’m not going to marry Owen. Ever. I love
you
.” She slipped her hand into his. “And I’m not going anywhere. Please go with Kyle.”

It was the
please
that got him, along with her beautiful brown eyes, and the fact that the sooner he answered Kyle’s questions, the sooner he could return and finish this.

It occurred to him, however, that
he
might be the one grabbing Raina and fleeing as far as he could from Owen and from the mess he’d made by dragging his younger brother back to Deep Haven. He let her lead him out of the room to where Kyle waited, eating a cookie. Ingrid held Layla, bouncing her on her hip. Casper walked over, picked up his daughter, and pulled her against himself, breathing in her sweet, powdery scent. She wiggled in his arms, but he didn’t care.

He kissed her fat cheek, then handed her to Raina and smiled weakly. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you, Son,” John said.

Casper just nodded. Then he let Kyle lead him away.

“Sorry about my boys.” John drove the family truck on the tail of Kyle’s cruiser, and now he glanced at Scotty.

He seemed like a nice man. Imposing, perhaps, but maybe that’s where Owen and Casper
 
—and even their brother, Darek
 
—got it, along with the bravado, the confidence, the sense that life wouldn’t knock them over, at least not for long. His eyes were kind, despite the look he’d given Casper as they left.

As if he might not be completely on board with Casper’s vision of the future.

Family drama
 
—she saw it simmering just below the surface. The sooner she dropped Casper off and escaped, the better.

And hopefully before Ingrid Christiansen offered her another chocolate chip cookie. Not that Scotty could be swayed into staying by the aroma of fresh-baked cookies or even the sweet reunion of Owen and his family, the overwhelming sense of belonging. But with Owen holding her hand, the unfamiliar feeling of family had woven right through her, and for a long second she’d forgotten that she didn’t want the entanglement of people stepping into her life, worrying, caring. Forgotten that she didn’t want Owen’s thumb caressing her hand, holding on like he needed her. Wanted her there.

As if he’d meant that kiss in the car, nearly convincing her it might all be real.

Until . . .

Owen taking a knee in front of Raina was exactly what Scotty needed to snap her brain back to reality. To remember why she was really here.

“Believe me, Mr. Christiansen, this is nothing compared to the hospital when Owen woke up. I thought Casper was going to go for his throat, and for his part, Owen would have ripped out his IV defending himself. They really are brothers.”

“It’s been . . . Well, Owen hasn’t made it easy for any of us. Especially Casper, who’s taken this the hardest.”

“And why not? He seems to love Raina and the baby, and Owen is about to mess everything up.”

John’s hands tightened on the wheel.

“But . . . I take it you think that Owen should marry her.”

John offered what looked like a conciliatory smile. “Thank you for all you did for him. It certainly seems that he’s smitten with you.”

Smitten.
“No, sir. I think that’s just nervousness. He was a bit . . . concerned how you might all react when he came home.”

“Hmm.”

Coming back down the hill, the town of Deep Haven fanned out before them, the Victorians among rustic log cabins edging the dark-blue curve of the harbor. Evergreens dissected the autumn tumble of color as it fell into the bowl of the town, the sky overhead streaked with the barest hint of cirrus clouds. The sun had passed the apex now, starting to spill marmalade rays into the far horizon.

“It’s beautiful here. Reminds me of Homer. Except there’s already snow on the ground there.”

“You’re a cop there?”

“Detective. Or I will be soon. In Anchorage. Homer was too small for my own good.”

Another
hmm
from John.

They followed Kyle’s cruiser as it wound through a neighborhood of cabins until it pulled up to the sheriff’s office, a nondescript brick building on a hill overlooking the lake. A couple more cruisers sat in the parking lot.

Scotty got out with John and followed Casper into the building. A few vinyl chairs anchored the small waiting room. A woman behind glass at the reception counter buzzed Kyle in through the locked door to the administrative offices. He gestured for Casper to go first.

“John, you need to stay here.”

“Not on your life,” John said.

Kyle raised his chin, and Scotty turned to John. “I’ll go in. I’ll make sure everything’s okay. Sit tight.”

It was like telling a moose to sit down and have tea. John looked at her, his face granite.

Then he sighed and lumbered over to the chairs. Picked up a magazine. Rolled it in his big hands and turned away from her to face the window.

Probably to hide the frustration she saw growing in his shoulders, the set of his jaw.

Kyle frowned but held the door open for her. He led Casper to an interrogation room, closed the door behind him, then faced Scotty with business in his eyes. “I know you did us the courtesy of bringing him back, but we don’t need any help
 
—”

“Listen. My own department isn’t much bigger than this, and I know it helps to have fresh ears
 
—and eyes. I barely know Casper, I’m unbiased, and frankly I think it’ll keep everyone back at the ranch from freaking out. So what do you say you let me listen in?”

Kyle considered her a moment. A tall man, wide-shouldered, confident, he still seemed the type to listen first. Especially when he threw a glance at John, standing at the window in the waiting area as if contemplating a jailbreak.

Everyone just needed to calm down. She had no doubt they’d sort this out in fifteen minutes, and Casper would be back home in an hour, probably proposing to Raina. After all, it seemed to be the MO of the Christiansen men.

How fun to be one of the many victims.

“Fine. There’s another room for viewing.” Kyle opened the door beside the interrogation room. “Just don’t get in the way.”

She paused before entering the room. “Kyle, just between us, how good is he for this?”

For a blink, she saw behind the cop to the friend he must be. “Monte was found in a ravine not far from the Christiansens’
house. They had two reports done on him. The first came back inconclusive, saying he might have died from exposure. That’s what the paper printed. But then we had a second one done, and it suggested he died from a blow to the head, one they believe occurred before the fall
 
—and that’s when they opened the murder investigation. And he had two freshly broken ribs, although he might have gotten those when he fell into the ravine.

“But while the forensic evidence is lacking, there’s plenty to connect Casper to his disappearance.” He sighed. “I hate this part of my job
 
—interrogating and arresting friends.”

Scotty nodded as she closed the door behind her and stood at the window, watching Casper through the one-way glass. He had taken a seat, folded his hands on the table, but he apparently didn’t realize anyone could observe him because he held an all-out internal dialogue with himself, shaking his head, looking at the ceiling, as if still at home with Owen.

Taking him apart, piece by piece.

She should have driven the rental to town; then she could leave as soon as Casper walked out the door, cleared. In fact, she should be on her way now
 
—except for the slightest niggle of doubt.

Something about Casper’s initial reaction to the news of Monte Riggs’s death didn’t sit right with her.

Kyle entered the interrogation room, tossed a file on the table, and sat down opposite Casper. “Hey, pal. Big day
 
—bringing Owen home.”

“Let’s get this over with. I don’t know anything about Monte Riggs’s death.”

“Just take a breath, Casper. Let’s start from the top.”

Kyle had his back to Scotty. Casper faced her, his lips tightened into a bud of frustration. To her, he looked tired, his shirt rumpled,
wearing a layer of scruff on his chin that gave him, yes, a bit of a criminal hue. Maybe she should have suggested a shower, a shave.

She crossed her arms, searched, then settled herself on a cold folding chair.

Kyle had opened the file, reading the slew of documents. “Let’s see, when was it that you and Monte had that fight in front of Liza’s house?”

They’d had a fight? Yes, she remembered that. He’d mentioned that in Anchorage.

Casper leaned back. “You were there. I guess it was, what
 
—March?”

“And the nature of the fight
 
—”

“Did you not see Raina? Monte hit her
 
—he was going to rape her. If I hadn’t gotten there . . .”