Stone Cold Cowboy(40)

Her hand pressed to the side of his face. “We should go,” she said against his lips.

He pulled back. She leaned forward, following his exit. The smile on her face, the laugh that bubbled up when he playfully shoved her back and closed the door between them made his gut tight and his own laugh burst free.

He pointed his finger at her. “You’re dangerous.”

She laughed again, covering her mouth with her fingers. He rounded the truck and slid in behind the wheel. He started the engine and pulled out of her drive, headed straight to town with Little Big Town’s “Pain Killer” playing on the radio. Yeah, a little dose of Sadie sure did make everything all right.

He reached across the seat, took her hand, ignored the instinctive flinch, and linked his fingers with hers, trying not to think about the reasons why she shied away for those tiny moments before she overcame the jolt of fear that asshole Derek instilled in her. “What do you want to see tonight?” he asked to distract her and keep her focus on him.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what’s playing. I work so much, it’s been about six months since I went to the movies.”

“Really? You don’t have a string of hot dates lined up behind you?” He was teasing, but he also wanted to know if he had some competition out there.

“You’re the only hot date I’ve had in . . . If I can’t think of how long it’s been, then that should tell you it’s been a long time. Luna and I caught that Leonardo DiCaprio movie a while back.”

“What was up with that look she shot Colt when she came to pick you up at my place?”

“All I know is that she used to date Colt’s friend. Then something happened with the guy and Colt.”

“Do you know what?”

“No. She won’t say. I guess you’ll have to ask Colt.”

“He’s a vault. I asked him about it the night she came by. You’d have thought I asked him to relive his worst nightmare by the look on his face.”

“I relive mine every night.”

Rory squeezed her hand. “Having trouble sleeping?”

“It won’t go away. Sometimes I find myself drifting off during the day. I get sucked back to that day, the fear, the knowing I’m going to die out there alone.”

Rory felt the shiver from her body race up his arm. “I think about it, too. I dream about you hanging there. I know how it turns out. You’re fine, but it still wakes me in the night and leaves me cold. I need to see you. I need to know you’re all right.” More than he wanted to admit, but there it was. He thought about her all the time.

He hated that she was still suffering, still fearful after what that asshole did to her.

“The cops still haven’t found Derek. Aside from your brother stopping by your place today, no one has seen him.”

“They’ve got to have a secret place where they’re cooking the drugs.”

“When did your brother get into drugs?”

“After my mother died. I found him stealing booze from the house, drinking in the barn. He started smoking pot, which led to him selling it, pills, mostly oxy and Ecstasy. Last year, he got busted for possession with the meth. I had no idea he was making it.”

“That’s some serious shit.”

“Believe me, I know. I’ve seen him at his worst, but I still remember the scared little boy who ran into my room in the middle of the night afraid of monsters. The day they stole the cattle, I could tell he hadn’t slept in a couple of days. He was going to crash hard. I’ve been thinking about it. If he’s cooking and stealing the cattle, the two things have to be located close to each other.”

Rory eyed her across the seat. “Why do you say that?”

“Because he’s drugged-up stupid. He’s not going to put himself out or work hard to do anything. He owes money, so the easy and convenient thing to do was steal your cows. He’d get between seven and ten grand for the small groups he took. The herd, I don’t even want to think about what that cost you. Not just in the animals themselves, but the offspring you would have had from them.”

Rory didn’t want to think about it either. The theft put a dent in his family’s business. It wasn’t hard to remember it wasn’t her fault, but the anger still rose up inside him. He tamped it down and focused on what she knew about her brother. Maybe they could put the pieces together to figure out where he was hiding and put an end to his drug manufacturing and distributing in and around their town. The growing problem needed to be nipped in the bud before they had a full-blown epidemic.

“So you think this place is near my land.”