Читать книгу Navy SEAL Surrender - Angi Morgan - Страница 10

Chapter Four

He couldn’t do it.

Saddle sore, John wanted to drop in a chair, turn on a mind-numbing rerun of an old television show and drink a beer. If he’d been in San Diego, that was exactly what he would be doing. Or hitting the beach.

Of course, if he’d been at home in front of his TV, he wouldn’t be frustrated at not completing any task on Brian’s list. He’d consistently been aware of each minute slithering by. The stops and starts of checking on his dad had disrupted each job he’d begun. As a result, he hadn’t finished anything.

After a couple of hours he’d admitted he was out of his element. He’d run and trained almost every day since leaving home, but every part of him was sore in a different way. By lunch he’d called Mrs. Standridge. He wasn’t ashamed to ask for help. He was used to teamwork, admitting his shortcomings and working to improve.

As soon as she’d arrived, he’d seen the look in his dad’s eyes change. Brian could have been a little more specific that their father was embarrassed for anyone to see him. Mable had let him know a couple of hours ago she’d fed his dad breakfast for a late lunch, something J.W. could eat almost on his own. J.W. clearly didn’t want her in the house, but there wasn’t a choice. They needed help.

The excruciating one-hundred-plus temperature had climbed along with the sun. By the heat of the afternoon, it had hit 109. Might just make it down to ninety-eight later that night. Finally some relief. Ha! He hadn’t experienced a Texas summer since his teens. He’d like to see Brian survive after being dropped in the middle of a desert, dressed in full gear. He missed the ocean breeze and his run along the beach in California.

Different life. Time to concentrate on this one and see if Brian would allow him to return home more often. Yeah, he was seeking permission from his brother.

Which meant getting inside and tackling more things on the list. But first, he needed to get some of the sweat off him. One bathroom meant no shower until Mabel left. He crossed to the watering trough he’d just filled, pulled his shirt off and stuck his head under. The water cooled him like the shock of jumping in the Pacific.

He shook his head and swiped his hand over his face to sluice the water off before he headed to the house. The distinct hum of his favorite Camaro pulled behind him and stopped.

The last person he’d expected to see was Alicia. When he turned, there she was, one hand gripping the steering wheel, one hand gripping her cell. She didn’t make a move to get out of the car. According to the news he’d just heard, her kid was still missing. Why was she here?

Lost. He’d seen that look before.

The petrified stare of someone who had no options.

“Alicia?” He opened the car door, reached across and turned the engine off then leaned on the roof. “Hey, you okay?”

“No.”

A whisper of desperation. Tears trickling from swollen eyes. She barely resembled the confident woman who’d met him in the driveway.

“They can’t find her and...”

“I want to help, but I’m not certain what I can do.”

He could see her trying to keep control by blowing air through her puffed cheeks. It wasn’t working. Again, out of his element. Should he get her out of the car and take her inside or bring Mabel out here?

“They— I thought— I have to sell the car, but he just called....” She shook her head. Tears streamed from her red-rimmed eyes. “They’ve arrested him.”

“Who? Did they find your daughter?”

“No. It was— Brian just called.”

“Is Brian buying the car? He’s not here.” He should get Mabel. Maybe she could understand and tell him what this was all about.

Alicia turned to him, took a deep breath before she made eye contact. “They arrested Brian for Lauren’s kidnapping.”

* * *

ALICIA LOOKED AROUND the faded yellow kitchen in the Sloane house. She’d spent lots of summer days with the twins’ mother here. Waiting on fresh lemonade or homemade peanut-butter cookies. More recently, she’d spent time cooking simple meals for J.W. and Lauren while Brian handled ranch stuff.

Or at least she’d thought he’d been handling ranch stuff.

Of course he was. Don’t start doubting him. He’s not the kidnapper or a drug dealer like half the town thinks. Shauna’s behind the kidnapping. You just have to prove she’s guilty.

“Here you go, dear. I have dinner for you both whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Mabel. I’m not really hungry.” Alicia took a cool wet cloth and placed it over her eyes. She was so tired of thinking. So tired of trying to decide how or where to start.

“Did you find out anything?” John asked.

“Well, that silly receptionist or whoever they have answering the phones said they won’t let anyone talk to Brian until after he’s been formally charged.” Mabel continued to move around the kitchen as she spoke. “I wanted to send Dave Krueger over for representation, but they told her Brian didn’t want a lawyer and then mentioned your brother was being cheap and stubborn.”

“I can’t believe Brian refused a lawyer or that the situation has spun out of control so rapidly.” Cheap and stubborn. She totally understood those two words. She heard Johnny grunt from the doorway. “Did they arrest him based on an anonymous tip?”

“That’s why they initially pulled him over. Then they found Lauren’s toys behind the seat,” Mabel said, patting her shoulder once and moving away.

Alicia used her palms to keep the cloth in place. Her eyes were swollen and burning from the constant crying. “We told her not to play in the truck. This is all my fault he’s in jail.”

“No, dear, it’s not,” Mabel said. “And tomorrow morning he’ll be charged or free. I’ll make certain he has a good lawyer whether he wants one or not.”

“I’m so glad you’re here for J.W.,” she told Mabel, removing the cool cloth and feeling calmer just sitting at the old dining table. Her insides still shook, but she could talk rationally again. The anxiety wouldn’t leave until Lauren was back safe and sound.

“I am, too.” John’s deep voice rumbled softly through the room. “Thanks for calling the police station. I moved Dad back to bed. I’d like to see Brian ASAP. Can you stay? I hate to ask, but I’ll probably need to be gone tomorrow as well if he’s not released.”

“Not a problem.” Mabel folded the kitchen towel and laid it on the dish drain. “Let me run home and feed the dog. I believe the jail opens at eight in the morning. I’m an early riser but I don’t think you’d want me at five, so I’ll come at seven-thirty. Be right back.”

Alicia replaced the washcloth against her face while Mabel gently shut the door and left. Hot air from outside drifted across the room. She didn’t know how to look at this man. Or how to talk to him. Or how to apologize or explain her behavior. So much had happened since he’d left home, and he seemed to be clueless.

Where did she begin?

By looking at him.

She wiped her face one last time and set the cloth aside. He’d put a shirt on. His hair was still wet, but she’d heard the shower while Mabel had washed dishes.

“You doing okay?” John asked.

She watched by peeking through her fingers as he turned one of the old metal dining chairs away from the table, sat and leaned across the back.

“Brian sits exactly like that. But I’d never think you were him.”

John’s bland expression subtly switched to annoyance as he tapped the table. Easily spotted on a man who didn’t really show much emotion.

“You and Brian a thing now?”

“No. It’s not anything like that.”

“Why don’t you explain just how it is? If you’re up to it.” John didn’t move. He was tall enough that when he sat in a chair he still seemed to tower over her. “You should probably start with why the police booked him for your daughter’s kidnapping and why the first person he told was you.”

“Shauna’s responsible for the anonymous tip. I’m certain she’s trying to frame Brian and me. Sheriff Coleman thinks so, too, even though he can’t say that to anyone else.”

“Did he say it to you?” John remained steady, his arms crossed over the top of the chair. His eyes constantly moved between her and his dad.

“No. But he didn’t disagree when I said it. You need to take care of Brian. I just came to see if you wanted to buy the car.”

“Shauna who? And why do you need money?”

“Shauna Weber was Dwayne’s stepmother and the reason my accounts are frozen.”

“Why would his stepmother freeze your assets?”

“Because she’s a money-hungry bi— Sorry, I can’t talk rationally about her. Look, Johnny, can you buy the car? I need money for a private investigator. It’s the only way I’ll ever find Lauren before Shauna pretends to find her and takes her away from me.”

“That’s quite an assumption, Alicia.”

“I’m not assuming anything.” Shoving the chair backward, it hit the kitchen wall. She was losing it. She forced herself to sit and take cleansing breaths before she babbled again. She couldn’t look at him to see what he thought of her outburst and couldn’t imagine why he wasn’t lecturing her, like anyone else she’d tried to confide in. “It’s the only explanation. Shauna has frozen Dwayne’s assets, including Lauren’s trust fund, and I...I just need the cash for the car. If you still want it, that is. Then I can get out of your hair.”

“You mean the court froze everything,” he corrected.

“Shauna took me to court. As if she has a right to any of that money. It belongs to my daughter. I hate having to use it, but it was our only support while the will was being contested. Now there’s nothing except a few home-care clients who stuck with me.”

Would he remember the same friendship they’d had as kids? Be sympathetic enough to give her more than the car’s estimated value? She gathered her courage to make eye contact with him. But his gaze was toward the living area and his father.

“The house wasn’t built for wheelchair access.” She attempted to draw his attention again. “Brian set J.W.’s bed there so he could work here at the table and still see him.”

“Back to Brian’s arrest,” he said, lowering his voice. “Why my brother? If you’re just friends, what does he have to do with your daughter?”

“Shauna and Patrick Weber have made several accusations that we’re having an affair. That we kidnapped Lauren for ransom.”

“We. Meaning you and Brian. But there hasn’t been a ransom note.”

“One showed up last night at the Weber show barns. They tried to blame me, but didn’t know I had a solid alibi. The sheriff was at my house. So they immediately accused Brian of working with me.”

“That’s ridiculous. He was out with the horses until after dark.”

“The note was left at their stables that back up to your property line.”

“You mean Pat Weber owns old man Adams’s stables? He used to work there.”

“Shauna married him four months after Dwayne’s father died. If that doesn’t prove she just wanted the money, I don’t know what does. Marrying Roy Adams was another way she could get close to Dwayne after high school. With both of them gone, she’s selling off everything.”

“Wait. Are you talking about Shauna Tipton, the cheerleader a couple of years older than us? Didn’t she date Dwayne? This sounds like a damn soap opera.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve been living this nightmare for years. Brian’s a good man. Shauna will use anything that can be taken out of context.”

“Right. I still don’t see why the police would arrest my brother. If there’s nothing between you guys, how did they connect Brian to the kidnapping?”

“I’ve always been his friend and I stayed here with J.W. while Brian worked his four-day shift in Fort Worth last week.”

“Shift?”

“He’s a paramedic. Wasn’t that where he was headed this morning when they arrested him?”

“He didn’t mention where he was headed. Just that he’d be gone four days.”

Spoken just like his brother. Same attitude, tone, inflection. If they tried to fool people, not many would be able to tell them apart. But she could. She also recognized the stubbornness that kept them from speaking to each other after Johnny left for the navy.

“I’m not reprising the role of mediator between you two. You can talk to him at the police station.”

He nodded once. Curt, not rude. Just like he accepted her words and there was no need for any more. “That still doesn’t explain why they’d think Brian kidnapped your daughter.”

“Lauren. Her name is Lauren, and I want her home. She needs to be home with me.” Fear blocked the last words, cutting them short.

“Do you know why they’re assuming he took Lauren, tried to kill you and then just hung around the ranch until he was arrested?” He’d raised his voice just a tad and looked toward J.W., who still appeared to be sleeping far enough away not to hear the conversation. “It isn’t a logical plan of attack and would mean that you involved a third person to hide Lauren somewhere. It doesn’t make sense.”

“They don’t need a reason. There are townspeople who have been trying to send him to jail for twelve years.”

John’s brows drew together. He shook his head, compressed his lips and appeared genuinely confused.

“You don’t know? You’re Brian’s twin and you’re telling me you don’t know what happened after you left?”

“Would I be asking if I did?” He sounded very annoyed.

Technically, he hadn’t asked, but she saw the visible tick in his jaw muscle. He was obviously upset. She could barely believe her two best friends had grown so far apart. Identical twins who had shared secrets and pranks all through school.

“Brian admitted to starting the fire that killed Mrs. Cook.”

“I know. He thought I caused the accident and took the blame.”

There was some emotion Johnny couldn’t hide. He stiffened and blinked his eyes a smidgen too long. They’d both changed over twelve years, but some things never would. The man sitting with her was just as hurt as the eighteen-year-old boy had been when his brother had believed the lies spread about the fire.

“They’ve never forgiven him.”

“Who?” He looked genuine asking his question, like he really didn’t have a clue.

“Everybody. Other than the sheriff, Mabel and me, no one talks to him. Ever. No one ever told you why he didn’t go to A&M?”

“I assumed he changed his mind. Neither of us were good in school.”

“But you knew he lost his scholarship, right?”

John’s poker face melted.

“Your dad never said anything?”

“He didn’t talk too much about Brian.” John dropped his gaze to the tabletop.

“In other words, you didn’t ask because you didn’t want to hear.”

“I’m listening now.”

“The town was upset about Mrs. Cook’s death. It didn’t matter that it was an accident. They wanted Brian punished. So there were outcries and editorials demanding consequences. Teachers withdrew their letters of recommendations.”

“They could do that?” he asked in a hurt whisper.

“The university suddenly didn’t have a full scholarship. They reduced it to about a thousand dollars. He couldn’t finance the rest.”

Disbelief, astonishment, anger—a ton of emotion took charge and marched across his face. “You can count on my help. Whatever it takes. We’ll find your daughter and clear Brian.”

“I don’t know what you can do, John. The police and rangers have an Amber Alert. No one saw anything, no clues, no prints, no way to find her. It’s like she just disappeared.”

Alicia saw his fists tighten, ready to do battle to defend his family. It had been a while since she’d felt someone was completely on her side.

“I can help. Trust me.”

The harsh tightness across his face softened. His hand took hers and she saw a glimpse of a friend. It had been a while since she’d depended on anyone. She nodded, realizing that trusting him was second nature. She’d run to the Double Bar because he was home.