Читать книгу The Awakening - Jana DeLeon - Страница 10

Josie locked the door behind Tanner and ran upstairs. She grabbed her pistol from the nightstand and checked to make sure it was loaded and ready to fire, then grabbed sweat pants and a shirt and threw them on. She snagged her tennis shoes on the way out of her bedroom, not even bothering with socks.

Socks weren’t necessary for shooting a vandal or a swamp monster.

She pulled on her shoes with one hand while unlocking the door with the other. Then, gripping her pistol, she eased out the door and silently drew it closed behind her. Following the same path Tanner had taken earlier, she edged along the hedges and around the side of the barn. Pausing for a moment, she listened to see if she could pinpoint Tanner’s position, but no sound reached her.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then crept down the side of the barn. At the end of the barn she paused again and stiffened as she heard the crackle of dead grass around the corner. Her heart pounded in her chest and despite the chilly weather, her hand felt clammy as she gripped the pistol. She said a quick prayer, then spun around the corner, gun leveled.

“Whoa!” Tanner said. “It’s me.”

She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath until it rushed out of her in a giant whoosh. She lowered her pistol and tried to will her racing heart into slowing.

“Did you see him?” she asked.

“No, but I found what was moving out here.”

“What is it?”

“Horses. There were two of them wandering around back here. I’ve put one back in the stall, and was going back for the other one when I heard you and came to investigate.”

Panic rushed through her. “My horses!”

She shoved the pistol into her sweatpants, then rushed past Tanner into the open pasture and squinted into the darkness, looking for the remaining horse. Finally, she spotted him about twenty yards away peacefully grazing at the edge of the fence. Softly, she called him and he nickered, then walked over to her, lowering his head to be rubbed. She rubbed his head and then took him by the halter and led him back into the barn.

She flipped the light switch just inside the barn door and flooded the huge structure with fluorescent light. Her heart still racing, she scanned the stalls, doing a mental roll call.

“Are they all there?” Tanner asked.

“Yes, thank goodness.”

“I didn’t know which stall the other horse belonged in, so I just put her in the first one.”

“That’s hers,” she said as she led the other horse to the empty stall.

Her racing heart was starting to slow and she gave the horse another head rub before exiting the stall. As she slid the dead bolt back into place, she looked over at Tanner, her panic now turning into anger.

“If he was trying to piss me off,” she said, “this was the fastest way to do it. The last thing I will tolerate is someone putting my horses in danger, and they did not unfasten dead bolts and let themselves out.”

Tanner nodded, his expression grim. “Don’t worry. I’m going to catch him.”

His voice was so determined that Josie felt her hope rise just a bit. Tanner did not strike her as a man who was good with failure. Maybe with him on her side, she had a chance to get to the bottom of all this.

He stepped close to her and looked directly at her. She looked up at him and forced herself not to take a step back. He was so virile, so male, and being that close to him made her body tingle in ways that had been dormant for a long time. Ways she intended to keep dormant forever.

“You know,” he said, “that a swamp monster did not wander into your barn and turn your horses loose.”

She blew out a breath, forcing herself to shift her focus from the incredibly attractive man in front of her and back to the night’s situation that could have ended badly. “I know.”

“You need to think about who has a grudge against you, no matter how slight, and you need to tell me about every single one of them.”

She nodded. The last thing she’d wanted to do was lay out her personal problems to a complete stranger, but she was going to have to give Tanner enough information to do his job. “I have an idea where to start.”

Tanner looked around the barn. “I don’t think he’ll come back tonight. Let’s try to get some sleep, and we can talk in the morning.”

“Okay,” Josie said. She reached for the light switch, but Tanner reached for her hand before she could turn the light off.

“Leave it on,” he said, still holding her hand. “He’ll be less likely to try something in the light, and if he’s foolish enough to come back, it will be easier to catch him.”

His hand was warm on hers, firm but gentle. The skin on his hands was rough in some places, as she would expect from someone who worked outdoors, but his rough skin pressed against hers made her instantly wonder how those strong, rugged hands would feel on the rest of her body.

She pulled her hand from his and nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll leave it on until he’s caught.”

Tanner walked out of the barn and she followed behind him and closed the door. They walked silently back to the house, and she couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. Had he felt the same charge she had when he’d touched her hand?

She hoped not, because if he made a move on her, she was afraid she’d abandon her vow to swear off men. And then she’d regret it.

Getting involved with men always led her to regret.

TANNER LOOKED OUTSIDE his bedroom window across the silent lawn. The light from the barn windows created a dim glow around it. When he’d told Josie that he didn’t think the vandal would return that night, he hadn’t been lying, but there was an uneasiness in the air that he didn’t like.

Something was out there … watching, waiting.

Someone thought they were being clever, but to what end was the question. Josie was hiding something from him. He’d known that from the beginning. Maybe after the scare with her horses, she’d be willing to part with whatever she was withholding.

He stepped away from the window and shrugged off his jeans and shirt. What he needed to do was follow his own advice and get some rest. He’d just been thinking about a hot shower when he’d heard the noise earlier, but after seeing Josie all wet and wearing only a towel, a cold shower might be more in order.

Even earlier in the barn, she was still gorgeous. No makeup, wet hair, baggy sweats and she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Over the years he’d seen her in magazine ads, usually for clothes, perfume or jewelry. He knew that usually those pictures were altered with filters and software, but for Josie, it wasn’t necessary. She was just as perfect now as she’d been when she was a teen.

It had been a mistake to touch her. He could have told her to leave the light on. He didn’t have to grab her hand. Certainly, he didn’t have to hold it, but he hadn’t been able to resist making even the smallest contact.

Her hand had been so warm, despite the outside chill. Her skin was soft and smooth, just as he’d imagined it would be, and his body had stirred from that tiny bit of contact. For a moment, she’d stared at him, then looked confused and just a tad nervous. He’d like to think it was because she was attracted to him, but he knew that was a high school fantasy that his overactive imagination had dug up from the place he’d buried it long ago.

And that’s just where it belonged.

He strode into the bathroom and turned the cold water on full blast. Any and all thoughts about Josie Bettencourt that didn’t have a direct bearing on the case had to go. He wasn’t about to disappoint his brothers by screwing up his first case.

Making a fool of himself wasn’t on his list of things to do, either.

JOSIE WAS UP BEFORE DAWN and out the door to check on her horses. Although she’d agreed with Tanner’s assessment that the vandal wouldn’t return that night, she was still relieved to see everything was in order in the barn. She doled out feed, hay and head rubs to all four of her beauties, then headed back inside to clean up and get ready for the breakfast conversation she’d tossed and turned about all night.

She pulled off her boots in the utility room, put coffee on to brew and hurried upstairs for a quick shower. By the time she came back to the kitchen, Tanner was already standing at the back windows, looking out across the lawn and drinking coffee.

He turned when she came into the room and raised his cup. “I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself.”

Despite all the stress, Josie found herself smiling. It was hard to be overwrought with worry when there was a sexy man in your kitchen drinking coffee.

“Please help yourself to anything when you want it,” she said.

Tanner smiled and she felt a flush run up her chest when she realized the double meaning of that statement. She turned to pour herself a cup of coffee, trying to convince herself that if he took her up on that offer, she’d have the strength to turn him down. She wasn’t quite successful.

“You might be here awhile,” she said, trying to correct her earlier faux pas. “You should treat my house as if it’s yours. I keep the kitchen stocked well with eggs, sandwich stuff and makings for salad. It’s not the Ritz, but I don’t usually have much time for meals.”

“I’m not much of a five-course meal guy myself. I eat most of my meals in front of the television or standing over the sink.”

She smiled. “You can use a chair and table here, if you’d like, or the television in the den. I hate to admit, there’s television trays next to the couch. Sometimes that’s the only time I can catch up on the news.”

“A kindred spirit.” He crossed the room to the refrigerator and pulled out a package of bagels and cream cheese. “Bagel?”

“I can make some eggs—”

He waved one hand. “Is that what you’d do normally? Or would you toss one of these in the toaster and rush out to take care of your work?”

“You got me. Toss one in the toaster for me. I’ll wash up and rinse off some fruit.”

She pulled some strawberries out of the refrigerator and rinsed them in the sink, then carried the bowls of fruit to the breakfast table as Tanner placed the toasted bagels and cream cheese in front of two chairs across from each other, with a side view of the lawn.

“Go ahead and take a seat,” he said, and grabbed the coffeepot to refill both their cups.

She slid into her chair, trying to get a grip on her nerves. All night, she’d dreaded this conversation. A million times she’d run through it in her mind but still hadn’t come up with a way to say it without sounding egotistical and airheaded.

Tanner took a seat across from her and reached for the cream cheese. “How come you don’t have a dog?”

Josie blinked. That wasn’t the question she’d been expecting.

“Oh, well, we had a hound dog forever, but he passed away a couple of years ago. I thought about getting another when I came home, but I haven’t had the time to devote to a puppy. Why do you ask?”

“No reason in particular. I was just thinking that a dog might be good for security.”

She nodded. “I guess that’s something to think about.”

“So,” he said, “last night you said you had an idea about who might be doing this?”

She took a sip of coffee to wash down the bagel that seemed to be lodged in her throat. “I thought so at the time, but I think I was just stressed over the situation. Now my thoughts just sound stupid.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

He looked expectantly at her and she took another sip of coffee. “I’ve lived here my entire life,” she said. “In high school, I was one of those popular girls, but I had big plans that included getting far away from the town of Miel and the Honey Island Swamp.”

“Why?”

She blinked. “I … I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t thought about it in so long. I remember thinking this place was so small and slow that I felt like I was slowly smothering, and I desperately wanted the fast pace and glamour of big cities and other countries. It all sounded so fabulous.”

“But it wasn’t?”

She frowned. “No. I mean, parts of it were. There are some simply breathtaking places in this world, and I feel fortunate that I got to see so many of them.”

“But?”

“But it was hard. I was a model and that business is rather cutthroat. You can’t spend much time enjoying everything around you. You’re too busy looking over your shoulder for the next person trying to stab you in the back. It just wasn’t for me. Then my dad got sick, and it seemed like the perfect reason to come home.”

“But there was no reason to stay after he passed. There’re other jobs besides modeling. You could have sold all this and started over.”

She nodded. “I could have, and I thought about it. I thought about it a lot. But when I returned, it felt different. It didn’t feel small any more. It felt comfortable. I knew my real passion was horses, not modeling, and I couldn’t ask for a better setup to breed and train. I just need to establish another form of income to support myself while I work on that.”

“Makes sense. With the weather here, you can train outside year-round and have plenty of room to grow your own hay. It is a beautiful piece of property, and it only took a glimpse of your horses to see you’ve got some fine stock….”

“But?”

“But apparently, you think your choice to maintain your roots in Miel didn’t make everyone happy.”

She blew out a breath. “No. Like I said before, I was part of the popular crowd in high school, but since I’d always planned to leave, I didn’t bother establishing close relationships with people. I just hung out with large groups, but it was all very shallow, really. Some boys called me a snob because I wouldn’t date them seriously, but it wasn’t personal. I didn’t have any close girlfriends, either. I just wanted it to be easy when I left, you know?”

“So some people think you’re a spoiled snob.”

“I didn’t say ‘spoiled.’”

“The spoiled is implied given the family money and the fact that your dad probably doted on his only daughter.”

“You’re probably right. I’ve already heard the snide remarks about my dad’s bragging over my modeling jobs.” She sighed. “Which explains the less-than-stellar welcome, but how does that lead to vandalism? It’s a serious leap from high school pettiness or even adult annoyance to illegally damaging someone’s property. Which is why the more I thought about it, the more I figured it was a stupid idea all the way around.”

“Not just illegal damage. This is criminal damage.”

She shook her head. “I’d never manage criminal charges. Civil is about all I can hope for.”

“Not necessarily. A good prosecutor could make the argument that tearing down the fences might endanger the people living within the boundaries of the fences.”

“Maybe, but I’d have to get someone arrested before that could happen, and given my relationship with the sheriff, that’s not possible.”

“The report Alex typed up says you told him about the vandalism and he blew it off. What’s his problem?”

“Me, among many other things. He asked me out once in high school and has hated me ever since I turned him down. He spent our entire senior year playing juvenile practical jokes on me. I’d thought after all these years that he’d have let it go, but apparently, he’s determined to hang on to that teenage angst.”

“Okay, anyone else you think is holding a grudge?”

“Mack Prevett is buddies with the sheriff. He owns the local bar. I’ve heard he and my dad quarreled over property lines, and Mack had to move construction of his fishing cabin further down the bayou. I asked Emmett about it, but he said it was old news. But my friend Adele told me Mack had already started construction and was mad as a hornet to have to start over.”

Tanner nodded. “So he has a couple of reasons to hold a grudge.”

“He was downright blatant with his dislike for me the one time I dared go in there with Emmett for a beer, but then, he wasn’t overly nice to Emmett, either. Emmett just ignored him, of course, as only Emmett can manage.”

“Having a beer with Emmett, huh? Given your conversation yesterday, I’m having trouble picturing you two socializing.”

“We were picking up supplies in town. Emmett left and went across the street to the bar. I went in after him, but didn’t want to make a scene ordering him out. The man is old enough to be my father. So I passed it off as needing a break, hoping he’d take the opportunity away from the house to tell me what’s up with him lately.”

“I take it he didn’t?”

“No. He barely spoke, which is typical. It wasn’t a problem when he wasn’t being so secretive and obstinate, but now … I don’t know what to think.”

“Don’t worry,” Tanner said. “I’m going to look into all options. That’s my job.”

She sat back in her chair, feeling some of the tension in her neck releasing. That hadn’t been near as mortifying as she’d thought it would be. He hadn’t smirked or done anything else to indicate he thought she had an overly inflated ego.

“So, what do we do today?” she asked.

“First, I’m going to contact my brother and have him start running some background checks on the people you’ve mentioned.”

“Did you look at the personnel files last night?”

“Yeah, and Max already did a quick check on everyone. All the workers are clean, including Emmett—with the law, anyway. I also talked to my buddy at Wildlife and Fisheries.”

Josie stiffened a bit. “Did he find out anything?”

“The blood on the post was rabbit. And my buddy’s take on the print is the same as what they told you before—bipedal, over six feet tall and roughly two hundred fifty pounds.”

“So we still have nothing.”

Tanner smiled. “If it was going to be that easy, you could have figured it all out without my help. We’ll dig deeper until we find something. All this means is that someone is being careful, and that takes planning.”

“Or the creature is real.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I suppose anything is possible.”

“So, what now?”

“I’m going to head out into the swamp and see if I can track down your monster.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Whatever you would normally be doing if none of this were going on.”

A wave of disappointment washed over her and she struggled to keep it from showing in her expression. After all, she could hardly expect Tanner to take her with him to track the creature. He was a professional. She’d only slow him down or get in the way or both.

“If you can,” he said, “I’d prefer it if you stayed close to the house.”

“You don’t think he’d try something during the day, do you?”

“I don’t think it’s likely for anything to happen during the day and right here in clear view of others that may be working around the property, but I don’t want you going into the swamp alone.”

“Not even to check on my men?”

“Vernon can check on your men. That’s his job.”

“And if he doesn’t do it?”

“I’m going to have a talk with him before I head out tracking. I think we can work something out.”

He took a bite of the bagel and stared out the window across the lawn. Josie bit her lower lip and hoped Tanner had some magic words to say to her foreman, because she was all out.