Текст книги "Damsel In Danger"
Автор книги: Olivia Jaymes
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Chapter Sixteen
‡
Brinley looked ready to bolt back to the car. Her usual sunny smile was replaced with a frown of worry despite Jason’s assurances that his parents were friendly people. Hell, if they thought he was serious with Brinley they’d probably fall all over themselves to welcome her into the family. Jason’s mother was desperate to see him happy and settled after everything he’d been through.
Brinley looked lovely today in a flowered sundress that showed off her golden skin and luscious curves. She’d left her long brown hair loose and it hung in waves to the middle of her back, making his fingers itch to run his hands through it. He had a distinct memory from the other night regarding how silky it felt.
Jason hugged his mother and shook hands with his father but both his parents were paying attention to the woman behind him. He stepped aside and wrapped an arm around Brinley’s waist, pulling her forward.
“Mom. Dad. I’d like you to meet a good friend, Brinley Snow. She moved into the house next to mine. Brinley, this is my mother and father, Marie and Peter Anderson.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” Brinley shook hands with his parents while Jason’s mother kept giving him excited sidelong glances. Marie Anderson thought this was the big introduction. That Brinley was the one. Jason would have to pull his mother aside today and let her know as gently as he could that Brinley had only come into his life a short time ago. It was much too soon to be declaring anything serious. Although if he were going to get serious, Brinley would be exactly the kind of woman he’d want.
“Brinley. What an unusual name,” Marie exclaimed as she took Brinley by the hand and led her into the dining room. “You’re the first I’ve met. Is it a family name, dear?”
Brinley looked nervously over her shoulder at Jason as she was being led away like a lamb to slaughter. Before Marie Anderson was done she’d know every little detail about Brinley, including her grandmother’s maiden name. His mother had missed her calling. She should have worked for the NSA.
Jason felt a little guilty but he knew better than to interfere with his mother when she had a goal in mind. If he and Brinley had any sort of future, and he didn’t even know if that’s what he wanted, she’d need to learn how to handle his mother.
“No, just one my parents liked. Something smells wonderful. Is it pot roast?”
“It is. Do you like to cook?” Marie didn’t wait for an answer, continuing to lead Brinley away from Jason. “Why don’t you come into the kitchen and we can talk recipes?”
Jason, West, and his father watched the two women disappear behind the swinging door to the kitchen in silence.
“Do you think we’ll ever see Brinley again?” West said in a mock serious tone. “Poor girl. She has no idea that she’s being pumped for information and vetted as the future Mrs. Jason Anderson. If she did, she’d run out the door and never look back.”
Peter Anderson slapped Jason on the back and smiled. “I’m sure your girl will be fine. How long have you two been together?”
“She’d not exactly my girl. We’re…friends. Good friends.”
A friend that Jason had kissed. And fantasized about seeing naked.
His father gave him a knowing look. “Of course. Friends. Well, she seems like a nice girl. Very pretty. You said she’s your neighbor?”
“She lives in Gail Denton’s old place. Which leads me to a question, Dad. What do you know about the Barnes family and the murder that took place there twenty years ago?”
“Does Dad need a lawyer?”
Jason hadn’t heard his oldest brother enter the house but that query had come from Travis Anderson who ran the business side of the family holdings. Tall and dark-haired just like the rest of the Anderson clan, he leaned heavily on a cane due to hip surgery after a motorcycle accident a year ago. Pain was etched on Travis’s face, making him look older than his forty-two years but he was still smiling, albeit with difficulty.
“No attorney required. I was just wondering what he remembered,” Jason replied as he hugged his brother. “It’s good to see you. I thought you were still in New York.”
Travis was spending time in the Big Apple working with a rehab specialist.
“I’ve been home for several days. You and West have been busy with your new case.”
“You heard about it then?” West asked as they sat down in the living room. “Do you remember anything about the Barnes family?”
Travis rubbed his chin and set his cane down on the floor, sliding it behind his feet. “I remember Wendell Barnes coming here to the house a few times but that’s it. I don’t think I ever met his wife.”
Peter Anderson stood and strode over to the bar in the corner of the room. Silver-haired but still vital and energetic in his mid-sixties, he’d been the driving force behind Anderson Industries since its inception forty years ago. What had started as progressive ranching had grown into mining, oil, and banking making their father one of the richest men in Montana, if not the entire western half of the country.
“If we’re going to talk about that murder twenty years ago I’m going to have to have a drink. Anyone want to join me?”
Peter poured four glasses of whiskey and West helped him pass out the drinks before they all sat back down.
“So you do remember the murder.” Jason tossed back the liquor, enjoying the burn all the way down to his belly. “I guess we were all at college.”
“All three of you boys were gone at the time. It was a terrible thing, really. Everyone in town knew that Linda and Dell had marital problems. Linda loved to spend money and she was frustrated with Dell’s ideas about living a frugal life. She hated that house. Thought it was way too small. She wanted something she could throw lavish parties in and decorate expensively. Never made a secret about it either. Her complaints were loud and frequent to anyone who would listen.”
“So everyone thought Wendell did it?” West prompted. “Did you?”
“No, but I don’t know if I would call Dell a nice man either. He could be ruthless in business and he definitely didn’t lack self-esteem. But a murderer? I doubt it. From what I remember he hated guns. He only had them in the house for protection. They’d been robbed a few times.”
Robbed more than once in a town like Tremont? That alone was strange.
West cleared his throat noisily. “So you say Wendell didn’t like guns, Dad? And that they’d been robbed? That wasn’t in the police report.”
“Dell hated guns. He begrudgingly bought one when they were robbed about six months before Linda was shot.” Tom frowned and took another sip of his whiskey. “I don’t remember what the burglars took though.”
“The cops found him at the lake. He said he was fishing in the middle of the night. Was he a fisherman?”
Tom sighed and shook his head. “Not that I ever heard of. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t. We weren’t close friends, only acquaintances. Maybe Damian was into fishing.”
“What happened to him?” Jason’s fingers tightened around the highball glass. So far he hadn’t learned anything earthshattering. “The file doesn’t say a thing and I don’t remember him at all.”
“He was younger, of course.” Peter rubbed his chin in thought. “A nice boy. Very smart. When Linda died Dell sent him off to boarding school in upstate New York. I don’t think he ever came to visit his Aunt Gail, which is a shame. She’s a sweet woman and deserved better treatment than she got by Wendell.”
It looked like there was plenty of animosity to go around in the Barnes family. But if Jason could finally solve Linda Barnes’s murder, he would bet that he would solve Roger Gaines’s at the same time.
“I’ll be talking to Gail,” Jason revealed. “And I’m going to need to talk to Wendell and Damian as well. Plus anyone else who might have had a motive.”
“It’s a two for one. We find one killer it will lead us to the other.” West finished his whiskey and slapped it down on the coffee table. His father went back to the bar and poured himself another.
Travis picked up his cane and struggled to his feet.
“Neither Wendell nor Linda were very well liked in this community. Some people might not want to walk down that memory lane with you so be careful.”
“Like who?” West asked, getting to his feet. “I’m not giving the rich and powerful a pass on this investigation.”
“I have a distinct memory of Wendell in the study with Dad and another man. Wendell and that man were at each other’s throats and Dad was trying to keep the peace.”
“So who was it?” Jason stood as well, too restless to sit still.
Travis grinned, the look of pain and fatigue temporarily falling away. “Mayor Leon Cavendish. Of course he wasn’t the mayor then. Have fun questioning him.”
West groaned and slapped his forehead. “Shit. Just…shit.”
Jason and West were about to dig up a few buried secrets in this town, and it was not going to go over well.
*
“So how long have you known Jason?”
Marie Anderson was probably somewhere in her sixties but looked ten years younger. Her eyes were the same shade of green as Jason’s and she had the same easy smile. The older woman had been delicately asking Brinley questions about her family, Chicago, and teaching but apparently the pussyfooting was over and done. The questions were becoming more direct and she didn’t mind a bit. Of course Jason’s mother would want to know who her son was spending time with.
“Not long actually. Until the whole…well, murder thing…we were really just acquaintances. Waving and smiling as we went about our lives.”
“Such a sad incident. And you say you didn’t know this man at all?” Marie Anderson pulled the roast from the oven and then sat down at the table with Brinley. “We’ll let that rest for a few minutes and then serve dinner.”
“Not at all. He was a complete stranger. But that’s why I want to get to the bottom of this.”
“I thought you had.” Marie frowned in confusion. “You said he had your address because of the murder that took place there twenty years ago.”
Brinley blushed and shifted in her chair. “Well, yes, but I want to know who killed him and why. Was he shot because of what he knew about Linda Barnes or is it another reason? Something completely unrelated?”
“You sound like my sons,” Marie laughed. “Since they were kids they’ve been curious. It wasn’t a surprise when West and Jason went into law enforcement.”
“They seem like they know their jobs.”
A strange expression passed over Marie Anderson’s face, leaving behind a shadow of sadness.
“I’m not unhappy that Jason left the DEA. I always worried about him. And then of course the worst really did happen. We had no idea what happened to him for weeks. I thought…”
Brinley couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to this woman. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. The waiting. Not knowing. It must have been a nightmare.”
Her eyes bright with unshed tears, Marie nodded. “A parent wants their child to be happy and healthy. But I knew that if they hadn’t already killed him that he was neither of those things. You should have seen him when he first escaped. Thin as a rail and covered in sores and cuts. He spent some time in the hospital also because he was severely dehydrated.”
Brinley squeezed Marie’s hand. “He’s a strong man.”
Jason’s mother took a deep breath and smiled. “All my boys are, my daughter Leann too. They get that from their father. Still, I worry about Jason. I can’t imagine that a person could go through something like that and not be changed in some way.”
Brinley didn’t want to mention how Jason couldn’t sleep so many nights.
“Time is a great healer,” she said instead, feeling awkward knowing something Marie Anderson didn’t know.
“Yes, it is. Will you be there?” the older woman asked with a shrewd look on her face. “I know I’m being nosey and it’s none of my business, but will you be around in the future? I think you might be just what Jason needs.”
Brinley didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t have the answer herself. They were playing it day by day, not looking too far ahead. The good Lord knew Brinley had feelings for Jason. Strong ones.
“I’ll be there as long as he needs me,” Brinley found herself answering. It was at least honest. Even if they weren’t romantically involved she would always want to be his friend. He’d only been in her life a few days really, but already she couldn’t imagine a life without him. “He’s done so much to help me. I want to help him too.”
Jason’s mother smiled in satisfaction so she must have liked the answer well enough. “Good then. If you want to go through I’ll bring out the meal. I know the men are probably chomping at the bit for dinner.”
Brinley felt like she’d passed some sort of test that she hadn’t been given an opportunity to study for. Or at least the first hurdle.
If she wanted a future with Jason his mother wouldn’t stand in their way.
Which was good news.
The only question now was…did Brinley want a future with Jason? Signs were pointing to yes.
Chapter Seventeen
‡
“Your parents are nice,” Brinley said as they drove away from the Anderson family home. She hadn’t been happy at first about attending their traditional Sunday dinner but his family was friendly and charming. “You and your brothers look so much alike too.”
“I guess we do look like Dad. I think my sister Leann looks like Mom. She’s working in Florida right now so that’s why she wasn’t there today.”
“It sounds like you were close growing up.”
Brinley had been close to her brother and sister when they were young but as they grew older their lives seemed to diverge.
“I am with my brothers but Leann came along much later so we’re not as close as we could be. Honestly, we didn’t have much choice,” Jason laughed. “Three boys in five years stretched my parents to the limit – emotionally, physically, and financially. Dad was just starting out then and they didn’t have much money. Mom helped do the ranch books and took care of us. That wasn’t an easy task. We were typical boys and I swear one of us was in trouble at least once a day. The house we had then was small and the three of us shared a room. Mom never sent anyone to their room as a punishment because then the other two would go in there and the next thing she knew we’d be rolling around and wrestling or something. She had to get creative. Punishments were much more participatory. Cleaning out the garage or scrubbing garbage cans.”
Not once had Brinley wrestled with a sibling. She couldn’t imagine her sister even getting her clothes dirty. And her brother the muscle factory would have had her pinned in seconds.
Cleaning trash cans sounded smelly and gross.
“My mother would give us a timeout but I didn’t get punished very often. There wasn’t much trouble to get ino and I didn’t have a smart mouth or anything.”
In fact, Brinley had always tried to make her parents happy, not give them a hard time.
Jason glanced at her before returning his gaze to the road. “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard, honey. You need to raise some hell. And I think I know just that place.”
Grinning from ear to ear, he quickly changed lanes and did a U-turn on the two lane road. Her pulse quickened at the idea of doing something exciting. Something…naughty.
“Did Logan say something to you?”
“No, should he have?”
The sun was setting behind the trees and normally she’d be in for the evening, either reading or maybe watching television. But not tonight. She was going to do something out of the ordinary and with this very extraordinary man.
“I–I just mentioned that I didn’t want to play it safe so much. I wanted to take a few chances,” she admitted. “Not anything dangerous. Just not be so predictable all the time.”
“I don’t think you’re predictable in the least,” Jason declared. “And this won’t be dangerous, I promise. We’re going to have some fun. I think we both need it after the last several days thinking you were in danger. Now that we know that you’re not we can relax and enjoy ourselves. Do you trust me?”
She’d trusted him with her life, so trusting him with some fun was a no-brainer. She couldn’t wait to raise some hell with the best looking man in Tremont.
Bring it on.
*
The beat from the band inside could be felt all the way to the sidewalk. Brinley’s hand was firmly entwined with Jason’s but her heart was still racing with trepidation. The sign outside the building said this was “Harley’s Honkytonk. Good eats, cold beer, and pretty girls.”
“You’ll love this place,” Jason assured her as he pulled the door open and a blast of music almost knocked her on her ass. He had to lean down right next to her ear so she could hear him. “Some friends of mine play here every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.”
“We’re going to dance?”
She let Jason lead her through a labyrinth of tables and people, all of whom seemed to know him. Several times someone yelled out his name or slapped him on the back. She could feel the eyes of the patrons looking her over, probably to decide if she measured up to the other women he’d brought here. Or even if she was attractive enough to be one of the “pretty girls” the neon sign outside had boasted of.
The song ended and the thirsty dancing couples seemed to move as a unit toward the bar, leaving a pathway to a large table near the stage. Jason pulled out a chair for her as three of the men from the band greeted Jason as if he were their long-lost brother. After they’d ribbed him about how long it had been since they’d seen him, he placed his hands on Brinley’s shoulders.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet Brinley Snow. Brinley, this is Floyd Martin, he plays bass. That’s Henry Gatille, he plays drums. The tall one there is Chance Morton, he plays keyboards, and the ugly one bringing the beers is Zeke Dougal. He’s on guitar.”
“I ain’t near as ugly as you,” Zeke laughed and hugged Jason after handing out the longnecks. “Where in the hell you been lately? Sunday nights aren’t the same without you.”
Brinley shook hands with the men who all seemed nice and normal. She’d never known anyone who played in a band but these men seemed just like regular guys. Jason had good taste in friends.
“Getting the business started has been a lot of work.” Jason sat in the chair next to Brinley’s and signaled for the waitress. “You know how it is.”
The pretty blonde server leaned in, her bosom on full display in her low-cut white blouse she’d paired with a skin tight black skirt that showed a great deal of thigh.
“Hey, Jason. We’ve missed you in here.” The waitress’s voice was husky and seductive, and Brinley couldn’t help but stiffen with indignation as the woman licked her lips in invitation.
To Jason.
The man that Brinley was with. Was she invisible or something? Or so ugly no one would believe that she was with a man as sexy as Jason Anderson? Maybe they thought she was some pity date or that he’d lost a bet.
“Nice to see you, Nell.” Jason’s arm settled around her shoulders, pulling her chair closer so she was sitting between his splayed legs while his other hand rested on her bare knee, his breath warm on her neck. “Honey, what do you want to drink?”
“Um, I guess a beer.” She had a feeling this bar didn’t serve too many of the martinis she’d been fond of in Chicago. In fact, she was quite out of place. She’d never been to a place called a honkytonk and it was clear that the waitress wished Brinley wasn’t there at all.
Jason smiled and leaned down so his words were only for her. “Can you do Jake a favor and order something exotic? He’s always complaining that he never gets to make a real cocktail around here. He moved here from New York and had some nightclub there. What did you order in Chicago?”
“A Cosmopolitan,” she admitted, keeping her voice low. “But I’m okay with a beer, Jason.”
“Jake will love it.” Jason chuckled and dropped a kiss on her shoulder, leaving heat in its wake. “Nell, we’ll have a longneck and a Cosmopolitan. Also bring a large cheese pizza and a bucket of hot wings.”
“We just ate.” Brinley eyed Jason’s trim and muscular form in shock. He had to have the metabolism of a bumblebee.
“That was over two hours ago. Besides, you can’t come to Harley’s without trying the pizza and wings. They’re legendary in these parts.”
Zeke raised his bottle with a grin. “The sauce is so hot it’ll put hair on your chest.”
That was the last place she wanted to grow hair. Like most females, she spent more than her share of time ridding herself of hair in the regular places.
“So how do you all know each other?” Brinley asked as Nell sashayed toward the bar, several male admirers in her wake. What Brinley wouldn’t give to be that sexually confident. The woman knew she was beautiful and played it for all it was worth.
“We grew up together,” the man named Chance said. At least she thought it was Chance. The introductions had happened so fast it was all a blur. “And of course we all played on Tremont High’s football team.”
“You were a football player?” Brinley elbowed Jason, who looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him. “What position?”
“He was the pretty boy quarterback,” Zeke snickered before Jason could answer. “We were his offensive line. He’s the reason I can tell when it’s going to rain because my knee hurts.”
“If it hadn’t been for me it would have been for someone else. You could have played quarterback if you wanted to. Everybody got the same chance to try out.”
It didn’t appear that the ribbing bothered Jason in the least. Brinley guessed it wasn’t the first time he’d heard it.
“So did the team do well?” Brinley asked, remembering when her own brother’s high school football team had won the state championships his junior and senior year. It was a big moment in a young man’s life.
Everyone’s face fell except for Chance’s. He threw back his head, laughing at her seemingly innocent question. “We sucked. Really badly. I think our best record was four and four. But that didn’t stop us from having a good time.”
The drinks were slid in front of them, Nell lingering a little longer when she placed the bottle in front of Jason.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she purred in Jason’s ear before drifting to the next table.
Brinley was getting tired of being ignored. Or disrespected. Either way it wasn’t a classy way for a woman to act around another female. In a million years she would never act like that around a guy with a girl sitting right next to him.
Looking over her shoulder at the waitress, Brinley tightened her grip on Jason’s hand to get his attention.
“Is there some history with you and her that I’m not aware of?”
He gave her an abashed look. “She and I dated for a little while in high school. That’s it, I swear. But she’s like that with everybody, not just me.”
Brinley arched her brow at this man who was looking pretty embarrassed. “Really? She didn’t act like that with me. She didn’t do it with the other guys or the people at that table. I don’t like it when women don’t respect other women. I saw that all the time at my sister’s pageants.”
“Nell knows nothing is going to ever happen between us.” Jason caressed the skin of her bare arm, sending tingles straight to her toes. “She does that to feel better about herself. She’s had a hard time of things. A divorce. But you’re right—it’s not respectful. I guess people around here have just gotten used to it. If you want me to say something to her I will.”
“No.” Brinley shook her head, feeling crappy now that she’d heard more about Nell’s life. “I’m overreacting because of the things I’ve seen. You weren’t disrespectful to me at any point and honestly that’s all I care about.”
“I’ll never do that.” His expression was solemn and truthful. He leaned closer, his words only for her. “This means something to me, honey.”
Her throat tightened and she laid her head on his shoulder, snuggling as close as she could to his warm body. He smelled delicious, a mixture of citrus and spice that made her head spin and her heart pound.
“It means something to me too.”
The other guys got to their feet and lumbered back onto the stage, their first song a cover of one of her favorite Rascal Flatts tunes. For the first time in days Brinley truly relaxed, letting the music carry all her troubles away. At that moment she wasn’t a woman with a murder problem and he wasn’t the ex-cop trying to help her. They were just two people – a man and a woman – having a wonderful time.
The song came to an end and Zeke stepped up to the microphone. “Thank you, everybody. I hope you all can help me tonight. We have a good friend in the audience who sometimes joins in but he might need some convincing. How about we put our hands together and convince Jason Anderson to come up on stage?”
The applause was thunderous. Bar patrons stood, some even on the tables and chairs, clapping, whistling, and calling his name to exhort Jason to hop up on stage. Whether he played an instrument or sang she had no idea, but clearly her date was embarrassed. He’d groaned and then ducked down so he was hiding behind her shoulder.
“Damn that Zeke. He’s always pulling shit like this.”
“Is he serious? Do you really join in?”
The entire crowd looked like it might riot if he didn’t do it, and she couldn’t deny she was bursting with curiosity herself. She wanted to see him up on stage performing.
“Sometimes. We had a band in high school.”
Jason was still hunched over, his elbows on his knees. Brinley looked over her shoulder at the rabid fans screaming for a show.
“If you don’t get up there I doubt we’ll get out of here alive. And I have a lot to live for.”
She’d made a joke but actually she was semi-serious. This crowd wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Aww, hell. I’m sorry, honey.” Jason stood and bounded up on stage. Holding his hands up, the crowd quieted down enough for him to speak. “Thanks, everyone. Maybe just one tonight.”
Brinley didn’t know what to expect so when he and the band launched into Todd Rungren’s “Hello, It’s Me” her mouth fell open in shock. Jason’s voice was good. Better than good, it was excellent. He’d been handed another guitar and was playing alongside Zeke and clearly having a ball.
Her boyfriend was a freakin’ rock star.
He looked every inch the part up on stage, a sheen of sweat on his face and neck. Handsome and sinfully sexy in a pair of well-worn jeans and a button down shirt, he belted out the lyrics as if he’d done it a thousand times. For all she knew…he had.
And she was every inch the starry-eyed groupie watching him strut his stuff. She couldn’t tear her gaze away as the band moved into their version of Tim McGraw’s “Real Good Man”. She had to wipe the drool from her chin as Jason gripped the microphone, his cowboy hat casting a shadow over his face under the hot stage lights.
She was caught in his web so securely that when he hopped off the stage and came right up to her, pulling her to her feet and laying a kiss on her lips, she didn’t once protest or even demure. With the raucous crowd screaming and stomping their boots, she allowed the sexiest man she’d ever met to sweep her off her feet.
And then some.
Because when she finally came back to earth, she wasn’t watching from the audience. She was standing at the steps to the stage, right next to him, and he was urging her up the stairs.
“You wanted to take a chance, honey.” Jared was grinning ear to ear. “I’ve heard you sing when you do yard work. You have a great voice.”
“Jason Anderson, you are out of your mind,” she hissed while still trying to smile. Strangely enough with the lights directed at the stage, she couldn’t see past the first row of people. Everyone else was a black mass of sound. “I can’t sing up there.”
“Why not? I promise you’ll feel like you can climb a mountain when you’re done. It isn’t dangerous but you are definitely doing something out of the ordinary. Something remarkable.”
She wanted to be pissed off at him but she wasn’t. After all, she’d said she wanted to get out of her comfort zone. Take chances. Live life to the fullest. But she’d been thinking smaller. Much smaller. Maybe waiting until the day her power bill was due to pay it. Things like that.
“What will everyone think?” Even as the words came out of her mouth she realized how silly she sounded. She’d lived too long in the slot her parents had created for her. She’d worried about what they would think. What her friends would think.
Anyone that would judge her harshly wasn’t someone who cared. This was a chance to be brave and he was holding it out to her on a silver platter. The only question was whether she had the guts to grab it with both hands.
“Everyone is probably too drunk to think anything past how fucking gorgeous you look. But I won’t drag you up there with me if you don’t want to go.”
The crowd was hooting and hollering. The band was smiling and beckoning, and even Jason looked encouraging. She wanted to do it. But she also wanted to crawl back to her chair and stay out of the limelight.
Like her whole life. She’d lived in the shadows of both her brother and sister. It could get cold and dark there. Jason was offering a chance at something else. This was the entire reason she’d moved to Montana.
Brinley placed her hand in his and smiled before she lost her nerve.
“Let’s do this.”
