Double Her Pleasure (4 page)

“When we heard from that man’s parole officer...” Her father
closed his eyes for a few seconds before looking at Megan. “The PO couldn’t
find you, we couldn’t get in touch...” He blinked a few times. “If we ever lost
you, daughter, I don’t know what we’d do.”

Megan’s heart thudded at his mournful look. “I’m sorry. I
should have told you where I was vacationing. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Vonnie leaned forward, her eyes intense. “We want to take
you back with us.”

“Yes, Inez had said you’d mentioned that when you spoke on
the phone yesterday.” Megan smiled softly. “I do appreciate it, but I’ve—”

“Well, just a second.” Her dad held up a hand. “Listen to
what we have planned. We spoke with the McGatlins this morning before you came
downstairs. We discussed the plan your mother and I have.”

Megan bit her tongue. She was thirty years old, and her
parents were making plans for her with her boyfriends and their parents? Just
peachy.

“The local police will help.” Her dad ticked it off on his
finger. “We have a security system in the parish house, and one of the
neighbors offered to be on call.”

“This neighbor has a number of guns.” Her mother nodded
sagely.

“It sounds like a good plan, but—”

Vonnie looked around as if someone might be listening.
“We’ll sneak you off the ranch.” Her voice came out quiet. “The actor...what
was his name?”

“Garret.” Megan’s stomach clenched as she imagined what the
whole McGatlin family thought about all this.

“Yes, Garret. He said we could use his airplane.” Vonnie
licked her lips.

“He did?” Was he anxious to get rid of her now that he’d met
her odd parents?

“They said they would assist with anything we needed.” Brian
met her gaze. “You don’t look like you’re on board with this plan.”

“I...”

“It’s the only way to keep you safe.” Her mother smiled.
“While the stalker still thinks you’re here in Texas, and the McGatlins keep
searching for him, you’ll be snowed in with us for months.”

Megan could never forget how remote and inaccessible the
community on the North Slope was. Dark days, snowstorms that buried houses, and
no communication with the outside world.

“No.” Megan planted her feet on the porch and looked
directly into her mother’s eyes. “I’m safe here. I don’t want to take the
chance that
he
will follow me to Alaska.”

Megan looked at her father. “I appreciate your coming here,
and I’d love it if you stayed indefinitely. But let’s consider your plan an
alternate. Okay?”

“But your father and I—”

“No, Vonnie.” Her dad sat back in his chair. “She’s right.
It’s her choice, and she has made a good point about the stalker knowing her
moves. He followed her to Texas, even though she was on a private plane.”

Megan glanced out at the miles of land. Was he out there
right now watching her? She shook her head. “I should go take a quick shower
before Patty comes back for us. Unless you two would like me to drive you back
to the guest house.”

“I’d like to sit and talk to your mother a while.” He
winked. “Then I’ll let you ladies haul me back on your way to town.”

Megan could only imagine what her parents would be
discussing now. Hatching another plan that she’d hear about only after they
discussed it with all the McGatlins. And Inez. She stood. “Okay, can I bring
you anything?” She headed for the door.

Her father patted his stomach. “Another one of Inez’s sweet
rolls would do me a world of good.”

“I’ll get a few for you.” She smiled and headed inside. Inez
insisted on bringing rolls and coffee out, and shooed Megan out of the kitchen.

Stepping into the living room, two figures by the stairway
startled her.

Trey leaned on the banister, and Garret sat on the fourth
step up.

“You know you’re not leaving, right?” Garret stood and
gestured for her to precede him upstairs.

She looked at Trey.

“We only agreed to help with their plan so they wouldn’t
think we were holding you hostage.” He placed his hand on her back and got her
going up the steps.

Her men followed side-by-side, right behind her.

“You know...” She bit back a smile. “They did have a very
well-thought-out plan.”

“Maybe you misinterpreted what I just said.” Garret smacked
her butt. “You’re. Not. Leaving.”

“But maybe I could sneak... Ouch!”

Trey swatted her twice as hard as his brother had. “Ain’t
gonna happen, sweetheart.”

A shiver coursed through her. Lord, she loved these men. The
thought of being anywhere but right here blew away like a cloud on a windy day.
“If you insist.” She reached the landing and headed toward her bedroom.

“Uh uh. This way, baby.” Garret took her arm, Trey took her
other, and they led her into Trey’s bedroom. Garret closed the door. “Mom won’t
be here for twenty-five minutes, and that’s just enough time to shower.” He
waggled his brows at her as he started undressing her from the front, and Trey
did the same from behind her.

“I guess I’m lucky...” Her breath caught as her men’s hands
found her breasts. “That neither of you are...nappers.”

****

Two hours later, Megan sat at the little round bistro table
and listened to Patty and Vonnie chattering on about the things they had in
common. The ride into town—with Patty driving her truck, Mom in the passenger
seat, and Megan in the small back seat feeling like a five-year-old—had been
quiet at first.

Then Patty got Vonnie talking about the differences in their
lives, and now they were well on their way to becoming best friends.

Trey and Garret had followed them in an unmarked truck, and
when they got to town, Garret headed down the block to the sheriff’s office to
raise hell in person. Megan and Trey went right for the drugstore while Patty
and Vonnie hit the grocery store. After tucking their packages safely in their
vehicles, the four of them met back at The Coffee Corral. Since it was
lunchtime, and this was the only restaurant in town, the women secured the last
available table in the busy place.

Megan glanced out the window for the hundredth time. Trey,
sexy in a white straw cowboy hat, paced the short length of sidewalk in front
of the store, looked inside for the hundredth time, winked at her, and repeated
the pattern.

When they first got to the coffee shop, he’d come inside and
checked out the place, confirmed with the sole employee that there was only one
back entrance, and it was locked up tight.

The older women shifted their conversation to childbirth,
and Megan chose that subject as the perfect opportunity to go to the restroom.
She stood, picking up her purse, and the moms stopped talking for a second.

Megan mouthed “bathroom,” and walked off down the short
hall. With her hand on the bathroom door, she paused. Had she heard a sound
from the men’s room down the hall? She waited a few seconds, heard nothing
else, and pushed open the door to the women’s room. It swung shut behind her,
but there was no lock.

A metal stall with a door stood in one corner. A double sink
with a mirror took up one wall, and a comfy-looking chair sat against the other
wall.

She stepped into the stall, closed the door, and locked it.

The lights went out.

Megan froze, clutching her purse to her chest. The door to
the hallway closed. “Hello?” Over the thudding of her heart, she heard nothing.

A dim light shone, moving. A flashlight?

She could yell, but with the music and loud voices in the
cafe, would anyone hear her? She dug in her purse for her phone.

Squeaking sounded, like rubber shoes or...a marker?

“I’m calling the sheriff.” Her voice barely came out a
whisper. Whoever it was...

“Maggie, I’m here, my love.” It was
him
.

Oh, God, was he going to knock her out? Shoot her full of
drugs again? The terror of the last time he kidnapped her, nearly a decade ago,
flashed through her mind like a horror film on fast-forward.

Her hands shook so badly, she nearly dropped the phone into
the toilet.

She couldn’t let him touch her.

She had to make her brain work with her body.

Accessing Trey’s number, she pressed the call button.

The room went dark. The door into the hallway opened and
closed.

Trey’s voice came through her phone’s speaker. “Megan!”

“Help me.” She started to cry, more words wouldn’t come. She
shook so hard, she had to lean against the wall.

“Where is she?” Trey’s voice roared from the cafe. Running
footsteps drew closer.

The door slammed open, the light came on. “Megan!”

“Trey.” It came out a squeak. She fumbled with the stall
lock and finally pulled the door open as she gasped for breath.

He’d lost his hat somewhere, and his eyes scanned her body
quickly before he hauled her into his arms. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.” His voice
sounded choked.

Patty spoke, but it seemed far off. Megan heard the words,
“Garret” and “sheriff.”

She squeezed Trey so tightly, he puffed out a breath. Her
tears wouldn’t stop.

“They’re on their way.” Patty sucked in a breath. She stood
next to them in the bathroom, staring at the mirror.

“Son of a bitch.” Trey growled the words, his body shaking
as hard as Megan’s.

Swiping her hand over her eyes to clear her vision, Megan
stared at the mirror. In red marker, a huge heart with an arrow through it
dripped blood.

Her stomach threatened to empty but she buried her face
against Trey’s solid chest and took deep breaths to steady herself. She was no
longer that lonesome nineteen-year-old without anyone to care about her. The
man holding her as if he could take her fears into himself would protect her.
His brother would be there for her, too.

But what happened today proved that her stalker, Larry Hines,
was willing to risk everything to get to her. He was a stray bullet,
ricocheting insanely, not caring who he hurt. To get to her.

Footsteps pounded, running their way. “Megan.” Garret
appeared in the bathroom doorway, his eyes wild, his breath panting.

He paused a moment, looked at Trey, who nodded, then Garret
held out his arms for her.

Her lip quivered as she released Trey and went into the
strong embrace of her hotshot.

“Baby.” He kissed her head and stroked her hair. “I’m sorry
I wasn’t here. I should have been at the back door.”

She shook her head but sobs rattled through her again. The
fear of what could easily have happened made her feel so helpless.

“Aw, Megan.” He sucked in an uneven breath.

Loud voices came from the hallway.

Trey’s hands bracketed her hips and he kissed her temple.
“Easy, sweetheart. You’re breaking my heart.”

“She’s our heartbreaker.” Garret rubbed his cheek on her
head, then stopped, his body tensing. “Damn.”

****

Trey stared into the shocked face of Vonnie Larnfrow,
Megan’s missionary mother. Great. Just one more thing for Megan to worry about.

Standing next to her, Patty’s eyes darted to where he and
his brother had Megan sandwiched between them. She took Megan’s mother’s arm,
and guided her out of the room. “C’mon Vonnie, she’s okay. We’re just in the
way. Let’s go finish our tea and let Sheriff Boyd get in here.”

Trey glanced at Vonnie then met his brother’s eyes over
Megan’s head. Garret’s look said,
oh shit
!

Megan’s tears slowed and she sniffled a few times. “Did my
mother just see?”

“’Fraid so.” Trey grabbed a half-dozen tissues from a box on
the counter and handed them to her.

She mopped up as she slowed her breath. “Could things get
any worse right now?”

Garret led Megan to the fabric chair in the corner. Trey sat
on the arm next to her.

Garret walked out into the hall.

“Looks like the lock was picked.” The sheriff’s voice echoed
through the room. “Cheap hardware. I’ll talk to the owner and let him know he
needs to update this.”

“It doesn’t help much now.” Garret didn’t even try to
moderate his voice.

The sheriff snapped something back, Garret countered, but
Trey watched Megan. Garret was right, he should have been here. Should have
stood guard out back. Maybe they would have even caught the bastard.

“Megan. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She squeezed his forearm. “I should have known
better than to come back here alone. It’s my fault he got the chance to...”

He took her hand, lacing her fingers with his. “It’s not
anybody’s fault but that bastard Hines’s. When I find him, I’m going to show
him a little Texas justice.” Fierce anger roiled through him, accompanying a
vision of his fist connecting with Hines’s jaw.

As another burst of tears surfaced, her eyes shone like wet
grass. “God, I hate that you have to waste your time on this.”

“Waste?” Didn’t she know how much she meant to him? Wasn’t
she aware that he would do absolutely anything for her?

“Garret is home. Your parents are visiting. You should be
doing...” She shrugged one shoulder. “Things with your family.”

“Sweetheart.” He kissed her hand. “You’re as important to me
as my family, and more important than anything else in my life.” Shit, why was
he pouring out his heart in the women’s room after she’d had her wits scared
out of her? Great timing.

“Thank you for that.” She looked away, as if she didn’t
believe him.

Garret, Sheriff Boyd, and one of his deputies came into the
room. Flashes went off as they took pictures of the sick artwork on the mirror.

Garret sat on the other arm of the chair, his hand on
Megan’s shoulder. “He’s going to ask some questions. You okay to answer right
now?”

She nodded, tipping her chin up. “I’m ready. This is the
last time that bastard is going to make me cry.” She stared at the sheriff.
“Here’s what happened...”

Trey met Garret’s gaze over her head. They each took a deep
breath, proud of their woman.

****

Trey drove as the three of them headed back to the ranch in
the truck. Their mom had taken Megan’s mother back after the two women had
answered the sheriff’s questions. Patty was smart, she knew Megan didn’t need
Vonnie grilling her about the sight of Megan sandwiched between the two
McGatlin boys.

Megan had powered through the sheriff’s questions without a
tear or a catch in her voice. She was strong, but how much was too much? Would
she give in to her parents’ pressure to sneak out of Texas? Especially now that
he and Garret hadn’t done a very fucking good job of protecting her. He gripped
the steering wheel and wished he could go back an hour and do things
differently.

Beside him, Megan sat with Garret’s arm around her, checking
her phone before they returned to her carrier’s dead zone.

If she was going to stay, they needed to change her cell
provider.
If
.

She sighed and shut off her phone. “We’re now officially in
the boonies.” She leaned into his brother and looked out the window. “We should
try to get my parents out where they can see the wild horses. They’d love
that.”

Trey turned onto the road leading to the farm. The gates
swung open at their approach, but a guard stepped out of the little building
and held up a hand. They didn’t usually have a guard here, but it was a good
plan, especially now. He rolled down the window. “What’s up?”

“Owen wants you to stop by the main guard shack.” The man
looked past Trey to Megan, then locked his eyes on Trey’s face. “Right away,
sir.”

Shit, what now
? “Okay, thanks.” He got them rolling
again and took the turn that brought them to the receiving gate. Pulling up
next to the building, he saw Owen Yoder, their head of security, motioning him
inside. That couldn’t be good. “Be right back.”

He walked into the building. “What’s going on?”

Owen put his hand on top of a shoebox. “One of the patrols
found this next to a security camera on the northeast section. We checked it
for incendiaries, but it’s clean. No chemical traces, either.” He opened the
top flaps. “It’s all photos.”

Megan’s face stared out at him. There had to be a couple
hundred photos in there. His gut dropped. “Are they all her?”

“Yes, from what we could see. We used gloves, in case there
are fingerprints.”

“We know whose fingerprints we’ll find, but thanks for being
cautious.”

Owen closed the box. “What do you want me to do with it?”

“Did you call the sheriff?”

“I did. He’ll be out to look at it later.” Owen waited for
Trey’s decision.

“I’ll take it up to the house.”

“We’ve got video.” Owen typed.

Trey looked at the wall of monitors. His focus was so
scattered right now, he hadn’t thought of it. “Something we can use?”

Owen typed. “About two this morning.” On the screen,
headlights approached. The night vision camera caught a pickup truck racing
past, the passenger window open and the box being thrown out. “The light on the
rear license plate’s out and it’s covered with dirt. We enhanced it, but
couldn’t get anything.”

Trey picked up the box and walked toward the door. “Thanks,
Owen, you and your people are doing a good job.”

“Thank you. I briefed everyone on the incident in town
today.” Trey had called Owen from the coffee shop. “And after finding that...”
He pointed to the box. “I took the liberty of doubling up shifts.”

Trey nodded his appreciation. “The picture of the stalker?”

“Everyone has a copy.”

“Thanks. Send the sheriff up to the house when he gets
here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Trey walked out and tucked the box in the back seat.

Megan and Garret were talking about the herd of wild horses,
but they both stopped and looked at him as he got into the truck.

“More problems. Sheriff’s on the way.”

Megan let out a long breath and dropped her head.

Garret stared at him. Trey glanced toward the back seat, and
his brother nodded. The way he and Garret communicated sometimes scared him,
but had sure come in handy lately.

Fifteen minutes later, they walked into the kitchen.

Inez grinned. “How was your trip to town?” She wiped her
hands on her apron and looked into Megan’s eyes. Inez’s face fell. “Oh no,
please, Jesus.”

Megan nodded. “Somehow he found me and gave me a scare, but
I’m all right.”

Inez pointed to the table. “Sit. I’ll get you tea.” She
turned, then looked back. “Or beer?”

“Beer, please.” Trey pulled out a chair and Megan plopped
into it.

“Make that three.” Garret sat and shoved the box to the far
end of the table.

Inez brought beer and a bowl of tortilla chips. She set
salsa and guacamole on the table beside it. “I didn’t know when you would be
back, so I made some tamales. Should I put them in the oven now?”

Trey squeezed her shoulder. “Thank you. Don’t know what we’d
do without you. I’ll put it in after a while. You go on home now, Miss Inez.”

She leaned into him for a second, then nodded. “Call if you
need anything.” She removed her apron and hung it in a cabinet. “I’ll be home,
and I have my binoculars.”

Megan smiled at her. “You don’t know how nice it is to hear
that, Inez.”

The older woman winked and walked out the door, closing it
quietly behind her.

Silence blanketed the room as none of them moved.

Garret twisted the cap off a longneck and pushed it in front
of Megan. “Take a hit. It’ll settle the nerves.”

She grasped the bottle but looked at the box on the other
side of the table. “Those are the running shoes I buy. My exact size.”

Trey sat next to Megan as Garret pulled the box toward the
three of them. “Where was it?”

“Out on the northeast line, right under a security camera.
He wanted us to find this.”

Megan’s hand shook as she lifted the lid. She jerked back
when she saw her face staring back at her. “What is this?”

“They’re all pictures of you. Sheriff’s on the way.
Sweetheart, I hate to do this to you after what happened today, but we should
go through these before he gets here. See if we can come up with anything.”

She started to reach into the box.

“Hang on.” He stood and walked into the laundry room, then
came back with a box of latex gloves. “Inez uses these for...whatever.” He set
the box down. “In case the sheriff wants to check for fingerprints.”

Megan plucked out a couple gloves and struggled to stretch
the small things over her medium-sized hands.

Trey went to Inez’s small desk area in the corner and
grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. When he sat next to Megan again, her eyes
were wide.

“These first ones were taken six months ago.” She looked at
Garret then at him. “At my home in Canada.”

****

An hour later, Megan pulled the rubber gloves off her hands.
The photos had spanned the last eighteen months. Her stalker had found her only
six months after he was released from prison.

Her stomach clenched. “He could have gotten to me any time.”
She glanced at Trey who’d taken notes on the dates and places covered by the
photos. “Why did he wait until now?”