Elusive Echoes (21 page)

Oh, man, Mel was beautiful. She wore jeans
and a simple gray sweatshirt; nothing at all special. In fact, she
looked pretty buttoned-up, and with her slim figure, almost boyish.
But he found it incredibly sexy, more for what it didn't show than
what it did. The wind gently teased at her hair, occasionally
blowing stray tendrils into her face, but she ignored them.

As he watched her work her magic on Dev,
Sean found his eyes drifting to her flat abdomen, wondering if
they'd created a new life. He tried to picture her belly growing
more round as the months passed, the way Sandy's had. Mel was
right; it wouldn't be the end of the world. In fact, it was part of
a dream he'd had for a long, long time. Home, Mel as his wife,
children. He just hadn't planned for it to happen out of order. So
far he had a piece of land with no house, and marriage not planned
for a couple of months.

Dev suddenly snorted and danced away from
the fence. Mel looked confused but not shaken. Movement in the
distance caught Sean's eye, and he looked up to see Northrop
skulking near his trailer.

The horse was getting too agitated, so Sean
stepped forward to urge Mel back some. "Better let him work his mad
off."

She sighed. "I thought I was getting
somewhere."

"You were." Sean looped an arm over her
shoulders, enjoying her closeness. "It wasn't you. He saw Northrop.
For some reason he hates the man." He snickered. "Not that I blame
him."

Mel frowned, a thoughtful look on her
face.

Sean grinned and playfully flipped the ends
of her hair. "Hey, why the frown?"

"I don't know." She smiled and her face was
sunny again.

Northrop's motorcycle roared out of the
yard, which only further agitated Dev. But when Mel moved back to
the fence and clucked her tongue again, some of the horse's tension
eased.

"There, see? It's okay, baby. The nasty
man's gone now. You can come back over here, sweetie."

Sean stood behind Mel, his arms loosely
around her waist. Dev approached them slowly, more suspicious of
Mel with Sean nearby but clearly much less agitated.

"Did you talk to the lawyer?"

She nodded. "He told me to turn the letters
over to DC. Apparently, because I was a minor, he doesn't expect
too much in the way of consequences to me. Especially since I'm
cooperating now and if any prosecution comes of it, I can promise
to testify. It helps that I walked away when Nick no longer had any
legal control over me, and there were no assaults or injuries on my
record." She wrinkled her nose. "Or murders."

Sean rocked back on his heels and stared.
She was serious. He'd never thought about the possibility that
DeVayne might have been involved in some cons that turned violent.
Apparently, her attorney was considering all angles.

"DC's going to forward copies of Denny's
letters to Oklahoma City in case they turn out to be relevant to
any investigations." She inhaled deeply, leaning into Sean's
embrace for a moment. "And I just dropped off copies up at the
house in case Joe's investigator can help."

Dev wandered to the other side of the pen,
apparently not interested in sharing his new friend with Sean.

Mel turned to face Sean, pushing her arms
beneath his jacket and around his waist, hugging him tightly. "I
have such a bad feeling about all of this. Something's up. And I
can't help think Denny's involving me somehow, but that it has
nothing to do with the baby." She leaned back to meet Sean's gaze.
"That's the way Nick always ran the grift. It was smoke and
mirrors. It's misdirection, like a magician uses. I can't get away
from the thought that Denny wants me to concentrate on my daughter
so he can get away with something else."

"Maybe he's keeping your mind off of someone
else? Like where Nick DeVayne might be and what he's doing right
now?"

Mel stared at him with solemn eyes. "That's
entirely possible."

Sean wanted to explode. He hated seeing the
worry clouding her face. And he felt just a little bit of
resentment—no, a lot of resentment—because what should have been a
very happy time for them was being rained on.

****

Mel absorbed the tension radiating off Sean
and knew much of it was related to her. She looked up at him and
smiled. "I'm a lot of trouble, huh?"

He touched her mouth with his fingertips and
shook his head. "No."

She stared into his green eyes. He probably
had no clue just how easy he was for her to read. Most times
anyway. Not so much now.

"I'm not really sure I believe you but okay.
For now." She slid her hands over his chest. "Promise if it ever
gets too much we'll talk before you kick me to the curb?"

Irritation flickered in Sean's eyes, but Mel
slid her hands further up to tease his ears with soft caresses.

Desire replaced the irritation in his eyes.
Mel smiled. She'd only just discovered his whole ear thing and
thought it was cute how sensitive he was there.

He snaked his hands up to grab hers and
still their tormenting. "I said you had to be good. No
distractions."

"I'll stop distracting if you'll tell me
what's on your mind." She wiggled in his arms one more time but
then stepped back and waited.

Sean lifted one shoulder. "Okay. It's a gut
thing with me, too. Only it's not about you. Sorry." He smiled and
kissed her nose, then gestured toward Dev with his head. "It's
about this horse. It's unreal that they sent along an attendant to
stay on the premises, let alone an attendant who doesn't actually
do anything with the horse. He spends most of his time watching me.
When he's not off the ranch. That's just one thing that's bothering
me about this whole deal."

Mel laughed. "Maybe they should have sent
along a girl instead. You never seem to mind me looking at
you."

Sean made a sour face at her
and flipped the ends of her hair with his fingers. "I like
you
watching
me."

"You said Dev hates the man, too. Why would
they send him with someone he doesn't like?"

Sean shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm
not convinced he's here to look after the interests of the
horse."

"How does Dev act around you?"

Sean returned his attention to the horse,
who was working his way back in their direction. "He tolerates me.
At least he doesn't hate my guts like he does Northrop. And he
likes Ricky nearly as much as he likes you. Then there's this thing
I noticed the other day." Sean rubbed his jaw. "His conformation's
off. Chest isn't as deep as a runner's chest ought to be, and he's
severely bench-kneed."

"That last one you'll have to explain." Mel
peered around Sean to look at Dev.

"The bones in his front legs aren't lined up
properly." Sean steered her back toward the fence. Dev was standing
still, eyeing them with interest. "See his front legs? You should
be able to imagine a line from his shoulder to his hoof and the leg
would look symmetrical. I saw it almost immediately. When you look
for that line on him. . ."

He gestured with his hand. Following the
gesture, Mel saw what he meant. "I see it! His knee looks strange,
kind of square. His hoof is more to the outside of the plane. What
does that mean?"

"The bones above and below the knee aren't
lined up properly. It gives the knee the look of a shelf or bench,
and it makes him unstable, especially for anything strenuous, like
running a race." Sean shook his head. "I don't see how he's got
such a good win record. Or how he hasn't fractured his carpal bone
by now."

"Maybe he was injured in the fire?"

Sean shook his head. "Nope, this was
congenital. I've contacted the Racing Commission for his medical
records. Something's wrong here. I know it. No sane owner would
have raced him." He glanced over at the horse's trailer. "Then
again, I'm not entirely convinced he has sane owners."

Mel giggled. "Why not just take a pass on
the job? Is the money that good?"

Sean leveled a look at her. When he spoke,
he sounded almost wistful. "The money is that good, but—you know,
it's hard to just give up on him. He's got a look in his eye."

Mel met his gaze. "It's going to be hard for
you this time. Giving him back. This one's going to hurt."

Sean pulled in a deep breath, held it. Then
he nodded once, quickly. "He's got all kinds of heart. He's not in
much pain now but he went through some rough crap."

"I suppose buying him is out of the
question."

He chuckled. "Given what they're paying me
for rehab training, that's a good bet."

The sound of a helicopter overhead had them
both looking up to see the Cross MC helicopter. It flew directly
over them, and then settled on the small helipad where it was
garaged.

"What was Joe doing out today?"

Sean grimaced. "Probably checking for
strays. Ryan's got market trucks coming next week."

Mel laughed softly. "Ouch. Your least
favorite thing to do. Need some help? It's been awhile, but I
remember most of it."

Sean considered for a minute. "Well, Sandy's
out of play this year, so maybe. . ." His eyes drifted to Mel's
abdomen.

She laughed again. "Hey, eyes up here."

Color rushed into his face and she actually
felt sorry for him. "Sorry. I was just thinking about. . ."

"I know what you were thinking. But even if
I am, it's not likely riding a horse to run a few cows onto the
trucks would bounce it out of me." She shook her head. Her cell
phone chirped and she dug it out of her pocket.

"Joe's here," said Sandy. "He says he might
be able to help, but he wants to ask you some questions. Can you
come up here?"

"On my way." Mel closed her phone and smiled
at Sean. "It's LeeAnn's night off, so I'm closing."

His lips formed a lopsided smile. "Are you
telling me not to come out?"

"Never! I'm telling you it'll be late, so
I'll understand if you stay home."

Sean groaned and suddenly Mel was wrapped in
his arms. His kiss was hot and hard. His hand in the small of her
back held her tightly against him. When he broke the contact, the
heat was back in his eyes. "You know, Sweetness, more and more,
home's starting to be wherever you are."

"For me, too," she whispered. Then he
released her and she started toward the house.

"Hey, Mel!" Sean called across the yard.

She turned.

His grin was bright and carefree. "You're
right. It wouldn't be the end of the world."

She smiled back at him,
wondering how he would feel if he knew she was—just a
little—beginning to hope she
was
pregnant.

****

Mel sat between Justin and Ryan at the
kitchen table, listening to the slender man with the sandy brown
hair and tawny gold eyes as he paced the length of the kitchen.

Joe spoke with animated style and a lot of
hand gestures. "We don't know if a birth certificate was issued,
and even if one was, I doubt you were listed as the birth mother.
But we can look at all adoptions around that timeframe,
concentrating on the attorney in the clipping."

Sandy shot Joe a warning glance when he
almost bumped into her at the sink slicing carrots, and he stopped
pacing.

Pouring a glass of iced tea, Joe took a long
drink then lounged against the counter next to Sandy. "It's more
than likely hers will have been a private adoption and, assuming it
even went through the courts, closed. DeVayne wouldn't have wanted
you to be able to find the child, or her you."

"How many infants could have been adopted in
the immediate area during that timeframe?" Ryan shifted in his
seat, stretching out his long legs.

Joe snagged a carrot slice, easily avoiding
Sandy's slap at his fingers. "There's no real guarantee that she
wasn't adopted across state lines." He spread his hands. "I'm
really sorry."

Mel wanted to cry. "You're saying she could
be anywhere, and there really is no way to find her."

Turning from her task, Sandy laid a warm
hand on Mel's shoulder. "We'll find her."

"I'm saying it might take a long time, and
there aren't any guarantees." Joe sipped his tea. "We can try to
find DeVayne so we can question him. Obviously, if your brother
sends more letters, I'll want to see them. It sounds like a kind of
kids' game, like he's teasing you about knowing something you
don't."

Mel rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the
headache. "That's exactly what he's doing. And he's expecting me to
get so desperate to find out what he knows that I'll give him what
he wants in return."

"What does he want?" asked Sandy.

Mel shook her head, feeling miserable and
hopeless. "It could be as simple as he wants money from me to as
complex as he wants me to work with him again." She laid her head
down on the table.

"Mel, do you get the feeling Denny's working
on his own?" asked Joe. "From everything you've told me, Nick
DeVayne was always the one who ran the show in the past. Would he
be so far in the background that he didn't contact you?"

Mel sat up and met Joe's gaze. "That's what
bothers me the most. Nick was always more intimidating to me than
Denny, and both of them knew that. They used to get me to do what
they wanted with the good guy, bad guy routine."

Joe's features went grim. "And Nick was the
bad guy?"

"Yes."

Joe steepled his fingers. "So Denny
contacting you like this . . . does it feel like he's trying to
take on an intimidating role? What was traditionally Nick's
role?"

Fingers of chilling realization clawed at
Mel's spine. "That's it exactly. Nick would say something, get me
upset, then Denny would play the understanding brother and somehow
convince me that I should do things I didn't want to do. For the
longest time, I trusted him. I thought it was the same for him,
that he didn't want to be there either." She grimaced at the little
twist in her gut when she considered her brother's betrayal.