Embracing Danger (3 page)

S
hane’s stomach was
rumbling as he pushed open the door to the local sports bar the next day, the smell of charred meat and melted cheese wrapping around him. After a long morning of paperwork, he was meeting his brothers for lunch, an Anderson family tradition actually started at the behest of their mother who wanted them to remain close no matter how their lives might diverge.

They’d eat some artery clogging grub, drink a few beers, maybe flirt with a cute waitress, and generally catch up with the latest news. All four brothers tried to make it but every now and then something did come up. But this time, they would all be there.

His brothers were waiting for him at a table near the back but close enough to the televisions to watch the college football games. Shane shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair while he signaled to Jackie the waitress for a beer.

“Christ, the temperature really dropped last night. Yesterday felt like a summer day and today I’m freezing my nuts off,” Shane observed with a shiver. “I wish the weather would make up its mind.”

A longneck was slid in front of him and he thanked Jackie with a smile. They’d dated a few years back but were now just friends. No hard feelings. She had a boyfriend over in Springwood that worked at the Perry ranch.

“You boys know what you want?” she asked, a hand on her hip. She was a pretty girl with auburn hair and long legs, but she also had a bad habit of drinking with her girlfriends and drunk dialing him at three in the morning.

“Or do you need some time?”

They’d been coming there for years and knew the menu by heart. Shane had known last week what he was going to have. All four brothers ordered and Jackie swayed back to the kitchen, Carter’s gaze on the woman’s ass.

“Jackie’s looking really good these days. Maybe you and she should spark something up again.”

Shane snorted into his beer. “Only if I can confiscate her cell whenever she goes out. She’s a sloppy drunk, my brother. But you’re welcome to find out for yourself. She’s given you the eye more than once.”

“No, thanks. I’d like a woman who hasn’t fallen under the spell of my older brother.”

Noah, the eldest son by seven minutes, choked and coughed. “That’s going to cut down on female candidates, little brother. Shane here is making his way through the female population like a buzz saw. Better grab one while you can.”

Carter gave Shane a sour look. “Find one woman and settle down, for fuck’s sake. You’re going to be forty soon. You’re starting to look creepy with a different woman on your arm every weekend.”

An image of Arden in a scarlet bikini splashing around in the pool by moonlight flashed through Shane’s mind, but he shoved that memory away as quickly as it had come up. That was old news and they’d both moved on. She’d moved so far that she’d up and married some other guy.

Shane grabbed a few pretzels from the basket in the middle of the table and lobbed one at Carter. “I’ll find one when I’m good and ready. Your woman problems are not my issue.”

Easton, the more serious brother and twin to Noah, heaved a long sigh. “Stop bickering. Christ on a crutch, don’t you all have anything better to talk about than Shane’s addiction to females? It’s a worn-out topic.”

“So pick a new one,” Noah replied easily. “Anything interesting going on?”

Carter took a swig of his beer and slapped it down on the table, giving Shane a side-eyed look. “Arden Cavendish was in West’s office this morning raising hell. Apparently she can’t find her father and she’s worried. He left a note that he was leaving town for a while but he’s not answering his phone and Dexter Lowell doesn’t know where he is either, and that’s strange as hell. Cavendish’s car is in the garage but he’s nowhere to be found. She went to the police but they told her he wasn’t a missing person until he’d been gone for seventy-two hours, plus he left a note so technically he’s not missing in the eyes of the law. I guess she thought West might put some pressure on them to open an investigation. She looked and sounded frantic, said she knew something isn’t right.”

Shane’s fingers flexed around the cold bottle but he deliberately kept his features schooled. His brothers were aware that he’d dated Arden but they didn’t know all the details. He wanted to keep it that way, if possible.

“Where does she think her father is?”

“That’s the interesting thing. She had no idea. He was at the party last night and now he’s gone with only a two sentence note telling her he was leaving. I guess someone also ran her off the private road to their house last night, so she had to walk the last half mile. No one should be on that road unless they’re visiting the Cavendish place.”

One thing Shane knew was the Arden of the past hadn’t been a hysterical female, so hearing that she was upset and worried about her father had him wondering if she might be right.

“What were you and West doing at the office this morning?” Easton asked. “It is Saturday.”

“No rest when you’re working on a big project,” Carter laughed. “We had some last minute details on the teen center to discuss and it was the only time we were both free. We should be able to schedule the open house before the holidays.”

Carter ran the construction arm of Anderson Industries and he was heading up West’s pet project as mayor – a new teen center, which had been built completely from donations.

Shane sat back in his chair, crossing his legs, not wanting to appear as if the answer was important to him. “Does West know anything about who ran Arden off the road?”

Carter shook his head. “It was too dark so she didn’t see anything and there were no witnesses. He’s got the police looking at the traffic light footage a few miles up the road. They might find something there.”

Noah frowned. “So what does Arden want West to do exactly? Run Ben’s credit cards and see if he’s charged something somewhere?”

“That’s one place to start,” Carter replied. “Let’s face it, Cavendish ran with some unsavory characters, so Arden has a reason to be concerned if you ask me. Maybe one of his business associates finally got tired of his shit.”

Shane shook his head. “Listen, I don’t like the bastard any more than you do. Hell, I have more than a few reasons to hate his guts. but if anything happens to him Arden is going to be heartbroken. She loves him, although I don’t know why.”

Easton pointed a fork at Shane. “He’s her father, dumbass. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just is. But I agree with Carter, she has reason to worry. He’s been elbow deep in illegal shit for years, except nobody could prove it. It may have caught up to him.”

How many times had Shane tried to convince Arden that her father had made his money with deals that weren’t always above board? She’d been adamant that he was lying and they’d had more than a few arguments about her unflinching loyalty to a man that Shane knew was as crooked as Blue Mill Road.

“So what did West say? Is he going to help her?”

Carter shrugged and picked at the label of his longneck. “He said he’d run her daddy’s credit cards and put out a BOLO for him. But he pointed out that Ben is a grown man, left a note, and doesn’t have to check in with his daughter, especially since she’s been in New York all this time. For all she knows, he does this every now and then. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone.”

Their food came right after, and in between bites Shane heard about the latest headaches on the ranch from Noah and some issues that had come up with the financial investments with Easton. Every Anderson male had a job to do to keep the family business running smoothly. Only the lone female Leann had escaped the pull of Anderson Industries.

They paid their bill and headed out into the chilly air. Shane bid his brothers goodbye and headed to his motorcycle but he quickly realized Easton was on his tail.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Shane wanted to pretend he didn’t know what his older brother was talking about. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Don’t be obtuse. I’m talking about Arden. She’s back and you’re going to be seeing a lot of her.”

Leaning against the parking meter, Shane played with the keys, his gaze on the tip of his boots. Easton and Noah were old enough to know he’d dated Arden that summer but they didn’t know everything that had gone on. They just thought they did.

“It was a long time ago, East, and best left in the past. When I see her, I’ll be polite and cordial. I hope she does the same. But that’s it. I’m not looking to rekindle anything if that’s what you’re thinking. Those days are over.”

The woman he saw last night probably didn’t have much in common with the girl he’d loved so many years ago, although he’d seen a flash of the past when she’d got her back up.

But Daddy said she was going back to her ex-husband. Shane doubted it was true but then Ben Cavendish could be mighty persuasive when he wanted to be.

“She’s divorced now.”

“So?” Shane challenged, straightening up and looking his brother in the eye. “Is that what you think I’ve been doing all these years? Pining and waiting for my chance to pounce? I can assure you that’s not the case. We had a summer fling. End of story.”

I am such a fucking liar.

Easton regarded Shane steadily, no smile on his face, but then he was the most serious of all the sons. “Is that what you’ve told yourself? You haven’t been the same since she left town.”

“I grew the hell up.” Shane picked up the helmet and pulled it over his head. “Love is a fairy tale, big brother. It’s an illusion created by mirrors, lights, and alcohol. I might have believed in it once but I’m not that naive anymore.”

“Jesus, Shane. You are one cynical asshole. Is there anything you do believe in?”

Shane laughed and fired up the cycle, a 1965 Harley Electra Glide he’d restored with his own two hands. “Hell, yes. I believe in me, our family, and an honest day’s work. Oh, and I also believe in karma, although I don’t get to witness it nearly enough. So actually, I believe in quite a bit. What do you believe in?”

“I believe you’ve been lying to yourself for so long you don’t know what the truth is anymore.”

There were no words left to say. Shane wasn’t angry with Easton; he’d only meant well, but an argument on the sidewalk of Tremont wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind.

Now all Shane had to do was convince himself that he didn’t love Arden anymore.

‡

A
rden’s grandmother’s home
was as formal as the woman who lived in it. Dark cherry wood, heavy woven rugs, and original paintings on the walls gave the home an uncomfortable feeling, like those scratchy dresses with the crinolines that Arden had been forced to wear on holidays so she could pose for pictures and be shown off like a prize cow.

Arden was sure her grandmother had never worn a pair of jeans in her entire life. Even now in her late seventies, she was dressed in an off-white Chanel suit with her silver hair meticulously coiffed and her face tastefully made up. Elaine Graham had been a beauty in her day and was still a handsome woman who attracted attention when she attended a social event or traveled. In fact, there was a rumor that an older Greek millionaire had proposed marriage just last summer.

Of course he had been tactfully turned down and sent on his way. Elaine often said that she was too old and set in her ways to shoehorn a man in her life at this juncture.

Arden carefully lifted the antique ceramic teapot with the ring of pink roses and poured two cups of tea, one for her and the other for her grandmother, who was currently sitting on the damask settee in her parlor room.

That her grandmother even had a parlor room had always amused Arden to no end. Elaine had been brought up with wealth and that meant homes that were photographed for glossy magazines. Homes like that had parlors.

“Arden Amelia, when will you remember that you add the milk first and then the tea?”

Elaine had spent several years in London with her husband and to this day was quite passionate about her tea rituals. She’d also acquired a bit of a British accent, which she zealously held onto in memory of her late “darling Charles”.

Arden smiled at the scolding. “Sorry, Grandmother. I’ll do better next time.”

Her grandmother sat back with her delicate china cup and sighed. “I’m sure you will. So tell me what the police and West Anderson said. He runs a tight ship in this town. Much better than your father ever did, I must say.”

And there it was. Elaine Graham couldn’t stand Ben Cavendish and never missed an opportunity to say so. She’d begged her only daughter not to marry him but to no avail.

“They said that Dad isn’t missing if he left a note, plus I have to wait seventy-two hours before filing a missing persons report anyway. I told West that Dad’s car was still in the garage and that he wasn’t answering his phone but he didn’t think that was anything to worry about.”

“Hmmm…he has a point, dear. Your father is an adult, and if he wants to run off to God knows where for some secret reason he can do that. He doesn’t have to tell you every detail of his life.”

Arden was aware but she couldn’t stop the worried feeling in her gut telling her that something was very wrong.