Last of the Red-Hot Riders (6 page)

Me? I got a dog.

“Look at the crowd,” Saint said, leaning up between the seats as they approached the Honky-tonk. “Holy smoke, Cameron and I were just here a few hours ago and it wasn't this crowded. What'd she do, run a two-for-one sale?”

Steel peered out the window. “I don't know, but Judy would have a fit if she could see how much traffic Ivy gets. Judy's trying to grow Hell honestly. Ivy's got her beat cold.”

Cameron glanced back at Saint. She was worried about Judy, and Saint was too. But Steel didn't act like a man who'd received bad news about his girl. Saint swallowed hard, shrugged at Cameron. She turned back around to look out at all the people milling around in the parking lot. The music was loud and fun, and some couples were dancing or making out under the trees, lost in their own sexy world, seemingly oblivious to the fact that some poor soul had met his maker. The lanterns and lights illuminated the darkness, but not obtrusively so. There was an ambulance and the coroner's car parked right in front, and a pack of people stood around a black-covered body on the ground.

“Oh, hell. Poor bastard. The last place I'd want to die is the Honky-tonk,” Saint said.

“I don't know,” Steel said. “Depends on the kind of fun you're looking for. Me, I'm just happy to sit in front of the TV or grill out with the missus.”

Cameron glanced back again, her eyes wide and distressed. Shit, this wasn't going to be easy. He didn't know how they were all going to act normal around Judy, when all they wanted to do was help her.

“Let's get this done.” Steel opened the door, peered back in at Cameron in the front seat. “You sure you're okay with this?”

“I'm fine. Don't worry about me.”

Saint got out, and Cameron took the puppy from him. “I'll hold the pooch, you back Steel up.”

Saint nodded, told himself he wasn't taking two steps away from Cameron tonight. There were too many people here, too many strangers. He was bothered by the whole setup. It wasn't like Ivy attracted the highest-quality customers, although he supposed that wasn't fair—she did get a fair amount of the college crowd, which drove in from the city for a wild time outside the city limits; the sheriff could probably throw a rock and hit five MIPs—minors-in-
possession—without
any trouble. Ivy wasn't worried about anybody busting her; she was too far out in the county to be bothered by troublesome laws that got in the way of making money.

“On second thought,” Cameron said, “I'm going to leave you right here in your comfy box, Lucky. A honky-tonk is no place for a sweet pup like you, especially after your busy day. You stay right here and protect the sheriff's cruiser.” She put the dog down in the box, and he settled nicely into a corner, burying his nose under the towel.

“Let's go,” Saint said, and Steel locked up his cruiser.

They went toward the crowd. Saint glanced around for the deputies; he didn't see that they'd arrived yet. He'd have felt a whole helluva lot better if Steel had waited for them, but on the other hand, Frick and Frack were a bit green. And Saint supposed the sheriff had brought him along to serve the same purpose, anyway. He glanced at Cameron as they edged through the crowd gathered around the coroner and the body, and she gave him a small smile. In spite of the unpleasant circumstances at the Honky-tonk, he liked having Cameron with him.

“What have we got, Cartwright?” Steel asked the coroner.

Jerry Cartwright lifted the dark plastic. “Male, thirty years of age, approximately. It'll take an autopsy to know for sure, but my first guess is he took something he shouldn't have.” He pointed to the vomit around the body. “No wedding ring, but that doesn't mean anything necessarily. We'll have to run his plates to locate his next of kin.” He glanced toward the overflowing parking lot, and the cars and trucks parked across the two-lane road in front of the Honky-tonk. “It's gonna be a bear's ass to find out which vehicle is his.”

Great. It wasn't necessarily Ivy's fault if someone had overdosed on her property, and though this wasn't the first time it had happened, it was the first time it had resulted in a death, if that was the cause. But her business definitely brought in characters looking for a walk on the wild side. “I guess I'll go find Ivy and tell her, if you want to stay here to watch the body get loaded up.”

“Cartwright's got it handled. I'll go with you. I want a word with Ivy myself.”

Saint, Steel, and Cameron moved through the crowd and went into the Honky-tonk. Most of the patrons weren't too concerned about a stiff outside; they were too focused on the good time they were having and the possibility of that good time leading to a better time later. Couples danced, some making out furiously, practically undressing each other on the floor. He pressed close to Cameron. “I'll feel better if you stay right by my side.”

She nodded. “I've got your back. No worries.”

He raised a brow. She winked at him, and he turned to follow Steel deeper into Ivy's lair.

The lady of the establishment seemed completely unconcerned about the poor devil who'd met his maker. She stood at the bar, conducting a sing-along, which died the second she saw Steel.

“Well, helloooo, Sheriff,” she said, her voice a throaty invitation.

She'd changed for the nighttime festivities. Her luxurious two-toned hair slithered over her shoulders and down her back in a sexy wash of silver over mahogany. Her silver dress, painted right onto her body, shimmered under the chandeliers. The dress stopped at heart-attack length, and with the sky-high sparkling silver shoes showing off shell-shaped hot-pink toenails and dancer's legs, Saint froze a little in the face of all that firepower.

It was like watching a beautiful silver snake hypnotize its victims.

“Ivy,” Steel said, “this is the second dead body at your place. I've warned you about keeping tighter tabs on your clientele.”

“In ten years,” Ivy reminded him, her voice soft. “You're not still upset about that little murder thing, are you, Steel?” She wound a hand around his biceps. Saint stepped closer, and Ivy removed her hand for a second. “Let me buy you a drink, Sheriff.”

“No thank you, Ivy.” Steel drew himself up. “Next unfortunate incident out here, I'll close you down.”

Ivy smiled. “And then what would Hell do for revenue, Steel?”

Saint blinked. She had a point, not that any of them wanted to admit it.

“How will the town pay for clean water and utilities and
infrastructure?”
Ivy slowly cocked her head, wearing a dangerous smile. “With kissing booths?”

Steel didn't say anything. Saint glanced toward the sheriff in surprise. It looked like he'd gone still, transfixed. Saint decided to step in. “Kissing booths could be lucrative, Ivy. Our offer still stands.”

She laughed. “As you can see, we have all the kissing we need right here.” Her bare arm drew a languid circle around the room. “Ask our darling Cameron if she thinks my establishment is too dangerous to visit.” Ivy smiled. “She's been out here many times, and nothing's ever happened to her. Has it, Cameron?”

Saint felt all the air leave him. That was a direct violation of Judy's rules, and Ivy knew it. By the darkening of Cameron's freckles and the distress in her big eyes, he knew Ivy had just spilled her secret on purpose, in front of Steel.

And it was a doozy of a secret. Judy would kick Cameron off the team if she found out—and Ivy damn well knew it.

Cameron glared at Ivy, who knew that she was getting her in a whole lot of trouble. The only possible purpose that ratting her out seemed to serve was to get the spotlight off the dead body. Then another possible motive occurred to her.

If Judy kicked Cameron off the team, there'd be one less rider. With Ava trying to start a family, Judy's team would be almost back to its starting point—while Ivy's honky-tonk was well established and quite popular. Cameron met Saint's curious gaze.

“I'm sorry. I like to dance,” Cameron said, knowing she sounded defensive.

He didn't look happy.

“It's just dancing.”

“It's against Judy's first rule.” His frown deepened.

Ivy laughed merrily. “I say rules are made to be broken. Anyway, give the girl a break. She's what, twenty-four years old?”

“Twenty-five,” Cameron said automatically. “That's not the point. Don't you have any discretion at all?”

“I do for my best customers.” Ivy's eyes glittered. “But you're not playing on my team, are you?”

Cameron shrugged.

“Sheriff, I think this whole matter is best forgotten, don't you?” Ivy smiled languorously at him. “It's not my fault someone misused his medication, any more than it's Cameron's fault that she can't stay tied to Judy's overly strict rules all the time, is it?”

So Ivy'd thrown her under the bus to hold Steel hostage. Cameron felt ashamed that she'd put herself in a position to be used that way, so that Ivy could hurt Steel and Judy. Saint shot her a sympathetic look, but he clearly wasn't happy with her, either.

“It doesn't work that way, Ivy. You know that.” Steel stood his ground as Ivy stepped closer to him, touched the star on his vest as an excuse to mold her hand against his chest. “Remove your hand, Ivy.”

She did, to Cameron's surprise.

“It's a shame you're so blinded by my cousin, Steel. She has a lot of secrets, you know.”

Cameron caught her breath. Surely Ivy wouldn't give up Judy's private secret. Steel would be devastated, knocked to his knees—and Ivy knew it.

“Whereas all my secrets are in the open, Steel,” Ivy continued. “Everybody always knows where they stand with me. Can you say the same about Judy?”

Suddenly Cameron realized that a crowd had packed around them, encircling them and blocking the door. Her scalp prickled at the unexpected press of men; she recognized several of the Horsemen, their faces menacing.

Saint edged close to Cameron, took her hand. “Let's go, Steel. We'll wait for the coroner's report and the autopsy before we say any more.”

Steel didn't seem inclined to leave. Cameron couldn't remember a time the handsome love of Judy's life had looked so grim.

“Ivy, regardless of what the autopsy says, you and I both know you're not running an establishment that's obeying the laws of the state. I could cite you with any number of violations tonight, all of which would stick. And I'm sure if I looked hard enough, I'd find enough illegal drugs to see you behind bars for a while.”

The bar went silent—but only for a second. A bottle flew, crashing against a wall. The Horsemen made their move, jumping on Saint and dragging Cameron away from him. But you didn't grow up in a large family and not know how to hold your own. She smacked the daylights out of the man who had her by the arm—Fallon O'Rourke, Declan's estranged twin brother—and gave him a swift kick with her boot for good measure.

No one had laid a hand on the sheriff—except for Ivy. She'd cozied close up to him, keeping his attention on her. Jake the Snake Masters, the son of Wild Jack, who owned Wild Jack's Training Center, was trying to get some punches off on Saint, who sidestepped them with ease. Which just made Jake madder, his punches more wildly off the mark. No doubt Jake had waited for months to get a little revenge on the Outlaws, especially after Trace had dispensed a bit of justice on him for roofying Declan.

Cameron wasn't worried about Saint—she was more concerned with keeping Ivy away from the sheriff—when she saw another Horseman, Rebel Wright, creeping up behind the Outlaw, a bottle in his hand. That wasn't playing fair, so Cameron leaped onto Rebel's back, wrapping her legs tight around his middle so he couldn't dislodge her and covering his eyes with her hands. He reached back with the bottle to bean her, but Cameron knocked it from his hand and gave his hair a jerk to make him think twice about pulling that stunt again.

That was about all she had in her quiver, so Cameron was happy to hear a female voice yell over the din, “Enough, Ivy!” and a resounding blast that put out one of the crystal sconces on the wall. Cameron swung around to see Judy, in all her silver puff-haired glory, standing in the doorway, tall and furious—and pointing a SIG Sauer handgun at another of the beautiful crystal-dripping sconces.

“Call off your dogs, Ivy,” Judy said.

“Holy shit, Judy! Do you always have to be so damn dramatic?” Ivy perched herself up on the bar. “Cool off, everybody. A round of drinks on the house for all!”

People cheered and scrambled toward the bar, completely unconcerned now about anything except free liquor.

“Honestly, Judy,” Ivy said, “you could take the fun out of a child's birthday party. Sheriff, take the gun away from the mayor and arrest her. Firing a firearm for no good reason surely rates
that.
”

Judy put her gun into what she called her big-ass handbag and glared at Ivy. “I can't remember a child's birthday party that included a dead body, Ivy. No one's going to arrest me. And you know as well as I do why they're not.”

Because this was half her property, a fact Ivy probably didn't want her customers to know. Cameron glanced at Saint. He shrugged, not wanting to get into the middle of a battle between the two big-haired beauty queens. But the fact was, the clientele here wouldn't be too inclined to frequent an establishment that was half-owned by the mayor—not when they were coming here to have a good time just on the fringes of legal, and sometimes not even that.

“Well, hell, Judy.” Ivy slipped off the bar and flounced over to her cousin, looking her up and down. “You never were any fun.”

“I'm never going to be your kind of fun.”

“So what brings you out here, then?” Ivy ran a hand up Steel's arm, making Judy's eyes bulge.

“I have my spies, just the same as you, Ivy.”

Ivy's eyes glittered. “Are you saying you have a mole in my fine
establishment?”

“I wouldn't call them moles. It doesn't sound very nice, does it?” Judy smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. “Now, take your hand off the sheriff, or you're going to draw back a few less fake nails.”

“Always the drama queen.” Ivy flounced off with the Horsemen, highly peeved.

Judy turned to Cameron. “You and I have some talking to do.”

Cameron jumped. “Yes, Judy.”

“In the morning. And I know you won't be late.” She glanced at Saint. “I know exactly how she got out here. And I'll be chatting with you about that as well.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Saint grinned at her. “It's always good to see you, Judy.”

Judy sniffed. “I'm taking my sheriff home. Good night to both of you. And get that mangy mutt into Dr. Jack first thing tomorrow, Saint. They say pets resemble their humans, and you've found the perfect stray for you.”

Judy left, and Cameron let out a breath. “Holy crap, that was crazy.”

Saint laughed. “No crazier than usual, I guess. You up for some boot-scooting?”

Cameron stared at him. “Here?”

“Well, apparently you've done it many times, right on this very floor.”

Okay, he was laughing at her. He knew very well she was in big-time trouble with Judy, and had the nerve to rub it in. “I don't know. That was then and this is now.”

“So you've changed?”

“Not necessarily.” She raised her chin. “I like to dance. I'm just not sure this is a good time.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Nervous? Catfights make you edgy?”

She rested her head against his chest. “That wasn't entirely a ‘catfight.' Not with the dead man and the other fun and games.”

“It's just another night in Hell.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she breathed in the scent of him hungrily. “So you were trying to protect me?”

“No.” She wasn't going to admit to that. She didn't want him to know that she had a slight thing for him, him and his big muscles, his great smile, and his soft heart. “Just keeping an eye on the sheriff until the deputies arrived.”

He laughed, not believing her, especially since the deputies hadn't yet arrived, and Cameron changed the subject. “Should we still be here? Now that the sheriff and the deputies are gone?”

“You mean, now that Judy's gone. She's the real equalizer to Ivy.” Saint moved his hand a little lower down her back, and Cameron's eyes widened. It felt great, him holding her so close.

I could get really used to this. Easily.

“We're safe enough tonight. Ivy's done with her shenanigans. She achieved what she was trying to accomplish.”

“Which was?”

“Stirring up trouble. And getting everyone's mind off the corpse. And always, always getting under Judy's skin.”

That made sense. “We should go. I'm sure our little friend in the cruiser—oh, crap.” She looked up at Saint. “We rode out here with Steel. We have no ride, and no dog.”

“He left me the keys to Judy's truck. Believe me, she's not letting go of the sheriff tonight. And she'll take good care of the pooch.” He straightened, and she felt his muscles move along his back, which felt amazingly good. Masculine and strong. “She said that cur looks like me!”

Cameron laughed. “Judy was just ribbing you because she's annoyed. With you and with me.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to tell you, but you're on her team. I'm not. You're going to be in deep tomorrow. And you have to tell her that Ivy turned us down flat for the parade and smooch booths.”

Yeah. That was a bit of a problem. Especially after she'd found out Cameron had been spending time at the Honky-tonk under the radar.

“If you wanted to go dancing, why didn't you ask one of us to take you?”

She closed her eyes as his hands glided a little lower, in a comfortable, nonsexual way. And she
was
comforted, drawn in by his low voice and sexy hands.

“When Ava and Trace got married, that eliminated one of my running buddies, and then Michael came to live with Harper. She's just happy to be with her son all the time, which is only natural.” She hated to sound lonely. “I didn't ask any of you to accompany because I'm okay coming by myself. Anyway, it's not bad out here usually. And I only stay a couple of hours.”

“Judy's going to light you up like a Christmas tree.”

“I know. But I doubt it will stop me from coming.”

He tipped her chin up, gazed down in her eyes. “You're a bit of a rebel, aren't you?”

“I can take care of myself, Saint.”

“Okay, okay—put your feathers down.” He smoothed her back. “I just hate to see you in trouble with the boss lady. I wouldn't mind coming out here and shaking a leg with you from time to time.”

“You're busy with Outlaw stuff. Look,” she said, getting steamed, “don't pity me. Don't feel sorry for me. I know you think you're trying to be nice, and you are, but you don't have time to babysit me. I'm fine in Hell. I'm just no angel, is all. If that was what Judy was looking for, she didn't get it.”

“I'd say she didn't. I definitely saw horns when you were on Rebel's back. You about gave me heart failure.”

“Don't mind Rebel. He's a dork, like all the rest of them.”

He stopped moving, ending their slow dance as he tipped her chin up again. “He's dangerous—just like the rest of them.”

She squashed the inside of his boot. “I can take care of myself. I'm not looking for a father figure, thanks.”

“Just trying to give some friendly advice.”

She really didn't want it. She wanted things she couldn't have—like him coaching her to fight bulls. She wanted his mouth on hers—and she couldn't have that, either, because it would screw their working relationship up totally. And without this job, it'd be back to Houston, and the houseful of siblings and extended family with more problems than this little town had. Cameron shook her head.

“I've had enough dancing tonight.”

He nodded, catching her drift. “Let's go find Judy's big-ass truck, then.”

At the door, Cameron turned. “Hey, Ivy!” she yelled over the music, which ceased instantly.

The beautiful woman turned, her two-toned mane catching the light under the chandelier. “Yes?” Ivy asked, her tone soft and slightly menacing.

“You take Mayor Judy up on her offer to send some girls out to compete against hers in the kissing booths, and I'll teach your girls to ride horses. Three months of free lessons. And that includes you, if you want them. I know Judy doesn't ride, but maybe you'd like to learn.” The surrounding area fell deathly quiet at Cameron's words.

Ivy's eyes narrowed. “And what makes you think that's a valuable offer?”

“Because I'm a damn good rider. Western, English, it's all good to me. And your girls look like they could use some exercise of a different sort,” Cameron said.

Ivy sucked in a breath. The Horsemen gathered around her.

“Hey,
we
could train the girls,” Rebel said.

“You could, but I'm reputable. And I'm also a better rider than any of you.” Cameron was confident of her riding skills—and training skills, too.

“Would you care to test that?” Jake asked, his training center's reputation at risk.