Looking For Trouble (30 page)

"Tie-down is an individual event, and she'll
have to rope the calf, then get off her horse and flank him, and
string three legs together with a pigging string, as fast as she
can."

"Why'd she quit, if she was so good?" Jess
asked him curiously.

"Her ex-boyfriend...it's a long story, and
it's a shame she's not competing anymore, but I'm glad she wound up
at the Double B, she's a big help."

Wade had ridden almost last in his
competition, but it looked like Karlie and Katie Upton were riding
first. Their names flashed on the big board by the announcer, then
he called their names, and she saw the redheads move their horses
back in the chutes, and twirl their ropes a few times, then hold
them at their sides.

One of them, she didn't know which because
she couldn't tell them apart, nodded her head and a small metal
chute opened and a calf took off into the arena. They leaned
forward and their horses shot out on either side of the chute. The
head was roped in three rotations of the rope, and then Karlie
pulled off to the left and Katie looped the feet then they pulled
the rope and a buzzer sounded. It all happened so fast, Jess was
amazed.

"That was awesome...wow," she said in a
reverent voice.

Wade looked up at the board to see their
time, and when it posted, Beau shot to his feet and yelled, which
must mean it was good, she thought and yelled encouragement too.
They loosened the tension on their ropes and jerked them off the
calf, then wound them back up, looking up at the scoreboard with
big grins. As they rode back to the gate by the chutes, they took
off their hats and waved to the crowd.

"They did good, huh?" Jess asked Wade and
bounced in her seat with excitement pouring through her. God, if
she could do that kind of stuff, maybe she'd hear that kind of
respect for her in Wade's voice too...but she couldn't. She didn't
know a damned thing about rodeos, she wasn't a cowgirl, and hadn't
ever even ridden a horse in her life. But she had a feeling her
daughter was going to be one, if her daddy had anything to do with
it, so maybe she should at least get Wade to teach her to ride.

"They're gonna be hard to beat...that time
was outstanding," he told her with a wide grin that displayed the
dimple that set her heart racing.

"You think you could teach me to ride a
horse after I get this cast off?" she asked him
self-consciously.

Wade's eyebrows shot up, and he asked
incredulously, "You don't know how to ride, sugar?"

"Nope, haven't ever been on a horse
before...I'm a pretend cowgirl," she told him with a forced
chuckle.

Wade put his arm around her shoulders and
leaned down to kiss her tenderly, then said in a low sexy voice,
"There's not a damned thing pretend about you, sugar...you are the
real deal...but yeah, I'll teach you to ride."

She gave him a big smile, then kissed his
cheek. "Thanks, I can't wait." And she couldn't, because that meant
she got to spend more time with him, and do something he enjoyed
doing. Who knew, maybe she'd like it too.

After all the team ropers had done their
rounds and the totals were tallied, Karlie and Katie were number
one going into the finals tomorrow, as Wade had predicted, and the
tie-down roping competition was next. She was interested in seeing
that, and what made Karlie Upton Kelley so good at it.

She saw Beau say something to Gabe then
elbow him in the ribs and start laughing, but Gabe didn't laugh,
his face turned red, so she assumed it had something to do with the
story Wade had told them at lunch. It
was
pretty funny, but
she was sure Gabe was still catching hell for being left hog-tied
by the road by his wife, when he pulled her over for speeding.
Beau, being Gabe's brother, and a Texas Ranger to boot, probably
couldn't help teasing him about it.

A horn blast sounded over the loud speaker,
and Jess jumped in her seat then laughed. "That damned thing sure
will get your attention, huh?" she said to Wade, then rocked the
car seat with her foot to quiet Angel, who squirmed around and
fussed when it woke her up.

"Yeah, it's pretty loud..." he agreed then
looked down at Angel. "She probably could use a change, I'll go
take her," he said then stood up and picked up the car seat. "I
don't think Karlie's gonna be first in this one." Leaning down, he
put a quick kiss on her lips then told her he'd be right back and
headed to the truck. When Wade walked through the back door of the
arena, it was almost sundown and he hurried across the parking lot.
He'd just gotten the truck door open, and Angel laid on the seat
when his phone rang in his pocket. Hoping it was Travis with good
news, he pulled it out and answered, then put one hand on Angel's
stomach to hold her still.

"Wade, this is Doug..." his former
accountant announced, then told him, "I've got some interesting
news about those files Travis sent me."

Wade's heartbeat ratcheted up a few notches
and he said, "Oh, yeah?"

"The second file that was password protected
had a road map to what this guy was doing to Jess Sparks...all of
the account numbers where he transferred money, and the bogus
company names he transferred it to. On the surface in the other
file, what looked like legitimate transfers, were actually
transfers to these other accounts. All of these companies are under
the same umbrella, and owned by RTE Holdings...I looked it up and
guess who the owner of record is?"

Although nobody, but Angel could see him,
Wade grinned and said, "Ray Turner?"

"Yep, and it looks a helluva lot like money
laundering. I'm sure the authorities would be interested to see
this...let me go, I'm going to call Travis and see what he came up
with on that computer. I'll call you on Monday, and get a report to
you."

"Thanks, Doug...great job, man," he told
him, then disconnected, with excitement building inside of him. It
looked like that smug bastard was going to get his comeuppance
after all, and Jess was going to get justice for what he'd done to
her for so many years.

Wade quickly changed Angel, and redressed
her and picked her up, then shut the door and headed back to the
arena. Right outside the door, he saw Cam Jessup leaning against
the wall smoking a cigarette, which he flicked to the ground when
he saw Wade walk up.

"Who's brat?" he asked gruffly then shoved
off the wall and blocked Wade's path to the door.

"She's my daughter, and she's not a brat,
asshole," Wade told him, then went to walk around. He didn't want
trouble right now, especially since he had Angel with him. "I'm not
looking for trouble Jessup, just get out of my way."

"You might not be looking for it, but you
sure found it," he said and pushed Wade.

"Here's the deal, fucker...I have my
daughter with me, a baby, someone I love and don't want to see
hurt. I'm not going to fight you right now, or
ever
. You
just take those bull balls of yours somewhere else and leave me the
hell alone."

"I don't think so...your wife embarrassed me
today, and somebody is gonna pay for that," Jessup told him with
another push. "Either you or her," he threatened.

Wade snorted, then grabbed the door handle,
"You better leave her alone, or she'll kick your ass worse than I
would." Without giving him another minute, Wade flung the door open
and walked inside. That guy really had some ego problems...and that
was gonna be his downfall on the circuit, Wade knew.

Most of the guys were laid back, and
friendly. They messed with each other in the spirit of friendly
competition, but you could always count on any one of them having
your back. Everyone got along well, and were almost like a family.
You had to have that, because you were gone so much from your real
family. Cam Jessup might be a good rider, but he wouldn't last
long, because someone was going to kick his ass, or the admin
would.

When he got back to his seat, Jess was on
the edge of hers watching the tie-down competition. He could almost
feel the excitement pouring off of her, and he was glad she was
enjoying herself. She needed some distraction from the crap going
on with Ray Turner...and him. Wade sat the car seat down by his leg
and chucked Angel under the chin, and she smiled up at him, and he
smiled back.

His baby girl really was the most precious
thing in his life...and her mama. Wade would do anything in this
world to protect them, and that meant he was going to win tomorrow
and get Ray Turner out of their lives. Then he was going to send
that fucker to jail for a long time to make sure he stayed out.

Right now though, he was going to enjoy the
closest thing to a date he'd had with Jess, and not worry about
it...and she didn't need to worry either, so he was gonna wait to
tell her about what Doug found, until tomorrow after the
competition. He'd have the whole picture then, anyway.

About half-way through the group of tie-down
roping competitors, the announcer called Karlie's name, and she led
her horse into the gate and backed JoJo until his butt touched the
back of the pen, then leaned forward at the ready, with the pigging
string between her teeth, and her lariat in her right hand. He
could see JoJo's flesh twitch in anticipation of chasing the calf.
Karlie gave a quick nod of her head, and the doors of the metal
chute opened and the calf shot out into the arena.

JoJo lit out of that pen like a flash and
Karlie's lariat was a blur, as she hooked it over the calf's head,
then slid off of JoJo and ran down the rope that JoJo had tightened
for her, to the calf. She tossed the calf to its side, strung three
legs together, and had her hands in the air, before he could even
process it all. She ran back and hopped on JoJo, then he moved
forward and loosened the rope. The calf stayed tied and a buzzer
sounded.

Karlie looked up at the timer and smiled
when she saw the seven flat, which was a very competitive
time...better than those before her by a tenth of a second. She let
out a whoop and gave a fist pump, then pulled off her hat and
pointed it at Gabe, twirled it, then tossed it to the ground. Wade
saw him leaning over the rail yelling for her, and he threw her a
kiss, across the arena, and she caught it, then got off JoJo and
untied the calf and got her hat.

Wade yelled down at Gabe, "She did good,
man!"

"She's fricking amazing...
now
I know
how I wound up hog-tied in more ways than one!" he yelled back, his
face lit with pride and excitement.

"That was amazing," Jess agreed with a big
smile. "I wish I could do that...totally amazing."

"You want to learn to rope too, darlin'? I
could try to teach you, but I suck at it...maybe Karlie would give
you lessons, then you could teach me," he suggested with a waggle
of his eyebrows.

Jess nudged his shoulder then laughed, "You
don't like to rope?"

"It's not that I don't like it...my roping
skills suck. I am pretty talented at tie-down though, so I'll just
have to teach you that," he said near her ear, then licked her
earlobe.

She shuddered then looked into his eyes with
instant heat in hers. "I'd like that demonstration, I think..."

Lust slammed into his chest, and he sucked
in a sharp breath, then put that demonstration on his 'to-do' list
in the near future. "Count on it then, darlin'," he told her in a
low gravelly voice, and kissed her hair.

"You want to stay and see Katie barrel
race?" Wade asked wanting to get Jess back to the hotel and alone,
but wanting her to have the full rodeo experience too, since this
was her first time.

"Nah, I think I'm ready to go back to the
hotel, and Angel is too," she told him looking down at her seeing
she was fretting in her car seat now. "I think she's had enough of
the rodeo today, she's been so good."

"She really has been a trooper," he agreed
then unbuckled her from the car seat and lifted her to his
shoulder. "I'll carry her to the truck, you get the car seat."

He put his hand on Jess's back and guided
her to the exit, then they walked out into the cooler night air,
heading for the truck. A high-pitched mewling sound a little ways
away caught his attention as they got near the truck. It sounded
like it was coming from down the row of parked cars to the left.
Figuring it was an injured animal that he couldn't help anyway, he
ignored it then put his key into the lock and opened the door for
Jess. She got inside, and he handed her the baby, then went to put
the car seat in the back seat, and he heard a yelp, definitely of
the human variety.

"I'll be right back," he told Jess then took
off down the row of vehicles, looking between them to see what was
going on. His eyes caught a flash of a white straw hat and bright
red hair, before it disappeared, and he ran down that row in the
darkness. The closer he got, he heard the sounds of a struggle
going on, and hurried toward the sound. When he got there, he saw
the white hat laying on the ground, and either Karlie or Katie
struggling with a man on the ground.

"Get the hell off of me!" she yelled then
boxed the guys ears with her closed fists.

With a roar, Wade grabbed the back of the
guys shirt and yanked him off of her then threw him into the large
truck beside them, and planted his fist in the guy's face. He
grunted, then tried to punch Wade, but he blocked it then put a
fist in the man's stomach, and the guy crumpled to his knees
clutching his stomach.