"He had the paperwork, but the jewelry
wasn't on him."
"Then it has to be here...maybe you should
go check out in the yard," Cole suggested.
"Good idea..." Cassie said and walked out
into her yard, then carefully worked her way around the perimeter
of the yard in the extreme heat, searching inch by inch inward,
until she reached the middle. She searched the rock and cactus
garden, around the steps, on the front porch, and didn't find a
thing.
Standing in the shade of the porch, Cassie
thought about the path that James had taken when he'd run from the
house, and decided to follow it to where Luke had tackled. Walking
slowly, she scanned the sandy brown earth on both sides of the
sidewalk.
Against the colorless earth, and muted
bushes, rich purple velvet snagged her gaze when she neared a
prickly bush by where Luke had tackled James. It had to be the
Crown Royal bag she'd always stored the pieces in, she thought. She
just hoped they were still in there, and it wasn't just the
bag.
Cassie walked quickly to the bush and
dropped to her knees then carefully stuck her hand under the bush
and untangled the gold cord from needles on several branches. When
she finally got it free, Cassie pulled the drawstring cord and held
her breath as she looked inside.
Cassie wanted to wail with relief. All three
pieces were in the bag, and it looked like they weren't harmed.
Hugging them to her chest, Cassie walked back to the house. Once
she got inside, she shrieked, "I found them!" then went over to
show Cole.
He smiled at her, whooped loudly, then
picked her up and spun her around in a circle. "That's great
sweetheart!" he said then kissed her cheek.
Luke sat up just then and looked at them
with angry eyes over the back of the sofa. "Get your damned hands
off of my woman, Cole," his pained voice was low and fierce.
Cole set her back down on the floor and
dropped his arm around her shoulders. "Well, looks like you must be
feeling better." Cassie saw Cole give Luke a smug grin. "Too
bad...I was really enjoying Cassie's company."
Luke growled and started to get up off the
sofa. Cassie pulled away from Cole and ran over to push him back
down. "Lay down, Luke! You're not in any shape to be up."
Picking up the second bottle of water from
the table, Cassie uncapped it and shoved it in his hands. "Drink
this--all of it," she told him forcefully and removed the rags from
his throat and chest to refresh them in the bowl of ice water then
put them back in place.
"Now you stay down there...I'm going to fix
the bed for you."
"He stays here," Luke pointed at Cole who
gave him an arrogant grin.
"Luke, drink your damned water." Cassie said
then stomped to her bedroom.
"Damned jealous fool," she cursed under her
breath as she yanked off the gold and blue comforter that was half
off the bed anyway, then removed the sheets and pillow cases,
tossing them across the room into the hamper, before she went to
the linen closet in the bathroom and pulled down more. Cassie was
laid across the bed with her butt stuck in the air, while she
fought to tuck in a corner of the new sheet when Luke staggered to
the door and leaned against the doorframe.
"Now that's what I'm talking about..." he
tried to give her a sexy grin, but it came out looking more like a
grimace.
Bouncing off the bed, she strode over to him
and put a finger in his chest. "I told you to stay on the couch!"
she yelled at him and gave him a poke.
"Didn't want to...missed you," he said
slurring, a good sign the pain medication she'd given him a while
ago was working.
"You big stubborn jackass..." Cassie grabbed
Luke's arm to lead him over to the bed, then pushed him down to sit
on the edge. She bent over and pulled off his boots and socks then
stood. After fluffing the pillow behind him, she shoved his
shoulder to try and make him lay down. Instead of laying down
though, Luke grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over him
onto the bed pinning her with a thigh, before his mouth came down
over hers in a heated kiss.
She squirmed trying to get free, but he
wasn't letting her up, and after a second, she didn't want to get
up. His drugging kiss had her reaching for him and deepening it,
putting her tongue inside his mouth to entice his out to play. He
groaned and moved his hand up to cup her breast and she rotated her
hips against his thigh trying to put out the fire that had started
in her core. Cole's voice at the door brought her out of the trance
that Luke had put her under.
"Lord have mercy, I swear you two are like
rabbits...even with him gut shot he can't keep his hands to
himself."
Cassie slid out from under Luke and off the
side of the bed. "Luke!"
"Don't
Luke
, me darlin' you wanted it
as much as I did."
"That's beside the point--you're hurt you
big oaf!"
He brought his hand down over his crotch,
where he was very visibly aroused. "I"m hurtin' but not where I got
shot..."
Cassie clenched her fists and grumbled, then
strode over to the bed and the the covers over him, then leaned in
and gave him a quick kiss, moving back before he could grab her
again. "Sleep!" she demanded then backed away from the bed.
"Not unless you're in here with me," he told
her and patted the other side of the bed.
"Well then you just stay in here and stare
at the ceiling, because I've got things to do, and Cole is helping
me."
His face became a thundercloud and he said
in a low growl, "I'll help you," he told her and flung back the
covers. She ran over there again and threw the covers back over
him.
Grating the words out between her teeth she
threatened, "If you put one toe on that floor, I'm going to hog-tie
you to that bed, Luke Matthews. I love you dammit, but you are a
pain in my ass."
"Promises, promises darlin'. That ain't the
first time I've heard that threat, and you've yet to carry it
through," he slurred then grinned at her.
Emotion clogged her throat and her lips
trembled, "Please stay in bed. My house is torn up and I've got to
fix it. I can't stand to see it looking this way," she pleaded.
His smile dropped and he pulled her to his
chest and hugged her. "I'm sorry, darlin'. I'll stay put and let
you get it cleaned up. Don't be upset, I can't take it..."
She lifted up and looked into his
whiskey-brown eyes, then placed a tender kiss on his lips. "Thanks,
darlin'."
Turning back toward the door, she saw Cole
standing there shaking his head, a quirky little smile on his face.
She didn't acknowledge him, just brushed past him in the doorway
and walked into the living room to start sorting piles.
Three hours later, she and Cole had made a
dent in the cleanup, and Cassie was on her hands and knees with
peroxide trying to get the small blood stain out of the carpet.
Cole had left in the truck to go and pick them up something to eat.
When the doorbell rang, she got up, and wiped her hands on a towel
to go answer it.
She opened to door to find Sabrina Roberts
on her doorstep, and smiled at her, then stood back to let her
enter. "Come in..."
"I was in the area and decided to come by
and bring you the papers we recovered when we arrested James
Barton," she said and stepped inside removing her mirrored
sunglasses then pushing them up on her head. Sabrina's hair was
down today, and swung in shiny brown waves at her shoulders. Cassie
saw her eyes move around the room and then surprise flickered on
her face. "Looks like you've been busy...the photos I saw of how it
looked before were pretty bad."
"Yeah it was awful. I wish I could have made
that weasel clean up the mess, but I'd rather he be in jail,"
Cassie told her then walked toward the kitchen, "Would you like
something to drink? It's damned hot out today. Bottled water,
tea?"
"Water would be great, thanks," Sabrina told
her standing near the kitchen door.
Cassie turned back toward her with a bottle
of water for each of them. The detective looked a little wilted
from the heat, the black pants she had on weren't really perfect
attire for Arizona weather. The light blue sleeveless shell she'd
paired them with was stuck to her breasts. At least the woman had
taken off the black blazer that must've gone with the pants to
cover the very lethal looking gun attached to a thick belt at her
waist.
Handing Sabrina one of the cold dewy
bottles, Cassie uncapped her own and took a long drink, then asked,
"So what's the latest with James anyway? Did he agree to the plea
deal yet?"
"The D.A. and my captain are still working
it out. The D.A. wants to go to trial, because it's so cut and dry.
He's a barracuda on white collar cases...hates to settle them if he
thinks he can win and get the maximum sentence."
Cassie groaned, it would be her luck that
the case would be assigned to someone like that. "Can I talk to
him? I really need this over and done with so I can get moved," she
said with a frustrated sigh.
"You're moving?"
"Yeah, back to Bowie, Texas...my
hometown."
"So, what's in Bowie? I thought your real
estate business was doing pretty well here?"
Cassie grinned at her then said, "Luke's in
Bowie...and I'm going to start a horse breeding operation on my
daddy's cattle ranch.'
"Oh, god that sounds like heaven," the other
woman told her and sighed dreamily.
"You like horses?" Cassie was always up to
talk about horses with a fellow lover.
"Love 'em. My dad had a few on our farm
growing up and I rode every day. When I moved to the city after I
graduated, I missed them terribly. I've been thinking about leasing
one at a barn on the north side." Sabrina tilted her head to the
side and then asked, "So how's Luke doing anyway? He out of the
hospital yet?"
"Yeah, and he's ornery as a bear. It's all I
can do to keep him in bed." Cassie's face flushed as the double
meaning of her words sunk in and she chuckled. "Well, that wouldn't
be a problem if he was feeling better..."
Sabrina chuckled too, "I imagine not."
"Let's go sit down and cool off," Cassie
invited and walked toward the sofa. Before they got there though,
the front door opened and Cole walked inside with three white bags
in his hand and a liter of drink under his arm like a football.
"Oh, hey! I thought you got lost!" Cassie
laughed and went over to relieve him of his bags. She walked over
to the sofa table to set them down then turned back to see him
still standing in the doorway with his mouth open, while he stared
at Sabrina Roberts like she was Thanksgiving dinner.
Cassie smiled and then introduced them,
"Cole this is Detective Roberts. She brought by the papers that
James stole from my safe. Sabrina this is Luke's best friend Cole
Jackson, Sheriff of Bowie, Texas."
Sabrina licked her lips, then found her
voice and said, "Wow, they sure do grow them tall in Texas...it's
nice to meet you Sheriff." Cassie heard the part the detective had
left out of her sentence,
and good looking
. Sabrina didn't
need to voice it, because it was there on her face in her somewhat
dazed and dreamy expression.
"Cole..." he corrected still acting like he
was struck dumb by the sight of the pretty detective.
"Well, I'm going to bring Luke his lunch and
check on him...I'll be back in a few minutes," Cassie told them,
but neither seemed to hear her. She tamped down the giggle that
bubbled up in her chest and grabbed a sack off the table, and
headed for the bedroom.
Luke was snoring when she went inside. He
looked so damned adorable, she thought, all snuggled up to a pillow
on his good side. The scrub shirt was pulled up on his injured side
and the sight of blood on the bandage made worry run through her.
He'd been moving around too much, she knew it! She flew over to the
bed and put the bag down on the night stand, then went to lift the
white tape holding the gauze down.
He woke up and rolled over grabbing her
wrist. "Whatcha doing, honey?"
"You're bleeding again...be still so I can
take a look and make sure you haven't ripped your stitches."
He groaned a little when she tugged the tape
off of his skin and she said, "Don't be a baby...you were shot and
didn't whine, so don't whine now over a little tape."
She felt the vibration of his chuckle rumble
under her fingers and smiled. He was playing her. Lifting the edge
of the gauze she took a peek at the raw red wound which was wound
tight with black thread. Nothing had broken loose that she could
see, but blood was seeping out from the corner. "You need to take
it easier, Luke. You didn't tear the stitches loose, but you're
bleeding. Let me go get my supplies and I'll fix you up."
"Thanks, darlin'," he said then sniffed. "Is
that hamburger I smell? I'm starving."
"Yeah, Cole went and picked us up lunch. Go
ahead and eat, I'll be right back."
Cassie walked back into the living room and
stopped short. Cole and Sabrina were sitting on the sofa next to
each other, sharing his lunch. He'd split the cheeseburger in half
and had divided up the fries. They were talking quietly and seemed
to be engrossed in whatever they were talking about. Cassie smiled,
and walked behind them to go to the kitchen and get Luke a glass of
tea, then she walked over to the sofa table and picked up the
pharmacy bag and her own lunch then went back to the bedroom. They
hadn't even noticed she'd walked in front of them.