Texas Hunt (11 page)

“I'll try to reach Brody again,” Ryan said.

“Try Rebecca and Samantha's phones, too,” Dylan said.

“Will do.”

“I've been trying to get a hold of you, Ryan,” Rebecca said as soon as she answered. He'd had no such luck with Brody.

“Dylan and Grayson are safe. Lisa's with me. Who do you have?” Ryan asked.

“Samantha and the funeral director, but we're scared to go back,” Rebecca admitted.

“Have you heard from Brody?”

“No. I was about to ask you the same thing.” Concern laced her tone.

He already knew that Brody was with Lori. He'd seen him helping her out of the building.

“So he hasn't called you, either?” Rebecca asked, sounding deflated.

“Not yet. I'm sure he will. He might've dropped his phone while he was running.”

“I haven't seen him since he made sure I was out of the building. He sent Lori running while he hung back to make sure everyone made it out okay.”

Damn. Ryan was afraid of that.

“Lori's phone would be in her purse or diaper bag. I doubt she had the presence of mind to grab either,” Lisa said. “There's no way to reach her now to find out if she's okay or tell her about the meet-up point.”

Ryan squeezed her hand as tears rolled down her cheeks.

He finished the call with Rebecca, telling her where they were headed at the same time he heard branches crunching to his left.

Ryan spun around in time to see Dylan, carrying a baby against his chest, coming toward them.

Lisa ran to them and embraced them both. She took her nephew and Ryan could see that she was struggling to hold the baby. He also realized that she'd have to be dead for anyone to pry that child from her arms.

No matter how much pain she was in, she wasn't giving her nephew to anyone else.

Having Dylan with them increased their odds of making it out of any situation alive.

Ryan didn't doubt his own skills, but Lisa had to take it slow. Their odds of making it out of the thicket alive just doubled.

“Is there any chance we can stick around and look for my sister?” Lisa asked, the expression on her face said that she already knew the answer.

“I spoke to the sheriff. The law is nearby, so if she's anywhere near here, she'll be safe. Beckett and his men would have retreated as soon as they heard sirens. It'll do us no good to stick around. The bomb team will most likely be called in to secure the area and investigate. They might find evidence linking this crime to Beckett. That happens and they'll lock him up. I'm calling that the best-case scenario,” Dylan said.

Ryan didn't voice his worst-case concern that Beckett had somehow gotten to Lori and would use her as a pawn against Lisa.

For the moment, she was preoccupied with soothing her nephew.

“What else did the sheriff say?” Ryan asked.

“That he's fine with sending a deputy over to my place to take statements. Said it was a good idea for us to steer clear of the crime scene and that he was committed to getting to the bottom of this.”

It sounded as though the sheriff had given Dylan the typical party line.

The walk to Dylan's was long and hot.

By the time they arrived, the deputy was there.

Samantha and Rebecca must've been standing at the window watching for them, because the pair popped onto the porch as soon as the trio cleared the trees.

“Maribel is napping. She's completely unaware of everything that's going on,” Samantha said, not stopping until Dylan embraced her.

Rebecca and Lisa exchanged worried looks.

“Do you think he's hungry?” Rebecca asked Lisa.

“He must be by now,” Lisa said.

“Does he take formula or milk?”

“Formula.”

“Let's go inside and fix him up with a bottle,” Rebecca said.

“I'll go help.” Samantha reached up on her tiptoes and kissed Dylan. He patted her bottom before she walked away.

Ryan would be lying if he didn't admit seeing them so happy made his own bachelor life seem a little bit empty. He shoved the thought aside.

With every ticking second that went by with no word from Brody, Ryan's muscles tensed a little bit tighter.

The deputy came outside and took down Ryan's and Dylan's statements. Lisa joined them with Grayson on her hip. Babies could be intuitive during stressful times, and his clinging to her probably meant that he was picking up on the heightened stress levels. That, and the fact that he most likely missed his mom.

“Rest assured our office is committed to finding out who did this and why,” Deputy Adams said before getting into his SUV and disappearing down the drive.

“Am I the only one who feels like I was handed a party line?” Lisa asked.

“I'm not thrilled with the response, either,” Dylan said, and then excused himself to check on Maribel. “But then, they have a lot on their plates concerning the Alcorns and they'll have to be extra careful. If a deputy makes a mistake, the Alcorns' lawyer will chew him up and spit him out.”

Ryan had the same sense. “At least we got Beckett on the deputy's radar.”

“I just keep thinking about Brody and my sister out there. I'm afraid they're hurt or worse,” Lisa said.

“Don't do that to yourself. We don't know what happened to them yet. They might've stuck around and been detained by law enforcement on the scene. If Brody dropped his phone along the way they'd have no means of reaching us or getting word to us that they're okay.”

“That's true,” she conceded but the stress lines didn't let up on her face. She kissed Grayson's forehead. He leaned his angelic cheek on her shoulder and closed his eyes. “He's tired, but I don't want to put him down yet. I don't want him waking up in a strange place without his mother.”

“He has you. And she'll be back.”

Lisa started pacing in the yard. “And what if she doesn't...come back? It's my fault we were there in the first place.”

“There's no use beating yourself up over this, Lisa. All you'll do is make yourself sick. You had no idea any of this was going to happen. We took every precaution possible to ensure your safety. No one saw this coming.” Against his better judgment, he pulled her into an embrace.

She stiffened for a slight second before relaxing.

“Does it bother you when I touch you?” he asked. The last thing he wanted was to fry her nerves even more or bring back bad memories.

“No. I'm just not used to it. And it's only for a second until I wrap my mind around the fact that you're not going to hurt me,” she said.

Ryan didn't like the fact that she had to think through his touch. He reminded himself not to catch her off guard again. Or maybe it would be best for both of them if he kept a safe distance.

“I hate what he's done to me,” she said, hugging the baby to her chest.

Ryan kept his facial expression neutral. He knew two things for certain. First of all, Beckett Alcorn had done something so horrible to Lisa that fifteen years later she still had to remind herself being touched was okay. Second, if Ryan saw the guy again he couldn't be certain what he'd do to him. As it was, he imagined his fingers closing around Beckett's throat.

There was a special breed of people who preyed on innocents. Any person capable of hurting a child didn't deserve to live.

Biting back the rage growing inside him, Ryan kissed Lisa on the forehead and put his arm around her and Grayson.

“Is that okay?” he asked to be sure.

“I like it when you touch me, Ryan. Even though it takes a minute for my brain to tell my body that it's okay. But I do like it.”

What was he supposed to do with that? Tell her that he wanted to do more than touch her? Most of the time she acted like a spooked cat and he finally understood why. The Alcorns needed to pay for everything they'd taken from the town, the people, his friends.

Before he could ask the question he wanted answered the most, he heard a shuffling noise coming from the trees on the side yard.

“Take the baby in the house and tell Dylan that we have company.”

Chapter Twelve

Lisa nodded, tucked her chin to her chest and wasted no time rushing to the house.
Good.
Ryan jogged to the edge of the yard, wishing he'd brought his shotgun with him.

A few seconds later, the back door smacked against the wall. Ryan glanced back in time to see that Dylan was coming and he'd brought reinforcement in the name of Smith & Wesson.

Thirty feet in front of him, through the trees, Ryan could see two figures huddled together. One looked to be struggling to walk. If one of them was going to shoot, he or she would've done so by now, so he forged ahead into the trees.

The sight of Brody was a welcomed relief. His arm was around Lori, who was hobbling toward Ryan.

“It's them,” Ryan shouted back to Dylan. “They're okay.”

He hurried to Lori's other side to take some of her weight from Brody, who was wincing in pain.

“My sister and Grayson?” Lori asked immediately.

“Both fine,” Ryan replied.

“Everyone's good?” she asked.

“You guys were the only two missing,” Ryan reported.

A wave of relief washed over Brody's face, and Ryan knew immediately that it was because he was worried about Rebecca.

“She's fine. We all got out okay,” Ryan said to confirm. “What happened to you guys?”

“Guess we were a little too close to the initial blast. It knocked us both off our feet and into the trees,” Brody said. “I must've taken a blow to the head.” He felt around for the knot. “I was unconscious for a good ten minutes. Took me another five to find and wake Lori.”

“Everyone's been worried sick. I've been trying to call you on your cell,” Ryan said as Dylan rushed to them.

He helped Brody, who'd been masking what turned out to be a pretty bad limp.

“Have no idea what happened there,” Brody said.

“I'm just glad you guys are okay. Everyone else is already here,” Ryan said. “The deputy just left. I'm sure the sheriff's office will want your statements, as well.”

“All I want is to see my fiancée,” Brody said. “Then I'll tell the law everything they want to know.”

As they approached the house, everyone else spilled out the back door.

Rebecca ran into Brody's embrace and Ryan noticed the look of adoration that passed between them.

He'd seen them together before. So why was he suddenly noticing it like it was the first time?

* * *

D
YLAN
HAD
ORDERED
pizza for pickup and then insisted everyone stay at his house for the night. After cleaning up dishes and putting the babies to bed, people dispersed. A few went out the back door to take a walk around the property before it got too late and Lisa figured Dylan followed in order to check the perimeter. Samantha's father had insisted on sleeping on an air mattress in Maribel's room and giving the others the bed in Dylan's guest room.

The day had gotten so crazy that Lisa didn't feel that she'd had a chance to remember her father. She stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air and to take a moment to think about him.

As she looked up at one of those endless starlit skies that she'd grown up taking for granted in Texas, she thought about how much her father would've loved a night like this. There were no clouds, just piercing blue landscape covered with a sea of white dots, lighting up the otherwise pitch-black night.

The back door opened and then Ryan stepped onto the small porch.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She turned toward the trees, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

“Do you mind company?”

“Sure.” She wiped away the tears.

He moved closer, examining her expression. “You know, you always were a bad liar.”

“I miss him.”

“Of course you do.” Ryan didn't make a move to hold her and she figured half the reason he was holding back was because he wasn't sure when it was okay to touch her.

“Worse than that, it just feels useless. I mean, I finally get the courage to stand up to Beckett and look what happens,” she said.

“He's trying to take back control. You've rattled him and that's a good thing. He'll make a mistake and the sheriff will arrest him.”

“And then what? Do you really think he's going to let me get away with sending him to jail?” Of course he wouldn't. Beckett Alcorn was going to have the last laugh no matter what it cost him. Lisa knew that the price would be even higher for her. The situation couldn't feel more hopeless. “He's most likely already planning his next attack.”

“The law can't deny that someone is after you and your family now. We didn't have that protection before,” Ryan said earnestly.

There was no arguing that point.

“What good will it do? A man like him has unlimited resources. He won't stop until he gets what he wants.” She shivered thinking about just how Beckett Alcorn liked to take what he wanted.

Ryan's voice lowered when he asked, “Can I ask a question?”

She nodded.

“Why didn't you tell anyone about your past with him?”

“There are a thousand reasons. First of all, I was embarrassed. I was convinced I'd done something to deserve it,” she said, fighting the sense of shame that accompanied the admission.

“He's a bully. There's no indignity in being picked on or threatened by someone stronger than you. I just think it was a shame that you had to suffer alone.”

“Who would've believed me, anyway? I'm the daughter of the town's most notorious drunk, remember?” She'd fired the accusation, but she knew that she wasn't being completely fair. Her friends had never treated her as less than because of her father.

“I would have, for one. There's a houseful of people in there who would have backed you, as well,” Ryan said, hurt lacing his tone.

“I'm sorry. You're right. I'm just off today with the funeral service and then all that happened.” Lisa hadn't told a soul what really had happened fifteen years ago. She wanted to tell Ryan, to get out what had been festering inside far too many years. How did she even begin to discuss the nightmare that had paralyzed her in her sleep and made her afraid to open her eyes in the morning for fear he'd be standing over her bed? “Ryan, do you really want to know why I don't talk about what Beckett did to me?”

“I do.” There was comfort in his gray eyes, compassion his expression.

And yet it was still so hard to discuss. Lisa had read countless stories over the years trying to make sense of the incident, of her own behavior afterward. Even though a shocking number of young girls and women were raped by someone they knew, very few ever reported the crime. Both of those points were certainly true in her case. The words were all there to tell Ryan, but her brain refused to form sentences with them.

“It's okay. You can tell me anything. I'm not going to think any different of you,” Ryan reassured her.

Would he, though? She'd certainly put herself through the wringer, asking herself a string of questions. Why had Beckett chosen her? Had she done something to bring the abuse on? Should she tell her father?

Guilt and shame washed over her, causing her shoulders to slump forward. She suddenly felt like that same twelve-year-old girl scrubbing her skin with soap in the shower, hating the feeling of Beckett touching her.

A sick feeling of frustration had been building. The powerlessness and stigma about what had happened to her and so many others had finally reached critical mass. The need to speak out finally overwhelmed her fear.

Keep quiet and he wins
, a voice inside her head said.

“I was molested.” There. She'd said it. Out loud.

Something dark moved behind Ryan's eyes. Hatred? Sympathy? Both?

“What did that bastard do to you?” he asked, not bothering to mask the anger in his tone.

“He touched me. He made me do things to him. I didn't even consider it rape before because he couldn't...penetrate. He threatened it, though. Said he'd wait for me. That he'd come back when I was ready. And if I told anyone then he'd come after my sister instead.” Tears streamed down her face as she said the words. Getting them out, letting them go was the most frightening and yet freeing thing she'd ever done. She didn't overthink it this time. She just said it. “Looking back, I feel like I should've said something to someone but I didn't.”

“You were just a kid. And you didn't report him because of his threat.”

“I tried to forget about what happened. It didn't help that I started seeing stories on the news of women being torn apart on the witness stand and treated like they were the ones who'd committed a crime. I figured no one would believe a kid and especially not over Beckett.”

“The way the legal system treats victims is repulsive,” he agreed.

“So I withdrew from everyone and I've been keeping this terrible secret too long.” Talking about it made her feel she was taking back some of her power. “It didn't help that my sister and I were being bounced around from home to home because of Dad's drinking. I guess I thought if I told anyone that they'd take us away from him permanently and we might be separated. I know our life was hard with Dad when he drank, but it was much harder to be divided between relatives.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this, Lisa.”

He didn't push her away or look at her as if she were tainted. She'd felt that way about herself for so many years.

“I was so afraid you'd look at me differently. That others would look at me strangely if I told anyone.”

He lifted her chin. “I'm looking at you right now and all I see is a strong, beautiful woman. If anything, I respect you even more than I did before.”

Slowly, Ryan pulled her closer to him and she felt as if she'd been bathed in the sun from his warmth. He kissed the top of her head.

“I felt so helpless for so many years. Anxiety and fury had built to a level that was almost intolerable. By storing the incident inside, it was gnawing away at me like it had to get out one way or another. It feels surprisingly freeing to talk about it with you. My only regret is that Beckett is winning again. He wrecked my father's funeral. That bastard has taken away so much from me. It infuriates me that he'll get away with it.”

“We won't let him this time. I promise.” Ryan didn't try to mask the threat in his tone. He bent forward and looked her in the eye. “Can I have permission to kiss you?”

“Yes.” She had never felt closer to another human being. There was nothing she wanted more than Ryan's lips on hers. She reached up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway.

His kiss, tender and soft, brushed against her mouth so gently. She could feel his warm breath on her skin. He tasted like the fresh coffee he'd sipped while helping with dishes a few minutes earlier.

“You're a survivor, Lisa. And you amaze me.” His mouth moved against hers as he spoke.

She brought her hand up around the base of his neck and tugged him closer. His arms encircled her waist. His strong hands on her back caused her body to tremble.

He pulled back. His eyes had darkened to steel. “Is this okay?”

“It's more than okay,” she said, pressing her body flush against his. She let out a sensual moan as Ryan pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

In that moment, she got so very lost. Nothing else mattered except the two of them under a starlit sky. The crescent moon hung low and heavy and her body trembled under his fingertips.

She could stay like this all night, except a tiny part of her brain questioned whether or not
this
was a good idea. It was Ryan, and the two of them had a long history of friendship. They'd just crossed a line. And in doing so might be putting everything on it.

As if Ryan had a similar realization, he pulled back a little.

“It's late,” she said when they broke contact, reconsidering. Then she was the one to pull back a little more. Her body fizzed with awareness with him this close and one look in his eyes said he felt the same. What was really going on between them? Chemistry? Sexual awareness? A leftover childhood crush?

No matter what box she fit “it” in, the result was the same. She had no idea what to do next or even if this was a good idea in the first place. Whatever was happening between them was so powerful that the air charged around them every time they were close, and especially now. It had been such a long time since a man looked at her like that—hungry and as though she was all woman and he was all man. And she couldn't ever remember wanting one to in the way she did with Ryan.

She wasn't a virgin. And yet nothing had felt so powerful, so new, as whatever was happening between them.

“Ryan.”

“Yeah.”

“I don't regret kissing you and I hope you don't, either.”

“Kissing you is the best thing I've done in a long time,” he said, and she almost laughed again at how frustrated that admission made him sound. “It's been a long day and we should try to get some sleep.”

Ryan took another step back, looking as confused as she felt and as if he wasn't sure what to do with his hands. Based on his tense expression, he'd clearly felt whatever it was buzzing between them as strongly as she did. And it almost made her laugh that he didn't seem to know what to do with it any more than she did. “We'll regroup in the morning after everyone's had a chance to get some sleep and figure out our next move.”

Sleep? There'd be no sleeping tonight for her. Not with all those confusing feelings rolling around inside her head.