THE MISSING (L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Book 4) (4 page)

The mare was gone, but Balboa stood in his stall and nickered softly at Luke. When Abe had downsized, he’d kept two horses and five head of cattle, just enough to stay busy, but not too much to handle.

Luke talked softly to Balboa before saddling him up. “Hey, big guy. It’s been a while.” The golden palomino nuzzled him, apparently remembering they’d been inseparable once upon a time. He wished other parts of his life were that easy to resurrect.

He mounted the stallion and headed for the line, not having a clue where the fence was broken. Most likely it was at Stella Hancock’s property line, otherwise Abe would have no reason to complain about her long-dead husband.

He sat straight in the saddle and took a quick breath of fresh mountain air, a nice change from the smog and gasoline fumes of downtown L.A. Even the morning sea fog and salty ocean breezes at his home in Venice Beach were a respite from the pollution that hung like an ochre cloud over the rest of the city.

Out here, he could breathe. The scent of piñon pine teased his senses, reminding him of a time when life was simple and uncomplicated, a time when the only thing he’d cared about was what he was going to do that day.

His mother’s sudden death when he was thirteen changed all that. She’d been the peacemaker, she’d held the family together. Clearly something he and his father had no desire to do once she was gone.

Back then his father always blamed Luke’s bad behavior on adolescence, but it was more than that. Something he’d long since put out of his mind. He’d never approached his father about it, but he’d always thought Abe knew that Luke knew—and neither wanted to open that door.

One thing was certain, his mother’s death had changed his life forever.

He nudged Balboa to a canter. He hadn’t thought about all that in years. He preferred physical activity over thinking. But being here, seeing Jules again, had him thinking more than ever. Love complicated everything—and losing everything you loved made life intolerable.

When they’d lost Michael he’d soldiered on for Julianna’s sake. But when she left…there wasn’t any point to anything. He’d hit bottom.

Suddenly the anger he thought he’d buried a long time ago burned in his veins. Bitterness rose like bile in his throat. Never again would he let himself feel so much. If he didn’t feel, he couldn’t hurt.

~~~

JULIANNA WENT INTO the den to do some research for her next story.
If
she could concentrate. Luke had said he’d be there only a day or two. God, she hoped so. He was too intense. Too probing. She was on tenterhooks every time he entered the room.

One day she could handle. Couldn’t she? All she had to do was maintain her distance, keep her mind in the present and stay focused on the end result. Luke going back to L.A.

She’d made a quick decision not to tell Luke about the story she was writing because the subject would upset him. She knew that as well as she knew her deadlines. It would simply make the time he was here even more strained. He already suspected she hadn’t just come simply because Abe asked her to. As intuitive as Luke was, if she told him about the story, he might connect the two.

And if he knew she was being threatened, the cop in him wouldn’t let it go. He wouldn’t leave. He’d have to take action.

There was no way she could tell Luke. But she had to tell Abe about the phone calls.

BY THE TIME Luke reached his father, Abe had already taken out the new roll of barbed wire and was trying to fasten it to the fence by himself. “Couldn’t wait a few more minutes?” Luke dismounted and strode over.

“Can’t wait forever. I’m not getting any younger.”

“Not getting any easier to get along with either.”

“One of the few good things about getting old. You can say what you want and the hell with what anyone thinks.”

Luke couldn’t remember a time when his father didn’t say what he wanted or ever cared what anyone thought. But he wasn’t going to stay that long and he needed his father’s cooperation if he was going to hire someone to help out. Getting Abe to accept that help was going to be the tough part.

“We need to shore up the posts first,” Luke said and walked over to one that was tilted at forty-five degrees.

“It’ll straighten out with the wire on it,” Abe countered.

Luke let out an exasperated breath. He knew he should just agree with his dad and then get out of there. “C’mon, let’s do it together.”

That seemed to agree with Abe and they both started working on getting the post upright. And while they were somewhat sympatico, Luke said, “I know Jules isn’t here just because you asked her to come.”

His father turned and looked at him. “Is it such a hard thing to believe, that someone would actually want to be here with me?”

“No, Dad. Of course not. You have company all the time, don’t you?” No matter how hard he tried to be nice, his father made it impossible and Luke couldn’t seem to hold back his sarcasm. But then it wasn’t likely he’d hurt the old man’s feelings anyway. Nothing fazed his father. And he usually gave out more than he got.

“People never did take to me, like they did your mother,” Abe said. “And when she died, it was hard to be nice to anyone.”

Including me.
But this time, Luke bit back the words. He’d come here to make amends with his father and dammit, he was going to. “I know you missed her. I did, too.”

“I still do.”

The softness in his dad’s voice might’ve made Luke think he actually meant it.

“So why are
you
here?” Abe eyed Luke narrowly. “I know you didn’t come just to keep an old man company.”

Luke forced his mouth into a smile. “But you’re wrong. That’s exactly why I came. I had two weeks’ vacation and I thought it a good opportunity for us to…to reconnect.”

Abe snorted, then as if he hadn’t heard a word, walked to the next post and started righting it.

Yeah. Luke sighed watching him. He’d been stupid to think he might get a different reaction. What he wanted didn’t mean squat when it came to his father. Never had. “So, getting back to Jules. I know she likes you and all that, but what’s the other reason she’s here?”

“Ask her, not me.”

“I did. She won’t tell me.”

“Shoot. If you’d kept in touch with her, you’d know why she was here.”

Keep in touch? Where had his father been all this time? Julianna didn’t want anything to do with him. It was her decision and he’d respected it.

“And if you hadn’t bailed on the marriage, she probably wouldn’t be here at all.”

Picking up the roll of wire, Luke gritted his teeth, then started attaching the end of the wire to the first post. “That was five years ago, Dad. Long enough for you to quit harping on something that’s over and done with.”

“She was the best thing that ever happened to you,” his father grumbled.

Yeah. He’d thought so, too. “Like Mom was the best thing that ever happened to you?” Sarcasm laced his words.

Slowly Abe turned, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Yes, like your mother.”

He’d hit a nerve. He’d spent a lifetime wanting to say that and trying not to. And now that he had, he didn’t feel any better. “Julianna may have been the best thing for me, but I wasn’t the best for her. I doubt she’d agree that there’d been anything good between us.”

“People don’t always say what they mean, you know,” Abe grumbled, then spat on the ground.

Yeah, he knew. He saw it in his job all the time. People lied to save their butts. But Julianna wasn’t a liar. She’d meant every last hurtful word. Every time he thought about it…he wanted to punch something. Hell, right now, dealing with both Jules and his father, he wanted to do that and then some. And his head felt about to explode.

“Things happen,” Abe said. “Good stuff, shitty stuff. It’s called life. If love is there, it’s there. People go on.”

“Dammit. It’s not there. And it’s a dead subject, Dad. Now why don’t you just tell me why she’s here and be done with it.”

Abe grabbed the roll of wire Luke held and yanked it away. “I told you. It’s not my place. Ask her yourself.”

Luke released his grip before the wire cut his hand. Then suddenly Abe spat out a string of cuss words. His face went ghost-white, his lips blue. He staggered back, grabbed his chest and sank to his knees.

Shit. Luke dropped the roll.

CHAPTER FIVE

“IT’S OKAY, MARK. I’m finishing the story and that’s that. I’m in the safest place I could be, under the circumstances.”

“But you can’t stay there forever.”

She sighed. “I know. Once the story is done—”

“What makes you think this lowlife will stop bothering you when you’re finished?”

“That’s what his threats are about. He doesn’t want me to finish, so if I do, he’s lost.”

“I think you’re wrong. It could make him even more incensed that you didn’t listen.”

That was true. So far it had. “Look, Mark, I’m not going to live my life in fear because of some jackass. No one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do when it comes to my writing.”

“Well, I can.”

She stifled a laugh. “Right.” Mark was such a cupcake. He’d given her free rein after only a month on the job. And she was careful not to abuse the confidence he had in her. “You’ll see. It’ll be business as usual after the last installment.”

“Damn, I hope you’re right. Because otherwise I’m going to feel responsible.”

“So, what else is new,
Dad?
” Mark wasn’t much older than her own thirty-two years, but he acted as if he was sixty sometimes.

He chuckled. Finally.

“I’ll be in touch.” As she hung up, Julianna heard something bang outside. She glanced at her watch. Luke and Abe had only left a half hour ago, it couldn’t be them.

Just as she went into the kitchen, Abe burst through the back door, Luke right behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing a little good sense won’t fix,” Luke said.

Abe waved him off with a hand covered with a blood-soaked cloth.

“Oh, you’re hurt!”

“Just a little cut. I’ve had worse. No big deal.”

“When did you last have a tetanus shot?” Luke asked.

Abe shrugged.

“That’s what I thought.”

“That’s enough, you two. What we need right now is a first-aid kit. Do you have one, Abe?”

“Under the sink in the bathroom,” he grumbled, then quickly added, “But I’m not going to get any shots.”

“Can you get it, Luke?” Julianna lifted Abe’s hand to see the damage. “What were you doing?”

“Nothin’ I don’t do all the time. I just got distracted.”

As Abe answered, Luke returned with the kit and handed it to Julianna. She went to work, cleaning the wound, a gash about two inches long. “You really should see a doctor. It might need stitches.”

No response.

“While you’re taking care of that, I’m going back out to finish what we started.” Luke motioned with a tip of his head that Julianna should follow him outside.

“Hold the pressure on it, and I’ll be right back, Abe.”

Outside on the porch, Luke stood with his feet apart, arms crossed over his chest. “He wasn’t distracted,” Luke said, keeping his voice low. “He looked unsteady on his feet, as if he was dizzy or something. Then he fell. But he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. Maybe while I’m gone you can find out. I think he needs to see a doctor…whether he wants to go or not.”

Julianna saw concern in Luke’s eyes. For a tough cop, he felt things intensely, though it wasn’t always easy to tell.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Just as she turned to go back inside, Luke placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re going to have to tell me why you’re here, because we both know it’s not just a visit. I don’t have any desire to pry into your personal life… I mean if it’s something like you’ve had a fight with your boyfriend or whatever, just say so and I’ll butt out. But if it’s something else and it involves my father, then I need to know.” He stared at her, lips pressed together. “Besides, you know I’ll find out one way or another.”

The skin on her arms prickled. “And what does that mean?”

He shrugged, but didn’t let her go. “I’m a detective.”

Oh, yes. He was that. And he’d keep picking and poking until he got answers. She pulled away. “Okay…it’s personal. It doesn’t involve your dad, so butt out.” She stalked back inside. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It
was
personal…and if telling a tiny untruth meant he’d leave her alone, so be it.

After she finished cleaning Abe’s wound and bandaged it as best she could, she said, “So, how about that tetanus shot? I’ll be happy to drive you.”

“Nearest doc is in a little clinic outside Pecos.”

“Fine. Let’s go.” Before he could protest, she said, “Oh, one other thing.”

He glanced at her.

“I received a couple of voice-mail messages on my home phone. Threatening messages.”

“The bastard,” Abe spat out. “It’s a good thing you’re here then.”

“I was thinking of going somewhere else.”

“Nonsense.”

She sat on a chair next to him and clasped his good hand. “It’s not nonsense. If there’s any chance I’m in danger, then my being here puts you in danger, too.”

Abe squinted. “Why do you think you’d be any safer someplace else? No one’s going to find you here. And if they can’t find you, that keeps us both safe. Right?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I took precautions, but I can’t be sure it was enough. I couldn’t bear it if—”

He held up a hand. “I won’t hear of it,” he sputtered. “You leave, you’ll have the same problem. This is the best place and that’s the end of it.”

Smiling, Julianna gave Abe a long hug.

“So, let’s quit jawing and get that shot.”

“I’ll leave a note for Luke.”

She reached to help Abe get up, but he waved her away.

“Tell him we’re going to the grocery store. He doesn’t need to know we went to the clinic.”

“I’ll write the note however you want it.” Luke would know where they’d gone. He was a smart guy. Someone who could unravel puzzles in a flash, who understood people at a glance. And he hadn’t believed for a second she was there on vacation. But what difference did it make to him why she was there?

If he’d just finish the fence, hire someone to help Abe and then go home, she’d be fine. But she recognized the determined look she’d seen in Luke’s eyes, the one that said he’d never give up. He wasn’t going to go home any time soon, and he would hound her until he found out what he wanted to know.