Too Hot To Trot (#3, Cowboy Way) (22 page)

***

Heather was more afraid than she’d ever been in her life, even when Jack tried to rape her.  The full circle that her life had taken was sickening she thought, as she squeezed her body as tight as she could up against the girder under the eleventh street bridge.  The sickening smell of stale urine nauseated her, and she shivered.  The swingy floral skirt, and tank top she had on definitely weren’t suited to hiding out under a Tulsa bridge in early Spring. 

Tonight, she’d freeze her ass off.  But at least she hadn’t slid the high heels back on—the fuzzy slippers were at least warmer, and better suited for a fast getaway if needed.  Maybe once it was dark, she could mix with the others and trade the skirt and tank top with one of the women for something warmer.  It would make a good outfit for turning tricks with a few slices.  Another shiver racked her.  No, she better keep them, because in a few days when she got to starving, she might need to turn a trick herself.  The sharp sides of the cell phone dug into her palm.  Maybe she could trade the phone for a coat, but it would be unlikely. 

These people had nobody to call to help them.  And she might not have anyone either.  She’d already called Zack a few times, left messages, but he hadn’t called back.  Maybe Jack had got to him, she thought, and acid balled up in her stomach, then pushed a fireball up to her throat.  Her stepfather could be very convincing.  Maybe he’d convinced Zack she was not worth his time.  With what she knew he thought about her already, it was a possibility.

Worrying about what Zack Taylor thought about her right now was moronic.  She needed to worry about surviving again, because she had no idea if or when he might show up.  He might not even care now, if Jack had gotten to him.  But that small ray of hope that he’d planted in her heart refused to be dimmed. 
We’re on that ledge together, sweet thing.  You’re not alone now.

For the moment she was alone, and she needed a distraction to keep herself from forgetting those words, refuting them because she was scared, and worrying that Zack wouldn’t find her.  Her phone had a full charge right now, she’d make more calls from the list to occupy herself before it died.  She opened the folder in her lap, squinted to see the first unchecked name on the list and dialed.  She kept dialing, worked her way through five more no answers, then she was surprised when a soft-voiced girl answered the phone.

Heather’s voice froze in her throat, as her mind searched for what she was supposed to say to this girl. “Um, this is Detective Munson’s assis—sistant, Mar—Mary,” she said through chattering teeth.  It was getting dark now, and she was right, much colder now under the bridge.

“Detective Munson?” the girl repeated, her voice trembling.  “Am I in trouble again?”

“No—
no
!” Heather croaked, trying to control the shaking in her body by thinking of herself in a summery field of flowers with Zack after all this was over.  She sucked in a deep breath, then blew it out.  “We’re doing a follow up on your experience with your probation officer, Jack Thomas…kind of a quality control check.”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” the girl said, the fear in her tone a living thing.  Heather knew that same fear, and recognized it.  “I finished my probation, so I don’t know why you’re calling me.”  The phone when dead, and Heather’s heart raced, as she redialed the number with her numb finger.  It rang and rang, but the girl didn’t answer again.  A beep sounded in her ear, and Heather jumped, recognizing it as the signal for an incoming call.  Pulling the phone away from her ear, she quickly answered thinking maybe the girl was trying to call her back. 

“Where are you, angel?” Zack asked, his voice low and desperate. 

Heather opened her mouth, but stopped.  “Who are you with?” she asked quickly.  Zack could be with
them
, and if that was the case she wasn’t about to tell him where she was.  That’s the exact reason she hadn’t said where she was when she left messages on his phone.  They could have taken it from him.  Just like they could be making him call her right now.

Her phone made another, higher-pitched sound and she pulled it away from her ear to glance at it.  Low battery.  She put the phone back to her ear.  “My phone’s about to die.”

“Just tell me where you are, sweet thing.
Hurry
!” Zack growled, and she could tell he was on the move, because he was breathing hard.

Heather chewed the inside of her cheek.  The warning beeped again, and her heart sped up as fear clawed at her insides.  What should she do?  Should she trust him?  That he wouldn’t call her, ask for her location, if they were with him?  The old Heather wouldn’t have trusted anyone, but that had changed. 
I won’t ever let him—let anyone—hurt you again, I promise.  I’d die first, baby, and I proved that to you outside the arena
.  And that was the truth.

“Under the bridge on Eleventh—” she started, but the phone went dead.  Heather wasn’t sure if he even heard her, but prayed he had as she closed the folder, curled up tighter and waited to find out. 
Hurry, Zack, I’m scared
.

Chapter Twenty-One

At the third overpass on Eleventh Street, Zack ground his teeth, as horns blared behind him.  He didn’t care, they could go around, because he wasn’t going fast and taking the chance of missing seeing her under the shadowed bridge.  It was almost dark now, and Heather was small.  She could be up there in the shadows and he’d never see her.  Her damned cell phone was dead evidently, so he couldn’t call her, tell her he was there.   He could just hope she was looking for him too, saw him going slow and would show herself. 

He blew out a frustrated breath as the car came out on the other side of the bridge.  He wondered how many more damned bridges there were on this street. 

Suddenly, looking around, Zack noticed the landscape had changed, gotten dirtier, seedier-looking.  Instead of upscale little boutiques and specialty stores, the street was now lined with video stores, liquor stores, pawn shops and check cashing places.  Most of the dirty brick buildings had boarded windows or bars, others were decorated with graffiti.  Zack had a feeling he’d just entered the bad part of town, and fear constricted his chest as he saw an older man, shoulders slumped, feet dragging as he pushed a rusty grocery cart heaping with things—clothes, a kid’s plastic sand bucket, and who knew what else.  Probably his life’s possessions. 

At the corner, he stopped at a red light, and saw a couple of heavily made-up, but scantily dressed women across the crosswalk, smoking cigarettes, watching cars as the crept by.  There was no doubt in his mind what those women were up to, and it scared the shit out of him as he squinted to make sure the shorter one didn’t have cat-green eyes.  Relief shot through him when she looked up and he saw she was Asian, definitely not Heather. 

A horn blew behind him, and Zack pressed on the gas, dragged his eyes back to the road and could just make out another overpass in the distance.  From the road signs, it looked like it might be the entrance to the interstate though.   Damn, he’d run out of real estate, he thought, as he drove on.  He’d just make a loop and try again.  Disappointment settled in his chest, but right before he got on the ramp, he saw someone step out of the shadows and wave her arms over her head.  He knew that dress, he’d bought that dress for her. 

Adrenaline shot through Zack, his heart beat like a drum in his throat as he slammed on the brakes, and heard the car behind him do the same.  He swerved off the entrance, holding on tight as the car hopped over the curb, then zoomed down the concrete embankment.  The front end scraped loudly when he hit the bottom.  Zack flinched, gritted his teeth and pumped the brakes to bring the car to a skidding stop in the bottom of what looked like to be a shallow canal lined on the other side by chain link fencing. 

Under the overpass to the left, a bright orange glow lit the darkness, and he realized it was a fire built by the eight or so people huddling around the fifty-gallon drum.  They were cooking over it, and it was keeping them warm.  His eyes traveled up the rise that led to the supports of the interstate bridge, and he saw more people by themselves in the shadows.  It had to be the saddest thing Zack ever seen in his life.  And Heather had lived like this with these people.  His heart broke for her, and his eyes filled as right then he realized exactly what this woman had been through—
hell
.  If he didn’t get it before, he definitely got it now. 

Opening his door, he got out, but he didn’t see her now.  She’d evidently gone back under the overpass into the darkness.  He took a few steps closer, but she appeared with the file folder, turned to look back and wave at someone then walked toward him.  When she reached the car she sat the folder on the hood, and her body shook violently as she threw her arms around his waist and burst into tears. 

Zack held her, rocked her, whispered comforting words, but he seethed inside.  Jack Thomas forced her to live here, live this life.  That bastard was in jail right now—just where he belonged.  And that is where he’d stay, Zack vowed.  He was safer there, because if they ever let him out, the shotgun in Zack’s truck had a shell with his name on it. 

His arms tightened around her, Heather mumbled something into his chest, and he stiffened.  “What did you say, angel?” he asked, definitely not sure he heard what he thought he heard, but wanting it to be so more than he wanted his next breath.

She took a deep shuddering breath, as she pushed back in his arms to meet his eyes.  “I said I love you, Zack Taylor—I
love
you.”  Her eyes filled again, and her lower lip trembled.  “I wasn’t sure I’d have the chance again to tell you that. Thank you for saving me again.”

Relief made his knees weak, but he locked them. “You love me because I saved you?” he asked, wanting to make damned sure he understood her.

Her hand slid up to his face.  “No, I love you because you are the most caring, kindest-hearted man I’ve ever met in my life.  I didn’t think men like you existed, but you have proven me wrong time and time again.”  She laughed, and the sound tickled his insides.  “A girl could definitely get used to having you on her side.”

Zack’s heart beat out-of-control in his chest, floating in what felt like bubbly liquid there.  “I could get used to that too—I’ll always be on your side, sweet thing.  I told you that you need a keeper, and I’d happily sign up for the job.” 
For life—but that would come later
.  Right now, he needed to tell her how he felt, speak the words he’d never said to another woman, to a woman who blew all his high-minded ideas of the ideal woman for him out of the water.  “But it’s not every woman I want to save—just
you
Haley Morgan.  I love you too, angel, and I will
never
let anyone hurt someone I love.  Ask Twyla,” he said with a grin, and she frowned.

“You love me like a sister?” she asked, sounding a little insulted and a lot confused as she took a step back.

Zack grabbed her shoulders, his fingers digging in.  “Are you
nuts
?!?”  Her eyes narrowed, and he swallowed hard.  He’d promised never to call her crazy again—even in jest—and he’d just done that. Again.  “Brotherly feelings are the last thing I feel when I look at you, sweet thing.  I love you because you are the finest, most courageous woman I’ve ever met.”

Her eyes darkened, glittered like emeralds in the street light as she put her arms around his waist and hugged him.  “I’ve never had anyone love me before, and it feels great,” she whispered.  “I’m glad you’re here, but I’m still scared.  Jack—”

A shiver shook her, and Zack hugged her to him.  “Is in jail,” he ground out, as his eyes scanned the new people who seemed to magically appear near the entrance to the bridge, by the second as it got darker.  Shady people on the fringe of the world who could hurt both of them.  “We need to get the hell out of here and call Munson.”  He pushed her away, and she snatched up the file folder from the hood, as he walked her around the car to her door and opened it. 

She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised.  “Jack’s in jail?” she whispered, her lower lip trembling again.  Even in the darkness, he could see the fear on her beautiful face.  He put his finger on her lip to stop the shaking, and her mouth opened. 

“Yes, he’s right where he belongs.” Zack nudged her inside the door when he saw a man walking toward the car.  He did not want to wait to see what he wanted. “But we need to get out of here, and I’ll tell you all about it in the car.”  Zack shut the door, skirted the front of the car, and was just getting inside and locking the doors when the man tapped on his window. 

He didn’t make eye contact, he cranked the car, but Heather put her hand on his arm. “That’s Scuddy—give him a few bucks if you have it.  He’s an old-timer and he’s hungry.”

If that’s what it took to get the hell out of here, he’d give them everything in his wallet.  Reaching into his pocket, Zack grabbed his wallet, opened it and pulled out a wad of bills.  He rolled down the window and stuck his hand outside. 

The older man stared at it a minute, then grinned showing chipped brown teeth.  “Heather said you were a good one,” the old man said with a rusty laugh.  “A ten would help.” He surprised Zack when he peeled off a bill, before shoving the rest back at him.  “Heather is a good girl. You take good care of her for me.”

With a knot in his throat, Zack handed the bills back out the window to him.  It was obvious this man cared about Heather, and he deserved every penny Zack had for taking care of her while she lived here, keeping her alive.  “Take it—that should keep you going for a few days,” he said, his voice gruff.  “And don’t worry, I’ll definitely take care of her now.”

The old man looked at Zack’s hand like he hit the lottery.  “You sure?” he asked, but he snatched the rest of the bills up before Zack even answered.

Heather leaned over Zack.  “Share that with Louise. There’s plenty there for both of you, but don’t tell the others you have it, okay?  And don’t spend it on liquor either—you’ve been on the wagon too long to fall off now!  Go eat, and buy something warm for her.  She’s got that thin housedress on and has to be freezing.”

“You’ve spent it before I even put it in my pocket.” Scuddy rolled his eyes, and shook his head, before giving her a chip-toothed smile that turned his weathered face into a roadmap to a hard life. “I’ll hang on to it and make sure to take care of Louise.”  He met Zack’s eyes again, and his dark eyes glittered.  “Thank you for the help, sir.”

“Welcome,” Zack replied gruffly, as he rolled up the window, his own throat tight.  He cranked the car, made a three-point turn, and hit the gas swerving to get onto the interstate entrance ramp.  “Don’t ever go back there again without me.”

Heather snorted, and he looked over to see her arms folded over her breasts.  “I called that place home for three years, cowboy.   Some of the old-timers like Scuddy and Louise remember me.  They would never let the others hurt me.”

“Is that why you went there when you left the hotel?  You felt safe there?”

The air inside the car became thick with tension, before she finally replied, “Yeah, it was a lot safer than sticking around that hotel and letting Jack get to me.  I knew I could hide there and he wouldn’t find me.  Half of those people have mental problems, a third are alcoholics, and all of them eat from dumpsters, but some of those folks are as close to family as I ever had.  We watched each other’s backs, took care of each other.”

Zack’s heart squeezed painfully, and he reached his hand over to cover hers where it rested on her thigh.  “I’m glad you had them then.”  And he was glad he gave Scuddy, who seemed to be one of those people she called family, money to help him survive. 

Heather slid her hand from under his and turned in the seat to face him.  She crossed her arms under her breasts again.  “Tell me what happened with Jack—you said he’s in jail?”

Zack huffed a breath.  “After he tried to break into the room, he showed back up thirty minutes later with the police to run his mouth about how he was afraid you’d show up on his doorstep.  Told them you were a runner, and he was concerned you were running away from the charges against you, said he wanted to see justice done.”  Out of the corner of his eye, Zack saw a tremor rock her body, and she hugged herself tighter. “Truthfully, I barely got out of there without punching him in the face.”

“It’s good you didn’t, because then you’d have been in jail too, probably hurt again.  A punch in the face from you is not going to make him less of an asshole.  Nothing will.”

“I beg to differ, angel,” Zack refuted with a broad grin.  “He’ll be having a major attitude adjustment soon.  The video the police found on a camera across the street showed him going inside the hotel right before you made the call to hotel security.  It also showed him coming out with a ball cap and scarf in his hand a few minutes after you called.  Was he wearing a ball cap and scarf when he knocked at the door?”

“Yeah, he had the scarf wrapped around his face, but I saw those eyes.  I know those eyes,” she said and another shiver shook her.

“Can you identify the scarf and cap?” Zack asked.

“Yeah, it was burgundy Sooners hat, and a black scarf with OU on the bottom.”

“They found the scarf and cap in his car, so that’s more proof.  There’s a witness across the hall who heard the yelling, and saw him through the peephole.  All that considered, he’s at least going down for terrorizing you.  His little visit might help your other case too.  Munson is going to take your statement and help you file a complaint, so the formal charges can be filed.  He’s also going to help you get a restraining order to keep him away from you if he gets out.”

“Oh—we’re going to see Munson?” she asked, turning in the seat again.  “Good, I have a name from the list that he needs to follow up with too.  I called more of the names on the list under the bridge, and one girl was very upset when I talked to her.”

Zack’s body tensed, and his grip tightened on the wheel as hope sparked inside him.  “Get my phone off the dash, and call him now.  Tell him we’re on the way to see him, and find out where we should meet him.”

Thirty minutes later, they pulled off the interstate and into an all-night diner where Munson said he would meet them.  He told Heather he had news too, but didn’t want to go into it on the telephone, and he didn’t want to meet at the station.  Zack found a parking spot near the door, then got out and opened her door to help her. 

“Hang in there, angel, this is the turn in things we needed.”  He tipped her chin up, lowered his head and dropped a kiss on her mouth.  “I was worried sick, and I am so damned glad I found you.”