Against the Odds (18 page)

“Shit,” Rusty mumbled.

“The sheriff believes the helicopter engine was fouled on
purpose. I’m helping him find out who was responsible for the crash. You and
your brothers would be the beneficiaries of your father’s property if Sabrina
had been killed. I’m just trying to eliminate you and your family as possible
suspects.”

Priscilla jammed her hands on her hips. “So you don’t
really
think any of us had anything to do with it,”
she said sarcastically.

“Sabrina doesn’t think so. She says you’re family. You wouldn’t
be involved in something like that.” Alex was watching Sill closely, looking for
anything in her expression that would give her thoughts away. Rina was beginning
to realize how good he was at gauging people, discovering things about them by
what they
didn’t
say.

“I’ve got two kids,” Silla said. “I don’t want any trouble. I
didn’t have anything to do with that crash.”

“Where are the girls?” Rina asked. “Kelly and Heather? I was
hoping to see them.”

“They’re playing next door with a friend. I’ll tell them you
said hello. Now ask whatever it is you want to know and then get out of
here.”

Alex turned to the mechanic, who took another swig of beer.
“Where were you, Rusty, on Monday the ninth of June?” The date of the car
accident, not the date of the helo crash.

“What the hell?”

“You make a little trip to Houston?” Alex pressed.

“Hell, no. I was working at Pete’s, like I do five days a week.
You can check with my boss.”

“But not on Sunday, the day before. You’re off on Sundays,
right? Not much of a drive, just a little over four hours to Houston. You could
have driven down, loosened the nut on the steering rod in Sabrina’s car and
driven back, still been at work on Monday morning.”

“You’re crazy. I was with Sill all weekend. Right, baby?”

“That’s right. Rusty was here day and night. And don’t you dare
bother George with this crap. He and Mindy got enough to worry about with Janie
bein’ so sick.”

Rina’s heart jerked. “Janie’s sick? I hadn’t heard. What’s
wrong with her?”

“Got some kind of cancer. They didn’t want anyone to know so
keep your mouth shut about it.”

“How long has she had it?” Alex asked.

“Got it sometime last year. Now get out.”

Rina didn’t say anything more. She kept seeing little Janie’s
face, the turned-up nose, the brown eyes and curly blond hair. Her throat felt
tight as they made their way out the door and along the sidewalk, heading back
to the rental car.

“I hate what we’re doing,” she said as they got into the car
and Alex started the engine, turned the air conditioner up high to cool down the
interior.

“Rusty’s a mechanic, Sabrina. He worked on airplane engines in
the army. He could have sabotaged the chopper
and
jimmied the steering on your car.”

She let her head fall back against the seat rest. “I know.”

“He was living with your cousin when your uncle was killed. He
could have done that, too.”

The lump in her throat went tighter. “She has two little girls,
Alex, only a year apart. They’re really sweet. You know what will happen to them
if it turns out Priscilla was involved.”

“If she’s involved in murder, they’re better off without
her.”

Maybe they were, but Rina didn’t think so. Priscilla might not
be the best mother, but she loved those girls and they loved her.

“What about George? If Janie has cancer, I’m not going down to
San Antonio and give him the third degree. I just can’t do it, Alex.”

“If George’s daughter is that sick, he’s bound to need money.
That gives him a powerful motive.”

“I don’t care. I’m not doing it and I don’t want you going
there, either. Promise me you won’t.”

He blew out a breath, raked a hand through his hair. “All
right, I’ll dig around, find out what I can without seeing him. In the meantime,
before we leave town we need to talk to the police.”

They needed to get the details of the investigation into
Walter’s death. But stirring up painful memories was the last thing Rina
wanted.

“The building’s on West Main,” she said, her chest clamping
down at the thought of what else they might learn.

“You can wait while I talk to them,” Alex said, and she nodded.
In the end, she waited in a chair beside the window at the front desk while Alex
spoke to the officer who had handled the accident just two days before last
Christmas.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted his tall frame
walking back across the room. Wordlessly, he escorted her out into the heat,
back to the car.

“It happened pretty much the way your mother said,” he told her
as he drove back toward the airport for the return flight home. “Cops figured
the driver was drunk and that’s why he didn’t stop. A witness said it was a
white van, but didn’t get a plate number. Cops figured the driver probably lived
in the area and they’d find him sooner or later, but so far that hasn’t
happened.”

“So maybe he lives somewhere else. Maybe it wasn’t Rusty.”

“I mentioned him. One of the officer’s knew him, says he drives
a brown Chevy pickup.”

She felt a sweep of relief. “Maybe Walter’s death is completely
unrelated to everything that’s happened.”

“You mean it’s just another coincidence?”

Her insides tightened. She knew Alex didn’t believe it. Deep
down, neither did she. “No,” she said.

“Let’s go home.” Reaching over, he gently brushed his knuckles
across her cheek. “I know what a hard day this has been for you.”

Rina swallowed, nodded, felt the sting of fresh tears. She
might be adopted but these people were her family. The only one she had ever
known. She didn’t want any of them to be involved in this. She just wanted
everything to be back the way it was before Walter had died and she had
inherited the mine.

She just wanted to go home, but when she got back, the home
she’d be going to wouldn’t be her own. It belonged to Alex.

He squeezed her cold hand. “It’s all right, love. I won’t let
anything happen to you. You’ll be safe as long as you’re with me.”

But she wasn’t safe with Alex. Because every day she spent with
him, she fell a little more in love with him. Sooner or later, Alex was going to
break her heart.

And there didn’t seem to be a single thing she could do to
protect herself.

Twenty

T
he sound of cicadas intruded on the
darkness, a thick, steady hum Rebecca found soothing as they walked to her front
porch. Joe’s big hand wrapped around her fingers and she found herself
smiling.

The evening hadn’t gone anything at all as she had imagined.
Instead of taking her to dinner at one of the better restaurants as she had
expected, he had taken her to a place called Johnny Ringo’s, a country-Western
dance hall. They’d eaten barbecued ribs and drank beer, and Joe had shown her
how to Texas two-step.

They had tried a little line dancing, which she discovered
after a few tries was harder than it looked. Joe promised to take her back
sometime when they were giving lessons. Rebecca couldn’t remember a night she’d
had more fun.

As they neared the porch, she reached up and tugged on the brim
of the white straw cowboy hat he was wearing with jeans and a pair of scuffed
boots.

“You look really good in a hat,” she said. “You ought to wear
one more often.”

“Truth is, I’m more of a baseball cap kind of guy. I haven’t
worn a cowboy hat since I worked out on our ranch.”

“Your family has a ranch?”

“Used to. Out on the east side. Our property butted up against
the Rawlinses’ place. Seth Rawlins was Trace’s dad.”

Trace was the man her brother worked for at Atlas Security. She
knew him and his pretty wife, Maggie, liked them both. “So you left the farm and
joined the navy.”

“I enlisted after I got out of college. That’s where I met
Alex. Your brother was one of those cocky SOBs who flew jets off the carrier I
was assigned to. I was an officer in the ship’s maintenance crew. We butted
heads a few times, wound up being friends.”

She smiled. “So indirectly, you’re responsible for Ginny and me
being in Texas.”

“If you came because your brother is here, then yeah, I guess I
am.” They had almost reached the porch when he tugged her off the walkway into
the shadows. He ended their discussion by leaning down to kiss her. She’d been
expecting a good-night kiss. When his lips brushed hers, then settled in,
softened over hers, melded, and he pulled her against him, it turned into
something far more.

For an instant, Rebecca’s breath stalled and her heart seemed
to stop. Joe coaxed her lips apart and his tongue slid in to taste her. He took
the kiss deeper and she lost all track of time. Her only thought was of Joe and
the erotic feel of his mouth moving hotly over hers.

It was the fiercest, deepest, most wickedly sexy kiss she’d
ever known. Rebecca barely realized that his big hands were cupping her breasts,
his thumbs running gently over her nipples, turning them into tight little buds
beneath her sleeveless, scoop-neck blouse. But the coil of heat in her stomach
expanded and the desire burning through her began to spiral out of control.

She knew she should stop him, but after years of being alone,
it felt so good to have a man touch her this way, to have him kiss her as if he
couldn’t get enough. Her arms slid up around his neck and she clung to him,
kissed him back as wildly as he was kissing her. She had never felt this way
with Jeremy, not even when they were dating. She could feel Joe’s arousal and it
made her ache to let him take her where the wild kiss was leading.

She was breathing hard, pressing herself against him, her
fingers digging into the thick bands of muscle across his shoulders, when Joe
pulled away.

“Easy,” he said softly, pressing a last kiss to her forehead.
“We’ll get to this soon enough, just not yet. Not until you’re ready.”

Embarrassment spread through her. Dear God, she was practically
mauling the man on her front lawn!

“I can’t...can’t believe I did that. I know what you must be
thinking, but I’m not...not the kind of woman who...who—”

“Hold it right there. I know exactly the kind of woman you are.
You’re a beautiful, sensual woman, the mother of a wonderful little girl. You’ve
been treated badly and I have a feeling the sexual attraction between us is new
to you. There’s nothing wrong with it, honey. It’s perfectly normal between a
man and a woman.”

The endearment washed over her, soothing her a little. “Jeremy
and I...we married for other, more practical reasons. Sex wasn’t really that
important to either one of us.”

Joe’s mouth edged up. “In that case, I came along at just the
right time. When can I see you again?”

She hesitated, shook her head. “I shouldn’t, Joe. I’ve got to
think of Ginny.”

“What happens between us isn’t going to hurt Ginny. I won’t let
it. I promise you that. How about we all go out for pizza on Sunday?”

She wanted to. She couldn’t remember wanting anything for
herself in months. Years, maybe. But she wanted to see Joe again. And, as he had
said, not just in her kitchen.

She smiled. “All right. Pizza on Sunday.”

“Pick you up at six.” He leaned down and gave her a final deep
kiss then guided her up on the porch and waited while she took out her key and
opened the front door.

The light in the hall was on. Mrs. Slotski, the older woman who
lived next door, had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room with the TV
on.

Rebecca whispered, “Good night,” and watched as Joe walked
away. Rebecca closed the front door behind him. Time to be a mother again.

But oh, it had been fun for a little while, just to be a
woman.

* * *

Golden rays of morning sun seeped into the bedroom. Rina
felt the soft brush of lips nibbling the side of her neck, grazing an earlobe.
She was sleeping in Alex’s bed. Well, pretending to sleep because what he was
doing felt so incredibly good she didn’t want him to stop. One of his hands
found a breast and his thumb slid over her nipple. She couldn’t stop a moan.

“Faker,” he whispered, pulling the sheet back, replacing his
hand with his mouth.

Rina grinned. “I couldn’t help it. What you’re doing just feels
so good.”

Alex chuckled, went back to laving her breast. Pleasure
sparkled through her, tingled over her skin. Since they’d made love in the pool,
she’d been sleeping in his bed every night. She knew it was stupid, knew the
consequences would be harsh when they came, but for now she didn’t care.

She was smiling, enjoying his attentions and anticipating what
was to come when the roar of a jet engine split the air. Alex cursed.

He rolled away from her to the side of the bed and picked up
the phone, checked the caller ID. He looked at her over his shoulder. “It’s Sol.
I’d better take it.”

They had things to do and it was getting past time to get up
and get dressed. Reluctantly, she left the bed, grabbed her pink silk robe off
the chair and headed for the bathroom she was using in the guest room, Alex’s
hot gaze following her all the way.

He wasn’t in his bedroom when she came back dressed in navy
capri-length pants and a sleeveless red-and-white top. Heading downstairs, she
found him in the kitchen.

“I’ve noticed you like to eat healthy,” he said. “So do I.
We’re having an egg-white spinach omelet, fruit and multigrain toast. Sound
okay?”

“Perfect.” She walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee,
blew on the top and inhaled the rich aroma. Alex might not be a great cook but
he made the world’s best coffee. “So what did Sol have to say?”

He finished dishing up the omelet while she set the table, and
they sat down in front of a kitchen window that overlooked the pool.

Alex took a sip of his coffee, set the mug back down. “Sol says
your cousin Bob isn’t just having financial trouble, he’s about to file
bankruptcy. He needs a bundle to save his company.”

She glanced away, forced herself to take a bite of her toast
though her appetite had suddenly waned.

“He also says Rusty Jenkins got a dishonorable discharge from
the army.”

“What for?”

“Got into a fight with his commanding officer. They discharged
him rather than throw him in the brig.”

Sabrina shook her head. “Poor Silla. She always seems to pick
losers.”

“Yeah, well, this loser might have had something to do with
your uncle’s death.”

The bite of omelet she had taken seemed to stick in her throat.
“Did Sol tell you that?”

“No, and we don’t have any proof to that effect. But I’m not
ready to rule him out of the equation just yet. I had Sol email his photo to
Sheriff Dickens. I called, asked Dickens to show it around the airport, see if
anyone recognizes the face.”

“You think someone will?”

“We might get lucky. It’s worth a try.”

She sipped her coffee, cradling the cup between her palms to
warm her suddenly cold hands. “Did Sol have any other little tidbits of good
news?”

“I’m afraid so and it isn’t good. I hate to be the one to tell
you, love, but George’s little girl, Janie, needs a bone marrow transplant. The
family doesn’t have insurance and the procedure costs a small fortune.”

She could feel the blood draining out of her face. “Oh, God, I
had no idea.” She set the mug down on the table, feeling suddenly sick. “You
should see her, Alex. She’s only five and she’s the cutest towhead you’ve ever
seen. I have to help them. Last year I could have. This year—”

Alex reached over and caught her hand. “I’ll help them.
Whatever George might or might not have done has nothing to do with that little
girl. I’ll have my people take care of it.”

Rina stared at him in amazement. Then started shaking her head.
“I can’t let you do that. Janie’s part of my family. I’m the one who should be
helping her. If I can get the mine up and running, maybe I can.”

“Listen to me. Even if you find the moly, it’s going to take
months to get the mine productive. Janie needs help now. I donate to charities
who help people like her every day. Helping one more little girl isn’t going to
break me and that little girl might as well be Janie.”

She started crying. She couldn’t help it. Inside her chest her
heart was beating so hard it hurt. Alex was on his feet in an instant, easing
her up from her chair and into his arms.

“It’s all right, love. It’s only money and I have plenty of
it.”

She shook her head, unable to find the words, knowing there was
nothing she could say that would ever be thanks enough. She wiped a tear from
her cheek, fought to control the emotion she felt inside.

“Sometimes I really hate you,” she said.

His mouth twitched. “Hate me? Why?”

“Because you’re so damned nice and it just makes me like you
even more than I do already.”
Like
being far too
mild a word for her feelings for Alex, but for now it was all she was willing to
give.

Alex dipped his head and kissed her. “I’m not nice. Well, I am,
but I’m also arrogant and overbearing. I believe that’s what you said.”

She smiled up at him, her eyes still moist. “You’re right.
You’re nice, but you’re also arrogant and overbearing and cocky as hell.”

Alex laughed. He kissed her softly, brushed a last tear from
her cheek. “This is one problem you don’t have to worry about, okay?”

She swallowed, nodded, managed a watery smile. There was no way
she could refuse his help when little Janie needed it so badly. They started to
sit back down and finish their breakfast when the doorbell rang.

“I’m not expecting anyone.” Alex walked over to the kitchen
counter, opened a drawer, pulled out a pistol and stuck it into the back of his
khaki pants. Rina followed him into the entry, stood back as he looked through
the peephole then opened the door.

“Alex!
Cher,
it is so good to see
you.” The gorgeous brunette who sashayed into the entry and threw her arms
around Alex’s neck looked vaguely familiar. In her six-inch spike heels, she was
even taller than Alex, and her figure in the sleek, formfitting, white-and-blue
print sundress she was wearing was stunning to say the least.

“Gabriella.” Alex caught her arms and eased them from around
his neck, setting her a little away from him. “I didn’t know you were in
town.”

“I am here for
Vogue,
” she said
with a soft French accent. “They are doing a feature in Galveston.”

Alex turned to look at Sabrina, who couldn’t seem to make her
feet move toward the stairs.

“Gaby, this is a client of mine, Sabrina Eckhart. Sabrina, this
is Gabriella Moreau.”

A client?
That’s all she was to
him? She was sleeping in his bed every night and she was nothing more than one
of his clients? She swallowed, a hard knot building in her chest.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Gabriella said, her cool gaze sliding
the length of her aristocratic nose.

“You, as well,” Sabrina managed. She turned to Alex. “If you’ll
excuse me, I have something to do upstairs.”

Alex didn’t try to stop her, just let her climb the stairs and
disappear down the hall. She stopped as soon as she was out of sight,
unashamedly eavesdropping, unable to resist hearing what Alex would say.

“It’s good to see you, Gaby. Unfortunately, I’m tied up at the
moment. You should have called.” There was faint censure in his words, but
Gabriella seemed not to notice.

“The woman...she is your mistress?”

Rina’s whole body went tense.

“I told you she’s a client.”

“But you are sleeping with her.”

“Since when is that your business?”

“You are right,
cher,
of course. It
has been some time since we have seen each other. I was hoping we might renew
our...friendship...while I am here.” She paused. “Apparently, that is not
possible.”

“I’ll walk you out to your car.”

“Do not bother. I can find my own way. Enjoy your
little...diversion. Call me if you wish to see me. You can find me at Tremont
House in Galveston.”

Alex made no reply and the door closed solidly, indicating the
woman’s departure.