Diamond in the Rough (Diamond J #2) (4 page)

The other woman spoke slowly. “Truckers are notorious for doing things outside the boundaries of the law. You know, hookers, drugs, black market, selling hot stuff. Anything you can think of that’s illegal, it probably happens at a truck stop.”

Gina fought the irritation rising within her at her customer’s condescending demeanor. Why should she care what Steve was into, as long as he didn't drag their son into it? “I know that, but what specifically is Steve into?”

Marlene shrugged. “Not sure exactly, but since he’s not a trucker, he’s got to be hanging out with the people he is for some reason. Sure hope your boy doesn’t follow in his daddy’s footsteps, cause if he does, you’ll have your hands full.” She gave a dismissive snort.

Gina frowned at that last comment and bit her tongue to keep from saying the first thing that popped into her head. The woman's insinuation hit a nerve, focused Gina's fear that her ex-husband's actions would hurt their son. Instead, she asked, “Who’s he hanging out with? What are they into?”

“I’m not sure.” Marlene leaned over and grabbed a clear plastic paper holder out of her bag and set it in front of her. “There’s always this one woman who looks like a nut case. Wears bright colors. Like a beatnik flower child or something. And she’s older than me!”

Gina heaved a sigh and glanced at Dottie, who arched one eyebrow and shrugged. “Who else does he hang out with?” She fought to keep her irritation from showing.

“There are sometimes a couple of guys with the old lady. Last week, she had on overalls and these bright socks poking out from the bottoms, and had her hair in long pigtails. Looked like frickin’ Pippi Longstocking.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Poker Fever

Aidan opened the top drawer of his dresser, reached under the t-shirts and pulled out the sock where he kept a roll of bills. He peeled off a couple of twenties, stuck them in his billfold, then tucked it into his back pocket. It was poker night, and he had been looking forward to it all week.

They played for small amounts of cash, but braggin’ rights were at stake every night. There were now five guys, including himself and Beau, and they rotated between three houses each week. This week they were going to be at Bert Winton’s house.

Beau banged around in the kitchen, talking to himself and slamming doors. Aidan walked down the hall and stood in the doorway, watching his roommate. Since Beau had professed his love for Beth, he’d been spending more nights at the big house with her instead of staying in the bunkhouse.

Aidan leaned against the doorjamb and watched the other man squat down and peer into the cabinet. "Whatcha doin'?"

Beau turned around, scowling. “It’s my turn to bring snacks and I can’t find a thing here. I thought I had something, but . . . ” His voice trailed off.

Aidan cracked a grin and shrugged. “You talking about the Frito's and jalapeno cheddar dip?”

Beau’s scowl deepened. He cocked his head to one side and his lips flattened into a thin line. He said in an accusatory tone, “You ate them, didn’t you?”

Aidan nodded, then walked over and opened one of the cabinet doors. He pulled out a big jar of salsa and set it on the counter. “We got salsa and tortilla chips. That’ll work.”

“But you bought them.”

“But I ate your Frito's and cheese dip so how about we call it even?”

Beau nodded and snagged the big bag of tortilla chips from the counter. “Sounds like a plan. Come on, I’ll drive.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m not in a drinking mood tonight anyway.”

The two walked out and climbed into Beau’s four wheel drive pickup. As they turned out of the drive, Beau nodded toward the pasture. “You boys get all the fence checked this afternoon?”

“Got the east pastures checked. Plan to do the west pastures this weekend.” Aidan watched the fence posts flash past. He couldn’t help feeling cynical, though. “For all the good it’ll do. You know the rustlers’ll just pull up, open a gate and take whatever they want anyway, right?”

“I know.” Beau strangled the steering wheel in his grip. “Beth thinks we need to put padlocks all the gates, start locking them. Your thoughts?”

Aidan lifted one shoulder. “They’ll just cut the fence and take what they want anyway.” The rustlers made him angry. It was more than mere stealing. They were messing with folks' livelihood.

Beau reached over and smacked Aidan’s arm. “Enough of that. You were looking for Charlotte earlier. You meet a girl or something?”

Aidan was thankful his friend’s eyes were focused on the road as he felt warmth sweep up his neck and face. “Beth asked me to go to the scrapbook store to get invitations for the barbecue next weekend.”

Beau let out a low whistle. “The one with the long hair, kind of a dark reddish brown? Curvy?”

One corner of Aidan’s mouth quirked up. “Yeah, she is hot. Long legs, curves. And those eyes . . .” He held his hands up in front of him. “And I bet I could fit my hands around her waist.”

“That’s what you need, buddy. A woman.” Beau lifted two fingers from the steering wheel in salute as they met another truck. “I have to admit, I’ve never been happier. Beth is amazing. It's nice to go to bed with her, nice to wake up with her. We laid awake 'til almost midnight last night talking about bloodlines.”

Aidan nodded. Beau had been noticeably happier since he’d finally admitted he was crazy about Beth. It took him a year to finally ask her to be his girlfriend, then he proposed just two weeks later. Aidan wanted what they had. He was ready to settle down, have more than just a casual relationship.

With that realization, he blinked, surprised at himself. He’d never had a serious relationship. The closest he’d come was his high school girlfriend, and that entire relationship was set up by his father, determined to join the two families. Everything revolved around money, in his father's opinion. She had been a spoiled, entitled little bitch, the daughter of a real estate mogul. His father hadn’t spoken to him for a week when Aidan broke up with her.

Then there was Tracy, the local girl who'd expected him to pay her credit card bills after she found out who his family was.

If she only knew the trouble that money came with. His father had been a cruel, distant man, who used his wealth to control everyone around him. He'd been in the news so many times for shady business deals, but the authorities couldn't get anything to stick. The press referred to him as Teflon Teddy Brackston.

He snorted. And Beau and Charlotte wondered why he didn't let people get close. He'd been running from his past for so long, trying to avoid getting caught up in his father's plans -- he'd left that life so long ago.

That was it, he thought. Come hell or high water, he was going to ask Gina out when he picked the invitations up on Monday. If she had a boyfriend, said no, so be it.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Suspicions

The clock on the wall said it was a little after 6. It was time to get home and relieve Sandy. But Gina couldn't resist one last question. “Was he out there today?”

Marlene shrugged. “Just got there when I left.”

Gina pushed back from the table and caught Midge’s eye as she walked toward the back office.

Midge followed her. “Leaving?”

“Yeah. I’m going to run a quick errand before I go pick Toby up.” She tugged her bag over her shoulder and jingled the keys in her hands. It echoed her nerves. She couldn’t stop mentally comparing Steve and that cowboy. Aidan looked dark and dangerous with that five o’clock shadow and his black cowboy hat. Why was she drawn to the bad boys?

Midge frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Gina paused in the doorway. “I think Steve is up to his old tricks. I’m going to go find out.”

Midge had been a friend for many years, and knew all about Steve and his checkered history. He’d gotten off lucky, as far as Midge was concerned — she’d said as much for years. The local cops weren’t able to make anything stick, and since he was a local boy, they didn’t try real hard. He’d stolen a couple of cars and went joyriding, and he ran a successful business selling black market cigarettes to underage kids when he was younger.

Midge’s forehead creased. “You think it’s black market stuff? Or something more serious?” Her lips pinched together.

Gina shrugged. “It’s Steve we’re talking about here. Hard telling. But I’m going to find out.” She pushed through the door and nodded to the scrappers on her way out.

As she walked along the sidewalk, she dug in her purse for the business card Aidan had left with her earlier in the day, then punched the number for the ranch into her cell phone.

An older woman answered the phone, then put Beth on. "This is Beth Jameson."

Gina quickly explained who she was and what she wanted. She added, "If it's not too much trouble, that is."

Beth laughed. "That is a wonderful idea! I can send one of the boys with two calves, how would that be?"

Gina sagged with relief. She hadn't even realized how nervous she was about asking for the favor. "That would be great. I'd be happy to pay you."

"Nonsense," Beth said. "Just be sure to tell folks where the calves are from. I'll have the boys bring along a few panels of fencing to keep the little guys corralled."

They worked out the timing and Gina hung up with a smile on her face. Toby was going to be so excited at having real farm animals at his party. He'd asked for a pony, but this would be nearly as good.

Beth had said she'd send one of the boys. Gina wondered how many "boys" worked at the Diamond J.

She hurried along the sidewalk. Gray clouds hung low in the sky, threatening rain. The wind had picked up since she’d gone out at lunch.

She reached her battered Toyota Tercel, opened the door, tossed her purse into the passenger seat and slid in. As always, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Please start, please start, please start.”

The key, stiff in her fingers, refused to turn. She jiggled the steering wheel and tried again. This time, the key turned in the ignition and the car sputtered to life. The drive to the junction took less than five minutes, but that was plenty of time for Gina to think up at least a dozen scenarios that all ended with her little boy being known as the son of a convicted felon.

In spite of the fact that it was still daylight, the truck stop had a glow about it. Lots of neon in the windows, and the huge electronic billboard added to the illusion. She sat behind a rumbling livestock hauler as she waited for the red light to turn green. Those things, trucks used to haul live animals, always gave her the creeps with those sad brown eyes staring out. Thankfully, this one was empty, but the warm summer air intensified the rank odor.

The wind blew out of the west, so the smell of cattle and manure and sweat wafted right over her car and into the ventilation system. She cranked her window down, which didn’t help, but at least increased the flow of air through the small car.

The light turned green and the truck rumbled into motion, the engine struggling to get the monstrous metal beast moving. The semi veered to the left, toward the truck islands and parking. Gina swung right into the parking lot in front of the restaurant, but chose a spot close to the highway, so she'd have a clear view of the restaurant entrance and the truck parking. She put her car in park and switched the engine off.

It coughed twice and died.

She gripped the steering wheel, not sure what she was even doing. Driving to the truck stop had been nothing but an impulse, a gut reaction to Marlene's comments. Steve was her ex. She needed to quit worrying about him.

Her thoughts turned to the cowboy who’d ordered the invitations. He had that dark, dangerous look that she was drawn to, but he was different. He’d been so nice, so pleasant.

Mmmm. The best of both worlds.

A bad boy that’s a real gentleman.

CHAPTER NINE

Memories

As they neared Bert’s house, Aidan looked out at the pasture, dotted with a handful of white faced black cows. "Looks like Bert has a few head this year. Guess he decided not to get polled Herefords again."

"Too bad. He used to have one of the biggest herds in the area." Beau made a clucking noise with his tongue. "I think it was too hard for him after what happened last year."

Beth had been with them that night. It was right after she'd come to the Diamond J, after her father's death.
Aidan said, "Beth impressed me that night. She jumped out of the truck and went right to Bert." It had been so quiet that night. No cattle lowing in the pasture. No snuffling of breath, no munching on grass, no hooves rustling through the weeds.

"It scared her pretty bad."

"When I first saw the gate hanging open that night, I thought his cattle had gotten out." But then he'd seen the dual tire tracks that led right up to the gate. Though Beth didn’t seem to hadn’t immediately understood the implications of those facts, Beau and he had.

"Damned rustlers," Beau growled. "I'm afraid we haven't seen the last of them."

Aidan swallowed hard as he recalled the worst part of that night at Bert's place. "I don't get why they left that one, though." Those sons-of-bitches had taken the rest of the animals, then killed a heifer. Slit her throat and left her to die.

One corner of Beau's lips curled up in a snarl. "Trying to throw the authorities off, trying to make it look like some sort of ritual sacrifice."

Aidan pursed his lips. "That's right. I did hear that the Sheriff thought it might be some kind of cult or something."

"Enough!" Beau slapped his hand on the dash. After a few beats, he said in a forced tone, "Snap out of it and focus, or you’re gonna lose your shirt tonight!”

The memory of that night still felt fresh, even though that had been last summer. Aloud, he said, “You worry about your own shirt – I seem to recall that you still owe me from last week’s game.”

Beau laughed that hearty laugh of his as they turned into the long driveway. The tires crunched in the gravel, and as they passed over the creek, the lights cut through a light mist rising from the water. The truck rumbled as they climbed a the small hill.

They were almost at Bert’s place. Aidan looked across the pasture to the big oak tree. That was where he had buried the heifer.

Beau's cell phone buzzed and he answered it. "Sure, sure. Yeah. We can do that. We've got a handful of hog panels in the barn that'd work, and it'll be good for the calves to be socialized."

When he ended the call, he glanced at Aidan. "Got a job for you to do tomorrow."

Aidan rolled his eyes. "Is it a job I'm gonna want?"

"Beth wants you to take two calves to a kid's birthday party tomorrow at two. She said she'd leave the address on a notepad in the office in the barn."

"Great." Aidan dropped his head back against the seat. Just what he wanted to do. Spend his Saturday with a bunch of screaming brats.