lori king rough ride romeo (13 page)

The statement said more than its words and Franki knew it. A person didn’t suffer

through tragedy and the scars it left behind to come out stronger without a

serious support team. She knew from experience.

“So, now that everyone’s bellies are full, Romeo, why don’t you tell us what’s

up.” Drannon said, pushing his now empty plate away.

Roman’s eyes met hers in question, and her throat tightened. Fear enveloped

her and she looked down at her plate, surprised to see her hands trembling. She

couldn’t do this. She couldn’t risk Vivi by telling all of these strangers…

“Franki, it’s going to be okay.” Roman said softly before clearing his throat

and addressing the group. “I appreciate all of you guys making sure you were at

dinner tonight, especially you Bran. Thanks for making the trek out here. It’s like

this: Franki’s sister, Vivi—has been kidnapped by her boyfriend, and she needs

our help to track her down.”

“Kidnapped?” Marilyn gasped, clutching at her breast. “Oh my!”

Immediately the demeanor at the table shifted. The tension in the air grew

heavy as all eyes turned on Franki. Her gaze found Roman who reached out and

took her hand from across the table. Swallowing her doubts, she nodded and told

them all how the kidnapping had gone down and how she ended up in Montford.

“Was she able to tell you how long they were going to stay?” Bran asked, the

moment she stopped speaking.

“No, there wasn’t time. I was so stunned and excited and horrified that I

wasn’t thinking clearly when we spoke so I didn’t ask the right questions. I should

have asked for a description of the land outside the windows, or the car they’d

driven her in or something.” She felt the weight of guilt steal the air in her lungs.

“She was so scared.”

Her voice cracked on the last word, and no one spoke to fill the silence.

Everyone seemed to be deep in thought, and for a moment, Franki wondered if

they were all regretting opening their home to her. She’d brought them a whole

mess of drama they didn’t deserve.

Bran finally broke the eerie quiet. “Why didn’t you ask for help when we met

the other day?”

“The police in St. Paul acted like Vivi was some sort of teenage runaway.

They weren’t going to look for her, or anything. They said they were going to

contact the Montford authorities and relay the information from the phone call,

but it was clear by the detective’s attitude he was only saying that to shut me up.”

“Our office never received anything from St. Paul. I’ll verify that when I get

back to town, but to my knowledge we were clueless.” Bran said nodding sadly.

“I’m so sorry that the St. Paul PD let you down, and let Vivi down.”

“All that matters now is that I find her.” Franki said.

“We’ll find her.” Roman added firmly.

“Damn straight we will.” Vin growled from next to her.

“What clues do you have right now?” Bran asked.

“I ran a search in Minnesota but couldn’t locate anyone going by the alias

“Goat” and I also traced the phone number that Vivi used to call me, but it was a

burner phone.”

“And I’ve been into Mick’s and felt out some of the regulars, but no one

seemed to know of any place that fit the description.” Roman added.

Hawke laughed loudly, but it echoed with sadness instead of humor, “Those

guys wouldn’t remember if they did spot a place. Half of them are drunk by

noon and perpetually hungover. Kinda like someone else we know.”

He gave Roman a pointed glare, and Roman shifted awkwardly under his

gaze. Franki didn’t care about Roman’s past habits, she only cared about his

determination to help her now.

“Roman’s been stone sober since I met him, and he promised me that he’d

help me. I took a huge leap of faith trusting him”—she turned and met Hawke’s

eyes—“and now you all, with information that could mean life or death for my

one and only family member. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“Sorry.” Hawke said, fushing guiltily. “Just seems if we want to know about

places people have used temporarily we’d want to start with a realtor. Don’t they

rent places out for short term leases?”

Drannon slapped his hand down on the table startled a yelp out of Franki,

but he was wearing a huge grin when she looked his way. “Hawke you’re

brilliant!”

“The Kilburn pig farm.” Bran said loudly, jumping to his feet.

“Oh shit! You’re right!” Roman added excitedly. His grip on Franki’s hand

was almost painful, and she tugged away from him. Everyone began to speak at

once, but she could barely understand what they were saying.

“…been used as a rental for corporate retreats…”

“…Zeke would know…”

“…probably rented it out for a month…”

“Do they do weekly rentals?”

“…why didn’t I think of that first?”

Franki stood and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Stop!” When everyone froze

and turned her direction she waved her hands like a crazy woman. “What the

hell are you talking about? Are you saying you know where my sister is?”

Bran nodded, “Well, no, but we have a pretty good idea of where to start

looking for her.”

“Jack Kilmer used to be a pig farmer just north of town, but he passed away

with no one to inherit the place. It went to auction a couple years ago and an out

of state company bought it and turned it into a retreat of some sort. Zeke Palmer

is the owner of our local real estate agency, and he handles the rental requests.”

Drannon filled in the gaps, and Franki’s heart raced in her chest. If she didn’t

calm down she was going to have a heart attack before she had a chance to see

Vivi again.

“Where?” she demanded.

“No. No way are you going in there.” Roman said, moving closer to her. “If

this guy Goat is as bad as you say he is they’re going to be armed and

dangerous.”

“I know. That’s why I have a .44 mag in my saddle bag,” she responded

looking him dead in the eye. His curse was echoed by his brothers and the sheriff.

“Please tell me it’s at least registered,” Bran said rubbing the bridge of his

nose.

“I plead the Fifth Amendment,” she replied maintaining her eye contact

with Roman. “But I do know how to use it, and I’m a good shot.”

“Well I guess that’s something.” Bran grumbled. “I’ve got to go call Zeke and

see if we can get permission to search the place. If we can’t I’ve got to get the

judge to sign off on a warrant. That could take a couple hours. We have to do

this by the book or he’ll get off on some bul -shit technicality. This man needs to

be in jail.”

“I’m not waiting.” Franki argued.

Roman reached for her but she shied away. “Please, Franki, think about this

rationally. We need a plan.”

She wanted to stomp her foot and scream in frustration. Uncontrolled rage

filled her chest pushing even the heavy guilt away for a brief moment. “She’s my

sister!”

“And I don’t want to save her just to tell her that you died trying to get to

her,” Roman murmured stilling the furious temper tantrum that was building

inside of her.

He was absolutely right but she hated him for it. And yet, the gentle way he

held her hands against his chest—wait, when had he taken her hands? She shook

her head trying to clear the emotion from her brain and took two steps backward.

Spinning, she found herself face to face with Vin’s massive form.

“Don’t.” His one word froze her motion. There was something in the big

man’s face that assured her that while he wouldn’t harm her, he damn sure wasn’t

going to let her past him.

“Don’t you get it? Vivienne is the only one I have. What if it was one of

these guys? Would you wait?” she said, hearing the emotion in her voice and

hating that tears burned her eyes.

Vin nodded his head slowly, “Yes, because if I learned anything in the

Marines it was that you don’t go into enemy territory half-cocked or you’ll get

yourself killed.”

She should have known he was a Marine. He held himself like one. Her

brain scrambled for an argument that would stand up against his logic, but she

couldn’t come up with anything. Panic began to set in and she gasped for air,

letting out a strange sound when two arms embraced her from behind. Roman’s

face pressed against her cheek, and he hushed her.

“Deep breaths. That’s right, sweetheart. In and out. Nice and slow.” His

tone was calm, and his arms were secure around her, his large hand covering her

abdomen almost completely. Her heartrate slowed and her breathing eased.

When she finally opened her eyes again she realized she was alone on the patio

with him. Everyone else had disappeared while she’d had a meltdown.

“I’m okay now,” she whispered.

Roman didn’t let go immediately, but his arms relaxed a bit. “Are you?

Because you’re still tight as a wire, baby. You know this is the best thing. Bran is

going to call us the moment he knows something and he and his deputies will go

search the place. We can meet him there, but we have to stay out of their way.

The last thing we want is someone to get hurt.”

She nodded and tried to pull herself from his arms.

“Where are you going?” He stil held her in place. “I kinda like how you feel

right where you’re at.”

“Roman...” she started to speak, but words failed her.

“Franki, you trusted me, and you can’t lie and say that came easily. I get the

feeling you don’t trust many people. Something inside of you recognizes

something inside of me. That’s why we’re so attracted to each other.”

When she stepped forward this time, he released her, and she turned to face

him. “Maybe, but I shouldn’t even consider starting something with you until I

finish the mission I’m on.” He frowned and she shook her head. “I’m not saying

I’m not attracted to you. That’s probably why I’m pushing you away so hard, but

damn it, I hardly know you, and my life is in shambles right now.”

“I know, but what you don’t understand is that before you got here mine was

too.” He argued.

Franki started to turn away. “It’s not the same.”

“It sure as hel is. A year ago, Abe Crawley died because of me. I was

supposed to be with him fixing fences, but my dumb ass overslept because I’d

been partying with friends. He had a heart attack and died in the field because I

wasn’t there to get him help. Do you know what that does to a man? The guilt

that’s festering inside of me because I was too immature to take my

responsibilities seriously?”

Franki was stunned. Yes, she knew the story from her talk with Carly

Lancaster earlier, but hearing him say it was totally different. His gorgeous hazel

eyes blazed with anger and pain, and even though it wasn’t directed at her, she

felt it like a slap.

“You said he had a heart attack. You couldn’t have stopped that.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but I could have gotten him to the hospital.

Instead, he laid out there for god knows how long before I finally hauled my ass

out of bed and went to work. I’ll never forget the sight because it haunts my

dreams.” He paused but she remained quiet, unsure what she could say to

comfort him. “I learned real quick that alcohol keeps me from dreaming. If I

drink enough I don’t feel the pain, and there were enough women willing to still

be with me…to love me…even after what I did…”

“So you became the town drunk and a man-whore to hide from some sense

of guilt over Abe dying?” Her tone dripped snark. “Great way to pay homage to

the man who raised you.”

“Thanks. Like I don’t already know that. Look, I didn’t tell you so that you

could judge me for my sins—”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, that was rude. I just don’t see how your experience

relates to mine.”

“Oh?” he asked, his eyebrow rising and his long hair swinging as he paced

back and forth anxiously. “You’re here to find your sister who was taken by a man

you didn’t trust but let her date anyway. You think this is your fault somehow.

How are you going to feel if—”

His words stopped abruptly but her mind filled in the blanks for her, and for

a moment her vision grew dark. He was right. If Vivi didn’t make it out of this

safely, she’d never forgive herself, and the only person she’d have to lean on was

herself. She wouldn’t survive the guilt.

He spoke softly when he realized his words had struck a chord. “Franki,

don’t put that on yourself. It’s not your fault any more than it’s mine that Abe

Crawley loved to eat fried foods and drink a Coke with every meal. His heart gave

out. It was his time. Vivi made a choice, and put herself in a bad situation. You’re

doing everything you can to help her, and tomorrow we’ll find her.”

She didn’t know how to respond, so she just nodded and accepted the

comfort of another hug. Maybe being touched wasn’t so bad if it was the right

person. Standing there in the dim sunlight, they silently held each other as they

both dealt with their grief and guilt listening to the locusts and crickets sing their

song. It was the most overwhelmingly beautiful moment she’d ever had with a