Matt—The Callahan Brothers (Brazos Bend Book 2) (31 page)

“Why don’t you give him that?”

For a moment, the idea sat there like a package under the Christmas tree. Then Torie shook her head.

“I’d screw it up. It’s what I do. What I am. Just as the general always said.”

“The general needs to pull his head out of the cave in Tora Bora. But then, you need to pull yours out, too. You need to have faith in Matt, but you also need to have faith in yourself. Stop chasing the next big story and make one of your own.”

“It’s too risky.”

“You thrive on risk, Torie. You always have. It’s no surprise to me that when it comes to the biggest risk of all—your heart—you go for the biggest prize.”

“He is a prize. All the women in town know it.”

“And you trust him to see that you’re just as big a prize, too.”

“Wow. Do you think that’s really true? Do you think I made such a life-changing decision without realizing it?”

“I think it’s the only way you could make it, Torie. You’ve acted on instinct, not on what you’ve learned from being your father’s daughter. You trust that Matt Callahan won’t betray your faith in him.”

Torie thought about it the rest of the day. She thought about it when Matt joined her in bed that night. When he kissed her awake the following morning, it was the first thing that came into her mind.

It was during their shared shower that she finally made peace with the idea. Helen was right. She’d been hiding the truth from herself. She didn’t just love Matt; she trusted him.

So she’d be patient, just like he’d asked.

Chapter Sixteen

Matt sat on the back of Les’s modified golf cart and scanned the area, keeping close watch on the occupants of the vineyard while he took second-guessing himself to an art form. Tomorrow, the vineyard and winery hosted visitors following the Texas Hill Country Wine and Wildflower Trail. Les expected a crowd. Matt expected the stalker to show up.

At least, that was the plan. He hoped like hell he hadn’t made a mistake.

Matt had dangled the unsuspecting bait and given the bastard plenty of time to track the clues, the same sort of operation he’d done dozens of times in all parts of the world. That this time somehow felt different, he did his best to ignore. This weekend’s event provided the perfect opportunity for the stalker to get close to his prey, and Matt was confident he’d attempt just that. He wouldn’t know that Matt, Mark, and two security guards out of Fort Worth would have Four Brothers under surveillance, ready to act the moment the stalker made a move toward the unwary Victoria.

Unwary. Unsuspecting. That was the part giving him trouble. Was he screwing up by cutting Torie out of the planning?

No, he insisted to himself for perhaps the fiftieth time. Torie couldn’t hide her thoughts and feelings worth a damn. She put everything right out front for the world to see—her fear, her happiness. Her love. Even when she tried to hide her thoughts and feelings, he could read her like a book. If she knew what he’d done, she’d be a basket case. She could cost them the element of surprise. He couldn’t risk bringing her into the plan. He couldn’t trust her not to give it away.

His gaze locked on Torie as she laughed with Les in the vineyard. See, he was doing the right thing. The woman was happy. Why take that away from her? With any luck at all, she’d never need be afraid of the stalker again.

Les certainly appeared content with all creation out there himself, basking in the beauty of the afternoon and the admiration of two gorgeous women. Helen looked happy, too. She giggled like a schoolgirl as she followed Les’s instructions on how to weave shoots through the lyre-like trellising system of wires in order to protect them from wind and maximize exposure to the sun. Matt envied their contentment. He wished he could relax enough to enjoy the moment—warm sunshine, a gentle breeze, dazzling women. Instead, he was wound tighter than an eight-day clock.

It didn’t help that Luke hadn’t called. If something went wrong in Lima, Matt would never forgive himself.

The trip to South America was supposed to be a simple one—an interview with authorities in Peru, where Esteban Romo was in prison for murder unrelated to Collin Marlow’s death. Luke’s connections in the DEA had led him to believe that Romo might be willing to talk to Luke. The hope was that Luke could either confirm Marlow’s death beyond a shadow of a doubt or verify the possibility that he’d left the lagoon alive.

It shouldn’t have taken this long. He’d expected the interview to be over an hour ago. What in the world was taking so long?

Finally, a half hour later, his cell phone rang and he found out.

“Romo claims that Marlow is definitely dead,” Luke told him without preamble.

Huh. Matt wasn’t sure if that made him happy or not. He’d honestly believed Marlow was good for the stalker. “You believe him?”

“I do, Matthew. He claims he has proof.”

“Oh? What proof? A body?”

“I don’t know. Not yet. He wouldn’t say any more without compensation.”

“Pay him whatever he wants,” Matt growled.

“I wish it were that easy. He’s not looking for money, but a deal with the officials down here.”

“What sort of deal?” Frustration had Matt pacing the ground in front of the golf cart. “We don’t have the pull in Lima to get him out of jail. And I don’t know that we even need any more out of Romo. He’s given you what we needed—verification of Marlow’s death.”

“I don’t know, Matt. There’s something wonky going on. He’s only asking for a phone call to his wife. Apparently she and their children have set up housekeeping in the States. I’d like to take a shot at arranging it so I can hear what he has to say. May take me another day, but I think it’s worth it as long as you don’t need me in Brazos Bend.”

A phone call. That shouldn’t be impossible for a man with Luke’s connections, and if he could learn something of value ... “Between me and Mark and the two fellows I hired out of Fort Worth, I think we’re all right here, but that’s not the problem. I promised Maddie you’d be home tonight. I’ll be in deep guano with her if you’re out another night. You know, when she’s mad, she scares me.”

Luke laughed. “I’ll protect you from my wife. Don’t worry. I’ll get to work on my end and see what it’ll take to pull this together. I’ll get back with you when I know something.”

After disconnecting the call, Matt returned to his seat on the golf cart and spent a few moments thinking. With the ex-boyfriend, the senator, the actor, and Marlow now eliminated, he needed to reevaluate the list of suspects. Maybe next he should take a look at the invent-a-religion zealots Torie offended last year. He shouldn’t discount the actor whose nose she broke, either, or the folks who lost money because of it. Damn fool actor. He should have known that tangling with a woman like Torie brought nothing but trouble.

Solving the case this way could take forever, and they had no guarantee the perp was even on the list. He should consider it one more justification for the actions he’d taken. Luring the stalker to Brazos Bend was by far the best way to bring this matter to an end.

He had no reason to feel so guilty about it.

“Hey, Callahan!” Torie waved at him from among the vines. “Bring me my camera, would you?”

He grabbed the bag off the seat where she’d left it, and after signaling his watcher on the hill, he made his way into the vineyard. “Thanks, sweetie,” Torie said, obviously distracted.

She prepared her camera with practiced movements, and within seconds stalked her prey—a delicate monarch butterfly. Dressed in shorts and a scoop-neck, tight-fitting pink T-shirt, her long blond hair tucked beneath a Brazos Bend High ball cap, her movements fluid and deliberate as she worked, Torie distracted him from his concerns. He thought he could watch her for hours.

“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Helen asked.

“She sees the world differently from the rest of us.”

“I’m glad you get that, Callahan.” Helen linked her arm through his. “For me, the world is mostly black-and-white. It’s logic and pattern and formula. Torie’s world is a palette of colors and shades that constantly change. She’s like that butterfly she’s chasing, fluttering from place to place with no defined route—at least that’s the way it appears to us. Yet, monarch butterflies somehow make it from Minnesota to Mexico and back every year.”

Les looked up from his vine. “Brazos Bend always has lots of monarchs. We’re in the flyway.”

“Do you know anything about butterflies?” Helen asked Matt.

Without taking his gaze off Torie, Matt responded, “I remember when I was a kid monarchs would be thick on the bushes around the Church of Christ in our neighborhood. So many
 
that they’d turn the bushes orange.”
 

Helen donned her scientist’s cap. “Monarchs go through four separate life stages. They begin as eggs before hatching as larvae or caterpillars. The caterpillars feed and grow and molt. After four cycles of molting, they attach themselves to the underside of a leaf and form a delicate, beautiful chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the butterfly matures over several weeks until it’s time to break loose. The insect pushes its legs downward, splits the chrysalis, and sets itself free. The newly hatched butterfly pumps fluid from its body into its wings. They harden, allowing it to fly.”

Matt waited a beat, then asked, “What are you trying to tell me, Dr. Darling?”

“I don’t know.” Helen laughed self-consciously. “I just want you to see her, Callahan. Open your eyes and see past the paparazzo, see beyond caterpillar stage. She’s about to break free and fly. You could fly with her, and she’ll take you places you’d never go on your own.”

With that, she chased off after her sister, leaving him speechless. Les sauntered to the end of the row, pulled two bottles of water from the cooler he liked to keep handy, strolled back, and handed one to Matt. “I don’t know about you, but I reckon I’ll never look at a butterfly quite the same way again.”

“Hell, Les. What am I going to do?”

“Don’t know. This is new territory for me, too. I’ve never known you to be indecisive or stupid, Matthew.” Les took a long swig of water. “Whatever you decide, just make sure you get me prints of those photos she’s taking. I imagine they’ll be perfect for next year’s Wine and Wildflowers brochure.”

***

Small towns were the same all over the world, the stranger observed. Everyone knew everyone else. People pried into one another’s business. Gossip was the order of the day.

Let’s see if I can’t use that fact to my advantage.

“Can I help you?” asked the waitress in the ice cream shop a few minutes later. She wore an ELVIS LIVES T-shirt, atrocious earrings, and a sympathetic expression. “You look upset about something.”

Perfect.
“I’m frustrated. I had an important appointment with a Mr. Branch Callahan, but he appears to have forgotten. He wasn’t home, nor does he answer his telephone.”

“Oh, dear. Well, Branch is in the hospital. He had a heart attack, but word is he’s doing well. Don’t know when he’ll be heading home, though. What was your appointment about?”

A drive past the man’s home earlier today had revealed substantial wealth, making the obvious answer, “Investments.”

The waitress frowned and rhythmically thumped her stubby pencil against her order pad. “I doubt the doctors would want you in the hospital doing business with a patient. Could one of his sons help? They’re in town.”

I know. I read it at Blogging the Brazos.
The waitress had followed the lead perfectly. “Actually, that might work well. I’ve papers for a Mr. Matt Callahan to look at.”

The waitress waved her hand. “That’s easy. He’ll be at Four Brothers Winery tomorrow. It’s the big weekend for the Wine and Wildflowers tour. I will warn you, he’s probably awfully busy. They really get a crowd out there at Four Brothers on tour weekends.”

“Perfect.” It truly was.

Finally things are going my way.

***

Torie whistled a Jimmy Buffett tune beneath her breath as she brushed the feather duster over the wine-theme ceramics displayed on the baker’s rack in the middle of the winery’s small store. After spending the afternoon with Les yesterday and learning what to expect during a Wine and Wildflowers tour weekend, she could hardly wait for the first visitors to arrive. Les made it sound like today would be half-work, half-party.

With Matt’s and Les’s blessing, she’d decided to put away her camera for the day and play store clerk. Helen had intended to work with her, but unfortunately, her sister woke up with an upset stomach this morning.

“Oh, this is too cute,” Torie said to herself, picking up a hand-painted tile trivet featuring a Four Brothers label nestled in a field of bluebonnets. “I didn’t notice this before.”

On his way to unlock the winery door, Les said, “Angie brought a box of them over last night. She’s good with the artsy-fartsy stuff.”

Les looked loose limbed and relaxed. Torie rolled her tongue around her mouth, then innocently observed, “Her cooking is phenomenal. Anything left over from breakfast?”

Les shot her a disapproving frown, and she laughed and continued her dusting.

Just as the day’s first visitors arrived, Matt joined them in the winery wearing a blue cotton shirt embroidered with the Four Brothers logo. Les stepped behind the tasting bar and Torie watched with frank admiration as a natural salesman went to work.