Shut Up and Kiss Me (27 page)

The lump in Maria’s throat grew larger, and everything became clear. She recalled the gynecologist’s words.
You lost one of your fallopian tubes. I also found some endometriosis. This could mean that you could have a very difficult time conceiving.

Matt pulled her into his arms. She inhaled his scent at the same time she accepted the truth: he wanted something she couldn’t give. In a crazy way, this was the same situation as with her and Jose—and a mistake. Her love for Matt was real, and deep down she knew him well enough to know he would say it was okay, her being unable to conceive, but would it? His words echoed in her heart.
And that’s the day I knew what real love was.
She was going to miss out on that kind of love, and she would
never wish that pain on Matt. He wanted more children, and a man like him should have them.

Pulling away, she met his eyes. “I’m sorry. Just go.”

“Damn it. I know I was wrong for not telling you, but—”

“That’s how I know this won’t work.” It wasn’t the truth, but she knew Matt would want a reason.

“You still love Jose?” he asked.

She wouldn’t lie about that. “No, but you obviously don’t trust me enough to be honest. And any relationship that doesn’t have trust isn’t worth pursuing.”

A week passed, and Shala lost herself in getting Precious whipped into shape. She’d met with just about everyone who belonged to the Chamber or who could help make the town the next big vacation spot in Texas. She’d offered recommendations, given her gotta-fix list to the mayor—heck, even her meeting down at the Funky Chicken had gone well, although she’d agreed to dance with Bo again if he did all the things on her list.

After reviewing all her images, she’d decided she didn’t need any others, with the exception of the powwow, which was still against the rules. Tomorrow, however, was the big day. Tomorrow was the tribal-council meeting.

Not that she was too worried. She had no time to worry. She remained focused on the work. Well, she was focused on work when she wasn’t focused on having curl-your-toes-up, headboard-banging sex with the chief of police. Or shower sex. A smile played over her face as she
recalled the steamy scene from that morning. Who knew sex could be so much fun?

Maria walked into the bedroom that Shala and Sky were occupying at Lucas’s. She held a box in her hands. “I got the pictures. Now tell me what they are for.”

“Fantastic.” Shala had asked Maria to see if the wives of the men on the tribal council might loan her some vacation photos.

When Maria and Shala had met about building the art community last week, and about possibly opening an art studio, they’d clicked like lost sisters. Maria had even discussed Matt, though Shala got the feeling she hadn’t revealed the whole story. Not that Shala could blame her. She hadn’t been forthcoming about Sky and herself, either. Maybe her feelings weren’t as crazy and mixed up as she felt, but they certainly seemed so.

“So, what are they for?” Maria asked.

Shala glanced at the box. “They’re for my presentation.”

Maria looked puzzled. “What would pictures of the council’s family vacations…Wait! I get it. This is your way of convincing them to let visitors take pictures, isn’t it? You’re good.”

“Of course, she’s good.” Sky walked in and, pressing a knee on the mattress, leaned down to kiss Shala. A real kiss, too. He’d been doing that more lately. For a while he’d seemed the type who didn’t go in for public displays of affection, but that had changed. Everything had changed. Except the sex. It was still toe-curlingly wonderful.

Oh, the other thing that hadn’t changed was the investigation. So far, nothing had turned up. And the more time that passed, the more it seemed that Charlie Rainmaker was behind things. Apparently he and whomever he’d hired to do his dirty work had suffered a falling-out. With Charlie killed by him, the unidentified man had surely
left town. There was no one to threaten her and no one to pay her assailant, which basically meant that Shala was no longer in danger. She could head back to Houston.

When she’d mentioned it to Sky, however, he’d hit the roof. For a minute there, she’d thought he was going to threaten to arrest her again. Shala wondered if he just didn’t want her to leave. She didn’t want to leave, either, but sooner or later they had to deal with the fact that they lived hundreds of miles apart. They needed to talk about how they intended to deal with a long-distance relationship, or better yet, needed to figure out exactly what kind of relationship they had.

Where her own emotions were concerned, she’d already done the figuring. If she wasn’t perfectly in love with Sky, she stood on the verge. But in a relationship, one-sided figuring didn’t work. It took two people wanting the same end for things to add up. Odd as it seemed, Sky never mentioned his feelings. Call her insecure, but she at least wanted a hint that she wasn’t alone before she declared any love.

She looked at her watch. “You’re early.”

“Phillip and the others left, and I figured what the hell. I closed shop early. Just felt like taking another shower and calling it a day.” His eyes twinkled with implication, and Shala blushed as she saw Maria smile.

Pulling away from the bed, Sky faced Maria. “How’s the crew at your place?”

“The same,” his sister said. “It’s as if someone sucked the joy right out of the house. Redfoot just mopes around. Yesterday, he didn’t even change out of his pajamas. Jose spends all his time on his laptop. If he has to work so much, why doesn’t he just go back to New York?”

“Give them time, they’ll work it out,” Sky said.

Sky and Maria had each told Shala about the situation. Little did they know, she was secretly jealous of their family, even with the drama. Yesterday she’d called her brother, hoping to find some of the warmth from him
that she felt between Sky and Redfoot’s crew. Only it didn’t happen. Her brother had given her two minutes before he had to run. She hadn’t even begun to tell him about the danger she’d faced. Oh, she knew he loved her, but his life was too full for him to be concerned about her right now.

“I’m trying to give them time,” Maria continued. “But I can’t stand the dark cloud hanging over the house. Which is part of the reason I’m here. I thought after the council meeting tomorrow everyone could come over for dinner. Maybe company will pep things up.”

Sky and Maria both eyed Shala. “Is that okay?” they asked at the same time.

Shala’s heart swelled. They planned to include her in a family get-together! “Sounds great,” she said with a smile. “The last time I visited Redfoot’s, it was rather exciting.”

“Don’t worry.” Maria laughed. “I’ll make sure Jose is wearing clothes this time.”

“So will I,” Sky growled.

“I’d like some proof, is what I’d like,” Sky practically yelled at Phillip the next morning. “Charlie lived here all his life. Where would he have reached out to hire this guy? And how the hell was he planning on paying him?”

His friend shrugged. “Look, I know this is personal for you, but we’ve done everything we can. Until some forensic evidence comes in—”

“We’ve got a murder, three attempted murders, and you’re just walking away?” Worse, once Shala heard the rangers were gone, she’d be right on their coattails.

“The case has gone cold,” Phillip said. “We got six people telling us Charlie practically admitted to having Shala scared out of town. Now Charlie’s dead and we have nothing else to look at, zilch to go on. If we get something back from forensics, we’ll pick it up then.”

“I got something,” boomed a voice from the doorway.

Sky turned to find Lucas. Phillip did, too. Although Sky had invited his reclusive friend many times to their poker parties, Lucas had always declined. Last week, the two men had met briefly for the first time. As a matter of fact, Sky was pretty sure that Lucas had met more people in the last few weeks than in the last five years. Surprisingly, Lucas hadn’t seemed to mind.

The seriousness in the man’s expression caught Sky’s attention. “Where’s Shala?” Had she already left town?

“She’s here.” Lucas motioned down the hall and slapped a manila envelope against his palm. “But I got something.”

“What?” Phillip asked.

“Possibly your killer.” Lucas focused on Sky. “I told you, I sent a few pictures to a friend. They did a facerecognition search and got a hit.”

“We sent one in,” Phillip said, looking confused. “But they’re backlogged for months.” He shook his head. “Who do you know that does that, anyway?” Phillip asked.

Respecting his friend’s wishes, Sky hadn’t told Phillip about Lucas’s government ties.

Lucas shrugged. “A friend of a friend.”

“A friend of whose friend?” Phillip insisted, obviously annoyed that Lucas had come through when his own boys were still chasing their tails.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sky interrupted. “What do you have?”

“It matters,” Phillip interrupted. “I can’t use—”

“Then don’t use it,” Lucas said, his tone dry.

“Damn it, Phillip,” Sky said. “This isn’t a big-dick contest. He’s helping. Whatever information he gives us, I’ll bet my life we can back it up as soon your guys get you their results.”

Lucas handed Sky the envelope. “His name is Bradley Conners. He’s got an arrest record longer than a PMSing woman’s complaint list. Got out of the joint six months ago. Was in for nearly killing a guy in a bar. It was thought
to be a hired hit, but that couldn’t be proven. He got seven years, only served three.” Sky pulled out the papers and began looking through them while Lucas continued. “Guess who Mr. Conners shared a cell with for a few months in Huntsville?”

“Who?” Phillip asked, now more curious than pissed.

“Rainmaker’s brother,” Lucas said.

“And now we have our connection,” Phillip said.

Sky shook his head. “But why the hell was this Conners guy all worked up over Shala’s camera?”

“Maybe they knew she managed to get Charlie’s picture. Maybe Conners suspected she’d caught him on film,” Lucas said.

“That makes sense,” Phillip said.

“It still doesn’t fit,” Sky said. “I mean, I know Charlie didn’t want Shala here, but to hire a hit man?”

“Maybe he didn’t have to hire him,” Phillip added. “Maybe this guy did it as a favor. Hell, maybe Rainmaker realized how far the guy was going to take it and told him to fuck off. That’s probably what got Rainmaker killed.”

“No.” Sky pressed his hand on his desk. “I don’t buy it.”

Phillip said, “We’ll talk to the guy’s brother, maybe—”

“That’s gonna be hard,” Lucas interrupted. “He died about a month ago. My sources say natural causes, nothing suspicious.”

“Who the hell are you, and who are your sources?” Phillip demanded.

“I just know the right people,” Lucas replied.

“It just keeps getting worse,” Sky seethed, ignoring them.

“Worse?” Lucas asked. “We know who he is. We got a connection with this guy and Charlie. With Charlie gone, Conners doesn’t have a fight with Shala. Shala’s no longer in danger. I wouldn’t call that worse. I’d say we’re a step further on.”

“Did you tell Shala?” Sky’s heart bumped around his chest.

“Of course I did. She’s ecstatic.”

Which meant she’d be going back to Houston.

“You have a talent, young lady. You owned that room,” Redfoot said as Shala and Sky walked into his house half an hour after meeting the tribal council. Shala felt his praise all the way to her toes.

“Thank you. And thank you for being my ally. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She hugged him and hung on a few minutes because it felt so good. God, she missed her grandparents, missed the feel of older, wiser arms wrapped around her.

“Another hugger,” Redfoot muttered.

“Get used to it,” Maria said, bouncing into the room and hugging her as soon as Shala released her father. “Congrats. Redfoot said there’s no way the council wouldn’t give you everything you asked for.”

“Really?” Shala met the older man’s gaze. “You really think they’ll agree to everything?”

Redfoot looked at Sky. “Your woman should have been a lawyer. You should have seen her. She charmed the socks off them.”

“I would have seen, if you guys had let me come,” Sky said.

Shala glanced at him. Sky had been tense all afternoon. She suspected it was about her going back to Houston. She’d told Lucas that she’d probably leave this weekend, but Sky hadn’t mentioned it yet.

“You know the rules,” Redfoot said. “Only the tribal council is present when—”

“Don’t have to like them,” Sky interrupted.

“Something smells good,” Shala spoke up.

“Paella. Estella’s recipe.” Maria looked at Sky. “Don’t start saying I added too much garlic.”

“I’ll make him behave.” Shala reached for his hand.

“That’s a pretty big promise,” Lucas’s voice boomed from the doorway. Shala turned and almost laughed at what he carried in his hands.

“Lucas!” Maria said and grinned. “Thank you for reconsidering.”

Shala leaned in and mock-whispered, “What did you do, promise we’d play Scrabble?”

Maria giggled. “Just one game.”

“Come in,” Redfoot said.

As the men walked inside, Maria eyed Shala. “Redfoot’s happier today. Thanks for agreeing to this.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” Shala admitted. “Can I run to the bathroom, and then I’ll help with dinner?”

“It’s the second door on the left. Just past the hole in the wall that looks just like Jose’s face.” Maria grinned.

Shala hotfooted it down the hall, her bladder pinching. She had just grabbed the knob when the door swung open. And there was Jose, standing in front of her, naked. Well, he had a white towel wrapped around his waist.

“Oh fuck! Sky’s going to kill me.” He slammed the door.

Shala went back into the living room, trying not to laugh, and found Maria. “Is there another bathroom? I think that one is occupied.” She almost told her friend the whole story, then decided Jose might prefer she didn’t.

“My room, first door to the left.”

“Thanks.”

A few minutes later, bladder happy, she walked back out into the hall. At the same time, Jose exited the room next to Maria’s. At least he had clothes on this time.

He shrugged guiltily and motioned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone had arrived yet. I was just going to pop across the hall.”

Shala grinned. “It’s okay. I think we got here early.”

Jose smiled. “We’ve met, but I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced.”

“Geez, without the pink robe, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

He laughed, and it sounded a lot like Redfoot. Shala decided she liked Jose.

Thirty minutes after they arrived, Sky was seated at the dining-room table with Jose, Redfoot, and Lucas. The men were playing Scrabble while Shala helped Maria in the kitchen.

“That’s not a word,” Lucas said.

“Is too.
Wacoi
.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a sacred word,” Redfoot said.

“You don’t want to know,” Sky muttered under his breath.

“You know what sacred word comes to my mind right now?
Bullshit!
You can only use English. Only English,” Lucas insisted.

His friend and Redfoot were arguing about using Native American words. Sky laughed. In spite of worrying himself sick about Shala leaving, being here was fun. Every few minutes he’d peer into the kitchen, and something about seeing Shala in the kitchen of the house where he’d grown up felt perfectly right.