“And you like her, too.” Callie’s brown eyes watched him, studying his responses. At times like this, she reminded him of a cute little owl.
Rye shrugged. “She’s okay, I guess.”
“Right,” she said, seemingly unconvinced.
Callie started to play with her shoulder-length brown hair. Rye knew that look. Callie knew something and wasn’t sure she should tell. Callie was the worst gossip in the county, and it looked like Rachel was already on her radar.
“Spit it out.”
Callie bit her bottom lip, and her eyes slid away from his face. “I don’t know if I should.”
Rye was unwilling to play games. He wanted to know what was up with Rachel. It was obvious she was in trouble, and he needed to be ready for it. She belonged to Max, and Max’s happiness was important to Rye. “Tell me, or you’re fired.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “I’m terrified of that threat. Fine. It isn’t anything bad. Rachel seems like a real sweet girl. I just think she’s lying about a few things. She told Stella she was staying at the motel on the outskirts of town.”
Rye shrugged and released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “That’s not so bad. It’s clean, at least.”
“That’s just it, Rye,” Callie continued. “I talked to Gene just yesterday. He’d never heard of her. That motel is his baby. Even if he hadn’t checked her in himself, do you honestly believe he wouldn’t remember her name?”
No, he didn’t believe that for a second. Why would Rachel lie about where she was staying? He thought about the trace he’d put on her earlier this morning. He’d put her name into the system along with her plate number. So far he hadn’t turned up anything, and that was slightly disconcerting. Her Texas driver’s license had come up clean, but he’d gotten nothing else. She didn’t have so much as a traffic ticket. The license listed her address as an apartment in Houston, Texas. Rye was going to call the police there and check it out, but first he needed to figure out where she was staying here.
The phone rang again, and Callie went to answer it.
Rye walked to the closet and took out his soon-to-be obsolete Detector 3000. He made sure all the bells and whistles were working. He sighed while he straightened his tie. It was important to present a professional image when dealing with the crazies of the county. The key was to look like he took them seriously.
Callie was slightly breathless. She hung up the phone as Rye walked into the main office. “You might want to hold off heading to Mel’s.”
“Why?”
She winced. “It appears that Max showed up at the motel with a bunch of roses and was promptly told that Rachel didn’t live there. He’s been yelling ever since.”
“Shit. What’s his ETD?” It was Rye’s own code. It referred to Max’s estimated time of destruction.
“I’d give it about two minutes.”
But it was less than that. As the words left Callie’s mouth, Max walked by the windows of the sheriff’s office. He held a bunch of red roses in one hand, but they’d been through some trauma. Rye whistled as he caught sight of his brother. Big Brother looked like a bull stomping down the street. He plowed through a group of tourists ambling down Main Street.
Rye handed the Detector 3000 to Callie. “Send Logan out when he gets back from dealing with the nudists, naturists, whatever. I’ve got to go save my brother from himself.” Rye jogged out of the office and ran to catch up.
“Hey, buddy, let’s talk about this.” He would try to reason with Max first.
Max stopped in the middle of the street. Rye took a quick step back, not entirely sure his brother couldn’t breathe fire. He looked perfectly capable of it. “There’s not a damn thing to talk about. She lied to me.”
“She’s not staying at the motel. That doesn’t mean she’s shacked up with someone.” He knew exactly what his brother was thinking. Max wouldn’t ever consider more innocent options. He was a worst case scenario kind of guy.
“Then why would she lie?” Max’s mouth was a stubborn line. He shook his head, clutched his sad-looking bouquet, and started walking toward the diner. His boots thudded along the concrete.
Rye fell into step alongside him. This was a familiar place for Rye. He’d spent a good portion of his life being the voice of reason for Max. Of course, Max played his part, too. Whenever Rye got really mad, Max was the one who watched his back. “You need to calm down. Do you really want her to see this side of you?”
“If she didn’t want to see it, she shouldn’t have lied.” Max’s face was set in a mulish stare.
“You’re just going to let your freak flag fly, aren’t you, bro?” Rye asked more to himself than Max.
Max marched to the diner doors and blew through them like the hurricane he was. Rye sighed. There He had to hope Rachel could handle his brother. He kind of thought she could. Rye didn’t bother to follow Max inside. There was nothing he could do now except get in the way. The sight of her beat-up Jeep caught Rye’s eye. There was an awful lot of stuff in the back of that Jeep. He had a suspicion and walked over to confirm it.
A few minutes later, he knew his brother was going to feel really bad about yelling at his honey. She was living out of her car. She didn’t need Max walking in and announcing her lie to the whole town. She was ashamed.
Sure enough, the doors to the diner opened, and Max stumbled out backward. His eyes were wide and his face registered no small amount of shock as he tripped and landed on his ass. Rachel strode out a second later, roses in one hand. She held them over his head and started to beat the hell out of his brother with them.
Rye fell in love right then and there, and knew there was no going back.
Rachel had been thinking about Max all morning. She couldn’t get the previous afternoon out of her mind. She walked around the diner in a pleasant daze, images of Max in her brain.
He’d been everything she could want in a lover.
After they’d gotten out of the pond and dried off, Max had taken a blanket she kept in the back and laid it out under a big cluster of aspen trees. He’d laid her down and spread her legs. Rachel could still feel his mouth on her. He’d parted her labia and gently licked every inch of her slick pussy. Rachel loved the rough feel of his beard on the soft skin of her inner thighs. Her whole body flushed remembering the way he’d fucked her with his tongue.
She felt a slow smile come across her face. Her man might not know it, but she intended to pay him back tonight. She was going to get that big cock of his in her mouth, and she wasn’t letting go until she’d blown his mind. Rachel checked the clock. It was almost one. Her shift ended at four, and then she had a couple of hours to get to the motel and check in. She winced at the thought of spending $24.99, but told herself it was just one night. She wanted a night in a real bed with Max. She would get to sleep pressed up against his warm body. The only thing that might be better would be sleeping with Max on one side and Rye on the other.
Rachel shook her head. That wasn’t happening. Max had spent a good portion of the previous day talking about his brother. It was obvious they were close. Max had painted a picture of a funny, charming, caring guy who would make someone a good husband. It didn’t matter how nice Ryan Harper was, he was a cop, and she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. There was too much at stake. Besides, she wasn’t that girl. She was a perfectly normal girl on the run from a murderous stalker, and perfectly normal girls didn’t get involved with alternative lifestyles.
“I’m telling you, he’s up to something,” Hank Welch said with a suspicious look in his eyes.