Trouble With the Law (24 page)

The front door of the lodge opened, and even though it was the wee hours of the morning, Caleb came outside followed by Jamie
.  Both men were still fully dressed and looked like they were running for their lives, as they hurried across the porch and down the steps.  They stopped beside Dave and Trace could see they were at the end of their ropes babysitting the women they had rescued.

“Dave you’ve got to do something.  I can’t take much more of the crying.  I’ve fed them, given them water and tried to comfort them, but they’
re still fucking wailing,” Caleb said with a frustrated sign.

“I guess my Spanish is rusty,” Jamie
admitted ruefully.  “I meant to tell them help was on the way, and I think they understood that INS was on the way or something.  They haven’t settled down since.  I think if we hadn’t had weapons they would have busted through the windows.”

“Those three assholes we captured have been trying to egg them on too.  I finally put them in a separate room,” Caleb
grated angrily.  “The women were definitely afraid of them.  I think they’ve been terrorizing them for a while.”

“Did you take off the chains?” Dave asked.

“Couldn’t find bolt cutters, and the men we captured didn’t have keys.”

“Well, shit.  No wonder they’re upset,” Ronnie said walking toward the front porch.

Dave helped Trace inside and the others followed.  When they stepped into the gathering room, Ronnie was standing in the center of the room speaking rapid fire Spanish to the ten women who were sitting in a huddle in the middle of the gathering room floor paying rapt attention to her.  The relief was obvious on their dirty faces.  Trace was relieved too, until she said something, looked back over her shoulder at him and all the women giggled.  She was speaking too fast for Trace to catch what she said.  Whatever she said seemed to be calming them down, so he was grateful, and he was sure Dave was too.

“I’m going
to look out in those sheds now and see if I can find some bolt cutters,” Jamie said with a sigh of relief.  “I couldn’t leave them alone.”

“There’s a pair in the van we left in.  They’re in the compartment in the bottom, under the carpet,” Dave said shortly, as if the men should have figured that out on their own.  “If you had asked on the phone, I could have told you that.”

Jamie nodded, but his face looked like he felt like a dumbass for not doing just that.  Trace kind of felt sorry for both of the men who had been put in charge of taking care of the traumatized women.  He couldn’t say he would have done a better job of handling them.  At least nobody had been hurt.  The women looked dirty and tired, but the men had done the best they could to care for them.  He was just glad Ronnie was there to communicate with them.

Trace held his side and looked at Dave.  “Let’s go question those men, and get this show on the road,” he said.

“We’ll be doing the questioning.  We don’t want them to know you’re alive, remember?” Dave reminded.

“Crap.”

“Yeah.  Can you make it upstairs?  You need a shower and rest.  We’ll handle this.”

“Find out where Ray Brown is,” Trace said, as his mother came up to his side.  “Find out
if they know what my father had to do with this too.”

“If you want to know that talk to his campaign manager,” Allison said.

All eyes in the room swung in her direction.  “What does Talmedge Bartlett have to do with it?” Trace asked. 

The man had been his daddy’s friend and sidekick for years.  It definitely made sense to Trace
that he would have knowledge of Leland’s activities, but the man was damned good at hiding his tracks if it was him.  Better than Leland even.  He ran with a pretty highfaluting crowd that had money and connections.  Money that kept Leland in office for all these years.  If his mother was right, it looked like he had friends in low places too.

“He’s the ring leader.  He does the dirty work,” she said with a short laugh.  “You think Leland would get his hands dirty?”

So that’s who Leland used to head up his criminal activities.  As far as Trace knew, the feds had never been able to figure that out.  They kept hitting a brick wall with someone who they all called El Patron.  Trace had figured that was his father, or Ray Brown, but evidently it wasn’t.  His father would probably be called El Diablo.  The devil would be a fitting name for the man who had given him life.  But his mother was taking her own life in her hands by giving up that information.  So far, she had refused to testify against her husband, and that was a good thing as far as self-preservation went.  So was getting away from the man.

“Mama, that’s enough,” Trace said gruffly.
  “You shouldn’t even be here!”  If he had known she slipped into the van at the ranch, she wouldn’t be here.  He told her to stay out of it, but it looked like she had waded in knee deep.  Maybe he could talk Dave into taking her back to town.

“No,
son.  It’s time I talked.  Leland has run amok too long.  I’m here to help you bring him and his cohorts down.  You’re not stopping me.  I’ll go to the police, if I have to,” she said firmly.  That would mean publicly announcing she had turned on Leland.  It would also mean those criminals he was involved with would hear about it too. 

His mother would have a target on her back.
  “Don’t do that, Mama.”

“Either I help you, or I help the police. 
It’s time for your father to get his comeuppance, and I’m the woman who is going to deliver it.”  Her stance, stiff shoulders and the look on her face was not something Trace was used to seeing.  But he knew when a woman looked like she did right now, she meant business.

Trace
sighed.  “Okay, Mama.  You can help me.  Don’t talk to the police.” 

At least here he could keep things quiet, and he could protect her too.  Just what he needed.  Another woman to
worry about.  Shit, pretty soon he’d have a whole tribe of them to watch out for here at the lodge.  And if he didn’t assert himself as the tribe leader now, he would probably be the sacrificial lamb when the sisterhood decided to revolt. 

“But you are going to do exactly what I say, because I don’t need problems.”  He looked at Ronnie who had stopped talking to stare at him from across the room.  “You too, Red.  No funny business.  Before you do anything, you are going to talk to me about it.”
  When it looked like she was winding up to argue he added, “If either of you go off on your own, so will I.  I will be out of here faster than you can spit, and you’re on your own.”

“But—“ both women chimed in at once.

“I mean it,” Trace cut them off.  “Don’t make a phone call, or a decision without going through me first.  This could get ugly, and if it does, I want to know it’s coming at me—at us—before it happens.”  He met Ronnie’s angry eyes, and lifted a brow.  She folded her arms over her chest, and her lips pinched, but she nodded.  He moved his gaze to his mother and she nodded too.

“Well
—if we’re done with the drama,” Dave said with a laugh.  “We have suspects to question.”  He nodded at Caleb and they walked toward the room at the back of the house where they were holding the captured men.

“Let’s get these women settled for tonight
,” Trace said and took a few steps toward them.  “We can move them to the other house in the woods tomorrow. It’s too late now.”

His mother took his arm.  “What you’re going to do is go upstairs, take a shower and go to bed.  It’s almost morning
now, and you are hurt.  We’ll take care of these ladies.”

“But, Mama…” Trace said putting on the brakes when she tried to move him toward the stairs.

“But, Mama nothing.  Go!” she said with a swat to his butt.  She didn’t move until he shook his head and walked to the stairs. 

Trace w
as exhausted, and hurting again.  A warm shower and a soft mattress sounded like exactly what the doctor ordered.  The way things were going here at the lodge he better enjoy the luxuries while he could.  He had a bad feeling that pretty soon all he’d have to look forward to would be a hard cot, a stainless steel toilet and a weekly shower. 

Ei
ther that or white rubber walls.

CH
APTER FOURTEEN

The next morning Trace woke up sweating.  It felt like he was sitting in a sauna wrapped in plastic.  Either he had a fever, or someone had turned the furnace up to hell in the lodge.  He threw back the covers to get some relief and quickly realized why he was so hot when he looked down and saw a tangle of red hair. 

Ronnie Winters had crawled in
to bed with him to sleep.  Naked.  His eyes traveled down her perfect curves to her pink-painted toenails.  Her soft body was suctioned to his side from the waist down and her thigh was thrown over his leg.  Trace grabbed the her leg and pushed it off of him.  With a groan, she stirred and slid her hand down from his waist.  She brushed his dick and it went as stiff as the muscles in his body. 

“Fuck, Ronnie.  Wake up!  What are you doing in here?” he growled
peeling her arm off of him, before he tried to push her away.  She mumbled something, rolled onto her back, then twisted to lay on her other side away from him.  She wiggled her delicious ass against him, and her hand found his cock as she fumbled behind her for the covers. Trace sucked in a sharp breath and moved his hips then rolled toward her.  He shook her shoulder, and leaned close to her ear.  “Wake up, Ronnie!”

She woke up all right, and rolled back over
to snuggle against his chest.  Her hand slid up his chest, over his shoulder to curl around his neck.  Her naked breasts pressed into his chest as her lips landed on his chin.  She trailed tiny sweet kisses up to his mouth, the made a slow pass over his mouth with her lips.  Trace tried to push her away, but stilled when her tongue moved across the seam of his lips, and she moaned.  His heart did a funny little wiggle in his chest, and on its own his hand slid over her smooth, warm skin to rest at the curve of her hip.

Her body moved against his. 
“Mmm…” she murmured, as she put a kiss at the corner of his lips.  “Kiss me,” she begged breathlessly. 

Trace fought the urge to take control
and do just that, and made himself push her away.  “Wake up, Red.” 

One brown eye popped open, she looked a little stunned as the other followed.  “Oh…” she whispered and scooted
away from him then flopped onto her back beside him and threw her arm over her eyes.  “Sorry.”

The sheet rode low at her hips, and
Trace couldn’t help himself.  He took the opportunity to stare at her full breasts.  Creamy smooth skin, led to coral circles tipped by hard raspberry-colored nipples.  His mouth watered to taste her but he fought that urge too.  Plopping back on his pillow, Trace closed his eyes and rested his arm over them too.  “What are you doing in here, Ronnie?”

“Every oth
er bed in the house is occupied,” she said.

The
re were ten bedrooms in this house.  Two of those rooms had two sets of bunk beds.  No way were all the other beds occupied.  “Not buying it, Red,” Trace replied.

“Those women needed a comfortable place to rest last night.  They ha
ve been through enough.  I let them sleep in the bedrooms.  Your mother has one, and Dave and his guys have another.  The rest are occupied by the women,” she said then looked over at him.  “Besides I was worried about you, and so was your mother.”

“Does my Mama know you slept in here with me?”
  God only knew what she thought, if she did know.  He didn’t want her to think he and Ronnie were a couple.

“Yeah, she does.  I told her I was going to
check on you.  She was fine with it.”

Trace grunted. 
Checking on him constituted sleeping the night in bed with him?  He didn’t think so.  Allison Rooks didn’t know the full story about Ronnie’s part in him going to jail, but she knew enough to hate Ronnie as much as he had before.  Somehow he didn’t think she would be
fine
with him sleeping with this woman right under her nose.

“Well you need to get out of here, before everyone wakes up.”  Trace glanced at the window and saw bright sunlight outside through the crack between the curtains.  It had to be at least ten in the morning. 
His mother might already be up.  Wouldn’t that just be wonderful?

“They’re not up.  Your mother helped the girls get bathed and settled, and washed up their clothes
.  She just went to bed not long ago.  Dave was up questioning those guys we captured until a bit ago, so he’s sleeping too.  He said he had a lead on where Ray Brown is, but he needed some sleep before he went after him.”  The red lines in Ronnie’s eyes, and her tired voice told him she hadn’t been in bed long either.

Perfect.  He was stuck with her for now. 
Trace sighed.  “Let’s get some sleep then,” he said gruffly.  “You look like hell.”

Her
full lips kicked up on one side.  “Always the charmer, eh Rooks?” Ronnie replied with a short laugh.

“Always the
pain in the ass, eh Winters?” he retorted, flipping the covers back over them.  “Stay on your side of the bed,” he warned.  It was a queen-sized bed, but not nearly big enough with her in it with him.  Trace scooted toward the edge a little, stifling a groan as the stitches in his side pulled.

“
Scared I’m going to take advantage of you?” she asked snuggling into her pillow.

Memories of her smart mouth wrapped around his cock flitted through
Trace’s mind, and he got painfully hard again.  He put his hand under the cover to stroke himself.  He wished she’d take advantage of him like that again.  His mind and his cock wanted it badly, but his body had other ideas.  Like sleep.  He was exhausted, sore and his side hurt.  “Just keep your hands to yourself, Red.  I’m injured, remember?”

There was silence for a moment, before she said, “Yeah, I remember.”  Trace closed his eyes and his body relaxed until she added quietly, “I’m glad you didn’t die, Rooks.”

Her words were slurred, but he could hear the emotion behind them.  She meant it, and that meant trouble for him.  Ronnie getting attached to him, caring about him, was not something he wanted.  They weren’t friends, they weren’t lovers, they had sex.  Almost twice.  That was it.  The end.  The sooner he could get her out of his life and back to being the feared Shark Lady, the better.  Then he could figure out his own life.  If he still had one when this was over.  With a heavy sigh, Trace closed his eyes and reached for the sleep he knew was going to be hard to find again now.

Loud knocking jarred him back to consciousness. 
He looked down and realized Ronnie was plastered to him again.  She snuggled her face into his shoulder, but didn’t wake up.  The door flew inward, and Conner Lucas filled the doorway with his hands on his hips.  His dark hair was stuck up in fifty directions on his head.  The white dress shirt he wore was unbuttoned almost to the waist and wrinkled like he’d slept in it.  A big brown stain which was probably from coffee painted the right side.  His grey slacks were as wrinkled as his shirt, and his loafers were covered in dust. 

Trace’s eyes moved up to his face and h
is red eyes and bearded jaw made it look like he hadn’t slept in days.  And the flush near his cheekbones made it was obvious he was pissed.  His eyes slid to Ronnie and his jaw tightened.  “Vee, get your ass out of bed,” he grated in a low, lethal tone.

“She was up all night,” Trace informed
quietly.  “Let her sleep.” 

She was comfortable, and despite how he felt
about her, so was Trace.  He hadn’t slept all night with a woman in years.  Ronnie wouldn’t be the woman he picked to break that pattern with, but she was here and she felt good.

One dark brow lifted over
Conner Lucas’s blue eyes.  “I bet she was up all night,” he said angrily.  His glittering eyes told Trace what he thought they’d been doing all night.  “I don’t really give a damn.  I’ve been up for three days trying to get the stuff she wanted together.  Now she needs to get the hell up and help me go through it.” Conner took a deep breath, then said a little louder, “Vee, get your ass up!”

The hand she rested in the center of his chest slid
under the covers and slowly downward leaving a trail of fire until he stopped it with his own just short of his navel.

“She’ll be down in a minute,”
Trace said firmly.

“Well she better be, or I’m out of her
e in fifteen minutes and she can figure this mess out on her own,” Conner said and turned, slamming the door behind him.  Trace had wondered about Ronnie’s relationship with Conner Lucas.  From the level of his agitation just now, he didn’t think it was solely from exhaustion.  The man was jealous.

“Are you and
Conner Lucas more than friends?”  The question slipped out.  Even though he didn’t have the right to ask, Trace wanted to know.

Ronnie sighed and he felt it inside of him.  It was a heavy sigh.  One that spoke words that she probably wouldn’t voice.  Yeah, they had been lovers.  Trace tensed up and she slid her hand back up his chest
, then looked up at him.  “No.  We figured out we are too much alike.  He’s my best friend.  That’s all.”

Figured out
.  That meant she’d probably tested the waters with him.  Slept with him.  That explained things, and it didn’t settle well inside of him.  Trace refused to label it as jealousy he was feeling.  “I didn’t even know you had friends.  People are scared of you, but they don’t particularly like you, Red,” Trace said meanly. 

Why he was poking her he didn’t know.  But knowing she and Conner Lucas
had been lovers, and having to be around both of them with that knowledge was not comfortable for him.  Especially since Trace had sex with her too, and Conner knew that now.  He was not going to get into an alpha male pissing contest with the man.  It was obvious to Trace, even if Ronnie didn’t see it, that Conner was still interested in being more than her friend.  He could have her.

Ronnie gasped and pushed against his chest to sit up.  Her angry amber eyes met his.  “I have friends
.  I’m just particular about who I befriend,” she said indignantly as she threw back the covers.  She scooted to the edge of the bed and ran her hands through her thick auburn hair, then stood and walked naked toward the bathroom.  Trace’s eyes followed the sway of her round ass until she disappeared inside and slammed the door.

Well that pretty much cemented the fact that he wouldn’t be counted
in that particular group.  And Trace was okay with that.  If she was mad at him, maybe that softer side wouldn’t reappear to make him think he might have misjudged the Shark Lady.  Dave Logan needed to find Ray Brown quickly, so they could all get past this.  So he could get away from her for good.  Before he did something stupid, like care for her.  There was a fine line between love and hate, and Trace had already moved on the other side of hate with her.  He pushed back the covers and got out of bed. 

He wobbled on his feet a moment then got his balance, before walking to the dresser.  He opened and closed drawers until he found a clean pair of camo pants that might fit him
, and a size too small t-shirt.  He dressed carefully, and left the waistband of the pants unsnapped so it didn’t press on his bandage and stitches, then walked out of the bedroom to go find Dave.

Ronnie towel dried her hair and threw the towel across the steamy bathroom.  She did not get emotional, so the
mini breakdown she had in the shower shocked the crap out of her.  It seemed like everything had crashed down on her shoulders at once.  The scene last night in those woods, the women’s sad tales they related last night about their families and how they ended up hostages in a foreign country, then her conversation with Trace’s mother after they were all bedded down.  That had been the worst.  Allison Rooks had called her a selfish bitch.  And the woman was right.  That is how Ronnie had lived her life until recently.  She realized that now.  Self-serving.  Abrasive.  Definitely not friend material.

When Trace pointed that out this morning, that had been the final straw.  Both he and his mother were right about her, and it was an eye-opener for Ronnie. 
Even though people feared her, they didn’t respect her.  They detested her.  It was a sad fact but true.  She didn’t have any friends.  Dave was only her friend because he felt sorry for her.  Conner was her friend because they were just alike.  Driven to win at any cost.  Self-centered and self-serving.  Even he couldn’t tolerate her at times.

And R
onnie was alone, all because of how she chose to live her life.

Considering her parents, and how she was raised, it was understandable that she turned out the way she had.  Yeah, she was successful in her professional life,
because she was determined to get her father’s attention by being better at the law than he was.  But her personal life sucked.  She didn’t have one, because she had sunk her entire identity into her work trying to gain her father’s approval. 

A man who didn’t have any close friends either, because he was an asshole. 

And she had become just like him. 

But this pity party wasn’t getting her anywhere.
  Ronnie needed to get herself together and get downstairs so she could start atoning to the people she had hurt.  Trace and his mother would probably never forgive her, but she was going to forgive herself.   And from here on out, Ronnie Winters was going to be a different person.  Breaking old habits were going to be hard, but she was just as determined to change as she had been to be better than her father.  She would be better than him at life.  Fuck the career.  In the end that didn’t mean a damned thing if she was alone to enjoy her success like he was.