Baby I'm In (Honky Tonk Angels #3) (17 page)

“Show me.”

“With pleasure.”

Pleasure was an apt description for what came next.  Pleasure like she’d never dreamed.  Kyle wasn’t a lover to rush.  He delivered what he promised.  He took her there.

Repeatedly.

It was half past ten when they pulled out of the campground.  Liz was still yawning.  They’d gotten less than four hours of sleep.  Not that she was complaining.  Last night had been one of the best of her life.  She’d known she was falling for Kyle, now she’d completely taken the plunge.

Making love with him was beyond good. She now understood why all those women were so eager to get into his bed.  Kyle was that rare man who genuinely wanted to please his lover.  And his ability to read what made a woman tick was damn near magic.  There was no doubt left.  Kyle was the one.

It was a shame it was happening at such a screwed up time in her life.  She tried to remain positive and hoped Cooper’s plan would work, but going up against her father was not a small thing.  People with a lot more power and money had tried and failed.  Could she and Cooper pull this off?

Her phone rang and she picked it up.  Cody.  She hit the speaker button.

“Okay, look, I know it’s none of my business and you can tell me to butt out, but I think it’s wrong for you to leave and it’s not just because I think there’s something going on with you and Kyle.”

“Morning, Cody.”

“Morning.  Where are you?”

“On my way back to Kyle’s.”

“For real?”

“Yep.”

“Oh thank god.  So how long till you’re there?”

“I’d say an hour.”

“Can I come over?  I need to tell you something and it needs to be face-to-face.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

Liz ended the call and turned her thoughts back to Cooper’s plan.  She’d told Kyle they had a plan and he’d encouraged her to do whatever she needed to do.  He also balked when she said she had to go to San Antonio and meet with Henderson. He didn’t want her to have anything to do with John Henderson. He didn’t even want her in the same room as the man.

She liked that he felt that way and the truth was, she didn’t want to go.  She’d do her part to help, but she honestly didn’t think she could pull off having interest in Henderson.  She thoroughly disliked the man.

All the way to Kyle’s she thought about it, trying to come up with an alternative.  By the time they arrived she still didn’t have another plan.  Cody’s truck was parked in front of the house.  She pulled on by and stopped at the barn.

Kyle parked and met her at the back of the trailer.  “It’s nice.  Why don’t we put Traveler in the paddock?”

“Sounds good.”

As they unloaded Traveler, Cody walked up.  “So, you talked her into coming back.”

“Yep.”  Kyle gave her a smile and watched Liz walk Traveler to the paddock.

“I’m glad.”

“Me too.  So what brings you here?”

Cody looked at Liz, walking toward them.  “I need to tell Liz something.”

“So tell.”  Liz said as she stopped beside Kyle.

“I—“ Cody looked at Kyle and then back at Liz.  “Maybe we could go to the Creek House and talk as you unpack.”

“Whatever it is, it’s okay to say it in front of Kyle. The time for secrets is over.”

“Oh!  Well – okay.  But before I tell you, I want you to please try to understand that I was trying to help.”

“Help what?”

“Okay, here’s the deal.  I asked Jo for help, to find out what she could about your dad and Landing and – and you.”

“You did what?”  Liz’s bark was sharper than intended and anger might have gotten the best of her if Kyle hadn’t put his hand on her shoulder.

“Hear her out, Liz.”

Liz nodded and waited.  Cody cleared her throat and spit out what Jo’s researchers found out. It was nothing Liz hadn’t already told Kyle and not nearly as much as he knew.  Still, it bugged her that Cody and Jo had gone behind her back to have her investigated.

“Why did you do that?  Have Jo do that, I mean?”

“I – because – because I wanted to help.”

Liz believed that.  Cody wasn’t someone who acted with malicious intent.  “I know.  And I appreciate you wanting to help, but please believe me that you don’t want to be involved in this.  In any of it.  My father is ruthless, Cody and I don’t say that lightly.  If he even thinks someone poses a threat – no not even a threat, but an inconvenience to his plans, he thinks nothing about destroying them.  And we all know that with enough money you can ruin almost anyone.”

“But he doesn’t even know I exist.”

“Are you sure about that?”  Liz looked at Kyle.  “See, this is why I didn’t want to be here. He’s not stupid, he’ll already have people checking things out.  Every friend I’ve made, every person I’ve come into contact with here will be on his radar.”

“Then maybe you need to step up whatever plan you have to stop him.”

“You’re right.”  She looked back at Cody.  “Look, I know you were trying to help and honest to god I love you for that.  But I don’t want you ending up collateral damage and he’ll do that Cody.  Without a second thought. So, please, please promise me you’ll tell Jo to back down.  If he gets wind that someone’s snooping around, he’ll go after her, her family and even the cable network.”

“Well, it’s not like he could hurt the network.”

“He could buy it without blinking, Cody.  Please, listen to me.  If you think Herbert Pursell has power, then multiply that by a hundred, no a thousand.  My father owns the third largest energy company in the world.  Do you have any idea how many billions of dollars he’s worth?  Hell, I don’t and don’t care, but I do know that with that much money comes power and powerful contacts.  You don’t want to be in his crosshairs and I don’t want to see anyone here get hurt because you’re trying to help.”

“Can he really be that bad?” 

“Yeah, he can.”  Liz grabbed Cody in a hug.  “You’re a good person and a good friend. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Well, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Then let me deal with this, okay?”

“Sure, but if you need— “

“I’ll yell.  I promise.  Now, I really need to call my brother so will you excuse me?”

“Sure.”

Liz looked at Kyle and he nodded. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away, pulling out her phone.

Kyle watched her walk away and then looked at Cody.  “Kyle, do you believe what she says about her father?”

“Yeah.”

“So what do we do?”

“Just what she asked.  Her brother has a plan so let them work it.  They know their father better than anyone, so they stand the best chance of dealing with him.”

“And if they can’t?”

“Then we do what we have to.”

She regarded him for a few moments.  “Something happened, didn’t it?  Between you and Liz?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think she can win?  What if she just gave the horse back?”

“I don’t know, Cody.  I don’t know that she can. It’s complicated and not my story to tell, but things between Liz and her father aren’t good.  He’d have her tossed in jail just because she bucked him.  And she’d go to jail rather than cow down to him.  I’m afraid it’s gone too far for a peaceful resolution.”

“But what if she doesn’t win?”

“We’ll face that if we come to it.  Right now, I have things to attend to and I need to talk to Wes to see where things stand with Landing.”

“Okay, well, I’ll leave you in peace but you’ll call if you need me, right?”

“I will.  Thanks.”

“Okay, see you later.”

Kyle watched as she got in her truck and left.  He then turned to look at Liz.  She stood at the paddock fence. Tapping one foot and holding her phone. He got the feeling she was impatiently awaiting a call. He wouldn’t interrupt.  She’d tell him what he needed to know once she was done.

The assuredness he felt about that surprised him.  He’d gone from wondering who she was and being mistrustful of her to having complete confidence in her honor.  That was damn near a miracle.

But then so was realizing that he was in love.

*****

Liz answered before the first ring completed.  “Coop. Listen I wanted to talk to you about the plan.”

“Forget what I said. We’ve got to move up our timetable.”

“What happened?”

“Mom.”

“Mom?”

“She called.  She knows about the geological report.”

“That’s impossible.  She’s not involved in the oil business and— “

“She knows Liz.  And if she knows, she got the information from someone, so she’s not the only one.”

“Oh hell.  If Dad finds out— “

“He’ll bury us.  Me anyway.”

“Coop, you’ve got to get Wes on board.  If we can get him to agree I know people who may be able to help.”

“Help how?”

“Convince others to jump onboard with us.”

“Us?  So you’re in?  I mean in.”

“Yeah.  Time I started putting that education to work. But we need to move Coop and I mean like yesterday.”

“I’ll call Wes now.  Can you come to— “

“No.  Forget me coming to San Antonio.  You come here.  To Cotton Creek.”

“Liz, if Wes’s father finds out I’m there— “

“He won’t.  Come to where I am.”

There was a moment of silence before he agreed.  “Okay, but first I have to get up with Wes.  If he agrees I’ll drive down this afternoon.”

“He’s going to agree.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I’m going to convince him.”

“You think you can do that?”

“Yes. I do.  Go ahead and call though.  I’ll call you back within the hour.”

“Okay, but be careful Liz.  We can’t let Herbert get wind of this.”

“I know.  Talk to you later.”

The moment she finished the call she ran in search of Kyle.  He was sitting on the front porch, talking on the phone.

“Wes.”  He mouthed as she ran up.

“Ask him to hold.”

“Wes, can you hold a second?  I’ll be right back.  Thanks.”  He muted the phone.

“I have to see Wes.  Can you get him to meet me?”

It didn’t take long for him to reply.  “Let’s see.”  He went back to his call.  “Wes?  Sorry.  Listen I know you have a lot on your plate, but any chance you’d meet with me and Liz?  It’s about…”  He looked up at Liz and she stuck out her hand for the phone.

Kyle relinquished it and she hit the speaker button.  “Wes?  It’s Liz.  I know you’ve been talking with Cooper.  His plan is good, Wes and it’ll work, but we have to move fast.  Someone talked. Coop just called and someone knows about that report.  If your father or mine find out— “

“Where do you want to meet?”

“Can you come here?”

“Be there in half an hour.”

“Okay, see you then.”

She ended the call and handed the phone back to Kyle. He gave her a concerned look. “Report?  What report? What’s going on Liz?”

“Oil.”

“Oil?”

She sat down on the step beside him.  “My father got his hands on a government geological report.  It’s illegal for him to have it, but he paid handsomely for it.  What it shows indicates what would be the biggest oil strike ever.  I mean make the Middle East’s oil reserves look like chump change.”

“But he can’t use it, right?”

“Not legally.  But he can buy up all the mineral rights from everyone who owns land covered on the report, then have his own survey done.  It won’t be as thorough, but it will suffice and enable him to start drilling test wells.”

“And never tell the owners there’s oil?”

“No, he’d make it seem like he’s protecting them and he’d pay enough to make it tempting.”

“And then he’d take all the oil.”

“Exactly.  But here’s the rub.  Whoever sold him that report double-crossed him and sold a copy to Herbert Pursell as well.”

“Why would they do that?  Oh wait, because Wes has been up there in the Dakota’s for a while so they’re competitors.”

“Yeah, but that’s not why.  The oil isn’t in the Dakotas.  It’s right here, in Texas and from what Coop told me Cotton Creek and most of this county and two others is sitting right smack dab in the middle of it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.  That’s not possible.  JD’s family has a few wells and they do okay but they’ve never struck it big.”

“JD Weathers?  Your friend?  He’s in the oil business?”

“His family is.  His brothers Bronson and Jasper run the oil business.”

“And people trust them?”

“Well yeah, sure.  They’re good people.  Honest and hard working.”

“And they don’t trust Wes.”

“The people here?  Well, I – I don’t know.  Probably not all that much.  He hasn’t spent much of his adult life here and no one much likes his father.  Now, his mother – that’s a different story.  Everyone in the county likes Mary.  She’s a good woman.  The best.”

Liz smiled.  “This is looking better and better.”