Cowboy Country (79 page)

Voices in the bedroom alerted her that Levi’s friends had come to help them, although what they could do was anybody’s guess. She opened the bathroom door and stopped. The room had filled up with men. Loud, large men. In Stetsons. And boots. More than twenty of them. She’d never seen so many pairs of Wranglers in her whole life.

She resisted the urge to turn around and hide under the sink.

~*~

Levi spotted Ava in the doorway of the bathroom and shoved his way through his friends. “We have help.”

She looked ready to faint. “Who are all these men?”

He took her hand and pulled her forward. “My friends. I’ll introduce you later. Ready to leave?”

“Uh-huh.”

Levi wolf-whistled. When everyone looked his direction, he motioned to Ava. “This is the lady I was telling you about. She saw a man get killed tonight and the killer’s after her. We’re going to help her slip out of town.”

“Why didn’t you go to the cops?” A tall, thin man with a handlebar mustache sounded mad.

She glanced at Levi and he spoke. “Because we think they might be dirty. It might have been a mob hit.”

“We’re professional athletes,” the man said. “Getting tangled up with the mob could ruin our careers. I don’t want any more of this. Anyone else out?”

Another man spoke. “I’m sticking around.”

Several of them murmured an agreement.

“I’m gone.” Drew moved toward the door and Levi stepped in front of him.

“Not a word to anyone. Understand?”

“Got it.” Drew shouldered him aside and left.

Ava blinked hard. Because of her Levi and his good friend fought. “I’m sorry, everyone. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“Hell, this ain’t no trouble,” one of them said. “Trouble’s a tornado after you strung a fifty-mile fence. This is just a little fun.”

“Thank you all,” Ava said.

Levi took the floor. “So, as I was saying, I need you to surround us until we get in my truck then drive real tight with us until we get out of town. Anyone going to Denver and wants to stick close the whole way, that’d be great.”

The gleam in several of his friends’ eyes made Levi take a second look at Ava. With her golden hair brushed and all that goop washed off her face, she looked like an angel. A terrified angel. He practically growled with protectiveness. “The boys have our backs.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Okay.”

He rested his hand on her slender back. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

One of the many cowboys said, “You ready, Levi?”

He looked at Ava, then nodded. “Yeah.”

The cowboy opened the door and two of them stepped through. Levi led Ava out next. In a mass of humanity they moved down the hallway and stairs. Levi frowned when of his friends moved close enough to Ava to brush his body against hers, although she seemed oblivious.

At the door of his truck, three of his friends stayed close while she climbed in and he jumped into the driver’s seat. “Thanks, boys.”

One of them slammed the door shut.

Levi started the engine, backed out of his space and turned behind a big black Ford. Another truck pulled up tight on his bumper. Others moved in the parking lot, closing them in. He was reminded of stagecoaches circling the wagons. “Duck down out of sight.”

“Do you see Dario?” Ava looked as if she might up-chuck as she laid her head on the seat near his thigh.

“Not right now.” He glanced around. His friends had them surrounded with big pickups of every size and color. “Just a bunch of cowboys.”

Slowly, moving like a parade, they pulled onto the frontage road. Levi checked his mirrors, but saw no sign of the hitman. His friends circled him as they moved onto the freeway. A few fell off as they hit the city limits, but most stayed close and tight.

Ava peered at him from her hiding place on the seat. “Is it safe for me to sit up now?”

“I think so. My buddies have us covered.”

She sat up, pushing her glossy hair out of her face. “Are they going all the way to Denver?”

“I’d say most.” He shifted into high gear. “A lot of them are entered in the All Stars Show.”

“You have good friends,” she said with a hint of envy in her voice.

“I sure do.” He glanced in her direction. “Don’t you have people you can depend on?”

Her eyes filled and she blinked hard then turned to look out her window. “Not really. No one who would put their life on the line like yours have.”

“You need better friends.” He waved at the guy barreling alongside them. “Rodeo creates a tight bond, even among the toughest competitors. We look out for each other.”

“That’s nice.” She sighed and leaned back into the leather seat. “Every girl in Vegas wants my job. And most of them would do anything to take it.”

“Don’t think those guys out there don’t want my title,” Levi said, “but they’ll go after it fair and square.”

She turned her head his way and he could feel her gaze on his brand new buckle. His body tightened.

“You won a title? This year?”

“Yeah.” He smiled proudly. “Saddle bronc champion.”

“Is that what you were doing at the Blue Valentine?” She brushed a strand of hair away from her mouth and his gaze followed her long, elegant fingers. “Celebrating?”

“Yep.” He grinned at her.

“I’m impressed.”

“Thanks.” He pushed his hat back a fraction. “I drew some rough ones this year. Got some real good horses. I got lucky and stuck them all.”

“It took more than luck,” she said. “If you’re a world champion, you worked hard and you earned it.”

“Thanks.” Pleased more than he wanted to admit, he looked in his mirror. His good buddy, Stan, followed on his bumper. Two more pickups stayed behind him. Others were still on both sides.

His thoughts went back to her comment. Buckle bunnies of all kinds and ages had complimented his championship. A few newscasters, and plenty of fans, too. But many of them had seemed insincere. Just angling for a way to get close to him. Ava, with no apparent knowledge of his sport, made him feel ten feet tall.

Together, they watched the sun come up, turning the desert pink, then orange and finally green. The miles rolled by and Levi reached for his CD case. He handed it to Ava. “Pick something, will you?”

She opened it and flipped through his music selection. “George Jones. Hank Williams. Waylon Jennings. Chris Ledoux. Patsy Cline. Merle Haggard. My word, don’t you have anything modern?”

“Hey.” He frowned at her. “I have Reba and Faith in there.”

“I meant someone like Beyoncé or Rihanna.” She finally selected Miranda Lambert. “I think I know something by this artist. ‘Gunpowder and Lead.’”

“Those pop girls don’t suit me.” He yawned as he popped the disc into the player and Miranda Lambert’s music filled the cab. “I like my ladies country.”

“Then you won’t like me at all,” Ava said. “I’m as city as they come. I shook off the dust of my small hometown a long time ago and I don’t have any desire to get it back on me.”

“I like you fine.” He winked at her. “Just fine.”

Ava crossed her slim ankles and he fought to watch the road and not the length of her shapely legs. “I’ll catch a bus home when we get to Denver.”

“Straight back into danger?”

“I think Dario will give up when he figures out we didn’t turn him in to the authorities.” She sounded so hopeful he hated to point out they were surrounded by a posse of sorts. His buddies. Men willing to put themselves on the line for him. And her.

“Do you think he’s going to just forget you saw him kill a guy? Walk away?”

“I suppose not.” Her voice sounded so small and sad he longed to pull over and wrap his arms around her. He spotted a truck stop ahead and turned on his blinker. “Are we stopping?”

“I need coffee,” he said.

She unfolded her long legs. “A break sounds wonderful.”

“Stay close to me in there.” He flashed his lights at the truck ahead of him and they turned on their turn signals in response. The fleet of pickups all filed onto the exit ramp.

She reached for her purse. “I need to go to the ladies’ room.”

“I think there are some girls with us,” Levi said. “Take one or more of them with you. I’ll wait by the door.”

“What? Grab a stranger by the arm and drag her into the bathroom with me? She’ll think I’m nuts. I’ll be locked up faster than the guy chasing me. Contrary to popular belief, every woman doesn’t want to go to the bathroom in a pack.” She braided her hair with deft fingers. “I’ll be fine by myself.”

He pulled into a parking spot and his friends surrounded them. For a few minutes, they sat and watched to see if a black Town Car pulled in, too. But nothing showed up, and after his friends encased his pickup with their bodies, he climbed out with Ava close behind him. He took her delicate hand and tugged her close. For a moment, she resisted, then relaxed against him. “Come on.”

Once again, a sea of Stetson-wearing men closed in around them. Levi motioned to his friend, Pake. He said in a low voice, “Hey, is Tessa with you?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Can she go to the ladies’ room with Ava? Stand guard?”

Pake turned to his wife and repeated the request. He nodded at Levi. “No problem.”

Before Levi could pass on the news, Ava said, “I heard. And so did everyone else.”       Around them, his friends tried to hide their grins.

A petite brunette shoved her way through the throng. “Don’t mind them. They’re a bunch of idiots. Come with me.” She took Ava’s arm and they left the cowboys in the concession area.

“She’s right, you know.” Pake punched Levi in the arm. “You are an idiot.”

Pausing from pouring a cup of coffee, Levi glanced at his friend. “How so?”

“Taking on the mob over a girl you barely know. Dumb, buddy, dumb.”

“I couldn’t stand by and watch her get killed.” Levi replaced the coffee pot and pushed a lid onto the Styrofoam cup. “What would you have done? Watch an innocent woman die?”

“Maybe Drew was right and you should’ve let the cops handle it. You can’t afford to lose your sponsors.” Pake poured his own cup of coffee and grabbed a cheese Danish from a nearby tray.

“You know cops don’t always do as much as they should.” A painful memory knifed through him. The cops’ refusal to do much about Beth’s murder because of his family’s last name. Because of what his father did. The thought of Beth’s killer still on the loose could twist a knot in his gut even after all these years.

“What’re you going to do with this gal when you get her to Denver?” Pake asked around a mouthful of Danish.

“I haven’t figured that out quite yet.” Levi tasted his day-old coffee and frowned. “First, I have to get her there. Then I’ll deal with things. You don’t like it, you can drop out anytime you want.”

“Like hell.” Pake shook his head. “I never said nothin’ like that. You need me, I’m there.”

“Thanks, man.” Levi held out his hand and they shook. “I owe you.”

“Damn straight.” Pake grinned to show no hard feelings. “Let’s get this little lady somewhere safe. You have a rodeo coming up; you better get your mind on your next ride.”

Her soft vanilla scent alerted Levi to Ava’s presence before she spoke. “He’s right, you know. You should send me back home and let the police take over. Get as far away as possible.”

Levi spun around. Both women stood behind him, but he looked at Ava. “We’ve covered this. You’re staying with me until you’re safe.”

“Rodeo cowboys have hard heads from being bucked off so often. You sort of get used to it after a while.” Tessa gave Ava a sympathetic smile before she moved toward the soda cases.

Ava crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin defiantly. “And if I refuse?”

“It’s your funeral.” He hoped she didn’t hear the despair in his voice his three words conjured up for him.

CHAPTER THREE

The miles rolled by and Ava slowly began to unwind. The warmth blasting from the heater and the old country tunes soothed her frayed nerves. She fought to keep her eyes open.

“Go ahead and sleep. There’s no need for you to stay awake,” Levi said. “I’ve made this drive a million times and I know it like the back of my hand.”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking. If I pretend to be your girlfriend for a few days, it would all just be an act? Right?”

He glanced at her. “Sure.”

“I mean, sex wouldn’t be part of the deal?”

“Well if you insist…” He held up his hand when she blanched. “Just kidding.”

Because she was a showgirl people assumed she must be a highly paid prostitute. Or at least easy. Truth was she was neither. She’d been too tall and too shy for the boys in high school, but most of the men who approached her in Vegas wanted to jump her bones within five minutes of meeting her. She wanted love to go along with sex. So far, she hadn’t found it. “I won’t sleep with you.”

“Understood.”

He sounded a little irritated, but she didn’t care. Yes, he’d helped her, but she wouldn’t pay him back with her body. “As long as there’s no sex expected I’ll pose as your girlfriend for a few days. Just until I can figure a way out of this fix.”

“Thank you.” Sarcasm colored his voice.

She smothered a nervous laugh. “I need to know something about you if we’re going to make this work.” She played with the strap of her messenger bag. “Where you grew up. About your parents. How you got into rodeo, that sort of thing.”

He turned down the CD player. “I was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, twenty-five years ago.” His voice turned bleak. “You may have heard of my old man, Clyde Callahan. He was sentenced to life in prison for killing his team roping partner, Moe Browning, during a heated argument over woman.”

“I’m sorry.” Ava reached across the seat and touched his arm. His corded muscles bunched under her palm. “That must’ve been rough.”

“It wasn’t easy. But I survived.” He seemed to look inside himself. “I grew up trailin’ around after my old man. I roped a little, but it was the saddle broncs that drew my attention. I did some rodeoin’ in high school, then college. Turned pro afterward. Been on the PRCA circuit four years.”