Dancing with Deception (8 page)

“We’ll chat about Ry’s parents later, minx, but suffice it to say, this bauble didn’t even make the line-item list for their accountant.”
What? Is he trying to be ambiguous?
Deciding to let it go, she leaned back and let the plush leather of the comfortable seat cradle the back of her head.

She tried to listen as Brandt spoke on the phone, but he was speaking in what she was sure was some mix of military and police code that wasn’t meant to be understood by mere mortals.
Why do they do that? It’s like they are purposely excluding anyone who isn’t in their special club.
She’d have to get a decoder ring if she was going to care about such things, but right now she could barely manage even a flicker of interest.

She’d dealt with enough of that “exclusive club” mentality during her years in private schools to last her several lifetimes…she damned well wasn’t playing the same asinine game as an adult. Before she could work herself up into a good “mad,” Joelle felt her body relaxing despite her best efforts to fight the fatigue. The seat was warming around her and in less than a minute she felt the weight of sheer exhaustion pull her under. Joelle knew she was losing the battle to stay awake, but she couldn’t work up the energy to care. Despite their ridiculous speed, the ride was smooth and she finally surrendered. Leaning against the side of the car, she let go and fell into a sweet abyss of sleep.

Ryan had seen
the battle between fear, frustration, and fatigue waging in Joelle’s eyes and knew the heated seat would help her body’s need for rest win the war. He smiled to himself at how quickly she’d fallen asleep despite the fact she was strapped in the back of a car rocketing down the highway at an obscene speed.

“Might as well throttle this beast back. Phoenix said the perp slipped through the trees and escaped.” Brandt rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. “You know, a part of me is pissed they missed him—no doubt Kip’s fucking truck alerted two thirds of the people in the county he was headed in that direction. But a bigger part of me is relieved because who knows what they were barreling into.”

“And that really isn’t their area of expertise—despite the fact I’m sure they were well armed.” Ryan didn’t try to hold back his chuckle. Hell, his cousins had all been born and raised on a ranch so guns had been a part of their lives since they were old enough to hold them. It hadn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knew Brandt when he qualified for sniper training. Even though he was a skilled marksman, killing hadn’t come easy to him and the man he loved like a brother had paid a huge emotional price for his time as a SEAL.

Brandt hadn’t talked to Ryan about what went down on that last mission, but the scuttlebutt among the teams had provided more than enough information. Ryan knew how difficult Brandt’s battle with PTSD had been because he’d stayed in close contact with his Uncle Dean and his other cousins during the past year. Ryan had encouraged them to be patient and supportive, assuring them Brandt would fight his way back to the surface soon enough. There had been times when he’d wondered if he hadn’t led them astray, but from the looks of things now, Brandt was definitely on the mend.
Funny how the right woman at the right time can make all the difference.

“Oh I’m sure they both had weapons with them, but I’d like to talk to whoever was there. Phoenix might have managed some restraint if the adrenaline didn’t kick his control to the curb. But Kip? Hell, he probably wouldn’t realize what he was feeling was an adrenaline rush, and he damned sure wouldn’t feel a moment’s remorse. You pull him out of a woman’s bed at this hour, that boy is gonna shoot first and ask questions sometime next week.” Brandt’s sly grin assured Ryan the ornery kid he’d once known was still inside the morose man they’d all worried about for the past year and a half. Relief flooded him as he realized their crazy plan to share a woman might actually work.

He’d always worried he wouldn’t find a woman who would be willing to put up with the brutally demanding schedule of doctors in rural areas. But, Ryan had never wanted to specialize in some boring peripheral branch of medicine just to ensure he rarely worked anything but normal office hours. After spending several summers in Pine Creek, he’d always dreamed of settling into a small town—there was something about the intimacy of knowing everyone in the community that seemed
right
to him.

A single trip to the Pine Creek Emergency Room when he’d been sixteen was still burned in his memory. He and his cousins had been racing dirt bikes up the mountain trails behind their home when Ryan rounded a corner ahead of Kip to find a couple of hikers directly in front of him. Despite the fact he knew they were trespassing, his instinct to protect the young couple kicked in making him jerk the bike sharply to the left. The move sent him tumbling end over end down the rocky embankment.

His injuries had been serious enough the first responders on the scene hadn’t wanted to take a chance transporting him to a larger hospital in Missoula or Billings, taking him instead to the much smaller facility in Pine Creek. The medical center would more accurately be described as an elaborate clinic. Their equipment had been dated, but the elderly physician who’d treated him had been top notch. The old man hadn’t missed a thing, he’d even properly diagnosed Ryan’s lacerated liver. And, rather than following the old standard treatment recommendation for emergency surgery, the well-read physician opted to stall and monitor Ryan’s lab tests vigilantly giving his body time to heal the wound on its own. The move had saved Ryan weeks of recovery time and impressed the specialists he’d seen after returning home to Texas.

Doc had stayed at his bedside for thirty-six hours straight, not trusting anyone else to notice the subtle changes he’d assured Dean and Patsy Morgan he was watching for. His dedication to a teenager who’d been driving recklessly and over-reacted causing the fall had been a turning point in Ryan’s young life. Late one night after Doc had finally agreed to release him the next morning, Ryan tried to thank the physician for all he’d done. “Sir, I don’t know how to thank you, well, for everything. But mostly for assuring my mom and dad I’m going to be okay. I didn’t want them coming home from their trip—they’d been looking forward to this for a long time.”

The old guy hadn’t responded, he’d just looked at Ryan over the top of his glasses for long seconds. He’d finally folded the half-moon spectacles and slid them into his pocket before leaning back against the small sink in the corner of the room. “The best way to repay someone for a kindness is to pass it along three-fold. It’s just another take on the Rule of Three, which says everything—both good and bad, that you do comes back to you times three. So if you repeat my kindness three times and each of those people do the same—the world becomes a better place in a real big hurry.” It had been a defining moment and from that point forward, Ryan’s life had changed direction. He’d always assumed he’d join his father in the energy industry, but everything had been different after that summer.

Bringing his thoughts back to the moment, Ryan glanced over his shoulder, he smiled. “She captivates me. She did the first time I met her, but work kept me from following up after we were introduced.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way—but I’m damned glad. If that hadn’t happened, I might not have ever met her.” The sincerity in Brandt’s expression only served to reinforce what Ryan had already seen—if his cousin wasn’t already in love with Joelle, he was definitely moving in that direction. The next time Brandt spoke, his words were much quieter, as if he didn’t want to wake the woman sleeping quietly behind him. “Both of us have chosen careers that will keep us away from home more than we’d like. And, we’ve already discussed sharing. I know it was a long time ago, but…”

“Yes.” He let the one word response sit between them for several seconds before continuing. “If you’re asking if I’m still interested in a polyamorous relationship, the answer is an unequivocal, resounding
yes
. I don’t know how Joelle will feel about it, but I’m damned anxious to find out. I’m sure you feel the same way I do about her safety. I’d like to see this mess resolved before we add any unnecessary stress to her life.”

“Agreed.” Brandt paused so long, Ryan thought the conversation was over. But then he saw a knowing grin spread over his cousin’s face. “I assume this means Pine Creek is going to have another Doc soon?”

Ryan didn’t hesitate, laughing he answered, “Hell, your dad sealed this deal weeks ago. This visit is just a formality. I was going to try to find a place while I was here, but now I’m thinking maybe we ought to all stay at the ranch—at least for a while.” God knew there was plenty of space in the main house. He’d also heard several of his cousins’ homes were finished or nearly so, there should be plenty of options available.

“Joelle definitely needs to stay at the ranch until we get this sorted out. Phoenix is probably ramping up the security system he installed at her place, but nothing beats layers of protection and she’ll have it at the ranch. And we might actually get spend some quality time with her without being interrupted if we have your brothers watching our backs. Hell, I want to shoot the bastard who tripped the alarm for fucking up our time with her if nothing else.” Ryan didn’t care if he sounded petulant, he’d been looking forward to spending some time with Joelle between them even if it was just to sleep for a few hours. He’d been intrigued by her when they first met and now—knowing they shared an in interest in dominance and submission? Hell, he could hardly wait to explore the lifestyle with her, and adding Brandt into the mix the frosting on the cake.

Brandt looked at
his cousin and grinned. “Understood. I have a lot of pent up frustration waiting on the fucker trying to hurt her myself. And screwing up my aftercare plans didn’t do anything to improve my mood. As you know, my team’s last mission, well, it went so far south I saw a penguin sporting a Timberwolf C14.” His favored sniper rifle might not be as recognizable as some others, but it had never failed him. It didn’t matter his Commanding Officer taunted that he’d chosen it simply because of the name—hell, maybe there had been a thread of truth to his accusation. But when his life and those of his team depended on him being able to feel as though the rifle was an extension of himself, he didn’t question
why
something worked—he just used it.

“The whole operation was FUBAR from the time we hit the ground and I’m itching to set a few things straight with the Universe.” Fucked up beyond all recognition was a gross understatement, hell, the enemy had been waiting for them. Brandt never was able to find out all the details, but he knew clear to his toes they’d been set up.

As they neared Joelle’s home, he turned to wake her and saw she was already looking out the window. He hated seeing the forlorn look in her eyes and wished like hell he wasn’t sure he knew what she was thinking. “Joelle, Phoenix and Kip have already cleared the yard, but they’re waiting for me to get there before entering the house.” It was several seconds before she met his gaze—she didn’t respond, just waited patiently for him to continue. “Is the alarm system the only thing we need to contend with?”

She blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds before he saw understanding dawn in her eyes. “Are you asking me if I’ve booby-trapped the place?” When he nodded, her soft laugh didn’t reflect even a hint of humor. “No. I know Coral said she’d done that in her apartment, but with Phoenix’s security system in place, glassware in front of the door seemed like overkill.” He was glad to see she was, at least, pretending her sense of humor was returning, even though he could see the resignation in her eyes. Damn, he hated knowing she thought running was her only option. It wasn’t—not by a long shot, but he was equally convinced it wasn’t going to be easy to persuade her otherwise.

Before stepping out of the vehicle, Brandt gave Ryan a knowing look—the message clear.
Take care of her.
He joined his brothers and listened as they relayed what they’d found. After listening to Kip describe where he’d heard a vehicle roar to life, there wasn’t any question the perimeter breach had been intentional. No one
accidentally
ended up in the rutted woods behind Joelle’s home. The area was covered in thick brush and riddled with treacherous washouts tourists wouldn’t find and locals didn’t have any interest in dealing with. Hell, everyone knew it had been part of the reason Joelle’s reclusive uncle had liked the property so much and he assumed it was also a factor in Joelle staying in Pine Creek. She’d probably felt safer in a location knowing she only needed to secure the house itself.