Her Mother's Killer (25 page)

He looked like he wanted to argue with Gwen, but he shook his head. “Okay. Okay, a little stupid of me, but she’s my baby sister.” He turned to face Thea. “Why didn’t you tell me, and just what the hell do you and Duncan think you’re doing?”

She studied her brother and realized this was more than just brotherly worry. He was genuinely hurt that she didn’t go to him. “I love you, but I know you. You never forgave yourself for being gone that night.” The flush that mottled his face told her she was right. “I didn’t want you going off half-cocked. You’re a good cop, but I am not sure you could have been in this situation. Now, I want to get dressed and head home.”

A look passed between Jed and Gwen that Thea couldn’t interrupt. Then they both looked at her.

“Thea, I think you should stay here,” Gwen reasoned.

“No. I want to go home. There’s no reason to stay here. Chris is caught.”

“The kids might come around,” Jed said.

Thea shook her head. “No. They’ll go to Mom and Dad’s. Besides, all my clothes are over there.”

She stood and headed to her room before they could come up with another argument.

Ten minutes later, they were heading down the road to her house. Jed pulled into her driveway and Thea had to hide her disappointment. Duncan wasn’t there. Granted, she knew he had a lot more important things to deal with, and his family had been dealt a blow so painful, it could shatter them. The image of his blank expression when Jed had taken her away rose up. She pushed it aside, needing to concentrate on the here and now.

Slipping out of the truck, she walked up to the porch. Jed silently followed her up the stairs to the front porch. She unlocked the door and turned to tell him to leave but the serious look on his face stopped her. She headed through the living room to the kitchen, his reluctant footsteps following her.

“Uh, Thea.” The worry in Jed’s voice caused worry to creep up her spine. “Duncan dropped off the key this morning while you were still sleeping.”

Keeping her back to Jed, she closed her eyes to the pain almost blinding her. In the time since her separation, since finding out her husband was nothing but a cheating bastard, she’d thought she knew pain. But nothing compared to this. She refused to break down in front of Jed. Last night seemed to have aged him ten years and he didn’t need his sister sobbing all over him about a guy.

She plastered a smile on her face, hoping it wouldn’t look too fake.

“Well, at least I don’t have to go hunt him down for it.”

“Thea, I didn’t know when he stopped by he’d been staying out here.”

“What did you think the key was for?”

“Well, I thought maybe he needed it for…oh hell, I don’t know.”

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry. I didn’t expect anything. Jed, I really didn’t. I just divorced, for goodness sakes. And although you like to pretend I’m twelve, I’m a woman grown. I wanted some fun. That’s all.”

Yeah and she had some oceanfront property in west Texas. But she couldn’t let Jed know how much those words hurt. “You need a place to stay?”

He looked like he didn’t want to talk about that, but he apparently he thought better of it. “Yeah.”

“Then you can have the spare room. Also, I am going to need your help looking at some real estate this week.”

“Real estate?”

She nodded. “I’
m contemplating opening a café.”

He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “You aren’t thinking, you’ve decided.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I have.” Thea’s mind drifted back to the night before, to the moment that Chris had shown up and her smile faded. “I am going to need to talk to someone, and unfortunately, it will probably have to be Duncan.”

Jed frowned. “He’s on administrative leave.”

With a sigh, she nodded. “Who is in charge?”

“Deputy Fredrickson.”

“Call, tell him I want to lodge a complaint against one of their officers.”

“Uh, Thea…you can’t do this to Duncan.”

She made a face. “Good Lord, Jed. I’m talking about Richard. He threatened me last night.”

His expression changed from worry to outrage in the blink of an eye. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She explained about Richard, his connection to the case, what might have happened at Texas Tech. Each tidbit of information had him cussing.

“I want to lodge a complaint. A bastard like that should not have a badge.”

Jed nodded and took out his cell phone. “You might have to go in and make a statement.”

She straightened her shoulders. “I can do it.”

He smiled and then pulled her into a giant bear hug. “I love you, Althea.”

Tears prickled the back of her eyes and she blinked to fight them off. When she pulled out of the hug, she said, “I love you too.”

Pausing in the act of dialing, he said, “Maybe I should go in, talk to Fredrickson first. I want this kept low until we get everything in order.”

She thought it odd, but she shrugged it off. “Okay. I’m going to do some cooking.”

He leaned in, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “If I see Duncan, do you have a message you want me to give him?”

At the mention of Duncan’s name, a shaft of pain sliced through her. She almost said no, but the ache was too raw to ignore. She knew he wasn’t thinking right now, that his mind was tangled, messed up from everything that happened, but it didn’t matter. She wanted him to hurt as much as she was hurting. And if she pissed him off, he might stop being such a jackass.

“Yeah. Tell him that it was no big deal and not to worry. Now that Chris is gone, I don’t need him.”

Jed’s face went blank, then he grinned. “You do know him.”

She offered him an innocent smile but said nothing.

Moments later she watched Jed back out of drive and mentally rubbed her hands together. Thea regretted she couldn’t be there to see the expression on Duncan’s face when Jed told him her message. She knew it would irritate him. And, sooner or later, he’d come looking for her.

She didn’t care. She was ready to fight him for all he had. Including his heart.

Chapter
Twenty

Wednesday morning, Duncan sat in his office, filling out forms on the investigation. After telling his mother and Chase, he’d went home and collapsed in bed for most of the day. When he awoke at four in the afternoon, the first thing he thought of was calling Thea.

But reality had crashed around him. Thea could never really be his. He knew it as well as he knew his last name.
 
How could a woman actually love a man who was blood related to her parents’ killer?
 Besides, he knew she wouldn’t be sticking around Crocker for much longer. She’d probably move to Dallas or somewhere big like that. Someone with her talent couldn’t make money in a town the size of Crocker.

The weight of failure once again sat on his shoulders, in his very soul. He had failed Jessica, all those years ago, and he had almost done it again. The door to the station house opened and Jed walked in. Another punch to the gut. Regretfully, Duncan stood, knowing he was probably about to lose his best friend. Not only had he bedded the man’s sister, but his uncle had killed Jed’s parents.

Jed smiled, and waved to a couple of the deputies and Rangers still lingering, finishing up the investigation. The closer he got, the more visible the stress was on his face. His smiles weren’t real, the circles beneath his eyes darker than Duncan had ever seen them. He looked used and worn out and Duncan knew just how he felt.

Jed stepped into his office and shut the door behind him.

“You here to kick my ass?” Duncan asked.

A look of surprise flashed in his eyes and a rusty chuckle escaped. “No. I wanted to…well hell, I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for you, Thea would have been running around the county, putting herself in danger. Hell, who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t moved in and taken over? You know how she is.”

He nodded, still waiting for the accusations. When Jed didn’t say anything else, Duncan decided to bring up the subject.

“I failed again.”

Jed studied him for a moment, then said, “What happened with Jessica, hell, you know what she was like. That whole situation was a clusterfuck from the beginning until the end. You made a mistake, but she was a cop too, and she made them. She put you in danger.”

Duncan shook his head in denial but Jed plowed ahead.

“Man, you have one helluva God complex.”

“What the hell do you mean?”
Duncan asked, irritation marching down his spine.

“You made a mistake, a major fuckup, but you
 
are
 only human.”

“I almost cost Thea her life.”

“I told you, she was intent on putting herself in danger. You made sure she was safe. And thank God Richard is suspended. That bastard should never have let her go.”

Another failure, he should have seen Richard’s problems.

“Oh, for the love of God. I can read your mind right now. I knew Richard and would never have thought he would try to assault my sister. And, if you suspected, you couldn’t do anything until you investigated. You would have been slapped with a lawsuit.” Jed rubbed his hand over his face. “Lord, I’m tired.”

“I thought you might want to ‘discuss’ my involvement with your sister.”

Jed’s eyes widened a bit and then he smiled. “Well, she did tell me to thank you for everything you did.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, in fact she’d wanted me to tell you to tell Chase and Rusty she needed to have them out at the house for dinner to thank them. Especially Chase. She feels guilty about putting him at risk.”

“She feels guilty? What about me?”

“Oh, that’s your job. I mean, it’s expected of you.”

Rage and jealousy pumped through him. He had no right to feel them, but he did.

“And Thea explained everything to me.”

He settled his hands on his hips. Jed was grinning at him as if he was privy to some joke.

“And just what did she explain to you?”

“Well, that you both understood there were no strings attached. That you were both just fooling around.”

“And that doesn’t bother you? As her big brother, you should be more protective.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice. He couldn’t believe he had to stand there and explain just what Jed should be doing. Hell, if she’d been his sister, and the situation had been reversed, he’d be kicking the crap out of Jed.

“Well, as she explained yesterday, she’s almost thirty, not thirteen. She’s a woman who has to make her own decisions. She said it was no big deal.”

Oh, anger boiled his blood. “No big deal?”

“Yeah, said it wasn’t like you two were in love, or anything.”

He grabbed his coat and headed to the door. Without a word to Jed, his deputies, or Gina, he rushed to his truck. He’d just see about no big deal. That woman had a thing or two to learn about him, and he was ready to teach her.

* * * *

Thea watched Chase gobble down the last of the pasta she’d made him. He stopped by, unannounced, giving her the little hungry puppy look so she’d invited him to lunch.

“I guess I should wonder where you put all of that food,” she said then let out with a laugh.

“Well, Perry men have always had high metabolisms. We’re stallions.”

“Yeah, I can tell you have a way with Fiona.”

He scowled and her heart caught. It was the same little-boy-denied-a-treat look that Duncan had. “I have no idea what that woman is thinking most of the time.”

“And, for you, that’s a first?”

“Yeah. I mean she puts off all these vibes, but…” He stopped as if afraid he’d said too much. He cleared his throat. “Mom wanted to come by but she didn’t know what to say.”

“You tell her that she can stop by anytime. I want you and your mother to know that I don’t blame either one of you. How could you have known?”

He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. Finally he nodded and she figured that was all she was going to get out of him.

“I was amazed Duncan moved back to his place.” She just stared at him, and didn’t say a word. He chuckled. “Going to keep quiet, huh?”

She widened her eyes trying to look as innocent as possible. “Why, Chase, I have no idea what you are talking about. It was nothing more than a fling. I told Jed to tell him not to worry.”

He laughed out loud. “You’re about to reel him in, aren’t you? He’s probably going to fall for it, knowing my brother.”

“You shouldn’t be laughing. I don’t think it’s going to be much longer before you have your own date with destiny. Or maybe you’ve already had it.”

He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “What did that mean?”