Matt—The Callahan Brothers (Brazos Bend Book 2) (9 page)

“I knew it wasn’t you, Callahan.”

“Then why are you here? Why the gun? Why did you shoot up my truck?”

“Since this started I carry my gun with me all the time. As far as your truck goes ... I lost my temper. You really shouldn’t call a woman with a gun a fluff-headed bimbo. Nevertheless, I’ll pay for the repairs.”

“Damn right you will.”

Gigi poked her head up out of Torie’s bag and let out the little yip that meant she needed to go outside.

Torie was grateful for the distraction; his attitude had her temper at a slow boil once again. “May I take her ... ?” She gestured toward the back door.

“Of course.” Les smiled magnanimously.
 

Matt folded his arms and leaned back against the counter. “If she does her business on the patio, you’ll clean it up. And don’t try to run off without making good on your debt.”

“Oh, bite me.”

“No thanks. All that foaming at the mouth ... rabies is a turnoff.”

She snarled at him, lifted her chin, and headed outdoors. After answering the nature’s call, Gigi decided to explore a bit. Torie let her wander. She was in no hurry to face the men in the kitchen again.

The soft breeze carried the scent of rain, and Torie looked up and noted the thunderclouds building in the west. She stood there, soaking in the peace of the place, and slowly her mood eased. She’d always enjoyed the country. She loved taking long weekends at a bed-and-breakfast somewhere in rural America. It grounded her. Kept the craziness that was Hollywood in perspective.

When she heard the screen door squeak open behind her, she didn’t need to turn and look to know that Callahan had come out to join her. Determined not to let him get her goat this time, she summoned up her nerve to say something long overdue. “I am truly sorry that I shot you when we were in the helicopter. It was an accident, but my foolishness caused it. While I’m at it, I apologize for coming here with my gun blazing, too. It was a stupid thing to do.”

“Finally we agree on something.” He stood beside her and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Where did you find a pink Glock, anyway?”

“I had it Durocoated.” She chewed her lower lip a moment, debating the intelligence of bringing the next subject up, but since she was apologizing ... “I understand that the rehabilitation on your leg was ... difficult.”

He gave her a droll look. “Difficult? That’s not the word I’d use.”

“I’m very sorry you had to go through that because of me.”

He shrugged, then, after a moment, gave her a sidelong look. “You talk to your sister about me?”

“Your name came up a time or two.” Actually, it had been daily.

After surgery on his leg, Matt rehabbed at Walter Reed in DC. Helen, who’d been spirited out of Rio and recruited to study her potentially dangerous discovery for Uncle Sam, worked in a lab nearby. She’d been thankful for his help in rescuing Torie and regretful of his injury, so Helen took to spending her lunch hour visiting Matt.

She’d been devastated by Collin’s betrayal. Study of the pictures Torie had taken on the island had revealed that the woman with Collin wasn’t just any Latina beauty, but the sister-in-law of Esteban Romo, who was the brother of Gleaming Way’s number one man in Rio, Alejandro Romo. Apparently, Marlow’s popping up on the terrorist watch list wasn’t due to dealings with terrorists, but with a terrorist’s relative. Helen had told Torie that visiting Matt helped her come to terms with everything that had happened.

Torie’s response to her sister’s action was complicated. She felt horrible about the accident. Matt’s reaction when Helen walked into his hospital room and he thought she was Torie didn’t help. At least the bedpan he threw at her twin had been empty. While she was glad her sister could help him, she ... well ... she’d never been able to forget the fact that Helen admitted she and Matt Callahan shared a kiss.

That might have had something to do with her itchy trigger finger today.

“Helen said she thought you’d forgiven me for the accident. Otherwise, I never would have come here.”

His only reaction to that was a “humph.”

Gigi trotted out from behind the pecan tree where she’d been rooting around, and spying Matt, she bared her teeth and growled. He shook his head in disgust. “What kind of dog do you call that?”

“Pekeatese. She’s a Pekingese and Maltese cross.”

“In other words, a mini-mutt. Considering your circumstances, you should have a real dog. A German shepherd, a Rottweiler. Something that could protect you.”

Torie sighed. “When I started getting the phone calls and threatening letters, I tried bringing home a retriever. Having another dog around upset Gigi’s aura, so I gave the retriever to a friend.”

“You gave away the wrong dog.”

“Gigi was a gift from the Jays. Once the baby came, Jack thought Julie was giving Gigi too much attention, so they gave her to me.” Torie lowered her voice and added, “I knew if I gave her away, I’d never work in Hollywood again. That’s beside the point, though, because I fell in love with her.”

Gigi offered unconditional love—something Torie always found to be in short supply. Gigi didn’t care if Torie was paparazzi. She didn’t mind that the prospect of studying biology, chemistry, and genetics made Torie’s eyes cross. Gigi truly wasn’t concerned whether Torie ever bought a house.

“No accounting for taste.” He curled his lip at Gigi, who’d continued to growl; then he pinned Torie with a stare. “How did you know to look for me here? I’m not around all that often.”

“I made a few phone calls. Remember who my father is? I’m connected.”

He thought about that a few moments, then asked, “So what’s the deal with the general? Why isn’t he helping you?”

“He’s overseas.” Now it was Torie’s turn to shrug. “Besides, he doesn’t believe me. He thinks I’m making everything up to get his attention.”

“General Bradshaw is a sharp hombre.”

“This time he’s wrong.” She looked at him, her gaze imploring. “He’s absolutely wrong, Matt. I’m not making this up. It isn’t in my mind and I’m not crazy. Someone is out to get me. Surely you could see that in those pictures. He broke into my house, terrorized my dog, and took pictures of me while I slept. The police say that can’t prove a crime has been committed and frankly, they don’t care. They have no intention of helping me.” Torie drew a deep breath, then looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m hoping you’ll be different.”

“You want my help? That’s why you came here?”
 

She shrugged, then nodded. Matt let the moment drag out before he chuckled softly. “If you’re not a piece of work. I curse your name every morning when I get out of bed and have to work the soreness out of my knee. You cost me my career. You cost me a goal I’ve pursued for years. You have a job I don’t respect, a dog I pity, and you shot up my truck. Why in the world would you think I’d help you?”

Okay, so that didn’t sound so good. “Because you have a thing for Helen and helping me would keep you on her good side?”

“You think I have a thing for your sister?” he asked, his tone incredulous.

“Don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I wish I did. Don’t think I haven’t tried to talk myself down that road. Helen is a wonderful woman. She’s smart, honest—a paragon. I’d feel a helluva lot better if it were Helen starring in my dreams at night, but no. Oh, no.” He pinned her with a look of half anger, half self-disgust. “I have to dream about you.”

Torie blinked twice. “Me? You have dreams about me?”

“Hot ones. Sheet scorchers.”

Wow. Oh, wow. Now, that was a surprise. “How do you know it’s me and not my sister?”

“Oh, I know.”

Hmm ... should she tell him she’d had some hot erotic dreams about him, too? “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it pisses me off, Victoria. I want to forget you. More than just about anything, I want you out of my life and out of my mind and far, far away from my truck. Today.”

She exhaled in a rush. “What about the stalker?”

“He’s your problem, not mine.”

She didn’t let him see how much his callous declaration hurt. Instead, she folded her arms and set her foot to tapping. “So you’re just abandoning me? You won’t help me at all?”

“Tell you what. I’ll forgive the debt you owe me on the truck. Just take your designer dog and get your sexy little ass on down the road.”

His “sexy little ass” comment distracted her. And here she’d been thinking she had some spread and slippage action going on. Then she gave her head a shake. The state of her buns was of secondary importance here. She started pacing, fiddling with her earring, playing with her hair. She recognized the agitation in her movements, identified the anxiousness that had her stomach rolling, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it. She couldn’t deny that she was deathly afraid.

She couldn’t let Callahan send her away. She had no clue of where to go next.

So. How to change his mind? She spied no sign of wavering in those bright blue eyes of his. She could try seduction, but with a harem at his beck and call, that option didn’t appear too promising. Bribery? With what? Helen said Matt Callahan was filthy rich. The only thing she could think of was to attempt to appeal to the hero hidden deep in his soul.

I’m doomed.

Nevertheless, Torie decided to give it a try. She spoke from her heart. “I’m a basket case, Callahan. I haven’t been thinking, only reacting. And my reaction was to flee to the one person I knew who could keep me safe.”

She put her hand on his arm and did something she very rarely—if ever—did. Torie begged. “Please help me, Matt. I don’t know anyone else who can. You’re my last resort.”

She saw him waver. Indecision drifted across his face like a cloud, raising her hopes. “You’re a Texan. Texan men have a reputation for gallantry toward women. I’ll bet your father raised you that way. Will you look past your justifiable righteousness and step up and help me? Please?”
 

A hard look came over his expression and she saw immediately that she’d made a mistake, though she hadn’t a clue what it was. His gaze fastened on the logo of the sign beside the tasting room door and bitterness soured his tone as he said. “Look what happened last time I tried to help you. I may be slow, but I’m not stupid.”

He picked up a snarling Gigi and handed her to Torie. “You can be in Fort Worth by lunchtime. The police department is downtown by the courthouse. Walk in there and twitch your tail, and you’ll have guys falling over themselves to help you.”

Torie blinked. “That’s just mean.”

He turned and headed for the house, giving her a wave over his shoulder. “There’s an office-supply store on the way into town. Why don’t you stop and buy a notebook—one with lots of pages—so you can make a list of your legions of enemies? They’ll need that. Goodbye, Victoria.”

He was almost to the back porch when she found her voice again. “So you’re throwing me to the wolves? You’re gonna let the bad guys win? What kind of white knight hero are you? You’re supposed to be my guardian angel!”

This time his laugh was genuine. “White knight? Guardian angel? Honey, you truly live in a fantasy world, don’t you? You have it all wrong. Just ask someone in Brazos Bend what folks around town like to call me.”

She waited for a few a minutes, but he didn’t reappear. Despair built within her like a springtime thunderstorm. She’d counted on him more than she’d recognized.

Okay, then,
she eventually told herself.
You’re on your own. Nothing new there. You’ll be okay. You’ll handle this. It’s time to regroup and make yourself a backup plan.

She sprayed even more gravel than when she’d arrived as she left Matt Callahan’s house.
 

She brooded as she drove, and thirty minutes later when she spied a sign that read Dairy Princess, she decided that a day like this deserved ice cream. The woman behind the counter wore her salt-and-pepper hair pulled back into a ponytail, dangling star earrings, and a crisp white apron over jeans. She smiled widely and welcomed Torie to the Dairy Princess. “I’m Kathy Hudson. This is my place.”

“I love all the rock memorabilia,” Torie said. She took a seat at the counter, introduced herself, and ordered a hot fudge sundae. The two women exchanged small talk and eventually, Kathy asked her what brought her to Brazos Bend.

“I visited Four Brothers Vineyard. I had business with Matthew Callahan.”
 

Kathy clucked her tongue and shook her head, which sent her dangling star earrings swinging. “So he’s back, is he? There’s been rumors around town about it for a week, but those rumors have been wrong before. I’d best make a quick trip to the market. They’re liable to sell out of eggs by closing time tonight because every single woman in town will start to baking for Demon Callahan.”

“Demon Callahan?” Torie repeated, recalling Matt’s parting words. “They call him Demon Callahan?”

“Yep. Even before his brothers were born his father was calling him a little demon. The name stuck, especially after the others came along and their poor mother, God rest her soul, named them after saints. The Callahan boys were troublemakers from the git-go. Didn’t take long at all for townspeople to start calling them the Holy Terrors, led by the eldest, the Demon himself.”