The Bull Rider Wears Pink (12 page)

“You stood next to me at this exact
same rodeo a year ago when I told her to never come back.” Bret’s face was getting
red. “I’m pretty sure you called the woman a harlot or some other creative word
you were using at the time.” Then he stuck his phone to his ear and said hello
as he walked away.

John looked at Cassidy.
Disappointment was one way to describe the expression on her face. Disgust
another. Holy hell, John didn't like it when she thought of him like that. He
needed to remind
her,
he called Rachel those names
because it was his job.

“All Bret
Bodner
wants to do is sell tickets,” Logan announced ignoring
John’s part in getting him and Rachel kicked out of the rodeo. Maybe the man
had forgiven John. “Those bull fighters didn’t do shit and it's because you're
a goddamn girl that they stood around,” he told Cassidy.

John nodded. Logan
was right.

Even though John was agreeing with Logan,
the man still turned on him—maybe he wasn’t going to forgive and forget after
all. Honestly, John knew he'd be on the receiving end of the Cooper fury one
more time before the day was over. He just didn’t think it’d be so soon. “If
you ever call my wife a harlot again,” Logan
threatened, “I will shove my fist so far down your throat you'll be thinking
you were eating it for lunch.”

With that threat effectively
delivered, the bull rider stepped back, pulled his shirt down and looked around
the stalls. “I'm going to find Mike Shannon and have a little talk with him.”

As Cassidy and John watched Logan
and Rachel walk away, John thought about suggesting that they leave the baby
but then decided against it. Whatever happens with Mike, John was pretty sure Logan
could take care of his family.

“Brotherly love,” Cassidy said with
a shrug. “He can be protective when he wants to.” Then, she added, “Nice
undercover work there Pastor John. I didn't think finding the bad guys included
insulting and verbally abusing a woman.”

She walked away with the exact same
attitude her brother had. John looked around for Kevin. As he walked away, he
muttered something like asshole under his breath.

John turned to the bull. “No good
deed goes unpunished, does it?” The bull snorted at him.

Chapter Eight

“I think you like me,” Cassidy told
John. She took a sip of her beer and put it down on the wood table. “But I
don't think you love me,” she insisted after wiping the foam from her mouth.

“I don't think you can judge—” John
started.

“That statement of love you made
today was to get me in bed with you,” she explained to him. She smiled coyly. “You
wanted to touch my breasts.”

John shook his head back and forth.
Then he shook it up and down, full disclosure was best. “Hell yeah, I wanted to
fondle your breasts but your logic is all wrong,” he informed her.

They were sitting at a table in a
bar listening to blue grass music. Kevin had gone to the bathroom so they had a
few moments to set things straight. Unfortunately they weren't on the same
page. Yes, John had already apologized to Cassidy for insulting Rachel a year
ago. Except he couldn't ask for forgiveness directly from Rachel because the mini
Cooper family had moved on to the next rodeo, Logan
was hoping to make a few bucks over in Steamboat Springs.

“If I was trying to get you into my
bed I would have had birth control available,” John argued.
“A
package of condoms or even your diaphragm.”
He took a sip of his beer
and looked at her over the rim. “You know you left it at my house.”

She sucked in a deep breath and
moved her folded hands into her lap. “Yes,” she admitted stiffly, “birth control
would have been useful.” She shook her head quickly. “I behaved
inappropriately.”

John decided to ignore that comment
because he completely disagreed but he’d address it later. “Honestly, I just
wanted to talk.” He raised his hands in the air. Trying to indicate to her he
was telling the truth. But she wasn't buying it. She had stayed on a bull named
Kid Rock during the second round and was feeling pretty damn good about
herself. The crowd even cheered. Everyone at the rodeo loves a comeback.

Cassidy leaned forward in her
chair. “If you're trying to tell me—” she started. Then she glanced over to
where Kevin was coming out of the bathroom and quickly approaching a video
game. “It's love because you didn't have a condom,” she continued, “I'm not
following you.”

“I don't care if you’re not
following me,” John told her. “I love you.”

She rubbed her forehead. “That’s
not possible,” she said firmly, “for you to love me.”

“Why not?”
John moaned. He had finally found her. They had finally talked and they were
finally starting to build something together. Plus, he was having sex again.
And not just any old sex—great sex. Jesus, John really needed to keep having
sex. Celibacy was no fun.

“Your love makes me do reckless
things,” she told him. She looked at her son again. He was putting money into a
classic Pac-Man machine.

“Like what?” John asked. Jesus, she
could be difficult. Didn't most girls jump up and down and wrap their arms
around a guy when they were told they were loved? What about kisses all over
the face? John wanted the works but he wasn't getting it. “You're already doing
reckless things,” he countered. “The bull riding isn't because of me. You
dreamed of doing that long before you met me.”

“Sex without birth control,” she
offered as both of her eyebrows popped up to her forehead. “That was reckless.”

He shook his head. “That wasn't
reckless or even adventurous, that
was
you and me
showing our love.” And, it had been so damn good. What did she mean assigning
a word like
reckless to the magical afternoon they created?

“It wasn't healthy,” Cassidy
replied. Her hands were back on the table. At least they weren't folded. “We
could have cooled our jets and gotten a condom.” She tapped her finger against
her beer mug as she looked for her son again. He had moved behind a divider to
the foosball table but they could see his legs and sneakers. “There was a convenience
store around the corner,” she added.

“No,” John reasoned. “We love each
other and we wanted to show it.” He reached for her hand, grasping her finger.
“Right there and then.”

She shook her head. “It's me
regressing.” She pulled away from him. “I'm hanging around with you doing bad
things and making bad decisions that have an impact on other people’s lives.”
Then she added, “Yesterday afternoon wasn't even about the ‘greater good’.”

“It was good for me,” John
commented. He smiled. She didn't smile back.

“If I'm pregnant
with your child that is going to hurt Kevin even more.”
She glanced over at her son. She looked distressed. What did she think? She'd
fall even further into the negative side of redemption if she had another baby.

But it didn't work like that. Kevin
would forgive her if a child came. He may even like having a little brother or
sister to boss around. John could feel himself smile. “But wouldn't bringing a
new life into the world and cherishing it mean redemption for you and me?” He suggested.
Then he added, “Especially since I love you and I'm willing to take
responsibility for my actions.” He looked at Kevin. “I'll also take
responsibility for him too.”

She opened her mouth to dispute his
point but nothing came out. She tried again, but still nothing. John knew he
was disarming her. He just had to launch one more campaign and he was pretty
sure he'd win the war. But then that douchebag Mike Shannon came in the bar.

Cassidy glanced at the man and
within two seconds had her counter argument ready. “You're still working
undercover,” she told John with righteous indignation. The woman had the corner
on indignation and she probably had a right. “You can't love or take
responsibility for anyone if you continue in this job. It's too dangerous.”
Again she was
right,
the mortality statistics for
undercover cops were not good.

“Let's ignore him,” John suggested.
He reached for her hand again.

“He's probably your drug dealer,”
Cassidy suggested. Ahem, she still had her
Spidey
sense and John loved her for that too. “And you should take this opportunity to
follow him,” she advised.

John hesitated.

“It's your job,” Cassidy told him,
eyes getting wide. “Confessing your undying love to me is not a part of the
description. Your commanding officer is not going to be happy unless you go up
to that bar and get some evidence so that they can arrest that incompetent
idiot.” Understandably she was still mad at Mike for not protecting her against
Daisy Rose in the first round. In the second round, the man did better. Maybe Logan
had gotten to him.

With a moan and something close to
a whine John stood up. “I've got to take a piss first,” he told her. By this
time Kevin was drifting back toward them. He gave Mike a quick but traitorous wave
before sitting down across from Cassidy. It seemed the kid and the bull fighter
had developed a bond after Kevin interviewed him.

“Go out back,” the kid told John. “The
line is really long. A bunch of buckle bunnies are redoing their makeup and
they've taken over the men's room.”

Following Kevin's advice John ended
up pissing against a wooden fence behind the bar. He looked at the moon as he
tucked himself into his pants, zipped up his fly and turned around. Jesus
Christ, Mike Shannon was right behind him pulling down his fly. John jumped
back. “What the hell are you doing?” John asked.

“Sorry, Pastor John,” the man
replied.
“Didn't mean to scare you.
But I'm taking a
piss.” Mike gestured toward the spot on the fence John had just covered.

John wanted to say, ‘Not on my
bloody boots’ because the man was so close but he didn't. He needed to
establish some sort of bond with Mike. Too bad Kevin couldn't work this job
with John because the kid had already built a connection. “I should be the one
apologizing,” John suggested. “I shouldn't have sworn like that.” Holy fuckin’
hell, John would never go undercover as a preacher again. It was just too damn
difficult to watch his mouth and build relationships with total assholes.

“No worries,” the clown remarked
while reaching into his pants. It took him a good thirty seconds to find what
he needed. Was he really that small?
Probably.

John stepped to the side as he
waited for Mike to do his business, readjust and zip up. Even though he wanted
to go back into the bar, sit across from Cassidy and argue about loving her
some more, he couldn't. Cassidy was
right,
this was an
opportunity not to be missed. Mike Shannon was dealing drugs out of those red
floppy shoes of his and John needed to get the evidence.

The clown glanced over at John as
he pulled on his belt buckle. “Why aren't you home in bed dreaming up ways to
tell people they've sinned?” He looked at his watch. “It's too late for a good
guy like you to be out on the town like this.”

“I can't sleep,” John replied which
wasn't true. “Haven't been able to sleep in a long time,” he added, which
wasn't true either. But now that Cassidy was turning his love away, John
probably wouldn't be able to shut his eyes for many nights to come. So his
statement applied to the future.

The goal of this little talk with
the clown was to gain the man's pity, get some incriminating evidence and go
back to Cassidy. Remember, most of the rodeo folks thought Pastor John was a
loser. Didn't the prescription drug dealer want to take John under his wing?
Maybe help him out with a few pills?
A classic ploy for
infiltrating a drug ring.

Shannon
pushed his cowboy hat back. “Woo-wee,” he said. “That's mighty tough on a man.
Why don't you take some cold medicine? You know they put antihistamines in the
mix and those make you drowsy.”

John rubbed his hands down his
face. He wanted Shannon
to be helpful but not like the local pharmacist. His hat slipped off his head
as he rubbed his forehead but he left it on the ground. He was hoping Shannon would pick
it up but the man didn't. The drug dealer just wasn't feeling John's pain yet.

Then again, maybe the man was
clean.
Just a plain old rodeo clown.
Slightly rude but not committing any crime.
Except there was
that
Spidey
sense and Cassidy confirmed it, something
was not right with the rodeo clown.

“
Naw
,
that stuff gives me a headache in the morning, I need something else,” John
commented as he leaned over and picked up his hat.
“To take
the edge off.”

“What the hell kind of edge do you
have?” Shannon
looked disgusted with him. Back in L.A. a guy would never
look at John Risk like that. Jesus H. Christ, John was feared. Here at the
rodeo he was barely tolerated. John scratched his head. Maybe this undercover
assignment wasn't for him. Maybe Cassidy was right and he needed to do
something less dangerous.

Shannon
continued, “I can't imagine a preacher having anything to be concerned about
except keeping the holy water clean.” He laughed at his own joke.

“Well, I have worries,” John said
sharply. He thought of Cassidy. Holy crap, every time she got on a damn bull he
worried. He added, “I'm a minister not a Catholic priest, there's not much holy
water involved except baptisms.”

“Did you try one of those ibuprofen
PM medicines?” Shannon
offered. The man wasn't interested in a lecture on religion. “I know they put
my mother to sleep at night.” He turned toward the door. Banjo's blasted from
inside the bar. The band must have returned to the stage.

Damn this Mike Shannon was a pain
in the ass. Most drug dealers sold to preachers, nursery school teachers, and
even stay at home moms. The thinking being that the non-threatening were safer
to corrupt, plus they always had honest cash.

“Yeah,” John moaned, “but it didn't
work.” He rubbed his leg like many of the bull riders do. “A few years back,”
he explained, “when I was living a life of sin in L.A. I got
shot.” Honest to God the story was completely true. Cassidy could verify it.
Except he didn't mention that he had been shot in the leg when Cassidy had
exposed his cover to save that sixteen year old girl from a life of porn.

Yes, the cause was good and noble
on Cassidy's part. Yes, the girl was placed in protective custody, but damn it
they never got a hold of Lewis Trigger, the biggest gun runner in all of California. That was basically the beginning of
John's fallout with Cassidy. He may have acted a little inappropriately in the
emergency room. Like telling Cassidy she was the worst cop he ever met in his
life and also saying he was absolutely positive Trigger wouldn't abuse the girl.
But that wasn't completely true, they didn't know if the girl would get hurt.

John just never thought Cassidy
would stand up, throw her badge on his hospital bed and walk out of his sick
room yelling something about, how ‘she couldn't be involved with someone so
immoral both personally and professionally.' After figuring she'd be back when
she cooled off, he fell asleep. When he woke up, he was sure she'd have a
coffee ready for him just the way he liked it, no sugar and light on the cream.
But no, she didn't. Then when he got discharged he figured she'd be at his
beach house when he got there. Honestly, he was surprised she made him take a
cab.