Missing the Stars: Chandler County Page 7

  “No need to be sarcastic.”

  The huff of breath she shot out had him laughing and jumping to his feet. It took him a minute to notice that she wasn’t on her feet joining him. When he stopped to turn and ask if she was coming, he saw the apprehension on her face, and it struck him that she looked torn about what to do. Could it be that the girl with the schedule didn’t know how to ride a horse?

  “Aren’t you coming?” He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he wanted to get a lay of the land and see if anything was out of the ordinary with the property.

  “I, um…”

  “Don’t tell me you’re scared?” He chided her and felt like an ass for doing it, but he suspected Jessie didn’t back down from a challenge. He was handsomely rewarded, or maybe it was sexily rewarded, when her eyes locked with his in a silent contest. Oh, yeah, the lady definitely liked a challenge.

  “I’m not scared.” She lifted her chin up as she climbed to her feet.

  “Mm-hmm, prove it.” He didn’t know why he was baiting her, other than he liked the flash of fire in her eyes. It helped extinguish the worry that had been visible from the moment she had approached him.

  “Seriously. I’m not. I’m just not sure about going out and doing something carefree. I should be spending my time trying to find JD.”

  “Like I said, once Coop gets back, we’ll hit the search hard. I really do need to retrace his last movements.”

  “Fine. Let’s go.” Marching out of the house without so much as a glance at him, he was left to follow her out the door and onto the porch. He grinned as he trailed after her, staring at her backside as she sashayed away wasn’t a bad view and he didn’t even bother to hide it from her when she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Wipe that smirk off your face.”

  Cole could tell that she was fighting her own smile. He wasn’t a cocky man, but he knew he had a certain effect on women. It was usually when he played the bad boy, which wasn’t his true character at all. He could tell his smile and swagger were doing something to unbalance her, and he found it humorous, to say the least. They walked in silence, which was a good thing, because the closer they got to the barn, the more at odds Cole felt. It was an uneasy combination which he had rarely felt in his life. Guilt comingled with adrenaline. He hadn’t sat in a saddle since his parents’ deaths, another self-imposed exile he had created. The rush he felt from the mere idea of sitting in a saddle was coursing through his veins, tempered by the feeling of utmost need to turn around and not allow himself this one pleasure. It was business. That's what he kept telling himself. The need to tour the land was a business decision. However, he knew better.

  Cole was too big to be a jockey, but he rode like a dream. In fact, his mother had aspirations of his equestrian future on a grand level. She had wanted him to pursue eventing in the Olympics. He had only been interested in endurance and jumping, and he was damn good at both, but he had been stubborn about wanting to spread his wings and make sure he was pursuing his own future. Down deep, he regretted giving up competitive events. He had loved it, which wasn’t to say he didn’t love PI work. It certainly was a different job than the refined equestrian life. But the course of a person’s life changes.

  “All right, judging by your reaction inside, you haven’t ridden a horse before. The shoes you’re wearing aren’t ideal, but they aren’t bad. Riding boots would be better. I wonder if we have any your size sitting around.”

  He was taken with the smile that crossed Jessie’s face as he spoke. It may have been the first genuine smile he’d seen on her, but there was something mischievous in the smile. Like she found something he was saying to be humorous. Shrugging it off, he opened up the door to the room that had all the gear, and his eyes landed on a pair of riding boots. His mother’s. He couldn’t believe that Coop had kept them, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. The boots looked the right size for Jessie’s feet. Scooping them up, he fought the urge to place them back down and leave them there forever—untouched.

  “These look to be the right size.” He had to clear his throat to say the words.

  “Are these your mother’s boots? I-I can’t wear them.” She jerked the hand she was holding toward the boots back as if the boots would burn her if she touched it.

  “Don’t be silly. They were made to be worn, not to sit and collect dust.” As he said the words, he hated himself, because he was lying to himself, to her, to the crickets. “This farm was their dream, they would be devastated to see all this stuff sitting here unused.” Which was true, even if it hurt him to say it.

  “Thank you.” She took the boots gently, almost reverently and sat on a bale of hay that was outside the door to try them on. “Perfect fit.” When she lifted her eyes to his, they were filled with sadness.

  “I’m glad.” He was shocked when he realized he meant it.

  Quickly, he grabbed the rest of what he needed and headed out to the stalls, looking for the most docile looking horse in the bunch. He passed by a lot of empty stalls. Most of the horses were outside grazing at the moment, but finally he came across a sweet looking mare that was more mature. Perfect, he thought to himself. Exactly the kind of horse that would be good for a first-time rider. He deftly put the saddle and bridle on; his fingers ran across the neck of the mare. It had been so long since he’d been this close to a horse. The smell of the saddle combined with straw and horses brought a myriad of emotions and memories crashing to the front of his mind. The first time he remembered sitting on a horse, the first time he jumped a horse, the first time he saw a colt born—all of the images nearly crippled him. He was about to turn to Jessie and tell her that it wasn’t a great idea to go riding after all when he felt her hand at the small of his back, and for some reason, the small gesture centered him. He allowed himself to draw strength from her elegant hand and waited for a beat before turning to face her.

  “You know, I’ve always wanted to ride a horse.” There was something false in her tone and the gentle smile, but he appreciated the effort she was putting forth to help him feel at ease.

  “Liar,” he whispered and leaned into her. “You wouldn’t ride a horse. It doesn’t fit into your structured life.”

  She surprised him when she reciprocated by leaning into him. Her chest brushed his, and it occurred to him she was the perfect size for him. Tall and lithe, his hands found their way to her hips, and he tugged her flush against him. Again, she surprised him by allowing him to pull her toward him. He was smart enough to know this was not in her comfort zone, but for some reason, it was like they were two opposites that weren’t able to resist the pull of each other. While alarms were going off telling him this was a bad idea, he found he didn’t care. He’d felt it from the moment he’d seen her pissed off, storming his way. This woman was lust incarnate and would be his downfall. Or maybe she would be his savior? Without allowing himself to list the pros and cons of what he was about to do, he leaned in the rest of the way and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Her lips opened on a startled breath, and he took the opportunity to part her lips with his tongue. With a growl he thought came from her and not him, the kiss suddenly took on a life of its own.

  Her hands brushed up his arms and looped around his neck her hands tunneled into his hair as she pushed her body against his. The reaction in his body was instantaneous, but if he was being honest with himself, he had been in a semi-state of arousal from the moment he’d seen her come rushing out onto the sidewalk. His hands found their way onto her ass, and he tugged her closer, as if she could get any closer. His hands kneaded her as she rubbed against him. The horse behind them whinnied, and the spell was broken. Jessie pulled away from him like a child who had just been caught doing something sneaky and her hand flew to her mouth. Her lips were pink and swollen from the feverish kissing.

  “I, um…”

  “How about we go for that ride?”

  JD was in trouble. He needed Jessie’s help, but he didn’t want to involve her in what was happening. For n
ow, he had to keep his head down and keep Race the Stars and Jessie safe. There was no way he was going to let that SOB hurt either the horse JD had come to be so fond of or the sister he would die for. The bond between himself and the majestic racehorse was fierce, and he would protect the horse at any cost. Jessie wouldn’t understand his need to protect a horse. She was too pragmatic and predictable to allow a horse to beguile her like Race the Stars had done to him. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he was going to be racing in the derby. Come hell or high water.

  The logical side of his mind was telling him he should have asked Coop for help when the shit initially hit the fan. After all, the very valuable horse was Coop’s and JD knew how Coop treated all the retired horses on his farm—like royalty. Coop would do whatever he could to protect his star, but things went south so quickly that he had no choice but to hide him and run.

  At first, he’d thought the two men were coincidentally always where he was. It didn’t take him long to figure out they were a threat. He only had enough time to stash the horse before he’d run out of time. JD had been told to take a long weekend, something about getting Cole Davenport to come home. He hadn’t asked questions, but he welcomed the extra days off; they had been working so hard on the farm he needed to let off some steam. Not to mention, up until then, he’d thought he needed a vacation, and that was why he kept spotting the two men. The job at Davenport Farms was the longest he’d ever stayed at one place. He finally found a place that felt like home to him, but it was hard work and he welcomed the chance to relax before the big race. It wasn’t until he’d been on his mini vacation that he realized the men still appeared where he was. He shouldn’t have risked going to the farm to get Race the Stars, but he didn’t want to leave him there.

  Right now, his biggest regret was not getting a chance to talk to Coop or Jessie, because no sooner had he gotten back to town, not sure what to do next, the two goons jumped him. He hadn’t expected the attack and was left completely unguarded, but he remembered every detail of the nasty alley they’d dragged him into, the feeling of the brick wall of the building against his face as the tall man with the pot belly and receding hairline breathed in his ear, his breath rancid from smoke and drink.

  At first, JD thought they were going to rob him, but then they started demanding he tell them where Jessie was. The short, stocky one spit a gob of snot on him before he kicked him one more time for good measure. It wasn’t until he was lying on the ground in a wet pool on the concrete that was most likely some drunk person’s piss, and they left him alone to talk to each other, that he figured out he was screwed. The men were huge compared to him, and they’d beaten the crap out of him. He could barely lift his head to see what they were doing, and even then, with his eye rapidly swelling, it was hard to make them out.

  He was embarrassed to find himself shaking at the memory of the attack. The two men had left him in a sour smelling damp room with no windows. The air was heavy with his sweat and smelled rancid. All he could think about was how he needed to get ahold of Jessie. She would know what to do. She would call in the cavalry. Wouldn’t she? Of course, she would.

  At first, when he woke up, he couldn’t remember where he was, then the memories came crashing back, and he was terrified for his sister and grandmother. It took him a long time to focus and sit up; he likely had a concussion. For the life of him, he couldn’t get his mind to concentrate—if only the room would just stop spinning. He blacked out again and didn’t know how much time had passed before he woke up.

  The room was a black abyss, and he was lost in it, at the mercy of whomever had taken him to get at Jessie. He knew it was connected to her current job, but he didn’t know what that was. Jessie had been adamant she keep it top secret to protect them. She'd said that the less they knew, the better. It couldn’t be used against her then. Somehow, he knew—he just knew—something had gone FUBAR. It wasn’t until he woke up the second time that he felt something hard in his pocket. It was his phone. Holy shit, could he have been that lucky? How could the phone have been left with him? Unless they wanted him to have the phone. The phone was off. He knew he hadn’t turned it off. Had they done that? If so, why? To conserve his battery?

  He had to try calling Jessie. Even if it was a trap. Maybe they had put some kind of tracking device on his phone? He didn’t have a choice; he needed to tell her to run. Fumbling with the phone, he nearly dropped it once, twice before shakily turning it on. With trembling fingers he selected her name and put the phone to his ear.

  Nothing. No ringtone. No response.

  He looked blurrily at the phone and saw the signal was terrible, but the battery was fully charged. He knew it hadn’t been fully charged. When he looked at his phone closer, he saw he had several missed phone calls and text messages. Almost all were from Jessie and Coop. He must have been out a long time. He tried to send a text, but it failed. He was down to one bar. Turning on the flashlight app, he stood on shaky feet and surveyed his surroundings. Son of a bitch, he thought, as he realized where he was being held.

  He was cursing himself for not taking Jessie’s phone call before the shit had hit the fan. He had thought it was just another routine check-in. Now he was starting to wonder if it had been more than that. At the time, all he could think about was the horse. Jessie and Nana were such mother hens, he always felt that they would have had him caged in no time flat.

  The only thing giving him solace was that he knew his sister could take care of herself in the sense that she would kick ass and take down names later. Which is why he really wanted to kick his own ass. Instead of reaching out to the one person who could help him, instead of answering a damn phone call, he’d been stubborn and delusional. Thinking that the horse and weird encounters with the mysterious men had nothing to do with Jessie. He should have known better. It had everything to do with her and nothing to do with him. Which meant that they would be willing to do anything to get him to help them find her. The joke was on them though, because he had completely no idea where she might be and would be no use to them. Although, if he were to wager a guess, judging by the amount of missed calls and texts, she was somewhere in the near vicinity of Bourbonville. Looking for him.

  The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. When he didn’t answer her call, she went on high alert. Thinking back, he tried to remember if she called during the normal time frame or if the call was out of routine. Even with his muddled head, he realized, too late, that it was not a normal time for her to call. It was the wrong night. She always rotated calling him and Nana.

  JD was small. He wouldn’t qualify for the derby if he wasn’t small. There was a weight limit of one hundred and twenty-six pounds, including equipment, for a jockey to race in the derby. He’d always been sensitive about his size, but he was really happy when he found a job that he loved where he could capitalize on his small stature. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Because while he was on the small side, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t as tough as the next guy. Jessie had made sure he learned how to fight, and he could hold his own in a fight. If he wasn’t jumped, from behind, in the middle of the night. But when they came back to see him, as he knew they would, he would be ready and waiting.

  9

  What the hell was she thinking kissing a man like that? She had no business playing tonsil hockey when she needed to be looking for her brother; not to mention, going for a horseback ride was a terrible idea. It had been years since she’d gotten on top of a horse and she missed it, but she had a mission that had brought her to Bourbonville. Except when Cole mistook her reaction when he asked her to go for a ride, she felt her hackles go up and wanted to mess with him. Yes, it was juvenile, but he had assumed she knew nothing about horses. When, in reality, she was very skilled on a horse. She just didn’t think it was appropriate to get reacquainted now when she needed to be looking for JD.

  Only, he was right. They needed Coop to connect some dots or some other starting point b
efore they could do much. She was basically in the dark and lacking in resources right now to get herself back in the light. Not to mention it was a good opportunity to take a look around. For all she knew, JD could be lying hurt somewhere on the property—or worse.

  Even with all the resources she had, she couldn’t risk reaching out yet. She didn’t know who had turned on her. Until she did, she had to limit who she trusted. Cole and Coop were one thing. It wasn’t like they were privy to information regarding her to actually cause damage. They didn’t even know her; they’d have no reason to do anything malicious. At least until they found out what she knew, what she’d done. She saw the beautiful mare staring at her. She had such a sweet demeanor, and Jessie longed to ride her. Maybe a ride was what she needed. When she was younger, it had always cleared her head of her troubles and helped her to find a solution, and she really did need to look around to assuage any feelings JD was in plain sight.

  A quick glance at Cole showed her he was staring at her. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, even though she tried. It really was a crapshoot who was the more mysterious of the two, herself or him. It didn’t really matter anyway. She had things she needed to focus on, and none of them was decoding the many facial expressions of Cole Davenport. The problem was he was hot as hell, and she was going through a dry spell. We’re talking the Sahara Deserts of a dry spell. It wasn’t like she had time with her current job to be dating. All work and no play or something to that effect. Jessie was the epitome of work and no play, and she definitely felt pretty dull around the giant of a man standing in front of her. Cole cleared his throat, snapping her out of her funk, and she shook her head slightly to clear the cobwebs.

  “Sorry, did you say something?”

  “I said that if you aren’t sure about going for a ride, we can wait inside for Coop to come home. I don’t think he’ll stay away that long—I mean, it isn’t the first time we’ve argued. You have a brother, I’m sure you get it. So, do you want to go back inside?”