Grayson (5 page)

“The dark ages,” she mumbled.

That’s how she’d always thought of that time twenty years ago when Grayson and his brothers had basically become orphans. During the years that followed, Eve had gotten close with all of Grayson’s brothers, closer than she had been with her own family.

She blinked back the tears. And here she’d endangered yet another
family
member. Heck, Mason was probably on the way, too. Before the hour was up, she might have put all three of them at risk.

Eve heard a second set of sirens and knew that the fire department was close by. She stayed in the car, as both Grayson and Dade had warned her to do, but she moved to the edge of the seat, closer to the open door, so she could try to pick through the woods and see Grayson. She still had sight of Dade, but Grayson was nowhere to be seen.

She glanced behind her at the fire engine as it made the final turn from the farm road onto the gravel drive that led to the cottage. The driver turned off the sirens, and everything suddenly went silent.

Eve could hear the wind assaulting the trees. She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

She also heard Dade shout, “Get down!”

And the sound of a gun going off ripped through the silence.

Chapter Five

Grayson cursed and dove to the ground.

He’d already had enough surprises today, and he didn’t need this SOB firing any more shots at him. Besides, Eve wasn’t that far away, and he darn sure didn’t want a stray bullet traveling in her direction.

“You okay?” Dade called out. His brother had dropped to the ground, too, but was crawling toward Grayson.

“Yeah. I’m just fine and dandy,” Grayson barked. “You see him?”

Dade didn’t answer right away, giving Grayson some hope, but that hope went south when his brother finally said, “No.”

Grayson lifted his head and examined the woods. Since it was the dead of winter, a lot of the foliage was gone, but that didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of places to hide.

And then Grayson heard something he didn’t want to hear.

The sound of water.

Hell. This guy was in the creek, and that meant he was getting away.

Dade apparently heard it, too, because he cursed and got to his feet. So did Grayson, and they started to run toward the sound of that splashing. Of course, the splashing was long gone before they arrived on the creek bank.

And there was no sign of the gunman.

Dade and Grayson stood there, looking hard, but there was no way to tell which direction he went. If the guy was smart, he could have just floated downstream and out of sight. Of course, he could have scrambled over the outcropping of rocks on the other side of the creek bed and then disappeared into the dense woods.

“We need a tracking dog,” Dade mumbled.

Yeah. And they needed their brother, Mason, out here on horseback. Mason was a better tracker than any dog or any of the local Texas Rangers, but Grayson intended to ask for their help, too. He wanted this gunman caught
now,
and he would use any resource available.

“I got a good look at his face,” Grayson let Dade know. “If he’s in the system, I think I can pick out his photo.”

Though that would take time. Maybe lots of time. Something Grayson wasn’t sure he had.

This guy would be back.

The question was why? Grayson was sure if he could figure that out, then he would have a better chance of identifying him and stopping another attack.

“Why don’t you get Eve away from here? She’s pretty shaken up,” Dade suggested. He took out his cell phone. “I’ll start making calls.”

Grayson started to say no, that he wanted to stay. If they got lucky with the search, he wanted to be the one to put the cuffs on this piece of slime, but Dade was right. Eve didn’t need to be here. Neither did he. His brothers could handle it and handle it well. So he turned and headed back toward Eve and her car.

He spotted her the moment he came out of the thick cluster of trees. She was out of the wrecked car, talking to Dusty Bullock, the fire chief. She looked calm enough, but Grayson knew that underneath her nerves had to be raw since to the best of his knowledge this was the first time she’d experienced anyone trying to kill her.

And there was no doubt that the killing attempt had been aimed at Eve.

When she saw Grayson, Eve ran toward him, but he quickly closed the distance between them because he didn’t want her out in the open.

“Did you catch him?” she asked.

Grayson shook his head and watched her expression go from shock to fear. Yeah. She understood how important it was for them to find this gunman
today.

Since she looked ready to launch herself into his arms, or cry, he took his gun from her, reholstered it and handed Eve her handgun. She slipped it into her coat pocket. And Grayson caught on to her shoulder so he could lead her in the direction of his truck.

“I need to get you back to my office,” he grumbled. Grayson hated the gruffness in his voice. Hated even more that he couldn’t comfort her at a time when she needed comforting, but after the conversation they’d had in the cottage, it was best if he kept his distance.

“But what about the gunman?” she challenged. “He’s still out there.”

“Dade’s looking for him, and we’ll bring in help.” Grayson stopped next to the fire chief. “Call me the minute you know what caused the explosion in the cottage.”

“You’re thinking it was foul play?” Dusty asked, his craggy face bunched up with concern.

“Yeah,” Grayson answered honestly, though he knew that would cause Eve more panic. “I want the brake line on Eve’s car checked, too, because I’m sure someone cut it.”

“Oh, God,” Eve mumbled.

He got her moving again, but she stopped first to retrieve her purse and equipment bag from her car. Since she looked ready to fall apart, Grayson decided to use the drive to his office to get her to concentrate on how they could bring this nightmarish day to a good conclusion.

A conclusion that would end with an arrest.

“Did you see the gunman’s face?” Grayson asked. He drove away from her cottage, which would soon be taped off and processed as a crime scene.

“Not really.” When she couldn’t get her seat belt on after two tries, Grayson reached over and helped her. His hand brushed against hers, and he quickly pulled back. With the energy between them already on edge, it was best to avoid touching her. And
thinking
about touching her.

Something he didn’t quite accomplish.

Grayson huffed and continued. “The gunman had brownish-red hair. About six-two. Around a hundred and seventy pounds. Ring any bells?”

She shook her head. “Should it?”

“Maybe. I figure you’ve crossed paths with him. Why else would he want to come after you that way?”

Eve mumbled another “Oh, God,” and plowed her fingers through the sides of her hair. “I don’t recognize him.” She pressed hard against her temples and head. “What could I have done to make him want to kill me?”

That was the million-dollar question, and Grayson had to explore all possibilities. “An old boyfriend, maybe? Maybe he altered his appearance so that you didn’t easily recognize him?”

Her hands slipped from her hair and dropped into her lap. She stared at him. “You’re the only boyfriend I have who’s riled at me.”

“I’m not riled,” Grayson protested.

She huffed. “You’re riled all right.”

He huffed, too. “Just because I turned down your offer to make a baby doesn’t mean I’m pissed off.” But when he heard his tone, he realized he was. Grayson cursed. “I just wasn’t expecting you to ask anything like that, okay? You surprised the hell out of me.”

“Yes, I figured that out. But you can’t blame me for trying. I just thought… Well, I just thought
wrong.
”

She was right about that. So, why did Grayson feel so blasted guilty for turning her down? Since that was something he didn’t want to think or talk about, he went back to the investigation. They were still fifteen minutes out from his office, and he wanted to put that time to good use instead of adding to that guilt trip.

“I heard you were engaged but broke things off,” Grayson tossed out there. “Could your ex be holding a grudge?”

She mumbled something he didn’t catch. “No. It’s true, I called things off the day of the wedding, but he’s moved on and already married to someone else.”

Maybe her ex-fiancé had indeed moved on, but Gray son wanted to verify that was true. Love and love-scorned were motives for a lot of crimes.

And a lot of questions.

He wanted to ask Eve why she’d waited until her wedding day to end things, but it was none of his business.

“How about a member of your ex’s family?” he pressed. “Sometimes family members or friends think they need to avenge a broken heart.”

She sat quietly a moment. And she didn’t deny that broken heart part. “Why wait over a year to get revenge?” She shook her head again. “I was thinking maybe what happened today has to do with the killer. Maybe he was trying to destroy evidence by destroying the cottage?”

Yes. That was the next theory on Grayson’s list. Perhaps the killer had left some kind of forensic evidence in or near the cottage. That was a solid reason to destroy it.

“But then why would he want to kill you?” Grayson pressed. He turned off the ranch road and onto the highway that would take him back into town. “Is it possible you know something about the murder?”

“How could I? I wasn’t in Silver Creek when it happened. I was in San Antonio.”

“The murder might not have happened in Silver Creek,” he reminded her. “In fact, I suspect it didn’t. I think the body was just dumped there.”

She gave him a flat look. “Trust me, I would have remembered if I’d witnessed someone being murdered.”

True. But there had to be a reason this guy was after her. Grayson really needed to get an ID on that body because he couldn’t shake the feeling that the dead woman and this attack were connected.

“We don’t have an identity on the dead woman, but she was five-six and was in her early twenties.” Grayson hoped that would spur Eve to remember something.

Eve nodded. “I read that in the paper. Her face and fingerprints had been obliterated.” She paused. “What does that mean exactly?”

“You don’t want to know.” But Grayson would never forget the sight of what was left of the woman. Someone had literally bashed in her face so that none of her features had been recognizable, and then cut off the pads of her fingertips. He’d also broken off her teeth, probably so that dental records couldn’t be used to identify her. “But the killer didn’t obliterate her hair, and it’s unique. Three colors—red, black and blond. Remember seeing anyone with hair like that?”

She shrugged. “It’s possible. That type of hair isn’t so rare in a city the size of San Antonio.”

True. But it was the only thing he had to go on. Now it was time to grasp at a few straws. “When did you start getting hang-up calls?” Grayson pressed.

“Four days ago,” she answered without hesitation.

Four days.
According to the ME, that was an estimate of when the woman had been killed.

He was about to continue his questions when Grayson spotted the familiar rust-scabbed red truck barreling down the highway. It was his brother, Mason, responding to the scene. Grayson didn’t slow down. Neither did Mason. They exchanged a glance, and in that split-second glance, Grayson saw exactly what he wanted to see: Mason’s determination to find the man who’d taken shots at Eve and him.

Sometimes keeping Mason’s intense moods under control was like trying to keep a leash on a rogue bull. But it was that intensity that made Mason a good cop. Mason wasn’t the sort of man Grayson would go to with his personal problems—he wouldn’t get much empathy there—but for everything else Mason was the brother he knew he could rely on the most.

Grayson stopped in the parking lot of his office and turned to Eve. “I need to get your statement about what just happened and ask you a few more questions about those hang-up calls. Then I can take you to the ranch. You can stay there until we catch this guy.”

She was already shaking her head before he finished. “I can’t go to your ranch.”

No. He didn’t have time for this argument. “Look, I know it might be a little uncomfortable for you there, what with Dade and Mason around—”

“It’s not that. I’m comfortable with your family. Always have been.”

Grayson couldn’t argue with that. Heck, his brothers had, and probably always would, consider Eve a sister. His youngest brother, Kade, often said that Eve was more like a mother to him than his own mother had been.

So what was Eve’s issue?

She stared at him. “I need to get back to San Antonio, and I intend to do that as soon as I can arrange for transportation. Your reports will have to wait. I have to find a place where I can be inseminated
today.
”

Grayson was sure he looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Eve, someone tried to kill you,” he reminded her, though he was positive she hadn’t forgotten that.

Her hand was still shaking when she touched her fingers to her lips. She paused a moment, still trembling, and her gaze came back to his. “If I don’t do the insemination today, I’ll never have a baby. And yes, I know there’s a killer out there. And yes, that killer might have been the one to take shots at us today. But I don’t have time to wait for him to be caught.”

Grayson broke his no-touching rule and caught on to her shoulders. He wanted to make this very clear. But for a moment he lost his train of thought when he saw the nicks and scrapes on her face. From the air bag, no doubt. But even with the superficial damage, Eve was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

He pushed that thought aside with all the rest of the carnal things that came to mind whenever he looked at Eve. She had, and always would have, his number.

Grayson met her eye to eye. “The killer could come after you in San Antonio.”

She blinked, swallowed hard. “So, I’ll hire a bodyguard as soon as I call the rental car company to come and get me. I want to be on the road within the next thirty minutes.”