Promise Her (24 page)

An hour later they were finished with the food.

Ev cleared the table, put the leftovers in the fridge, then walked over to them. “If you don’t need me for anything else, I guess I’m out of here.”

She went to him and gave him a hug. “Thanks for everything, Ev. You were great.”

Douglas glowered.

“Thank you too, Douglas.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Tell the family you did a great job.” She looked at them. “Both of you can rest easy. Now we can all get some much needed sleep.”

“But…” Douglas began.

“No but’s, Douglas. You said yourself I’m safe. So go home. Tomorrow night I’ll attend the rodeo. After too long a time, I’ll enjoy every second.”

“I’ll take you.”

“There’s no need. I can take myself.”

“I insist. Besides, I haven’t seen a complete show this year.”

She wanted to sit next to him in his SUV with all her heart, but she had to make the break. “If you insist on going, meet me there.”

Ushering both men out the door, she leaned against it and took a huge breath.

How could she make the break she had to make if Douglas kept pushing himself into her space?

****

Douglas couldn’t believe he had been dismissed so casually. His blood heated up.
This whole week has meant nothing to her. Nothing.

The two men started down the sidewalk together. “I guess this is goodbye,” Evan said.

“Appreciate your protection, Evan.”

They shook hands. “My friends call me Ev. After all we’ve been through I consider you a one.”

Douglas laughed.
Ev
. Son-of-a-gun!

Evan put his hand in his pocket as they headed for their cars. “Here,” he handed Douglas the key to Lisa’s apartment. “I won’t need this anymore.”

Absently, Douglas tucked it into his pocket, his thoughts on the woman who had him so twisted inside he didn’t know what to do next.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lisa double checked the lock on the door and went to make a cup of tea. Before she did anything else, she checked in with TJ, who was ecstatic at the news. “How do you feel?”

“Great.”

“Please, Lisa. Don’t give me that. Tell me how you feel about everything? About Harold? About Douglas?”

“Harold is getting what he deserves. After enough time, I’ll get over your brother.”

“Did Harold really kill Tempest? It sounds so unbelievable.”

“I know.” For the next thirty minutes they discussed Harold and his guilt, while Lisa adroitly avoided mentioning Douglas. “For the first time since this happened I feel safe. But there’s still the matter of Storm. She’s not sniffing around Harold for no reason. I’d really like to talk to her.”

“Forget her. All you have to worry about now is getting back to your old self.”

“My body agrees.” Even though she had a broken heart—even though she had to give up the fairy tale, she’d get on with her life. If need be, she’d take an overseas assignment, give herself time to heal.

“I’m so glad this is over, Lisa. Now I can stop worrying so much.”

“About time. You shouldn’t worry anyway. Get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

As far as Lisa was concerned, Harold may be under arrest, but there were still a multitude of unanswered questions. The most important one being Storm’s involvement. It didn’t matter everyone else thought they should forget about her. Storm
was
involved.

Going to her desk, Lisa took out pad and pencil, jotted down what they knew of the twin. When she finished, she saw how scanty it was. Storm was adept at disappearing. If she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be.

Lisa tapped her pen on the pad. Where did that leave them? Even if Harold was convicted of his wife’s murder, would they ever resolve the fact that hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing from Tempest’s trust? No. HPD, with no evidence to the contrary, would say Tempest took the money. If Storm had gone in dressed and acting as her sister, she’d fooled everyone.

Lisa wasn’t satisfied. She
had
to talk to Storm. For Tempest’s sake, she wanted the truth.

She glanced at the clock. After midnight. Even though it had been a long day, her mind was racing. Trying to sleep would be a waste of time, so she made another cup of tea and tried to unravel the mysteries still associated with Tempest’s death.

Every job she’d ever been on had been like this. When the case began to come together, she couldn’t wait to get it solved. She couldn’t rush this one. Either HPD would find Storm or they wouldn’t.

Without going into a long, drawn-out search, HPD would never find Storm’s apartment. Lisa was sure she had lied to Harold, just as she'd lied to her parent’s years ago. They may never find her. Houston was a big city. She could be anywhere: hiding out in another part of town, or along the coast an hour to the south, in the piney woods, or across the Mexican border.

Storm would get away. The thought made Lisa sick to her stomach.

Deep in her heart, she knew there was more to this than HPD had found. She hadn’t wanted to bring any of this up with Douglas or she’d never get him out of here. They couldn’t spend another night under the same roof. She didn’t trust herself. Not for a minute.

Wiping her eyes, she went to bed.

Her heart hurting, she finally slept.

****

Douglas didn’t have that luxury. He prowled his house like a caged animal and saw Lisa in every corner.
She should be here with me. Not alone in her apartment.

She was safe now, he reminded himself. But that wasn’t the point. He wanted her here.

Flopping into his easy chair, he turned on the TV. He skipped through several channels, but nothing distracted him. His thoughts were zeroed in on Lisa. They needed to talk. Tomorrow. After the rodeo they would have a chance. He’d make sure of it.

Lisa called him early the next the afternoon.

“The SPCA called. They have a horse I want to look at. I’ll check it out on my way to the rodeo. I may run a little late.”

“I can pick you up. We can look at the horse together.”

“Not necessary, Douglas. I don’t know how long I’ll be. Besides, you’ll be bored.”

Not with Lisa. No matter what she did, he didn’t think he could ever be bored.

Okay, he was pretty good at strategizing; it was part of his job. He’d sit down and plan this out.

An hour later, he thought he had it. Lisa was avoiding him because she was embarrassed. They’d been together for days—he’d kissed her. She’d seen him under abnormal circumstances. Perhaps her feelings were bothering her just as his were bothering him. He could fix that with a conversation.

Slamming his Stetson on his head, he stalked out the door. It was early, but he’d be at the rodeo and catch Lisa before she got involved with her buddies. Besides, he couldn’t wait to see her face, touch that silky skin again. Even more, he couldn’t wait to be with her. Just having her by his side made him feel strangely whole.

As usual, the rodeo crowd was loud and ready to have a good time. Where would he find her? Would she be in her seat? Not this early. Jostling through a milling group of teens and adults dressed in cowboy gear, he kept looking.

Thirty minutes later, he’d made a circle of the stadium and still hadn’t spotted her. He was about to give up and go to his seat when she suddenly appeared. In jeans, cowboy hat, and boots, she made his heart turn over. She was deep in conversation with the same man she’d spoken to yesterday; what was his name? Dell Penn. That was it. Douglas kept his eye on her, as if she’d disappear the same as Storm had. But Lisa was too involved in her conversation to go anywhere.

She looked up, saw him, waved a finger and went right back to her conversation.

The man who held her attention smiled, shook her hand and walked away. Finally.

“What was that all about?” he asked when she came over to him.

“Dell wanted to apologize.” She smiled. “He said he had no idea Harold was involved in his wife’s death.”

“I’ll bet there are more than a few here who are in shock.”

“The majority of the crowd hasn’t a clue. Those that do only talk among themselves,” she reminded him. “Dell told me Harold had been put on suspension. I’m surprised they didn’t fire him, but someone reminded the board that everyone was innocent until proven guilty. I guess they’ll wait and see what happens at trial.”

He took her arm. “I missed you.”

She looked at him. “Really?”

“Really. Are you sure you want to see the performance tonight?" His voice deepened several notches. "There are other things we could do.”

Was he serious? Had Douglas Callahan just hit on her?

She looked into his emerald eyes and saw the telltale gleam. Her heartbeat kicked up. She wanted so badly to follow his lead. It would be easy to leave here and do whatever he wanted.

Be still my heart
.

Going home with Douglas wouldn’t prove a thing. It would make it worse. “I talked to Mike. He’s in competition tonight. I promised I’d be here.”

“Fine,” he said.

But his mouth clenched and his smile was strained.

Since she refused to become another one of his many women friends she would ignore his flirting ways. To spend the rest of her life pretending she didn’t care chilled her.

As much as Lisa loved Douglas, she also loved his sister. TJ was a big part of her life. That relationship wasn’t going to change. Plus, she adored the Callahans. Perhaps she’d go to the ranch less often. But she would still go. She’d have to. Not for anything would she hurt Nellie. No. This was between her and Douglas. It would stay between them and not affect the rest of the family.

“Look who’s here? Isn’t that Harold? I thought he was under arrest?”

“Probably out on bail.”

“He doesn’t look happy.”

“No, he doesn’t, and he’s headed this way.”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” Lisa said, turning in the other direction.

They were too late. Harold approached, his hands clenched at his side, his mouth a thin line. “How dare you?”

“Me?” Lisa asked, pointing a finger at herself.

“You. You’ve ruined my life with your accusations. You’re behind Tempest’s murder, but I’m the one under arrest. How did you do it?”

“That’s enough, Wheatley,” Douglas warned.

“Has she confessed? I’ll bet you know the truth.”

“You’re way out of line. HPD wouldn’t make an arrest without cause.”

“I’ve been framed by your client. You probably helped her.”

“I didn’t…” Lisa said.

But Harold was on a roll, his face a mottled red, his eyes sparking with anger. “Don’t deny it. I did nothing to hurt my wife. I wouldn’t.”

“What about her twin?” Lisa asked, her anger rising to meet his. “Do you know where the woman who calls herself Jolie can be found? Maybe she can answer your questions.”

“Leave Jolie out of this.”

They were drawing a crowd. Curious faces watched and listened. Not good. Any one of them could be called during the trial. Lisa didn’t want the finger of guilt pointed in her direction again.

“Let’s go, Douglas.”

They walked away quickly, leaving Harold fuming.

“He puts on a good act,” Lisa said. “He’ll never admit to killing his wife.”

“Can you blame him?”

“If he did kill her, he should be hiding at home, ashamed to be seen. Why is he here?”

“Maybe to counter the accusations.”

“Is he that smart?”

“He almost got away with murder. Still could. There’s going to be a trial. The more doubt he can put out there, the better. If his lawyer is smart enough to convince the jury you might be guilty, there’s reasonable doubt. The jury wouldn’t convict,” Douglas reminded her.

“Would they come after me again?”

“It’s possible.”

“Thanks for putting that thought in my head.”

They fought their way through the crowd to their seats. “ Do you think he knew Jolie is Tempest’s twin?” Lisa asked. “It puts this whole thing in a new perspective if he did.”

Douglas shrugged. “I don’t think so. You saw Harold’s reaction when the cops told him her true identity.”

“Maybe it was an act.”

The first horses entered the arena, their riders carrying flags. Lisa was on her feet cheering. She wasn’t going to think about Harold or Storm. She wouldn’t sit here and wonder whether Douglas would ever see her as more than a sister, She’d given up on that. She was going to enjoy the rodeo.

For the next three hours that’s exactly what she did.

Chapter Twenty-Five

While Lisa was enjoying every act, Douglas was enjoying her.

Her dad had been a bull-rider right up until he and his wife died in an accident. Lisa had been around the rodeo all her life. He wondered how, after all these years, she was still so obviously enamored with everything rodeo. From the clowns to the bull-riders, from the livestock show to the varied booths, from the carnival to both the crazy and typical food, Lisa looked as if she were in heaven.

She laughed, clapped, jumped to her feet so many times, he had to chuckle. True, the performance tonight was extraordinary. Brooks and Dunn were the featured performers, and Douglas found himself on his feet more than once. Mike rode his bull way past the buzzer. Lisa screamed, hugged Douglas, and screamed some more. He didn’t mind in the least. The only thing missing was Tempest’s extraordinary performance. He hoped Lisa was enjoying herself too much to think about it.

He spent the biggest part of the show trying to figure out how to get her alone long enough to talk.

Much to his chagrin, Lisa went home alone.

Nothing was working in Douglas’ favor. It was driving him crazy.

After the excitement of the performance, she'd claimed to be too tired to do anything but go to bed. At least that was her story. She was avoiding him. Which meant she didn’t want to discuss the fact that after knowing each other for years, treating each other as brother and sister, they had shared a kiss. Not just any kiss, but a tongue touching, soul stopping one.

He’d tried to get her to spend the next day with him.

“I can’t,” she explained. “Patty and I are going to check out the horse I looked at today at the SPCA.” She had smiled at him and his heart had turned over again. “I hope Patty likes her. She’ll be a beauty once she’s fattened up a bit.”