The Awakening (19 page)

Tanner nodded. “Those kind of things fester, like an untended boil. Sometimes it’s below the surface and you can ignore it rather well. It may itch occasionally and sometimes even hurt, but unless it bubbles over the surface, you don’t have to face it directly. You just have to find a way to live around it, which isn’t always the best option.”

His voice was so sad when he spoke and his expression was filled with longing, as if he knew from experience about burying things.

Before she could change her mind, she said, “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

He sighed. “I am, but not in the same way you are. My boil has festered since I was a boy, but I never thought there were any answers to be found. Not until today.”

“Your brothers’ visit—they were here about old issues?”

“The oldest and biggest issue in our lives. Remember I told you our dad died when I was eight?”

She nodded.

“He was murdered. We were skipping school that day and Holt saw the killer outside the house, but the police couldn’t find anything and the trail went cold. Until now.”

Her hand flew over her mouth. “Your brothers found the man who killed your father?”

“Not yet, but for the first time in over twenty years, there’s a lead on the case—a promising one.”

“Oh, I don’t even know what to say.” So many emotions flooded through her as she thought about the three little boys who’d lost a father, who might get answers so many years later. Answers they thought would never come.

“I don’t, either,” Tanner said. “When Holt said they were coming to see me, I thought of a million things it might be about, but that was nowhere on the list.”

There was a tiny ray of hope in his eyes as he spoke, masked with a ton of apprehension, and her heart ached for the boy who’d never gotten the answers he deserved. She lifted one hand and placed it gently on his cheek.

“I hope you get the answers you’re looking for,” she said.

He looked directly at her, his eyes seeming to stare right into her soul. His face was only inches from hers, his arms still wrapped around her. She’d never wanted anything more than for him to kiss her right now. Her entire body tingled with anticipation, her lips quivered with excitement.

As he lowered his lips to hers, she felt her knees get weak and forced herself to lock them in place.

He kissed her without hesitation, like a man who knew what he wanted. She melted into the kiss, into his arms, silently willing him to want more than just this.

Never had she felt so alive, so sure of herself and her life, as she did right now—in the arms of this incredible man who wanted her. His lips parted hers and he deepened the kiss, mingling his tongue with hers.

He pulled her closer to him, and she could feel the hard length of him pressing against her. Refusing to think about the consequences, she ran her hands down his back and up under his shirt, her fingers caressing his rippled back.

His lips left hers and moved to her neck, kissing a trail from her ear down to her chest, just above her breasts. She groaned as he tasted the sensitive skin on her chest. A flash of heat rocked her body and suddenly, she felt as though there was entirely too much material between them.

“My bedroom,” she managed to say. “I have protection.”

He didn’t even hesitate before sweeping her into his arms and carrying her upstairs.

He laid her gently on the bed and pulled her shirt over her head. She unfastened her jeans and pushed them over her hips, wiggling out of them as he tugged them off her legs.

“The top drawer of the nightstand,” she said, and he pulled a foil package from the drawer.

In the lamplight and clad only in her bra and panties, she thought she’d feel self-conscious, but when Tanner shrugged off his clothes and looked down at her, there was no doubt that he liked everything he saw.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said as he slid onto the bed beside her. “Do you know how rare it is that someone is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside?”

Her breath caught in her throat. She’d never met a man like Tanner. Never even thought such a man existed. And now she wanted nothing more than to become one with him. To complete something that had started the moment he stepped into her home.

He leaned in to kiss her as he pulled her undergarments away. She ran her hands across his lean, muscular body, certain that a more desirable man had never been created. He pressed his naked body against hers and she could feel the hard length of him on her thigh.

“I want you now,” she whispered. “We have the rest of the night to take our time.”

His eyes widened a bit and he smiled.

“Whatever the lady wants,” he said as he moved between her legs.

She cried out in pleasure as he slid into her, then matched his rhythm until they both went over the edge.

* * *

J
OSIE WAS STARTLED OUT OF
a deep sleep by insistent banging on the front door. Tanner had been sleeping beside her, his arm wrapped around her, but he’d popped straight up at the first knock. The alarm clock read 5:00 a.m. They threw on clothes and hurried downstairs, and Josie worried the entire way. A knock on the door at sunrise was rarely a good thing.

The construction crew leader, Ray, stood at her front door, his face pale. The rest of the crew stood around his truck parked about twenty yards away in the driveway.

“What’s wrong?” Josie asked.

“It...the Tainted Keitre tried to kill us.” Ray’s voice wavered as he spoke, and Josie could see his hands shaking.

“Oh, no! What happened?”

He pointed to his truck and the crew members stepped aside so that she could get a good view. The hood was caved in several inches across the width. Tanner stepped past her and walked over to the truck. She hurried behind with Ray.

“What fell on this?” Tanner asked, his voice grim.

“A tree. If I’d been a second faster, it would have fallen on the bed.” He waved a hand at his crew. “They could have been killed.”

“Did you see anything when the tree fell?” Tanner asked.

“Only a wall of wood and branches coming at me. I threw the truck in reverse and got out of there as fast as possible.” He looked at Josie. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Bettencourt, but we can’t continue working here. We have families to think about.”

Josie’s heart fell, but she couldn’t blame the crew. No one should have to risk their lives to put up fencing. It was simply too much to ask others to deal with.

“I understand.” She placed her hand on the distraught man’s arm.

“If there were any other way...” Ray said.

“Please, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have let you continue work after this, anyway.”

The relief in his expression was obvious, and Josie felt a surge of empathy with this dedicated, honorable man. “When I get all this fixed,” she said, “I’ll call you. If you’re interested in working here again, that is.”

He nodded. “We enjoyed the work and you are a good boss. You see that the crew has good food and water and the proper tools to do the job. We’re all unhappy that we can’t continue here. We’d gladly come back if the creature leaves.”

“I’ll pay for your truck repair,” Josie said.

“It’s not necessary,” he said. “I have insurance.”

“At least let me pay your deductible,” she insisted.

“Thank you,” he said, then looked at Tanner. “Good luck, tracker.”

Ray said something to Tanner in Creole, shook Tanner’s hand then left. The truck engine whined as it turned over, but it seemed to run fine as the man backed up in the drive, his crew in the bed of the pickup, looking back at her with sober expressions.

“What did he say to you?” she asked Tanner.

Tanner stared at the disappearing truck and frowned. “I’m not certain, but I think he blessed me.”

“Blessed you?”

“Yeah, a sorta of voodoo spell of protection. I haven’t heard the words since I was a kid, so I can’t be certain.”

Josie looked down the drive as the truck disappeared around a corner into the swamp. A voodoo spell of protection? She didn’t believe in the old ways, but for a moment she couldn’t help hoping it would work.

* * *

M
AX SLAMMED HIS CELL
phone down on Holt’s desk, jumped out of his chair and paced the length of the small office. Knowing his brother better than he knew anyone else, sometimes even his wife, Holt kept silent and waited for him to pace out the anger so that he could speak.

Not that it was necessary. Holt knew who Max had been speaking to, and his reaction could only mean bad news. It could come in several forms, but the result was the same—no answers.

Finally, Max slumped back in the chair and looked over at Holt. “I guess you already figured it’s bad news.”

“Kinda hard not to.”

“Yeah, well, this is the worst of the bad news. Tanner’s guy is dead. Stabbed in a prison riot.”

Holt frowned. “And the guy who stabbed him?”

“No one was charged. The guards had their suspicions, but with all the fray, no camera caught it and there were no eyewitnesses. And, of course, they never found the weapon.”

“But they have someone in mind?”

“Oh, yeah, and you’re going to love this—he was paroled two months ago and hasn’t checked in with his parole officer in over a month. And you’ll never guess what tattoo he had on his biceps.”

Holt sighed. “Another dead end.”

“Maybe not. I’ve asked my buddy to check with the guards and see if anyone else in the prison has that same tattoo. If this is an organized crime unit, it’s likely that some of them are doing time or have done time. We may be able to track one of them down.”

“It’s worth a shot, but I’ll be willing to bet that if they get caught, they disappear completely when they get out. When they reappear, it’s in a different area and with a new identity. Given what happened to Tanner’s guy, I’m guessing if there’s any fear they’ll talk, it’s taken care of in prison.”

Max shrugged. “We have to try.”

“We won’t stop trying. I promise you that.”

Chapter Fifteen

Tanner studied the fallen tree with a clenched jaw. Josie stared at the huge truck in dismay, and he knew she was thinking about what could have happened if the truck had passed underneath just a second before.

“It’s rotted,” she said. “The creature must have pushed it over on them as they passed.”

Tanner shook his head and pointed at the base of the tree. “Not unless he had a chain saw handy. The tree was rotten, but the base was cut. There’s sawdust everywhere.”

Josie sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter at this point. The result is the same. Whether it’s a giant, hairy monster or a psycho with a chain saw, the crew would still be in danger.”

Tanner could tell by the tone of her voice that she’d given up. The tree was the final straw. “I have some money,” he said. “Let me hire some crews from New Orleans to finish this work.”

“No. Even if I had unlimited funds, I can’t ask anyone else to work here. If something happened to someone on my property, I’d blame myself.”

“Then let me make the bank payment since you can’t open on time.”

“Absolutely not.”

“It can be a loan, if that makes you more comfortable.”

“I already owe enough people.” She sighed and walked over to kiss him lightly on the mouth.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer,” she said. “I think you’re a wonderful man, and if it would make a difference, I swear, I’d take you up on it. It isn’t pride that’s speaking, it’s practicality. Unless I get the bed-and-breakfast open on time, the bank will call the loan, anyway. I’d have to pay off the entire arrears in order to get another extension.”

He knew she was right, but it still made him angry. All that money his father had left him and it couldn’t make a difference. What the hell good was it, then?

“So you’re giving up?” he asked.

“No! I mean, not unless you are.”

“Absolutely not.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. “I’m more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this. If I work fast enough, maybe...”

He didn’t want to say that maybe it wouldn’t be too late. Every day of work lost moved Josie closer and closer to losing her home to the bank. He could buy her house outright several times over, but it would take a month or more to convert the hard assets to liquid in order to get that much cash, and he knew Josie would never accept it, even if he called it a loan.

He told himself that she was too proud so there was no use offering, but that wasn’t all there was to it. He knew that if it came down to money changing hands, he’d have to tell her who he was and the thought of revealing that withheld information was something he wasn’t ready to face, not until they were completely out of options.

How could he make her understand why he’d held out on her? Why he’d pretended he didn’t know her or anyone else in town? How could she possibly understand? Last night was the first time she’d ever really seen him, despite his having been around for a year, and he had no words for how last night had made him feel. He was a coward for not telling her, but he could live with that for the moment. All that mattered was solving the mystery and getting Josie back on track.

Maybe she’d never even have to know everything.

“We’re going to figure this out,” he said, and gave her a squeeze before releasing her.

A tiny bit of hope sparked in her eyes. “So, what’s the plan?”

He pointed to an area past the trunk of the fallen tree. “I start tracking here. The other trails have been dead ends, but sooner or later, he’s going to make a mistake. This stunt with the tree was a desperate move. It’s clear this tree was cut, and monsters don’t carry around chain saws.”

“You think he’s changed tactics? He thinks by scaring the workers off, he’ll get me to give up?”

“He may know your money and time are running out. How many people in Miel know how badly off you are?”

“I...I don’t know. I mean, no one knows the details, except maybe Emmett. I’m sure Dad told him before he died, and the fact that he’s never asked me for his ‘share’ of the business is rather revealing.”