Runaround Read online

  I could read between the lines. He still thought he could pin the armed robberies on me. They were letting me go, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think they weren’t going to be watching me. This guy had a hard-on for me. I was sure it was only in part because he actually believed I’d robbed those banks. I bet a good chunk of his desire to see me rot behind bars had to do with the fact his former flame was going to bat for me. Agent Gordon didn’t seem to like that one bit. I moved a step closer to him, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. I watched his jaw clench in response as I taunted, “Good luck finding my prints in a place I’ve never been, Agent Gordon. That’ll be a really good party trick.” I flicked my gaze over to my lawyer and lifted my chin. “Let’s go.”

  They let me change back into my street clothes so I felt more like a normal man and less like a prisoner. But I knew that the feds were still watching every move I made.

  I could practically hear Agent Gordon’s teeth grinding to dust as my lawyer led me past him and out into a long, boring hallway. I followed the quiet, older man silently into a busy office area. I let out a slow, long breath when I caught sight of Wyatt. My older brother was leaning against a desk, arms crossed over his chest, his face set in hard, unimpressed lines. We looked a lot alike, but Wyatt had grown up way too fast and taken on too much responsibility far too young. He rarely smiled and always looked too serious, if you asked me. The moment his eyes hit mine I could see relief burn through the blue. His big frame sagged on a huge sigh. He pushed off the desk and stomped across the space separating us. He paused long enough to shake my lawyer’s hand, and there was no missing the furious glare he shot over my shoulder in Gordon’s direction.

  I was roughly pulled into a hug tight enough to crack ribs. I returned the squeeze and briefly closed my eyes. It was so easy to pretend Wyatt would take care of everything like he always did when he put himself between me and the rest of the world. He gave me a solid pounding on the back and tilted his head down, his gaze searching mine to make sure I was all right.

  “You okay, little brother?” His voice was gruff, none of the East Coast shine coloring it that he’d picked up over the years working in the DC area.

  Wyatt and I had been born in a small parish outside of New Orleans. We’d stayed in Louisiana up to middle school, but then Mom had hooked up with a new fella and suddenly we’d been uprooted and moved to sunny Miami. Florida lasted as long as I was in middle school, but by the time high school rolled around, we were on the move again. We’d ended up in Las Vegas for a while, and then Oregon. When Mom dragged us to San Diego and tried to move us not even two months later, Wyatt put his foot down and told her we weren’t going. He was barely sixteen then, and Mom hadn’t looked back when she walked out the door. We were officially on our own from that moment on, just trying to survive. Wyatt was always looking for permanence and security. He was the one who was relentlessly searching for a forever home and family. I always believed I had enough as long as I had him. It was only one of the many ways in which we differed.

  “Get me out of here, and I’ll be fine.” I turned to the lawyer and thanked him profusely. He told me he’d be in touch and to stay out of trouble. I didn’t bother trying to explain that trouble tended to find me despite my best intentions.

  I followed Wyatt out of the building, biting my tongue, so I didn’t fire a million questions at him all at once.

  “How are Cy and Leo doing? I feel terrible that I ruined their wedding reception.” I liked my boss and his new bride. More than that, I respected the hell out of the whole Warner gang. Cy didn’t have to take a chance on me. He knew about my questionable past and my lack of experience in ranch work, but he took me on anyway. I wasn’t the Bryant looking to grow roots and settle down, but somehow, without even trying, I’d found a place where I felt like I belonged. He welcomed me into the fold without question, and how did I repay him? By ruining what was supposed to be one of the most special moments of his life. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fired my ass and banned me from the ranch for life.

  “He’s worried about you, not the interruption of the reception. They all are. Cy’s called me once a day for an update. They’re flying out tomorrow for their honeymoon, so you can call him and fill him in on everything before he whisks Leo away to paradise for a week.” Wyatt paused next to a rental car and pushed the fingers of one hand through his messy blond hair. “Ten has been in and out of this office for the last couple of days. She’s like a pit bull. I can’t believe the feds let her go. She’s the one who laid out the fact that if they tried to charge you with the conflicting evidence, any good lawyer was going to bring up the lack of fingerprints at the scene. There is so much reasonable doubt threaded throughout this case that it would never hold up in court. She’s a hell of an investigator, and she is clearly worried about you.”

  I felt a smile pull at my mouth. “She’s a good person to have in your corner.”

  Wyatt nodded. “That she is. She’s also determined to find the guy on the surveillance footage.”

  I blew out a breath and leaned a hip against the side of my brother’s rental car. “Any luck tracking down Mom?”

  Wyatt shook his head in the negative and frowned. “How could she have had twins and I didn’t know about it?” He sounded angry, and I knew it was all directed inward. He firmly believed it was his role in life to protect me from everything, even myself. It was killing him that he hadn’t seen something like this coming. But how could he?

  “You were four when she brought me home, Wyatt. None of this is on you.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “This is all on her, and on the asshole with my face. Of course, I would be the one to have an evil twin.” I snorted.

  “I remember her being pregnant. I remember her belly being big, and some guy coming around to check on her. I remember being excited I wouldn’t be alone anymore when she decided not to come home at night. I don’t remember any mention of there being two babies. You would think that would be something she’d try to prepare for.”

  “A normal mom would prepare. Our mom,” I rolled my eyes up at the sky. “I’m lucky I made it home at all. She could have easily left me at the hospital and made me someone else’s problem. I wouldn’t put abandoning a second baby, or even selling it on the black market, past her.” If that were the case, I was indeed the lucky twin because the man standing next to me always watched my six, even when he wanted to kick my ass. “Last I heard, she was hanging around a motorcycle club in Texas. She called looking for some cash.”

  Wyatt narrowed his eyes at me. “You give it to her?”

  Wyatt didn’t talk to the woman any longer. Wanted nothing to do with her. I didn’t blame him. She’d stolen his childhood from him, but worse than that, when he came out to her when he was in his teens, she’d tried to make him feel like there was something wrong with him. It took Wyatt a long time to come to terms with himself and his sexuality because of the damage our mother inflicted. I had a harder time totally turning my back on her. Not because I believed she deserved forgiveness, or kindness, or a moment of my time, but because I knew if I didn’t step in and help her out occasionally, she was going to harm more innocent people. She was destructive and vindictive that way.

  “I wired her a couple hundred bucks. I sent it to a town called Loveless. I doubt she’s still there. She said the money was for a bus ticket.” I met Wyatt’s angry glare. There were some things we were never going to see eye to eye, and I learned to live with that long ago.

  Wyatt swore under his breath and tugged on his hair. “Gives us a place to start, I guess. I got a couple of rooms in a hotel close by. Let’s get going. We can get a plan together tomorrow.”

  I nodded but reached out to stop him with a hand on his shoulder. “Where’s Ten, Wyatt? I need to talk to her.” Needed to thank her. Needed her to believe me. Needed her to help me.

  My brother gave me a knowing look. “She’s staying at the same hotel.”

  I grinned and slipped into the passenger seat. A
s different as we were, Wyatt knew me better than anyone, and I would be forever grateful for that.

  Ten

  “I’m really glad you’re here, Ten.” That voice. It shouldn’t send a shiver of awareness down my spine. I didn’t want it to send my stomach tumbling. I hated how it took nothing but the low, smooth rumble of his voice to light up every nerve in my body and how it made me hyper-aware of each inch separating his body from mine.

  I lifted my gaze as Webb settled in the seat next to mine at the hotel bar. He didn’t look any worse for wear after spending several days in FBI custody. He did have dark shadows under his shockingly bright blue eyes, and his usual grin looked like someone had slapped a dimmer switch on it. None of his typical fun and flirty charm was present. In fact, this was the most solemn I’d ever seen him.

  One of the cocktail servers swung by the table when she noticed I had a guest. I would’ve been impressed with the level of service and attention to detail if I hadn’t seen the girl’s head whip around so fast the second Webb stepped into the bar that I worried about her neck. He had a kind of magnetic pull, an aura around him which was impossible to ignore. I should know. I’d been trying to pretend I was immune to all that was Webb Bryant for months. I discreetly rolled my eyes as the server simpered as Webb ordered a whiskey on the rocks and a plate of sliders. When she bounded away, I expected him to watch her go. She was young, cute, and clearly willing to take his mind off his shitty week. He didn’t so much as flick an eyelash in her direction. Instead, those laser blue eyes locked on me and the sincerity in his heartbreaking gaze hit me in the center of my chest like a punch. I wasn’t at all sure what to do with that feeling. Ignoring it seemed like the best option, if I was able.

  I picked up my vodka and soda, pulling my gaze to the condensation on the outside of the glass. “I wasn’t going to let the FBI railroad you when I’m your alibi. I knew you didn’t do what they were accusing you of.”

  “What if you weren’t my alibi?” His voice lowered, and I could feel the touch of his gaze on the side of my bent head. “If I weren’t with you for that final robbery, would you be so certain of my innocence?” I could tell by the tone of his voice that my answer mattered a whole hell of a lot.

  I wasn’t about to lie to him. Sighing, I swallowed the rest of my drink and set the glass on the table in front of me with a thunk. I lifted my eyes to his and told him, “No, I wouldn’t have been so sure. The evidence they have is compelling. It wouldn’t be as cut and dry if I hadn’t been with you at the time of the robbery.”

  Some of the light went out of his burning gaze, and the faint smile he’d managed to maintain died. His handsome face went blank, all emotion bleeding out, leaving me staring at a stranger. I didn’t know who this blank, frozen version of Webb was, and it irritated me that I was the one who forced him to the forefront.

  The adorable waitress popped back up at the side of the table. She practically put herself in Webb’s lap when she dropped off his drink. She barely acknowledged me when I ordered a refill, and I had to grit my back teeth to stop from snapping at her when Webb’s patented panty-dropping smile flashed in her direction before she walked away. I didn’t realize how much I’d gotten used to that look being aimed in my direction until it was gone. I wasn’t jealous. Nope. Not me. I wasn’t jealous at all.

  I blew out a breath of frustration and traced a drop of water down the side of my glass. “I’m going to find the person who did rob those banks. It’s the only way Gage will let go of the idea of you being the perpetrator. He’ll keep trying to pin those robberies on you, no matter what. All he cares about is closing the case and looking good to his superiors. He doesn’t care if an innocent victim gets hurt along the way.” I was far too familiar with how troublesome Gage Gordon’s single-minded focus could be.

  Webb took a drink and leaned back in his seat. His cotton shirt pulled tight across his broad chest and I realized Wyatt must have brought him a change of clothes. He wasn’t wearing the black suit the FBI had picked him up in. The man looked good in his wedding finest, but he looked even better dressed down in faded jeans and a simple black T-shirt. He didn’t need much to add to his natural charisma.

  “That guy is a piece of work.” One of his burnished eyebrows lifted and a small frown pulled at his mouth. “Not too sad things didn’t work out between the two of you.”

  His words startled a laugh out of me. I put an elbow on the table and rested my chin in my hand as I watched him closely. “I’m not all that sad about it either. I would have been perfectly fine never having to breathe the same air as Agent Gordon ever again in my life.”

  The waitress slid into our space once again, dropped a plate of food in front of Webb, and purred that she would be happy to get him anything else he needed. There was a heavy emphasis on the anything. Luckily Webb didn’t seem inclined to take her up on the offer. Instead, his focus stayed on me as he gave me an honestly puzzled look. “Can’t quite figure out how a tool like Gordon ever talked you into his bed. He must have a way with words.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “What makes you think I wasn’t the one who went after him? You don’t know me nearly as well you think you do, Webb.”

  I bristled as he smirked at me from across the table. It wasn’t his easy, careless grin, but it was better than the void of expression stamped all over his face before. “I guess I can’t picture anyone jumping from a guy like Cyrus Warner to a douche like Gordon.”

  My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. Webb and I weren’t exactly friends. I wasn’t sure what we were. But we definitely weren’t close enough for him to be privy to all the intimate details of my romantic history. I was a fiercely private person on the best of days. I didn’t like anyone picking apart my past, especially when all the pieces were laid out, it didn’t make the prettiest of pictures. But clearly, Webb knew just enough to make him dangerous.

  “Maybe Gordon appealed at the time because he was the exact opposite of Cyrus Warner.” It had taken me a very long time to realize exactly why I’d fallen so far and so fast for someone like Gage, when every instinct I possessed was screaming at me it was a terrible idea to get involved with him. “We all make mistakes.”

  Webb polished off the food in front of him and pushed his plate away. I was waiting for another interruption from the bubbly waitress, but Webb lifted a hand and subtly waved her off. He crossed his arms on the table in front of him and leaned toward me. “Oh, I know all about mistakes, Ten. I live my life between the one I just made and the one I’m about to make next. I’m not judging you. Just trying to figure you out.” Some of the light lit back up in his brilliant eyes. “Been trying to do that since we first met. You don’t make it easy.”

  No. I didn’t. I wasn’t sure I’d even figured out what made me tick, and I’d been after it a whole lot longer than Webb. But this conversation was fast approaching an area I wasn’t ready to navigate, so I needed to switch the direction before we both said things we weren’t ready for. “We don’t need to know how the other works to keep you out of jail. What we need to know is how this person who has your face found you. He picked banks in Wyoming and Montana for a reason, and not just because they were located in remote locations. He had to know you were nearby. It wouldn’t do him any good to hold up a bank in California when you’re hundreds of miles away. He needed it to be plausible that you traveled to a location close to where you’re currently living. So, who knows you were working on the ranch? Whom did you tell you were coming back to Wyoming?” Not me, obviously. If I’d known I would have been better prepared for the impact he had on my defenses.

  The waitress snuck in to grab the empty plate and asked if we wanted a refill. Webb declined and asked for the check. The young woman’s disappointment was palpable, and I fully expected the bill to be delivered with her phone number scrawled across it somewhere. But the gorgeous man sitting across from me had narrowed his focus entirely on me and the questions I fired off in his direction. I could see him rolling through
a mental list of people he might have updated about his whereabouts. I got the distinct impression Webb didn’t stay in any one place too long, so I doubted he was the type to cultivate deep, meaningful relationships along the way. I cringed when I realized I was silently judging him right after he promised me he wouldn’t hold any of my poor choices from the past against me. He might be younger than me, but there were times he’d shown a hardened maturity that made me feel like a naïve idiot when I was around him.

  “Wyatt knew. He’s the only person I regularly keep updated. I’m sure he told Grady.” Grady was Wyatt’s former partner. “The Warners knew. I asked Cy directly if I could come fill in for Sutton when he left with Emrys for California.”

  I thought that through for a moment. “How did you know Sutton was leaving the ranch?” I wasn’t aware the Warners kept in touch with Webb after the showdown in the woods. Not that Cy was in the habit of running things by me like he once had.

  Webb lifted a shoulder and let it fall. I forced myself to look away from the way his muscles bunched and flexed enticingly. I wondered how the bullet hole had healed, if he had a scar. It wouldn’t take away any of his appeal if he did. A scar or two would only add to the uncontrollable bad boy vibe he worked so well.

  “I had Wyatt check up on everyone for me. Cy told him Sutton was in some trouble with the law so I decided to head back to the ranch to see if I could help out. Wyatt was pissed when he heard what was going on. I think he had words with the sheriff. The vibe between the two of them was so cold at the wedding, I could see my breath.”

  All the Warner brothers had run into a spot of trouble recently. Sutton, the middle brother, had been falsely accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend who was also his daughter’s mother. The sheriff of Sheridan, Rodie Collins, was an old friend. I’d known him almost as long as I’d known Cy. He was tight with all the Warners, so I bet having Wyatt chew his ass hadn’t helped an already difficult situation in the least. Plus, there was the clash of local versus federal law that always resulted in a pissing contest when dicks were whipped out.