Chirp(74)

“Hired to find her, not return her. Marla has goons for that.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Rance asked.

Tom raised his brows and glanced at Helga.

Women and their power. Rance’s stomach knotted, the same as it had every day since Chirp left. “I didn’t handle the situation well. I’ll be the last person to hear from her.”

Helga folded her arms beneath her ample breasts. “Then what are you going to do about that?”

“Nothing I can do.”

“Go after her. Find her. Protect her,” Helga said.

“Don’t you think I would if I could? My brothers and I have brainstormed about every possible way to locate her. No luck. Dallas. Waco. They’re big cities. It’d be like trying to find a minnow in the ocean. Thousands of miles. One of me.”

“So you’re giving up?”

“I have no choice. I appreciate the information, but I don’t see how it helps.” He glared at Tom. “If you can’t find her, what makes you think I can?”

“Thought you might have inside info. Maybe she mentioned someone in Waco.”

“If she’d shared her past with me, I would have never gone to that website, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Rance opened the door and went inside. Helga was right. He had to do something, but what? For the first time in weeks, he wanted a drink. He grabbed the keys to his Harley.

When Rance got to The Roost, the place was almost empty except for a trio of older guys and three forty-somethings dressed too young for their age. All bright colors and bleached hair made him think of Chirp’s cleanup garb. He pulled up the photo on his phone and couldn’t help but chuckle. But then he thought about never seeing her again, and his mood turned dark.



Today he’d stick with beer and skip the whiskey. He ordered his drink, and when the bartender gave it to him, Rance headed to a back table. He should be glad about the information the PI had shared, and he was, but it was no help. More than anything, it reminded him this whole situation was his fault.

Lost in gloom, he didn’t notice the man staggering toward him. The short, skinny dude was almost to the table when Rance saw him. He set down his bottle and rolled his eyes up to look at the guy. “S’up?”

“I seen you eye-fucking my woman.”

The last thing Rance needed was trouble. But that was what this idiot wanted. He reminded himself he wasn’t in prison anymore and had nothing to prove. “I apologize.” No clue which of the three bar babes the guy was referring to, and it didn’t make much difference. This nut was looking for a fight.

The redneck’s ego deflated. He’d expected a confrontation and didn’t get one, but he was too sloshed to give up. He raised his voice. “Well, I don’t accept your apology. I’m gonna whip your ass.”

Rance leaned forward and plastered on a smile, but added steel to his voice. “Listen closely. I’ll give you a way out of this as to not embarrass yourself, but if you don’t take it, we’ll step outside and I. Will. Put. You. Down.” Rance stood, raised his hands in surrender, and spoke loud enough for the guy’s friends to hear. “Again, I sincerely apologize—to you and your lady. I meant no disrespect.”

He towered over the wimp by a good six inches and outweighed him by forty pounds. The fool had no muscle, probably from spending too much time in here. Rance’s defined physique came from years of perseverance. He could snap this opponent’s neck like a fresh green bean. He just hoped the chump had enough remaining brain power to make the right choice.

And then he saw the sweat glistening on the man’s forehead and recognized his expression. Fear. Rance backed away and eyed him. “We good?”

He nodded.

It was time to get the hell out this place. All Rance had wanted was to enjoy a beer in peace. So much for that. As he straddled the Harley, his phone chimed.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Come to the shop. I need to talk to you.”

The tone of Hanna’s voice worried him. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you coming or not?” she demanded.

“On my way.”

During the time it took to get there, Rance’s mind raced. Was there already trouble in paradise? Seth was living in Houston during the week and in Bluebird only on weekends. Rance wasn’t sure the arrangement was a good one, but Hanna was busy planning the wedding and they still needed to find a house. Until then, she didn’t want Noah having to change schools.

He came to a stop and dismounted. In three long strides he was inside. Hanna stood behind the counter, glued to her laptop. “Are you in love with Blaze?”

Rance shook his head. “What the hell? All the way over here I’ve been going crazy wondering what you wanted to talk about—and that’s it? What damn difference does it make? She left me. Remember?”

“I didn’t lie when I said I didn’t know where she was, but if I did, I’d need a good reason to tell you. I mean, what would be the use of finding her only for you to hurt her again? She wanted you to love her. So, do you?”

“Goddammit, Hanna! If you’ve heard from her, tell me.”

“I haven’t, but I still need to know how you feel about her.”

Rance ran his hand over his face. “Fuck. First the PI comes calling, and now this shit. Contrary to what you think, love doesn’t fix every problem in the world. So if you’ve got something to say, say it.”