Sweet Dreams (Colorado Mountain #2)(140)

Neeta raised a hand and jabbed a finger at me. “She wouldn’t let him go.”

“Which was good, since you were actin’ like the whacked out bitch everyone here knows you to be, he was shakin’ so hard, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his feet,” Tate shot back. “And nothin’, and you know it Neet, there is not one damn thing in this f**kin’ world that excuses you handlin’ my boy so rough he cries out in pain.”

“Good God,” Stella whispered, her toned filled with horror.

“Neet,” Pop whispered, his tone filled with pain.

Neeta turned and whined to her father, “She wouldn’t let him go, Pop.”

Pop didn’t even look at me when he asked, “That’s your excuse?”

“She –” Neeta began.

Pop cut her off. “Lauren’s got not one thing to do with this. It’s all you, Neeta. It’s always you. “

“Pop –” Neeta started but he lifted a hand.

“Get outta my sight, girl. I don’t wanna see you,” he whispered words that seemed dragged out of him, I heard Neeta draw in breath in a way I knew she’d never heard them before, not after anything she’d done and there clearly had been a lot. “I don’t think I ever wanna see you again,” he went on and then he stared at her as if he’d never seen her in his life and wished he still hadn’t. Finally his eyes moved to Tate. “Do me a favor, just one, Buck, take Wood. Find this man’s woman. He can help.” He waited for Tate’s nod, Tate gave it to him and he concluded, “I’m gonna go be with my grandson.” Then he moved to and up the steps, disappearing behind the office door.

“I can take you, Neet, you know it so don’t even try,” Stella warned and my eyes moved from the office door to her to see she was giving a hard look to Neeta.

Neeta gave up on her family and looked at Tate.

“We’ll see what the judge says about this,” she threatened.

“Yeah, we will, with Ned, Betty and Lauren all there to witness what you did, Neet, and Jonas wantin’ to live with me anyway, we’ll f**kin’ see,” Tate returned, his eyes shifted to Wood and he clipped, “You’re in the Explorer with me.” He looked at me. “You’re ridin’ with Shambles, babe.” His eyes sliced to Shambles. “You lead. Take us to where she told you she would be,” he ordered, Shambles nodded and Tate finished, “Let’s roll.”

* * * * *

We hit the clearing in the woods, Shambles was leading and speaking, “There,” he pointed to the clearing, “that’s where we –”

We were at the edge of a glade and he stopped speaking and walking because Wood reached up and grasped his shoulder, pulling him to a halt.

“Hang there, pal,” he said softly, his eyes coming to me. “Hang with him, yeah, Laurie?” I nodded and he looked at Tate.

Then Wood moved forward, Tate rounded me, they separated and skirted the clearing, both of their eyes pointed inward, to the dirt floor. They only did this for five, six steps before they stopped and looked across the glade to each other. When they did, I saw both men’s faces were set and both of their mouths were tight.

I reached out, grabbed Shambles’s hand and squeezed.

Something must have been communicated nonverbally because Wood nodded once, turned and kept moving but this time he did it into the trees. Tate came back to Shambles and me.

“Do me a favor, Shambles, I left my cell in my truck. Can you get it for me?” Tate asked.

“Is something –?” Shambles started.

“My cell, Shambles,” Tate said firmly.

Shambles stared at him, swallowed and then turned and rushed through the woods to the cars parked a short distance away.

I looked up at Tate. “What –?”

Tate interrupted me. “See that ground?” He pointed to the floor of the glade and my eyes followed his hand.

“Yes,” I said.

“All those marks,” Tate whispered and I saw a lot of marks in the dirt but Tate didn’t wait for me to say anything. His hand came to wrap around the back of my neck, my gaze went to his face and he finished, “Struggle, Ace.”

I felt tears fill my eyes as I breathed, “Oh God, no.”

“I need you to get him home. Get Jonas. Get Stell. Get Pop. Go out to dinner. Keep Shambles occupied. I’m callin’ the cops. We gotta sweep this whole area.”

I moved closer to him and put my hands on his stomach.

“Do you think –?”

“I don’t ever think. I just go where the trail leads me. But in this case, I’ll hope.”

“Tate, Sunny’s not his style,” I told him.

“Get him home. Keep him occupied.”

“She doesn’t… she’s not like Tonia,” I pressed.

His fingers gave my neck a squeeze. “Baby, I’ve given you a job. It’s an important one. Focus. Yeah?”

I stared into his eyes. Then my head turned and I looked at the glade then passed it to where I could see Wood, no longer close, walking through the trees, eyes to the ground.

I looked back at Tate and whispered, “Okay.”

He reached to his back pocket. “My cell’s not in my truck,” he stated, his arm came around and he showed me his cell. Then he urged, “Go.”