Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(58)
“I don’t see any reason you can’t come. The guy won’t be there. He was ousted when he was a teen. And I might get more cooperation if I have a woman with me.”
“Great. I’d better get dressed.”
Ethan’s mouth edged up, reminding her of last night, of his hot, wet kisses. Everywhere. Her stomach clenched.
“I had other ideas about how we’d be spending the morning,” he said with a look that made her stomach tighten again. “Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen now.”
Val just smiled. “I’ll get dressed, but I need coffee first.” She headed for the coffeemaker on the wet bar, poured herself a cup, and headed for the bedroom.
At least she wasn’t just a conquest. She wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The relentless, humid July heat bore down on the Texas landscape as Val sat in the passenger seat of Ethan’s rented Buick. He was driving Highway 281 toward Stephenville, where he hoped to get the name of the man he suspected had killed Mandy Gee, a man who still posed a dangerous threat to the models.
The road stretched in front of them, a ribbon of black marked by a string of disappearing mirages, water you never reached no matter how far you drove. A thorny green landscape of elm and ash weighed down with dense, leafy branches; thickets of mulberry and fields of sharp-bladed grasses grew beside heavy stands of cottonwood at the edge of meandering creeks.
It was a foreign environment, unwelcoming to an outsider, reminding her why she loved the pine-forested hills of Seattle.
“You really think we’ll find someone out here who knows this man?” she asked, breaking the silence inside the car.
“It’s a long shot,” Ethan said. “But running on hunches is a lot of what my job is about. If we don’t find anything here, I’ll talk to the authorities in Beeville, see if I can find someone who’ll do some legwork in the Amish community there.”
“You worked in Dallas. Were you born in Texas?”
He nodded. “Little town east of the city called Sulpher Springs. My family had a ranch there, big one. Broke it up and sold most of it. Some of my cousins still raise cattle near there.”
“Your parents still live in Texas?”
“My mom died a while back. Dad remarried, moved to North Carolina. He just adopted his second wife’s kids.”
“Will you have time to see your cousins while you’re here?”
“I’d hoped to. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Maybe I’ll bring Hannah back for Christmas, give them a chance to meet her if—” He broke off the thought and just shook his head.
“Don’t do that. You’re going to get things worked out with Allison so that you can spend more time with Hannah.”
He managed to smile. “I hope so.”
Val smiled back. “So . . . you were more city boy than cowboy.”
“I was always interested in law enforcement. My favorite cowboys were Texas Rangers. Most of the men in the family either have a military or police background.”
He flicked her a sideways glance. “I know you were born in Michigan. You told me your folks died in a car accident. I read that much in your file when I first started working for La Belle.”
“If you read my file, you got the cleaned-up version, what they gave to the press after I won the contest. It doesn’t mention my time in juvie.” She had told him the rest, about her cousins and how she had gotten to Seattle. She figured by now he knew everything there was to know about all of the models. It didn’t bother her that he knew—not the way it had at first. Even if he didn’t trust her, she trusted him.
“So you were chosen Miss La Belle. I’m not exactly sure what that means.”
“The company picks a girl every year and awards her a six-month modeling contract. Being a La Belle model pays big. I entered on a whim, never thought I would actually win, but I needed money for school so I figured it was worth a try. I was chosen, and they gave me the number-ten spot. Until the murders, the job seemed like a godsend.”
Ethan kept his eyes on the road, but his jaw tightened. “We’re going to catch him.”
“But you think there are two of them. Two killers.”
“Yeah. And both of them are going down hard.” He didn’t say more, just checked the map on his iPhone, slowed the car, and turned off onto a narrow paved road.
Val smiled when she saw a yellow road sign up ahead with a picture of a horse and buggy. PASS WITH CARE was printed underneath.
“Looks like we’re just about there,” Ethan said, keeping the car at a respectful speed.
As they neared, she saw that it wasn’t much of a community, just nine or ten small farms spread out along the road. A couple of double-wides, several cabinlike structures. All the farms had barns and gardens.
Their first stop went quickly. A man opened the door, gave a headshake meaning no, and she and Ethan walked back to the car. The second stop was the same, except the door was opened by a woman.
Unused to strangers, two kids ran out into the front yard to watch as the Buick drove away. They looked like children out of an old western movie, the boy with his flat hat, coveralls, bare feet, and rolled-up pants, the girl with her long, full-skirted dress, white apron, and bonnet.