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Al grimaced. “Yeah, and I’m afraid it could take a whileeven after I order it.”
“Oh, I think it should take a couple of weeks. Maybe amonth,” Josh said. “Maybe it’s stuck on a container ship that’s trapped in thebottleneck at the Panama Canal. I read something about that.”
Al nodded. “It’s not that much of a stretch. I did tell herI would have to order the part and I couldn’t until she made a down payment.You trying to keep her around?”
“I think that women on the run keep running until they finda place that feels safe enough to take a risk.” Josh had been thinking about itall day. He wanted to respect her privacy. No. That was a lie. He knew heshould respect her privacy. What he wanted was to know absolutely everythingabout her, to track her every movement in case she needed him for some reason,to be a couple of steps behind so he could ensure she was safe and no one hurther either emotionally or physically. That was what he wanted, but he would becontent with knowing what she was running from. Then he could plot and plan andget her out of whatever situation had put the lost look in her eyes.
Though when he’d left her, those eyes had been closed, andthere had been a peaceful look on her face as Grim petted her.
“Well, I’ll be happy to delay the situation for a couple ofweeks,” Al agreed. “Honestly, I don’t feel right fixing the alternator when Iknow damn well it’s going to fall apart again. The whole car is held togetherwith duct tape and baling wire. It would be a miracle if she made it to Austinin one piece.”
“Hey, Dad, game’s back on,” Greg said from the upstairswindow. “Hey, Josh. How’s it going? Grim doing okay? I heard there’s anoutbreak. Kind of expected you to be knee deep in cows beside him.”
An outbreak? “We had a couple of bred heifers get sometainted feed. We’re working with the feed store to figure out what’s going on.Where did you hear that?”
Greg leaned over the balcony railing. “Uh, I might haveheard something about it from his brothers.”
They weren’t Grim’s brothers. Josh was. Josh and his parentsand Livie were his family. “What exactly did they say? And which ones are wetalking about?”
“Oh, they were doing the thing where they scream at peoplegoing into the park or walking down Main Street.” Greg seemed to wave it off.“It was John and Peter. You know how they are. They wave the Bible around andpretend like they’re the dress code enforcers. I think the ladies lookperfectly nice in their leggings. They’re taking an exercise class so I don’tsee the problem. But those boys take exception. I don’t think they read thepart about plucking thine own eyes out.”
“I could do it for them if they have trouble,” Joshpromised.
“The women ignore them. But today they were talking aboutevilness killing the town, and how all the cows are going to die because we putup with wickedness,” Greg explained. “I didn’t think much of it until I heardfrom one of the hands what went on this morning. Sorry if he wasn’t supposed totalk.”
That wasn’t the problem. “Nah, it’s fine. Grim’s handlingit. They’re being assholes or it’s a coincidence. I don’t see how they couldknow, but it’s not like it matters. You let me know if they keep talking aboutit. Al, thanks for helping me out.”
He shook Al’s hand before the older man disappeared backinto the shop. Greg gave him a wave as he returned to watching the game. Joshglanced over at the car and then his watch. He couldn’t be gone too long. Hepulled his cell phone out and dialed a familiar number as he approached thepiece of crap Nicole called a car.
And apparently home every now and then.
The thought made his gut turn. Anything could happen to herout there with nothing but the windows and easily broken locks keeping her fromthe world. He’d thought the motel was the worst place for her, but sleeping inher car on the streets was definitely worse.
“Hey, Josh. What’s going on. Haven’t heard from you in awhile,” a feminine voice said.
Harlow Dawson. She was one of the kids he’d grown up with,the ones who formed his family. Harlow, her sister, Greer, and their parentslived in Dallas, though over the years they’d done a lot of work for thecompany. Her fathers, Ben and Chase Dawson, were private investigators whileher mother, Natalie, was a painter and ran a gallery.
Greer worked with their mom, while Harlow had taken aftertheir dads.
“I’ve been working. You know how it is.” Josh took in thecar, holding the key he’d stolen in his palm. Borrowed. He would put it back,but he wanted to take a look first.
“Our parents don’t want to travel for work anymore, so theysend us. Yes. I certainly do. Be glad you spend your time in sales meetings.You only had to go to college. I had to go to college and then pass Big Tag’skill-the-girl training school. It was terrible. I was in it with some peoplewho I think are training to be assassins, but my dadsinsisted I go if I was going to do anything dangerous.”
Actually, he was happy his training had been in how tohandle a ranch and run a business. He’d heard the man they called Big Tag waskind of intimidating, and that was coming from kids who’d grown up aroundJulian Lodge. Josh had met Mr. Taggart a number of times. He’d made the mistakeof hitting on his daughter once.
Oddly, the man hadn’t threatened to kill him. He’d gone overa long list of things Kenzie Taggart had mastered—including her black belt in tae kwon do. And then he’d given him a lengthy document hecalled a release of all liability.
Josh had known when to back off. “Yeah, I try to steer clearof certain parts of Dallas.” Not that there wasn’t a Taggart who’d been anexcellent mentor to him, but the man didn’t live in Dallas. “I got a favor toask, Harlow.”
“Of course. Is it work related? Someone stealing from thecompany store?” The question was asked with a teasing tone. She liked to teasehim about his wealth.
Like she should talk. Her fathers were ridiculously wealthy.They worked because they got bored if they didn’t. “No, it’s personal.”
“What’s going on?” All the teasing gone, her voice hadsoftened. It was easy to talk to Harlow Dawson because she genuinely caredabout her friends. She had a soft heart and hands trained to bash in a man’shead. If they hadn’t been practically family… Well, she still wouldn’t havebeen perfect for him since Nicole was the one. But she was one of the coolestwomen he knew.
“Grim and I have a new girlfriend,” he explained, lookingover the lines of the sedan. It needed a paint job. And a new bumper. The rearhad multiple dings, one of which was starting to rust. There was nothing in theback seat, and the front was every bit as neat. She’d cleaned it out beforedropping it off. “I’m worried about her.”
“Worried about her how?” Harlow asked.
