Once Removed, page 20
Without his arms to balance him, Larsen flew backwards and tumbled onto his back, skidding over the pavement. When he hit the pavement, the knife bounced out of his hand and flew off to the side. Lainey scrambled over to it. Kicked it into the weeds along the side of the road.
By the time she’d turned, Brody had run over to Larsen. As the man screamed obscenities at him, Brody flipped him over and used the rope to tie his hands together. Then his ankles.
Just like he’d secure a roped calf. Front legs, back legs.
He stepped away from Larsen and saw Lainey on the side of the road. She’d wrapped her arms around herself, but he saw her shaking. Leaping for her, Brody pulled her into his arms.
“Lainey,” he cried, smoothing his hand down her back. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” He buried his face in her hair and drank in her scent. He could have lost her today.
Her voice shaky, Lainey said, “I’m fine now. But… but I was so scared,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “When I wouldn’t unlock the door, he blew out your windshield. Thank God I’d crouched on the floor. Told me that the next shot would be into me. And I believed him.”
Brody held her away from him and scanned her body, sucking in a breath when he saw a streak of blood on her forehead. “He did hurt you,” he growled, turning to kick Larsen.
“No,” she said, grabbing for Brody. She put her hands on his chest to keep him away from Larsen. “That was flying glass from the windshield. I probably have a few other cuts. But that’s it. I’m not hurt.”
Brody ran his hands over her arms. Her torso. Her legs. “We need to get your clothes off,” he said, beginning to unbutton her blouse. “Look for pieces of glass. Make sure they don’t cut into you.”
Lainey pushed his hands away. “Stop, Brody.” She nodded toward the compound. “We have company.”
Brody swung around and saw Mel and Devlin standing beside their SUV. He’d forgotten all about them. “Come on over,” he called. “Larsen’s secure.”
They walked over, Mel studying him. Finally she shook her head. “Impressive piece of roping, Jones.”
He shrugged. “Muscle memory.”
“I bet you were a hell of a rodeo competitor.”
Brody frowned. Her license plate had been Washington DC. “How do you know about rodeos?” he asked.
She smiled. “I know lots of things, Jones.”
Curling his arm around Lainey, he said, “Lainey, this is Mel, the woman I told you about. And her partner, Devlin.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lainey said, her voice wooden. Flat.
As the four of them stood there awkwardly, the wail of a siren cut through the silence. “The sheriff,” Brody said, taking a deep breath. “You’ll need to give your statements,” he said to Mel and Devlin. “But if you want more information about the compound and what happened here, you’re welcome to stop at my place. The Flying J ranch.” He nodded toward the ranch. “About five miles further east.”
“Maybe we’ll do that,” Mel said. “I have some questions.”
“Any time,” Brody said.
A sheriff’s cruiser appeared around the curve, and he switched off the siren and pulled onto the shoulder. Jacobs leapt out of the car and hurried over. Stared down at the bound man on the pavement. “Larsen?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Brody said. He nodded toward Mel and Devlin. “This is Mel. The woman I met on the day of the fire. Your other suspect.”
Jacobs studied Mel. Nodded. “I’ll have some questions for you,” he said.
“Happy to answer them,” she replied.
Studying the hog-tied man, Jacobs shook his head. “Never could beat you in the calf-roping contests at the rodeo, Jones,” he said. “Guess that’s a good thing.”
Crouching beside Larsen, Jacobs patted him down, then snapped handcuffs on his wrists. Yanked him to his feet and loosened the rope around Larsen’s ankles, but didn’t remove it. He read him his Miranda rights, then guided him to the cruiser. Larsen stumbled repeatedly, but Jacobs kept him on his feet. The rope trailed behind him like a brown snake.
Once he was in the back of the cruiser, Jacobs removed the rope. Coiling it expertly, he handed it to Brody. Then nodded at his truck. “I’ll call the windshield guys for you,” he said. “In the meantime, one of us will drive you to the office so you can give us your statement. A couple other deputies are on their way.”
“Can the statement wait until tomorrow?” Brody asked. “We need to pick up Phoebe from her sleepover.”
Jacobs nodded slowly. “Larsen isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “And I suspect you’ll have no trouble remembering what happened.”
“No,” Brody said. “We won’t.” He tightened his arm around Lainey and pulled her closer, pleased when she snuggled closer.
“If you don’t want to wait for the deputy, we’ll drive you back to your ranch,” Mel offered. “Save you some time.”
Brody studied her for a moment. Nodded. “That would be great. That’d let the deputies get to work here at the compound.” He smiled. “Stick around, and we’ll tell you all you want to know when we get back with Phoebe. In fact, stay for dinner,” he said. “I’ll tell our cook to plan on two more.”
Mel tilted her head to study him. Nodded slowly. “I’d like that.” Her mouth curled into a smile. Brody had never seen her smile, and she looked like a different woman. Light. Friendly. Approachable. “Be good to meet my new neighbors.”
“And I’d like to hear what you have planned for that place.”
“Deal,” she said. “Now let’s hit the road. Don’t want to keep your kid waiting.”
Her words were like a knife to Brody’s heart. He wanted Phoebe to be his kid. His and Lainey’s.
But he wasn’t sure Lainey wanted that anymore.
Just when he found what he’d been looking for his whole life, he might have lost it. And it was his own damn fault.
Chapter 22
Lainey slumped against the front seat of Brett’s truck, feeling as if every bone in her body had turned to water. It was actually painful to turn her head and study Brody. “How did you do that?” she asked as the tires rumbled against the pavement.
“Do what?” he asked, glancing at her.
“Lasso Larsen.” She wrapped her arms around herself, the vision of Brody twirling the rope burned into her brain. She’d been afraid he’d miss Larsen. That Larsen would see or feel the rope, or catch her looking over his shoulder. One slash of his knife, and she’d be dead.
Taking a shaky breath, Lainey brushed her hand over her throat. “I saw you throw the rope, and it landed exactly where it needed to be. You had him in complete control. Weren’t you… weren’t you taking a huge chance?”
Brody stared at the road again, his jaw clenched. “Yeah, I was taking a chance, but I was pretty sure I could put the rope where I wanted it. I practiced doing exactly that for hours as a teen. While on a moving horse.” He reached for her hand, and she slowly pressed her palm in his.
When Brody simply held his palm against hers, Lainey twined their fingers together. Clung to him. Art Larsen had been wild. Desperate. She’d seen it in his eyes -- he’d have killed her without a second thought.
Having that knife at her throat made her and Brody’s argument seem petty. Insignificant. Yes, they had to talk. Figure out how to communicate clearly. How to share painful memories. But as long as they were both alive, they could work out their differences. That knife had opened her eyes to what was important.
“I was so scared,” she whispered, unsure if Brody could hear her over the hum of the tires on the pavement.
“I knew you were. I was terrified, too,” he said, his hand tightening on hers. She felt him glance at her. “Puts a lot of things in perspective.”
“Yeah. It does,” she murmured.
They didn’t speak again until they reached Helena. At the outskirts of the city, Brody untwined their fingers and put his hand back on the steering wheel. “Do you have Ashley’s address?” he asked, his voice matter-of-fact. Business as usual.
Taking a deep breath, hoping their relationship wasn’t back to cool and guarded, she wiggled her phone. “Put it on my mapping app,” she said, naming the street. “You know how to find it, or do you need the map?”
“I know where that street is,” he said, turning a corner. “I’ll need the number, though.”
“It’s 1512,” she said.
“Got it.”
In less than ten minutes, Brody turned onto Ashley’s street. Lainey leaned forward, looking for the house where she’d dropped off Phoebe’s things yesterday. “There,” she said. “The red brick house with the mums in the front yard.”
Brody steered the car to the curb, and they both got out. Lainey glanced at him, surprised he hadn’t waited in the truck. He shot her an incredulous look. “You thought I was gonna sit in the truck and let you walk up to that door alone?” He shook his head. “No way.”
“Art’s in custody,” she said. “We’re safe.”
“We’re not safe until Sheriff Jacobs tells us that Art was working alone and there’s no one else involved in this,” Brody said, staring down at her. “So get used to an escort. Both you and Phoebe.”
Lainey held up her hands. “Wasn’t going to argue with you.” She slanted him a look. Took a deep breath. “I feel safer with you.”
“Good,” he said. “’Cause you’re stuck with me.”
‘Stuck with me’ made it sound as if he’d dump her when he was sure it was safe. Was that his plan?
She wasn’t going to ask him -- she didn’t want to know the answer. Instead, she jammed her finger against the doorbell and listened to it chime inside the house.
Moments later, Ashley’s mom pulled open the door. “Lainey. Come on in. And you must be Brody,” she said with a warm smile. “I’ll tell Phoebe to get her things together.”
Ten minutes later, after Phoebe hugged both Ashley and her mom and promised to check in with Ashley later that evening, they were driving through Helena and back to the ranch. Phoebe had been chattering non-stop since they got into the truck, talking about the movies they’d watched, Regan and Ashley’s makeup they’d all tried on, and Ashley’s annoying younger brother.
Her voice had sounded wistful when she talked about Ryan.
Finally, Phoebe wound down and glanced around the truck. “This isn’t your truck, Brody. How come you’re driving this one?”
“This is Brett’s truck,” he said easily. “I had to borrow it because there was a problem with mine, but it’ll be fixed by later today.”
“What kind of problem?” Phoebe asked as they turned into the Flying J driveway.
“Let me put Brett’s truck back where it belongs, and then we’ll tell you all about it,” Brody said, maneuvering around a pothole in the driveway.
Lainey felt Phoebe tense beside her, and she laid her hand over the girl’s clenched fist. “Everything’s okay,” she murmured. “But let’s let Brody navigate this driveway first.”
When they all climbed out of the truck, Phoebe turned to get her stuff, which she’d put in the bed of the pickup. Lainey touched her arm. “Leave it for now. Let’s sit under that tree behind the barn and talk.”
Phoebe tucked her hands into her armpits and hunched her shoulders. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she said in a low voice.
“Why do you think it’s bad?” Lainey asked.
“Body language.” Phoebe swallowed. “I got real good at reading body language when my mom was sick. And after.”
Lainey took the girl’s hand. “It’s serious,” she said. “And yes, bad. But not for you. Not for me or Brody, either.”
Phoebe studied her face. Straightened, as if what she’d seen had reassured her. “Okay.”
Once they were all sitting beneath the huge maple tree, Phoebe between her and Brody, Lainey glanced at Brody. He lifted his chin at her, telling her to go ahead. Tell Phoebe what had happened.
“Your father was arrested today,” Lainey said, figuring it was best to get that information out there right away. “He’s the one who killed my ex-husband and burned down the mess hall.” She hesitated, reluctant to tell Phoebe about the photos. She’d find out eventually, but Lainey wanted to ease her into the knowledge of her father’s crimes.
“He’s in jail?” Phoebe asked carefully.
“Yes. He is,” Brody said. “Lainey and I were there when he was arrested.”
“Is that why there’s something wrong with your truck?” Phoebe asked.
Lainey sucked in a deep breath. “I guess that’s what happens when you have a smart kid,” she said. “She connects the dots at the speed of light.”
At the phrase ‘when you have a smart kid’, Phoebe jerked her head toward Lainey. Stared at her. “What does that mean?” she finally asked.
“Just what it sounds like. You’re smart. You figured it out immediately.”
Phoebe scowled at the toe of her green chucks, and Lainey glanced at Brody. His glance said give her a moment.
“Are you gonna tell me exactly what happened?” Phoebe said, lifting her head and looking from Lainey to Brody.
“We were driving into town to get you,” Lainey began. “We saw an SUV parked outside the compound, and we had no idea who it belonged to. I stayed in Brody’s truck, and he went in to take a look.”
She nodded to Brody, and he picked up the story. “I’d seen a woman in the compound the same day as the fire. The sheriff considered her a suspect in the case, because she was interested in buying the place. He thought she might have torched it to get a better price.”
Phoebe’s head was on a swivel as she looked from one of them to the other. “But she didn’t, right? My dad did that.”
“Yes. This woman had nothing to do with the fire.”
“So what happened to Brody’s truck?” Phoebe asked.
They gave her an abbreviated version. “He blew out the windshield of Brody’s truck with a shotgun,” Lainey said. “Tried to drag me away. But Brody used to be a calf-roper in the rodeo. He lassoed your father and kept him tied up until the sheriff arrived.”
Phoebe frowned. “Why would he want to drag you away? Was it because I’m living with you?”
“Not at all.” Lainey swallowed and studied her hands. Would that make Phoebe feel better or worse? Finally looked at Phoebe. “I have some photos he wants. My guess? He was going to hold me hostage for the photos.”
Staring down at her shoes, Phoebe said, “How long is my dad going to be in jail?”
“For a very long time,” Lainey said. “He won’t get out before his trial -- Brody and I will go to his bail hearing to make sure he doesn’t get bail -- and there’s more than enough evidence to convict him. He’s going to prison, probably for life.”
Phoebe took a deep breath. Leaned her head against the tree and closed her eyes. Tears leaked out, leaving shiny tracks on her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” Lainey said, putting her arm around Phoebe’s shoulders. “There was no easy way to tell you that.”
Swiping the tears away with her sleeve, Phoebe looked at Lainey. “You think I’m crying because my father is going to prison?” She scowled. “Hell, no. I’m relieved he can never hurt me again.”
Her heart ached for this young woman she already loved. Phoebe had been betrayed by the father who was supposed to love and protect her. “No. He can’t. You never have to see your father again if you don’t want to.”
Lainey pulled her close, rubbing her hand over Phoebe’s back. The girl’s shoulders shook, tears dripping onto Lainey’s shirt. Phoebe wrapped both arms around Lainey and clung tightly.
Her tears stopped eventually, and she swiped her arm over her face again, sniffling as she did so. “So what happens to me? Do I have to go into one of those group homes?”
“No,” Brody said emphatically. “We won’t let that happen.”
Lainey sent him a warning look, and he nodded, apparently getting the message. Don’t talk about your experiences right now.
“What happens next is up to you, Phoebe.” Lainey took the girl’s hand. “I’d like to become your legal guardian. We’ll have to talk to DCFS, but I think that would be a formality. I have a friend who works there, and she can tell me what we need to do. You’re old enough to decide for yourself who you want to live with, so that shouldn’t be an issue. We’d have to talk to a judge, but, again, I think that would be a formality if that’s what you want.”
Phoebe stared at Lainey, her eyes wide. Lainey couldn’t read her expression, and the longer Phoebe didn’t speak, the more nervous Lainey got. “If there’s someone else you’d like to live with, a relative, maybe, we can do that, too. It’s up to you.” Lainey’s throat closed, and she clamped her teeth together to keep from crying in front of Phoebe and Brody.
Phoebe shook her head slowly, and Lainey’s heart sunk. Everything hurt. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself to hold the hurt in, but she didn’t want to let go of Phoebe. “Okay,” Lainey sighed after a long moment. “Tells us who we should contact.”
Phoebe frowned. “No. I don’t want to live somewhere else. I want to live with you. I’ve been hoping you’d make it official, but you never said anything.”
“I didn’t want to pressure you, Phoebe. Didn’t want you to say yes because you didn’t know what else to say.” Lainey closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer of thanks that Phoebe wanted this, too. Opened her eyes to smile at Phoebe. “I really want to become your guardian. Maybe adopt you eventually. But I didn’t think it was fair to push it. To take advantage of your situation. You didn’t really have any other place else to live.”
“You think inviting me to live with you would be taking advantage of me?” Phoebe stared at her with an incredulous expression. “Are you nuts? Of course I want to live with you. And with Brody. But I didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to put you on the spot.”
Lainey took a deep breath. Let it out. Didn’t look over at Brody. Phoebe had said she wanted to live with both of them, but Lainey wasn’t sure that was possible anymore. She’d need to talk to Brody, and she wasn’t going to do that in front of the girl.
