A Little Texas

“I want to be involved.”

Rick tamped down his anger. “You are involved.”

Justus snorted. “I’m only the bank.”

“Si,” he said, just to remind Justus of how different they still were. “That has been your role since the beginning, and it is a most worthy role. You can’t relate to the men who will come here. I can. I know the path they’ve walked. I know the pain and regret.”

Justus didn’t flinch. “I know regret, too.”

Rick nodded. “I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that the men who come here will have almost nothing in common with you. Other than wanting to shake free from the life they now lead.”

“Fine. I didn’t come here to oversee you.”

Rick felt a moment’s relief, then a prickling arose on his neck. Justus wanted something.

“I have a request. It’s quite, ahem, delicate.”

Rick crossed his arms. He didn’t need this now. Justus had employed Rick when he’d first come to live at Cottonwood and since then he’d done many things for the man before him. Nothing illegal, but some of those tasks made him feel uncomfortable in his skin. Of course that had been before Ryan died. Before Justus’s stroke. Before he had changed. Before Rick had tired of being Justus Mitchell’s lackey. Yet, Rick owed Justus more than he liked to admit.

And he owed the man’s late son.

If it hadn’t been for Ryan, Rick would not be the man he was today. Ryan’s death had bound him to the Mitchells with invisible ties that would never be severed.

“What?”

Justus’s eyes closed for a moment, before opening and piercing him with their intensity. “I have a daughter.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Si,” he said to be annoying. Satisfaction flashed across his face before he continued, “No one knows about her. Well, rather, they don’t talk about her.”

“Why?”

The old man rolled a bit closer, banging into the foos-ball table and causing the little soccer men to spin. The low pendant light cast a gray pall on his pasty skin. “Her mother was a waitress over in Oak Stand. I’d been with her five or six times, but there could have been others. She didn’t seem the choosy type. The child could have been mine, or not. I never bothered to find out.”

“Then why worry about her now?” Rick eased himself onto the corner of the new pool table. The green felt was stiff beneath his fingers—very different from the one at the deli in the barrio where he’d won money off leathery broken men. He’d been a ten-year-old hustler with the instincts of a shark.

“Because of this.” Justus’s eyes shifted to the tray on the motorized wheelchair. The debilitating stroke had caused him to lose mobility in his right arm. His left arm was weak, but he could use it.

Rick picked up the folded paper. The heaviness of the paper spoke much about the sender of the letter. This woman meant business.

He unfolded it and read silently while the old man watched him. The note was brief and to the point. The woman wanted money to keep quiet.

“Well?” Rick said, refolding the paper. “You want me to kill her?”

Justus laughed at his jest. It was a running joke between them. Justus didn’t need a Hispanic jack-of-all-trades to take out his competition. The old man could crush whomever got in his way. Money was his weapon, always had been, and Rick knew the power of that particular sword.

“No, I want you to bring her to me.”

Rick stiffened. He didn’t have time to play nursemaid to some upstart claim to the Mitchell fortune. He had a center to open. The rehabilitation center was the promise Justus had made him the year after Ryan died, and starting next week, Rick would be attempting the near impossible—bringing gang members from the streets of Dallas to the countryside of East Texas for a chance to change their live’s direction. It was a bold undertaking, but Rick wanted to give others what had been given to him. A second chance.

“I can’t. I’m no longer employed by you. My focus is on the center.”

“I can’t trust anyone else.” The old man rolled even closer. So close Rick could smell his Aramis cologne, see the deep grooves around his shocking blue eyes. “Please.”

“I have to focus on Phoenix.”

“You must do this for me, Enrique. This is all I shall ask. One last favor and I will sign the land over to the foundation. Think about it. The center would be secure.”

Rick felt his heart pound. Mitchell did not part with much in life. The center was funded through Ryan’s foundation. They’d received some federal money, but much of it came through the foundation. Justus was now offering something more. “All for finding this woman and bringing her to you?”

The old man smiled. White veneers flashed, a gold crown winked. “Finding the girl won’t be hard. She used a post office box. Probably thought I hadn’t kept tabs on her, but, of course, I always have.”

Rick glanced at the folded note in his hand. It had not been signed. Just a post office box number given. The girl lived in Las Vegas. “Of course you would. You always know your enemies.”

Something flashed again in Justus’s eyes. It was an emotion Rick had seen before in those blue depths, and he knew it well. Regret stared at him in his mirror each and every morning.

“She’s not an enemy. There is much of me in this girl. She’s determined.”

“And underhanded,” Rick said. “How can you admire a girl who would threaten to ruin you unless you give her money?”

“It’s not so different than what I would have done once. She’s got her back against a wall. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have heard from her. Besides, there’s not much left to ruin, is there? Other than the money, of course.” The smile Justus gave reminded Rick of a clown in a fun house. He supposed the atrophy on the man’s right side was to blame, but still, he couldn’t help the prickles that crept along his skin.

The only sound in the room was the hum of the restored soda machine in the corner. Rick wasn’t sure he wanted to tangle with this woman, but the allure of owning the hilly land surrounding the center won over the doubt embedded in his gut.

He’d started trusting Justus Mitchell long ago and hadn’t regretted it yet. The man had been ruthless, conniving and dangerous, but the day Ryan died had changed everything about Justus.

Nothing defeated a man like the death of his son. And nothing gave a man purpose like finishing the job his dead son had started. Justus had lost Ryan but found Jesus, and he’d declared himself transformed. From that day on, he had tried to perpetuate Ryan’s legacy of seeing value in helping others.

“Fine. I’ll go to Vegas, but it has to be tomorrow. The center opens next week and I’ve got five guys coming. That’s more important than this girl.”

Justus frowned but didn’t disagree. “Good. I’ll arrange for the flight. She’s expecting me to send the money with no questions, but she’ll have to give me more than some contrived claim. When you show up, we’ll see how serious she is about this venture. The girl will dance to my tune if she wants something from me.”

“Don’t we all?” Rick said.

A laugh blasted past Justus’s lips. “You learned long ago, didn’t you? I’m a hard man, there’s little doubt of that, Enrique, but I have a heart somewhere in here. I think.” The old man moved his left hand jerkily toward his shrunken chest.

Rick nodded. “What’s her name?”

“Kate Newman.”

“She’s gonna be trouble,” Rick said, slipping off the pool table.

“All women are.”

KATE BALANCED ON HER TOES in order to check the box at the post office. Why they’d given her one in the highest row she couldn’t guess. At barely five feet, it was obvious she’d have a hard time obtaining the mail. Must have been retaliation from the clerk, whose invitation to the movies she’d turned down. Some guys couldn’t handle even the gentlest of brush-offs. Jeez. She’d been nice about it. Or as nice as she could be.

She tottered on her toes, her hand barely brushing the inside of the empty box. Damn. Nothing.

“Can I help you, chavala?” The low-accented question came from over her shoulder.

She dropped back onto her three-inch heels. “Nope.”

She turned around and met eyes as dark as sin.

The man stood with one arm against the tiled wall. His posture affected ease, but she could tell there was nothing easy about him. Energy radiated from him like a wave of heat off the Vegas desert. “You sure?”

Kate bristled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

His gaze slid down her body, but she was used to men looking her over. She waited while he took in her high-heeled boots, textured black tights, ruffled blue taffeta skirt, skin-tight lycra turtleneck, hoop earrings and short raven hair. “Get your fill?”

A quick smile crossed his lips. “Not quite.”

A strange heat gathered inside her at his words. They were spoken quietly, with a hint of a Spanish accent. “Well, too bad.”

She spun and stalked toward the glass doors at the front of the post office. She could feel him following her. Alarm curled around her gut.

She faced him. “Listen, buddy. That wasn’t an invitation. Back off.”

The man stopped, crossed his arms and grinned. “Oh, man. You’re a live one.”

Kate swallowed. He acted as though he knew her. “Whatever.”

She turned around. He followed her. Alarm shrieked in her head. This dude, though seriously sexy, was off his rocker. What kind of lowlife stalked women in a post office? She tried to ignore him, but it was hard. He seemed right on her heels. In fact, she could smell his spicy warmth. It was dark and delicious. Forbidden.

She pushed through the doors and emerged into the blinding Nevada sunlight. Her car was parked under a withered palm tree, right beside an economy rental car. The man still trailed her. She didn’t know what to do. It was broad daylight—surely he wouldn’t try to abduct her. There were people crawling over the whole complex. It would be lunacy. Stupid. And the man didn’t look stupid.

She slowed and watched as he passed her. He pressed a button on his key ring and the rental honked a greeting. Relief washed over her.

She unlocked her own car and tossed her purse onto the passenger seat.

“Kate.”

She froze, one leg in the car, one still on the pavement. The guy knew her name. Her heart pounded and the first thing that popped into her mind was that the IRS had found her.

Which was ridiculous. Wendell had said she and Jeremy would have a month before any action should take place. And the IRS didn’t have field agents, did they?

So how did this guy know her?

She looked at him. He rested a forearm on the top of the silver rental and pierced her with his dark eyes. She eased into the depths of the VW, not sure what to do next.

“How do you know my name?”

He smiled. White teeth flashed in the brightness of the afternoon. “There’s much I know about you, Miss Newman. But the most important thing I know is that if you want to carry through with your threat against Justus Mitchell, you’ll have to get through me first.”

Not much shook Kate, but his words made her shiver in the temperate Vegas air. “Wh-what?”

“I read the letter. I know what you want.”

“Who are you?” Her legs quaked as adrenaline surged through her. Time to decide—fight or flight?

“Let’s just say I’m a good friend of Mr. Mitchell.”

Jeez, Louise. Who did her father employ? Henchmen? She looked around. A security officer sat in his little clown car about thirty yards away. She climbed from the car, slamming the door behind her. She knew how to stand up to men like this.

“Well, good friend of Mr. Mitchell, I guess you already know my father is a low-down, no-good bastard who spreads his seed all over Texas and leaves it to sprout with no help. He never acknowledged me or helped my family. I figure he owes me.”

She advanced on the man. She could tell he hadn’t expected much of a fight from her. What did he think she’d do? Squeak like a mouse, hop in her car and speed away? She’d sent the letter. She wanted the money. The bastard owed her that much. Likely more, but she wouldn’t be greedy.

He watched her as she stalked around his car.

She stopped in front of him and planted her fists on her hips. “So, does that get the attention of his majesty? Or do I have to write Mrs. Vera a little note signed ‘Kate Mitchell, your husband’s illegitimate daughter’? Or maybe I can take out an ad in the Houston Chronicle? Bet that’d get the governor’s attention.”

The man blinked. Then he smiled. “You are his daughter.”

She narrowed her eyes and waited.

“Justus wants you to come to Texas.”

“No. I don’t take orders from him. I’ll go to a lab and have blood drawn. I know he’s my biological father. I’ve known it for years. My mother and grandmother were not liars.”

The man crossed his arms and released a sigh. Though he was slightly under six feet, he towered over her. His shoulders were sinewy and tight, his body trim and coiled. He reminded her of a soldier. Perhaps he was one. “Mr. Mitchell’s instructions were firm. You want the money. You come to him.”

There was no way she could go to Texas. She needed to be at the salon raking in all she could, and if she canceled her appointments, she’d likely lose her clients. That was something she couldn’t do. She needed steady customers—her future depended on it. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t gone to Texas in the first place. That and the killer airfare.

“I can’t. I have responsibilities.”

“The salon?”

A thread of unease snaked up her spine. Did her father know about her financial troubles? Surely not. “Yes, if you must know. I can’t pack up a suitcase and head to Texas to satisfy some old man’s whim. I—”

“But you expect him to satisfy yours? Meet your demands with no proof? It’s more than reasonable to expect to meet you face-to-face. That was his offer. Take it or leave him be.”

Kate chewed on his words. “If he wanted to meet me face-to-face, why send you? Why not come himself?”

The man swallowed what she assumed to be aggravation. “You evidently didn’t do your research well. Mr. Mitchell is ill and confined to a wheelchair.”

Now, that was something she’d never expected. The powerful Justus Mitchell confined to a chair, crippled and sick? Something stabbed her insides. She was certain it was guilt. After all, she stood there ready to blackmail an ailing man and his reputed angel of a wife with dirty laundry from years past.

But Justus Mitchell wasn’t a victim.

Kate didn’t consider herself a victim, either. But she’d also grown up without the necessities of life while her father and his wife ate Chateaubriand and drank Perrier. She’d lived in castoffs from the Oak Stand Pentecostal Church while their precious Ryan had galloped upon a pristine lawn in a smocked John-John suit. She’d crawled into a used single-wide trailer each night praying it wouldn’t storm while the Mitchells tucked into plush beds in one of the seven bedrooms at the family estate, Cottonwood. And worse still was that everyone knew she was his daughter…and felt sorry for her.

Kate deserved the money.

But she’d rather face a firing squad than go to Texas.

“Here’s a plane ticket for tomorrow morning. Either you get on the plane or Mr. Mitchell will fix it so you never see a dime from him. Your choice.” He shoved an envelope into her hand.

“You’re threatening me?” Kate felt her toes sweat in her boots. They always did when she felt scared. Damn it.

“Turnabout is fair play, Kate.”

With those words, the man opened his car door and climbed inside. Kate barely had time to step back before he pulled out of the narrow parking space. She couldn’t tell if he watched her in his rearview mirror, standing bereft in the parking lot holding the envelope. He’d put on dark sunglasses that made him look even more menacing.

“I didn’t even get your name,” Kate muttered to the taillights of the car. “Rude ass.”

There was nothing left to do but climb into the comfort of the VW. She blinked back desperate tears. Justus played hardball.

But what had she expected? The man hadn’t risen to the top of Texas by letting people run roughshod over him. Of course he’d be as tough as the West Texas landscape that held his oil wells.

So now she had no choice. She’d have to go to him if she wanted to get the money for Fantabulous. She only hoped she could pull it off. Everything depended on her playing the game well.

CHAPTER THREE

RICK DROVE OUT OF THE PARKING lot as his cell phone jittered beside him. He glanced at Kate in the rearview mirror. She stared after him looking not the least bit happy, her lips forming words he couldn’t hear. He could only imagine the curses being shot his way.

Who could blame her? The tables had been turned on her little blackmail game. And strangely enough, it hadn’t amused him to get beneath her skin. He knew how it felt to be jacked around. But she’d brought it on herself.

The phone vibrated again. And again. He glanced down at the persistent humming. Justus’s number flashed on the BlackBerry’s screen.

He didn’t want to talk to the old man right now. He needed to process Kate Newman.

She was a smart-mouthed, sexy piece of work. He liked her style—the edgy look she wore like an attitude. She’d responded to him. He hadn’t missed that. And she didn’t seem afraid of him like other women were. There was little doubt she was Justus’s biological daughter—not because her manner was as brash as his, but because she had his eyes. Ryan’s eyes.

Justus had stamped his mark on his two children.

Kate’s eyes were like an exotic sea glittering at sunset. They dominated her delicate face, even overshadowed her tempting lips. He imagined men tripped over each other for a shot at her. She had a daring vibe, an appeal that would make people draw near to see what she’d do or say next.

Something stirred inside him. He wanted to tell Kate to stay in Vegas and not worry about Justus. There was a pall hanging over Cottonwood. It would suck her in and suffocate her.

Mind your own business, he told himself.

But logic couldn’t stop the feelings rising inside him. The one that said “protect her” and the other he didn’t even want to acknowledge. The one that whispered “bed her.” Those responses were asinine. Kate didn’t need protecting—he hadn’t seen so much as a hint of fear or regret in those Mitchell-blue eyes. And as to the other, well, he wasn’t that man anymore.

The phone sounded again.

He stopped arguing with himself and pulled into an empty lot, pressing the answer button. “Rick.”

“Where the hell have you been?”

“Yes, I’m having a nice day. And you, Justus?”

“Skip the bullshit. You’re in Vegas. You’ve seen her.”

Rick grimaced. “Yes, I’ve seen her.”

“And?”

“And I think she’ll come to Texas, but I can’t be certain. She’s not what I expected.” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew he shouldn’t have said anything about Kate. He should let the man draw his own conclusions about his biological daughter. Don’t involve yourself. Keep your distance. The less said, the better.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s…salty. She won’t be pushed around easily.”

“So she is my daughter.”

Rick’s gaze roamed the lot surrounding his car. It was empty. Yellowed weeds poked through zigzag cracks. Boards covered the windows of a vacuum cleaner repair shop and a series of blue graffiti marked the boards. Staking territory. The number thirteen was displayed prominently, as was the letter M. He’d parked on Sureño turf, the street gang that had once been his sworn enemy. “You keep saying she’s your daughter, so why go through all this? Just give her some money. You owe her at least that.”

But Rick knew why Justus wanted Kate to come to Texas. He’d lost Ryan three years ago, then he’d had the stroke that nearly killed him. His wife, Vera, clung to the past, drowning herself in grief. Things were bad at Cottonwood. Justus needed deliverance. He thought he could get that in Kate.

“I need to see her. For proof.”

Just look at her eyes. The words sprang to his lips but he didn’t give voice to them. “I’ll be back tomorrow, with or without her.”

The old man sighed. For a brief moment the silence sat heavy on the line. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

The line went dead. No platitudes about having a safe trip back. No polite farewell. Justus had never used niceties on Rick.

He shifted the car into gear and eased toward the road. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of two young guys crossing the back of the empty lot. Young Hispanic men. Flat-billed caps, thigh-length jerseys, baggy jeans, blue bandanas in pocket. Tattoos covered their forearms. Gang members.

The guys laughed, punching each other on the arm, but their laughter died when they saw him. He could feel them stiffen, grow aware.

He drove from the lot, leaving only sympathy behind. Sadness for a childhood lost. He wasn’t sure if it was for the two bangers or for himself.

His mind cut to the center. The true test was about to begin. Next week, he’d find out if he’d bitten off more than he could chew. Reality was he didn’t know squat about rehabilitating gang members. He only knew how to be one.

Maybe knowing the life would be enough.

THE NEXT MORNING KATE PUSHED her sunglasses to the top of her head as she entered McCarran International Airport. She glanced through the sliding doors to where Jeremy sat in her car. She gave him a wave and he saluted before pulling away from passenger drop-off.

She wanted to run after him, tell him he screwed up, he should have to fix everything. But she didn’t. Because Jeremy didn’t care about Fantabulous as much as she did. And because his partner had taken a turn for the worst and was under hospice care. And because that morning, the IRS letter had mocked her from its position on her fridge. She swore it even gave a snicker when she opened the door to grab a bottle of water and a yogurt. Two weeks ago, life had been much easier.

Now she had a mere three weeks to get ten thousand dollars to Wendell.

Or lose her salon.

That made her throat tighten. She tried her best to ignore the gut-clenching thoughts tumbling in her head as she stepped into a security line that seemed to be moving as slowly as the Vegas economy. One step every two minutes. At this rate, she’d likely miss her flight.

She scoured the crowd for the man who’d confronted her in the post office parking lot the day before. She didn’t know if she would see him again. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he’d tracked her down through the post office box. If she really didn’t want her father finding her, then she should have devised a more anonymous method of contact.

She should have known this whole blackmail thing was a stupid idea. Blackmailing a man who took pleasure in crushing anyone who got in his way—who did that? She knew the answer. Only someone who was desperate. And now look where it had landed her. She’d set something into motion. Could she handle what was about to happen?

A woman tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts, and pointed toward the moving line.

Finally, Kate made it through the checkpoint, reassembled everything in her purse and carry-on, and headed for the gate. The ticket was in her hand. It was one-way, and that made her nervous.

“Kate.”

Her name sounded like a caress on his lips. She turned to face the man who’d shadowed her dreams the night before. He looked calm, as though he’d actually slept. The bags under her eyes sagged lower. “I’d say hello, but you never introduced yourself.”

His lips twitched. “Enrique Mendez, but everyone calls me Rick.”

He offered his hand. She ignored it. “Do you work for Justus, or just stalk random women at post offices for fun?”

Amusement flashed in his dark eyes before his face went blank. “Not necessarily.”