7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

London

B ean comes back from riding and the ear-to-ear smile is telling. "Did you enjoy riding?" I ask, as if it needs to be asked. It's so evident that she loved it.

"Oh, yes! It was great!" She beams, as Colton helps her off the horse.

"You come back anytime." Colton says.

"Thank you so much for that." I say to Colton.

"Oh, you're quite welcome. Anytime. These horses love to be ridden." He smiles.

Cooper interjects. "Nate is coming by after to watch Bean here while we work tonight."

"Oh yeah? Well, he's got a key. He can come on over and the two of them can go riding again." Colton nods.

I look at Bean. "Nate is my friend Liz's son. He's coming by since Becky isn't able to watch you anymore." I state carefully.

"Nate's a cool kid." Cooper says. "You're going to love him. Way better than any babysitter you've ever had."

"Can he make cookies?" Bean asks.

"Only Christmas ones." Colton adds with a playful smile. God, being in the presence of all these gorgeous men…I don't know. Cooper, hell, he's hotter than any man I've ever had. I can't seem to keep my hands off him. Truly, I don't know what came over me back there in the house. I just…lost all control. Sex with him is mind blowing, too, which doesn't help quell my urges. He's a tiger in bed, and I've never had that before. James, well, he was a good lover, but not that good. The first few years of our relationship were very good, but after we got married and had Bean, well, things fizzled.

"Are you on tonight?" Cooper asks Colton.

He nods. "Same as you. Wade told me about what happened last night. Is there anything I can do?" He asks, addressing both me and Cooper.

"No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but, us staying with Cooper is helpful enough." I tell him.

Cooper gives him a strange look and looks down, kicking at an imaginary pebble on the ground. "Yeah, thanks. We've got it handled."

I look at Cooper but he isn't looking at me. He diverts his attention to Bean. "What do you think? Did you work up an appetite for lunch?"

"I'm starving." She says.

Cooper looks at me. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to go for a ride. There's plenty of food in the house, if you want to head back and make something for her. I won't be long." He says.

"Sure." I nod, taking Bean's hand. "Let's head back." Then I address Colton. "Thanks again. I appreciate it."

"Any time. It was nice meeting you, Bean." He winks at her.

"Nice meeting you, too."

As we walk away, I look back at the boys once.

…and I don't see Cooper mounting the horse.

Cooper

"She's a great kid." Colton says when they're out of earshot.

"Yeah. Stella's great, too." I say with effort, hating the sound of her fake name on my tongue. I look over and see the two girls out of sight, back in the house, and I turn back to him. "Listen, she'll hate me for this some day, or she'll love me for it, I don't know which, but I need help here, Colton. And you know that I've never asked for a thing."

He sets his hands on his waist, concern registered on his face. "Anything, man. What can I do?"

"Her real name's London. Not Stella. She's running or hiding from something or someone and something tells me that that gunshot might have been for her last night. She's got her stuff in storage, and she's barely got two cents to rub together. The woman is in trouble but either too proud or too scared to tell me what's going on."

"What are you thinking? Private investigator?" Colton guesses.

"Yeah, and you know that I haven't got that kind of dough, but more important, I don't have the resources to find someone that can pull that off."

"I get it." He nods quickly. "We've got a guy that checks out everyone we do business with. He's on a retainer. I could hook him up for you. He's doing something for Garrett right now, but the guy is a machine." Colton states. These brothers are billionaires. Money is no object. They own an airline that their late father left for them, that they were all groomed to run, except for Wade. The Ford brothers are the type of people that would get pissed if they knew that someone was in trouble or they could help, and you held off because you didn't have the money for it.

"I hate to ask so close to Christmas, but this girl is hurting bad. My guess is it's got something to do with her husband. She doesn't speak much about him other than that they're divorced. The little that I know of her I learned through Blake. He gave me access to her file."

"Blake's a good guy."

I nod. "Yeah. He's seen his share of people with trouble."

"Ain't that the truth." He licks his lips. "Listen, the guy's name is Jenkins. Earl Jenkins. But don't ever call him by his first name or he'll get pissy with you and start calling you something else, if you get my drift." He chuckles matter-of-factly. "And don't let his first name put you off. He's our age and knows his shit like no other. He's dug in so deep to some of our potential clients, learning shit that would send a donkey packing, helping us steer clear of troublemakers. Now, I'll tell him he's got free reign, and any cost for stuff like sealed files, things like that, he can go ahead with on your approval. Like I said, he's a machine. He works alone, too, so don't ever let anyone dick you around and say that they're working for him. That's rule number one with him."

I frown. "Sounds good. I'm hoping that it's just something simple like he's one of them psycho exes, but I've got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me otherwise."

"Always listen to your gut, man. That's my first rule. That's how come I know who's who all the time. And that girl is a good one. You're doing the right thing."

"Thanks, man." I shake his hand. "Now, I better get on this bad boy, or she'll be suspicious."

"I'll grab Maya and come along." He says, pulling the mare out of her pen.

"Hey, how come you didn't have her ride Maya?" I ask, curiously.

"Ah, she got taken out earlier. I didn't want Rebel to get jealous."

He changes the saddle to a single one, tossing it on Rebel, and then he places one on Maya's back, and mounts her. "You love her, man?"

I look at Colton and purse my lips into a smile, looking downward.

"Don't know why I asked. You wouldn't be going to all this trouble if you didn't."

"The kid, too."

"Looks like you got yourself a couple of early Christmas presents, dude."

"Yeah.And the best kind, too."

Mingles is pumping tonight. And I feel it. My arms are flailing about, beating the shit out of the drums, while I keep one eye on my girl, who looks up at me and smiles every now and again. We play a couple of Christmas songs, and everyone joins in, including the waitresses, and including London. As much as I've got it licked, calling her Stella outside of the house, it still makes my skin crawl. Not that Stella is a particularly gruesome name, but knowing that it's not hers, and she's using it to conceal herself from some unknown trouble that's either too scary to share, or too risky to share. Either way, like I said, it makes my skin crawl.

During setup I couldn't take my mind off this Earl Jenkins guy. I mean, how is he going to find anything out? If she's using a pseudonym, how is he going to find out anything about her? Blake's file was scant at best. Working in a bar doesn't require much other than your social security number and an address, and there wasn't even an SSN. There wasn't even banking information in there, so I'm assuming he's paying her in cash. Which scares me to no end. Is her surname even real? I imagine not. And the more I think about it, the more it makes me sick.

But as I hit the drums and start playing, it all melts away, and that's the best part. All I think about while I'm at the drums is playing. It's an escape. It's the escape. I don't drink, do drugs, or do anything, but when I play, that's my drug. I love it and I do it every day, whether it's for money or not. Whether it's for the kids or not. Just like I can't imagine my life without London and Bean, I've never been able to imagine my life without playing. I'm in my element. Thrashing my sticks up and down, twirling them in the air, beating the shit out of the skins, pumping with Wade's beats, keeping time with the rest of the band, it's all such a fucking rush.

And then as Wade announces a break, I head over to the bar, for a bottle of water. Colton approaches me, as I watch London serve a table their drinks. "There's a message on your phone. Jenkins tried calling but I told him you were playing tonight."

"Oh, shit, yeah. I turn my phone off when I'm playing. Don't want the distraction."

He nods. "I get it. If you've got a minute, give him a call. He just wants to connect with you."

"Sure thing, man. I'll do it after I take a piss."

He nods and heads back to his post. London walks up to me and smiles, as she delivers a drink order to Blake. "How's it going?" She asks.

"At the risk of sounding corny, much better since you're here."

She grins. "I called to see how Bean's doing. She adores Nate."

"I figured. He's a good kid and he loves little ones. Never had a sibling and always wanted one."

"He'll make a great uncle some day."

"That's the truth."

I kiss her on the mouth quickly. "Listen, darlin'. I've got to go the men's room and then I've got to make a quick call. Wade's going to be back in five minutes, so I have to go now."

"Well, only if I get another one of them kisses."

I kiss her on the mouth again, letting it linger for a second. "That's a deal I can live with."

The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I bite them back, fearing the worst. London is not ready to hear how I feel about her. Not by a longshot. So I give her one last one in replacement of the words, and leave her with a wink. I take a quick leak and go into Blake's office, closing the door. The message is a quick one, just asking for a return call. After adding his number to my list, I dial it. Jenkins answers on the first ring.

"Cooper. Nice to hear from you."

"Thanks for calling so quickly."

"No problem. Listen, Colton told me what I need to get started. I just want to let you know that I'm on the case."

"Perfect. That's great. Call me anytime, night or day. I'm in a band, so I'm up all hours."

"Yeah, same here." He chuckles. "Hey, if there's anything odd going on, let me know about it and I'll check it out. Colton said that there was a shot fired in her old neighborhood a couple of nights ago?"

"That's right. Not sure if they were for her or what, but I got her the fuck out of there immediately."

"Good call. And up by Colton's place, she's safe. Horses are natural security systems. I've got one myself."

"No shit? You live on a ranch?"

"A much smaller one, but, yes. And not nearly as swanky as Colton's."

"Hey, man, a horse is a horse."

"I've got two of them. They're my life. Anyway, I'll be in touch."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He says and clicks off.

I can't help feeling like a heal when I walk back towards the stage and see London serving a table. Is this betrayal? I really doubt it. But I can only hope that if she ever finds out about it, that she won't see it that way. It seems so odd doing something like this, worrying about someone's safety, worrying about a gunshot, when we've got rocking Christmas cover tunes playing overhead, a Christmas tree by the bar, garland strewn all over the place, and Blake wearing a goddamn Santa hat. It's too weird.

Christmas is a month away, and I hope to God that at least some of this mess is sorted out before then. I don't even think that London has done any Christmas shopping. It makes my gut ache thinking about her leaving as abruptly as it appears that she left, taking with her only necessities, and I suddenly get a great idea in mind. As we pack up our things for the night, I watch her clean the tables, and I call over to her.

"Hey, what do you think about doing some Christmas shopping tomorrow, after I get back from work?"

"Won't you be exhausted?" She says, and I love her for thinking of me. "I mean, you didn't get any sleep last night, and it's late. You have to get up in the morning. Don't you want to just come home and rest?"

I smile at her. "I told you I hardly sleep. Sometimes I binge sleep, though. But I'm not there yet."

"How about we take one step at a time? We still have to clean up the house. My stuff is all over the place, and we haven't even moved down to the basement yet."

She's right. If this is going to work, then London has to have her space. I know that she doesn't want to screw up Bean by confusing her with us sleeping together. "Sure. We can do that first then. Maybe we'll go shopping the night after that."

"We'll see." She says, and I don't like the look on her face. She's afraid. She doesn't know what's going to happen next, and my heart aches. This girl is not going anywhere if I can help it. I'll protect her as much as I can. I don't care about the cost. I'm sure, if push comes to shove, depending on what this Jenkins guy comes up with, if it calls for it, Colton will insist on hiring police to watch over her. That's fine by me. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it.

"But, mommy, I like it up here." Bean argues once I get home, bringing her with me. I figure there's no point in her taking the bus, when I come home from the school, anyway.

"Well, Cooper needs his space." London argues back kindly.

I look at her and smile. "London, I'd love it if you stayed up here with me. But it's up to you. You're not cramping my style. I love the company."

Bean sticks her hand out, giving her mama healthy attitude. "See, mommy? I want to stay up here!"

"Now, Bean, we already discussed this." London reasons.

I kneel down on the floor to fix an ornament that's facing the wrong way on the tree. "Bean, it's up to your mama. Now, she may have her own reasons for wanting a bit of privacy. You should respect your mama's choices, love."

"But I can see Colton's ranch from up here, and his pretty lights, and the tree is up here." Bean says, her chin quivering. "Mommy, can we please stay up here? I don't want to live in the basement." Tears start to flow down the child's cheeks.

London caves, pulling her daughter to her. "Okay, sweetheart. We can stay up here. But that means that I'll have to sleep in your bed, baby. Since this is the only spare room up here."

"That's okay, mommy. I don't mind sharing my bed." Bean whimpers into her mama's chest, as they hug. I walk over and hold them tight to me.

"I've got a little cot I can bring up from the basement if your mama wants to sleep on that. It's not the most comfortable, but it'll do for now."

"No, that's okay, Cooper." London states. "I'll just sleep in the bed."

And that's when my phone rings. I look at the display. It's Jenkins. "Excuse me. I've got to take this." I say, and then I quickly pull my shoes on and take a walk outside.

"Hey, man." I say, walking towards Colton's ranch.

And nothing can prepare me for what he tells me.