Chapter Nineteen

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Landon sat in the driver's seat of the truck, looking around the parking lot of the rundown motel.

Harlow frowned his way and pointedly checked her watch. "Kim's supposed to call in an hour. If you stay with us, we'll still have to make the trip to the shelter."

Nicole didn't want to be late. "I'd like to be back in time for the call. This is my whole future on the line, and I think I should be there."

The day had kind of gotten away from her in the sweetest way. First she'd chased Buddy, who had taken off running through the front flower beds. She'd worried the dog was trying to run away, but he'd come back and run zoomie circles around her until he'd lain down and immediately fallen into a nap. Lunch without Josh and Grim was no longer any kind of awkward for her. In fact, she loved the time she got with Abby and Olivia and Harlow. They'd had a leisurely lunch and talked about how Olivia's trip to Bliss had gone.

Poorly on the romantic front since the objects of her affections turned out to have just announced their engagements. To different people. None of whom were Olivia Barnes-Fleetwood.

However, Olivia couldn't stop talking about the obnoxious cowboys she'd had to deal with while working with their fathers. Like couldn't stop talking about them in a "they annoy me for reasons she wasn't willing to go into" way.

Nicole had found it utterly fascinating, which was precisely why they were running late.

Landon sighed. "Fine, but you two be ready to go when I get back."

Harlow waved him off. "We'll be ready. I don't think she's got a ton of stuff."

Nicole moved to the door of the motel room as Landon drove away.

It was odd to be back here now. She'd been gone for a couple of weeks, but it felt like she was a different person. She'd come to this place desperate and alone.

She wasn't alone anymore.

"You okay?" Harlow asked, tucking a strand of bright blue hair behind her ear.

Nicole took a long breath and opened the door. "Yeah."

"Hey, long time no see." Claudine walked out of the office, a stack of fresh towels in her hand. She was dressed in what she liked to call afternoon chic. A flowy housedress, her long hair in a braid. She wore no makeup, so the working girl was obviously taking a day off. "I heard you made the move to the big time. Whew. You really living with the devil?"

"He's not the devil," Nicole said with a frown.

Harlow looked at the other woman. "Are we talking about Jack or Josh?"

Claudine shook her head. "Those men are the same. I swear. And I don't say devil in a mean way, Nicole. Everyone knows Jackson Barnes is the kindest, most generous man around. But the man can also take a mean bit of revenge. I heard about Nicole's confrontation last night with that hateful old man."

"What are people saying about it?" Harlow asked. "Jack seemed to think it would get a lot of women to finally push back."

"Oh, they're pushing back. I had a date with a member of the city council, and he was complaining he's already getting calls to make laws and stuff against yelling at women," Claudine said with a wave of her beautifully manicured hands. "But don't talk about that. A woman in my profession must practice discretion. Now I know the answer to this question already."

Nicole could guess. "I'm not coming back. I'm going to marry Josh and Grim and be happy."

Claudine smiled. "Then I'm happy for you." She started to walk toward her room. "But the asshole who took your room when you left is a pervert creepo." As she walked by the door Nicole used to call her own, she held up her middle finger. "Yeah, I'm talking about you. Creep who never leaves his room but is always watching. You're gross. Steer clear of this guy, Nic. And invite me to the wedding. I never get to go to weddings. Only bachelor parties."

Harlow's eyes had gone wide. "Is she a sex worker?"

Nicole nodded and entered the room. "Yup. And a nice lady with good instincts. Let's get out of here before the creep next door decides to stop by and say hello."

"How did you ever think this woman was some housewife from rural Colorado?" Harlow stood by the vanity in the bathroom. "Her makeup bag is Fendi. And she has not one but two pairs of Louboutin flip-flops."

Nicole shrugged. "I mean I've been wealthy adjacent, but it's not like they were interested in buying me stuff. And I didn't pay attention. I noticed her Chanel bag but she convinced me it was a knock-off."

Harlow hauled out the plain black suitcase and flopped it on the bed. "I can spot a knock-off from a mile away, and I can tell you those shoes are real and her clothes are excellent quality. This is a woman with money."

"I wonder why she does what she does." Nicole gathered up her books. They were all she wanted, though she would take her sad two pairs of jeans, three Christa's Café shirts, five pairs of underwear, one extra bra, and those crappy Crocs Alyssa had taken offense to.

"Because believe it or not, there are problems with being rich, too." Harlow started carefully folding the clothes Kim Kent had left behind. "Sometimes it can feel like the money is the only thing that matters about you. You have to find your purpose. And I know it's way easier to find your purpose when you're not worried about where your next meal comes from, but it wasn't my experience in life. I knew I always had food and a roof over my head and parents who love me, and I still had this kind of hole inside me."

She'd talked a lot to Harlow over the last week, but they hadn't touched on anything so personal as this. "Is that why you decided to become a PI? I thought it was because you were following in your dads' footsteps. By the way, you should know I forgive them. They were trying to protect you, and they didn't know me at all. I can understand why they did what they did."

Harlow's jaw tightened. "Well, I'm glad you do. Maybe I did start out because it felt familiar to me, but I'm good at my job. I don't need my dads rushing in constantly to save me. I started out working with them, and two weeks was all I could take. Of course they freaked out when I opened my own office. They thought they could indulge me for a little while and then I would end up being their notetaker or something. They don't think I can do this."

"Or they're worried." Nicole zipped up her backpack. This mission of theirs hadn't taken long at all. She already had more clothes after two shopping trips with her future mother-in-law than she'd had in years.

Of course she did have a big old closet to fill up. There was a Josh side and a Grim side, and a huge spot in the middle they'd saved for the woman they would marry.

They'd saved it for her.

"Well, their worry is making me crazy." Harlow placed the aforementioned expensive-as-hell flip-flops in the suitcase and moved to grab the makeup bag. "And when I get back I have to hire a new receptionist of my own because apparently taking phone calls from clients helps grow a business."

"Yes, I would suspect having someone to answer the phones would be helpful." It was kind of fun to see her mentor so flustered. Sometimes it was like nothing could shake the woman.

"Yeah, neither Ruby nor I are good at the office running thing. But we can crack a case," Harlow said. "Despite my dads constantly interfering. My sister had the right instincts. Greer stayed out of the investigation business. She took after our mom. She's always known she wanted to be an artist. I envied that about her."

"It's hard to not know what you want to do with your life," Nicole agreed. "I'm afraid I'm the one who did have to spend all my time surviving. But I want to run the shelter. I think it might be my calling."

Harlow softened. "Your calling is to take care of the people you love and to live this wonderful, painful, awesome, sometimes awful, magnificent life with us. I know Josh joked about me being in love with him, but you know I do love him, right?"

Like a sister. "He's your family."

"And now so are you," Harlow said. "Don't ever forget it. You're going to meet a lot of seemingly intimidating people in the next few weeks, but know every single one of them is going to love you. You walk into every room with your head held high because you should be so proud of who you are. I know I admire you."

"All I did was run," Nicole admitted quietly.

"All you did was survive, and you didn't lose your kindness. You didn't lose your ability to love. I'm worried I might have. I went through something terrible, something I haven't talked about with anyone except my business partner."

"Not even your parents?"

Harlow's head shook. "No. I…can't. But the point is I don't think I came out of it with a whole soul. Not the way you did. You were in a terrible position and you managed to still be kind, to be open when real love came your way. I don't think I can."

"But you want to." It was plain to see.

"There's a man at the club I go to." Harlow placed the makeup bag in the suitcase and started to zip it up. "He's been hanging around my world for a long time, but I don't have the feelings for him I have for Josh. That man is not my brother."

"So you do have feelings."

"Yes, but I won't act on them," Harlow admitted, pulling the suitcase off the bed and settling it on the floor. "I'll see him at the club and maybe one night I'll let him top me, but it won't go further. I'm not good for anyone."

"That is complete nonsense, Harlow Dawson." Nicole felt like Abigail Barnes-Fleetwood now took up space in her head. Her future mother-in-law was rubbing off on her. "You have been excellent to me, and I would bet all your clients adore you."

"The one who hired me to find out if his wife was cheating doesn't. She wasn't cheating, by the way, but he was, and I sent her pictures. The good news is there's no like Hippocratic oath for private investigators. We don't have to protect the assholes," Harlow explained. "Might be why I went this way when all the cool kids were going into the military or worse. The CIA."

Harlow had some intimidating friends. "I'll be happy here in Willow Fork with my fur babies and my new family."

"I know you will," Harlow said with a wistful smile. "But come to Dallas sometimes. I'm going to miss you when I go back."

"I promise." Nicole settled her backpack on her shoulder. "Now I kind of want to leave this place forever. I don't think I'm going to hang around here anymore."

"See, you're already proving to be smarter than me," Harlow admitted. "I kind of want to hang out and see what happens. Like how many drug deals happen here? Open the door and we can wait for Landon outside. We need to turn in the key."

"I'll go down and drop it at the office so you don't have to haul that suitcase around," Nicole offered as she opened the door and walked out. She would go home, see what Kim had found out, and then spend the rest of the day being coddled by her men. They would cuddle her and probably fuck her a couple of times and then cuddle her some more.

It was the perfect way to spend her first day of real freedom.

"Not on your life, sister," Harlow argued. "Look, it's got wheels. We're sticking together. I'll text Lan we're waiting."

The door to the room that used to be Nicole's swung open.

And Nicole realized her freedom might be over before it began.

* * * *

The smell of baking bread hit Josh as he walked through the door. The aroma took him right back to childhood when he and Olivia would sit in the kitchen hoping for snacks. Later, when they were teens, Grim was right there with them, telling their housekeeper about their school days while she made sure to take care of their grumbling bellies.

The memories pierced through him. Likely because he'd started to think about a family with Nicole. A vision of their kids running wild on the ranch made his heart clench.

He hung his hat up on one of the many pegs dotting the mudroom. It looked like the mudroom might be getting some use this afternoon.

"Hey, Josh. You're home early." Benita Wells had been around long before Josh had been born. She'd run this household before his mother had come on the scene. She'd taken care of his dads when no one else wanted to work for them.

"Dad called and asked me to come back. Is that your sourdough I smell?" Josh asked with a grin.

"You know it." She no longer cleaned the house. They had a service for cleaning, but Benita still cooked most of the meals and oversaw the upkeep of the house. "Nicole likes the sourdough so she's getting the sourdough."

Like the rest of his family, Benita had taken a shine to Nicole. "Thank you for being so nice to her."

"I'm nice to her because she deserves it. She's a flower who's never had any sun, Josh. You can make her come alive by loving her," Benita said, moving to the sink. "Like your fathers did for Abby. I'm happy to see it play out all over again with you and Grim. You treat your girl right."

"I promise." The idea that he was following in his fathers' footsteps made his heart soften. "I love her very much."

"Not as much as I do," a deep voice said. Grim walked in from the mudroom. "Something smells heavenly, Benita."

"I love her way more than you do," Josh argued, a little lightness taking over. It was fun to joke with Grim about who loved their almost wife more. Of course showing her their love was even more fun.

Benita's head shook, and she was laughing as she waved them off. "You boys. That poor girl. Grim, there's a sandwich for you in the fridge. I'm sure Joshua already ate but you got too busy and forgot."

She knew them well. Josh had eaten at his desk while he was consulting his Uncle Lucas about wreaking vengeance on his enemies. Talking about vengeance always made him hungry. He could use a second lunch, but he doubted Grim would share. Their future wife, yes, but not a sandwich.

Benita offered him a cookie. "You go on now. Your father said you have some sort of meeting about Nicole."

"It's not for another hour," Grim replied. He'd already downed half the big-ass, looked-delicious sandwich. "Is Nic back yet?"

"She left about thirty minutes ago, but she was with Landon and Harlow. I swear that poor girl is never going to get to drive her own car," Benita complained. "It's a beautiful piece of machinery and it's just sitting there."

"Hopefully after today we can start to see the end of the tunnel." Josh was unwilling to pull her security right away. He knew she needed some freedom, but it would take a while. He'd already scheduled an upgrade for the security on the shelter. When it was in place, he and Grim would be able to access the cameras from their phones. "But if she wanted to drive herself around, she probably shouldn't have decided to work a block from the office."

"And directly in my office," Grim added. He'd finished the sandwich in three bites. "I'm afraid she'll have to deal with commuting in with one of us and probably having a lot of lunches at Christa's."

It was one block over. He could walk down to the shelter, and they would join him on sunny days. They would hold her hand and not give a damn about who was watching.

Or they could join him in his ridiculously big office. The one he was going to fully equip for afternoon play sessions with Nicole. Well, he would redesign some of what was already there. When he'd moved in he hadn't wanted to think about how many very sturdy hooks there were in the ceiling when his father didn't have a bunch of hanging plants.

"What did Lucas have to say?" Grim asked. "I'm worried my stepfather is going to cause trouble."

"Lucas is making a call." Josh wanted that asshole in check. "He's going to be talking to a friend at the attorney general's office about opening an investigation into the church. We all know they're not in any way following the rules of a nonprofit. In addition, the city council will be implementing a couple of new rules about public decency. It doesn't forbid street preaching, but it will shut down and fine anyone who harasses people. So more Jesus, less women are whores."

"He could still come after us. I'm worried he'll come after her," Grim admitted.

"I wouldn't be. You know your father had a long talk with Ezekiel after you came to live with us, Grim. There's a reason he didn't fight you living here," Benita said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I wasn't there for the conversation, but I was there when he talked to Sam and Abby about it. Ezekiel is scared of Jack. He won't physically harm anyone because he knows Jack has plans to take him out if he does."

"Dad threatened my stepfather?" Grim asked with a little surprise.

"Of course he did." Josh had no idea why Grim would be surprised. "It's why I'm not worried about Ezekiel. Between me coming after his cult and Dad and Pops very likely ensuring he understands Nicole is a Barnes-Fleetwood, the most he's going to do is run his mouth. I've heard he's already talking about selling his land and buying a spread in a less populated area."

"We're a tiny town," Grim pointed out. "How much less populated can he get?"

"I think he'll go completely off the grid at some point, and good riddance to him." Josh felt certain he would take the members of his group with him, and they would likely get weirder and closer and closer to crossing a line. But that was a Netflix documentary for another day. As long as they were out of Willow Fork, he would be content.

"Josh is right. He's put out feelers about selling his spread. He's been planning on leaving for a while now. This will push him out faster. Last night was him trying to find a way to fuck with you that wouldn't bring me down on his head. He tried to use the beetle infestation to get people to turn on you since you've become such a pillar of our society." Dad stood in the doorway.

Grim seemed to think. "Why does he hate me so much?"

Dad moved in, putting a hand on Grim's shoulder. "He's afraid of you. He always has been. He knows you're a better man than he'll ever be, and that's why he's going to leave. He's afraid at some point those boys who say they're your brothers will figure out you're not who he says you are. He's a petty man, and while I wish we could have helped your mother, she made her choice a long time ago. I'm afraid she's filled with Ezekiel's hate now."

"Bio mom. Abby's my real mom," Grim said tightly.

"Damn straight she is." Jack put an arm around him. "Son, I don't want you to worry about this. No one believes the kind and caring vet is in league with the devil. Well, unless they mean me."

Grim hugged their old man. "You're so far from that, Dad."

It was easy to see how pleased his father was to be called by his rightful title. "Now, come back to my office. Kim sent a text saying she needs to talk to us."

Josh downed his cookie in two big bites as he and Grim followed their father. "She's early."

"She must have found something." It was good to know Grim could be positive for once.

"Or something's gone wrong." Josh had a bad feeling in his gut all of the sudden. He didn't like when a person as organized as Kim Kent suddenly wanted to change up the time line. It meant she'd found something she hadn't counted on.

"Don't borrow trouble, son," his father advised. "I know it would be better to wait for Nicole, but she's still in town. I think we should find out what's happened so we can maybe have a plan by the time she gets back. If it's bad, I'd like to at least be able to give her a plan."

What could it be? "Could they have faked a video of her killing Micah?"

He wouldn't believe it. Not for a second. Nic had told him what happened, and she wouldn't lie to him.

It was right there—a solid foundation of belief in the woman he loved. It was firm ground to stand on, to build a life on.

"I don't think so." His father opened the door to the big, sunlit room he'd used as an office since he'd stopped going into the one in town. Once Josh had taken over the day-to-day operation, his father had been more than content to stay home most of the time.

Josh knew damn well not to open the door to the office without knocking. His parents could still be very…affectionate. In a naked, no-child-should-ever-see-that way.

In the way he would be with Nicole when he was old and gray and still so in love it hurt.

"Why would her sister-in-law say she can clear Nicole if she can't? Kim seemed to think she wanted the money so she could get away from her husband." Grim followed them inside.

Pops was already there, sitting behind the computer. "We're not wiring her another dime until we have what we need. Jack, Kim just sent an invitation to a meeting. We ready?"

Jack nodded. "Connect us."

They all moved behind the desk, crowding in so they could see.

Pops connected them with a few keystrokes and then Kimberly Kent's lovely face filled the screen.

Her lovely, worried face. "Jack, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Is Nicole there?"

Josh shook his head. "She's in town with Harlow packing up your old motel room. Is something wrong?"

Kim seemed to think for a moment. "It's broad daylight. I've got to hope he's not completely insane. You said she's with a bodyguard?"

Grim nodded. "Two, in fact."

Kim released a deep breath. "All right, but maybe send Harlow a heads-up to be extra careful."

Grim already had his phone out. "I'll tell her to bring Nic back right now. I'll text Landon, too."

"Good. I would feel better if you kept her close until we can find him," Kim said.

A chill went through Josh. "Her brother-in-law's gone missing?"

"No," Kim said, every word tight. "It's worse. We've got bigger worries than her brother-in-law."

Josh cursed under his breath. He could only think of one thing worse than her brother-in-law coming after her. There was a man who'd hurt her far worse. "Damn it. She didn't make sure that fucker was dead, did she? She told me she did."

"We're going to have a long talk about ensuring the dead person is really dead," Grim said. "So they faked her husband's death and tried to pin it on her."

"According to the sister-in-law, Micah had been doing some shady shit with the bookkeeping, and it was going to bring the feds down on their heads. With Micah's death, they were able to convince the investigators it was all his and Nicole's issues and had nothing to do with the rest of the family," Kim explained. "So that got them off their backs, and it kept the parents in the dark about how much money Micah had stolen."

"Why involve Nicole?" Grim asked. "I would think a suicide would be easier to fake. I mean they had to have someone in the coroner's office on the payroll, so it wouldn't have been hard. It seems far more neat and contained than an open murder investigation."

"He needed his parents to not look too closely." Kim seemed to be in another hotel room. She sat at a small desk, the background bland but soothing behind her. "He wanted to give them something to do. Nicole being on the run is a distraction, and it's worked up until now."

"He wanted them so angry at Nicole they wouldn't ask questions of him," Josh surmised. "I take it he shared the money with his brother."

Kim nodded. "From what I can tell the parents hold the purse strings pretty tight. It was millions Micah managed to steal. Laura says Ted worked a deal with Micah's mafia contacts. Since he was technically dead, the people he owed money to were willing to settle for Ted paying them far less than what Micah owed. So they effectively bilked their parents out of millions, solved the mafia problem, and seemed to get away with it all. Ted took half of the cash left, and he's been hiding his brother in his own home. Micah is the one who's been attacking Laura. He's unhinged, and I'm worried he's going to go after Nicole."

"How would he know where she is?" Grim asked.

"Laura found out he's been paying his own PI. Roman, do you have the file?" Kim held out a hand and drew back a plain file folder. She laid it out and opened it. "He's been looking for Nicole for the last six months. I think this has a lot to do with the interviews I did with Ted and the rest of the family."

"They got worried you would find her first," Grim said. "They decided you had serious potential."

Kim nodded. "I believe that's what happened. They decided it was time to put an end to the threat, or maybe they wanted to ensure I wasn't on the right track."

"But you were," his father began, "and I assume this new PI found the same clues you did."

"From what I can tell, he caught up to her when the press did a small story on how she saved the man at the shelter," Kim explained. "She wouldn't talk, but someone had taken a picture. He tracked her from there."

Josh's stomach threatened to roll. "He knows she's here?"

"I can't be sure, but it's a distinct possibility," Kim agreed. "Up until now he hasn't had a reason to hurt her. Nicole being on the run was doing what they needed it to do. But Laura has left Ted. Roman and I took her to the airport on our way back here. They will quickly figure out what she's done."

"Should she have protection?" His father had a serious look on his face.

Pops had gotten up and unlocked the gun case.

"I've already sent someone with her. Once it becomes known the authorities have the tape, there won't be a reason to hurt her or Nicole beyond revenge. But they don't know we have the proof yet, so I worry they might try to take out Nicole to scare Laura. They should know tomorrow, but I fear the next couple of hours because we're so close. Laura also told me Micah disappeared from their basement two days ago, and she believes he left with a fake ID and cash," Kim continued. "She said Ted went looking for him, so I don't know where he is either."

Josh had his phone in hand, dialing her number. When it went to voicemail, he groaned, a frustrated sound. "Nicole, call me when you get this." He hung up and looked to his best friend. "You get anything from Harlow?"

"Nothing from her, but Landon told me he's on his way to pick them up and will be back here in twenty minutes," Grim replied.

Why wasn't Harlow answering her phone? Josh fought to remain calm, panic threatening to overwhelm him. He tried Harlow's number again. Nothing. "She wouldn't simply not answer. Nic might get distracted, but Harlow's working. She wouldn't ignore a call from us unless something's gone wrong."

A million scenarios played out in his head, all of them awful.

"How can we even be sure where Nicole is?" Grim asked, his expression mirroring what Josh felt.

"You need to find her," Kim said. "I can find Landon. He works for a firm that tracks their employees, but if he's not with them, I don't have any way of finding the ladies."

Pops cleared his throat, looking pointedly at Dad. "You going to tell them, Jack?"

His father was on his feet. "I can find her."

His father moved to the gun safe Pops had opened.

Josh followed. And prayed his father knew what he was doing and they made it on time.