Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Tia was looking around the room to make sure she didn’t leave anything behind when Carlos tried once more to get her to go to brunch.

“You know you should come with us.”

She glanced at Carlos. He was right. She should probably go with him. At the moment, though, she couldn’t think straight. After he told her he loved her the night before, she hadn’t been able to come up with any clear thoughts. The fact that he hadn’t pressured her into saying it to him was a point in his corner.

“I want to take Mom and Dad to the airport, and you know I need to check on some things.”

“They can wait.”

She chuckled. “No. They have to get back. Dad has a meeting tomorrow morning. You know this.”

He sighed and rose from the bed. “I know, but I want some more time with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “We see each other every, flipping day. Plus, this way I can go check on things at my house and pick up a few things to stay over at the ranch.”

His mouth curved. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Let me get my things out of the bathroom, and I’ll walk you down.”

As he left her alone, she looked up at the mirror and saw her reflection. She had a damned stupid smile on her face and she didn’t care. She might not know just what the heck was going on, but she had a sexy Santini in love with her, and just telling him she was staying over at his house made him smile. That was enough for her right now.

When he stepped back into the room, he cocked his head. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She laughed. “I’m just happy.”

He set his bag down on the floor and took too steps towards her.

“Let’s be happy together.”

He bent his head and gave her one of those mind blowing kisses. It took a lot of effort to set her hand on his chest and urge him back.

“No. I have to take my folks to the airport. My father hates to be late.”

He sighed. “Okay. Let’s go before I change my mind.”

They were in the elevator when he asked, “Who was the guy I saw you talking to when I was dancing with your mother?”

“Why?”

“First, I take an interest in what you do. Secondly, you did not look that happy talking to him.”

“Chet Miller. He was a good friend of my brother’s.”

“That name is very familiar.”

“Adrian asked him for capital when he started the ranch. Chet declined.”

“Oh yeah. Adrian said that they used to be really good friends.”

“They were. That is, until Adrian returned injured. Then, he wasn’t so much fun for Chet to hang with.”

“Gee, he sounds like he a winner.”

“I never really liked him. Even in school.”

“So, he was trying to make up for it last night with the benefit?”

“I guess. I don’t know what he was talking about. He said something about land developers wanting the ranch.”

“Huh.”

She glanced at him. “What?”

“Dad asked me if anyone had called. I said no.”

“Odd. Anyway, I told him that you handled all of that. In fact, I told him that you handled the money and I handled the other stuff. So basically, you couldn’t run the place without me.”

He stared at her for a second. “You know that’s true, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. You could handle it.”

The door dinged open to the elevator, and she stepped off in the direction of the lobby, but he grabbed her hand and tugged her into the side hallway.

“What are you doing?”

“I think something needs to be said before you take off.”

“Okay, but you didn’t need to manhandle me to get me to listen.”

“Yeah right.” She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. “Let me talk. You might think I could replace you, but I can’t.”

“There are a lot of trainers who could help you with the ranch.”

“First, I don’t want just any kind of trainer. I want you. Second, you don’t realize what you are to the ranch, to our clients, and to me. Do you?”

She could tell by his tone that he was serious. She shook her head.

“You are the very heart and soul of that place. Without you, I would rather not be out there at all.”

“Carlos...”

She trailed off because she had nothing more to say.

“Wow, twice in less than twenty-four hours I have left you speechless. That is a record.” He set his bag on the floor then cupped her face. “I love you for all you are to me and to everyone at the ranch. You care, and that is what makes you the most amazing and beautiful woman I know.”

This time when he kissed her, it was short, sweet, and over before she was ready for it to end.

“Now, take your parents to the airport. I’m looking forward to a night at the ranch with no interfering younger brother.”

Carlos was just a few minutes late when he arrived at his mother’s favorite brunch place. He was hurrying in the door when Dave Jackson met him. An older, established rancher, Dave had been a big help when Carlos took over the ranch. He was one of those home and hearth kind of men who never hesitated to help out when needed. He was tall, over six-five, weighed close to two eighty—most of it muscle from hard work. His overgrown mustache and simple clothing hid a truly brilliant businessman.

“Hey there, Santini.”

“Mr. Jackson, how are you?”

“I’m doing okay. I heard you might be selling the ranch.”

He frowned. “What?”

“I was just talking to Chet Miller. He told me that there were rumors that you were going to sell.”

“Kind of hard to do that when I just held a benefit for the ranch.”

Dave snorted. “That’s what I said. Of course, he’s not too good with business. His daddy was, but Chet, boy was always looking for the easy way to make money.”

He nodded. “Well, just know we aren’t selling. Tia and I plan on being there for many years.”

“Good to hear. See you later.”

He made his way to the table and his mother, who was frowning at him.

“What did I do?”

“You’re late and you didn’t bring Tia.”

“I find her disgusting so I decided to toss her out on the side of the road.”

She sighed. “That’s not funny, Carlos.”

“She wanted to take her parents to the airport. Her father has an early meeting to get to tomorrow, so they couldn’t join us.”

“I guess that’s okay.”

“So, when’s the wedding?” Joey asked.

“One of the things I love about you is how non-confrontational you are, Aunt Joey.”

She shook her head. “One of these days the kids in this family will appreciate me.”

“We appreciate you, especially your lasagna. And just so you know, we haven’t talked marriage, but I will let you know as soon as we do. So, Mom, what are you having?”

Carlos was on his way back home when his phone rang. He was going to ignore it, but it was the sheriff’s department.

“Hello.”

“Santini. Have you seen your partner?”

“This morning. She was on her way back to her house. We had a function in Tucson last night and her family was in town. Did you need something?”

“I tried calling a few times and haven’t been able to get her.”

“Cell service is spotty out this way. Can I help you with something?”

“We did get a hit on the fingerprints at her house. There were a few on the outside of the window.”

“And?”

“Do you know a Chet Miller?”

“Funny you should say that. His name has come up a lot recently. Why?”

“His fingerprints were on the ledge outside of her window, and the back door of her house. We went by his place but he wasn’t there..”

“He was here last night. I mean, he was at the benefit we held.”

There was a beat of silence. “Do you know where Ms. Mendoza is now?”

“On her way back to her house. I should be passing it in just a few more minutes.”

“I’ll try calling her, but it sounds like you’re closer. I hate that I can’t get hold of her. Would you mind stopping by her place? I’m sending one of my deputies out there, but I think you can at least get there first.”

“Sure. I’ll call as soon as I arrive.”

He clicked off the phone, mentally assuring himself there was nothing wrong.

Tia practically two-stepped into her house. She couldn’t remember having such a wonderful time. She’d gotten to see her parents and there were no fights. They even approved of what she was doing now. They had in the past, but they wanted her to leave when Adrian had died. Now, she saw that they finally understood her.

Thanks to Carlos.

Carlos.

Just thinking his name made her happy. She couldn’t remember ever being this happy, and definitely not since Adrian had died.

When she realized she was standing there daydreaming about Carlos, she ordered herself to get to work. She had to do a few loads of laundry and go through her mail.

When she stepped into her kitchen, she realized she wasn’t alone. Chet was sitting at her kitchen table.

“Hey, Tia.”

“What are you doing here?”

Then she saw the gun he had resting on the table. He had his hand on top of it, ready to pull it up and shoot if need be. She froze. Her brain, her muscles, even her breath. She couldn’t seem to get herself to move.

“I think we need to have a talk about the land.”

His absurd comment seemed to pull her out of her frozen state. “I think you need to leave.”

“No. I can’t. Don’t you understand how valuable everything is here?”

“Yes, but probably not the way you do.”

“Figures. You and your brother are so much alike,” he sneered.

“So, what’s the plan here, Chet? You’re going to shoot me?”

“If I have to. You said it yourself, Santini can’t run the place without you.”

“I was sort of joking, Chet. Carlos isn’t about to shut the place down if something happens to me.”

“Liar.”

“So, you’ll kill me and then he will shut it down. How do you plan on getting away with murder?”

“It’s kind of hard to investigate when there is no body.”

Carlos pulled up to Tia’s house knowing in his gut something was wrong. There was no indication of foul play, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread. He remembered the last time he had felt it. It had been in Iraq, and he had ended up in the hospital that night.

Her truck was parked in the drive as usual, but nothing else seemed to move. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the world. With care, he closed the door of his truck and walked up to the front of the house. At first he saw nothing. The house seemed abandoned, but then, he heard the voices.

“Why do you want this land so badly?”

“I need the money.”

“But, this makes no sense. Wait, were you the one who broke into my house?”

Chet said nothing for a long moment, and Carlos inched closer to get a look. He could see the back of Tia’s head, which told him they were in the kitchen.

“Yes. It was me.”

“Why the hell did you do that? And how are you going to get money off my death?”

The last two words of the sentence sent an icy shiver down his spine.

He had to get to her before anything happened, and the best line of attack was going to be through the back door. Crouching to make sure he wasn’t seen through the windows, Carlos made his way to the back door. By the time he got there, Chet was babbling on.

“First, I thought I could find the note your brother wrote up.”

“You are still not making any sense. And why are you telling me all this? Why don’t you just kill me?”

Anger and fear left him feeling lightheaded. When he got them out of this situation, Carlos was going to kill her himself. Seriously. The woman would know how to antagonize a saint.

“You have to understand. I need this money. I tried to tell him that the night of the accident.”

She sighed, her irritation obvious. “None of this makes sense, and you’re making my head hurt. What are you talking about?”

“Two years ago, I went to Adrian. I told him I needed help. He wanted to take me to a fucking meeting for gambler’s anonymous.”

“You have a gambling problem?” she asked, condescension threading her voice. Again, he was going to have to talk to her about not pissing off a man who was holding a gun, Carlos thought.

“No, I don’t have a damn gambling problem. Just a string of bad luck.”

“But Adrian wouldn’t help you without you getting help.”

“That’s what he said. I truly didn’t mean to hit him that night. I was following him back to the ranch to talk to him, lost control of my car and hit him.”

“You killed my brother?” Tia asked. He heard the pain and anger vibrating in her voice. Carlos’ blood ran cold. The bastard just admitted to killing Adrian. Unless Carlos did something, Tia would not survive tonight. Chet had nothing to lose. Carlos peeked through the window and saw Chet move closer. He only had a few seconds before the idiot might shoot her.

“It was an accident, he whined. Tell me where the papers are.”

He could see the confusion on her face. “What papers?”

“The ones your brother had drawn up.”

She shook her head. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I looked for them, but couldn’t find them.”

“And, this is why you’re going to kill me?”

“No. Aren’t you paying attention to me?”

Chet’s voice rose to an almost deafening level, and Carlos had had enough. He crawled over to the door and carefully turned the knob. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it unlocked. Rising up, he decided not to wait for the sheriff.

Tia watched in horror as Carlos barged through the door. Chet swung around with that damned loaded forty-five and aimed it straight at Carlos’ chest. Without anything to protect him, he was going to get killed. With a scream, she launched herself at Chet. The gun went off as they toppled to the floor. The gun slid across the kitchen floor. She crawled over the howling Chet to grab it.

She pointed it at his head.

“Don’t move, bastard.”

He froze.

“Good boy.”

Sirens sounded in the distance. And she moved closer to Carlos.

“Carlos, are you okay?”

He didn’t answer her, and she looked down. He was squinting up at her.

“Carlos?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess you really didn’t need me.”

As police came swarming into the house, they took care of Chet, and she really looked at Carlos then. He looked pale, but fine…until she saw all the blood staining the front of his shirt.

“You’re hit.”

He looked down.

“Well, crap.”