Chapter Eight

Dolly

T he Killeen Rodeo Grounds were a different world after hours. The raucous energy of the day gave way to shadow and hush as they got farther away from the parking lot. Storage areas stood like silent sentinels beneath a moon that draped everything in silver-blue light. She and Nash crept toward them, shining the lights from their cell phones to guide their way.

“Each of the stock contractors has their own shed in each of the rodeos. I’ve made it a point to look through each of them at every event. I haven’t found anything yet, but all it takes is one time for someone to mess up.”

“Feels like we’re the bad guys,” Dolly whispered, her voice barely carrying over the muted sounds of livestock shuffling in their pens, the occasional snort or hoof-stomp punctuating the stillness.

Nash nodded, his gaze never ceasing its vigilant sweep of the area.

“Are you looking for anything specific?” she asked.

He hesitated, and she felt a flicker of annoyance that he was debating on what to tell her. “I know who switched Mick’s bull with LeAnn’s last year. It was a guy named Ryan Chester. He’s with the Rocky Ridge Ranch.”

“That’s Donnan’s ranch. The Canadian one.”

“Yeah. I was searching his truck when I saw you come flying out of your RV.”

“Did you find anything to link him to Blevins?”

“Nope. All I found was he likes to chew, and he has a collection of Penthouse s under his truck seat.”

Dolly wondered if this Ryan dude was the one who planted the uniform on her step. But liking stroke magazines didn’t necessarily link him to Leisure Industries. The person who left her the gift was probably long gone, but the hairs on the back of her neck tingled, as if someone was watching them.

Flicking off her light, she eased against one of the sheds.

“Everything all right?”

“I’m not sure. Turn off your light and come here. I think someone is following us.”

He pocketed his phone, and stood in front of her in the shadow of the building.

“You make a better door than a window,” she whispered and stepped to the side so she could see around his bulk. As they stood there in the stillness of the warm night, Dolly resisted the urge to sway into him and lean on him again for support.

After a few minutes, Nash said, “There’s no one there.”

“Yeah, I must be imagining things.”

“You can’t be too careful.”

She nodded and they continued to the Rocky Ridge’s shed. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“Do you know anything about Ryan Chester?” Nash asked as he fiddled with the lock on the door.

“No.”

“I thought you knew everyone,” he said with a grin.

“I could try and get to know him,” she said. “I could say I’m doing a reel on Donnan’s home ranch.”

“Maybe,” Nash said. “I want to be with you, though, when you approach him.”

Dolly wanted to be annoyed, because she could handle herself, but she understood that he needed to do his job too. She watched as he manipulated the lock using two long metal picks. “They teach you that in the FBI?”

Nash gave her a grim smile. “Dad taught Shelby and me that when we were kids.”

Closing her eyes, Dolly wished that the earth would open up and swallow her. “Sorry.”

He popped the lock open. “It has its uses. The bureau taught me how to bypass the electronic locks.”

The storage door opened with a loud creak that had them wincing and looking around. It was early enough that anyone who would be sleeping on site to watch over the animals would still be out and about. But luckily, it was late enough that the only people around were her and Nash.

“What are we looking for?” Dolly said as she walked in.

Nash closed the door behind them.

For a moment, they were in pitch-blackness with only their cell phone lights to see. But then he pulled on a dangling string and a bare bulb dimly lit up the area.

“Anything out of the ordinary,” he said, going over to the shelving units.

“How about this?” She gestured toward a stack of hay bales that weren’t in a tidy stack like the rest of them.

“Could be something. Could be nothing,” he said.

But as they approached, she noticed that the floor around the askew bales was cleaner than the rest of the area.

“Looks like someone swept up a mess.” Nash hauled the heavy bales aside with a grunt while she held the light steady on the floor to get a better look.

“There’s something there.” She crouched down and wiped her hand across the floor until a latch was revealed. “This looks like a secret compartment.”

“It’s definitely a compartment,” he said. “But I’m not getting my hopes up that it’s secret. It could just be storage.”

“Or Rocky Ridge is smuggling things in from Canada and leaving them here for Blevins to pick up,” she said, feeling a prick of eagerness shake through her.

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” he said.

“Have you seen anything like this in the other sheds at the other rodeos?” she challenged.

“No, but I haven’t been moving hale bales around either. It’s your find. You can open the compartment.”

This time, he held the light while Dolly pulled up on the latch. They both peered into the space. There was enough room there to store a few shoe boxes of stuff, but at the moment, it was empty.

“Well, shit,” she said.

“Looks like whatever was here is gone now,” Nash said. “But it’s been recently used, based on how clean it is. That’s what we would call a clue in the FBI.”

“Hidden compartments are probable cause, right?”

“Not exactly,” he said, obviously amused by her television cop lingo.

“I wonder if they have a hidey-hole in all the rodeo sheds.” Dolly stood, brushing her hands against her jeans, a determined glint in her eye. “Are we going to stake them out?”

“There is no we in this,” he said. “I’ll see about setting up some discreet surveillance cameras in here and in Laredo’s storage areas for next week’s rodeo. I’ll wire this one up for any action tomorrow, just in case. But I think we missed our opportunity to find out what this is being used for.”

Dolly snapped a few photographs. “For evidence.”

“Keep it off social media and don’t tell anyone about this.”

“I’m not an idiot,” she said icily.

“I know that,” he said.

He closed the compartment and moved the hay bales back to approximately where they were. Nash reached out to remove a piece of straw from her hair. “I just want you to be careful. Blevins is dangerous and so are the people he’s dealing with. I might not know exactly what they’re up to, but I’m sure they’ll go to extremes to protect their interests.”

“Why do I feel like this is all coming to a head?” she asked. Shivers made goose bumps up and down her arms.

“Because you’ve got good instincts.”

She swallowed hard as they drifted closer. The feeling to dive back into his arms was a powerful one. The quiet of the night was peaceful and she wanted him more than she had any right to.

“Can I trust you, Nash?”

“Depends.”

That wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but she admired his honesty. She couldn’t trust him with her secrets. Not yet anyway.

“N-next unit,” she stuttered and shuffled by him out the door before he could read the desire in her eyes.

Together they slipped back into the shadows, moving on toward the next building. A lot could fit in that compartment, if the Rocky Ridge Ranch was smuggling stuff across the border. Pills, powder, drugs of all sorts. But it could also just be extra storage.

“I’ll text Shane and ask him if he’s got that same compartment in his barn,” she said.

“No, don’t,” Nash said.

“He’d know if that was a standard space to have in the floor.” She started to text.

“I said, no.” Nash put his hand over her phone.

“What?” She stared up at him and then realized he still thought the Viking Ranch might be a part of this. Dolly scowled at him. “Shane can help us. We can trust him. He’s family.”

“Not yet he’s not.”

“Reba trusts him and Shelby trusts Reba. You’re wasting your time suspecting him.”

“The Viking Ranch unit is right there.” Nash pointed. “No sense bothering him. We can look ourselves. No sense tipping him off either.”

“Shane isn’t involved with Blevins,” she said through her teeth.

“Then he won’t mind if we have a little look around.”

This was why she couldn’t get involved with Nash. He was a suspicious bastard, and he was too stubborn to realize that he was wrong about Shane. She angrily helped him toss hay bales around, but there wasn’t a floor compartment in either the Viking Ranch’s or the Rocky Ridge Ranch’s storage area. She wasn’t annoyed anymore, but her back ached something fierce.

Once they were done with the sheds, they had to pass by the pens where the bulls were bedded down for the night. They were restless silhouettes against the weathered wood of their enclosures, their breaths sending up plumes of mist that caught the moonlight. One bull, larger than the others, paced back and forth, its massive head swinging as if to challenge the darkness itself.

“Those beasts are nothing but muscle and mean,” Nash observed, peering through the slats at the agitated creatures. Their eyes glinted, reflecting a primal anger that no night could soothe.

“Yeah, and you want to ride one,” Dolly murmured, her gaze following the movement of the bull.

“Want is a strong word.”

“LeAnn can’t wait to try her luck on one of the Mexican fighting bulls. The meaner the better.”

“She got a death wish?”

“I don’t know what she’s got. Ambition with a healthy dose of insanity. Do you see the appeal of it?” Dolly looked up at him.

He thought about it for a moment. “Do you like roller coasters?”

“Sure, but I wouldn’t if there was a chance I’d get flung off them.”

“It adds to the excitement. Don’t get me wrong—the landing on the hard ground tempers the excitement a bit. But it can be fun.”

“Fun,” Dolly said flatly.

“Well, what do you do for fun?”

“Nothing that’s going to get me killed,” she retorted.

“But you do like the adrenaline rush of doing something like this.”

“What girl wouldn’t?” she said, nudging him with her elbow. “It adds a little spice to my dull life.”

“Your life isn’t dull.”

“The life I let you see isn’t dull,” she said and then could have clamped her hand over her mouth. What was it about him that made all her guarded walls crumble?

“You don’t have to hide who you really are.”

She gave an unladylike snort. “I do if I want ad revenue and views.”

“There’s more to life than that.”

“Well of course there is, Captain Obvious, but clicks pay my bills. And it can all go away so fast.” She stared out into the darkness and tried not to feel the panic creeping up on her from the shadows. “After I left cheerleading…after my contract wasn’t renewed, I tried to make a living online doing makeup tutorials. I spent way too much money on high-end cosmetics with pretty bottles and decorative sets. I was doing great and then one day, I left a used tissue on the counter and it was in my shot. That was all anyone commented on in the video.” She shook her head. “It took a month to regain the likes and followers. So I learned to show the world perfect.”

“You’re not on camera now,” he said. “And I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Dolly gaped up at him. He wouldn’t if he knew the truth about her past. “Then why am I listed as Pain in The Ass on your phone?”

His lips twisted. “I didn’t know you saw that.”

“Again. I’m not an idiot, Nash.”

“You can be a PITA and be perfect at the same time.”

“I think you have a weird definition of perfect.”

“Well, then I guess I’m not perfect either.”

“Is that why you retired early from the FBI?”

It was his turn to stare out into the darkness. “No.”

“Have you ever thought about what you’d be doing, if you hadn’t left?”

“Every day since I left.”

“Then why did you?”

“Long story,” he said, turning away from her.

“Sad one, by the looks of it.”

“I’m more angry than sad. I was forced out. Basically, I followed the rules and it came back to bite me in the ass.”

She glanced down and back. “It’s a nice ass.” No. Dolly. No. She had to stop flirting with him. It wouldn’t end well.

“Thanks,” he said, with a small smile. “But there’s no sense dwelling on it. If I was out on assignment with the bureau, then I couldn’t be here, helping Shelby.”

“Guess not,” she said. “And I wouldn’t have met such a charming cowboy.”

“Charming is a stretch,” he replied dryly. “So is cowboy.”

“Private investigator, then.”

“Better.”

“You and Shelby must be close.”

“We’ve had to be with our parents being the people they are.”

“My sisters and I are close too.”

“How many do you have anyway?” he asked.

“There’s four of us. Loretta is the only one not really involved in the rodeo. This is the first season she’s been with the UPRC. You might have seen her selling her paintings along vendor row. She’s really good. She’s going to be living with me in the Winnebago this season when we’re on the road.”

“That must cramp your style.”

“I think I’m cramping her style,” Dolly muttered.

“What?”

“She’s seeing Taylor Keating. That’s who she was kissing tonight.”

“Taylor, huh?” Nash looked thoughtful.

“He’s the bullfighter who sometimes rides if the purse is big enough and he can wheedle his way onto the docket for the day.”

“How well do you know Taylor?”

Uh-oh. “Why? You don’t think he’s involved in whatever Blevins has his hands in, do you?”

That was all Loretta needed.

“I told you. I suspect everyone.”

“Well, if he is dirty, I’d appreciate a heads-up. I hope he’s not, though. Loretta could use a break. She hasn’t had a whole lot of luck with men.”

“How about you?”

She gave him a double take. “I’m not an asshole magnet like Loretta is. But I’ve been concentrating on this job and building my own brand. There hasn’t been a lot of time for romance.” After the escort service, Dolly had had a hard time casual dating. She always wondered if the men she went out with were doing a mental tally in their head of how much they had to spend on her before she would sleep with them. Dinner $100. Drinks $50. It was cynical and she hated thinking like that, but she also couldn’t stop herself.

“For me either.”

“That so?”

Nash had never made her feel like a commodity. Pissed her off? Sure. Was he the leading man in her lonely weeknight fantasies? Absolutely. That was why she was a little scared of getting involved with him. He could really hurt her feelings if he rejected her because of her past.

The tension between them was like an electric current that buzzed over her skin. This time, she definitely wasn’t imagining that they were drifting closer together. Almost close enough to kiss…

“Hey, what are you two doing there?” A loud voice startled her out of the sensuous haze she was dropping into.

Dolly jumped back and placed a hand over her heart. Nash whirled to confront the man who was stalking toward them. Luckily, she recognized Shane’s assistant Pat gripping a tire iron in his hand.

“Pat, it’s me—Dolly. I’m looking for Reba,” she blurted out.

Pat nearly tripped, he stopped in his tracks so fast. “Oh shit, Dolly. I didn’t recognize you. Shane and Reba are in the hotel tonight. It’s my night to babysit the bulls.”

Ever since Shane’s bulls were tampered with, he’d made it a point to have one of his employees with them at all times. She hadn’t thought he’d be this close.

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother them. I’ll catch up with Reba tomorrow. How are things going tonight?”

“Quiet,” Pat said and stifled a yawn. “I thought things were about to get interesting when I saw the two of you.”

They were about to get interesting, just not in the way that Pat meant it.

“Have you seen other people wandering around tonight?” Nash asked, and she could have kicked him.

Pat narrowed his eyes at him. “Aren’t you one of the bull riders?”

Dolly grabbed Nash’s hand. “He’s with me.”

Pat’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. OH.” He drawled out the last word. “I’m sorry for interrupting, then.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said, feeling the blush hit her face hard. She was going to have to do a lot of explaining to Reba tomorrow. “We were just going.”

“You have a good night, then.”

Dolly dragged Nash by the hand away from the bulls and from Pat who was grinning his fool head off.

“I wanted to know what he was going to say,” Nash complained.

“I’ll get the dirt for you tomorrow when I talk to Reba. She’ll know if there’s anyone who has been wandering around after hours.”

She could tell by the way Nash twisted his lips that he wasn’t happy about involving Shane and Reba in the investigation, but that was too damned bad. Reba knew who Nash was and Shelby trusted her. That should be enough to clear the Viking Ranch from suspicion. It torqued her off that it didn’t.