Page 16 of Love Me Back (Diamond Creek #2)

Grayson

King left, taking Cash and Nav with him. Nav promised to be back in the afternoon to add a few cameras inside the barn so we could see what was happening.

Tyson stayed, along with Ace, Big Ben, Shotgun, Stocks, and Zero. He also loaned me two prospects. Joey and Jonah. I knew Jonah well. His mom, Clara, was a year ahead of Carson in school.

Jonah was a good kid. His size alone would scare most people away, if it weren’t for the smile he always wore.

Joey was a bit squirrely, but I also knew his mother. Ellen had gone to school with me; she’d had Joey when we were still in high school. My mom had tried to help her a number of times over the years, but she never stayed clean.

I was glad to see Joey prospecting with the club. King would watch out for him and help him with his baby sister.

Tyson knocked on the doorway of my office. “Hey, got a minute?”

“Of course. What’s up?”

I leaned back in my chair while he closed the door.

I tried not to be distracted from the tingle I felt in my toes.

I didn’t know if it was normal, or the possibility the feeling was coming back.

I had a checkup the following week and had decided to wait until then to mention it. I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.

Especially my own.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, and I know you aren’t gonna like it, but I need you to keep an open mind and hear me out, okay?”

I eyed my baby brother. He’d grown a lot since joining the club. I couldn’t deny that. Maybe even a little too much .

“Go ahead,” I said, curious about what he was thinking. Though I had a feeling it had something to do with Jessie. I couldn’t figure out what his issue was with her.

“I need you to at least consider the possibility that Jessie had something to do with Thunder’s disappearance.”

“Tyson,” I growled.

“You said you would hear me out.”

He was right; I did. I waved my hand, signaling him to continue.

“You said she had been visiting him and that, according to her, he was letting her near him. Has anyone else seen this?”

I didn’t answer him. Afraid of where he was going.

“And then there was the ‘man’ in the barn who yelled at her.” The air quotes he made with his hands pissed me off. Jessie had never given anyone a reason to doubt her truthfulness. “Nav couldn’t see anyone entering the barn for hours before, or hours after. Where the fuck did he go?”

“He obviously knows where the cameras are because he was able to move the ones on the barn,” I argued.

“Then why not move them the day he was in there?” he asked.

“I don’t—” Any answer I might have come up with was cut off by the shrill of my cell phone. Looking at the screen, it was Jeff, one of the hands out searching for Thunder.

“Did you find him?” I asked, answering immediately.

“Sorry, boss, no. I found something else, though. You’d better call the sheriff.”

“Fuck! Send me your coordinates.” I disconnected and immediately called Sheriff O’Rourke.

“Hey, Grayson, how are you doing?”

King had asked that I not tell the sheriff about the bullet that whizzed by my head nor the one that caused Thunder to rear back and tip me off his back. I agreed after hearing Ty’s confession.

“I got a call from one of my hands, Sheriff.”

“Son of a bitch. I was hoping to get home early tonight.”

“Sorry. I have his coordinates, and I can send them to you. I can’t meet you out there for obvious reasons, but I can send one of my brothers to meet you and escort you, so you don’t get lost.”

“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Grayson.”

“Another body?” Tyson asked, and I nodded. “That’s the third one. Think he’ll call in the Feds?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he wants to. If he does, I don’t want you anywhere near here. Tell King to send you on a run somewhere.”

“Why?”

“Why the fuck do you think? I don’t want you or Addie to be fingerprinted.” I lowered my voice and hissed, “If there is even a partial print somewhere associated with that bullet, I will send you both out of the country.”

“There isn’t. They’ll never solve that murder, and I don’t think Dec is trying very hard, anyway. Pretty sure he’s already labeled it a cold case.”

“Still, I’m not taking that chance. Daniel Scott was a prominent man, and if the Feds come in and get wind of it, who knows what they’ll try to dig up. I have to call Hudson to meet Declan and take him out to where Jeff is.”

Tyson stood and walked to the door. Over his shoulder, he called out, “At least think about what I said.”

“I will, I promise. Let King know about the body, okay?” He nodded before walking out of my office, closing my door behind him.

I called Hudson and sent him to meet the sheriff. I couldn’t be sure the sheriff would stop and give me the details, but with Hudson out there, I would know enough.

It had been months since the last woman was found. All the sheriff told us was that the women were similar in looks and both attended the local community college. They had no other connection, including how they died. Only that they were both found naked on my ranch.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it could somehow be related to Thunder’s disappearance. I just couldn’t figure out how.

Dinner was quiet. The entire ranch knew why the sheriff had stopped by. I chose not to mention my missing horse, despite being sure it had nothing to do with the Death Dogs, or Tyson killing Daniel Scott.

He confirmed what I suspected. I hadn’t asked Jeff for details; I wanted to know what the sheriff had found when he got there. He found another young woman—dark hair, naked, and beaten.

There was no question that this woman had not simply succumbed to her environment. The medical examiner had reported there was no mistaking the handprints on the woman’s neck.

Someone had strangled her.

That meant that the other two cases, as well as this one, were officially homicide investigations. We had a serial killer in Diamond Creek. And more than likely on my fucking ranch.

I’d called King, and he said he’d make sure Nav was working solely on the background records for my men. I didn’t want to believe that a man I hired, a man I trusted, could be a murderer. And it might make me an asshole for thinking it, but thank God my sister was a blonde.

Jessie, on the other hand, was a brunette. Her long dark hair was the first thing I noticed that day on the mountain. I wanted to run my fingers through it. Wanted to wrap it around my fist while I fucked her from behind. Which would never happen now unless she was into reverse cowgirl.

Then again, if the tingling I felt in my toes was the feeling coming back in my legs, I swore I would fuck her on every goddamn surface in this house.

When dinner was over, I went to my room. Jessie would come in when she was done helping my sister clean up. I glared at the bed. I didn’t want her to help me get my ass up there. I wanted to be a fucking man and lift myself out of this damn chair .

I set the brake and stared at my feet, willing them to move. After the first couple of days, I didn’t bother wearing shoes unless I was going outside, which I didn’t do often. It was too damn depressing.

I felt the tingling begin. It had to be my feeling coming back. It was a similar feeling to when your hand or your foot fell asleep and went numb and the pins and needles sensation told you it was waking up.

I remembered as a kid watching my foot move, but I wouldn’t really feel it. How, when you tried to stand on feet that had fallen asleep, it felt like standing on two sticks. But it was still possible.

That was what I was thinking about when it happened. My toe moved. At first, I thought I’d imagined it. But then it did it again. A smile spread across my face as I watched my toe move up and down. I couldn’t feel it. But the fact that it was moving had to be a good sign, right?

I heard Jessie and Addie laughing down the hall. They would be done soon, and Jessie would be in here to help with my exercises. It was now or never. I lifted my leg, setting my foot flat against the floor. Then did the same with the other one. I folded the footrests, moving them out of the way.

I lifted myself up on my arms and straightened my knees after putting one hand on the bed. Then, I moved the other hand. My foot hit the chair behind me as I launched myself onto the bed. My knees hit the edge of the mattress and almost pulled me back down.

I pushed up on my hands and rolled myself onto my back. Then I turned, pulling each leg onto the bed, before scooting back against the headboard. I was exhausted, but I had done it.

My eyes were closed when I heard Jessie gasp. I smiled when I saw the surprise on her face that quickly turned to pride.

“You did it.”

“I fucking did.”

“Did you hurt anything?” she asked, moving to the side of the bed.

I didn’t tell her that my heels hit the chair. I wasn’t sure if I felt them hit, or if it was the sound of the chair moving that made me think I felt it. I just shook my head so she wouldn’t worry.

“Well, let’s get started.” She pulled my feet as I scooted my ass down.

She insisted I lie on my back to do the exercises.

They hurt like hell, but when she crawled onto the bed to lift my leg straight up in the air, and bend my foot, I could almost imagine her crawling up between my legs to sit on my face.

We didn’t talk while she maneuvered me around. Aside from her giving me a running commentary of what she was doing, the room was silent. I watched the concentration on her face.

She laid my leg back down. Kneeling between my knees, she looked up at me and smiled. Her mouth opened to speak, and it didn’t matter what she was about to say because I jackknifed up and grabbed her arms, pulling her back down with me and kissing her.

My hand held the back of her head as my lips held her hostage. My tongue licked at the seam, desperate for her to open up to me. And it didn’t take long.

She straddled my hips, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she let my tongue invade her mouth. Sweeping from side to side as I tasted everything she had to offer me.

She ground her pussy against my hardening cock. And her moan of pleasure had the blood surging south quickly. My hands went to her hips, holding her in place while I trailed my lips down her neck.

“Grayson...” she breathed.

“Don’t tell me no, Jessie. Don’t deny us what you know we both fucking want.” She sat up, pulling away from my lips, and her eyes sought mine. I wanted her to see the pleading, the way my soul longed for hers.

“Say yes, Jessie. Please fucking say yes.”