Page 15 of Will (The Cowboys of Calamity, Texas #3)

Chapter Nine

Early the next morning, Honey maneuvered her car into a space in the Ninth Street Gym parking lot. During the night, a light fog had settled over Calamity. Honey felt like she’d been in a fog ever since Will kissed her yesterday. She’d even dreamed about him last night.

In that sleep-fogged interlude, he had skillfully expected all of her fevered desires and satisfied them one by one. With an impassioned look, a touch of lips, a stroke of his fingers against her burning skin, and a connection that centered them fully in each other’s soul.

Sadly, now wasn’t the time to relive those fantasies.

She cut the engine, then turned to Will in the passenger seat. “What’s our strategy?”

He captured her gaze, and Honey squirmed under his scrutiny.

“Let’s go inside and ask as many questions as we can about Ronnie,” he said. “Find out if he has any friends or any enemies.”

She nodded. “And we need to start a timeline for everything he did on Thursday and who he interacted with. Because the more clues we can discover about his life, the better chance we have of finding him.”

“Do you have that T-shirt?”

“I sure do.” She rummaged in her tote bag and pulled out the gray T-shirt enclosed in a Ziploc bag. “Someone at the wedding reception left it on my car last night. And I want to know why.”

“Then let’s go.”

The Ninth Street Gym was an old warehouse that had been converted into a gym with a makeshift boxing ring in the center of the room.

Once inside, she took a moment to survey the place.

Weight machines and cardio equipment lined the walls, and the multitude of mirrors appeared to magnify the size of the workout room.

It was just past seven o’clock on a Sunday morning and the gym appeared to be the most popular place in town for both men and women. She gestured toward the front counter. “Let’s start there.”

The teenage girl behind the counter looked up as they approached and greeted them with a warm smile.

Her name tag read Madison, and her smile revealed a pair of shiny silver braces, and her bubblegum-pink hair pulled the look together with a messy bun atop her head. “Good morning! How can I help you?”

“I’m Honey and this is Will. We’d like to talk to you about Ronnie Baines.”

Madison tilted her head as if considering what they might want with their gym member. “I know Ronnie.”

Will pointed to the computer on the counter. “I belong to a gym in Austin, and they have check-in system where we scan our membership card. Do you have a check-in system here for members?”

“We sure do,” the young woman said, then reached for a brochure on the desk. “If you’re interested in joining, I’m happy to give you a tour of the facility.”

“Maybe another time. Today, we are more interested in finding Ronnie. He’s been missing since Thursday, and we were told that he was here last Thursday afternoon. Would you be able to check the records and give us a timeframe?”

“Oh.” Madison’s smile faded into a look of concern.

“Of course.” Then she turned her attention to the keyboard in front of her and started pecking at the keys.

After a few moments of scrolling, she read aloud what she’d found.

“Ronnie did check in last Thursday at 1:05 in the afternoon.” She scrolled again. “And he checked out at… two thirty.”

Honey looked up at Will. “I saw him in my parking lot around three o’clock, so that tracks.”

He motioned for her to follow him into the gym. “Let’s talk to those members and see if any of them had contact with Ronnie on Thursday.”

“Sorry, sir.” Madison stepped out from behind the counter to block their path. “You’ll have to buy a day pass if you want to go past this point. It’s an ironclad rule and I could be fired if I don’t follow it.”

“No problem.” Will reached into the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. “How much?”

“Ten dollars each. Then you can stay here all day if you’d like.” She glanced between the two of them and gave what looked like a knowing smile. “You can even use the sauna if you want.”

Will’s gaze lingered on Honey, and she fought to suppress the vivid dream that suddenly resurfaced with amazing clarity.

“Thanks,” he said with a grin. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

Honey rubbed her heated cheeks. She must look like she’d already worked out.

After Will paid for their day passes, they turned as one and surveyed the scene.

“I think we should split up,” Honey said. There had to be at least one person here who knew something about Ronnie. “If you take the boxing ring area and the weight machines, I’ll take the free weights and cardio area. Then we can meet at the water cooler by the locker rooms and compare notes.”

Will hesitated for a moment before agreeing, showing that he was accustomed to being in command, but he quickly nodded to cover it up.

“Sounds like a good plan,” he said.

They parted ways, and Honey started with the burly weightlifters first. The sound of the heavy weights hitting the cement floor echoed across the gym. Judging by the curious stares of the weightlifters, she thought they might be open to talking to her.

Twenty minutes later, she met Will by the entrance to the locker rooms. Honey had never belonged to a boxing gym or fitness center, but she’d learned two things today.

People did not like to be interrupted when they were working out.

And Ronnie was well known for interrupting workouts.

Now she was eager to hear Will’s report.

“The consensus of the people I talked to is that Ronnie was more interested in chatting up fellow gym members than he was in working out.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“One guy described your cousin as a busybody who asked personal questions about their lives and enjoyed listening to gossip. Another member said that Ronnie wanted to interview him for a newspaper article.”

“I heard the same thing.” Honey shook her head. There was a fine line between vigorously pursuing a story and harassing people. “Ronnie wasn’t just coming here to build muscle. He was looking to build his reporter’s chops too.”

“I talked to that guy with the foam roller.” Will gestured toward the cool down area in the far corner of the gym. “He said he sparred with Ronnie in the ring last week, but the match only lasted thirty seconds because Ronnie’s nose started bleeding.”

“He punched Ronnie in the nose?”

Will shook his head. “The guy said he never touched Ronnie. Apparently, it just started bleeding on its own.”

That didn’t surprise her. Ronnie had suffered from chronic nosebleeds. Even without the nosebleeds, Ronnie was the most fragile guy she knew. No wonder Aunt Cynthia babied him.

A grizzled man with huge biceps and a long scar that ran down one cheek emerged from the men’s locker room. He held a damp mop in one hand.

“Are you talking about that Ronnie Baines kid?” He hitched a thumb toward his chest. “I’m Tom, the one who cleans up blood around here, along with everything else.”

Honey stepped forward, her journalistic instincts telling her they’d just struck gold. “Yes, we’re concerned about him.”

And worried about what problems her cousin might create while under the radar.

“Madison just told me the kid’s missing,” the man said.

“He is.” Honey met Tom’s gaze and held it for a long moment. “If there’s anything you can tell us about Ronnie… anything you know… it will help us a lot.”

Tom rested his other hand on the ring of keys attached his waist. Then he turned to Will and lowered his voice. “You might want to check out the men’s locker room while you’re here. Especially locker number 217. Just give me about thirty seconds first. When I come out, you can go in.”

“Got it,” Will said.

Honey’s heart skipped a beat as she watched Tom disappear into the locker room. “Do you think he knows something?”

“I’m not sure.” Will’s gray eyes darkened with expectation as he gazed down at her. Then a smile tilted up one corner of his mouth. “But I think we’re about to find out.”

* * *

The anticipation was killing her.

Honey and Will shared a corner table together at the Bumblebee Diner, which was filling up fast. They had hurried out of the Ninth Street Gym as soon as Will had appeared from the men’s locker room. Tom's fear of losing his job was apparent when he expressed regret for allowing Will in.

She was just thankful that, at least temporarily, the gym employee’s concern for Ronnie had overridden the gym’s rules.

Before heading to the diner, they’d taken the T-shirt to the sheriff’s office.

After naming himself as a Texas Ranger to Deputy Trey Booker, Will had given him a brief rundown of the situation.

Then he’d asked the deputy if it could be sent to their local crime lab and evaluated for blood.

Deputy Booker had agreed and had even speeded up the lab order.

Then he’d told Will he’d contact him as soon as the results were in.

After the server took their order, Will sat back, relieved. “We got lucky.”

“How so?”

“There was a blue vinyl shopping bag in Ronnie’s locker with new socks in it. Fortunately, it was big enough to hold everything else from his locker, too. I didn’t even have time to look at anything, because I was shoving it full so fast.”

They both stared at the bag, now sitting on the table between them.

The bag they hadn’t opened yet.

She’d brought it into the diner, not wanting to let it out of her sight.

They probably should’ve headed straight back to her apartment, but her cupboards were bare, and they were both hungry.

Besides, she wanted to celebrate the possibility that something in that bag might lead them to Ronnie.

Maybe that was wishful thinking, just like the daydreaming she did in every time she looked at Will.

And right now, she thought that going back to her apartment might have held advantages other than food. Advantages such as privacy. Maybe an opportunity to follow through on the surreptitious glances that she sometimes caught him passing her way.

He leaned forward in his chair, and his knee touched hers. “Should we open it now?”

Had he done that on purpose? Did he sense her thoughts, which she was unknowingly expressing through her actions and expressions?

Anticipation glittered in his gray eyes. She knew what it felt like to want something so intensely.

Oh, wait. He was focused on the bag of items from the locker. She straightened and made sure all of her body parts were out of knee-bumping range. Their safety could be at stake, so she needed to stay focused.

“We should probably wait until our food comes, so we’re not interrupted.”

They shared an unspoken thought to keep the blue vinyl bag away from witnesses in case it held incriminating evidence.

Honey knew she was getting her hopes up too high about the contents of the bag. Knowing Ronnie, they’d probably only find socks, comic books, and Marvel T-shirts inside. But leaving it unopened almost made it feel like buried treasure.

Before they could give in to temptation, a new server arrived with their food. Annie Prentiss was a retired grandmother who had worked at the diner for the past thirty years. She was also one of Honey’s favorite people in Calamity.

“This place is hopping,” Annie said, picking up a large platter from the serving tray. “I’ve got the jumbo stack of pancakes with bacon for you, young man,” she said, setting the platter down in front of Will.

Then Annie presented a small, decorative bowl filled with fresh berries and topped with a whisper of whipped cream. “Honey B. Hallgren, do you call this breakfast? You’ll be hungry again within ten minutes.”

Honey laughed, used to hearing Annie scold her customers when she disagreed with the food they ordered. And Annie always seemed to get away with it because she said it with love.

“The B stands for bloated today,” Honey said. “I had to squeeze into the dress I wore to Ben and Lauren’s wedding reception last night.”

Annie gently patted Honey’s shoulder. “That was such a fun time. The bride looked so beautiful, and the groom is such a sweetie.” She lowered her voice a notch. “I used to babysit Ben and his little brother. They were a couple of wild ones back then.”

She turned to Will, who had already dug into his pancakes.

“And speaking of wild boys, I don’t believe I’ve been introduced to your latest one, Honey.”

Will shot a curious glance in Honey’s direction, then put down his fork and turned his attention to Annie. “Oh, I’m sorry about that.” He rose to his feet. “I’m Will Pierce. And these are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten in my life. And you’re so sweet, I assume you made them.”

Annie laughed and shook Will’s hand.

When Will resumed his seat, Annie turned to Honey with a knowing smile. “My goodness, Honey, you hooked yourself a charmer. Maybe you won’t throw this one back into the pond.” Then she picked up the serving tray from the table. “You two enjoy your breakfast and let me know if you need anything.”

Annie winked at Honey as she walked away.

“She’s a character,” Will said after Annie was out earshot.

“The best. If I’m ever feeling down, I just come to the Bumblebee for a meal, because Annie always cheers me up.”