“And that surprises you? You knew Friday night when she left with them what she was facing. I didn’t see you running to her defense then.”
Cash picked up a chair and threw it against the wall.
“Sit down!”
Cash forced himself to take a seat.
“How do you want to handle this?” Shade, as always, was a calm bastard.
“I’m going to find her, of course,” Cash stated angrily.
“I’m not the enemy, brother.”
Cash stood to his feet. “I know,” he said running a hand through his hair. “I’m a fucking idiot.”
“Piece of advice. Take it or leave it, but I’m going to give it anyway. Figure out why you want to find her before you go looking.”
He nodded then left Shade’s office, going to the clubhouse and heading upstairs to his bedroom. Taking off his clothes, he took a shower, dressed in fresh clothes then grabbed his bike keys. Once he was back outside and on his bike, he began his search.
It was two in the morning before he returned to his room, no farther along than he had been before he left.
* * *
Cash searched for a week before he had to admit to himself he wasn’t going to find her. She hadn’t made any contact with any of her friends or the few clients he knew of in Kentucky. Furthermore, he’d found out from Knox she hadn’t been in touch with her family or clients from out of state.
On the way back to the clubhouse from Lexington, he had a faint hope she would go to Lily’s old boyfriend, Charles, for a place to work, but it was another dead end.
He was about to pass Rosie’s when he saw a familiar truck parked outside. Quickly turning into the lot, he parked his bike.
The inside was busy as Cash went to the bar, ordering himself a beer. He searched through the room, looking for a particular face. Finding him at the back of the bar at a table to himself, Cash walked across the floor and took a seat.
Tate glanced up from his drink. “Get the fuck away from me.”
“We can talk in here or outside, but we are going to talk.”
Tate began to rise from the table.
Cash leaned back in his chair. “You having any luck finding Rachel?” Cash already knew the answer; his haggard face said it all.
Tate sat back down “No, if you know—”
“I don’t,” Cash cut him off; the last thing he wanted to do was raise his hopes when he didn’t have any leads.
“Then we have nothing to say.” Again, Tate started to get up from the table.
“We can both keep running around, trying to find her and not coming up with crap, or we can work together to bring her home.”
“It’s because of you she ran off.”
“Was it me or something you said after you dumb-fucks left the party?”
Tate remained silent.
“We all fucked up,” Cash admitted. “We can work together or never see her again, which do you want?”
“I want you to stay away from my sister, but I also want to find her, and if it takes your help, then I’ll take it. You’re the best tracker in the state,” Tate gave him the reluctant compliment.
“Where have you searched so far?”
“Everywhere we can think off. Holly has called all her clients in and out of state. We’ve talked to all her friends, who weren't many—Lily and Willa were basically it. Dustin is watching her bank and credit cards, and they haven’t been touched.”
How was she surviving without money? Cash had hoped for another avenue to pursue with Tate’s help, but he had even less than Cash.
“Any ideas?”
“No.” Cash took a drink of his beer. “Email me the client list. I’ll go back over it again.”
Tate hesitated then nodded.
“If I find anything, I’ll let you know.” He stood up.
“Cash, when I find my sister, I plan to settle my score with you.”
Cash’s lips quirked. “I’m surprised you haven’t been knocking down my door already.”
“Right now, Rachel is more important, and I can’t find her when I’m locked up in jail for killing you,” Tate warned.
“I deserve an ass-whipping for opening my big mouth at that party, but anything else is between Rachel and me.”
“There is nothing and won’t ever be anything between you and my sister. I had to watch your father sniff around my mother my whole life, and I’m not going to repeat it with you and my sister.
“I saw how she watched you when she thought no one was looking. Every time your dad would come visiting and bring you, she would sneak and look out the window. I used to tan her hide after they died to get her to quit sneaking off; searching the mountains because she was convinced you were hiding out there. She cried for three days when she found out you fucked her best friend from high school, and she never talked to her again.
“If you want to help find Rachel to alleviate your conscience, you go right ahead. I’d bargain with the devil to get Rachel back, but don’t think I’m going to let her become another one of your whores.”
Cash jerked Tate up from the table. “Don’t ever use the word ‘whore’ and her name in the same sentence again.” Cash had never wanted to hit someone so badly in his entire life.
Choosing to shrug it off, he threw Tate back down onto his chair.
“Send me that list.” He reached into his jean pocket, pulling out a card and throwing it down on the table. “My email is on the card.”
He slammed out of the bar, his boots crunching on the gravel as he got on his bike, pulling out of the parking lot.
Whenever he had been around Rachel, she had never shown by even a blink of her eye that she was interested in him, while he had basically ignored her existence and fucked his way through the town of women. Regret filled him at the wasted opportunity to get to know the woman he was beginning to learn had been a hidden pearl in their town, from not only Lily’s words to Shade, but the other people he had talked to. She had slipped beneath his notice, and now he might not be given a chance to make amends and learn more about the special woman he had fought so hard being attracted to.
He sped his bike home, wanting to get a few hours’ sleep before he tackled the list of clients Tate would be sending. He turned the corner at the same time another car was coming from the opposite side of the road. As the car took the curve, Cash had only a moment to realize it was going to hit him.
Trying to get over as much as possible without hitting the gravel on the side of the road, he gunned his motor, attempting to gain enough speed so the car would miss him. He almost made it.
The car hit his back wheel, spinning his bike out. Agony crashed through his body as he hit the pavement, then numbness took over. He didn’t feel his spine twist or see the mangled bike that lay only a few feet away. He tried to turn his head when he heard yells, but he could only lie helplessly, staring at the dark sky above.
Chapter 11
Rachel’s hand gripped the bottom rail of the hospital bed as she swallowed hard, trying to catch her breath at the sight of the mangled man lying unconscious.
“Rachel?” She turned at the soft voice from the doorway. “Time’s up.”
Rachel walked to the doorway. “Thanks for sneaking me in, Tara.”
“Everyone is worried about you. You should call your brothers.” Her sympathetic voice didn’t stir any of Rachel’s emotions.
“I don’t want to see them; I don’t want to see anyone. You promised you wouldn’t say anything. You owe me for your little brother. I just wanted to see him.”
Tara winced at her words. “Rachel, I appreciate all your help with Toby—it was worth more than sneaking you into a hospital room for five minutes—but I’m concerned about you.”
“Don’t be.” Rachel started to reach out to touch her but pulled her hand back before making contact. “I better go.”
“If you give me your number, I’ll call you if there is a change.”
Rachel told her the number of
her new phone with a request. “Please, don’t give it to anyone.”
“I won’t. I’ll only call if there’s a change,” Tara promised.
Rachel took a final look at Cash hooked to the machines. She had attempted to help him, but his injuries were worse than any she had ever dealt with before.
“I better go. His friends will be showing up for the regular visiting hours.”
“You can go back out the way you came in—through the employees’ entrance.”
“Thanks, Tara.”
She left unobtrusively. The ICU was small and Tara was the only one on duty; the other nurse was on her thirty-minute break.
Rachel went directly to her car. Before she left Treepoint, she had another stop to make.
Driving aimlessly around town, she finally turned to head up the mountain as the sun rose in the sky. It was just starting to get cold in the mornings, thus she flipped on the heat as she drove over the mountain. Her hands tightened on the cold steering wheel when she passed where Cash had wrecked his bike.