“You know more than you’re letting on.” Mac was pissed. Who did Draegan think he was throwing around judgments?
“Just what I’ve told you,” Draegan remarked, sounding sincere. “I’ve given you everything I have and while it’s not much, Markie believes the sheriff is afraid of this girl’s—woman’s—family, so it’s enough for everyone to take a second and reevaluate the situation.”
Mac and Harley exchanged a knowing look. How did a man walk away from a woman like Sable?
“You didn’t see what I saw.” Mac wished he could block out the memory. “The second night when I went to the hotel and bar, Nicholas had called to say she was on her way down. About the time I ended the call, I heard the helicopter. Six men were already in the club bellowing out their orders. They were determined to find her. One of them mentioned searching the rooms if they had to but then Sable walked off the elevator and surrendered.”
“Surrendered? You make it sound like she thought she was being arrested,” Draegan pointed out.
“Not at all,” Mac said, remembering the look in her eyes when the men escorted her to the waiting helicopter. “When she looked at me, it was…heartbreaking. It was like she knew I was there to help but she didn’t think I could help her. She looked powerless, Draegan, as if she’d given up all hope for any kind of real life. Do you kno
w what that’s like? Do you?”
“I do.” Allister entered the office. “I know exactly what that’s like.” He placed his hand on Mac’s shoulder. “And we’ll do everything we can to help you find her, but first you need to ask yourself something.” He turned to Harley. “Ask yourselves what you plan to do with her when you find her.”
“That’s easy,” Harley said, probably ready to profess the sins of his libido. “We’re gonna love her.”
Chapter Six
Nicholas parked the tractor in the lower field and studied the beauty surrounding him. It had been two weeks since he’d last seen Sable and he’d moped around like a man who’d recently lost the love of his life.
Studying the orange hues in the Tennessee sky, Nicholas wondered if he’d ever see a sunset with Sable. Would they have future opportunities to share a morning cup of coffee and talk about their forthcoming day or had he seen the last of her?
He kicked the ground and slung his cowboy hat off his head long enough to wipe sweat from his brow. The night she left him, she had left for a purpose. She hadn’t wanted him to find out who she was. He’d wracked his brain trying to figure out what could be so bad, so horrible, that she’d run from him. Why would she hide?
Apparently she was pretty good at hiding, too. Nicholas and the others had made dozens of calls, put out “feelers” in Drover, and even returned to the hotel and bar in disguise. They’d gone the extra mile to try and find her but sometimes it was impossible to find someone who didn’t want to be found.
In the end, Nicholas could only come up with one conclusion. Sable was gone. Apparently, she hadn’t wanted him to know anything more about her because she was married.
That had to have been it. There wasn’t any other logical explanation.
He cocked his head then and closed his eyes. His hateful mind had been vicious as of late. Whenever he slept, there she was, sprawled out on the leather sofa with her shapely tan legs parted, that garter belt and lingerie beckoning his fingers for just a touch.
The roar of Trevor’s truck in the distance pulled Nicholas away from his fantasies. He wiped his brow again, reached in the back of his truck, grabbed a jug of water, and took a hearty swig.
Trevor pulled sideways and hopped out. “I know why she ran from you.”
“Who?”
“Who have we been talking about for the past two blame weeks?” Trevor cleared his throat. “You thought she was afraid for us to know the truth. You thought she didn’t want us to know he was married. She’s scared of him, Nicholas. That’s what it is. She ran from you to protect you, not to hide from you. She’s married to someone with a lot of pull and his family is dangerous.”
“I’ve thought of that but even that doesn’t make sense. Everyone knows who we are. I could’ve helped her. We all could’ve saved her. We haven’t met a woman yet that we couldn’t help.”
“Maybe she’s the first one, but if she is, we’ll figure out a way.” Trevor frowned. “And it’s possible she had no idea who we were, Nicholas. I know we’re well known but we’re not rock stars.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Trevor started to speak again but thinned his lips and shoved his hands in his pockets. He walked down to the river and pitched a few stones into the water.
Nicholas hadn’t noticed Trevor acting so bizarre in the past. He’d seemingly accepted that Sable had been a good time, their one-night stand. Now, there was something different about him.
“What’s going on with you?” Nicholas approached cautiously, on the chance Trevor was drunk. He didn’t drink much but when he did, he was often ready for a good brawl.
“Truth?”
“Why not? Yeah. Just go for it.” He grinned then as he remembered Sable sitting atop him. “Go for it,” she’d said. He’d gone for it, all right, and if the suite’s phone hadn’t interrupted them, he would’ve gone down, too. His mouth watered at the thought, but as delicious memories turned to sadness, his eyes moistened.
Nicholas was beginning to believe he’d never know the feel of her skin, the light touch of her sweet kisses, ever again.