The Millionaires' Club: David, Clint & Travis: Entangled with a Texan / Locked up with a Lawman / Remembering One Wild Night

Before dawn the next morning, David left the house to take care of ranch chores. He wanted to see about two of the horses and he needed to talk to his foreman.

He hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours and those few hours had been fitful, waking and falling asleep again, having erotic dreams about Marissa. He suspected that she had no idea of her effect on him—that she had him tied in knots. He was looking forward eagerly to Saturday night.

He realized he better get his mind back to the possible danger they might face when they left his ranch. The attempt to get the mother was sobering. He would see Clint later today when they met at the club and he would get the details. Someone wanted that money badly. Or maybe wanted her. Or wanted to silence her. He hadn’t wanted to alarm Marissa, but it seemed someone was in Royal, intent on harming their Jane Doe. None of their questions about her had been answered yet, and more had been raised.

David’s thoughts jumped back to holding Marissa in his arms. Never had a woman’s kisses stirred him the way hers had. He wanted so much more than kisses. He wanted her in his bed. And if she ever agreed, she knew he wasn’t into lasting commitments. Just thinking about her responses to him drove his temperature skyrocketing, even in the chilly November morning. Saturday night. He groaned, knowing he had to get his thoughts elsewhere.

He wouldn’t be fit for any kind of ranch work in the morning. Think about horses, he told himself. Little baby Autumn had set his life spinning like a tumbleweed in a high wind and he didn’t see any chance of changing that anytime soon.

Two hours later he returned to the house to eat breakfast, shower and shave to go into town. When he headed through the house, Marissa was rocking Autumn while Gertie bustled nearby, getting things ready for supper that night. Marissa wore a dark brown sweater that clung to her figure. She had on hip-hugging jeans, and he wished Gertie was a million miles away so he could be alone with Marissa. Autumn already had her eyes closed and would soon be asleep.

“I’ll call you after our meeting and let you know whether we can visit the mother today or not,” he said, standing across the room from Marissa and realizing that he enjoyed watching her with Autumn. Someday she would be a great mother, he reflected. It was a notion that made him remember her intention to go to a sperm bank, which he did not want her to do. How many times was he going to have to tell himself that it was none of his business?

He left, knowing if he gave Marissa even the most casual kiss, Gertie would have word spread all over the ranch and town and Marissa would be in an uproar over the gossip.

At ten he walked through the deserted Texas Cattleman’s Club to a private room to join his friends. A fire burned low in the fireplace and the coziness of the room was a contrast to the grim reason they were gathered together.

“Now we’re all here,” Clint said, leaning back in a large leather chair. “Howdy, David.”

“How’s Daddy?” Alex asked, his green eyes flashing.

“I’m fine now that I’ve hired Marissa Wilder.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Ryan said. “I know Marissa. She’s quite a good-looking woman.”

“If she’s half the party animal her sister is, you should be having a good time out there at the ranch,” Alex added.

“Marissa’s not a party animal. She’s reliable and practical. I’m having a good time watching her take care of little Autumn. The baby is a sweetie just like Justin said, and Marissa knows babies and I can relax and enjoy my life once again.”

“You didn’t have to take care of that tiny baby singlehandedly for even twenty-four hours and you sound like you were overworked for a month,” Alex teased.

“Can it, Alex. I’m thankful to have a competent nanny. Haven’t even noticed her looks.”

Ryan whistled. “Either he’s lying or someone needs to take his temperature because he’s the walking dead,” he joked, and David grinned.

“All right, we’re all here,” David said. “Let’s hear what happened, Clint.” David sat on another leather chair, his friends already seated around the room.

“I caught him by the bed,” Clint said, his long legs stretched in front of him. In a black sweater he looked dark, brooding and formidable. David thought the intruder was desperate to try to sneak past someone as dangerous-looking as Clint.

“It looked like to me that the guy was starting to pick her up,” Clint said. “I don’t know whether he meant to hurt her or if he intended to kidnap her. He had already looked in her locker because her few possessions were in disarray. I tried to grab him, but in the scuffle, he broke loose. It was a choice of chasing him or seeing to Jane Doe. I stopped to see if she was all right. She had top priority,” he said, and the others murmured agreement.

“I yelled for help,” Clint continued, “so nurses arrived in a hurry. As soon as they were in the room, I went after the guy, but he’d had a head start and got clean away,” Clint finished grimly.

“You can’t identify him?” Ryan asked, his brown-eyed gaze on Clint.

“No. He was tall enough—around six feet, not heavy, plenty muscular, I could tell that when we struggled for a moment. He had a ski mask pulled over his face so I didn’t get hair color or features before he ran away.”

“Did you ever see him in the light? Even at a distance?” David asked.

Raking his dark brown hair away from his forehead, Clint shook his head. “The only time I glimpsed him in the light was when he was running down a hallway. His back was to me and he wore jeans, a denim jacket and a black ski mask. How generic is that? He had on sneakers. There was nothing distinguishing. All I got was his approximate height, not too heavy, and he was damned strong.”

“Did he get in a car?” Ryan asked, and Clint shook his head.

“He doubled back and I think he went into the hospital again. There are entrances all over that old hospital. It’s been modernized and built onto. I hate to say it, but, guys, I lost him.”

“Nobody’s blaming you,” David said quickly. “You think he went back inside the hospital?”

“Who knows? I told the police about him, and they searched the building and grounds for hours. Some of them are probably still searching. They have guards stationed at various places and one took over for me so I could leave for a time.”

“Do you think the guy was armed?” Alex asked.

“If he was, I didn’t see the weapon,” Clint replied. “I don’t know what he was trying to do with her.”

“Either way, she’s in danger, as we suspected,” David remarked, thinking about Autumn, Marissa and Gertie at his ranch house. Was it as safe as he had led Marissa to believe? he wondered. He shifted in his chair. “Alex, any leads? Have you found out anything else?”

Alex shook his head. “I haven’t turned up one clue. The police haven’t, either. No one seems to be legitimately searching for her. No woman and baby with their description are on any missing persons lists the sheriff has.”

“What about that list of names that was in the bag she carried?”

“I’m working on it, but I can’t find a trace of them.”

David nodded. “I’ve warned Marissa, Gertie and the guys who work for me. Dad’s out of the country and I see no reason to contact him over this.”

“Naw, your dad isn’t mixed in this, I’m sure. But you are,” Clint remarked grimly.

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