Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (12 page)

Grabbing Sarge's collar, Karlie led him toward the stairs, then went up to her bedroom and yanked her suitcase out of the closet and began stuffing her clothes inside.
  She couldn't take JoJo with her
now
, but she felt like Cassie wouldn't mind her leaving him here, until she could move him.
  When she had all her stuff packed, she called Sarge to follow her and went back downstairs.
They were still having heated conversation in the foyer, so nobody noticed her walking out the front door and closing it softly behind her.

Karlie didn't know where she was going,
all
she knew
was that
she was getting
away from here.  These friends, who had
been so good to her since she'd arrived
,
deserved their peace back.
  And
Jake knew where she was now anyway. 
If she stayed here, he would be back, she was sure of it
, and he'd either get Sarge, or hurt somebody
. 
Gabe was right, he was a mean bastard.

If a few of the few brain cells
Jake
had kicked in
,
and he thought about it, he would probably press charges against her for stealing
Sarge,
like Gabe had said.  Then one of them
would have to arrest her
, and s
he was not going to put them in that position.
  After loading Sarge in the backseat,
Karlie
slid into the driver's seat and cranked up Freddie.  He roared to life then she did a circle and headed down the driveway.

When she hit the main road, she floored it toward the interstate and away from
Bowie
.  Her heart tweaked at the thought of leaving Gabe, because
she
had gotten pretty attached to him, but this was best for both of them.  To nip their budding friendship, or whatever it was in the bud,
was best
because she wasn't good for him or anyone else right now.

Maybe she'd head to
Amarillo
and look up that guy Cassie had told her about...the place
where
she'd gotten Titan from.  Tommy Tucker
,
she'd said
his name was,
and the ranch was the Rockin' D
...
maybe he needed help.
  If not, there had to be other horse ranches there she could check into.
  If worse came to worse, she'd sign on as a cowhand somewhere.

CHAPTER FIVE

When the confusion at the Double B cleared, Gabe went looking for Karlie to make sure she was okay.  He didn't like how upset she was after she heard the call on his radio.  He'd seen the stark fear in her eyes, and
her tears, but he'd been so worried about Cassie, he hadn't been able to stop to comfort her.

It was obvious that Karlie was scared shitless of that bastard Jake Johnson
.
  Who could blame her?  All he done to her was intimidate, bully and abuse her...he was still doing that.  Gabe knew that was his purpose in coming to the Double B today. 

Obviously the bastard used those tactics with all women, because
Cassie
s
aid
he'd threatened her too, got up in her face when she wouldn't give him Sarge.  B
eing
an
equal opportunity
abuser
,
he'd also pushed Bu
d
,
who
was nearly seventy years old
, when he and Carl had come in to see what was going
on, after
they heard the ruckus.

Carl had walked off and got his shotgun, and only then did the guy leave.  Gabe figured he must've seen that Carl meant business, and would fill his ass full of lead.  Thank god, Carl had been there, or it might have ended a lot differently.
  Luke was going to be pissed and might even try and track the guy down.  Nobody messed with
Luke's
wife an
d
baby
, without paying the price, Gabe knew that
.

After Gabe checked the house and didn't find
Karlie
, he went outside to go check the barn
.  A
knot formed in his throat when he saw
her
Lincoln
was gone. 
Cassie walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I checked her bedroom and her clothes are gone
, and
Sarge is too."

"Fuck!" he spat
,
then rubbed a hand over his face.  "I should have kept an eye on her, I knew she was upset...
she was blaming herself.
"

"Well,
her leaving
isn't
your
fault.  She's as stubborn and hard-headed as I am, and she
would've
left regardless, if that's how she felt.  She'll turn up, her horse is still here."

"How the hell can I watch out for her, now?
" Gabe groaned, then added, "T
hat asshole could find her
alone
, and she's really going to
be in trouble
."

"Karlie has a way of landing on her feet, Gabe...all you can do is wait til she turns up."

"Let me know if you hear from her..." Gabe
told Cassie,
and he didn't correct her, but
there was no way he was going
to sit back and wait
.  The bad thing was though,
he didn't
have a clue w
here to start looking for her.
  "Hey, I need to talk to Luke too.  I heard he's planning on selling his cabin"

"Yeah he's thinking about it,
you interested?" Cassie asked him, then put a hand on her stomach as if she had a pain.

"You okay, sugar? Need to go to the hospital?" Gabe asked with concern racing through him.  He didn't know squat about pregnant women, but he knew they weren't supposed to be having pains, and what she'd been through in the last few hours couldn't be good for the baby.

She shook her head and told him, "No, I don't need to go to the hospital...so you're interested in it?"

"If he's selling it, then yeah I want to buy it.  I need to get out of Cole and Sabrina's hair..."  Gabe told her.  He had enough from the settlement on his dad's farm to buy it outright, depending on how much Luke was asking for it.  Some of the money was tied up, because he'd invested it and couldn't get his hands on it.

"Y
ou might want to catch him before he advertises
, then
.  I'll make sure to let him know."  Cassie told him then said, "I think I need to go upstairs and rest a while, I'm not feeling so hot."

She didn't look so hot either right now, her face was pale and he saw a tremble in her hand when she raised it to her forehead.  That bastard Jake Johnson had a lot to answer for, and as soon as he saw the man, he was going to be asking the questions, with his fist.
  But first, he had to find Karlie, and he was going to start with her twin.
  "You go rest, sugar...you mind if I use your phone?"

"Sure, no problem, Gabe...I'll let you know what Luke says about the cabin.  Let me know if you hear from Karlie too."  She gave him a weak smile then walked toward the
front door
.

Gabe
followed her inside then went to the alcove where the phone was.  He scrolled down his cell phone and found her number, then dialed on the land line. 
She answered on the second ring in a slightly worried tone, "Karlie?"

"No, this is Gabe
...h
ave you heard from Karlie?"

"Um...you're calling from the Double B right?  Isn't she there?" her voice trembled over the question.

"
Well, there's been some problems out here.  Jake Johnson came out and caused an uproar, and Karlie left.  I have no idea where she went...I was hoping you might," he told her
,
hoping she could help him.

"
P
roblems
have cropped up
here too...Jake came to my trailer,
and demanded
to know where she was,
when I wouldn't tell him, he
pushed me around.  I've got to get out of here.
.." she told him in a strained voice, then added, "
It's not the same without Karlie here anyway, I'm ready to toss in the towel too."

"Cassie's in a bind
here now that
Karlie left, and I know she probably would hire you to help her...you ought to talk to her.  She went upstairs to rest, but you could call her later."

"Nah, I can't wait, he might come back and I don't want to be here.  I'll just head down there...at least I know there are some people there who can help me...protect me," she said with a sob.

"
Yes, there are...you'll be safe here...and if your damned stubborn sister hadn't taken off, she would be too.  Let me know if you hear from her,
call me on my cell...if I'm out of range, just leave a message, and I'll call you back."

"Okay, I'll see ya'll soon...and thanks Gabe."
  Katie disconnected the phone and Gabe hung up, more worried now than ever that Karlie was in big trouble.
  Maybe once
Kate
got here, they could put their heads together and figure out where
her twin
was.

Three
days later, when Kate still hadn't arrived at the Double B, Gabe was worried times two.  Both of the beautiful twins were AWOL
,
and he didn't have a
ny idea
where they could be.  He'd tried both of their cell phones repeatedly, and neither answered, or re
turned the messages he'd left.

Sitting behind his desk at the station, he felt usele
ss and frustrated.  How could he, a
man who'd been in the military, a cop and then a private investigator, not be able to find them?  Cole had contracted with a firm to install new computer equipment and programs in the office, so they could have better access to national databases, but it wasn't online yet.  Supposedly, it should be active any day now.  Gabe wished that day was today, because being able to track them would be a helluva lot easier.

The phone on his desk rang and he jerked it up.  "Yeah?"

"
Um...Gabe?  This is Katie
Upton
, I wondered if you'd
found
Karlie yet?"
her voice was strained and there was something that sounded a lot like fear there.

"Katie, we've been expecting you...what happened?"

"Well, Jake came by my trailer and I'm
helping
him find Karlie, so he can get Sarge back.  That is his dog, and you know my
crazy
sister should never have taken off with him."

Fear surged up inside of Gabe and he pressed the phone tightly against his ear and said in a low fierce voice, "Did he hurt you, Kate?  Are you in trouble?"

"
Yes
, we've looked everywhere and can't find her.  Maybe she'll come back to
Bowie
soon.  If she does, can you give me a call?
  After we find her, when I can
get away
, we need to all get together
for dinner
, or something.
"

"Are you in
Bowie
?" he asked catching on to her emphasis on certain words.

"Yeah, we checked
Bowie
and she's not there...I think we might check
Amarillo
next, she used her debit card there, so..."
 

Suddenly the line was disconnected and Gabe yelled her name into the receiver, but the only thing he heard was dead air. 
Who the hell did Karlie know in
Amarillo
?  Or maybe she had just been passing through there to go somewhere else.  Regardless, that was where Jake Johnson was taking Katie, so he had to go there, and notify the police.  He didn't even know what kind of vehicle the man drove.  Maybe Cole, or someone at the Double B knew.
 

Gabe remembered that Karlie had told him Jake had access to her bank account, had stolen all her money, and now he was using that to track her.
  If the computer system was up and running in the office, he could do the same thing, but it wasn't.  He needed to get Cole to speed up the contractors.  Pushing up from his desk, Gabe walked down the hall to Cole's office and sat down in front of his desk.  He was on the phone, so Gabe waited impatiently for him to finish.

"Hey, buddy, what's up?" Cole asked when he hung up.

"Karlie
and
Katie are in trouble now," Gabe told him flatly.

Concern filled Cole's eyes then he asked, "What happened?"

"I just got a call from Kate...she's with Jake Johnson trying to find Karlie.  I know she's probably just leading him on a merry chase, because there's no way she's going to lead him to her sister, but he's forced her to go with him.  They were in
Bowie
, now they're headed to
Amarillo
, because Karlie used her debit card and he saw the transaction."

"He let her call you?" Cole asked with a confused look on his face.

"Not exactly...she called to see if I'd heard from Karlie, and gave me some hidden information in the conversation.  I think he might have hurt her too, because when I asked she said, yes.
 
Then
she told me they were headed to
Amarillo
,
and
the phone was disconnected.
  I have no fucking idea who Karlie could know there, do you?
"

"No, but maybe Cassie does...I'll give her a call.  She could have just been getting gas when she passed through there..."

"That's true, but
do you think we should
notify the police department there, since Katie has basical
ly been kidnapped by that moron," Gabe asked Cole with a clenched jaw.

"Can you prove she's been kidnapped?"

Gabe couldn't prove shit from the phone call from Katie, she'd been evasive on purpose, and although she'd given him the information he needed to find her, it didn't prove she was in danger. 
Technically, Karlie wasn't a missing person
either
, because she'd left on her own, and she was an adult, and
neither was
Katie for the same reason.  He couldn't even prove Katie had gone with Johnson under duress from her phone call.