Double the Trouble (Texas Trouble 3) (16 page)

"Twins, huh?  I knew
Karlie
had a sister, but I didn't know they were twins," Tommy gave him a rueful smile.  "Double the trouble?" he asked then laughed.

"
Yeah,
I guess
...I hear they were on the rodeo circuit anyway
.
Katie was Karlie's roping partner, and they were a top ra
nked
team."

"
I look forward to meeting Katie then
...if she's half as good as Karlie, I might have to hire her too
," he said with a grin, then asked, "
Okay, how about a park?  There's one on the outskirts of
Amarillo
, not far north of here.  I've taken
Dixie
there before for the playground."

"Th
at sounds like just the place...as long as there aren't any kids there, when we meet."

"If you meet around
noon
, it's too damned hot out there, and most of the mothers will have taken their kids to lunch, or at least have them out of the sun.  There's a lot of acreage
out
there, so get him to meet you away from the playground.  There's an old tennis court near the back, and a parking lot.
..I can go with you to show you.  I'd like to go anyway. I can't stand men bullying women.  It pisses me off.
"

"You have a gun?" Gabe asked him.

"This is
Texas
,
man
,
" Tommy laughed and slapped his desk, "Of course I have a gun...several of them."

"We could probably use the help, just in case this guy goes off the deep end.  Karlie says he's
a little nuts
, and
a lot
unpredictable."

"Just the kind my Kimber was made for," Tommy told him then grinned. 
Jealousy poured through
Gabe
, he'd
always wanted to own a Kimber
handgun
.  It looked like his new friend had
good taste in horses
and
handguns...women too, because he seemed to like Karlie.

"Okay, then let's get Karlie to make that call, and see what happens...and thanks Tommy."

"Hell, it's time for a little excitement around here,
I was getting bored
...
glad I can
help."

Gabe and Tommy walked out of the study and went to the kitchen, where they found
C
ole and Karlie
,
sitting at the huge arc-shaped breakfast bar
talking.
He glanced across the living room behind the bar and saw
wide floor to ceiling windows on the far wall
.  Gabe thought it should be hot in the room with all that glass, but instead it was p
leasantly cool.  He bet the man's electric bill was out of this worl
d to keep it that way, though.  Although the house was enormous, a
band of gypsies could
probably
live in this place and still have room to spare
, it was comfortable, not intimidating
.
 

"Hey, what'd you guys find out?" Gabe asked walking over to them.

"Karlie had more luck than I did," Cole said, then added, "
Amarillo
can't
  help, unless we can verify that she is indeed with him against her will, just like we thought.  I told them where we were probably meeting him and what time tomorrow, and they said they'd send patrols by, but that's the best they could do."

"Better than nothing, I guess..." Gabe told him and then looked at Karlie, "What did the lawyers say?"

Karlie's beautiful smile split her face, then she said, "They said they had a feeling he wasn't taking proper care of Sarge, and they were glad that I called them, and that I have Sarge.  I told them it wasn't about money,
I didn't want the money,
but they insisted that the will only stipulates that the caregiver receive the stipend to take care of Sarge, not Jake specifically.  They
have the right to choose who that caregiver is, and they said they felt comfortable with me having him
for now
.  They want to set up a meeting so they can make sure he's in a good place, then they want to pay
me
to take care of him.
  Jake's gonna be pissed.
"

It was so good to see her smiling,
and
Gabe couldn't help but smile himself. 
"That's great, honey,"
he told her,
then added with a laugh, "Congratulations, I know Sarge will be happy too...that dog loves you."
  Why did his brain want to add on 'so do I'? 

Gabe shook his head and purged that thought.  He didn't even really know Karlie that well, how the hell could he think he loved her?  They hadn't even had sex...
oh, but how he wanted to. 

They'd
only kissed a few times, even if they
ha
d been
earth-moving
kisses
, this connection he was feeling toward her was unexplainable.  It had never happened to him before with any other woman.
  He wanted to take care of her, be with her,
and
when he wasn't he missed her.
  But he didn't have time to think about that now, they had to find Katie.

"Okay, time to call Kate...you ready?" Gabe asked, then watched her smile fade to be replaced by seriousness and determination.

"Yep...I want my sister back," she said and then picked up her cell and dialed.
 

Karlie let out a relieved sigh when Katie picked up on the third ring.  For a minute, she was afraid she wasn't going to answer.  "Katie?" she said haltingly.

"Yeah, hey,
s
is," her twin's voice sounded flat and exhausted, not at all like her normally bubbly self.

Panic that Jake had hurt her flooded through Karlie.  "Are you okay, Katie?"

"Um...yeah," Kate told her then sucked in a breath before she moaned and said, "Look, Sis, Jake wants his dog back, and he wants him now.  He'll hurt me if you don't give him back.
..he's tired of chasing you.
"

Karlie figured this was the prime opportunity for her to ask the question Gabe wanted answered, "Did he force you to go with him? Did he kidnap you?"

"Not exactly...I wanted to make sure you were okay,
when
he found you.
..thought I could
help
him find you.
"
  Karlie read that to mean, she wanted to make sure he didn't hurt Karlie when he caught up with her, she wanted to keep an eye on Jake, and she wanted to put him off her trail if she could.

"I see...okay I've decided to give him Sarge back.  Are you in
Amarillo
?" Karlie asked carefully.

"Yes, we're in
Amarillo
," Katie replied, then Karlie heard the phone rustle, before Jake's voice came over the line.

"Listen, slut...I want my fucking dog back
now
.  You can have your sister
back when I get my dog
. 
I'd hate to see her have an
accident
, Karlene.
..break up the set
, if
you know what I mean
,
"
he said with a
nasty
laugh, evidently thinking he was clever.

"You hurt my sister asshole, and there won't be enough acreage in this country for you to hide from me
--
I p
romise you that," Karlie hissed, then told him, "I'll give your fucking dog back, meet me at this park
at noon
," she said then gave him the address Tommy had looked up for her.
  Her hand was shaking so violently by the time she pressed the end button, she almost dropped the phone.  "It's set...he'll be there."

"Did Katie say he kidnapped her? Or forced her to go with him?"

"No, she didn't.  She went with him to make sure she could protect me...so she knew where he was...and she was leading him on a goose chase."

"You used your debit card in
Amarillo
...that's how he found you
,
"
Gabe told her and saw horror flash over her face.

"
Shit
...
" Karlie said and slapped her forehead,
then
finished, "
I didn't even think about him having access to my account.  I was out of money, and there was two dollars left in my account
.
I rolled into that station on fumes,
and I needed gas to get here."

"It's okay, honey...this will work out better anyway.  You get to keep the dog, we get your sister back, and maybe get to arrest the asshole.  Did he threaten you or Katie on the phone?"

"Not really...he just said that he'd hate to see Katie have an
accident
and break up the matched set."

"Well, shit," Gabe said and ran his hand across his face.  "Looks like we're not going to get help from the locals with that."

"Nope," Cole agreed
, then added, "
Unless he does something stupid at the meeting, he'll leave there without being arrested."

"Odds are he'll do something stupid," Karlie told them.  "When I tell him I'm keeping Sarge, he'
ll
probably go off.
"

"Okay, Cole and I will just head into Amarillo and get a hotel room, then come back tomorrow morning, so we can all work out a plan..." Gabe said and pinned Karlie with his eyes.  They told her he didn't want to leave her, but had to.

"No need for that, I have plenty enough room for ya'll.
.." Tommy said then slapped Cole on the shoulder, "I'll just tell Cookie to throw on a couple more steaks for supper.
  Wouldn't mind the company anyway.
"

"Thanks, Tommy...we appreciate it," Gabe told him, but smiled at Karlie
, then asked her, "You left that spotted horse out in the arena with that calf, darlin'.  Want me to come help you get him in?"

"Paint horse, Gabe...not spotted horse.  Spotted horses are Appaloosas,"
she corrected him with a grin.  His face became a mask of confusion, and she wanted to laugh. 
God, he was cute, she thought and wanted to squeeze him.
  "Yeah, I could use your help...but
Dixie
has first dibs.  She's my assistant."

"You have an assistant?  Well, la te da..." Gabe said with a smug grin.

"Tommy's ten-year-old daughter...she's been helping me today," Karlie told him then looked at Tommy and smiled
.
"Your daughter is a natural horse trainer."

Tommy huffed out a breath, "Thanks for keeping her occupied.  I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with her lately, and she's been a handful."

Karlie frowned when she
glanced over at the door and
saw
Dixie
step into the room
with Sarge on his leash. The smile she had on her face melted off and her eyes filled with tears
.  Karlie realized she'd
evidently heard her daddy's words.
Dixie
dropped the leash and took off for the stairs across the room.  "
Dixie
, wait!" Karlie yelled and ran after her.
 

The little girl was quick though and she was up the stairs, before Karlie even hit the landing, and she heard her door slam then a lock turn.
  Karlie walked to her door and knocked, then said gently, "
Dixie
, open the door, sugar..."