Into Dust. B.J. Daniels

“I think I’m going to lose you. We’ll talk later. I’m glad you called.”

      “Me, too.” He disconnected, more confused than ever. His father had sounded too cheerful. Also, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his father had only asked if he was at the ranch because he wanted to know where Jack was.

      He was just putting his phone away when the hotel room door opened and Cassidy stuck her head out.

      “I thought I heard you out here,” she said, her expression tensing when she saw that he’d been on the phone.

      “I had to cancel a dinner engagement I had.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “No,” he quickly assured her. “It wasn’t anything important.” Stepping back into the hotel room, he closed the door, winging his story as he went and hoping she bought it. “I was just verifying something. I saw a logo on one of the men in the van’s jacket sleeve. It’s a local warehouse company. It might be a place to start.”

      She raised a brow in admiration he didn’t deserve. “Nice job. What company?”

      “T.D. Enterprises Inc.” He saw from her expression that she’d never heard of it. “You look nothing like Cassidy Hamilton,” he said, glad to be able to change the subject. He’d picked up a pair of dark-framed glasses for her with clear glass lenses. The clothes, the hair, the glasses. The change was truly remarkable. No one would recognize her as the perky blonde she’d been hours ago.

      Cassidy did a twirl, then smiling, asked, “So what’s our next move?”

      Our next move? “I’m not sure you should go with me for this part,” he said, but she was already shaking her head before he finished.

      “Like you said, I look nothing like Cassidy. So whatever you’re planning to do, I’m going with you.”

      That was a bad idea on so many levels that Jack was at a loss for words. First off, they would be going to his father’s business. He didn’t want Cassidy knowing yet who he was or that his father might be behind this. Add to that the danger. They could be caught. They could even run into Ed.

      “I’m going with you,” she said, standing her ground. “I’m the one who got you into this. So stop trying to think of reasons I shouldn’t.” She looked around the dingy hotel room and hugged herself. She was still scared and didn’t want to be left alone here. He couldn’t blame her.

      And it was true. She didn’t look like the cute blonde Ed had tried to abduct earlier. Since he had a key to the facility, the two of them could waltz into his father’s offices without being questioned should the night guard catch them. Also, he could tell by her determined expression that she wasn’t going to sit tight and wait for him to figure this out.

      If he hoped to help her, he couldn’t keep her locked up in this hotel room. Which meant he had no choice but to take her to T.D. Enterprises Inc. with him later tonight.

      But first he had to retrieve his truck. If Ed had found it, then Jack was pretty sure he’d be waiting for him. It was why they’d taken a taxi earlier. He couldn’t leave the truck there overnight, though. Also, it was the best vehicle to take to the office. Which meant he was going to have to risk it.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      CASSIDY LICKED GUACAMOLE off her fingertips as she studied the man sitting across from her. Jack had taken her to a small Mexican restaurant in a funky neighborhood that went well with the clothing he’d bought her. She felt downright Bohemian. Her stomach had been growling by the time the waitress slid a huge plate of enchiladas, chiles rellenos, and beans and rice in front of her.

      Earlier, he’d left her at the hotel, but only long enough to get his vehicle. He’d returned with a ranch truck. At first she’d thought he’d stolen it.

      “I live on a ranch outside of Houston,” he’d told her. “I have use of the vehicles.”

      “So what do you know about this company, T.D. Enterprises Inc.?” she now asked between bites.

      “I gather it’s an import/export business.”

      “What does that mean?”

      “They buy and sell based on surplus, bringing in what Americans want and sending out what other countries want from us.” He shrugged.

      “Hmm,” she said thoughtfully. “What would someone in the import/export business want with me?”

      He shook his head.

      She took another bite. Accidentally catching her reflection in a mirror across the room, she was momentarily startled.

      “What?” Jack asked, sounding worried as he glanced over his shoulder.

      “I just can’t get over how I look. I’m shocked when I see my reflection, but not in a bad way. I think I look more...interesting.” She touched her short hair, wondering why she’d never cut it. She and her twin, Harper, had had the same exact hairstyle since they were kids—long straight blond hair. “I like the clothes, too. I should shop flea markets more often.”

      He laughed at that. “You’d look good in anything, even rags.”

      She smiled at the compliment. Jack, however, seemed embarrassed, as if afraid it hadn’t come out the way he’d meant it. As she studied him, she realized something. “You know everything about me, but I don’t know anything about you.”

      “There isn’t much to tell.” He seemed to concentrate on the food on his plate, as if embarrassed to have the topic turned on him. “I’m an only child.”

      “I can’t imagine how wonderful that would be,” she said, only half joking. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my sisters, but it’s hard being one of the youngest and having five sisters bossing you around.”

      “It must have been fun growing up, though,” he said as if truly interested. “You grew up on a ranch?”

      Nodding, she said, “It was fun. We rode horses, swam in the creek, camped up in the mountains. The Crazies, at least that’s what people call the Crazy Mountains, are right out our back door. But there were drawbacks, too. I’m sure you’ve read in the papers about my mother, who supposedly died when I was just a few months old. She returned over a year ago after being dead for twenty-two years.” Cassidy shook her head, realizing that he’d turned the conversation back on her. “I bet your family is completely normal, right?”

      He nodded. “Boringly normal. I was raised on a ranch, where I tried to ride any animal that would hold still long enough.”

      “You rodeoed?” she asked. He had the look of a bronc rider.

      Jack seemed to relax as he grinned and nodded. “There wasn’t a bucking horse on the circuit that didn’t leave me in the dust. I realized finally that I wasn’t born to rodeo. About then my father bought a ranch and I began to run it. It was my twenty-first birthday present. Don’t look so impressed. It was a tax write-off for him.”

      “Still, nice present,” she said. “So what do your parents do?”

      “My father is a businessman. My mother was a homemaker.”

      “Was?”

      “She died. A car accident.”

      “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

      “I miss her.” He grew silent. “It’s been a few years.”

      She could see that the years hadn’t lessened the pain. She picked at her food.

      “My oldest sister, Ainsley, pretty much raised us girls,” she said into the silence that followed. “Dad was always involved in politics. When he became a senator, he was gone a lot.”

      “But you had a stepmother?”