Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,54

about her in his bedroom, scared, hungry, and worried.

“I need to go see my kids,” he finally said.

“No,” Josh said. “Get this done, and we’ll leave you alone.”

Dallas did what he said, but he knew Josh and his friends wouldn’t leave him alone. They knew where he worked. They knew where he lived. If they knew those things, they knew where the kids went to school, and they knew where his parents were.

Fear accompanied his every move, and just over an hour later, the radiator was done.

“How much?” Josh asked. “Would you charge for everything you did?” Mario stood next to him, his arms folded and his biceps huge.

Dallas looked back to the truck and considered all he’d done. “If I owned my own commercial shop or you took it to someone like that, that job would’ve easily been four grand.”

Josh looked at Mario, who nodded just once.

“We’ll take it off Martha’s debt,” Josh said, starting for the passenger side of the truck.

“How much does she owe you?” Dallas asked. “You know we’re not married anymore, right?” In so many ways, his life with Martha had been broken. At the same time, he knew they’d be inseparably twined for the rest of his life.

“She owes a lot,” Josh said. “Your wife likes the speeders, and they ain’t cheap.”

“She’s not my wife,” Dallas called after him. “I don’t owe you anything.” Plus, Josh could continue to show up, day after day, and say Martha owed him something and Dallas wouldn’t know. He’d been given no ledger or sheet. Just Josh’s word.

Josh paused at the front bumper and looked back at Dallas. “She said you’d take care of her,” he said. “Are you saying you won’t?” He took one menacing step back toward Dallas. “Because that changes how she’s treated, you know.”

Dallas swallowed. “Where is she? What have you done to her?” He didn’t want to care, but the truth was, he did. He’d care about anyone who’d gotten themselves into the situation that Martha obviously had.

Addicted to something hard core. No way out. No money to pay for the habit.

His compassion warred with his fury, and that caused his fingers to curl into fists.

“She’s safe,” Josh said coolly. “For now.”

“I want to talk to her,” Dallas said.

“We don’t control who she talks to,” Josh said. “If she’s not answering your calls, man, that’s her decision.” He knocked on the hood of the truck, and Mario started it. Josh got in, and Dallas listened to the engine purr as he backed out of the driveway.

He wanted to race down the street after them, shouting threats and telling them never to come to his house again. Men like Josh did what they wanted though. They took what they wanted, because they thought it belonged to them.

Dallas spun back to his house and dashed inside. He went to the master bedroom and knocked on the door, saying, “It’s Daddy, Thomas. Open the door, bud.”

Several moments later, the door swung open, and his son’s tear-stained face appeared. He looked resolved and stoic, but Dallas saw all the turmoil beneath the mask. “I’m sorry.” He swept his son into his arms and held him tight. “Remmy, come on.” The sobbing little girl came over too, and Dallas held them each with one arm, as tightly as he could, right against his chest.

“It’s okay now,” he whispered. “It’s okay now. I’m here, and it’s okay now.”

A couple of hours later, Dallas stood in the doorway of his bedroom and watched his children sleep in his bed. Martha had not answered his calls that night, and he was currently listening to Ted talk about his options.

“We need to find her,” Ted said. “Get her out of there. Find out what she owes, and pay it off. Then they’ll leave you alone.”

“Okay,” Dallas said. “Nate?”

“I hate this plan,” Nate said, his voice echoing because Ted had the two of them on speakerphone. “But Teddy’s right. The only way this goes away permanently is if the debt is paid and done.”

The three of them knew more about debts being paid that most, that was for sure.

Dallas wanted to ask about Jess, but he kept the question beneath his tongue. He’d call her next. He kept his voice low as he asked, “How do we find her?”

“We know people,” Nate said. “Right, boys? We all know someone a little shady from our time in prison. Maybe now’s when we work the system we lived inside for a while.”

Dallas frowned, but he