Looking for Trouble Read online

  Jess sat down on the stool and caught Wade’s eyes, and started strumming her guitar…the look in his eyes caused a lump to form in her throat, and she had to turn her head to the side and cough to clear it, before she could sing. Leaning back to the mike she inhaled a deep breath, then put everything she had into the song, infused it with feeling. The crowd was quiet, almost mesmerized, as she sang the ballad. Slowing down the strumming when she got to the last line, she crooned, “And all I need from this world…is my Angel and baby girl.”

  She patted her guitar, then lifted her face to the crowd and smiled, as they stomped and clapped their approval, the noise was almost deafening. “Thanks for coming out tonight to see us and ya’ll come back, we’ll be here for a while, until I lose the concrete shoe,” she joked and lifted her cast to the light, and the laughter floated up to her on the stage.

  Evidently, one of the gang turned on the canned music, and the crowd groaned, and quite a few couples headed for the door, but others the dance floor. She sat there and closed her eyes for a minute, just breathing and trying to get control of the rampaging emotions flooding her system. This was why she performed, this feeling…there was nothing else in the world like it…well, one other thing, but she couldn’t go there right now, they were in public.

  She heard someone clapping at the base of the stage and she opened her eyes and looked down with a smile, thinking it was probably Wade coming to help her down off the stage. It wasn’t, and her face paled and sickness churned in her stomach, as she locked eyes with the last person she ever wanted to see again, Ray Turner.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked nastily then felt the blood leave her face, as she shot to her feet.

  “Is that any way to greet your fiancé, darlin?” he snorted then tipped the hat back on his head to pin her with his almost colorless blue eyes. Snake eyes, she’d always thought they looked like, and they fit his personality perfectly. It looked like he’d cut the surfer boy hair he had, and he was dressed western, instead of in a polo and board shorts. That was probably why she hadn’t noticed the asshole earlier.

  “I’m not your fiancé, Ray, I never have been. I just let you tell people that, because it explained why we were living together. And I told you to leave me the hell alone when I kicked you out, so why are you here?” She saw Jazzie over at the side of the stage, and her face was pale too.

  “Well, I’m here, because my employers asked me to be here…I told them I knew you personally, and they sent me to hear you sing,” he told her smugly then added, “You’re still as beautiful as always, and just as talented. I think I’ll recommend they sign you, if you’re real nice to me,” he said suggestively with a wink.

  She put her hands on her hips and squealed, “You stole my songs, asshole, you stole my money, and you think I’d be interested in working with you, or anyone associated with you? You’re out of your mind!” Jess didn’t realize her voice was being picked up by the mike right beside her, and was being broadcast to the people left in the bar, until she looked up and they were all staring at them. She picked up the mike stand and moved it to the back of the stage, then stomped back to the edge to glare down at Ray.

  “I was out of my mind to let you go, that’s for sure. C’mon Jess, be reasonable,” he pleaded in the whiny voice that got under her skin, then added, “I still love you, you know…we were good together, we could be again.”

  The sickness in her stomach got so bad hearing his words, she felt like she might hurl right there. “You just want a meal ticket, Ray…you and my dad always did. Well, let me tell you, I don’t give a fuck if you starve to death, because that isn’t happening! This gravy train dried up when I kicked your sorry ass out.”

  Wade stepped up right then and got in Ray’s face, and grated, “Damn right that isn’t happening, asshole, she’s my fiancé, and you need to get the hell out of here, or I’m going to get mileage out of your ass for what you did to her.”

  Ray leaned forward and put his nose to Wade’s then spat, “I didn’t do shit to her, except work my ass off to make her what she is…” then he put his finger in Wade’s shoulder and finished, “She owes me.”

  Jess sucked in a sharp breath when Wade knocked Ray’s hand away, then took a step back, and balled up his fist, cocked it and hit Ray right in the mouth. Ray reeled backward, holding his mouth, and landed on his ass. Before she could blink, Wade was on top of him, beating the ever living shit out of him. She screamed for Denver and her brother, then went to the stairs, and wobbled down them.

  By the time she pushed through the crowd to find Wade, he was standing up beside a deputy, who had his arm, and was trying to lead him to the back exit. His lip was bloody, and his shirt was torn at the shoulder. Another deputy had Ray’s arm, but he was bent over spitting blood and moaning.

  With a wail, she tried to run after Wade, but tripped and wound up on her hands and knees on the dance floor, with a crowd surrounding her. A guy stepped forward and took her arm to help her up, once she got up, she stiffened her shoulders, then walked toward the exit. The night that had been so perfect, until now, had quickly turned into a nightmare, and she was afraid it was only going to get worse.

  Jazzie ran up to her at the door, and put her arm around Jess’s shoulders, then said, “I’m coming with you…that sonofabitch isn’t going to win this time.”

  Then Travis stepped up to her other side and took her arm and told her fiercely, “Damn right he’s not,” then he held the door open for them to go through.

  ***

  Wade was pissed at himself for letting that moron goad him into kicking his ass. But once he was committed to it, he gave it all he had. Now, the asshole was on his way to the hospital in Henrietta, and Wade was being locked up for assault and disorderly conduct. His one phone call was going to be to Cole, but somehow he didn’t think the Sheriff would have much mercy on him…he didn’t deserve it, because he’d been so stupid.

  So, here he sat, cooling his heels in a holding pen with his hands handcuffed behind him, waiting for them to get that asshole into the ambulance, so they could book him. Wade had been arrested before, so he knew the ropes, but not in a damned long time. He wasn’t a kid anymore, so fighting wasn’t something he took lightly anymore…and he wasn’t nearly as hotheaded as he used to be. What that smarmy bastard had said to Jess though, had almost made the top of his head pop off, he was so damned mad. It had consumed him to the point he couldn’t even think straight.

  He looked up when the door opened and a deputy walked in and grabbed his arm to help him up. Wade saw blood on the man’s uniform, and knew it was Ray’s and he swallowed, hoping he hadn’t hurt him too bad. He sure didn’t need to wind up in prison over something so stupid, his baby girl needed him, and Jess needed him…he had to be around to take care of them.

  What a dumb fuck he’d been tonight, he thought for the thousandth time and shook his head. His stupidity had put everyone he cared about in a bad situation. The deputy led him out into the waiting room, then walked him toward another door, and he went along with his head down, until he heard a gasp and a whimper behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Jess shove out a plastic chair then hobble toward him with tears in her beautiful green eyes.

  “Get the keys to my truck from the other deputy, and go home,” he told her in a choked voice. “You don’t need to be here…go get Angel.”

  “I called Cassie and she said the babies were sleeping, and to just leave Angel, until tomorrow. I’m not leaving you,” she told him in a trembling voice, then her eyes moved over him and she asked, “Are you okay, baby ?”

  The deputy had stopped to let him talk to her, but he tugged on his arm again now, and Wade stumbled then walked away, saying over his shoulder, “I’m fine, Jess…just go home.”

  When they got into the other room, the deputy shut the door, then shoved him behind the counter and pulled off his hat then stood him in front of a blue screen to take a mug shot, then uncuffed him and took his fing
erprints. He gave Wade a wet wipe and he tried to get the sticky ink off, but it wasn’t coming off. With a frustrated sigh, he threw it in the garbage, then turned around, so the man could put the cuffs back on him.

  This time, he didn’t put him in a holding cell, he took him to a barred door and put his key in then opened it and led him down a long hallway to a cell, then opened it and shoved him inside. “Turn around and I’ll take the cuffs off,” the deputy said gruffly. Wade turned and then rubbed his wrists, as the deputy closed the door, then walked back down the hall.

  With nothing else to do, but sit and stew, Wade walked over to the narrow cot and sat down with his back against the wall.

  ***

  When Cole walked through the front door of the station a couple of hours later, Jess launched herself at him and wailed, “You’ve got to help him, Cole…Ray made him do it. He shouldn’t have been there, and he knew it!”

  “He was there, because his employer sent him there, Jess,” Cole told her then shoved a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry, but Wade was out of line.”

  “Ray got in Wade’s face and put his finger in his chest—said stuff he knew would piss Wade off!”

  “Wade is the only one who can control his temper, and he’s the only one that can let someone egg him into a fight, darlin’…he’s gonna be here a while, you should go home.”

  Jess folded her arms over her chest and told him belligerently, “I’m not going anywhere, until you let him go.”

  “Then you’re going to be here for days most likely, sugar. This is serious, he hurt that guy pretty bad, and he’s pressing charges.”

  Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she asked him, “Can I talk to Wade?”

  Cole hesitated for a minute, then huffed out a breath and told her, “Yeah, give me a minute, and I’ll put him in the interview room,” then he looked at Jazzie and Travis sitting in the chairs against the wall and added, “Only you though.”

  Jess nodded and thanked him, then went to sit beside Jazzie again and grabbed her hand, “Oh, Lord, Jazz, what am I going to do?”

  “We’ll figure something out, after you talk to him. He needs an attorney, that’s for sure. You need to find out how his money is, and what he can afford, then we’ll find the best lawyer we can…and you’ll need cash for his bail, probably. You should ask Cole when they’ll set bail, and how much he thinks it might be.”

  Jess looked at her curiously, then asked, “How the hell do you know all that?” Jess had never had any run-ins with the law and she was clueless.

  Jazzie snorted then smiled. “I have five brothers, remember? This isn’t my first rodeo at a police station,” she told her with a chuckle.

  Travis piped up and told her, “I have a little money, Jess…just let me know how much you need…I’ll get a loan if I need to.”

  “No way—I’ll figure something else out. You’ve done enough, Trav. In fact, it’s time for you to think about going home.”

  He shook his head and told her, “Not until you get Wade out, and not until I call and ream out that damned man at the record company, and tell them never to send Ray Turner sniffing around you again. I have other options, so don’t worry, something will shake loose.”

  Jess groaned and told Travis, “I’m just worried about Wade right now…I think he’s got most of his money sunk into building that house. He may not be able to afford an attorney to get him out of this mess.”

  Travis narrowed his eyes, and told her, “I’m going to the hospital tomorrow and shake that bastard up some…threaten him with embezzlement charges, and see what happens.”

  “But we don’t have any proof, Travis…”

  “He doesn’t know that. Don’t worry, Jess…we’ll work this out,” Travis told her, but she could see the worry in his own eyes.

  Jess looked up when Cole walked through the door she assumed led to the cells, with Wade’s arm in his grasp. Wade locked eyes with her and his were vacant and flat, and she whimpered then followed behind them to a room on the other side of the booking area.

  Cole opened the door then shoved Wade inside and turned to her. “You have fifteen minutes, Jess.”

  She nodded then walked inside and sat down at the table across from Wade, who wouldn’t look at her. When the door shut, she stood up and walked around the table to put her arms around Wade’s shoulders, then put her hand on his face and made him look at her. “You need to answer some questions, so I can help you get out of here,” she said in a shaky voice.

  Wade sighed, then asked, “What do you need to know?”

  “I need to know how to get to your money to pay your bail, and hire an attorney,” she told him then knelt down by his chair.

  “I don’t have any money right now, other than my paycheck from Cassie and Luke. I put everything in a construction account to build the house. I have a few investments, but they’re not liquid,” he told her flatly.

  If he was in jail, she wouldn’t want or need a house…so the house wasn’t a priority right now…getting Wade out this mess was. Whatever was in the construction account, they could use to hire him a lawyer. “I’m going to talk to the contractor, and put the house on hold for now,” she told him then added, “I’ll see if he’ll release the funds…he’s not far into building yet.”

  “He’s ordered the materials, Jess…we’re pushing him to finish it fast,” he told her morosely.

  “Surely, they can store them, we can pay him for the materials, and just get the rest out,” she suggested hopefully.

  “You can try, but there won’t be a lot left, I’m sure. We signed a contract with him, and there are penalties, on both sides, him if he doesn’t finish on time, and us if we cancel.”

  Jess gnawed on her lip then stood up and told him, “I’m going to sell the three new songs I wrote then…and write a few more, if I can.”

  Wade vaulted up out of the chair and his face was so red it almost glowed, as he grated through his teeth, “You are not—not—going to sell those songs to get me out of here! You got that?”

  Jess nodded and her lips wobbled as she told him in a broken whisper, “They don’t mean anything, if Angel and I don’t have you, baby…”

  “I don’t care, Jess, those are your songs, and you are the one that’s gonna sing them, not some other country singer they don’t mean a damned thing to,” he said forcefully then pulled her into his arms and kissed her hair. “We’ll figure something out, sugar…don’t worry.”

  That was what Travis had told her too, but how could she not worry? He was in jail for assault, which could be serious, depending on what happened at the hospital with Ray, and Ray as vindictive and money grubbing as he was would probably sue him for the injuries too. Maybe Ray was the key to the puzzle here…maybe she needed to go see him, and try to work things out.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Jess pulled Wade’s truck into an open spot in front of the hospital, then shut off the engine. She just sat there a minute, trying to get her thoughts together, about what she wanted to say to Ray, what she could say to get him to drop the charges against Wade. She’d spent the last two days trying to get the contractor to release the building money, and he said there was less than a thousand dollars that was available in there.

  He said it would take him a little time to get even that released to her, but he would put the house on hold, until she told him to continue. And Wade was still in the Bowie jail, because the judge was on a fishing trip somewhere, and couldn’t set bail, until he came back. If he had a damned attorney, he could press the issue, but she had no money to hire one. Wade hadn’t even had arraignment yet and it had been three days! They were going to release Ray from the hospital today, and she had to talk to him, before that happened. She had no idea how to contact him, if he left town.

  So, Jess decided to come to the hospital this morning, and had brought Angel with her, because nobody knew she was here, she hadn’t told anyone. They would have tried to stop her, and she knew this was the only way she c
ould fix things.