Lucy had been engaged? “What happened?”
A bitter smile crossed Sawyer’s face. “What happens to most of my people. Prison. Got two brothers. One’s in prison. The other’s serving time in the US Army. I don’t see the difference if you ask me. Someone had to keep our mother going, so I came home. And if you ever accuse me of hurting Luce again, I’ll break both your arms, and then we’ll see how well you work.”
“I’m just looking out for her.”
“Yeah, I see how you look out for her. You looked out for her right up to the moment that rich blonde walked into town.”
It was Cade’s turn to laugh. “I should tell you to fuck off, but it’s obvious you care about Lucy, and she’s my friend. My friend. There’s never been anything between us. And Gemma is broke. Who do you think this money is for? I’m not after her cash, dude.” Her breasts. Her hips. That sassy mouth that spit bile half the time and sucked his dick the other half. Those were the things he was after.
Sawyer sat back. “She said she was crazy about some new guy in town. She wouldn’t give me his name. I kind of thought it was you or the other one.”
“Nope. Just friends. Ty from the ski lodge likes the hell out of her, but she won’t give him the time of day.”
“Good. He’s tapped more women than I have beers.”
It wasn’t anything Cade hadn’t thought in the past. “Nope. Lucy likes to go for broke. You know who Michael McMahon is?”
Sawyer’s bronze skin flushed, and his jaw became a rigid line. Yeah, he knew who McMahon was. “I know him.”
“So you can start worrying about him and stop threatening me.”
Sawyer’s fingers drummed along the surface of the table. “Good to know. Look, man, I don’t get into town much. How about we help each other out? You tell me if Luce is getting into trouble, and I’ll let you know a little information about that tourist you and Jesse have been looking for.”
A cold chill swept through Cade. “If you know something, you better tell me right fucking now.”
“You love this girl?”
“Yeah.” It wasn’t like his love meant much, but his heart was hers and it would be until the day he died.
Sawyer looked like he didn’t want to go into it, but he finally sighed and gave it up. “Fine. We had an asshole tourist with a New York accent walk into the bar yesterday.”
Now Cade was interested. They’d scoured the local motels for Patrick. He never would have thought the urbane dickhead would dare to enter a place like Hell on Wheels. “About six foot, skinny dude?”
“He was wearing a fucking tie.”
“Yeah, that’s him. Did you talk to him?”
“At length. He was asking around. Tell me something, what did he do?”
“He tried to kill my woman.”
“Fuck. That makes sense. He came in late last night talking about needing to find a guy. I thought he was asking about drugs.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“Well, first he wanted to know what kind of wine I had. Fucking tourists. Red and white. He complained about the lack of a Sauvignon Blanc, and then he proceeded to ask where a guy could hook up. I told him if he was looking for a buddy for the night, he should go to Trio.”
Yeah, Sawyer didn’t like the sheriff and that seemed to include his partner, Zane. “Just get to the point, man.”
“Fine. He asked about everything in a real roundabout way. It was obnoxious. I kept thinking if you want drugs, just say it so I can punch you in the face and kick you out of my bar.”
“He’s a lawyer.”
“Fucking lawyers. He walked around kind of talking to the regulars. I overheard him asking where he could find a man who needed a little cash. Again, a suit walks in, I start thinking drugs. He said he needed it real bad. So, I’m thinking well-dressed junkie.”
Cade wanted to throw up. “He’s looking to hire a hit man.”
Sawyer nodded slowly. “Yeah. I get that now. He’s serious about killing your woman. And he talked to one man in particular for a real long time. They sat in a booth together for over an hour. It was why I was so upset about Luce being involved with him. I thought he was making a drug deal. It wouldn’t be the first time former law enforcement went bad. Now I know it’s darker than that.”
Cade picked up the cash and shoved it back Sawyer’s way. “Put that back in the safe. I’m going to take care of a problem.”
McMahon thought he could make some quick cash by killing Gemma? Cade was going to beat that notion out of him. He would lay fists into the asshole until McMahon told Cade exactly where Patrick was.
“Hey, think about this for a second.” Sawyer tried to stop him.
Cade strode across the bar, his boots thudding on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he heard the door open. More witnesses to the crime he was about to commit. McMahon’s head came up, looking at the door. He muttered something Cade couldn’t hear. Now the jerk was talking to himself.
Cade felt that freaking tic start up again. “Hey, McMahon. You got something to say to me?”
There was a loud bang as the front door closed, but Cade’s eyes were on McMahon. McMahon scowled as he looked up. “You motherfucker.” He turned his face down. “He’s in the wind. Asshole decided to have a conversation at the least opportune time.”
A big body rushed past Cade, slamming out the front door. Cam?
Nate Wright walked up, pulling his hat off. “Goddamn it. Why didn’t we see him?”
McMahon slid off his seat. “He was hiding.”
What the hell was going on? “Sheriff, I think Patrick Welch hired this jerk to kill Gemma.”
“I know. Why do you think he’s wired right fucking now?”
Sawyer walked up behind Cade. “What the hell is going on, Sheriff? I don’t know if you recall, but this is unincorporated territory. Don’t you think you owe me the courtesy of informing me you’re working in my business?”
“Oh, yeah, because you would be so cooperative, Sawyer. And you know this is perfectly well within my territory. When you stop catering to criminals, I’ll let you in on my operations. This isn’t your fucking kingdom.”
Sawyer loomed over the sheriff. “Damn straight it is. You watch me, Wright.”
“No. You watch me. You think I will ever forgive you for what happened to Logan here? Never. I’ll shut this place down if it’s the last thing I do.” Wright got up in the big guy’s face.
Sawyer stared down at him, rage plain on his features. “That is between me and Logan. You get the fuck out of my bar. I see you working in here and I’ll sue the whole damn town.”
Cam ran back in. “He’s gone, Nate. I’m sorry.”
“Damn it.” Wright shot Cade a nasty look. “You, come on. Mike, let’s get out of here. Let’s hope he calls again. Damn it.”
“I better not see any of you in my bar again.” Sawyer shoved the bag toward Cade, who took it. “Except you. I want that car and the pink slip here tomorrow, and it better be in perfect shape. You know what the sheriff says about me. I don’t know why Welch came after McMahon when everyone knows I’m a killer.”
Cade looked back at Sawyer, who shouted at someone on his staff. Nate pulled him along. “What the hell is going on?”
“You just fucked everything up, Cade.”
Yeah, he got that a lot.
Chapter Seventeen
Henry Flanders opened the door with a smile that faded when he caught sight of Gemma. “Miss Wells, this is a surprise.” He shut the door behind him a little as though trying to keep whoever was inside from seeing out. “If Nell has done something to upset you, you should just get over it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you, but I’m not letting you hurt her feelings.”