Page 36 of Holding On to a Hero
After returning from dropping Abigail off at school, I settled in at the kitchen table across from Ally. She’d been on a Zoom call for the past ninety minutes and it didn’t sound like it would be ending any time soon. She had a Bluetooth earpiece and microphone on, with perfect hair and makeup. Her suit jacket was expensive and tailored over a silky top with understated jewelry to accent everything. I’d already taken a picture so one day I could blackmail her with the evidence of her Deadpool pajama pants and killer bunny slippers.
I pulled up my photo editing software, but my brain was having a hard time focusing. Once again I found myself mooning over Cole and Jason. No one had brought up exclusivity, but I knew they weren’t seeing anyone else. I certainly wasn’t. I’d never liked one-night stands or dirty club bathroom fucks, but it had seemed like those would be my only options. Until now. Until them.
I shifted in my chair as the memory of what we’d done yesterday and last weekend barreled through me. I was still uneasy about them seeing my back, but even with Cole’s minor freak-out, their reactions in the heat of the moment Saturday had been better than I could have hoped for. Maybe this could turn into something permanent. They’d said they were interested in that when we first talked about it. I hoped they would want that with me.Chill out, asshole, it’s been three dates.
I sighed loudly, then looked guiltily at Ally. Fortunately, she hadn’t noticed; instead she was glaring at her screen and asking sharply pointed questions about “Q3 results”. I so thankful I didn’t have an office job.
And I was just as thankful I’d been sneaky enough to avoid being alone with Ally at any point this morning. I’d either been in my room or glued to Abigail’s side. Ally had given melooksbut had only managed a bland, “How was dinner last night?” Of course I’d be in for it later, but postponing the inevitable was much more fun.
Shaking my head to clear it, I downloaded yesterday’s photos of the beavers and of Cole riding the horse. If the latter shots turned out as well as I hoped, I was planning on framing one of them as a gift.
I scrolled through the photos eagerly. Looking at Cole walking the horse around the paddock made my heart feel too big for my chest. I wished I had some good photos of Jason, or better yet of the two of them together. That would need to be a priority the next time we were together.
When I saw the photos I’d taken after the gun had gone off, I was over the moon. In one I’d managed to capture the horse twisting in the air, with Cole hanging on like a rodeo rider. His hat had come off and started to flip over in the air behind him. All of the action was framed by the white barn in the background. It was one of the best photos I’d ever taken.
I zoomed in and went over the photo in minute detail to see where it might need any adjustments. When I scrolled over the barn behind Cole, two black marks against the white paint caught my eye. I magnified them even more, but other than looking like random holes or black dots on the paint, I couldn’t make out any details. I saved my changes and then looked through the rest of the photos I’d taken that day. There weren’t any black marks on the barn until the photos where the horse was bucking. After the gunshots. The two gunshots.
My heart started pounding.Don’t panic. It might not be what you think it is.Maybe there’s just a spot on the lens.It was possible. Except the marks didn’t move with the camera. But still. Better to be sure. I focused on controlling my breathing and yanked my camera out of its bag. I hadn’t taken any photos or cleaned the lens after yesterday morning, so if something on the camera was causing the black marks, it would still be there.
I snapped a quick picture of the white kitchen floor and then looked at it on the camera’s screen. No black marks.
My hands were shaking. I grabbed my phone. I needed to call Cole. But I didn’t have his number, dammit! Jason then. He’d said he was going to meet with his brother this morning, but at least he could call Cole and tell him to stay in the house.
I pressed Jason’s number in my contacts and walked to my bedroom so I wouldn’t interrupt Ally’s conference call. The phone started ringing. I reached for my truck keys on the dresser, just in case. No answer. Voicemail.Shit.
“Jason, it’s Will. Call me as soon as you get this. I think Cole is in danger. I don’t have his phone number. The photos from yesterday. Those gunshots. It looks like they hit the barn. Two holes that were there after the gunshots happened but not before. Right behind Cole. Shit. He has to stay inside.”
I hung up on the voicemail and pulled up my texts with him instead.
Will: Call Cole ASAP. Tell him to stay inside. I think yesterday’s gunshots were aimed at him. Call me after you talk to him. I don’t have his number.
Will: Since I can’t reach you I’m going to head over there and make sure he’s okay.
I spun around and headed for the door. Ally was still absorbed in her conference call and didn’t look up. I paused to grab my laptop on the way. At least if I ended up looking like an idiot I’d have some proof of why.
Please let me look like an idiot.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Will
By the time I made it to the highway onramp it finally dawned on me that I knew the name of Jason’s security company. I pulled over to the shoulder and looked up Shelton Security on my phone.
But of course they didn’t have a receptionist. The phone line didn’t give me any extension options, just a voicemail thanking me for calling and assuring me that Shelton Security would get back to me as soon as they could. Fuck.
“Hi, uh, this is Will Graham. I’m trying to reach Jason. Shelton. Uh, this is an emergency and I really need him to call me. Actually, he needs to call Cole first. I took photos yesterday and there are holes in the barn that weren’t there before the gunshots we heard. It wasn’t a hunter. Someone was shooting at Cole. I don’t have Cole’s number. Someone needs to call him and tell him to stay inside. I’m on my way to the ranch.” I was almost shouting in frustration by the time I was done leaving my number.
I pulled back onto the highway as I considered my options. It would be another twenty minutes if not more before I got to the ranch. At least Austin’s notorious traffic was cooperating with me this morning. If I’d been stuck in a standstill jam I probably would have jumped out of the truck and ran.
My only other real option was to call the police. I didn’t think they’d appreciate a call to the emergency number if no one was shooting right at that moment, but maybe I could convince someone to drive by for a wellness check or something before I got there.
I pulled over again to look up the non-emergency number for the ranch’s county sheriff. And then I totally broke the speed limit while I was on the phone with the oh-so-not-helpful dispatch officer.
“Son, let me get this straight.” Deputy Franks, as he’d identified himself, was patronizing too. Just what my blood pressure needed right now. “You’re saying that Cole Washburn, the movie star, is living in Nelson County, and yesterday someone shot at him. But no one realized it at the time. But now you realized it and you want me to send someone over to check on him. Right this second.”
I’d thought that maybe someone in a rural Texas town would have been excited to go see Cole Washburn, but apparently my logic was somehow flawed.
“Yes, that’s right. He goes jogging in the mornings and he could be in danger.”
