Secrets and Lies: He's A Bad Boy / He's Just A Cowboy

He knew where Roy was. He’d heard about the party at the summer home of the Fitzpatricks. His chin slid to one side as he considered his options. Sweat trickled down his neck. He thought again of the girl who had run over to him to see if he’d been hurt. She was beautiful, as were all of the girls to whom Roy was attracted. Her hair was straight and thick, a glossy auburn sheath that fell nearly to her waist. Her face was small, with high cheekbones and eyes that were a shade between green and gray. Funny, how he’d noticed those eyes. They’d studied him with such intelligence, such clarity, that he couldn’t imagine she was one of Roy’s women. Still, he’d given her a rough time; tossed off her concerns. She was, after all, with Roy. Just another Gold Creek girl who wanted to get close to the Fitzpatrick money. They were all the same.

He spit blood onto the gravel drive and ran his tongue over his teeth. None chipped. He’d been lucky. Roy’s fender had just clipped him, though Jackson doubted that Roy would really risk denting his expensive car. Or maybe he would. Daddy would always buy Roy a new one.

Closing his eyes, he rotated his head and heard his neck crack a little. A headache pounded near his temples. He should just leave Roy and Old Man Fitzpatrick alone. But he couldn’t.

He kick-started the bike and wheeled around. No reason to stay in the dark trailer when he could settle things once and for all with the Fitzpatricks.

CHAPTER TWO

THE FITZPATRICK “CABIN” was a mansion. Hidden behind a brick fence and wrought-iron gates, the rustic building was nestled in a thicket of pines on the shore of the lake. A sweeping front porch, awash with lights, was flanked by cedar-and-stone walls rising three stories.

Rachelle climbed out of Erik’s pickup. The night smelled of pine, fir and water. Clouds gathered in the sky, blocking out the moon. The wind, too, picked up and rifled across the water, promising rain.

Music was throbbing through the open windows. Laughter and loud conversation were punctuated by the beat of a classic Eric Clapton tune. Though the night was muggy, Rachelle drew her jacket around her more tightly as she hurried up the stone path to the front door. She just wanted to find Laura and go home.

Even Carlie was getting nervous. She shot Rachelle a worried glance. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea,” Scott said, throwing his arm over Carlie’s shoulders. “Besides, Roy would be disappointed if you two didn’t show up.”

“He’d never miss us,” Rachelle predicted.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Erik drawled. He and Scott exchanged a look and a smile that made Rachelle’s blood run cold.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” Erik herded them onto the porch.

The door was ajar, and they walked into a two-storied foyer resplendent with Oriental rugs tossed over polished hardwood floors. Objets d’art and antiques were positioned carefully in the entry hall. A spinning wheel stood near the coat closet, a loom bearing a half-woven rug had been pushed into the far wall of the living room and a suit of armor stood near the staircase, a can of Coors clutched in its iron-gloved hand.

Laughter and music wafted from the back of the house.

“This way,” Scott said, as he and Erik turned a corner and headed toward the rear of the house. Reluctantly Rachelle and Carlie followed. Rachelle regretted ever getting into the truck. What if someone called the police? What if no one was in any shape to take Carlie and her back to town? What if Laura was having such a good time, she didn’t want to leave? Well, Rachelle could always call her mother. She winced at the thought and decided that if worse came to worst, she could hike the seven miles back to town.

The party was in full swing in the game room. Glassy-eyed heads of deer, moose and elk were mounted on the walls. In one corner, a player piano stood untouched, in another a Wurlitzer jukebox, straight out of the fifties, was playing records. A pool table, covered in blue felt, was centered on the gleaming floor and Foosball and darts were arranged in other parts of the room. A wall of windows, two stories high, offered a panoramic view of the lake, while against the interior, a set of stairs led to a loft. Smoke filled the air and glasses clinked.

Looking for Laura, Rachelle recognized some of the faces of the boys standing around a keg and telling jokes. Others were playing pool. Through sliding doors, to one side of the game room, steam rose from a glassed-in pool where a couple, dressed only in their underwear, was splashing and laughing.

“Have you ever in your life seen a house like this?” Carlie asked in an awed whisper.

“Never.” Under other circumstances, Rachelle would have thought the rustic old house beautiful. Compared to the small cottage she lived in with her mother and sister, this “summer home” was palatial. Of course, the Fitzpatricks were the wealthiest family in town. They wouldn’t have settled for anything less than the largest house on Whitefire Lake. But tonight the place gave her the creeps.

She kept telling herself to relax and lighten up, that she’d made the decision to come here, and she had to make the best of it. She sat on the piano bench, her fingers curling over the chipped edge, and tried to smile. But her lips felt frozen, even when she saw kids she recognized: older boys—Evan and Jason Kendrick—rich kids who knew the Fitzpatricks, and were playing pool while Patty Osgood and Nadine Powell were hovering nearby, ready to laugh at the boys’ jokes and smile easily. Patty was drinking from a paper cup. She appeared a little unsteady on her feet and Nadine, the redhead, was leaning over the table, her face flushed as she flirted with Jason Kendrick. Both girls were wearing tight jeans and too much makeup. Patty, the reverend’s daughter, was rumored to be fast and easy, though Nadine usually kept out of trouble. But tonight, both girls were definitely interested in the rich boys.

Gold Creek seemed to be a town divided—the haves and the have-nots, all of whom had collected at Roy’s party. Rachelle wanted to go home more than anything right now. She had no business being here—

no interest in any of the people who’d come here to pay homage to the Fitzpatrick wealth.

“Surprised to see you here,” Nadine commented, raising a brow at Rachelle.

“Yeah, don’t you have a midterm to study for or somethin’?” Patty asked, then giggled and turned her attention back to her cup.

Rachelle felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Ignore her, she thought. Patty was drunk. As Rachelle watched, Patty draped one arm over Jason Kendrick’s back while he tried a particularly difficult shot. The cue ball skipped and clicked against the eight ball, sending it whirling into a corner pocket.

“Too bad,” Jason’s older brother, Evan, said, but chuckled at his brother’s misfortune.

Rachelle saw Carlie inching her way through the throng of kids, talking and laughing with several before plopping down on the bench beside Rachelle. “Where’s Laura?” She was holding a cup, sipping beer and trying to look as if she’d done it all her life.

“Probably with Roy,” Rachelle guessed.

“But where?”

“I wish I knew.” Rachelle pretended not to be worried as she glanced around the room again, but she felt trapped. And Erik’s cryptic words about Roy wanting the girls there made her uncomfortable.

Erik retreated to a corner with a group of boys. They were laughing and telling jokes, but Erik’s dark eyes never glimmered with the faintest trace of humor. Scott hung out at the keg, but his eyes kept returning to Carlie. “He likes you,” Rachelle said, and Carlie bit her lip.

“I know.” She took a sip from her cup.

“Aren’t you flattered?”

Before Carlie could reply, some of the football players showed up. Brian Fitzpatrick, of course, Joe Knapp and a few others swaggered in. They bellied up to the keg, started drinking and became louder and louder, replaying the game over, down by down, drowning out the music and other conversation.

Wouldn’t Coach Foster be proud? Rachelle thought with a trace of sarcasm. She had no right to judge the football players, though, did she? She’d shown up here, too. Of her own free will. No one had pointed a gun at her head and forced her into Erik’s truck.

Brian smiled when he noticed Rachelle and Carlie. “Joinin’ the big boys, eh?” he asked, holding up his mug of beer. Some of the foam sloshed over his meaty fingers.

Rachelle managed a smile. “I think we’re about ready to leave,” Rachelle replied. “As soon as we find Laura. We just need a ride.”

“Laura Chandler?” Brian said, grinning widely. “She’s probably with Roy.” He sniggered to his friends and then glanced to the loft. “She and Roy have been seein’ a lot of each other lately, and I mean a lot.”

This caused a roar from the crowd and Rachelle couldn’t stand it another minute. “Let’s find her,” she said to Carlie. She started toward the pool but stopped when she spied Laura slipping through the door. Her clothes were wrinkled, her hair a mess and mascara streaked her cheeks.

Rachelle and Carlie surrounded her. “Where have you been?” Carlie asked. “What happened?”

Laura ignored Carlie’s questions. “So you made it,” she said bitterly to Rachelle. “I was stupid enough to think you wouldn’t show your face here.”

“This was your idea,” Rachelle reminded her.

“No it wasn’t. It was Roy’s.” Laura’s voice was filled with a cold fury. “That’s why I started hanging out with you. Because he was interested in you! I thought I could change his mind, but I was wrong.” She sniffed loudly and her eyes glittered. “He wants you, Rachelle. He just used me to get close to you.”

“But I’ve hardly ever talked to him—”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s seen you. At the games. At school. At your job with the Clarion.”

“It’s only freelance—”

Laura laughed harshly. “Doesn’t matter. Roy remembers you. You did a couple of articles about him when he was a senior. And, can you believe it, he’s even impressed that you write for the school paper—that you’re ambitious!” Tears had collected in the corners of her eyes and she wiped at them. “God, I need a cigarette.”

Carlie dug into her purse, found an old pack of Salem cigarettes and shook one out for Laura. Grateful, her hands shaking, Laura lit up and blew smoke to the ceiling. “God, I’m such a fool,” she whispered, her voice cracking as tears streamed again.