Midnight Heat Read online

  Throwing the truck into gear, he steered the truck and trailer in a wide turn. There were only a few other vehicles in the lot so he had no problem navigating to the parking lot exit and onto the main road.

  Next stop, Bonnie’s house. He glanced at his cell phone’s GPS app and confirmed he was headed in the right direction. Just a few more miles and the first leg of the trip would be done.

  One day down, one more to go. He stifled a groan as he thought about the return trip. Driving this distance alone hadn’t been as relaxing as he’d thought it would be. In fact, it was downright torture.

  He’d thought he wanted to be alone, but his solo getaway hadn’t turned out as Zen as he’d thought it would. He probably should have brought Rohn’s old dog along for company. Though Cooter had enough trouble getting up the two steps into the house. Forget about hopping into a high truck cab.

  Nope. Best to go it alone. He’d just have to make sure to stock up on extra energy drinks for the drive home to stay awake on the road.

  A few more times checking the map on the GPS and Justin turned onto West Meadowbrook Avenue. He tossed the cell into the console and started looking for the numbers on the mailboxes to find the address Rohn had written down for him.

  The headlights hitting a bright yellow Volkswagen in the driveway caught his attention first. Followed shortly by the girl from the bar, walking away from the front door toward the car in the driveway.

  What the hell?

  He checked the reflective numbers posted on the mailbox and compared that to what Rohn had scrawled on a piece of paper. Yup, this was the place all right.

  The only question was, how did the sweet young thing with car trouble fit into this puzzle?

  Maybe she was Bonnie’s real estate agent. He figured that was as good a guess as any.

  The best thing to do was just ask her. He pulled up along the curb so as not to block her in the driveway. After she left he could back the trailer into the drive so he would be closer to the house. That way he’d have a shorter distance to carry whatever boxes or furniture awaited him inside.

  She glanced up and stumbled to a stop when she saw the truck and trailer. He saw her eyes widen even from the distance. She continued to look surprised as he cut the engine, swung the door open, and stepped down from the truck.

  After walking around the truck, Justin squinted at the Volkswagen. By the light of the streetlamp he saw it had California plates. Whoever she was, she was definitely not a local, and that ruled out his real estate agent theory.

  He ambled up the driveway. When he got closer to the woman, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Amused by her questioning of him, Justin lifted a brow. “Well, howdy to you, too. And as for what I’m doing here, I was wondering the same thing about you.”

  His comment seemed to stump her. “Uh, I was . . . um . . . looking for the homeowner.” She tripped over her own words, which only made Justin more interested in who she was and why she was here and acting so nervous.

  Moving to her car, he leaned against the door, effectively blocking her escape should she try to make one before offering him an acceptable, believable explanation. For some reason—whether it was her body language or his gut instinct—he didn’t believe her so far.

  “The homeowner, huh? And who is that?”

  “Bonnie Martin.” Her correct answer, delivered in a firm tone, threw him.

  “And who might you be?” Justin asked.

  She hesitated just a second before saying, “Phoenix Montagno.”

  He would have thought she was lying, but who the hell could make up a name like that?

  Had she come back with Jane Smith, there’s no way he would have believed her.

  “Who are you?” She crossed her arms to mirror his stance and turned the question back to him.

  “Justin Skaggs.” He gave her a minimal answer, still not certain why she was there or trusting her completely, even if she had supplied Bonnie’s name.

  “What business do you have here?” Her gaze cut to the truck and trailer as she followed up with a second question.

  Justin wasn’t quite ready to answer that just yet. “I believe I asked you the same thing.”

  “I told you. I’m here to see the homeowner.”

  “Bonnie Martin.” He tipped his head in a nod. “Yup, that you did, but you didn’t say why.”

  “That’s a private matter.”

  “So is my reason for being here.” He wasn’t about to tell this stranger that the house was unoccupied. Not until he had more information on the girl.

  Sad but true, even cute-as-a-button girl-next-door types could be up to no good. He figured it said a lot about his maturity that he could ignore the perky breasts beneath the tight T-shirt and remember that. He was pretty proud of himself.

  “You’re not going to tell me?” A deep frown creased her brow.

  “Nope.” He grinned.

  Justin was enjoying this back and forth with the mysterious and lovely Phoenix. He just hoped she wasn’t some sort of door-to-door salesperson or someone else he would find equally annoying.

  She blew out a breath and looked totally baffled at his unwillingness to give her information. “Then I guess we’re at a standoff.”

  “I guess we are.” He glanced down at her car, which he was still leaning on. At first glance, the vehicle seemed just fine to him. “I see the car got better.”

  He used her own words from the bar to tease her.

  “I drove it here.” She didn’t offer any further explanation.

  “So I see.” Suspicious bastard that he was, Justin started to wonder if it ever had been broken down to begin with, or if she’d lied for some unknown reason.

  There’d been a time, not too many years ago, when Justin would have taken this woman at face value and not cared about more than how to get her alone and naked.

  Again, he supposed this was another sign of his maturity.

  Sometimes acting like a responsible adult sucked.

  Rohn had put him in charge of getting Bonnie’s stuff, and along with that he figured came the responsibility for the house. He’d do what was necessary to protect it.

  “Well, the homeowner isn’t here, but I’ll be sure to tell her you stopped by.” He had the house key Rohn had given him in his pocket. He pushed off the girl’s car and fished out the key. He tipped his hat to the blonde as he passed. “Have a good day.”

  He moved to the front stoop, opened the storm door, and slid the key into the lock.

  “Wait.”

  The girl’s voice had him turning. “Yes?”

  “You have the key?” she asked, though it was obvious he did.

  “Yup.” He pushed the front door open and then slid the key out of the lock as evidence. He let the storm door slam closed and remained outside on the front step.

  “And you know Bonnie Martin?” That adorable little furrow creasing her forehead as he confused her was too damn cute. It made him want to tease her more.

  “That’s how I have the key.” He held it up, letting it dangle between two fingers for her to see.

  He still had no intention of giving her too much information. Not until she gave him some in return. Fair was fair, and he had a few trust issues with this girl, thanks to her evasiveness when it came to answering his questions.

  She took a step toward the house, while he stayed on the stoop, waiting to see what she had to say next.

  Finally, she said, “How do you know her?”

  He decided to give her a tidbit of information in hopes of getting more back. “Mutual friends.”

  “You’re driving a truck with Oklahoma plates.” She glanced at the truck again and then back to him.

  “Yup.” He nodded. The woman could see that clearly herself, both from the plates and from the location beneath the name Double L Ranch painted on the trailer. “You wanna tell me why you’re so interested?”

  “I’m just, you know, interested in speaking with Ms. Marti
n.”

  “I’m getting that. My question is, why? Who are you? And what has you driving all the way from California just to see her?”

  “I told you, that’s—”

  Justin nodded. “None of my business. Yes, so you’ve said before. I’m afraid I can’t answer your questions if you can’t answer mine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long day and I still got stuff to do.”

  He waited a beat. When she didn’t offer a valid explanation for her presence or a reason for not answering what should be simple questions, he gave up. Drawing in a breath, he took one last look at the cute but evasive girl by the car and then turned back to the house.

  Inside, he saw the house was packed and ready, just as Rohn had promised. Boxes were stacked in various piles around the living room furniture.

  He should have been taking inventory of the house. Seeing whether everything would fit in the trailer, how neat he’d have to be while packing it all in. Determining if he could lift the sofa by himself or if he’d have to get the neighbors’ help.

  That was what Justin should be concentrating on.

  Instead, he leaned against the wall to one side of the front window and peered at the driveway through the crack in the blinds.

  Phoenix remained in the driveway. Looking torn as she stared at the house.

  Justin pulled out his cell. He scrolled through his contact list until he found Rohn, then hit Call.

  “Hey,” Rohn answered after a few rings. “You there yet?”

  “Yeah. I just got to the house. Let me ask you something. Is there any reason that a young lady driving a car with California plates would be stopping by here and asking for Bonnie?”

  “Um, I don’t know. I could ask her. Hang on.”

  Justin heard the jostling of Rohn’s phone. Some mumbling through the line and then Rohn was back. “Bonnie says she doesn’t know anyone from California. About how old would you say this woman is?”

  “Midtwenties, I guess.” Though nowadays, between makeup and Botox and all that other cosmetic stuff a person could get, it was getting harder and harder to tell how old or young anyone was.

  “That age would be about right for her to be a former student of Bonnie’s. Is it possible maybe she’s back in town and looking to visit?”

  “Maybe.” It was possible, but Justin wasn’t sold on that explanation.

  Rohn’s suggestion made sense, except for one thing—why wouldn’t she have just told him if that was the reason she was here? He’d never liked school much himself, but he would understand a good student—one who actually enjoyed classes—wanting to catch up with a favorite teacher. Especially if she’d moved out of state and was back visiting for a short while.

  “Sorry I couldn’t help you more.” Rohn’s voice put an end to Justin’s guessing.

  “No, it’s fine. I figured I’d call and ask. Just a shot in the dark.” Justin was the one who was sorry he couldn’t get to the bottom of this mystery for Rohn and Bonnie’s sake.

  He’d tried and failed to get some answers. The one thing Justin hated most was not being able to finish what he set out to do.

  “Did you have a chance to look around? You think you’ll be able to handle everything okay there?”

  Justin pulled himself away from the mystery out in the driveway and turned back toward the living room. “I haven’t had a chance to look around much yet.”

  He eyed the sofa. If it wasn’t an open-up sleeper kind—which were always hella heavy—he’d probably be able to wrestle it into the trailer alone. He’d brought Rohn’s hand truck with him. If he tipped it up on end he could maybe strap the sofa and the other heavy pieces on to that and manage to get them all loaded one at a time.

  “Remember, if you need help, go next door. Bonnie’s mother already called the neighbors. The husband works during the day, but if you catch him after work, he said he’d be happy to help.”

  Which meant Justin had to get moving. He didn’t intend to spend more than one night here. “A’ight. Got it. I’ll let you know when I’m taking off tomorrow.”

  “You do that. Thanks again for doing this.”

  Justin let out a snort of a laugh. “Thanks for paying me to.”

  Rohn laughed as well. “Money well spent. My hip hurts if I have to sit in the truck as far as Elk City. No way I wanted to take that drive.”

  “You would have done it for Bonnie, though.”

  “Yeah, I would have. Now stop being a smart-ass and let me get back to her. She’s making supper and I promised I’d help.”

  Justin cocked a brow, remembering a few of Rohn’s failed attempts in the kitchen. “She knows you can’t cook, right?”

  “Yup. She sure does and she loves me anyway. Go figure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Have a good night. Call if you need me.”

  “Okay. ’Night.” Justin disconnected the call and shoved the cell in his pocket.

  He should go check out the bedrooms. See if there were huge mattresses and dressers he would have to move so he could go grab the neighbor before it got too late. Instead, he moved back to the window. He peered between the blinds at the driveway.

  He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit his surprise at seeing the woman and the car gone. A small part of him was a bit let down by the discovery. It was probably just the intrigue of the situation that interested him. It had broken up the monotony of his very long day on the road. And Justin really hated not having answers to his questions.

  He let the blinds fall back into place.

  His disappointment couldn’t stem from anything else. Of course not. A girl like that, so full of secrets, one who couldn’t even give him a straight answer to a simple question, would only spell trouble. On top of that, she obviously lived in California. You couldn’t get much farther from Oklahoma. So it definitely wasn’t that he wouldn’t mind coming across her again.

  Teasing her was amusing. That was all. If he’d push himself to go out more, the way Colton was always suggesting, he’d meet plenty of girls. He just hadn’t felt like going out lately. Maybe it was time he made the effort.

  After one more glance outside, Justin heaved a sigh and turned to explore the rest of the house. He had a moving job to do.

  Chapter Twelve

  Phoenix stared at her tablet, waiting for the new browser to open.

  She logged in to the hotel’s Wi-Fi. Thank goodness even cheap hotels had free Internet nowadays.

  Hopefully another search would provide more info because so far the day couldn’t get much worse.

  Her car overheating. No one being home at the address she had. Then there was Mr. Cowboy Hottie being all evasive and basically blocking her way, keeping her from getting to see Bonnie Martin, wherever she was.

  Things hadn’t gotten much better after she’d left either. The mechanics at the service station had all left for the day by the time she’d finished bantering with the cowboy who thought he was so witty.

  Any repairs would have to wait until morning, but she knew she definitely had to get the problem taken care of before she tried to drive home. The temperature gauge on her car had been well into the red by the time she pulled into the hotel parking lot. She could only hope it would be a simple fix a mechanic could handle in the morning.

  There was a lot she had to do tomorrow. Get the car fixed. Try one more time to see Bonnie Martin. Not necessarily in that order.

  In the meantime, she was stuck in a slightly shabby but affordable hotel room for the night. She had her tablet and she had Wi-Fi, and she was very well versed in Web searches. She used the Internet often in the course of her job. Tonight she intended to use it to discover anything and everything she could about Bonnie Martin of Phoenix, Arizona.

  She started with social media. Phoenix calculated that if Bonnie Martin was her mother, she could be anything from forty to sixty years old. That was a wide range, but nowadays everybody left some sort of trace on the World Wide Web, no matter what their age.

  Heck, even her mo
ther had an Instagram account now.

  This Bonnie Martin should have some sort of profile somewhere. Even if she was married and had a different name, most people posted their maiden names so classmates from high school could find them when it came time for reunions and stuff.

  Phoenix pawed through the biggest, most popular social media site first. There was a Bonnie Martin in Iowa and one in Alabama, but none in Arizona. She moved on to the next site. Then the next, searching members’ names and locations, all while knowing the search might be futile if Bonnie had chosen not to list her maiden name online.

  But no, she must still use the name Bonnie Martin because that’s what Phoenix had found when she’d done her original search and located the address in Arizona.

  The hottie cowboy flashed into her mind, as he had more than once since she’d left the house. He’d said he knew Bonnie and he was driving a truck with Oklahoma plates.

  She’d searched Bonnie Martin in Phoenix, Arizona, but she hadn’t searched Bonnie Martin in Oklahoma. Armed with that idea, Phoenix set her fingers on the keys and typed in the search.

  The search results filled half a Web page. Heart pounding, Phoenix clicked on an obituary from a small town Oklahoma newspaper. Local resident Tom Martin had died earlier that summer, leaving as a survivor his only child, a daughter, Bonnie.

  Things were starting to make sense now. The pieces were falling into place. Why there wasn’t all that much to find about Bonnie Martin in Arizona. Why there was a cowboy from Oklahoma who said he knew her.

  There was plenty to find on Bonnie in Oklahoma. Phoenix searched further and found Bonnie Martin in the list of graduates at Stonewall High School.

  That was the year before Phoenix was born. Her birth mother hadn’t been long out of high school. Pregnant. Unmarried. But why had she left her family and come all the way to Arizona to have her baby? And by all indications, she’d stayed out here.

  Was it for a job? Or for college maybe?

  Phoenix switched gears. Now that she had a specific date range to research, she started searching the students of Arizona universities about the time Bonnie would have graduated. It didn’t take too long before she found her listed in the member profiles of the Arizona State University Alumni Association.