Chapter 3

As she filled their plates with ham, hash browns and eggs, she studied them. Sloan had referred to Spencer as his little brother so he must be younger but to look at them you could see no age difference. Physically they were about the same height, Sloan looked fit and tanned but not weathered, his hair was shorter, and it looked like it had an expensive cut. He had a kind face and the same smoky black eyes that Spencer had. Spencer on the other hand looked seasoned; he was an outdoorsman and the difference showed in his muscles. Sloan was fit and well-built, but the muscle tone was different, when Spencer moved you could watch the muscles move with him, something Annie did every time he moved.

“So, Annie who is this guy that is after you?”

Annie looked at Spencer and Spencer looked at Sloan. “Smooth brother, really smooth.”

“What? We need to know what we are up against don’t we?”

Spencer got up and took his empty plate to the sink, Sloan watched Annie.

“My ex-husband.” Annie offered.

“Can you tell me why?” Sloan asked.

“Why what?” Annie asked trying to avoid the answer.

“Why do you need protected from him?”

Annie didn’t answer; she looked like she was thinking about it.

“I can answer part of that.” Spencer offered, “I took the job from Tommy.”

“Tommy Clay? Why the hell didn’t you tell me that over the phone?”

“Well for starters I wasn’t sure who was listening and more importantly if someone was, if that would cause more trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“When I got here it was just past noon and I was greeted by this beauty and she pulled a gun on me. We had a little discussion on the front porch and agreed to meet back here a couple hours later. When we came in the house just a few hours later, the house was trashed, professionally, but Annie said it had been that way when she got here. We picked up all the furniture and went room by room assessing the damage until we got to her room.”

“Oh, Spencer you didn’t!”

“No, he didn’t.” Annie responded.

“But her room wasn’t trashed, everything was just the way she left it, what a year ago?” Annie nodded. “Except there was an envelope on her bed and inside were some threats and a picture of her standing on this front porch, holding a gun and the front of my truck was also in the picture.”

“Ok so they are bold but not too smart. Think they have any idea who you are yet?”

“I doubt it. Three thugs showed up late last night, but Annie chased them off.” He smiled at her and she beamed.

“Tell him about Papa. The sweetest man on the planet, well one of the sweetest men on the planet,” she said smiling at Spencer, “and they broke his leg, and have been breaking things up around here for quite a while.”

“But why?” Sloan asked again.

“Because my ex-husband, Ron, is a bad man. He has lots of money and power and people do things for him.”

“What people, what things?”

Annie was getting frustrated, Spencer didn’t like the way Sloan was handling this, but he was getting her to talk a little. She got up and started pacing. “Detective Clay said he has a lot of things he could charge Ron with, but with Ron’s power and money, none of it is big enough to matter and certainly not enough to get him off the streets and away from me. He will get me now if you don’t help, he knows where I am, and that picture was just the kind of warning he would get a kick out of sending. And what Detective Clay doesn’t know about Ron is that he is just twisted and sick enough that he won’t send someone to carry out his threat to me, he will do it himself, and then Detective Clay will have the premeditated murder charges he wants. Otherwise it’s Ron’s word against mine and since I didn’t see it, they can’t do anything and I didn’t have any friends out there, they were all his. No one could or would help me then and if you don’t now...” Annie had wrapped her arms around herself and again all the color was gone from her face. Spencer wanted to go to her, to hold her but that really wasn’t what she needed, she needed help and it looked like she was hoping to get it from Sloan. He couldn’t figure out why his feelings felt hurt, but in just a matter of a few minutes, Sloan had gotten her to confide some of her deepest fears and whenever he asked her about them, she just closed up. Well he couldn’t deny that his older brother was good looking and he did have a way with the ladies, but not this one! He couldn’t help remembering the passion they had shared in the dark of the night, it was more than fear, lust and even gratitude. There was something bonding. Not that he was looking for something like that, he liked being single, all the freedom he wanted, no limits or restrictions, just him all alone. Well that all alone part was not always good but to be committed to someone was a strong action to take just so he was not alone. He had never found anyone who made him think about being alone before. This was silly, he just felt the need to protect her, to comfort and reassure her, to kiss her. The strong need was burning again in his jeans. He shifted in the chair and realized that being around Annie was always going to light that need something about her just kept turning on his instant arousal. She had stopped talking and was staring at him now.

“Spencer, what’s the matter?” she asked.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about what you were saying” he answered and then silently continued the thought, ‘and why you can tell my brother all this and couldn’t tell me.’ Sloan looked at Spencer with a knowing look and continued his questioning. “What threat? What exactly did he say?”

Annie remembered Ron’s words because she had heard them over and over and over again in her head every day since he said them. She had been running to her car to get away, he was coming out the front door after her, but when he got to her car the doors were locked and she was starting the engine. He pounded on the windows and was screaming at her, terrible things, and then he made the threat, “You can’t get away Annie, you can’t go far enough or hide well enough, I will find you and I will kill you!” She said the words out loud, there it was out.

Spencer and Sloan looked at each other with concern, Sloan finally asked, “Annie, he was your husband, why would he want to kill you?”

Annie was silent for a long time. She was reliving all the things that had happened.

“I told the police everything when I got out of the hospital and I don’t think any of them believed me, except Detective Clay. He is a nice man, he helped me hide and took care of things for me, but he didn’t have to, it wasn’t part of his job or anything, he just took care of me. And you know what; he didn’t expect anything in return.” She seemed surprised by that. Annie sat on the sofa and rubbed her eyes. “I need to shower,” she said like they were discussing something of little or no importance.

Spencer moved over beside her on the couch, “Annie, go on with the story, what happened?” he asked putting his arm around her for comfort.

“All kinds of things happened, Ron changed the day we got married, there were strange phone calls at all hours of the night, nasty people kept coming around and Ron did some things that scared me. On the day I left him, he was screaming and shaking me because I had asked if I could call Papa.” Annie put a hand to her mouth to hold back a sob, but it came out anyway. Spencer tightened his hold on her and she went on. “I was begging him to stop and screaming that he was hurting me, but he didn’t care and no one in the house ever did anything to help me. Just then the doorbell rang, and he shoved me toward the stairs and said, “Get upstairs.” So, I did. But I could see that three men were coming in and I hid by the rail to see what was going on. Ron had been in a bad mood all morning and I knew this was part of the problem. Then he started yelling at this guy and smacking him around. He said the guy had made a mistake because he crossed him. Ron told the two other guys to take him to the woods and he would be right there. It had been storming that day and it was pretty dark in the house so I didn’t think Ron could see me hiding there but then there was a big bang of thunder and a lightning strike close by and I jumped, I think he may have seen me then. He was standing at his desk and I saw him take a gun from the drawer. He went out back then, so I ran to my room and started to throw some things in a suitcase. When I heard a gunshot, I just slammed the suitcase closed and ran down stairs. I stopped at the desk to get my car keys but mine weren’t there, so I grabbed Ron’s and noticed a package of pictures that I just had developed so I dropped the pack in my purse and ran. I was just going out the front door heading for my car when Ron came in the back and could see I was making a run for it. He ran after me, but I got to my car first and locked the doors. He was screaming after me and I tried to start the car, but I was shaking so bad. He got to the car and started beating on the windows and threatening me and that’s when he said that he would kill me. Don’t you see he knows that I know he killed that guy in the woods? No one believed me; they just thought I made that up to get away from him. He has money and influence, and nobody believes that the great Ronald Randolph Jr. could be involved in underworld crime. But he is.”

Sloan sat silent.

Spencer bent down on the floor in front of her. He took both her hands in his and made her look at him. “Honey, did he hit you?”

She tried to shut out his question, but he wasn’t giving up this time. She finally nodded.

“Why did you marry him?”

“He wasn’t like that before the wedding, but on our wedding day at the reception, I followed him in to the library and asked if maybe we could go somewhere for a few days like a honeymoon. He told me no, he had business to take care of and I should go back out to the party. The reception was at his brother Don’s house, and there were so many people there, some of them powerful and famous, I just thought he was nervous and excited so, as it got later, I asked Don where Ron was again, and he said he had just seen him going into the kitchen. I went in to ask if we could go home, I was so tired and didn’t know anyone except Angelina at the party. But when I did, he said I was just trying to spoil his fun and he slapped me. I fell back and hit my head on a cabinet, when I touched it my hand was all bloody. Someone in the kitchen went out to the party and brought back Dr. Thompson, he could see I had been hit but didn’t say anything. Finally, he did say that I might have a concussion. Ron was mad that we had to leave but he took me home and put me in a bedroom upstairs. He didn’t even say goodnight when he pulled the door closed and headed downstairs. My wedding dress was ruined; there was a lot of blood. I hung it in that closet and for all I know, it may still be hanging there. That should have told me to get out, to run as fast as I could, but I didn’t, and even if I had wanted to, Ron had someone watching me all the time. It was weird.”

“He won’t touch you again, I promise.” Spencer said gently touching her cheek. “You’ve had a rough morning, why don’t you go shower and change clothes, it will make you feel better.” She nodded and got up. “Oh, I need to do the breakfast dishes,” she said like a child who would be in trouble if she didn’t.

Spencer put his arm across her shoulders and walked her toward the stairs. “No, no, you go freshen up and I’ll do the dishes. It’s ok Annie.”

She looked at him, but he couldn’t read anything in her eyes, it was like there was nothing in there. He knew that wasn’t true because he remembered the sparkling light that had driven him insane only a few hours ago. She took a step and then another and finally he heard the bathroom door close.

“That bastard! He has really put her through the wringer. No wonder Tommy is so protective of her.”

“Get a grip Spence, there’s a whole lot more in there that she has to deal with yet. Men like that don’t hit once and then get over it. She has the whole abuse thing to deal with. He has her convinced that if he finds her, he will kill her and that’s a heavy load to carry around, especially when you’re on the run.”

They could hear the shower start and Spencer couldn’t control his thoughts. She was naked, in the shower. All that hot steamy water running down over her.

“Spencer.”

“Spencer!” Sloan called trying to pull his attention back.

Spencer looked at his brother, “What?”

“You’ve really got it bad, don’t you?”

“She needs someone, someone to be nice and gentle and take care of her, it’s my job.” Spencer finally ended.

“Oh, so then it’s my job too?”

“Back off Sloan. Don’t even try; she’s not like that at all.”

“Don’t give me that speech little brother, remember who taught you to treat women right. That’s right pal, your big brother, who by the way would never make a play for a woman you had any feelings for, comprende? Mind two other pieces of advice, don’t rush her, she will get through all this in time.”

“And the second piece of advice, oh wise and older one” Spencer said with a laugh.

“Don’t let this one get away, I know she has a lot of baggage that she is bringing to this party, but I also saw that kiss in the barn, she is worth waiting for.”

Spencer lightly punched Sloan in the arm, “Let’s get to work, you peeping Tom.”

They went out to the barn and got to work. It wasn’t yet 6:00 but they needed to get back on the cow’s schedule, Walt did his milking at 6:00 am and 4:00 pm, that was the way he had done it for years and they would follow his schedule. Annie came out a short time later and it was completely apparent that Sloan was not a farm worker. He did as he was told and did a good job but needed instructions for each task. Spencer had moved in and taken to the girls like he had been milking them for years. He had noticed that the pickup schedule was posted on the office door inside the barn.

“Looks like Walt’s schedule for pick up is today sometime around noon, we shouldn’t have any trouble making that dead line. Annie, do you have the equipment ready because I just finished cleaning out the milking parlor?”

“All set” she called. They brought in the first batch of cows. Milking didn’t really take too long it was just cleaning the equipment and getting it on the cows each time. The parlor was set up for twenty on each side. Sloan was putting fresh water out and feed for them after the milking was done. The second group had just gone out to the pasture for food and water, so they were almost done. The last batch went faster; maybe they were working better together. Sloan helped Annie clean and put away the milking equipment while Spencer finished cleaning out the milking parlor.

“There, done till 4:00” Sloan said wiping his brow.

“Done with the milking,” Annie added, “there’s a lot more work to do.”

“Like what?” Sloan asked.

“Well for starters, I need to check the refrigerator to make sure the milk is being cooled to 36 degrees. There is some computer work after each milking to log gallons received things like that and I still need to mow the yard. If there is some time later, I would like to hit the nursery and get some flowers and vegetable plants for the garden that I want to put out. We have enough food to get by with, but I need to get groceries in, stop by the hospital to see Papa and the house needs cleaned. It will take me hours alone in Papa’s room and since we are playing musical beds tonight, I have sheets to change too. We have a couple horses that need groomed and fed, someone needs to ride the pasture and check the fence, there is land beyond the pasture, but we can let that go for a day or two. A truck to pick up the milk will be here around noon and someone needs to be here for that. It looks like we might be getting low on Papa’s special feed too, so I’ll check with him today about feed.”

Spencer stood back smiling because he knew the work on a farm never ended. But Sloan was a high-rise office kind and although not afraid to get his hands dirty, definitely not a farmer.