Straight From The Hip

things. To give the old bastard his due, he paid her off. She never told me who my father was and I eventually stopped asking. I found out by accident. Then, when I was thirteen, she started getting headaches.”

Nick had only met Garth’s mother once. Kathy Duncan was a pretty woman with an easy laugh and a slow way of talking. It was obvious there was something different about her. Something not quite right. He’d never asked what had happened.

“She went from doctor to doctor,” Garth continued. “They did tests and found a tumor. There was surgery, rehabilitation, more surgery. Did you know that most insurance policies have a lifetime limit? She didn’t, but we both learned about it fast enough. When the insurance ran out, there was the money Jed had given her, then that was gone, too. By then I was fourteen and the tumor was back.”

Garth stood and walked to the window. He stood with his back to Nick. “We found a doctor who understood her condition. He was willing to operate. A last-chance effort to save her life. But there wasn’t any money left. I went to Jed Titan.”

Nick had never met Izzy’s father, but he’d read about him enough to guess what had happened.

“He refused.”

Garth faced him, his expression hard. “He had me thrown out. Eventually the doctor agreed to perform the surgery for nothing and I found a charity to help cover the hospital costs, but it was too late. You’ve met her-you’ve seen it. She has irreparable brain damage. She lived but she will never be the same.”

There was no anger in his friend’s voice, barely any emotion. But Nick knew him well and could see past the game face. “You want revenge.”

“I want Jed Titan to lose everything. Piece by piece.”

Then Jed was in trouble, Nick thought, suspecting that if he’d ever known his mother or been in a position to care about her, he would do the same thing.

“What does that have to do with his daughters? They’re not a part of this.” He meant Izzy, but he wouldn’t say that.

“I’m using them to get Jed’s attention.” He held out his hands, palms up. “I haven’t hurt them.” He shrugged. “Okay, I’ve messed with them a little, but no permanent damage was done. It’s all part of the game.”

“Why send Izzy to me?”

“So you can keep an eye on her. Something happened on that rig and I want to find out what.”

Nick was on his feet. “You think the explosion was deliberate?”

“I don’t know. I have people checking it out. But there are more players in this game than just me. Besides, she’s my sister and she needs help. You’re the best.”

Nick understood he wasn’t getting the whole story. He had the sense that Garth was using him, but wasn’t sure for what. Had it been anyone else, he would have insisted on the truth. If that wasn’t enough, he would have taken things to the next level.

But this was Garth. The one man on the planet he trusted with his life and his secrets. Garth had never blamed him, never thrown his mistake back in his face. Until this second, he would have risked his life on the fact that Garth was the best man he knew.

“How’s she doing?” Garth asked.

“Better. She’s stronger than I thought. Determined.”

“Will she have the surgery?”

“I don’t know. Something’s holding her back. Until I know what it is, I can’t help her.” Now it was his turn to shrug. “There’s time.”

“And you’re a patient man. Are you going to tell her about knowing me?”

Nick hesitated.

“If she knows you know me, she’ll leave,” Garth said.

“I figured that out myself.”

“Your call.”

There were missing pieces to the puzzle. Until he had them, he would take the road that led to Izzy’s healing. “I won’t tell her for now,” he said.

Later, on the drive back to the ranch, Nick wondered if he was making the right decision. Or would it come back to bite him in the ass? But this was Garth. They’d spent months together in a jungle prison being tortured. Months of sitting in the stifling heat, of being eaten alive by bugs, of being blindfolded and living in the dark. Of not knowing when their captors were going to strike next. There had never been any warning, just the burning slice of a knife on an arm or a leg. The sharp blade separating flesh, followed by the screams. His screams…or Garth’s.

Nick had been willing to give up. To surrender to death-to stop trying. Garth had kept him alive and in the end, he’d hung on long enough to carry Garth from their jungle prison.

They’d been friends before that, but their months of hell had made them brothers.

Garth had never lied to him, but Nick couldn’t shake the sense that there was more to the story than Garth let on. But for now, he would do as his friend asked. Because he owed him. Because they both carried the scars. Because neither of them ever slept in the dark.

IZZY STARED at the blurry shape that was Aaron and did her best to keep her mouth from hanging open. “Are you serious? They attacked you?”

Nick had disappeared in the afternoon and hadn’t returned for dinner. Norma had decided two people weren’t worth cooking for and had gone home, leaving them to find food in the packed refrigerator.

Aaron moved around the kitchen, dumping things into bowls and sticking them in the microwave.

“I’m from New York, I’m obviously gay, I was in a cowboy bar in a tough part of Dallas. It happens.”

Not in her world. People didn’t just get beat up for being different. “I hope you pressed charges.”

Aaron patted her shoulder as he walked past her. “You’re surprisingly naive, but sweet, which is why I like you. I wasn’t worried about anything but getting out of there alive. If Nick hadn’t come to my rescue, I’d be dead now.” He sighed. “He was magnificent. He seriously kicked some straight-boy ass. In the movies he would have realized he’d been playing for the wrong team all along and fallen passionately in love with me.”

Izzy hid a smile. “Maybe next time.”

“Don’t tease me. Anyway, he brought me here to heal. Norma fed me until I begged for mercy. And that’s the story of how Nick and I met.”

“What was he doing in a cowboy bar?”

“An interesting question. You’ll have to ask him.”

“What were you doing there?”

From the change in his voice, she knew he was grinning. “I saw the hats. I thought it was a gay cowboy bar. My bad.” He got plates down from the cupboard. “Make yourself useful and put these out, please.”

She grabbed the plates.

“I was tired of New York,” he continued. “The same guys, the same work.”

“What did you do there?”

“I was a party planner. It was fun and I made a lot of money, but it just wasn’t me. One day instead of looking through the singles ads in the paper, I found myself looking at used cars. I bought one and then I ended up here. I like Texas. Now if I could just find a cute boy.”

“Me, too.”

“You have Nick.”

If only.

Izzy stood by the table, turning the thought over in her head. If only? As in she wanted Nick? As in sex? Did blind girls have sex? Stupid question. Of course they did, but did she? If she couldn’t see his face, how could she know what he was thinking? Or know that he really wanted her?

“Izzy, I’m talking,” Aaron told her. “At least pretend to pay attention.”

“Oh. Sorry. I was just…”

“Thinking about Nick.”

“Maybe.”

“Uh-huh.”

She smiled. “Back to you.”