Yours for the Taking Page 23

  The nagging doubt had him searching for his wife. He’d definitely hit rock bottom. He wasn’t sure what he would say to her when he found her, but whatever it was couldn’t make matters any worse than they were. At least he hoped not.

  Ben tiptoed down the hall and slipped into the first room. The bed was empty. So were the other three guest rooms. He tried the family room, the game room, the living room, and the office. When that didn’t pan out, he went over to Kate’s. Maybe Gina had gone over to her place.

  “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out your wife left you.” Kate sat at the kitchen table sipping tea.

  “What are you still doing up?” Ben sat across from her. The look on her face was the same he’d seen the first day he came home drunk. She was pissed.

  “I couldn’t sleep. Trapper and Karma just left.”

  Ben didn’t bother asking why they’d been there. It was obvious. “Where is Gina? I know she’s not at the house.”

  Kate got up and rinsed out her cup. “She’s gone.”

  Between his fuzzy brain and the pounding in his head, he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “Did you say gone? She’s not here? Where could she go? She doesn’t drive and it would take an act of God to get her back on a plane.”

  “She left. That’s all I’m telling you and more than you deserve. What were you thinking when you accused her of stealing that hunk of land? I raised you better than that. You know, you’re always complaining about the way your grandfather treats people and now you’re no better than him. Go home. I’ll talk to you in the morning. I’ve lost enough sleep over you tonight.”

  “She’s really gone?”

  “Yes, get it through that pickled brain of yours. Your wife left you. And the way it looked, she’s not interested in ever seeing your face again. I can’t say I blame her.” Kate wrapped her robe around her and walked out, leaving him in the dark.

  Ben pulled his phone off his belt and dialed Gina. It went to voice mail. “Hi, leave a message and maybe I’ll call you back.”

  “Gina, it’s Ben. Where are you? Call me. Please.”

  Ben didn’t know what to do. He found himself pacing the dark kitchen trying unsuccessfully to come up with a plan. He always had a plan. Whatever he was going to do, standing in Kate’s kitchen wasn’t helping matters. He dialed Karma. Maybe she’d be more forthcoming.

  “Hello?”

  “Karma, it’s Ben.”

  “I know who it is.”

  “Gina’s gone and I don’t know where she went or how she got there.”

  “Ah huh. You screwed up big-time.”

  “Yeah, I know. I need to find her.”

  “Sorry, Benji. You’re not getting any information out of me, so you might as well just go sleep it off.”

  “Karma, look. You don’t understand.”

  “I was there, Ben. I heard the whole thing thanks to your big mouth. You’re lucky you didn’t marry me. If I were Gina, you’d be spending the night in the hospital. Where do you get off accusing her of stealing the ranch? As if she would. I warned you, Ben. I told you this whole thing would come back and bite you in the ass.”

  “Karma, is she over there with you?”

  “No, so don’t you dare show up on my doorstep. You’re the last person I want to see right now.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Oh don’t I? You hurt her, Ben. I said you would, and you didn’t listen. Just leave her alone.”

  When Karma disconnected the call, Ben dialed Trapper.

  “Struck out with Mom, huh?”

  “Yeah, Trap, Gina’s gone, and I don’t even know where to start looking for her. Is she there with you?”

  Trapper laughed. “No. I might take home a lot of girls, but I steer clear of the married ones.”

  “You have to help me. I need to find her.”

  “Sorry, buddy, but you’re outta luck. Mom and Karma didn’t tell me anything other than Gina left this afternoon, and she took the puppy.”

  “She can’t take a dog on a bus, so how in the hell did she leave? She doesn’t drive.”

  “Maybe she flew commercial. I know they put animals in the cargo hold.”

  Ben shook his head and then groaned from the pain. “There’s no way Gina would put Jasmine in a cage where they stow the luggage.” Nope. He’d need to check the airport in the morning to see if any of Gramps’ planes had filed flight plans.

  “I don’t know, man. And for once, I’m happy to be in the dark. I’m not about to get in the middle of a family war. Good luck finding your wife.”

  “Yeah, thanks for all the support.”

  “Ben, it’s not like Mom to side with someone against you. You must have really screwed the pooch this time. I just hope you know how to grovel. It looks like you have a lot of groveling to do in the future if you want to get Gina back. Mom and Karma might calm down eventually. Still, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

  “I’m going to New York in the morning. Trap, I’m worried about her.”

  “Good. But use your head. Mom and Karma wouldn’t have let her do anything as stupid as say, what you did.”

  “Thanks, I feel so much better now.”

  “Anything I can do to help.”

  Ben disconnected the call and went back to his room to pack. Gina could be God knows where, with God knows who, doing God knows what. He called her cell again and left a message.

  What was she doing with Jasmine? He couldn’t believe that Gina took Jasmine and left him.

  Now he was the bad guy. He still wasn’t sure how that happened. He hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true, and it wasn’t as if she defended herself. If she wasn’t guilty of what he accused her of, she would have said something, wouldn’t she?

  Ben grabbed the bottle of water on his bedside table and downed four aspirin. His head felt as if someone took an ax to it and his stomach was sick. He wasn’t sure if it was the tequila talking or fear. He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and tried to get the image of Gina lying dead somewhere out of his mind. Taking a hot shower hadn’t even helped.

  He paced the house until five A.M. when he called the pilot and told him to get the plane ready to fly to New York. He needed to find Gina.

  She should have said something, not that he had exactly been in a listening mood. No, he was too busy leaving to get drunk. He repacked his toiletries and tossed them in his suitcase. She hadn’t even left him a note. Nothing. She just packed her bags and disappeared, but not before turning his entire family against him.

  ***

  Gina sat in her bed at the Motel 8 all night holding Jasmine. She couldn’t sleep so she spent the night watching the news—as if she wasn’t already depressed enough—and tried not to check her voice mail.

  Ben had called seven times since midnight. She’d listened to the messages wishing she had the guts to delete them or at least ignore them. Instead, she listened to them over and over just so she could hear his voice. He went from sounding drunk and pissed, to concerned, and then panicked. She told herself he deserved it. After all, it wasn’t as if he’d even apologized. Not that it would have changed anything.

  Jasmine grumbled when Gina squeezed her too tightly. She told herself she was better off alone. She’d known from the time she was a little girl that she was a relationship pariah. She just wished she hadn’t started to believe those things that Ben had said.

  Gina wiped the tears from her eyes. She’d never cried over a man before and swore to herself she never would again. Her phone beeped announcing a text message. Of course it was from Ben. “I’m coming to N.Y. Call me.”

  “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.” She was at least strong enough to delete the text. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

  At six o’clock the alarm she’d set went off—setting it had been a waste of time. She hadn’t even put on her nightgown, and wondered if she had the energy to shower. She wouldn’t have bothered if she’d been alone, but Buck might notice a
nd she didn’t want to look any more pathetic than she already did.

  Slipping on her shoes, Gina hooked Jasmine’s leash to her collar. “Come on, Jazzie, let’s go for a walk.” She carried the puppy and didn’t set her down until they were outside, a little trick Ben had taught her. Damn him, she couldn’t even walk her dog without thinking about him.

  Gina stopped for coffee before going back to the room to feed the puppy and shower. Buck called to make sure she was awake, and offered to put Jasmine in the truck while they ate breakfast. Gina wasn’t in the mood to eat. Coffee was the only thing she could stomach, but she knew she’d have to order toast since Buck and Kate were monitoring her food intake.

  Kate had called several times before they had even left the state, and was keeping track of their progress. Gina thought they were in Wyoming but it could be Montana; she hadn’t paid much attention. All she knew was there were lots of mountains, a huge sky, and she hadn’t seen a building taller than a two-story house since they left Boise.

  There was a knock on the door. She put Jasmine on her leash and picked up her backpack before opening the door to Buck.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “All set.”

  “You don’t look like you’ve slept. I guess you could sack out in the back. I’ve got a sleeper back there.”

  “I’m fine.” If she kept telling herself that, maybe she’d believe it. Her phone rang. She checked; it was Ben calling again.

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

  “No.” She turned the phone off and tossed it into her handbag.

  Buck held the door for her. “You’ll never resolve anything if you don’t talk to him.”

  Gina walked past him out the door. “That’s the plan.”

  ***

  After choking down her toast, they got back into the truck and headed through Yellowstone Park. It was spectacular. She saw where the buffalo roam, although when Buck told her they were bison, it kind of ruined it for her. They stopped at Old Faithful which just had her thinking about Ben since faithful is the last thing he’d be called. They had lunch at the Inn, not that Gina was hungry. She barely touched her sandwich.

  Buck checked his cell phone. “If you don’t eat at least half of that, I’m going to have to tell Kate. She’s not going to be happy.”

  “I don’t suppose you could lie.”

  “Nope. I learned my lesson about lying to women a long time ago.”

  “Fine.” Gina took another bite and thought for sure she’d throw up. “I guess you’ll just have to disappoint her, I can’t eat any more. I don’t know what it is. I usually eat like a butcher’s dog.”

  “Yeah, you’re in love. It happens to the best of us.”

  “Oh no, I’m not. I don’t do love.”

  “Really? Then why were you crying all night and you haven’t had a decent meal since you left your husband? If you’re not lovesick, I think we’d better get you to the doctor.”

  “Maybe it’s a bug, or it could be traveling. I’m not used to traveling any farther than from Manhattan to Brooklyn.”

  “You keep telling yourself that.” He felt her forehead. “No fever. Yup, you’re just lovesick.”

  Gina got up and pulled her wallet out to pay the bill.

  Buck waved the money away. “No woman pays the tab when they’re with me.”

  “Buck, it’s not necessary. Buying lunch is the least I can do to pay you back for the ride. You’ve been really wonderful.”

  He tossed an arm around her and gave her a hug. “It’s nice having the company, even a mopey passenger with a sweet puppy is better than driving alone. Besides, it’s fun showing you our great country. We’ll make a detour and I’ll take you to Mt. Rushmore and through the Badlands. Mt. Rushmore is only about eight hours away. We’ll do some sightseeing in the morning.”

  “That would be great.” Thanks to Ben, she knew all the presidents whose faces were carved in the mountain. She just wished she could get Ben out of her head.

  ***

  Ben ran up to Gina’s door and rang the bell. Okay, he sat on the bell. A very tired looking Sam answered two minutes later. He did not look happy.

  Ben stuck his foot in the door. “I need to talk to Gina.”

  The look on Sam’s face turned from anger to fury. “I thought she was with you. Where the hell is she?”

  “She’s really not here?”

  “If she was, would I be considering getting my gun?”

  Ben walked in, put Gina’s hiking boots up against the wall with the other shoes, and threw himself into a chair. “Maybe. Hell, I don’t know.” He held his head in his hands. He just went from worried sick to whatever was worse. He didn’t even know what to call what he was feeling.

  Sam closed the door and stood in front of him with his arms crossed looking scary. Ben was too tired to be scared for anyone but Gina.

  “Now would be a good time to explain.”

  Ben wiped his face with his hands. “She left yesterday afternoon. I don’t know where she went. I thought she’d be here, so I took the first flight out this morning.”

  “Why did she leave?”

  “That’s personal.”

  “So is your well-being.”

  “She hasn’t called Tina?”

  “If she had, do you honestly think I’d tell you?”

  “If she had, you wouldn’t have been surprised that she left, and you probably wouldn’t be threatening my life, though, maybe you would. Hell, my family even turned on me. Why shouldn’t you?”

  “If you’re expecting sympathy, you came to the wrong house.”

  “That’s a shocker. Look, Sam. I’m worried sick. I just want to make sure she’s all right. I need to talk to her.”

  “It doesn’t sound as if she wants to talk to you. I’m assuming you tried her cell?”

  “She’s either not answering or she can’t answer. I’ve called her a few thousand times, left voice mail and text messages, I called home and no one will tell me a thing. Sam, she’s all alone, or maybe not, I’m not sure which would be worse.”

  “Gina’s a smart woman. She can handle herself.”

  “Yeah, she has no problems here in New York. You get her out of the city and she’s defenseless.”

  “Ha, Gina is stubborn, hard as nails, capable, and irreverent, sure. Defenseless, never.”

  “Have you ever seen Gina outside of New York?”

  Sam shook his head.

  “I have. All those street smarts don’t matter when you take her out of her comfort zone.”

  Sam pulled up a chair and sat. “You might as well tell me what happened because I’m the only one here who is going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Tina sure as hell won’t when she finds out you lost her sister.”

  Ben sat back in the chair and gave Sam a good long look. “Do you know why Gina hired a private detective to research land titles?”

  “No.”

  “Yeah, me either. I get a message from this guy because Gina called him from my satellite phone when we were up at the ranch. He said they struck gold and the next thing I know, my grandfather is signing the deed to my ranch over to Gina.”

  Sam raised his eyebrows. “I take it that wasn’t part of your plan.”

  “No, and when I asked Gina what the private dick was after, she didn’t say a word.”

  “So you added two and two, and came up with trouble.”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  Sam held up his hand like a traffic cop. “Don’t try to drag me into your problems. I know Gina, and I know she’d never steal. I’m also sure she has a damn good reason for hiring a private detective. I don’t know what the reason is, but I know she has one.”

  Ben stood to pace, took his keys out of his pocket and tossed them in the air, catching them before turning toward Sam. “If she’s in some kind of trouble, she could have come to me. Hell, I love her. I could give her anything she wanted or needed.”

  Sam shook his head. “You got a l
ot to learn about Gina. When she’s in trouble, she takes care of it herself. In all the time I’ve known her, she’s never once asked anyone for help. I’m surprised as shit she hired help. This would answer the question of why she married your sorry ass in the first place. I knew there had to be more to it than a house, even one as nice as this. She could buy a home of her own eventually.”

  Ben continued to pace and toss his keys. He turned when he hit the fireplace and faced Sam again. “What do I do now?” He raked his hands through his hair and rubbed his unshaven chin. “I love her, and I’m afraid I’m gonna lose her, Sam. I need your help.”

  Sam rolled his head and cracked his neck. “Fuck, okay, give me the name of this P.I. and I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Ben took out his phone and scrolled down through his calls. “The guy’s name is Dick Sommers. Shit, a private dick named Dick. He should change his name.” Sam smiled which was a good sign.

  “I know of him. He’s a quality guy, so that’s good. I’ll go and talk to him.”

  “We can go together. Maybe he’ll tell me what the hell Gina is after.”

  Sam held up his hands. “Whoa, there is no we in this situation. I’ll go on the QT, just to make sure she’s not in trouble, and I don’t think she is. Gina’s spent her life making sure she and Tina stayed on the straight and narrow. I’ll check it out on my own. I can’t play both sides of the fence on this one, Ben. I want to stay happily married.”

  Pacing wasn’t helping so Ben plopped down in the chair. “Yeah, so do I. I need to know she’s safe. I just want to get her back.”

  Stretching his legs out in front of him, Sam crossed his bare feet at the ankles. “Sorry, Ben, but there’s no way I’m crossing Gina. Not only because I’m scared to death of the woman, but because if I cross Gina, I cross Tina. Tina is the best thing that ever happened to me and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that.”

  Sam got up and went into the kitchen. Ben trailed after him, accepted the beer Sam offered, and took a long pull.

  Sam leaned back against the counter. “I don’t know what to tell you. Gina has sworn up and down she never wanted to get married. That’s why I was so shocked to see that honking ring on her finger. When she said you two had a deal to get divorced after you got your ranch, I thought it made a weird kind of sense. I still didn’t like it or you, for that matter, but the deed was done and like I said, Gina’s not one to ask for advice or help.”