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Country music blasted through the Cowboy Saloon. Men and women were dressed in attire better suited to Nashville, and peanut shells littered the floor. Determined and focused, Sawyer strode ahead of Chloe, examining every face around him as the two of them made their way through the crowded tables where patrons were eating. Then Sawyer headed to the dance floor, glancing at the four-man band that played a classic country song. The group of intoxicated, scantily clad women putting on a show with their suggestive dancing didn’t impress him. And by the time he reached the dark oak bar, he wanted to leave.
This might be a hot spot for some, but the place didn’t suit him. Beer and wings were more his style. He shoved his annoyance away and did what he came here to do: find the fucker who beat up his sister.
At the bar, he pulled out a wooden stool for Chloe. She smiled and took her seat. As he sat next to her, he asked, “Do you see him?” He’d aske
d Chloe to look for Travis before they entered the bar. Sawyer didn’t want Travis to see him first and run.
Chloe spun around on her stool, leaned her arms against the bar, and glanced out to the seating area. Sawyer stayed focused on her beautiful face. The way she drew her bottom lip in between her teeth was sexy. He noticed she did that move every time she concentrated. He thought it might be the death of him, as it made him want desperately to kiss those lips.
She gave the bar a good sweep and finally grumbled, “Negative.”
Frustration rose in Sawyer; unless Travis was in the bathroom, they’d lost him. Sawyer couldn’t accept that their only lead had likely fizzled out.
“Can I get y’all something?” asked the bartender.
Sawyer took a mental note of the barkeep—mid-twenties, five foot ten, thin build, blue eyes, short black hair. A habit from the job, he supposed. Reminding himself that the bartender wasn’t Travis or even a suspect, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and grabbed the picture of Travis stashed there from the APB that had gone out. “Was this man in your bar tonight?”
The bartender leaned over the bar, frowning at the picture. “Who’s asking?”
Sawyer reached in his other pocket and pulled out his badge. He slammed his badge down on the bar, then pointed at the photo again. “Was this man in your bar tonight?”
“Yeah, about an hour ago.” The bartender folded his arms, eyeing first Sawyer and then Chloe. “Came in for a beer and left.”
Abrasive response. Closed-off body language. Sawyer’s instincts flared, and Chloe must’ve picked up on the barkeep’s evasiveness, too, since she asked, “Do you know Travis personally?”
Angry blue eyes flicked to Chloe. “What if I do?”
Sawyer cut in before Chloe could reply. “Look at her like that again and we’ll have a different kind of problem.” When the bartender glanced Sawyer’s way, he added, “Answer her question and we won’t.”
The barkeep glared for only a second before he started wiping his bar with a white cloth. “Travis and I train at the same gym.”
Sawyer gritted his teeth, as clearly what he’d heard about Travis’s friends and family protecting him was the truth. “Did you know that Travis beat his girlfriend to within an inch of her life?”
“I heard something about it.” The bartender gave a mirthless grin, keeping his focus on his cloth. “I’ve also heard the cops are bugging his friends and family to give him up.” His eyes lifted, threatening. “I’ll be the first to tell you that you’ll never find him.”
Sawyer didn’t know if it was the bartender’s smug voice or the grin on his face that made him snap, but it didn’t matter. He lunged and wrapped a hand around the bartender’s throat in less time than it took him to inhale. He didn’t know how he ended up on the other side of the bar. All that he knew was that his body weight added force to his grip, pinning the bartender against the wall.
He heard nothing but the sound of his thumping pulse in his ears. His fingers tightened around flesh, squeezing with all his frustration and rage. He felt the flow of vengeance running through him for the harm that had come to Ash, for the journey of healing she’d have to endure, and even for the loss of her innocence. While Sawyer knew his sister wasn’t a virgin, Travis had raped and aggressively abused his baby sister. Sawyer wanted to make him pay.
It wasn’t until he heard Chloe’s sharp yell of his name did his thoughts abruptly withdraw from that primal place where man hunted those who hurt the ones he loved. “Let him go,” Chloe said. “Right now!”
The space between loss of control and in control began to shrink, and Sawyer felt his fingers release the man’s neck. With an effort, he dropped his hand and stepped back. He noticed the bar had gone silent, with everyone looking their way.
Chloe said to the bartender, “You do realize that not coming forward with Travis’s whereabouts means you are harboring a criminal?”
The bartender, bent over, coughed and wheezed. “Yeah, I fucking know that.” He straightened up, glaring daggers at Sawyer. “I’ll have you arrested for assault!”
Sawyer took a step toward him, loving how the bartender cringed away. “Travis’s girlfriend is my baby sister. This isn’t about the police or about helping your friend anymore.” He allowed the fury he felt hearing that Ash had been raped and abused by Travis to invade him. “If I find out he’s been here again and you haven’t called it in, I will turn you in myself.”
“You have nothing on me,” the bartender growled.
Sawyer returned the mirthless grin. “Everyone has secrets, and I happen to know people who are good at exposing them.” Before he got himself into any more trouble than he was already in, he exited the bar, sensing Chloe following him.
He made it to his truck and opened the door for Chloe. Once she was inside, he slammed the door behind her and got in on the driver’s side. He started the engine, bowed his head, and shut his eyes, breathing deeply.
Only when he composed himself and his heartbeat returned to a normal speed did he slide his glance to Chloe. She watched him for a long, tense moment, and then she began to laugh. “So, that went well.”
How she could find anything about what he’d done amusing was beyond him, but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing, too. “I lost it.”
