Waking Hearts Read Online Free Page A

now. Would you like to go out for coffee? Or maybe just marry me and put me out of my misery?
    Hey, Allie. I know you’re still in the middle of a divorce, but how about coming over for dinner? Bring the kids. Feel free to have them pick out rooms while they’re here.
    Allie was frowning as she looked out the window. “Ollie?”
    “Yeah?” he growled. Yes, growled. His grandmother would have slapped the back of his head if she’d heard him.
    “Caleb is coming up the road.”
    Well, shit. It would be just his luck if that little asswipe from the night before decided to file charges that Caleb couldn’t ignore. To be fair, the surveillance camera would have picked up that the banker swung first. Unfortunately, it would also pick up that Ollie busted his ribs more than was strictly necessary.
    He folded the paper and put it under the bar, surprised that Caleb hadn’t called. They’d been friends for two years now. Ollie was godfather to Jena and Caleb’s little girl. If anyone had made a complaint, Caleb would have called, which left Ollie wondering why the chief of police was really coming up the road at four in the afternoon on a Friday.
    He heard Jim bang the kitchen door and start the prep for dinner, heard him and Tracey chatting and flirting. Nearly twenty years and the two of them were still nuts about each other.
    Yeah, he was jealous.
    Allie was refilling napkins and glancing at the door with a small frown on her face. Worried, probably. Worried for him.
    He wanted to pick her up, cart her to his office, and kiss the frown off her little mouth. He wanted to carry her back to his house, gather her kids up, and fold them into the close-knit Campbell clan so she’d never have to worry about anything again.
    He knew she could handle all the shit life had thrown at her. It just pissed him off that she had to.
    Caleb pushed the door open, and a quick wash of heat entered the bar before he could shut the door.
    “Hey, Caleb!” Allie said. “Get you a water? A Coke?”
    Caleb wiped his forehead, his face carefully blank. “Iced tea?”
    She smiled. “Tracey’s making some in back. I’ll see if it’s ready.”
    Allie slipped to the back, and Caleb’s face shot to Ollie’s, thinly veiled anxiety written on his face.
    “Hey, man. What’s up?”
    Caleb glanced from Ollie to the hallway where Allison had disappeared, and Ollie’s stomach dropped.
    “Joe?”
    Caleb nodded just as Allie came back with a tall glass of iced tea.
    “Just ready,” she said with a smile. “So how’s everything going with you today?”
    “Allie,” Caleb started, “why don’t you sit at the bar with me?”
    Her smile fell. Ollie watched as the color drained from her face, and he wanted to roar. Wanted to throw Caleb out of the bar. Instead, he lifted up the pass and went to stand behind her as she and Caleb sat down. He put his arm on the bar beside her and waited.
    “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice wooden.
    “I… Have you heard from Joe since the last time I asked you?”
    She shook her head.
    “Are you sure? Not even a call that hung up? Kevin’s got a cell phone now, right?”
    “Yeah,” she said quietly. “But he’d tell me if his dad called.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Caleb,” she said. “Just tell me what this is about.”
    Caleb put his hand over Allie’s and Ollie knew. It was bad.
    “Yesterday a rancher out near Twentynine Palms found a body on his property.”
    Damn you, Joe Russell.
    Ollie put a hand on her shoulder and left it there.
    “It had… been there for a while. There wasn’t much left, but there was a pawn ticket in the pocket and they traced it back to a shop in Indio. It was for an antique Bowie knife, and the name on the ticket was Joe Russell.”
    Allie tore her hand from Caleb’s and covered her face. Without a word, Ollie turned her on the stool and pulled her into his arms, wrapping her up as her shoulders began to shake with inaudible sobs. She threw her arms around