"Yeah, well, I didn't." And didn't he feel like a dumbass. Jake pulled on his socks and then his boots before looking over at Lizzie, who had remained quiet since Ryan's announcement. "Lizzie?"
She was sitting up in bed, covers pulled up to her chin, her eyes glistening with anger. "Damn him. Damn Logan MacGregor!" She looked up and met his gaze, hurt clashing with resentment. "I believed he had changed, I really did. He was nice to me, let me borrow his truck to come out here that day. He tried to convince me how much he had changed." She grasped the covers tighter. "And I believed him, Jake. God. I'm such a sucker."
He crossed to her, pressed his lips to the top of her head. "No more of a sucker than I am." He stalked back across the room. "I just can't wrap my mind around it. Where did he get the truck?"
"Stolen." Ryan said around a mouthful of bacon.
"Stolen from where?" Lizzie sat up and tucked the blankets beneath her arms to hold them in place. She reached out and slapped Ryan's hand as he reached for another piece of bacon. "No more until you tell us what's going on." Lizzie grabbed the plate and held it out of his reach.
Ryan groaned. "I can eat and talk at the same time."
"Apparently not," Jake stated.
Ryan licked his fingers and then picked up a glass of orange juice from the breakfast tray and took a long drink. "The truck was stolen from Saratoga. Close to where it was ditched. Now can I have more bacon?"
"Any more information that you've got that we need to know?" Lizzie asked skeptically, holding the bacon farther out of Ryan's reach.
"That's it. Oh, that and the sheriff would like you two to go into the station whenever you can."
"Thank you, Ryan. Now you may eat." Lizzie handed him the plate of bacon and he dug in with vigor.
"Actually, no, he can't. Take the bacon, hell, take the whole damn tray and get out. We'll meet you in the kitchen."
"Aww man, breakfast in bed rocks."
"I need to get dressed," Lizzie argued.
Ryan waggled his eyebrows. "Go ahead."
Lizzie snickered at Ryan's antics, then tried to swallow the sound as Jake scowled at her, but she failed miserably.
Jake sighed aloud. "You're not helping."
When he directed the scowl at Ryan, Ryan raised a hand. "Cool down, dude, I'm going." With that, Ryan grabbed the tray and left.
He waited as Lizzie dressed and braided her hair. When she finished slipping on her sandals, she looked at him and he held out his hand to her. She took it and clasped hers tightly to his.
"We do this together."
"Together," she repeated.
He gently squeezed her hand and then went to talk with Ryan in the kitchen.
52
Lizzie
Ryan was finishing the last piece of bacon when Lizzie and Jake walked into the kitchen. Lizzie poured Jake and herself a cup of coffee and brought them over to the table before taking a seat.
She needed to know what was going on. Now. "So what happened, Ryan?"
Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure really. All I know is when I got out of bed this morning it wasn't to my alarm clock but rather to Deputy Rivers pounding on the door. Basically all he did was inform me, at Logan's request by the way, that they were placing him under arrest."
She shivered at the thought of Logan being capable of such violence. Enough violence to try to kill her and nearly kill her best friend in the process. "God, do you think he really could have done all that?"
Jake covered her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "I don't know, baby. But, there's only one way to find out."
She thought of the half-naked pictures of herself. She stood up from the chair and walked over to the sink to pour out the coffee she couldn't force herself to drink. She really didn't want to face Logan if he was the one who had done all those things to her, but she wanted this resolved. She needed to know if she was safe. God, she was so tired of being afraid. She turned to face Jake and Ryan who were both staring intently at her.
"Let's go."
Ryan all but bounced from his chair to where Lizzie stood. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her in a circle while he laughed. "You just gotta love a woman with this much courage." He leaned back and looked into her eyes. "Sweet thing, you sure I can't tempt you away from the dark side?"
Lizzie laughed at his reference to Jake. "I don't think so."
"Just look, I made you laugh. I would give you anything you'd ever want. Money, sex, laughter, sex, love, sex, friendship, sex."
With a playful smirk, Lizzie pretended to ponder the situation. "Hmm. You know, Ryan, there'd be only one thing missing."
"What more could a woman want?" Ryan asked incredulously.
She stepped back from Ryan's embrace and walked over to where Jake now stood at the sink and wrapped her arms around him. "Him."
Ryan sighed dramatically in defeat. "I'll be here if you change your mind, sweet thing."
"Ryan, get your own woman," Jake teased as they walked out the back door toward the truck.
"Easier said than done, big brother. Easier said than done."
"Here's what we've got for evidence. Dr. Whitaker's forensic assessment of the paint scrapings from the red truck matched the paint to Lizzie's. The fingerprints on one of the three cigarette butts left in the ashtray matched Logan's."
"What about the other two?" Ryan asked.
"No prints."
"But that doesn't make sense, does it?" Lizzie asked.
Sheriff Brooks shrugged. "Possibly. Or else they were planted. Either way there's something even better than that."
Jake shifted in his chair. "What?"
"The driver's side window was broken—"
"Yeah, from my head," Lizzie scoffed. Jake gripped her hand then gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Sheriff Brooks smiled apologetically. "Yes, sorry about that. But we found a third blood type on the window."
Ryan perked up. "No shit?"
Sheriff Brooks nodded. "Yep. Whoever it was must have cut themselves on the broken glass when he or she put the note in the car."
"That's a good thing, right?" Lizzie listened while the men discussed the evidence. Jake sat supportively with an arm around her shoulders, yet his posture was rigid and his muscles tense, as if bracing for a fight.
Sitting across from Sheriff Brooks, listening to the horrors he, Jake, and Ryan recounted made her sick to her stomach. She was still shocked over the fact that it was Logan who had done those things and now the sheriff was talking about the bit of evidence against him which, not surprisingly, was not enough to keep him in a jail cell until the DNA results came back proving it was indeed Logan.
Heat spread throughout her body and sweat beaded on her upper lip and forehead. Her stomach rolled. She needed to get out of here before she made a spectacle of herself and threw up all over the police station. She got up from the chair.
"I need some air."
Jake stood, "I'll come with you."
"No, you stay and listen to what Sheriff Brooks has to say. I'll just go sit out on the bench across the street."
"You sure?"
"Yes. I'll be fine."
Jake nodded and she walked quickly if not unsteadily toward the front door of the police station, dutifully followed by Deputy Rivers. When she reached the bench beneath the tall oak tree, she all but flopped onto it as Deputy Rivers went to sit in his police car a little way down the block.
She rested her elbows on her knees and dropped her head into her uncasted hand. How on earth had her life gotten this crazy? She didn't have time to think of an answer as her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and her brow furrowed as she read the name splashed across the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Lizzie? It's Sierra. Sierra Garrison."
"Sierra! How are you?"
"Good. Fine. I know you've been back in town for a while now and Todd pointed out how we haven't invited you for tea. I feel just awful about not having you over to get reacquainted."
"Yes, don't I know it. We should get together. Grab some coffee or something."
"That sounds great, Sierra. We should have done this weeks ago." Maybe she could pry some info out of her about her marriage to Todd and just what really happened with Ethan, effectively taking her mind off of her own problems. "Just tell me when and where."
"How about later today. Say four o'clock?"
She had a doctor's appointment to get a new cast put on at two-thirty, so four would work out well. "Sounds perfect."
"Wonderful. Come on by the house, I'll see you then."
"See you then."
This would be the perfect distraction from the chaos that was her life. But for now, she needed to get her breath back and get herself together before she lost it altogether. She put the phone back in her pocket and took a long, deep, calming breath and then leaned back and relaxed on the bench.
"Here you are again and without Jake," Amber tsked as she walked up.
"I'm not in the mood for you right now, Amber," Lizzie replied with a glare. If the woman had any sense, she'd walk away.
Amber sat down next to Lizzie on the bench. "I heard about what happened. Is there anything I can do?"
What? "Excuse me?" Lizzie wiggled her finger in her ear. "Did I hear you correctly. Are you being nice to me?"
Amber sighed. "Yes. No one deserves to have happen to them what happened to you."
Lizzie couldn't have been more shocked. It was too hot outside for hell to have frozen over. What was going on here? "Thanks." Lizzie's skepticism came through loud and clear.
Amber sighed again. "You have a right to be cynical, I've given you no reason to feel otherwise. I just heard Logan was arrested. I'm sure you're relieved that they finally caught the person responsible."
Lizzie nodded. "Yeah. If he's the one."
Amber frowned. "What do you mean?"
Lizzie shook her head. "It just doesn't feel right."
Amber laid her hand over Lizzie's where it rested on her thigh. "Maybe you're just so used to all the bad, it's hard to accept the good?"
Lizzie looked at Amber and saw true sincerity in the woman's gaze. "That could be it."
Amber nodded. "I hope everything is resolved soon for you. Do you still have a bodyguard?"
To her annoyance, yes. "Yeah. Deputy Rivers."
Amber looked around. "I don't see him."
"That's good. You're not supposed to, but he's in his police car just down the block."
Amber squinted against the mid-day sun. "Oh yes, I see him now. He's very good at his job, isn't he?"
Was that interest Lizzie heard in Amber's voice? "That he is. Are you interested in the tall, blonde, and dangerous deputy?"
Amber smiled sadly. "I am, but I'm not so sure he'd ever be interested in me."
The woman was gorgeous and had a body to die for, what was not to like? "Why not?"
"I showed a hint of interest and since then he's been very good at letting me know that my personality isn't that of anyone he'd like to be acquainted with."
"Oh, ouch."
Amber nodded.
"Well, all you can do is try to be different from here on out. Prove to him you're not the big bitch everyone thinks you are." Lizzie winced. "Sorry."
Amber fluttered her hand out. "Don't worry about it. I know what people think of me, and for a long time it didn't matter."
"But it does now."
"Yes."
It was Lizzie's turn to pat Amber's hand. "Then do what you have to do to become who you want to be."
"You make it sound so easy."
Lizzie laughed mirthlessly. "Um, no. It is by no means easy. Trust me, I know. It has taken me a long time to find the confidence I am still struggling with today. But I keep working at it every day and so far, so good."
Amber gave a half smile. "Thanks, Lizzie."
"No problem. Now go over there and bother Deputy Rivers."
Amber stood up and tugged her shirt down and smoothed her skirt. "He is definitely in some serious need of 'bothering'."
Lizzie snickered. "Go for it."
With a, "Take care," Amber headed straight for the police car down the block.
Deputy Rivers was in so much trouble. Any man that inspired Amber to try to change, had about as much of a chance of resisting as an ice cube's chance of surviving in hell.
Lizzie noted people staring on the street, Mrs. Kennedy had come out of the hardware store to take in the goings on, and when Lizzie met her gaze, Mrs. Kennedy gave her a thumbs up. Lizzie smiled. Who knew being so nice to Amber Worthington could make her feel so good?
53
Jake
There she was. As Jake stepped out of the police station, he saw Lizzie, a slight smile curving her lips as she looked down the block, her posture relaxed, and a surge of relief flowed through him. He had been so worried when she'd walked out earlier, so much so he wasn't able to fully concentrate on what Sheriff Brooks was saying. As important as the information the lawman was giving him was, Lizzie was more so.
He walked over to the bench and took a seat next to her. They sat for a few minutes enjoying the quiet before Lizzie broke the silence.
"They're not going to hold him, are they?" She didn't look at him but rather continued looking down the block.
"No, they're not."
She sighed aloud. "I didn't think so." After a few more minutes of silence she turned her head to face him. "What now?"
"They're running DNA on the blood. The results should be in soon. If the blood turns out to be a match to Logan's, he's done for."
He saw a tiny sparkle of hope in her eyes. "That's good, right?" They needed to hope, because if it wasn't Logan's DNA, then the maniac was still out there. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and when he pulled her close, she rested her head on his beneath his chin and snuggled into his side. She rested her hand on his thigh and he covered it with his.
"Yep. Now we just have to wait for the lab guys to work their magic."
"I hate waiting."
"I know, baby. Me too."
"What happens until they get the results?"
He knew eventually she'd ask, and with their new "no secrets" rule, he knew he had to tell her even though he didn't want to. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm not sure. All I know is the cigarette butts were ruled to be circumstantial evidence so until the DNA comes back, Logan will be a free man."
She took a deep cleansing breath and sat up. She stared at nothing for a few minutes and then turned to him, her expression serious. "Do you think it was him?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I want to say yes so that we know it will all be over, but it's Logan we're talking about, and deep down I really don't want it to be him."
"But if it is? I mean he's one of your closest friends, yours and Ryan's right-hand man on the ranch. What happens if he's the one?"
"Nothing and no one is more important to me than you are, so we'll do what we need to do to make sure he's put behind bars for a long, long time." He meant every single word. None of this was what he was worried about right now. Right now he was more concerned with what would happen if Logan wasn't the one.
Later that day, as Jake drove to the barn, his thoughts turned to Lizzie. She was getting ready to go to her checkup with Dr. Whitaker and then she was off to Sierra's to visit. She felt pretty confident that she was safe going to those two places, and even though he knew she'd be followed by Deputy Rivers, he hated letting her go by herself. But he had work to do that couldn't wait, and he needed to be there when Cami and Adam came to pick up their horse.
He pulled the truck to a stop next to the barn and saw Ryan standing by the corral fence taking a drink from his bottle of water. He strode over to the corral and took in the sight before him. Cami and Adam were inside the fence, each leading a horse by the reins, each horse carrying an adorable blonde-haired, blue-eyed pixie. The image tugged o
n his heart strings. He wanted children, and he wanted them with Lizzie. Whether they were their biological children or adopted, he didn't care. He just wanted a family like the one before him, and he couldn't wait to get started.
He climbed the fence and called out a welcome to Cami and Adam. Autumn bounced playfully atop the mild-mannered horse and called out to him. "Unka Jake! Unka Jake!" April, not to be out done by her sister, bounced atop her horse and waved her arms, "Look at me, Unka Jake! Look at me!"
There was no stopping the smile that spread across his face. "Ah, there they are. My little imps."
"Here we are! Here we are!" Autumn called. Jake reached the side of her horse just in time for her to throw herself into his arms. He wrapped her up in a hug and gave her a loud smacking kiss that set her laughing. He turned and, lowering April from her horse, repeated the gesture. With one little girl on each hip, he turned to Adam and Cami with a smile.
"Sorry you had to come get her, but I'm glad you made it."
"It's not a problem, Jake," Adam said. "We understand."
Cami walked up beside Adam. Adam instinctually put his arm around Cami's shoulders, and Cami wrapped hers around Adam's waist then snuggled into his side. He was glad they were so happy.
"It was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it, Jake? About Logan I mean."
"Yeah, Cami, it was. I still can't believe it."
A quick and angry, "Me neither," came from Ryan who stood next to Jake.
"What are you going to do?" Adam asked.
Jake shrugged. "There's not much to do right now. As they say, innocent until proven guilty, but you can bet that Logan won't be within fifty feet of Lizzie until we're sure."
"I don't blame you there. I can't imagine how I'd feel if someone were to threaten Cami like that."
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Ryan asked, gesturing toward the little girls who were hanging on the adults' every word. Ryan reached for April and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a loud smacking kiss on the lips, imitating Jake's earlier gesture and Ryan laughed. "Nothing beats a kiss from a beautiful lady." April giggled.
When Petals Fall: A Cowboy, Second Chance Romantic Suspense (Chance Creek Book 1) Page 26