Montana Dad

by Jeannie Watt

  Maybe it was too hard to fence jewelry.

  Maybe she was afraid to believe it was over, or that there’d never really been an issue. The other thief in her life had also been a random occurrence, and she’d crossed the country for no reason, met a family she’d fallen in love with and then hurt them. Because she had hurt Nick last night, and if he explained matters to his girls, she was certain she’d hurt them, too.

  Alex pulled on her jeans and tugged a sweatshirt over her head. The instant she touched the leashes, Gus and Roger were on their feet, ready to meet the day.

  “I’m ready, too,” she murmured to her dogs as they surged out of the door ahead of her. They headed to the trail near the undeveloped land by the freeway, both taking care of business as soon as possible so that they could commence walking. Now that she was outside of the dark room with the cool morning air moving over her face and the traffic sailing back on the freeway several hundred yards away, the world seemed different. Less frightening.

  Would she feel the same way when she went back to her house to clean up the mess?

  She could hope, because she hadn’t been herself when she’d left the place. The overwhelming sense of déjà vu, coupled with her protective instincts regarding Nick’s daughters, had caused her to operate in fear mode. She’d needed to get to a safe place, and she’d needed to make sure Nick didn’t follow so he didn’t get sucked into her drama.

  Except that he had followed—or was about to.

  * * *

  NICK DIDN’T SEE Alex’s car when he pulled in to the parking lot of the Harrington Inn. Had she strung him along, only to run again? His jaw tightened, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt and parked before shooting her a text asking for the room number. He got an answer within seconds, and he closed his eyes, willing his tight muscles to relax.

  She was still there, and she trusted him enough to see him. Talk to him.

  He had some things to say to her, but mostly he had questions. And once he got the answers, he’d know what his next step was.

  The door opened almost as soon as he knocked, and Alex stood aside to allow him entry into the dimly lit room. Roger and Gus jumped to their feet to greet him, and he took a moment to gather his thoughts as he rubbed heads and ears. What he really wanted to do was to pull Alex into his arms and assure her that she was safe. That he would take care of her. And he wanted her to trust him in return. But if she couldn’t do that, then they would have to part company.

  “I’m...sorry,” she said as he got back to his feet.

  “Me, too.” The tension in the small room was growing by the second, and he was having a hard time diving into the things he’d come to say. “You ran instead of trying to work with me.”

  Pain shot across her face. “I want you safe,” she said fiercely. “I want the girls safe. They were at my house mere hours before that person broke in.”

  “Yeah.” He wasn’t doing too well with that circumstance, either, but he didn’t blame Alex because someone had marked her house as an easy target. “That makes me want to take the guy apart, but are you responsible for his actions?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She was still hung up on the fact that she’d had a previous break-in, that people who’d lost money thought she knew where her boss was.

  “They caught the guy that did this, Alex.”

  Her frown deepened. “How do you know that?”

  “I dated the deputy in charge of the investigation.” Her eyes went wide. “In seventh grade.”

  She rolled her eyes, the first sign that she was relaxing, then the tension came back into her face as she said, “They didn’t take my jewelry. Just my laptop.”

  “Maybe it’s hard to get rid of jewelry.” He could see by the way she shifted her eyes that she’d come to the same conclusion. “What will it take to convince you that you are safe?” The words came out slowly as he locked his gaze onto her face, half-afraid that if he looked away he’d lose her.

  “I’ve been asking myself that question.”

  “What will it take to trust me, Alex? To know that you can depend on me?” He hesitated, then asked the question foremost in his mind—the one that had been haunting him since she drove away with her dogs. “What will it take for you to love me?”

  Her eyes jerked up to his. “I do love you. You have to know that.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but the impact of her softly spoken words rocked him to his core.

  “Alex...” He reached out and she closed the distance between them, sidestepping Gus and almost losing her balance. Nick caught her and waited until her feet were under her before drawing her into his arms.

  “This is what people who love each other do. They catch one another.” He smoothed the hair away from her face.

  “I didn’t want you to be hurt,” she murmured.

  “I don’t want you to face your fears alone.”

  “It’s hard to let other people in...even special people.”

  “I know.” He’d faced his own fears alone after losing Kayla. “And I do love you.” He touched her lips with his fingertips, then leaned down to kiss her. When he raised his head, he said, “We have stuff to work through. I need to be careful about the girls. They were pretty devastated by your departure.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “We have challenges ahead of us.” There was no sense pretending they didn’t. “But if we can talk, if you can tell me what’s going on instead of doing the brave thing to spare me, I think we can build something.”

  He knew she wasn’t wired that way—that she’d been raised to deal with matters on her own rather than to share—but what was the use of having someone who loved you if you didn’t allow them to face life with you?

  Alex lowered her gaze to focus on the buttons of his shirt, studying them for a long moment before she tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “I will try.”

  And instead of going Yoda on her, Nick smiled and drew her closer. “That’s all I ask.”

  * * *

  NICK FOLLOWED ALEX back to her ranch, and he stopped to lock the gate after them. The person who’d ransacked her house might be in jail, and she believed Nick when he said she had nothing to fear, that he’d be there for her, but she still felt better locked in. And he understood that.

  “You ready for this?” he asked after she’d let Gus and Roger out of her car. They instantly started snuffling around, checking for new smells.

  “I pretty much have to be.” There was no way to avoid facing the mess in her house, and the sooner she sorted through things, the better.

  He put an arm around her, and she gave him a let’s-do-this smile.

  “I’m here,” he said simply.

  She leaned into him, then eased herself out of his embrace. Now that she knew who was behind the crime, she could face it without ruining herself wondering if she had to start running again. And she could let Nick help.

  She wanted Nick to help. He understood and accepted things about her that she had trouble accepting. They went in through the backyard and allowed the dogs into the house first. Neither seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary, and Alex’s anxiety shifted into anger as she started sorting through the debris in her bedroom.

  Nick pulled the mattress back onto the bed and helped her put on clean sheets, bundling up the old ones and taking them to the laundry. When he got back, she was folding her clothing and replacing it in drawers.

  “I don’t understand why, if he was looking for small electronics, he tore this room apart.”

  “Looking for drugs?”

  She grimaced at him. “Should I be concerned about you being so tuned in to criminal motivations?”

  “I read a lot.”

  “And you dated a deputy.”

  “We played video games at her grandmother’s house.” He waggled his e
yebrows and she laughed. “I think you should stay at the ranch tonight.”

  The laughter died on her lips. “The girls—”

  “Love you. I think it’s too late to do anything about that.” A shadow crossed his face. “I hope that doesn’t make you feel trapped. If so—”

  “No,” she said quickly. “It makes me wonder what I’ve done to deserve something so special.” She propped a hand on her hip and surveyed her room. “But I think it’s best if I take back my house.”

  She could do this. The gate was locked. The thief was in jail. Her past had not caught up with her, and there was really no reason to believe it ever would. Jason was sipping top-shelf rum on a beach, and instead of taking the fall, she’d found a new life, with a man and little girls who loved her.

  “You’re sure.”

  She turned to slide her hands up his chest and curl her fingers around his solid shoulder muscles. “I need time to process. I just ran like a scared rabbit, giving in to instinct. Logic tells me I’m wrong.”

  “Do you want me to sleep on your sofa?”

  She gave him a grateful look. “Actually, if the girls wouldn’t mind...”

  He smiled down at her. “The girls are spending the night with Grandma in town because tomorrow is the kick off of June in Bloom.”

  “Oh, my gosh. I forgot.”

  “I’m not allowed that luxury,” Nick said with a smile. “I’ll text Katie and let her know what’s going on, then leave early to help Grandma with the June in Bloom setup. The girls will never know.”

  “Just this one night. After that, I need to tackle things on my own.”

  * * *

  ALEX SLEPT BETTER than she’d slept in weeks, knowing that Nick was downstairs. True to his word, he tapped on her door just as the sun was rising, then poked his head in to tell her he was leaving.

  “I’ll see you at the park later this morning, right?”

  “Right around lunchtime.” If she hadn’t needed a shower and felt an incredibly strong need to scrub every inch of her house in an effort to purge all traces of the thief, she would have gone along to help. Nick assured her that he could handle matters.

  “I sometimes get too much help, believe it or not.” His eyes crinkled. “And conflicting advice. It’s...fun.” Roger jumped off the bed and trotted to the door where Nick stood, and Gus ambled after him. “I’ll let these guys out.”

  “Thanks, Nick. I’ll see you later.” Alex rolled over, pulling the sheet over her and listened as Nick made his way through the house, opened and closed the back door, then started his truck. There was no way she was going back to sleep, but she allowed herself to lie in bed until Gus started scratching at the door as he did every morning when he wanted his breakfast.

  Three hours later, the dogs were sleeping in the shade, and Alex had finished washing her last floor. The scrubbing had been cathartic, and, after her shower, she did something she never looked forward to doing—she called her mother to touch base. But it was time.

  “Alexandra. What a surprise.”

  “How is everything?” Alex asked in a bright voice. She was actually feeling bright and hopeful, an unexpected side effect of a thief breaking into her home. The guy was in jail, and she and Nick were closer because of what had happened.

  “Going well, actually. Margo Peterson’s son was just arrested for dealing a large amount of cocaine.”

  “Dear heavens, Mother.”

  “And I made an error where Lawrence was concerned.” She made it sound like her error was Lawrence’s fault. “Which has also been a topic of conversation.”

  “Oh?” Alex couldn’t explain the sudden tightening of her stomach. “What kind of error.”

  “Well, he just abandoned his job. Walked away.”

  An odd chill went through her.

  “He never did like to work.” Alex spoke absently, but her brain was racing as little bits of disjointed information started sliding together. She’d always thought it was odd that Lawrence had found her number in Jason’s apartment, when Jason had kept everything in digital form. He was not a hard-copy kind of guy, but she’d accepted Lawrence at his word.

  Until now...

  “You wouldn’t by any chance have given Lawrence my phone number?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “He called me a few days ago. He wanted to go for coffee. I’m wondering how he got my number.”

  The silence on the other end of the line made Alex’s stomach slowly clench into a hard knot.

  “I did not give him your phone number,” Cécile said in the voice she used when she was working things out. “But I did lose my phone recently.”

  The blood started pounding in Alex’s ears. “Did you lose it? Or was it stolen?”

  “I don’t know. It was the DeYoungs’ garden party. A total crush. So many people there.”

  “Was Lawrence there?”

  “I caught a glimpse of him. But my phone has a passcode.”

  “Passcodes are easily broken, Mom.”

  “I have a hard time believing that Lawrence would steal my phone. I mean, why would he do such a thing? He seemed so thrilled to be free of his brother and putting his life back together.” Cécile let out an audible breath. “So commiserative concerning the way you were used.”

  “It might have been an act, Mom.” Alex closed her eyes. “Does he know that I’m in Montana?”

  Cécile let out a small laugh. “I make it a point to tell people, Lawrence included, that you are in the city, staying with a friend while you interview for new positions.”

  “So if he went looking, it would be in New York.”

  “Trust me, Alexandra, I did not tell anyone that you went to Montana.”

  Alex believed her. She could almost see the curl of her mother’s lips as she said Montana.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  She was about to hang up when Cécile said, “Alexandra.”

  “Yes?”

  “You will keep me posted. If he calls again, I mean. You can ask him how he got the number and then you can tell me.”

  She rubbed a hand over her forehead. That almost sounded like parental concern. “I will. And if you see Lawrence again, please let me know.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you. Goodbye, Mom. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ALEX AUTOMATICALLY WENT into the living room to open her laptop, only to stop at the kitchen doorway and put a hand on her forehead. Her laptop had been stolen and was now in the evidence locker at the Gavin Sheriff’s Office.

  She hoped. She’d yet to be invited down to identify it.

  Laptops had information on them, and if someone wanted information concerning someone else, what better way to get it than to hack into their laptop?

  Don’t get ahead of yourself.

  Alex put her car keys into her pocket, then went upstairs to look out the windows. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Gus and Roger were sound asleep in the cool dirt next to the porch, and a little chipmunk ran along the top board of her fence. If someone was lurking, the chipmunk wouldn’t be there.

  You’re okay.

  She went downstairs and took a seat on the top step leading to the back porch and began researching on her phone.

  How to trace a phone without the owner’s knowledge. How to locate a phone. Can I find a phone via the phone number alone?

  The results were chilling. There were a number of shady ways to track someone with a phone number, and a guy who would steal her mother’s phone wouldn’t hesitate to use an illegal process to track her down.

  Alex took a deep breath, tamping down the instinct to run. Instead she turned off her phone so it wasn’t a beacon, as it could well have been while she was here in Montana.

  What now?

  Call Nick. She’d p
romised not to handle this alone.

  She reached for her phone, then went still as a thought struck her. If Lawrence could hypothetically trace her via an app, could she trace him?

  Alex turned her phone back on and, after waiting the millennia it took for it to come back into service, typed Lawrence’s number into the box on the Locate Your Buddy screen.

  Maps flashed and then began zooming in on the western part of North America. The zooming continued, zeroing in on Montana and then dropping a pin in a nebulous region between Gavin and Dillon.

  Alex fought to breathe.

  She needed to get out of there. Get away from her house and Gavin and find a place where she could hole up and think without worrying about Lawrence waltzing in on her.

  Instead, she did exactly as she promised and dialed Nick.

  “Hey,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Are you on your way to town?”

  “I...uh...have discovered that Jason’s brother might be in Montana.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll explain it all when I see you. Right now... I just want to get out of here.”

  “Do you have any reason to believe he’s there?”

  “No. It’s quiet and the dogs are the opposite of being on alert.” But they were also lethargic from the heat. Neither of them had done more than lift his head over the past couple of hours.

  “You’re leaving now?”

  “Yes. I’ll see you at the booth.”

  She called the dogs, who slowly rose to their feet. Even Roger was moving in slo-mo.

  “Hey, want to go for a ride?” Alex jingled the keys and they both perked up. Roger even went so far as to give a half-hearted jump.

  Alex opened the back door and they jumped in. She quickly rolled down the windows to give them air, then started the car while Gus blew hot breath in her ear.