Colton On The Run (The Coltons 0f Roaring Springs Book 9)

by Anna J. Stewart

  “What do you see?”

  He looked to the door and imagined her standing on the other side, fingers pressed against the wood that had kept her trapped, as she faced the little bit of her past she could remember. “Looking now. By the way, when I do get you to a doctor, you’re getting a tetanus shot.”

  Her response was a long time coming. “Okay.”

  Sunlight streamed through the holes in the beamed roof, brighter than they would have been that day. He headed for the door, and first thing ran his fingers along the edge of the frame looking for a key. Nothing. He tried the knob and when it didn’t budge, he frowned and crouched, examined the make and model.

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Yeah.” He hit the side of his fist against the door above the fixture. “There’s no way you could have gotten through this without a key. It’s steel reinforced. Each lock only has two keys and they’re trademarked so even key makers can’t create new ones.” Not that the criminal element couldn’t have found a way. His boss up on the pipeline had used a lock like this on the supply room.

  But why the need for such safeguards? It was an old garden shed. Nothing in here other than unused and forgotten equipment and tools. Other than Jane, what on earth could they be keeping in here?

  Leo got to his feet and walked to the other side of the small structure. The plank flooring was rough and uneven. But some planks seemed newer than others. He started stomping as he walked, listening to the sound of his boots against the wood. Harder here, softer there. Boards creaked. Nails whined. And then...bam! His foot went right through one of the boards.

  “What on earth are you doing?”

  “Testing another theory.” He bent and plucked the broken pieces apart, tossed them aside. “Found where they store their drugs.” Leo looked down at the remnants of a plastic bag that had duct tape around it and a few small yellow pills the same color as the powder back in the lab. He sighed. A few questions had been answered. But larger ones remained. Including the biggest one of them all.

  Why was Jane still alive?

  * * *

  “Tell me again why we’re here?” Jane tucked her hair up under her hat as Ollie jumped out of the truck. Leo had driven behind the bank of stores on the main drag of Roaring Springs, meandering between buildings like a pro. Driving into town, seeing all the cars and people, had set every nerve in her body on edge, maybe not as badly as back at the Preston place, but enough she heard the edge in her own voice.

  “We are here because I’m tired of living in the world of the caveman.” He headed to the open back door of a brick building that looked as if it had been built around the time of the gold rush. “If you don’t want to talk to the police about this—”

  “I don’t.” When was he going to give up on that? “And you promised me, Leo.”

  “Right.” He winced as if it was the worst deal he’d ever made. “Then we need some help putting all these pieces together. And nothing is more helpful than the internet.” He hesitated and looked back at her. “You do remember the internet, right?”

  “I can’t tell if that’s a joke.” At his arched brow, she sighed. “Yes, I remember the internet.” But the very thought of it made her slightly nauseated. Why did everything about the past make her feel sick?

  “So you can’t argue it’s not our best bet at this point.”

  “No.” As much as she might want to. She straightened her hat, pushed the brim farther over her eyes. “But why here?”

  “Because Lucky D’s serves the best burgers in town, and I don’t feel like burning dinner tonight.”

  Her stomach growled, reminding her she’d lost her lunch a few hours ago.

  “See?” Leo grinned and pointed at her stomach. “You can’t argue with that, either.”

  “I don’t want to be around people.” The very idea of it had her breaking out in a cold sweat. She thought she’d done pretty well so far, going along with him in searching the Preston property and not holding a grudge when he’d essentially tricked her into facing that night. “You’re pushing your luck, cowboy.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and set her jaw. “How about I wait in the truck with Ollie?”

  Ollie perked up and got to his feet.

  “How about we decided to stick together? It’ll take fifteen minutes, tops. Come on.” He held out his hand. “I promise, it’ll be painless.”

  “Then we can go home?” She couldn’t even begin to explain how anxious she was to get back to what she knew, what she felt comfortable with.

  His grin faded for a moment. “Yeah.” Then his mouth curved into a genuine smile. “Then we can go home.”

  “Fine.” She slipped her hand into his and let him tug her inside.

  In one breath, one blissful, lung-coating breath, Jane realized he’d brought her into hamburger heaven. Had she not been worrying her nerves outside, she might have noticed earlier the pungent, salivating aroma of grilled onions, frying bacon and a greasy grill top. Even the low hissing of the orders currently sizzling to perfection on the ancient stove brought her an odd sense of calm. “Oh, wow. I can feel my arteries clogging already.”

  “Totally worth it. Miss D, you’re back!” Leo moved in front of Jane, whose head was all but spinning as she took in every inch of the diner’s kitchen. White tile and stainless steel seemed to be battling out for domination. The pass-through window had one of those circular holders for the order tickets currently flapping in the breeze from the nearby fan. Metal scraped on metal as burgers were flipped, veggies were grilled and the deep-fat fryer bubbled with oily goodness.

  “Leo Slattery, is that you?” Even before the owner of the voice peeked around the corner of the double-shelf counter, Jane knew the woman would have a smile on her face. A face that had seen even more years than Trapper, if Jane had to guess. She was short and on the stout side, and her gray hair was pulled back in a bun on the top of her head in a way that accentuated the bright blue of her eyes. “Been back about a week and wondering when I’d be seeing you again. You stay right there, young man! I’ve got burgers to flip.”

  “Yes, ma’am. How was your vacation?”

  “Vacation? Ha!” Miss D’s eyes glinted when she looked over her shoulder. “Two days after I got to my sister’s, she and her husband got into a four-car pileup on the highway. I ended up playing nursemaid and wrangler to them and their grandbabies. Then I get back here and find my kitchen’s a disaster, and no one’s been doing the bookkeeping. I haven’t had two seconds to breathe in the last week.”

  “Miss D was one of my grandmother’s best friends,” Leo explained. “Rumor has it her award-winning blueberry cobbler was actually my grandmother’s original recipe.”

  “Don’t you go blabbing that nonsense around here,” Miss D ordered as she swooped around the corner and pulled him into her arms for a hug. “And here I thought when you moved back to Roaring Springs I’d be seeing more of you. You thaw out yet from all that time in the icy north?”

  “Just about. Been busy up at the ranch,” Leo said. “I’ll make it a point to come more often.”

  “You’d better. Now. Who’s this?” She waved her spatula up and down as if sizing Jane up. “Never known you to come pouncing in through the back door.”

  “Jane doesn’t like crowds.” Leo motioned through the window toward the nearly packed diner. “I told her you’d accommodate her.”

  “Don’t blame you, young lady.” Miss D moved in closer and peered up at Jane, eyes narrowed and assessing. “One reason I love this kitchen. Keeps out the riffraff, and keeps me from having to deal with them. You look familiar. You new to town?”

  “Yes.” Jane bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her nerves in check.

  “Hmm.” Miss D nodded slowly, then took her arm and led her back to the grill. “Since I’m betting Leo here came for a reason other than food, and seeing as my help h
as absconded across the street to take her fiancé to an early supper, I’ll put you to work minding these patties.” She whipped an apron off a hook and tied it around Jane’s waist before pushing another metal spatula in her hand. “Now, don’t you go pushing down on them. You just watch. You see those edges start to turn dark, you flip over here, to the cooler part. Okay?”

  “Um, sure.” Jane turned slightly panicked eyes on Leo, who only flashed that breath-stealing smile at her. And that dimple. Maybe it was the fluorescent lights, but how had she not noticed how deep that dimple in his cheek dipped? Her heart fluttered. Hospitals wouldn’t need a defibrillator with him around.

  “What brings you by, then?” Miss D hefted her body onto a tall stool and fanned herself with a menu. Jane did her best to keep an eye on the patties as well as an ear on the conversation.

  “Can I borrow your phone for a bit? Just a few minutes. I need to do some quick searches and—”

  “You telling me they still haven’t gotten those lines run up to your place?” Miss D shook her head. “You know how many letters your grandmother wrote to the town council about that? Course that was just because your granddaddy kept going on about it. Poor woman passed before she ever got that FaceTwit or whatever you call it loaded on that computer of hers. Here.” She set her spatula down long enough to dig through her purse stashed under the counter. “Don’t have much use for it myself, save for emergencies. You might have to charge it up. What food are you ordering?”

  He accepted the phone with a quick smile. “You know I’m partial to your burgers. Double decker with fries? And onion rings? I’ve got Trapper up at my place for a time, so might as well make that two.”

  “Three,” Jane added. The more she stared at the grill the hungrier she got. “And is that lemon pie?”

  “Banana pudding icebox cake,” Miss D said with a touch of admiration. “Makes an old woman happy to see a flit of a thing like you longing for pie. You got what you need, Leo?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Leo was already tapping on the screen of the smartphone. “But you’re right. It needs charging.”

  “Over there, by the walk-in.”

  “I think these are ready.” Jane bent over and pried up the edge of one of the patties. Was it wrong of her to wish the online connection would crash? How much easier things would be if they just stopped looking for answers, if things could just stay as they were.

  “You’d be right about the burgers,” Miss D declared over her shoulder. “See how that juice is puddling on the top? There’s your sign. You sure you’re new to town? I swear you look just like—”

  “Hey, Miss D!” Someone banged on the pickup bell at the counter. “We’ve got orders piling up!”

  Miss D went still for a moment; then, after giving Jane a slow, purposeful smile, she patted her arm. “You just move those over like I said. I need to go teach that new server of mine some manners.”

  “Have you found anything?” Jane asked Leo as she carefully placed three burgers into the corner of the grill and, just for fun, moved the spatula through the charring onions.

  “Maybe. You okay here for a few minutes?” He held up the phone and turned in a circle. “I think I’ll get better reception outside the kitchen.”

  “Sure.” Jane frowned, unfamiliar with the expression on Leo’s face. Distracted? Confused? By the time Miss D came back, grumbling under her breath about “this younger generation,” Jane was whipping up burgers faster than any assembly line in a factory, including their take-out order.

  She jumped when the swinging door burst open and a young woman rushed in, dirty plates balanced on her arms.

  “We’re hitting an early dinner rush, Miss D.”

  “Nothing unusual about that, Sylvie. You just keep doing what you’re doing, and if young Benny out there—”

  “I’m watching him.” Sylvie gave a passing curious look to Jane, who must have looked ridiculous in her hat and ranch wear standing at the grill. Jane turned back to the grill.

  “You’ve done great, Jane. Thank you.”

  Taking Miss D’s words as a dismissal, Jane replaced the spatula and was about to remove her apron when she noticed the plates.

  “Feel free to scrape those down and stack them there by the sink.”

  Jane shrugged and brought the garbage can over, but she hesitated over the more than half a steak left on one plate. She shifted to the side slightly and looked out at Leo’s truck. Ollie, as if sensing her return, moved into the doorway, tongue sticking out. His eyes were clearly pleading with her to come back outside. “Would you mind if I took this for Ollie?” She stabbed the meat and held it up.

  “Not at all. People who come here should know they’re going to get a belly full of food. Feel free to take whatever you think he’ll eat.”

  She should probably check with Leo first. After all, Ollie was his dog. But she had seen Trapper sneaking Ollie bits of his steak the other night during dinner and assumed it was okay.

  She finished scraping the rest of the plates. “I’ll be right back.” She hurried outside with the meat and held it out to the dog, who let out an odd whine before chomping it down. “I bet I just won you for life, didn’t I, Ollie?” she cooed, scrubbing at the dog’s neck. The sudden blare of a siren had her jumping back, and with a cry, she clutched her hands to her chest. A flash of red and blue shot down the narrow footpath between Miss D’s diner and the building next door.

  Jane’s ears roared. Her head felt light. But she steeled her shoulders, forced herself to move toward the fear rather than cowering against the back of the truck. In the distance, she heard Ollie bark, but it sounded dim, foggy almost, as did the bang of a screen door. The sound of her name being called.

  Still she moved on, one step, another step. She felt the brick of the wall scrape against her fingers, and when she reached the street, she gasped. Her chest tightened as all the air in her lungs evaporated. The police station just across the street was teeming with officers. Uniformed officers with shiny badges on their dark shirts. Patrol cars buzzed in and out of parking spaces, the spinning lights making her dizzy.

  Badges. Ow! Pain sliced through her skull as if she’d been stabbed.

  “Jane.”

  She cried out, covering her mouth with her hands as she backed into the wall, knocking her head as she looked up at Leo.

  “What happened?” He reached for her, ran his palm against the back of her hair as if checking for injuries. “Why’d you take off...?”

  She shook her head, unable to form words, barely able to breathe. Everything hurt. Her fingertips and toes prickled as if she was dying a slow, agonizing death.

  “It’s going to be okay, Jane,” he soothed. “The police can help. We can go inside, talk to someone about what’s happened to you. They might know something already.” He moved in front of her, grasped her upper arms in a gentle but firm hold. “I’ll be right there with you.”

  “No. You promised. No. Police.” She shook her head, hating the tears that sprang to her eyes. Hating the fear that pressed in on her from every angle. He didn’t understand. She wasn’t safe here. She had to get out of here. Out of this alley. Out of this town. Away from...everyone. “I c-can’t...c-can’t b-breathe.” She pounded a fist against her chest, trying to feel something, anything other than the terror that made every part of her tingle like sharp needles were piercing her skin.

  Leo glanced behind him. For an instant, she swore she saw regret pass across his features, as if he was debating whether to listen to her or not. “Please, Leo.” She could hear her breath rattling in her chest. “Please take me home.”

  “Okay, darlin’.” He smoothed a hand down her back and murmured softly, “Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. They made their way back to the truck, where she climbed inside and clung to a concerned Ollie like a life preserver. She closed her eyes, pre
ssed her face into the dog’s fur and willed the shaking to stop.

  “Everything okay out here?” Miss D appeared in the doorway with two large paper bags in her hands.

  “Fine,” Leo assured her. “Appreciate you letting us stop by. How much do I owe you?”

  “Not one red cent.” Miss D tsked. “Told you when you got back, you’re family, Leo Slattery, and I don’t go charging family to keep their strength up. You bring that girl back sometime soon, you hear? She’s a good grill minder. And probably has a better head on her shoulders than that ridiculous great-nephew of mine.”

  “Thank you, Miss D.” Leo took the bags and kissed her cheek. From her seat in the car, Jane blinked the tears free and wondered if he had any idea how people looked at him. As if he lit up their day. Her heartbeat eased only to skip a beat as he approached the truck. He secured the bags in the cooler in the back seat—no doubt to protect them from a snooping Ollie—then climbed inside. “You doing better?”

  Jane nodded and buried her cheek in Ollie’s fur. “I just want to go home.”

  Chapter 8

  Leo had been standing silently in the doorway to the stable for the past few minutes, watching Jane wrangle a line of rope into some kind of knot he would never attempt. The second they’d gotten back to the ranch she’d bolted out of the car, Ollie hot on her heels, and vanished into the stable. To the horses. Where she felt safest.

  His instinct had been to follow her, especially since she hadn’t uttered a word on the long drive back to the ranch, but he’d held back and left her alone. Mainly because he’d needed some time to erase the image of utter terror he’d seen on her face as she’d looked across the street to the police station.

  It had taken every ounce of control he had not to override her protests. His cursory online search—cut short by too many interruptions in the diner and a slow connection—had produced a modicum of information that both eased his mind and raised new concerns. Instead of answers bringing him comfort, the questions he had now convinced him they needed help. Help he was going to demand she ask for. Until he caught her in mid panic attack, staring horror-struck at the police station.