Tall, Dark and Cowboy

by Joanne Kennedy

  Which was where this woman was going to end up if she wasn’t careful. Chase almost held his breath as she approached the car, running on her toes the last few steps and almost falling against it.

  She turned to face him casually, as if she hadn’t just had a near-wreck worthy of the rodeo, and crossed her arms over her chest again. Her blue eyes narrowed. They were cold and calculating, and he had the uneasy feeling he was being sized up by an assassin, or maybe a Ninja.

  “Chase Caldwell,” she said. “How nice to meet you.” She put out a perfectly manicured hand in greeting, but when he went to shake it she pulled away so he was left holding her fingertips. Did she want him to kiss it or something? He gave it a squeeze and dropped it as quickly as he could.

  “Likewise,” he said. “But I don’t recall having the pleasure.”

  “Oh, you don’t know me.” She tossed her hair and pursed her lips, staring off across the landscape like she was looking for something. Her hair was almost as pretty as Lacey’s. Maybe she had a rich husband too. The color was nice, but once you saw it in the sun, you realized no normal woman had blonde streaks like that.

  But this wasn’t a normal woman.

  ***

  Lacey stroked Captain’s neck, trying not to relay her own nervousness. She wasn’t afraid of horses anymore—not Captain, anyway—but she was a lot more comfortable when she was sitting on top, holding the reins. Then she felt like she was in charge. Now, all she could think about was Captain’s heavy hooves. He was still keeping one foot cocked, as if he didn’t want to put weight on it, so it wasn’t likely he’d step on her foot. It didn’t seem likely he’d kick her either. She stroked him again, moving closer, and he dipped his head and nuzzled her arm.

  “Good boy. You’re a nice buddy, aren’t you? You’re…”

  She broke off as a high-pitched noise broke the silence. It sounded like a cross between a suburban catfight and the screaming banshees she’d read about in fairy tales. It was angry, almost desperate—and eerie enough to send a chill rippling up her spine.

  Sinclair growled, the sparse hair on his back rising, and took a few stiff-legged steps toward the sound. His bravado would have been more convincing if his tail hadn’t been tucked between his legs.

  Captain snorted and tossed his head, turning to face home and almost falling when he tried to put his weight on the bad leg. She knew she should comfort the frightened animals, but how did you comfort someone when you knew the danger was real?

  “It’s okay, Captain.” She swallowed. Her voice was so high-pitched and shaky she sounded like a BeeGee. “It’s okay.”

  The horse lowered his head and limped a few steps down the trail, glancing back as if wondering why she didn’t follow.

  “No, Captain. Come on.” She lifted the reins over his head. “Stay.”

  The noise cut through the forest again, louder this time. Closer. Captain lifted his head and tugged against the reins. When they didn’t give, he jerked harder, almost dragging her off her feet.

  Maybe she should take him over to the corral behind the Galt house, but then he wouldn’t be able to get away. He’d be bait for whatever was screaming in the forest. Of course, that meant it wouldn’t attack her. She looked down at the dog. “You’d make better bait.”

  He moved closer to her, and she noticed his tufted ears were trembling. Bending down, she stroked his back. He was shaking all over. “I’m kidding. Sorry.”

  She looped Captain’s reins over a low tree branch and settled herself on the ground under the tree. “Stay,” she repeated. “And don’t kick me.” The dog snuggled beside her, uncharacteristically affectionate. Maybe he was grateful she’d found him such a good home. Or maybe he was just glad she wasn’t making him wear bonnets and booties.

  Then again, maybe he was terrified of whatever was lurking in the forest.

  Chapter 37

  “What can I do for you?” Chase wanted to be polite, but he wasn’t about to ask the woman into the house. She made him uneasy with her Wicked Witch shoes and cold stare.

  “I’m a friend of Lacey’s,” she said. “I heard she was here.”

  Chase bit back a swear. Cody must have told her. There was no other way she’d know.

  “She’s not here.” He edged to one side, trying to get a look inside the car at her jug-headed companion.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Janice.”

  Chase didn’t remember Lacey mentioning that name. “Where are you from?”

  “Conway.” Her eyes narrowed, as if she was daring him to contradict her.

  She wasn’t being friendly, so he didn’t bother either. “I went to school there. I don’t remember you.”

  The door to the sedan clicked open, and the driver emerged. He was jug-headed, all right, and he barely had a neck at all—just massive, muscle-bound shoulders that blended into his head. His face was pockmarked, his lips fleshy and purple. He had pale blue eyes that should have been attractive or at least striking, but they were just scary.

  Maybe because Chase knew the guy.

  “Wade Simpson,” he said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Wade stepped away from his car and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking left, then right with exaggerated ease. “Nice spread.”

  “I like it.”

  “Guess you did all right after Trent Bradford stole your land. Not as pretty as Tennessee, though, is it?”

  “Suits me fine. And yeah, I’m over it.”

  As he said it, he realized he really was. He’d been coming to terms with his new life gradually, but today, enjoying the ride with Lacey and Annie, he’d appreciated the ranch in a new way. He was proud to show it to Lacey, proud of what he’d accomplished. Proud of his new life, of being a real cowboy instead of a goat farmer.

  “You doing okay with the way your dad died too?”

  All Chase’s newfound contentment whooshed out in a single, pained breath. He couldn’t help knotting his fists up and stiffening at the memory.

  “Shame, that was, the way your dad killed himself. You must wish you could get ahold of Bradford, choke him with your bare hands.”

  Chase looked down at the ground and collected himself, letting his fists relax and consciously easing the tension in his shoulders.

  “No,” he said. “I told you, I’m over it.”

  Wade laughed—the same nasty, knowing laugh Chase had heard over the phone days before. “Yeah, I guess you are. Amazing what fucking a guy’s wife’ll do for you, huh? I guess you got your revenge.” He leered. “Guess that would work for me too. She any good?”

  The woman, who had been standing silently by the car, cleared her throat and cast a killing glance toward Wade, giving Chase time to take a deep breath and swallow the urge to shove his fist into Wade’s face.

  “Well, it would if I didn’t have Janice here,” Wade said, looking nervous. “Sorry about that, honey.” He turned to Chase. “Janice here was Lacey’s best friend. She’s so worried about her that she made me drive all the way out here to check on her.”

  “Really.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So you and Janice are…”

  “We’re friends,” Janice said. “Acquaintances, really.” She shot Wade a murderous glare. “So where’s our Lacey?” She simpered, which was kind of scary. She wasn’t an unattractive woman, but the expression was so at odds with her personality that Chase would have been more inclined to help her if she’d scowled.

  “Lacey?” He’d been developing a strategy since the phone call to deal with this very moment—but he’d expected the moment to occur at the car lot. He’d never expected Wade to find the ranch.

  “Lacey left,” he said. “Skipped town.” He did his best to look brokenhearted.

  “What’d she do? Walk?”

  “No. I gave her a car from the dealership.”

  “Well, I guess she’s still a whore then,” Wade said. “Guess you were worth fucking.”

  Chase stepped up to h
im as Janice stepped away. She seemed to be making room for him to swing a fist. Apparently she didn’t like Wade any more than he did.

  Wade himself grinned like a jack-o’-lantern, the expression creasing his flabby cheeks. Unfortunately, that was the only part of him that was flabby. His muscles were swollen and laced with tortuous blue veins as if he’d spent most of his life since high school in the gym and the rest of it popping steroids. He stood in a fighting stance, fists clenched, legs apart, waiting for Chase to swing. His skin had taken on an unnatural flush, as if all the blood was flowing into his corded arms and clenched fists.

  Chase suspected he could win a fight. Wade might be bulky with muscle, but Chase was taller. Ranch work didn’t build a lot of visible muscle, but he was strong. And he was angry.

  Really angry.

  The realization made him take a step back and struggle for composure. Anger was liable to make him do something stupid, something that would get him in trouble and wouldn’t do a damn thing for Lacey.

  Wade sneered with such venom, he might as well have called Chase a coward, but Chase reminded himself he really didn’t give a damn about Wade’s opinion and turned to Janice.

  “So is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “You can tell me what kind of car Lacey’s driving.” She tried to look concerned, but the expression didn’t fit her any better than the simper. “I really need to find her. She’s just not equipped for life on her own.”

  “She’s fine,” Chase said.

  “No she’s not. She’s helpless.” She blinked in an effort to look sympathetic, but the predatory gleam in her eyes ruined the effect. “So what kind of car is it?”

  Wade stepped forward and reached for his back pocket like he was going for a gun. Adrenaline surged into Chase’s brain, but despite the sudden euphoria, he knew he’d never dodge a gunshot. When Wade whipped out a wallet, he felt like a popped balloon, stretched to the breaking point and then suddenly limp.

  Flipping the wallet open like a TV cop, Wade held up a polished brass badge. “I’ll need the make and model,” he said. “That woman’s a fugitive from justice. You’re harboring a criminal.”

  “Oh, Wade, for God’s sake,” Janice said.

  “Yeah, for God’s sake,” Chase echoed mockingly. “You’re not a federal agent, Wade. Being a Conway flatfoot isn’t going to do you any good here.”

  Wade started to swell up again. If he’d been a little taller and greener, it might have reminded Chase of the Incredible Hulk. As it was, all he could think of was an angry toad he’d found in the garden one summer.

  “Go home, Wade,” he said. “I’m not telling you a damn thing about her.”

  “I’m not going home until I find her,” Wade said. “You’ve really fallen for her lies?” He leaned against the car, affecting a relaxed posture, but a telltale vein still twitched in his neck. “She pretends to be so fuckin’ helpless, so fuckin’ sweet. Don’t you believe it. She was as much a part of that whole thing as her husband.”

  He cleared his throat and turned to spit a gob of phlegm into the dirt. “Always had to have more money for her fancy clothes. I worked with Trent on some projects, and I know he was desperate to keep her. She drove him to it.”

  “Lacey doesn’t care about money.”

  “No, but she cared about tennis at the club and tanning memberships and pricey clothes. That stuff added up, and Trent was chasin’ his tail to keep her happy. She used to flaunt it, too, always struttin’ down the street like she owned the place. She used to brag about how Trent had taken your farm and was gonna plow the whole thing under. How everybody would be better off when they got rid of those dirty goats and stuff.”

  Chase folded his arms over his chest. A week ago, he might have believed that, but he knew Lacey now. She might not be a big fan of goats, but she wasn’t cruel and she wasn’t selfish. “You done yet?”

  “She laughed when your dad died. Said he was a loser anyway.”

  Chase lunged forward. “Lacey wouldn’t say that. But you just did.”

  Anger buzzed in his brain and power surged in his body as he hauled the man toward the car. He couldn’t close his hand around Wade’s massive biceps, but he managed to tilt him off-balance and shove him through the open door, savoring a rush of satisfaction when the back of the man’s head thumped the edge of the roof as he fell inside.

  “Get lost, Wade,” he said. “You ever set foot on this property again, I’ll call the folks who do have jurisdiction over this place. Better yet, I’ll shoot you and bury you out back. It’s not like anybody’s watching.”

  Actually, someone was. He’d seen Annie’s face appear at the window to one side of the barn door. Hopefully she couldn’t hear him. He turned to Janice, who was already getting in the car.

  “You too, bitch,” he said. “Don’t let me see you back here again.”

  Chapter 38

  Chase watched the dark sedan kick up dust as Janice sped down the driveway, taking Wade with her. He tried to feel a sense of victory from chasing them away, or at least satisfaction, but all he felt was foreboding.

  Annie ran out of the barn, her eyes wide. “Uncle Chase, who was that? Why was that lady dressed so scary? How did she walk with those shoes on? Was that guy from the WWE? He looked like one of the bad guys. Is that why you didn’t want me to come out?”

  “Yeah.” He ruffled her hair. “Thanks for being a smart kid and staying in the barn.”

  “You’re welcome. But you said a bad word.”

  Shoot. So she had been listening. Pam had always cautioned him that Annie was the ultimate big-eared little pitcher, and it looked like she was right. Dang, the kid would probably tell on him too, and Pam would give him a lecture. He cast around for a change of subject that would make her forget what he’d said.

  “Are you really going to bury him in the yard?” she asked. “Because I think you should bury him farther from the house. On Law & Order, there was a guy who buried his wife in the yard and the cops found her right away.”

  “How ’bout ice cream, honey?”

  “No, I’d rather help you plan this out. What about Aunt Lacey?”

  He didn’t want to go back to the woods too soon after Wade had left, but he didn’t want to tell Annie that and scare her more than he had to.

  “She won’t mind waiting,” he said.

  “No, I mean do you think she could help? That guy said some really mean things about her. I bet she’d help you dig the hole. But you’d better not leave yet. Then those people will see which way you go. And then you’d have to kill that guy without having time to think this through. Do you think we could hide the body in the barn?”

  “Annie, I’m not going to kill anybody.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She sounded disappointed.

  He wished he had something in the freezer besides low-fat vanilla. Now that the subject had turned to detectives and police work, it would take Super Calorie Chocolate Fudge Chip Chunk Ripple Delight to make Annie forget what they were talking about.

  Sure enough, she chattered about murder methods and burial plans the entire time he dished out the ice cream. By the time he settled her at the table, she’d come to the conclusion that they should chop Wade up into manageable pieces, melt his flesh off in an acid bath, and haul him into the woods—where, conveniently, Lacey was waiting to help dig the hole.

  He assured her again that he wasn’t going to kill anyone and left her dejected over her bowl of plain-Jane vanilla while he went out and hooked up the horse trailer. He’d just gotten it hitched to the pickup when she came running out of the house, heels and hair flying.

  “I went upstairs and looked out the window and I saw those people. They didn’t leave. They parked on that hill across the road, and I think they have binoculars too.”

  Maybe Annie’s obsession wasn’t such a bad thing. He’d been just about to lead Wade and Janice straight to Lacey. Apparently, he wasn’t smarter than a second grader.

  “Let me s
ee.”

  Annie led him back to the house and up the stairs to the second-floor hallway, which looked out over the front of the house. She brought the binoculars to her eyes and gazed down the driveway, then nodded and handed them to him.

  “Yup. Still there,” she said.

  Chase peered through the glasses and saw the car parked on a hill not far from the house. It wasn’t an easy place to get to in a four-wheel-drive truck, so Chase couldn’t imagine how Wade had managed to get the sedan up the rocky, little-used cow path.

  He focused in on the car and made out the figures of Wade and Janice standing nearby. Something caught the light of the setting sun and reflected it back. Annie was right. Wade had some kind of lens trained on the house. But it might not be binoculars.

  It might be a rifle sight.

  He refocused the binoculars, but the two figures were in silhouette and whatever Wade had was pointed his way, so he couldn’t tell if it was a gun, binoculars, or a camera. But it was definitely aimed at the house.

  They must be watching for him to go to Lacey. Then they’d follow him, and then—then who knew what they’d do? The only thing he knew was that he had to get Annie out of there. Lacey would understand.

  But meanwhile, she was probably wondering where he was. And she was probably scared—with good reason. He hadn’t been kidding about the bears and the mountain lions. It wasn’t likely that either one would find her, but it wasn’t impossible. He’d heard there had been a big cat in the area. Someone had lost a couple of stray lambs, and another neighbor had found scat that didn’t look like it came from a bear.

  “You keep an eye on them,” he said to Annie. Watching them would keep her busy and give him time to think.

  “Okay.” She grabbed the binoculars and refocused them, then swung them briefly toward the corral where she’d turned out her pony. “Look at poor little Sheba. She’s just running up and down the fence, up and down. She misses Captain.”