“We should go on vacation,” Dane said out of the blue.
“Where?”
“Anywhere you want to go, sweetheart.”
“I’ll think about it. I’ve got about six weeks of vacation saved up.”
“Damn, must be nice to get paid to take time off.”
“I work like a demon.”
“Well, according to your grandmother, you are one.”
“I’ve apparently infected you, too.”
“Let’s hope there is no cure.” The smile he gave her said he meant it. She believed it.
She gave her statement—what little she could tell the officer—in less than ten minutes. Dane sat beside her, holding her hand while they waited for the officer to check something out and get back to them.
The officer walked in, holding a paper. “I think we might have something on the silver Mercedes.”
“Really?” Bell asked.
“A vehicle matching your description was carjacked from the doctor’s parking area at the hospital you work at.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Bozeman PD are looking for the vehicle. So are we. Any reason someone would target you?”
“No.”
“Have you pissed anyone off lately?”
“No. I work at the hospital and clinic, but nothing out of the ordinary has happened.”
“Have you lost any patients? Maybe a family member blames you for a botched surgery.”
“First, I don’t botch my surgeries. Second, I haven’t lost any patients. Complications and side effects from anesthesia and medication are common, but nothing stands out. Nothing that left a lasting effect on a patient’s health.”
“Okay, Doc, how about in your personal life? An ex-boyfriend who took the breakup personally.”
“I imagine a breakup is very personal, but I haven’t been involved with anyone.” She turned and looked at Dane. “Well, except for him.”
“I’ll still need a list of the men you’ve dated.”
“Okay. Dane Bowden.”
The officer looked at him, eyes narrowed in confusion.
“She doesn’t date. At all. It took me three weeks to convince her to have dinner with me.”
“Seriously?” the officer asked Dane.
“Seriously. She’s a brilliant doctor who has dedicated her time to helping her patients. She’s nice to everyone she meets, even if they aren’t necessarily nice to her. I can’t come up with a single reason someone would target her.”
“If it’s not her, maybe this has to do with you.”
Dane’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Me? What the hell did I do?”
“You tell me. Is there someone you know who would go after her to piss you off?”
“If it’s anyone, it has to be Rowdy Toll. He’s jealous as hell that I’m friends with Brandy. Now she’s missing. Come to think of it, I had some trouble the last weeks on the rodeo circuit leading up to the championships in Vegas. I thought it nothing more than rivals playing pranks.”
“What kind of pranks?”
“Vaseline all over my ropes. Hiding my gear. Stupid shit. Someone even broke into my truck and tossed all my gear in a Dumpster right before the championships.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a hell of a lot of money on the line. The thing is, the only times it happened, I’m almost certain Rowdy was competing, too. Nothing happened at any of the rodeos where he didn’t compete against me.”
“Since then, nothing out of the ordinary has happened?”
“Nothing, except Bell getting run off the road. I’ve been living back on my ranch, seeing Dr. Bell and sitting on my ass while my leg heals.”
“The last report I received, they found Rowdy’s truck abandoned at a truck stop in Wyoming. Seems to me he’s either headed this way—”
“Or already here,” Dane finished for him. “The thing is, Rowdy would be stupid to go up against me, and he knows it.”
“Maybe that’s why he’s going after her.”
Dane couldn’t dismiss the possibility. “Rowdy had a tendency to get something into his head and not let it go. Like a dog with a bone, he’d chew on it for a good long time. If he thinks I had a thing going with Brandy, then he’s lost his mind. I’m here. She was there. He should have been satisfied with that.
“If he is coming after me, you better find him before he does anything else crazy, because if I get my hands on him and find out he did something to Brandy and hurt Bell, I’ll teach him a lesson he never forgets.”
“Dane.” Bell squeezed his hand.
“What? If this is all about him being jealous that Brandy and I talk on the phone and exchange text messages once in a while, then he’s stupider than I ever gave him credit for being.”
“Watch your back, Doc,” the officer warned. “Be careful going to and leaving the hospital and clinic. Ask security at the hospital, or another doctor, to walk you to your car. Don’t go anywhere alone. If this guy has fixated on you and Dane, he’s dangerous.”
Dane stood and pulled her up with him. “Keep me posted. You’ve got my number and hers. You catch this fucker, I want to know about it immediately.” Dane gave her hand a tug. “Come on, Doc. Let’s get out of here.”
He settled her in the front seat of his truck and got behind the wheel, but he didn’t start the engine. He stared out at the building in front of him. “I’m sorry, Bell. I never meant for this to happen.”
“Of course you didn’t. We still don’t know if it’s him. Even if it is, it’s not your fault.”
“Someone tried to kill you this morning.”
“You couldn’t have stopped or prevented that. Now we know to be careful. They’ll find whoever did this. You never know, maybe Rowdy and Brandy went off for a lovers’ tryst.”
“The flaws in your optimism are showing. Brandy would never leave Kaley. She’d never leave her parents without telling them. Her father is sick, and her mother is struggling to hold on while the bills pile up. Brandy isn’t someone who’d shirk all her responsibilities to run off with an asshole like Rowdy.”
Bell scooted across the truck seat and leaned against his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his upper arm. “I know you’re worried about me and your friend. It’ll be okay, Dane. Whatever happens, don’t blame yourself. Like you said, if he’s stupid enough to go up against you, you’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
Yeah, Dane would kill the fucker if he hurt Bell again.
Chapter 16
Bell walked into the kitchen, grabbed the cigarette smoldering in the ashtray on top of three well-worn Bibles at her grandmother’s arm, and smashed it out. She took the cinnamon roll her grandmother shouldn’t be eating with her diabetes and dropped it into the trash.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Trying my best to take care of you.” Bell took the eggs from the fridge and cracked them into a pan on the stove. She broke the yolks and used the spatula to scramble them a bit, but not too much. Just like her grandmother liked.
“He’ll leave you the first chance he gets.”
Dane dropped her off at the house early this morning, reluctantly leaving her alone with her grandmother. Bell and Dane spent the last four nights together, wrapped in each other’s arms and completely lost in the deep feelings they shared. She’d insisted on coming home today to clean the house of whatever crap her grandmother collected in that time and wash her clothes. She should take the keys to her grandfather’s old truck and make sure her grandmother didn’t go anywhere, but she didn’t have the heart to limit her trips to town. Selfishly, Bell didn’t want the chore of having to take her every week. She spent enough time with her grandmother, listening to her spew vile words and accusations. Still, with her eyesight getting worse, the time had come to do something drastic.
“He’s free to do as he pleases, and he’s still here. He likes me, Grandmother. He makes me happy. Don’t you want that for me? After all that’s happened, are
n’t I at least entitled to that?”
“No. You ruined everything. Since you arrived, my husband died and my own son refuses to come here. I have to go to Katherine’s to see him. He won’t even look at you.”
“That’s his choice.” She hated that her father put his mother between them. All this time, she still felt like living here had been some form of punishment for her being born. “If you want to ask him here, I’m happy to leave so you can have the house to yourself. But let’s get one thing clear—the reason he probably doesn’t come here is because of all the stuff you cram into this tiny place.”
“It’s my stuff. You think I don’t know you move things around and throw things away.”
“I’m keeping the piles from toppling over and burying you alive. You should thank me.”
Bell slid the eggs from the pan onto a plate. She poured a mug of hot water from the coffee carafe and plunked in a chamomile tea bag. Nothing would mellow out her grandmother, but the tea might dissipate her caffeine buzz from the three cups of coffee she’d already drunk.
Bell set the plate and mug in front of her grandmother. She grabbed the old papers and discarded food wrappers and napkins from the table and dumped them in the trash bin. Next to her grandmother she set down a book she’d picked up from the hospital gift shop. “I found a new one for you.”
Her grandmother rested her hand on the book. She loved the hidden word searches. They kept her busy in between watching game shows on TV. Bell picked them up once in a while to make her grandmother happy. Not that anything ever really did.
“I miss him. He used to keep this place all fixed up.”
“My father?”
She shook her head. “My husband. So handsome and smart. He left me far too soon.”
“Yes, he did. I miss him, too. I don’t have many memories, but I remember he was kind.”
She frowned and glared at Bell. “He wanted you here. He never forgave our boy for what he did.”
“I like him even more now.”
“You’ll leave here to be with him.”
“If you mean Dane, yes, I will. For a chance to be happy and loved, I will leave here and hold on to him and everything he offers and the way he makes me feel. But I will make sure you are taken care of and your needs are met. It’s better than you ever did for me.”
“I put a roof over your head and food in your belly when no one else wanted you. I did my duty, the charitable thing.”
“Would it have been so hard to say a kind word? Send me to school? Treat me like I was a human being and not Satan’s spawn? I didn’t sin. My parents did.”
“You’re just like him.”
“Who?” She didn’t think her grandmother was talking about her beloved, sinning son.
“Your grandfather. He wanted to punish your father.”
“He was married with a child and had an affair. Isn’t that one of the you shall nots in your Bible? Isn’t it a sin to turn your back on your child?”
“And here you plan to turn your back on me.”
“That’s not true. I’m taking the one and only chance I’ve ever had to be happy. I will continue to care for your needs, but not at the expense of my relationship with Dane.”
Bell walked out of the kitchen to her room and slammed the door. She stood with her arms banded around her middle and hugged herself close. Standing in that kitchen, feeling every day of her life with her grandmother weigh on her, she’d made her decision. She didn’t want to feel this way anymore. Dane said the request for her to move in with him stood. The last days they’d spent together after her shift at the hospital had been some of the best days of her life. She didn’t want to give that up. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She wanted to be with the man she loved.
Thanksgiving was only a few days away. She’d tell him then. He’d be so happy. With Rowdy still out there somewhere, possibly out to hurt her and Dane, he’d want her at his place all the time. No, not his place. Their place.
Her mind sprouted dreams of how it would be. They’d eat their meals together. Watch more of those cartoons he loved and that made her laugh. She’d learn to ride his beloved horses and plant a garden in the spring on the small plot he’d pointed out as he’d teased her about planting peppers and tomatoes to rival the small garden she had here. She’d help him finish redecorating the house. They’d make it their place. Maybe one day, they’d get married and have a family. She’d be happy. With him. Their home. The life they’d make together.
She pulled her sweater off over her head, then found a T-shirt and her zip-up hoodie. She laced on her running shoes and grabbed her cell and headphones. She’d listen to some music and go for a walk. Her knee was better, but not enough for a run. She’d go to the river, find some inner peace, and figure out a way to tell Dane she was moving in with him on Friday.
Chapter 17
Rowdy’s gut ached. He’d run out of cash and couldn’t use his credit or debit card without getting caught. He’d broken into a house this morning when the old couple left to go to town. He’d stolen a couple bottles of booze, a six-pack of beer, a gas can, and a truck. He should have taken some food to go with the whiskey he downed.
Nothing but nerves. He’d never done anything like this. Not until Brandy. This would be the end. Dane would finally get his.
He knelt and set the six-pack by the chicken coop, checking out the tiny hellhole that bitch doctor lived in. What the hell was with all the crosses in the windows? No fucking way God saved that bitch from Rowdy’s wrath.
Why the fuck she lived here boggled his mind. A big-time doctor should live in a ritzier house. She’d stayed with Dane the last few days, but not anymore.
He stood and swayed on his unsteady legs. He pulled the lighter from his pocket, flicked the roller, and stared at the flame. “Let it burn.”
He grabbed three of the bottles from the carton and walked to the back of the house. He set two down, lit one, and tossed it through the back window. The bottle broke, making it less effective, but the flames rose up and caught quickly. Smoke billowed out the window and licked at the roof. He grabbed the other two bottles and a rag and ran to the other side of the house. This time, he found a rock and threw it through the window first. A woman yelled, “What the hell?” He lit the rag and tossed the gasoline-filled beer bottle through the broken window. The place went up in flames, and a scream broke the quiet outside, exciting him even more.
“Burn, bitch, burn.”
He tossed the third through the old truck’s open window and ran back for the coop. The rush of excitement pushed him on. He grabbed another bottle, lit it, and tossed it into the bitch’s Jeep. It went up in seconds, black smoke rising into the air.
The chickens squawked and rushed to the back of the enclosure. He grabbed another bottle and lit it. He’d spilled some gasoline on his hand and jacket the last time he’d thrown the bottle. His arm caught fire as he tossed the bottle against the coop’s wood wall. The straw went up, along with his arm. He shook it and patted it with his hand, but the damn thing didn’t go out. He screamed, tore off his jacket, and wrapped it around his hand and arm to smother the fire. It worked, but his arm burned and hurt like hell.
“Fuck!”
He turned and stared at the destruction around him, mesmerized by the flames. He smelled the smoke and felt the heat. He closed his eyes, swayed, and let the rush run through him, dulling the pain in his arm and settling the vengeance in his heart.
He opened his eyes again and smiled. “Go fuck yourself, Dane.”
Chapter 18
Dane tossed the last bale of hay on the stack inside the stables and pulled his gloves off. The wind whipped up and caught his hair, blowing it back. He needed to grab his cap out of the truck cab. He held his head up to catch the wind and took it in. God, it was good to be outside working for a change.
He thought of Bell for the five thousandth time in ten minutes. He hated that she’d gone back to her place, insisting he didn’t have to stay with
her every second. He worried about her while she was at work. He worried about her every moment she was out of his sight. But nothing happened in the last four days. He tried to convince himself Rowdy gave up with that last stunt, but Dane knew it was only a matter of time before Rowdy struck again.
Something caught his attention, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what alerted him to danger. He walked out past his truck toward the front yard, searching everywhere for a sign. One of his guys walked out of the barn. The horses in the nearby pasture whinnied and shook their heads up and down.
Dane smelled fire. He raised his head to the sky and scanned the surrounding area, spotting black smoke rising from down the road.
“Rodrigo, get in the truck. That’s got to be Bell’s place.”
Two more of his guys jumped in the back as Dane took his place behind the wheel and gunned the engine. He peeled out on the gravel and raced down the road to Bell’s house. Rodrigo called in the fire. Dane could barely think past the fear rushing through his veins, tightening his chest, and choking off his breath.
She’s safe. Those words became his mantra. He couldn’t lose her now.
“I texted your brothers,” Rodrigo said from beside him.
Dane saw the flames shoot into the air from the cabin’s roofline. He thought of all that stuff piled high inside, of Bell stuck in that house, trying to wind her way through the narrow passages she’d made, trying to get out through the flames and the smoke. He thought of her sitting in her room, reading a book, smelling the smoke, maybe not knowing what it was until it was too late. She’d try to get to her grandmother. She’d open her bedroom door and face a wall of flames.
Every scenario that played in his mind ended only one way. Bell dead. The thought stopped his heart. He tried to tell himself it couldn’t be. He’d get to her in time.
He pulled into her driveway and slammed on the brakes. The truck skidded to a stop. He leaped out and ran for the house, his heart in his throat, but several hands grabbed him from behind and held him back. He fought to break free and get to her. He needed to get to her.
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