by Laurie Paige
“I’ll be over around nine tonight, if not sooner.” He headed for the screen door.
“Tonight?” she repeated, trying to remember what was supposed to take place at that time.
“To spend the night.”
“There’s no spare bed,” she reminded him.
“The sofa will do. If you won’t take police protection, then you’ll have to accept mine. You’re on my turf now, Dr. Kearns. You’ll do as I say.”
She was still trying to marshal her arguments long after he left. Absently she carried the dishes inside and put them in the dishwasher, then straightened up the cabin. She vacuumed and dusted and scrubbed the bathroom, a chore she hated, then looked around for something else to do. A one-bedroom cabin didn’t offer many possibilities.
Finally she collected a book and the cell phone, then went out to the deck. There she quickly glanced all around the lake, alert for any suspicious characters or actions.
“Ohh,” she muttered when she realized what she was doing. Pierce was making her as paranoid as he was, about her safety.
After a while she relaxed. With the day came warmth and a sense of security. She fell asleep in the middle of the page.
Pierce finished the conference call with the men who managed the other two fishing/hunting resorts he’d built in the past five years. Each place—one near Missoula, Montana, the other in Wyoming—was earning a healthy profit.
One manager wanted to add a golf course similar to the one here at Rumor. He’d promised to think about it.
After reading over a couple of reports, then signing checks left the day before by the accountant, he finished up the paperwork and locked the desk. Since becoming mayor, he had to work in his own business affairs in odd moments.
The telephone rang before he could get away. He hesitated, torn between duty and desire.
The answering machine picked up the call. An irate citizen demanded to know what he was doing about keeping the residents from being murdered in their sleep.
“Everything I can and then some,” he muttered, and went out the door. He quickly surveyed the scene.
Not a cloud dotted the sky, which was the blue depicted in picture postcards. A pleasant breeze wafted over the land, blowing down from the spectacular Beartooth Pass to the south of them. Several kids played on the beach or in the roped-off swimming area in front of the vacation cabins on the east side of the lake.
He scowled at the pastoral view, his mood as dark as a gathering storm. Someone was leaking information on the case, and he wanted to know who. He’d informed the sheriff and his chief investigator of that fact an hour ago.
First of all, he wanted the leak traced to its source. Second, he wanted some results, not assurances that they were doing all they could. Third, he wanted Chelsea safe and out of harm’s way.
Perversely, he also didn’t want her to leave Rumor. Not yet. There were issues to be resolved between them before she left.
Spying Chelsea on the deck, he cursed, then gave in to the need to check on her. As he drew closer, he saw that she was asleep. He stepped silently onto the wooden planks and leaned against the railing.
After checking all around for signs of danger, he simply watched her, an odd contentment seeping into his bones, soothing the turmoil from earlier.
Where the sun dappled her hair, the strands gleamed with gold and red highlights. She’d acquired a slight tan during her week at the lake. Her legs were long and slender, strong but delicately curved. One was crossed over the other and a flip-flop dangled from the strap between her toes.
Her face was peaceful in its repose. She looked young and vulnerable, as idealistic as she’d been when he’d first met her. He wished they could start over with a clean slate as of this moment. Maybe things would be different.
His heart thundered like a stampeding herd of buffalo. Worry and regret and other emotions rushed over him, leaving him baffled and uncertain of his motives.
Her eyes opened, and she spotted him. She glanced around the area, then back at him. “Keeping watch?” she asked, her manner amused, remote.
“No, just seeking some agreeable companionship. Know where I can find any?”
He liked the way her eyebrows shot up in surprise, then the drollness of her grin. He liked the suggestion of a dimple that formed at the corners of her mouth. He liked the soft line of her lips and the fact that her lipstick was gone. He liked…too damn much.
“Not around here,” she said, no longer distant. She opened the book on her lap and returned to her story.
While she was engrossed, he continued his watch, noting the people who came and went on the other side of the lake as the morning wore on.
After a while Chelsea’s head nodded. The book, a novel of lust and danger, the dust jacket proclaimed, fell to her chest. She slept again.
It came to him that she hadn’t slept well since coming to the resort. That was hardly surprising. So far it hadn’t proved a very restful time.
Pushing off the railing, he pulled a lounge chair close to hers and settled in it after another perusal of the landscape. He yawned, then let his eyes drift closed. A humorous thought crept into his mind. They were indeed sleeping together.
Okay, not together, but at the same time and the same place. Same thing, he decided and, grinning, dropped into a deep, peaceful slumber.
“Well, well, what have we here?”
Chelsea woke with a start. Kelly was standing beside her chair, her eyes, blue like Pierce’s, were sparkling with mischief. In the chair next to her, Pierce sat up and pulled the back of the lounger into an upright position.
“Beauty and the Beast, napping like angels,” Kelly continued. “I should have brought my camera.”
“A polite person would have left them asleep and gone on about her own business,” Pierce told his sister, but without much heat.
“Ah, but then you wouldn’t have gotten this delicious treat I brought over for you. Brownies with walnuts. Yummy!” She took a big bite out of one.
“Hey!” Pierce made a swipe at the platter.
“You shouldn’t have bothered,” Chelsea said, smiling at their play.
“Actually, I didn’t. I bought them at the diner. Jim and I wondered if you two would like to come over for supper tonight. I thought we’d do some trout on the grill, provided my lazy brother will provide the trout.”
He yawned and nodded. “Sure. There’s plenty in the freezer, I think. Help yourself.”
“There is. I checked before I came looking for you.” She set the platter on a low wicker table. “Come over about seven, okay?”
“I really should…” Chelsea tried to think of something she needed to do.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Kelly said with a mock frown. This is your vacation, which officially starts today. We’re going to celebrate.”
Chelsea knew when to give in gracefully. After her friend had left, she sighed and reclined in the lounge chair, her eyes on the peaks beyond the lake. “It’s so peaceful here.”
“Yeah, when people aren’t killing each other.” He stood and paced the deck. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay. I know you’re worried.”
He propped a hip on the railing and watched a couple rowing about the lake, their inexperience bringing laughs from their friends on shore.
Turning back to her, he said, “I don’t want the killer to be a local person. I want him to be an out sider, someone passing through, a simple robbery gone wrong. We had a lot of tourists in town for the last weekend of the Crazy Moon Festival.”
“Maybe it was one of them.” She knew it wasn’t.
He shook his head. “It’s someone we know…and trust. Someone we would never suspect. After all, we certainly didn’t suspect Harriet had a lover. I’ve tried to pick out a man in the community who might qualify, but there isn’t one who comes to mind. I suppose that’s an insult to Harriet.”
Chelsea sympathized with his dilemma. “She was a secretive
person. She chose to hide her wealth and her personal life from everyone.”
She sat upright and put the marker in her book. Laying it on the table, she offered him a brownie, then took one for herself after he did. She glanced at her watch. “I slept most of the morning.”
“You were tired. It’s been a busy week. You probably haven’t slept well since you arrived.”
Her eyes met his. It took an effort to look away. She was confused by the concern she witnessed in those blue depths. “Why are you so worried?” she asked. “Do you know something I don’t?”
He shook his head. “It’s just a feeling…like something’s wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
She recalled the chill she’d experienced while near the deceased woman’s chair. “Murder is what’s wrong,” she said gently. “A lone woman, an unborn child, an eruption of anger that leads to violence and death. It leaves everyone unsettled and unsure about their safety in a community that normally leaves its doors unlocked.”
“That’s changed. The hardware store sold out of dead bolts and padlocks as soon as rumors of murder started circulating. I asked the sheriff to put more men on the case, but he says he doesn’t have any to spare.”
“Holt has done everything there is to do at the present. He did a very good job gathering evidence. What there was of it. Colby Holmes is trying to help, too.”
“From what I hear, he’s been more of a nuisance than anything else.”
“He spread the word about the murder. I think that should have been acknowledged from the first.”
“The sheriff and I agreed that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. That’s why we wanted your expertise. I was right to send for you. We would never have known about the pregnancy otherwise. It had to have been her lover.”
When he shot a questioning glance her way, Chelsea realized he was still baffled by the case. “Yes, I think it was her lover. Find the father of her child and you’ll find the killer.”
“He didn’t really care about her or the baby, did he? He just didn’t care.”
Chelsea realized Pierce was trying to understand that fact, that his personal idea of manhood was the protection of women and children and he couldn’t see how another man could harm those who trusted him.
Something in her went warm and liquid. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, to comfort him and tell him not all men were as honorable as he was.
Controlling the impulse, she said, “He cares for his own image more. His position in society is more important than any other feelings he might have.”
“I live with the thought that we may never know who he is.” His manner was introspective, dark with the specter of death hanging over them. “I find that idea impossible to tolerate.”
“It outrages our sense of justice. Unfortunately, right doesn’t always prevail. I’ve learned that since I started my job. It’s hard when you see criminals walk away and you know they’re guilty.”
“Yeah. Let’s walk around the lake,” he suggested.
She sensed his restlessness and the frustration of feeling helpless in a serious situation. “You’re not responsible,” she told him. “It isn’t your job to solve the case. You have a community to run.”
He smiled grimly. “And to keep safe.”
When he reached for her hand, she didn’t pull away. For the next hour they strolled the paths around the lake edge. At the main lodge of the resort, they went inside for lunch.
“I’ll give you a tour after we eat,” he promised, seeing her curious glances at the lobby and the shops that lined corridors to each side when they went to the restaurant.
“I’m glad you got to build this place,” she said sincerely, admiring the soaring architecture. “It was your dream, you once said, to build a paradise. You did it.”
“Did I?” he questioned softly, holding a chair for her at a table covered in white linen.
She cast him a surprised glance over her shoulder.
“I’ve found paradise is more than a place.” His smile was sardonic. “I still have to find my Eve to go in it.”
Her breath caught so that she could hardly speak. “I’m sure Kelly will be glad to help.”
“Oh, yes. She and Mom are ever on the lookout for the perfect female to fit in our little Eden. So far, no luck.”
Chelsea ignored the throb of blood through her body. She hadn’t been that woman eight years ago. She wasn’t going to try out for the part now.
Chapter Six
Pierce worked on the account books during the rest of the afternoon. The three resorts, the golf course, the real-estate office in town, all were doing well. Since becoming mayor, he’d found he didn’t have to do all that much about overseeing operations. His managers were quite competent to handle the details.
Finishing up, he locked the file cabinet, checked the desk for anything he’d forgotten, then headed for the shower. It was nearly time to pick up Chelsea.
His body tightened at the thought. He couldn’t deny he was eager to see her. He’d looked at the clock every half hour while taking care of business.
So what?
An unbidden smile tugged at his mouth. Sure, he wanted to see her. He wanted a repeat of Friday.
Which wasn’t likely, given her resentment at being watched, he added in all honesty. However, as long as she was in his neighborhood and under his care, she’d follow orders regarding her safety.
He drove around to her place. “Ready?” he called out upon reaching the cabin’s rustic door.
“Just about. Come on in.”
He crossed the screened porch and entered the living room. Chelsea’s scent drifted on the hot summer air, enclosing him in a light fragrance of perfume and powder. He recognized the balsam from her shampoo and the clean, minty odor of the soap she used.
Gripping the back of a dining chair, he waited out the spasm of need that rocketed through him. When she came out of the bedroom, he was under control once more. Barely.
“I’m ready.” She picked up her purse and checked its contents, then snapped it closed and slung the strap over her shoulder.
Tonight she wore a summery dress of black pleated silk that left her arms bare and teased him with an enticing plunge to a point between her breasts. She carried a black shawl over one arm.
Glancing at his fresh jeans and white shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his arms, he said, “You’re pretty fancy tonight.”
“Do you think the dress is inappropriate? I can change to slacks—”
“You’re fine.” He grabbed her arm and hustled her out, heading for his sister’s house, a sense of déjà running through the scene.
It was more than the fact of the birthday party last night. Somehow it seemed he’d done this with her in the past. He hadn’t. Although she’d visited his sister after her training, he’d stayed out of the way. Three years ago he’d been in Missoula when she came to visit.
He was glad when they got to the ranch. Being in the closed SUV, having her within arm’s reach, tempting him with her subtle scent, was almost more than he could take. It was going to be a long two weeks, he decided, unless she accepted his offer to move to his house and his bed.
Glancing at her quiet pose as she studied the passing scenery, he was sure that wasn’t going to happen.
He parked in front of the old ranch house and escorted Chelsea around to the patio where the grill was going and trout were sizzling. Rolls were in the warming bin. Baked potatoes browned to the side of the fish.
“I’ll go help Kelly,” Chelsea said after greeting Jim with a hug. She went inside.
“Here,” Jim said, and handed over a beer.
Pierce took a cool drink. It didn’t help his mood.
“You look about as happy as a three-legged mule in a mile-long race.”
Pierce managed a half smile. “Troubles,” he said.
Jim nodded, his cheer fading. “The murder?”
“Chelsea,” Pierce admitted. “I shouldn’t have insisted she c
ome down here. The autopsy could have been done in Billings as well as Whitehorn.”
“You think she’s in danger?”
He shrugged. “Have you ever sensed something but couldn’t put your finger on it? Like there’s something you should put together but can’t?”
Jim was silent while he turned the trout and basted them with a butter sauce. “Follow your hunch,” he finally advised. “Sometimes your senses pick up signals that don’t register in your mind. I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts, especially where danger is concerned.”
“Holt Tanner doesn’t think Chelsea has anything to worry about.”
“Maybe not. But maybe she does. There’s a killer in the area. Until we know who he is and have him locked up, I want Kelly to be careful, too.”
“You don’t think—”
“No,” Jim interrupted, “but I don’t want her trusting everybody she meets the way she usually does. That’s all.”
Pierce nodded. His sister had a tendency to butt into other people’s lives. She told parents how to raise their kids and scolded them about their own health and about setting examples for their families. He hadn’t thought about her being in danger, though.
“Hellfire and damnation,” he muttered.
“Yeah, it drives me crazy, too,” Jim said. “I grew up in Jersey where you belonged to a gang or else. Even then your life could be wasted for no reason. Maybe you just happened to get in front of a stray drive-by shooting. I came out West to get away from all that.”
“You can’t get away from people and their foibles.”
“I’ve learned that. I’ve also learned to grab happiness and hang on to it with both hands. For me, that’s Kelly.”
Pierce’s attention was drawn to the kitchen as Kelly and Chelsea laughed at something. In a few minutes they came outside with plates and silverware and napkins.
“I’m starved,” Kelly told her husband. “Are the fish about ready?”
“You’re always starved nowadays,” Jim said with a grin at Pierce. “Pregnant women,” he muttered.