He grinned, pleased she seemed determined to put aside what must have been a difficult conversation with Chase. They spent a few moments discussing plans for the afternoon and how they were going to deal with his desire to keep news of his amnesia as quiet as possible. Now that he knew his identity and that of his attackers, he was more than ready to file a report with the sheriff. It would mean the local newspaper would want to do a story on him, but Raine agreed to sit in on any interviews.
“We’ll need to tell Sam and Charlotte what’s going on,” Raine said. “But beyond the four of us, no one except the sheriff needs to know you can’t recall everything.”
“Who are Sam and Charlotte?”
“Charlotte is the assistant manager of the restaurant, and Sam has worked for us for years.”
When they went downstairs, Sam had his back to them as he stacked empty bottles into a box at the near end of the bar. The stocky body and military-short white hair caught Trey off guard.
“Sam,” Raine said.
Before he turned, Trey knew Sam’s features as surely as his own. How could he not? he thought. Sam had been a second father to him and Raine when their own parents had fallen apart after Mike’s death.
“Raine, I didn’t know you were home. Did you find any new information at the —” His voice broke off as he caught sight of Trey.
“Hello, Sam.” Trey wrapped his arms around the older man in a brief hard hug.
Sam returned the pressure with equal emotion and when he stepped back, his eyes were damp. “I’ll be damned. I hardly recognized you with the stubble. Where the hell have you been?”
Trey waited to tell his story until Charlotte joined them and they were all together in the privacy of his office.
“So here I am, home again,” he concluded at the end of his tale. “Unfortunately, I’m still missing a good chunk of my memory — a fact I’d like to keep under wraps as much as possible.”
“Why?” Charlotte asked, looking confused.
“Because the less attention I get for a while, the better. I’m guessing folks will be curious to know where I’ve been and my sudden return will cause enough of a stir. I’d rather not add to it with speculation about whether I’m brain-damaged from getting hit on the head.”
“You’re not, are you?” Sam looked at Trey with alarm.
“No,” Trey assured him. “I’ve seen a doctor, two of them, as a matter of fact, and other than a scar and some gaps in what I remember, I’m fine.”
“Great, that’s good news,” Sam said with relief.
“I don’t think we need to make this complicated,” Trey continued. “If you’ll all back me up while I’m working and let me know people’s names and what I should know about them, I doubt anyone will pick up on what’s going on. And if I forget someone when none of you are around, I’ll just say I have a killer headache, left over from getting knocked unconscious.”
“So you want to let people know you were attacked?” Charlotte asked.
“Sure, the closer to the truth we stay, the easier it will be to keep our stories straight — and everyone is going to want to know where I’ve been. So we can tell them I was hijacked, hit over the head, and have been recovering in a hospital somewhere, how’s that?”
“Works for me,” Raine said. “In fact, the only thing we’re not going to say is that you have partial amnesia, right?”
“Correct.” Trey looked at Charlotte and Sam, and both nodded their agreement. “Good, that’s settled, then.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “I’m going to spend the rest of today and tonight in my apartment looking at photos, reading back issues of the local newspaper. In short, taking in as much information as I can about life here in Wolf Creek.”
“Do you want us to tell people you’re home?” Charlotte asked.
“No. I’ll be back at work tomorrow. I’d like to stay as low-key as possible and folks will know I’m back soon enough.”
“Okay.” Sam nodded and got up. “I’d better get back to the bar and relieve Sheila.” His face softened. “It’s great to have you home, boy.”
“Thanks, Sam. It’s good to be back.”
Charlotte threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Ditto from me, big guy. We’ve missed you!”
“Thanks.”
“What can I do to help?” Raine said when the two had gone. “I’ll bring dinner up from the restaurant — and how about the newspapers? I saved copies for you.” She pointed at the bookcase in the corner where the bottom shelf held a stack of newsprint. “But when I was out of town searching for you, I’m pretty sure Sam tossed out the newer ones, since that pile hasn’t grown.”
“I’ll read the ones I’ve got and scan the rest online. Do you have our high school yearbooks? The pictures might jog my memory and if they don’t, you can tell me what I should know about our old friends and fill me in on what they’re doing now, especially the ones I’m likely to run into.”
They spent Trey’s first night back home closeted in his apartment. Together they went through newspapers, photograph albums and high school yearbooks while Raine told him as much as she could about his life in Wolf Creek.
By ten o’clock they’d worked their way through all the albums and yearbooks. They were a third of the way through Raine’s newspapers, piled next to the sofa. They both sat cross-legged on the floor, books and papers strewn around them.
“I need coffee.” She rose, yawned, stretched and headed for the kitchen. “How about you?”
“Sure,” he said absently as he took another newspaper off the stack. Across the bottom right quarter of the front page was a photo of a group of people, all posed with shovels at a construction site. He scanned the list of names below the picture and paused, stopped by one of them. “Harlan Kerrigan,” he mused aloud. “So that’s what he looks like.”
“Let me see.” Raine leaned over his shoulder and read the caption, then tapped the photograph with her forefinger. “Yes, that’s him all right. Do you remember him?”
“He looks familiar but I only know what Chase told me, which wasn’t much.”
“What did Chase say about Harlan?”
“That the McClouds and the Kerrigans have been involved in a feud for a long time, Harlan owns land locally, and that his son, Lonnie, was involved somehow in the car crash that killed Mike.”
“That’s all?”
“Near as I can remember.” Trey searched her face, curious. “Is there more?”
“There’s always more when it comes to Harlan and Lonnie, but I think you have the basics.” Raine pointed to the man standing next to Harlan in the photo. “This is Senator Clark. Over the last few years, Harlan’s been spending a lot of time in Helena, making the rounds of the social functions and schmoozing government officials. The word is he’s involved in several big deals, many of which wouldn’t survive being exposed to daylight. He’s contributed heavily to some senatorial campaigns, and gossip says the money is more bribe than political donation.” Raine frowned at the picture. “Personally, I think there’s more going on than anyone suspects. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harlan has his sights set on a political career.”
“What about Lonnie?”
“Lonnie’s not a politician — he doesn’t have the temperament. The only good thing I can say about him is that he’s not as devious as his father. With Lonnie, all the bad stuff is up-front. Five minutes in his company and you know he’s a bully and a braggart. He drinks too much, fights too much, and someday he’s going to get himself into trouble that his father can’t buy him out of.”
“Nice family,” Trey said dryly.
“Oh, yes,” Raine said. “And Harlan has an office just a block away.”
“Tell me what happened when you realized I was missing — what did you do?”
“I called the Sherriff’s Office,” Raine said. “But they couldn’t find any information — it was as if you’d dropped off the face of the earth. So I drove out to Chase’s ranch and demanded he help me
find you.”
“Just like that?” Trey looked at her, trying to read her expression. “And did he agree just as easily?”
“Not exactly.” Raine waved a hand dismissingly.
“So he refused?”
“At first.”
“How did you change his mind?”
“I told him you’d received an anonymous letter that might mean someone has information about the night Mike was killed.”
“And that convinced him?” Trey said with surprise. He remembered clearly the day Chase had told him to forget the past and get on with his life. Hadn’t he meant it?
“I think so. He certainly wasn’t cooperative until he learned there may be new evidence.”
“Hmmm.” Trey noted the unhappy curve of Raine’s mouth, a direct contrast to her brisk words and determined effort to conceal any reaction to Chase’s name. He changed the subject, asking a question about a second photo on the newspaper’s front page.
Trey insisted on driving her home just before midnight, telling her to humor him when she protested that she didn’t need an escort. He waited until she waved good-night and went inside before driving off. He didn’t go far. He parked around the block and dialed Andy Jones’s cell phone number.
“Yo.”
“This is Trey. I just left Raine at her house.”
“I saw you,” the professional bodyguard replied. “I’m in the blue van across the street out front. Chase’s brother Luke is covering the alleyway in back.”
“Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
“How did you get from Seattle to Wolf Creek so fast?” Trey asked, curious.
“Private plane.” There was a smile in his voice. “Grade-A Prime travel.”
“How’d you swing that?”
“Chase has friends in high places. In this case, a software billionaire with a jet sitting on the ground at Boeing Field.”
Trey rang off and went home, satisfied that Raine was being well watched.
The following morning brought a stream of longtime customers and friends into the saloon, stopping by to say hello to Trey and welcome him back. He worked in his office, coming out periodically to chat with people. To his relief he discovered he remembered quite a few of them, and when he didn’t, Sam, Charlotte and Raine were quick to casually drop names and details.
Nevertheless, by the time the day ended and he could escape upstairs to his apartment, he’d had enough socializing. He thought about calling Lori and decided against it. She wasn’t likely to talk to him and, in any case, he doubted he could convince her over the phone to forgive him. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to accomplish that face-to-face.
But he would. Just as soon as Chase brought in the Rimes brothers and they learned who was behind the carjacking. Until he was sure being with her wouldn’t endanger Lori, he had to stay in Wolf Creek.
And keep Raine safe, he thought. Fortunately, Andy Jones and Luke McCloud were taking the night shift while he kept watch on her during the day. With luck, she’d never know she was at risk.
Harlan Kerrigan dialed the phone with swift jabs, fury pounding at his temples.
“Yeah?”
“Trey Harper isn’t dead,” he snarled into the phone.
“What?” Shock filled Lonnie’s voice.
“You heard me, he isn’t dead. He’s back in Wolf Creek and that sister of his is cozy with Chase McCloud.” Harlan paced the plush Oriental carpet in his Helena home. “I want the Rimes brothers out of the country. Now. Before McCloud can find them and they have a chance to implicate me. Are they still in Wyoming?”
“I haven’t talked to them in a day or two. I’ll call and find out.”
“Send them cash to buy one-way tickets to Belize and enough extra to live for a month. Tell them I want them out of the States and beyond McCloud’s reach as soon as possible.”
He punched the off button and threw the phone onto the desk. It gouged the fine cherrywood surface and bounced onto the floor.
The uneasy feeling that events were slipping out of his control enraged him. He stalked to the liquor cabinet and poured a shot of whiskey, downing it in one gulp.
Chapter Eight
Even a winning baseball team couldn’t raise Lori’s spirits. Despite her determination to put behind her the hours spent with Trey Harper and chalk them up as wasted time, she grieved.
At work, she met Kari and Ralph’s concern with assurances that she was fine. In fact, she told them, she was relieved they’d all learned the truth before she’d become too involved with Trey. But when she went home at night, she dropped the bright facade she wore so determinedly all day.
The color had gone out of her life, taking with it any semblance of the happy, fizzing excitement she’d felt with Trey, and left only dull shades of gray.
I will get over this, she told herself fiercely each morning as she dressed. I will.
Each evening that brought no word from Chase made Trey more impatient. His memory became stronger and more complete as the missing pieces of his life filled in the gaps, the process seemingly accelerated by the familiar surroundings of Wolf Creek.
His ability to recall details of the week prior to the carjacking, however, remained stubbornly blank.
Until the morning he helped Charlotte unload several boxes of office supplies from the back seat of her SUV. He stretched across the leather to reach a box on the floor and had an instant mental image of lying facedown on the carpeted floor of his own vehicle.
And hearing the voices of two men.
He stared at the carpet, laser-hot anger searing through him as he recalled their conversation.
“Trey? Can you reach it?” Charlotte asked from behind him. “I can fetch it from the other side.”
“No, I’ve got it.” He picked up the box and left it for Charlotte to unpack and went looking for Raine. He found her in the utility room off the kitchen.
“Do you have a minute?”
She turned, the smile on her lips fading as she saw his expression. “Of course.”
“Let’s go in the office.” He wanted privacy, with no chance of anyone overhearing.
“Is something wrong?” She looked worried, her gray eyes searching his face.
“I remembered something that might be important.” He sat on the edge of the desk, one boot braced on the floor, determined not to frighten her. Warn her. Don’t scare her. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure it’s enough to get the sheriff involved.”
“What is it?” She sat down in the leather armchair facing him, her gaze fixed on his.
“The two men who stopped when I was changing the flat tire were men I’d seen at an accident scene earlier. They were a couple of cars behind me, waiting for the state trooper to have a semi towed and clear the highway. We’d all been in a nearby motel office at the same time, getting coffee from the desk clerk.”
“Did you have any inkling they might try to rob you?”
“No. They looked like ordinary cowboys after a day at work — dirty boots and jeans, beard stubble. After they threw me in the back of my SUV, I must have drifted in and out of consciousness, because I remember snatches of their conversation. One of them mentioned Lonnie Kerrigan.”
Raine’s eyes widened and she gasped.
Trey put his hand on her arm to reassure her then broached the critical question. “Have either Lonnie or Harlan approached or threatened you in any way?”
“Interesting you should ask,” she said. “I rarely have dealings with either of them, but Harlan dropped by the office and Lonnie came into the saloon one night. Both of them made menacing comments about my hiring Chase to search for you.”
“What about since I’ve been home?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t seen or talked to either of them recently.”
They discussed the two Kerrigan men for a while and then parted. Raine wanted him to promise not to challenge Harlan or Lonnie, but Trey stalled her, saying only he’d think about it.
He went upstairs to his apartment and dialed Luke’s number.
“I need to talk to Chase,” Trey said when he picked up.
“I don’t know where he is — but I think he keeps in touch with Ren. Why?” Luke’s voice sharpened.
“I remembered more about the carjacking. The two men who knocked me out used Lonnie Kerrigan’s name.”
Luke cursed. “I’ll be damned. What’s Lonnie got against you?”
“I don’t know but it’s looking more and more like whoever wanted to meet me at the Bull ’n’ Bash has real evidence against Lonnie. Or Harlan,” Trey answered. “And they both know it.”
“It sure as hell does,” Luke said grimly. “I’ll call Ren and find out if he can reach Chase.”
Damn good thing somebody can reach Chase, Trey thought as he hung up. Raine had told him Chase and Ren Colter were partners in a Seattle-based detective agency, Colter & McCloud Investigations. He couldn’t help but think it was interesting that Chase had chosen Ren to be his contact person, rather than his brother Luke or his father, John.
He called Andy. After warning the bodyguard that Raine might be in more danger than they’d thought, he went back downstairs, determined not to let her out of his sight.
On Sunday he drove her to a barbecue at Chase’s parents’ house, where he had a chance to talk with Luke, his brother-in-law, Zach, and John, Luke and Chase’s father. All three agreed with him that it was best to remain vigilant until Chase either called or returned.
They didn’t have long to wait. The following evening, just as Trey hung up the phone after confirming that Andy was outside the saloon, waiting to follow Raine home, Chase knocked on his door.
“Damn, am I glad to see you. Come in.”
Chase stepped over the threshold. Trey closed the door behind him.
“Did you find the Rimes brothers?”
“Yes.” Chase scrubbed a hand down his face. “But I lost them in the Dakotas — they managed to get a flight to Belize.”
“Hell.” Trey swore with frustration. “Now what?”
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