by B. J Daniels
Even before his fingertips touched it, he knew it wasn’t blood—but it was no less terrifying to find. He picked up a ragged scrap of thin red fabric. The edges appeared to have been slashed with a knife. Kitzie’s red dress. He saw there were more small jagged pieces caught at the edge of the bare mattress.
His pulse lurched. Ainsley, no matter how angry she’d been last night, wouldn’t have cut up the red dress with this kind of fury. There was only one man capable of this. The man who now had Ainsley.
* * *
EMILY HEARD HER daughter’s sweet giggle and looked up as Jodie came into the room, Alex right behind her. “What are you two up to?” she asked, seeing the twinkle in her daughter’s eyes.
“Nothin’,” Jodie said, then looked at Alex and started to giggle again. Emily could tell that the girl could hardly contain herself.
Being locked up in the house with deputies outside, Emily had worried that it would frighten her precocious five-year-old. But Alex had been amazing, keeping Jodie occupied making cookies, playing games, pretending everything was as normal as possible.
“We have a secret,” Jodie burst out.
Alex put a finger to his lips. “Remember,” he said.
Her daughter nodded and looked so serious that Emily had to laugh.
“Okay, what’s going on with you two?” She still couldn’t believe how blessed she and Jodie were to have a man like Alex Ross come into their lives. Sometimes she had to pinch herself. She’d never dreamed she could be this happy—not after what she’d gone through with the loss of her parents and then the downhill slide that had landed her in jail.
Alex looked to Jodie, before dropping to one knee in front of Emily. Her pulse took off like a shot. “Alex?” she whispered, as goose bumps rippled over her body.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you to marry me, but I was waiting for the perfect time,” Alex said. He shook his head at his own foolishness. “There is no perfect time. I should have done this months ago.”
Emily’s eyes widened as he turned to hold out his hand to Jodie. Her small hand dipped into the pocket of her overalls and came out with a small velvet box. She handed it to Alex and began jumping around in circles.
“Emily Calder, will you marry me and make the three of us a family?” Alex asked as he opened the box. The ring was a Montana agate. It was so beautiful that Emily began to cry. Then she raised her gaze to Alex’s and felt her bubble of happiness pop.
“If you’re only doing this because Harrison has escaped—”
“I’m doing it because I don’t want to spend another minute away from you and Jodie. Harrison only reminded me how precious our time together is. Marry me.”
Tears filled her eyes again as Jodie stopped jumping to say, “Marry us, Mama.”
Alex laughed. “Well, Emily?”
Her throat was so tight, she couldn’t speak. She nodded and Alex slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. Then she was in Alex’s arms, and the three of them were hugging and laughing.
She looked into their faces and prayed nothing could spoil this. That Harrison couldn’t spoil this.
Her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen, then up at Alex. “It’s the sheriff.”
* * *
SAWYER TRIED AINSLEY’S cell again, even though he knew it was useless. Again it went straight to voice mail. He called the Hamilton Ranch on the chance that he was wrong. He was told by one of the staff that Ainsley wasn’t there.
“Has anyone seen or heard from her since last night?” he asked.
“Maybe you should speak with her mother.”
When Sarah Hamilton came on the line, Sawyer quickly told her that he was a friend of Ainsley’s and concerned about her. “Have you seen or heard from her today?”
“No. Actually I thought she’d be here by now. Do you want me to have her call when she arrives?”
“Please.”
“Is there a reason you’re concerned?” Sarah asked.
“Just let me know if you hear from her.”
He hung up and called Sheriff Curry and quickly told him what he’d found in her cabin. “I think her stalker has her.”
“You were having doubts before this?”
Sawyer hated to admit that he was. “But Ainsley was so sure that she was no longer being followed.”
“We need to give it at least a few more hours before I put out a missing person’s BOLO on her,” Frank said. “With the election so close...”
Sawyer knew what he was saying. He could be wrong about all of it. On the off chance that Ainsley was fine and just didn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t want to blow this up so close to the election. And yet, he feared to the depth of his soul that the stalker had her. That her life depended on him finding her.
Noticing a car parked beside the hotel, he walked over there on the chance that someone had seen Ainsley leave.
Murph was still behind her desk putting paperwork into boxes and sealing them. She looked up when he came in.
“I thought everyone had gone,” Murph said, clearly surprised to see him.
“I was wondering if you’ve seen Ainsley Hamilton this morning?”
Murph shook her head. “I saw her leave last night.”
“You did? Was she...alone?”
The woman raised a brow with an expression of both humor and curiosity. “As a matter of fact, she was not. Afraid you lost out. I thought for sure you had swept her off her feet. But apparently you lost out to the grocery boy.” She grimaced. “That has got to hurt.”
He stared at her. “She left with the delivery guy?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FRANK SWORE AS he took in the area around the Beartooth Fairgrounds. It would be impossible, even with all the manpower they had, to keep it secure.
Damn you, Buck.
He wanted to blame it on the man’s arrogance, and yet he didn’t believe that was the problem. Buckmaster Hamilton refused to admit that anyone would want to kill him. Or at least that’s what he wanted everyone to think. But Frank knew late at night, lying next to Sarah, Buck had to question just how safe he was.
Love. It sure as hell was blind.
“This is what you wanted me to see?” his wife asked as she joined him.
“I needed to come out here, but this isn’t why I brought you here,” Frank said.
“Why are you so worried about the perimeter?” she asked. “If you’re right, the real threat will be standing next to him when the election results come in, and the next president is announced.”
He glanced over at her. Everyone called her Nettie, but she would always be Lynette to him. Of course, she was right. But she didn’t know that the threat could be much bigger than even Sarah.
“What does your...pendulum say is going to happen?” he asked only half joking. He didn’t believe in any of that hocus-pocus stuff, as he called it, but right now he would love to see into the future. “Or have you moved up to a crystal ball?”
She slapped playfully at him. “I threw it away.”
He stared at her in surprise. He hadn’t been happy when she’d confessed that she’d bought the stupid thing. Worse, that she believed it was always right.
“Why did you do that?” he asked as he turned to look toward the Crazy Mountains. The snowcapped peaks gleamed in the afternoon sun. No storms loomed over them. They’d been fortunate that winter hadn’t come early. But maybe if it had, Buck wouldn’t be making his acceptance speech from here.
“It was silly,” she said, drawing his gaze back to her. “And...scary.”
He felt his heart drop. “What did it tell you, Lynette?”
Her jaw set, but tears glistened in her eyes. He’d seen her cry only a few times in all the years he’d known her. Most recently when she’d f
allen into his arms in tears after they’d both almost died.
She shook her head. Lynette was strong. Seeing the tears about broke him.
“Tell me,” he said, scared to touch her for fear the dam would break. She would be even angrier with him if he made her cry when she was trying so hard not to.
“I was too afraid to ask what I desperately need to know,” she said and finally turned to look at him. The wind coming down out of the Crazies, as everyone called the mountain range, lifted her auburn hair, whipping it around her face.
“I’m going to be fine. We’re going to be fine,” he said with all the certainty he could muster. He lived with a fear that The Prophecy was going to try to bring the country down, and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.
What little he knew about the group had come with no proof of what they might have planned. The FBI didn’t see them as a threat. Most of the original members would be in their fifties by now, so what few members weren’t in prison couldn’t do much, right?
“I just can’t bear the thought that something might happen to you,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” he said, putting his arm around her. “But there is something I should tell you.” He felt her tense. “I’m going to retire after the election.” She didn’t react. She knew how much he loved his job. She’d been afraid that he wouldn’t be happy if he retired.
“So, it’s decided?” she asked in a weak voice.
“But we’re not really retiring. I have a plan for the two of us.” She finally looked at him. He could see that she was waiting as if for an ax to fall. “I want us to be partners in the new venture.”
One eyebrow shot up as if she thought he was about to tell her that he was going to buy the Beartooth General Store where she now worked part-time after being the owner for years.
“Curry Investigations. We’ll both need to get our PI licenses but—”
“Wait, you’re serious?”
He laughed and turned her, so they were facing each other. The tears were gone, leaving her eyes bright. Her cheeks were flushed, but it could have been the cold wind.
“You’re the best investigator I’ve ever known,” he said with a chuckle. “I want you by my side. And you know neither of us would be happy retired with nothing to do. This way, we can take only the cases that interest us.”
She looked as if she might cry again. “Do you have any idea how happy you have made me?”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t like my idea.”
“Like it? I love it! Getting paid to snoop into other people’s business?”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “I should have known you’d be up for it.”
“Everything is going to be all right as long as we’re together.” She hugged him back tighter than usual.
As he breathed in her perfume, he told himself they would get through whatever was coming. They had to. He’d been dreaming of the two of them working together for months now. He couldn’t wait to start looking for a building to rent and put a Curry Investigations sign out front.
But first, they had to get through election night. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen—and he would be right in the midst of it.
Frank feared he would never see that Curry Investigations sign, but he wasn’t about to voice it, especially to Lynette. In his heart of hearts, they would survive all of this and get to solve cases together long into their old age.
* * *
GUN TOOK HIS time packing. He had never owned much clothing, but what he did, he valued. Now he carefully folded each piece and tucked it neatly into the suitcase.
“You are one freaking weird kid,” his stepfather used to say. “Margie, have you seen the way this kid butters his toast? There is definitely something wrong with him.”
Gun had dealt with him by keeping his head down, letting Ray run off at the mouth all he wanted and telling himself that his stepfather’s day was coming.
“I think he’s a sissy,” Ray would goad. “No real boy keeps his room all nice and neat like that. We got ourselves a pantywaist, Margie.”
“Leave the boy be,” his mother would say but not with enough conviction to make any difference. She had loved Ray—even at the cost of her son.
Not that Gun felt any animosity toward his mother. She’d done what she had to survive. If anything, she’d taught him well. Also, he’d known that one day he would show Ray just how much of a sissy he wasn’t.
And he had. He still remembered the look on his stepfather’s face when he realized what was about to happen. By then Gun’s mom had been gone to an early grave. Ray was living off social security and hanging out at some seedy bar down the street.
Gun had waited for him to come out of the bar. Ray had only been a little drunk, having run out of money before he could finish the job. But he was cocky and arrogant and thought he could take up where they’d left off before Gun had left home.
He smiled now, relishing the memory of Ray’s surprised expression the moment before Gun had hit him. It was that memory of Ray blubbering on the sidewalk, begging for his life, that always brought him peace. He finished packing, closed his suitcase and set it by the door.
His smile faded quickly, though, at the thought of Kitzie. When he’d asked Murph if he could see what information she had on the crew as far as backgrounds, she’d given him one of her “Trouble?” looks.
He’d waved it off. “Nothing I can’t handle.” Once he’d realized that Kitzie had been in his cabin, he’d wondered not just who she was—but if she was working alone.
Most undercover cops had partners. He’d seen her with that cowboy Murph had hired for the commercial. Gun hadn’t thought anything about it at the time. Murph had been right about Sawyer being perfect for the production.
First he checked what Murph had come up with on Kitzie. One glance at her so-called background and he knew it was all staged. If he were to call one of her references, he’d get just what was on the page, though. That would be a mistake, since it would only alert whoever she was working for that he was on to her.
He took a look at the cowboy’s information. Murph hadn’t gotten much on him. Gun could usually spot a cop a mile away. He thought about Sawyer Nash’s limp. Was that why he hadn’t considered that he might be the fuzz? He had the air about him of law enforcement, but the limp had been real—just as the occasional wince of pain had been. No agency would send an injured lawman.
But it had him questioning his instincts. He’d hired Kitzie, even when he’d sensed he shouldn’t. Something had been bothering him about her, but he hadn’t listened to his gut that day. A big mistake, as it turned out. Swearing, he looked at the rest of the crew, stopping on the only one who he hadn’t considered. A man named Jason Bowman, the late-thirties odd-job man, who had been delivering their supplies during their stay here.
“Murph, where did you find this guy?” he asked.
“Jason? I thought you hired him. He showed up one day with a couple of cases of water, introduced himself and then asked what else we needed. I sent him into the kitchen to talk to Kitzie.” She must have seen his expression, because she instantly started apologizing.
He held up a hand to stop her. He didn’t have to tell her what was at stake here. He trusted Murph with his life. Jason had conned his way in. The fact that he seemed harmless should have been a clue.
Gun now thought of all the times he’d seen the young man hanging around watching them shoot the commercial. He’d shown an interest, pretending he wanted to get into the business. He hadn’t been the first looky-loo who thought they could make commercials. Gun hadn’t thought anything of it.
“Have you seen Jason today?” he asked Murph.
She shook her head, looking even more upset with herself. “The c
owboy was here earlier asking if I’d seen Ainsley. I told him that she left last night and that she wasn’t alone. She left with Jason.”
He stared at her. “Ainsley and Jason?” What would the future president’s daughter be doing with Jason unless he was an undercover cop and he was just getting her out of here before the shit hit the fan?
Gun stepped to the window and looked out on the bucolic scene. His gaze scanned the mountainside. Something caught the light on the side of the mountain across from them.
He turned quickly. “Pack up,” he ordered. “We’re moving now.”
“But I thought—”
“Go to Plan B. Let everyone else know. Now!”
* * *
KITZIE HAD HATED to leave last night, but she’d had no choice. Her job in the kitchen was over. Staying around would only make Gun more suspicious, and he was suspicious enough as it was.
She raised the binoculars again, focusing in on the hotel and the cabins behind it from her spot on the mountainside across the way. Gun still hadn’t left. Neither had Murph. But the rest had scattered to the wind—including Sawyer.
Kitzie figured that he would be headed for the Hamilton Ranch over by Beartooth. But she doubted chasing down Ainsley was going to do him any good. Maybe someday he’ll thank you for saving him. Or not.
She called her partner. “Anything going on there?” she asked Pete.
He sighed. “Nothing.”
“You’re sure he’s still in his room?”
“From where I am, he can’t leave it without me seeing him. He’s still there. What about Gunderson?”
“He just loaded his suitcase in his car and went into the hotel. Murph is still in there. If the loot is here, they should be loading it soon,” she said.
“You’ll be able to follow them?”
“I’m staying with Gun, no matter what,” she said. “He isn’t going to let anyone else make this deal for him. I saw his cohorts with LeRoy. I would imagine they are staying with the nephew until the deal goes down, then cutting him loose.”