by B. J Daniels
SHERIFF CARTER JACKSON listened as Faith told him what she’d seen the night before. He frowned as she related the part about being struck and wandering back into camp dazed.
“Why didn’t you come to me with this sooner?” Carter demanded when she’d finished. “You might have mentioned it earlier when we talked.”
“That’s my fault,” Jud spoke up. “No one was missing from the set this morning, and I was convinced Faith had been sleepwalking.” He looked chagrined. “Also, I didn’t want to believe it. I’d hoped to get through with the film before there was any more trouble.”
Carter motioned for them to wait as he made a few calls. As he finished the last call, he hung up and looked at the two of them.
“Hasting hasn’t used his plane ticket back to California,” the sheriff said. “Nor has he turned in his rental car, and his family hasn’t heard from him since yesterday, but they said he was planning to fly back this afternoon from Billings.”
Faith shuddered. Like Jud, she also hadn’t wanted to believe it was a body that she’d seen dragged away from the set.
“I don’t want you going back out there until I get to the bottom of this,” Carter said.
“I have a stunt tomorrow, my last,” Faith said.
The sheriff swore. “At least don’t stay out there at night.”
“I’ll stay at the ranch tonight,” Faith told him.
“I’ll make sure she’s safe,” Jud said. “I don’t think she should be alone.”
Faith couldn’t believe they were talking about her as if she wasn’t in the room. “Excuse me. I have some say in this.”
“No,” Jud said. “If what you saw last night was someone dragging off Hasting’s body and they got close enough to you to smack you in the head, then no, you don’t have any say. They will be worried that you can recognize them.”
Faith started to argue, but Carter said, “Jud’s right. That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I don’t want you staying alone. Eve will want—”
Faith was just about to say she didn’t want Carter bothering Eve with this when Jud spoke up. “I’ll stay with Faith. We have a stunt we need to go over, anyway. I won’t let her out of my sight.”
Faith wanted to object, but this was better than having Eve worrying over her. “So that’s settled. Now, are you both happy?” She rose to leave.
“I need to talk to the sheriff for just a minute,” Jud said. “Why don’t we just take one rig to your ranch? I can bring you back to your pickup in the morning.” He started to hand Faith his keys.
“I’ll wait for you in my truck,” she said. She’d always been independent, capable of taking care of herself, and she wasn’t about to give that up now when she felt she needed it the most.
If her life was in jeopardy because of what she’d seen last night, then she needed more than ever to keep her wits about her. She’d never liked the fairy tales where the handsome prince saved the princess. She wanted to be the princess who’s able to save herself.
Jud had cast himself in the role as her protector. But it was a temporary role, and she wasn’t about to kid herself that she could depend on him to always be around when she needed him. Their feelings for each other aside, he would be off to another film after this one. And she…well, she would be staying on the ranch until fall, and then who knew what she would do.
Not that it mattered. In a few days, the movie would be over and that would be the last she saw of Jud Corbett.
JUD WAITED until he saw Faith cross the street to her pickup. “Mule-headed, isn’t she?” he said with a grin.
“Runs in the family,” the sheriff agreed. “All three Bailey girls are like that. More spirit than common sense.”
Jud turned his attention from the window back to the sheriff. “Don’t worry about her. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m still going to have a deputy near the ranch tonight to keep an eye on things,” Carter said. “I didn’t want to say anything to Faith because I know what her reaction would be.”
Jud nodded. He could well imagine. “Faith’s scared but she doesn’t want to admit it. Nor does she want to believe that she can’t take care of herself. It’s one of the things I love about her.”
Carter gaze sharpened at the word love. “I’m very fond of my sister-in-law.”
“So am I.” Jud reached into his pocket. “I didn’t want her to see this,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small rag doll he’d found on Faith’s bed. “I found it in her trailer where someone had left it. Everyone who’s had an ‘accident’ found one of these beforehand.”
Carter took the doll with obvious reluctance. “Are these props for the film?”
“No, these are much cruder made, much uglier. No one seems to know where they came from.”
“What’s this on the doll?” the sheriff asked.
“That’s why I wanted you to see it,” Jud said. “I think it’s a drop of blood.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Why did you want to see my brother-in-law alone?” Faith asked once they were on the road south toward the Bailey Ranch.
“I just wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know.” She could feel his gaze on her. “You’re the strongest woman I think I’ve ever met. And the most stubborn.”
“Thank you,” she said, and Jud laughed as his gaze took in the country sprawled ahead of them. The land ran south in rolling hills of green to fan out in ridges and deep ravines before falling to the river bottom.
The Missouri cut a deep gorge through the land as it twisted its way east before joining the Mississippi to run to the Gulf of Mexico.
Another thunderstorm had blown through. A breeze swept out the dark clouds, leaving behind a crystalline canopy of blue stretched over their heads from horizon to horizon. The sun hung over the Bear Paw and Little Rocky mountains, painting the scene before them in dramatic golden light.
It had turned into one of those breathtaking Montana afternoons and having Jud Corbett sitting just inches away only intensified the experience.
Faith put down her window partway and breathed in the fresh air. It smelled of rain and grass and promise—and helped cool down her thoughts. She was angry and scared and swamped with emotions she didn’t want to be feeling for the man beside her. And now they were driving out to her family ranch for the night. Just the two of them in that big house where she’d grown up.
“You all right?” Jud asked.
“No.” She wondered if she would ever be all right again. For sure she would measure every man she met from this moment on against Jud Corbett, and they would come up lacking.
“You can talk to me,” he said quietly.
She laughed at that. Talking was the last thing she wanted to do with him.
Suddenly she hit the brakes and brought the pickup to a skidding stop.
“What the—”
Before Jud could finish, she pulled off the road, dropping down into a gully filled with stunted aspens. The leaves rattled in the breeze. Rain droplets on each leaf caught the last of the day’s light and sent it back in jeweled prisms.
She brought the pickup to a stop in the stand of aspens and, shutting off the motor, turned in the seat to glare at Jud. “I have to live life on my terms.”
He nodded, looking concerned that she’d lost her mind.
She smiled ruefully. “You think I’m crazy. Well, welcome to the club. I think I must be certifiable but even that will be on my terms.”
Faith unlatched her seat belt and leaned toward him to brush her lips over his. He froze as if unsure of what was going on. This time, she kissed him softly and pulled back to gaze into his eyes. “Make love to me.”
His gaze locked with hers. “Here? Now?”
Her smile broadened. “Here. Now.”
“And you’re sure you want this as much as I do?” he a
sked, teasing now.
Body, heart and soul. Her rational mind put up a good fight but was out numbered. Faith wanted him, come hell or high water. If this was a mistake, then she was willing to live with it. She was through putting up a fight. She didn’t try to make more of this than it was. They wanted each other desperately. Tomorrow she could deal with regrets and recriminations, but today she would give herself freely, surrender to Jud Corbett in a way she’d never surrendered to any man before.
“I want it more than you do,” she teased back.
He laughed. “Not a chance,” he said as he unsnapped his seat belt and dragged her into his arms. His mouth took possession of hers, stealing her breath.
She heard his sharp intake of breath as he peeled off her blouse, his gaze on her rounded breasts, the nipples hard as stones and pressing into the lacy fabric.
He cupped her breasts in his large hands, his thumbs feathering the already aching nipples and making her groan with longing. She dragged off his shirt to bare his muscular chest and the dark fuzz of hair that fell in a V to the waist of his jeans.
She pressed her hands to the warm flesh. His mouth dropped to the points of her breasts. Her head lolled back, mouth open, a sound coming out of her that she’d never heard before.
He shoved her back against the seat. Her body came alive under his lips, his fingers, his body.
Frantically, she fumbled at his Western belt, then the zipper on his jeans. She felt her jeans tugged down, heard her panties tear, and then his fingers were on her, in her, and she was gasping as he entered her.
Locked together in the ancient rhythm of lovemaking, the pickup rocking, Faith soared to new, rare heights until like a roller-coaster ride that has climbed to its highest point ever, she fell over the edge. Weightless and yet every nerve ending infinitely acute, she clung to Jud until their shared shudders of pleasure ebbed away like the last of the day’s light.
He held her until their breathing slowed and heartbeats resumed their normal speed, then they untangled themselves, laughing in the small confines of the pickup’s cab.
“That isn’t the way I wanted our first time together,” he said as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly.
She smiled, trying to imagine their first time being any other way as they sorted through their clothing and stepped out into the evening air to finish dressing.
When they got back into the truck, a quiet settled between them. She could hear the soft sound of his breathing and remembered the steady, sure beat of his heart against her breast.
ERIK ZANDER HADN’T realized what an aversion he had to the sight of a police car until the sheriff’s car pulled up on the set.
The sheriff was young, and handsome enough that he could have been in movies. “Sheriff,” Zander said, shaking his hand. “I’m Erik Zander, the director here.”
“Mr. Zander. Is there somewhere we could have a few words?”
“Sure, let’s go to my trailer. But please, call me Zander, everyone does.” He walked toward the circle of RVs, studying the sheriff out of the corner of his eye. For days he’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop, unable to sleep, unable to get drunk, unable to enjoy the only thing he ever enjoyed—his Scotch.
Now he wondered if this was the other shoe about to drop.
“Have you ever thought about getting into the movies?” Zander asked the sheriff as they neared the trailer. “I could definitely get you a screen test.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Zander reached the trailer and held the door open for the lawman, more worried than ever. What man in his right mind would pass up a chance to be in a movie?
“Can I offer you a drink?” he asked, following the sheriff inside.
“No, thank you. If we could just sit down…”
Zander could feel the sheriff watching him closely and wished he wasn’t so nervous. He offered the lawman the couch and he took the recliner. “So, what’s up?”
“I wanted to ask you about Mr. Keyes Hasting.”
Zander blinked. “Hasting?” He felt him stomach roil. “Why? Has something happened to him?”
The sheriff looked up as he pulled out a tape recorder and set it on the end table between them. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because you’re here asking questions about him.” Zander would have killed for a drink. Anything to steady his nerves.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Day before yesterday, I guess.”
“Mr. Hasting came out here?”
Zander nodded. “He wanted a tour of the set. I gave him one and, as far as I knew, he left.”
“You didn’t see him leave?”
“No, I was busy trying to get this film finished.”
“Mr. Hasting seems to be missing,” the sheriff said.
“Missing?”
“Is there anyone who might want to harm Mr. Hasting?”
Zander laughed. “The mob. Anyone who’s done business with him. Or met him.”
The sheriff wasn’t amused. “Have you done business with him?”
“Hell, no. You couldn’t get me to borrow money from that man.” He realized he was talking too much. Something about a uniform and a badge made him nervous. Could be those other times he’d been questioned and expected to be arrested. “The last person you want to be in debt to is Keyes Hasting.”
“Why is that?”
Zander shrugged. “Because the guy is a bastard and plays for keeps. If you owe him money and don’t pay, you could get your legs broken or end up in the river wearing cement slippers.”
“Was someone on the set in debt to him?”
The question took Zander by surprise. He hadn’t considered that. But now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure Hasting had come here to see him. He’d just assumed Hasting had been his benefactor, the person behind this film.
But Hasting hadn’t seemed interested in seeing the set or the dailies. He’d seemed distracted.
“Mr. Zander?”
He blinked. “Sorry. I was thinking. I don’t know if anyone was in debt to him.” He tried to remember who he’d seen Hasting talking to yesterday.
FAITH DROVE the rest of the way to the ranch with the window down. The evening was a rare one in so many ways, she thought, as she parked in front of the ranch house.
“It’s just as I pictured it,” Jud said, smiling over at her.
She loved this house, with its white clapboard siding, the sprawling front porch, the old windowpanes that looked out over the ranch.
They were barely through the front door before she was in his arms again. “This time we do it my way,” Jud said, grinning and sweeping her up into his arms. “Your room at the top of the stairs?”
“First one on the right,” she said, laughing as he carried her up the stairs without even breathing hard and lowered her to her bed.
He made love to her slowly, making her cry out with pleasure again and again until she lay spent in his arms.
Sated, they lay spooned together, his heartbeat in sync with her own, his breath a warm assurance on her neck as darkness crept in, covering them like a warm blanket.
JUD WOKE to warmth and a sensation for being both content and complete. He lay perfectly still, not wanting to lose that sensation. Faith lay curled next to him, her warm backside snuggled against him, his arm around her, their hands clasped.
He couldn’t remember ever waking up with a woman holding his hand. There was something tender about it. Nor could he remember feeling so happy. Dangerous feelings for a man who wasn’t interested in anything long term.
And yet he didn’t move, didn’t want this moment to end. He felt Faith stir. She let out a contented sigh and pressed against him, her hand squeezing his as she brought it closer to her lips.
Jud closed his eyes, fighting the feelings this woman evoked in him. Yesterday and last night were like a dream he never wanted to end. Their lovemaking had been so…natural, as if they could do it ev
ery day until the day they died.
Crazy, he knew, but he’d never felt so close to a woman before. The thought of never holding her again was like a blade to his heart. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t looking forward to moving on.
FAITH WOKE with a start. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. Her gaze took in the room she’d grown up in, but other than that, this was unfamiliar territory. She’d never made love with a man in this house, in this bed, in this manner. She’d never given herself so completely, felt so safe, knowing all the time that this was temporary.
She let go of Jud’s hand and rolled over to face him. He was even more handsome in the morning looking a little sleepy, a little vulnerable. She couldn’t help but smile as she touched her fingers to his rough unshaven jaw.
Her cell phone rang. She glanced at the clock. It was early. The sun had just come up. They weren’t expected on the set for hours yet.
“Hello?” She had expected her sister to call last night and check on her. Or at least Carter to call. Neither had, and now that she thought about it, that was odd.
As she answered the phone, she swung out of bed and pulled Jud’s shirt on as she stepped to the second-story window. A sheriff’s deputy’s car was parked in the trees not far from the house.
“Faith.” Carter’s voice startled her.
“You had a deputy watching the house all night?” she snapped angrily.
“I do what I have to do to protect my family and this community,” he said, sounding irritated. “I called because Keyes Hasting has been found.”
Her heart flip-flopped. If it wasn’t Hasting she’d seen being dragged away from the set—
“He was found murdered in his rental car not far from Lost Creek ghost town.”
“Oh, no.” Behind her, Jud looked concerned.
“Erik Zander has been taken into custody. I want you to stay put. The assistant director, Nancy Davis, said she will let you and Jud know as to plans regarding finishing the film.”