by B. J Daniels
“You don’t happen to remember the name on the envelopes, do you?”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “One was a T. White. The other was Lester Branch.” She beamed and reached over to steal one of his fries.
“You could have come to me the moment you heard Jenna was missing,” Flint chastised.
“I could have, but I thought she would have turned up by now. It isn’t like I thought one of her pen pals had broken out of prison and done her in. Her pen pals are all locked up.”
“Maybe,” he said between bites. “Or maybe one of them got out.”
She raised a brow again. “And Jenna was waiting at the gate for him? Never thought it of her, but more power to her. Why not have some excitement in her life? She sure wasn’t going to get it from Anvil.”
Flint thought of the makeup, the missing sexy underwear and money she’d been able to collect by charging her groceries. He groaned inwardly as he finished his meal and pushed the dirty plate away. He couldn’t imagine how Anvil was going to take this news. Unless he’d already found the letters...
“I hope I’m wrong about this,” the sheriff said to Ethel. “Otherwise, I have no idea where Jenna Holloway could be right now or if she’s even still alive.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LILLIE DROVE UP to the cabin in the mountains. Since Trask’s return, she’d been caught in a whirlwind of emotions. She’d been angry at herself—and Trask. She’d felt betrayed and gun-shy, hurt by his leaving and leaving her behind... She’d thought she could use those feelings to keep her emotional distance from him.
But after last night, she no longer believed that. She loved Trask. She knew it wasn’t that simple, especially given the circumstances. He was still wanted for questioning in Gordon’s murder. But she was tired of fighting something that felt as if branded to her DNA.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her what a risk she was taking. But the heart wanted what the heart wanted. She had to have faith that between the two of them they would figure this out. She had to believe that it would end the way it was supposed to, with them being together.
Lillie wouldn’t let herself think beyond that point as she parked and walked the last couple of hundred yards up the mountain because the road didn’t go all the way to the cabin.
The log cabin was small and rustic-looking, built years ago by some miner who’d come to these mountains in search of gold.
Trask came out of the cabin and down the front steps. He looked worried. She hadn’t told him anything on the phone except that she had to see him.
She climbed up the last of the mountain to stop in front of him. The sun shone on his dark hair curling at the nape of his neck beneath his Western straw hat. His face was lit with the rays, making his features more pronounced. She’d thought he could never be more handsome than he was standing there.
“Are you all right? I was worried about you.” He touched her arm.
She flinched and he drew back. His touch had sent electricity rippling through her. Desire warmed her to her center. All those old feelings coursed through her blood, through her nerve endings, making her tingle.
“Lillie, damn it, I’m so sorry I scared you last night. I never wanted to hurt you, not ever. Every dream I have involves you. Those nine years were hell, but I couldn’t come back yet.”
The scent of the creek and the pines carried by the wind transported her back to when she and Trask were lovers. Being this close to him...
“I don’t even know where you were all those years or what you did to survive,” she said, realizing she needed to know everything before she told him what she’d decided.
“I told you, I worked.”
“Worked at what?”
Trask pulled off his straw cowboy hat and raked his fingers through this hair. “I got a job in the North Dakota oil field. I worked every shift I could. I got paid under the table, told my boss that my ex was trying to take me to the cleaners. I saved every dime with only one thought, coming back and proving myself to you.”
Her heart dropped like a stone when he’d said he hadn’t gone any farther than North Dakota. He’d been so close those nine years that it made her hurt with regret.
“I was tired of being the local screwup. I wanted to earn your respect—and your brothers’. If you don’t believe me, I can give you the name of my employer.”
She shook her head. She hadn’t come there to argue with him.
He sighed. “So you’re serious about Wainwright.”
The question came out of left field and caught her flat-footed. “He’s a nice guy.”
“You mean he’s everything I’m not.”
It was the sadness of Trask’s smile that needled her conscience. But she had wanted him to believe she’d moved on. Only to protect yourself. She’d thought that falling for Trask all over again was the worst thing she could do. Really? The worst thing? She could think of a lot worse things.
But right now all she was thinking about was kissing him, feeling his arms around her, tasting that mouth that she’d dreamed about for almost a decade. Her heart soared at the mere sight of him. Desire burned like a campfire inside her. She thought she would die if she couldn’t have this man.
“Come inside,” Trask said. “I brought in water from the spring.” He thought she needed a drink from the longing in her eyes?
She followed him into the one-room cabin. He’d cleaned it up. His pack was against one wall, his bedroll tied to it.
He handed her a folding metal cup. She took it, the springwater ice-cold, and took a sip. “You didn’t have to come all this way to tell me you never want to see me again. You could have done that on the phone.”
She handed him back the cup. His brow was furrowed with worry, his blue eyes sad with regret. “That’s not why I came up here.”
“If it’s about last night...”
“I was there last night because I know you. I know how you think. I know how you feel about things. You were more worried about Johnny than you were yourself.” She stepped toward him. “I know you, Trask Beaumont, like I’ve never known anyone. I’ve fought that feeling because you hurt me.”
“Lillie, I’m so sorry—”
She put a finger to his lips, lips she’d kissed a hundred times and hoped to kiss a million times more. “I was afraid of those old feelings. I was afraid you would hurt me again.”
“Never, I’ll—”
She silenced him again. “I was afraid that I didn’t know you anymore. But I know you, Trask Beaumont, on some primal level. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow, let alone today, but I’ve never stopped loving you. I don’t think I’m physically capable of doing so.”
His brows unfurrowed. His blue eyes lit from within. “What exactly are you saying?”
She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her until they were mere inches apart. “I surrender.” She kissed him, letting go of his shirt to cup his handsome face in her hands and kiss those amazing lips. It had been so long and yet like only yesterday. The feel of his lips, the taste of him, the smell of him. He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her to him. Her softer body fit into the hard lines of his, a lost puzzle piece now found. He deepened the kiss, tracing the tip of his tongue along her lips and then opening them to delve deep into her.
It was a complete take-no-prisoners surrender. She was Trask’s. She always had been.
* * *
TRASK UNFURLED THE BEDROLL, lowered Lillie to it and lay down beside her. He’d been so sure she was coming up there to tell him she really had moved on—moved on with Junior Wainwright.
When she’d said she loved him, when she’d kissed him... He still couldn’t believe this wasn’t a dream, since it had been one he’d had since he left.
She was beautiful. The afternoon light
coming from the cabin window cast her in gold. “Lillie, are you sure about this?” he whispered as he trailed kisses from her mouth down her slim throat. She moaned softly and drew him closer.
He pulled back a little to stare into her gray gaze. Sometimes he forgot just how beautiful her eyes were. Especially when filled with desire. “I can’t tell how many times I thought of you, I thought of us together again, I dreamed of this.” He kissed her softly on her full mouth and felt a fire run through his veins. This woman was everything to him.
He drew back to pull her T-shirt over her head. The light caught on her shoulders, her flat stomach, the swell of her breasts above the white lace bra. He could see her nipples, hard and dark, pressing against the thin fabric. The blaze that her kisses had started began to roar inside him. He’d never wanted Lillie more than at that moment.
She reached behind her, unsnapped her bra and freed her beautiful breasts, making his breath come faster, his pulse a thunder in his ears as he bent to pull one taut nipple into his mouth.
* * *
LILLIE MOANED, ARCHING her back against his mouth as he sucked at her breast. Desire spiraled through her. He cupped the other breast and sucked the hard tip of her nipple into his mouth. Her palms were on his hard chest as he drew her on top of him.
She looked down into his blue eyes and lost herself in the need she saw there. He wanted her as much as she did him. The years faded away in that instant. It was as if they had never been apart. Would never be again.
Trask lay back to look at her as Lillie worked at his Western belt, then at the buttons on his jeans. Her fingers trembled in her need to have him inside her. He rolled with her until he was on top. Above her, she watched as he shed the rest of his clothing, then tugged her boots and jeans off, as well.
Their bodies glowed in the afternoon sun that slanted through the cabin window. She lay on the sleeping bag, looking into Trask’s eyes. His gaze raked over her body slowly, intimately, as if memorizing every inch of her.
She reached for him, her hands grasping his strong biceps to draw him down to her. He kissed her, his body hovering over hers. As he drew his mouth away from hers, he trailed kisses down her neck to her breasts again, then across her stomach.
Lillie lay back as he continued down her body until she couldn’t stand it any longer and arched against him until she cried out with a release that left her trembling.
Again she reached for him and this time he came to her, his body connecting with hers in the most primal of all contact. She clung to him as if on a wild horse ride, each galloping lunge taking her faster and faster, higher and higher until she cried out again. He followed quick behind her. Their bodies slick with perspiration, their breathing ragged, they collapsed in each other’s arms, spent.
Trask glanced over at her. He was smiling, his eyes bright. Lillie curled against him, his arm around her. The surge of love she felt for him was so strong that she thought her heart might explode.
“Everything is going to be all right, you’ll see,” he whispered.
She nodded against his chest. “As long as we’re together.”
* * *
AS LONG AS they were together. As long as Trask wasn’t sent to prison for Gordon’s murder. He’d never wanted more badly than at this moment to clear his name. He drew closer, just needing to hold her right now. Just needing to assure himself that this wasn’t a dream. Lillie still loved him. They still had a chance for a future together.
That was enough for the moment. Trask chuckled, making her shoot him a look.
“What?”
“When your brothers find out I’m back in town, you know what’s going to hit the fan.”
“You’re a fugitive, what do you expect?”
“They didn’t like me even before that,” he said.
“My father always liked you.”
“I like your father too. How is he doing?”
“If you ask Flint, he’s losing his mind. I had to get Dad out of jail the day I saw you. He was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Dad’s lucky it wasn’t worse. He punched Harp.”
Trask laughed. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Outside the dusty window, he could see that it was getting late. Lillie would have to go to work soon. They’d lost track of time making love.
“Can you stay a little longer?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Then I’d better get us some firewood for that old potbelly stove over there before it gets dark.” It was still cold at night that high in the mountains.
As he started to rise, Lillie caught his hand. “Wait, I’m going with you to help.” She scrambled to her feet.
He pulled her to him, loving the feel of her naked body against his. Carefully, he brushed a lock of her hair back from her face and looked down into those eyes again. He still couldn’t believe his good luck all those years ago when she’d fallen in love with him. Trask Beaumont, the boy most likely to screw up his life.
“We better get that firewood,” she said, drawing away to reach for her clothing. “I have to go to work soon.”
* * *
“DID YOU KNOW that Jenna had pen pals?” Flint asked after Anvil Holloway was seated in the interrogation room. He’d already said the time and date and introduced Anvil into the video recorder running during this interview. Then he’d had the farmer tell what had happened that night before his wife disappeared. His story was the same.
So the sheriff decided it was time to tell Anvil about the prison pen pals.
“What?” The farmer looked only mildly surprised by the question. “You mean like kids in other countries?”
“No, like prisoners at Montana State Prison and possibly other prisons.”
Anvil looked at him as if he thought he’d gone mad. “That’s ridiculous. Where’d you get such a fool idea?”
“It’s true. I contacted the warden. He’s compiling a list of names of prisoners Jenna was writing regularly. He’s looking for one who might have been released recently or is coming up for release. He’s also checking to see if she has visited any of the prisoners.”
Anvil shook his head as he sat rubbing his hands on the worn overalls that covered his thighs. He’d paled and begun to perspire.
Flint waited for him to speak.
“It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it? I thought it would be bad enough if she met someone in town or, worse, met someone online, some stranger, but this. Writing criminals? What could she have been thinking?”
“Anvil, your wife has told you there’s someone else, you find out that she’s been lying to you, then you discover that she’d been stealing not only from local stores, but also from her grocery money, and now, writing men behind bars. Any spouse would be angry.”
Anvil said nothing.
“Since all of this has come to light, is there something you want to tell me? If so, now is the time.”
Anvil looked up, then directly into the video camera. “I didn’t kill her.”
“I have to tell you, it looks bad. You said you slapped her. Maybe you hit her too hard—”
“No, I told you her nose bled. The slap...it left a red mark on her cheek. That’s all. But I felt terrible. I apologized. She was crying, backing toward the door, saying how sorry she was and that she’d never thought she’d fall in love.”
“You mean in love with someone else.”
He shook his head slowly. “No, in love. She told me that she respected me, cared about me, but that she never knew what love was until she’d met this other man.”
Flint thought of the destroyed Sheetrock wall. “That must have hurt you deeply after all these years of marriage. You had to be angry.”
Anvil shook his head. “I think I was in shock. I never expected...”
“Is that when
she told you about the pen pals?”
He looked confused. “You were the one who told me about them. Before that, I had no idea. I still have trouble believing it’s true.”
“Jenna must have said more about this man she’d fallen in love with.”
“Just that he was kind and understanding and passionate. Passionate,” Anvil repeated. His face was flushed now and Flint noticed that his hands were balled into fists.
“How did she know that?” he asked, but Anvil didn’t answer.
“I thought I’d given her everything she needed, you know?” He frowned. “I took care of her. When I met her, she had no one. I made her my wife. I brought her out to the farm. I kept her fed and clothed and put a roof over her head. I didn’t ask much in return. Just keep my house up and cook my meals. Was that too much to ask?” His voice had taken on a plaintiff whine.
“Then you found out that she’d betrayed you,” Flint said.
“Betrayed me in so many ways. It’s going to make me the laughingstock of the county when people find out about all this. Or maybe they already know and I’m the last one to hear about it.” He looked down at his soiled boots. He must have come straight from the field when Flint called him. “Or maybe she will do worse to me,” the farmer said slowly, lifting his head. “Maybe if you don’t find her or she doesn’t come back, she’ll get me sent to prison for her murder.”
“Doesn’t that make you angry?” Flint said. “Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on her right now...?”
Anvil looked down at his hands balled into fists and slowly opened them to rub the fabric of his overalls again. “I just want her back. If that isn’t what she wants, then I will let her go. I’m not a violent man, Sheriff. I’m a farmer. I grow things.”
“What were your last words to her?” Flint asked.
The man seemed lost in memory of that night for a moment. When his focus cleared, he looked embarrassed. “I never wanted to admit this.”
Flint held his breath.
“I fell to my knees. I grabbed her hips and buried myself in her stomach, crying and pleading with her not to leave me.” When he looked up, Anvil Holloway was a man with nothing more to lose. He was irrevocably broken. “She shoved me away and said she never wanted to see me again. She was so cold, so distant. It was as if...” He seemed to strangle on the words. “As if she didn’t care if I lived or died. As if she could just walk away without any thought to me at all after years together as husband and wife. I knew then that it was true. She’d never loved me. I was...just convenient at the time apparently. Realizing that, killed something inside me. She could have ripped out my heart and it couldn’t have hurt more.”