Stalked in the Night

by Carla Cassidy

  An unexpected desire had punched her in the stomach the minute she had seen him. A desire coupled with a deep yearning for what might have been. And would now never be.

  She still wasn’t sure why he’d stopped by to see her. However, she did appreciate him talking to Wayne, because she knew having an Albright behind her would make the sheriff take things far more seriously.

  But that was all she wanted from Jake Albright.

  He was dangerous to her. He was dangerous to the life she had built here with her son. He had the money and power to destroy her, and she feared that’s exactly what he would do if he ever found out Andy was his son.

  * * *

  AT EIGHT THIRTY the next morning, Jake got in his truck to drive back to Eva’s. The day before he’d had a long talk with Wayne Black about what was going on at Eva’s ranch. He’d let Wayne know that he wanted Wayne to keep him informed not only about anything else happening there, but also about exactly what Wayne was doing to investigate.

  Wayne had called him earlier this morning to tell him that Eva had found two more mutilated cows in her pasture. Jake was meeting Wayne there to see for himself what exactly was going on.

  He couldn’t help the way his nerves grew taut as he thought of seeing Eva again. He’d realized yesterday that she was still a fire in his blood. Despite the years that had passed and all of his dating when he’d been out of the country, Eva had always been in the back of his mind, somehow keeping him from moving on in any meaningful way with any other woman.

  He needed to possess her one last time to hopefully get her out of his head, out of his blood forever. His junior and senior years in school had been spent loving Eva, and he’d believed at the time she loved him back.

  Hell, they had even held a mock wedding ceremony in the hayloft of her barn, where they had pledged to marry for real as soon as she graduated from high school. He had truly believed that she would be the woman in his life forever, that she would be his legal wife and have his children.

  He would never love her again. She’d hurt him so badly. He would never forget that she’d betrayed the love he thought they’d once shared. One evening without any warning, she’d just told him she didn’t love him, that she didn’t want to see him anymore.

  He could never forget that within months of breaking up with him she’d married Andrew Martin, a ranch hand who had worked for her and her father. Had she and Andrew been seeing each other while Jake had been wrapped heart and soul with her?

  It was a question that had haunted him for all these years. What had he been lacking that a quiet ranch hand had to offer her? And why, after all this time, did it even bother him?

  That was then and this was now, he reminded himself as he pulled into her long driveway. He parked and got out of his truck, then started toward the house but stopped as he saw her out by the barn.

  She was in the process of saddling up a horse but paused as she saw him approaching. She was clad in a pair of jeans that fit tightly on what he knew were slim hips and long, shapely legs. Her blue blouse was a gauzy material that looked both cool and sexy as hell, and her long black hair was in a thick braid down her back that he immediately wanted to undo.

  “I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” she said in greeting.

  “Wayne called me and told me you have two more dead cows. Same thing as before?” As he drew closer to her, the faint breeze blew the familiar scent of her to him.

  She nodded. “Although the note was a little different this time.” She pulled the note from her back pocket and handed it to him.

  He frowned and opened it to read, “Get out of town, bitch, or die.” He handed it back to her as a rich anger swept over him. Whoever was responsible for this was not only messing with her livelihood, but more egregiously, they were terrorizing her. She had to be frightened by the notes, and this one was a definite escalation from the last one.

  “Wayne better get some answers on this,” he said tersely. “This isn’t just a nasty note—this one is definitely a threat.”

  “Oh, he’ll take it all more seriously now,” she said with obvious confidence.

  “Why do you sound so sure about that? You haven’t felt like he was taking it seriously before now.”

  “I didn’t have an Albright standing with me before now,” she replied.

  “That shouldn’t make a difference,” he replied.

  “Oh Jake, surely you aren’t still so naive. You have to know your name wields a lot of power in this town.” She reached down and grabbed the saddle at her feet and swung it up and over the horse’s back. “It’s always been that way.”

  “I guess you’re planning on riding out into the pasture when Wayne gets here. Do you have a spare horse I could borrow?” he asked.

  He didn’t want to think about what she’d said about him being naive. Still, it wasn’t right that his being here with her would make Wayne take the case more seriously. The sheriff should take every crime that happened in this town seriously, and he definitely should have been taking this seriously all along.

  She disappeared into the barn and moments later returned with a large black mare who had a white marking on her nose that looked like a lightning bolt.

  “This is Lightning,” she said.

  “Very appropriate name,” he said with a grin. He gestured toward her big dark mare. “And I suppose she’s Thunder.”

  She returned his smile. “That’s exactly right.” Her beautiful smile lasted only a moment and then was gone. “The gear is in the second stall on the right. Help yourself to whatever you need.”

  By the time he grabbed what he needed and returned, she was already mounted on the back of her horse. For the next few minutes, he got his horse ready, and then he mounted as well.

  “Seems like old times,” he said, remembering how much they had always enjoyed horseback riding together in the past. They’d get out of school and then ride horseback on the ranch until it was time for her to start cooking dinner.

  She looked out in the distance. “Those carefree days of youth are long gone,” she replied. “And we’ll never get them back.”

  He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but her words sounded like a warning to him. But, before he could reply to her, two men came from around the side of the barn on horseback.

  “Jake, this is Harley Graham, my foreman for the last seven years, and Jimmy Miller, who has worked for me for the past year,” she said. “And this is Jake Albright. He’s here to help with Sheriff Black.”

  “That man definitely needs some help,” Harley, the older of the two, muttered halfway beneath his breath. “And it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Albright.”

  “Jake,” he replied. “Please call me Jake.” Harley looked like a man who’d worked in ranching his whole life. His face was weatherworn, and there was a quiet confidence about him.

  Next to Harley, Jimmy looked like a young pup. Shaggy blond hair peeked out from beneath his black cowboy hat, and his bright blue eyes held an eagerness to please.

  “Harley and Jimmy found the two cows this morning,” Eva explained to Jake.

  “Bad business going on around here,” Harley said. “Somebody out there is trying to destroy Eva.”

  “Between all of us, we won’t let that happen,” Jake replied forcefully.

  They all looked toward the road at the sound of a vehicle approaching. It was Wayne. He pulled up and parked and then left his car running and stepped out. “Looks like we’re all ready to go,” he said, as if he had been the one waiting for all of them. “You lead and I’ll follow.”

  Eva looked at Harley, who gave a curt nod and then galloped away. The others quickly caught up with him as Wayne took up the rear in his car.

  Jake rode just behind Eva, admiring her form in the saddle. He’d forgotten how good she looked on the back of a horse, like she’d been born there. H
er slender back was straight, and her hips rolled easily with the horse’s gait.

  As always the smells of pasture and cattle were welcome to Jake. They rode past the pond where he and Eva had often fished together. He forced back the memories that threatened to erupt in his head.

  He looked ahead and frowned. He could now see the two downed cows on the ground. The scent of blood and death hung in the still, hot air, and two buzzards circled lazily in the sky above.

  They all dismounted next to the big animals and waited for Wayne to leave his car and join them. There was no question the cows’ throats had been slashed, and there were bloody, butchered holes in their chests.

  What in the hell was going on here? Who was behind this kind of madness? The taking of the hearts was particularly heinous. Why were they targeting Eva, and how much danger was she really in?

  They all dismounted, and then Jake turned to look at Wayne. “What are you doing to find out who is responsible for this?”

  Wayne shifted from one foot to the other. “This has been a tough thing for me to investigate. There have been no weapons left behind and no real clues for me to work with.”

  “Eva told me she mentioned some teenagers to you. Have you questioned them?” Jake asked.

  “I really haven’t had a chance yet,” Wayne confessed.

  “Get a chance today, Wayne. The note Eva got this morning is definitely a threat.” Jake spoke forcefully.

  He and Wayne had gone to high school together. Jake had always liked the man, but Wayne had been lazy in high school, and that trait seemed to have followed him into adulthood. Jake didn’t want Eva to be a victim of what Jake suspected was Wayne’s usual lethargy.

  “I’ll get on it as soon as I leave here,” he said. He looked at Eva. “Is there anyone else you can think of that might have a grudge against you?”

  Eva frowned. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I guess you might want to question Ben Wilkins.”

  “Who is he?” Jake asked.

  “He’s a ranch hand I had to fire about six months ago,” she replied. “He’s a heavy drinker and more often than not didn’t show up for work. I thought we’d parted ways amicably, but who knows.”

  “I think he’s working on the O’Brien spread now, although I haven’t seen him around town lately. If I can find him, I’ll have a chat with him as well,” Wayne said.

  “I just want all this to stop,” Eva said. “I can’t afford to lose my cattle, and nobody is going to make me leave town.” She raised her chin. “This is my land, and nobody is going to terrorize me off it.”

  “You know you have our support,” Jimmy said fervently. “I’d never let anything happen to you, Eva.”

  By the look in Jimmy’s eyes as he gazed at Eva, it was obvious the young pup had a big crush on his boss. As long as he stayed in his own lane and didn’t get in Jake’s way, there would be no problem.

  The group broke up. Wayne drove off with a promise to come back later that evening, and Eva and Jake headed back to the barn, leaving Jimmy and Harley the distasteful duty of taking care of the dead cows.

  As much as Jake would have loved to stay with Eva, by the time they unsaddled the horses and put them back in their stalls, it was time for him to head back home and get cleaned up for the appointment with his father’s lawyer.

  “Thanks for coming out this morning,” she said as she walked him to his truck.

  “Eva, I intend to be here for you until Wayne has solved this and somebody is in jail.”

  “That’s really not necessary. I’m sure Wayne is going to step up and do his job,” she replied. “I appreciate what you’ve done, but you’re officially off the hook now.”

  She had no idea how badly he was on her hook, how much he wanted to taste her lips once again and feel her lithe body against his own. He wasn’t about to walk away from her before he got what he wanted.

  And since he had left Dusty Gulch all those years ago, Jake Albright always got what he wanted.

  Chapter Three

  As Eva finished up her morning chores, she tried to keep her mind off Jake. She hoped he wouldn’t come around anymore. Just the sight of him stirred up too many memories, ones that were both exquisite and splendid and others that were too painful to entertain.

  She ate a light lunch and then decided to put on some tomato sauce for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Even though the hot weather called for cold salads and sandwiches for the evening meals, Andy loved her spaghetti and meatballs. She tried to make it for him fairly regularly.

  There had been a time when she would expect Jake to share the evening meal with her and her father. Her father had adored Jake and had treated him like the son he’d never had. She had loved the relationship the two had shared. It had killed her to end things with Jake not only for herself, but for her father as well.

  He’d never asked her what had happened between her and Jake. She supposed he supported whatever decision she made in her dating life, and her father had respected her privacy on the matter.

  She wasn’t that girl anymore...the young girl who had believed anything was possible with love...that anything was possible with Jake.

  The life choices she’d been handed had been decisions that had been necessary but difficult. They had been decisions she’d had to make with her head and not with her heart.

  Other than the joyous birth of her son, her life had been built by moments of quiet contentment and respect for the man who had offered to marry her in order to give Andy his name.

  Andrew Martin had been the one who had helped her through her grief over her father’s unexpected death. That had been a time of fear...of complete uncertainty.

  Jake was gone, and she’d been a pregnant eighteen-year-old with a ranch that was failing. Andrew had stepped in with an offer of marriage that had benefited them both at the time. And in the end, he had left her a life insurance policy that had helped her stay afloat around the ranch and put some money away in a college fund for Andy.

  As the scents of garlic and tomatoes filled the kitchen, she sank down at the table and wished her father was alive. She needed to talk to somebody and say that the note today had frightened her even more than the others. Get out of town, bitch, or die. Who could possibly entertain such utter hatred toward her?

  She’d always kept a pretty low profile. She stayed busy working on the ranch and raising Andy. She went into town only when she needed supplies or if Andy had some activity, and she was always pleasant to the people she encountered.

  So, who was behind all this? Although she took the death of her cattle very seriously, she wasn’t sure how seriously to take the personal threats indicated in the notes.

  Nasty notes couldn’t hurt her. However, would the person writing the notes escalate and try to physically harm her? Kill her? She got up and stirred the sauce as troubling thoughts continued to fire through her brain.

  Nobody had shown any interest in wanting her ranch. Nobody had stepped forward to offer to buy the place. She’d had no indication about anyone being interested in getting this land away from her. Her father had bought all these acres when he’d been nineteen years old, and he’d built the house they now lived in. Nobody was ever going to force her off this land.

  So why was somebody obsessed with her leaving town?

  At four o’clock she left the house and walked down the lane to the main road where the school bus would drop Andy. Even though it was only mid-August, school had started the week before due to the many snow days the kids often had off in the winter. As always, all bad thoughts fell away from her mind as she anticipated seeing her son.

  The bus pulled up and Andy jumped off, his wide smile immediately contagious. “Hi, Mom. I got an A on my spelling test and can I spend the night with Bobby tonight? It’s Friday night so we don’t have school tomorrow. We already talked to his dad and he said he could pick
me up and we’d go out for pizza for dinner and then we can rent a movie.”

  “Congratulations on the spelling test,” she said and grabbed his hand to hold as they headed back to the house. “And you know I’ll have to check all the details with Bobby’s father. I’ll have to make sure you and Bobby don’t have him tied up somewhere and are forcing him to meet your demands.”

  Andy giggled. “You’re silly, Mom.”

  “I’ll still need to speak with Bobby’s father,” she replied, her heart warmed by her son’s laughter.

  “He said you can call him as soon as I get home from school. Bobby and I want to rent a scary movie tonight.”

  “Then I’m glad I won’t be there with you. You know how much I hate scary movies.”

  “That’s ’cause you’re just an old fraidy-cat,” Andy replied with a giggle.

  “Oh yeah?” Eva released his hand and proceeded to tickle him.

  He howled with laughter and took off running toward the house with her following in hot pursuit. “I made you spaghetti for dinner,” Eva said once they were inside.

  Andy frowned. “I guess I could stay and eat dinner here before going to Bobby’s.”

  “Don’t be silly. You can always have the spaghetti tomorrow night. You go pack your overnight bag and I’ll give Bobby’s father a call.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I love you,” he said and then zoomed out of the kitchen and down the hallway toward his bedroom.

  At five thirty Robert Stephenson pulled up with his son, Bobby. Bobby bounced out of the car, and the two boys bumped shoulders and then high-fived each other.

  Robert was a handsome man with sandy brown hair and green eyes. Tragically, he had lost his wife three years ago to cancer. Eva never worried about Andy spending time at the Stephenson house. She knew Robert had rules and a parenting style that closely mirrored her own.

  “Hi, Eva.” He greeted her with a warm smile.

  “Hey, Robert, are you sure you’re ready for this?” She gestured toward the two energetic boys who were dancing around each other and fake fighting.