Her Cowboy Distraction

by Carla Cassidy

  “Okay, fine.” He was right that even though they’d only had a relatively short amount of time together, she knew him better than she’d known any man in her life and she’d certainly shared more about herself with him than she had with any other man. “So, tell me why I have never had any long-term relationships.”

  “Because you’re afraid.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed. “I’ve taken off from my Chicago home to travel by the seat of my pants around the country. I’m trying new things almost every day. The only thing I’m afraid of is that the man who attacked me twice might find me one final time before I get out of town.”

  “I think that you’re afraid to let any man close to you because they might be like your father. You don’t let anyone get close enough to disappoint you, or let you down, or keep you waiting on a front porch stoop for hours.”

  She gasped, not only appalled that he would use something she’d told him against her, but also by the small stab of truth that pierced through her heart.

  She shoved the pain away, refusing to be caught up in some mumbo jumbo psychobabble about how her dad had hurt her and that was why she’d never had a real relationship before.

  The pain was replaced by the warmth of her mother’s face appearing in her head. “Promise me, Lizzy. Take what money I have left and do all the things that make you happy.” And that’s exactly what Lizzy had done…still planned to do.

  “I promised my mother, Daniel, and I don’t give my promises easily.”

  “Don’t you think what would be most important to your mother was if you were happy? We can be happy together here, Lizzy. I feel it in my heart, in my soul.” He leaned forward once again. “You can help me fill that big house with children. We can build something magical here, Lizzy. Isn’t that truly what your mother would want for you?”

  Too close. He was suddenly too close and his words hit too hard in her heart. She needed to get some air, to wash the heat off her face. She needed to stop this whole conversation before she made a mistake.

  “I’m going to the restroom,” she said as she slid out of the booth. She was shocked to feel tears burning at her eyes as she ran toward the back, where the bathrooms were located near the kitchen area.

  She passed Mary, who stood at one of the booths visiting with a tableful of diners. When she reached the bathroom, she went directly into one of the three stalls and leaned weakly against the wall.

  He loved her. At least he believed he did, but she wasn’t convinced. She thought that he was probably confusing gratitude with love. There was no question that he’d transformed in the time they’d spent together.

  His handsomeness and perhaps his sadness had drawn her to him initially, but it was his charm, his easy laughter and many other wonderful qualities that had the potential to ruin her plans.

  What plans? a little voice whispered inside her head. To wander from place to place never making any real friends, never connecting in a meaningful way to anyone?

  Is that what her mother would have really wanted for her? Lizzy was so confused, and if she looked deep inside herself she’d recognize that Daniel was right, there was a part of herself that was afraid to trust in love…in him.

  Maybe he was right. When she’d met him she’d believed that he was the damaged goods, but maybe if she looked deep inside herself, she’d realize she was the one who was damaged. Maybe he was right and she’d

  really never left behind that wounded little girl who’d just wanted her daddy to be a part of her life.

  One thing was certain. Now she just had to go back out there and tell him she was firm in her decision to leave Grady Gulch the next morning.

  As she stepped out of the bathroom, a hand came from behind her and slapped hard against her mouth. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself being dragged backward through the empty kitchen and out the back door.

  The moment she was pulled out the door and into the darkness of night, the reality of what was happening set in and terror took hold.

  She fought, first to get free and then to see whoever it was who held her so tight she couldn’t get loose. He was strong enough that he had her nearly off the ground as he continued to pull her backward, making it impossible for her to see his face.

  The light from the back door of the café promised salvation, but she was being dragged farther and farther away from it. Her screams were effectively muffled by the tightness of his big, strong hand over her mouth, and his other arm was wrapped around her neck in a horrifyingly familiar manner.

  Suddenly she realized where he was dragging her…to the cabin she’d stayed in before Candy’s murder. Why was he taking her there? Her heart beat so hard she was surprised nobody in the café could hear it.

  Was this the same person who had slit Candy’s throat? She knew that if he managed to get her into that dark cabin, she’d be dead.

  Like Candy.

  There would be no bucket list, no opportunity to thank Mary for her kindness, to say goodbye to Courtney and her other waitress friends. She would never see Daniel’s face again.

  She tried to fight against him, swinging her arms as hard as she could, kicking with her feet as she attempted to twist her head from side to side in an effort to dislodge his hand over her mouth.

  But, no matter how she fought she couldn’t get free, and with each step they got closer and closer to the cabin. Daniel, she screamed in her mind. Oh, God, somebody help me. Tears blurred her vision as he pulled her through the cabin door.

  “If you scream I’ll slit your throat. Do you understand me?”

  The deep, snarling voice was the same one she’d heard twice before, and her blood froze.

  “I said, do you understand me?”

  She nodded, desperate to agree to whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t hurt her. His hand dropped from her mouth but the other arm remained around her neck.

  The light to the cabin blinked on and she squinted against the sudden brightness. “You’re a stubborn woman, Lizzy. You should have left town that first time I told you.”

  This time his voice was more natural, and with shocked surprise she recognized it. What she didn’t understand at all was why. He released her and she turned to face him, stunned to see that not only had he pulled the curtains at the windows closed, but that he also had a gun in his hand. There was a wildness in his eyes that screamed of instability.

  “Sam? What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” The idea that Sam Benson would want to hurt her made no sense whatsoever.

  “You make him happy, and he doesn’t get to be happy,” Sam said, his voice deep and hoarse with barely suppressed rage. “As long as Cherry is dead, he has to be miserable like me.”

  Lizzy stared at him. She had racked her brain trying to figure out why anyone would want to harm her, and now she knew: she was merely a tool of torture for Daniel. Because Sam Benson didn’t want Daniel to know happiness, because Sam Benson had obviously lost his mind when he’d lost his sister.

  “Sam, you need to calm down,” she said softly, acutely aware that the gun was pointed at the very center of her chest.

  “I need you to get on the bed. You have to look just like Candy did when they found her.” His eyes remained wild, but the gun in his hand never wavered.

  Lizzy drew in a deep gulp of air. “You killed Candy?”

  “Of course I didn’t kill Candy. I didn’t give a rat’s behind about her,” he scoffed. “I figure her boyfriend or someone else who found her complaining ways irritating killed her. But, if you die the same way, then the sheriff is going to think he’s got some sort of serial killer on his hands. He’d never dream that it was me that killed you.”

  Nobody would think of her murder being committed by Sam anyway, she thought. “Sam, I’m leaving town tomorrow. You don’t have to do this. I’ll be gone by dawn.”

  “That’s not good enough!” he screamed, the cords in his neck bulging. “I warned you twice, but you wouldn’t listen to me
. I can’t believe a damn word you say. I see the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you. Now get on that bed before I shoot you.”

  A million thoughts flashed through Lizzy’s head in the space of a breath. Would he really shoot her? The gun had no silencer on it. If he fired it everyone in the café would hear the noise.

  If he truly wanted her murder to appear like Candy’s in order to cover his tracks, then he’d want to use a knife on her, not a gun.

  She certainly didn’t want to make this easy for him. Her will to survive surged up inside her, along with the courage to gamble.

  “Get on the damned bed,” he yelled again.

  A lifetime of emotions flashed through Lizzy as she raised her chin and returned his gaze. “Make me.”

  Chapter 12

  “Thanks, Dana,” Daniel said as the waitress topped off both his and Lizzy’s coffees.

  “No problem.” She gave him a bright smile and then left him alone at the table. Daniel looked across the room toward the area of the restrooms, waiting for Lizzy to return to the table.

  He supposed he should have just let her go in the morning and kept his feelings to himself. That probably would have been the kindest thing for him to do for her, to let her fulfill her promise to her mother without the baggage of his love on her shoulders.

  They should have spent their last evening together without tension, without complicated matters of the heart taking away the simple pleasure of their last moments.

  “Hi, Daniel,” Mary greeted him as she walked up to the side of his table. “How are you doing?”

  He wrapped his hands around his coffee mug. “As well as can be expected, I suppose. Did Lizzy tell you she was leaving town in the morning?”

  Mary looked at him in surprise. “No, she didn’t.” A trace of sadness darkened her blue eyes. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I had been hoping…” she allowed her voice to trail off.

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  Mary placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, as if knowing exactly what he felt at the moment. “I warned her, Daniel. I told her you were a good man and that she shouldn’t break your heart.”

  He gave Mary a wry smile. “She didn’t mean to. She just couldn’t help it. She warned me from the first time she spoke that Grady Gulch was just a temporary stop.”

  Mary looked around the restaurant. “Where is she now?”

  “We were kind of having an intense discussion and she excused herself to go to the restroom.” Daniel frowned. “But, it seems like she’s been gone an unusually long time.”

  “You want me to check on her?” Mary asked.

  “Do you mind?” He suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable with the length of time she’d been gone. He knew women could spend a lot of time primping and posturing in front of a mirror, but Lizzy just wasn’t that type.

  “I’ll be right back,” Mary said and turned to head in the direction of the restrooms.

  Daniel watched as she wound her way through the tables, occasionally stopped by a patron to ask a question or to say hello.

  Surely Lizzy hadn’t sneaked out the back door and found a ride back to his place, unwilling to have any further conversation with Daniel.

  He mentally shook his head. No, she wouldn’t do that to him. She’d see this to the end, drive home with him tonight and then tell him goodbye in the morning. She wouldn’t hide from that final goodbye. She just wasn’t that kind of woman.

  The slight edge of tension inside him increased as he saw Mary disappear down the hall to the bathroom and a moment later reappear with a worried frown creasing her forehead.

  He stood as she reached his table. “She wasn’t in there, Daniel. I checked the kitchen, too. She doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the café.”

  She wouldn’t have just left, not this way. He felt it in his gut. He knew her too well to believe that. “I’m going to check it out,” he said to Mary.

  “Should I call Cameron?” she asked, her lower lip trembling with concern.

  Daniel hesitated. If Lizzy had just stepped outside for a moment because she’d needed a breath of fresh air, a little break from the conversation they were having, then calling the sheriff would be a foolish waste of his time.

  But, if Lizzy had stepped outside for some air and somebody had grabbed her, her attacker had carried her off, then he wanted not just the sheriff but every deputy in town looking for her. He’d rather be foolish than be forever sorry.

  “Yeah, call Cameron. I’m going to check outside.” Daniel headed for the front door, attempting desperately to hold on to his simmering panic, to not allow it to release unless absolutely necessary.

  Maybe she’d gone to his truck. They’d finished their meal. Maybe she’d decided to just wait in the truck until he finished his coffee and paid for their dinner.

  Even as he ran to the side of his truck, he knew she wouldn’t be there. Lizzy wouldn’t sit in the truck and pout because he’d told her a hard truth that he believed about her.

  Frantically he looked around the parking lot, seeking any sign of her. But, he couldn’t find her. He couldn’t find her anywhere, and the panic that he’d been trying desperately to control surged up inside him, leaving him half-breathless.

  Had she stepped outside and right into danger? Was this just another repeat of what had happened with Janice? He’d told her some hard truths about herself that night, and his words had sent her out the door and to her death.

  Lizzy! Her name screamed in his head as he left the parking lot and raced around the left side of the café building. If she’d stepped outside it had been through the kitchen door because he hadn’t seen her return to the dining area after going to the bathroom.

  Yes, that was it, she was probably standing outside the back door where the kitchen light spilled out into the night and Rusty or Junior were only a shout away.

  The side of the building seemed longer than normal as he ran, hoping, praying that when he turned the corner to the back of the café he’d see Lizzy standing there. Oh, God, he wanted that. He’d gladly let her go tomorrow if she was just okay right now.

  He whirled around to the back of the café and saw nothing except a stack of trash cans and the light spilling out of the kitchen.

  No Lizzy.

  He raced into the kitchen, where Rusty was at the grill. “Did somebody come through here? Did you see Lizzy a few minutes ago come this way?”

  “Somebody came through a few minutes ago, but I was in the walk-in refrigerator and didn’t see who it was.”

  Daniel didn’t wait to hear anymore. He felt it in his gut. Lizzy had come through here, she’d stepped outside and then something had happened. But what?

  Once again he darted out the door and paused, his gaze sweeping the area for any sign of her or of what might have happened.

  The cabins were dark. Only Rusty’s had a light shining out the window. Candy’s cabin still had a stripe of crime scene tape stuck to the door, the bright yellow band tightening the muscles in Daniel’s gut.

  He listened, but all he could hear was the sound of diners inside and the noise that Rusty made as he threw something on the grill that popped and sizzled.

  And then he saw it…a sliver of light in the window of the cabin that had been Lizzy’s. Had she forgotten something and gone in to retrieve it before leaving town tomorrow? Surely if she’d remembered something she’d left behind she would have asked Daniel to go with her into the cabin.

  Lizzy wasn’t a foolish woman, and after the attack in the barn she’d know better than to go anywhere in the dark alone. A cold calm swept through him as he reached down and grabbed his gun from his boot.

  Mary had no more tolerance for guns at dinner than she did for hats, but Daniel hadn’t been about to have an outing with Lizzy without the weapon.

  The gun felt weighty, slightly alien in his hand. He kept it at the ranch for protection and knew he was a proficient shot, but he certainly wasn’t intimately familiar with the weapon. Still, he could easi
ly point it at somebody and pull the trigger if it was a matter of life and death for Lizzy.

  He felt as if the night around him fell away as he focused solely on the cabin ahead of him and the faint sliver of light that leaked out of a slit in the curtains.

  If she was in there he just had to hope he wasn’t too late to save her. If she was in there he hoped he could open the door and see her crawling around on the ground looking for a lost earring or a missing lipstick.

  But, he knew she was in there, and he knew in his very gut that she was not alone. As he drew closer…closer still, his gut instinct proved right. He could hear the faint sound of voices coming from inside.

  He moved even closer, hoping he could hear what was being said over the frantic pounding of his heart. “If you’re going to shoot me, then just do it!” The sound of Lizzy’s voice filled his very soul.

  She was alive, but whoever was in there with her had a gun. That made whoever it was and Daniel even in the weapons department. The only additional weapon Daniel had on his side was the element of surprise.

  As he moved to stand in front of the door, he hoped that was enough. Summoning all the strength he possessed, he kicked the door open and burst inside.

  * * *

  As Lizzy’s attention shot to the door that had exploded inward, Sam managed to grab her and place the knife at her throat.

  As Daniel froze and stared at the two of them, Lizzy realized that there was nothing quite so cold in the entire world as the blade of a knife held against your throat. The cold seemed to seep downward, and she forced against a tremble, afraid that the slightest movement would allow the knife to cut her skin.

  She saw the stunned surprise in Daniel’s eyes as he lowered the gun he held just a bit. “Sam, what’s going on?” His voice was low and steady, as if he recognized the madness in Sam’s eyes and didn’t want to feed into it in any way.

  “You should know what’s going on!” Sam screamed, and Lizzy could feel his body vibrating with rage, with loss and with the aching need for revenge. “You don’t get to be happy, Daniel. Your actions killed my sister, and now you have to pay.”