A Different Kind of Valentine

by K. J. Dahlen

  She caught her breath at the sight of him when he turned around. His firm, smooth chest was covered in soft dark hair that tapered to his waist. His arms rippled with muscles and his waist was trim. The belt he wore was unbuckled but still in the loops on his pants. He looked so good and she had a feeling she would feel safe in his arms. How she knew she didn’t know. She stood up to make her way back to the bedroom.

  Closing the door behind her, her eyes caught sight of him again. She felt wanton, warm thoughts, needing his arms around her. This was wrong, she knew, but she couldn’t help herself. She pushed the door almost closed but not quite all the way shut.

  When she lay down on the bed, the coolness of the sheets was welcome. Her head still hurt. She knew she had to clear her head. The butterflies in her tummy were hard without her understanding what they were trying to tell her. She closed her eyes, drifting into an uneasy sleep.

  A while later she began tossing and turning. In her dreams she saw the shadowy man chasing her again, and this time he was getting closer and closer. In her nightmare she was frozen in fear as he closed in on her. Her legs were shaking and she opened her mouth to scream as his shadowy arms grabbed her. Another scent filled her nostrils and it made her sick to her stomach. She could smell the overly-sweet aftershave of the man in the shadows. She still couldn’t see his face but she knew he was there and it frightened her. He began shaking her, and she felt his fingers digging in to her arms.

  She opened her eyes and he was there. He was shaking her awake. The fear she felt was real. She screamed again and he pulled her closer to him. She tried to pull away from his embrace but his hand held the back of her head against him.

  "Hush child, you’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you," he kept saying.

  She calmed down as she breathed in his scent. It wasn’t the sickly sweet scent of her nightmare but instead a clean, musky scent. She opened her eyes to Colton sitting on the bed holding her close to him. "What happened?" she finally asked when she realized she was back in the bedroom. It wasn’t a shadowy menace that held her in fear.

  Colton released her. She was disheveled and the bed covers were all over the place. Colton smiled slightly. "You must have been having a nightmare. You were calling out to Ian then you were screaming. I tried to wake you up but you fought me all the way."

  "Oh my god," she said. "I thought you were the killer." She glanced at Colton. "I was dreaming the killer was closing in on me. I was reliving the scene in the alley. I watched as a man murdered Ian--I knew I was next. Then I was running away from him and he was chasing me. He kept getting closer and closer. I was so scared I couldn’t move. That’s when he pulled me into his arms. I could smell his aftershave. Then I was struggling with him. I could almost feel the menacing threat to my life. I thought my life was over. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was a man in the shadows and I tried to get away. It wasn’t until I could smell you that I realized I was struggling with you."

  "I hope you know I wouldn’t hurt you," Colton told her.

  She nodded. "You’ve been nothing but kind to me. I know you wouldn’t hurt me." She took a deep breath. "I think my name is Bethany Carter. Ian is, err…was my brother. I didn’t shoot him, someone else did. I remember the name Nick, and I remember there was a lot of money and drugs involved, but I can’t remember why."

  "Can we go back to your nightmare a moment?" He frowned as if trying to remember something. "You said the man in the shadows had an over-sweet aftershave. What does that mean exactly?"

  Bethany shrugged. "I don’t know and that’s what’s so frustrating. That night the wind shifted in the alley and for a moment I caught a whiff of aftershave so strong it almost made me sick. I don’t know how else to describe it." She glanced at him and said, "You smell clean and fresh and a little bit musky, but the man in the shadows," she could not go on.

  Colton didn’t know whether to be flattered or feel rejected. "I do wear aftershave you know. I wear Brut."

  Bethany shook her head. "Brut blends in with a man’s natural scent." She pushed her hair from her eyes. "This aftershave is different. It mixes with the man’s scent turning it oversweet and nauseating."

  "How do you know so much about men’s aftershave?" Colton was curious.

  Bethany shrugged. "I guess I’m like most women. I know what I like a man to smell like, and I’ve always liked the smell of Brut."

  ~ * ~

  Colton sat up. He wasn’t sure what any of this meant but it sounded like Ian was involved somehow in the dealing or trading of illegal drugs. "Is that all you can remember?"

  She nodded. "Yes, but let me explain a little. Ian was all the family I had left. Our parents died about five years ago in a car crash. They were hit by a drunk driver. I worked at a local restaurant as a hostess, under the name Betty Morgan. That’s probably where the name came up."

  "Whoa, back up a minute…" Colton was confused. "What do you mean you worked under the name Betty Morgan?"

  Bethany turned her head toward him and smiled. "I am an undercover DEA agent, a member of a task force put together in Minneapolis to track the route of a very popular, very new-on-the-market, designer drug called Gentle Breezes."

  Colton wasn’t shocked. He knew designer drugs were common in the big city, but he also knew they were increasingly more common in rural areas too. The drug trade affected everyone. "And you found those drugs here, in our rural community?"

  "We, Ian and I, discovered that Coven Glade was a distribution point. The drugs are brought in from Canada, repackaged then sent out from a warehouse in Coven Glade. We managed to identify at least four couriers and a couple of runners, but we haven’t nailed the big boss yet."

  Colton leaned back with a thud. "Was Ian a cop as well?"

  Bethany touched her wound before answering. "Yes, we were both DEA agents. His undercover assignment was working as a counselor in a group home. He was really making a difference with those kids. I think one of the kids he was working with might be Nick."

  "But if you remember all of this why can’t you remember the rest of what happened?"

  "I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the shooting. I do remember that Ian was shot by a man wearing a blue uniform." Bethany shook her head. "I know I’ve heard the name Trainer before too, but I can’t remember where or when." She looked over at Colton, "You said earlier that you don’t trust Grayson Trainer. Why is that? I mean is there a reason you don’t trust him or is it that you just don’t like him?"

  "The whole family is bad. The old man, Seth, is just plain mean. He’s treated his wife and kids like dirt most of their lives. When he wasn’t smacking them around, he ignored them altogether. Seth is a drinker and when he’s drunk, he gets nasty. He has no respect for other people or the law, which is surprising since both of his sons are cops."

  "Both of his sons? You mean there’s more than one Trainer in law enforcement?" Bethany queried.

  Colton nodded. "Grayson is sheriff here but he has a brother Travis over in Coven Glade. Neither one of them is any good. They like to bend the law on the side of illegal almost to the breaking point. Most people around here anyway are afraid of Grayson and what he’ll do to them if they don’t go along with his point of view."

  "And you? Are you afraid of him too?" Bethany wanted to know.

  Colton laughed. "I think he’s a little bit afraid of me. He knows I don’t like him or trust him, but he’s left me alone. For now anyway."

  "What if he comes back here in the morning?" Bethany asked. "If he finds me here, I have a feeling I won’t make it to court. If he or Travis is involved in the local drug activity, they’ll shoot first and make up a cover story after the fact."

  "That sounds like Grayson and Travis." He thought for a moment before suggesting, "I have a cabin, it’s sort of hidden but still on the property I own. We could stay there for a few days, at least until you remember a little more about what happened."

  Bethany shook her head. "I can’t put you out like tha
t."

  "What do you mean, put me out?"

  "I can’t take you away from your home and what you do," she tried to explain.

  "You aren’t putting me out. If what you’re telling me is going on around here then it needs to be stopped. They need to be stopped. You need to stop them. That’s your job. Besides, what happened to your brother? You can’t let whoever killed him get away with murder."

  Bethany nodded. "I need a safe place to contact my superiors. By now I’m sure they know that Ian is dead and they must suspect the mission may be compromised. I want to catch them both before they have a chance to move in and before the dealers go underground. We’ll never catch up with them again if they do that. They’ll move to a different town, start up the business. It took eighteen months of surveillance to find Coven Glade."

  Colton glanced at his watch. "We have about an hour until daybreak; maybe we should get up and start packing some provisions. I don’t think either of us is going to get any more rest tonight."

  "Again, I’m sorry I woke you."

  "It’s okay. I’m glad you remembered more of your past. I had no clue what Grayson was after yesterday, but if what you said is true, I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to murder you and call it justified. He already has everyone believing you killed Ian--that you’re armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees you would want to call the police and tell them exactly where you are."

  Bethany hesitated. "There’s something I have to get from my car. Is my car anywhere near this cabin of yours?"

  "Yes, we can stop on the way. What do you have to get?"

  "I need my gun," she told him.

  Colton wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. He really didn’t know that much about this woman, and now she wanted to retrieve her weapon. He didn’t say anything but the thoughts were in the back of his mind. When he glanced at her, he noticed a change had come over her. She wasn’t the scared little rabbit she’d been earlier. Had her memory really returned, he wondered, or had she been playing him before?

  "We can stop at your car on the way to the cabin to get your gun if you want to," He finally said quietly.

  She sighed deeply, "I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere. What is it you want to ask me about but don’t want to ask out loud?"

  Colton raised an eyebrow. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, a trait he found very disconcerting.

  ~ * ~

  "Are you worried that I’m lying to get a hold of my gun? That I’ll use it to shoot you? Maybe you think everything I’ve told you about being a cop is a story, and that I might actually be the killer Grayson warned you about?" Bethany guessed correctly. She waited for him to deny it, but when he didn’t, it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "At least you’re honest about it." She exhaled and told him. "How about if we compromise? We’ll get the gun but you can hang on to it. That way we’ll have some protection until you know if you can trust me or not, and I’ll have the satisfaction that it’s close by. Is that okay?"

  Colton grimaced. "That will work for me. Look, it isn’t as if I don’t want to trust you, but one man is dead, and up until a few minutes ago you claimed not to even know your own name."

  Bethany smiled. "I know. Believe me, I would want some kind of reassurance too if I were in the same set of circumstances you find yourself in. After all, I could be lying to you. I’m not, but until you know that for sure I want you to have the advantage."

  Bethany stood up and walked to the bedroom door. She didn’t have to open it but when she went through it to the living room, she didn’t look back at him. Her back had been stiff with disappointment.

  ~ * ~

  Colton glanced through the doorway wondering what he was getting into.

  As the sun came up a little while later Colton was in the barn saddling his horse. He thought about taking the truck, but if Grayson did come sneaking around he wanted things as close to normal as possible. Everyone in the area knew he rode his horse around the ranch routinely, plus he didn’t want any vehicle tracks leading to the accident at all.

  He gazed out into the landscape and was grateful the storm was almost over. Except for the wind that was still blowing, the snow had stopped, and although it was a cloudy day the air had a clean smell to it. He hadn’t slept much last night after Bethany told him her story; instead he had gone over every detail. He had still been awake when she started screaming. She seemed honest enough but there was something he felt she was holding back, maybe something she didn’t remember yet. Something that might get them both killed.

  Colton finished saddling his horse and led it around the back of the house. Tying the reins at the back door he went inside to see if Bethany was ready. She was sitting in front of the television and had the news on. She glanced up when he came in. Colton glanced over at the TV to see what was so interesting.

  Grayson Trainer’s brother, Officer Travis Trainer, was reporting more of the details of the shooting to the public. "We believe our person of interest has escaped the city, and we are now canvassing the rural area for the whereabouts of Betty Morgan. She was the last person to see Ian Carter alive. We need to talk to her. If anyone has any information on her whereabouts please call the police at 555-1212."

  Bethany clicked off the television. Colton frowned as he stared at her bent head. He thought she was crying but he couldn’t be sure. "Are you ready to go?"

  Bethany wiped the tears away and stood up. She was staring at the blank television screen. Her fists were clenched at her sides. "I’m going to kill that man."

  Chapter Four

  Colton glanced at her then looked back at the television screen. "Travis Trainer was the last man I saw on the TV. Why?"

  "Because that’s the man who shot my brother. He’s the one that killed Ian, and he’s blaming me for it," Bethany told him. "He was the man Ian was arguing with that night. He was the one that bumped my car off the road."

  Colton’s eyes narrowed. "Are you sure that he’s the one that killed your brother?"

  Bethany nodded.

  Colton grabbed her by the arms. "I need you to think back to the night your brother died. Was there anyone with Travis Trainer that night?

  "What do you mean?"

  "You said before "they" were waiting in the alley. Was there someone with Travis that night?"

  Bethany thought about that night. She couldn’t remember who Nick was or why they were in that part of town. Nor why she had allowed Ian to take the package there in the first place. She had followed him without his knowledge in case there was trouble, but she hadn’t stayed close enough to have his back. By the time she'd caught up with him, Travis was aiming his gun at Ian. He had shot him before she could stop him.

  "There was someone else there that night, but I didn’t get a very good look at him. He was standing in the shadows. You know, I could see his outline in the shadows," Bethany told Colton. "His aftershave stank."

  "Come on, we’d better get going," Colton said. "We have a long way to go."

  "Why are you so interested in Grayson Trainer?"

  "Do you remember what I said earlier about Seth Trainer, his boys, Grayson and Travis?" Colton asked her. When she nodded, he went on to say. "Grayson has always been a bully, even when we were kids he liked to push around the smaller kids. Maybe he felt that way because of how things were at home, I don’t know. It sure doesn’t matter now. He thinks that because he wears a sheriff’s uniform people should automatically respect him. He’s mad that I don’t. Grayson feels because I don’t show him respect then no one else does either. He doesn’t realize that it’s because of the way he treats everyone that people don’t respect him."

  "But why did you ask if I saw him that night?" Bethany asked.

  "If Travis is into something illegal, then Grayson is right there with him, always two steps behind him. When they were growing up, they had no other friends. Those two boys always did stick together. That’s the way it’s always been and always will be," Colton told her.