A Different Kind of Valentine

by K. J. Dahlen

  Bethany thought Colton sounded like he had something in mind for the Trainer brothers, but she didn’t ask about it. She had her own agenda to worry about. Being this close to Colton wasn’t helping her concentration much. She glanced up at him. "Maybe we should go. We can’t be here when he comes back. He’ll kill both of us."

  Colton nodded. "The horse is ready."

  Bethany was confused for a moment but she nodded. Colton grabbed a bag off the table and ushered her out to the porch. When she saw the horse standing by the front door, she looked at Colton. She watched him throw the bag over the front of the saddle. When he mounted the horse, she moved to the edge of the step.

  Colton held out his hand. She stepped closer to the animal so she could reach out her hand. He hauled her up behind him on the horse.

  "I thought we were taking a truck?"

  "No," he told her as he reined the horse away from the house. "I don’t want to leave any tracks for Grayson to follow. The wind will cover Beau’s tracks in no time."

  "Well that makes sense. Beau, I take it, is the horse’s name?" Bethany muttered as the horse began to move under her.

  "Yeah, his name is Beau."

  With every step the horse took she could feel his body bump against hers. Her imagination was leading her into dangerous territory.

  He steered the horse toward the sound of rushing water. Bethany frowned when she saw the wreck that used to be her car, partially wrapped around a small clump of trees. As Colton had told her, the snow had covered the tracks and had almost covered the entire car. If the trees hadn’t stopped her progress down the hill, her car would have come to rest in the creek. Bethany slid off the horse, slipping and sliding over to the car. Brushing snow away she opened the trunk, rummaging around inside for a moment.

  She brought out a small black bag. Bethany took a moment to look over her car. "Maybe if I’d had my gun with me in the front seat or carrying it in the alley instead of leaving it in the trunk of my car, Ian wouldn’t have died that night. Maybe I would have found a way to protect him when he confronted Travis." But she arrived in the alley too late to stop her brother, and just in time to see him executed. She had to live long enough to make sure the man who murdered her brother paid for his crime.

  She went back over to Beau and Colton. Colton handed her back up behind him. "Are you ready?"

  Bethany nodded saying, "Yes." Colton reined the horse away from the creek toward the tree line. They rode for about twenty minutes before Bethany saw the cabin, small and tucked away where no one would likely know to look. The cabin had a lean-to attached to one side while the front door looked out on the creek. There was a stack of wood inside the lean-to where she could see a couple bales of hay as well. She only hoped that she would be safe until she could get word to her boss.

  ~ * ~

  Colton rode right up to the front door and swung off of Beau then tied him up to the hitching post. He turned to give Bethany a hand off and went to open the front door.

  The inside of the cabin was clean and sparsely furnished. Colton wanted to apologize for the accommodations but instead he shook his head. "I’ll get a fire going so it will warm up in here."

  "It's so cold can see my breath," Bethany said.

  Colton loved the cabin. He spent hours here enjoying the peace and quiet. The cabin had a table tucked in one corner, a double bed in the other corner. The two areas were somewhat separated by a sofa placed in front of the fireplace. He tried not to think about the sleeping accommodations. That brought to mind all the wrong ideas. There were other things he needed to think about. He watched her walk to the cupboard and chuckled softly when she opened it.

  His gaze was steady as she turned to look at him. Two steps in such a small space brought him to her side where he reached around her and he closed the cupboard again. Then he built a fire in the kitchen stove as well, volunteering nothing.

  "What are you doing with a computer and ham radio way out here?" Bethany finally asked.

  Colton sighed, a bit of exasperation in that exhalation. He knew he would have to explain things to her. He had hoped to have a little more time to figure this out but time was running short. He nodded for her to sit down at the table. He sat down as well. "I grew up around here, that much of what I told you yesterday is true. I have known the Trainers since we were kids. What I didn’t tell you was that when I was eighteen, I moved away from the area. I went to college then after graduation, I joined the Army. I spent the next twelve years with intelligence ops. About three years ago a good friend of mine got into some trouble. I came home to help him."

  "Help him with what?"

  "He was hooked on Gentle Breezes. He was so messed up there really wasn’t much I could do. I managed to get him clean but he was left with a severe personality disorder, and he was never the same again."

  "That doesn’t explain why you have a computer and ham radio here," Bethany reminded him.

  Colton took a deep breath. "Sometimes I come out here to think, to catch up with my old Army buddies. I also do consulting work for the Army. That part’s confidential. I have a generator in the lean-to that I can start when I need power. Sometimes I’m here a couple of weeks at a time, but I still need to be able to keep in touch with what’s going on at the ranch. My foreman--"

  Bethany frowned, "What foreman? I didn’t notice anyone else at the ranch."

  "He’s been at an auction for the last few days. I was out riding line fences yesterday when I found you. Somewhere along the way my ranch work got shoved to the back burner. I’ll have to radio Barry when he gets back to the ranch to coordinate a little."

  "How big is your ranch, anyway?" Bethany asked. "I haven't seen much of the ranch but I assumed that it wasn’t all that big.

  "There’s a couple hundred acres with about one hundred sixty head of cattle." He shrugged. "It really isn’t all that large a spread but the cattle still need to eat. I don’t maintain much of the land but I do grow some alfalfa and corn for the cattle."

  "Is that what you do? Ranch work I mean. I guess I never asked what you do for a living."

  Colton smiled. "I guess that’s what I do. I have a pension from the military and some online work, but at heart I guess I’m a rancher."

  ~ * ~

  Grateful the fire was beginning to warm the cabin, she took off her coat. With a nod toward the cabinet she asked, "Would you let me send a message?"

  "Sure, but the reception out here isn’t the greatest. It might not go through; even if it does, there’s no saying you’ll get an answer."

  Bethany nodded. "I know but I have to try to make contact. It’s already been too long since the shooting. There is a radio frequency I can try to get through on. One only DEA and the FBI use."

  Bethany went over to where they had left the items they brought with them. She picked up the black pouch that held her weapon. She thought about keeping it but she knew she couldn’t. She turned to Colton handing him the weapon. "I agreed to give you this if you stopped to retrieve it. I want you to know you can trust me."

  Colton took the weapon and placed it on the cupboard with the radio in it. He reached around her to grab the bag of provisions before turning his back to her to carry them to the kitchen.

  Bethany glanced outside. The wind had picked up as snow kept falling. She knew she was safe, but she was beginning to feel anxious about the lack of contact with her chief. "Did you get Beau put away for the night?"

  Colton nodded and disappeared outside for a while. She rummaged about the kitchen, finding sardines, peanut butter, baked beans in cans--enough calories to put a lunch together; although the final result seemed strange, maybe humorous.

  By the time she had it finished, Colton came back. He wolfed it down, to her relief, almost without tasting it.

  "Well the snow and wind are really raising havoc out there," Colton told her. About mid-afternoon, he had brought in another armload of firewood.

  "Great." Bethany was beginning to regret the decision
to come out here. Her sense of urgency was growing worse.

  "What’s wrong?" Colton asked. "I see that look of desperation in your eyes and can hear the impatience in your voice."

  "I guess I’m a little jumpy. I’m not used to being so far from civilization. It’s kind of creepy." Bethany admitted with a deep sigh, hating to show any weakness.

  Colton smiled slightly. "It does seem like we’re the only people on earth out here doesn’t it. Everything is so quiet. I come out here to clear my mind."

  "I can understand why."

  The wind had died down for a moment but the snow was still falling. He grasped her hand leading her to the window. "Tell me what you see out there," he asked.

  Bethany stared outside. All she could see was snow and trees. "Snow and trees and a whole lot of nothing else."

  "Look again, only this time really look," Colton whispered in her ear. He was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

  Bethany peered through the window glass. She had grown up in the city; she positively hated the outdoors in the winter. Being cold or wet--those were two things she hated. She frowned as the scene in front of her began to change. It was still snow and trees she saw, but the trees seemed more and more distinct as she observed them, the clearer each tree became. She saw a black squirrel foraging for something to eat in one of the trees. Soon another squirrel ran up to him, and they began to chase each other through the branches. She saw a patch of bright red way up high in another tree. The longer she stared at it the clearer it became. It was a male cardinal; his bright red plumage was beautiful against the dark bark of the tree. Something moved beyond her line of sight. For a moment, she was afraid Grayson had found them, but it was a deer family. The doe moved into the clearing with caution. Behind her came two pretty good sized fawns.

  "What do you see now?" Colton asked.

  Bethany didn’t know how to explain what she was seeing. "I’m beginning to see what I’ve been missing. It’s subtle enough to overlook, unless you take the time to look properly. Everything comes to life if you take the time to see what’s really there."

  Colton smiled. "Believe it or not, what’s out there changes every day; so it’s never the same but it’s always alive."

  Bethany smiled sheepishly. "I guess I never took the time to notice before. I’m from the city so it never occurred to me the country was any different. I guess it was the quiet I never expected. I mean in the city there’s always some kind of noise--cars rushing here and there, the sirens of either police or fire truck or ambulances, kids playing right outside your windows, music blasting. It’s all plain noise and sometimes it’s very easy to block it all out. Out here there is no background noise. Out here my world seems messy and exhausting. The silence is what troubles me and it’s what I notice first."

  "The isolation can be quite overwhelming at first. The silence alone can drive you crazy if you let it, or it can calm you." Colton told her.

  "Can I ask you something?"

  "Of course."

  "Whatever happened to that friend of yours? The one you helped get clean," Bethany asked.

  Colton sighed deeply. "He managed to stay clean. It’s taken awhile but he’s still clean. He had to hit rock bottom before he could start his life over, but he did it. He found a new job and a new life. He was one of the lucky ones. He told me once that he felt so stupid for getting caught up in something like drugs. He said it never occurred to him that he could get hooked so easily. He became a counselor and now works in Coven Glade. He said he got a second chance thanks to me and his family. He wanted to give others the same chance. He thinks because he went through the same thing they are going through, he can help them adjust to sobriety. He found his purpose in life and making a difference to a lot of people."

  "And has he? Helped others reach a state of sobriety, I mean?"

  "His program is working. Although lately he said there are some of his people he’s concerned about. People like him are getting threats against what they do. Some of the people Scott works with are getting nervous."

  Bethany frowned. "Why? What’s going on?"

  "I’m not sure, but if Coven Glade is a major distribution point and the Trainers are behind the drug trade around the area, maybe the pushers are getting more aggressive."

  Bethany sighed thoughtfully, nodding. As much as she wanted to stand by the window watching the day pass, Colton right behind her, she knew it wouldn’t bring her any closer to Ian’s murderer. And Colton was becoming more important to her than she was comfortable with. "I wish we could get through to my contact. I really need to find out what’s going on with the case. I have arrangements to make for Ian."

  Colton exhaled sharply, glancing at his watch. "Barry should be back to the ranch by now." He turned her by the shoulders toward the ham radio then sat down at the controls tuning in the frequency. Static crackled. Colton fine-tuned the frequency. He spoke into the microphone; a sprat of garbled talk came back.

  Bethany couldn’t figure out what was said but Colton made it out.

  The conversation lasted a few minutes until the signal became too weak to pick up--the storm interfered with reception. Colton glanced up. "That was Barry. When he got back to the ranch this afternoon, he found Grayson waiting. Grayson had kicked in the back door and searched the house; he left quite a mess. Grayson told Barry he found your car earlier today. He considered it as evidence that I must be hiding you. He told Barry I would be charged with aiding a fugitive if he found you anywhere on my property. He said that Grayson was really pissed and that he made all sorts of threats against me. He also told Barry he would give me twenty-four hours to bring you in. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to control what might happen."

  "Does Trainer know where we are?" Bethany panicked. Grayson must have found the car shortly after they had left it.

  "No, Barry didn’t tell him a thing." Colton frowned deeply. "Grayson has a lot to answer for. I don’t like the fact that he kicked in my door and went through my house without a warrant. I don’t care if he was looking for you or not. By threatening me he crossed the line as far as I’m concerned."

  Bethany knew in her heart what she had to do. She didn’t want to but she knew she couldn’t hide forever. "We have to go back," she said quietly.

  Chapter Five

  "But you don’t have your memory back yet, do you?" Colton asked.

  "No, not all of it, but that can’t be helped. I won’t put you in danger. I can’t let Grayson and Travis get away with murder."

  Colton drummed his fingers on the table top. "We’ll have to wait until morning. I’m not going to risk our lives traveling at night in this weather."

  Bethany nodded. At least she would have one more night to remember the rest. She had to remember why Ian had been down in that part of town to begin with. And who was Nick? Where did he fit into the picture, and where was he now? "What about Barry? Will he be all right? Grayson might take his revenge out of him if he can’t get to you."

  "Barry knows how to take care of himself," Colton told her. "We met while we were in the Army. He was a special ops guy. He isn’t afraid of Grayson. If he needs to, he knows how to get into and out of the ranch without being seen by anyone."

  "Alright, I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me. I want to see Ian’s murderer brought to justice. I also want to put a stop to drug trafficking in Coven Glen." Bethany glanced at the floor for a moment then turned to look at Colton. "I don’t usually talk about this with anyone--I had a girlfriend who was hooked on Gentle Breezes, Faith was her name. We were in high school, but we were best friends since kindergarten. At first she was a recreational user. Then she met Calvin Brooks. Calvin was not a nice guy; in fact I found out he was dealing at the high school. Once he got his hooks into Faith there wasn’t anything anyone could do to save her. Believe me I tried. I went to the police but until they could bust him selling drugs, they couldn’t touch him. He was a juvenile, so obviously they preferred to work up the
chain."