by B. J Daniels
* * *
BESSIE CAME OUT of the café’s kitchen with two orders that hadn’t been picked up to find everyone again pressed up against the front window, trying to see across the street.
“What in heaven’s name is going on now?” she demanded. When a bunch of locals had come in, she’d thought it was because today was Fried Pies Day.
Now she realized why business had been so good lately. The café had the best view down the street of Jon’s workshop. She put down the two plates of food and looked at her waitress.
Lindsey was in tears again but quickly wiped them away as she left the crowd at the window and hurried back to the kitchen where Rene had placed another order on the pass-through.
“She’s over there again,” Vi Mullen said as she moved away from the window, smoothing her blouse and taking her seat again. Clarice Barber kept peering out for a moment, before reluctantly joining Vi in her booth.
Bessie didn’t need to ask who they were talking about.
“She isn’t going to leave town,” Mabel Aldrich crowed as she slid in beside Vi. “Best get your purse ready, Vi. You’re going to lose this bet. Kate and Jon. It’s love. She’s found her true love. I’m so happy for him.”
Bessie groaned. “I’m afraid you’re all going to lose on this one. Clarice, I hope you’re not involved in this.”
“She’s the one who started it,” Tyrell Durham said with a laugh.
“I’ve got my money on her dumping the fiancé.” Fred, dressed like his son in overalls from the garage, laughed as the two of them took their seats again in a booth and Lindsey brought out their orders. “I just wish she’d make up her mind.”
“You’re worse than a bunch of old women,” Bessie joked.
“We are old women,” Mabel said. “Except for Fred. He’s just old.” They all laughed, his son the loudest. “Kate is making the right choice. Jon’s a good man. That other one... My mother taught me not to say anything if I couldn’t say something nice, so I’m not going to tell you what I think of him.”
“She’s right,” Fred said. “Kate is better off with Jon.”
Bessie shook her head. “I hate to disappoint you all, but this might not be the love story of all times. I have a bad feeling about how it will end. Not only are most of you going to lose your money, but someone’s going to get hurt.”
“She could be right,” Vi cut in and lowered her voice. “The other day Collin Matthews came in and wanted to overnight a package to Houston.” She nodded, seeing that she had everyone’s attention. “It was a cup wrapped badly in a page torn from a newspaper. Still smelled of the coffee that had been in it. I knew I’d seen that cup before, so I asked Clarice about it.”
Clarice nodded enthusiastically. “It was the same coffee mug that I gave Jon in our Christmas gift exchange.”
Vi pursed her lips. “Now, what would Collin Matthews be doing with Jon’s cup, let alone sending it to Texas?”
Bessie felt a tiny electrical shock move through her. Her gaze went to Earl Ray who’d been sitting quietly at the counter taking all of this in. His eyes met hers, and she saw the same worry there.
The door opened on a gust. Collin Matthews didn’t seem to notice the awkward silence that fell over the place as he came in from the cold. Everyone had quickly gone back to their coffee or meals. Collin was busy looking at his phone as he slipped into a booth. He only glanced up when Bessie put a menu and a glass of water in front of him.
“Coffee?” she asked, thinking that she wasn’t getting involved in this love triangle. Yet as she waited for him to stop texting to answer her, she felt Kate could do a hell of a lot better.
* * *
COLLIN STARTED TO place his order when his phone rang. He glanced up, surprised how many people were having breakfast this morning at the café. He saw who was calling and said, “I need to take this,” and, having no choice unless he wanted the whole town to hear, got up and went outside. He hadn’t been expecting a call from his friend Nels until later in the day. Thinking he had hours to kill in Buckhorn, he’d decided to get a late breakfast after the beers he’d had at the bar. Wouldn’t be that long before he’d be driving. He didn’t know where Kate was, but he could pretty well guess.
“Are you sitting down?” Nels asked.
It was freezing cold outside, and he was in no mood for games. “Just tell me you have something good.”
“You now owe me, buddy,” Nels said. “I ran the fingerprints the minute I got the mug. I hadn’t expected anything. Most people don’t have their fingerprints on file. You can’t believe what came up. You were right. His name isn’t Jon Harper.”
Collin swore, his breath coming out in a white puff of air. “Please don’t tell me that it’s Daniel Jackson.”
“Nope, it’s Justin Brown.”
“Who the hell is that?” he demanded, stomping his feet to stay warm. When he glanced toward the window into the café, he noticed that everyone in there was watching him. He turned his back on all of them. Damn voyeurs. As if he didn’t know they were following his life and Kate’s. What else did they have to do in this godforsaken town?
“Justin Brown is just a cop who busted some mob-like crime syndicate in Oklahoma, of all places. Most of them went to prison, but they still had contacts outside. They hired some thugs to kill him. Blew up his car. They’re still looking for him.”
He couldn’t believe this. “You’re sure?”
“That’s the name that matches the fingerprints on the mug. Justin Brown. One of the most wanted lawmen in the country. There’s a bounty out on him. Not even dead or alive. Just plain dead.”
“How much?” Collin asked.
“Not enough to get yourself involved in this mess, I can tell you that. This could get real ugly, fast. I wouldn’t want to be around when these guys catch up to him.”
Collin didn’t know what to think. Hadn’t he known Jon Harper was hiding something? But, while he’d thought the man was on the run and hiding out here in Buckhorn, Collin had never expected this.
“Do me a favor. Find out everything you can about Justin Brown, especially what he did before he became a cop, and let me know. Thanks. You’re right, I owe you, and I’ll make good on that when I get back to Texas.” He disconnected and considered what to do with this information. All he knew for certain was that he no longer wanted a late breakfast. He needed a good stiff drink because all it would take was one phone call, and Jon Harper would no longer be a problem. As it was, Nels could be making that call right now.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KATE WAS SURPRISED that Collin hadn’t already left. She’d gone to breakfast by herself. Bessie had made sure that she ate, sitting down to visit with her as if they were old friends.
After that, she’d gone to see Jon. Each time she pushed open the old carriage-house door, she was half-surprised to see him. Earl Ray had warned her that he might run. But each time, she was relieved to find him hard at work. She had seen that he was finishing a rocker as if it was for a customer. Was that all that was keeping him in Buckhorn?
She’d taken her seat in the rocker she knew he’d brought out to the shop for her. It was the same one that had been in his house—the one he felt wasn’t good enough to sell.
Today, she’d told him about a summer day she and Danny had spent at the beach in Galveston. As she talked she could almost feel the salty spray on her face, smell the briny scent, sense the soft sand between her toes.
Jon had given no sign that he’d been listening, but she’d known he was. At times he had stopped for a few seconds, looked away as if remembering something before he’d returned to his work.
There was so much she had wanted to tell him, but she promised herself there would be other days. She had slipped out, leaving him to his work, hoping he knew she would be back, praying he wouldn’t run away from her, and fearing her stories of a past meant no
thing to him because they hadn’t been his.
And yet, she couldn’t help the closeness she felt to him. Her heart always beat a little faster in his presence. Whatever the connection between them she felt, it was as real as the snow and cold outside his workshop. At least it was for her. She told herself she would keep trying. She wasn’t giving up. Today there had been a moment when Jon had stopped working and looked at her. Their gazes had met and held. It was as if he was trying to reach out to her from some dark place inside him.
But the moment had passed, and she’d known it was time for her to leave. Talking about the past was exhausting enough without the weight of hope she felt each time she told Jon her treasured memories.
Now as she neared the motel, she saw with regret that the rental car was still parked out front of Collin’s room. She’d hoped he’d left without telling her goodbye. Drawing closer, she saw exhaust coming from the back of the SUV. He had the engine running. She hesitated, not wanting to argue with him, hoping he was still congenial and would just leave. After all, he’d be back in a couple days. He hadn’t wanted to leave her here. She figured he’d come back to try to convince her to leave with him.
As she started to reach for her motel room key, she realized the door was already ajar. She pushed it open and blinked into the dimness. Collin had her suitcase on the end of one of the double beds. He was just closing it.
“What are you—”
He cut her off before she could ask what he thought he was doing. Anyway, it seemed pretty obvious.
“I packed your suitcase for you,” Collin said. “I heard from my associates. We’re meeting them this evening on the other side of the border. Which means we have to leave now.”
“We? Collin, we discussed this. You were going alone. I already told you—”
“I know what you told me, Kate. And I just told you. You’re going with me.”
“Collin,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her to get out of the cold and away from any prying eyes. She’d gotten the feeling that Shirley only cleaned the motel room next to theirs when they were in one of theirs arguing. All day she’d felt as if she were being watched. “You can’t force me to go with you.”
He looked at the floor. His hands fisted at his sides. When he looked up, she saw that his face was flushed, and even though it was cool in the motel room, he appeared to be perspiring. “You don’t seem to get it. I need you.”
Was he still talking marriage? “After everything that has happened, I would think—”
“Nothing’s happened,” he said too loudly for the size of the room. “This man has told you repeatedly that he isn’t your husband.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe him.”
He scoffed at that. “I’d hoped that by now you would have come to your senses.”
“I’m not delusional,” she snapped.
“But you are incredibly gullible,” he spat right back. “I’m curious. What were you planning to do? Stay here the rest of your life? Or are you still thinking that you’ll take him back to Houston to live in your big house?” He let out a snort. “Even if he would go, he wouldn’t fit into your life any more than you fit into his. I got news for you, baby—”
“Don’t call me that. I’m not your baby. I’m a grown woman. I know my own mind.”
“Do you?” He ground his jaw muscles as if holding back sharp words that promised to bring blood. “His name isn’t Jon Harper. You got that much right, anyway. But it’s also not Daniel Jackson. It’s Justin Brown. He used to be cop. He took down some crime syndicate, and even behind bars, they want him dead. They have a bounty on his head. Someone already tried to kill him. Blew up his car. He’s hiding out here. See why he wanted you to get lost and leave him alone?”
She stared at him, telling herself it was a lie. Just something he’d made up to try to convince her to leave with him. “That’s not true.”
“Oh, it is. I borrowed his coffee mug and sent it to a friend of mine. He ran the man’s prints. There is no doubt. He’s not your Danny, and all I have to do is drop a dime on him, and those mobster henchmen looking for him will come up here and—”
“You wouldn’t do that.” Even as she said it, she knew he would. If he was telling the truth...
She turned to pick up a sweater of hers that he had missed stuffing into her suitcase, her back to him, breathing hard as she tried to calm down. Jon wasn’t Danny. Collin had found proof. Not that it mattered. She’d known he might not be. But there was something about the man. It was more than a resemblance to Danny. Had she fallen in love with Jon Harper...?
Would she be responsible for getting the man killed because of her feelings for him? Collin would make that call just to spite her if she didn’t go with him.
Turning around to face him, she tried to reason with him. “Collin, I had no idea when we drove into this town that—”
“Yes, that we’d stop in some tiny Montana town in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter,” he mocked, “and you’d see your dead husband. Then again, are you sure it wouldn’t have been some other town, some other man?”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know how much I hate this. I know I’ve spoiled your trip.”
“You have tried to spoil it, that’s for sure. This isn’t what I wanted, either. I wanted to marry you. I thought we could make a good team. But now that’s off the table, isn’t it? Not that it matters. You are still going with me up to the border so I can make this meeting with my associates and pick up your wedding dress because I told them you were coming with me. You aren’t going to make a fool out of me. After that, I really don’t care what you do.”
She stared at him. “Your associates will understand and I’ll reimburse you for the cost of the dress.”
He glared at her, an icy, brittle hardness in those blue eyes that she’d never seen before. “Kate,” he said as if talking to an unruly child, “you are going with me.” Getting her back up, she started to argue that she wasn’t, but he cut her off. “Call Danielle.” He held out his phone. “Call your daughter.”
“What?” She looked at him, refusing to take his phone.
“Fine, I’ll call her.” He punched in a number on his cell phone.
“I don’t want you involving my children in this,” she said emphatically. “Collin, are you listening to me?” She started to take a step toward him when she saw that the call had been answered already.
“Put Danielle on the phone,” he said into his cell, his gaze on her.
She felt her eyes widen. Danielle didn’t have a roommate at the apartment she’d rented near the campus. Who had he just ordered to put her on the phone? All those thoughts raced around like caged hamsters in the seconds before he said, “Talk to your daughter, Kate.” He shoved the phone at her.
Her hand trembled as she took it and put the cell to her ear. “Danielle?”
“Mom, what’s going on?” Her youngest daughter sounded terrified.
Kate glared at Collin as she asked her daughter, “Who’s with you?”
“Some man. Mom, he has a gun, and he said that if you don’t do what you’re supposed to, he’s going to kill me.”
All the air felt as if it had been vacuum-sealed from the room. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak for a moment. Her murderous gaze was locked with Collin’s. She was realizing with terror that she had no idea who this man was.
“Danielle,” she said, surprised how calm her voice sounded, “don’t worry. Just be safe. This should be over very soon. Tell me you’re all right. He hasn’t tried to—”
“No, Mom. No.”
“Okay, just remain calm. Don’t do anything to upset him, and I’ll talk to you soon.” She disconnected and held out the phone. “You hurt my baby, and I’ll kill you myself,” she said from between gritted teeth as he took his phone.
�
��No one is going to hurt Danielle, okay?” he said, sounding like the man she’d agreed to marry. “Nor will I make a call on your...carpenter friend. If you cooperate. It’s just a trip up to the border. We cross. You be calm, like you told your daughter. You be my fiancée on our engagement trip. You be the woman who’s never been to Canada and wants to mark it off her bucket list. I meet my associates, we pick up your dress and we come back across the border.”
She stared at him in disbelief. Had he lost his mind? Or was there more to this trip? “You really expect me to believe that’s all this is about, meeting some associates and picking up a dress?” she demanded with a shake of her head. “You would kidnap my daughter for that?”
Now that she’d seen this other side of him, she hated to think what they would be bringing back across the border. Something illegal. Look at the extremes he’d gone to, determined to force her to go with him.
“Let’s not argue about this,” he said. “It’s decided.”
What had she gotten herself involved in? And now she’d involved her daughter. Not to mention Jon. Worse, until recently she’d been engaged to the devil. Remembering the ring, she reached into her pocket, took out the diamond engagement ring and threw it at him.
Collin ducked, the ring pinging off the wall behind him. “What the hell? Do you have any idea how much that ring set me back?” He turned his back on her to get down on the floor to look for it.
Kate fought the urge to attack him while he was down. But common sense won out. She merely glared at him as he got to his feet, dusting off the ring and then pocketing it.
When he spoke, his voice was rough with emotion. “I don’t care what you believe as long as you know that the threats...aren’t idle. I didn’t want to do it this way, but you’ve given me no choice.”