by B. J Daniels
She was seething but knew she had to keep her head. Now that she knew what Collin was capable of, she had to know just how dangerous he was. “And after I go with you, then what happens?”
“Then I tell my friend to leave your daughter’s apartment.”
“What about me?” she asked, so furious and scared that her words came out clipped. The fear had her heart thundering in her chest. And yet, she felt strong, she felt in control, even though she knew she was far from it. As long as she could protect her daughter and keep Collin from making that call on Jon, she would do what she had to do. Until she knew they were both safe. Then all bets were off.
But she had to keep her head. She knew she couldn’t trust Collin to keep his word. She had to be strong and smart. She told herself she’d been through worse when Danny had left them. She would get through this, too. She would take care of her girls—just as she had always done.
“What happens with you?” Collin said. “I’ll drop you off in the first real city in Montana we come to, and you can rent a car and go wherever it is you need to go. As long as you never tell anyone about any of this, you and your daughters will be just fine. So will your...carpenter. How’s that?”
She nodded, her gaze still holding his. She didn’t believe a word of it.
“Great,” he said. “Let’s get out of here. Oh, and if you try to pull something stupid—”
“I’m not stupid. I understand. We go to the border. You do your business. We cross again. Together. And then we’re done.”
“Suits me,” he said and picked up their luggage. “After you.” He motioned toward the door.
She opened it and walked out. She could hear him behind her as she stepped to the car, the engine still running. She didn’t look down the highway toward Jon’s workshop. Looking straight ahead, she opened her car door and froze at the sound of Jon’s voice.
“Kate.”
She turned to see him limping toward her through the snow. His breath came out in white puffs as he approached the SUV. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Collin tense, then start toward the man.
Jon held up his hand like a traffic cop. “I just want a word with her,” he said and turned to Kate. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.
She met his eyes. Danny’s eyes. This man might be someone named Justin Brown, but her breaking heart knew him, loved him. She couldn’t bear the thought that she would never see him again. To find him and then lose him... “I have to go. Collin and I are meeting some of his associates who’ve been skiing north of here in Canada.”
“Kate—”
“I’m sorry if I...upset you by coming into your life the way I did. Of course you can’t be my husband, Danny. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Jon held her gaze for a long moment.
“You heard her, carpenter,” Collin said loudly. “We’re leaving and not coming back. That’s what you said you wanted, right?”
Something changed in Jon’s gaze. Just a flicker of anger followed by what might be regret. “Have a safe trip,” he said to her. His gaze shifted to Collin. She could see by the way he stood that he wanted to take the man on. One more word out of Collin, the slightest movement in his direction...
But Collin stepped back, rounding the front of the SUV to go to the back to load her suitcase. She spoke quickly and quietly, hoping Collin wouldn’t hear.
“You stay safe, Justin.”
Jon heard the name, his eyes widening.
The hatch opened, and Collin threw in the suitcase before slamming it and stepping around to open the driver’s-side door. As he slid behind the wheel, he looked at her still standing outside with her door open. “Let’s go,” he barked.
Kate gave Jon one last look before she climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up. She’d seen the surprise and the worry on his face. He was afraid for her? She was the one trying to save him by warning him.
As Collin shifted into Reverse and yanked the steering wheel around, she couldn’t bear to look at Jon’s retreating back as he limped toward his workshop. She closed her eyes tight, her heart thudding brokenly in her chest. She yearned to throw open her door and run after him through the snow.
But like she’d told Collin, she wasn’t stupid. Her daughter’s life was at stake. So was the life of this man now walking away. One wrong move on her part... Worse, whatever business Collin had across the border, it was dirty and dangerous. She hated him for dragging the people she loved into it, but she was in it now up to her neck with no way out.
As he drove them out of Buckhorn, Kate feared she would never see her daughters again—let alone Buckhorn or Jon Harper. Worse, she was now with a dangerous man. She could smell it on Collin. His desperation warned her just how dangerous he could get.
Even if she did what he wanted, she thought her chances of surviving this engagement trip weren’t good.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TOO UPSET TO go back to his workshop, Jon had headed for Earl Ray’s house. He couldn’t believe that he’d let Kate go with that man. But what could he have done? Kate was a grown woman. Had he been going to warn her about Collin Matthews? Not that it mattered since she was the one warning him.
She’d called him Justin, which meant the report on his fingerprints from the coffee mug had come back. Collin knew who he was. By now he could have let everyone else know. He probably already had ratted him out and was pretending otherwise to force Kate to go with him.
Jon swore. Why hadn’t he grabbed her and... And what? Just because he didn’t like Matthews, none of this was his business. Maybe the man wasn’t headed for the border to do anything illegal. Right.
He hadn’t grabbed Kate and kept her from going because she’d asked him not to. He’d seen the pleading in her green eyes. Which meant Collin had something on her. It was the only thing that made sense. Jon’s true identify—and what would happen if word got out? He hoped to hell that wasn’t what Collin was using to force Kate to go with him. The irony wasn’t wasted on him. He’d planned to warn her and she’d ended up warning him.
Because she believed he was her husband, Danny. He swore under his breath as he neared Earl Ray’s house. He no longer even knew who he was.
He banged on Earl Ray’s door until the older man opened it. “She just left with Matthews,” he said as he stepped in. He wasn’t sure why he’d come here. Maybe so Earl Ray could tell him that there was nothing he could do.
As he took off his coat and boots, Earl Ray handed him a large manila envelope. “What’s this?” Jon asked frowning. “I hope it isn’t more bad news about Collin Matthews.”
“It’s a dossier on you.”
He jerked his head up, his nostrils flaring as he looked at the older man who stood in the middle of the room. The expression on Earl Ray’s face was one of pity and concern, two things that Jon didn’t want to see there. “Where the hell did you get—”
“I put it together myself.”
Jon took a step back. “Why would you—”
“Because I had to know.”
He didn’t need to open the envelope. He knew what was inside. He tried to choose his words wisely. Earl Ray was as close to a best friend as he’d had in years. He told himself he could trust the man. “I’ve lived here five years. When did you—”
“When you arrived. I had to know what you were running from. I love this town and the people in it. I couldn’t have you hurting any of them.”
Jon shook his head. “What took you so long? Why show it to me now?”
“I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t gotten involved with that woman and her fiancé.”
“Excuse me? I didn’t get involved with her. I did my best to send her on down the road.” Earl Ray merely held his gaze. “What’s in here?” Jon asked, holding up the envelope.
The old man stepped into the kitchen to
tend to the coffee maker that had finished brewing from the smell of it. “Everything.”
Jon stared at the man’s back, finding that hard to believe. “You weren’t a war hero.”
“Who says?” Earl Ray demanded with a smile as he turned from the coffeepot with two filled cups. “Sit down.”
He sighed as he tossed down the envelope on the table, pulled out a chair and sat. He felt anxious on so many levels. “Why the interest in me?”
“I had to know what you were running from,” Earl Ray said. “Not just for the sake of the town as it turns out. But for your own good. I had to know who you were if I was going to protect you.”
“Protect me?”
“Let’s not beat around the bush. You stopped here today to give me a chance to talk you out of this fool thing you’re thinking of doing—going after Kate.” Earl Ray held up a hand. “Because, you know what will happen if you do. Those men you’re running from? If you go after her up to that border, the shit will hit the fan, and when it does, everything will come out. Those men chasing you? They’ll know where you are and they’ll come for you. It will make it easier for them if you’re behind bars.”
“It’s too late. They’re probably on their way. My coffee mug Matthews took? He had my prints run through the system. They already know. Kate just warned me by calling me Justin. I can’t save myself, but maybe I can her. She’s in trouble and not just because her fiancé is a jackass and a probable drug smuggler.”
“I agree. But how much more trouble would you be putting her in if you go after her? According to you, you’ve never laid eyes on the woman until a few days ago. So, what do you care?”
He shook his head. “Whatever made you a war hero, it wasn’t because you turned a blind eye and let someone die.”
“Maybe not a blind eye, but I was forced to let people die. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions. Kate could be tougher than you think.”
“I know he forced her to go with him.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because I tried to stop her.” He hated admitting it. “I thought... Hell, I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought about telling her what we’d learned about Matthews. Instead she told me that Collins was meeting some of his associates who are on a ski trip up north. You and I both know what’s up north, and it isn’t a ski hill.”
“You think she was trying to tell you where she was going?”
“She wanted me to know that she had already figured out that Collin Matthews was a liar and probably worse. I have no proof that he’s headed to the border to commit a crime. But I know he’s forcing her to go and she’s scared—not for herself but for me. I saw it in her eyes.”
His old friend smiled. “You saw all that in her green eyes? And she’s a beautiful woman who just happened to see her dead husband in your eyes.”
Jon shook his head, refusing to rise to the bait. “It’s more than that.”
“I suspect it is,” Earl Ray said quietly. “Let me ask you this. Let’s say you go after her. What are you going to do when you find her? She wouldn’t have gotten into that man’s car unless he had some leverage on her. It could be you, but I suspect—”
“She has two daughters,” he said, remembering her fear. “Mia and Danielle. Mia owns a graphic-design business. Danielle is finishing college at Rice University. It would be just like that bastard to use her daughters against her.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Earl Ray said. “You don’t need to get involved. Especially since you know the cost. Especially since you don’t know this woman. We could be wrong about Matthews.”
He met Earl Ray’s gaze. “Nice try.” They weren’t wrong, and they both knew it. “Someone has to help her. It’s just my luck that she chose me.” He’d lived in the shadows for so long, he’d felt incapable of coming out in the light—even if it wasn’t dangerous. Now he had no choice. “You know I’m going after her no matter what.”
“Of course.”
“Then why did you try to talk me out of it?” he demanded.
“Because I had to know how committed you were to this...fool’s errand.” Earl Ray smiled. “Also I didn’t want you going off half-cocked. I wanted to be sure you knew how much you have to lose if you do this. And I wanted your permission to help you.”
Jon laughed, shaking his head as he studied the older man. “Thank you.” He picked up his coffee and drank it before rising to his feet.
“You have a plan?” Earl Ray asked.
“Collin is meeting some friends at the Canadian border. If it looks and smells like a drug deal, I’m figuring it probably is. No reason to stop him before he’s got the goods. Katie should be safe until they cross back into the States and he doesn’t need her anymore.” He realized he’d said Katie. Earl Ray hadn’t seemed to notice.
“Which crossing?”
“Not sure. She said they were headed north. That gives him several options due north of here.”
“How will you be able to find her?” Earl Ray asked, sounding more curious than worried.
“I put a tracking device on their rental in the middle of last night. Actually two devices, in case he should find one of them,” Jon said. His friend laughed.
He checked his phone. “They’re headed north no doubt to one of the smaller border crossings. If I had to guess, I’d say they’ll cross at Port of Morgan. It ranks as the twelfth least used border crossing between the US and Canada. But there is also Opheim and Turner. They are even smaller, with even less use.”
“That doesn’t mean they will be less dangerous if things go south.” Rising to his feet, Earl Ray walked to his pantry door, opened it to a wall of canned goods. Jon watched him press a panel on the wall. The shelves of cans opened to reveal another wall—this one covered in firearms and ammunition.
Jon let out a low, appreciative whistle. “Expecting Armageddon?”
“I just like to be prepared for anything that might come up.” He stopped for a moment as if caught in the past. “I can’t go with you.”
“No, you can’t,” Jon said.
“It’s not that I’m too old.”
He smiled. “No, it’s not that. You can’t leave Buckhorn. This town needs you. I need you to be here when I come back to return your weapons. Also, I need you to keep this for me.” He reached into his coat and pulled out the cashier’s check made out of Earl Ray. It was nearly everything he’d saved for the past five years.
Earl Ray met his gaze. “Then you’d better come back.”
* * *
“WHAT THE HELL was that back there?” Collin demanded not far out of town.
Kate could feel anger coming off him in waves. She pretended to not know what he was asking.
“Tell me you weren’t trying to pass a message to Jon right before we left,” he snapped and when she didn’t say anything, he quickly added, “I should call my friend with Danielle and tell him to—”
“I was just trying to keep the two of you from getting into a fistfight,” she said. “I wanted him to know that I was going with you of my own volition.”
She waited for her words to soothe him, praying that they did.
“Skiing? The man isn’t stupid. He has to know there’s no skiing to the north of this border.”
“But he doesn’t know that’s where we’re going,” she said reasonably. “I don’t even know where we’re going.”
She could hear his breathing begin to slow. He shot her a look. She put on her best innocent face and saw him relax a little. Sitting back, she concentrated on the highway ahead as she tried to still her own raucous heart’s frantic beat. Jon had gotten the message. She’d seen his eyes narrow, felt him start at just the one word. Justin. He had to know that not only she knew—but Collin. Jon had to get out of Buckhorn before the mobsters came after him.
Collin turned on some music, nervo
usly switching from station to station. When he couldn’t find one that was static-free, he swore and turned off the radio. She wondered why he’d gotten an older model SUV. With the newer ones, he could have hooked up his phone to listen to music.
Kate felt worry and fear burrow in deeper as she stared at the straight highway stretched out before them with no sign of life for miles. She hadn’t even dared look in her side mirror as they’d left town. Instead, she’d stared straight ahead, telling herself she could do this. She had no choice.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Collin. He seemed jittery and anxious. Whatever this trip was really about, more was on the line than she’d known. Who were these associates in Canada?
What made her furious with herself was how stupid she’d been. How was it that Collin had fooled her so easily? She’d let him into her life, into her daughters’ lives. There was no doubt now that the man he’d turned into in Buckhorn was the real Collin Matthews. That sweet, thoughtful man who’d romanced her and talked her into marrying him didn’t exist. Never had. So why had he gone to all the trouble? Had he ever planned to marry her? Or had it all been about this trip and whatever waited across the border?
“Why?” she asked, suddenly needing to know.
He glanced over at her and reached to turn on the radio again. She pushed his hand away from the dial. “Why what?” he snapped.
“Why pretend you were in love with me?”
He glanced from her to the road again. “Who says I was pretending?”
She shook her head. “Did you ever plan to marry me, or was it just all about this trip to Canada?”
He took his time answering. “I bought you a wedding dress. I was planning to marry you,” he said without looking at her.
“I’m supposed to believe that?”
He laughed. “Why wouldn’t you? You’re a beautiful, wealthy woman.”
“So, it was the money.”
Collin chewed at his cheek for a moment. “That was part of it, I’ll admit it. But not all of it. I guess maybe I was hoping that when we got to know each other better, I could tell you the truth.” He shot a look at her as if trying to gauge how she was taking this. “I would have loved it if we were in this together. I thought you and I could make a hell of a team.” His laugh was bitter. “I actually thought that one day you might write my story.”