Duty To Protect

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“He was back there,” she said urgently. “He was. He tried to make me go with him.”

“I believe you.” Jake frowned. “Where’s your jacket? You must be cold.”

“He was grabbing for me. It—it fell off back there.”

Jake reached for a cell phone clipped to his belt. “I’ll call the cops.”

That wasn’t a good idea, and now another kind of fear sped through her.

Too many questions, a deputy’s request to see her ID, and in an instant, her chance to slip into anonymity somewhere in Montana would go up in smoke. Being in police custody back in Chicago wouldn’t guarantee her safety. If the powerful Rodriguez family learned she was there, money could exchange hands and she’d be a defenseless, easy target.

Alarmed, she shook her head. “No—really. Let’s just leave. The sound of patrol cars coming would make that guy disappear into the night anyway. I’m not injured. There’s no proof of anything.”

“I’m taking you out to the truck. Stay in there with Maisie and lock the doors while I take a look around. Do you have a cell phone?”

This option was even worse.

“Don’t go back there. It’s not worth the risk. Please—let’s just go.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now, do you have a cell phone?” His voice was gentle, but laced with steel, and she knew there’d be no point in arguing.

She nodded once, hoping the prepaid, anonymous cell phone she’d bought at a drugstore still held a charge.

“Come on.” He took her hand and headed for the front door. At an electrical panel just inside the entrance, he studied the switches, then flooded the entire interior of the building in blazing lights. Horses whinnied. One of them kicked the side of its stall.

If her attacker had decided to flee the bright light in the building at this moment, any sound had been lost in the racket.

Jake settled her in the truck, with Maisie in the backseat, then he reached across her lap to put a key in the ignition and start the engine. “Stay warm. If you see anything, call 9-1-1, then start honking and keep at it. Nonstop. Don’t hesitate, understand?”

“Please, you’re not armed—what if something happens?”

A wry smile briefly touched his lips as he retrieved a gun from the glove box. “Then your friend will soon have second thoughts.”

She blinked. “But he could be hiding in the building, and he could get you before you even knew where he was. At least take your dog with you.”

“I want her here.” Jake rested a hand on her arm. “Now look at me.”

His voice was low, warm, compelling. She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his.

“I was a deputy for ten years. I’m not a careless man. But I’ve found it’s sometimes better to seek out a rattler instead of leaving it be. Understand?”

She nodded, too numb to answer.

“But don’t go calling 9-1-1 just because I’m not back right away. If I don’t show up in thirty minutes, drive to the nearest well-lit gas station and make your call then. Not before.”

He hit the lock button on the inside of her door and slammed it shut. And then he disappeared into the night.

FOUR

She’d wrapped herself in the blanket as soon as she got into Jake’s pickup, but she couldn’t stop shivering as the minutes ticked by.

Five.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Each interminable minute seemed like an hour, with her guilt and fear over Jake’s safety holding her heart in an icy grip. God, please watch over him. He seems like a nice guy. He doesn’t deserve to get hurt. Not over this. Not because of me.

She gripped her cell phone and peered out into the darkness. She already knew that her attacker was far stronger than she was. For all she knew, he was armed and dangerous, and if cornered might not hesitate to shoot. Getting out of the truck and going after Jake herself fell into the too-stupid-to-live category.

But even if Jake had made it clear that she shouldn’t call 9-1-1 for at least thirty minutes, who knew it would seem like this long? He could be lying on the cold cement floor in that barn, bludgeoned from behind or shot. No matter what happened to her if the police became involved in this, she couldn’t let another moment pass.

She started pressing the buttons. 9…1…

“Emma! It’s me.”

Startled, she look up and quickly scanned the darkness.

“Over here.” Jake stepped out of the gloom at the corner of the building. “And I’ve got someone with me.”

Wary now, she twisted in the seat and tried to make out the features of the person limping beside him. The two of them made their way slowly to the side of the truck.

She hesitated, her finger poised over the window button on the inner door.

“I found your ‘attacker,’” Jake said quietly. “But Tom is a little worse for wear. And if you don’t want the police involved, I think you’d better talk to him.”

She blinked. Then lowered the window halfway.

The man next to Jake was a good five inches shorter and fifty pounds heavier, wearing a well-worn denim jacket and a heavy growth of salt-and-pepper beard. He glared at her as he rubbed his left shoulder with a bloodied hand.

“This—this is the man who grabbed me?” She resisted the urge to close the window and retreat to the far corner of the front seat.

“You were trespassing,” Tom snarled.

Jake rested a hand on his uninjured shoulder. “Apparently they’ve had considerable problems with theft from the barns here. So now they keep at least one barn hand on duty twenty-four hours a day.”

“He threatened me!”

“I wasn’t gonna let some thief get away, missy. I could lose my job.”

“I wasn’t stealing anything.”

“So you say. I needed to hang on to you and call for help. Only you slashed my fingers and made me fall, and if this ripped up my rotator cuff again, I’m going to call the police and press charges against you for assault.”

“Y-you work here?”

“That’s what your friend just said.”

Embarrassment started crawling through her. “Oh.”

“And you were sneaking around in the dark.”

“I was just getting some water. That’s all.” She bit her lower lip, wondering if she really believed him. But Jake apparently did, so she finally nodded. “I’m sorry that you got hurt.”

“Humph.” He scowled at her.

“No, really. I am. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. You’ll be gone soon enough.” Muttering under his breath, the older man hobbled back to the barn.

When he disappeared inside, she sank against her seat and watched Jake climb behind the steering wheel of the truck. “Well, that was embarrassing. Now you’re going to think I’ve been crying wolf all this time.”

“Could’ve been worse. He took a pretty hard fall, apparently.” He handed over her jacket. “I found this on the floor by the water spigot.”

“I was already jumpy, but then he came out of nowhere and clamped a hand on my shoulder. He scared me half to death.” She tried for a rueful smile. “He was like my worst nightmare. But now you probably don’t believe a word I’ve said.”

“About being threatened?” He glanced over at her as he buckled his seat belt. “Remember, I did meet your old boyfriend back in Ogallala.”

“About that….” She fell silent and looked away, uncomfortable with the lie she’d told. Unsure of what she could dare share with Jake now.

He turned on the ignition, then shifted the truck into drive and headed toward the field marked Trailer Parking that they’d passed when they’d first pulled into the grounds. “I don’t think you need to worry. Even if he did see my license plate back in Ogallala or at that truck stop and traced it, he’d have no idea that I was heading to this sale. And I don’t think we were followed.”

“I hope not.”

“We were both checking the rearview mirrors, and I sure didn’t see anything suspicious. Of course, once we hit the freeways in Denver, it’s anyone’s guess. One set of headlights in the dark looks pretty much like the others from a distance, and I wouldn’t even know what kind of vehicle to be watching for.”

“Me neither,” Emma said, trying to not sound as edgy as she felt. “But think about it. A guy who just happened to be in the barn at the moment we arrived? Ready to pounce on a lone woman who suddenly showed up in the middle of the night? Maybe that guy wasn’t really a barn worker at all. Maybe he just came up with that cover when you confronted him.”

“He looked nothing like the man back in Ogallala. And he also has a Colorado driver’s license.”

“You checked?”

Jake shrugged, a corner of his mouth lifting briefly. “A flashback to my cop days, I guess.”

But there could easily be others who had been sent after her—not just the man in Ogallala. And how could she explain that? It would hardly fit with the story about her troublesome ex-boyfriend.

Jake drove into a parking spot. She twisted in her seat and watched him unhitch the trailer, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally got behind the wheel again and turned toward the highway. “Maybe you should get a room at the motel, too. I don’t think it’s safe out here.”