Bitter Wild (3 page)

“If you
want my help, Stan, you better make this idiot understand how it will work.
Otherwise, you can all go straight to hell!”

She
turned on her heel then and jerked open the office door. Jack’s first instinct
was to follow her. He took a step forward, intending to do exactly that before
she and that wild animal of hers could get too far away. He was stopped by the
man she’d come into the station with. He stepped in front of Jack, blocking his
path. He wasn’t a little guy. As Jack met his gaze, the pair stood virtually
eye to eye. The man looked at Jack as if he thought he was something a little
lower than cow shit on the bottom of his boot.

“Mister,
there’s one thing you need to understand and quick. If you ever put your hands
on her like that again, you won’t have to worry about what Chance will do to
you because I’ll kick your ass from here all the way back to where ever the
hell you came from.”

He held
Jack’s gaze for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room. Jack was so
furious he couldn’t even speak. After the man slammed the door behind himself,
Skip released a long sigh.

“Do you
think you could possibly have made them any madder?”

Jack
spun around the glare at him.

“Me?
What about them? They both just threatened me.”

The
sheriff spoke up. “They put you in your place and frankly, you deserved it. You
stepped over the line when you grabbed her like that.” He held Jack’s gaze for
a moment. “Don’t tell me you can’t see the truth of what I’m saying.”

Jack
clenched his teeth. Damn the man, he was right. He’d let his temper get the
better of him and acted completely inappropriately. He still wasn’t quite
willing to shoulder all the blame alone, though.

“Okay,
I had no right to touch her, but she’s got one hell of a bad attitude.”

“She
doesn’t have a bad attitude, she’s just trying to make sure no one gets hurt in
this thing. You need to take a step back and try to see this from her angle.
You’re asking her to go into the mountains to track down a man who’s already
killed ten people. That’s a daunting task for even an experienced tracker. But
you’re also asking her to do it with a bunch of clueless city boys right on her
heels.” He sent them an apologetic look. “Nothing personal, but you guys are
going to fit in out there just about like a coyote in the middle of a bunch of
poodles. She’s right about the danger involved. You can get hurt or killed real
quick if you’re not damned careful. She’s seen it too many times. We all have.”

“We’re
not complete idiots, you know.”

The
sheriff shrugged. “I don’t know and neither does she. That’s the point. And
there’s one other thing that I ought to point out since things have gone the
way they have. Casey’s the best there is. She’s respected by everyone in this
part of the state, which puts you all in a bit of bind.”

Jack
frowned as Skip spoke up. “How so?”

“Well,
let’s just say that if word gets around that Casey refused to work with you
there won’t be a single person anywhere around here that will even think about
trying to do the job. If you want to go after your fugitive, you better find a
way to make her happy. Otherwise you’re going to find yourselves without even
one volunteer to help you, in which case going anywhere near those woods would
be outright suicide.” He gave them a nod for emphasis, then turned and strode
over to the door. “I suggest you take a couple minutes to cool off, then find
Casey and convince her that you won’t have a problem letting her handle this
thing her way. Otherwise, you might as well just head on home.”

He
pulled the door open and stepped out of the office, closing the door on his way
out. Jack released a string of less than complimentary opinions about small-towns,
then stopped and ran his hands through his hair. He heard what he thought might
be amusement in his partner’s voice.

“I
guess she managed to push all the right buttons, huh?”

Jack
shot Skip a glare. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Skip
shrugged. “This is just the first time I’ve ever seen you lose control. It’s
not like you to put your foot in your mouth once, much less repeatedly. I
figure it has to be the woman who got you so worked up.”

“She
ticked me off, that’s all.”

Skip
nodded. “I’d say the feeling was mutual.” He paused for a few seconds as all
the amusement faded from his face. “Think you can smooth things over?”

Jack
didn’t want to smooth anything over. He wanted to stalk out of the office and
find the woman so he could put her in her place. The sheriff had made it clear
that she was the best person for the job. Worse, he’d also said that no one
else would help them if she walked out the door. If that was true, that meant
she was holding all the power. Or she thought she was. Jack could burst that
bubble right quick, though. As far as he saw it, her refusal to help could
easily be considered a hindrance to the investigation. Hell, he might even be
able to threaten her with a charge of accessory if Jester managed to get out of
the woods and kill someone else. The trouble was, Jack suspected that she
wouldn’t react well to any threats he might make. In fact, he was willing to
bet that if he tried to strong-arm her into cooperating it would just blow up
in his face. He took a deep breath and nodded in answer to his partner’s
question.

“I’ll
do what I have to.”

“Yeah,
but can you make her believe you mean it?”

“She’ll
believe me.”

He
moved over to the door and pulled it open. He was going to apologize to her. He
wouldn’t like it, but he’d do it just the same. He’d even mean it, to an
extent. He had stepped over the line when he grabbed her. And maybe threatening
to kill her dog was just a little excessive. Jack wasn’t quite sure why he’d
gotten so angry with her. He’d made a fool of himself and he knew it. Maybe he
was so furious because she rubbed that mistake in his face. Whatever the reason
for his loss of temper, he intended to make sure it never happened again. Anger
was an emotion and emotions got in the way of clear thinking. He didn’t want
anything getting in the way while he was on Russell Jester’s trail. He wasn’t
anxious to get himself killed any time soon.

Casey
pushed her heavy hair away from her face, then stopped and stared at her
trembling hands. They were shaking so badly that it was clearly visible. Her
stomach felt like it was twisted into a knot and she was afraid that she’d
burst into tears at any moment, or possibly start retching. God in heaven, what
had she done? Chance made a low whine as he laid his big head on her lap. She
buried her hands in his thick fur and spoke out loud.

“What
was I thinking?”

The
expression on the dog’s face seemed to answer that he didn’t know. She stared
deep into his eyes and wondered, not for the first time, if he did somehow
understand her words. Or maybe he could read her thoughts. She bent over and he
lifted his head to touch her cheek with his warm tongue.

“I’m
not ready for this.”

She
felt the tears she was struggling to hold at bay start to gather in her eyes.
The pain that sliced through her was almost physical. It was a mingling of old
sorrow and guilt with new pain and fear. She closed her eyes and instantly saw
memories she knew were best left buried. She opened her eyes again and stared
down at her best friend.

“I
don’t have any choice, Chance. I’ve got to do this. For Millie and for myself.”

She
would have sworn the dog looked pleased at her words. She let go of him, then
pushed to her feet and walked out of the bathroom stall she’d run into after
leaving Stan’s office. She met her own gaze in the foggy mirror over the sink.
She was amazed to see that the worry she felt barely showed on her face. But it
was there in her eyes. Nothing could wipe it away completely. She lifted her
hands and swiped at the moisture clinging to her lower lashes. She was strong.
Everyone said so. And she knew that Stan was right. If everything the FBI
agents and Stan had told her about the fugitive was true, he wasn’t going to be
easy to track. They needed someone leading the search who knew the mountains as
well as the animals that lived in them. Ego aside, Casey knew she was that
person.

She
spoke to her reflection. “Okay, so you’re scared. So what? You’ve been scared
before and you did what you had to do. This isn’t any different.”

That
wasn’t strictly true, though she wasn’t going to argue with herself about it.
Essentially, this was a matter of survival. Hers and any unfortunate person who
might have the bad luck to run into Russell Jester. Someone had to find him and
make sure he didn’t hurt anyone else. If she didn’t at least try, she’d never
be able to look herself in the eye again. She took a deep breath and tightened
her hands into fists at her sides. She’d run from the past long enough. Now it
was time to face her fear.

Jack
followed the sheriff’s nod toward the restrooms. They were located in a narrow
hall at the rear of the station house. Jack wasn’t sure if he was glad or not
that they were out of view of the rest of the building. On the one hand, it
meant he didn’t have to contend with an audience while he tried to appease the
anger of Casey Nolan. On the other hand, it also meant he could linger outside
the door while he dreaded the confrontation. Damn the woman for getting under
his skin so quickly! How the hell had it happened? He was afraid he knew the
answer to that particular question. The moment he first saw her he was
attracted to her. He saw her as a man sees a woman he would like to take to his
bed. When he realized she wasn’t alone, he came to two quick conclusions.
First, and obviously correct, she was taken. The man she’d called John had made
it pretty clear that she was his. Even if he hadn’t acted possessive of her,
Jack figured the way they touched said it all. They were familiar with each
other. Too familiar to be anything but very close. Jack didn’t like the idea of
sharing a woman with anyone. And he didn’t have such a fragile ego that it had
to be stroked by stealing women from other men. So he instantly labeled her as
off limits. That didn’t stop him from wanting her, though.

His second
conclusion was the one that had screwed everything up so royally. He thought
the man was the guide they’d been waiting for. He never even considered that it
might be her. Maybe he could be forgiven that, considering the way she looked.
She sure as hell wasn’t dressed like he’d expect a mountain guide to be
clothed. And some might also say that it was perfectly understandable to not
expect a person named Casey to be a woman. Jack wouldn’t let himself buy into
any excuses, though. He’d been so shocked because he’d still been thinking of
her in sexual terms when the truth dawned. He was attracted to her and she was
the person he was supposed to be working with.

He
shook his head. He’d blurted out the first thing that came to mind and that had
started the trouble. He closed his eyes and instantly saw her face. Those eyes
of hers had all but flashed fire at him as she dared him to touch her again.
Against his will he felt a smile touch his face. There was a lot of passion and
emotion in this woman. Jack would be willing to bet that it all came out when
she made love. He snapped his eyes open. None of that. He had to work with her
and that meant the only way he could think about her was as a tool. She was
going to do a job, nothing more, nothing less. And he was not going to forget
that fact. He sincerely hoped the mocking laugh he heard in his head was some
kind of transitory hallucination brought on by exhaustion and lack of food.

Casey
took several deep breaths as she willed herself to start thinking about her
first move. Obviously, she had to begin with the federal agents. She corrected
herself. Federal agent, singular. She didn’t think the quiet one would be a
problem. Jack Hall, on the other hand, was going to be nothing but trouble.
Just thinking about him made her angry all over again. Arrogant ass. She sighed
and shook her head. She couldn’t lay all the blame on him. He was full of
himself, but she knew she’d pushed him. Part of the problem was that she’d
never been able to tolerate someone questioning her abilities just because of
her gender. She suspected that he hadn’t exactly been doing that, though. But
his outburst had been so absurd.

Maybe
she wouldn’t have been so sarcastic with him if she hadn’t known very well that
he knew exactly what her gender was. He’d taken a good, long look at her when
she’d first walked into the station. She was accustomed to men looking at her.
They’d done it all her adult life. Generally, she ignored them. But Jack Hall
wasn’t the sort of man that was easy to overlook, and that was probably the
crux of the problem. It was the first time in longer than she cared to remember
that a man’s attention had felt good. Worse, she’d felt some kind of flutter in
the pit of her stomach in response to his cool, blue gaze. He stood well over
six feet tall and had the build of an athlete. She imagined that he could carry
his own weight on the ranch if he wanted to. Of course she also doubted that
he’d have the foggiest idea what working a ranch entailed. He had “city”
written all over him. From his crinkled designer suit to his mussed salon
haircut. He was a city boy through and through. No doubt he’d get himself hurt
within twenty-four hours of stepping into the woods. Then again, something in
his gaze suggested that he wasn’t all fluff. Maybe he wouldn’t be such a
problem after all. She turned to the door. Agent Jack Hall and his partner had
no doubt had long enough to consider how badly they wanted their fugitive. With
any luck at all, they would both be willing to at least listen to her. She
didn’t doubt that getting them to tow the line would be difficult to say the
least, but as long as they weren’t complete idiots she figured they’d come
around. They’d have to if they wanted her help.