Killing Casanova (4 page)

“Jana,” Cassie called again, holding her hand to grab Jana. “Is she all right? Did he hurt her? Did Jake get here in time?” The furious questions spilled from Cassie like the water in the creek far below.

Jana’s voice sounded confused as Cassie pictured Jana holding Kirstie against her side, sputtering at the sudden appearance of her friend.

“I don’t … I think she’s … Cassie, what? Where did Jake come from? What happened?”

Cassie shook her head and started trying to calm the rest of the frantically confused blind kids.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly, holding the hands of some of the younger girls. “Let’s get them back to camp, and then I need to find Troy.”

• • •

The group moved slowly down the road to the campground, but with familiar sounds and smells wafting toward them, their fear subsided, and tears and trauma were forgotten in favor of hot food and a roaring campfire. Cassie sank to the bench of a concrete picnic table after serving and settling the exhausted teens. She thought for sure she would be fighting her eyelids at this point, but instead, she found her ears perked into the encroaching darkness for the sound of … Jake? Troy? She didn’t care just as long as it was someone with an explanation.

Without having seen anything, only having heard the words from the top of the cliff, Cassie’s imagination was straining not to go wild with speculation. She shivered against the damp night air. Kirstie had told her that she had made her way up the dirt road using the gravel under her feet to keep her near the high side of the river bank. The hollow of the gulch had provided an echo of the rushing water. Kirstie had done pretty well until she became overconfident. She’d finally realized she was still on the road, but the rushing sounds of wind and water had disoriented her, and she was confused about how close she was to the ledge that dropped into the wash.

The roar of a cattle truck had sent Kirstie off the road in terror. Carter had offered his help in locating the rest of the group with her, telling her that he was here to help Troy and would be more than happy to lead her the rest of the way to the river. It wasn’t until Kirstie had noticed that he seemed to be trying to lead her
off
the road that she had gotten nervous.

Cassie shook her head to subdue her imagination once more. Kirstie felt a little foolish now, believing that she had overreacted to Carter’s attempt at helping her.

“It was my fault, Cassie,” she had said. “I get scared so easy, he probably thinks I’m crazy and I think I got him in trouble with his boss. That other guy was pretty mad, and I was just scared because I’m a bad blind person.”

Cassie had been impressed with the girl’s courage; she was making great progress from the nearly catatonic girl who had arrived at The Rocking J earlier in the week. Their long afternoons on the horse and Cassie’s never-ending patience with Kirstie’s ever-resurfacing fears had given way to the strength she had needed to walk the road alone.

Kirstie had started to cry again, and Cassie held her until the tears subsided.

“Kirstie,” Cassie had said firmly. “The best sense you have right now is your sixth sense. You trusted your instincts and didn’t go further than you should have with someone your heart told you not to trust. You may never have proof that you were not safe, but it can’t matter.” Cassie gingerly reached and wiped Kirstie’s tears. “Those feelings have to be trusted and listened to. Eventually you’ll learn who you can trust with what, but until then, trust your instincts.”

Cassie’s thoughts broke from Kirstie as she heard a low whisper from the edge of the dying fire and recognized Troy’s voice.

Troy Barnes had been Miriam’s right hand man since the inception of the program. He was a quiet, solid worker. He was good with animals, but awkward with people. Cassie got the feeling he was more comfortable with horses and campfires. She reluctantly stood from the bench and made her way toward the low voices, knowing that her few weeks with The Rocking J were going to make Troy’s lack of verbal skills even more pronounced in her presence, but she had to find out more about these men.

Cassie sat silently beside Troy as he finished his accounting of the horses to Miriam, leaning back away from the heat of the dancing flames as she waited her turn.

“Where’s Jake gone to?” she asked, without mincing words.

“He left with Carter,” Troy answered, hesitantly.

Cassie spoke into the darkness of the night. “Who is this Carter?”

“He’s a local boy. He hires on with a few places to take up the slack.”

Cassie nodded her head slightly and pressed on. “What was he doing here today?”

“Carter wasn’t supposed to be here. He hired on with Caswell Farms to help with the spring round up. Jake told him to take the last of the cattle back down to the valley with Derek Parker, another guy who works for Caswells.” Cassie was expecting more, but when Troy was silent except for the uncomfortable shuffling of his feet, Cassie pressed on.

“How did he end up on the road by Silver Creek?”

“Look, Miss Taylor,” Troy hesitated, his hands sounding busy with the fire. “I can appreciate you looking out for your job and these kids, but Carter is just a kid himself. He drinks too much, and he’s got a mean streak, but he wouldn’t have hurt that girl today, and I don’t think I’m the right guy to be trying to convince you not to be suspicious.”

Cassie stood and stepped toward the stoic man’s voice, meeting him with crossed arms and pursed lips. “Why?” she asked. “Why aren’t you the man to convince me that Carter, or Jake for that matter, should be trusted?”

“That’s just it. This wasn’t about your girl or what I think of Carter Langdon. Carter doesn’t like Jake, and when Jake ordered him to take the cattle back down the mountain while he and I came to help Miriam, Carter took that as a direct invitation to come.”

Cassie stepped beside him. “What’s Carter’s problem with Jake? Is he too much competition for the same women?”

Troy laughed a bark of humorless mirth. “More like the fact that there is no competition. Carter is so green with envy, he spits pea soup. Jake is the only guy around here with even the possibility of a life beyond Lindley. Carter can’t stand it that Jake could be somewhere else having a life and still comes back here.”

“I thought Jake has a life somewhere else?”

“Yeah, he does. He’s got it all. Hollywood, money, women, the ranch, family, friends, everything, but Jake is a man torn between two worlds, and it drives Carter crazy. He would sell his right hand to have even a part of what Jake has, so every chance he gets he lets Jake know he’s waiting to pull him down if he can.”

“So Carter figured there was something here Jake wanted, and if Jake told him to go the other direction he had better come take whatever Jake was keeping from him?”

The sound of Troy’s mumbled agreement made Cassie wonder if he was the right person to talk to about this. His opinions were bordering on worship of Jake, and he was rather noncommittal as far as Carter was concerned.

Before her worries and the night could steal any more energy from her tired legs, Cassie sat down beside the fire. “What did Jake have here that Carter wanted?”

Troy made an exasperated sound in his throat, then stepped away from Cassie. “Nothing. Jake came to help Mrs. Sorenson, that’s all. Just because Jake can get whatever he wants doesn’t mean he’s out to take advantage of everyone.”

Cassie tilted her head skeptically. “Then why isn’t he here helping?”

“Because Jake knew the best help he would be to me and The Rocking J was for him to get Carter out of here.”

“I’m sorry, Troy. I don’t know Jake or Carter, and in my world, trust is earned. Carter isn’t getting far in that arena and Jake’s … reputation with the women I’ve met isn’t doing much for him either. I’m not from around here. I’m just trying to figure out this whole mess before someone gets hurt.”

Cassie heard Troy throw something onto the fire, before walking away from her. “It’s only when you’re afraid to get hurt that you won’t take a chance on trust, Miss Taylor.”

“Jake.” Gary Burke’s voice draped itself like silk over Jake’s tired mind. “Where you been? Universal is pounding down my door to find out if you’re available for fall shooting in New Zealand. They’ve got the horses from the outlands for only three months, and they need to know if you’re on board for the shoot.”

Jake tossed his sweat-stained Stetson onto the bed and then stripped off his dirty clothes. Tossing his dusty shirt and jeans into a basket across the room, Jake spoke loud enough for his speaker phone to pick up his voice. “September’s okay,” he said, grabbing a towel and picking up the phone. “But I’m here until late August to start the new alfalfa crop.”

“Jake, why do you waste your time in that godforsaken desert? The women can’t be that pretty.”

Jake laughed, rolling his eyes at Gary. He could almost see the look on his agent’s face even from the other side of the high Sierra peaks looming between them. “Women are the same everywhere. I go where the work is, here, New Zealand. Doesn’t really matter,” he said with a shrug in his voice. “So book me a flight in September, and I’ll talk to you later.”

Jake threw the phone back on his bed. Stretching his sore muscles, he looked in the mirror, noticing the faint tan line starting to form at his throat and biceps. The ripple of muscle and sinew beneath his tan took on a hard-chiseled edge in the fading light, and Jake admired the way his body had grown lean and sculpted under the labors of the ranch. His eyes unconsciously drifted back to the imperfection of the quickly forming farmer’s tan and he frowned.. Tomorrow when he went out to dam the creek and take Heidi swimming in the reservoir, he’d need to work bare-chested to even out his skin tone. He tossed his dark hair back from his brow and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He’d only slept a few hours last night after unloading the cattle and stabling the horses. Friday had slipped beyond the hot afternoon sun, and Jake longed for a hot shower and the relief of his bed. His phone played its song and he walked back to glance at caller I.D. before answering it.

“Hey, Lilly.”

“Hi, Jake. Are you going to Mcgoo’s tonight?”

Jake sank onto his back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Not tonight, Lil. I’ve been sleeping on the ground for a week, and I’ve got to get some rest.”

A pouting harrumph made Jake grin widely as he pictured the pretty face of the dark-haired girl. Lilly was a cross between a Cherokee temptress and a Polynesian princess. Her skin was like warm brown sugar, her hair like satin dark chocolate. Yummy was always the word that came to Jake’s mind when he kissed her. Lilly was like him though, a part-time player at Mcgoo’s.

They had hooked up two summers back with the understanding they were both just looking for a way out of the boredom in a small town. Her dad was a handler with a California beef buyer, and he only came to Lindley for a few months during the summer to hand pick the best of the summer slaughter. Lilly’s mom spent summers in Mexico with her family, and Lilly hated the lack of privacy in a busy hacienda so she came north with her dad. Jake and Lilly were … friends. Friends with privileges; Jake smiled to hold back laughter.

She would not suffer for his lack of appearance at Mcgoo’s tonight, and they both knew it. Lilly liked to have Jake around to help her ditch the cowboys she didn’t like, and she was his best Natalie Harper deterrent, but Jake didn’t need Lilly’s distraction keeping him from sleep tonight.

“Do me a favor, Lil,” he said, sitting back up and yawning. “Stay away from Carter Langdon tonight, will ya? He’s in a bad mood, and I don’t want him taking it out on you.”

Lilly harrumphed again, and Jake almost changed his mind. “Carter’s easy,” she assured, “You avoid him until he’s good and drunk, then you buy him a round of Jack Daniels and take away his keys. He’ll sleep it off in his truck.”

“I know you can handle him, but I had a problem with him on the way down last night and tonight he’s coaxing a grudge. J.D. will only nurse him into a criminal, so no games tonight. Okay?”

“Fine,” Lilly pouted once more, “Ruin all my fun, but you will be dealing with Natalie alone. Her cousin Zach is here from Stanford, and I’m seriously considering letting him fall in love with me at her party tomorrow night.”

Jake laughed out loud now, shaking his head at her easy joking. “He doesn’t stand a chance, Lilly. Just let me know which night you decide to let him down easy.”

Jake hung up and blew out a deep breath. “What are you doing?” he asked out loud to no one. “Sleeping,” he answered himself. “That’s what you should be doing.”

Friday night slipped thankfully into dreamless sleep and the rest of his weekend remained contentedly quiet. The time passed quickly as Jake looked forward to the days he would spend in the mountains. It was one week later when he found himself surrounded by the lights and noises of Mcgoo’s once more.

• • •

Setting his icy glass down on the edge of the round table in the far corner of the bar, Jake sank into the chair beneath him.
Mcgoo’s is chaos tonight,
he thought, looking around at the pressing throngs of people. It was the first night of the summer rodeo series and the Pro-Bull Riders were in town. The small rural area made all its tourist revenue during the rodeo series, and Jake had been signing autographs with the stars of the PBR since the doors of Mcgoo’s had opened at eight.

As the crowd of drunken cowboys and girls surged, Jake pressed deeper into the shadows. Everyone and their cousin, literally, were here tonight. Jake relaxed now, in the shadowed corner, letting a breeze from the bar’s fan waft over his face. This dark corner had been good company these past few weeks. Tonight it would do him even better thanks to the thickening of the crowd. Picking up his sweating glass, he caught sight of a tall half-empty glass of lemonade sitting on a paper coaster in the center of the table.

He pulled back his hand from the occupied surface as if it were a boiling candle against his skin. A deep frown creased his mouth as he tried to look past the crowded bodies to see if the auburn-haired girl with the icy blue eyes was nearby.