Wildfire (9 page)

“I’ll have it at least three more weeks.”

“And what about your Harley? Have you heard anything about the repairs?”

“Probably about that long, as well. The guys at the shop said they had to order a number of parts online, and that’s taking longer than they expected. The bodywork is nearly completed.”

So he would be gone that soon.
But it’s for the best,
she reminded herself silently.

With his life established out East, he probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon, while this was her home, her career, and her commitment. There was no way that she’d ever be able to leave. When he left, he would be walking out of her life for good.

He looked down at her, his eyes soft and questioning, and she had a sudden, surprising sense that he wanted to kiss her. Would he? Did she dare let him?

Her cell phone rang, jarring and insistent, saving her from a potential mistake.

But her relief was short-lived.

At the end of the terse message, she dropped the phone in her lap and stared across the aisle, filled with disbelief.

“T-that was Michael.” She felt the beat of her heart mark the seconds. Slow. Steady. Yet the world had taken a dizzying spin in an unexpected direction, and she hadn’t even known it until now.
Poor Danny.

“Edward Clive was found murdered this afternoon.”

“Who?”

“Danny’s former stepfather—or at least, one of them. H-he owned a cabin ten miles from here.” She fought down the lump in her throat, remembering the kindly old man with a shock of white hair and twinkling blue eyes who had always greeted her warmly whenever they crossed paths. “And now they’ve issued a warrant on Danny for the murder—but no one can find him anywhere.”

W
ith Leigh’s dog Hobo now on patrol, quiet moonlight nights and the soft symphony of coyote howls in the distance were over. To Hobo, everything that moved—from June bugs to the twinkling lights of jets far overhead—were cause for alarm.

Elvis sat on the porch of the main house and watched the other Border collie in action on Wednesday night without making a sound.

He watched again on Thursday night, then apparently figured that shadowing Hobo would be a lot more fun than clinging to Josh. By ten o’clock, a duet of fierce barks erupted at the least provocation.

Maybe that racket wasn’t conducive to sleeping, but Tessa had no doubt that her canine alarm system was on high alert as she worked into the early morning hours on ranch bookwork, then listed her favorite saddle on eBay.

Melancholy, she closed down the computer and wandered through the empty house, locking the doors and flipping off lights as she went.

She caught a flicker of movement at the corner of her eye as she passed the dining room. She whirled around, her heart in her throat as a dozen possibilities raced through her thoughts—and most of them weren’t good.

“Who’s there?” she demanded, edging backward down the hall. Without taking her eyes off the darkened opening to the dining room, she fumbled for a heavy brass vase on a small table by the open staircase.

Another ten feet and she could dart in the kitchen and race out the back door…

“It’s…me.”

The voice sounded as frightened as she felt herself.
“Danny?”

He stepped out of the shadows, his clothes filthy and face ghost-white, his eyes downcast. “I-I wasn’t gonna steal anything big. I just wanted to find some food. I didn’t think anyone was home.”

Relief flooded through her. “How on earth did you get past the dogs?”

Appearing too exhausted to stay upright for much longer, he wobbled a little and braced a hand against the wall. “They know me, I guess.”

“Come on to the kitchen and I’ll get you something.” She looped her arm through his and took him there, settled him at the table, then foraged through the refrigerator. “This is some sort of fancy chicken fettuccini from tonight’s supper,” she said, showing him the bowl. “I can nuke a plate of it, if you’d like. It’s really good.”

He nodded, then folded his arms on the table and rested his cheek against them while Tessa microwaved an ample portion for him. She held back, not saying anything, until he’d polished off two platefuls, and a couple glasses of milk.

“You know there’s a warrant out for your arrest,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He placed the silverware neatly on the plate and set it to one side with deliberate care, not meeting her eyes. “It’s all wrong,” he mumbled. “I was never anywhere close to that cabin. And I’d never hurt Edward, or anyone else.”

He swiped at his eyes with the back of his wrist, and when he finally looked up at her, she could see that he’d been crying. “Where have you been?”

“H-hiding.”

“I gathered that,” she said dryly. “But you
know
it’ll just be a matter of time before the law catches up to you. And it’ll be a lot worse for you if they have to chase you down, than if you turn yourself in.”

“But I didn’t
do
it. Someone said they saw me at Edward’s cabin just before h-he was killed. I heard it on the radio.” He sucked in a shuddering breath. “But I can’t prove anything, because I was alone.”

“You called me Tuesday evening and said you were sick, Danny, so you couldn’t come to work. That’s just about the time Edward was killed.”

His gaze dropped to the table top. “I
was
sick…sorta.”

“Were you out drinking with your friends?”

“No!”
He shook his head vehemently. “I only did that one time last winter—and I know it was just plain stupid.”

“You weren’t with anyone at all?”

Looking miserable, he shook his head. “Nope.”

There’d been just a slight hesitation, and she wondered if maybe he’d been with a girlfriend, but it wasn’t really her place to ask. She sat back in her chair and sighed. Danny was twenty-three, but right now he looked scared and defeated and much, much younger.

“The thing is, there’s a warrant for your arrest, and it isn’t going away. You can’t run forever.”

He didn’t look up.

“You already know Michael, and you know he’s a fair man. I’m sure the state has sent investigators to the crime scene, and they’re gathering every last bit of evidence. Won’t that clear your name?”

“What if it doesn’t? What if they listen to those lies instead, and I end up in
prison?
”

She pushed a plate of Sofia’s ginger cookies toward him and silently waited for him to sort out his thoughts.

“You might as well call,” he said finally, his voice heavy. “I guess I just want to get this over.”

A deputy arrived at the ranch an hour later. Tactful and businesslike, he still insisted on handcuffs and putting Danny in the back seat of the cruiser, though Danny seemed more like a frightened rabbit than some cold-blooded killer.

Which of course he wasn’t. But what about his friends?

His mother had gone through too many marriages and live-in boyfriends to count. Edward had surely been a high point through all of that, but as far as Tessa knew, there’d never been a strong and consistent father figure in the picture…and that had left the boy vulnerable to the wrong crowd.

Long after she tried to fall asleep, the thought kept running through Tessa’s mind. Could he be trying to protect his friends—or someone else?

The last time Tessa stepped inside the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, she’d been there to pick up one of her ranch hands after he’d gotten in a fight over some girl.

The faded green paint and scarred furniture hadn’t changed, but now there was a pretty young girl at the desk instead of a stern woman with her hair wrenched into a tight bun, and several large prints of the Tetons and the Snake River hung on the cement block walls.

“Nice,” Tessa ventured while she waited for Michael to come out of his office. “It’s a little more cheerful in here.”

The girl—Kaleesa, according to the name pin on her sweater—rolled her eyes. “The sheriff’s wife wants to do a makeover in here. I’m all for it.”

“How much longer will he be, do you think?”

She glanced down at the buttons on her phone. “Soon. He just ended his call.”

“Can I visit Danny Watkins while I wait?”

The girl studied her cuticles. “Gotta talk to the sheriff first, in case the prisoner is dangerous.”

Tessa laughed. “And do you think he is?”

“Danny? Of course not. He was in my classes all the way through school. He wouldn’t hurt a flea.” Her eyes rounded at her careless statement and a blush worked into her cheeks. “Um…I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t tell the sheriff, okay?”

Tessa nodded. A moment later, Michael’s office door opened. He stepped into the hall and motioned to her, and she followed him into his office.

“So, what’s his bail?” she asked as soon as Michael sat at his desk.

He fiddled with a pencil. “I’m afraid there isn’t any.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She took the chair in front of his desk and waited for Michael to smile, but he only shook his head. “He’s just a kid. You and I both know he couldn’t have killed Edward, and he has a steady job at the ranch. He isn’t going anywhere.”

“At the arraignment this morning, the judge ruled against bail. Danny has a prior conviction—”

“For that single, wild party?”

“He was over twenty-one, he was charged, and he pleaded guilty, Tess. It’s now on his record.”

“That’s crazy!”

“He just got probation for two years, though. With good behavior his record would have been expunged. But he also tried to avoid arrest on these current charges, so the judge deemed him a flight risk. Until the trial, Danny will be staying behind bars.”

“What about a lawyer? Does he even have one?”

“A public defender. The arraignment was done by video conference this morning, but she’ll be here this afternoon to meet with him.”

Tessa sank into her chair, suddenly feeling faint. “And the charges?”

“Not good. Evidence found at the scene clearly placed Danny in that cabin, and his prints were on the murder weapon. Some stolen items were found in Danny’s car.”

“No.”
She closed her eyes tight for a moment, already knowing what this would mean.

Michael nodded. “Wyoming law. Murder in the first degree includes premeditated and felony murder, and the D.A. is going for the latter. Which means—”

“Don’t say it. Danny would
never
have done this, Michael. I know him too well.”

But Michael’s unspoken words still hung in the air between them, powerful and frightening and final. For a conviction could mean the end of a young man’s dreams…and his life.

Watching Tessa deal with one blow after another filled Josh with frustration and sadness. Gone was the fun-loving girl he’d dated in college—the one who had been up for every adventure, and who had marked his heart forever with her beautiful smile and absolute determination to achieve every goal she set.

Now, she looked exhausted. Frazzled. And deeply heartbroken by the turn of events with Danny, who had been in jail for almost a week now. It was as if someone had decided to take away every avenue of help for her, leaving her with overwhelming responsibilities that no single person could handle.

When she wasn’t doing chores or the endless tasks involved in running a large ranch, she was dealing with the customers for her outfitting business, and without Danny to help out, she’d had to take a number of trips with clients during the last week.

All told, it was the reason he sat on an exam table at the doctor’s office in Wolf Creek, and was staring down an equally determined, silver-haired physician’s assistant.

“This would be against sound medical practice,” she said, her arms folded across her chest. “It’s only been four weeks.”

“I’ll be careful. I’m not planning on any marathons, and I’ll keep my leg wrapped. How about that?”

“With someone your age, and with that kind of fracture, we’d
maybe
consider a walking cast about now. We certainly wouldn’t just take your cast off and set you free.”

“I’ll sign a waiver. A release form. Anything you say, just take this thing off.”

“I know it isn’t pleasant,” she said with a patient smile. “Everyone gets just a little stir crazy after a while.”

“I’m not stir crazy. I’m
incapacitated.
”

“Exactly! That’s what happens when you break something,” she enunciated her words a little too carefully, as if trying to get through to someone with an IQ of fifty. “And if you don’t let it heal properly, you could be incapacitated for a whole lot longer. In fact, you could fracture it all over again, and then where would you be?”

He drew in a slow, steady breath, trying to hang on to his fading patience. “I need to be able to get on a horse and stay there. My cast makes that impossible. If you won’t take it off, I’ll need to go back to the ranch and try get it off myself…with tin snips, or a saw, or a mallet. Either way, I’ll risk needing sutures, but I don’t have time for that, either. I’m guessing that your refusal of care could be considered problematic if I end up with permanent injuries while trying to do your job.”

She drew herself up and glared at him. “I’ll have to call the doctor.”

“Please do. I’d be glad to talk to him myself.”

“You’ll have to sign a release form.”

“Not a problem.”

Her shoulders sagged in defeat. “Can I at least give you a removable walking brace? It would have a rocker bottom to help you walk, so you’d be safer and more comfortable.”

He suppressed the impulse to give her a hug. “Perfect!”

“We don’t often do this, though. We found that people quit using the brace way too early.” She regarded him with doubt in her eyes. “Can I just ask why this is so important to you right now?”

“I have a friend who needs help, badly.”

The physician’s assistant lifted Josh’s slender file folder and turned to the face sheet. Her eyes widened as she scanned down the page. “This says you’re staying at Snow Canyon Ranch.”

“Just until my Harley and I are ready for the open road.”

The woman’s frosty demeanor melted. “Tessa needs a good friend now, though I don’t suppose she’d ever admit it. With Danny in jail and Gus in rehab, I can’t imagine how she’s holding things together.”

“That’s why I’m here, ma’am,” he said with a smile. He tapped the hard surface of his cast. “And the sooner you get this thing off me, the easier her life will be.”

When he got back to the ranch at ten, Tessa was busy saddling a horse. She barely acknowledged his approach.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m way late on moving one of the herd up to summer pasture, and I can’t wait any longer. Once I get that done, I need to start rounding up stock for the auction at the sale barn on Wednesday night.”

“Because of the loan coming due?”

She bit her lower lip as she tightened the girth. “I hope so. I also need to ship my saddle.”

“The one you listed on eBay?”

She nodded. “It went for $3,600, and I need every penny of that. I’m…grateful for all the bidders.”

She sounded a lot more sad than happy, though.

“If someone was going to need an experienced horse to work cattle, which one would he pick?”

“Probably Jasper, the big buckskin in the corral next to the barn.” She unhooked the stirrup from the saddle horn and let it drop it into place, then unsnapped the cross-tie ropes from her gelding’s halter, slipped it off, and bridled him. “Jasper’s a real good cow horse, and he’s dependable. Why?”

She looked over at Josh, and her gaze traveled down to his injured leg—which was now encased only in denim jeans. “What on earth did you do? It’s been only what—four weeks or so?”