Burning Hot Rumors (Choices: Tarkio MC Book 2)

by Debra Kayn

  She rang up his purchases. "What kind of work?"

  "Construction. We're building the new pizza joint that's going up on Marshall Street."

  "Oh, yeah?" She bagged his CDs. "I bet that will go over big, especially being close to the school."

  "I imagine so. We're only under contract to build, and then we'll be going back over to Billings for a job before winter hits." He handed over the cash.

  She gave him the change that was due. "Good luck on finishing in time."

  "Thank you. Have a good day." The man pulled his baseball cap down and walked out of the music store.

  Callie removed the receipt from the new machine Jamie had installed and stabbed the paper over the spiked holder. The door opened again, and Walter walked in, carrying three Styrofoam containers.

  "I've come to save the day," sang Walter, holding up the food they'd all ordered for lunch. "Go ahead and take the top one, then enjoy your break. I'm going to sneak into my office and eat mine before it gets cold—just don't tell Jamie."

  "I heard that." Jamie walked across the room toward them. "Be careful, or I'll make you work through my break."

  Walter leaned over and kissed his wife. "Yes, dear." Then, he winked at Callie and escaped to the back.

  Callie took her food order. "I'm going to go sit on the picnic table outside and enjoy the sunshine before I get on your bad side."

  Jamie laughed. "Skedaddle, you."

  "See you in an hour." She waved over her shoulder.

  Slipping out the back door, she placed her foot in the doorframe, bent over, and picked up the brick they used to keep the door open. Though each of them had locked themselves out at one time or another since she'd started working here.

  She sat on top of the picnic table and put the container on her lap. The best addition to the store had been the table. The back alley faced an empty field, and it was nice to get away from people and just enjoy the weather.

  Soon enough, it would be too cold to come outside.

  Once in a while, employees at the other stores in the strip mall would come out and have a cigarette, but mostly she had the area to herself on breaks.

  She opened the container, found the plastic fork, and dived into her chef salad. Her stomach was starving. Kent had made her late that morning after jumping in the shower with her and she hadn't had time to eat before work.

  Her skin warmed, and she tilted her head side to side as she chewed, remembering making love with Kent in the shower. Sometimes eight hours away from him was too long. But she had her job, and he had his.

  She hoped that after work, he'd take her by the gas station—what remained of the building, so she could make notes on what needed to be done to clean the property up.

  She picked out a piece of cheese and ate it. Lately, she'd had the idea of having a home built for them on the property. The land was already paid for, thanks to her dad, and depending on how much it would cost to haul the burnt remains away, it could be possible for her and Kent to get a loan and rebuild. But she wanted to check on costs before she talked it over with him.

  Right now, the rental house worked. They weren't home much, but eventually, she hoped they would have more time to spend together—at least both of them having the weekends together.

  She tilted her head toward the sun and closed her eyes. One day, she'd love to travel from one side of Montana to the other on the back of Kent's Harley. While she never dreamed of traveling the United States the way Kent had, she'd like to get away from Missoula for the day and explore with him.

  Look at her, dreaming up vacations when she hadn't even been at the job long enough to earn any days off. She opened her eyes and took another bite of salad. Every day she loved Kent more and more. Ideas for their future popped into her head at rapid speed, and she loved it. The excitement and happiness soothed her soul in a way that time couldn't.

  She'd wasted a year without him. Now that they were together, she had a lot of things planned.

  Knowing her lunch hour wouldn't last forever, she finished her salad and dumped the empty container in the garbage by the back door. She checked her watch. Only twenty minutes left, and she'd need to go inside and finish her workday.

  "Callie!"

  She turned around at the sound of a female voice yelling her name. Shielding her eyes, she squinted into the distance. A woman hurried toward her from the corner of the strip mall.

  "Wait," said the woman.

  Callie lowered her hand and stayed by the picnic table. The closer the woman got to her, she recognized Linda. She hadn't seen or heard anything about Linda since she'd spied her in the parking lot arguing with Josh.

  "What are you doing here?" asked Callie.

  Linda stopped running and huffed for breath. "I...I went inside the music store to see you, and they said you were on break and would be back at one o'clock. I couldn't wait." She inhaled deeply, expanding her chest. "I thought I'd check to see if you were back here."

  "I am, obviously." She studied Linda for any sign of bruises or abuse, not seeing anything wrong with her. "What did you need to see me for?"

  "I need to tell you..." Linda grabbed her hands. "I'm so sorry that I never told you before. I tried to tell the bikers, but he found me before I could say anything. Then, he threatened to kill me if I went around you or the clubhouse. This is the first day that he's let me leave the house, and he forced me to go with him."

  She recoiled. "Who threatened you?"

  Linda turned her head and looked behind her. "I have to hurry. He's talking to his dad right now and thinks I'm sitting in the truck waiting for him, and I can't leave my grandma alone for long."

  "What are you talking about?" She shook Linda, fear growing inside of her. "Does this have to do with Josh?"

  Linda looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Yes. Josh. You need to know he's the one who set the gas station on fire and burned your home."

  "What?" Her chest seized. "Who told you that?"

  "I overheard him talking to Harvey Frasier about how he put a hay trail from the gas station to the mobile home, so they'd both burn down. He laughed about it not being his first fire because he'd already torched your father's house before." Linda grip tightened. "He also let your insurance lapse. Josh tricked his dad into handing over your file at Mountain Peak Insurance, and he removed the renewal bill that was scheduled to be mailed to you after your father died. He wanted to leave you homeless, Callie. He's deranged and not going to stop until he ruins your life. You need to be careful. He carries a pistol. He's always talking about you and your boyfriend, then he starts drinking and he gets angrier. I'm afraid that he's—"

  "Why are you telling me now." Callie shook. "Why didn't you tell me weeks ago?"

  "I was afraid." Tears fell down Linda's face. "You don't know what it's like or what he makes me do."

  "What changed your mind about saying something? Why now?"

  "Because I can't keep doing what he's forcing me to do." Linda swiped at her cheeks. "I need to leave. As soon as Josh stops following me around, I'm going to take my grandma and move away from Missoula."

  Behind Linda, a pickup roared down the alley where only delivery trucks were allowed to drive. Shocked over all the information Linda handed over, Callie was slow to react.

  Linda pushed her away. "He found me. Go!"

  She stared at Josh's truck. Linda's face. The field in the distance. None of the information handed to her made sense, and yet her body reacted. She froze in place.

  "Go inside. Quick." Linda's pale face turned toward Josh's truck, and she stepped into the alley to stop him.

  As if slapped into action, Callie rushed forward and grabbed Linda's hand. Tugging her back, she pulled the other woman toward the back door. She pushed Linda inside.

  The brick doorstop prohibited her from locking them inside. She kicked out with her foot, ignoring the pain, and slammed the door shut.

  "He's going to kill me." Linda shook. "I need to get to my grandma."


  "You're going to stay here." She gripped Linda's shoulders. "I'm calling the police."

  "You can't."

  "I can." She walked toward the front of the store.

  There was no question whether she believed Linda's story. Callie had lived through all the attacks, lost her business, lost her home. If Josh was behind both fires, there was nothing stopping him from setting the strip mall on fire to try to get to her.

  Noticing Linda not following, she marched back to her and grabbed her hand. She dragged Linda into the store.

  Finding Walter and Jamie near the counter, she rushed to them for help. There was no time to explain the whole confusing story.

  "Call the police. There's a man in the alley trying to hurt her." She let go of Linda and held on to the counter. "Hurry."

  Walter picked up the phone. Jamie grabbed Callie's arms. Lightheaded, her chest tightened, making it impossible to get enough air.

  Surrounded by others and safe inside the store, her adrenaline waned. For the first time, she wasn't angry at her ex-husband, she was scared to death. His behavior went beyond spreading rumors about her.

  He was a criminal. An arsonist. A violent person.

  "Are you hurt?" Jamie tried to lead her over to a chair.

  "I'm fine." She planted her feet. "Watch Linda. Don't let her leave."

  "Callie, do you know the man?" asked Walter, covering the mouthpiece of the phone receiver.

  She nodded. "His name is Josh Hill."

  As her boss gave the address for Bragley's Music and More, she walked over to the front door, prepared to lock the entrance if she spotted Josh's truck. She gave no thought to how it looked for her as an employee disrupting the workday or the trouble Josh could cause for her.

  She was scared.

  Things that made no sense to her years ago were sending red flags up. Like the time Josh was gone most of the night, and during that time, her dad called to tell her the house had burnt down. The night she walked to her car after working all day with her dad, only to find her car wouldn't start. When she called Josh to come and pick her up, she'd heard heavy breathing over the phone and women's voices in the background, and music. Every person who had rudely talked about the lies to her face had remained friends with Josh after the divorce. Every. Single. One.

  Why had Linda friended her at the clubhouse? Was that Josh's handiwork, too?

  "Callie?" Walter put his hand on her back. "The police are going to drive around the strip mall and look for anyone suspicious."

  She stared outside, lost in the chaos of her life. "Thank you," she whispered.

  "I know you never asked, but I called Curley. He's going to get ahold of your boyfriend." Walter lowered his voice. "Curley told me it would be best if you wait for either a Tarkio member or Kent before you go home for the day. You can come in tomorrow."

  She was a dedicated worker and understood how important it was for her to show up each workday, but she couldn't find it in herself to argue with Walter. She needed to put her past behind her, and with all the new information, she had no idea where to start.

  Chapter 36

  Kent

  KENT PUSHED THROUGH the door of Rocky Electrical after his foreman told him there was a phone call for him in the office. "I'm here."

  Gary Limatt, his supervisor, stood from his desk and pointed to the table. Only two people had his work number. Callie and Curley.

  "Hello?"

  "It's Curley. Callie's okay, but the police have been called to her work. Hill showed up, and she's hiding in the store. Walter is with her. I told her to make sure she stays there until either you or I can get to her."

  "I'm on my way." He hung up the phone, not needing to know more. Looking at Gary, he flung the keys to the company truck on the desk. "I'm leaving."

  "Hang on, Calder. You still have two hours left on your shift."

  "Family emergency." Without waiting for permission, he rushed outside and jogged over to his motorcycle.

  They could fire him. There was always another job, another town, another way to make money. Callie was his, and she came first. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

  He roared out of the parking lot on his Harley and cut through town. Staying away from the main roads, he broke the speed limit and ran stop signs. If a cop showed up, law enforcement could follow him right to Bragley Music and More.

  Twenty minutes later, he pulled up in front of the strip mall, backed his Harley to the curb, and jumped off. Surprisingly, he could walk right in the store. He worried about proper security around Callie when there was a threat.

  He spotted her boss first. "Where is she?"

  Walter pointed to the back. He rounded the row of CDs and charged down the hallway.

  Curley stepped out of the room and planted a hand on Kent's chest. "Keep your head. She's fine."

  Violence hovered below the surface. He would take down anyone who stopped him from reaching Callie.

  "The police are with her." Curley kept his voice low. "Let them do their job, and then you, and the rest of Tarkio, will go get the son of a bitch."

  "I should be with her," he said on a hiss.

  Curley pushed him back. "Not when you're running hot. I don't need you going in there making threats against Hill and bringing attention to you. Let's let the police do their thing, and when they're done, we'll do things our way."

  He took two steps back. The muscles in his arms, already tensed, ached under the pressure of holding back.

  Understanding what needed to be done and doing what he wanted warred inside of him. He couldn't hear what was happening in the room. He couldn't tell if Callie needed him.

  Curley smacked him on the back, stopping his pacing. "They're coming out."

  A police officer stepped into the hallway, tipped his hat at Kent, and walked out. Kent strode into the room.

  Callie, as if sensing him, turned slowly toward the door. Her stoic expression melted in relief, and she stood, going to him. He gathered her in his arms, reassuring himself that she was okay.

  "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at work." She curled against his chest.

  "You needed me. I'm here." He cupped his hand around the back of her head. "Are you okay?"

  "It probably wasn't an emergency, but I have something important to tell you."

  "Can you tell me here?"

  "Yeah." She looked around the room and whispered, "Linda has already told the police what Josh has done to her and made a statement of her allegations that he beat her up, threatened her, and took her out of her home by force. But, I haven't told the police anything Linda told me because I heard it all second-handed. I need to tell you, and then I need to figure out what I'm going to do if it's true. Maybe try and contact someone higher up in the company than my insurance agent...my old insurance agent. Then, I want to go to the police if I can get evidence that everything is true."

  "I'm not following you."

  "I need to..." She wrinkled her brow. "Maybe we can go somewhere else to talk, so I can think about everything and calm down. I know I'm not making any sense. It's just so hard for me to believe what I've been told."

  "I'll take you home." He tried to piece together the information, but it only took him away from what happened today at the store.

  "Wait, Kent. Linda doesn't have a ride home and needs to check on her grandma." She turned, looking at the other woman. "How will we get her there?"

  He only had a motorcycle. Getting Curley's attention, he said, "Can you take Linda home?"

  "Yeah, and then we all need to talk. I want the whole story about what happened," said Curley.

  "Can we go now?" Linda worked her hands in worry. "I'll check on Grandma and then see if my neighbor can come over and sit with her."

  "Why don't we meet back at the clubhouse." Curley looked at each of them. "I don't think now would be a good time to go our separate ways."

  "I agree." Callie leaned against Kent. "We can go there and talk."

&nbs
p; Kent led Callie outside, aware of the surroundings. The parking lot was half full of vehicles. Hill could be in any one of them.

  At the motorcycle, he faced her. "I need you to hold on tight in case I need to make a sharp turn or go faster than you're used to going with me."

  She nodded. "I'll be ready."

  He rode beside Curley halfway to the clubhouse, and then took the rest of the ride with only Callie and him. He'd prefer to take her home, hold her, and find out what was going on alone. News of her in trouble shook him. He needed to assure himself that she was okay without others watching.

  At the clubhouse, he ushered her inside. Priest motioned them to follow and took them to an empty bedroom.

  "Curley will be here with Linda in twenty minutes. Nobody will bother you until then." Priest shut the door.

  The second they were alone, Callie wrapped her arms around him. He stroked her back, needing to feel every inch of her.

  "Babe, Josh burned down the gas station and my house," she blurted. "He also burned down my dad's house while I was married to him. Oh, and you know how I swore I never received the insurance renewal on the gas station and mobile home? Josh's dad owns the insurance company. Josh took the renewal out of the file on purpose and kept it from being mailed to me. I never worried about it because it was right after my dad died, and I knew I'd get the bill in the mail. I never received it. He made me lose everything."

  "Motherfucker," he mumbled, gripping her arms. "Linda told you this?"

  She nodded emphatically. "She ran over to the music store while Josh was meeting his dad at Mountain Peak Insurance, which is across the parking lot from the strip mall. While she's telling me all this stuff, Josh rips around the corner of the building in his truck, coming right toward us. I grabbed her and went inside and had Walter call the police."

  "Smart." Proud of her, he inhaled deeply, holding her tighter.

  "Babe...I don't think the police will keep Linda safe. Josh is friends with a couple of policemen. His dad's the mayor. They won't take her statements seriously. I could tell when Linda was discussing everything with the officer that he wasn't worried about what Josh would do."