Maggie looked at Jake, snagged his gaze. “Once you have the bone marrow, you’ll leave and come back here to be with Sunny.”
“You’ll be sedated,” he reminded her. “In no shape for me to leave.”
“Yes, I will be. You’re spending Christmas with Sunny.”
Jake looked as if he wanted to argue with that. And then as if he didn’t. But as far as Maggie was concerned, there was nothing to argue about.
“We’ll wait in the parking lot until you drive away,” Jake finally said to Royce. “And then we’ll leave. If Tanner has a man in place near here, we’ll make sure he sees us. I want him following us, not you.”
Jake said goodbye to his brother and dad, and while they were making their way across the parking lot, his phone rang. “It’s Billy,” he relayed to her.
Maggie hoped the deputy wasn’t calling with bad news. They’d already had enough of that for the day. For an entire lifetime.
Jake and she got into the SUV, but he didn’t start the engine. “Why does he want to talk to me?” Jake asked Billy. He paused. “Give him this number.”
The moment Jake finished his call with Billy, he looked at her. “Dr. Grange is going to call in a few minutes.”
Maggie wasn’t exactly surprised when she heard the identity of the caller. After all, Grange was a suspect, and he knew it. Maybe the doctor had heard about their visit to the prison. Or worse. Maybe he’d been the person who had fled in the truck after firing shots at them.
She scooted closer to him so she could hear, and she waited. It was the first moments of silence they’d had, well, since the cabin. Not exactly silence, though, since her thoughts had been going a mile a minute.
Still were.
Jake had that effect on her.
Maggie looked at him at the exact moment he looked at her. They glanced away as if they’d been caught doing something wrong. And before she could stop herself, she laughed. It wasn’t funny. Nothing about their situation was, but the awkwardness between them was almost palpable.
The heat, too.
The corner of his mouth lifted. A killer dimple flashed in his cheek. “We’re a pair, aren’t we? Our baggage has got baggage.” His tone was light, but the smile didn’t stay. Nor did the eye contact. He glanced at the ambulance and Royce, who was still on his phone, no doubt making arrangements for Sunny’s transfer to another hospital.
She couldn’t argue with him or the crazy intimacy going on between them. “I think I’m falling for you,” Maggie confessed. It was probably stupid, but if she was going to die, she was at least going to get that off her chest.
“Don’t,” he warned. But then Jake leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers. His lips were rough from the cold and wind, and even though the gesture was gentle, he wasn’t. The pressure deepened. So did the grip he put on her arm to urge her closer.
“And that’s your answer to don’t?” she asked.
He shook his head, checked the ambulance again. “No. That was me making a mistake.”
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and tasted him there. “It didn’t feel like a mistake.”
“It never did between us. And that was part of the problem.”
They were talking about the kiss in the barn now. Ancient history. Or maybe not, she decided, when he kissed her again.
What were they talking about?
One thing was for sure—she needed to keep her head, because the man and his kisses were getting to her. How could just a touch from his lips start that kind of fire inside her? Jake’s kisses simmered through her. Her mouth. Her breasts. Her belly.
And lower.
All with a kiss that Jake considered a mistake.
The sound shot through the SUV, and Maggie embarrassed herself by gasping. It was just the phone, something they’d been expecting. Something the kiss had caused her to forget. “Sheriff McCall,” Dr. Grange said crisply when Jake answered. “Tanner’s lawyer just phoned me with a heads-up that you’re having my financials investigated.”
“I am.” Jake glanced at her, cleared his throat and stared at the ambulance. “And there’s suspicious money in one of your accounts,” he added. “Care to tell me how it got there?”
“I didn’t put it there, but my guess is Tanner did, to make me look guilty. Judging from the tone of your voice, he succeeded.”
“Haven’t made up my mind about that yet. I just want to know the truth. I’m tired of getting shot at, tired of nearly getting Maggie killed, and I’m especially tired of the fact that something about your situation with Tanner just doesn’t add up. Now, tell me, what doesn’t add up?”
It was several seconds before Grange said anything. “Tanner’s blackmailing me. Not for money. But he’s got something he keeps holding over my head.”
Maggie certainly hadn’t expected to hear the doctor say that, and she moved even closer to Jake so she wouldn’t miss a word of the explanation. She also checked on the ambulance. Still there.
“I’m listening,” Jake prompted.
Grange’s breath was loud enough for Maggie to hear it. “Three years ago, I was looking for land to build an outpatient drug rehab center for my charity foundation, and Tanner owned a property I started researching.” He paused again. “I found out the land hadn’t exactly been obtained legally.”
Oh, no. Maggie suddenly got a really bad feeling about this. Please. Don’t let this go where she thought it might be going.
“What did you do?” Jake pressed.
“Look,” the doctor said, “the only reason I didn’t tell you is because of Chet. You know his temper. And I thought he might try to ruin me. Or kill me.”
“Oh, mercy.” Maggie groaned. It was about that. She hadn’t known that Grange had been the one to start it, but she knew it now.
And Jake was about to know it, as well.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jake asked.
Maggie wanted to scream, to pull the phone from Jake’s ear, but Pandora’s box had already been opened.
“When I found the suspicious land deal,” the doctor explained, “I told someone. Someone I wanted to take the information to the cops. I didn’t want Tanner to know I’d been the one to find it, and I told this someone not to mention my name to the cops.”
Beside her, Jake went perfectly still. “Who’s the someone?” he asked.
And Maggie knew she had to be the one to tell him. Not that it would be easier coming from her. No. It would only reopen old wounds just starting to heal. Still, he had to hear it from her.
“Jake, it was Anna,” Maggie whispered.
Chapter Fourteen
Jake was glad he was sitting down.
Glad, too, that he didn’t have to respond immediately to either Dr. Grange or Maggie. That’s because he saw Royce motion to him, and his father got into the back of the ambulance. Royce jumped into the front passenger’s seat. The driver pulled out of the parking lot, and Jake knew he would have to put his emotions and the conversation on the back burner.
Sunny’s safety came first.
He pressed the end-call button, and he drove out behind the ambulance. It went right. Jake went left, and he braked to a loud stop directly in front of two uniformed officers.
Jake lowered his window. Maggie did the same. And Jake asked a question about the bomb. Still no sign of one, the officer reported. Just as Jake had expected. But the question was meant for anyone waiting and watching. Jake wanted the person to see Maggie and him and follow them instead of going after the ambulance with Sunny inside.
Of course, there was a chance one of Tanner’s goons would try to follow the ambulance as well, but Royce would be looking for that. His brother wouldn’t allow the ambulance to stop at the hospital until he was sure it was safe.
It was good to have family to watch his back.
And the brief thought that flashed through his head brought other thoughts with it. Of Anna. God.
Maggie took her gun from her coat pocket and turned in the
seat to keep watch. Jake put the phone on the seat so he could do the same. He drove away from the hospital and caught just a glimpse of the ambulance as it disappeared over a hill. Jake headed for the highway that would take Maggie and him back to Mustang Ridge.
“Is it true?” Jake asked her. Yeah, the timing for the question sucked, but he’d never had good timing with Maggie.
“Yes.”
Her voice was a whisper, but Jake heard it as clearly as if she’d shouted. There it was again. That punch of grief that always came with thoughts of Anna.
The punch of guilt, too.
“I didn’t know it was Grange who found the land record.” Her voice stayed a whisper. “Anna didn’t tell me that. But she brought the land file to me and asked me to take a look at it because she thought something illegal had gone on.”
Another punch. This one was mixed with hurt and confusion. “Why the hell didn’t she come to me?”
Maggie didn’t take her attention off their surroundings. “You’re sure you want to know the truth, Jake? Because you’re not going to want to hear it.”
That didn’t ease the knot in his stomach or the pressure in his chest. “Tell me,” he demanded.
She glanced at him, and he saw sorrow in her eyes.
“Chet sold that land to Tanner,” she said. “And yes, they made some kind of deal, because Chet got paid triple the value of the property and then turned around and bought another piece of land from Tanner using the cash from the first deal.”
Jake mentally went through all that. “Are you saying my father and Tanner used the land to launder money or something?”
“Yes. I think Chet was a very small cog in what turned out to be a big money-laundering scheme, but Anna didn’t want you to have to bring your father in for questioning.”
“Or arrest him,” Jake finished for her.
Maggie nodded. “Nell didn’t know,” she added. “Nor Royce. Your father hid the land deal from all of you, and he might not have even realized it was illegal. Tanner could have put a spin on it to make it all sound legit.”
“Why didn’t you arrest my father?” Jake snapped.
“Because Anna begged me not to. She didn’t want you hurt. And besides, I found other land deals much worse than the one Tanner did with Chet. I had more than enough evidence and witnesses to send Tanner to jail even before his murder conviction.”
Jake had to remind himself to breathe, and he took a moment before he tried to speak. “Tanner found out that Anna had cued you into the investigation?”
She nodded. “I’m not sure how, but after the fact...after we learned Tanner was the one who had her murdered, he told me that he knew.”
“Someone told him?” Jake pressed.
“I don’t think so. I think Tanner’s people just put one and one together since Anna worked at the land office.”
Yeah. That wouldn’t have been a long leap for Tanner to make.
“I didn’t use that land deal with Chet in any of my investigation reports,” Maggie added. “Yes, I withheld evidence, but I thought it was for a good reason. Justice wouldn’t have been served putting Chet in jail. Plus, I rationalized that I could always classify him as a material witness if I needed additional testimony against Tanner.
“There’s more,” Maggie said after a long pause. “Anna also gave me the evidence I have against David. In fact, Anna’s the one who signed those documents.”
He cursed, and it was bad. “Are you saying Anna did something illegal?”
“No,” she quickly assured him. “I think she was just fooled, that David had altered the paperwork so Anna didn’t know until after the fact that something was wrong.”
With all of that flying through his head, Jake took the highway toward Mustang Ridge. There was still no sign of anyone following them so he passed his phone to Maggie.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he said, “but I need to make sure no one is following the ambulance. Call Royce.”
Maggie pressed in the numbers that Jake gave her. “Is everything okay?” she asked when Royce answered.
Jake didn’t have to hear his brother’s answer to know all was well. He could tell from Maggie’s body language. She loosened the death grip she had on the phone. A short breath left her mouth.
“No one’s following them,” Maggie relayed to him, and put the phone back on the seat. But her relieved body language didn’t last.
Probably because she knew what he was about to ask.
“When Anna was killed, did you suspect Tanner?”
“No. If I had, I would have told you.” She shook her head, groaned softly. “Like you, I thought Anna was just a victim of a robbery gone bad. I didn’t connect it to Tanner because I didn’t think he knew about Anna bringing me that land file. And I certainly didn’t think he’d go after her to get back at me.”
“Tanner threatened you, though,” Jake reminded her.
“Me. Not Anna. Not anyone else. I figured it was a bluff. After all, there was no proof he’d ever killed anyone, and those initial charges wouldn’t have given him life in prison. In fact, with his lawyers, he probably could have cut a deal and gotten just a few years behind bars.”
Apparently, Tanner’s fury over the investigation had robbed him of his common sense. And it’d robbed Jake of Anna.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Anna wanted you to do the investigation?” he asked.
“I thought you had enough to deal with without adding that. Besides, it didn’t matter. Anna was dead.”
“It mattered,” he let her know. “I put the blame for her death on you.”
“That’s where it belongs.”
“No. Hell, it doesn’t even belong on my father.” Though Jake did want to know why Chet hadn’t volunteered any of his part in the Tanner investigation. “Nor Anna. All the blame is on Tanner.”
Maggie made a small hmm sound. Possibly of agreement. “Did we just reach some kind of understanding here?” But she waved him off before he could answer. “No. That would minimize what happened. I don’t want to do that.”
“Not minimize,” Jake corrected. “But maybe we can get to a place where we aren’t hurting each other.”
The next sound was of humor. Also small. “Does that have something to do with us kissing?”
“It’d be easier if it did,” Jake remarked, and he left it at that.
He turned onto the farm road that would lead to the ranch. Eventually. He still wanted to do some meandering to make sure no one was following them, but at the moment there wasn’t another car in sight. Probably because it was late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Most people were already tucked inside with their families, getting ready for the big celebration.
Jake envied them.
Normal was something he hadn’t had in a long time, and after glancing at Maggie, he wondered if he’d ever have it again.
His phone rang, and Jake snatched it up, praying that all was still well with Sunny and the others. But it was his deputy, Billy.
“Wade Garfield wants to talk to you right away,” Billy relayed. “He said it was important, but I didn’t want to give your number until I’d talked with you.”
Wade. Just somebody else to add to his weariness and frustration. “Did Wade tell you what was so important that he had to talk to me right away?”
“I asked, but he wouldn’t say. He sounded scared, or something.”
Probably the or something. “Give him the number,” Jake said, and he hung up so Wade could make his call, which would no doubt turn out to be another frustrating experience.
“Is Wade still claiming someone’s trying to kill him?” Maggie asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Probably. Or maybe he wants to put another tracking device on a vehicle I’m driving.”
The phone rang, and even though it was a call he dreaded, Jake answered it.
“Sheriff McCall,” Wade said the second Jake answered, “I have to see you right away.”
Jake ignored t
hat. “What do you want?”
“To meet with you. Didn’t you hear me? I have something important to tell you.”
That seemed to be the trend of the day. Tanner, Dr. Grange, now Wade. David was the only one of their suspects not clamoring to see him.
“If it’s that important,” Jake said, “you can tell me over the phone.”
“No,” Wade insisted after a few seconds. “We have to do this face-to-face. I won’t have you recording the conversation so you can use it against me.”
“Sheez. Paranoid much? Wade, the only time I’d use a conversation against you is if you’ve committed a crime. Like, say, trying to kill us. Where were you about an hour ago?”
“I’d rather not discuss that. In fact, I’d rather not tell anyone where I am.”
“Yeah, yeah. Because someone wants you dead. Welcome to the club.”
“Are you accusing me of something?” Wade asked.
“Are you guilty of something?” Jake countered.
That caused Wade to curse. “Look, if you want what I have, then you have to meet me. But I think you should know, I figured out a way to stop Tanner for good.”
“How?” Jake demanded.
But he was talking to himself, because Wade had already hung up.
* * *
MAGGIE LOOKED OUT THE living room window at the snow that had just started to fall. A white Christmas. Well, a white Christmas Eve anyway, but it would likely stick through the following day.
Too bad the following day came with so many uncertainties.
Behind her, Jake paced while he spoke on the phone, something he’d been doing since they arrived an hour earlier. He’d even fixed sandwiches for both of them and eaten one while checking on Sunny and getting updates on the investigation. That was good, because Maggie needed some time to think. So far, she’d failed at that, but at least his nonstop calls had prevented her from blurting out all her fears.
Jake had enough to handle.
She glanced at him, intending a quick look to gauge his mood so he could figure out if he was getting good or bad news from the caller. But in that split-second glance, their gazes met, and he came closer, looking out the window from over her shoulder. Maybe to verify that she hadn’t seen anything unsettling.
Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge Page 14
