High-Caliber Christmas

by B. J Daniels

  As he locked up, he realized he’d been so involved with the funeral, seeing Kayley again and finding out about his mother and uncle, that he hadn’t had time to think about the fact that he was a Winchester.

  He wasn’t sure how to deal with that—if he had to deal at all. As far as he was concerned, he was Jace Dennison, and once he left Whitehorse no one would know any different.

  But if he decided to stay…

  He swore at the thought. Where had that come from?

  He found the bottle of whiskey and carried it upstairs. The air temperature felt cooler. He just hoped a winter storm didn’t blow in before he left town. He rubbed his leg as he sat down on the bed. It had been aching all day.

  The doctor had said he should stay off of it as much as possible until it had a chance to heal. If it didn’t heal, he wouldn’t be able to go back to work. The thought panicked him. His work was all he’d had for more years than he cared to think about.

  All he still had, he reminded himself.

  It kept him busy, kept him from thinking…

  The realization that he’d spent years fighting to keep Kayley out of his thoughts surprised him. Leaving her had been the hardest thing he’d ever done.

  And yet, as she said, he had left her.

  When he’d left, it had all made sense to him. He’d really believed he was doing the best thing for both of them.

  Seeing Kayley again, though, had him questioning everything—especially why he’d ever left her and why he was trying so hard to get out of town again.

  He’d never been a drinker, so it didn’t take much before he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He lay down on the bed, praying for oblivion.

  AVA STOOD STONE STILL, her back against the wall of the guest bedroom next to Jace’s room. She’d heard him enter the house and realized how close he’d come to catching her. A few moments later, he had come upstairs, giving her no chance to get away.

  She could tell by the sound of his footfalls that his night had not gone well. Her husband, John, used to come home from work like that. His footfalls slow and heavy. She’d be waiting for him with a fresh drink. She loved taking off his shoes and rubbing his feet. She loved the way he looked at her, love in his eyes.

  Ava wiped at her sudden tears. John had been the love of her life. Why wouldn’t a love like that transcend anything, even death?

  In the bedroom next door, she heard Jace Dennison moving around.

  Earlier she’d followed him and Kayley Mitchell to the restaurant. She’d watched them through the bank of windows that looked out over the town, trying to gauge what was going on between them. Something, or Jace wouldn’t have asked her to dinner.

  From the gossip she’d heard this morning at the café, Jace and Kayley were high-school sweethearts—just like her and John. But Jace had left Kayley at the altar—or at least a few weeks before the wedding.

  How could a woman forgive a man for something like that? Ava knew she couldn’t. But then, John would never have done anything like that to her.

  She’d almost gotten caught in the house because she’d thought Jace wouldn’t be home until much later. She’d worried he might even spend the night with his old girlfriend, although the thought had hurt her to the core.

  “You are such a masochist.” She could hear her sister’s taunt.

  Ava had known coming to the house again was risky, but she hated to keep calling until he answered the phone as she’d done the other night. Anyway, she had a good reason for being here.

  Now she listened, heard the creak of the bedsprings and waited. She didn’t dare get caught for fear he wouldn’t understand.

  After twenty minutes passed without a sound, Ava eased open the bedroom door and tiptoed into the hall. The light was off, his door open. Silently, she stepped in.

  Chapter Six

  Jace woke to bright sunlight streaming into his bedroom window. He blinked, blinded by the light, then saw the bottle of whiskey beside his bed and groaned.

  What was he thinking, trying to drink himself into oblivion? It wasn’t like him. And yet when things had gotten tough twelve years ago, what had he done? He’d run.

  At the memory of last night, he groaned again. Why had he asked Kayley to dinner, let alone kissed her? She’d moved on with Ty Reynolds. She deserved a man she could count on. Maybe Ty was that man.

  Sliding his legs over the side of the bed, he sat up. His head ached, and when he reached for his cell phone he saw that he had more messages from his boss.

  He didn’t have to check them to know his boss was inquiring as to how the funeral had gone, how his leg was healing, when he’d be back.

  Jace rubbed a hand over his face and was just starting to get up to head for the shower when he saw the note. It leaned against the base of the lamp. The handwriting was small, the letters perfectly made.

  Jace, My sister is in town. I’m afraid she might hurt you. I’m so sorry, Ava.

  Ava? Ava Carris?

  His eyes widened. That note hadn’t been there last night when he’d gone to bed. He would have noticed it.

  Which meant there was only one way that note could have gotten there.

  She’d come into his room last night after he’d gone to sleep.

  As he rose to snatch up the note, he smelled the faint scent of her perfume and felt his skin go clammy. He read the note again. Her sister? What the hell?

  It wasn’t until he stood under the hot spray of the shower trying to get his head to clear that Jace realized she must have been the one to leave the present under the tree—and the bottle of cologne.

  Hadn’t he thought she was stalking him the first time he’d seen her in Whitehorse? He should have followed his own gut instinct.

  After toweling dry and dressing, he picked up the note and carefully tucked it into his wallet.

  It was time to find Ava Carris and make sure she didn’t get into his house again.

  But after driving around town, he didn’t see her rental SUV at any of the motels or parked in front of Whitehorse’s four cafés.

  When his cell phone rang, he answered it on the first ring, thinking it would be Ava and that she had gotten his cell-phone number last night when she’d been in his room. Instead, it was the sheriff.

  “I ran the prints we found on the bottle of cologne,” she said. “Can you stop by?”

  “I was already headed there,” he said and hung up.

  SHERIFF MCCALL WINCHESTER stood as he stepped into her office. “We got a hit on those prints from the cologne bottle,” she said after they’d both sat down. “They belong to a woman named Ava Carris.”

  “Her prints were on file?” He couldn’t hide his surprise. He was sure Ava had left the cologne, but he hadn’t expected her prints to be on file.

  “You know her?”

  “We met at the Denver airport. For whatever reason, I think she followed me to Whitehorse and that she’s been stalking me.”

  McCall raised a brow. “And this is the first you’ve mentioned it?”

  “I really didn’t think anything of it. She said I reminded her of her late husband. She seemed confused and lost. I felt sorry for her.”

  McCall shook her head. “Her prints were on file because she was arrested for killing her husband.”

  Jace felt his blood turn to ice. How had he gotten the impression that she had adored her husband, was grieving his death? “She killed him?”

  “According to the evidence.”

  “Then why isn’t she in prison?” he demanded.

  “She never stood trial,” McCall said. “She was found mentally unable to stand trial and was sent to a psychiatric hospital.”

  “When was this?” Jace asked, shaken by this news.

  “Almost ten years ago.”

  “What?” He thought he must have heard wrong. When he’d met Ava at the Denver airport he’d gotten the impression she’d only recently lost her husband.

  “Ava Carris was released just last week.”

&nbs
p; Jace was having a hard time taking all this in.

  “When I called, you said you were coming to see me,” McCall said. “Has something else happened?”

  He’d completely forgotten about the note. Digging it out of his wallet, he handed it to her.

  McCall read, then looked up at him. “Where did you get this?”

  “I found it beside my bed when I woke up this morning.”

  “She was in your house again?” Her tone said he should have taken her advice and changed the locks.

  The sheriff read the note again. She looked worried. “I’ll see what else I can find out about the murder case and Ava Carris’s psychiatric commitment. Maybe there are some conditions to her release—”

  “You’re telling me you have nothing to charge her on.”

  “Trespassing. She didn’t steal anything. Instead, she left you presents.”

  “She clearly shouldn’t be out on the streets.”

  “Not according to the medical board in Alaska that released her,” McCall said. “I’m not sure what the deal is with her sister, but apparently you look enough like her husband that she might want to harm you and was warning you.”

  The room suddenly went ice cold. “I have a crazy woman stalking me, and there is nothing I can do about it until she tries to kill me?” Jace raked a hand through his hair and let out a humorless laugh as he put his Stetson back on. “It isn’t bad enough that I find out I’m a Winchester—no offense.”

  “None taken. I should be able to get you a restraining order against her.”

  A restraining order? She couldn’t be serious. “You know how worthless a restraining order is, especially against someone like this.”

  The irony of it didn’t escape him. He made his living protecting other people, and now he was the one who needed the protection.

  “You could always go stay at the Winchester ranch. She’d have a hard time finding you there.”

  He shoved to his feet. “That’s like telling me to jump out of the frying pan into the fire to save myself. No thanks.”

  “Then at least get the locks changed on the house.”

  He knew the best thing he could do was to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible. Let Ava Carris or her sister try to find him after he left here.

  In the meantime, if he and Ava crossed paths again, he’d have to handle it himself.

  KAYLEE HADN’T SLEPT WELL after her dinner with Jace. The kiss had rattled her more than she wanted to admit. She still loved him. She’d never stopped loving him and doubted she ever would.

  But where did that leave her?

  She’d lain in bed into the wee hours of morning considering just that. Did she really believe there was only one person on this earth for her? Maybe that wasn’t true for everyone, but she knew it was for her.

  She’d called Ty first thing to tell him she was sorry but that she wouldn’t be seeing him anymore.

  “You and Jace aren’t getting back together,” he’d said, but without as much conviction as yesterday.

  “No. But I will always love him, and it isn’t fair to you. You deserve someone who loves you with all her heart.”

  Kayley had just hung up when her phone rang. It was her good friend Shawna. “Ty just called me. He said you’ve lost your mind.”

  She had to laugh both because she probably had lost her mind and because it was just like Ty to run to her friend. Now that she thought of it, Ty and Shawna had a lot more in common than she and Ty did.

  “He says you broke up with him because of Jace? Kayley—”

  “I didn’t break up with him. We were never more than friends.”

  “He’s a nice guy.”

  If Kayley had a nickel for every time someone had said that to her… “He’s not the man for me.”

  Shawna sighed. “Sweetie, Ty says that Jace is selling his place. He isn’t sticking around.”

  “I know.”

  “But this is about Jace, isn’t it.”

  It was. “It’s hard to explain, and I haven’t the time to try right now. I have to get to school,” she said and hung up.

  Now, as she looked over the young heads of her busy students, she couldn’t help but let herself think about Jace and the future. What did she want? She’d asked Jace what he wanted last night, but she’d never really considered what she wanted.

  She glanced toward the window and was startled to see a silver SUV parked outside. For just a split second, she thought the driver behind the wheels was Jace. But then she saw that it was that woman again.

  Rising from her desk, she moved to the window, unable to shake off the chill that ran the length of her spine. The woman, having seen her, started her vehicle and quickly drove off. But Kayley felt unsettled the rest of the school day.

  THE CALL CAME OUT OF the blue.

  “I have an offer on your place,” Jace’s real estate agent told him.

  He hadn’t expected this. He’d figured it would take months and that he would be doing the paperwork by fax and email.

  When Clare told him for how much, he’d been surprised. He’d convinced himself he was willing to settle for a lot less just to get out of town. But that had been a few days ago.

  “So, how long does all this take?” he asked, suddenly feeling rushed.

  “If you accept the offer, I can push it through in the next few days. The buyer offered to wave a lot of the conditions that take time, like having the property surveyed and requiring a list of the farm and ranch equipment. He’s even offered to buy what livestock you have.”

  Wow, Jace thought. It sounded as if the buyer wanted him out of town as much as he wanted to leave.

  “Who is this buyer?” he asked.

  Clare was silent for a moment. “I’m sure you’ll hear around town anyway. Ty Reynolds.”

  Ty? Jace shook his head. He should have known. “Maybe we should wait. If someone jumped on it this quickly, maybe I should hold out for more money,” he said, only half joking.

  “I thought you were in a hurry and would take even less to get it settled.”

  He had thought so, too. Maybe it was just the thought of Ty Reynolds owning his place. He knew he was being foolish. Did he really give a damn who owned the place once he was out of here?

  “Send me the offer, and I’ll look it over.”

  “I would advise you to definitely consider it. This offer is more than what acreage is going for right now, and with him willing to wave some of the conditions that usually hold up a sale…”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.” He took a breath and let it out. Ty was going to have not only the house he’d grown up in, but also his property—and Kayley. “Let’s just get it over with. I’ll stop by and sign the papers.”

  “Tomorrow afternoon, say, two?”

  “Great.” He hung up and swore. With the property sold there would be nothing keeping him in Whitehorse. Wasn’t this what he’d wanted?

  Jace recalled Kayley asking what he wanted last night. He’d wanted her. Now he stepped out on the front porch. She would be home from teaching school by now. If he climbed up on the porch railing, he could just make out Kayley’s house in the distance. He’d forgotten that he used to do that all the time when he was a teenager. He and Kayley had a sign back then…

  He looked at the window that used to be her bedroom. She would hang a flag in the window to let him know what was going on.

  Instead, now, he saw Ty Reynolds’s pickup was parked out front.

  TY FELT BAD ABOUT HIS argument with Kayley. He felt even worse about her phone call this morning. But now that he was here in her house, he felt his original anger begin to surface again.

  Nothing had gone as he’d planned it from the moment Jace Dennison had returned to town, and matters hadn’t improved since he’d showed up unannounced on Kayley’s doorstep. Clearly, she hadn’t been happy to see him.

  He’d even had to invite himself inside. She hadn’t offered him anything to drink, which wasn’t like her. He could sm
ell hot apple cider cooking on the stove, and yet she’d led him into the living room, where they both now sat.

  “Look, I’m sorry about some of the things I said yesterday in the school parking lot,” he said. “I care about you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  Her smile never reached her eyes. “I appreciate that, Ty, but I really can take care of myself.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true when it comes to Jace Dennison,” he said, feeling his anger rise even more. “Sorry, but so far you’ve behaved like a doormat when it comes to him. Do you really think it was your place to be at his side at the funeral? I mean, everyone in town is talking.”

  Kayley was on her feet, and he knew he’d overstepped again.

  “Please,” he said, holding up both hands and staying seated. He wasn’t leaving until he’d said what he’d come to say. “What I’m saying is—”

  “I know what you’re saying. That’s why I’d like you to leave. It’s really none of your business.”

  That hit him like a punch. He looked up at her, unable to believe she’d just said that. “None of my business?”

  “Ty, I’ve enjoyed your company for the past few months….”

  “We’ve been dating for over a year.” He bit off each word.

  “But we’re just friends. You knew that from the start.”

  He laughed, remembering the times he’d tried to take their relationship to the next level and she’d held him off—literally. “I thought in time—”

  “I’ve been clear about my feelings. I’m sorry you wanted more. I think you’re right. We shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

  Now he was on his feet. Had he said he didn’t want to see her anymore? She was putting words into his mouth, damn her. “Kayley, you’re being irrational.”

  The moment the words were of his mouth and he saw her expression, he knew he’d blown it.

  “I really would appreciate it if you would leave before I become more irrational and do something you will regret.”

  “I didn’t mean to say that. What I meant was—”

  But she had already left the room and was now waiting for him, holding the door open.

  He could see that there was nothing to say that would change her mind—at least not at this moment. He told himself that once Jace Dennison was gone, she would change her mind.