by B. J Daniels
“That’s not true. Emily’s told me about all the businesses you’ve helped start and others you’ve helped through hard times.”
Bo didn’t seem to hear him. “But the worst part is that I messed up things with you. By the time I felt ready, you were gone. You were so hurt and angry and...” She locked eyes with him in the firelight. “I knew I’d lost you, and it broke my heart.”
He smiled ruefully. He’d never believed in fate, but here they were. As crazy as the circumstances were, they’d been given another chance. He had no idea what tomorrow would bring. All they had was tonight. “I never stopped loving you. I damn sure tried, but, Bo, there is no one like you.”
She smiled through her tears as he pulled her to him.
“Promise me that we can put the past behind us when we get off this mountain,” she said, drawing back to meet his eyes. “That we can start over, no regrets?”
If they got out of the mountains alive. “I promise.”
“And we can make love in a real bed, promise?”
He chuckled. “In a warm, soft bed. I promise.”
* * *
BO HAD DREAMED of being in Jace’s arms again, but she’d given up hope of it ever happening. She unzipped his coat and helped him shrug out of his wet clothing. He joined her on the sleeping bag in front of the fire. Wrapping her arms around his hard body, she smiled as he met her gaze.
His kiss sent desire racing through her like flames. She felt his hand cup her breast, the nipple springing up hard as a pebble. He drew back to slide down to take first one hard nipple in his mouth, then the other.
She arched against him, sensations rippling along her skin as hot as the fire blazing next to them. He pressed kisses along her naked flesh, leaving a trail of heat before he reached her center.
“Oh, Jace,” she breathed as he kissed the most intimate part of her. His tongue licked at her, making her cry out as she rose higher and higher, quaking with the release that had her clutching at Jace.
He slid his body along hers, coming back to kiss her now achingly hard nipples before reaching her mouth. As he entered her, she felt as if everything in the world had suddenly righted itself.
She clung to him as he made love to her, taking her to places she’d never been, as the fire crackled and the storm raged beyond the rocks. Wrapped in Jace’s arms, Bo closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle.
* * *
SARAH COULDN’T SLEEP. For several hours she had lain awake, listening to the rain. She finally got up and went into the cabin’s small kitchen to make herself some warm milk. She used to make warm milk for one of her children who couldn’t sleep. Ainsley? Or was it Kat or Bo? That she couldn’t remember broke her heart. It felt like a lifetime ago.
She’d missed so much of her daughters’ lives. There was no way to catch up. She couldn’t blame them, though. She was a stranger. Worse, she was responsible for them now all hiding out from the press. She shouldn’t have come back. Why had she?
When she thought about what the sheriff had said—that she was dropped from a plane, parachuted into a spot far from everything and wandered through the woods until she hit the road—and Russell Murdock almost hit her with his pickup, it scared her more than she wanted to admit. How was it that she couldn’t remember it, if true? Or had someone just wanted him to believe that’s how she’d returned?
Wasn’t it possible for someone to set the whole thing up—including putting some of her DNA and blood on the parachute harness?
She let out a laugh. She was starting to sound like Russell with all his conspiracy theories.
But if true, then it made no sense, no matter how many times she went over it. Why wouldn’t she have been able to remember jumping from a plane? That didn’t sound like something she would forget—unless she’d done it so many times before...
Her milk began to scorch. She quickly pulled it off the burner, no longer interested in warm milk. Instead, she took the nearly empty bottle of wine that Russell had brought to go with dinner and poured the last of it into a glass. Wine in hand, she moved to the couch. The copy of the photo he’d taken of her tattoo was lying on the table next to the couch’s armrest.
Picking it up, she stared at the pendulum design. Needless to say, she had no memory of ever getting a tattoo, especially such a strange one. Everything about the past terrified her. Lately, she’d been getting more...flashes. She couldn’t call them memories. What had happened to her? How had she ended up like this?
Russell was so sure that Buckmaster was behind it—
Her cell phone rang, making her jump. She pulled it out, expecting the call to be from Russell. He often checked on her to make sure she was all right, but usually not this late.
It was Buck. That was even odder at this hour.
“Hello?” she asked tentatively.
“For some reason I thought you might be awake, too,” he said. His voice was soft as if he didn’t want to awaken anyone in the house. As far as she knew, the only other person in the ranch house was Angelina, his wife.
“Why can’t you sleep?” she asked.
“Bo is still missing in the Crazies.” His voice broke with emotion. “I thought you might have seen it on the news.”
“What? Bo is still missing? You were so sure when we talked before that she would be back by now.”
“A snowstorm in the mountains stopped search efforts and would have kept her from getting out, as well. As soon as the weather breaks, we’re going back up to look for her.”
“Oh, Buck, she has to be all right.”
“She’s smart, and Jace Calder went up looking for her. If he found her... I just hope they’re together at least. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you, but—”
“She’s my daughter, too.”
They were both silent for a long while.
“I miss you, Sarah.”
His words made her heart ache. “I miss you, too.”
“I wish there was some way—”
“There isn’t. Even if you weren’t with Angelina...”
More silence.
“I didn’t mean to call and upset you. I should let you go.”
“Please, call me when you find her.”
“I will. We’ll find her. I can’t lose her. I’ve already lost so much.”
She disconnected and sat holding the phone to her chest. No matter what Russell said, Buck couldn’t be the monster he believed him to be. That would mean she was in love with a monster who’d taken away twenty-two years of her life.
* * *
THE SNOW IN the mountains had changed everything. Frank swore as he listened on the phone to the head of search and rescue describing the conditions they’d run into on the other side of the Crazies.
“The terrain is too dangerous,” Jim Martin said. “Even experienced ground crews found many areas too difficult to traverse with the snow.”
“What about the searchers in the helicopters?”
“They should be able to see tracks in the snow once the clouds lift.” Jim didn’t sound optimistic. “The storm isn’t moving on as fast as the weatherman predicted.”
Helicopters were standing by.
“We had search dogs, horse teams and hikers up there but had to bring them all back when the weather turned,” Jim was saying. “All trailheads were monitored overnight in case they tried to come out a different way. The helicopter used thermal imaging technology until almost midnight when the weather got too rough.”
Frank knew everyone was doing what they could given the conditions. Improved weather in the next day or so would allow an expanded search, but could Bo and Jace wait that long?
“I’ve already spoken to the media and told them that, due to the dangerous conditions up there, we can’t use any volunteers for the search at this t
ime,” Jim said.
Not to mention there was at least one killer up in those mountains, Frank thought. He’d never felt more helpless, but until the weather broke...
He’d been fielding calls all evening, ever since the media had picked up the news. Senator Buckmaster Hamilton’s daughter missing in the mountains of Montana was hot news—especially since Sarah Hamilton’s return from the dead was now becoming old news. Everyone had written her off as a head case. Everyone but Frank.
It had been a long day. He couldn’t wait to get home to his wife, already anticipating the beef roast she’d said she was cooking—along with a cold beer. He hadn’t realized how late it was, though. The way things were going, he’d never get out of here tonight.
When he looked up from his desk, he was surprised to find Russell Murdock framed in the doorway.
“I saw your rig parked outside. I know it’s late and you’re busy with trying to find Bo Hamilton...”
Frank waved him into the office. Hat in hand, Russell stepped in and closed the door behind him. The sheriff’s interest was piqued as Russell nervously took a chair across from his desk and rested a stack of papers on one knee. Sarah Hamilton was still staying with Russell. In fact, Frank was pretty sure Russell had been protecting the woman. Which made him wonder just what the man knew about her that Frank didn’t and why exactly Russell was so protective of the senator’s wife.
“What’s up?” Frank asked.
“We’ve known each other a long time. Not well, but I know what kind of lawman you are. I trust you.” Even after that buildup, Russell still looked hesitant. “I think there’s something you should know about Sarah.”
There was a lot he should know when it came to Sarah. The mystery of Sarah Hamilton was the real reason he told himself he couldn’t even consider retirement. Not yet anyway.
“I hope you know me well enough that you trust I’m not some wacko.”
Frank had to smile. Russell Murdock was as far from a wacko as anyone he knew, and he said as much.
The rancher let out a long breath. “Then I hope what I have to tell you won’t come as too big a shock.”
Frank doubted anything the man would tell him about Sarah Hamilton would come as a shock.
“I think I know why Sarah can’t remember the past twenty-two years, and I also believe I know who is behind it. The esteemed Senator Buckmaster Hamilton.” He held up a hand as if expecting Frank to object. “I’ve been doing some research.” He spread a stack of papers out on the sheriff’s desk. “What do you know about brain wiping?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BO WOKE IN Jace’s arms to daylight. She opened her eyes but didn’t move. His body was warm and solid, and she felt safer than she had in days.
True, it was a false sense of security. Ray and his father were out there, probably looking for them—at least, that’s what Jace believed.
She preferred to think that they were smarter than that and had headed back into the mountains to escape being caught. They had to know that someone else would come looking for her and Jace, so why not run?
With that shot they’d heard yesterday, maybe one had killed the other. She suspected Ray was better with a knife than a gun. She doubted even being shot would stop him. But maybe his wound was so bad that his father had put him out of his misery.
Jace stirred and rolled away from her. She instantly felt regret. She turned to see him standing at the edge of the cave opening.
When she saw that he had his rifle in his hands, she sat up in alarm. “What is it?” she whispered.
He motioned for her to stay quiet. Past him, all she could see was white. How much had it snowed? She groaned inwardly at the thought of wading through it to try to get out of the mountains. “Get dressed,” Jace said. “The storm has let up. We need to be moving.”
Bo heard Jace’s horse let out a snort. The trees where the gelding had been tied began to shake viciously. Snow cascaded down from the snow-filled branches an instant before she heard the horse snorting.
She was on her feet, but not before Jace jumped off the ledge, fighting the fallen snow as he rushed toward the trees where he’d left the horse. What had the horse heard that had spooked him?
Wrapped in the sleeping bag, she hurried to the edge of the ledge in time to see the horse come thundering out of the trees, its eyes wide with fear. It reared, striking Jace and knocking him into the rocks an instant before the grizzly bear lumbered out of the pines.
Bo screamed. Jace was still lying in the snow from where he’d been hit by the rearing horse. “Jace!” He had dropped the rifle when he’d fallen, but Bo remembered in a rush that she still had the pistol.
She pulled it out of her jacket pocket and pointed it into the air. She knew better than to try to kill the grizzly. A wounded bear was even more dangerous than a hungry one. She pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Fumbling off the safety, she fired. At the opening of the cave where she stood, the shot sounded like a cannon going off.
The grizzly, which had been headed for Jace, stopped. She fired again and the bear turned and lumbered back into the trees.
Her heart in her throat, she called down to Jace. “Are you all right?”
“My leg.” She could hear the pain in his voice. “I think it’s broken.”
* * *
BUCKMASTER FOUND ANGELINA glued to the television.
“The search continues for thirty-year-old Bo Hamilton, the daughter of Senator Buckmaster Hamilton, along with local rancher Jace Calder,” the news anchor was saying.
“Hamilton was camping in the Crazy Mountains but failed to return as scheduled on Monday. Calder had gone up to search for her Monday afternoon.”
An aerial shot of the Crazies flashed on the screen, making Buckmaster’s stomach turn. So much country. Bo could be anywhere. Was she even still alive? He thought of the cold, the snow and shuddered to think what she might be going through. Not to mention there was a killer up there.
The sheriff had tried to play it down, but that outfitter had been murdered and as far as they knew, whoever had killed him was still up there.
The news anchor droned on about the large search and rescue team that had been deployed the day before to find the two missing residents.
“Searchers were forced back due to a snowstorm in the mountains. Jim Martin with the local response efforts warned everyone to stay out of the mountains because of the dangerous conditions. The search is set to continue today, weather permitting.”
As the news anchor went on to other breaking stories, Buckmaster turned off the television.
“At least there had been no mention of missing funds at the Sarah Hamilton Foundation,” his wife said.
Or of the outfitter’s murder.
Cussing under his breath, he told himself he couldn’t think like that. Bo was alive. She would be found.
Stepping to the rain-streaked window, he looked out at the Crazies. The mountain range was cloaked in clouds. He knew from experience that it was probably still snowing up there at the higher altitude. He hated to think how much snow might fall before this storm moved on.
His poor baby girl. He would have saddled up and taken his men back up the mountain, but he knew there was nothing anyone could do until the storm ended and risking more lives would only make things worse.
He’d looked at his men yesterday when the storm had blown in. Like him, they’d been cold and wet, and the temperature had been dropping fast. Not only that, they were scared after realizing John Cole’s killer could still be up there.
“But what about Bo?” he’d asked the sheriff. “She’s out in this, maybe hurt, God only knows.”
“If Jace is with her, he’ll take care of her,” Frank had said.
“And if that escaped murderer is with her?”
“Th
ere is nothing more we can do until the storm breaks,” the sheriff had said. “Go home. I’ll keep you posted. As soon as the storm breaks, we’ll have choppers in the air, dogs and horse teams on the ground. These people are trained for this. We don’t want them to have to look for you and your men as well as your daughter and Jace Calder.”
He’d had no choice. Yesterday when the snow hit before they could get out of the mountains, he hadn’t been able to see two feet in front of his horse. He knew it was insane to continue looking, but turning back had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his life.
But now the waiting was killing him.
He felt as if he was letting down his daughter. Maybe had let her down even before she went up into the mountains. Since Sarah’s return, he’d been questioning everything he’d done in the past.
After he’d lost Sarah, he’d thrown himself into politics. Now he could see that he’d let his family take a backseat to his political career. It broke his heart that his oldest, Ainsley, had recently quit law school. From the time she could talk, she’d wanted to be a lawyer.
Instead, she’d helped him raise her five sisters. Actually, she and a series of nannies had raised the girls while he spent much of his time campaigning for offices that had finally gotten him into the Senate. When she’d grown older, she’d stepped in, taking on most of the responsibility of running the ranch. How had he let that happen?
He felt now as if he’d stolen her childhood as well as too much of her adulthood. When it came to her sisters, he always went to her to find out how they were doing. He still did. Even now, he wanted to call her—as if she could help with what was happening with Bo.
“I don’t even know my daughters,” he said, voicing his thoughts aloud.
Angelina mugged a face. “That’s ridiculous! They adore you.”
“I bought them whatever they wanted. I gave them the run of the ranch. I raised them like wild horses that were allowed to run free and do as they pleased.”
She shook her head. “Your daughters have all grown into fine young women.”
That surprised him, her saying what he’d hoped was true. Angelina had never been a mother to his six girls. If anything, she’d always seemed to resent the way he’d spoiled them.
