Against the Wall mm-1

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Quinn took up a position directly below Sophie as she leaned forward and grasped the branch with both hands.

  Following Jake’s directions, she inched her hands and arms farther toward the trunk of the tree until her knees sat on the windowsill. She couldn’t go any farther without putting all of her weight on the branch.

  “Good job. Now this is a thirty-year-old tree, very sturdy, very safe. But that branch you’re holding won’t hold your entire weight for very long. Do you see the branch about three feet below it? The really thick one?” Jake pointed.

  “Yes.” Smoke filled her nose, and she coughed, her eyes watering from the sting.

  “Good.” Jake encircled both her wrists with his hands, balancing his weight while standing on two bowing branches. “So sweetheart,” he said, speaking with confidence as more smoke spilled out from the window, “you need to hold this branch and swing your feet onto the lower one. It’ll hold you all day. Ready?”

  Sophie turned panicked eyes on Jake and tried to pull her hands back.

  Jake shook his head. “The fire’s behind you, Soph. You have to move—now.”

  “It’s okay,” Quinn called up from the ground. “I’m right under you. If worse comes to worse, you’ll land on me.”

  “Now, Sophie.” Jake tightened his grip as the firemen slammed through the front door armed with axes and an uncoiled hose.

  “Jake, the baby.” Sophie clenched the branch with a quick look down. Way down to where Quinn stood patiently.

  “Babies don’t like smoke.” Jake’s voice lowered. “Besides, ours would love to flatten Uncle Quinn, I’m sure.”

  Sophie tried to breathe shallowly and not take in too much smoke. With a quick prayer, she seized the branch and swung from the safety of the window, her heart all but beating out of her rib cage.

  Her feet hit the lower branch and slid off, her boots scraping for purchase.

  Panic squashed the breath from her lungs.

  Sophie cried out as her legs dangled, and the sound of a branch snapping in two filled the air. It disintegrated in clumps of bark between her hands. Jake’s hands tightened on her wrists as he held her in midair before he swung her so her feet could again find purchase. She caught the lower branch and pressed her legs forward until it balanced in the center of her feet.

  She stood for a second, her feet on the branch, her wrists in Jake’s broad hands, before he tugged her toward the trunk and wrapped her arms around the tree.

  Sophie rested her head against the scratchy bark and her knees began to tremble.

  “Okay, almost done now,” Jake whispered into her ear as he positioned his body behind hers. “See that branch to the right, about a foot down from you?”

  Sophie twisted her head to look. “Yes.”

  “Hold onto the trunk and just step one foot down to it.” Jake pressed even closer. “I’ve got you, I promise.”

  Sophie stepped down, her palms scraping the bark as she fought for balance. Then she sighed in relief as she lowered her other foot. The crackle of fire and shattering glass boomed around them. The process continued until they both stood on bottom branches, about seven feet from the ground. At Jake’s quiet order, Sophie sat, her hands gripping the trunk while he jumped to the grass.

  “Grab my arms and jump.” Jake reached up with both hands.

  Sophie reached down, clasped broad arms, and let gravity have its way. Her feet met wet grass for a mere second before Jake scooped her in his arms and strode for the paramedic van on the street.

  Sophie coughed lightly into his neck, her stomach heaving as Jake lowered her on the tailgate of his truck and a uniformed paramedic placed oxygen over her nose and mouth. Thunder crackled in the distance, and a light rain peppered the ground. Jake pushed Sophie farther into the back of the truck, into dryness.

  She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, the scratches on her hands searing. Red and blue lights swirled as the firefighters rolled up their hose and the stench of burned wood filled the air. She began to shake violently, her teeth chattering behind the mask.

  “The fire’s out, Sunshine,” Jake said, his eyes on Quinn and a sooty firefighter as they surveyed the damage from the porch. He shifted so he stood directly between the smoldering walls and Sophie, and she wondered if it were intentional or instinctive. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better. I don’t think I inhaled much of the smoke. The baby should be fine.”

  “I was worried about you.” Jake didn’t turn as he spoke.

  “How did you get here so fast?”

  “Poker night at Hawk’s. I was there when Quinn got the call.” Jake straightened as his brother approached.

  “The fire was intentional.” Quinn didn’t waste any words as he reached Jake and cast a concerned gaze toward Sophie. “Most people know Mrs. Shiller is out of town.”

  “You sure?” Jake lowered his voice.

  “Yes. Typical Molotov cocktail through the front window.” Both men turned to study her—twin sets of deep onyx eyes with different expressions. Quinn was all cop, curious and hard. Jake’s expression spoke of something dark, something heated.

  Yet one thing remained the same—both were pissed.

  “What?” Sophie scooted to the edge of the vehicle, letting rain splatter against her legs. “You think this was on purpose?”

  Quinn nodded. “I know it was. Have you noticed anything odd, anyone following you while you’ve been here?”

  “I haven’t seen anyone following me. But…” She took a deep breath. “Somebody has left notes on the Jeep window for me.”

  “Notes?” Quinn placed a restraining hand on his brother’s arm as Jake’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

  “Um, yeah. Basically saying that the development was a bad idea.”

  “And?” Jake growled it.

  “And that I should get out of town.”

  Jake swore under his breath while Quinn cast a glance around at the milling spectators on the street and nearby lawns.

  “But I don’t understand, I mean, the commissioners denied the application.” Sophie’s temper stirred. “There won’t be a golf course.”

  Quinn shook his head. “But the tribe has hired you to build a golf course.”

  Sophie shrugged, wary of the fury on Jake’s face. This wasn’t her fault, damn it. She turned her attention to Quinn. “I still have the notes. They’re over in the suitcase I threw out the window.” The muscle ticking in Jake’s sooty jaw captured her gaze.

  “Stay with her, Jake. Let me do my job.” Quinn stepped around his brother and headed for the still smoldering house.

  “I want to see them,” Jake called to Quinn’s retreating back.

  “I know,” Quinn tossed back over his shoulder, his legs eating the distance to the pile under the bull pine.

  Jake’s eyes bored holes in her as his arms slowly crossed over his broad chest.

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Sophie answered his unasked question, snapping the words out.

  The muscle in his jaw swelled. “How many notes?”

  “Three.”

  “When?”

  Sophie was saved from answering when Quinn returned with her suitcase in one hand, the other pulling papers from beneath his jacket. Two dark, masculine heads dipped to read the notes in the muted light of the paramedic’s vehicle. Sophie shivered at the looks on their faces once they finished reading.

  Quinn nodded at her. “Get her home. I’ll follow up with questions in the morning.”

  Jake reached for her.

  “No.” Sophie moved farther in the vehicle as lightning ripped across the sky.

  “You’re coming with me.” Jake hauled her out of the vehicle and carried her to his truck, where a deputy finished loading her possessions into the backseat.

  “Damn it, Jake.” Sophie fought the urge to kick him. Hard.

  Jake didn’t reply as he started the ignition and pulled past the emergency vehicles onto the rain-drenched road. Sophie pouted in her seat
, determined to ignore him. He drove several miles in silence before speaking. “If you weren’t pregnant, you’d absolutely be wearing my handprint on your ass right now.”

  Her butt actually clenched. “Good thing you knocked me up, then.”

  His dark gaze set a fluttering in her stomach. “Remind me to Google if spanking will hurt a pregnant woman.”

  “You don’t scare me.” Which was a complete freakin’ lie. The guy was kind of scary…but he’d never hurt her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the notes?”

  “They weren’t really threats,” Sophie huffed back.

  “So it wasn’t a big deal.” Sarcasm wove through his every word.

  “Right. Frankly, I didn’t even think to tell you.” Her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the storm wage outside the truck.

  “Really.”

  “Yes, really.” Heat rose to her face. “This was just a quick fling, remember? A couple of weeks, then I was gone. Out of your life.”

  “Once you discovered you were pregnant? You didn’t think to let me know someone was threatening you?” As they reached his home, Jake slammed the truck into park and turned off the ignition with a sharp twist of his wrist.

  Sophie jumped out of the truck and headed for the house. She called over her shoulder, “They weren’t threats.” Yeah, she felt foolish for not reporting them to Quinn. But no way in hell would she admit it.

  Jake followed close behind, his long strides putting her between him and the house. He pulled her to a stop, a feral glimmer in his eyes.

  The fury of the storm was no match for the tempest rising inside her. “I didn’t think to tell you. This was never going to be permanent.”

  “It is now.”

  The rain smashed her hair against her face. “Wrong. We’re exactly like this storm, Jake. Fiery, hot, even crazy. But you know what? You know the problem with sizzling summer storms?”

  “No, what?” Even through the rain, his voice carried the hint of danger. Of wildness that outdid Mother Nature.

  “They blow over. You settle back to enjoy the lightning show, the clap of thunder, and poof, they’re gone.” She yelled above the rising wind. “Blue sky follows along meekly, too quickly.”

  “We can’t have blue sky?” His white shirt plastered against tanned muscle.

  “Us? No way.” The wind almost toppled her over. “You need to let me go, Jake.”

  The wind whipped his hair around his face, giving him a formidable, almost primitive look. His ancestry blazed in full force as he stood tall and firm against the gale. “Let you go? I think that’s your fucking problem, Sophie.”

  “Meaning?” Her boots sunk into the mud as she struggled to keep her footing.

  “Too many people have let you go.” A quick swoop and she was in his arms, struggling against him with all her might as his strong body blocked the driving wind. “Your father, the bastard, left you. And the second your mother married, she dumped you in some school. Didn’t she?”

  Sophie’s battle against the strong arms shielding her from the wind was in vain.

  “And even Preston. Mr. Golden Boy with the Rolex. He left you here for me,” Jake said grimly.

  She fought a shiver at the warm breath against her ear.

  One broad boot kicked the door open. He dropped her to her feet and slammed the door against the storm, and his furious face lowered to within an inch of hers. “I’m not letting you go. What’s more, you don’t want me to.” Male outrage blazed through his eyes.

  They stood staring at each other, dripping rain onto the stone floor and panting in uneven breaths.

  “You are overbearing,” Sophie gritted out, fighting a shiver, fighting exhaustion.

  “You’re an independent pain in the ass.” Jake ran a frustrated hand through his sopping hair. “One who has been through an ordeal and needs a hot shower and comfortable bed.” He held out a hand. “Truce? At least for the night?” His words contrasted with the hard glint in his eye. He was raring for a fight.

  Sophie slowly took his hand, her energy gone. She wasn’t up to a fight. At least not right now. “All right. Just for the night.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The low hum of male voices awoke Sophie the next morning. The night was a blur. She had taken a shower and then fallen asleep in Jake’s big bed before her head even hit the pillow. With a growl, she snuggled farther into the bed and tried to go back to sleep.

  “Get up, Sunshine.” Jake suddenly filled the doorway. “I know you’re awake.”

  “No.” The pillow muffled her voice.

  “Yes.” Jake moved into the room.

  “I need sleep,” she mumbled, her eyes still closed.

  “It seems we’ve had this discussion before.” Jake chuckled. “Quinn is here and has questions for you. Get dressed and come on out.”

  Sophie groaned.

  “Unless you want him to interview you in here.”

  Sophie glared through one slightly opened eyelid. “Fine. Just give me a minute.”

  “I will. Get up, sweetheart. We have a lot to talk about.” He retraced his steps out of the room.

  Sophie sighed and opened both eyes to muted tones of navy and tan and sensual paintings. Her possessions perched against the far wall; Jake must’ve brought them in earlier. She rolled herself to a sitting position before gingerly standing. The room spun and then settled. She headed for the attached bath.

  A warm shower brought some life to her limbs, and she felt marginally better after dressing in comfortable jeans and her favorite Chimp Eden T-shirt. She yanked her curls into a ponytail and ran pink lip gloss over her lips, then headed out to face the men waiting for her. All three of them.

  They sat in the breakfast nook in faded jeans and long-sleeved T-shirts, thick mugs of steaming coffee on the oak table. The sliding glass door framed thick black clouds rumbling across a grumpy sky. Mineral Lake sat dark and still, waiting to get pummeled. Colton twirled leather gloves in his hand, his gaze idly following a tree branch slamming against the house. Quinn stopped whatever he’d been saying.

  “Morning.” Jake rose and grabbed a red mug off the counter to hand her, then gestured her into the seat next to him. Congeniality softened his tone, but his eyes were granite hard. The thick fragrance of Colombian beans greeted her. She sniffed appreciatively as she sat, ignoring the set of Jake’s jaw.

  “It’s decaf,” Quinn muttered with a glare at his own cup.

  “I told you I wasn’t making two pots.” Jake reclaimed his seat.

  “You three look like you’re heading out to work the ranch.” Sophie took a small sip and sighed as warmth filled her.

  “We are.” Jake nodded toward the tumultuous clouds. “We have repairs to make all over the ranch, at least before the next storm hits—which should be late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”

  “How’s Mrs. Shiller’s house?” Sophie asked Quinn.

  Quinn shrugged. “I went by this morning and met with the fire marshal. The damage isn’t as extensive as we thought last night. The living room and stairwell sustained both fire and smoke damage, the kitchen just some smoke. We haven’t been able to track down Mrs. Shiller or Lily Roundtree yet, but they’ll check in with Lily’s niece one of these days. We have repairmen there already.”

  “Any news on the notes?” she asked and Jake stiffened.

  “No. Your prints were the only ones on the paper. And the handwriting isn’t familiar.” Quinn shook his head. “There are a lot of people who don’t want any development in the area. The tribe faced organized opposition when we built the casino even though we’re autonomous on our own land.” He rubbed his chin. “Though this seems like just one individual.”

  “So was the Unabomber,” Jake said soberly. “My money’s on the Concerned Citizens Group.”

  “Maybe,” Quinn allowed. “I’ll head out tomorrow and talk to Billy Johnson.”

  “Rockefeller,” Sophie said with a small grin. Had her bout with the ke
tchup pissed off Billy enough that he’d try to kill her?

  Quinn leaned forward. “Have you remembered anything? Noticed any strange cars around the neighborhood? Or any people walking or jogging down the street?”

  Sophie shook her head. “I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.”

  “That’s what I figured. I have deputies going door to door in Shiller’s neighborhood. Maybe somebody saw something.” Quinn took another drink of the unleaded brew and grimaced.

  Silence sat comfortably around them until Colton pushed back from the table, his chair scraping across the thick wood floor. “Come on, Quinn. Let’s go saddle the horses.” He nodded to Jake. “We’ll meet you at the barn.” He dropped a quick kiss on Sophie’s head and left.

  Quinn unfolded himself to his feet and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder when he passed her. “We’ll find who started the fire. You’ll be safe here today, just stay close, all right?” He gave her a gentle squeeze before following Colton out of the room.

  “Will you be all right here for a few hours?” Jake leaned forward and took one of her hands in his.

  Sophie nodded, his broad hand warming her more than the coffee, his dark eyes smiling at her. “I’ll be fine. I thought maybe I’d try out the studio today. I mean, since your mom and Leila went to so much trouble.”

  A dimple twinkled from his pleased grin. “Do you need help with that?”

  “No. And I’m not promising to stay.”

  “I know.” He stood. “We need to talk. But right now I have to go make sure the steers are safely contained.”

  “It’s a nice space to paint, and I may do the exhibit for Juliet.” She wrapped both hands around the warm cup.

  “No pressure.” One knuckle under her chin tipped her face up for his lips to brush hers.

  “Right,” she murmured with a raised eyebrow as he chuckled and moved across the kitchen.

  “I’m not sure how long we’ll be, but you stick close to the ranch, all right? I’ll have my cell,” he said.

  Sophie nodded as he left the kitchen and turned back toward her coffee. The fire had been meant for her. To harm or just scare, she wasn’t sure. Now she was staying at Jake’s, right where he wanted her. Maybe she should fly back to California for some perspective. But the canvases and oil paints beckoned her from the bedroom. It wouldn’t hurt to at least see how well the studio worked. She could just start one painting, since her day was free. It didn’t mean she was moving to Montana for any length of time.