Hiding Out At The Circle C

by Jill Shalvis

  Cam walked to the water's edge. "Jason came with me. He'd had some trouble with college, then on a job. He was as desperately unhappy as I was. But within a week of being here, that changed. He's got a knack for working the place. It's really amazing. And then he met Nellie. Things have been good for him."

  She came up beside him, the wind teasing color into her pale cheeks. "And Zach?"

  "Zach came later. He'd been working as a cop. Saw a lot of junk, and it burned him out. Then he went to work on another ranch, so it was only natural he'd come here. He and Jason make this place work, not me."

  "But you love it, too."

  He watched a squirrel dash across a branch, chattering busily. "I do." He looked at her and decided to take the plunge. "You want to start at the beginning or at what happened in the library?"

  Turning her face away, she sank to the ground as if her legs wouldn't support her. Her nervous fingers played in the dirt. She was silent for so long he didn't think she'd answer, but she surprised him. "I used to work with her. The geologist who died."

  "Did you steal the uranium?"

  Abruptly, she stood and stalked toward the horses.

  Catching up with her, he whirled her around, spurred by that temper he so rarely felt, and by his fear that Haley could still prove to be no different from Lorraine. A horrifying thought, since he figured he was already halfway in love with her. "Answer me."

  "I didn't steal anything! And if you think I could, then I was wrong about you." She shook herself free. "I'm not going to tell you anything. I don't have to."

  Like a knife in his heart, he thought. And when the hell had he forgotten his promise to walk away? "No," he agreed, dropping his hands from her. "You're right. You certainly don't have to. I guess I'd just hoped you'd want to. Forget it. You know what? This was dumb. Let's go back."

  He expected her to stomp off, or to at least stare at him in stoic silence as usual. The last thing he expected was for her to touch his arm and meet his angry gaze steadily.

  "No, wait. I'm sorry, Cam. I'm so on edge." She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, they were damp. "There were five of us in South America. We were a team, working specifically on earth movement. Our office was blown up, one week after we made a particularly critical discovery. The reports are saying that the discovery was uranium, but I never heard anything about that when I was there. If they found it, they kept it a secret. But we did discover something else that day, something just as unbelievable."

  "Okay." He crossed his arms and stared at her, hardening his heart to the appeal in her blue eyes. "More."

  "Alda was the last to die. Every one of them is now dead except me." She drew a ragged breath. "I'm next."

  She was next. God. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would feel like to lose her. Yet she looked like she expected him to push her away. "I'm sorry."

  She was sorry. He yanked her close, closing his eyes when he felt her nuzzle her face into his neck. He wrapped her in his arms and wondered how he could feel so much. "Haley—"

  "Please. Just this. I'm about to explode from the tension."

  He could feel it in her trembling form. "Okay, darlin', okay."

  She clutched him. "I don't want to fight. Not with you."

  He wrapped his arms tightly around her, feeling the vise that had gripped his chest loosen slightly. "We're not fighting, it's all right."

  She snuggled against him for a bit. "It's a good thing, Cam," she said with ironic wit, "that you walked away from me."

  He let out a little laugh. "Yeah. I sure showed you, didn't I?"

  She was quiet for another moment. "I'm too screwed up for anything more than this. You know that."

  "No."

  "Friends, Cam. That's all this is." She sounded panicked. "You promised."

  God, had he really ever agreed to anything so asinine?

  "Hold me," she whispered, her eyes closed, her arms around his neck.

  He did, even knowing his heart was in big trouble.

  * * *

  Cam found Zach in the study. He slapped the article he'd had faxed down on his brother's desk. "Got it."

  Zach pushed aside the large lawbook he'd been studying. "And?"

  "The uranium was indeed stolen. No suspects other than Haley."

  "And we're so absolutely certain it isn't her."

  "Absolutely," Cam said in a steady voice, ready to do battle.

  "And her boss?"

  "Lloyd Branson. Reported dead in the bombing, but according to the USGS, with which I just got off the phone, there's no body."

  Zach frowned and picked up the faxed sheets. "They didn't just tell you that."

  Cam grinned devilishly and affected a British accent. "Of course not. As Lloyd's youngest nephew, I deserved to know. I have memorial arrangements to make, you know."

  Zach shook his head in amazement. "Does Haley know?"

  "That I called? No." Cam sat on the edge of the large oak desk he'd made last year. "She's terrified. For us. It's what has kept her silent. She'd flip if she knew we'd started investigating on our own."

  "If Haley is found here, they'll extradite her to South America and try her for murder."

  "That's why she won't be found," Cam said with finality. He tapped the papers and tried to ignore the ball of tension growing inside him. "Haley says the entire team is dead—except her."

  "You really think she's safe here?"

  "Yes." He had to believe it. The brothers looked at each other, mirror images of stain and concern on their faces.

  "What about Nellie?" Zach murmured. "If danger comes looking for Haley…"

  "We'll protect what's ours. Are you going to fight me on this?"

  "Could I?"

  Tense, they stared at each other. "No," Cam admitted.

  Zach stood, laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll help her. But if she's innocent—"

  "She is."

  "Then maybe we should call the police, let them prove it. It might be the best way to keep her safe." He lifted a hand when Cam's expression darkened. "Think about it."

  He was so close to gaining her full trust, so damned close.

  "They'll take her, you know they will. And what if they can't prove her innocence? Or they have to send her back to South America?"

  "You can't make her accept your help," Zach said quietly. "Or you."

  Welled-up fear for Haley had him shrugging off his brother's hand and stalking to the window. The day had faded, leaving nothing but a black sky. It matched the terror in his heart. "Do you think I don't know that?" The decision was painful, but he saw no choice. "Her safety comes first. When we can no longer provide that for her, we call the police."

  "How long?"

  "A couple of days. Just give me a couple of days. If we haven't come any closer to flushing out the danger…" God. "We'll call and let the authorities help her." Just the thought chilled his blood. "I can't let anything happen to her, Zach."

  "You can't control this." Zach paused. "Just like before, with Lorraine. What happened to her and the baby … you couldn't have stopped it. It wasn't your fault."

  "You're wrong." Cam paced the room, unbearably restless, frustratingly helpless. "I could have called Lorraine sooner that night. If I had, I could have gotten to the hospital faster. I might have seen my son alive."

  "But he still would have died." Zach watched him pace, his expression holding a deep sorrow Cam wasn't sure he could bear. "It's the truth, Cam. You couldn't have stopped what happened."

  "I can this time. I can protect her." Or he'd die trying.

  * * *

  Haley sat on the split-rail fence, next to where Nellie leaned on it, and bit back her laughter. Hard to believe she could feel like laughing, but that was exactly what she wanted to do.

  Nellie, unable to hold anything back, held her stomach and roared.

  In the pen, the three Reeves brothers—rough-and-tough cowboys—struggled to corral the largest pig for his shots. The pig wan
ted nothing to do with it.

  The guys, covered in mud and dirt, took a break and huddled, discussing strategy. The pig stood his ground, staring at them defiantly. The brothers straightened, looked at each other, then nodded in unison. Zach went left, Jason veered right, and Cam handled the center as they stalked the pig.

  "Does it always take the three of them?" Haley asked, giggling helplessly as both Zach and Jason dived for the pig, and missed. They collided in the mud. Cam still stood, shaking his head in obvious disgust.

  Nellie swiped at the tears of mirth that rolled down her face. "Oh, this is good. Better than 'Oprah.'" She sniffed and sighed. "Usually Jason handles the animals' inoculations. But this pig—Cam calls him King—is pretty stubborn."

  King continued to reign. Cam approached slowly. "Now, King, buddy … this isn't going to hurt but just a bit." He smiled the charming smile that never failed to turn Haley's heart on end.

  King wasn't moved in the least.

  "Come on, King," he cajoled. "You've got to have some gratitude, here. You could be bacon."

  Nellie howled with laughter, clutching her stomach. "Empty threats, Cam, and he knows it!" she called.

  Jason picked himself out of the mud and spared a frown for his wife, even as concentration banded his face. "Nel, honey, you keep laughing like that and you'll drop that baby right there in the dirt. Go inside."

  "You just catch that pig, cowboy. I'll worry about this baby. Besides," she yelled, a mischievous smile on her face, "watching you is so much fun!"

  Zach muttered something obscene under his breath as he brushed himself off and turned toward the pig again. Slowly, carefully, he made his approach. "Now, Cam."

  Cam dived for the pig, landing directly on top of him. With King thrashing beneath him, he pushed down in the dirt and lifted his head. "For God's sake, Jas, hurry up, would ya?"

  As both Jason and Zach hurried to help, King squirmed and squealed, splattering each of them with mud. When they finally managed to stick the pig with the needle, Nellie cheered.

  "My heroes!" She laughed. "My dirty, stinky heroes."

  All three brothers scowled at her. Despite the weak sun and cool air, Jason whipped off his shirt. Unsnapping his jeans as he went, he walked toward the house. Zach followed suit Cam pushed up from the mud, dirt and sweat streaked over him. He spared a half-hearted disgusted look for the women who'd been no help at all, who were in fact still laughing hysterically, and turned away. With his back to them, he, too, pulled off his filthy shirt and started after his brothers.

  "Goodness," Nellie whispered beneath her breath, her eyes riveted to the men walking away from them. Muscles rippled and glistened in the sun. Three sets of wide shoulders tapered to lean waists that disappeared into jeans. "That's certainly a sight."

  Haley, whose mouth had gone dry, had to agree.

  And that was the image she kept with her for the rest of the day and long into the night.

  When she lay in bed, writing in her journal, she remembered Cam telling her he wasn't hero material. Well, as she saw it, he'd been wrong, for he was indeed the stuff heroes were made of.

  * * *

  Chapter 8

  « ^ »

  Haley attacked her chores with a vengeance that did nothing to ease her tension or her troubles. Dusting, mopping, vacuuming—all of it failed to soothe her the way it had for the past couple of weeks.

  Both Cam and Zach had tried to get her to stop working so hard, but it was all she had. She stood in the downstairs hallway, wrapping the cord to the vacuum when she heard a scuffle. Her head whipped up.

  It was Nellie.

  "You startled me," Haley said with a nervous smile. "You're amazingly quiet for such a pregnant thing."

  Nellie didn't smile back. Her eyes, full of worry, tipped Haley off, and a dread spread through her. "What is it? You in pain? Having a contraction? You've got to sit more, dammit."

  "I'm fine, Haley."

  Regardless, she took Nellie's arm, fretting over the unusual paleness of her face. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I'll get you something to drink. You can keep me company while I put the breakfast dishes away."

  Nellie went with her, and sat at the table. "I just came from the barn. The guys are out there." She put her feet up on another chair with a sigh. "They didn't see me, of course, or I never would have heard them talking about you."

  Haley's hands fumbled on the pitcher of tea, nearly dropping it. They were talking about her.

  With her back to Nellie, Haley stared out the window over the sink. The day, as per Colorado usual, was glorious. Long silver clouds streaked across the brilliant blue sky. Rain clouds, she could almost hear Cam tell her. A nostalgic pain hit her with the force of a gloved list.

  She was a wanted woman, hunted by the law.

  Would Cam ever again want to dance with her in the middle of a thunderstorm, with only the rain and lightning for their music? Would he ever again kiss her with the aching tenderness he had in his truck? Or with the barely restrained furious passion he had the morning she'd burst into his house after hearing the plane?

  She doubted it. Just as she doubted Nellie could possibly understand the predicament she now found herself in.

  "I thought we were friends, Haley."

  Friends, she thought, wincing at the hurt tone of Nellie's voice. Oh, how she'd wanted that. More than anything, she'd wanted that. She forced herself to turn and face Nellie. "We are."

  "You're in trouble. A friend would have come to another friend for help."

  "You already helped me. Gave me a job. A home."

  "You know what I mean," Nellie said in the harshest voice Haley had ever heard from her. "Dammit, you know what I mean."

  Haley found that by concentrating on carrying the tray to the table, she could almost steady her hands. Almost believe things were normal. "I couldn't involve you. I don't want to see you hurt."

  Nellie took her hand and pulled Haley into the chair next to her. "Do you really think Jason, Zach or Cam is going to let me get hurt? It's you I'm worried about. I heard them say what serious trouble you're in. They're trying to figure out a way to help you. Cam was talking about going to South America."

  "He's been doing his homework," Haley said grimly. She jumped up, unable to contain herself. Dammit, dammit. The welling panic shook her. How could she stop him?

  Nellie watched Haley pace. "Don't be mad at me for listening."

  Haley halted abruptly, letting her shoulders droop. "I'm not mad. How could I be?" She felt Nellie come up beside her. "You're the first friend I've ever had, Nellie. Did you know that?"

  "You're a geologist. You must know lots of people."

  Haley sighed heavily. "No. Not really."

  Nellie touched her shoulder, her eyes bright with emotion. "You never talk about yourself. I know— I mean, I could tell you're not used to people. Not really."

  "I'm not used to people like you. Nice, loving, caring people. I didn't grow up like this." Haley turned away from the compassion, the understanding, feeling as if she could simply shatter from the pressure. "I tried to explain that to Cam, but he didn't want to understand."

  "It's not easy for him. You must know that. He feels he has to protect you."

  "But that's ridiculous. I don't want him to protect me."

  Nellie's face softened. "After what happened to Lorraine, can you blame him for his desperation to keep you safe?"

  Haley moved away, went back to the sink, leaning against it because suddenly her feet wouldn't support her. "I'm not his wife."

  "He has feelings for you."

  "He told you that?"

  Nellie laughed. "Of course not. He has pride. Too much of it. But then again, all the Reeves men do. No, he didn't say a word. But I can see it in his face when he watches you. Oh, yes," she said at Haley's glance of surprise. "He watches you. Just as you watch him when you think no one's looking."

  "Oh, great. I must be a great source of entertainment for all of you."

 
"No. We think what's happening between the two of you is the greatest thing to happen to Cam in a long time. We care about you, Haley. Maybe if you and Cam—you know—got together, you'd stay."

  A nice dream, Haley thought, closing her eyes. "This is very difficult for me, Nellie."

  "Are you saying you don't have feelings for him?" Nellie crossed her arms and gave her a knowing look. "Go ahead, Haley. Try to tell me. But I'm warning you, you're not a very good liar. I'm on to you."

  "Isn't there something—anything—else we can talk about?"

  "Absolutely." Nellie's eyes were serious, probing. "Let's talk about us helping you."

  "No." If she did, they'd die. "I won't risk getting you hurt."

  Nellie looked like she might protest, but didn't. She came close and gave Haley a quick, fierce, very protective hug. "Then promise you'll stay here."

  "I can't."

  "Honey, for me. Promise."

  "Nellie," Cam said mildly. He was leaning against the doorjamb. "Leave it alone. You can't force her."

  Haley's heart all but stopped at the sight of him. He moved into the kitchen, his long, lean limbs working with their usual grace and fluidity. They hadn't had much time alone in the past few days. Now she knew why. He'd been busy butting into her life. His face was void of expression, but he couldn't mask those eyes. Filled with unleashed heat, they landed directly on her with the impact of an explosion. The physical pain of it made her look away.

  "But, Cam," Nellie protested. "If she leaves, she could get hurt."

  "You heard us, then," he said flatly. "Jason will be upset, Nel. He won't want you worrying about this."

  "Yeah, well, he should have told me himself." Nellie put a hand on her hip and gave him a long look. "And for the record, I don't need your protection, she does! Do something, Cam, to make her believe that. Do it right now before she gets hurt."

  Without waiting for him to make a move, Nellie turned to Haley. "Please, Haley. Listen to me. Zach used to be a cop. He's got lots of connections. He can help."

  Sure. He could help extradite her. Then she'd go to trial for crimes the South American authorities were already certain she'd committed. She'd be executed before the next sunrise.