On Deadly Ground

by Lauren Nichols

  “There’s no reason not to. Most of it’s already paid for, and Tim’s set aside time for the job. He called before the fire marshal showed up this morning.”

  “Oh?”

  She nodded. “He said I could bail out if I wanted to—that he might be able to pick up another job. But what if he couldn’t? I’d be costing him work. I told him I wanted to go ahead as planned.” She smiled a little. “As of Tuesday, his other dozer will be available. He should be able to start again soon.”

  Ben spoke. “Don’t you have to clear that with the police first?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll look into it. The site’s well beyond the area the police taped off.”

  “Then I guess that’s good news.” He checked his watch, then planted his hands on the chair’s arms and levered himself up. “Where will you stay when you move back?” he asked, moving toward the steps.

  “Good question. With all of my cabins reserved, I’ll probably have to buy or rent a travel trailer. There’s no point moving into one of the A-frames when I’ll just have to move again in two weeks.” She smiled tightly. “I guess I’m still figuring that out.” Rising, she walked him to his vehicle, Jake and Maggie joining them belatedly.

  “Well,” Ben said, giving Rachel a long, hard hug. “If you think of anything I can do to help, I’m your guy.” Climbing inside, he continued to speak through his open window. “That is, anything other than joining your security team. I still have a hardware store to run.”

  “Not for long, though, right?” Rachel replied. “A little bird told me you might be moving to Phoenix to be closer to your son.”

  “Not anymore,” he returned, his smile growing. “Randy’s coming back home. The office rat race finally got to him. I’ll be adding ‘and Son’ to the sign outside my shop.”

  “Ben, that’s great.”

  “I think so, too. I wouldn’t have been good in that heat. And I would have missed the change of seasons.” He turned the key, then frowned as if something had suddenly occurred to him. “You know, if you’re ready to go back to town, I can drop you off at the Blackberry and save Jake a trip. I have to pass it on my way home anyway.”

  Jake spoke before she could accept. “Thanks, but I’ll take her back in a little while.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Rachel repeated, sending Jake a curious look. “And thanks for the visit.”

  “Anytime. See you again soon.”

  When the SUV had turned onto the rural route and they were returning to the porch, Rachel glanced up at him. “I understand your need to be … vigilant … but I could’ve gone with him. He’s safe. I’m sure you have other things you could be doing besides running a taxi service.”

  Jake kept his gaze straight ahead. “At the moment, I don’t,” he said, his mind’s eye still seeing Ben’s arms around Rachel. “Besides, I thought you wanted to check on your store and outbuildings again before you went back to town.” That had been the first order of business when they’d gotten here. “Or have you changed your mind?”

  “No, but Ben wouldn’t have had a problem stopping there for a few minutes. He’s a good guy. It was nice of him to offer to save you a trip.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s too old for you.” The second the words were out, Jake wanted to snatch them back and stuff them down a mine shaft. What was going on with him? This was the second time in a week that he’d said something that was totally at odds with who he was.

  She shot him a startled look. “What?”

  “Nothing,” he said, irritated with himself. “Let’s finish our iced tea and take that walk.”

  They didn’t leave right away. She’d insisted on helping him stain his chairs to thank him for lunch, so it was nearly dusk and a light breeze had picked up when they finally drove down to the store.

  Despite his protests, he couldn’t keep her away from her burned-out home. Like that proverbial moth to a flame, she needed to see again for herself what was left. Overnight, even that partial stone chimney had toppled, and when she saw it, tears filled her eyes.

  Jake could only imagine what was going through her mind. The home she’d shared with her late-husband was gone, just as he was. Now she really was on her own. Her tears began to roll.

  “Don’t cry,” he said softly.

  Her voice was barely audible. “I’m not.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” he said, slipping his arms around her. She felt small. Small and sad and beautiful and lost, and suddenly he just couldn’t handle her un-happiness. He tipped her face up to his. “It’s going to be okay,” he murmured over her sobs. “You’ll get through this. You’re strong.”

  “What if I’m not strong enough?”

  “I’ll help you. You know that.” Then he couldn’t concentrate on anything but her wide green eyes and the soft lips that were so close to his. With a breathy sigh, he covered them with his own. He kept the kiss gentle … tasted her softness and her tears, felt himself melt into her when she kissed him back. Then he slowly eased away and she opened her eyes. They still shone with tears, but the sadness, the bleak look he’d seen in them moments ago seemed to have ebbed a little.

  “I should get back,” she murmured after a moment. “I don’t want Jenna to worry.”

  Jake nodded. “Is there anything you want from your store before we go?” It was a stupid thing to say, but he needed to say something. Because even though he hadn’t planned for the kiss to happen, he’d taken advantage of her vulnerability and he didn’t know how she felt about that. “A pair of flip-flops? Antiseptic spray? More bandages?”

  She smiled. “No, I have a great pair of sandals, and there’s enough gauze and antiseptic spray at Jenna’s to stock a small pharmacy.”

  “Well, then,” he said, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Let’s get you back to the Blackberry.”

  They were nearly there when a familiar black Corvette sped past them in the opposite lane and pulled into the motor lodge a half mile from the bed and breakfast. Jake’s mind played back the blurry image of long blond hair and gold hoop earrings … and tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he continued toward the Blackberry and waited for his cell phone to ring.

  SEVEN

  Jake said good-night to Rachel without apologizing for the kiss. He wasn’t sorry and he knew she’d see that in his eyes. Then he put the pedal to the metal and headed for the Tall Spruce Travel Lodge to confront the past that was intruding on his present. It didn’t take him long to get there.

  The building was a berry-and-tan two-story affair with room entrances off a long upstairs walkway, and a courtyard on the ground floor. Landscape lighting lit the freshly applied red mulch and bushy perennials surrounding the towering blue spruce out front, but the flower beds were still empty. The neon sign above the downstairs office said they had a vacancy.

  Swinging out of the truck, Jake made an attempt to bank his agitation and crossed the asphalt to the office. A short, thin kid with a diamond stud earring and a blond faux-hawk smiled from behind the reservations counter. His name tag read Aaron Bridger, and the diamond stud in his ear was just as faux as his long, updated hairstyle.

  “Good evening, sir. How can I help?”

  “Good evening. I’d like the room number of the young woman who just checked in. Heather Quinn.”

  The kid gave the expected reply. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t give out that information. Privacy laws prevent—”

  “Okay,” Jake returned casually, refusing to be turned away. “I’ll just knock on a few doors until I find her.” When the kid blanched, he went on. “Or you could buzz her room and tell her that Jake Campbell is in the lobby and would like to talk to her. If she says no and makes a fuss, you can call the police. But she’s in town to see me.”

  His proposition appeared to make sense to the kid.

  A minute later, Jake climbed the concrete steps to the second floor and took the walkway to room 214. She was waiting for him with the door partially open. She looked beautiful—but then, she always
did—in a silky peach-colored tracksuit, with her wavy, thick ash-blond hair tousled and falling over her shoulders.

  “Hi,” she said with a quiet smile. Opening the door wider, she stepped back to allow him access. “Please come in.”

  “No, thanks,” he said coldly. “This won’t take long. I only have one thing to say.” He didn’t wait for her to ask what it was. “Go home.”

  Then he turned and left. He was down the stairs and walking back to his vehicle when she called to him from the railing upstairs. “It didn’t take you long to move on, did it? Who was the girl in your truck, Jake?”

  He didn’t slow his stride and he didn’t turn around. So she’d seen Rachel. Good. As for it not taking him long to move on … She’d moved on a lot faster than he did. She was still wearing his ring when she accepted the keys to that black Corvette.

  Pulling out of the lot, he clicked on his high beams and headed for home. He was slowly gaining respect for all those tired old adages. What was good for the goose really was good for the gander. And vice versa.

  Rachel drew a stabilizing breath, aware that her blood was racing. She watched Jenna fill a copper teakettle from the spigot, then put it on the back burner and adjust the flame beneath it. Several feet away, the table in the kitchen’s little breakfast nook was set for the morning’s meal. “She said her name was Heather?”

  “Yes. Heather Quinn,” she replied, facing Rachel again. “She said she was in town to see Jake, and she wanted a room.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “I said I couldn’t accommodate her because I was closed until tomorrow, and as of tomorrow, I was full for several days. Then she asked if there were other B & Bs nearby. That’s when I suggested the Tall Spruce. It wasn’t her cup of tea, but she asked me to phone the lodge to see if they had a vacancy. They did, so I asked the night clerk to hold it for her. She left in a shiny black Corvette.”

  Rachel went stone-still. She’d seen that car less than fifteen minutes ago. The headlights had nearly blinded her as it raced up the hill toward the travel lodge. She’d also caught a glimpse of the driver’s long blond hair. Slowly, she walked to Jenna, stopping at the butcher block island in the middle of the kitchen. It was a quiet night, and music from the Party Place—the local teens’ favorite haunt in the woods up the road—floated through the window screen and the recently added wide, exterior mesh.

  “Let me guess. She’s beautiful and she’s blonde.”

  Jenna sent her a knowing look. “She’s Jake’s ex, isn’t she?”

  Rachel nodded.

  “That’s what I thought. She seemed too eager to get in touch with him. And to answer your question, she’s average-looking.” She drew an apologetic breath and went on. “Rachel, she looked at a phone book while she was here. Jake’s number wasn’t listed because he’s so new to the area, so she asked if I knew where he lived.”

  A tiny ball of apprehension formed in Rachel’s stomach, but she nodded her understanding. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have expected you to lie.” And there was no reason for Jenna to lie. She and Jake weren’t a couple.

  So why did it feel like they were?

  Jenna smoothed a lock of blond hair behind her ear. “I didn’t lie. But I wasn’t sure Jake would want her to know where he lived, so I said I couldn’t help her. I think she assumed I didn’t know his address, and I didn’t correct the assumption.” She hesitated. “How do you feel about her being here?”

  Rachel glanced away. She had no idea how she felt about it, but her heart was pounding, so she decided she must have some opinion. Especially because her lips still tingled when she remembered his mouth on hers, and she felt a glow recalling the comforting strength of his arms. “I think you were wise not to give out personal information.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “I know,” she murmured. She fished two orange spice tea bags from a canister while Jenna pulled cups and saucers from a white oak cabinet. “You won’t believe this, but today of all days, he finally opened up about their breakup.” She unwrapped the tea bags, then tucked them into the cups. “Without going into a lot of detail, she slept with someone while they were engaged. Based on that, I don’t like her being here, and I don’t like her personally. But she is here, and I suspect that Jake has already gone to see her.”

  Jenna took a bone china sugar bowl from the sideboard and set it beside their cups. “Why do you think that?”

  “Because we passed her on the way here, and if I noticed a black Corvette with a lot of long blond hair flying out the open window, so did he.”

  Jenna’s expression softened. “Are you going to talk to him about it?”

  “Not unless he brings it up.”

  “But?”

  “But he’s been hurt enough. He doesn’t need a second helping.”

  Jenna turned off the teakettle before it could whistle, then poured boiling water over their tea bags. She met Rachel’s eyes. “He’s not the only one who’s been hurt, so be careful. You’ve handled some serious losses with more courage and acceptance than I ever could have. I don’t want to see you take on any more.”

  Shrugging, Rachel mustered a smile. “I’ll be okay.” She had to be. She didn’t have any choice.

  She awoke Monday morning like a whirlwind on steroids, eager to arrange the security at the campground and prepare for her opening. Last night as she lay in bed paging through the Bible from the nightstand in her room, she’d felt the emotional ball in her stomach ease with every joyful passage she read in the psalms. And she’d prayed hard that God would give her the strength and peace to put her life in His hands. She prayed for contentment and an accepting soul. She knew that could only happen if she gave everything that hurt or angered or frightened her to God. Today, she was making some headway.

  By nine-thirty, she’d spoken to Joe Reston, who’d accepted the job, and given her the names of two men who’d also be happy for any work she could send their way. That’s what she told Jake when he phoned minutes afterward.

  “Where are you interviewing them? At the Blackberry?”

  “No, at my store.”

  “Rachel—”

  “It’s okay,” she assured him, part of her happy to hear the concern in his voice, part of her slightly bothered to have her independence stifled. “I won’t be alone. I’m meeting the guys there at eleven, and the Pepsi distributor’s sending someone to fill the pop machines around noon.”

  He mumbled something she couldn’t make out, then spoke again. “I’m in the field now, but I should be finished around four. Will you be at the store?”

  “Yes,” she replied with a patient smile. “So will Joe Reston. He’ll start at three.”

  “And between noon and three?”

  She sighed. “Between noon and three, God will watch out for me. Now I really have to go, Jake. I have a lot to do.”

  When she left the B & B at ten to drive to her camp store, she felt like things were falling into place. Tim Decker would start clearing the land tomorrow morning, Jake seemed just as caring as he’d been last night despite Heather’s arrival and she’d made a sensible decision about her living arrangements. She was vacuuming the indoor-outdoor carpeting in the store’s game room at eleven o’clock when Joe and the Atkins brothers, Roy and Wes, came inside. The Atkinses were average-size men in jeans, boots and T-shirts, and both of them sported short dark hair and trimmed beards. Lady Killer Joe was another story. His hair was a rust-red mullet, and his tight white muscle shirt showed his thick neck, broad chest and bulging biceps to advantage. Her advantage. Few intruders would consider mixing it up with a man who stood six-feet-four in his boots, even if he did wear a gold necklace and too much cologne.

  It took less than ten minutes to orient them. The only thing they were expected to do was patrol the loops using the golf cart from the utility shed, and make sure all was well. For now, they’d use the number three cabin as their base of operations. Joe would begin at three. Other than that, the me
n could schedule their shifts. With Tim Decker coming back tomorrow—and leaving his equipment—she didn’t want a repeat of last week’s vandalism.

  As for Joe … Deep down, Rachel still worried a little that hiring him was like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. But she needed to secure the campground, he was available and Jake doubted that Joe was her prowler.

  When she’d handed Joe the cabin key, and the guys had agreed that what she’d pay them was fair, she smiled and shook their hands. “Now,” she said, “if you don’t have to run off right away, I could really use your help moving a few things around in my game room.”

  * * *

  Grim faced, Jake glanced around and shook his head. The pool table and Space Trek arcade game had been moved aside to accommodate some sort of bed. Nothing had changed at the opposite side of the room where the TV was ringed by chairs and a small sofa. An Xbox and selection of video games, books, board games and activities for younger campers filled the bookshelf beside the folded card table.

  He looked her squarely in the eyes. She was completely out of her mind. “This is your plan?”

  She lifted her chin defensively. “Yes, and I can see by the look on your face that you don’t think it’s a very good one.”

  “Rachel, you can’t live here.”

  “I can, and I will until I make other arrangements. I’d rather not buy a travel trailer right now with the insurance claim pending.”

  “But you won’t have any privacy, there’s no bathroom to speak of—”

  “I have a restroom,” she said, crisply gesturing to it as she strode back into the store and galley area. “This is a solid structure. I have a roof over my head, a door I can shut, and I’m usually here until closing at ten o’clock anyway.”

  She moved behind the lunch counter and grabbed a dish cloth to wipe the already-clean blue Formica countertop. Jake decided she did it to put space between them. He lowered himself to one of the blue vinyl stools across from her.

  “There’s no room in there.”