Winona stopped speaking and stared into space.
“Winona?” Kurt said, feeling his heartbeat quicken. “Are you seeing something? Are you having a vision?”
Winona’s grip on Kurt’s hand tightened, but she didn’t speak. Kurt watched her intently, hardly breathing. Thirty seconds became sixty, then ticked slowly by to a minute and a half. Then Winona blinked and shook her head slightly. She released Kurt’s hand and sank back in her chair.
“Winona?” Kurt said anxiously.
“Oh, my,” she said, then drew a steadying breath.
“What did you see?”
“It was Dana,” Winona said, meeting Kurt’s troubled gaze with a matching one of her own. “The two faces of Dana.”
“Dana and Natalie, her twin sister.”
“And danger…dark, dark, danger.”
A chill swept through Kurt.
“Danger?” he said. “For who? Dana or Natalie?”
“I don’t know. They have the same face. It could be both of them, or just one. I have no way of telling.”
Kurt lunged to his feet and began to pace, his fingers curling around the china kittens.
“Danger,” he repeated. “I’d wonder if the trouble that Natalie has caused meant that Dana was in danger, then I’d push the thought away, time and again. But, damn it, is it Dana or Natalie who is threatened in some way?”
“You’d best find out, Kurt. In the meantime, I trust you’re going to watch over Dana?”
“Guaranteed. I’ve got to get into town.”
Winona stood. “I’ll get your honey. And, Kurt? Listen to the whispers from your heart, dear.”
“What?”
“Your heart will tell you if you’re truly in love with Dana. You must remember to listen.”
“I will, Winona,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “Thank you for everything.”
As Winona went to fetch the honey, Kurt opened his hand and stared at the china kittens.
Nothing, he thought fiercely, was going to happen to his Dana. Nothing.
“You’re pushing the letter of the law, Kurt,” Judd Hensley said, smacking the top of his desk with one hand. “You’ve literally put Dana Bailey under house arrest, and you can’t do that. She’s not the perp, she’s an eyewitness, for cripe sake.”
“I know, I know,” Kurt said, raising both hands in a gesture of peacemaking.
Kurt stood opposite Judd’s desk, having been summoned to the sheriff’s office the moment he arrived in the building.
“But we’re just a few days away from going to trial, Judd. Everyone in Whitehorn, including me, wants that creep who shot Clem sentenced to a long prison term. We need Dana to testify.”
“Which she agreed to do. Why is she suddenly determined to leave town?”
“She has family business to attend to that she feels has been put on the back burner for far too long, considering she has been in Whitehorn nearly a month now.”
Judd frowned. “We’re walking a very fine legal line here. She was told to stay put in Whitehorn, and she has. But to restrict her movements, take away her freedom, treat her like a prisoner under guard, is crossing way over that line.”
Kurt folded his arms on his chest and matched Judd’s frown.
“What would you suggest I do?” Kurt said. “If we don’t watch Dana twenty-four hours a day, she’s going to split. I don’t know exactly what the family problem is. Her twin sister has done something to cause Dana a lot of trouble.” And Dana or Natalie was in danger. Or maybe both of them were. “She’s trying to find her sister.”
“Okay,” Judd said, nodding. “We have resources available for that. Dana stays in Whitehorn, and you use your official police connections to see if you can locate her sister.”
“Dana doesn’t want me to do that,” Kurt said. “I’ve offered, believe me. She’s adamant about me not being swept up in her personal problems, even though we’re… What I mean is… Ah, hell…” He rolled his eyes heavenward.
“Oh, great, just great,” Judd said, narrowing his eyes. “This is really dandy. You’re involved with Dana Bailey. You’re emotionally—and since you’re both consenting adults, you’re probably physically, as well—involved with that woman.”
“So sue me,” Kurt said, dragging one hand through his hair.
“Damn it, Kurt!”
“Look, I didn’t set out to have this happen. Lord knows I’ve paid a heavy enough price for something like this in the past. But it did happen. Okay? I can’t change that, Judd. I care a lot for Dana, I really do.
“Dana is in some kind of trouble, deep trouble, and I want to move heaven and earth to fix it. I’ve respected her wishes up to now to keep my nose out of it, but…”
Kurt shook his head and slouched into one of the chairs opposite Judd’s desk. Judd hooked one hand on the back of his neck and stared into space, obviously deep in thought.
Seconds ticked into minutes.
“All right,” Judd said finally. “Try this. I’ve got to call off that uniform you’ve got sitting outside Dana’s motel room. We’re over the legal line on that.”
“Mmm,” Kurt said, a scowl on his face.
“I’m unofficially assigning you to keep tabs on Dana Bailey. You’ll be with her as a man, not an officer of the law. I’m not having this case end up in a mistrial that was caused by a technicality and lose that scum who shot Clem. Understood?”
“I hear you,” Kurt said glumly. “However, Dana is mad as hell at me at the moment, for keeping her under guard. I’m the last man on earth she’ll want hanging around.”
“That’s your problem, Noble. Apologize. Buy her flowers. Grovel, if you have to. She’s still under direct orders from me to be available for that trial. The tricky part is to not curtail her freedom as a citizen in the meantime.”
“Easy for you to say. She definitely wants to hit the road.”
“See that she doesn’t.” Judd paused. “Kurt, are you in love with Dana?”
“Damned if I know,” Kurt said, getting to his feet. “Travis is convinced that I am. Winona says I’m supposed to listen to the whispers from my heart to get the answer to that question. Me? I’d like to sleep for five years and forget the whole mess.”
Judd chuckled. “Women. It doesn’t matter how big and strong we men are, those little ladies can cut us off at the knees and make scrambled eggs out of our brains.”
“You’ve got that straight.”
“But you know something, Kurt?” Judd said seriously. “Men like you and me need the love of a good woman. We need their gentleness and their wisdom. If you’re in love with Dana, don’t fight it. It could be the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“I don’t know, Judd. There are just too many questions without answers right now.”
“Then start finding the answers.”
Dana sat on the bed, her arms wrapped around drawn-up knees as she replayed in her mind the telephone conversation she’d had earlier with Pete Parker.
“Just calm down, Dana,” Pete had said. “You’re overreacting. The chance of Natalie or the Chicago cops getting wind of a short article with your name mentioned in a Billings, Montana, newspaper is slim to none. Take my word for it, the cops aren’t going to come into Whitehorn with guns blazing to arrest you.”
“Could you lose the reference to guns blazing? My nerves are stretched to the limit as it is.”
Pete had chuckled. “Sorry.” He paused. “Are you together enough now to hear some good news? Natalie used one of your charge cards in a hotel in Detroit.”
“Really? How do you know that?”
“Hey, if I told you how I find out things, you wouldn’t need to keep me on the payroll. You’d do your own detective work. Anyway, I’m flying to Detroit tonight to see what I can dig up.”
“Do the Chicago police know about the charge slip?” Dana had said.
“Yep, which is another reason you don’t have to panic about a blurb in a Montana newspaper at the moment. The
y’ve got a hot lead in another direction as to your whereabouts.”
“They’re still after me, instead of Natalie.”
“All that will come out in the wash when I find your sister. You sit tight. I’ll keep in touch. See ya.”
“Goodbye, Pete.”
Dana had sighed.
Hours had passed since that conversation with Pete Parker. She’d had ample time to mentally relive her hysterical performance upon first seeing the story in the newspaper.
It was no wonder Kurt had placed her under guard. She’d given the impression that she was about to go tearing off down the interstate on foot, if need be.
“Oh, dear,” Dana said aloud. “I think I need to apologize to Kurt.”
She continually hurt Kurt, she knew, by refusing to tell him what he wanted to know regarding the trouble she was in. She hated seeing that flicker of pain in his blue eyes when she stood her silent ground on the subject. No decent woman wished to hurt the man she might very well be falling in love with.
Dana sighed again.
She always hedged when mentally squaring off against her growing feelings, her deepening emotions, for Kurt. She had no desire whatsoever to address the issue of exactly how she felt, or what was happening between them.
What if she discovered that she truly loved Kurt Noble? It would only serve to make her leaving Whitehorn more heartbreaking. It was going to be bad enough as it was, with her admitting that she cared very, very much for Kurt.
Kurt. Dear heaven, what would he think of her if he knew she was a fugitive from the law? That she was presumed to be guilty of a high-tech crime? Would he listen to her, allow her to explain, believe that she was an innocent victim of Natalie’s duplicity?
She didn’t know what Kurt would do, or think, if he knew the truth, and she wasn’t planning on finding out.
A knock sounded at the door. Dana pulled herself from her troubled thoughts and slid off the bed.
It was probably her police-officer warden, she thought, inquiring about suggestions for dinner. They’d had a pizza delivered for lunch, and shared it while engaging in a pleasant, albeit bland, conversation. Then the officer had crawled back into his patrol car and stared at her door for the remainder of the afternoon.
Dana opened the door, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Kurt.” She looked past him and saw that the patrol car was gone. “Come in.”
Kurt entered the room without speaking. Dana closed the door and turned to face him.
“I…” she said.
“Dana…”
They spoke at the same time, then stopped, looking directly into each other’s eyes.
“Go ahead,” Kurt said. “My mother taught me that ladies are always first.”
“Well, I’m not sure I qualify, then,” Dana said. “My reaction to the newspaper story wasn’t ladylike, it was childish, with a hefty dose of ridiculous hysterics thrown in. I want to apologize for my behavior, Kurt. I don’t blame you for making certain that I wouldn’t disappear in a cloud of dust. I’m very sorry for the way I acted.”
“Oh.” Kurt frowned slightly. “Well, I’m apologizing for treating you like a criminal under guard. I was way out of line, had no right to do that. I’m sorry, Dana. I even brought you a peace offering.” He took the china kittens from his pocket. “Here. I found this out at Winona’s place this morning, and I thought you might like it.”
Dana cradled the figurine in both hands and held it up to eye level.
“It’s wonderful,” she said, smiling. “The white kitten looks just like Mouse. Thank you, Kurt. I’ll treasure this, I really will.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Kurt closed the distance between them and framed Dana’s face in his hands.
“This has been a long day,” he said. “I’ve had a knot the size of a bowling ball in my gut over the way we parted this morning. If we hadn’t patched things up, I’d probably have an ulcer by tomorrow. I can’t handle being at odds with you the way we were today, Dana.”
“I can’t, either,” she said softly.
“Well, we’ve apologized to each other, so there’s only one thing left to do to erase the whole thing.”
“Which is?” Dana asked.
“We kiss and make up.”
“I’ll vote for that.”
And so Kurt kissed her.
The kiss was sweet and gentle, meant to soothe hurt feelings and ragged nerves, and it did, pushing the grim memories of their upset into oblivion.
Then the kiss intensified, rushing on, taking them into a place of heated desire and soaring passion. Their tongues met in the welcoming darkness of Dana’s mouth, dueling, stroking, fanning the flames of want and need. Their hearts thundered, and their labored breathing echoed loudly in the small, quiet room.
Kurt finally lifted his head.
“Whoa,” he said, his voice gritty. He drew a rough breath.
“Whoa?” Dana said dreamily.
“Yes, for now we’re set on whoa. Hold the thought, though. We have somewhere very important to go.”
“We do? Where?”
“My dear Ms. Bailey,” he said, smiling, “it’s meat loaf night at the Hip Hop Café.”
The next three days were bliss.
Dana smiled so much she was amazed that her cheeks didn’t ache.
Kimberly was delighted to take over the care of Mickey, Minnie and Mouse, and Dana and Kurt drove to Billings. They spent an entire day tromping from store to store, picking out new furniture for Kurt’s house. They chose carpeting, as well, and arrangements were made for delivery to Whitehorn.
They ate dinner at a romantic restaurant, where a roving violinist serenaded them, then spent the night in a plush hotel, where they consumed a room-service breakfast while propped against the pillows on the enormous bed.
Upon their return to Whitehorn, they made several trips to Winona’s Stop ‘N’ Swap to deposit Kurt’s old furniture. Their purchases arrived, the carpeting was installed, and then they squabbled, laughing all the while, about the placement of the new furniture.
While the three days were sweet bliss, carefree and fun, the nights were pure ecstasy. They made exquisitely beautiful love over and over. Sated, contented, they slept, only to awaken and reach eagerly for each other.
What Dana did not do was think.
She didn’t ask Kurt why he was suddenly free, not having to report into work.
She didn’t dwell on Natalie or the nightmare her twin had created.
She didn’t count down the dwindling number of days she had left to be with Kurt.
She simply savored each glorious moment shared, and tucked a multitude of wondrous memories away in the treasure chest in her heart.
Two days before the trial date, Judd contacted Kurt and asked him to come into the office. Kurt left Dana at the motel, where she planned to gather her clothes and head for the Laundromat with one of her trusty books in tow.
Kurt went to the police station and entered Judd’s office.
“Sit,” the sheriff said.
Kurt did as instructed and looked at Judd questioningly.
“The public defender for the perp who shot Clem,” Judd said, “has filed a motion for a change of venue, claiming his client can’t get a fair trial in Whitehorn. His petition also states that a judge in Billings should rule on the motion, because Judge Kate Randall Walker has known Clem for years.”
“Ah, hell,” Kurt said. “What a jerk.”
“Kate has to comply,” Judd said. “She’s faxing the information to Billings and will ask for a quick ruling. However, the starting of the trial will definitely be delayed.”
“Let me know what Dana says when you tell her,” Kurt said dryly.
“Nice try, but you get to break the news to her.”
“She’s going to go ballistic, Judd.” Kurt got to his feet. “Anything else?”
“No. It’s been quiet around here.”
“Have there been any more incidents at th
e Kincaid ranch?”
“Nope,” Judd said, “but no one is relaxing out there. There hasn’t been any pattern to the timing of those weird happenings, so they’re all on edge. Rand said he was really grateful for the way J. D. Cade stays loose and cool, which helps the other hands hang in there.”
“I like J. D. Cade,” Kurt said, nodding. “He’s steady, just steps in and does what needs to be done without showboating about it. Rand is lucky to have him on the payroll during this mess at the ranch.”
“Yes, he is,” Judd said. “So how are you and Dana getting on?”
“Fine.”
“Have you found any answers to all those questions you had?”
“No.”
“Am I correct in deducing that you don’t wish to discuss this subject?”
“Yes.”
“See ya, Kurt.”
“See ya, Judd.”
When Kurt left the building, he walked slowly along the sidewalk, deep in thought.
He was about to burst the really nice bubble he and Dana had been existing in during the past several days and sensational nights, he thought, and he was none too happy about it.
He slouched onto a wooden bench beneath a mulberry tree, stretched out his legs and scowled into space.
What would Dana do and say when he told her that the starting of the trial has been delayed? he wondered. She was going to be upset big-time, no doubt about it.
“You’re definitely in trouble, Noble.” Kurt planted his hands on his thighs and pushed himself to his feet. “It’s called kill the messenger.”
Twelve
Dana slipped a freshly laundered lightweight sweater onto a hanger, then walked toward the minuscule closet in the motel room.
“I see,” she said, her back to Kurt. “And you actually have no idea how long this delay in the trial starting will be?”
Kurt watched Dana intently from where he sat at the small table.
“No,” he said, “but Kate will request an immediate decision on the motion for a change of venue. Hopefully the judge in Billings will deny the petition right away, and we’ll be back in action.”
Wife Most Wanted Page 14
