Stalked in the Night

by Carla Cassidy

  Griff shrugged. “I don’t know, a couple of months ago. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is somebody stabbed a cow’s heart into my porch railing using one of Kincaid’s knives,” Eva said.

  Griff’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “I have nothing to do with that,” he exclaimed. “A cow’s heart? That’s totally disgusting.”

  “Then where is your knife?” Eva asked. “It’s very coincidental that you don’t have the knife you bought and Wayne now has one in evidence. Too bad you don’t remember where you lost it.”

  “I did lose it.” Griff looked frantically at Jake and then at Wayne. His cheeks grew red. “Okay, some of us sometimes have had parties in her barn. The last time I remember having the knife was at one of the parties, and when I got home I realized it was gone.”

  “So, you think your knife is someplace in Eva’s barn?” Jake asked.

  “I think so,” Griff replied. He shifted in his chair, obviously uncomfortable. “Can I go back to class now? I had nothing to do with stabbing a cow’s heart. That’s messed up, and I swear I don’t know anything about that.”

  Wayne looked at Jake and Eva and then back at Griff. “We may be back with more questions, Griff.”

  Eva stood. “And stay the hell out of my barn.”

  “What do you think?” Wayne asked a few minutes later when they were outside the school.

  “I think he’s a sly little creep,” Jake replied.

  “Do you think he was telling the truth about the knife?” Wayne asked.

  “I don’t know what to believe, but if that knife is in my barn, I’ll find it,” Eva said.

  “Eva and I can both search the barn so you can work on getting the warrants ready for the convenience stores. You’ll stay in touch?” Jake asked.

  “Of course,” Wayne replied. “And you let me know right away if you find that knife.”

  He returned to his patrol car, and Jake and Eva got back into the truck. “If Andy ever shows evidence that he’s turning into a Griff, I’ll lock him in his room for the rest of his life,” she said.

  Jake laughed. “Trust me, Andy doesn’t have an ounce of Griff in him, because he has a mama who is raising him with the right morals and values.”

  “I hope so,” she replied. “I sometimes worry that I’m being too hard on Andy, and then I worry that I’m being too soft on him.”

  “I think that’s normal,” Jake replied with a small laugh. “You are an amazing mother, Eva.”

  “Thanks.” She stared out the window. And Jake would be an amazing father. But it was too late for that. If he discovered now that Andy was his son, he would hate her for the years lost. And in his hatred, with his power and money, he could take Andy away from her forever.

  Chapter Seven

  Eva’s barn held the horses’ stalls and square bales of hay stacked in the back and hundreds of memories that immediately assailed Jake when they walked inside.

  She led him to the back of the barn. “This is where I usually find the most trash after one of their parties,” she said. “If Griff lost his knife in here, then it’s either in this area or upstairs in the loft. I usually find trash up there, too.”

  He looked around the hay-covered floor and then back at her. “Then we’ll start our search here.” He grabbed a pitchfork from the corner and began to move the hay on the earthen floor to one side. She got a lawn rake and began to do the same.

  He tried to focus on the task at hand, but he couldn’t stop the memories that rushed through his brain. It had been here, in this general area, that he and Eva had given their virginities to each other.

  That night she had sneaked out of the house with a blanket to meet him in the barn. He’d brought a kerosene lantern that had provided a cozy glow. It had been a night of sweet exploration and discovery and had led to many more passionate trysts in the barn.

  They now worked together, the only sound in the barn their tools scraping against the floor. He shot her several surreptitious looks, wondering if she was thinking about their past lovemaking, too.

  It was impossible to tell what she was thinking at the moment. Her face was devoid of any expression, and she swept the hay with swift, almost angry strokes.

  It didn’t take long for them to clear the hay from one area and then sweep it back where it belonged. She frowned and leaned against the rake handle.

  “This is like literally hunting for a needle in a haystack,” she said in obvious frustration. “And we don’t even know if Griff was telling the truth about losing the knife in here. For all we know, it was his knife stabbed through that heart.”

  “You’re right, but we need to check in case he was telling the truth. Let’s take a quick look around the loft and then we can call it a day,” he suggested.

  She nodded, and a moment later he followed her up the ladder to the loft. Up here there were more stacks of hay. This area also held a wealth of memories.

  It was here that he and she had conducted their very own solemn mock marriage ceremony. They had pledged their hearts and souls to each other, vowing to make the marriage real as soon as she graduated from high school in two months’ time.

  He looked at her now, with the heat of his thoughts burning inside him. At the same time, her gaze met his. For a moment time seemed to stand still.

  He slowly leaned his pitchfork against a stack of hay and took a step toward her...and then another. She didn’t back away from him, and that’s when he knew she was caught up in the memories as well.

  “Eva,” he said softly. He reached out and took the rake from her hand and leaned it against another bale of hay. She stood as still as a beautiful statue.

  “Sweet Eva.” He reached out and dragged his fingers down the side of her face. She closed her eyes and turned into his caress, giving him the courage to gather her into his arms.

  “Do you remember, Eva?” he whispered softly into her ear. “Do you remember how it was between us?”

  She opened her eyes, and her lips parted in invitation. That’s all he needed. He covered her mouth with his as his arms tightened around her.

  Immediately he was half-crazy with the smell of her, with the feel of her soft breasts against his chest and the length of her legs along his own.

  Her mouth opened wider to allow his tongue entry, and he took full advantage, swirling his with hers as his pulse accelerated. She was hot in his blood. She always had been, and nothing had changed.

  She leaned into him, and one of her arms crept up so her fingers could toy with the hair at the nape of his neck. He moved his lips down the side of her jaw, and she leaned her head back to give him full access to her throat.

  Tangling his hands in her thick, silken hair, he couldn’t hold back the groan of desire that escaped him. His body had spent the last ten years missing hers, and now to have her back in his arms was beyond wonderful.

  “Tell me that you’ve thought about this...about us over the years,” he said. He leaned back slightly so he could see her features.

  Her eyes were the deepest violet of dusk and shone with a hunger that nearly stole his breath away. “Yes...yes, I’ve thought about this.” Her voice was barely audible, as if she was reluctantly admitting to a sin.

  She stared at him for another long moment, and then she pushed away from him and stepped back. “But I’m not sixteen years old anymore, and I’m not about to have sex in a hayloft with a man who walked out on me ten years ago.”

  Desire was replaced with stunned surprise. “I didn’t walk out on you, Eva. You pushed me out. You told me you were through with me, that you didn’t love me anymore.”

  Her cheeks flushed with color. “Well, you certainly didn’t stick around to fight for my love. As I remember, the next day you were on a plane to Italy, and you never looked back.”

  He raked a hand through his hair and frowned. �
��Eva, you gutted me that night. I couldn’t even think straight. You pulled the rug out from under my life and the future I thought we’d have together.”

  He paused a moment, his breath caught in his chest as old, painful emotions threatened to overwhelm him. “Eva, did you really think I was going to just hang around here and watch you date other guys? I would have gone totally insane.”

  For a long moment, their gazes remained locked, and then she looked away and released a tremulous sigh. “I’m sorry about the way things worked out between us, Jake. But we were both so young.”

  She sighed again and then grabbed both the pitchfork and rake in her hand. “I’m done. Let’s get out of here.”

  He took the tools from her and followed her down the ladder. Once again he leaned the pitchfork and rake in the corner and then turned to look at her.

  “Eva, I never stopped loving you.”

  “Jake, you were in love with a young teenage girl. I’m not that girl anymore.” Her gaze drifted to a place just over his head. “You need to get over the past. Jake, I’m never going to fall in love again. I have no intention of ever marrying again.” Her gaze met his once again. “Don’t love me, Jake. It’s a total waste of your time.”

  She walked out of the barn, and he slowly followed behind her. He wished it were that easy, that he could just shut off all his emotions where she was concerned.

  Had her marriage been so bad that she never wanted to marry again? Or had her marriage been so good she didn’t want to try again with anyone else? Were her memories of loving her husband enough to keep her happy for the rest of her life?

  “Eva, you can’t deny that there’s still something between us,” he finally said.

  “Lust,” she replied tersely. “I won’t deny that there is a strong physical attraction between us, but that’s all it is, and it’s something I certainly don’t intend to explore.”

  “That’s not the message you were sending to me a few minutes ago,” he replied.

  Her cheeks flushed a deep pink once again. “And that won’t happen again. Jake, I’ve moved on. I’ve got enough chaos in my life right now, and I don’t need any more.”

  “I’m sorry, Eva. The last thing I want to do is make your life more difficult.” A bit of guilt swept through him. She was right. She had a crazy person after her, and he had been just thinking about his own wants and needs. Totally selfish on his part.

  “Let’s just move on.” She looked away from him again. “And now I’ve got things to do before Andy gets home from school.”

  “You’ll let me know if you hear anything from Wayne?”

  “Of course I will,” she replied.

  Jake got in his truck and headed home. He’d been foolish to believe that Eva would be open to having a relationship with him right now.

  She had a crazy person killing her cattle and making threats on her life. She had no idea who might be a danger to her and how that danger might play itself out.

  He was sure she was in no state of mind to think about romance or relationships right now, and he’d been a selfish fool to express his feelings for her at this point in time.

  Still, he couldn’t imagine that a beautiful, vibrant twenty-eight-year-old woman would completely close herself off from love for the rest of her life. Eventually Andy was going to grow up and move on with his life, and he couldn’t imagine Eva would want to be all alone forever.

  He’d wait and hope that the perp was caught soon, and then all bets were off and he intended to pursue Eva and make her see that they were really meant to be together forever.

  * * *

  “WE HAD A portion of the fence down on the west side of the pasture this morning,” Harley said to Eva.

  Jake had left minutes before, and Harley had appeared at the kitchen door. She now sat facing him across the kitchen table. “How did that happen?” she asked.

  “Looked to me like it was intentionally pulled down. Thankfully no cattle got out, the fence wasn’t damaged and Jimmy and I were able to get it back up.”

  Eva released a deep sigh. “I swear, if it’s not one thing, then it’s another.”

  “At least there were no dead cows this morning,” Harley replied. “I can deal with a downed fence.”

  “Thank goodness for small favors,” Eva replied dryly.

  “Any news from Wayne on solving this whole mess?”

  “Not much, but I have to admit he’s working hard on it. Of course he got thrown off for a day with Walter’s murder.”

  Harley frowned. “Hell of a thing, wasn’t it? Who would believe that Sadie had that kind of rage pent up inside her? I guess you just never know about people.”

  “I still find it hard to believe,” Eva replied.

  “At least it was a quick solve for Wayne.”

  “Yeah, he said he knew it was Sadie from the very beginning. It was just a matter of how long it was going to take her to confess.”

  “On a happier note, the herd is looking really good. All of them are nice and healthy.”

  She flashed a smile to Harley. “Thanks for a bit of good news for a change.”

  Harley stood. “Well, I just wanted to let you know about the fence. Jimmy and I intend to ride the fence line at dusk tonight to make sure there are no more problems, and we’ll check it all again around dawn.”

  “That’s going above and beyond,” Eva replied. Neither Jimmy nor Harley lived on Eva’s property, and their chores were usually done by five or six in the evening, and they went to their homes. If they intended to be here until dusk tonight, that meant they would be working late.

  “We don’t mind. We both want to do what we can to help you. We understand these are unusual circumstances. Hopefully Wayne will make the arrests that need to be made in this case and things will get back to normal around here.”

  Eva got up and walked with him to the back door. “I’ve almost forgotten what normal is around here.”

  “Keep your chin up, Eva. You’ll get through all this,” Harley said with a reassuring smile. “You’re as tough as they come.”

  “Thanks, Harley.”

  When Harley left, Eva got busy with the daily chores. She tried desperately not to think about what had happened between her and Jake earlier in the barn.

  She couldn’t allow anything like that to ever happen again. Her desire for Jake was definitely her weakness, and it was a weakness she couldn’t afford.

  There was a part of her that knew she was being unfair in wanting him to help and support her through the darkness and uncertainty of the danger she found herself in and not wanting any of his other emotions involved.

  However, fair or unfair, that was exactly what she wanted and needed from him. She hadn’t realized until now how truly isolated she’d become from any other people who might support her through this ordeal. Other than her two ranch hands, she really had nobody else in her life.

  Until now...until Jake.

  She’d been so busy working to survive, working to keep her ranch so her son would have something for himself when he got older, that she hadn’t made any real adult friendships.

  When this was all over, maybe it was time she tried to rectify that. There had been times in the past when one of Andy’s friends’ mothers had invited her for coffee or a quick lunch at the café or drinks in the evening, but Eva had always declined those invitations, telling herself she didn’t have time for socializing. And yet she couldn’t regret that she’d spent every spare moment when she wasn’t working around the ranch with her son.

  At least she’d made it clear to Jake that he had no future with her. If he wanted to continue to support her through everything, then he was forewarned that there was nothing else in it for him.

  By the time Andy got off the school bus, she’d successfully put all crazy thoughts of Jake, and any other negative thoughts, out of her hea
d. It was impossible to sustain the simmer of fear every minute of every hour of every day. If she allowed her fear to completely consume her, then she’d go mad.

  “We have to do the egg deliveries tonight, Mom,” Andy said as they walked back to the house from the bus stop.

  “I know. All you need to do is package up the eggs and I’ll drive you...unless you’d rather me package up all the eggs and you drive me.”

  Andy laughed. “Mom, you’re a silly goofball. You know I can’t drive.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I forgot for a minute.” As always Andy’s laughter warmed her heart. “We’ll eat dinner and then head out. In the meantime, you get the deliveries ready to go while I get the meal on the table.”

  It was just after five thirty when she and Andy got into her pickup to make the rounds of the deliveries. They had six houses to go to this evening, and then Saturday they would make deliveries to half a dozen more people.

  Eva didn’t give her son an allowance. Instead he earned his money with his egg business. He fed the chickens in the mornings, cleaned out their coops, gathered eggs and then he sold them. She took a percentage of the money he made to buy cartons and feed so he would learn that there was a cost to profit. He had a little record book and was diligent in writing in it after each delivery date. She considered the process a teaching tool, and he was proud of earning the money he got to spend.

  She watched him now as he returned to the truck after making his final delivery of the night. “Mrs. Edwards wants four dozen eggs next week instead of two,” he said with excitement. “She said she’s got family visiting and they all love her deviled eggs.”

  “That means a little more money in your pocket next week,” Eva replied. “Can I tell you a little secret?”

  “Yeah, what secret?” Andy looked at her curiously.

  “Mrs. Edwards makes the worst deviled eggs I’ve ever tasted,” Eva said.

  Andy giggled. “Really?”

  “Really. She brought them to the little buffet we all put together after the last school fair, and they were yucky.”