“That’s what the police think I must have done.” Jo frowned. “But I left my purse in the house and I never start the car with the garage door closed. That’s what I apparently did, though. It’s just so strange.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been so damned scared in my life.” Tate shook his head. “When I found you there…I don’t know what I would have done if you’d…” he let the words trail off, his throat closing off, unable to get out what he wanted to say.
“Thank you.” Jo smiled and reached her hand out for him and he took it. “You saved my life.”
Chapter 25
“How could you have screwed this up?” David was on his cell phone in the office of his Phoenix home, his door shut so that his wife and kids couldn’t hear him. He lowered his voice even more. “I told you I wanted that bitch dead.”
“How was I supposed to know her boyfriend was going to show up?” Russ said. “I had her. She was close to being snuffed out.”
David narrowed his eyes as he stared out the window. “Apparently you didn’t have her. You should have come up with some other way to take her out.”
“When am I gonna get paid the rest of the money?” Russ asked.
“When you finish the job.” David looked at the briefcase on his desk that contained the cash he owed Russ along with his own important documents. “You didn’t do the job right.”
“It’ll cost you more.” Russ sounded pissed.
“Bullshit.” David spat the word. “Finish the job next time and you’ll get your money. I want her dead and you won’t get a cent of it until she is. Don’t call me until you’ve taken care of her.”
Before Russ could respond, David disconnected the call. He clenched his teeth while gripping the phone hard enough that it made his hand ache. He welcomed the pain. His head ached and he wanted to punch a hole through the wall. It was all he could do to restrain himself.
A knock came at the door. “David?” His wife’s voice. She tried to turn the doorknob but he’d locked it.
“What?” he snapped. Then he tried to respond calmly but his body was filled with raw tension. “Hold on. I’m coming.”
He walked across the room and opened the door. Nancy stood on the other side of the door, her hands on her hips. “You know I don’t like locked doors in this house.”
“It was important.” He took her by the arm and jerked her into the room. She gasped and stumbled inside and he locked the door again.
He dragged her to the desk, still gripping her upper arm. “What are you doing, David?” She sounded surprised and a little upset.
Rage still burned through him. “I need to fuck you.”
“You what?” she said but he was already jerking her pants down and stepping on them so that they’d fall off her feet as he lifted her up and turned her around, bending her over the desk. “David!” She struggled to get up but he held her down with one hand on the back of her neck as he jerked his zipper down and freed his raging erection.
He drove into her hard and fast and she cried out at the sudden intrusion. He kept her head pinned down as he fucked her, his hips slamming against her ass.
She struggled as he took her, which only excited him more. He imagined taking Charlee like this and it made him burn even hotter.
All of his pent up rage roared through him and then he came hard. So hard that black spots moved in and out of his vision. For a moment he just stood there, his dick throbbing inside her even as she tried to get up. He pulled out of Nancy, released her and stepped back, zipping up his pants.
She pushed herself away from the desk, turned around, and slapped him hard enough to make his head snap to the side. Her eyes were red with tears and her mouth was in a tight, angry line. “Don’t you ever use me like that again.” She picked up her panties and pants and pulled them on.
He resisted the urge to slap her across the room. But he needed her family contacts and couldn’t afford to have her divorce him. At least not yet.
“I thought you’d like that,” he said.
Fire was in her eyes as she clenched her fists at her sides. “That’s a load of bull. You were angry about something and you took it out on me. Do you know how that makes me feel?”
She didn’t give him a chance to answer. She whirled and marched to the door, jerked it open and slammed it shut behind her.
He stared at the door for a moment then realized he didn’t care how it made her feel. It had freed some of the anger that had been raging through him. It was still there, but he could handle it better now.
The attempt on Jo’s life had failed. This time. Next time she wouldn’t be so lucky.
Chapter 26
On Friday evening, two weeks following Jo’s accident, Tate found himself thinking about what had nearly happened and it had him clenching his jaw so tight it made his head ache. How had Jo passed out in her car with the motor running and the garage closed? He’d seen her purse in the house, so what exactly had happened?
With a shake of his head, he walked into his barn and turned on the lights to finish his evening chores. No sense in thinking about what could have been. He was just grateful he’d found her.
Tate tossed a flake of alfalfa hay to Silver and then one to Ranger and continued on to his other horses. Just as he finished giving King, his black stallion, a flake of alfalfa, Tate’s cell phone rang.
He brushed his palms on his jeans then un-holstered his phone and looked at the screen. It was his cousin, Garrett. Tate pushed the button to connect the call.
“Hi, Garrett,” Tate said as he pushed up his western hat, letting the breeze cool his forehead. “Do you have anything for me?”
“Sure do,” Garrett said. “This David Smith is good, so it took me some real digging. I had to follow him to Phoenix this weekend just to get enough info on him.”
“All right.” Tate walked out of the barn. “What did you find out?”
“First of all, his name isn’t Smith. It’s David Hearn.”
“Hearn?” Tate narrowed his eyes. “What else did you learn?”
Garrett’s voice grew hard. “You said he’s seeing young Charlee Burke?”
“Yep.”
“The bastard is married.” Garrett sounded disgusted. “Has three kids and goes to their soccer and baseball events on the weekends. On Saturday nights, he has a standing date night out with his wife, and he goes to church with his family on Sundays.”
“Shit.” Hot anger burned through Tate. Jo had been right. “You’re sure about that?”
“Absolutely,” Garrett said. “I gathered info from family and friends, followed him, staked him out, and used a few other tricks of the trade to get what I needed.”
Tate gritted his teeth. “Anything else?”
“There’s something not right with him and it’s more than just his family,” Garrett said. “His business dealings look like they’re pretty shady. I’m going to need a little more time and I’ll dig up more.” His voice sounded even angrier. “The bastard is using a sweet girl like Charlee and I’m not about to let that get by.”
“You and me both,” Tate said. “I’ll kick that sonofabitch’s ass from here to Texas.”
“Hold off going after the guy until tomorrow. Give me the rest of today and tonight to finish up my investigation,” Garrett said. “We’ll get him for more than just screwing around on his wife and hurting Charlee.”
Tate found it hard to maintain his composure as he disconnected the call with Garrett. He wanted to find David Hearn and beat the living shit out of him. He didn’t want to wait another day. But maybe that was what he had to do to finish Hearn for good.
Should he tell Jo and ask her to hold off a day?
He knew better than that. Jo would be tearing into Hearn so fast he wouldn’t know what happened to him.
What could one more day hurt?
Tate growled under his breath. He couldn’t keep something like this from Jo. He’d tell her in person when he went to Jo-Jo’s tonight to s
ee her.
His phone rang again. This time he saw that it was one of his ranch hands, Chet.
When Tate answered, Chet said, “We’ve got a problem, boss.”
Tate frowned. “What is it?”
“We’ve got at least ten head of cattle down in the west pasture by the stock tank,” Chet said. “They’re dead. I think the water’s been poisoned.”
“Damn.” Tate felt anger of another kind burn through to his skin. “I’ll be right there. In the meantime, start rounding up the rest of the herd and get them to the corrals. We need to check all of the tanks in the other pastures to make sure they’re not poisoned, too.”
Tate went on, “I’ll empty out the tanks in the corrals before I leave to make sure we get fresh water in them just in case. I’ll call in Bud and Jim,” Tate added. “Just get that herd away from the stock tank and I’ll be right there.”
* * * * *
Jo shivered as a prickling sensation scrabbled up her spine. It was late into the night, actually in the wee hours of Saturday morning. She glanced at her watch. Two a.m.
She felt like she was being watched as she walked down the sidewalk toward her car, away from the entrance of Jo-Jo’s. She looked around her but saw nothing in the darkness or the shadows. The night was quiet. Too quiet.
But then she’d been feeling a little paranoid, ever since the carbon monoxide accident. It had made her feel uneasy, like maybe the poison was still in her system.
Her heels clicked on the sidewalk and she hugged her jacket a little tighter as cool air chilled her skin. It was early in the morning, about an hour after her bar had closed and she and her staff had wrapped things up for the day. She’d had paperwork to take care of and had been the last to leave. The paperwork had piled up thanks to being in the hospital and her recovery.
Tate hadn’t been able to make it tonight, thanks to some kind of emergency on his ranch, but he said he needed to talk with her about something important tomorrow.
She walked around the corner into the parking lot and her thoughts flashed back to when her friend, Tess, had been taken from Jo-Jo’s and thrown into the trunk of a car in this very lot.
It was the first time since then that she’d felt uneasy in her own parking lot. The guy who’d taken Tess had been caught so no one had to worry about him. She’d even had more light added to the lot, so it wasn’t as dark anymore, so that was reassuring. They’d also installed a security camera.
But now she wished she wasn’t alone.
Her Lexus was the only vehicle in the lot and she found her steps quickening toward it even as she told herself she was being silly. Still, she checked her surroundings and looked into the back seat before she climbed into the sedan and locked the doors.
When the doors were locked she relaxed and rolled her shoulders. The motor purred as she turned the key and the Lexus came to life. She backed out and then guided the car out of the lot and to a stop before the street that ran in front of Jo-Jo’s. There was no traffic. Everything seemed empty and abandoned.
From her left came the sound of a big engine starting up. The engine revved. Jo frowned as she looked both ways and didn’t see any traffic. Just as she pulled the car onto the street, a vehicle’s high-beam headlights suddenly came on, blinding her for a moment. And then she saw a big rig barreling toward her.
Terror ripped through her. It was too late to back up. She stepped on the accelerator to try and outrun the truck, but it was too close. In that instant, she knew she didn’t have a chance.
The monster truck slammed into the driver’s side and she screamed as metal crunched in on her as airbags deployed. In the back of her mind she felt pain but she didn’t have time to think about it.
Everything seemed unreal as the powerful truck that hadn’t stopped moving shoved her car down the street. She screamed again as she saw that her car was sliding toward a telephone pole.
The car smashed into the massive wooden pole on the passenger side and metal shrieked as the truck rammed the car into the pole. The car wrapped around it and Jo cried out as she felt everything crumpling in on her body.
Pain and darkness engulfed her.
And then she felt pain no more.
Chapter 27
Bone tired, Tate blinked sleep away as his cell phone rang, wondering if there was another problem with the cattle. Someone had poisoned his stock tanks and there was no telling what could happen next. They’d worked well into the night rounding up the herd while hauling off the carcasses of the dead cattle to keep the coyotes from going after them overnight.
He reached for his phone on the nightstand, looked at the caller ID, and saw that it was his sister-in-law, Tess.
His heart started to pound as he looked at the clock. Three a.m. Tess wouldn’t call this time of night if it wasn’t something serious.
He pressed the button to connect the call. “Tess?” he answered as he sat up in bed, fully alert, all traces of sleepiness gone. “What’s wrong?”
“Tate.” Tess’s voice sounded shaky and like she was fighting tears. “It’s Jo.”
He bolted out of bed and to his feet. “What happened? Is she all right?”
“She was in an accident.” Tess’s voice broke. “All I know is that she’s alive.”
Fear for Jo rushed through Tate, the fear so intense that it almost blinded him. “Where is she?”
“The hospital, in the ER,” Tess said. “Charlee is here as well as David. Charlee called me as soon as the police notified her. She said she tried to call you but was having problems with her phone.”
“I’ll be right there.” Tate disconnected the call then yanked on the T-shirt and jeans he’d left draped over the trunk at the foot of the bed, and shoved his feet into socks and athletic shoes. He grabbed his phone and keys, and bolted for the front door. She’d already almost died and it was unimaginable that she was in the ER again.
He made the drive from his ranch and into Prescott in record time, lucky that he hadn’t been stopped for speeding. He jumped out of his truck and was running for the ER doors as soon as he’d parked and killed the engine.
Tess rushed up to him the moment he walked into the ER, the second time in just under two weeks. Tess’s face was pale. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“How is Jo?” Tate demanded, realizing his voice was too hard, too rough, too loud. He said in a lower tone. “Is she all right?”
“We don’t know yet.” Tess took his hand. “We’re in another waiting room,” she said as she led him through a set of double doors into a smaller room.
Immediately he spotted Charlee and Tate bristled when he saw that she was sitting in a chair holding David’s hand. Her eyes were puffy and red and it looked like she’d been crying. She let go of the man’s hand, got up from her seat, and went to Tate. Tess stepped aside as Charlee wrapped her arms around him.
He held her for a moment. “What happened?” He tried to keep calm as he took her by her shoulders and held her away from him so that he could see her face.
“A car accident.” Charlee sniffled. “Hit and run. A big truck smashed her car into a telephone pole and the driver fled the scene. The wreckage was twisted up so badly that they had to use the Jaws of Life to get her out.”
Fury and fear had Tate clenching his jaws and gripping Charlee too tightly. She winced and he released her. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Her voice trembled and tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Jo is all I have in this world and I love her more than anything. I can’t lose her.”
All Tate could do was bring her back into his arms, hold her tight, and stroke her hair. “I know she’s going to be okay, Charlee. We just have to think the best.”
She nodded against his chest. Her tears were soaking through his shirt, wetting his skin.
Being in the hospital waiting room brought back a rush of memories. Not only had he just been here with Jo recently, but not that long ago he’d found
his brother, Gage, in his home dying of gunshot wounds. Later Tate had been waiting for a doctor in this very hospital to tell his family if Gage was going to survive. His brother had almost died but in the end he’d pulled through. He hated this place.
He prayed to God over and over that Jo was going to be all right.
When Tate released Charlee, she went back to her seat by David. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him so that her head was on his chest. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks and she hiccuped down another sob.
David gave Tate a nod. “I hope she’s going to make it,” David said, a look of concern on his features.
“She will,” Tate stated, as if his certainty would make it so. He looked at Tess. “Are just the three of you here?”
“Gage is home with Jenny or he’d be here,” Tess said. “It’s too late at night to find a sitter with Mrs. Webb ill and our teenage sitter out of town.” Tess rubbed her arms with her hands as if she was cold. “Jo and Charlee don’t have any other family.”
Tate planned to change that. Jo had him and she was going to end up with a whole lot of family when she married him.
Because that was what he intended to do. First, he had to convince her, but come hell or high water, he’d do it.
Jo was going to be all right. She had to be all right.
Time ticked by slowly as Tate shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned up against a wall. He tipped his head back and thumped his head against the wall hard enough to let him know that he was awake. That this was real.
Thoughts of Jo consumed him as he stared up at the ceiling. He pictured her brilliant smile, her warm laughter, and the way she had of looking at him that made his gut tighten. She was beautiful, yes, but it was far more than surface beauty. It was the kind that went straight to the core of her being. Inside and out she was a special woman.
She would not die. Would not leave him.
Tying You Down Page 14
