Forever Together (19 page)

He knew Tom and Anna appreciated using his
apartment between visits with Kaylee. And he enjoyed coming out to
the ranch. Except for tonight. He needed to speak to Kate, to
explain why he’d pushed her away. Why he’d wanted to test her and
create issues when there hadn’t been any in the first place.

He turned the handle on the back door. It
wasn’t locked. Kate’s city slicker routines involved locking all of
the doors and windows before she went anywhere. He turned and
looked
across
the ranch. Anna’s
car wasn’t outside, but that was normal. More times than not she
parked her car in the barn.

“Are you here, Kate?” He waited a few minutes
then went inside.

He walked through to the kitchen and grabbed
a mug out of the pantry. He started making coffee and thought about
what he was going to cook for dinner. He glanced at the counter and
frowned. Anna had asked him to bring the check from the fashion
show into town so she could bank it. In Saturday’s
chaos,
she’d left it sitting beside the
telephone. He opened the cupboards and drawers. He couldn’t see the
check anywhere, so he picked up the phone and punched in his
sister’s number.

“Anna Jennings speaking.”

“Are you on your way to the hospital?”

“Am I that predictable?”

Dan smiled. “The only time you answer your
phone is when you’re in the car heading across town. Is Tom keeping
to the speed limit?”

He could feel his sister roll her eyes at
him. “Of course. It wouldn’t do to have the Deputy Chief of
Police’s brother-in-law caught speeding, would it?”

“Just checking, sis. Where did you say you
put the check? I can’t find it beside the phone and I’ve looked in
all the cupboards.”

“You’ll have to open your eyes and not have a
man look. It’s right beside the phone. I left it there on Friday
night after we’d cleaned up from
dessert
.”

Dan held the phone to his ear and looked
along the floor and inside the cupboards he’d already looked in.
“Where do you keep your flashlight? It might have slipped between
the fridge and the counter.”

“Top cupboard above the microwave. Let me
know if you can’t find it. It’s got to be there somewhere.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dan said. “If I opened my eyes
I’d see it in two seconds flat. Enjoy your visit with Kaylee.”

“I’ll call you when we get back to your
place.”

“Sounds good.” He disconnected the call and
headed over to the microwave. He pulled the flashlight off the
shelf and turned it on. There wasn’t a check between the fridge and
the counter, but there was a piece of old toast. By the
time
he’d found a long skinny stick and
wiggled the toast free he was beginning to get frustrated. The
check had to be there somewhere.

Kate still hadn’t come into the house, so he
stood on the back porch and yelled out her name. “Kate? Are you
here?”

All he heard was Zeus yapping and a long
bleat from Betsy telling him she was hungry. Dan didn’t pay too
much attention to Betsy. The darn goat had severe memory loss when
it came to her stomach.

He went back inside and headed upstairs
toward Kate’s room. A large picture window overlooked what would
have been Anna’s rose garden. The one she would have had if Betsy
hadn’t eaten it two months ago when they’d been in the hospital. It
looked as though someone had made an effort to clean up the debris,
but in-between all of the hospital visits, no new plants had been
added.

“Kate? Are you here?” He knocked on Kate’s
door, then pushed it open. Her room was tidy. It was so tidy that
it didn’t look as though anyone was staying there. Or coming back.
He walked across to the closet and opened the doors. Empty.

He turned around and headed over to the far
wall, yanking one of the drawers open. Nothing in there either.

He ran downstairs and checked the kitchen
counter again. He pulled drawers out, looked in cupboards, triple
checked all of the places he’d looked before. He couldn’t find the
check anywhere.

Shit. He’d trained himself not to jump to
conclusions. Not to think the obvious had happened. But Kate needed
money. She’d done what she needed to do and now she was ready to
leave. There was nothing keeping her in Bozeman. No moral
obligation and definitely no financial reason to hang around.

But there were eight thousand dollars worth
of reasons to leave.

***

Kate pulled up outside Tom and Anna’s house
and frowned. It was nine o’clock at night. Usually by now at least
one light in the house had been flicked on. Dan must have stayed
late in town or decided he was better off with his sister.

She picked up one of her suitcases and left
the others on the back seat. It was late, she was tired. There was
time enough tomorrow to take the rest of her clothes inside.

Her bag bumped against the wooden railing of
the porch, echoing across the ranch. She took a deep breath and
soaked in the stillness, the total peace surrounding her. There
were no streetlights filling the sky with an artificial glow. No
cars, trains, or buses roaring past the front door. The sky was
glowing with stars, brighter than any streetlights in San Diego.
And the smell of the air was fresh and crisp. It might not have the
salty tang of the sea hidden in its depths, but it also didn’t have
the heady smell of exhaust fumes and pollution.

It was as if she’d landed on another planet
and found heaven.

She slipped the front door key Anna had given
her into the lock. It turned easily. Too easily for the door she’d
locked this morning. She heard a thump, then someone
curse
.

Dan usually parked his truck out the front.
There was no truck, no lights, and no reason for anyone to be
inside. Unless they were stealing what wasn’t theirs. She might be
living in rural Montana, but she still had her street smarts. Kate
backed away from the door and returned to Anna’s car. She left her
suitcase on the ground and quickly ran across to the barn.

She felt inside her tote bag and pulled out
her cell phone. With trembling
hands,
she called 911.

Before the operator had finished talking,
Betsy let out a pitiful feed-me
wail
, scaring the living daylights out of her.

“911. What is your emergency?”

Kate gripped the phone tight. “Someone’s
broken into my dad’s home and they’re still inside.” Even though
she was whispering, she felt as though her voice was carrying clear
across to the house. She gave the emergency operator her dad’s
address, stayed on the line while the
lady
verified where she was.

Kate peeked around the corner of the barn,
keeping watch on the front door in case someone came out to
investigate Betsy’s bleating.

“Is anyone with you?”

“No. I’m on my own.” Kate was getting freaked
out by the orchestra of animals making noises in the background.
Pearl lumbered across to see why Betsy was getting excited, then
started pawing the ground, thinking she might be on the receiving
end of a tasty treat.

“Ssh,” she hissed to the animals.

“Would you repeat that, please?” The woman on
the end of the line sounded worried.

“No…I mean, it was the goat. Betsy. She keeps
making noises and I’m worried someone will hear her.”

There was a moments silence while the
emergency operator digested the fact that Kate was talking to a
goat. “Do you know how many people are in the house?”

“I don’t know. I heard someone drop
something
or fall over something.
There might be only one person.” Kate tried to keep her voice calm
and controlled, but the burglar would have to be deaf not to hear
Betsy and Pearl.

“I’m sending the Highway Patrol to your
location now. Stay where you are and don’t go anywhere until the
officer arrives.”

Kate nodded, then realized how useless that
was. The emergency operator couldn’t see her. Except for Betsy and
Pearl she was on her own.

“How long do you think the Police will be?”
Kate asked.

“No more than ten minutes, ma’am. They’ll do
their best to get there quickly. I’ll stay on the line with you
until they arrive.”

Kate took one last look around the edge of
the barn before backing into the darkest shadow she could find. She
crouched on the ground, figuring the smaller she made herself, the
least likely she was to be seen.

“Are you still there?” the lady on the phone
asked.

“Still here,” Kate whispered back. She
reached into her bag and pulled out her trusty can of pepper spray.
It had scared off more than one hairy male in its time and she
wasn’t afraid to use it now. It was either that or throw Betsy at
the burglar. But scrawny as she was, Betsy could kick something
wicked and Kate wasn’t about to try and get her airborne.

“Ma’am, we’ve had an update on the suspected
burglary…”

Kate heard a noise. A sneaky noise, like
someone trying to get close without letting her know they were
there. She dropped the phone and stood up, holding her can of
pepper spray in front of her. A big shadow came around the edge of
the barn. Too big for her to handle on her own. Too big to make a
quick getaway.

She closed her eyes, pushed the lever, and
held on tight.

The loudest howl she’d ever heard erupted
around her.

“
Shit!”

The cursing kept coming. Kate dropped the
can. Oh, hell. She’d done it now. Her mom always told her the spray
would get her into trouble.

“
I need water. Now!”

Kate looked down and saw the glow from her
cell phone. She picked it up yelled into the phone that she was
okay before disconnecting the call. She fumbled past the front
screen, looking for the flashlight app she’d installed last week.
She turned it on and tried not to focus on Dan.

She knew there was a trough of water in the
corral, knew that it was the closest water they’d find. She scanned
the fence, grabbed Dan’s arm, and pulled him after her.

She rammed the lock on the gate open. Dan
stumbled after her, moaning and coughing something fierce.

“Dunk your head in the water trough.” She
pulled his hands down to the edge of the tank and Dan did the
rest.

Before she’d taken another
breath,
his head disappeared into the water. It
sloshed over the sides as he dunked his head again, trying to get
the spray out of his eyes and skin.

Kate saw another shadow lumbering toward
them. The pepper spray would be the least of Dan’s problems in a
few seconds.

“Pearl, no.” She ran around Dan, aimed for
Pearl’s neck and pushed with all her might.

The horse let out a pitiful wail, knocked the
seat of Dan’s pants with her head and sent him sprawling to the
ground. All Kate heard was the hiss of air leaving Dan’s lungs and
the thump of his body as it hit the dirt.

She must have scared Pearl away because she
didn’t come back for another nip. But that could have had something
to do with the police car screaming down the driveway with its
siren wailing. Or the flashing lights filling the yard with glowing
red and blue light.

“What the…” Dan stumbled to his feet. “Who
called the police?” He held his hands up to his eyes when Kate
shone the flashlight app
in
his
face.

“I thought you were a burglar.”

Dan blinked a few times then lunged for the
water trough. Kate hoped it was cleaner than the last time she’d
looked. Pearl, Bonny, and Betsy weren’t too fussy when it came to
their personal hygiene.

The door of the patrol car slammed shut and
an officer walked toward them, his body outlined like the grim
reaper in the headlights. “I heard there was trouble out here?”

“Colin?” Kate couldn’t believe their luck.
She was so glad it was him and not someone else that she could have
baked him an apple pie right there on the spot.

“It’s me all right. Did you catch your
burglar?” The smile in his voice made Kate hesitate before
answering.

“I was scared witless thinking some deranged
serial killer was on the loose and all the time you knew it was
Dan?” His apple pie vanished in a puff of righteous anger. Any man
who put a woman through that much stress didn’t deserve apple pie.
He needed a brain transplant.

“I didn’t know it was Dan until I was nearly
here.” He kept moving forward and kicked what sounded like her can
of pepper spray. He picked it up and turned it toward the
headlights, shaking his head. “Is this why Dan hasn’t surfaced from
the water trough?”

“It’s protection,” Kate mumbled.

“It’s dangerous. Do you know how much this
stuff burns?”

“I’ve got a fair idea.” Kate ignored the
squelch of wet boots coming from behind her. Dan would be soaked
through to the skin and as mad as a squirrel in spring. Even if she
tried to find the funny side of what had happened she doubted he’d
want to listen.

Colin handed her back the can and folded his
arms across his chest. “Dan mentioned yesterday that he was staying
on the ranch. When I
realized
this
was your dad’s address I had a feeling you might know your burglar.
Better watch that horse. She’s been looking at Dan’s backside for
the last few minutes.”

Kate flapped her hands in the air and
shooed
Pearl across the corral.
Dan ducked, probably worried about the rest of the pepper
spray.

“I put the safety lock on,” Colin said. “But
I’d strongly suggest you get rid of the rest of the can. Carrying
around that stuff can lead to all sorts of trouble.”

“No kidding,” Dan muttered from beside
Kate.

Kate made the fatal mistake of glancing at
Dan. With his water soaked chest a few feet from her nose, it was
difficult to concentrate on anything except his body. She might
have sighed. Might have done a lot of things she shouldn’t
have.