Hearts On Fire (10 page)

Chapter 18

    
A stiff neck woke her.
Turning her head from side to side and massaging the back of her neck she stood
and stretched. The fire, she saw had gone out. And with it the living room had
been plunged into darkness. She thought about lighting another fire but
dismissed the idea. What she really needed to do was get to bed and get a good
night’s sleep. Shuffling across the floor, she sighed. After that dream she
almost didn’t want to close her eyes again.

     Coming to the wall she
reached for the light switch, knowing precisely where it should be. What her
fingers encountered instead at first confused her. Then made her scream in terror.
Soft flannel. The button of a shirt. Hardened chest muscles. On the scream she
turned on her heel, intent on running for the front door.

     “Oh no you don’t.”

     Hands grabbed her around
the waist and hauled her backward. She slammed into a body and before she could
scream again a hand was clamped over her mouth. Something cold touched her
neck.

     “I don’t wanna cut you,
darlin’, but I will if I have to.”

     Cut her? He moved the
knife at her throat just enough to prick her skin. She felt the droplet of blood
slip down to the hollow of her throat.

     “You’re not going to make
a sound except to answer my questions. You got that?” He lifted his hand from
her mouth and took hold of her hair. “Where’s the money?”

     “Money?” she asked,
breathlessly.

     “Yeah. The money.”

     “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

     “Sure you do. The bitch
hid it. She must have told you where.”

     Lizzie shook her head.

     “Come on. Don’t fuck with
me.”

     Her lip trembled. She
knew the voice of the man holding her. “She didn’t tell me, I swear.”

     “You have such a pretty
neck. It would be a shame to slice it open.”

     Would he kill her? When
he’d lived in this house he’d been a coward, a weasel who stole from people
when they weren’t looking. But time, she knew, changed people. And so did
prison, which she knew he’d spent at least five years of his life in. She’d
been one of the witnesses who had sealed his fate, hadn’t she? “I… know where
it is,” she lied, hoping to get him to relax and move the knife away from her
throat.

     “I
knew
you did.
Bitch. All you do is lie. It’s all you ever did. Where is it?”

     “I’ll show you.”

     “You better. Now.”

     He moved the knife and
put his hand on her shoulder. It was all she needed. Raising her foot, she
slammed it down hard on the top of his, right above the arch. At the same time
she jabbed backward with her elbow. She caught him somewhere sensitive because
he squawked and stumbled back. In that instant she was off and running,
thanking God Brian had made her take those damn self-defense classes.

     The door seemed miles
away but she reached it before him, yanked it open and ran across the porch,
skipping the steps.

     “Bitch!”

     Her shoe slipped on fresh
snow as she rounded the front of the Explorer. She had one chance now and that
was to get to Josh’s place.

    
Leaning back in the
saddle,
JD looked up to the sky though the tree tops. A slow smile touched
his lips as he looked back to the little house on the hill. The fire had gone
out over an hour ago and not a light was on. So she’d turned in early tonight.
He wondered if she dreamed of him the way he did of her. He wondered if she
wished for him in her bed. He sure as hell wished for himself to be there. But
she’d been adamant. She was going to see her sister at the hospital and then
she was coming home. Alone. Period. He’d thought to press the issue and just
show up at the door but had changed his mind. Pushing her might not be in his
best interest. She wanted space from him. He hoped the distance would make her
realize just how much she wanted him back in her life.

     But he’d been serious
when he’d told her he was worried about her all alone in the little house. It
was isolated. And everyone in town knew it was. And one of those people from
town had attempted to kill Katy. If the money was still out there somewhere they
would be back for it. And Lizzie would be standing right in their way. So he
sat out here freezing his ass off and keeping watch. The smile grew. He would
keep her safe whether she liked it or not. And she definitely would not like
this. No, not one bit. She’d kill him if she knew he was out here.

     The horse shifted under
him, cocking a rear leg and letting out a long breath. Leather squeaked. A
light breeze knocked snow from a branch. Otherwise the night was still. The
moon glowed in the sky and lit the snow, making it seem as though individual
flakes could be picked out. He knew on a night like this owls would hunt. Deer
would be on the move, looking for anything they could find to eat.

     He thought of Lizzie
lying in bed with the covers all around her, all warm, sexy and snuggly. He’d
never spent one night with her. Never woke up in the morning with her next to
him. He aimed to change that though. He just had to convince her.

     When he heard the sound,
he stiffened, listening hard. Had that been a muffled scream? An animal,
perhaps?

     The horse picked her head
up and pricked her ears forward, looking at the small house, huffing out a
breath.

     JD urged her forward
slowly, thinking to get a little closer to the house. He was beginning to think
he’d heard some nocturnal beast when the front door burst open and a figure
came flying out the door and across the porch. “Lizzie,” he whispered, his
heart immediately jumping to his throat. He watched her jump down the steps,
trip, and take off across the yard at a dead run, headed right for him.
“Lizzie!”

     Another figure emerged
from the house but stopped short at JD’s voice. He looked at the man emerging
from the woods on the horse and ran back into the house.

     JD didn’t even see him,
his eyes were on Lizzie as he rode toward her. “Lizzie!” Jumping out of the
saddle, he ran to her, snatching her up before she could run by him. Fear had
hold of her and she fought him for a moment before her wide eyes focused on him
and she recognized him.

     “JD!” Without thinking
she wrapped her arms around him and clung, burying her face in his chest.

     He held her close,
looking to the house. “Lizzie, what happened?”

     “Someone… someone was in
the house. I fell asleep in the chair and when I woke up someone was in the
house.”

     Someone. He held her away
from himself and looked her over. “Are you okay?”

     She nodded, shivering
uncontrollably in both fear and because of the cold. Her teeth chattering she
said, “He had a knife, JD.”

     It was then he noticed
the small droplet of blood on her neck. Reaching out he touched it with a
finger. Just a pin prick. But he felt his blood boil at the thought of the
knife touching her. Breaking her skin. His instinct was to hunt the son of a
bitch down and kill him. But there was no way in hell he was leaving Lizzie out
here alone. His jaw tightened and he looked to the open doorway again. Surely
the guy would be gone now. He hauled her back to himself again and realized she
wasn’t the only one shaking. He was too. Christ, she could have been killed. In
one swift move he swept her off her feet and turned to the horse, lifting her
toward the saddle.

     “JD…” Her frightened gaze
turned to the house.

     He stripped off his coat
and handed it up to her. “Put that on,” he commanded gently. Unstrapping the
rifle from the side of the saddle he handed that up to her next. “Hold onto
that for a minute.”

     “Wha… what are you going
to do?”

     His answer was to swing
himself onto the horse, settling himself behind the saddle on the mare’s hips.
He took the rifle from her and touched her face with his fingertips when she
turned to him. “We’re gonna ride down to the Rocking M and get you warmed up
while I call Matt.”

     “Matt? But I thought…”

     God he wanted to kiss
her. Just to prove to himself she was okay. “I know what I said. That was
before someone attacked you. We have to get the police involved now, no matter
what happens because of it.”

     “But Katy…”

     “Will have to fend for
herself. I’m not letting this go unreported. You could have been killed,
Lizzie.” He reached around her and picked up the reins and clicked at the mare
to get her going. “I’m not gambling with your life. Not for anyone.”

Chapter 19

    
Matt looked between
the two,
his jaw hard, his lips a thin, angry line. “I should have been
told all of this yesterday when I fucking asked,” he told JD harshly. “You two
keeping this to yourselves and running around doing your own little
investigation was foolhardy at best.”

     JD’s gaze was drawn back
to Lizzie’s throat. To the band aid covering the tiny nick there. A man had
held a knife to her throat. Her blood had been shed. His stomach turned and he
nearly groaned at the image his mind conjured up. “I know that now, Matt.” He
crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the bricks surrounding the
fireplace. He’d sent a curious Josh into the kitchen to make coffee but he was
craving something a little stiffer than caffeine at the moment. “Any sign of
Summers?”

     “He came in on a
snowmobile. We found his tracks about a quarter mile away from the house. We
lost them once he hit the main road. Too many cars have run over them since.”
Matt looked to Lizzie, letting his gaze linger for a long moment. “You’re sure
it was him?”

     “Absolutely,” she told
him, raising her chin defiantly. “I don’t just think so because you put a scare
into me about his parole officer not being able to find him. I may not have
seen his face but I recognized his voice.”

     “Well, looks like he’s
not missing anymore,” JD drawled wryly.

     “What it looks like is
he’s partners with Katy,” Matt pointed out. “And it looks like Katy hid the
blackmail money somewhere and he wants it. From what I remember of him he’s a
greedy little bastard. Chances are he won’t go away until we either catch him
or he gets his hands on that money.”

     “I don’t know anything
about the money. I don’t know where she would have hidden it,” Lizzie protested
under Matt’s probing gaze. “If I did I would tell you.” Her fingers went to the
band aid at her throat. “Believe me, I would tell you.”

     “Well, Summers seems to
think you know something. Which is why I think you should take a room at the
hotel in town until we can find him.”

     “She’ll be staying here,”
JD interjected before she could answer.

     Her head whipped around
and she pinned him with a fierce glare. “Like hell I will, senator,” she shot back
at him.

     Matt looked between the
two again, obviously amused by the antagonism.

     “I’m not too stubborn to
see the obvious. I know I can’t stay at Katy’s place any longer. But I’m not
staying
here
,” she told him, waving her hands to encompass the living
room.

     “I’ll have a deputy at
the hotel. But I can only spare one right now.”

     JD shoved himself away
from the bricks, his jaw set. “Strangers come and go at hotels all the time.
Lizzie, you’ll be safer here.”

    
Safe from Grady,
maybe,
she thought. She certainly wouldn’t be safe from JD.

     “We know what Grady looks
like. He won’t get near her in the hotel,” Matt assured his longtime friend.

     “He’s not our only
concern, Matt. What about Julie’s lover? We have no idea who the guy is. What
we do know is he’s capable of murder.” He saw Lizzie about to protest. “Julie
told me he tried to kill Katy, remember?”

     That shut her down.

     “For all we know this guy
is one of your deputies.”

     Lizzie shook her head and
blew out an infuriated breath. “Now you’re just using scare tactics to get your
own way. Typical MacGreggor.”

     JD frowned at her.

     Matt rubbed his jaw. “I
have to agree with her. I know all of my men. None of them—”

     “You don’t know that.”

     Matt wanted to argue the
point but couldn’t. “It’s the best I can offer for right now. I can contact the
state boys and see if they can send someone in to help out.”

     Lizzie stood, her arms
wrapped around herself. “I’m going to get some of that coffee your brother
made,” she told JD. “Let me know what the two of you figure out for me.”

     They watched her walk
out, back stiff, chin up. “Still got that fire, doesn’t she?” Matt asked when
she was out of earshot.

     JD made a sound and went
to the small bar in the corner of the room. Screw the coffee.

     “And you’ve got your
sights set on her again.” Matt followed him to the bar but put up a hand and
shook his head when JD offered to pour him a shot of whiskey.

     “Maybe I do,” JD allowed.

     “Look, I don’t know what
happened that last summer she came home but I do know all hell broke loose
after. Grady Summers hightailed it out of here like his ass was on fire. Lizzie
ran out of town just as fast and two months later was married to Brian
Castellanos and living in Seattle. Brooke Waring killed herself with booze and
Katy wound up living with an aunt in Edgemoor until she was eighteen.”

     “Thanks for the history
lesson.”

     “Lizzie’s entire family
imploded. And I think you were right at the center of it all.”

     A slow smile stole across
JD’s lips. “Ah. You’d like another shot at her too.” He knew he’d been the
reason Lizzie and Matt had broken up in high school. He also had always known
that though Matt had told him it was water under the bridge it had still always
been there between them.

     “What I want is for you
to be careful with her, for Christ’s sake. You have a tendency to bull your way
through life,
senator
.”

     “She’s a big girl.”

     Matt shook his head and
swore under his breath. “You weren’t around to see what you did to her the
first time you decided you were done with her. She was devastated, you son of a
bitch.”

     JD cocked a brow. “And
what? She came to you for a shoulder to cry on?” The thought of it filled him
with a jealous rage. Just like the thought of her leaning on Matt now did. He
didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Yet. But it was obvious Matt
wanted her too. And she just might decide Matt was the safer of the two of
them. And she was probably right on that count.

     Matt would have hit him
if he’d been anyone else. “You’re an arrogant prick, you know that?”

     “I do know that,” JD
agreed, tilting his glass to Matt. “Look, you’re getting yourself all wound up
for nothing. She’ll be going back to Seattle when this is all said and done.
She’s made it quite clear she’s not interested in any type of relationship with
me. And I can’t say as I blame her.” He sighed and set down his glass. “I just
want to make sure she’s safe. That’s all.”

     Matt looked into JD’s
eyes. “Holy hell.” He backed up a step and shoved his fingers through his hair.
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

     “I always was,” he
admitted, bowing his head. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. She hates my guts.”

     “What happened that
summer?” Matt asked. He remembered how in love they’d been in high school. He
wondered what could have happened to make her despise JD so much. And he knew
she did. He could see it plainly.

     “I fucked up is what
happened.” He waved Matt off. “I’m going to try and convince her to stay here.
If she won’t I’ll call you and bring her to the hotel myself, okay?”

     “Yeah. Good luck with
that one, buddy.” He clapped JD on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure she’s safe at
the hotel.”

    
Josh studied Lizzie
over the rim of his coffee cup as he leaned a hip against the counter. “You
sure you’re okay?” he asked her gently.

     “I’m sure.” Sitting at
the table in the corner she leaned over her mug of coffee, letting the steam
warm her face. “Just a little shook up. I’ve never had someone hold a knife to
my throat.”

     Josh’s features
tightened. “Grady Summers is a piece of shit. He steps foot on my land he’ll
get a bullet for his trouble.”

     Lizzie looked up at him.
She didn’t know Josh well, but she knew people well enough to hear something in
the tone of his voice. “You don’t like Grady much.”

     Josh lifted a shoulder.
“Not so much, no.”

     “Why? You would have just
been a boy when he left town for good.”

     “True enough. I didn’t
know him back then. But I’ve heard plenty.”

     She licked her lips and
felt her heart flutter in her chest. “From JD?”

     “Some.” He looked her
directly in the eye. “And from Katy too.” Now was the time, he decided, to come
clean. Because he needed something from her and there was only one way to get
it. “How is she, Lizzie? No one will tell me anything at the hospital. And I
can’t… I haven’t been able to see her.”

     Now she felt herself jerk
a little. She saw something in Josh’s eyes and heard it in his voice. “You and
Katy?”

     He snorted. “It’s nothing
romantic like that,” he told her. “Katy wouldn’t have that. We just… we’re
friends sometimes is all.”

     But he wanted more than
that. Lizzie could see it plain as day.

     “You know how Katy is.
Not one to tie herself down.” He picked at a chip in his mug with a fingernail.
“And I guess she was getting ready to leave for good anyway.”

     She felt a tug on her
heart for the younger man. “Katy had a rough life. She has trouble trusting
anyone.”

     “Yeah. I know. Because of
that bastard Summers.” He set his mug down with exaggerated care. “She has
nightmares about him, you know.”

     She hadn’t known.

     “About what he did to
her.”

     Her eyes widened, filled
with the pain of sudden knowledge.

     Josh didn’t miss it. “You
didn’t know.”

     She closed her eyes.
“No.” But she should have after what he’d tried to do to her. Only JD had saved
her then. But there would have been no one to save Katy. “She didn’t tell me.”

     “I get the feeling she
didn’t tell anyone. I only found out because of her bad dreams.” He smiled a
little ruefully. “Not that she let me stay over very often.”

     “Her prognosis is good,”
Lizzie told him, answering his earlier question. “And if you’d like I can have
you added to the list of people who may get into her room.”

     Now the smile reached his
eyes. “I’d like that, just to, you know, let her know I’m around and stuff.” He
shuffled his feet and looked toward the door which stood closed between the
kitchen and the living room. “Just do me a favor, will you?”

     “Of course.” She thought
she knew what was coming.

     “Don’t mention any of
this to JD. He doesn’t like your sister a whole lot and he really wouldn’t like
me having anything to do with her.”

     She understood. “I won’t
say a word to him.”