twenty-two

Someone had been in the house since she’d left it early this morning.

Sam wanted to run out the door and never stop.

She wished she hadn’t punctured McLean’s tire.

She forced herself to look through each room before leaving. No other trace of a presence.

She thought about looking through her mother’s desk, but she wouldn’t know if anything was missing. Like an address book. Like her own address book that had gone missing a week ago.

Was someone looking for family friends?

Sam left the house and drove away, watching carefully through her rearview mirror.

Her next stop was the local gun store. She braced herself. The owner, Ed Greene, was an old friend of her father’s. He’d been a Green Beret, and retired warriors always seemed to recognize each other.

He gave her a bear hug. “Going to start target shooting again?” he asked. “You were good. Your dad was always proud of you.”

“You know the way my mother felt about guns,” she said. “I never got a new one when my pistol was stolen.”

“I figured that. Got interested again, huh? Good thing. Woman alone needs protection these days. Both my girls carry guns.”

“I do a lot of driving at night,” she agreed.

He gave her a searching look. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt and slacks, so he couldn’t see all her wounds, but she had scratches on the back of one hand and a cut from windshield glass along her neck. “You okay?”

“An accident,” she said.

He apparently accepted that. “Haven’t seen much of Patsy,” he said.

Ed was a widower and had indicated an interest in Patsy a year after her husband’s death, but her mother hadn’t been interested.

“She’s been busy,” Sam said, then changed the subject. “What weapon would you suggest?”

“Protection or target practice?”

She hesitated a moment, then said, “Both.”

He took out a .38 Police Special and handed it to her. The revolver fit well in her hands.

She bought the gun and several packages of ammunition after he made the mandatory background check via phone.

“Thanks, Ed.”

“Any time. I miss your father.”

“Me, too,” she said. She wondered whether he would approve of what she was doing. She was trying to protect her mother, as he apparently had done, but she had no idea whether she was doing the right thing. He obviously hadn’t gone to the authorities. Instead he’d changed names, changed histories. He hadn’t trusted the legal system.

“You need anything, you just call me,” Ed said.

“There is something. Can I use your phone? I lost my cell phone in the accident. That’s next on my list.”

“Say, I have one you can borrow,” he said. “Never use the damn thing anyway. Why don’t you use it until you get a new one charged? Woman alone shouldn’t be without one. Number is taped on the top. Never can remember the damn thing myself.”

“Woman alone” seemed to be a mantra with him.

“Thank you,” she said. “You send any bill to me.”

“I look forward to you being a steady customer now,” he said. He fumbled with the cell phone on his belt and gave it to her. “My girls are the only ones who have the number,” he said. “But they also have the number at the shop and home. If they want me, they can get me. But a woman alone …”

She took the phone and put it in her purse, then paid him for the revolver.

“You might want to try the gun range,” he reminded her.

“I’ll do that,” she said, anxious now to get to her next errand.

Warn Terri.

She got to her car, looking around for McLean’s vehicle. The gun shop was three blocks away from Western Wonders, which was, she thought, where McLean would go first.

She closed her eyes as she remembered the way he had looked when she woke. Impossibly attractive. Impossibly safe.

Should she have told him about the call?

“Get rid of him.” The words from a disembodied voice echoed in her ears.

She dialed Western Wonders.

Terri answered. “When did you get back?” she asked as soon as she heard Sam’s voice.

“Early this morning. I tried to call you earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

“Probably running,” Terri said. “I’ve been here most of the day.” There was a question in her voice. “Someone is looking for you.”

“Is he still there?”

“I didn’t say it was a he,” Terri said. “But it was a he, a very attractive he, and I think he went to your mother’s house.”

“How did he seem?”

“I don’t think he was happy. He’s one intense man.”

McLean. It was a good description of him.

“He said he was FBI,” Terri added. “He showed credentials.”

“He is,” Sam replied, “except he’s here unofficially.”

“He didn’t say that.”

Sam wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t surprised about anything any longer. McLean wanted information. She knew him well enough by now to know he wouldn’t pay attention to technicalities. “Did you tell him anything?”

“Nothing to tell.”

“What about my mother? Did he ask about her?”

“Yep. I said I heard from her yesterday afternoon.”

“When?”

“About three in the afternoon.”

“Did she say anything about leaving town?”

“Leaving?” The surprise was evident in her friend’s voice. “She’d just arrived. She couldn’t wait to see you.”

“She left before I arrived. She left a note saying all was fine, that she just needed to get away for a few days.”

“That’s odd,” Terri said. “She seemed so eager to see …” Her voice trailed off.

“Did she seem distracted at all? Nervous?”

“No. I think I would have noticed.”

So whatever had frightened her away happened between three and probably midnight.

“Where are you?” Terri asked.

“Not far.”

“I want to see you.”

Sam wanted to see her, too. She wanted to hear everything that her mother had said, but not in Western Wonders.

“Is Helen there?”

“Yes.”

“Take Jupiter to our favorite place. I’ll meet you there in an hour. Make sure you’re not followed.”

A pause. Then, “If someone does, I have some big brothers who will take a gun to them.”

The comment reminded Sam about her own brother. Her newly discovered brother. It should be a time of rejoicing. Not of terror. Not filled with this terrible uncertainty.

Was she putting Terri in jeopardy, too?

She started to say she’d changed her mind, but Terri had hung up.

She didn’t call back, though. Now all she had to do was leave town without anyone seeing her. Not McLean. Not whoever was watching.

She always thought better outdoors. And she trusted Terri. Terri was the only person who hadn’t lied to her—either by commission or omission—or tried to use her. Sam knew she could no longer see the forest for the trees. Maybe Terri could.

She looked at her car. McLean had seen it. Someone else might have seen it, too, and planted some electronic gizmo while she and McLean …

She went to the garage where she had much of her mechanical work done. They always gave her a loaner. She left the car around the side and went inside. “There’s a noise in the car. It’s a rental, and I have to drive it back to Denver. Can you take a look at it?”

“For you, anything,” said Harry, the owner, with a grin. “Want the eyesore?”

“Yep,” she said. “I have a few errands.”

He pulled some keys off a nail and handed them to her.

The loaner didn’t look like much, but it was in superb running condition. She’d discovered that long ago.

Praying she wasn’t outsmarting herself, she drove the car through the busy summer traffic of Steamboat. It was getting more and more popular, and the traffic seemed thicker than usual. Suddenly aware she hadn’t eaten in the past twelve hours, she stopped at a fast food restaurant and ate a hamburger and fries.

It was time to head out toward Terri’s ranch.

Before reaching it, she took a side road, then a dirt road into a heavily forested area. No one was behind her. She was sure of it.

Not the bad guys. Or the good guys.

She was alone.

Berating himself for trusting Samantha, Nate returned to Western Wonders after an unfruitful trip to her mother’s home, only to find the gallery empty except for an elderly woman who apparently was in charge. She was talking to a customer.

He was convinced Sam would show up at the gallery sooner or later. He also suspected the pretty woman he’d questioned knew more than she’d said.

He glanced around, searching for Samantha even as he noted the paintings and sculptures situated around the spacious showroom. His gaze roamed over the walls and then the sculptures artfully displayed. He readily recognized a Remington, but not the others. Nate didn’t know much about art but he knew these were good. There was an illumination—a play of light and shadows—that lifted most of them out of the ordinary.

He’d been in too much of a hurry earlier to notice.

The customer left and he went over to the older woman who gazed at him with open curiosity.

“I’m looking for Miss Carroll,” he said.

“Oh, yes, I saw you earlier. You haven’t found her yet?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. But I think she was just talking to her friend.”

“The young lady who was just here?”

The woman nodded. “Terri Faulkner. She and Sam are good friends.”

“Sam?”

“Oh, we all call her Sam.” The woman paused.

Sam. It didn’t seem to fit her. She was too feminine. And yet maybe it did. The independence. The confidence.

Confident enough to elude him and strike out on her own.

She’d outwitted him. She’d been too compliant, and that had not gone along with everything else he’d observed about her. So he should have known better, but he thought there had been a moment or two when he was gaining her trust. Obviously, he’d never been more wrong.

She was in trouble. She’d tried to look unconcerned when she’d come down the stairs, but she’d been tense, the way people were when they’d received bad news. He’d thought he could coax it from her.

Some fool he. She obviously didn’t trust anyone now, and he couldn’t blame her. “Where does Miss Faulkner live?” he asked.

She gave him directions and he went back to his car.

He could go to the local police, but then he would be jerked back to Boston on the next plane. He would be opening a can of worms that he knew Samantha wasn’t ready to deal with.

He headed for the Faulkner ranch.

It was better than sitting on Samantha’s front stoop.

Sam felt some of the tension drain from her as she neared the meeting place. The fresh air, the mountains, the blue sky were exactly what she needed to clear her mind.

She had parked the borrowed car about half a mile from a wide spot in a stream that meandered down from the hills. It was a place where she and Terri had picnicked and was the only safe site that had immediately come to mind.

She had to talk to someone whose only loyalty was to her. She had to let Terri know what was happening in the event she disappeared or was killed.

She gave a half laugh at how easily she thought in terms of disappearing or being killed.

It shouldn’t be real. It shouldn’t be real. But it was.

Sam considered taking the revolver with her, but she’d been in such a hurry she hadn’t purchased a holster. Terri wouldn’t have brought saddlebags, and Sam really didn’t want a pistol tucked in her slacks when she was riding. Besides, this country should be safe enough. They would be on Faulkner land.

She locked it in the glove compartment, then locked the car.

Terri appeared on her horse Pal Joey. She was leading Jupiter, Sam’s usual mount when they rode together. Sam mounted the horse and settled into the saddle.

Terri studied her for a moment. “You look terrible.”

“Thanks.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Keep your distance, my friend. I don’t want you hurt.”

“You think I might be?”

“I’m not sure whether Mother disappeared of her own free will.”

Terri didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Have you called the police?”

“I’m not sure she wants me to.”

“Oh, Sam.”

“My brother was shot in Boston,” Sam blurted out.

Terri’s usually smiling face became grave.

“The bullet was meant for me. Nick was shielding me.”

Sam could hear her friend’s gasp. She nudged Jupiter into a walk. Terri followed. They headed toward the pasture area.

“And the FBI agent?” Terri asked.

“He wants to talk to my mother.”

“Does he know she’s disappeared?”

Sam nodded. “I asked him not to call the police … or to pursue it right now.”

“Why would he do that? Not contact the police, I mean.”

“He wants something from me.”

“He seemed like a nice guy.”

“He’s been after the Merrittas for years. Nick says he would do anything to destroy the family. He might try to use my mother.”

Terri halted her mount. “Do you really believe that? For God’s sake, Sam, he’s FBI.” Then her gaze sharpened. “You like him,” she said.

Sam knew a rosy flush was spreading over her face.

“I can’t accept his help,” she said. “He was at my house. I received a call from a man saying he knew the agent was there. He told me to get rid of him or my mother would be hurt. Don’t you see? I might be killing my mother.…”

“What does he think about your mother’s disappearance?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell. He’s hard to read. I never quite know what he’s thinking.”

“But you want to trust him.”

“It’s his agenda I worry about. In any case, if I help him or let him help me, I’m betraying my brother. They hate each other. And my brother saved my life. Twice.” She hesitated. “But so did the agent.”

Terri blinked. “What do your instincts tell you about this man?”

Terri had always had a way of getting to the core of things. Sam’s instincts said to trust him completely, to put hers and her mother’s safety into his hands. But they also said to trust Nick. The two were incompatible.

“He said his name was McLean,” Terri said. “What’s his first name?”

“Nathan, and he’ll be asking you more questions.”

“I’m forewarned,” Terri said. “What should I tell him?”

Terri’s loyalty was that deep, that complete. Sam suddenly realized she had put Terri in an untenable position.

She was enmeshed in a web that had no escape. By going to Boston, she might well have put her mother into danger, and now she was putting Terri in legal and physical jeopardy.

The chill that was becoming all too familiar was intensifying despite the warmth of the afternoon. “Don’t lie,” she finally said.

Terri looked miserable.

A blast broke the silence. Sam’s horse lurched and neighed, then broke into a panicked gallop. A seasoned rider, Sam clenched her legs around the horse’s sides and leaned forward, fighting the urge to saw on the reins. It took what seemed an eternity to gain control of the horse’s direction.

“The woods,” Terri yelled, but Sam had already turned Jupiter in that direction. They would have some protection there. Jupiter crashed through the trees, mindless of the branches whipping both his rider and himself. The ground was rough, full of rotting logs and rabbit holes. She heard Terri right behind her.

Please don’t let anything happen to Terri or to the horses.

Jupiter slowed as the underbrush became thicker, but Sam had to duck to keep low branches from knocking her from the saddle.

They reached the stream. Jupiter shied and neighed plaintively. Sam slipped off and looked at him. Terri was there beside her, and both of them saw blood on Sam’s horse. “A bullet graze,” Sam said. “I don’t think it’s serious, but we have to get back to the ranch.”

Terri looked bewildered. As bewildered as Sam had felt the first time a bullet came close to her.

“Dammit,” Sam said. “I didn’t mean to put you, or the horses, in danger.”

“It’s you I’m worried about,” Terri said.

“No. Everyone I’m close to seems to be in danger. I didn’t think—”

“You think they came all the way out here?” Terri demanded. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why they would pursue and attack me anywhere. I thought—”

“They?”

“I don’t know who ‘they’ are,” Sam said. “The Merrittas? I don’t know who else it could be. But why? I told them I didn’t want anything. I thought when I left …”

“Did your father leave you anything? Could it be money?”

“I don’t think so. The will is to be read later this week. I thought if I came home, let them all know I didn’t want anything, that it would all be over.”

“What about your brother?”

“He doesn’t want anything to do with them, either.”

“You believe that.”

“Yes.” She tried to sound sure of herself. She was sure of herself. “Anyway, the less you know, the better off you are.”

“Don’t start that nonsense,” Terri said. “If you and I—and the animals—are in danger, I need to know why.”

“It could be a hunting accident,” Sam said even as she wondered why she’d make such a stupid remark. Self-denial? Overload? She didn’t know. She did know she hadn’t fooled Terri. The fact was that once more, someone had tried to kill her.

And instead they’d struck a helpless animal.

She took his reins. “Let’s get him back,” she said. “Later—”

“We can’t go back the way we came,” Terri said. “Look, I have a cell phone with me. I’m going to call Dan. He’ll get my brothers out here.”

“What if—”

“No one could have followed you after that ride,” Terri said.

“I’m beginning to wonder whether there’s any safe place.”

Terri stared at her. “How many times have they attacked you?”

“Three. This makes four.”

“Either you’re very lucky, or they’re not trying very hard,” Terri said. She paused, then asked, “How much did you tell your mother the last time you talked to her?”

Sam jerked around. She’d always admired Terri’s analytical mind. “Very little.”

“Maybe they thought you would tell her, scare her into reappearing. Wasn’t she in hiding until she heard your father died? Maybe someone wanted to use you to make her do something.”

Why had she not thought of that? Had her fear been planted, cultivated, harvested?

Terri was working with the phone. “Blast,” she said. “I’m not getting anything.”

Another blast echoed through the aspens. The horses shied away.

Sam felt the shock of being hit, then pain.

Terri was wrong. This time they hadn’t wanted to miss.