CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jake was glad he was sitting down.
Glad, too, that he didn’t have to respond immediately to either Dr. Grange or Maggie. That’s because he saw Royce motion to him, and his father got into the back of the ambulance. Royce jumped into the front passenger’s seat. The driver pulled out of the parking lot, and Jake knew he would have to put his emotions and the conversation on the back burner.
Sunny’s safety came first.
He pressed the end-call button, and he drove out behind the ambulance. It went right. Jake went left, and he braked to a loud stop directly in front of two uniformed officers.
Jake lowered his window. Maggie did the same. And Jake asked a question about the bomb. Still no sign of one, the officer reported. Just as Jake had expected. But the question was meant for anyone waiting and watching. Jake wanted the person to see Maggie and him and follow them instead of going after the ambulance with Sunny inside.
Of course, there was a chance one of Tanner’s goons would try to follow the ambulance as well, but Royce would be looking for that. His brother wouldn’t allow the ambulance to stop at the hospital until he was sure it was safe.
It was good to have family to watch his back.
And the brief thought that flashed through his head brought other thoughts with it. Of Anna. God.
Maggie took her gun from her coat pocket and turned in the seat to keep watch. Jake put the phone on the seat so he could do the same. He drove away from the hospital and caught just a glimpse of the ambulance as it disappeared over a hill. Jake headed for the highway that would take Maggie and him back to Mustang Ridge.
“Is it true?” Jake asked her. Yeah, the timing for the question sucked, but he’d never had good timing with Maggie.
“Yes.”
Her voice was a whisper, but Jake heard it as clearly as if she’d shouted. There it was again. That punch of grief that always came with thoughts of Anna.
The punch of guilt, too.
“I didn’t know it was Grange who found the land record.” Her voice stayed a whisper. “Anna didn’t tell me that. But she brought the land file to me and asked me to take a look at it because she thought something illegal had gone on.”
Another punch. This one was mixed with hurt and confusion. “Why the hell didn’t she come to me?”
Maggie didn’t take her attention off their surroundings. “You’re sure you want to know the truth, Jake? Because you’re not going to want to hear it.”
That didn’t ease the knot in his stomach or the pressure in his chest. “Tell me,” he demanded.
She glanced at him, and he saw sorrow in her eyes.
“Chet sold that land to Tanner,” she said. “And yes, they made some kind of deal, because Chet got paid triple the value of the property and then turned around and bought another piece of land from Tanner using the cash from the first deal.”
Jake mentally went through all that. “Are you saying my father and Tanner used the land to launder money or something?”
“Yes. I think Chet was a very small cog in what turned out to be a big money-laundering scheme, but Anna didn’t want you to have to bring your father in for questioning.”
“Or arrest him,” Jake finished for her.
Maggie nodded. “Nell didn’t know,” she added. “Nor Royce. Your father hid the land deal from all of you, and he might not have even realized it was illegal. Tanner could have put a spin on it to make it all sound legit.”
“Why didn’t you arrest my father?” Jake snapped.
“Because Anna begged me not to. She didn’t want you hurt. And besides, I found other land deals much worse than the one Tanner did with Chet. I had more than enough evidence and witnesses to send Tanner to jail even before his murder conviction.”
Jake had to remind himself to breathe, and he took a moment before he tried to speak. “Tanner found out that Anna had cued you into the investigation?”
She nodded. “I’m not sure how, but after the fact…after we learned Tanner was the one who had her murdered, he told me that he knew.”
“Someone told him?” Jake pressed.
“I don’t think so. I think Tanner’s people just put one and one together since Anna worked at the land office.”
Yeah. That wouldn’t have been a long leap for Tanner to make.
“I didn’t use that land deal with Chet in any of my investigation reports,” Maggie added. “Yes, I withheld evidence, but I thought it was for a good reason. Justice wouldn’t have been served putting Chet in jail. Plus, I rationalized that I could always classify him as a material witness if I needed additional testimony against Tanner.
“There’s more,” Maggie said after a long pause. “Anna also gave me the evidence I have against David. In fact, Anna’s the one who signed those documents.”
He cursed, and it was bad. “Are you saying Anna did something illegal?”
“No,” she quickly assured him. “I think she was just fooled, that David had altered the paperwork so Anna didn’t know until after the fact that something was wrong.”
With all of that flying through his head, Jake took the highway toward Mustang Ridge. There was still no sign of anyone following them so he passed his phone to Maggie.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he said, “but I need to make sure no one is following the ambulance. Call Royce.”
Maggie pressed in the numbers that Jake gave her. “Is everything okay?” she asked when Royce answered.
Jake didn’t have to hear his brother’s answer to know all was well. He could tell from Maggie’s body language. She loosened the death grip she had on the phone. A short breath left her mouth.
“No one’s following them,” Maggie relayed to him, and put the phone back on the seat. But her relieved body language didn’t last.
Probably because she knew what he was about to ask.
“When Anna was killed, did you suspect Tanner?”
“No. If I had, I would have told you.” She shook her head, groaned softly. “Like you, I thought Anna was just a victim of a robbery gone bad. I didn’t connect it to Tanner because I didn’t think he knew about Anna bringing me that land file. And I certainly didn’t think he’d go after her to get back at me.”
“Tanner threatened you, though,” Jake reminded her.
“Me. Not Anna. Not anyone else. I figured it was a bluff. After all, there was no proof he’d ever killed anyone, and those initial charges wouldn’t have given him life in prison. In fact, with his lawyers, he probably could have cut a deal and gotten just a few years behind bars.”
Apparently, Tanner’s fury over the investigation had robbed him of his common sense. And it’d robbed Jake of Anna.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Anna wanted you to do the investigation?” he asked.
“I thought you had enough to deal with without adding that. Besides, it didn’t matter. Anna was dead.”
“It mattered,” he let her know. “I put the blame for her death on you.”
“That’s where it belongs.”
“No. Hell, it doesn’t even belong on my father.” Though Jake did want to know why Chet hadn’t volunteered any of his part in the Tanner investigation. “Nor Anna. All the blame is on Tanner.”
Maggie made a small hmm sound. Possibly of agreement. “Did we just reach some kind of understanding here?” But she waved him off before he could answer. “No. That would minimize what happened. I don’t want to do that.”
“Not minimize,” Jake corrected. “But maybe we can get to a place where we aren’t hurting each other.”
The next sound was of humor. Also small. “Does that have something to do with us kissing?”
“It’d be easier if it did,” Jake remarked, and he left it at that.
He turned onto the farm road that would lead to the ranch. Eventually. He still wanted to do some meandering to make sure no one was following them, but at the moment there wasn’t another car in sight. Probably because it was late afternoon on Christmas Eve. Most people were already tucked inside with their families, getting ready for the big celebration.
Jake envied them.
Normal was something he hadn’t had in a long time, and after glancing at Maggie, he wondered if he’d ever have it again.
His phone rang, and Jake snatched it up, praying that all was still well with Sunny and the others. But it was his deputy, Billy.
“Wade Garfield wants to talk to you right away,” Billy relayed. “He said it was important, but I didn’t want to give your number until I’d talked with you.”
Wade. Just somebody else to add to his weariness and frustration. “Did Wade tell you what was so important that he had to talk to me right away?”
“I asked, but he wouldn’t say. He sounded scared, or something.”
Probably the or something. “Give him the number,” Jake said, and he hung up so Wade could make his call, which would no doubt turn out to be another frustrating experience.
“Is Wade still claiming someone’s trying to kill him?” Maggie asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Probably. Or maybe he wants to put another tracking device on a vehicle I’m driving.”
The phone rang, and even though it was a call he dreaded, Jake answered it.
“Sheriff McCall,” Wade said the second Jake answered, “I have to see you right away.”
Jake ignored that. “What do you want?”
“To meet with you. Didn’t you hear me? I have something important to tell you.”
That seemed to be the trend of the day. Tanner, Dr. Grange, now Wade. David was the only one of their suspects not clamoring to see him.
“If it’s that important,” Jake said, “you can tell me over the phone.”
“No,” Wade insisted after a few seconds. “We have to do this face-to-face. I won’t have you recording the conversation so you can use it against me.”
“Sheez. Paranoid much? Wade, the only time I’d use a conversation against you is if you’ve committed a crime. Like, say, trying to kill us. Where were you about an hour ago?”
“I’d rather not discuss that. In fact, I’d rather not tell anyone where I am.”
“Yeah, yeah. Because someone wants you dead. Welcome to the club.”
“Are you accusing me of something?” Wade asked.
“Are you guilty of something?” Jake countered.
That caused Wade to curse. “Look, if you want what I have, then you have to meet me. But I think you should know, I figured out a way to stop Tanner for good.”
“How?” Jake demanded.
But he was talking to himself, because Wade had already hung up.
* * *
MAGGIE LOOKED OUT THE living room window at the snow that had just started to fall. A white Christmas. Well, a white Christmas Eve anyway, but it would likely stick through the following day.
Too bad the following day came with so many uncertainties.
Behind her, Jake paced while he spoke on the phone, something he’d been doing since they arrived an hour earlier. He’d even fixed sandwiches for both of them and eaten one while checking on Sunny and getting updates on the investigation. That was good, because Maggie needed some time to think. So far, she’d failed at that, but at least his nonstop calls had prevented her from blurting out all her fears.
Jake had enough to handle.
She glanced at him, intending a quick look to gauge his mood so he could figure out if he was getting good or bad news from the caller. But in that split-second glance, their gazes met, and he came closer, looking out the window from over her shoulder. Maybe to verify that she hadn’t seen anything unsettling.
But the only unsettling thing was Jake.
He ran his hand down her arm, and he leaned in, his chest against her back. She drew in his scent. Felt his heart beating. His breath, on her neck. Even his words seemed to vibrate against his skin.
“Snow,” he whispered to her and brushed an idle kiss on her cheek.
Her heart did a little flip-flop. It was the kind of affectionate gesture that seemed second nature for most. Certainly not for her, and she wondered if a simple touch from him could ever feel routine. She did a gut check and decided the answer was no.
Jake wasn’t a routine kind of guy.
“That was Sheriff Shawn Marcus,” he relayed to her when he finished the call. He also stepped away to look at the laptop he’d placed on the breakfast bar that divided the living room from the kitchen. “There was no ID on the body of the man who tried to kill us, but Shawn got a match on his fingerprints.”
That was a hopeful-sounding bit of information. “Who was he?”
“His name was Simpson Carter. He has a long criminal record, and Shawn’s trying to see if there’s a money trail to connect him to the person who hired him. Special Agent Kade Ryland is helping with that.”
“But?” she asked when he flexed his eyebrows.
“But because of the holidays, we might not get a quick answer. Certainly not before you have the procedure done in Corral Junction.”
So, they still weren’t any closer to stopping Tanner. Unless… “What about Wade?” she asked. “You think he really knows how to stop Tanner?”
He lifted his shoulder. “I’ve tried to call him back twice, but they’ve both gone directly to voice mail.”
That didn’t sound promising. Maybe Wade was just playing a game so they might jump at the next chance to meet with him. Or he could be hurt. Or worse. After all, Wade had insisted that Tanner or someone else was trying to kill him.
“Billy’s trying to find him,” Jake added, probably because he hadn’t dismissed Wade’s accusations against Tanner, either. “When the procedure’s done and Sunny is recovering, I can look at other ways to tackle Tanner.”
“Maybe with David’s arrest,” she suggested. Maggie turned to stare out the window again. “We could possibly use the charges against him to freeze his assets. Maybe freeze his father’s assets, too.” It wasn’t something just off the top of her head. Maggie had been going through all their less-than-stellar options.
Jake nodded and scrolled through something on the laptop screen. “Cutting off Tanner’s money supply would put an end to his hired guns.” He paused, looked up at her. “Anything wrong out there?”
Maggie shook her head. “Just watching the snowstorm rolling in.” And watching him. Jake was far more interesting than the snow.
He stood there with this attention fastened to the laptop, unaware that she was undressing him with her eyes. Maggie had never seen him naked, but her imagination was pretty good when it came to filling in the blanks.
The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and she got a peek of the dark chest hair. Then, he turned, lifting his foot onto the metal ring on the bar stool that was several inches off the ground, and it gave her a good view of his butt and the Wranglers that were snug in all the right places.
Both front and back.
The only word that came to mind was hot. And the warning—Don’t Play with Fire. She’d never melted looking at a man’s zipper area, but she thought it might happen now.
Jake didn’t take his hands off the keyboard, but he looked over at her as if he sensed something was going on. Great. Now she was looking head-on at that face. And his eyes. Those sizzling blue eyes were a storm of a different kind.
His stubble was past the fashionable stage, but it made him look like a cowboy outlaw. His black hair was rumpled. Bedroom hair.
If she went closer to him now, she could kiss him. Encourage him toward hauling her off to bed. She wanted that. Mercy, did she. But Maggie forced herself to think of the consequences, and one of the worst was that Jake might hate her and himself. She didn’t want that. So, this had to be his decision. She couldn’t set things into motion by asking for sex.
Even no-strings-attached sex.
Maggie waited for him to say something. Anything. But he just stared at her. Then, swallowed hard.
“How bad of a mistake would it be?” he asked, and there was no doubt what he meant.
“You tell me,” she settled for saying. She saw the debate in his eyes. The heat, too. The heat was winning out, and she thought any second Jake would cross the room, pull her into his arms and, well, do whatever he wanted to do to her.
But instead he cursed, a very bad word, before he checked his watch. “I’m guessing you should get some rest. It’ll be a long night.”
It sounded like an order, or maybe he was just trying to convince himself. Either way, it wasn’t an invitation, that was for sure. However, the heat was still there in his eyes, and his jaw muscles were way too tight for a man at peace with his decision.
“You’re sure?” she asked, but she had to clear her throat and repeat it so it’d have some sound.
He said that bad word again and paired it with “No.”
This time, Maggie saw something else paired with the heat. The frustration and even some torture. She certainly hadn’t intended for Jake to feel that. She’d tortured him enough already.
“I’ll get some rest,” she concluded. Maggie didn’t wait to see if he’d change his mind. That’s because she was afraid she would change hers.
She walked to the guest room and didn’t look back.