CHAPTER SIX
The moment Jake ended the call with Betsy, he flipped open his phone and punched in Royce’s number.
“What can I do to help?” Maggie frantically asked.
Judging from her tone and the renewed fear in her eyes, she knew what Betsy’s warning had meant: Dr. Grange could have told Tanner that Maggie was back in Mustang Ridge. And if he had, then Tanner would know that Maggie had violated their agreement, and he’d send assassins to the ranch to try to kill her.
“Tell Nell what’s going on,” Jake said to her. “And see if she can find you some warmer clothes to wear. I want everyone ready to leave in a half hour or less.” Which wasn’t much time, of course, so he had to get moving. “Royce, Dad and Nell will take Sunny someplace safe. Someplace far away from us.”
He hated the thought of being away from his little girl, but he didn’t want her around if Tanner came after Maggie and him.
“Royce,” Jake said, the moment that his brother answered the phone. “Are the marshals still there at the sheriff’s office?”
“Yep.” Since that was all he said, it probably meant the lawmen were within listening distance.
“Is it safe to talk?” Jake asked.
“It is, but make it quick. I want to keep the line open in case my brother calls.”
Yeah, they were definitely listening, and Royce was trying to make them believe the call was from someone else. “I need you to come to the ranch. It’s possible Dr. Grange told Tanner that Maggie was here. I have to move her. Sunny, too.”
Royce stayed quiet a moment. “Did he actually hit you, Mrs. Henderson?” he asked, still playing the part for the marshals. “All right, sounds as if he’s on a bender. I’ll come out there and talk to him. Be there in ten minutes.”
When Royce hung up, Jake called his dad’s phone to tell Chet to get back to the house. The third call was to Tommy Rester, one of the ranch hands, and Jake asked the man to tighten the security around the ranch and then come to the house so he could run an errand.
“I can call the marshals,” Jake heard Maggie say.
She was in the doorway between the kitchen and the great room, and she’d no doubt heard his call to Tommy.
He shook his head. “I don’t want them or anyone to know you’re with me. And even if you don’t tell them that, they might guess.”
Right now, he just wanted to focus on leaving, not the marshals.
Nell came rushing into the room, her face as harried as Jake’s probably was. “I put together a food basket for Maggie and you. Some clothes, too. Where will you be going?”
“I’d rather not say, but the rest of you will be taking Sunny to the hospital in Amarillo.”
Nell nodded. “I’ll pack some of Sunny’s things.”
Jake took her by the arm. “After watching Betsy all this time, you think you could draw blood if you had to?”
His sister’s mouth dropped open. “What’s wrong with Sunny? Why does she need a blood test right away?”
“She doesn’t. It’s for Maggie. I don’t want to rely on Dr. Grange to get her samples to the lab. If you can draw the blood, it’d save me from having to take her to a doctor somewhere.”
Nell glanced at Maggie, who only nodded, and his sister hurried into Sunny’s room. It only took her a few seconds before she came back with a needle and syringe. Jake didn’t watch as Nell drew the blood. Instead, he went to the front window, and the moment he saw the ranch hand Tommy Rester step onto the porch, he opened the door for him.
“I need you to do an errand,” Jake instructed. As soon as Nell had the vial of blood ready, he handed it to Tommy. “Drive this to the Amarillo P.D. crime lab and ask them to process it. I need it compared to Sunny’s bone marrow, and all her information is in the national registry files. Understand?”
Tommy gave a shaky nod. The young man no doubt understood the severity of what was going on, and Jake hoped he could get the sample to Amarillo without interference. Jake figured Tanner had more important things on his mind, like some kind of revenge against Maggie, to go after a ranch hand.
“I’ll get Sunny’s clothes,” Nell said, hurrying up the stairs.
Jake had a dozen things spinning through his mind, but he looked at Maggie to make sure she was okay. She was dabbing her arm where Nell had drawn the blood, but she was also looking at him.
“If he manages to kill me,” Maggie said, her voice trembling a little, “I don’t think you’d be able to use the bone marrow.”
Ah, hell. He definitely didn’t want Maggie thinking in that direction.
“Then, that’s more reason for me to keep you alive.” He didn’t bother to make that sound nice, either. He wanted Maggie fighting mad and not in this worst-case-scenario mode.
“Maybe you should just take me to the hospital now,” she suggested. “And get the marrow.”
It might come down to that, but for now Jake was just looking for a match. Without that match, he’d have a hard time convincing a doctor to harvest bone marrow.
The door flew open, and Jake automatically reached for his gun, but it wasn’t an assassin who came through the door. It was Royce.
“I made sure the marshals didn’t follow me,” Royce informed them. He spared Maggie a cool glance before he looked at Jake. “The Coopersville cops didn’t find a body, and they’re getting hammered by a snowstorm. My guess is the search for the body will have to wait.”
That was too bad, because the elements might destroy any evidence. But Jake had more important things on his hands, and the only way to prevent more people from dying was to focus on what was happening now. He certainly wasn’t putting a dead assassin over Sunny’s safety.
“I need Nell, Dad and you to take Sunny to the Memorial hospital in Amarillo,” Jake told his brother. “Bring several ranch hands with you but keep off the main roads. And call Betsy and ask her to meet you there.”
Royce didn’t even blink. “How soon do we leave?”
“As soon as Nell has everything ready.”
Royce nodded and tipped his head to Maggie. “What about her?”
“She’s going with me, and we’ll disappear until we get the test results back.” Which he hoped would be soon. Once they were away from the ranch, he needed to start making calls to see about speeding up both sets of test results.
Royce walked closer to Maggie, snagged her gaze. “Thanks for coming.” He didn’t wait for her to respond. Royce turned and went into Sunny’s room.
That was Jake’s reminder that he needed to tell his little girl goodbye, and that wouldn’t be easy. He wanted to be with Sunny, so he could be the one to protect her, but if he showed up at the hospital, it wouldn’t take long for word to get back to the marshals.
And he’d be arrested.
He wouldn’t do Sunny or Maggie much good if he was behind bars.
Jake stepped into the room and saw that Sunny was still asleep. Good. Maybe she’d stay that way for the entire drive. He held a mask over his face, went to her bed, leaned down and kissed her. She opened her eyes for just a moment and smiled at him.
“I love you, baby,” he whispered, but if she heard him she didn’t respond.
“Ready?” Royce asked him when Jake didn’t move.
Jake forced himself away from the bed, glanced back and saw Maggie in the doorway. She was still holding her arm, and there were tears in her eyes. Jake choked down his own sadness. Tears and sadness wouldn’t help Sunny now, and he had to get her away from the ranch.
Royce tucked the blankets around Sunny and lifted her into his arms. He stepped out in the foyer just as Nell came down the stairs carrying a suitcase that no doubt contained some of Sunny’s things.
“Just got off the phone with Dad,” Nell said. “He’s getting the SUV ready, and it’s parked out back.”
Later, Jake would need to thank his father for helping, especially for the part about not pitching a fit when Jake brought Maggie to the house. Under the circumstances, a fit wouldn’t have been reasonable, but Chet didn’t always operate on reason.
“I’ll call you when we get to the hospital,” Nell assured Jake, and they started for the back door just as Royce’s phone buzzed.
Shifting Sunny in his arms, Royce took his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “It’s David Tanner.”
Why the devil would he be calling now? Jake wanted to tell Royce to let the call go to voice mail, but maybe this was a chance to find out what David had on his mind. However, before Jake could voice that, his own phone buzzed, and he saw it was from his dad.
“Anything wrong?” Jake asked the moment he hit the answer button.
“Yeah. Just got word from one of the hands that David Tanner is at the front gate of the ranch. What does the SOB want?”
“I’m not sure, but Royce is about to find out.”
Royce quickly handed Sunny to Nell, and he took the call on Speaker. Not that she needed the reminder, but Jake motioned for Maggie to stay quiet. He’d do the same because even though they were about to leave, he didn’t want David blabbing to the marshals that he was there. It might get Royce in hot water.
Jake went to the front sidelight window, but he didn’t step directly in front of it. He looked outside and spotted the upscale silver car and the man standing beside it.
“That’s David all right,” Maggie said, glancing at the window as well.
“What do you want?” Royce snapped into the phone. Definitely not a warm greeting to David.
“Good day to you, too, Royce. I’m at the front gate of the ranch, and one of your workers has a shotgun pointed at me. He insists Jake isn’t there, but I believe otherwise.”
“Believe what you want,” Royce fired back.
“It’s admirable, you covering for him, but there’s no reason for that. I just want to talk to him, and trust me, what I have to say is important. It would be in his best interest, and Sunny’s, to listen.”
Jake’s stomach knotted. He didn’t want this slime to mention Sunny’s name.
“Is that some kind of threat?” Royce challenged.
“Just the opposite,” David insisted. “Tell Jake I need to speak to him now, and that I’ll be waiting for him out here. The information I have for him could save Maggie’s life.” He paused a heartbeat. “And his daughter’s.”
* * *
MAGGIE TRIED NOT TO REACT, but the last thing David said took away some of her breath.
What the heck was this visit all about? Why include Sunny in it?
Maybe David had heard rumors that Maggie was back. Or more than rumors. If Wade had squealed to David’s father about the computer hacking he did for Jake, then Tanner would have likely called his son.
“David’s bluffing,” Jake concluded after Royce hit the end-call button.
Probably. But Maggie figured the man knew something. Now, whether that something would save Sunny’s and her lives was anyone’s guess.
“Go ahead and get Sunny to the hospital,” Jake told his siblings.
With Sunny cradled in her arms, Nell turned to leave, but Maggie leaned over and gave the child a goodbye kiss on the top of her head. She prayed she’d get to see Sunny again soon, and while she was praying, Maggie added that the marrow test would be a match.
Nell headed toward the back of the house where the SUV was waiting to whisk them away, but Royce stayed put. He put his hands on his hips and stared at his brother.
“You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?” he asked Jake.
“I’ll take care of the situation,” Jake answered, causing Royce to curse.
Royce’s gaze snapped to her. “Whatever the hell he’s thinking about doing, talk him out of it.” And with that farewell, Royce hurried after Nell and Sunny.
Jake and she went to the kitchen, and from the window they watched as the SUV drove away on the back road that Jake and she had taken to get to the house.
Maggie glanced at Jake to see how he was handling this. He looked stoic enough, but she knew deep down his heart was breaking. He loved Sunny more than life itself, and his baby was in danger not just from her illness but from an old threat that seemingly wouldn’t go away.
Well, not without help, it wouldn’t.
“She’ll be okay,” Maggie whispered to Jake, and she hoped that was true. She paused, trying to find the right words, or rather the right argument, to convince him of what she had to do. “David called Royce, but you and I both know he really wants to talk to me.”
“No—”
“And I want to talk to him,” she finished, speaking right over Jake. “I can assure him the evidence against him is safe, and it’ll stay that way.”
“No,” Jake repeated. He took her by the shoulders and roughly turned her around to face him. “You’re going to stay here, and I’ll go out there to talk to David.”
Now it was her turn to take him by his arms. “The marshals are after you,” she reminded him.
“I’ll only be out there a few minutes. I just want to hear what he has to say.”
“What he has to say?” she repeated, practically in a shout. “He probably wants to kill you in retaliation for the pact I broke with his father.”
“I’m not going out there unarmed, and he won’t get a chance to kill me. If he draws his gun, I will, too, and we’ll end this here and now.”
Maggie noted the stubborn set of his jaw and gave it right back to him. “It won’t end it. If you hurt David or kill him, that’ll just unleash Tanner. He’ll come after you with all he’s got.”
“He’s already come after us with that gunman I left dead in the woods. Now, I just need to figure out who Tanner’s using to try again. If it’s Dr. Grange, then I have to know so I can have him arrested for aiding a convicted felon.”
Maggie could see that side of the argument, but there was a more obvious side. “You really think David will tell you who his father hired to hurt us?”
“Not intentionally, but I’ll try to light a fuse or two to his temper and see what comes out of his mouth.”
Maggie just shook her head. “Anything that comes out of David Tanner’s mouth will be a lie designed to protect his own butt or his father’s.”
“Maybe. But it’ll only cost me a few minutes of my time. Then, we’re getting out of here. I have to get you to someplace safe.”
He didn’t say where that place might be, perhaps because a safe one didn’t exist. Still, almost anywhere was safer than here since it was the first place Tanner’s men would look. The marshals, too. Maggie seriously doubted that they’d stay away for long, because they would be antsy to talk to Jake and arrest him.
“The ranch hands are out there to back me up,” he added. Jake took a pair of walkie-talkies from the foyer desk drawer and handed her one. “I’ll keep it on so you can hear what he says. Be ready to leave as soon as I get back.”
And that was it. He certainly wasn’t asking her permission to attend this meeting. Jake gave her one last look and headed out the door.
Maggie hurried to the window, keeping out of sight but peeking around the edge of the window frame so she could keep watch. She wished she had a gun so she could give Jake some backup, but Jake had taken back his Beretta.
At least the two ranch hands out there were well armed, and while David might have criminal intentions, he wasn’t stupid. Far from it. He wouldn’t fire on Jake if there was a chance he could be gunned down himself.
As Jake approached him, David lifted his hands in the air, no doubt to show Jake that he wasn’t armed. However, the man was wearing a thick duster-length coat. He could conceal a grenade launcher in that garment.
“Jake,” she heard David say when Jake stopped in front of him. “Thank you for agreeing to speak with me.”
“You said you had information to save my daughter.” There was nothing friendly about his tone, and he certainly didn’t acknowledge the thank-you.
“I do.” David made an uneasy, sweeping glance around them and lowered his hands to his side. “Just so you know, my father didn’t send me, and if he knew I was here, he wouldn’t be pleased.”
“Really?” Jake challenged.
“Really,” he confirmed. “I came to warn you that my father had a large sum of money transferred from one offshore account to another. In the past, he’s only done that for one reason—to pay someone to do something illegal for him.”
Oh, mercy. Maggie didn’t doubt that Tanner had done such a thing, but she was seriously doubting David’s motives for telling Jake.
“I need the name of the person he hired.” Jake asked.
David shook his head. “I’ve been trying to find out but so far, nothing.”
Jake said something she didn’t catch. “So, you came here out the goodness of your heart to warn me of the obvious—that your father’s a cold-blooded killer?” He took a step closer, probably violating David’s personal space. “I know what Tanner is. And I also know you’re his son and would do anything for him.”
“No. Not anymore.” David made a weary sound and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, I don’t expect you to believe that I want to do something to help you. I’ve given you no reason to trust me.”
“You’re right about that,” Jake answered.
David looked him straight in the eyes. “But I am going to help you.”
“The only help I want from you is information. Why were you skulking around town this morning?”
Maggie wished she were closer so she could see David’s exact expression, but she thought maybe he flinched. “You mean my visit to Dr. Grange?” He lifted his shoulder. “I’d heard you were looking for a bone marrow donor for your daughter, and I had the test done, to see if I’m a match.”
Well, Maggie hadn’t seen that coming, but since it was coming from David, it could be a hollow gesture or even an attempt to cover up the real reason for the visit—an intimidation tactic to get information from the doctor. Still, if by some miracle he was a match and she wasn’t, then one way or another she would get that bone marrow for Sunny.
“I’ll let you know how the test turns out,” David continued, “but I’m guessing your best bet is Maggie, since she and your daughter are blood kin. And that brings me to another reason why I’m here. There are rumors she’s back.”
“She’s not,” Jake lied. “She’s in WITSEC, and she has a no-contact order against me and my family.”
David nodded, indicating he knew that. “But if she were to learn Sunny was sick, she’d come back.” He paused. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Because you’d try to kill her.”
“No,” David quickly disagreed. “But my father would use money from that offshore account to hire someone to do the job.” Another pause. “And he would do that even if it meant Maggie had some kind of incriminating information against me.”
Jake huffed loud enough for her to hear. “You want me to believe that your father would allow you to go to jail so he could get back at Maggie?”
“Yes.” David didn’t hesitate, either. “My father and I had a parting of the ways about three months ago.”
“What caused that?”
David shook his head. “I’ll plead the Fifth there. But let’s just say it would have involved someone’s death, and I wanted no part in it.”
Maggie wasn’t buying any of this.
“Maggie’s death?” Jake pressed.
“No. Someone involved in my father’s appeals process. Don’t worry. The death didn’t happen, and now I’m his scapegoat. Whatever evidence Maggie has against me,” David continued, “my father will gladly stand back and let her use it if he doesn’t have her gunned down first. He hates her, Jake. Not just for the investigation, but he blames her for his being on death row.”
“Murdering my wife put Tanner on death row,” Jake pointed out.
Maggie’s chest tightened, and she felt sick to her stomach. She hated that Jake had to be reminded of Anna’s death, but then Anna was no doubt always on his mind.
“And my father deserves to be where he is,” David conceded.
David was giving a very convincing performance. She made a mental note to try to find out if there had indeed been some kind of falling-out between father and son. Maybe the prison officials would know.
“There’s a lot I’m just learning about Maggie’s investigation,” David said a moment later. “How much has she told you?”
Had her heart stopped for a few seconds? It certainly felt like it.
Oh, sweet heaven.
Maggie wanted to shout out for David to keep his mouth shut. Jake didn’t need this now. But if David knew, then eventually it would get back to Jake.
She needed to be the one to tell him.
It would only make things worse, of course. That seemed to be all she could do when it came to Jake—make things worse—and he might hate her all the more for keeping something like this from him.
“All of this is just talk,” Jake said, “and I have a lot more important things I need to be doing.” He turned to walk away.
“I can find out who my father hired to come after Maggie,” David said.
That stopped Jake in his tracks, and he turned back around to face the man. “How? If you’re on the outs with your father, as you say you are, why would he give you that kind of information?”
“He wouldn’t give it to me,” David verified. “But I still have access to some of his old contacts.” He checked his watch. “Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll have a name for you. Maybe then you’ll see I’m trying to help you.”
With that, David turned and walked to his car.