Chapter Four
Chase glanced at her then looked back at the television screen. Travis Trainer was the last man I saw on the TV. “Why?”
“Because that’s the man who shot the man in the alley that night. He’s the one that killed Ian, and he’s blaming me for it. As soon as I saw his face, it was like the fog lifted and I could see everything as clear as a bell. He was the man Ian was arguing with that night. He was the one that bumped my car off the road.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure that he’s the one that killed your friend? It wasn’t Grayson?”
She nodded.
Chase grabbed her by the arms. “I need you to think back to the night Ian died. Was there anyone with Travis Trainer that night?
“What do you mean?”
“You said before ‘they’ were waiting in the alley. Was there someone with Travis that night?”
She thought about that night. She couldn’t even remember why her and Nick were in that part of town. She paused. And who is Nick? “There was someone else there that night, but I didn’t get a very good look at him. He was standing in the shadows. You know, I could see his outline in the shadows. He was the one with the stinky aftershave.”
“Come on, we’d better get going,” Chase said. “We have a long way to go.”
“Why are you so interested in Grayson Trainer?”
“Do you remember what I said earlier about Seth Trainer, his boys, Grayson and Travis?” Chase asked her. When she nodded, he went on to explain, “Grayson has always been a bully, even when we were kids he liked to push around the smaller kids. Maybe he felt that way because of how things were at home, I don’t know. It sure doesn’t matter now. He thinks that because he wears a sheriff’s uniform people should automatically respect him. He’s mad because I don’t. I feel if a person wants my respect they should earn it. Grayson feels because I don’t show him respect then no one else does either. He doesn’t realize that it’s because of the way he treats everyone that people don’t respect him. A bully might get respect from the fear he puts in other people but it isn’t real respect and I think the bully knows it. Grayson is nothing more than a tyrant.”
“But why did you ask if I saw him that night?” she asked.
“If Travis is into something illegal, then Grayson is right there with him, always two steps behind him. When they were growing up, they had no other friends. Those two boys always did stick together. That’s the way it’s always been and always will be.”
She thought Chase sounded like he had something in mind for the Trainer brothers, but she didn’t ask about it. She had her own agenda to worry about. Being this close to Chase wasn’t helping her concentration much. She glanced up at him. “Maybe we should go. We can’t be here when he comes back. He’ll kill both of us.”
Chase nodded. “The horse is ready.”
She felt confused for a moment but she nodded. Chase grabbed a bag off the table and ushered her out to the porch. When she saw the horse standing by the front door, she looked over at Chase with raised brows. He did mean A horse! She watched him throw the bag over the front of the saddle. When he mounted the horse, she moved to the edge of the step.
Chase held out his hand. She stepped closer to the animal, so she could reach out her hand. He hauled her up behind him on the horse. She wasn’t real sure about this part, she’d never ridden a horse before. “I thought we were taking a truck?”
“No,” he told her as he reined the horse away from the house. “I don’t want to leave any tracks for Grayson to follow. There is no real road to the cabin anyway and the wind will cover Beau’s tracks in no time.”
“Well, that makes sense. Beau, I take it, is the horse’s name?” she muttered as the horse began to move under her.
“Yeah, his name is Beau.”
With every step the horse took, she could feel his body bump against hers. And every time it did, her imagination was leading her into dangerous territory. She liked the way his body felt against hers. She could only imagine want it would feel like if they were naked. She had to stop thinking about this. It surely wasn’t right. They were running away from murderers and riding a horse to get away, for Pete’s sake.
He steered the horse toward the sound of rushing water.
She frowned when she saw the wreck that used to be her car, partially wrapped around a small clump of trees. As Chase had told her, the snow had covered the tracks and had almost covered the entire car. If the trees hadn’t stopped her progress down the hill, her car would have come to rest in the creek.
“Did you want to stop for anything?” he asked her.
“I have no idea what’s even in there. But yeah, I’d like to stop if you don’t mind. Maybe there is something there that could tell me who I am. Maybe even tell me what my name is.” She stared at the wreckage. The vehicle had come to rest against the trunk of a huge tree. The metal was crumbled beyond recognition and she could barely see the path it’d taken down the incline. She swallowed hard when she finally realized how lucky she was to be alive.
Sliding off the back of the horse, she slipped and slid her way over to the car. Brushing snow away, she opened the trunk. For a moment her mind went blank, then she began rummaging around inside.
Eve brought out a small black bag then took a moment to look over her car. Shaking her head, she lowered the lid and went back to Chase. She handed him the small black bag. “This was all I could find.”
“Do you know what’s in there?” he asked as he tucked inside his jacket.
She shook her head. “No, but it is heavy. There must be something in it.”
“We can find out when we get to the cabin.”
She stepped closer to Beau and Chase.
Chase handed her back up behind him. “Are you ready?”
Eve nodded. “Yes.”
Chase reined the horse away from the creek toward the tree line. They rode for about twenty minutes before she saw the cabin, small and tucked away where no one would likely know to look. The cabin had a three sided lean-to attached to one side while the front door looked out on the creek. There was a stack of wood inside the lean-to where she could see a couple bales of hay as well. She only hoped that she would be safe until she could remember the rest of what happened in that alley and why she was even there to begin with.
~ * ~
Chase rode right up to the front door and swung off of Beau then tied him up to the hitching post. He turned to give her a hand off and went to open the front door.
The inside of the cabin was clean and sparsely furnished. Chase wanted to apologize for the accommodations but instead he shook his head. “I’ll get a fire going, so it will warm up in here.”
“It’s so cold I-I can see my breath,” she said shivering.
Chase had always loved the cabin. He spent hours here enjoying the peace and quiet. Simple with a table tucked in one corner, a double bed in the other corner. The two areas were somewhat separated by a sofa placed in front of the fireplace. He tried not to think about the sleeping accommodations. That brought to mind all kind of wrong ideas. There were other things he needed to think about. He watched her walk to the cupboard and chuckled softly when she opened it. His gaze remained steady as she turned to look at him. Two steps in such a small space brought him to her side where he reached around her and he closed the cupboard again. Then he built a fire in the kitchen stove as well, volunteering nothing.
“What are you doing with a computer and ham radio way out here?” she finally asked.
Chase sighed, a bit of exasperation in that exhalation. He knew he would have to explain things to her. He’d hoped to have a little more time to figure this out but time was running short. He nodded for her to sit down at the table. He sat down as well. “I grew up around here, that much of what I told you yesterday is true. This ranch belonged to my grandfather and I spent many summers out here. I have known the Trainers since we were kids. What I didn’t tell you was that when I was eighteen, I moved away from the area. I went to college then after graduation, I joined the Army. I spent the next twelve years with intelligence ops. About three years ago, a good friend of mine got into some trouble. I came home to help him.”
“Help him with what?”
“He was hooked on Gentle Breezes. He was so messed up there really wasn’t much I could do. I managed to get him clean but he was left with a severe personality disorder, and he was never the same again.”
“That doesn’t explain why you have a computer and ham radio here,” Eve reminded him.
Chase took a deep breath and let it out. “Sometimes, I come out here to think, to catch up with my old Army buddies. I also still do some consulting work for the Army. That part’s confidential, so I can’t really talk about it. I have a generator in the lean-to that I can start when I need power. Sometimes I’m here a couple of weeks at a time, but I still need to be able to keep in touch with what’s going on at the ranch. My foreman—”
“What foreman?” Eve frowned as she interrupted. “I didn’t notice anyone else at the ranch.”
“He’s been at an auction for the last few days. I was out riding line fences yesterday when I found you. Somewhere along the way, my ranch work got shoved to the back burner. I’ll have to radio Barry when he gets back to the ranch to coordinate a little with him and warn him about Grayson.”
“How big is your ranch, anyway?” Eve asked. “I haven’t seen much of the ranch but I assumed that it wasn’t all that big.
“There’s a couple hundred acres with about one hundred fifty head of cattle and horses.” He shrugged. “It really isn’t all that large a spread but the animals still need to eat. I don’t maintain much of the land but I do grow some alfalfa and corn for the cattle and horses.”
“Is that what you do? Ranch work I mean. I guess I never asked what you do for a living.”
Chase smiled. “I guess that’s what I do. I have a pension from the military and some online work, but at heart, I guess I’m a rancher. My grandfather left me the ranch and I guess I’ve always wanted to work the land.”
Eve took off her coat. With a nod toward the cabinet, she asked, “And you keep in contact with everyone by radio.”
“Yes. There’s a cell tower nearby but it doesn’t always reach here for the phone. It seems to work better for the radio.”
Eve went over to where they had left the items they brought with them. She picked up the black pouch. She turned to Chase. “I’m not sure if I want to know what this is. Or if it is what I think it is, why I even have it.” She handed the bag to him. “Will you look?”
Chase stared at her for a moment. “I think you know exactly what’s in the bag,” he told her quietly.
Eve nodded. She raised a shaky hand to her throat. “But if it is a gun why do I have it?”
“I’m not sure, but let’s find out exactly what it is before we conjecture anymore about it.” He unzipped the small case and lifted the flap. Nestled inside was just what he thought would be there. It was a small hand gun. He recognized it as a Glock 9mm. It looked like a well-cared for weapon. Chase knew that was a sign that she took very good care of her weapon. The question was what was she doing with this kind of weapon in the first place?
He looked over at her and found her backing away from him slowly. A look of complete shock was on her face as she stared at the weapon in his hand. She slowly raised her eyes to him and whispered, “What the hell am I doing with that?”
“I don’t have a clue, sweetheart. I don’t have a clue.” He held it out for her.
Eve just took another step back shaking her head. “You keep it until we know why I had it in my trunk.”
Chase took the weapon and placed it on the cupboard with the radio in it. He reached around her to grab the bag of provisions before turning his back to her to carry them to the kitchen.
~*~
Eve glanced outside. The wind had picked up as snow kept falling. She knew she was safe, but she was beginning to feel anxious about the lack of contact with anyone who might be able to help them if Grayson or Travis came looking for them. “Did you get Beau put away for the night?”
Chase shook his head. “Not yet. I’m gonna do that now.” He disappeared outside for a while.
She rummaged about the kitchen, finding tuna, peanut butter, and pineapple chucks in a can…enough calories to put a lunch together; although the final result seemed strange, maybe humorous. Throwing sandwiches and fruit together didn’t take too much time.
By the time she had it finished, Chase came back. He wolfed it down, to her relief, almost without tasting it. Neither of them wanted to say anything about what she found in her trunk.
About mid-afternoon, Chase brought in several armloads of firewood. “Well, the snow and wind are really raising havoc out there.”
“Great.” Eve was beginning to regret the decision to come out here. Her sense of urgency was growing worse. To get her mind off the panic setting in, she asked about Beau, “Is your horse going to be ok in the lean to? He won’t get too cold will he?”
“No he won’t get too cold. The lean to closes up when it needs too. He’ll be warm enough.” He paused then had to ask, “What’s wrong? I can see that look of desperation in your eyes and can hear the impatience in your voice.”
“I guess I’m a little jumpy. I’m not used to being so far from civilization. It’s kind of creepy,” she admitted with a deep sigh, hating to show any weakness.
Chase smiled slightly. “It does seem like we’re the only people on earth out here doesn’t it. Everything is so quiet. I come out here to clear my mind.”
“I can understand why.”
The wind had died down for a moment but the snow was still falling. He grasped her hand leading her to the window. “Tell me what you see out there,” he asked.
She stared outside. “Snow and trees and a whole lot of nothing else,” she replied impatiently.
“Look again, only this time really look,” Chase whispered in her ear. He was standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
She peered through the window glass. She’d grown up in the city; she positively hated the outdoors in the winter. Being cold or wet—those were two things she hated. She frowned as the scene in front of her began to change. It was still just snow and trees she saw, but now almost before her eyes the trees seemed more and more distinct as she observed them, the more she looked the clearer each tree became.
She then saw a black squirrel foraging for something to eat in one of the trees. Soon another squirrel ran up to him, and they began to chase each other through the branches. She saw a patch of bright red way up high in another tree. The longer she stared at it the clearer it became. It was a male cardinal; his bright red plumage was beautiful against the dark bark of the tree. Something moved beyond her line of sight. For a moment, she was afraid Grayson had found them, but it was a deer family. The doe moved into the clearing with caution. Behind her came two pretty good sized fawns.
“What do you see now?” Chase asked.
Eve didn’t know how to explain what she was seeing. “I’m beginning to see what I’ve been missing. It’s subtle enough to overlook, unless you take the time to look properly. Everything comes to life if you take the time to see what’s really there.”
Chase smiled. “Believe it or not, what’s out there changes every day. So, it’s never the same but it’s always alive. That’s nature at its best.”
Eve smiled sheepishly. “I guess I never took the time to notice before. I’m from the city so it didn’t occurred to me the country was any different. I guess it’s the quiet I never expected. I mean in the city there’s always some kind of noise—cars rushing here and there, the sirens of either police or fire truck or ambulances, kids playing right outside your windows, music blasting. It’s all plain noise and sometimes it’s very easy to block it all out. Out here, there is no background noise. Now my world seems messy and exhausting. The silence is what troubles me and it’s what I notice first.”
“The isolation can be quite overwhelming at first. The silence alone can drive you crazy if you let it, or it can calm you.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” He nodded.
“Whatever happened to that friend of yours? The one you helped get clean,” Eve asked.
Chase sighed deeply. “He managed to stay clean. It’s taken a while but he’s still clean. He had to hit rock bottom before he could start his life over, but he did it. He found a new job and a new life. He was one of the lucky ones. He told me once that he felt so stupid for getting caught up in something like drugs. He said it never occurred to him that he could get hooked so easily. He became a counselor and now works in Coven Glade. He said he got a second chance thanks to me and his family. He wanted to give others the same chance. He thinks because he went through the same thing they’re going through, he can help them adjust to sobriety. He found his purpose in life and making a difference to a lot of people.”
“And has he? Helped others reach a state of sobriety, I mean?”
“His program is working. Although lately, he said there are some of his people he’s concerned about. People like him are getting threats against what they do. Some of the people Scott works with are getting nervous.”
Eve frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure, but the pushers are getting more aggressive.” He shrugged. “There’s something going on behind the scenes, it’s almost as if the whole drug community is going off the rails. I just hope it doesn’t explode and catch innocents in the crossfire.”
Eve sighed thoughtfully, nodding. “There’s always that possibility isn’t there? Drugs touch everyone’s lives not just the users. It’s always the ones they leave behind or by the wayside that hurt the worst when something happens. It’s the family left behind that are devastated. They feel the pain for the rest of their lives while the users are past the pain of everyday life.”
As much as she wanted to stand by the window watching the day pass, Chase right behind her, she knew it wouldn’t bring her any closer to Ian’s murderer. She wanted to remember what happened and why but even after two days, she couldn’t remember anything. And the more time that passed, Chase was becoming more important to her than she felt comfortable with. “I wish we could get through to my memory. I really need to figure out what I saw in that alley and why I was even there to begin with.”
Chase exhaled sharply, glancing at his watch. “Barry should be back to the ranch by now.” He turned her by the shoulders toward the ham radio then sat down at the controls tuning in the frequency. Static crackled. Chase fine-tuned the frequency. He spoke into the microphone; a sprat of garbled talk came back.
Eve couldn’t figure out what was said but Chase made it out. For some reason she was getting anxious and she hated that feeling. It felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop and when it did, nothing good would happen, that’s for sure.
The conversation lasted a few minutes until the signal became too weak to pick up…the storm interfered with reception. Chase glanced up. “That was Barry. When he got back to the ranch this afternoon, he found Grayson waiting. Grayson had kicked in the back door and was searching the house when Barry got back. He left quite a mess. Grayson told Barry he found your car earlier today. He considered it as evidence that I must be hiding you. He told Barry I would be charged with aiding a fugitive if he found you anywhere on my property. He said that Grayson was really pissed and that he made all sorts of threats against me. He also told Barry he would give me twenty-four hours to bring you in. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to control what might happen.”
“Will Trainer know where we are? Will he find us out here?” Eve panicked. Grayson must have found the car shortly after they’d left it. They barely missed each other.
“No, Barry didn’t tell him a thing.” Chase frowned deeply. “Grayson has a lot to answer for. I don’t like the fact that he kicked in my door and went through my house without a warrant. I don’t care if he was looking for you or not. By threatening me, he crossed the line as far as I’m concerned.”
Eve knew in her heart what she had to do. She didn’t want to but she knew she couldn’t hide forever. “We have to go back,” she stated quietly.