Chapter Seventeen
Everything had happened so fast, Luke still couldn’t get it straight in his head. As unbelievable as it was, Clive Brennan had tracked his daughter down to tell her she was free and clear as far as he was concerned. He’d left Daniel and Ellen an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills to cover the rental of six cabins for a week with boats and tour guide included. He’d also apologized politely, asking that they not blame O’Sullivan, their regular client, who had made the reservations for them. Apparently, the poor guy truly believed they were going to stay and fish out the week.
Learning that Brennan meant no harm to Sally was a relief, but it left some rather significant unanswered questions behind.
Reclining on a grass-covered bank, Luke looked out over the lazy bend in the river where Jen and Sally fished. Five-year-old Bridgett sat not far from Jen and kept up a running stream of one-sided conversation. Jen’s occasional comment seemed to be all Bridgett required to keep her talking. The innocence of the two made him smile…until he remembered the puzzle he’d been trying to figure out ever since Brennan and his entourage were picked up by two additional men in black SUVs. No one had been sorry to see them go.
“Maybe your house blowing up was accidental—a gas leak or something. And maybe those men who rammed us were drunk out of their heads and just looking for trouble. We should call the sheriff to see if he’s found anything.” He threw out the ideas, even though they were baseless. He wasn’t ready to give voice to his hunch yet, mostly because Sally had made it clear the subject was off-limits.
He should have known she wouldn’t buy it. Sally didn’t even look at him. “The house was all electric—no gas leak. And those men? They shot at your truck after it went off the cliff, remember? You’re right, though. We should call the sheriff.” Sally whipped her line over her head expertly, casting and landing her fly on the water with a delicate touch.
Luke grinned. Where had she learned to cast like that? It was a thing of beauty. Jen was nearly as good. Perhaps he’d talk them into giving him some lessons before he embarrassed himself.
Sally swiveled to look at him without moving her feet. “You should call your brother too. He’ll be worried.”
True enough, but there was still something hinky about this whole setup. With the lack of anyone to blame, suspicion had been cast far and wide. “What about Lambert? He’ll want to know what happened.” Luke would be interested in how the man responded when he learned of Brennan’s visit. Did he already know Sally’s father wasn’t a threat? The marshal’s high-handed method of trying to force Sally to leave with him suddenly seemed blatantly fishy. No pun intended.
She reeled in her line and stepped from the ankle-deep water a foot from shore, exchanging words with Jen. The girl smiled and continued to fish from a gradually sloping bank a dozen feet upriver. Sally strode toward him, with only a slight limp. An easy smile contradicted the strain she’d undergone a few hours before. Luke’s gaze swept over the gauze wrap covering the heel of both hands as well as her right knee. MacGyver and Luke had spent the better part of an hour removing dozens of small slivers from her scraped-up hands while Travis and Coop entertained her with a PG version of life with a SEAL unit. Luke couldn’t tell if it was her interest in their stories or the wine they held so she could drink or Brennan’s abrupt exit from her life that was responsible for her relaxed and mellow state.
His gaze followed her as she approached, and when she sat gingerly beside him, he hooked his arm around her waist. “Doing okay?”
Sally leaned over and dropped a kiss on his mouth. “Stop worrying. Other than making it hard to dress myself, this is nothing.” She held up her two gauze-wrapped hands.
Luke chuckled. “I’d be happy to help you with that.”
An unladylike snort issued from her throat. “Yeah, I just bet you’d be all kinds of help.”
He increased the pressure of his arm around her, bringing her closer. “Are you sure about not getting those stitches?” This wasn’t the first time he’d brought it up in the hopes she’d reconsider. She’d decided shortly after they’d finished digging slivers from her hands that she’d been poked and pinched enough for one day.
“I’ve made up my mind, so let it go, Luke. The cut isn’t deep and Matt cleaned and disinfected it. I had a tetanus shot less than six months ago, so I’m good to go. Better than good—I’m free of my father’s shadow for the first time in eleven years.”
Concern jabbed him as it had a number of times since Clive Brennan gave his speech and walked out of her life, leaving them with more questions than they had answers. Was Sally’s old man playing a vicious game of his own? Was he lying when he told her he had nothing to do with bombing her house or trying to run them off the road? The only thing wrong with that line of thinking was they’d all stumbled unwittingly into Brennan’s trap this morning. He had them. What possible benefit would he derive from lying at that point?
“Free from your father, but the shadow’s still with us.”
Sally wrinkled her brow and studied him thoughtfully.
“Emmett Purnell was pissed as hell the night the fire started. Are you still convinced he wasn’t involved?” The list of people who might have thought they had a score to settle with Sally was short and improbable. Still, Luke ran through the list once again, biding his time.
“Emmett isn’t my favorite person, but I don’t think he plotted to kill me. Don’t forget, he came to warn us about Clive being on our trail. He’s a woman-beater, which doesn’t place him high on the list of morals, but no…he’s not a murderer.” Sally fingered the still-tender spot on her cheekbone where Emmett had belted her.
Luke gently brushed her cheek with one finger, gritting his teeth until his instant rage came under control. “I agree, but I should have kicked the shit out of him when I had the chance.”
Sally lay her right hand on his chest, drawing his gaze to hers. A teasing smile lit her eyes. “Were you serious when you asked me to marry you?”
“Which time?”
Sally slapped him lightly on the stomach, then cradled her hand and gave him a pretty pout.
“I was serious each and every time. I have to admit, you took me by surprise when you said yes. There I was without a ring, in a room full of hostiles and MacGyver grinning like a monkey.”
Sally laughed softly. “I figured we were all going to die. I wanted you to know that even if all we had left was a few minutes, I wanted to spend them with you.”
Luke’s hand slid slowly down the column of her throat. “Oh, I see. The only reason you agreed to marry me was because you thought you were going to die any minute?”
Sally tilted her head and regarded him. “I didn’t say that…exactly.”
“Since your life has been extended indefinitely, you’re not going to change your mind on me, are you?”
She lay her head on his shoulder. “Just try to get rid of me, sailor.”
A chuckle rumbled from his chest as he kissed the top of her head. That was the answer he wanted to hear, and his heart skipped lightly in response. “No way. I’m going to try like hell to keep you right here.” He pulled her closer to his side.
“You might be up to the challenge.” Mischief flashed in her eyes.
“Damn right.” He tipped his head and landed a kiss on the tip of her nose, then moved to her lips as he placed his other arm around her and molded her to his chest. A few seconds later, he heard childish giggles, and little Bridgett groaned.
Sally pulled away, mirth reflected in the blue of her eyes. “No private moments when there are kids around.”
Luke sighed. “Damn, I hope that’s not true.”
Sally just grinned as she sat next to him again.
A few feet away, Jen laid her line across the water in a perfect cast. Luke stole a glance at Sally. “Do you have any enemies we should check out? Anyone who might hold a grudge?”
Her forehead scrunched as though concentrating. “No one I can think of.”
Luke took a deep breath. If he couldn’t get her to volunteer the information, he’d have to pry. “What about Jen’s father?”
Sally tensed instantly and tried to pull away, but Luke rolled to a sitting position and tightened his hold on her waist. “Wait. Tell me it’s none of my business if that’s the way you feel, but please don’t run away from me.”
Anger flashed in her eyes and, for a moment, it seemed as though she would repeat his words back to him, effectively shutting down his line of questioning. He quirked an eyebrow as she stared at him. Finally, she dropped her head away from his gaze and her face turned red, whether from anger or embarrassment remaining unclear.
Luke hooked one finger beneath her chin and repositioned her face so he could see her eyes. “Trust me, babe.” Pulling her toward him, he crushed his lips over hers possessively.
What in the hell was he doing? He couldn’t force her to reveal details about a man and a time in her life she’d just as soon forget. Except for the sake of determining whether the man held a grudge bad enough to do her harm, Luke wouldn’t have brought it up. He didn’t want to put her through the pain of remembering but, damn it, her safety was at stake.
She closed her eyes for a long heartbeat, and when she opened them, she nodded determinedly. “If you ever tell Jen any of this, I’ll…well, I’ll pretend I’m going to have sex with you in a public place and then take all your clothes and leave you there naked.” The lack of a smile at the end of her statement spoke to how angry she would be.
Luke winced. “Yeah? I think I saw that in a television sitcom a few years ago. Not something I’d be looking forward to.”
She raised her chin. “If we’re in agreement, ask me what you want to know.”
“Does the man live around Huntington?” Luke rubbed his hand up and down her back.
“He lives in Grizzly Gulch, near the lodge.”
“He doesn’t have any contact with you or Jen?”
“I’d see him now and then when I used to visit Rachel. He’s a pig, so I didn’t waste time being cordial. He never knew about Jen…until a few months ago. Came snooping around, asking questions. Wanted to know who Jen’s father was. I lied and told him it was Jonathan, but he didn’t believe me. He said Jen didn’t look anything like Jonathan.” Sally’s gaze wandered to the girls on the riverbank.
“What was he after? Visitation? Did he want you back?” Luke nearly choked on the words.
She shook her head. “He holds a notable public position in the county and he’s afraid if anyone else makes the connection between him and Jen, I might be able to cause trouble for him. He doesn’t want anything to do with me or his child. He suggested strongly that I take Jen and leave Idaho.”
“Did he threaten you?” Luke tamped down the rage building inside him.
“Not in so many words, but it was there in the way he sneered and the way he talked to me—like he couldn’t use big words because I wouldn’t understand them.”
Luke was on the verge of seeing her face through a red haze. He had to throttle back his fury. There was a chance Jen’s father was the one who’d blown up Sally’s house and tried to run them off the road. On the other hand, would someone so concerned with his public image take that kind of risk? He seemed more at home using innuendos and threats than getting his hands dirty. What was he hiding that would make the risk worthwhile?
Luke moved closer, bringing Sally between his legs so she could lean back against his chest. He joined his hands around her and hugged her tightly. “What did you mean when you said you might be able to cause trouble for him? What do you have on the guy?”
Sally went quiet. Didn’t move. Didn’t speak. A hitch in her breathing was an obvious indication of her distress. Luke gave her what time she needed, counting the minutes as he watched the sun disappear behind the mountains to the west. Damned if she didn’t start to tremble, and he wrapped himself around her to offer what warmth he could.
“If I’m going to tell you the rest, you have to promise you won’t do anything that will make it worse for Jen.”
Luke got the uncomfortable feeling he was being torn apart. Instinctively, he sensed something bad was coming—something he’d feel duty-bound to avenge—but she had him with her request to protect Jen. “I’d never hurt her, Sally.”
Again, she let some time pass. “I met him at the Cougar Ridge Watering Hole one night when Rachel was working behind the bar. I’d had a couple of drinks without eating and they hit me pretty hard. Rachel cut me off and said I’d be staying the night with her at the lodge, but he offered to take me home. I’d have never accepted…but he was the sheriff. You should be able to trust a sheriff.” Sally covered her face and burrowed against his arm.
“Sheriff Mike Connors?” It was everything Luke could do to remain sitting with his hands quietly laced around her. His brother had butted heads with Connors when Garrett first arrived—enough to know the sheriff wasn’t above stretching the law. Apparently, he wasn’t above breaking it either. Luke could guess what Sally was going to say next, and if she thought he was going to let that son of a bitch get away with hurting her, she wasn’t thinking clearly. Reminding himself to breathe, he leaned his head toward her ear.
“It’s okay, babe,” he whispered.
“I had to get up early the next morning and I just wanted to go home and crawl in bed. By then I was really feeling the drinks. It was stupid—I knew better—no amount of rationalizing will ever excuse what I did. God, Luke, I let him take me home.” Her voice broke and she swiped at tears falling freely down her face.
“I fell asleep in the car. I don’t even remember arriving at the house. The next morning I woke up naked in my bed…and I knew. The bastard had drugged me…and raped me.”
With a gargantuan effort, Luke kept his voice calm and nonreactive, because anything else would only make it harder for her. “Did you call the cops?”
Sally shook her head miserably, issuing a cynical laugh. “What part of sheriff didn’t you understand? I don’t know how it is where you’re from, but here all the law enforcement officers belong to a good-old-boys club. I was barely twenty, new to the area and trying not to undo what Marshal Lambert had done for me by having my face splashed all over the media. Who was going to believe me over a cop?” She lost it then, covering her face as she leaned into him, her torso shaking with her sobs.
Luke held her close, using his body as a shield from young, inquisitive girls who might otherwise see her and come running to find out what was wrong. “Go ahead and cry, babe. You’ve earned the right. I’m sorry I wasn’t here then to take care of that piece-of-shit sheriff.” Barely breathing the words, he doubted if she heard him…and it was just as well. He was here now, and he wasn’t going to let an opportunity to kick the man’s ass pass him by. Luke would gladly accept Sally’s threatened retribution for the privilege of unleashing holy hell on the sheriff’s good name.
Sally gradually settled, crossing her arms on top of his and glancing at him over her shoulder. “Morning sickness was so bad with Jen I knew before I ever took the pregnancy test. It was just a formality. I don’t think I’ve ever been more alone or scared as I was then. So sick I couldn’t make it to work half the time and barely making ends meet as it was. I didn’t know Rachel very well back then, but she could tell something was wrong, and I finally told her I was pregnant.” Sally stopped and leaned her head back on his shoulder.
Luke had never felt so helpless. He was used to being in the thick of battle, making shit happen, but there was nothing he could do but listen, and it was killing him.
“I wouldn’t have made it through the next eight and a half months without Rachel, Peg and Jonathan. They literally saved my life. And then Jen was born, and I couldn’t believe something so good, so perfect, had come from all that ugliness.” Sally shifted in his arms, turning sideways, love shining in her eyes for her daughter, who was currently helping Bridgett examine some treasure she held.
“She’s pretty incredible…and you’re an amazing mother.” Luke pressed his lips to her ear, wiping an errant tear from her cheek, happy to hear her chuckle at his compliment.
“I am, aren’t I?”
He snorted. “And humble too. How many more would you like, sunshine?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Babies? A couple should do it.”
The idea of creating babies with this beautiful woman made him smile. Sally and Jen had been all the family he’d craved, and they’d seemed unattainable a few short days ago. Nine months ago, he’d been faced with the possibility of never walking again. Only a week before that, he’d accepted the fact he would likely die in a filthy shithole somewhere in Afghanistan. Now, babies? Luke buried his face in the crook of her neck as his vision blurred and his eyes burned with unshed tears—the first he’d allowed since Ian’s death.
Sally shifted again, her front meeting his as she slid her arms around his neck. “Thanks for not judging me, Luke.”
He squeezed her tighter, not trusting his voice, and they stayed like that for a long time, listening to the chatter of the kids and their carefree laughter.
“Hey, Harding, ya wuss! Dinner’s ready. Quit screwin’ off and get your ass up here.” Travis’s gravelly drawl intruded into their peace.
Sally’s head jerked up. “Travis, you promised to work on the language thing.” She raised her voice to the same level his had been and glared at him where he stood about a hundred feet away. Tall grass, driven by a light wind, fanned around his legs. Behind him, all the lights were on in Daniel and Ellen’s cabin and, for the first time, Luke noticed the aromas of good home cooking wafting on the breeze.
“Oh, sh…I mean shoot, Sally. I’m sorry. I forgot about the kids. I swear, it won’t happen again.” Travis shook his head, turned and stomped toward the cabin, still talking and waving his arms.
“Mom, are we going to eat?” Jen rose and started gathering her fishing gear. “I’m starving.”
Sally’s eyes shone with love for her daughter, and, again, Luke felt an inkling of possessiveness.
He caught her gaze and held it until her smile faded. “Thanks for letting me in, sunshine.” He would call Sheriff Anderson in Huntington first thing tomorrow and get the lowdown on Connors. Then he’d ask Ben to check the whereabouts of Jen’s father the night Sally’s house burned. The man wouldn’t be the sheriff for long if Luke had his way. He almost hoped Connors didn’t have anything to do with the events at Sally’s house or, later, on the road to Aunt Peg’s. Luke would much rather Sheriff Connors remained free so he could take his time destroying the man’s fucking life.