Читать книгу Showdown at Shadow Junction - Joanna Wayne - Страница 12
ОглавлениеTwo days and a lifetime of fear and anxiety later, Jade stepped off a plane at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. She’d boarded the flight with trepidation, sure any second someone would recognize her in spite of her horrid wig and fake ID.
Even after she’d taken her seat and the plane had lifted into the air, she’d worried that somehow Reggie had tracked her and would be waiting when she approached the gate. After all, he had all the power and authority of the NYPD behind him.
She’d come close to calling the police herself, but whenever she did, she remembered the look on Reggie’s face when he’d come after her, a trail of blood behind him.
Dread all but paralyzed her and she stopped halfway through the Jetway. People pulling luggage and shouldering bulky backpacks jostled her as they maneuvered past. She didn’t move until the passengers had all exited and the flight attendants were walking toward her.
Finally she started walking again. Relief surged through her as she stepped into the gate area. No one was waiting for her. No one even gave her a second look. She checked the signs and started in the direction of baggage claim and ground transportation.
When she’d flown to Dallas almost two years ago, she rented a car and drove to the Dry Gulch Ranch. This time she was out of cash. The plane ticket had taken the last of the money in her wallet and she didn’t dare use the ATM for fear Reggie was having it monitored.
She could probably take a taxi and let R.J. pay once she reached the Dry Gulch. Or she could risk hitchhiking as she’d done from New York to Atlanta, catching rides with truckers from one town and truck stop to the next.
But it was already after 7:00 p.m. and she was stressed to the breaking point. Climbing in another 18-wheeler with a stranger would surely push her over the edge. All she wanted was a safe place to close her eyes and sleep.
Following a stream of passengers, she crowded onto the escalator, her only luggage the shopping bag that held her strappy heels a toothbrush and toothpaste.
She was wearing the hideous black wig, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, the shoes and the shirt and jeans she’d found in Reggie’s shopping bag.
The bloody dress was in a restroom at a truck stop back in Philly.
Once off the escalator, she started walking toward the taxi stop, still with no clear plan in mind. She spotted two men loitering next to that exit, both staring at her. Panic hit so swiftly she grew dizzy.
Struggling to calm herself with empty reassurances, she willed her feet to start walking in the opposite direction. Without slowing, she glanced over her shoulder. The men were only a few feet behind her and closing the space between them.
“Hey, lady,” one of them called, waving to her.
She picked up her pace, practically running through the crowded airport. She turned a corner and ran smack into a man pulling a carry-on bag. He grabbed her arm to steady her.
She threw her arms around the man’s neck and greeted him like a lover who’d just come home from a long war.
* * *
BOOKER STOOD THERE, too stunned to react to the stranger’s kiss—for a half second. He figured the stranger had mistaken him for someone else, but that wasn’t his fault. He threw himself into the kiss.
“I think you may have the wrong man, but I’m not complaining,” he said when her lips left his.
“Play along with me,” she said. “Act like we’re together. I’ll explain later.”
“Works for me.” What didn’t work was the fear reflected in her gorgeous green eyes or the nervous way she kept glancing over her shoulder.
“I’m at your service. Is there someone here you need punched in the nose?”
“No. Start walking,” she said, taking his arm.
“Where are we going?”
“To the taxi stand.”
“How about we just walk over to the Avis counter? I have a car reserved. I’ll drop you wherever you want to go.”
“A ride would be great.” She glanced over her shoulder again.
“Who is it you’re trying to avoid?”
“No one.”
“You’re putting a lot of effort into this to avoid no one.”
“I thought I saw my ex, but I was mistaken.” She stopped walking and looked behind her, then let go of his arm. “You can go ahead with your plans. I’ll be fine now.”
She didn’t sound fine. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to see that she was in trouble and running scared. Even if she hadn’t been a fantastic kisser, he couldn’t have walked away from that.
“Kiss and run is far worse than kiss and tell,” he teased. “You should at least let me thank you for the spectacular welcome by giving you a ride.”
“I’m going to Oak Grove. It’s over an hour’s drive from here.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do.” Not to mention that he was heading in that direction, anyway. “Do you have a name?”
Again, she hesitated way too long to be telling the truth. “Pam.”
“Nice name.” Just not hers, he’d wager.
“Mine’s Booker Knox.”
“Nice to meet you, Booker.”
She stopped glancing over her shoulder as they made the short trek to the rental desk, but she didn’t volunteer any additional information, either. Quiet. Mysterious. She had his curiosity aroused big-time.
Actually that kiss had aroused more than his curiosity.
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the rental and on the interstate. “Are you going to visit family?” he asked.
“Yes, but they live off the beaten path. There’s a service station on the highway near Oak Grove. You can drop me off there. They’ll come and pick me up.”
“Are they expecting you?”
“Of course. They think I’m taking a taxi, but they’ll be waiting for my call. What about you? Where are you going?”
“To a friend’s ranch. My first time there, but from what I hear, it’s a big spread with a rambling old house. I’m sure they can fit you in if you need a place to stay tonight.”
“No, thanks.”
“Are you from Oak Grove?” he asked.
“No.”
“But you have family there.”
“Yes.”
“What’s their name? I bet my friends know them. I hear it’s a really small town.”
“Smith.”
Probably lying again. But why, unless she was worried about him being a pervert? “Am I making you uneasy?”
“A little. I don’t normally accept rides from strangers.”
Yet she’d kissed one in the airport. “Look, Pam, I can assure you I’m trustworthy. I’m a Navy SEAL on leave and in Oak Grove to visit my half sister. You can call her and she’ll vouch for me.”
She shook her head and pushed her ill-fitting glasses back up her nose. “That’s not necessary.”
But she was anxious about something, likely the same situation that had prompted the kiss. Possibly the ex-boyfriend she’d mentioned. Possibly not.
Traffic on the interstate was heavy. He figured the trip was going to take at least an hour and a half, and his stomach was already complaining that it was past dinnertime.
He took the next exit.
Pam, or whatever her name was, turned to face him. “Where are we going?”
“The freeway sign listed several fast-food choices at this exit. I’m starved. You must be, too, if you just got off a plane. A bag of peanuts and a sip or two of soda isn’t very filling.”
“I could use a bite.”
“What’s your choice?” he asked as they pulled off the frontage road and were confronted with a buffet of choices. “Burgers, tacos, fried chicken, barbecue?”
“You pick.”
“It all looks good to me. There was a severe shortage of artery-clogging fast-food joints in the mountainous wilds of Afghanistan.” He pulled into a familiar chain where he knew the burgers were good and the strawberry shakes even better.
He parked and they went inside. “Nothing like the smell of a burger on the grill.” He ordered two half pounders, fries and a large shake. She ordered a salad.
“Kind of defeats the purpose of going to a greasy-food joint if you eat healthy,” he said, hoping a little teasing would help her loosen up enough to talk about what was really going on with her.
“I need to go wash up,” she said.
Booker watched her walk away. Great butt in a pair of well-fitting jeans, but nothing about her quite rang true. Big-rimmed glasses that kept sliding down her nose as if they belonged to a big brother. The ugly black hair was a wig, a cheap one at that. The jeans were new. So was the T-shirt, as evidenced by the price tag hanging out the back of the neckline. New and several sizes too big.
His guess would be that she was running scared from something or someone.
On the run. Damn. What was he thinking?
Booker rushed to the door, almost knocking down a middle-aged woman who was entering as he was leaving. Just as he expected, Miss Mysterious had left through the back door and was already hightailing it down the road.
He jumped in the rental sedan and gunned the engine, sliding into rescue mode with only a minuscule of concern for the fact that he rescuing a woman who didn’t want to be rescued.
He pulled the car to a stop on the shoulder a few feet in front of her. “Get in the car,” he ordered.
She kept walking. Booker threw the gear into Park and jumped out of the rental. He walked over, grabbed her arm and tugged her to a stop.
“I don’t take kindly to being stood up for dinner.”
She met his gaze, her voice low but her eyes shooting fire. “Take your hands off me.”
He did. That settled one thing. She wasn’t running from an abusive lover. If that look was any indication, she’d have made mincemeat of a man who’d gotten out of line with her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Let’s start over. My hunch is you’re in some kind of trouble, and my hunches are incredibly accurate. I’d like to help if I can or at least drop you off wherever it is you’re heading. I don’t like the idea of dropping you at a service station.”
“Why?”
“Standing on the side of a road is dangerous.”
“I mean, why are you so insistent on putting yourself out for me?”
“You’re a good kisser.”
“I’m serious, Booker. What’s in this for you?”
“I’m the hero type.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay. I don’t need any help, but you can drive me to my friend’s ranch—under two conditions.”
“Shoot.”
“No more questions. And once you drop me off, forget you ever saw me.”
“If you wanted me to forget you, you should have started with a handshake instead of a kiss, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Then let’s go back and pick up our food order. I really am starved.”
“Finally, we agree on something.” He went through the drive-through and picked up their food after the hassle of explaining to the woman at the window why he’d changed his mind and now wanted his food to go.
He ate as he drove, spilling loose lettuce and a paper-thin slice of overripe tomato down his shirt. He kept his promise not to ask questions until they were about thirty minutes out of the city and traffic was finally moving smoothly.
“So, does this ranch we’re going to have a name?”
“The Dry Gulch. Now, doesn’t that sound inviting?”
He hadn’t been ready for that shocker, but suddenly the facts came together. The woman sitting next to him was wearing a wig and what she was running from was the law.
He was now harboring a fugitive from justice, a fugitive whose crime had the entire country and half of Europe up in arms.
But damn, could Jade Dalton kiss!
* * *
JADE FELT THE tension grow with each mile they got closer to the Dry Gulch Ranch. Her problems were far from over. The NYPD surely had a warrant out for her arrest by now. She could possibly put off facing them for another day, but facing R.J. and the rest of the Daltons was imminent.
It was difficult to imagine that any of the Daltons would be glad to see her and the pack of trouble she brought with her. They might even call the local sheriff and have her arrested tonight.
It was a chance she had to take.
“I’ll get the gate,” she said when Booker stopped at the entrance to the ranch.
She breathed deeply, filling her lungs with the fresh country air. The smells were different here. So were the sounds. Wind whispering through the branches high atop the towering pines. Loud chirping from crickets or perhaps the tiny tree frogs she’d heard about on her last trip to the ranch.
The croak of a bullfrog. The lonesome hoot of an owl. A rustle in the nearby grass that sent her rushing back to the car the second she’d closed the gate behind them.
“Nice spread,” Booker said as they drove past acres of fenced pastureland, “at least what I see of it in the moonlight.”
“If you like living on the outskirts of civilization.”
“I take it you don’t.”
“I’m a big-city girl. The bigger the better.”
“Where do you live?”
“There you go with the questions again.”
“Sorry about that.”
Fortunately, he drove the rest of the way in silence, throwing on the brakes once to avoid hitting a deer that dashed across the road just a few yards in front of them.
The rambling ranch house sneaked up on them, the lights from the windows peeking at them from between tree branches as they rounded a curve in the ranch road.
“Looks like they left the lights on for you,” Booker said.
“I’m surprised they’re not all in bed by now.”
“It’s only eight-thirty.”
“But what else is there to do out here when the sun goes down.”
“Watch TV. Read a book. Chat on Facebook. I’ve heard some people even engage in conversation if they’re really desperate.”
Booker pulled into the wide driveway and for a second, Jade thought they were at the wrong house. It looked better cared for than she remembered it. Of course, that might be because she was seeing the place in the cover of darkness instead of the bright glare of daylight.
“I can take it from here,” she said as Booker killed the engine.
“I always walk my dates to the door.”
“We’re not on a date.” He’d be peeling out and squealing tires in his rush to get away if he knew the truth about her.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said. “Enjoy your leave.”
“I have a hunch it won’t be boring.”
Ignoring her assurance that she no longer needed him, he got out of the car and followed her up the walk.
An attractive blonde opened the door before they reached it. “Finally we meet,” she said. “I’m Brit and you must be Booker.”
“In the flesh.” Booker put out a hand, but the woman pulled him into a hug, totally ignoring Jade.
Apprehension skidded along her nerve endings. Had she been set up? Had Booker been looking for her at the airport when she ran into him and saved him the trouble?
No wonder he chased after her when she sneaked off from the burger joint.
Booker stood back and studied the woman who’d just embraced him so warmly. “Excuse me, but this is going to take a minute for me to get past. You look exactly like Sylvie.”
“I thought I’d prepared you for that,” she said, “but I guess nothing really could.”
“No. I’ll get used to it, but it’s a shocker now.”
Jade stood there, flabbergasted. She had no idea what was going on, but apparently Booker’s coming here had nothing to do with her.
“You must be a friend of Booker’s,” Brit said, directing her comment to Jade.
A friend of Booker’s. That was an intriguing mistake. If she could pull that off, it would definitely simplify matters. It would give Jade a chance to think things through tonight before confronting the Daltons.
“Yes, Booker and I are—”
Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of approaching footfalls. She looked up as R.J. shuffled to the door. The lie died on her lips.
He looked years older than he had the last time she’d seen him. Frailer, his stance less intimidating, his hair gray wisps that barely covered his head. The inoperable tumor hadn’t killed him yet, but it was apparently taking its toll.
He stared at her, his mouth open, his eyes wide.
“Jade.” His voice broke on her name.
So much for her disguise. If R.J. could recognize her that easily, she’d fool no one who was actually looking for her. It was a miracle she’d made it to Dallas without being arrested.
“Thank God you’re here,” R.J. said. “I’ve been worried sick. I was about to hire a team of private detectives to track you down.”
Coming here had clearly been a mistake. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I know that. I told everyone that as soon as we heard. I just wanted to find you and make sure you were safe.”
“I was kidnapped. When I escaped, I didn’t know anything else to do but come here. But I won’t stay more than one night. I’ll leave tomorrow morning, before I cause you any trouble.”
“Of course you’ll stay. Where else would you go? You’re family.”
“But you will have to turn yourself in to the local sheriff,” Brit said. “And you’ll need a lawyer.”
“We’ve got the best danged attorney in the state of Texas right here on the ranch,” R.J. interrupted. “Your half brother Leif. We’ll call him right now. He’ll know exactly how to handle this.”
“He may not want to represent me.”
“He’s obliged. We Daltons stick together. His brother Travis will advise you, too. He’s a Dallas homicide detective, and Brit here was a detective in Houston before she and Cannon got hitched. Everything you need is right here.”
A lawyer and two homicide detectives. Jade would probably be in jail by morning.
“C’mon in,” R.J. said. “You and your friend, afore the skeeters start snacking on you.”
“This is Booker Knox,” Brit said, introducing him to R.J. before things got any more confusing.
“Well, I’ll be jiggered! You and Jade knowing each other. Don’t that beat all?”
“Pretty surprising, isn’t it?” Booker said, going along with everything.
“You two need something to eat? I can rustle up some leftovers.”
“We had dinner in town,” Jade said. “And Booker and I don’t actually know each other,” she added, determined to clear up that minor detail before they got bogged down even further in chaotic confusion. “We ran into each other in the car rental line at the airport and realized we were both coming to the same place.” The partial truth would do.
“Well, that was damn lucky,” R.J. said. “If your belly’s full, how about a beer or a glass of wine while you two relax a bit? After that, Jade can bring Brit and me up to snuff on what really happened in that New York hotel suite.”
“I could use a few minutes to freshen up,” Jade said. And to pull off the useless wig that was starting to feel like a wad of wet wool on her head before she faced the family firing squad. She couldn’t imagine they’d all be as accommodating as R.J.
“Why don’t I show you to the guest rooms,” Brit offered. “Do you have luggage?”
“Afraid not,” Jade said.
“I can lend you a clean T-shirt to sleep in,” Booker said. “I’ll get my bag out of the car.”
“I’ll put you in the room I prepared for Booker,” Brit said as Booker left to go back to the car. “It has a private bath already stocked with the essentials like soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, toothpaste, razors, even extra toothbrushes in the top drawer if you need one.”
“I appreciate that.” Hopefully that meant they didn’t intend to call the local sheriff out for an immediate arrest.
“We’re about the same size,” Brit said. “I’m sure I have a nightshirt and some jeans and shirts you can wear until you have time to shop. I’ll gather up a few items while you get yourself together.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry I came crashing in on R.J. and the rest of you like this. I panicked. That’s the only excuse for going on the run the way I did.”
“Don’t apologize for coming here,” Brit said. “R.J. was right. We’re family. That’s where you go when you’re in trouble.”
A nice concept, but it hadn’t been Jade’s experience. But she definitely needed to get in touch with her mother and let her know she was safe. Kiki would have heard the media’s version of what had happened and she’d be bordering on hysteria about now. And no doubt full of advice as to how Jade should be handling this.
“R.J.’s been a wreck ever since we first heard about Quaid Vaquero’s murder. He was afraid that you’d been murdered as well, and the police weren’t releasing that information.”
“I came close,” Jade said, not expecting Brit to believe her.
“Whatever happened, you’re safe now,” Brit said. “So let’s get you settled in. The only available guest rooms are upstairs. Cannon, Kimmie and I pretty much took over the first floor when we moved in. Someone needs to be close by, now that R.J.’s health is failing so fast.”
Once Jade was alone in the guest room, her strained willpower caved like a sand castle in the rain. She dropped to the bed as the events of the past two days stormed her mind. The handcuffs. The iron bed. The pitch-black prison when the power had gone out.
Reggie, bloody, the eyes of a madman, chasing her as she fled from his brutal captivity.
It seemed unreal, a nightmare. But those were the truths she had to share with these strangers who posed as family.
Once she did, would they believe that she had no part in Quaid’s murder and no idea what had happened to the necklace that had started this roller-coaster ride of terror?
Would anyone?
