Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1) (16 page)

Becca inhaled
sharply, pulled out another chair, and sat down beside her. “Did you recognize
the voice?”

Emma told her she
didn’t. Becca pulled out her cellphone and called Sam. She had the man on
speed-dial. As usual, he said he’d be right there. She wanted to cry but even
more so, there was one man she wanted to call more than anything, but couldn’t
bring herself to do it.
Jake.
   

* * * *

Jake
lay on a bale of hay in the barn with his arm over his eyes thinking about
Becca. He wanted to see her but he knew she didn’t want to see him. She didn’t
trust him—not completely.
Damn, that
hurt.
Blowing out a breath, he sat up and rested his forearms on his knees.
Staring at the concrete floor, he berated himself for even getting involved
with her. Thinking with his other head was nothing but trouble. The one on his
shoulders hadn’t been thinking straight since the day he walked into that
kitchen and found her standing there with a can of mace pointed at him.

He
shook his head as if that would clear thoughts of her from his mind. If he’d
been a smarter man, he’d have left her alone that first night. The minute his
groin tightened, he should have turned, walked out, and never gone back. But oh
no, he had to be an idiot and go over there again with the excuse of lighting a
fire for her in case the power went out.

He sneered at his
own foolishness. That rarely happened. It wasn’t exactly a lie but wasn’t
exactly the truth either. He groaned when he thought of her in the bathtub, and
his traitorous body got rock hard.
Fuck!

Jake stood with a
stomp of his boot and after checking on the horses, he strode across the yard
to head for a cold shower but stopped when he heard a siren. Tilting his head,
he listened. It seemed too close when it suddenly stopped. He ran to his truck,
hoping he was wrong and it hadn’t stopped at Becca’s.

Jake’s heart almost
ceased beating when he saw Sam’s SUV parked behind Becca’s. Shutting his truck
off, he hurried to the back door and knocked. Emma opened the door for him.

“What’s going on,
Emma?” he whispered.

She opened her
mouth to answer him, but Sam spoke instead. “It seems the problems have
escalated to harassing phone calls.”

“Harassing phone
calls?” Jake looked at Sam and then noticed Becca behind him. Her cheeks were
wet from crying. Jake stepped toward her, but then hesitated unsure she even wanted
him there. “Are you all right, Becca?”

She slowly shook
her head then walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. At first,
Jake tensed but then threw his arms around her and held her tightly to him. He
put his cheek on the top of her head. Her strawberry scent tickled his nose in
the best way.

Sam raised an
eyebrow at him, which he ignored.

“I wish I could do
something about this but the person hung up too fast and you don’t have caller
ID. I suggest you get it.” After writing down a few things, Sam left to make a
report but not before he told Becca that he wanted to be informed of anything
she thought was suspicious, and he didn’t care how trivial it seemed.

Jake walked Becca
to the living room where they took a seat. “Why don’t you and Emma
come
stay at my house?”

He knew when he
felt her back straighten that he’d said the wrong thing.

“I will not let
whoever is doing this, run me out of my home,” she said in a sharp angry tone,
eyeing him.

Jake ignored the
look and shifted his gaze up at the ceiling. Lord, save him from hardheaded
women, he thought. He sighed.
“All right.
If you need
me tonight, call me but I can’t stay. I’m going to Butte in the morning with
Gabe and Wyatt.”

“Are you going to
the horse sale?” Emma asked.

“Yes. We go every
year.” He looked to Becca. “I hate to leave you, though. I could cancel.”

“We’ll be fine,
Jake. So far, the coward has only been around when I’m gone and now calling,
just to scare me.”

Doubt riddled Jake’s
gut because it seemed that the bastard who was doing this was getting bolder. Becca
still suspected him no matter how she denied it, and because of that, it
worried him she wouldn’t be cautious. He hoped the son of a bitch continued to
stay away while Becca was home but he didn’t voice that opinion. It would kill
him if something happened to her. He pressed a kiss against her forehead, stood
up, and nodded for Emma to follow him out. Once in the kitchen, he halted by
the door.

“I don’t like this
at all, Emma. Call Stan and let him know what’s going on and get a rifle from
him. You know how to use one and if anything happens, call me.” He glanced in
the direction of the living room. “I don’t care that I’ll be two hours away, I’ll
want to know. Please,” he added.

Emma assured him
she would do as he asked and so he left. It was tearing him up to leave. If he
didn’t have horses to buy, he wouldn’t be leaving Becca’s ranch until he was
sure she was safe.

* * * *

A few uneventful
days passed and the weather warmed up even more. Becca and Emma went to the
ranch Emma’s father owned to go horseback riding. The sun’s rays felt wonderful
and the wind was calm. Becca raised her face toward the sun as her horse, a big
sorrel, followed behind Emma’s Palomino. She smiled when Emma turned to look at
her.

“I’m still here,
don’t worry.” Becca laughed. “I love this horse. He’s so sweet.”

Emma nodded. “Bruno
is a gentle giant.”

At a small pond,
they dismounted and spread a blanket to sit on and eat lunch. They ate fried
chicken, potato salad, and drank iced tea. Even though the trees were still
bare, the day was beautiful. Becca tilted her head and watched Emma.

“What? Do I have
something in my teeth?” Emma laughed.

Becca smiled. “No.
Tell me about Gabe.”

Emma’s cheeks
turned red. “What about him?”

“How long have you
been in love with him?”

Emma choked on her
tea. “I’m not…” Then as if realizing she couldn’t fool Becca, Emma sighed. “It
feels like all my life.” She lowered her eyes.

“He doesn’t know?”
Becca probed.

“Oh, dear Lord, no.
He thinks of me as
little Emma Conner
.
I’ve known him since I was a little girl and that’s how he still sees me. He’s
seven years older than I am, so I suppose he sees me as a young girl.”

“But you’re a grown
woman, Em, a beautiful grown woman.”

Emma shook her
head. “He wouldn’t want me anyway, if he knew the truth about me…”

Becca gave Emma’s
hand a reassuring touch. “What’s the truth? You can tell me.”

Emma’s entire face
turned red as she blew out a breath. “I’m a twenty-seven year old virgin.”

Becca burst out
laughing but quickly sobered when she saw the hurt on Emma’s face.

“Oh, honey, I’m not
laughing at you. Until Jake, I’d only been with one other man and I’m
twenty-eight, so I don’t think the fact that you don’t have experience is
something that would bother Gabe,” Becca told her smiling. “Instinct is a
powerful thing when it comes to sex.”

“Every time I see
him, my heart slams into my ribs. I love everything about him—his body, eyes,
hair, and that sexy moustache. But…he…he scares the bejesus out of me.”

“Jake scares me too.
But I love being with him.”

Both women sat
daydreaming for more than a few minutes about the men who’d stolen their hearts.
Soon they snapped out of it, cleaning up to head back to the ranch before the
sun started going down. After putting the horses up, they drove back to Becca’s
and upon arrival went into the house through the back door.

Becca headed to the
living room with Emma behind her. Becca stopped so abruptly that Emma ran into her
backside. Becca stared in shock at the sight in front of her. On the mirror
above the mantle, in red lipstick, were the words,
GO BACK TO MARYLAND BITCH
. The television lay broken on the floor.
Becca and Emma slowly backed up into the foyer.

“I need to call
Sam,” Becca said, her voice shaking.

Becca turned from
Emma to dial her phone when she noticed there was debris lying on the dining
room floor. She walked to the doorway, looked in, and gasped. The china
cupboard was leaning against the table. Dishes were lying broken on the table
and floor. Seeing the little crystal cowboy on the floor and broken, Becca
thought she was going to be sick. Placing her hand over her stomach, she dialed
Sam’s number.

“The man just needs
to move in here,” she muttered.

Sam took pictures
and dusted for fingerprints…again. The vandalism did not end there. Becca’s
bedroom had also suffered. The vandal had slashed the coverlet and the dresser
drawers were hanging open. Her underwear had been scattered all over the floor.
No other bedrooms were touched. Becca glanced up when she saw Sam coming down
the stairs. He entered the living room and stood in front of her with a grim
expression.

“I don’t know who
you pissed off, but this is getting out of hand,” he said. “Whoever it is, they’re
smart. No fingerprints at all, and I don’t see any forced entry.” He shook his
head. “The only way I can think they’re getting in, is one of the doors. The
front door is old. You should replace the lock. In fact, go ahead and replace
all of them, including the one in the mudroom, even though you don’t use it.”

Becca looked up at
him and nodded. “I’ll go tomorrow and get new locks. I’m sorry I keep calling
you out here.”

Sam shook his head.
“Not much goes on in Clifton. You’re making me earn my money.” He touched the
brim of his Stetson and left.

When the phone rang
just as Sam’s SUV was heading down the drive, Becca and Emma both jumped and
looked at each other. Becca reached for it. “Hello?”

“Becca?
It’s Liv.”

The breath Becca
had been holding whooshed out and she smiled at Emma with relief.

“Liv. Thank
goodness.” Becca realized just then that she hadn’t even checked the caller ID.

“Is everything all right?
You sound funny.”

Without hesitation,
Becca told her best friend about what she and Emma had found when they returned
home. She held the phone away from her ear when Olivia began swearing.

 
“I think I should close up the shop and
come back out there. I don’t like this at all,” Olivia declared in Becca’s ear.

“I would love to
have you come back, Liv, but only if you want to,” Becca told her, all the
while saying a silent prayer of thanks to the powers that be.

“I’ll call the
airlines right now, and I’ll let you know when my flight’s landing. I love you,
Becs. Hang in there.”

Chapter Nine

Olivia couldn’t get
a flight out for a few days and Emma had to go back to her dad’s ranch to help
out because her mom was ill. Becca dreaded being alone so she slept on the
couch. The idea of sleeping upstairs terrified her. Although Stan had installed
the new locks, she was still scared. Even taking a bath was scary.
Call Jake
echoed through her head like a
chant but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Consequently, she rarely left
the house and the only people who came in were Stan, and the deliverymen
bringing in the new TV and new recliners.

As she lay
reclining on the sofa watching a movie, the phone rang. She checked the caller
ID and saw it was the sheriff’s office. “Hello?”

“Becca, this is
Sam. I have some good news for you, for once.”

Becca sat up.
“Really?
What is it?”

“I had a call from
an auction house in Billings. It seems they have your horses.”

She jumped up,
excitement rushing through her.
“Oh my God!
Are you
serious?”

Sam chuckled.
“Yes, ma’am.
Luckily, yours and Jake’s horses had
microchips. The auction houses always check for them in case the animals are
from stolen stock. In your cases, they were. I’m glad now that Jake had
convinced Hattie to have her horses chipped.”

“Jake talked her
into it?” Becca asked while thinking that if Jake knew that, he’d be foolish to
steal the horses and try to sell them at auction. Maybe she was wrong to
suspect him at all.

“Yeah, from what I
can remember she argued about it but he finally convinced her. Telling her that
if something ever happened to her horses, she’d wish then they were chipped.”

Becca laughed. Jake
must have been convincing, thankfully. “When will they be here, Sam?”

“They should be at
your ranch tomorrow, mid-morning. The thing that gets me is the men aren’t even
from around here. They’re from Virginia. That’s a long trip just to rustle some
horses.”

“Were the men
arrested?” Becca could hear him shuffling papers.

“Yes. There were
four of them, just as Jake thought. The men arrested were Martin Smith, Toby
Lewis, Richard Wilson, and Charles Harris.”

Harris? That was
Steve’s last name. Admittedly, it was a common name but was it just
coincidental? Steve couldn’t have something to do with all this, could he? She
couldn’t believe that. It didn’t make sense, but the men were from Virginia and
Steve from Maryland. Was it possible Steve and Charles Harris were related?
Then again, she hadn’t heard from Steve since their last conversation and she’d
made it quite clear she didn’t want him to come out here. She figured he’d
gotten the message and just given up. She shook her head, pushing the notion
from her thoughts. Her imagination was just getting the best of her just as it
had with Jake.
Jake!

“Does Jake know
about the horses?”

“I called him
first. He’s as excited as you are.” Sam chuckled.