Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1) (20 page)

After returning
home, Becca entered the house, amazed at the quiet. She wondered if Olivia and
Emma had gone back to sleep.

“Hello? Emma?
Liv?”
She walked toward the living room.

“If I have to be
up, so do you,” she called out as she entered the living room.

Becca froze when
she saw them both sitting in the window seat huddled together. Emma had a look
of fear on her face. Olivia just looked pissed. Becca’s gaze swung around the
room, and she gasped when her eyes landed on the man standing across from her
friends, with a gun pointed straight at them. Becca’s heart fell and she almost
lost her ability to speak.

“Steve, what are you
doing here?” She started into the room but stopped when he pointed the gun toward
her. Becca raised her hands and started backing up.

“Oh, no, my
beautiful Becky…come on in and join us,” Steve Harris said with a big smile.

With her hand on
the doorjamb, Becca was ready to flee but when she glanced at Emma and Olivia,
she saw Olivia barely shake her head as if to tell Becca to go along with
whatever he said. Becca gave a slight nod and moved slowly into the room. She
took a seat in the recliner across from him, swallowing the lump in her throat
before speaking.

“Why are you here,
Steve?”

“I came for you.”
He laughed, and the sound sent a shiver along the back of her neck. “Why else
would I be here? I did everything I could to make you leave here and come back
to me, but you didn’t take the hint.” He shrugged. “So…I came for you.”

“For
me?
What do you mean?”

Steve stood up and
strolled toward her.
 
“You’re coming
with me, Becky…”

“You are such a
fucking idiot, Steve. You don’t even know she hates being called Becky,” Olivia
yelled at him.

Steve’s face turned
bright red. He turned away from Becca and strode over to Olivia, where he hit
her with the butt of the gun.

“Steve! Stop it,”
Becca screamed at him. “I’ll go with you. Just leave them alone.”

Steve stood over
Olivia, laughing at the blood streaming from her temple where he’d struck her. Then
the laughter died and a serious expression crossed his face. “Open your mouth
again, Olivia and I’ll close it permanently.” Becca saw him look at Emma. “I
don’t know who blondie here is, but I have no problem taking her out either.”

Becca blinked back
tears as she watched the fear grow in Emma’s eyes and the rebellion in Olivia’s.
“No. Steve, please. I’ll go wherever you want but just leave them alone.”

Becca could see the
anger emanating from his body. He took a few deep breaths then turned to look
at her. He smiled and a shocking realization ran through her. Steve was crazy.
She shuddered. His grin broadened as he walked toward her and put his hand out.
She hesitated but when she saw he’d narrowed his eyes at her, Becca placed her
hand in his.

“Don’t even think
of calling the police or I’ll kill her,” he told Olivia and Emma, tightening
his grip on Becca’s hand.

“I thought you
loved her?” Olivia asked him in a mocking tone.

“I do love her. That’s
why if the police come after us, I will take her down with me,” he said pulling
Becca behind him. He led her through the kitchen and out through the mudroom.

Becca gasped. “So
this is how you’ve been going out. How have you been getting in?’

He chuckled. “The
same way, Becky dear, I do know how to pick a lock.”

“But…but the chain
was on the door.”

He stopped and
gazed at her as if she were an impatient child.

“Becky, do you
seriously think that little chain holds people out? There’s a little trick with
wire I used to unlock it.” He laughed again. His laugh was truly beginning to irritate
her. She wanted to kick him in his family jewels. “You make a loop with a piece
of wire, wrap it around the chain, then run the other end of the wire to the
top of the door, and pull it. The chain slips right out. Simple.”

Becca clenched her
jaw so hard that she was surprised her teeth didn’t crack. How was she going to
get away from him? She hoped Olivia was all right, and that they would call the
police. No matter what this psycho told them.

Becca allowed Steve
to pull her through the woods beside the house, and then to a truck. He shoved
her into the passenger seat from the driver’s side before climbing in behind
her. With the gun aimed at her, he started up the truck, and then drove her
away from everyone she loved, including Jake.

Chapter Eleven

“What the hell just
happened?” Jake growled as reached to retrieve his hat from the dirt after
staring for far too long after Becca’s SUV disappeared from sight. “I told her
I was interested in her, not the ranch and she tells me we’re through.”

Jake shook his head
and he turned back toward the barn.
Damn it!
He knew damn well she wouldn’t like hearing he hadn’t wanted her here in the
beginning, but now she didn’t believe anything he had to say. He halted in
midstride. “What the hell did I say that pissed her off?” He glanced back to
where her car had disappeared in a cloud of dust. He had to wonder if she’d
heard a single word he’d said. Maybe he’d used the wrong words. He was in love
with her, after all. His breath hissed out. Hell, would she even believe that
now?

“Damn, maybe you
should’ve just told her you loved her, you damn fool,” Jake chastised himself
under his breath. Reaching for his leather gloves, he was about to put them on
when his cell rang.

“Jake Stone,” he
answered and then listened as a hysterical Emma told him what happened. His
blood ran cold.
“Call Sam now!
Right now, Emma. I’m on
my way.”

He was shaking. Some
mad man had Becca. “Dear God, please don’t let anything happen to her.” Jake openly
prayed as he ran for his truck.

As he pushed his
truck to close the space between his place and Becca’s, he called Gabe and
Wyatt. He gave them the short version of what he knew and asked them to meet
him at her ranch. Jake drove like a lunatic. Sam’s police SUV was already there
when Jake pulled in. As he reached the front door, Wyatt and Gabe pulled up.
They followed him into the house.

Emma and Olivia sat
in the window seat together. Olivia was holding a cloth to her temple. Jake
strode over to her and lifted her hand off her temple. He winced when he saw
the large purple bruise and lump forming. He turned to find Wyatt standing
nearby.

“What happened?”
Wyatt asked her.

“I got a little
mouthy and he hit me,” Olivia admitted with a grimace.

Wyatt scoffed. “Why
am I not surprised?” His words didn’t match the look of concern in his eyes.

“Look, cowboy,
there’s no need to get sarcastic.” Olivia glared at him, and Jake had to resist
smiling when his brother turned with a huff and took a seat.

Jake moved closer
to Sam. “Who’s this man that took Becca?”

Sam looked him in
straight in the eye. “Apparently he’s a man Becca was dating in Maryland.
Olivia said she heard him telling Becca how he was getting in, picking the lock,
and using a wire on the chain.”

Jake noticed Gabe
sitting with Emma in the window seat.

“Is she all right?”
he asked his brother.

Gabe shook his
head. “She’s pretty shook up.”

Jake nodded and
looked in Olivia’s direction. The bruise beside her right eye was getting
worse. “Wyatt, you mind getting Olivia some aspirin?”

He watched Wyatt
stand and glance at Olivia, who was making a point not to look at him, before
heading for the kitchen. When he returned, he handed Olivia a glass of water
and some aspirin. She looked surprised at the gesture but took them.

Jake gazed out the
front window and watched a sheriff department cruiser pull up. A deputy stepped
out and headed toward the front door. Sam went to meet with him and when they
returned to the living room, he had the deputy take pictures of Olivia’s
injuries. When he was done, the deputy proceeded to take fingerprints even
though they were all aware of who’d taken Becca.

Sam was all
business as he asked Olivia and Emma questions and Jake had a newfound respect
for the man and his job. He couldn’t imagine having to deal with victims. These
were his friends and he wanted to punch a hole through the wall. Emma didn’t
say much, she was still in shock from having a gun pointed at her. However, Olivia
was more than willing to tell what she knew about Steve Harris.

“Do you know if he’s
related to Charles Harris?” Sam asked Olivia.

She shook her head.
“I never spent much time talking to the prick. I never liked him,” she told Sam
and everyone else in earshot.

“Charles Harris?
Isn’t that the name of one of the men arrested for stealing our horses?” At Sam’s
nod, Jake swore. “Shouldn’t we be looking for Becca?”

“We?”
Sam shook his head. “You’re not going out there, Jake.”

“The hell I’m not,”
Jake growled. Gabe and Wyatt came to stand behind him. He was always grateful
knowing his brothers had his back. “You can’t stop me, Sam. I’m going,” Jake
argued when Sam started to interrupt.

Sam sighed with an
underlying groan. “I’ll have to deputize you then. Let’s just hope Harris stays
in my county.”

“You’d better do
all three of us then, Sam. If Jake goes, we’re going with him,” Gabe added.

Sam swore, but didn’t
argue with them. Sam Garrett had known the Stone brothers his whole life but Jake
knew even Sam couldn’t talk them out of something once they had their minds
made up.

“Damn it to hell,
Stones,” Sam growled. “All right, but you do what I tell you. Deputy Stark will
stay here with Emma and Olivia. I don’t want them alone in case Harris decides
to circle back,” Sam told them in a commanding voice.

“I suggest we
should use the horses to search,” Gabe suggested.

Jake nodded. “That’s
a good idea. Wyatt’s a hell of a tracker and according to Olivia, they went
through the woods.”

Sam agreed. After
swearing them in, he narrowed his eyes. “I’d like to take him alive but do what
you have to. I don’t want Becca hurt either.”

Jake wasn’t about
to argue with that order. He started toward the door but stopped when Olivia spoke
his name. He glanced back at her. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he went to
her and put his arms around her. “I’ll find her, Liv. I won’t let him hurt her.”

“I love her, Jake
and if that jackass hurts her, I
will
kill him,” Olivia said against his shirt.

“I love her too,”
he whispered against her hair.

Olivia glanced up
at him and nodded. “I know you do.” She tried to smile. “Please bring her home.”

“I promise.” Jake
kissed her forehead, and turned to follow Sam out the door with Gabe and Wyatt close
on his heels.

They decided to use
Becca’s horses. They knew they couldn’t waste the time getting their own. Once
saddled, Wyatt checked the area and decided on the direction to take. Jake and
his brothers rode down through the woods while Sam headed out toward the road
in his SUV with the lights flashing.

* * * *

“Where are you
taking me, Steve?” Becca asked while doing her best to not sound as scared as
she felt. She glanced over at him as he steered the truck down a dirt road.

“You’ll find out
when we get there.”

“Is Charles Harris
your brother?”

She saw his hands
tighten on the steering wheel and a muscle twitch in his jaw.

“He’s a damn idiot,
is what he is. He was only supposed to take your horses but the jackass got
greedy and took your cowboy’s too.” He swore again. “One of the men with him
got the idea of selling the horses to get some money so they could go up to
Canada. They were too stupid to know you have to show ownership.” His knuckles
were turning white.

“Idiots!”
Steve slammed the steering wheel with the palm of his hand.

Becca shivered,
trying her best to remain calm. She was terrified he’d hurt her. “They were
arrested, you know.”

He squinted over at
her and smiled. “Yeah, Charles called me for bail,” he said with a laugh. “I
told him I would so he wouldn’t tell the sheriff I was behind it. I told him it
would take me a while to get the money. Ha, by the time Charles realizes I’m
not getting him out, we’ll be long gone.”

“To
where?”

Steve hit his fist
against the steering wheel. “It doesn’t matter, Becca. You will not leave me
again.”

Becca sat against
the door and stared out the window. Steve was crazy, and she knew she had to
get away from him.
Dear God, please let
Jake come after me.
She mentally shook her head. Why should he? After the
way she left him? After telling him they were through, he’d probably say
good riddance
.

Becca knew Olivia
would call Sam no matter what Steve had told her. Sam would look for her. She
hoped. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. Out of
the corner of her eye, she saw Steve sneer at her.

“Missing your
cowboy, Becky?” He snickered. “I hope the son of a bitch does come after you. I’ll
take great delight in killing him.” He bared his teeth. “You were all over him,
I saw you. All I ever got from you were chaste pecks,” he growled between a
tight-lipped smirk glancing over at her again. “I didn’t know you were such a
slut, Becky.”

Becca gasped. “I am
not a slut!”

“Shut up.” He
reached over, grabbed a handful of her hair, and pulled her close to him. “I
saw you with him. The night you fell and he carried you back into his house. I
was watching. You make me sick.” Steve hissed in anger as he shoved her away.