Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1) (9 page)

Stan turned to
return to the barn, and Becca nodded and went inside. This place was becoming a
nightmare. She slammed the door behind her and let the tears fall. Wiping her
eyes, she sat down in the window seat to wait for the sheriff to arrive.
Thoughts of Jake tormented her. Could he have done this? Her mind warred with
her heart, but what else made sense? There was no one else who wanted the ranch.
She didn’t have long to wait and worry, for ten minutes later she let the
sheriff in.

Good Lord, what was
it with the men in Montana? The sheriff was gorgeous too. Tall with broad
shoulders, he had slim hips, dark brown hair, and killer blue eyes. He had a stubble-covered
chiseled jaw like some other man she wished she could forget. Dressed in a
khaki shirt with his badge pinned on it, he wore jeans and cowboy boots instead
of a regular full khaki uniform. Politely, he took his Stetson off when he
entered the house.

“Ms. Daniels? I’m
Sheriff Sam Garrett. Stan said someone took your horses.”

Becca shook his
hand. “Yes sir, Sheriff Garrett. I was…out when it happened.”

He smiled and
dimples appeared in his cheeks. “Please call me Sam. We’re informal around
here.” He reached for a small pad and pen in his shirt pocket. “Did Stan call
you?”

She blushed. “No,
he…called Jake.”

“Jake Stone?” He
raised an eyebrow at her. “Then Jake called you?”

Ohmigod.
If she were lucky, the
floor might open up and swallow her now.
 
“Uh, no, I was with Jake when Stan called him.”

“I see,” Sam
murmured. He didn’t look at her but if Becca wasn’t mistaken, his lips
twitched.

Becca seriously
doubted it, but she sure wasn’t going to elaborate.

“Believe it or not,
rustling still goes on and Hattie, or rather you own some valuable horses.
Those Paints are registered and someone probably thinks they’ll get good money
for them. The twelve of them together are probably worth over a hundred
thousand dollars, not to mention what you’d lose in stud fees,” Sam told her as
he wrote in his notebook.

Becca felt her
throat close up. “Are you serious?” She had to sit down. Who knew a horse could
be so valuable?

“Very
serious, Ms. Daniels.
I’ll put the word out. The auction houses will
keep an eye out for them. Do you have any idea who would do this to you?”

“Well, since the
entire town hates me, anyone of them could’ve done it but I think it was Jake.”

Sam’s head snapped
up. “You think Jake Stone took your horses? Why would he do that?” The Sheriff’s
incredulous tone spoke volumes. He considered Jake Stone an upstanding citizen.

“Jake wants this
ranch and the land that goes with it. I’m sure you’ve heard that if I leave
before the six months are up, the ranch goes to auction.”

Crossing his arms
over his rather broad chest, the sheriff eyed Becca. “So you think Jake is
trying to run you off so he can get the place when it goes to auction?” At her
nod, he continued with a negative shake of his head. “I find that kind of hard
to believe since I’m pretty sure Jake doesn’t need the ranch or the land.”

“Yeah, that’s what
he said too.” Becca put a hand on her hip and returned his stare.

“But you don’t
believe him?” He pushed his hat back on his head.

She knew he didn’t
suspect Jake. They were probably friends. Becca was the odd man out. “No one
else has a reason. He might not need the ranch but he wants it.”

Sam Garrett wrote
something in his little book, closed it up and stuffed it back in his pocket.
“I’ll look into it for you. Right now I need to check out the barn and I want
to talk to Stan and the boys.”

“Thank you,
Sheriff.”

He gave her an
abrupt nod and went outside. She watched as he walked around the barn and
grounds, taking pictures. When he disappeared inside the barn, she went
upstairs to lie down.

She suddenly wanted
the six months to be over so she could go home.

Chapter Five

A few days later,
there was still no word about the horses. As worried as she was about the
theft, what had happened between her and Jake was foremost in her mind. Every
night she awoke in a sweat, unable to be still as she relived the way he’d made
her feel in her dreams. “Stop it!” She reprimanded herself. Until she found out
if he’d stolen from her, she had no business fantasizing about the multiple
orgasms he’d give her.

Today, after
wrestling with Jake-filled dreams all night and a too early morning, Becca stomped
out to the barn and found Stan tending to Daisy. He glanced up at her as she
walked toward him.

“How’s she doing?”
Becca asked as she rubbed Daisy’s velvet nose, the simplicity of the action
calming her mood almost immediately. Maybe Stan could help her sort this out.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“She’s fine as far
as the pregnancy but she seems a little downcast. I think she misses her
roommates.”

Taking the bull by
the horns, she tackled the subject causing her to lose sleep. Becca leaned back
against the stall door. “Stan, how well do you know Jake Stone?”

“Jake?” Stan gave
her a slight smile. He was a kind man, a weathered cowboy who could have
stepped from the movie screen of an old western. “Hell, I know him real well,
Becca. I’ve known him and his brothers since they were boys. Why do you ask?”

Becca crossed her
arms, rubbing the material of her coat between her fingers. Talking about this
was hard but she had to know. “You don’t think he had anything to do with the
missing horses, do you?”

Stan’s eyebrows
almost disappeared into his hairline. “Jake. Hell no! Jake’s a good man. One of
the best I know. He took care of Hattie, Becca. Any time she needed anything,
he was here for her. One time, when we were all sick with the flu, Jake, Gabe,
and Wyatt came over to take care of the ranch. He loved Hattie. He took it real
hard when she passed.” He shook his head as if refusing to consider the idea.
“No, ma’am.
I’d bet my life Jake had nothing to do with the
missing horses.”

Becca could tell he
was upset. “Stan, I’m not trying to be difficult. I just need to find out the
truth.”
 
 

Stan looked at her
with kindness. “I know. We can’t expect you to come here and feel the same way
about things that we do. Trust takes time. The Stone men have the respect of
the whole town. Of course, when they were teenagers they raised a lot of hell,”
he admitted with a gravelly chuckle. “But, once they grew up, they turned into real
good men. Wyatt joined the Marines, but Jake and Gabe just wanted to run the
ranch.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Please tell me you don’t really suspect
Jake of taking those horses. I know better.”

Becca smiled. Her
mind still entertained doubts even though she didn’t want them, but Stan wasn’t
the kind of man to lead her astray. “I trust you, Stan. If you say he had
nothing to do with it, then I believe you.”

After giving Stan a
kiss on the cheek, Becca left the barn and headed toward the house. Her gaze
landed on the bare rose bushes lining the porch. She smiled as she thought of
them blooming come spring. Becca wanted Stan to be right about Jake. She wanted
to be sure about Jake, but she couldn’t help her suspicions. Emma was coming
for lunch, and before then she wanted to call Olivia and tell her what was
going on. Light snow swirled around her as she headed inside much like thoughts
of Jake swirled in her mind.

* * * *

Later that evening,
Jake sat on Midnight leaning on his saddle horn looking out over the pasture in
the cold night air. He was keeping an eye on his horses. Someone was doing the
unthinkable—rustling. It didn’t matter if it was cows or horses, you didn’t
take a man’s livelihood. The moon was shining down like a huge spotlight. The entire
pasture was lit up and he could easily see his horses. There were only five of
them in the upper pasture near the creek, as the rest were in the barn. It was
damn cold and snowing, but he wanted to make sure they were all right. He
should just take them to the barn and put them in for the night but since they’d
already spent the last few days cooped up, he thought they needed some
exercise.

It was quiet—too
quiet. When things were silent and still like this, his mind went back to Becca
and how she’d felt in his arms. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her
tremble and see the look on her face when he’d brought her to orgasm. Was there
any more beautiful thing in the world than watching a woman taking her
pleasure?

“Damn it!” The very
idea that she could think he’d do anything to hurt her just killed him. At
first, he’d been angry but now he was just plain hurt.

A slight noise drew
his attention. Jake tensed in the saddle, sitting straighter, cocking his head.
He could feel something was wrong. He listened closely then nudged Midnight
forward. All of a sudden the horses bolted, running in a pack and right toward
him. Jake jerked, pulling back on the reins.

“Easy,
Midnight.
What the hell?” His first instinct was to yell and try to head
them off, but then he realized what was happening. The horses ran past him at
full speed. Behind them were three men on horseback.

Anger flared within
him. Damn, they were trying to round up his horses. He reached for the rifle in
his saddlebag and raised it up, but they shot first. A bullet smacked into the
tree behind him, sending bark flying.

“Son of a bitch,”
he roared in rage and frustration.

Jake spurred
Midnight into a run and followed the men, but they continued to shoot at him
over their shoulders. He couldn’t lose his horses.
Fuck!
Damn, he should’ve kept them in the barn. Pulling his
cellphone out, he called Gabe. Wyatt was at a sale in Butte.

“The bastards have
my horses on the run,” Jake yelled into the phone as soon as Gabe answered. “Get
Sam out here.”

Jake didn’t know if
Gabe said anything or not, he just hung up and took off after the rustlers.
Midnight ran at full speed. They had a good start on him now, but he couldn’t
give up. Another shot rang out, and he reined in Midnight to stop him.
Shit!

Turning his horse
toward the trees, Jake cut through them. He knew this ranch like the back of
his hand. If they were heading to where he thought they were, he could head
them off. There was a dirt road on the north side of the ranch. It was possible
they had a truck there, waiting. When he got to the clearing, there was nothing
there.

Shit! Now what?
Maybe they were on the
opposite side of the grove. With a slight touch of his knee, Jake turned
Midnight toward the trees again and took off in another direction. Voices
drifted to him on the wind.
There they
are!
He’d found them. The bastards were loading the horses into a trailer.

“Not happening,
assholes.” Jake raised his rifle, pulled on the trigger and shot. The bullet
hit the ground right at one of the men’s feet. The idiot jumped but the others
turned, and fired back at him. He and Midnight had to head back into the trees.

“God damn it,” Jake
swore under his breath. This wasn’t something he could handle on his own. With
disgust, he watched as the men closed the trailer, and then the truck pulled
out. His first instinct was to take off after them, to spur Midnight on toward the
road but there was no way he was going to catch them. He stopped his horse and
swore as the truck threw up a cloud of dust. Jake was afraid if he followed,
they would drive faster and hurt the horses in the trailer. They’d torn down
the fence with the truck. This was no fly by night operation. These crooks had
experience. They’d come prepared.

Needing to see his
brother, he turned Midnight back toward the ranch and rode him hard. The horse
would definitely get extra oats tonight. Jake rode into the yard and jumped off
the horse before he came to a full stop. Sam and Gabe were there saddling their
horses. Jake shook his head at them. “No use. They’re gone. I didn’t want to
endanger the horses in the trailer so I came back.” He looked at Sam. “Can you
get some cruisers out and maybe a chopper?”

Sam shook his head.
“The weather’s getting too bad for a chopper, but I already have cruisers in
the area. Tell me what the truck looked like.”

Jake described the
truck as best he could. He told Sam about the three men on horseback and one
other who helped load the horses. “Has there been a lot of rustling going on
lately?”

“Only you and Ms.
Daniels, and she suspects you’re behind her missing horses.” Sam gave him a
smirk of a smile as he walked to the sport utility vehicle marked with the
department logo and called in a description of the truck.

Gabe swore under
his breath, his gaze trained on Jake’s face. “How the hell does she figure something
ridiculous like that?”

Jake shook his
head. “She thinks I want her ranch. That I want her gone before her six months
are up so I can bid on it at auction and get it cheap.” He shrugged. “I told
her it made no sense but she thinks if her horses are gone, she has no reason
to keep the ranch.”

Gabe frowned at
him. “No, it doesn’t make sense. She can keep the ranch with or without the horses.”

Sam returned to
where they stood. “The men are out searching but I have a feeling it’s a lost
cause. The rustlers planned this out. They knew what they were doing.” He
sighed. “I’m heading over in the morning to talk to Ms. Daniels again. See if
she’s noticed anything else suspicious. I’ll talk to Stan and the other hands,
again.”

He turned to walk
away, stopped, and glanced back at his friends. “Don’t go back out there
tonight, Jake. I’ll be out in the morning to look for clues.”