Logan's Woman (26 page)

“You want to handle the money?”

That came from Chase, and she heard the
suspicion in his voice.

She lifted her chin. “No, I want to keep track
of it. I want to order whatever we need for the ranch, when we need
it, and take that part of the job out of Logan’s hands. Since I
know nothing about horses yet, this would be a good way for me to
get involved…”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “I’m good at
being organized and keeping track of things. Plus, it would let you
get more done in a day so that you aren’t swamped and working till
late at night.”

Logan still hadn’t said anything
about her proposal. Claire tried to stop the rambling, but she
couldn’t. Her face burned near painfully. “And I noticed we have
a
lot
of room in
the dining room. Maybe enough to have the guys eat with us
sometimes? I don’t mind cooking a lot, it keeps me busy and I’m
really good. My father and I had lessens from a gourmet chef. He
came in from Paris just to meet me and I learned a lot of good
tips…”

“Claire. Calm down.”

“Wow,” Chase commented. “I don’t think I’ve
ever heard someone talk so loud. How much did she cram in two
seconds? Maybe an hour’s worth of conversation?”

Claire let out a nervous laugh, then quieted
when Logan stood up.

“Chase, go get something to eat,” he commanded,
watching Claire with unreadable eyes. Chase left with a nod in her
direction.

“I should have just stopped talking, right?”
Claire sighed, her shoulders slumping in the seat.

Logan was silent. He walked around the desk and
turned the chair so that she was facing him. The look in his eyes
made her heart stop.

He smiled. “I think that would be great,
Claire. We—“

She cut him off when her arms flung
themselves around his neck, her squeal sharp in the room. Claire
hadn’t noticed how nervous she’d been until just then. “Thank you!
I was so scared, I didn’t know what you would say. When I was
outside, I didn’t have anything to do and you had kept kicking me
out and wouldn’t even talk to me and I had
no one
to –“

“Claire, you’re doing it again,” he chided. His
voice was soft, taking the sting away. Even so, her cheeks
burned.

“I just felt so useless today,” she explained,
dropping her head.

“Chase and I had a lot of things to take care
of. He’s having some problems and they need to be taken care of as
soon as possible.”

She didn’t ask Logan about what kind of
problems – if it was between Chase and Logan, she had a feeling
that it should stay like that until he was willing to share. Claire
wasn’t going to complain though. After all, he’d just agreed to let
her take part in his life.

Her smile was blinding as she hugged him again,
tighter this time. “Just show me what to do to get started, and I
can be off like a rocket.”

Logan laughed, a sound that lifted her heart.
Things weren’t going to be so bad after all.

Carl picked up the phone, debating. If he did
this, it was going to be a one-time-only thing and he only had to
pray that Ms. Campbell was as stupid and as ditzy as Joey said she
was. He’d gotten the ranch’s number from the local directory, so
all he had to do now was dial it up and hope that she
answered.

If she didn’t, he’d simply hang up.
No big deal. It was just
her
actions that decided whether she was going to die
or not. He smiled a little bit, leaning back in the hotel bedroom.
He’d told Joey that he’d gotten another phone for them to call on,
and he had. With just a quick scratch of everything that was on the
phone he’d been using for the past week, Carl knew he was good to
go as he pressed the first number into the screen. The small square
box lit up, the only source of light in his room.

It was a dinky little thing, cheap and plastic,
nothing like the smartphone that he’d wanted to get. After all, it
was Joey’s money that was taking care of all the expenses. But, he
knew, smartphones could be traced a lot easier than a small, cheap
pre-paid phone.

He pressed in the rest of the numbers, staring
up at the ceiling as he listened to the dial tone. He’d never done
something like this before, but he had a good feeling about it.
Claire wasn’t very smart – marrying someone and being the talk of
the town spoke enough for that. He chuckled a little.

As he lay there, waiting, it seemed like
forever. Maybe no one would answer? He frowned, and then the dial
tone stopped, replaced by a breathless voice. “Hello, Claire
Marshal speaking.” Carl sat up a little straighter.

Her voice, even though breathless as if she had
been running, was beautiful. In the restaurant, it had been had to
hear her with the whispers of the restaurant and the distance
between them.

“Hello?” she asked again, this time her voice
coming over the line as confused. His eyes closed.

Ms. Campbell sounded like an angel. Anger
flared inside of him. Logan did not deserve this woman – and she
was stupid enough to go with him. She deserved to die, no matter
how much she sounded like a living harp.

“I think I have something that you want,” he
said, making his voice as low and threatening as
possible.

She laughed through the phone. “Is this some
kind of joke? I hope your mother knows what you’re doing, hun.”
God, even her laugh was like music to his ears… Then he realized
what she’d said.

Fury and shame flashed through him.

He quickly racked his brain for something,
anything that he could remember of what Joey had told him about
her.

“Your cousin… You remember him, right?
Andrew?”

“What…” she trailed off. The static silence
told him enough.

“You do, don’t you?” Andrew was the cousin who
was taking the time to load up her money. He’d just recently found
out who it was, but he hadn’t told Joey. It would only cause the
fat man to do something irrational and he really didn’t need any
more of that.

“What have you done with him?” she
whispered.

He hummed loud enough for her to hear, taking
his time. “Oh, nothing. Yet.”

“Who are you?
Where is he?
Tell me!” Her voice broke
on the demand.

Carl smiled, pleased. “How about this, Ms.
Campbell. You meet me tomorrow morning behind the hotel across the
diner. There’s a nice little shack there. When you meet me there,
I’ll let you have your cousin.”

“What…
oh
god
,” he heard her whisper. “What do I
bring?”

Carl clenched his hand around the phone.
“Nothing. You bring nothing. If Logan Marshal shows up with you,
the first thing you’re going to see of your cousin is his head –
with a bullet in it. Just you and that’s it.”

“But… I have no way to get there.”

“Of course you do. The truck, take his truck.
And I’ll know the second he shows up—and your cousin won’t be the
only one with a bullet in his head. Oh, and any calp[ls you make to
your family? Being tracked. One little call and one little bullet
in his head… If any of Logan’s men show up, you can guess what’s
going to happen, can’t you?”

Stark silence. He heard nothing but the static
over the line. Carl couldn’t help the stupid grin that lit his
face. Sounding smart and threatening had worked on the dumb,
beautiful Ms. Campbell.

He heard a shuddering breath, and then, “I’ll
be there alone. What time?”

“Oh, how about ten-ish. I think he’ll be strong
enough for the trip by then.”

What a dirty little liar he was. Carl laughed
at himself as he hung up the call.

Chapter 28

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Logan caught up to her as she was making her
way to their bed. She’d left dinner early, too sick over the
conversation she’d had over the phone to talk to anyone.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said over her shoulder,
forcing a smile. “Today was a long day, that’s all.”

His arm came around her waist and he
stopped her from walking farther down the hall. On it’s own accord,
her body leaned into his and she breathed him in. She wanted to
tell him. She
needed
to tell him. But the thing on the phone had said he couldn’t
show up or her cousin would be dead… and if he knew what she was
planning to do tomorrow, he would
not
let her go alone – if he let her
go at all even.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” he asked. His
voice washed over her, calming her. She nodded into his chest and
stood there, drinking in his warmth and comfort.

“Yeah,” she whispered, knowing they both knew
it was a lie. “I need to nap. Do you think that maybe, tomorrow I
can take the truck into town? I need to get things for lunch and
dinner.” Her tongue burned with the lie, but she forced it past her
teeth.

Logan pulled back from her, looking at warily.
“Marla normally gets our groceries. She’ll be here tomorrow so I
can just call her before she gets here to pick up whatever you
need.”

Her head shook quickly. “No, I want to. If I’m
going to be here I might as well show my face around, right? No one
here knows me. Plus, I’d like to see Darla and get some of her
delicious pie.” Her throat closed up, actually swelled as she lied
to him.

It was for his own good.

For her cousins own good.

For
her
own good. What would that freak do
to her, if she brought Logan? She trusted in his ability to keep
her safe, and himself as well – but even she didn’t know where her
cousin was, if he was okay, if he was even
alive
. She couldn’t risk Logan’s life
on the chance that Andrew wasn’t even there.

She remembered the sound of the thing’s voice
clearly. Raspy, high-pitched, and some-how managing to get a small
gurgle in it. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have
thought she were talking to a dying goldfish or something. Her skin
crawled as she thought back to it.

“If that’s what you really want,” he said
slowly, peering into her eyes. Finally, with a frown between his
brow, he let go of her. “Why don’t you go lay down.”

She missed his warmth immediately, wanted
nothing more than to crawl right back into them and cry her eyes
out. But she promised herself she wasn’t going to cry anymore. She
knew how much it killed him to see it. Instead, Claire smiled as
best she could and nodded. “I think I’m going to get to bed
early.”

“Alright, love. What time to you plan on
leaving tomorrow?” he asked, kissing her temple gently.

She leaned into the kiss, breathing in his
scent, drawing whatever strength she could.

“Nine-thirty, maybe ten.”

He nodded, looking her over one last time
before leaving her alone in the hall.

The second she got into the room, she flew
herself on the bed and screamed into one of the pillows.

“God!” she cried out angrily, punching the bed.
“Why does this always happen to me? Why am I always the one that
get’s put through this shit?”

She lay there silently.

Claire was going to die tomorrow. Or get taken
back to Joey. Or maybe she was just going to get her cousin back
and leave. Even while the last option sounding amazing, she knew it
didn’t make sense.

Why would the thing take her cousin,
and then call her to town with no money, nothing as a ransom? Just
herself? She closed her eyes on an angry scream, forcing it down.
It was Joey doing this; it had to be. Her father had kicked her out
of his life – couldn’t someone go to the fatass and just tell him
that? Whatever happened to her would be pointless because her
father wouldn’t know
or
care.

Claire sat up, holding her head in her
hands.

Things with Logan were great right
now. Amazing. He’d shown her the basics of what they needed per
month, they’d spent time together and laughed together, and he’d
even helped her prepare dinner for the ranch-hands first dinner at
the house. And now….now
this
.

Could she never win? Could she never just be
happy?

She wrapped her arms around her
stomach, fighting off tears. She didn’t know what she was going to
do tomorrow. Maybe… Maybe she could write Logan a letter. He’d be
lucky to find it in time, but at least she could say she’d given
him a warning. Claire couldn’t risk Andrew’s life, not after he’d
risked
his
countless times for her.

Maybe she could meet with the person, find out
where her cousin is, take him, and then leave?

It sounded so simple, so
easy
. God, she wished it
could be.

Claire got up from her spot on the bed, walking
to the bathroom. When she turned on the shower, the room was
steaming in minutes. She stripped down and climbed in, wishing it
was that easy to relax. Too bad a simple shower couldn’t relax her
mind as much as it relaxed her muscles.