Montana Fire (22 page)

Chuck stepped close. “Ma’am. Consider telling your boss that you have a family emergency.
Or you could tell him the truth, that you’re scared. You might have been targeted
twice. Just don’t mention the FBI or terrorists.”

The agent was right. “I’ll tell them I have a family emergency. They’d never believe
me if I said I wanted to take a few days off because I was scared.” This man didn’t
know her history. Because the clinic was already short-staffed, her friends would
believe she’d abandoned them if she pulled the
scared
card. Yolanda’s death was a terrible tragedy, but those in need would still require
health care. “How long should I say I’ll be gone? Do I need to ask Dr. McDermott to
find a temporary replacement? If I do, do you think the city would spring for it?
The clinic’s budget is close to non-existent.” She had a few sick days accumulated,
but this might take longer.

“I’ll recommend the mayor fund it. As for how long you’ll be gone, I can’t say.”

Lying to her friends about what was happening would be hard, but Jamie’s life was
at stake. She had no choice. With this new development, she also needed to let the
garage know she wouldn’t be picking up Grayson for a while either.

God, but this was a cluster fuck.

Dan stepped next to them. “Max, don’t tell anyone where you’re going. I’m not sure
who we can trust.”

While Dan didn’t glance at the federal agent, she bet Agent Forbes was on the list.
If the government had been more forthcoming in the beginning, some things might have
happened differently.

Max faced the agent. “I’ll have my assistant send over my notes on the investigation.”

“Thank you.” Forbes fished out a card and handed it to him. “This has all of my information
to contact me.”

Max faced Dan. “I’ll have my cell. Call me.”

“Will do.”

Max’s features softened. He ran a knuckle down her cheek. “Ready?”

She’d never be ready, but she had little choice. “Yes.”

*     *     *

As soon as Max closed the car door and slipped into the driver’s side, Jamie needed
answers. “Where are we going?”

“I have a cabin near Kalispell.”

That was a good two hours from Rock Hard. She liked they’d be far away. “Is it safe?”

“A hell of a lot safer than here.” He glanced over at her. “Don’t worry, honey.”

She knew the refrain—he’d keep her safe. She prayed that was true.

Even after Max drove past Rock Hard city limits, Jamie still shook. Foolishly, she’d
believed that after the men had chased her down the street and into the clinic, she’d
figured out how to take back control of her life. Now, they’d resorted to murder and
shattered her calm. She’d spent her life helping others—people like Vic Hart—and look
where it had gotten her? Into trouble.

Jamie totally understood that she had to get away. Seeing first-hand how those terrorists
would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, fear had settled in her bones. She
failed to push aside the senseless deaths.

Max was driving only slightly above the speed limit instead of racing out of there.
What was up with taking his time? Perhaps he didn’t want to attract attention.

“Do you think these men know we’ve left town?” Her voice shook.

“Doubt it.” His hands tightened on the wheel, failing to disguise his concern.

Jamie wanted to know her odds. It would give her something to chew on, to analyze.
“What are the chances we’ll be safe?” He wouldn’t be able to say for sure, but she
needed to ask the question. Her nerves were too much on edge to just sit back.

“Small. We left town too suddenly. When I was with the RHPD, Dan Hartwick brought
someone in from the FBI to discuss homegrown terrorists. Unfortunately, there’s no
real profile for these men other than they are often under thirty and are unhappy
individuals who seek revenge against someone or a group. They are self-recruited,
self-trained, and self-executing, implying they think they’re invincible. I doubt
they even realize the cops suspect they were responsible for breaking into your house—assuming
they were. They’re probably telling themselves you’ll stay with someone for the night
before returning tomorrow to clean up the mess.”

“Where they plan to beat me for some answers, then kill me.” Jamie squeezed her eyes
shut and inhaled to settle her stomach. She sat up. “You don’t think they were smart
enough to plant a bug in my house for when the cops came, do you?” Then they’d know
everything.

“Jamie. Don’t do this to yourself. It will only drive you crazy. We’re getting out
of town. That’s a good thing, okay?”

“Okay.” There was no doubt she needed to leave Rock Hard, but was hiding in a remote
part of Montana the answer? Would these men discover Max’s cabin? His name would be
on the property appraiser’s website. “Who else besides Dan knows the location of your
getaway place?”

“No one I work with. I’ve known Rich Egland for ten years and he doesn’t know where
my cabin is—just that I have one. As for the firemen at the station, I don’t interact
with them on a daily basis. We’re kind of like tag teamers. They put out the fire
and I come in to figure out what caused it.”

That made her feel better. “Does Trent know where this place is?”

“Yes, but he won’t say anything.”

She wished there had been another option to ensure her safety, but there didn’t seem
to be one.

She pulled out her phone and called the clinic. As she’d hoped, she got the answering
machine. Jamie left a message for Dr. McDermott. She told him that because the clinic
would be closed for a few days, she wanted to visit her sick mother in California,
but that she wasn’t sure of her return date. Should her mom take a turn for the worse,
she’d call and ask him to find a replacement.

Jamie believed it had been the right thing to do, but as soon as she hung up, she
wasn’t so sure. By going with Max, she was basically putting his life in danger, too.
“Maybe you should just drive me to the airport. I can stay with my family.”

“No.”

“You suggested it.”

He glanced at her. “Changed my mind. I’m not letting you out of my sight for any reason.”

She loved his noble sentiment, but she wasn’t his responsibility. “You don’t have
to put your life on hold for me.”

He reached out and clasped her hand. “I want to.”

Jamie placed a hand on his thigh. “You’re the best.”

The first smile of the evening emerged. “I try.”

Being with Max was definitely the best choice for her. He’d not only be able to protect
her, he’d keep her from doing something stupid. Benny and Jonathan might have fooled
her, but not Max. He’d proven with his actions that he followed through on his commitments.
No one had made him rush over to her house when she was consoling Becky, nor did he
have to let her stay with him when he believed danger was near. The man was pure gold.

The problem was that while he might keep her body safe, what about her heart? Every
cell in her body told her there was no place for romance right now, that she needed
to give her full attention to staying alive, but Max was doing something to her equilibrium.

She was falling in love with him. There. She admitted it. Jamie sensed he cared deeply
for her, too, but did he think about a future? Right now, he’d be focused on them
staying out of harm’s way.

“You okay over there? You haven’t said a word in fifteen minutes.”

“Just thinking,” she said.

“My mom always told me that worry is productive only if you can do something about
it. Right now, let me do the worrying. I’ll make sure we’re not being followed. Try
to get some rest.”

Rest. Right. He must have seen her check the side view mirror every minute. “I’ll
try.” Even in times of stress, he was thinking of someone other than himself.

She glanced over at him. The light from the dashboard illuminated his strong nose
and jaw, deep-set eyes, and powerful arms. He intrigued her. If she had to be protected
by anyone, she’d have chosen Max Gruden—arson investigator, fire marshal, and all
around awesome guy.

Following his suggestion, Jamie leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying not
to let the fear eat away at her. If these radicals hadn’t killed two innocent people,
she might have blessed them for forcing her and Max together.

Her friends used to accuse Jamie of finding the silver lining in all bad situations.
Of late, she’d lost sight of that, and she wanted to try again. As terrible as this
was, being with Max had shown her she could feel again. She couldn’t pinpoint when
she’d felt the tingling of life return to her soul. Was it when she found him visiting
Jonathan? When he’d offered her his coat in the cold parking lot? Or when he’d held
her tight against his strong chest and let her cry? Whenever the moment, Max had done
her a big favor by proving to her that she wasn’t dead inside. She’d be damned if
she was going to let these bastards take away what little progress she’d made toward
getting her life back.

The car slowed and Jamie jerked her attention to her surroundings. “Why are we pulling
off? I thought your cabin was north of here.” The sign they’d just passed said Kalispell
was another twenty miles up the road. Had he spotted something?

“Easy there. My place is east of here. It’s at the base of a smaller mountain range.
I tell people it’s near Kalispell because no one has heard of Marie, Montana.”

“Oh.” Jamie sank back against the seat, letting the adrenaline ebb. One thing seemed
clear to her, she’d lost her ability to keep things in perspective. The town must
be small. “Can you see any neighbors from your cabin?”

He’d said it was remote, but remote to one person might mean something else to another.

“Not unless their house lights are on, and the trees have lost their leaves. Most
of us own ten to twenty acres.” She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Max
reached out and squeezed her arm. “Don’t worry, honey, I won’t let anyone get near
you. Just so you know, I love to hunt and fish. That means I have several guns and
rifles for game at the cabin. I also have a ton of fishing poles, but they won’t do
us much good in a standoff.”

If he was trying to cheer her up, it didn’t work. “These men are terrorists. They
could have rocket launchers.” All sorts of horrible images filled her mind, causing
her stomach to sour.

“Jamie. A word to the wise. If you think about something too much, it might come true.
You’ll have to trust me when I say, I won’t let them near you.”

He sounded confident, but he was only one man. “Are you saying I’m supposed to think
of this as a vacation and not worry about these bad men?”

He chuckled. “If you can, that would be great.”

Like that was ever going to happen. Jamie grasped onto the seatbelt for some support
and attempted to push aside the danger, but she couldn’t.

Seconds after exiting the main road, he entered a vacant parking lot in front of a
closed general store. “Why are you stopping here? They’re not open.”

“Not yet.” He withdrew his phone from his pocket and called someone. “Hey, Hank. It’s
Max. Need a favor.”

Chapter Eighteen

M
ax explained to this friend that he was on a mission for the FBI and needed not only
supplies, but a lookout man. “Good. We’re parked in front now.” Max disconnected the
call. “Hank will open up in a minute.”

“Was it wise to mention the FBI? You didn’t even tell your own assistant the truth
when you asked him to send you report over to Chuck Forbes.”

“Didn’t have to. Rich is smart. He’ll figure out something’s up by the email address.”

Max did seem to have thought of everything. He, too, used the same family emergency
excuse to explain why he’d be away for a few days, and while she’d only heard Max’s
side of the conversation, Rich didn’t question him much.

“Hank, on the other hand, is a different matter. If I want his help, I needed to tell
him something. Note, I didn’t mention anything about terrorists.”

Once more, Max’s logic prevailed. “I’ve never known a store owner to open up after
hours.”