The Horseman's Son (8 page)

“You’re right,” Dylan admitted. “There’s that unresolved issue of my past relationships. Besides, sex would complicate things.”

No more leaning against the wall. She practically snapped to attention. “Who said anything about sex?”

He lifted his eyebrow.

Just like that, her body relaxed, and Collena shrugged. “Attraction leads to sex—point taken. It can’t happen though.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but if this attraction gets any stronger, we might have trouble remembering why it’d be a bad idea.”

“It’d be bad because it would get in the way of what we both want, being the best possible parents to Adam.”

He nodded. “That’s a good argument.”

But it didn’t stop a curl of heat from making its way through his body. It was just basic lust, he repeated to himself, intensified because of the camaraderie and because it’d been too long since he’d been with a woman.

Way too long.

His body just wouldn’t let him forget that.

Nor would it let him forget that judging from the look in Collena’s eyes, she was engaged in the same battle he was.

“My, isn’t this cozy?” Dylan heard someone ask.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Jonah making his way toward them. The deputy had obviously noticed the proximity of Collena and him, because Jonah was grinning as if he’d just caught them raiding the cookie jar.

“Did I interrupt anything?” Jonah asked.

“Nothing that we care to share with you,” Dylan fired back.

That caused Jonah’s nostrils to flare. The man stopped just several inches away from them. “You just don’t learn, do you, Dylan?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t have a real good track record with women, now, do you? I seem to recall the last one you got engaged to was killed in that car fire.”

Dylan shifted his posture and glared at Jonah. “Is that some kind of threat?”

Jonah held up his hands in mock surrender, and he chuckled. “Not from me.” The jovial expression quickly faded, and the look in the deputy’s eyes turned dark. “But even you can’t deny that you’ve got a problem. My advice? Watch your back and hers. I don’t want to be investigating another suspicious death or two.”

With that, Jonah strolled away in the direction of the other guest room.

The curl of heat was quickly replaced with anger, and followed by the realization that while Jonah was an SOB, he was also right.

Dylan
did
need to watch Collena’s back.

In his attempt to keep custody of Adam, he couldn’t endanger Collena’s life.

It was time to reopen some of his own personal wounds and take another hard look at what’d happened years ago.

“Jonah obviously doesn’t want to see you happy,” Collena said. She waited until Jonah was in his room before she continued. “I learned some things about him.”

“That he was stalking my sister right before she was killed.” Dylan nodded. “I believe it’s true, though Jonah has denied it. He said it was all a misunderstanding, that he thought my sister was truly interested in him.”

“He was also dating Millie at the time.”

“You’ve done your homework.” And Dylan couldn’t fault her for it. He was investigating her and her friends, as well. “Yes, they were dating, but I think Jonah was doing that only to make my sister jealous. It might have worked if Abigail had had any feelings for Jonah. But she didn’t.”

Collena folded her arms over her chest. “I have to ask—do you think Jonah could have had something to do with your sister’s death?”

He didn’t have to think long about his answer. “I honestly don’t know. If he did, he certainly hid his guilt.”

“Some people don’t feel guilt.” Collena glanced down the hall at Jonah’s room and scrubbed her hand over the back of her neck. “I should get some rest. You, too. We have a long day ahead of us.”

He couldn’t dispute that, but after the conversation they’d just had about Jonah, Dylan didn’t want to take any chances. “This is probably overkill since you’re a former cop, but I’d like to check your room.”

Her eyes widened. “You think…” But she didn’t finish that. She merely stepped aside so that Dylan could go in.

He didn’t waste any time. He turned on the lights, and with Collena trailing right behind him, he checked first the sitting room and then the adjoining bedroom suite.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Dylan turned toward her. “Lock your door tonight.”

“I intend to. And I have my gun.”

He nodded, though he hated the idea that Collena might ever have to use it. In fact, he had to believe there’d be no need to use it. He’d done everything possible to create the safest environment for Adam, and he had to trust that all his security measures would be enough.

However, first thing in the morning, he was getting Jonah out of there, and he would turn on the corridor security cameras to make sure Jonah didn’t leave his room. In addition, he’d set the security system in the nursery so that no one could sneak in there.

Dylan considered asking Collena if she wanted him to stay in her suite with her. He briefly considered it anyway. But another look at her reminded him that would be a really bad idea.

Besides, he wasn’t even certain there was a threat.

The newspaper could have been Millie or Ruth’s way of trying to make Collena want to run in the other direction. And if so, they wouldn’t get away with it. If he found out they were behind this, there’d be hell to pay. He’d make it clear to both women that he wasn’t going to let them do this to Collena.

Dylan and she walked back into the sitting room. That’s when he noticed the message light blinking on the phone. “Someone must have called you.”

Collena looked in the direction of the phone and stared at the red blinking light. “No one I know has that number. All my calls having been coming through my cell.”

That put a new knot in his stomach. Still, the most logical answer was that it was a wrong number. Hoping that was true, Dylan went to the phone and punched the button.

It was several moments before he heard any sound. First, there was static. Lots of it. The line crackled and hissed as if the connection was really bad.

Then, there was the voice.

“Collena,” the person said through the hiss and static. The voice was muted.

No, not muted.

Disguised.

The caller had something over his or her mouth.

Collena moved closer, until they were side-by-side, and they continued to stare at the phone. Waiting.

“Collena,” the voice repeated. “Are you ready to die?”

Collena had experienced one of the longest nights of her life, and she wasn’t holding out any hope that the day after would be any easier.

With the threatening phone call, the newspaper appearing outside her door, Curtis Reese’s custody threat and Rodney Harmon’s escape from jail, her stress and anxiety levels were sky-high.

What made everything tolerable was Adam.

Much to Ruth’s disapproval, Collena had insisted that she feed her son breakfast. Then, she bathed Adam. The process hadn’t gone perfectly, especially with Ruth shadowing her every move, but Collena ignored the woman and just enjoyed her first precious moments of motherhood.

There would be lots more of these moments.

And it would take more than a threatening call to put her off.

Collena dressed Adam in denim overalls, brushed his hair and carried him into the playroom so they could have some reading time.

Ruth followed her.

“You’re getting him out of his morning routine,” Ruth complained.

Collena considered ignoring her, but she decided it was time to get things straight. Ruth’s criticisms had been going on for hours, and she didn’t want it to continue. “Adam’s my son,” Collena stated firmly. “I’m going to raise him. And right now, I’m going to read him a book.”

Ruth pulled back her shoulders. “You’re trying to cut me out of his life.”

“No, I’m not. Dylan hired you, so he obviously believes you’re a good nanny.” At least she hoped that was true, that Ruth wasn’t still around simply because she’d become a fixture at the ranch. “I have no intentions of cutting you out of Adam’s life. But I won’t have you trying to do the same to me.”

Ruth’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and after several snail-crawling moments, she gave a crisp nod. “I’ll give you two some time to read,” she said as if it were a massive concession. Which for her, it probably was. And then the woman quietly left the room.

“Alone at last,” Collena mumbled.

She sat on the floor, put Adam right next to her and selected a book from the large stack. Adam cocked his head to the side, studying her, before he climbed into Collena’s lap. It was an amazing feeling, and it was several moments before Collena could find her voice so she could read to her child. However, she barely made it through the first page before someone opened the door.

It was Dylan.

As much as Collena hated to have her time with Adam interrupted, she wanted to see Dylan, as well, so she could find out what progress he’d made on the threatening phone call and Curtis’s custody petition.

And much to her displeasure, she realized she also wanted to see him just for the sake of seeing him.

She certainly got an eyeful.

He wore faded jeans that hugged his well-toned lower body and a white shirt that did the same for his equally well toned torso. He hadn’t shaved and had rather hot-looking desperado stubble.

“You found out who made that call?” Collena asked, forcing herself to get her mind back on business and off Dylan’s body.

He kept his expression pleasant, no doubt for Adam’s sake, and came and sat on the floor next to them. Adam immediately left Collena’s lap for his, and the child gave Dylan a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Dylan returned the kiss.

“There are private lines in both guest rooms where you and Jonah were staying,” Dylan explained while he played patty-cake with Adam. “Both numbers are listed so they’d be easy for anyone to get them. And there was an identical message on the machine in Jonah’s room.”

Collena processed that info. “So, the call could have come from anyone who knew I was staying here. Anyone, including Curtis Reese or Rodney Harmon.” It sickened her to think of a man like Harmon having any contact with the ranch.

She wanted him far away from Adam.

“I tried to have the call traced, of course,” Dylan continued. “But it came from a prepaid cell phone.”

Collena knew what that meant. The call wouldn’t be traceable. The threat was a dead end because, in addition to Rodney Harmon or Curtis Reese, Ruth or Millie could have made the call. For that matter, Jonah could have, as well. The message on the phone in his guest room could have been a ruse to throw suspicion off him.

“You look tired,” Dylan said. He reached out and slid his finger over her cheek to push away a lock of hair that had strayed from her ponytail. His touch was warm. And comforting.

“You look tired, too. Probably because you stayed outside my door all night.”

He nodded and seemed a little surprised that she’d known that little detail. “Since the nursery’s at the end of that particular hall, I figured I could keep an eye on both Adam and you.”

“Thank you for that. For Adam’s sake. But since I have my gun, I feel safe.”

That was a lie, but Collena didn’t want him to think she was a wuss. Dylan had enough to worry about without adding her to his list.

Dylan handed Adam a toy dog. “Curtis Reese filed the custody motion this morning.”

Collena had been expecting him to say that, but it still hit her hard. It took her a moment to gather her breath. “And what about Rodney Harmon? I don’t suppose the police have found him?”

“Not yet. But I hired a couple of P.I.s to look for him, as well.”

That was a start, and she had to remind herself that Dylan had an excellent security system at the ranch. No, it hadn’t prevented that troubling call, but it would probably stop an intruder from breaking in. After all, he’d detected her with ease when she was by the birthing stables. Now that they knew Rodney Harmon was on the loose, Dylan had no doubt beefed up security even more.

Plus, he’d slept outside her door.

Collena didn’t want to be touched by that.

But she was.

“There’s nothing new on your car,” he continued. He divided his attention between Adam and her. “The fire chief is still thinking it was an electrical problem, but he’s going to continue to investigate.”

Collena hoped it was an electrical fire that hadn’t been spurred by human’s means. It was far better than the alternative, but considering that phone call, the car and the call could have been attempts to run her out of town.

“Did anyone on the staff know about the newspaper left outside my door?” she asked.

“Everyone denied putting it there.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Obviously, someone is lying.”

Obviously. “If the newspaper was only meant to unnerve me, I can live with that.” Collena stopped and tried to decide the best way to continue. But Dylan had no trouble picking up on where this conversation was going.

“You think this has something to do with the deaths of my sister and fiancée. And the other attacks,” he added.

She drew back her shoulders. “What other attacks?”

Dylan shrugged, but there was nothing casual about the gesture. “I figured you’d come across that in the background check.”

“I didn’t.” And Collena braced herself for the worst. Thankfully, Adam helped soften the impact. The little boy’s laughter broke the tension building inside Collena.

“It started when I was seventeen. My high school girlfriend was assaulted. Someone clubbed her when she was getting into her car one night. She wasn’t able to get a look at her attacker because the assault happened from behind.”

Oh, mercy. Collena could only hold her breath while Dylan continued.

“Then, when I was in college, a woman I dated was also beaten.”

“I take it the only thing these women, your fiancée and your sister, had in common was…you?” she asked.

“Yes. And I know what you’re thinking—did someone I know commit these crimes.”

“You mean, Deputy Burke?” She didn’t wait for him to confirm that. “He certainly seems capable of doing something malicious. I don’t know about murder though.”

Dylan lifted his shoulder. “Maybe the fires weren’t meant to kill them.”

She considered that. She also considered something else. “What if it was someone else connected to you, someone who works for you?”

He stayed quiet a moment. “I had to consider that, but then I dismissed it. The only people who were around for all the incidents were Millie, Ruth and Hank, the handyman.”

Collena tried not to make the tone of her next question sound confrontational. “Both Millie and Ruth are under care of a therapist. Maybe one of them is, uh, well, a little unbalanced.”

Dylan looked neither surprised, nor upset with the suggestion. “Anything is possible. But I just don’t see it. Ruth’s been a great nanny, and Millie practically runs the household. If either of them is a sociopath with killer tendencies, it hasn’t shown up in any behavior or any incident here at the ranch.”

“Maybe because you’ve stopped dating and therefore you’ve stopped giving one of them a reason to do something violent.”

He stared at her. Rather than getting angry about that theory, he actually seemed thoughtful before he shook his head. “Ruth loves me like her own son. I’m sure of that. I’m also sure that she wants me to be happy.”

Collena wasn’t so certain of that at all. “And what about Millie?”

Another headshake. “She’s not romantically obsessed with me. She sees other men. Heck, she was engaged to a guy from San Antonio just last year, but things didn’t work out between them.”

“Well, that leaves Hank, and I’m not about to accuse a seventysomething-year-old man of murder and assault.” She paused. “Unless you think there’s a reason to accuse him.”

“No reason at all. My dad died when I was a kid, and Hank stepped up to do all the things that a dad normally would have done. He was also a huge help to my mom when it came to running the business. When she died of breast cancer eight years ago, Hank took it as hard as I did.”

So, Hank was family. Not that being family was a good enough reason to remove him from a list of suspects.

“Hank is Ruth’s father and Millie’s grandfather,” Dylan added.

“I didn’t know that.” She wondered if that bit of information was important. “I didn’t investigate him before I came to the ranch.”

“All three—Millie, Ruth and Hank—are Sayers. Ruth was never married to Millie’s father, so that’s why they have the same surname.” Dylan looked at her again. “Do you want me to have them move out for a while?”

Collena wanted to jump at the chance for that to happen. But it wasn’t fair. Not to them. Nor was it fair to Adam. Besides, Dylan was right. There were no solid indications that the women wanted to prevent him from being happy in love.

However, she couldn’t say the same for Jonah.

She really needed to do some more digging into his past.

“What about the roads?” Collena asked. It was obviously time for a change of subject. The mood was positively gloomy. “Are they still impassable?”

Dylan shook his head. “They’ve been plowed.”

“Does that mean Jonah is on his way home?”

“He left about an hour ago.”

Well, that was something to celebrate, but Dylan didn’t look in a celebratory mood. And that brought her to something she should have already suggested. “Do you want me to move to a hotel?”

“Absolutely not. We only have one hotel in town, and Curtis Reese is staying there.”

“Right.” She definitely didn’t want to be near him.

“Besides, it’s too risky for you to leave,” Dylan added.

“You mean, too risky because of Rodney Harmon?” Collena knew he couldn’t verify that Rodney was the only risk, but she wanted to know if he was ready to admit that someone in his household might have been responsible for the car fire and the threatening call.

“Rodney Harmon. Curtis Reese,” he verified. “Plus, there’s the wedding.”

Yes. That.

Despite all the other thoughts and fears that’d clogged her brain and prevented her from sleeping, Collena hadn’t been able to get the wedding off her mind.

When she’d first come up with the marriage plan, it’d seemed like a solid idea, but now she was having her doubts. But she didn’t have another choice. Without being a married couple, they wouldn’t be able to put up a strong fight to stop Curtis Reese.

Dylan scraped his thumbnail over the book that she’d laid next to her. “I’ve already arranged for the marriage license. The county clerk went to his office despite the holiday and expedited everything. And with the roads clear, the justice of the peace should be able to get here without any trouble. We’ll be able to do this soon.”

“How soon is soon?” she asked.

He cleared his throat. “This afternoon.”

Of course, she’d known that Dylan intended to move quickly, but she certainly hadn’t anticipated they would say
I do
in mere hours.

“You’re having second thoughts,” he said.

Second, third and fourth. She only hoped she wasn’t inviting even more danger for all of them by becoming Mrs. Dylan Greer.

D
YLAN TOOK OUT
his gun from the desk drawer and slipped it in the leather shoulder holster hidden beneath his suit coat. He doubted many men carried a gun on their wedding day, but this wasn’t any normal wedding day.

There was a killer on the loose.