In the Arms of a Stranger (Entangled Ignite) (6 page)

“You watch out. Keep your doors locked,” he said as he stepped onto the porch.

Was he warning her?
Had
he been looking for JP?

Good heavens, she was losing it. He’d been Wade’s friend; he’d cared enough to check on her. He was simply telling her to be careful. Nothing more.

“Seen anyone out this way tonight?”

Brooks. She’d seen Brooks. But if she told him, Ron would ask her questions she didn’t want to answer. “Like who?”

“Sam told me a new vet was coming around,” Ron said. “You seen him?”

“No,” she replied with a shake of her head. The truth felt wonderful.

“Hope he knows to be careful.”

“Careful?”

“Of that damn bull. Sam said you’d penned up Petunia. Don’t know why Amos keeps that animal. Making you board him when he’s hurt seems mighty selfish of Amos.”

“I don’t mind helping Amos out. Petunia doesn’t act up around me, and I’m sure Sam told the new guy to be careful.” He should know any vet worth his salt could handle the bull.

“Well, that’s good. I’d hate to see you get hurt just ’cause you helped a neighbor.” He slapped his baseball cap against his leg. “I hear Steve’s taking his boy and Cole up to the mountains to go fishing. You going?”

“No,” she replied, pasting a smile on her lips. “Just Steve, his son Stevie, and a friend of Steve’s. I’m getting together with some girlfriends for a few days.”

“Hope they have a good time.” Ron pulled on his hat. “Who’s watching out for Buck?”

“Carey’s son. He’ll feed our cat, too.”

He nodded. “I’ll be on my way then, Abby. Take care.”

“Thanks again,” she said as he got into his pickup. She stood at her front door, clutching Cole’s hand, as Ron drove slowly down her driveway. As soon as the truck’s taillights disappeared behind the trees, she tugged Cole back in and ran down the hall, checking the rooms, calling softly. When she didn’t find JP, she ran back and checked the dining room and kitchen.

“He went bye,” Cole said.

She stared at her son, fighting back a cry of dismay.
Damn!

JP Blackmon had vanished. And with him, any hope of getting her answers.

Chapter 4

The next morning, Abby woke up sore and tired. She’d spent a sleepless night twisting and turning, fighting the overwhelming urge to chase after JP—if she only knew where he’d gone. But she had to deal with practicalities.

After breakfast, her brother, Steve, brought a chainsaw to cut up the fallen limb that had prevented her from getting to the highway the night before. She and Cole climbed in his truck and rode to the barn with him to meet the tow truck.

When the garage guy towed her car out of the mud, he saw JP’s car in the creek. That brought a sheriff’s deputy over, who called Ron and another man from Search and Rescue. They checked out the car before giving the okay to pull it out of the creek.

“You didn’t see this car last night?” the deputy asked. He tipped his sheriff’s hat at the driver as the tow truck headed to the impound lot, hauling JP’s car behind it.

“You’re kidding, right?” she replied, afraid he’d know the truth. “I could barely see anything.”

Where could JP be? How far could he have gotten, wounded and without transportation? If it weren’t for Cole, she would have chased after him last night. But it would have been a fool’s errand. If JP didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be. Certainly not by her.

“You haven’t seen it around here before?” the deputy pressed.

“No. I’m pretty sure I haven’t.”

“About all you can count on Abby to remember about a car is the color,” Steve said with a laugh. “She has to see the Ford or the Chevy logo before she knows what make it is.”

The officer chuckled. “I’ll run the plates, but I guess the owner will come back and claim it if he’s interested.”

JP wouldn’t be back. She’d never know what happened to him, just as she’d never know what had happened to Wade.

Ron, along with a younger man Abby didn’t know, walked back up from the dirt road. The young man climbed into Ron’s small pickup.

“We searched downstream in case a body washed up,” Ron said, joining them, He swiped at the sweat on his temple with his arm. “But looks to me like the driver walked away.”

“Might have been one of the men working Carey’s place,” Steve offered.

“Nah, I asked,” the deputy said. He thanked Ron, then, turning to her and her brother, he added, “I’m headed back to the office, folks. Have a good one.” He climbed into his cruiser and drove off.

“We’ll be movin’ on, too,” Ron said. “When are y’all leavin’ to go fishin’, Steve?”

“This afternoon. Storm put us behind.”

“You let Buck and Petunia out yet?”

“Steve let Buck out,” Abby replied. “But we’re waiting for Sam to check Petunia’s stitches. He tore himself up pretty badly when he ran through Amos’s fence this time.”

“Crazy bull,” Ron said. “He’s nothing but trouble.”

“Amos keeps hoping he’ll learn,” Abby said with a sigh. The animal definitely had a bad temper.

“See you folks later,” Ron said, climbing into his pickup. “Have a great time fishin’. Abby, you gonna be around?”

“No, I’m going out of town with some friends.”

“Oh, yeah. You told me. Well, drive careful,” he said, and waved.

She and her brother watched Ron’s progress down the long driveway to the road. Cole ran out of the barn, where he’d been visiting the barn cat.

“Muffin has kittens! Can I go see Petunia?”

“We’ll wait for Doc Sam to come over then we’ll all go,” she replied. “We’ve got to release Petunia once Doc checks him out.”

“’Kay,” Cole said, taking her hand and swinging it.

With her son’s small hand in hers, Abby’s frustration over not being able to follow JP last night evaporated. What had she been thinking? The most important thing in her life was Cole. Nothing else mattered.

That thought made her second-guess letting him go on the fishing trip. What would her days without Cole be like? What if he missed her? What if—“Steve, maybe I should go with you.”

“Now, Abby. We’ve been through this. He’ll be fine.”

“I know, but—”

“We’ll call. I promise.”

“But the cell connections are bad. You said so.”

“We’ll find a way.”

“But—”

“Abby, honey,” Steve said, taking her hand. “Cole’s going to be just fine.” He gave her a quick hug and pulled back, his eyes serious. “You need a break, baby sister. A girls’ getaway with your friends is just what you need.”

Gravel crunched behind them. Both turned to see Sam O’Neil drive up, a passenger beside him.

“Doc.” Steve greeted the veterinarian and the younger man with him.

“This is Pete Avery,” Sam said, and introduced them all around. “Abby and Steve’s father was the local vet for years before I took over. Pete’s here to help me out for a few weeks.”

Pete shook hands with them. He looked no older than a high school student. Very young. Blond hair, blue eyes, friendly.

“Please call me Abby,” she said when he called her Mrs. Price.

“Let me show you my prize pain in the as—behind,” Sam said, leading the younger man toward the barn. “We’ll see about those stitches.”

“I’m going to get cleaned up,” Steve told Abby, wiping the sweat from his face. “You have Cole’s things ready, right?”

She nodded, still feeling unsure.

“Then I’ll come by and get him and we’ll be off. The boys are gonna love fishing and hiking,” Steve said, ruffling her son’s hair.

“Yeah,” Cole said with a wide smile and waved as his uncle left.

Her baby. She had to let go a little. But it wouldn’t be easy. He was all she had left.

She walked through the barn and looked into the corral, which was partially covered by the barn’s overhanging roof. The Black Angus bull with the ridiculous name, standing in full sun, turned his massive neck and faced them.

“Wow! He’s beautiful,” Pete said as she joined them at the rail.

“Talk to him, Abby, before he starts having a fit,” Sam said.

Abby started her usual nonsense. She’d learned the tone from Wade, from the way he gentled a spooked horse, from the way he always treated Buck. It didn’t matter what she said, it was all in the tone she used.

“How’d he get injured?” Pete asked.

“Ran through a barbed wire fence, then dragged it a few hundred yards before he stopped. I quit counting when I reached one hundred stitches. And it’s not the first time. He’s good breeding stock, or I don’t think his owner would keep him. Abby boards him when he gets hurt since he behaves pretty well here. No cows around, so the big boy stays put.”

“How long do you keep him?”

“A week, usually. Amos Farley will be out to get him today or tomorrow,” she said.

“You can take the stitches out then,” Sam said. “You’ll need Amos’s help. Abby’s going out of town.”

Pete nodded and walked along the metal corral railings to get a better look.

“Only other continuing case I have right now is Ida White’s mare. She had a bad time foaling last night in the storm.”

The men kept up their conversation but Abby only half listened as she continued to murmur nonsense to Petunia. Cole let go of her hand and ran back into the barn. As she turned to watch, she thought she caught a movement from inside the feed trough, which stood inside the corral, in the shade.

Curious, she moved closer. Petunia stomped the ground and snorted.

Dragging her attention back to the big bull, she started talking again, struggling to think of something to say besides, “Be a good boy, now.”

There
. The hay shifted slightly in the trough. Was that a touch of blue beneath the hay?

Her heart stopped. Her mumbled words faded away.

“Man, oh, man, look at those stitches,” Pete said.

The bull moved closer to the trough.

“He looks good. I’ll let him out.” Sam climbed up onto the rail next to the gate. “Y’all go on into the barn. No point in waving a red flag in front of him.”

Abby stood frozen, staring at the trough in horror. The hay shifted again. Could she really be seeing blue jeans? Suddenly, it hit her.

Oh, my God
. JP!

“Abby? You okay?” Sam asked.

They had to get Petunia out of there!

“Y-yeah,” she stammered.

“He’d really charge us?” Pete asked, eyeing the bull with new respect.

“In a heartbeat,” Sam said.

“Let’s go inside,” she insisted, grabbing the young vet by the arm and tugging him into the barn.

Sam opened the gate. The bull tossed his head, turned back to the trough, and grunted.

Oh, God
. Abby sucked in a terrified breath.

“Come on, boy,” she whispered.

Petunia spun abruptly and charged out into the pasture. Sam closed the gate so the bull couldn’t come back into the corral.

Pete walked back toward them, smiling at her. “Where’d you learn bull whispering?”

Who cares?
She wanted to scream at them to leave. She couldn’t take her eyes off the trough.

“Abby?”

“Oh. Um…” She jerked her gaze away and turned to walk back through the barn, forcing them to follow to continue the conversation. “My late husband taught me.”

At last they reached Sam’s truck. The men climbed in. “See you when you get back,” Sam said with a wave, and they drove off.

As soon as they were gone, Abby rushed back to the pen and stopped in front of the trough. It was a miracle he’d managed to stay hidden. She didn’t want to think about how he’d gotten in there in the first place with Petunia roaming the corral.

She crossed her arms and said, “Come on out. I know you’re in there.”

A bit of straw slid away from around his eyes, but he didn’t move. Simply stared up at her.

She shook her head. “Are you completely insane?”

…

JP listened carefully. He had to be doubly sure there was no one else around.

“Will you come out? No one can see you,” she said in the tone of an irate mother.

Mothering
was not what he wanted from her.

He barely had time to register the thought before she reached down and brushed aside the rest of the hay that covered his face.

“What made you think you could hide in here?” Her hands swept the straw from his chest.

He sat up, wincing at the pain in his side. “It worked, didn’t?”

“Stupid things sometimes work,” she replied, fingers grazing his thighs as she pushed aside more hay. “That was stupid
and
dangerous.”

She was actually scolding him. The only people who’d ever done that were his mom and his older sister. He didn’t know whether to be mad or amused.

“Are you still bleeding?”

He frowned. “How did you—”

“You dripped blood all over my house,” she said, lips compressed. “Everyone’s gone. Let me take a look at whatever’s bleeding.”

He didn’t want her looking at his wound. Didn’t want her anywhere near him. He should be long gone, on his way to following a trail that was over a year old, now that he’d learned she knew even less than he did about Wade’s actions.

Because if Brooks hadn’t wanted Abby to see Wade’s body, there was a chance he was still alive.

But would Wade do that to her? He may have betrayed JP, but it just didn’t fit that he’d let his wife and son believe he was dead. He may have lied through his teeth to them out of necessity, but JP knew Wade had genuinely loved his family.

With effort, JP swung his legs over the edge of the trough, clutching his side.

“So…what? You thought it would be safe to wander around inside a bull’s pen?”

He was half in, half out of the feed trough. Abby was fussing at him, the pressure of her fingers insistent on his elbow, her white sleeveless blouse bunched and dipped between her breasts. His throat went dry.

“That bull weighs over two thousand pounds,” she went on, clueless.

Determined to get out without any damn help, he pushed himself up. She reached out and placed an arm around his back in an effort to help him. It took everything he had not to lean into her. He’d spent an uncomfortable night flat on his back, unsure at first as to what type of creature was sharing the corral with him. Now Abby Price, with her lush woman’s body hovering over him, was a far too tempting contrast.

Somehow, he managed to stand up. He was wobbly, but he tried not to let her see that.

“Can you walk?”

Okay, maybe his legs weren’t working so great. But other parts—

He glanced down at himself in chagrin.
Damn
. He wouldn’t have thought this would even be possible, given his blood loss and the way his head was swimming. Hell, it was swimming because all his blood had rushed south. No wonder his legs felt like rubber.

A flash of stabbing pain stopped him from straightening fully. Clutching his side, he bent over. Convenient. She wouldn’t be able to see his body’s response to her touch.

She frowned at him. “The county’s large-animal vet keeps emergency medical supplies here. I’ll take a look at your wound. Do you need stitches?”

She was amazingly practical, amazingly unfazed by what was happening to him. But she was just concerned about his wound, he reminded himself. Not him.

She’d lost her husband. The husband she’d
loved
.

She wasn’t looking at JP as a man. She simply wanted something from him. Answers.

Answers he couldn’t give her
.

Hell, he didn’t even know what questions to ask—not with Wade dead. And if Wade had never told her what he did for a living, JP’d be damned if he would.

He shook his head. “No stitches,” he said, forcing his thoughts away from her as a woman. He didn’t want to think of her like that. “I just need to get out of here.”

“Your car’s been towed away.”

He straightened enough to meet her gaze. “I’ll manage.”

“The deputy asked if I’d seen it before. They searched the creek bed, thinking the driver might have drowned, but they believe he—
you
—walked away. They’ll be looking for you. How do you plan to get away?”

He’d known the car was useless. There’d been no way to drive it out of the creek bed. He knew where he had to go now. She’d told him. Or rather, Wade had told her to tell him.
The Springs
. Whether that was a trap or something else, he wouldn’t know until he got there. He’d decided he could steal a car, but he was out in the middle of nowhere and the only car around was hers. Stealing from her wasn’t an option.