Montana Refuge (11 page)

He shouldn’t have added that last part because just like that, he could see in her eyes that she remembered the last time they’d been at this camp as well as he did. But in the next moment she yawned and he saw that fatigue coupled with fear was going to be the deciding factor.

She gathered the cut vegetables into a plastic container and deposited them in the cooler, then she grabbed her bedroll from the ground. He turned off the lantern, and using his flashlight, guided them off toward the river. He knew lying beside her was going to be exquisite torture, but he also knew he’d rather burn in hell than face rejection again. She was safe with him.

Still, he didn’t want to be close to other people. He wanted her to himself, even in this limited capacity.

They both unrolled their beds on a site he’d picked out earlier, under a couple of pine trees that over the years had shed enough needles to form a springy mat on the ground. He turned off the flashlight and stripped down to his shorts, folding his jeans and shirt and placing them under his pillow.

Next to him, he could see Julie’s silhouette as she stripped down to her underwear, too, and he made himself look away.

The air was cool and it felt good to slip into the bag. Julie did the same. Her gentle sigh as she settled down floated on the still air.

If he stretched out his hand he could touch her. He wasn’t going to do that, but it rattled him to realize how much he
wanted
to. Before yesterday he hadn’t thought of her in weeks, he’d been fine without her, he’d consigned her to his past, and now thoughts of her and worry about her all but consumed him.

If he’d really relegated her to his past, then why hadn’t he signed the divorce papers and sent them to her lawyer?

He turned his head. Her ebony hair glowed in the moonlight, so black against her pillow. He lectured himself about forbearance, trying to get comfortable while long ago images played through his mind like scenes from a movie.

Skinny-dipping in the river, making love in the water, sitting on the grassy shore and letting the summer air dry their skin, the ride back home, both of them on one horse, leading the other behind them, content just to be in each other’s arms...

A breathless gasp and beating of the canvas cover next to him shattered his wandering thoughts. He sat up abruptly.

Beside him, Julie appeared to be struggling frantically to get out of her bag, slapping at the canvas cover, breathing shallow and rapid. She called his name in soft desperation. He managed to disengage himself and go to her aid, fumbling with her bag’s zipper in the dark until it finally pulled down far enough for her to scramble from its confines. She tumbled over him, both of them falling to the ground in a jumble of bare legs.

“What in the hell?” he barked in a hoarse whisper, but she’d already jumped to her feet and run toward the river.

Chapter Eight

Tyler grabbed the flashlight and followed Julie as she disappeared down the sloping bank to the water. Hearing a splash, he flicked on the light and found her submerged up to her chin, brushing at herself, dipping her head beneath the surface.

The water was cold this time of year and he was startled by her behavior. What had gotten into her? He walked down to the water’s edge and stood there in his bare feet, watching her.

When she started toward the shore, his heart dipped into his stomach at the sight of her emerging like a beautiful lake nymph, her face and shoulders pale next to her dark hair. She was as good as naked in this light, her breasts generous rounded globes, her hips slightly flared. His reaction to the sight of her made his voice sound cross as he said, “What in the hell are you doing?”

She came up close to him and spoke in a low voice that was hard to understand as her teeth were clattering from the cold. “Spiders, Tyler. In my bag. I was almost asleep and I felt something with my foot.”

“You felt spiders?”

“Not at first. At first I felt something made of paper or cardboard. I thought maybe the cleaners had left something in the bag by mistake. It was way down at the bottom—well, you know how long these bags are so they’ll work for all sizes of people. I kicked it, I guess, and then a minute later, I felt something crawl up my leg.”

“Are you sure it was a spider?”

She shuddered. “I’m pretty sure.”

“Come on,” he said and led the way back to the bags. Tyler could see nobody else around, so apparently they hadn’t made as much noise as he’d thought. “Stay back a little, I’m going to take a look,” he said, taking a minute to hand her his jacket from the pile on the ground. He pulled on jeans and boots as she stood there trembling in her wet underwear and his jacket.

Using the flashlight to illuminate the bag, he pulled it open. The lining was a pale blue color, so it wasn’t hard to see the small darting forms of several dark spiders scampering out of the light. Tyler managed to step on one before it got away. He took the light from Julie and sitting on his heels, bent down to look at it. Then he looked at the rest of the bag including the object Julie had hit with her foot.

When he stood up, he took a long look at her. “Come with me,” he said and took off back to the river, she following behind.

“Where are we going? I’m cold,” she said, her voice soft.

He addressed her from over his shoulder. “Back to the river. Remember I took that arachnology class in college?”

“Yes. Do you know what kind of spider it was that you stepped on? How did that box get in there? Don’t you always launder the bags between guests?”

“Yes, we always do,” he said. “Julie, take off your clothes. I’m going to make sure you haven’t been bitten.”

“What?”

“That’s why I brought you down here—for a little privacy. We could wake another woman to help you if you insist—”

“No, that’s okay, there’s no part of me you haven’t seen a thousand times. But, really, I’d know if I was bitten, and so what if I was?”

“The spider I killed could have been a hobo spider. I don’t think we should take a chance you would feel a bite, especially after your dip in cold water.”

“You mean the kind of spider that’s related to the brown recluse?”

“Yeah. I can’t be certain with the naked eye, but we can’t take a chance. Hand me my jacket and strip off your clothes. I’ll be quick about it.”

“This is not how I expected to spend my time as a camp cook,” she grumbled as she took off the jacket and handed it to him. “And this is not exactly keeping you out of my problems either,” she added. Facing away from him, she removed her bra and stepped out of her panties. “I’ll check my front,” she said, and he passed her the flashlight while he stared out at the river and tried to think of something besides the fact she was standing stark-naked eighteen inches away from him, examining her own breasts.

Finally, she handed back the light and he used it to go over her backside. He didn’t touch her; it wasn’t necessary, but God, he wanted to. The smooth, rounded cheeks of her butt just asked to be fondled and kissed, and as he gently lifted her hair to look at her shoulders he thought of the hundreds of times he’d done the same thing right before kissing the nape of her neck. He shone the light down her legs, wincing when he glimpsed the scabs and bruises on her knees that must be the result of hitting the pavement in front of that city bus.

The healing wounds brought home the danger she was in just like the quivering arrow had; it was all he could do not to fold her in his arms and whisk her away to safety whether she wanted it or not.

But where was safety if not out here? If he sent her away she’d be alone to face whoever was after her. If he kept her with him, she was in danger. Someone had gotten to her twice and both times, he’d been literally right by her side.

“Okay,” he said at last, handing her his jacket again which she held over her chest. “I’ll go get your clothes and shake them out for you.”

He spent a moment checking the bag once again, fighting alarm as he noted that things had changed from just a few minutes before. He used the flashlight to scan the camp. It looked as peaceful as a camp always did this late in the night, but someone was out there, watching him. He was sure of it. He grabbed Julie’s things and the rest of his stuff, shaking everything vigorously as he ran back toward the river. His breathing calmed down when he detected her willowy silhouette among the shadows.

“Here you go, guaranteed spider-free,” he said, but she insisted on using the flashlight to check every inch of fabric before she dressed. He shrugged on his shirt and started buttoning it.

“I just thought of something,” she said as she pulled her jeans up over her hips. “If my bag was infested, maybe the others are, too. We have to wake people—”

“No, don’t worry about it,” he interrupted. “That box you felt was an egg carton.”

She pulled the sweater over her head and stared at him. “An egg carton?”

“And it wasn’t a brand we have on the ranch, so someone had to bring it with them. But there’s more. Someone cut a little vee shape on the lid over about half the cups.”

“Tyler, it’s like you’re speaking Greek. Why was there an egg carton—”

“I think someone used it to transport the spiders to the bag.”

“But the cuts—”

“Were probably how they managed to fill the cups without the spiders skittering away. Think about it, you’d have to carefully insert each spider with tweezers or something, one at a time. It’s not like the others would just sit there and wait for you to close the lid.

She stared at him as though he was crazy. “Then you think someone put that egg carton half full of spiders specifically in that bag?”

“Yes. And I don’t have to tell you that the bedrolls are all clearly labeled.”

“But my label says Rose Hunt.”

“And everyone knew Mom had convinced you to take her place.”

“But even if I’d been bitten, it wouldn’t have killed me straight away unless I’m allergic. I would have had time to return to the ranch—”

“Maybe. If you’d been asleep and suffered multiple bites, who knows?”

“I don’t understand, Tyler,” she said. “Show me—”

“I can’t. The carton is gone now. So is the dead spider I stepped on.”

“Gone!” she said in a whisper, turning to peer into the dark. Her eyes were huge as she looked back at him and then toward the camp.

He put an arm around her quivering shoulder. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you more seriously right from the beginning. You’re right, someone is trying to kill you.”

“And sooner or later, they’ll succeed,” she said.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

* * *

T
HE CAMP WOULD BE USED
later that week by a new group of guests that wouldn’t partake in a cattle drive but would come out here for picnics and target shooting with pistols. For that reason, Tyler insisted they shake out Julie’s bag, doing everything in the semidark while Julie held a flashlight.

“We can’t risk anyone using it until it’s examined in the light of day and cleaned,” he said. Then he zeroed in on Julie and added, “Who knows you’re out here? I mean besides the people at the ranch.”

“No one,” she said.

“Didn’t you tell anyone you came from here or—”

“No, Tyler, I didn’t. I used my maiden name in Oregon.”

“That’s fine when it comes to your friends, but when it comes to credit checks, and that includes getting a job, opening an account, renting an apartment, you had to use your legal name.”

“True,” she said, realizing at once that she hadn’t thought of that.

“And that policeman, Roger Trill, he’d no doubt have access to your identity.”

She rubbed her eyes which had gone past tired into exhaustion. “Then the answer to your questions is, everyone knows my real last name, apparently, but I never breathed a word about Montana.”

“Everyone except your friends knows your name,” he said as he picked up the folded bedroll and started off toward the storage shed.

“Well, there’s only one woman I ever really talked to and I was sure not to tell her my real last name, not even last night when I spoke to her,” Julie said as they crossed the field.

“You spoke to her last night?”

“Yes, she’s a neighbor and I knew she’d be worried. I didn’t tell her where I was calling from or anything and I told her not to tell anyone I called...”

“Wait a second. Who would she tell if she was your only close friend?”

“Officer Trill. He came to my apartment and convinced the super to open it. He came back while we were still on the phone. He had her convinced I was suicidal and he wanted her to check my apartment to see if anything was missing. And Nora said Professor Killigrew came looking for me, too.”

“Killigrew is your boss?”

“Was my boss.”

He tucked the bedding in the back of the shed. “Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”

“Are you serious?” she snapped, flicking off the flashlight. She couldn’t help but feel vulnerable when it shone like a beacon, pinpointing her whereabouts like a laser. “You got all huffy and judgmental. Not exactly the atmosphere for telling all, you know.”

“No, I guess not,” he said.

“My room was searched, too,” she added. “While you and I were out in the barn...”

“That’s why you brought up petty theft. Was anything taken?”

“No. John Smyth was standing outside when I came back last night. When I asked him about seeing anyone around, he claimed he didn’t.”

“That guy is everywhere,” Tyler said. They stood facing each other in the dark for a few moments, then he added, “We have to make a decision, Julie.”

“We?”

“Yes,
we.
You came to me for help and I’m finally on board with that. Now, as I see it, our options are you stay on the drive and we keep an eye on all the guests all the time. I can get the wranglers in on that without telling them why.”

“Maybe it’s one of the wranglers.”

“One of my people? Highly unlikely. Remember the egg carton came from off the ranch and none of these guys have been away for weeks. Okay, option two is you leave tomorrow after the rest of us are already gone. I’ll make sure no one follows you. You go back to our house and get the bank book, get a ride into town and take out as much as you need and then go to your parents or the police or wherever you feel safe.