The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (Bitter Creek Book 6) (20 page)

“I wouldn’t call it baby-sitting, exactly,” Jack said uncomfortably.

“What would you call it? Exactly?” Kate said, her hands on her hips.

“Being nice to a friend’s niece.”

Kate’s chest ached, and she wasn’t sure why. She was well aware her relationship with Jack had never been anything but a sham. But it still hurt to have him point out how shallow it really was.

“Sorry, kid. I never meant for this to go on so long. But I didn’t think you could handle—”

“I can handle anything!” Kate said, poking Jack in his muscular chest with her forefinger. “Despite what you and Uncle North might think, I’m not a child. Not even close to being a child. I’m totally grown up!” Kate swiped at the tears that brimmed in her eyes, furious with herself because she was, in fact, losing control like some kid having a tantrum.

“Aw, hell.” Jack slid an arm around her shoulders and, despite her resistance, urged her into a nearby alley, where they wouldn’t be so visible to passersby. When she jerked free and started to run, he caught her and pulled her into his embrace. Kate struggled, but it was clear she wasn’t going to get away until he let her go. She finally gave up and stood rigid in the circle of Jack’s arms.

It was shady and cool in the alley. Kate swallowed once over the lump in her throat, but it hurt. She couldn’t believe how much she’d indulged in the fantasy she’d created. She couldn’t believe how much she’d wished it was real.

She looked up at Jack, but his face was only a blur through her tears. She felt his large hand slide through her hair as he pressed her cheek against his chest. She couldn’t summon the will to fight. Instead, she closed her eyes and listened to the steady thump of his heart.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he said.

Kate swallowed a sob. He thought she was a
kid.
He’d never been the least bit attracted to her. She’d been a fool. She’d been an
idiot.

Kate shoved at Jack’s shoulders, and he let her go. He stood with his hands at his sides, looking almost as miserable as she felt. She wiped at her tears with her sleeves. Jack handed her a folded handkerchief and she blew her nose. She offered it back to him and he said, “Keep it.”

She sniffed and said, “What’s so important that you can’t come with me this weekend?”

“My business is private.”

Kate lifted a brow. “So your problems with the IRS—”

“Are none of your business.”

“You must owe North a great deal of money to have taken time out from your busy schedule to baby-sit me,” Kate said, disgusted by the self-pity she heard in her voice.

“I owe North more than I can ever repay,” Jack said.

“I’ll bet,” Kate muttered.

“There’s been a development. I’ve got to follow up on it this weekend.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kate said with a sigh. “As long as Mom and Daddy don’t find out we aren’t going to Bitter Creek until after they’re already there.”

“You never give up, do you?” Jack said.

“They belong together,” Kate said fiercely. “They always have, and they always will.”

“I guess this is good-bye,” Jack said.

“You’ve said it. Now go.” Kate didn’t know how much longer she could hang on to her composure.

“I do have one last piece of advice,” Jack said.

“What’s that?”

“Stay away from Bomber Boy.”

“I asked you not to call Donnie that. He’s not—”

“—like his father,” Jack finished for her. “The point is, this Bomber Brown character hates the world, and he’s got friends out there somewhere who would be happy to kill your father, or hurt him by hurting you.”

“But Donnie’s nothing like his father,” Kate repeated. “He doesn’t agree with what his father did.”

Jack shot her a strange look. “How do you know that? Did he say something to you?”

“No. But he never sits near his father. He never talks to him—or to his brother or mother—who
do
sit with his father.”

“Just do me a favor and stay away from him,” Jack said.

“But Donnie asked me—”

Jack grabbed her arms roughly and pulled her up on her toes. “Weren’t you listening to me? The kid’s dangerous.”

“You aren’t my mother, my father, or my fiancé,” Kate retorted through clenched teeth. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

“If I have to, I’ll tell your uncle you’re consorting with Bomber Boy and see what he has to say.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

They stared at each other, both angry, both determined, until the tenor of their looks changed. Kate felt it. The shift from anger to desire happened so quickly she hadn’t realized it was happening.

Jack stiffened. And let go of her like she’d caught fire.

Kate stumbled as her feet landed back on the sidewalk. Jack reached out to steady her, but she jerked backward and almost fell over. A second later he was holding her close again. She looked up at him, saw the flare of desire in his eyes, felt the heat and hardness of his body and realized he was fighting what he felt.

“Don’t go near him,” he said.

“You say that like you expect me to obey you.”

“I do.”

Kate was glad she hadn’t told Jack she would be sitting with Donnie Brown in court in the morning. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of agreeing to stay away, even if what he’d said made her doubt the wisdom of what she’d agreed to do. There would be plenty of cops around if she needed to call for help.

He let go of her as though it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Once again, Kate was standing on her own two—wobbly—feet.

“What I’m asking is for your own safety, Kate.”

Kate shot him a mulish look.

Jack sighed. “It’s obvious you aren’t going to listen to me. We’ll see if your uncle—or your father—can talk some sense into you.”

He started to stalk away, and Kate grabbed his arm. “No. Wait! You can’t go to Daddy. If you do, he’ll know the truth about us, and he’ll cancel the trip to Bitter Creek this weekend.”

“This isn’t a game you’re playing, Kate. This is a matter of life and death.”

“My parents’ future together is a matter of life and death to me,” Kate said. “Please don’t talk to Daddy. I’ll be careful. I promise.”

“You’ll stay away from Donnie Brown?”

“What if he’s in court the same time as I am?”

“Stay away from your father’s court.”

“If it’s so dangerous, why doesn’t everyone have to stay away? I mean, if it’s so dangerous, why is the trial still open to the public?” Kate demanded.

For a moment, she didn’t think Jack would answer. Finally, he said, “I suppose because nobody actually has found proof—yet—that Bomber Brown didn’t act alone.”

“Why are you so sure he did have help?” Kate asked.

“My gut tells me I’m right.”

“And my gut tells me that Donnie’s okay,” Kate said.

“Dammit, Kate, I—”

“I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’m going to be late for class.” Kate turned and started jogging.

“Kate!” Jack called after her.

She turned and jogged backward, so she could face him. “What?” she called back.

“Be careful.”

Late Friday morning, Kate glanced surreptitiously around her father’s courtroom. She’d managed to slip away from her bodyguard, but she felt surprisingly uneasy. Unsafe. Which was all Jack’s fault, filling her head with all that talk of conspiracy and accomplices. But there was definitely something to be said for having a very large man with a very big gun following you around.

Kate felt a little safer knowing everyone in the courthouse had to go through tight security to get inside. Surely Bomber Brown’s accomplice, if he existed, wasn’t going to set off a bomb while Mr. Brown was sitting here.

And there were armed deputy marshals to guard Mr. Brown when he came to and from the courtroom. So what were the chances a terrorist would turn up in their midst?

Zero to none, Kate decided. So there was no reason for her to be feeling so antsy. While she waited for Donnie to arrive, Kate thought about her encounter with her father in his chambers earlier that morning.

The challenge had been to convince her dad to spend the weekend with her mom, even though Kate and Jack weren’t going to be there. Because really, Kate had decided, what was the point of her going to Bitter Creek, if Jack wasn’t?

She’d seen her father’s surprise, followed quickly by pleasure, when he’d noticed her from behind his desk.

He’d risen and crossed to meet her in the middle of the burnt orange carpet and given her a hard hug. “Hello, Kitten,” he’d said. “What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to see you, Daddy,” she’d said. “After all the years when I couldn’t drop in like this, it seems so wonderful to be able to walk right in and say good morning.”

He smiled and said, “Good morning. Now, what can I do for you?”

She laughed and looked up at him shyly from beneath dark lashes. “Well, there is something.”

He chuckled and said, “Cough it up, Kitten.”

As though she had a hairball or something! How could she connive to get her parents together, when her father was so watchful of her motives in coming to see him?

“Actually, Daddy, I have a confession to make.”

This time he laughed and made a gesture with his hands to encourage her to speak.

“Jack and I aren’t going this weekend. It’ll be just you and Mom.”

Once upon a time, Kate might have been cowed by the frown that appeared on her father’s face and the way his arms crossed over his body in his judicial robes, to make him a more prepossessing figure. But she’d learned that where she was concerned, her father was far more bark than bite. She crossed to him and put her hands on his crossed arms and peered up into his gray eyes with her most plaintive look.

“Jack has to work, Daddy.” Which was the truth, so far as it went. “And I could use the time to study.”

Her father snorted, because he’d seen how many Bs she’d gotten the previous semester and knew that if she’d studied at all they would have been As.

Kate debated whether to warn her father about the reception he and her mother were likely to get from the Blackthornes—and how agitated her mother had been about having to confront his family. But she realized her parents would probably discuss the whole thing on the flight to Bitter Creek. Besides, no matter how bad things got, her father would be able to handle it.

“Mom really wants to see the Castle, and I thought you guys might enjoy the time alone together. So I wanted to ask you not to cancel, even though Jack and I aren’t going.”

Her father looked away, so she couldn’t see what he was thinking. He often did the same thing in the courtroom before a ruling. Her heart made a heavier thump when he met her gaze again.

“You know your mom’s planning to return to Wyoming after your wedding,” he said.

Kate nodded. “She told me.”

“So there isn’t going to be any ‘happily ever after’ between her and me.”

“And why is that, Daddy? I’ve got eyes. I saw how you looked at Mom when she was in here yesterday. Why are you letting her walk away?”

“I have a responsibility to Jocelyn that—”

“Listen to yourself!
Responsibility?
Daddy, you and Mom were inseparable for an entire summer. You must have felt something for her. Why are you so afraid to follow your heart? At least use the weekend together to find out how you really feel.”

When she was finished speaking, Kate waited with bated breath to hear her father’s verdict.

At last he said, “Does your mom know you and Jack aren’t going?”

“I haven’t told her. And I wasn’t going to tell her.”

“Why not?” her father asked.

“Because I think she might not go if I did,” Kate admitted.

“I think you’re right,” her father said quietly. The corner of his mouth lifted before he said, “So maybe we better not tell her.”

Kate wasn’t sure she’d heard her father right. “You’re not going to tell her?”

He smiled and said, “I could use the vacation before I give jury instructions next week. And your mom’s good company.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” Kate said, throwing her arms around him and giving him an excited hug. “Just remember what I said.”

“So what are you really going to be doing this weekend?” he asked, as he tugged her arms from around his neck.

She gave him an indignant look. “Studying!”

He laughed and swiped a finger down her nose. “Thanks, Kitten.”

“For what?” she said.

“You know for what.”

Against all odds, her father suddenly seemed excited about spending the weekend with her mom. She studied his face and said, “Did you love her, Daddy? I mean, when you made me, did you—”

“Yes,” he said. “More than life.”

Kate was embarrassed by the ferocity of his answer. He seemed to be, too, because he hustled her out of his chambers.

Kate had spent the rest of the morning sitting in the back of the courtroom beside Donnie Brown. She glanced at him and saw he was chewing a fingernail. Again.

She could understand why. Kate thought the prosecuting attorney had done a masterful, surprisingly brief, job of summing up the case against Donnie’s father. So far, the defense attorney hadn’t been nearly so effective. Of course, he had less helpful evidence to make his argument for acquittal.

As sure as God made little green apples, Kate thought, Donnie’s dad was going to be convicted.

She turned to Donnie and whispered, “How are you doing?”

“It’s looking pretty bad,” he mumbled. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You don’t want to wait until your dad’s lawyer is finished?”

“Naw,” he said. “I’ve heard enough.”

Kate tried to catch her father’s eye before she left, but his gaze was focused intently on the attorney speaking to the jury. “Ugh. It’s hot,” she said as she stepped outside with Donnie. She was wearing a white T-shirt with a black tailored jacket, jeans, and boots, which had been fine inside but was too warm on the street.

“Let’s go get something cold to drink,” Donnie said.

Kate glanced at Bomber Brown’s son, whose forehead was already dotted with sweat, and realized he must have been perspiring even before they’d left the courtroom. Probably due to worry over his father’s dire situation, she decided. “Something cold sounds wonderful.” And thanks to Jack, she didn’t have anywhere else to be.

“I’ve got my car around the corner,” Donnie said.

Kate followed Donnie to his car, which turned out to be a brand-new Cadillac Escalade. “Wow,” she said, running her hand along the silver pearlized finish. “Pretty fancy.”

“It’s my dad’s,” he said.

As Kate stepped up into the expensive car and sat in the soft leather seat, she glanced sideways at Donnie. She never thought of terrorists as having a lot of money. “What did your dad do before…before?”

“Before he got arrested?” Donnie finished for her, as he started the car and headed down the street.

“Yeah,” Kate said with a shrug.

“We farmed. That is, before the government decided we couldn’t use the fertilizer we needed to get our crops to grow, and the pesticides we needed to keep the critters from eating everything before the harvest. They said we were polluting the water.”

“A river runs through your land?” Kate asked, thinking how Bitter Creek was named after a creek tht ran across the ranch and was never dry, even in the driest years.

“No. No water at all. We had to irrigate.” Donnie turned a look on Kate that made her shiver. His eyes looked strange, lit with some fervent light.

Kate suddenly heard Jack’s warning voice in her ear. And realized she’d left the courthouse—and the multitude of cops with guns—behind. Then she told herself she was seeing things that weren’t there. Donnie hadn’t said or done a thing that was remotely suspicious. She moved her hand away from the door handle and set it in her lap.

Donnie’s gaze turned back to the road as he continued, “It seems our land is right on top of some deep cavern or something where groundwater collects. And everything we put on our crops was seeping down, contaminating the water down below. The government said we could keep farming, as long as we didn’t use chemicals of any kind. No fertilizer. No pesticides.”

“So you became organic farmers?” Kate said.

Donnie shot her a look that made her want to reach for the door handle. “We went to court to fight the government. But we lost. We had to sell the farm to pay the lawyers. But we got them all back.”

“Them?” Kate said faintly.

“The judges, the lawyers, and the government.”

Kate realized they’d left the downtown area and were on the parkway headed west at too high a speed for her to jump out of the car. Way too late, she realized Jack was right. Which was very cold comfort now. “Where are we going?” she asked in as calm a voice as she could manage. No sense warning Donnie that she was scared to death and was busy planning her escape.

“There’s a place on the north side of town I like to go to for lunch.”

“I thought we were just going to get a drink somewhere downtown.”

“I’m hungry,” Donnie said. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

Kate shot him a tremulous smile to cover up the terror she felt and said, “Sure. No problem.”

Kate wondered if Donnie realized what he’d said.
We got them all back. We.
She stared at the sandy-haired boy with the innocent-looking freckles. It must be the sight of the skinny boy sitting behind the wheel of a big, powerful car that made him suddenly seem sinister.

Or the inclusion of himself when he described the vengeance that had been visited on judges, lawyers, and the government.

Even with everything he’d said, Kate was still having trouble believing that Donnie was some kind of terrorist. Surely the FBI had investigated the entire Brown family thoroughly before they’d finally arrested Donnie’s father. How had Donnie flown so far beneath their radar?

Or maybe he hadn’t. Maybe Donnie had been suspected all along. And all that was missing was proof.

Kate felt a shiver run down her spine. Her gut was telling her that she’d made a terrible mistake getting in the car with Donnie Brown. The very next time Donnie slowed the car, she was going to make a run for it. Time enough later to be embarrassed if this was all a horrible misunderstanding.

When Donnie got off the parkway he kept the car moving above the posted speed, and made a sudden, hair-raising turn down a rural road. He stopped in front of what seemed to be an abandoned house that was virtually hidden by overgrown azaleas and forsythia, which were in wild, beautiful bloom. The house, which had boarded-up windows, looked way too much like something from a bad horror movie. Kate’s stomach was genuinely upset.

“Donnie, where are we?” she asked.

“Oh. This is where I live.”

Kate wondered if Donnie’s mother and brother were in the house—the two family members who’d always sat behind his father in court. “Why did you bring me here?” Kate asked.

“I’ve got to pick something up before we go to lunch.”

“I’m not getting out of the car,” Kate said decisively.

“Suit yourself. I’ll just be a minute.” To Kate’s dismay, Donnie turned off the ignition and took the Escalade key ring, which he shook in Kate’s face, several keys jangling against each other. “Need them for the front door.”

Kate stared at the door to the ramshackle house, which was lucky to still be on its hinges, let alone locked. More likely, Donnie suspected she was on to him and didn’t want her to be able to drive away in his car.

She unbuckled her seat belt as soon as Donnie was far enough away from the car to not be able to see what she was doing. The instant he stepped inside the house, Kate shoved open the car door and ran like a bat out of hell.

She followed the road they’d come in on, thinking that was the fastest way back to civilization and help. She’d almost made it back to the highway when she saw another car coming. Since there were other houses along the road, she took a chance and flagged it down.

The middle-aged man with short-cropped gray hair who stepped out of the Chevy pickup looked wonderfully normal.

“I need your help!” she said, panting and holding her side, which ached. “There’s someone after me!”