Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,41

idea why it was so important that she went to Canada with him. So as long as he played it cool... But how was he going to convince her to come with him? If he could just find some solid proof that Jon Harper wasn’t her dead husband.

He stopped pacing. It shouldn’t be that hard to prove. He pulled out his cell phone. He had a friend in the Houston Police Department who owed him a favor.

“Nels,” he said when the man answered. “I’m in a little bind. I need to know about a man named Jon Harper. Spelled J-O-N, apparently.” When he’d been in the man’s workshop, he’d seen a small plaque with the name carved in it. Must be so people knew who to write the check to for one of his masterpieces.

“Do you have any idea how many Jon Harpers there are in the world?” Nels demanded. “I’m going to need more than that.”

“Like what?”

“DNA, fingerprints.”

“Okay,” Collin said, even though he didn’t have a clue how he could get either. “I’ll see what I can do. But I’m going to need an ID on him ASAP. Like in the next day or two.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” the cop said. “Listen, I know I owe you, but you have no idea what you’re asking. DNA would take days, if not weeks, and fingerprints won’t do any good unless he has a record.”

A criminal record. That could explain a lot about the man, Collin realized. “I’ll get his fingerprints. I’ll overnight them. I’m betting they’re in the national database.” He hung up. Hadn’t he thought from the first that the carpenter had something to hide? Why else stay in this town? If Collin were right, a man like Jon Harper would have a record. Which meant his fingerprints would be on file.

The hard part was getting his prints. It meant paying the man another visit.

* * *

KATE COULDN’T GO back to the motel. She was shaken after her visit with Jon. Seeing the way he lived broke her heart. It was as if he’d been punishing himself all these years. Doing penitence for walking out on her and the girls? Or did he really not remember her on a conscious level?

Inside his cabin, she’d gotten a good look at him. The light coming in the kitchen window had been blindingly bright. She’d seen the scars on his face and throat clearly. Just as she’d seen glimpses of the face that she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. When he looked at her... His brown eyes gave him away.

So why did he keep telling her that he wasn’t Danny?

Because he honestly didn’t remember her? But he’d called her Katie.

She knew that wasn’t proof and that Collin could be right. Even if Jon was Danny, he didn’t want her. Because she was a stranger? Or because he’d wanted out all those years go? If he had wanted her, he would have come back to her.

So why didn’t she move on? Why didn’t she leave with Collin? Maybe it wasn’t too late to make a new life for herself. What did she hope to accomplish by staying here even a few more days?

She stepped into the café, moving to a booth away from the doorway and cold breeze that had followed her in. Through the front window, she stared out at the falling snow, convinced it was never going to stop. She wished for Texas and the humid warmth and the familiarity of her home. The security of it. The ignorance she’d had there. Only days ago, she’d never laid eyes on Jon Harper. Never seen Danny’s eyes looking back at her. Never thought she’d find herself in this quandary.

Only days ago, she’d known who she was. Now, she was second-guessing herself. Even questioning her mental stability. And yet her heart swelled at even the thought of Jon Harper. She’d felt a connection the moment she’d seen him standing in his workshop that first day. Dust motes hanging in the air around him. His strong profile etched against the glow of the lamp—and her memory.

“I thought you’d be miles down the road by now,” Bessie said as she appeared at the end of the booth. All Kate could do was shake her head. “Something tells me you didn’t eat the lunch you got to go. When I feel like you look, food is the only answer.”

Kate had to smile. Bessie—just like everyone else here—had encouraged her to leave as