Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,78

* *

“WHAT THE HELL happened to you?” Gerald demanded the moment he walked in the door and spotted Collin’s neck. He grabbed his collar and jerked it to one side. “Someone choked you?”

Collin yanked his shirt closed as he stepped away. “It’s nothing.”

The man scoffed. “Nothing?” He glanced around. “Where is she?”

“Look, it’s no big deal—”

Gerald got into his face. “Tell me what happened.” He bit off each word.

“It’s the damned woman.” Collin sighed and dropped his gaze. “She met this man in Buckhorn—”

“I thought you were engaged?”

“Yeah, well, we were—until she saw this man in Buckhorn who she thought was her husband who died twenty years ago. It’s really messed up.”

“You could say that. Who is this man?”

“Nobody,” he said quickly. “A carpenter who makes kids’ toys out of wood for a living.” He wasn’t about to tell him that Jon Harper was an ex-cop who had a bounty on his head because he’d sent some mobsters to the slammer. Only a fool would trust a man like that.

“You’re saying this carpenter, who she thinks is her dead husband, followed you up here to take her back?” That about covered it. “You didn’t notice him behind you?”

“There wasn’t anyone behind me. I wasn’t tailed.”

Gerald raised a brow. “Then how did he find you, since you didn’t even know exactly where you were going until my guy pulled you over and gave you the address?”

Collin rubbed the back of his neck, but only for a moment before he felt where the cord had cut into his flesh. His throat ached. If he ever found that bastard... He realized Gerald was waiting for an explanation. “He put a tracking device on my rental car.”

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief. “A carpenter put a tracking device on your car? What in the hell aren’t you telling me?”

“It turns out that he’s also an ex-cop. But none of that matters. I found the device and destroyed it once I realized...” He shook his head. “It’s all fine now.”

“How can you say that?” Gerald demanded. “At any moment cops could swarm this place—if they aren’t already out there.”

“Did you bring the—”

“Of course not!”

“Then, why would the cops arrest us?” Collin reasoned. “I told you, it’s cool. She isn’t going to do anything. I have someone on her kid. She’s not stupid.” It was a lie, but Gerald didn’t have to know that.

The man merely shook his head and stepped away. Collin felt his breath catch, his stomach roiling suddenly as he realized this deal might not go down now. After everything he’d put into this transaction, it had to happen. He had to convince Gerald. He was flat broke, hounded by creditors, with no chance of paying his debts unless this drug deal went down.

He stepped to the man. “I can handle this.”

Gerald turned so quickly, he flinched and took a step back. “Handle this? You can’t be serious. Something smells rotten. How long have you known this woman?”

“Months. She’s a published author with two grown kids, solid and financially set for life. We were getting married once we returned to Texas.”

“So, how did this happen?”

He couldn’t explain it even to himself. “Bad luck. She saw this man and was convinced he was her dead husband. It was just a fluke, a coincidence.” He raked a hand through his hair. “The crazy thing is that Jon might really be her husband.”

“That’s the crazy part?”

Collin fell silent. He didn’t know what more to say. There was only one way to prove himself, but that meant the deal had to go through. “I can do this,” he said quietly. He could feel Gerald studying him, assessing the situation and looking as if he was trying really hard not to hurt him.

“I’ve given it some thought,” Collin rushed on. “At the border, if it’s the same cop and he asks about my fiancée, I tell him she is staying a few more days at the spa with her friends. With everything she bought, including a wedding dress, there isn’t room for her in the car anyway, I tell him and chuckle. Then I add, Maybe I should think about what I’m getting myself into.” He was watching Gerald’s expression closely. “I will make it work.”

“Maybe,” Gerald said after a long enough time that Collin was sweating profusely. “But not without the woman and the man you called Jon. Any idea how we might find them?”

“Well...” he said, thinking quickly. Moments before he wouldn’t have been surprised if