Chasing McCree (23 page)

Millie flew out of the room.

Jerry looked back at Chase and me. He
wasn’t showing much emotion, mostly I think it hadn’t sunk in yet.
“You two can hold down the fort until we get back.”

I gave Uncle Jerry a hug and Chase
patted him on the back, telling him we’d be fine and not to worry.
He helped his uncle warm up one of the trucks and I made sure
Millie hadn’t forgotten anything important.

Fifteen minutes later they were gone.
Chase told me Jerry’s brother was Dustin’s grandfather. We were
worried about his family, but there was nothing we could
do.

We snuggled under another of Millie’s
quilts on the living room couch, looking up through the skylight.
The moon was bright and round, lighting up the night sky. Sounds of
the wind howling outside and of a distant wolf, or maybe coyote,
made me shiver, but we were safe. I wasn’t used to being near so
much wildlife. It felt like it was how things should be though, so
close to nature. Like we were a part of it.

I was tired, almost falling asleep next
to Chase, but one question nagged at me.

“
Are you awake?” I
whispered.

“
I am now,” he yawned.
“What’s up?”

“
I’m worried.”

“
Lay it on me.”

“
Are we doing something
wrong. Am I? If I stay here…”

“
Briar, no. You will stay.
You’re not going anywhere.” He held my hands in his, “unless you
want to.”

I shook my head, feeling so torn. Was I
making a huge mistake? An impulse decision that I’d regret for the
rest of my life? “I don’t want to go.”

“
Then I don’t understand
why you’re upset.” He said. “Just forget about me, and forget about
everything else for a second. What do you want above anything? I
know what I want. I always have.”

What did I want? “I…I just want to be
happy.”

“
You weren’t
before?”

I stared up at the moon and sighed.
“You can’t imagine what it feels like to be surrounded by so many
people and feel completely alone. I had tons of friends. Not one of
those relationships felt real. They were all fake. They wanted
something out of me, and used me. I used them too. It’s what we
did. It was shallow. I always knew it was wrong…and then you found
me in the park. You were so strong, not letting what they say get
to you. It made me realize that if you could do it, so could
I.”

“
Hey, it’s okay. You are
not shallow. You’re a good person Briar.”

“
Thanks,” I tucked my head
under his chin and closed my eyes. “Still doesn’t mean we’re making
the right choice.”

“
Are we basing our choices
on what other people think we should do?” he asked, smoothing my
curls off my forehead. “Or are we going to do what we want and damn
them all?”

I smiled. “Damn them all?”

“
Is that your final
answer?” he leaned back to look down at me.

“
Is it yours?”

He grinned. “I asked you
first.”

Without looking at him I pulled the
blanket off us and folded it, laying it on the back of the couch. I
could feel him watching me, waiting for my answer. I left him
hanging, really taking my time as I stood and grabbed his boots off
the floor.

I motioned for him to follow
me.

He raised an eyebrow in question, but
was off the couch in a smooth move, taking my hand. I led him
upstairs to his room. We stopped in front of his door.

“
Briar?”

It was hard to keep a straight face as
I handed him his boots. I wanted to smile, but I didn’t.

“
Goodnight,” I kissed him
on the cheek and backed up slowly, holding his confused gaze. As I
opened my door I glanced over my shoulder and finally gave him my
brightest, happiest smile. “And damn them all, cowboy. Damn them
all.”

Chapter 22

I leaned back against the door after
I’d closed it. I’d remember the look of elation on Chase’s face for
the rest of my life.

He had dropped his boots and crossed
the hallway to kiss me. I hardly had time to register what
happened. The only thing I was sure of was our decision.

Exhausted and beyond happy, I struggled
into my pajamas and fell into bed. I couldn’t have imagined a
better summer.

My dreams were filled with Chase and
with dancing and riding horses.

But I became restless, my mind coming
to full alert.

It was the middle of the night when I
got a chill.

I woke with a start.

My bedroom door was open.

“
Hello?” I got out of bed
and went into the hallway, thinking Chase was up. His door was
right across from mine, and it was closed.

I took a few steps and stopped in the
middle of the hallway. The stairs creaked. I inched closer and
locked eyes on a figure moving in the dark.

My legs nearly gave out they shook so
badly. I spun and slipped in something cold and damp on the floor.
I didn’t stop to see what it was, afraid to look down. I ran for
Chase’s room and threw open the door.

“
Chase!” Maybe I’d been
dreaming. Maybe Chase’s house was haunted. I wasn’t going to hide
under the covers until morning wondering though. “Chase, wake
up.”

“
What?” he
groaned.

I shook him hard. “Get up.
Now.”

He flipped on the lamp on the bedside
table. Light flooded the room and I squinted. “Briar, what’s
wrong?”

“
Someone’s in the
house.”

He sat up and yawned.
“What?”

“
I got up and there was a
man on the stairs.” I ground out, glancing over my
shoulder.

He rubbed his face and blinked. “You
sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“
Well…” I wiggled my toes
and decided that if I had dreamed it up, I wouldn’t have wet feet.
“Yes. I’m sure.”

Chase threw off the covers and grabbed
his jeans off the floor. He was wearing boxers, but I averted my
eyes anyway, if only to keep from blushing.

“
Stay here,” he went into
the hall. “Briar, go back to my room.”

“
No,” I didn’t want to be
alone. “What if he shows up while you’re gone?”

Chase grunted in reply and flipped on
the hall light. “Shit.”

“
More like mud.” There were
footprints on the stairs. I looked down at my feet and realized
what I’d stepped in hadn’t been water. “At least I know I’m not
dreaming.”

Chase pulled me back to his room. He
let go of me to open the door of his closet and he pulled out a
shotgun.

“
What are you doing?” Why
wasn’t I more freaked out? Where I was from, if anyone got out a
gun it was cause for concern. Here though…it was normal. I peeked
in his closet. Hunting knives, bullets, a crossbow, and other
things I couldn’t identify were neatly arranged right next to his
clothes. “You do know how to use that, right?”

“
I’m going to check the
house.” Chase eyed me, shaking his head. “Now this time, stay. I
mean it.”

I wasn’t going to argue and sat on the
edge of the bed. Chase slipped out the bedroom door and cracked it
shut behind him. He shut off the hall light.

I held my breath waiting to hear a shot
ring out.

It felt like forever. I couldn’t
breathe right again until the door opened and he came back into the
room. “Well?”

“
Kitchen door was open. I
would have tried to track him, but I’m not leaving you here alone.”
He grimaced, tucking the gun under his arm. “I locked up the house.
We can go check the cameras upstairs.”

I followed him out of the room and to
the loft where they kept the office. Chase fired up a computer and
sat at the desk, drumming his fingers on the wood. A few minutes
later we watched a hooded figure slip up the porch steps into the
kitchen. Shortly after he was running out.

“
Well, at least we know
he’s not in the house.” Chase hit a few buttons, zoomed, and
watched it three more times.

“
It was a man.”

“
Can’t see his face
though.” He was just a dark silhouette.

“
What are we going to
do?”

“
Good question,” He picked
up the office phone, punched in a number, and set it in the cradle
with the speaker on and waited.

“
Sherriff Reed.”

“
Hey, Chase here. We’ve had
a break in.”

The sheriff cursed. “That’s a first.
You catch the intruder?”

“
No. Got the guy on camera,
but no way to ID the asshole.”

The sound of a horn blaring overtook
the call for a few seconds and the sheriff came back on. “I’m about
an hour away from you. A semi jackknifed and slid off the road,
taking a couple cars with him.”

“
Shit.”

“
He was carrying cattle. No
fatalities, so don’t worry about that. We’re trying to round up the
animals and contact the owner. I don’t know when I can make it out.
Might not be till morning.” He shouted something unintelligible and
excused himself. “Sorry, just tell your Uncle…”

“
Jerry and Millie are gone.
I’ve got my…” Chase smiled at me, “I’ve got my girlfriend with
me.”

“
What about your cousin,
Grant?” He asked. “You sure you want to be up in the big house
alone?”

“
Grant has kids. If the guy
who broke in is still out there, he shouldn’t leave Holly and the
boys.”

Sam agreed. “I’ll call when I’m on my
way…might not be till morning though.”

“
I’ve locked up.” He
hesitated, “Sam, I’ve got a feeling about that barn fire…and now
this.”

“
Yeah, I was thinking the
same thing.” Before Sam hung up his voice became hard and
insistent. “I know you’re young, and this is a lot to ask, but if
someone gets in that house, Chase, you shoot. Don’t
hesitate.”

“
I will,” Chase hung up the
phone and rubbed the back of his neck.

“
Why would someone come all
the way out here to sneak inside?” and why would someone torch a
haystack?

“
I don’t know. We’re going
to find out. We’ll see what the hands say in the morning. Maybe
they saw something.”

I swallowed a lump on my throat as we
left the office. “People just don’t come out here. They don’t start
fires, either.”

He cursed, glancing away. “Briar, let’s
go back to bed.”

“
No.” I stamped my foot.
“You’re leaving something out.”

“
Briar…”

“
Come on, don’t look at me
like that.” I snapped. “You know him, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“
Well, then what?” I asked.
“Who breaks into a house full of guns and knives and bear skin rugs
if they don’t have a death wish?”

“
Someone who probably knows
us.” He finally said. “You’re right, people don’t come to a ranch
like this. Burglars wouldn’t dream of it.”

I let out a shaky breath. “So…what? He
had a motive or was looking for something?”

Chase stopped outside my room and
kissed my forehead. The action was comforting enough to ease my
nerves, but not completely repair them. I wouldn’t feel better
until the man was caught. “I have no idea. The dogs never alerted
us, so they knew him. If it had been a stranger they would have
woken me up. We will figure it out.”

“
Okay,” I eyed the carpet
and the muddy footprints. “Should we clean?”

“
No, Sam might want to see
it. If we have to, we’ll replace it. Not a big deal.” He said, and
pushed the door to my room open wide. “Get some rest.”

I shook my head. “I’m not sleeping, not
in there. You can forget it. Those footprints were right outside my
door.”

Chase let out a heavy sigh, “Okay, take
my room, I’ll be up for a few minutes, keeping an eye on
things.”

“
Fine,” I went into his
room and shut the door.

If I slept it would be
miracle.

Chapter 23

Chase

The next morning I woke up with a
blonde draped across my chest and a hunting knife under my pillow.
I smiled. Briar wasn’t going to sleep alone, and I wouldn’t sleep
if I thought she was scared all night.

I slipped out of my bed, dressed,
shoved the knife in my boot and headed down to grab some breakfast.
I made a pot of coffee, knowing I’d need all the caffeine I could
get.

I’d had a feeling Briar wouldn’t be
okay and went to check on her a little while after I’d bedded down
on the couch in the living room. I’d found her sitting up against
the headboard, hugging a pillow and watching the door.

It took me putting a loaded shotgun by
my bed, a sheathed hunting knife under my pillow, and my dresser in
front of bedroom door to get her to lie down and close her
eyes.

The house phone rang and I picked it
up. “McCree Ranch.”