Chapter Twenty-Six
The pounding on the door woke Adam before the sun was fully over the horizon.
Even with the curtains closed, he could tell how early it was by the soft quality of the light that trickled into his bedroom.
The harsh knocking jolted him awake, and he was out of bed and scrambling for his trousers before his mind had fully processed what was happening.
Dread filled him as he made his way to the door.
Such aggression this early in the morning couldn’t possibly be a good thing.
Worry spiked through him at the thought of the women in the bunkhouse as he paused before the door, preparing to open it.
I hope they heard all this, and that they have the good sense to stay out of sight.
Steeling himself for conflict, he pulled the door open.
Ted Levine stood there, biceps flexed. His face was red with anger, his eyes narrowed. “Summers,” he barked.
Adam blinked at him. His heart was racing, but he did his best to act as though he had no idea what Levine could be doing here at this time of day. “Levine,” he said, frowning. “Can I help you with something?”
“Don’t play the fool,” Levine growled. “I’m not going to fall for that—and neither is Sheriff Montgomery.”
He stepped to the side to reveal the sheriff.
Though Montgomery was by no means small, he was shorter and slimmer than either Levine or Adam, and he had been concealed by Levine’s bulk.
The expression on his face was neutral—he did not stare accusatorially at Adam, as Levine did.
But his hand was on his belt, near to his gun.
He was a fair man, Adam knew, but there was no telling how a fair man would arbitrate the situation they were in.
This isn’t good.
He cleared his throat. “You woke me up, Levine,” he said.
“I don’t know what you could possibly want at this time of day, but I suggest you go home and come back at a more reasonable hour.
I have my ranch to tend to right now, and I don’t have time for whatever this is. ” He made as if to shut the door.
It came as no surprise when Levine blocked him by stepping into the doorframe so that the door hit his boot. He thrust a shoulder forward as well, wedging the door open. The momentum of his movement forced Adam to take a step back.
“Watch yourself there, Levine,” Sheriff Montgomery said mildly. “You can’t force your way into his house.”
“If he doesn’t want me in his house then let him come out here and speak to me,” Levine snapped. “He has my fiancée in there. I know it.”
“You’re insane,” Adam shot back. “There isn’t anyone in here but me and my ward.”
“Then why won’t you let me come in and search?” Levine challenged.
“The boy is sleeping. I’m not going to have you going through the house and disturbing him—frightening him—this early in the morning.
Especially after the way you’ve spoken about him, as if he doesn’t deserve consideration.
You’re disrespectful of Mason.” He glanced at the sheriff.
“He wants Mason thrown out of school, and I won’t have that. ”
“That’s a matter to be settled another time,” Montgomery said. “You claim that his fiancée is not in there?”
“On my honor.”
“Then perhaps you’d better come out and discuss the matter with us.”
“If you can promise not to make another assault on my home, Levine,” Adam said shortly. “I’m not going to allow Mason to be disturbed.”
Levine’s expression darkened, but it was Montgomery who spoke. “There will be no need for anyone to enter your home, at least not for now,” he said. “If you’re willing to discuss matters outside, we can keep it outside.”
Adam nodded briefly. He grabbed his boots from the mat beside the door where he had left them last night.
As he pulled them on, he took a moment to feel some relief and pride in what he had just accomplished.
He’d kept them out of the house, yes, and in doing so he had also kept them focused on the house.
They were sure to believe that if he was hiding anything at all, it would be something inside the house. They wouldn’t look in the outbuildings.
He stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind him. “Why don’t we all sit down,” he suggested, gesturing to the chairs.
“No one is here for social hour, Summers.” Levine took a step toward him. “I want to know where Jennifer is. I’m sure you can tell me.”
Adam looked over at Sheriff Montgomery. “Please tell this man to get back,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want this to turn into a fight.
I was asked out here to have a conversation, and I’ll have one, but if he continues to be aggressive like this, I will have to defend my home. I’m sure you understand.”
Montgomery considered him for a moment. He seemed to be making up his mind. Then he turned to Levine. “Stay back,” he said. “There’s no reason this needs to come to blows.”
“He’s not the only one defending what’s his,” Levine snarled, though he did move back a pace. The sheriff positioned himself between the two men. “If he has my fiancée and won’t give her back, it’s theft. I’m not going to let him get away with that.”
“We don’t know she’s here, Levine,” Montgomery said firmly, putting a hand on Levine’s shoulder as though preparing to hold him back. “We don’t know whether she was ever here.”
Levine shook him off. “Of course she came here! Her sister is here, so where else would she go? She ran away from her father and came here. I don’t know what drove her to run from him, but she belongs with me. I insist that she be returned at once.”
“Perhaps we ought to talk to Miss Rachel,” Montgomery said. He turned to face Adam, who was still standing by the door, leaning against it in an attempt to appear nonchalant. “Maybe she knows something about all this.”
“You can’t bother her while she’s sleeping,” Adam said firmly, but his heart skipped a beat.
If they insisted on talking to Rachel, he would have to reveal that she slept in the bunkhouse.
And it would be only too obvious, once that was known, that Jennifer had been there too.
Keeping her hidden would become all but impossible.
The sheriff frowned. “I understand you don’t wish to disturb her,” he said. “But truly, Mr. Summers, it’s best for everyone involved—yourself included—if this is resolved quickly. Why don’t you go and fetch her for us, and we’ll wait here?”
Adam’s mind raced. “If I leave, Levine will go into the house and disturb Mason,” he said.
“I won’t allow him to,” Montgomery assured him.
“And if he overpowers you?”
Montgomery sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I think we’ll get a lot farther if the two of you can agree to drop the animosity, at least for the moment,” he said.
“Mr. Levine, can you agree to stay out of Mr. Summers’ home if Mr. Summers will agree to go and fetch Miss Foster for you to speak to? ”
“Very well,” Levine grunted.
Montgomery turned to Adam. “Mr. Summers?”
“I…I’ll go and look for her,” he said, wondering how he was going to avoid walking straight to the bunkhouse. “I don’t know where she’ll be exactly. She does ranch work in the morning, so she will be doing her chores, but that could put her in a few different places.”
“We’ll wait here,” Montgomery said, moving toward a chair. He eyed Levine for a moment, then pointed to a second chair. Levine grumbled, but he sat down.
Adam jogged down the steps, desperately trying to come up with a plan. His feet carried him toward the chicken coop even though anyone could see there was nobody there. The coop was too short to conceal a person. If Rachel had been there, they’d have spotted her by now.
Then she appeared.
She was coming around from behind the barn, as if she had been there the whole time, and Adam froze in momentary surprise.
What had she been doing there? His story about her doing chores in the morning had been just that—a tale made up to try to distract Levine and Montgomery from what he was about to do.
If she had left the bunkhouse to begin her day’s work, it should have taken her to the kitchen to start breakfast. There was no reason for her to be behind the barn.
Unless…
He looked at her. Her eyes were wide with fear. Her braid was sloppy, pieces of hair falling out here and there, as if she had put it together in a hurry.
She heard Levine. Or maybe she saw him. She knew he was here, and she knew what would happen if he came to the bunkhouse, so she slipped out and approached from a different angle.
He closed the distance between the two of them. She was looking over his shoulder, clearly taking in the fact that Levine was standing on the porch. She looked back at Adam, her face pale.
“He doesn’t know she’s here,” Adam breathed. “I told him I hadn’t seen her.”
Rachel nodded and gathered herself, standing a little straighter and bringing her face to a neutral expression. Her muscles relaxed, and a peaceful smile rose to her lips.
Adam was staggered. How had she done that? How had she managed to make it seem as though nothing at all was wrong? Had she always been such a wonderful actor?
He didn’t think so. He couldn’t have been misreading her all this time. He knew her well enough to understand the way she communicated. Even now, he could see that this was all a show. She didn’t really mean it. But would Levine be able to see through her as easily?
She stepped around him and made her way to the porch. Adam followed her, his nerves twanging.
“Sheriff,” she said, her voice light and pleasant. She ignored Levine altogether. “What can we do to be of help today?”
“Is Jennifer here?” Levine barked.
She turned to look at him coolly. “My stepsister? Why would she be here? I assume she is at her father’s house, as that’s where she lives.”
“Don’t you lie to me, girl.” Levine’s voice was deep and low. “I’ll get the truth out of you, one way or another.” He stepped toward her.
Something inside Adam snapped.
Before he could think, before he knew what he was doing, he had run up the steps to the porch and grabbed Levine by the collar of his shirt.
He shoved him back against the wall of the house.
Levine was so taken aback by his sudden movement that it wasn’t even difficult to do.
He stumbled backward until the wall caught him and stopped his momentum.
“Don’t you dare,” he hissed. “Don’t you dare come onto my property and speak to a person in my household that way. You have no right to threaten Rachel.”
“Hey!” Montgomery was between them, his hands on Adam’s shoulders, forcing him backward. “What did we just agree to? No violence. From either of you,” he added, turning over his shoulder to make sure Levine knew he was also being addressed.
“He cannot threaten a woman on my land.” Adam’s blood was hot. A vision of Jennifer’s bruised face swam before him. “I won’t permit that.”
“She’s lying to me!” Levine exclaimed. “I wouldn’t need to be harsh with her if she would tell me the truth!”
“That’s enough,” the sheriff said. “Mr. Levine, you have no proof that Jennifer Foster is here or ever was. Now, I agreed with you that it made sense to come here and ask, and we’ve done that.
Unless you have evidence, it’s time to leave Mr. Summers in peace.
” Now his hand did move to the gun on his hip, and Adam was glad.
He didn’t want this coming to violence, but if it did, he wanted that gun to be on his side.
Levine looked from Montgomery to Adam. His eyebrows pulled together in a glare.
“When I find out what really happened to Jennifer,” he warned, “you two are going to regret the way you handled this day. You had the opportunity to turn her over to me, and you refused. You made me look foolish. I won’t forget that.”
He stormed off the porch and to one of two horses that were tied up at the fence rail. Mounting swiftly, he rode off without looking back.
Montgomery sighed. “Listen,” he said. “Now that it’s just us…if you do see your stepsister, Miss Foster, you might think of sending her home. As you can see, her fiancé is very worried for her welfare.”
“I do see that,” Rachel said, her voice full of sympathy. Adam knew it wasn’t real, but Montgomery seemed to be fooled. He nodded and jogged off toward his own horse. A moment later, he was following after Levine at a more measured pace.
Once Montgomery had reached the road, Adam relaxed. His body seemed to deflate, and he collapsed into a chair. “Is Jennifer all right?” he asked, looking up at Rachel.
To his surprise, she was as tense as ever. “Jennifer is fine,” she said tersely. “I’m going to get back to her now.”
He frowned. “Are you all right?”
“What have I got not to be all right about?”
It was only then that he recalled what had happened the night before.
That strange moment in the kitchen when things had seemed so intimate between them, when he had thought that perhaps he might kiss her.
The moment when the icepick of fear had struck his heart and he had pulled back, knowing that he couldn’t let himself get that close.
Before he could answer the question, she was gone, hurrying down the steps and across the yard, clearly anxious to get back to the bunkhouse. And Adam was left wondering—had she gone away in a hurry like that because she was anxious to get back to her sister?
Or was it that she was in a hurry to get away from him?