Chapter 7
Bailey watched as Trevor crossed the room to turn the heat up, then head over to the fireplace. There was something so warm and inviting about a fire. Archie followed Trevor like his shadow, standing as Trevor stacked logs as if supervising.
Why had she kissed Trevor? She was supposed to be a grieving widow. Not to mention carrying her dead husband’s child. She should be ashamed of her attraction to him. Yet it was hard to ignore the man who’d put his life on the line for her several times over the past twenty-four hours.
Was her husband, Clark, like Trevor? Handsome, kind, and caring? She thought he must have been, or why would she have married him?
Why couldn’t she remember?
She moved into the kitchen, still wearing her winter coat.
The cabin was slowly warming up now that the furnace had kicked in.
The interior of the cabin was nicer than the brief glimpse she’d gotten of her own house, and she wondered how much it cost to rent the place.
Kendra and Trevor hadn’t seemed concerned about the expense.
The Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue Ranch must have been doing well.
“There.” Trevor rose and headed for the door. “Sit down, Bailey. I’ll get the groceries.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t helpless, but there was no denying her lack of sleep was catching up to her. She yawned and wished she could have a cup of coffee. Her headache had dulled a bit, but it hadn’t gone away completely.
Now that they were safe, she should be able to follow the get some rest part of the doctor’s orders.
Trevor’s idea of using social media to find people she might have known was a good one too.
The key to catching this guy depended on her memory returning.
She would do whatever was necessary to make that happen.
Trevor made several trips from the rental SUV to the house. He brought in groceries along with supplies for Archie. She had never realized how much stuff he must have kept in the SUVs that were specifically designed for their K9s.
She rose and crossed the room to begin putting food away. She was touched that Trevor had purchased herbal tea and hot chocolate for her. She pulled out the large bottle of prenatal vitamins and set it aside for later.
“I’ll get that,” Trevor protested, shrugging out of his coat and hanging it on a peg on the wall. “Sit down for a bit.”
“It’s not like I’ve been running around.” She stepped back to give him room to work. Sharing the kitchen with him brought a strange intimacy to the situation. She hadn’t noticed it as much in the hotel suite. Then again, she’d been so tired she’d fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
“How did you and Kendra know about this place?” She settled back into the kitchen chair, looking around curiously. “Because Joel stayed here?”
“Yep.” He glanced at her over his shoulder.
“Joel and his now wife, Trina, and their son, Ben, stayed here back in August. Ben still talks about the time he accidentally got too close to a grizzly bear cub. The mama bear was not happy, roaring loudly at him. Thankfully, Joel wasn’t forced to shoot her. ”
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t know we had grizzlies out here.”
“Some have migrated from Yellowstone.” He shrugged and went back to putting food away. “Not to worry, they’re getting ready to hibernate by now.”
“That’s good.” She suppressed a shiver. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about with the black-hat guy and the black truck. “Sounds like you and your siblings get into a lot of interesting situations.”
“That’s one way to put it.” He flashed a wry smile. “Our goal is to serve the community. Sometimes that’s more dangerous than we anticipate.”
Like his agreeing to help her, she thought with a sigh.
“Okay, I figure we’ll wait a few hours to have lunch.
I hope you don’t mind if I make more coffee, though.
” He filled the carafe and turned the machine on.
Then he turned from the counter and crossed to the bag he’d tossed onto the living room sofa.
“Now that we’re settled, I need to get in touch with my brother-in-law. ”
“Griff is the FBI agent, right?” She could clearly remember the things he’d told her recently. Too bad it wasn’t as easy for her to recall events from the past.
Like her husband, Clark.
“Yep.” He pulled out the disposable phone and punched in a number. After a brief pause, he said, “Griff? It’s Trevor. I need your help.”
She waved at him. “Put it on speaker.”
Trevor nodded and came to join her. “Hang on, Griff. Bailey Adams is with me, and I’d like her to hear this too.
” He lowered the phone and put the call on speaker.
“Okay, here’s the situation. We have reason to believe someone wants Bailey dead.
First, her car was struck with enough force to send her into the culvert.
After being checked out at the hospital, we went to her place and found it completely ransacked.
From there, we went to the Elk Lodge where some guy tried to climb into her window.
He fired at me when Archie and I followed him.
Then the same guy shot up the gas station where we were getting food and fuel.
Lastly, he found us at the Sunny Side Up Café and took more shots at us there. ”
Griff audibly sighed. “And you asked Kendra and Joel for help?”
“Yes, but they should be back at the ranch soon.” Trevor looked annoyed.
“We’ve talked to the police several times, but they don’t have much to go on.
Archie did find a shell casing outside the Elk Lodge that I left with Howell.
I was hoping you could dig into Clark Miller’s background for us.
He was killed about seven months ago, also in a car crash.
His death was ruled an accident, but now that Bailey is in danger, the two incidents must be connected. ”
“Clark Miller. Do you have a date of birth?” Griff asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember.” Bailey tried not to sound defensive. “After the car crash, I’ve been suffering from amnesia.”
“Amnesia?” Griff sounded surprised. “That’s unusual.”
“We’re hoping her memory returns soon,” Trevor said. “In the meantime, we need to understand what’s going on. Clark was the co-owner of the Sweet Water Pub and Grill along with an investment firm by the name of Plymouth Properties. I’m hoping you can find him that way.”
“That helps.” Bailey heard clicking noises and knew Griff was typing on a computer. “Do you know anything about the shooter?”
“No, other than he drives a large black truck.” Trevor grimaced, holding her gaze. “We’ve only seen him in the darkness. I never got a close enough to identify the make and model, much less a license plate.”
“What about other casings?” Griff asked.
“No, I didn’t get any from the gas station attack. I had to get Bailey out of there, so there wasn’t time to search. But there should be video, right? Howell was going to check video from the gas station closest to Bailey’s house too.”
“I can work on the video angle. I’m sure the police have picked up shell casings from the scene of the recent shooting,” Griff said. “Yet bullets and shell casings won’t help much until we have a gun to match them with.”
“I know. In the meantime, we’re off-grid, which is why we’re using one of the disposable phones,” Trevor said.
“Yeah, I figured,” Griff said with another loud sigh. “I’ve learned over this past year to answer any number that pops up on my phone. Tell me more about this pub. What was it called? Sweet Water?”
“Yeah. I have a copy of the ownership agreement. I’ll take pictures and send them to you in a few minutes via text.
Bailey isn’t on the agreement, so Clark’s twenty percent ownership has reverted back to Plymouth Properties upon his death.
Not sure the value of that ownership is worth killing for.
And doesn’t really explain why Bailey has been targeted now. ”
“Hmm. That’s interesting.” Griff was silent for a moment. “People have been killed for less, so it’s worth investigating that angle.”
“I agree.” Trevor looked relieved to have his brother-in-law on board. “Anything you can dig up for us would be great. Don’t worry, I warned Sergeant Howell that you’d be in touch.”
“Good. It’s nice to have the locals on board with the plan.”
Bailey glanced at coffeepot. She would love to have some, but she knew caffeine wasn’t good for the baby. She rose to fill a cup for Trevor. He smiled at her gratefully and mouthed thanks.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about the pub?” Griff asked.
“No. Unfortunately, I haven’t been there.” Trevor frowned. “Wait, it’s relatively new. The ownership agreement was signed three years ago. So it hasn’t been around for long.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can come up with,” Griff said. “You just concentrate on being safe. Speaking of that, have you spoken to Chase?”
“No. He’ll be my next call,” Trevor said. “I’ve been a little busy.”
“Yeah, but you know how Chase can be. He hates being the last to know stuff like this. Later, Trevor. Take care, Bailey.” With that, Griff ended the call.
Trevor sipped his coffee, his expression thoughtful. She nudged the phone toward him. “Call your brother.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But he’ll be cranky.”
“Only because he cares.” She rose and moved down the hall to find the bathroom.
After using the facilities, she stared at her image in the mirror. The bruise on her temple had gotten darker and spread a bit beneath her pale skin. She searched her blue eyes, praying for a spark of recognition. But it could have been a stranger staring back at her.
Bailey feared using social media to spark her memory wouldn’t work. Seeing her own face should have been familiar enough.
As she returned to the kitchen, she secretly admitted how much she liked Trevor. If not for Black Hat chasing after her with a gun, she’d enjoy spending more time with him.
Yet that was a terrible way for a relatively new widow to think. Wasn’t it?