Once everything was loaded, he and Kate would cross the border back into the good ol’ USA. Somewhere before he reached Billings, he’d take care of Kate and her daughter. Once in Billings, he’d take the SUV to another shop who would take care of it. No one would be the wiser. He’d fly home, the majority of his cut stashed away in a foreign bank making him even more money. He’d leave out just enough to gamble with. He wouldn’t touch the rest, no matter what. Unless he was on a winning streak.
* * *
JON’S PHONE VIBRATED. He stepped back into the trees seeing that the call was from Bessie. About Earl Ray? At this hour? It wouldn’t be good news. He hesitated, knowing it would be risky to take the call. He looked toward the house and took a step when it started vibrating again.
He picked up, keeping his voice down. “Is it Earl Ray?”
“I know it’s in the middle of the night, but he insisted I call you. You know how he is.”
He did and found himself smiling at the reassurance in Bessie’s voice that his friend was fine. “He’s okay?”
“Won’t be able to eat a lot of what I bake, but the doctor said he should recover.” He could hear Earl Ray in the background telling her to quit gabbing and give Jon the message. When Bessie started to argue, Earl Ray demanded the phone. “You are supposed to be resting,” Bessie said but gave up the cell.
Earl Ray’s voice still sounded weak but nonetheless resolute. “He had a man on the youngest one. Don’t worry, we have him, and both of Kate’s daughters are safe now.”
“What if Matthews calls him?”
“I doubt he’ll have the need, but if he does, we have it handled,” Earl Ray assured him.
“Thank you,” Jon said. “You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
“Glad you’re okay. I was worried.”
“Now all you have to worry about is Katie. And yourself.” Earl Ray disconnected, but not before Jon heard Bessie in the background telling him to give her the phone or she was going to call the nurse and get him sedated.
Jon pocketed his cell, relieved. Earl Ray was all right. Bessie was at the hospital with him. It was one less thing he had to worry about. As he started toward the house, he realized that Earl Ray had called Kate Katie. Jon had thought that the man hadn’t noticed his slip of the tongue earlier today. He smiled to himself. Earl Ray noticed everything.
He could see Collin still in the kitchen, apparently drinking. He moved quickly, covering the expanse of open, snow-covered terrain to come up to the corner of the house. He stood in the dark shadows and waited to make sure he hadn’t been seen. The neighbors must not have a dog—at least not one they left outside at night. The girls were safe, but Katie was far from it, unless he could get her out of there.
Now what? He would have loved to take care of Collin. The fact that he was up, drinking by himself, told Jon that the man was alone in the house with Kate. Where were his friends? Maybe they hadn’t connected yet. Or maybe this wasn’t a drug deal at all. Maybe he really was just meeting some friends.
Then why had Collin put a man on the youngest daughter, Danielle?
Not to mention the fact that Kate hadn’t wanted to come along on this trip to Canada. Of that, Jon was sure. Collin had used Danielle to force her. It was a drug deal or something just as illegal. Didn’t matter. He was getting Katie out of this.
He moved along the side of the house, staying to the shadows. When he came to the bedroom window, he tried it. Locked. He moved along until he came to a second one. This one was cracked open, even though it was winter. He felt a start. Kate liked fresh air...? Even freezing-cold air...? Why did that jar what felt almost like a memory? It slipped away too quickly to grasp.
Carefully, he lifted the window, waited and, hearing nothing, climbed in.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
KATE WOKE FROM an already restless sleep with a start. She felt a gloved hand clamp over her mouth. Instinctively, she began to fight, only to have her wrists grabbed and pinned to the bed by a second large gloved hand. Her eyes widened in alarm as she tried to see in the darkness, while bucking and wriggling to fight the man off.
“Katie, it’s me.”
The whispered words next to her ear made her instantly freeze. She blinked as Jon Harper’s face came into focus. Her heart surged, tears filled her eyes and she went slack. He released his hold on her wrists first and then slowly removed his hand from her mouth.
She sat up and threw her arms around him, holding him tightly as she gasped for breath, her pulse thundering. He put his arms around her and drew her closer. She breathed in his scent. Her heart was still drumming in her chest and relief had made her limbs weak as she nestled against him, even though his coat felt cold from the outside air. Jon had come for her. This had to be a dream. She couldn’t bear the thought that she would wake up and he’d be gone.
Just as suddenly as she’d been awakened, she froze and drew back. “You can’t be here.” The words came out in a hoarse whisper. “You don’t understand.”
He silenced her with a finger on her lips. “Danielle is safe.”
She stared at him. “But—”
He shook his head. “So is Mia. We have to get out of here. Now.”
She listened and heard what he must have heard. Movement deep in the house. Collin. “He has a gun.”
Jon nodded as he moved from the bed to pick up the lamp on the night table. He jerked the plug from the wall, then tore it from the lamp’s base. “Get dressed. Stay here.” With the cord in his gloved hands, he moved silently to the door and slowly opened it. She desperately wanted to stop him but hurried to dress in the jeans and sweater she’d been wearing yesterday. She found her purse, her mind racing as to what she should grab. When she turned, the doorway was still empty, and she could hear nothing from deeper in the house.
* * *
JON MOVED ACROSS the carpet, working his way toward the kitchen and the light emanating from it. He could hear Collin moving around in there. There was the sound of the refrigerator door closing, the pop of a beer being opened and the groan of a chair as the man lowered himself back into it.
He thought about the way Collin had been sitting earlier when he’d seen him through the window. Jon worked his way closer. He could hear the gulp, gulp of the beer, the restlessness as Collin shifted in the chair.
He knew that he and Kate wouldn’t be able to leave without being heard. He had to subdue Collin, and he couldn’t wait any longer. The lamp cord stretched in his two hands, he peered around the corner. Collin had his back to him in the chair, balancing on the two rear legs of the chair. On the table within reach was a handgun.