Chasing Eve Read online

  “Both of his sons? You mean there’s more than one Trainer in law enforcement?” she queried shakily.

  Chase nodded. “Grayson is sheriff here but he has a brother Travis over in Coven Glade. Neither one of them is any good. They like to bend the law on the side of illegal almost to the breaking point. Most people around here anyway, are afraid of Grayson and what he’ll do to them if they don’t go along with his point of view.”

  “And you? Are you afraid of him too?” She wanted to know.

  Chase chuckled. “I think he’s a little bit afraid of me. He knows I don’t like him or trust him, but he’s left me alone. For now, anyway.” He shrugged. “Every once in a while he has to flex his muscle around me. He knows I don’t take shit from him or anybody like him. He’s never beaten me in a fair fight but then Grayson doesn’t always like to play fair. He only thinks he can beat me but he’s too afraid to put it to the test.”

  “What if he comes back here in the morning?” she asked. “If he finds me here, I have a feeling I won’t live to see the inside of a courtroom. If he or Travis is involved in the local drug activity, they’ll shoot first and make up a cover story after the fact. If they are involved they can’t take the risk I could identify the third man in the alley the night Ian died.”

  “What sounds more like Grayson and Travis is the fact that I’ll bet you money, they are involved neck deep in this mess, and they need to silence you before word gets out it was them who shot this guy the other night.” He thought for a moment before suggesting, “I don’t think staying here is going to be healthy for either of us. If you’re starting to remember, that’s something they can’t afford to happen. They’ll come back and this time they won’t care about following the letter of the law. They’ll just barge in guns blazing. I do have a cabin, it’s sort of hidden but still on the property I own. We could stay there for a few days. At least, until you remember a little more about what happened.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t put you out like that.”

  “What do you mean, put me out?”

  “I can’t take you away from your home and what you do,” she tried to explain. “Don’t you have to stay and take care of this place?”

  “You aren’t putting me out. I can’t do much ranch work during the storm and right now, we need to keep you safe until we figure out just who’s after you and why.” Chase glanced at his watch. “We have about an hour until daybreak; maybe we should get up and start packing some provisions. I don’t think either of us is going to get any more rest tonight.”

  “Again, I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you remembered more of your past. I had no clue what Grayson was after yesterday, but if what you said is true, and it really was a cop in that alley who shot Ian, I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to murder you and call it a justified shooting. He’s already told everyone you killed Ian…that you’re armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees you would want to call him and tell them exactly where you are.”

  ~ * ~

  As the sun came up a little while later, Chase was in the barn saddling his horse. He thought about taking the truck, but if Grayson did come sneaking around, he wanted things as close to normal as possible. Everyone in the area knew he rode his horse around the ranch routinely, plus he didn’t want any vehicle tracks leading anywhere near the place her car went off the road.

  He gazed out into the landscape and felt grateful the storm was almost over for now. The weather reports forecasted the storm might slow down at first but would pick up again later. This storm wasn’t supposed to end for another day or so. Except for the wind that was still blowing, the snow had stopped, and although it was a cloudy day, the air had a clean smell to it. The blowing winds would obscure the horses’ footprints. He hadn’t slept much last night after she told him her story. Instead, he’d gone over every detail. He had still been awake when she started screaming. She seemed honest enough but he felt like she was holding back, maybe something she didn’t remember yet. Something that might get them both killed.

  Chase finished saddling his horse and led it around the back of the house. Tying the reins at the back door, he went inside to see if Eve was ready.

  She was sitting in front of the television and had the news on. She glanced up when he came in. Chase glanced over at the TV to see what was so interesting.

  Grayson Trainer’s brother, Officer Travis Trainer, was reporting more of the details of the shooting to the public. “We believe our person of interest has escaped the city, and we are now canvassing the rural area for the whereabouts of Bethany Morgan. She was the last person to see Ian Carter alive. We need to talk to her. If anyone has any information on her whereabouts please call the police at 555-1212.”

  She clicked off the television.

  Chase frowned as he stared at her bent head. He thought she was crying but he couldn’t be sure. “Are you about ready to go?”

  Eve wiped the tears away and stood up. She was staring at the blank television screen. Her fists were clenched at her sides. “I’m going to kill that man.”

  Chapter Four

  Chase glanced at her then looked back at the television screen. Travis Trainer was the last man I saw on the TV. “Why?”

  “Because that’s the man who shot the man in the alley that night. He’s the one that killed Ian, and he’s blaming me for it. As soon as I saw his face, it was like the fog lifted and I could see everything as clear as a bell. He was the man Ian was arguing with that night. He was the one that bumped my car off the road.”

  Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure that he’s the one that killed your friend? It wasn’t Grayson?”

  She nodded.

  Chase grabbed her by the arms. “I need you to think back to the night Ian died. Was there anyone with Travis Trainer that night?

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said before ‘they’ were waiting in the alley. Was there someone with Travis that night?”

  She thought about that night. She couldn’t even remember why her and Nick were in that part of town. She paused. And who is Nick? “There was someone else there that night, but I didn’t get a very good look at him. He was standing in the shadows. You know, I could see his outline in the shadows. He was the one with the stinky aftershave.”

  “Come on, we’d better get going,” Chase said. “We have a long way to go.”

  “Why are you so interested in Grayson Trainer?”

  “Do you remember what I said earlier about Seth Trainer, his boys, Grayson and Travis?” Chase asked her. When she nodded, he went on to explain, “Grayson has always been a bully, even when we were kids he liked to push around the smaller kids. Maybe he felt that way because of how things were at home, I don’t know. It sure doesn’t matter now. He thinks that because he wears a sheriff’s uniform people should automatically respect him. He’s mad because I don’t. I feel if a person wants my respect they should earn it. Grayson feels because I don’t show him respect then no one else does either. He doesn’t realize that it’s because of the way he treats everyone that people don’t respect him. A bully might get respect from the fear he puts in other people but it isn’t real respect and I think the bully knows it. Grayson is nothing more than a tyrant.”

  “But why did you ask if I saw him that night?” she asked.

  “If Travis is into something illegal, then Grayson is right there with him, always two steps behind him. When they were growing up, they had no other friends. Those two boys always did stick together. That’s the way it’s always been and always will be.”

  She thought Chase sounded like he had something in mind for the Trainer brothers, but she didn’t ask about it. She had her own agenda to worry about. Being this close to Chase wasn’t helping her concentration much. She glanced up at him. “Maybe we should go. We can’t be here when he comes back. He’ll kill both of us.”

  Chase nodded. “The horse is ready.”

  She felt confused for a moment but
she nodded. Chase grabbed a bag off the table and ushered her out to the porch. When she saw the horse standing by the front door, she looked over at Chase with raised brows. He did mean A horse! She watched him throw the bag over the front of the saddle. When he mounted the horse, she moved to the edge of the step.

  Chase held out his hand. She stepped closer to the animal, so she could reach out her hand. He hauled her up behind him on the horse. She wasn’t real sure about this part, she’d never ridden a horse before. “I thought we were taking a truck?”

  “No,” he told her as he reined the horse away from the house. “I don’t want to leave any tracks for Grayson to follow. There is no real road to the cabin anyway and the wind will cover Beau’s tracks in no time.”

  “Well, that makes sense. Beau, I take it, is the horse’s name?” she muttered as the horse began to move under her.

  “Yeah, his name is Beau.”

  With every step the horse took, she could feel his body bump against hers. And every time it did, her imagination was leading her into dangerous territory. She liked the way his body felt against hers. She could only imagine want it would feel like if they were naked. She had to stop thinking about this. It surely wasn’t right. They were running away from murderers and riding a horse to get away, for Pete’s sake.

  He steered the horse toward the sound of rushing water.

  She frowned when she saw the wreck that used to be her car, partially wrapped around a small clump of trees. As Chase had told her, the snow had covered the tracks and had almost covered the entire car. If the trees hadn’t stopped her progress down the hill, her car would have come to rest in the creek.

  “Did you want to stop for anything?” he asked her.

  “I have no idea what’s even in there. But yeah, I’d like to stop if you don’t mind. Maybe there is something there that could tell me who I am. Maybe even tell me what my name is.” She stared at the wreckage. The vehicle had come to rest against the trunk of a huge tree. The metal was crumbled beyond recognition and she could barely see the path it’d taken down the incline. She swallowed hard when she finally realized how lucky she was to be alive.

  Sliding off the back of the horse, she slipped and slid her way over to the car. Brushing snow away, she opened the trunk. For a moment her mind went blank, then she began rummaging around inside.

  Eve brought out a small black bag then took a moment to look over her car. Shaking her head, she lowered the lid and went back to Chase. She handed him the small black bag. “This was all I could find.”

  “Do you know what’s in there?” he asked as he tucked inside his jacket.

  She shook her head. “No, but it is heavy. There must be something in it.”

  “We can find out when we get to the cabin.”

  She stepped closer to Beau and Chase.

  Chase handed her back up behind him. “Are you ready?”

  Eve nodded. “Yes.”

  Chase reined the horse away from the creek toward the tree line. They rode for about twenty minutes before she saw the cabin, small and tucked away where no one would likely know to look. The cabin had a three sided lean-to attached to one side while the front door looked out on the creek. There was a stack of wood inside the lean-to where she could see a couple bales of hay as well. She only hoped that she would be safe until she could remember the rest of what happened in that alley and why she was even there to begin with.

  ~ * ~

  Chase rode right up to the front door and swung off of Beau then tied him up to the hitching post. He turned to give her a hand off and went to open the front door.

  The inside of the cabin was clean and sparsely furnished. Chase wanted to apologize for the accommodations but instead he shook his head. “I’ll get a fire going, so it will warm up in here.”

  “It’s so cold I-I can see my breath,” she said shivering.

  Chase had always loved the cabin. He spent hours here enjoying the peace and quiet. Simple with a table tucked in one corner, a double bed in the other corner. The two areas were somewhat separated by a sofa placed in front of the fireplace. He tried not to think about the sleeping accommodations. That brought to mind all kind of wrong ideas. There were other things he needed to think about. He watched her walk to the cupboard and chuckled softly when she opened it. His gaze remained steady as she turned to look at him. Two steps in such a small space brought him to her side where he reached around her and he closed the cupboard again. Then he built a fire in the kitchen stove as well, volunteering nothing.

  “What are you doing with a computer and ham radio way out here?” she finally asked.

  Chase sighed, a bit of exasperation in that exhalation. He knew he would have to explain things to her. He’d hoped to have a little more time to figure this out but time was running short. He nodded for her to sit down at the table. He sat down as well. “I grew up around here, that much of what I told you yesterday is true. This ranch belonged to my grandfather and I spent many summers out here. I have known the Trainers since we were kids. What I didn’t tell you was that when I was eighteen, I moved away from the area. I went to college then after graduation, I joined the Army. I spent the next twelve years with intelligence ops. About three years ago, a good friend of mine got into some trouble. I came home to help him.”

  “Help him with what?”

  “He was hooked on Gentle Breezes. He was so messed up there really wasn’t much I could do. I managed to get him clean but he was left with a severe personality disorder, and he was never the same again.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you have a computer and ham radio here,” Eve reminded him.

  Chase took a deep breath and let it out. “Sometimes, I come out here to think, to catch up with my old Army buddies. I also still do some consulting work for the Army. That part’s confidential, so I can’t really talk about it. I have a generator in the lean-to that I can start when I need power. Sometimes I’m here a couple of weeks at a time, but I still need to be able to keep in touch with what’s going on at the ranch. My foreman—”

  “What foreman?” Eve frowned as she interrupted. “I didn’t notice anyone else at the ranch.”

  “He’s been at an auction for the last few days. I was out riding line fences yesterday when I found you. Somewhere along the way, my ranch work got shoved to the back burner. I’ll have to radio Barry when he gets back to the ranch to coordinate a little with him and warn him about Grayson.”

  “How big is your ranch, anyway?” Eve asked. “I haven’t seen much of the ranch but I assumed that it wasn’t all that big.

  “There’s a couple hundred acres with about one hundred fifty head of cattle and horses.” He shrugged. “It really isn’t all that large a spread but the animals still need to eat. I don’t maintain much of the land but I do grow some alfalfa and corn for the cattle and horses.”

  “Is that what you do? Ranch work I mean. I guess I never asked what you do for a living.”

  Chase smiled. “I guess that’s what I do. I have a pension from the military and some online work, but at heart, I guess I’m a rancher. My grandfather left me the ranch and I guess I’ve always wanted to work the land.”

  Eve took off her coat. With a nod toward the cabinet, she asked, “And you keep in contact with everyone by radio.”

  “Yes. There’s a cell tower nearby but it doesn’t always reach here for the phone. It seems to work better for the radio.”

  Eve went over to where they had left the items they brought with them. She picked up the black pouch. She turned to Chase. “I’m not sure if I want to know what this is. Or if it is what I think it is, why I even have it.” She handed the bag to him. “Will you look?”

  Chase stared at her for a moment. “I think you know exactly what’s in the bag,” he told her quietly.

  Eve nodded. She raised a shaky hand to her throat. “But if it is a gun why do I have it?”

  “I’m not sure, but let’s find out exactly what it is before we conjecture anymor
e about it.” He unzipped the small case and lifted the flap. Nestled inside was just what he thought would be there. It was a small hand gun. He recognized it as a Glock 9mm. It looked like a well-cared for weapon. Chase knew that was a sign that she took very good care of her weapon. The question was what was she doing with this kind of weapon in the first place?

  He looked over at her and found her backing away from him slowly. A look of complete shock was on her face as she stared at the weapon in his hand. She slowly raised her eyes to him and whispered, “What the hell am I doing with that?”

  “I don’t have a clue, sweetheart. I don’t have a clue.” He held it out for her.

  Eve just took another step back shaking her head. “You keep it until we know why I had it in my trunk.”

  Chase took the weapon and placed it on the cupboard with the radio in it. He reached around her to grab the bag of provisions before turning his back to her to carry them to the kitchen.

  ~*~

  Eve glanced outside. The wind had picked up as snow kept falling. She knew she was safe, but she was beginning to feel anxious about the lack of contact with anyone who might be able to help them if Grayson or Travis came looking for them. “Did you get Beau put away for the night?”

  Chase shook his head. “Not yet. I’m gonna do that now.” He disappeared outside for a while.

  She rummaged about the kitchen, finding tuna, peanut butter, and pineapple chucks in a can…enough calories to put a lunch together; although the final result seemed strange, maybe humorous. Throwing sandwiches and fruit together didn’t take too much time.

  By the time she had it finished, Chase came back. He wolfed it down, to her relief, almost without tasting it. Neither of them wanted to say anything about what she found in her trunk.