The Healer (11 page)

“Uh…wait, I—”

Luce could see the surprise in Harold’s eyes and decided the best way to deal with what was bound to become gossip was to introduce them herself.

“Harold, this is Jonah. Bridie hired him to help her out this winter. Jonah…this is my boss, Harold Carter.”

“It is my pleasure, sir,” Jonah said softly, and shook Harold’s hand.

Within a heartbeat of the handshake, whatever fears Harold might have had about the stranger were gone. All he could feel was a sense of peace.

“Well, now…it’s fine to meet you, too,” Harold said, and then remembered the comment Jonah had made about the weather. “I heard the weather forecast at noon, and they didn’t say anything about snow.”

Jonah shrugged. “It will snow.”

Harold grinned at the notion and then patted Luce on the shoulder.

“Well now, missy, if it does come a good snow, you might as well take the day off. Won’t be anyone out and about in that kind of weather, and if they do come in, I can handle whatever customers we might have.”

The idea of getting to sleep in was wonderful, but Luce didn’t want to leave Harold in a jam.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind—”

“No, no,” Harold said, still laughing. “But remember…only if it snows.”

Luce waved goodbye, then tried not to notice when Jonah put a hand in the middle of her back on the way to the truck.

“Is Bridie still okay?” she asked.

Jonah smiled slowly. “She made us a custard pie.”

“Oh, yum,” Luce said.

“Yum is right. I’ve already had a big piece out of the one she made for us at noon, and I’m looking forward to another tonight.”

Luce shivered. The thought of them spending time together made her anxious. Would something more come of the sexual tension that flowed between them, or was she going to have to settle for that toe-curling climax she’d already had? She sighed as she crawled up into the seat.

“Tired?” Jonah asked, as he paused before closing the door.

“Yes, I guess that’s it,” Luce said, finding it easier to claim exhaustion than to admit she was turned on, then changed the subject. “Do you have to go back to Bridie’s this evening?”

“Yes.”

“Do we have time to stop by the supermarket before you drop me off?”

“We’ll make time,” he said.

Luce grinned. “If it’s going to snow, I need to pick up a few things.”

“It will snow,” Jonah said. “Which way to the grocery store?”

He didn’t like to refer to himself as a stalker, but that was what he’d felt like as he watched Luce serving breakfast. He’d stayed in the diner, visiting with first one customer and then another, until he’d had to leave to start his day, then spent the day trying to lose himself in work. But, by the end of the day, he was in a foul humor. It wasn’t until he walked into his own home, savoring the familiar smells and comforting touches that his wife added to the rooms to make their house a home, that he began feeling better.

The phone was ringing as he tossed his keys on the hall table. He ran to answer. “Hello.”

“Hello, dear, it’s me. I thought I’d call and see if you’re managing all right on your own.”

He leaned against the wall, smiling slightly as he heard the concern in his wife’s voice.

“I’m fine. How’s your mother?”

She began to explain what was happening with her mother’s treatment, but for the life of him, he couldn’t make himself care. His thoughts had slipped to Luce Andahar again. Would this be the night he had her? Could he get rid of the dog without alerting her to his presence? He didn’t know, but he was damn sure going to try.

“Dear? Dear? What do you think?”

He flinched. He had no idea what his wife had been talking about, but he quickly covered up for his inattention.

“Oh…you know what? I think I’ll leave the decision up to you. You’re in a better position to choose than I am.”

“Oh, thank you…you are such a sweetheart. So I’ll go ahead and stay with Mother for another week, and then reassess the situation.”

He resisted the urge to cheer. “That seems the sensible thing to me, as well. Take care, give her my love, and stay in touch.”

“Absolutely,” his wife said. “I love you.”

He closed his eyes, picturing Luce’s face as he answered, “I love you, too,” while wishing it wasn’t true. He didn’t want this torture in his life. Sometimes he thought he was going crazy. He knew this fixation wasn’t normal, but he couldn’t quit thinking about her. Couldn’t stop imagining how red her blood would be against her warm brown skin. He wondered if it tasted salty, like her tears, then knew he would find out soon enough.

He went to the office, pulled a blue notepad from the desk drawer and began writing her another note. Just a brief mention of the things they would be doing together—when the time was right.

Bourdain was hosting a luncheon for some of his business partners. They had just been seated and were waiting for the first course to be served when one of his guests, a man named Karl Kaiser, began to fidget.

Bourdain noticed that the man’s color had turned ashen and that there was sweat across his forehead, although the house was not overly warm.

“Karl? Are you okay?” Bourdain asked.

Before Karl could answer, he grabbed his chest, then slumped forward, going facedown on the plate.

“My God!” someone shouted as Bourdain jumped up and ran for the phone.

Within moments, he’d contacted 911, while another couple of men had lowered Kaiser to the floor and were performing CPR while waiting for help to arrive. But it was obvious to Bourdain that they would be too late.

Karl Kaiser had come for lunch, but he was going to leave in a body bag.

Bourdain was sick to his stomach as he sat with his head down and his hands clasped between his knees. He knew firsthand how quickly life could take a nasty turn. In the distance, he could hear the siren from the approaching ambulance—for all the good it was going to do Karl.

He closed his eyes, and as he did, he thought of Gray Wolf. If he’d been here, Karl wouldn’t be dead, and the consortium they’d been going to form wouldn’t have just ground to a halt.

In the middle of his dilemma, the doorbell rang.

He heard the maid letting the EMTs into the house. He stood, then took a deep breath, readying himself to face the next few hours. One thing was for sure, watching Karl Kaiser die had just reinforced his intention to catch that Indian healer. Once he had a chance to talk to him, he was certain he could make the man see things his way. The Indian could name his price and live in luxury forever. All he had to do was stay with Bourdain.

Go where he went.

Eat where he ate.

Sleep within the sound of his voice.

Whatever it took to keep Bourdain alive.

Hours later, after the police and the coroner had finally left, taking Kaiser’s body with them, Bourdain was still trying to figure out a new angle to get Gray Wolf. Upping the bounty certainly wasn’t the answer, and over the past ten years, he’d sent some of the world’s toughest mercenaries on the hunt. To a man, they’d all failed. Even if they managed to get to Gray Wolf, no one had been able to escape past the animals who were willing to die to protect him. He didn’t understand it, but he wanted the power that Indian possessed, and it was going to be his some day. He just had to find a way.

Then it hit him. D. J. Caufield. He should have thought of that crazy hunter before now. He clapped his hands together, then laughed out loud. By God, he was going to make this happen, after all.

H
obo was asleep in front of the fireplace, just out of range of any popping embers, leaning against the generous stack of firewood that Jonah had carried in earlier before going back up the mountain to do Bridie’s evening chores.

Luce had stood on the porch and watched Jonah leave a few minutes earlier, then couldn’t help but give the tree line a nervous glance. As she did, she realized that she’d forgotten to get the mail from the mailbox at the end of the drive.

Irked, she stepped off the porch and started down the drive, dodging the muddy ruts by staying on the grass along the edge. Within a few yards of the mailbox, she saw a dark blue Jeep top the rise below. There were only two houses this far up the mountain, hers and Bridie’s, so she couldn’t imagine who it might be; then she realized it was just Mark Ahern, the mailman. Her first thought was that he was running late on his route. Then he pulled up at the mailbox and waved.

“Hello, Luce…don’t see much of you outside the diner.”

Luce grinned. “By the time I get through at Harold’s, I don’t do much of anything when I get home except get off my feet.”

Mark nodded. “I can empathize. The last thing I want to do after I finish the route is go for a drive.”

Luce laughed out loud.

Mark thought how pretty she was when she smiled, then remembered what he’d been doing. “I’d better keep moving,” he said, and patted the box beside him in the seat. “Got to deliver Mrs. Tuesday’s order. Looks like she’s been catalogue shopping again.”

Luce saw a JCPenney mailing label on the large package. She knew Bridie was fond of mail-order catalogues.

“So here’s your mail,” Mark said, as he handed Luce a couple of magazines.

“Thanks,” she said, and then stood back as he spun out a little before the tires caught traction.

He drove away as Luce went back to the cabin. Once inside, she laid her mail aside and put up the groceries they’d purchased, then went to her room. The first thing she liked to do after coming home from work was to get out of her work clothes and take a shower. By the end of her shift, she always smelled like cooking grease and cigarette smoke.

It was just after four-thirty when she got to the kitchen to begin making supper. As she began prepping the food, she remembered what evening meals had been like when she was a child—before her parents were killed, before she realized there was no such thing as happily ever after.

She and her sister would be underfoot in the kitchen, listening to their parents talk about their respective workdays, and sneaking bites of food. A favorite had been the handmade tortillas. It wasn’t until she was older that she realized her mother knew all along they were snitching, but at the time, they’d thought it a great sport to outwit her.

She remembered the way her father’s dark eyes would twinkle as she and her sister escaped with the warm, soft tortillas. Even after they were outside on the front stoop, wolfing down their prize, they could still hear the sound of his laughter.

She drew a slow, shaky breath, her throat aching with unshed tears.

God. She missed them so much.

She shook off the sadness as she took an onion from the vegetable bin. It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered why she had been spared when the rest of her family had died in the wreck. It wouldn’t be the last.

She peeled the onion and some potatoes, then cut them into bite-size chunks before opening a can of tomatoes, and dicing some celery and carrots to go in her stew. As she worked, she let herself fantasize about what it would be like to have someone special in her life. Someone who would always be there for her the way her father had been there for her mother—for all the family.

Immediately, her thoughts jumped to Jonah, although she felt foolish, daydreaming about someone she’d met only yesterday. She reached for the package of stew meat, poured some oil into the old cast-iron pot heating on the stove, then dumped in the meat to let it brown. She added some salt and pepper, then, as an afterthought, a big dash of hot sauce in honor of her Latino roots. As soon as the meat had browned, she added the prepped vegetables, the can of tomatoes and a couple of cans of beef broth, and covered the pot.

Soon the small cabin was filled with the scent of stew bubbling on the back of the stove. With an eye on the clock, she decided to mix up cornbread batter, then put it in the oven to bake. Thanks to Bridie, there would be custard pie for dessert. To Luce, this was as close to a feast as she could muster.

Hobo whined in his sleep, his legs kicking slightly as he lay beside the fire. Luce grinned and wondered if he was dreaming about trying to catch that squirrel that lived in the big oak down by the creek. She’d seen him chase it from time to time, but so far without any success.

Without thinking, her gaze automatically went to Hobo’s leg; then she quickly shifted her focus to something else. Rational thinking had no place in what she’d seen since Jonah Gray Wolf had walked into their lives.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she crossed the room to lay another log on the fire, but it seemed much darker outside than it should have been. Curious, she moved toward the windows at the front of the house. Gathering clouds were bringing on an early night. With a quick glance back at the stove to make sure nothing was burning, she stepped outside for a better look at the sky and was met with a chilling blast of air. It felt as if the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees since she’d come home. Jonah had predicted snow, and if this kept up, it could certainly happen.

Shivering, she started to go back in the house when she caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. Curious, she moved toward the edge of the porch, squinting slightly as she stared into the darkening shadows of the forest. Often at this time of evening she would see deer on their way to the creek, and once in a while a raccoon, although when Hobo was outside, they always steered clear.

She stared into the shadows until her eyes began to smart from the chill wind, but nothing else moved. She finally decided she’d been imagining things and turned to go back inside. Just as she opened the door, Hobo charged out of the house, nearly knocking her down as he bounded from the porch. Barking ferociously, he headed toward the trees.

Luce frowned as she watched him go. He was running right toward the place where she’d been looking. Maybe she’d seen something there, after all. Still, it was too late in the evening for him to go hunting. He would be out all night if he took off after some animal.

“Hobo! Hobo! Come back here!”

But her calls were futile. The dog was gone.

He’d been asleep inside the cabin. She couldn’t imagine what had alerted him from in there, but she could hear him baying at his prey. She listened for a few moments longer before she realized what she was hearing. That wasn’t the sound he made when he was hunting. He was on the attack.

Her eyes widened as she stared into the tree line.

The stalker? Was it him? Was that who Hobo was chasing?

Panic filled her as she ran into the cabin, quickly locking the door behind her. As she did, the timer on the stove went off, startling her anew. With shaky hands, she took the cornbread out of the oven and took the stew off the burner, then grabbed a knife. If she was going to be attacked, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

She ran through the cabin, turning off lights as she went, then, as an afterthought, she flipped on the porch light. Within a few minutes it would be completely dark outside, but if this was the night her stalker finally made his move, at least she would see him coming.

She gripped the knife a little tighter and was about to pull up a chair to the window when she saw headlights coming down the mountain.

Thank God.

It had to be Jonah.

Jonah was tired, but it was a good tired. He’d made sure Bridie had plenty of wood inside, and reassured her that, no matter the weather in the morning, he would be up to deal with her livestock, so she should keep herself indoors.

She’d readily agreed, then waved him off before retreating to her nice warm home to enjoy her purchases. The mail-order package contained her new winter coat, a couple of dresses and a pair of new rubber boots for outside work, although when she’d ordered the boots, she hadn’t known she was going to hire someone to take over those chores. Still, a person could always use boots, especially in a mountain winter, and she dug through the package with delight as Jonah made his way down the mountain.

He’d been thinking of Lucia, fantasizing about how it would be to have a permanent home and have her to go home to. His heart already knew what she could mean to him. The longer he stayed with her, the more difficult it was going to be to leave. But he didn’t see any way around it. As long as Major Bourdain lived, anyone Jonah cared for would be in danger.

It was with that thought in mind that he pulled in to the yard. It didn’t occur to him that something could be wrong until he realized that, while the porch light was on, there were no lights on inside the cabin.

His nerves were on edge as he opened the truck door and got out. Within seconds, he felt the negative energy of fear and knew something was wrong.

“Lucia! Lucia!”

His heart was pounding as he cleared the steps. Then she opened the door, and all he could think was
thank God.
He took one look at her face, saw the knife in her hand and knew he’d been right.

“What?” he asked, as he touched her face, then her arm, assuring himself she was still in one piece.

“I think someone was watching the cabin.”

Jonah felt the shock and the fear in her body as vividly as if they were within himself.

“Did you see him?”

“I saw something, but it was getting so dark…then, when I started back inside, Hobo came flying out, barking and growling like crazy. I tried to call him back, but he disappeared. I locked myself inside, then you came.”

“Get back inside, and lock the door. Don’t open it to anyone but me.”

Luce grabbed his arm. “It’s getting dark. You could get lost out—”

“I don’t get lost—ever,” he said.

Her fingers curled into his wrist. “I’m scared.”

“I’ll be back,” Jonah said, then impulsively bent down and kissed her.

Hard. Fast.

There was a sudden burst of air all around them, like the wings of a thousand birds, then that heart-stopping, mind-shattering force of energy beginning to center between her legs. On the brink of another climax, Jonah turned her loose, pushed her inside the cabin and shut the door in her face.

“Lock it!” he yelled.

She turned the lock, then sank to the floor. The knife fell from her fingers as she sat in the darkness, remembering the feel of Jonah’s lips on her mouth. In that brief moment when they’d been connected, he’d shown her something within herself that she’d never known was there.

Passion. So much passion.

She was shaking now, but not from fear.

Please God, bring him back to me. I don’t want to leave this earth without spending at least one night in Jonah Gray Wolf’s arms.

Jonah ran without looking back, knowing that what he’d done had crossed a line he’d sworn not to cross. But he hadn’t been able to leave her afraid and alone. The only thing he could think of to do was give her something else to think about besides fear.

And he had. Maybe more than he’d meant to. But it was done, and he would never regret letting his true feelings for her show.

Within moments of entering the trees, he stopped to get his bearings, and as he did, he felt the presence of evil. The skin crawled on the back of his neck as he heard Lucia’s dog let out a howl.

Hobo had run something—or someone—to ground.

He turned in the direction of the dog’s persistent baying and started to run, dodging branches and leaping over roots, using every preternatural sense he had to navigate the darkening land.

Luce’s stalker was, literally, up a tree and cursing himself for his carelessness. In the long run, he’d been unable to outrun the dog and was still a good half mile from his vehicle. Once up the tree, he’d pulled his handgun, intent on getting rid of the dog before someone followed it to him.

But when he’d gone up the tree, he hadn’t counted on darkness. It caught him before he could see where to aim. All he had to go by was the sound of the dog’s movements below. Scared and cursing Luce, her dog and his own sick desire for the woman, he began firing in desperation.

The first two shots went wild, but he could tell that they had frightened the dog. He shot again and heard the dog yelp.

“Good,” he muttered, believing that he’d either hit it or scared it away.

As a stray, Hobo had been shot at before, and he was deathly afraid of the sound of gunfire. When the third shot came, it ripped a burning path across his shoulder. With a sharp yelp of fear and pain, he turned tail and ran.

The moment the stalker heard the dog running, he jumped out of the tree, firing one more shot into the air just to make sure the dog kept going. A few minutes later, he came upon the car, jumped in, and took off in a flurry of flying gravel and dirt.