Keeping Christmas Page 7

  Chance ground his teeth, checked his rearview mirror—and let out a curse as he spotted a car coming up way too fast behind them. The dark gray SUV.

  Chapter Six

  Mason Roberts was waiting for Beau in his office. As Beau stepped in and closed the door, Mason turned from where he stood at the window looking out.

  “You have the best view in the entire building,” he said in answer to Beau’s unasked question as to what he was doing in the boss’s office. Mason knew him too well, anticipating that he would come back here rather than go to that huge empty house alone.

  “It’s not a bad view,” Bonner agreed, even though he knew the view had nothing to do with why Mason was waiting for him.

  “Is everything all right?” Mason asked as he moved to the bar to make them both a drink as he always did.

  Beau took a seat behind his desk. Mason had lived down the road and been like family since they were kids, both going their own ways for a while, but ending up back in Texas. Beau had offered his old friend a job and Mason, who was as smart as anyone when it came to money, had taken it.

  “Why wouldn’t everything be all right?” Beau asked, wondering what Mason had heard.

  “Dixie?” Mason asked, turning from the bar with a glass in each hand.

  Bonner took the Scotch Mason offered him. He didn’t need any more to drink today but he never turned down Scotch—especially the good stuff he kept stocked in his office.

  He was tired, worn out and discouraged. This wasn’t the way it should have been. He was rich, damn it. He’d always thought that once he had enough money all his troubles would just fade away. Even those from the past.

  “Dixie?” he repeated, pretending he didn’t know what Mason was getting at.

  “She up to her usual?” Mason asked.

  So Mason had heard. “I’m afraid so, but I have it covered.” He downed the drink, avoiding his friend’s gaze as he let the alcohol warm him to his toes.

  “If there’s anything I can do….”

  Mason had been running interference for him since they were kids. His friend seemed to be waiting for Beau to tell him what was really going on.

  Not this time. “It’s a family matter.”

  Mason winced as if Beau had hit him and Beau realized belatedly that he’d hurt his feelings. “You know what I mean. Just my daughter being Dixie.” Beau put down his glass and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

  Chance would find Dixie and, with any luck, she would be flying home in time for Christmas. He would talk to her. Explain everything. Dixie was smart. She could be made to understand.

  Then they would have a nice Christmas like a normal family. But even as he thought it, Beauregard Bonner knew the chance of having a normal Christmas was out of his grasp. Dixie had made certain of that.

  CHANCE WATCHED THE CAR behind him coming up fast. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Dixie’s expression as she turned in her seat to look back again.

  “How many people did you say were after you?” he asked as the dark gray SUV bore down on them.

  Not surprisingly, she didn’t answer, but he noticed that she’d slid down again in the seat as if she didn’t want to be seen.

  He swore, determined to get her somewhere and to get the truth out of her. More and more he was convinced the earlier scene at the museum had been staged, that the guys in the black car were in on whatever was going on and that he was a pawn in all this. So who was in the dark gray SUV?

  The driver closed the distance and Chance saw what appeared to be a single occupant in the car.

  He still held out hope that the driver might not even be someone interested in them at all. Maybe even someone who didn’t want to run them off the road or shoot at them. Could be just some kid driving his parents’ SUV too fast.

  Unfortunately he’d seen the way Dixie acted after spotting the vehicle the first time. The SUV filled his rearview mirror just an instant before he heard the blare of the horn and the driver roared around him, pulling alongside as if to pass on the two-lane. But, of course, didn’t.

  “Get down!” Chance yelled to Dixie as he braced himself for some defensive driving if not some defensive ducking in anticipation of the barrel end of a weapon pointed in his direction.

  Instead the driver was waving frantically for him to pull over.

  Was the guy nuts?

  The driver laid on his horn again, waving wildly and pointing—not at Chance. But at what little could be seen of Chance’s passenger.

  Chance shot a look at Dixie. She had slid down some more, one hand on her forehead, the other resting on Beauregard, her face turned away as if pretending this wasn’t happening.

  “You know this guy?” Chance demanded.

  OLIVER LANCASTER was having a bad day. He’d gone to lunch after running into Ace and come back into the office hoping to find a way to get another twenty-five thousand together.

  He’d cleaned out every reserve he had, including his children’s college funds. Not that he wasn’t going to replace the money. He had to before Rebecca found out and went postal over it. Or worse, went to her father.

  This deal was taking too long. He’d gone from nervous to scared. Everything was riding on it paying off the debts he’d incurred before anyone knew about them.

  But Ace needed another twenty-five thousand.

  And Oliver not only didn’t have it, he wasn’t sure he could even scrape that much together. He’d borrowed money on everything he owned, including the house that Beau had purchased for them as a wedding present.

  Oliver was starting to sweat just thinking about it. He couldn’t go to Beau for the twenty-five grand. Or Carl, not after that impromptu visit from his wife’s uncle this morning. Carl had come by to give him some speech about being a better husband to Rebecca. What the hell had that been about?

  Like any of this was Carl’s business.

  But it had still scared Oliver because it must mean that even her uncle Carl had noticed that Rebecca hadn’t been happy lately. Great. Oliver did not need this on top of everything else.

  He’d promised Carl he’d make every effort to be a better husband. So going to Carl now for money was definitely out.

  Even if Beau hadn’t been in Montana, Oliver couldn’t ask him for the money. As Carl had said, Beau had a lot on his mind. He was under enough stress without having to worry about Rebecca.

  Carl had made him promise also not to let any problems between Oliver and his wife become something else that Beau had to worry about.

  What an ass the man was.

  The only reason Oliver had made the stupid promises was to get rid of the man. He’d been expecting a call from Ace and the last thing he needed was Uncle Carl getting wind of the deal he had going with Ace. Ace Bonner was the family outcast. For sure Carl wouldn’t have approved of that association even if Beau was helping Ace get back on his feet.

  It was odd, though. Carl had mentioned the stress Beau was under and Mason had said something about how Beau seemed to be making bad decisions, losing some of his edge, and had hinted that maybe it was time for Beau to retire as president of Bonner Unlimited and let someone…younger take over.

  Since Oliver was the youngest of the bunch, he’d assumed Mason was trying to tell him something. With Beau out of the way… Well, the possibilities were unlimited.

  But until then…

  “I can’t take this any longer,” Oliver said to his empty office. He needed to get out of here, go to the club for a few drinks and try to win the twenty-five thousand. Maybe his luck would change. Hell, maybe he could win a bundle.

  He touched his intercom and informed his secretary he’d be leaving for the day. But as he started around his desk he heard his private office door open.

  “Oliver?”

  Damn.

  “Beau,” Oliver said, forcing himself to sound glad to see his father-in-law. Just his luck.

  “I ASKED YOU if you knew this guy?” Chance repeated as the SUV stay
ed right with them and the man behind the wheel continued to motion for Chance to pull over.

  Dixie leaned forward to do a quick glance across the dog and him to the driver of the SUV. “He doesn’t look familiar.”

  Chance looked over at the driver of the SUV again. The guy appeared really upset now, having seen Dixie look over at him. He was mouthing something Chance couldn’t make out. But it wasn’t as if the guy was trying to tell him that he had a taillight out or a tire going flat.

  No, this guy was angry. And he seemed to be spewing all that venom in Dixie’s direction. He hadn’t tried to kill her, though. Apparently he just wanted to talk to her.

  As they came around a curve, Chance looked up and swore. A semi-truck was approaching in the SUV’s lane and a rancher on an old tractor was puttering along dead ahead in Chance’s lane.

  In a split second of insanity, Chance tromped on the gas pedal, zooming ahead of the SUV and forcing the driver to drop back behind him. With the speedometer climbing, Chance swerved between the farmer on the slow-moving tractor and the semi barreling toward him in the opposite lane.

  The semi blew by with a half dozen cars backed up behind it on the two-lane an instant later.

  Chance heard Dixie let out a held breath. He checked his rearview mirror. Just as he’d hoped, the SUV driver had been forced to come to a crawl behind the tractor as the semi and the line of cars passed.

  Chance had bought himself a little time.

  He glanced over at Dixie. She looked pale but relieved. He caught her glancing in her side mirror and chewing at her lower lip. What the hell was going on with her? He hated to venture a guess, but one thing was certain. There were definitely people after her.

  But to kill her?

  Or to drag her back to Houston?

  Something had Dixie Bonner on the run.

  What were the chances it was because of something she’d done?

  “HAVE A MINUTE?” It wasn’t really a question as Beau closed the office door and motioned for Oliver to sit back down. Beau went straight to the bar. He made sure that even Oliver’s office was stocked with his own favorite Scotch.

  But to Oliver’s surprise, his father-in-law poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe left by the secretary.

  Fortunately, Beau seldom came to the office and didn’t seem to have any interest in the way Oliver spent his days as long as there were no problems with what little Beau let him handle. Or on the home front.

  He motioned that he didn’t want any coffee or a drink but Beau apparently had poured him a drink anyway. Hell, was he going to need one? Had Rebecca found out about the children’s college funds? Or the other things Oliver had to mortgage?

  “What’s up?” Oliver asked, still standing.

  “Dixie’s taken off,” Beau said as if this were news. He handed Oliver his usual vodka tonic and, with the coffee in hand, dropped into the deep leather chair across from Oliver’s desk. Another addition Beau had made to the office for his rare visits.

  “What do you mean ‘taken off’?” Oliver asked as he lowered himself back into his chair, pretending this was news. And hoping it had nothing to do with him.

  Beau looked him in the eye and for a moment Oliver felt as if the man was two steps ahead of him—maybe even more. “Rebecca didn’t tell you?”

  “I haven’t spoken with her today,” Oliver said. True, but an obvious mistake to tell the father-in-law just how little contact he had with the man’s daughter. “We’ve been playing telephone tag all day.”

  Beau sent him a look that was equal parts disgust and disbelief. He didn’t have to tell Oliver that he’d better keep Rebecca happy. But, of course, Beau did.

  “I just saw my daughter having lunch with a friend. She didn’t seem happy. There’s no problem with you and my daughter, is there?” he asked, his tone making it clear that if there was, then it was Oliver’s fault.

  “No. Why would you think it had something to do with me?” Oliver had the bad feeling that his father-in-law knew more about Rebecca’s state of mind than her own husband did. Had Rebecca said something to her father? Had she told him about the conversation she’d overhead last night on the phone?

  He felt himself begin to sweat as Beau didn’t answer the question—instead just studied him thoughtfully before taking a sip of his coffee.

  “You said Dixie has taken off?” Anything to get the conversation off him and Rebecca. Even talking about his least favorite subject, Dixie.

  Beau sighed and took a sip of his coffee. Oliver tried to remember the last time he’d seen his father-in-law drink coffee instead of Scotch this time of the day and couldn’t.

  “Did Dixie say anything to you?” Beau asked, settling his gaze on Oliver.

  “No,” he said, unable to hide his surprise. He spoke with Dixie even less than he did with his own wife. “Why would she tell me anything?”

  “You are her brother-in-law, or don’t you see her, either?”

  Oliver didn’t like the edge to Beau’s voice. He plunged in, figuring it might be easier if they just got it out of the way right now. “Is there something I’ve done to upset you, Beau?”

  The older man seemed to give that some thought. “I’m just worried about my daughters.” His expression didn’t change though. Oliver told himself he’d better watch his step. Something more had set Beau off and since he and Beau had never been close and now Chance Walker was in the picture…

  He tried to assure himself this was just about Dixie. Beau’s youngest had kept him upset more often than not over the years. What had she done this time? Oliver wondered.

  “I’ve hired someone to find Dixie,” Beau was saying. “Once she’s back in Texas…” Beau rose awkwardly from the chair and Oliver realized with satisfaction that the oilman was getting old. Beau looked embarrassed to be seen at all feeble in front of him. “If you hear from Dixie…” He seemed to realize how unlikely that would be.

  Like Oliver, he must have been wondering why he’d come in here to begin with. Or maybe he’d just been testing him, waiting for his son-in-law to hang himself. But then, Oliver had been feeling more than a little paranoid lately.

  “I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Oliver lied.

  Right now, his only thought was Rebecca. Had she gone to her father about him? Her timing couldn’t be any worse with him under so much strain. This deal had to go through and in a hurry. His life depended on it.

  IN HIS REARVIEW mirror, Chance watched the tractor get smaller and smaller until they went around a bend and it disappeared. No sign of the SUV.

  He looked over at Dixie, not surprised to see one arm around Beauregard’s neck, the other hanging on to the door handle. Her face was still pale and for the first time, she looked scared.

  “Is it my driving?” he joked.

  She glanced over at him as if her mind had been a thousand miles away. “It’s fine.”

  “Fine?” He snorted. “That was an amazing example of my driving ability and you say it was fine?”

  He finally had her attention.

  She smiled. She had a gorgeous smile. “I’d forgotten how full of yourself you are.”

  He smiled back at her, worried as hell. Based on the number of people after her, Dixie Bonner was in a world of trouble.

  The problem was that while she’d said she’d come all the way to Montana because he was the only person she could trust, she no longer trusted him. So getting her to tell him what was going on could pose a problem.

  Well, all that was about to change, Chance told himself as he saw a sign for a mountain lodge just ahead. He didn’t slow down until he reached the turnoff and pulled off onto the snow-packed gravel road.

  Still no sign of the SUV.

  But he had a bad feeling it wasn’t the last they’d see of the people after Dixie Bonner.

  And soon he would know why.

  Dixie glanced back, more relieved than Chance could know that he’d lost the SUV. She watched him shift the pickup into four
-wheel drive as he headed up the snowy road, wondering where he was taking her.

  It hadn’t slipped her mind that Chance was working for her father. Who knew what kind of deal they’d made?

  Just the thought made her sick to her stomach. She’d thought Chance was the one person who couldn’t be bought by her father. If she’d been wrong about Chance, then what hope was there?

  “Where are we going?” she asked, worried. Ahead, all she could see was a mountain, the road disappearing into the snowcapped pines and what appeared to be a wide expanse of roofline.

  “Somewhere safe,” was all he said as he drove up the winding road, but she could feel his gaze on her every few minutes, as if he had a lot of questions.

  She was sure he did.

  She had a lot herself. She’d been so sure that once she had found him, all she had to do was to pour her heart out to him and he would be there for her.

  Now she wasn’t sure what to do next. Trusting Chance could be her worse—and last—mistake. So far he hadn’t believed anything she’d told him.

  She hated to even think what he would say when she told him the rest.

  “I’m going to help you,” he said quietly, as if sensing her wrestling with the problem.

  She could only nod. Whatever he had planned for her, she would figure out a way to keep one step ahead of him. Hadn’t she gotten this far all by herself? She didn’t kid herself that a lot of it had been luck. Her would-be killers hadn’t expected her to go to Montana.

  No, she decided. Trusting Chance now would be a mistake. Better to keep her options open and try to get away from him the first opportunity that presented itself.

  “Montana is so beautiful,” she said, trying to hide the affect her decision had on her. She turned to look out the side window, secretly brushing away her tears. She’d been such a fool. All these years of comparing every man she met with Chance. He had been her hero. The man of her dreams.

  “Well, you’ve apparently seen a lot of the state, I’ll give you that,” Chance said.