Searching for a New Home (4 page)

When the jailer hands me my cell phone I
scroll through my past calls, select Jacob Murray's number and
click send. I pray he will answer. It is very early on Monday
morning ... at least I think it's Monday.

******

Jacob has just stepped out of the shower when
his cell phone rings. He wonders who is calling him this early on
Monday morning. It is only seven and he doesn't recognize the
number on caller ID. He shakes the water out of his hair and grabs
his phone,

"Jacob Murray."

My heart is pounding heavily and my voice
trembles as I speak, "Mr. Murray, this is Jana Bowen. I'm sorry to
bother you so early but I'm afraid I really need your help. I'm in
jail in Dillon Montana."

All of Jacob's senses spring to high alert.
"Jana, what happened? What are you being accused of?"

Voice cracking I answer, "Murder."

Jacob takes a deep breath, "Stay calm, Jana,
everything will be all right. I'm on my way."

Jacob tells Jason where he's headed and why
and that he doesn't know when he will be back. He asks him to
please take care of Dani and not to tell her where he's going.

As he heads to the Cody airport he shakes his
head. He must be crazy. He doesn't even know this woman and here he
is running to her rescue. What if she is guilty? What if she really
murdered the victim?

No, that doesn't make sense. A woman that
drops everything to take care of a little girl she has never seen
before is very unlikely to be a murderer. Dani really liked her
too. She still hasn't stopped talking about her, about how nice she
is. Yes, this is the right thing to do. He owes her this much.

******

After I disconnect the call I hand the phone
back to the jailer and tell him thank you. Then I sit down on the
narrow cot in my tiny cell and think back over the conversation. I
am very surprised Jacob Murray didn't ask more questions. It is
even more surprising that he is dropping everything to come to
Dillon to talk to me. I am not sure what I expected of him, but
certainly not this. I am grateful though. It will be a relief just
to see a friendly face. I pray that he will believe that I didn't
shoot Frank Gibbons.

******

Jacob walks into the jail in Dillon Montana
just before noon dressed in a dark grey business suit. The dark
blue tie around his neck is choking him and he pulls at his collar.
He hasn't worn a tie in over four years. How did he ever stand to
wear these things every day?

His old high school friend, Sheriff Bill
Hargess is sitting behind the desk. He looks up when he hears the
door open and a huge smile crosses his face as he stands to greet
Jacob. "Hello Jacob. How in the world are you? What brings you all
the way to Dillon?"

"Hey Bill, it's good to see you. Boy, it has
been a really long time. How is your family?" Jacob says smiling
warmly as he extends his hand to his old friend.

"We are all fine, just fine. How is yours?"
Bill replies.

"Dani's good. You know I lost Beverly four
years ago."

"Yes, I heard about that. I'm really sorry
for your loss. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I believe you have a young lady in
residence here by the name of Jana Bowen, I'm her lawyer."

A stunned look crosses the sheriff's face. He
had heard through the grapevine that Jacob had retired and wasn't
practicing law anymore. But he says, "All right, I'll get her for
you. Wait in the private interview room."

He opens the door to the interview room for
Jacob then he grabs his keys and walks to the back of the jail.
Unlocking Jana's cell he says, "Well young lady, I'm not sure how
you managed it, but you are one lucky lady. Come with me."

******

Jacob looks up when he hears the door to the
interview room open and immediately feels like he took a punch to
the stomach. His breath freezes in his lungs and his heart rate
doubles. Jana Bowen is absolutely stunning with beautiful long
blonde hair falling in waves around her shoulders, creamy
unblemished skin showing no signs of makeup, deep blue eyes the
color of a stormy sky, a pouty mouth that makes him want to take a
nibble, a fantastic body the shapeless orange jump suit can't
disguise, and a dark bruise on her cheek.

He rises to his feet as I approach and
extends his hand. "Jana, it's good to see you again."

As our hands touch, a charge of electricity
streaks up his arm and straight to his nether regions. Wow, he has
never reacted to a woman so strongly or so quickly. Jana's eyes
rounded so he knows she felt the same zing when their hands
touched.

******

I am floored. My heart is pounding and that
little shock when our hands touched surprised me. It must have just
been static electricity or something. Surely that kind of sexual
chemistry doesn't exist. I certainly have never experienced
anything like it before.

Jacob Murray is just as gorgeous as I
remembered. His dark brown hair is a little longer now and that one
curl is still falling across his forehead. My palm is itching to
brush it back. His hair looks mussed like he has been running his
fingers through it. The five o'clock shadow is gone but the
chiseled jaw is still strong, and I don't see as much sadness in
his chocolate brown eyes as that night at the hotel in Casper. His
jacket is stretched almost to busting across his broad shoulders
and his tie is skewed like he has been tugging on it. Put him in
boots and jeans with a Stetson and he could be the star in one of
those old western movies I used to see on late night television
when I was a little girl.

I smile tremulously at Jacob, "Thank you for
coming Mr. Murray. I really didn't know what I was going to
do."

Jacob indicates the chair across from him
stating, "Call me Jacob. We're friends after all. Why don't you
start at the beginning and tell me everything that happened. Don't
leave anything out."

I am confused so I ask, "I don't understand.
Are you a lawyer?"

Jacob nods, "Yeah, I am ... a very good one
in fact. Lucky break for you," he replies with a broad grin on his
face.

My heart skips a beat when I see the smile
cross his face. Wow! He is so hot when he smiles! I feel a slow
smile slide across my face in response. "How's Dani? Did she
recover from her ordeal at the truck stop?"

Smiling warmly, Jacob replies, "Dani's doing
great. At least I don't think she has any lasting effects this
time. She wanted to thank you herself and was disappointed when we
couldn't find you. The gentleman at the desk said you had checked
out earlier. Thank you again for taking care of Dani. You made
quite an impression on her. She doesn't trust strangers
easily."

I nod and take a deep breath before
continuing, "She told me about the accident and her fear of
policemen. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm glad Dani is okay. She is a
sweet little girl."

I pause for a few seconds, take another deep
breath then start my story. "Well, from the time I pulled away from
the hotel in Casper that morning, I had a feeling I was being
followed. It took several days for me to identify the vehicles that
kept showing up everywhere I stopped. I am pretty sure it was two
different ones.

"One was an old blue pickup, Chevrolet, I
think, probably a 1970's model. The driver was a scraggly looking
guy, long hair, beard, but I couldn't manage to get a good look at
him. I just had an eerie feeling that I knew him. He turned out to
be Frank Gibbons. The other car was a dark four door sedan with
really dark tinted windows. The driver was clean cut, dangerous
looking. I am reasonably sure I have never met him. They kept
showing up everywhere I stopped for almost three weeks staying just
far enough away that I couldn't get a good look at either one of
them."

A sharp knock sounds at the door and the
sheriff sticks his head in and says, "I thought you would want to
know, the ballistics report just came back, the bullet that killed
Frank Gibbons matches the gun registered to Ms. Bowen that was
found at the scene."

Jacob responds, "Thanks, Bill."

As his gaze travels back to Jana he notes all
of the color has drained from her face and her breathing is shallow
and fast. She looks panicked. He reaches out and takes her hand.
Unexpectedly, the charge streaks up his arm again. He takes a deep
breath, steeling himself against the feeling, and reassures, "Jana,
it's going to be okay. We are going to beat this."

I am shaking my head ... my heart is pounding
with fear. "No, you don't understand. They are going to say I had a
motive to kill Frank, and I did!"

Cautiously Jacob asks "Did what?" His heart
speeds up and his nerves are on edge.

"Have a motive! But I didn't shoot him! I
swear!"
Please God, let him believe
me!

Jacob sighs with relief and nods his head in
understanding, "All right, let's go back to when and where you knew
Frank Gibbons."

I tell him everything. I start with my
divorce and how lonely I had been when I first met Frank. I told
him how Frank had been clean cut then, nice looking, seemingly hard
working and charismatic. I explained how he had swept me off my
feet ... how he talked me out of my money, then about how he left
and never looked back. I even told him how my self esteem had been
destroyed and my heart was bruised but not broken. I explained how
after a while I felt only relief that he was gone, that I had
gotten out of the relationship when I did and so easily with only
the financial loss. Determined not to leave anything out, I told
him how I changed my cell phone number and how I tried to make sure
I couldn't be traced when I left Texas because of the threats Frank
had made toward me. I told him how I had never wanted to see Frank
Gibbons again. When I finish my story I somehow feel lighter,
cleansed, relieved.

I look into his chocolate brown eyes and see
warmth in their depths, understanding. He asks, "So you think the
prosecution will say because he took your money and broke your
heart, that you had a motive to want him dead?"

"Yes." I state my heart pounding with
dread.

"What kind of threats did he make?" asks
Jacob.

"Frank told me over and over that I belonged
to him, only him, and he would kill me if I was ever with another
man," I feel my eyes fill with tears. "I believed him."

"And you haven't talked to him or heard from
him since he left you in Texas two years ago until that night at
the restaurant?" asks Jacob.

"That's correct. I hadn't seen him or heard
from him since he left me in Texas. He had changed so much in his
appearance that I didn't even recognize him until he spoke to me in
the restaurant three nights ago."

"Tell me what happened at the restaurant,"
requests Jacob.

"Well, I was sitting in a booth toward the
back of the building. I had just finished my meal and was paying my
check when I saw him come in the door. He walked in and came
straight to my table. I was frightened when I realized he was
coming toward my table. I reached into my purse to feel for my 9MM
Glock and remembered I had put it in the console of my car after I
left the gun range in Bozeman that morning. I was petrified."

I pause while I take another deep breath then
continue, "He sat down across from me and I finally recognized him
when he spoke. I nearly choked on my tea when he said hello. I
asked him what he wanted and why he was following me. He said he
wanted me back. He said he wanted to renew our relationship. I told
him I wasn't interested. He argued with me telling me how much he
had missed me and how he realized he is in love with me. I told him
again I wasn't interested and rose from the table to leave."

"What happened next?"

"He grabbed my arm. I jerked free and
screamed no! as I ran outside. I know everybody in the restaurant
had to have heard me. Anyway, he caught me before I could get into
my car. He grabbed my arm and threw me against the side of the car.
He had me pinned with his body and was kissing me, touching my
breasts. I kneed him in the groin and tried to get away. He grabbed
my arm again and hit me across my face. I f ...f...fell to the
ground. He was coming at me again. He looked angry like some kind
of a maniac. Somebody yelled at him, yelled his name, I don't know
who. He was distracted so I jumped in my car and fled. I didn't
know what had happened after that until the state patrol pulled me
over the next morning and I was arrested for murder."

Jacob watches the emotions play across Jana's
face as she speaks. He sees the terror, the revulsion, the relief.
"I see the bruise on your face. Is that where he hit you? Has
anyone gotten photos of that yet?"

I nod dejectedly. "No one has taken
pictures."

"Do you have any other bruises?"

I show him the underside of my upper arm
where fingerprints are clearly visible.

"Do you have a license for the Glock?" he
asks.

"I have a concealed handgun license from
Texas. They, the police, told me Frank was shot with my gun. I
didn't even know it was missing from my car."

"Did they test you for gun powder residue on
your hands?" he asks.

"Yes, I tested positive."

Jacob's eyebrows shoot up. "Because?"

"I stopped at a practice range in Bozeman
that morning. I feel sure they have a record of my being in their
establishment. It was called The Bullet Trap. When I left, I put
the gun in the console of my car. I planned on cleaning it that
night."

He nods, smiles and says, "All right, I think
I have everything I need for now. Sit tight and I will try to get
bond set so we can get you out of here. And Jana, have a little
faith, it's going to all work out. You'll see."

"Thank you Jacob. I really appreciate your
help." I return his smile.

The sheriff escorts me back to my jail cell
and says as he locks the door, "He's good, you know. If anybody can
get you out of this, Jacob can."