EIGHTEEN

Seth set down his coffee cup and smiled at Ava. Her sorrow had left her cheeks flushed and her lips, red and full. The southern Colorado morning sun cast her in a beautiful light. Noticing his look, she cocked her head to the side in a “What?” He cupped her face with his left hand and stroked the scar on her cheek. She closed her eyes and rested her chin in his hand.

He hadn’t thought he’d find love again. He certainly never thought he’d have any kind of relationship with someone so much younger. But here he was, sitting in a small diner in the middle of downtown Trinidad, Colorado, looking at the young woman who’d stolen his heart. She gave him a soft smile.

“How’s your breakfast?” she nodded toward his pancakes.

He shrugged.

“And coffee?”

“Hot, watery, and plentiful.”

“Sounds like Seth’s perfect coffee,” Ava said. “I thought we could . . .”

His phone rang. He turned the phone over to look at it; she nodded that he should answer.

“O’Malley.”

He heard the sound of wind and the clip-clop of fast-moving horses.

“Sir, it’s Switch,” a man’s voice yelled. His voice held the echo of a Bluetooth headset.

“Go,” Seth said.

Sergeant First Class Gardner “Switch” Thomas was the current caretaker of his family homestead outside of Granby.

“Came at dawn. But holy Christ . . .” Seth heard the horses slow down. There was a splashing sound as they forded the river, and then the horses sped up again. Switch yelled, “Go in front.”

“Switch?”

“Who is this girl?” Switch asked. Seth smiled. “Last night, I thought I was ready to kill her. She’s such a bitch.”

Seth heard Éowyn yell something.

“That’s right, I called you a bitch,” Switch laughed. Seth heard Éowyn laugh. “Did you know she was a high school champion? College marksman? Was on the team in college and law school. We even competed against each other five years ago. Said she rooted for me in Beijing.”

“What happened this morning?”

“Shooter came just before dawn,” Switch said. “We were arguing in the kitchen by the sink. I’d made coffee and she thought it was crap. She’s on your horse by the way.”

Seth heard the horses begin to gallop as the sound of their hooves echoed off the granite cliffs at the edge of the lower pasture. The homestead was his older brother Saul’s favorite place on the planet. Seth knew the land like the back of his hand.

“What happened?” Seth repeated.

“She saw the guy first. Grabbed the shotgun. The one on the wall,” Switch said. “Bam. Bam. Shot out the kitchen window.”

“You pushed me,” Éowyn gave an indignant shout.

“Guy clipped me. Caught me in right upper arm.”

“And?”

“You need to call Granby PD. She made a quality field dressing, I can say that for her, and . . .” Switch yelled to Éowyn. “Right at the cairn. No, your other right.”

“Did you get him?”

“What do you think?” Switch laughed. “Left-handed. Even impressed little miss ‘I-can-shoot-better-than-you-any-day-anyhow’ Annie Oakley.”

Seth heard Éowyn laugh.

“She insisted on taking your horse,” Switch said. “I thought it was too big for her but . . .”

“Too big for you, maybe,” Éowyn’s voice was hard and edgy, but Seth heard a feminine giggle mixed in with her words. Remembering what Delphie’s had said, Seth smiled.

“You don’t need to be talking like that,” Switch said.

Éowyn yelled something Seth couldn’t hear. Switch laughed.

“Listen,” Switch said. “She says you’re her ‘Sugar Daddy.’ I just want to know . . .”

“She’s Ava’s sister,” Seth said. “Be nice.”

“Good to know,” Switch said. “We’re heading to the hideout in the Upper Pasture. But you got to call and have ‘em come pick up the body.”

“Did you call your command?”

“Before we left. I’ll check in when we get there,” Switch said. “You think there’ll be another?”

“Might be,” Seth said. “Turns out there are three shooters. Two now.”

“We’re armed,” Switch said. “And dangerous. Out.”

He heard Éowyn laugh and the line went dead.

“What was that?” Ava asked.

“They came for Éowyn,” Seth said.

Ava gasped.

“She’s with Switch,” Seth said.

“You sent her to Switch?” Ava’s eyebrows shot straight up. “And?”

“I think it’s love.”

“I thought he was . . .” Ava’s head shifted back and forth to indicate that he might be gay.

“That’s one of the reasons he’s called Switch,” Seth said.

“What’s the other?” Ava smiled.

“He can shoot equally well with both hands,” Seth said. “Ambidextrous.”

“He’s not really her type,” Ava said. “She likes dark-haired, blue-eyed, super-handsome sociopaths in expensive suits.”

Switch had received the worst of his mother’s extreme whiteness and his father’s deep blackness. He wore his tan-colored hair long and kinky, like a blonde steel wool pad on top of his head. He’d grown up with his father and spoke in an almost unintelligible Southern drawl. He dressed mostly in fatigues, even when he wasn’t at work as a marksmanship instructor at Fort Carson. Seth doubted he owned a suit.

“I don’t think he’s a sociopath,” Seth said. “Those guys usually go work for Black Ops.”

“You watch, she’ll remake him,” Ava said. “Clothing, face, and that hair.”

“I’m sure she’ll try,” Seth smiled.

“So Éowyn’s met her match?” Ava laughed.

Seth nodded.

“Is she all right?” Ava asked.

“Sassy and controlling. What’s that tell you?”

“She’s scared. She gets like that when she’s scared,” Ava said. “Where are they going?”

“I’m not quite sure,” Seth said.

Ava’s eyes slipped over his face. Seeing his lie to protect her, she nodded. It was safer for her if she didn’t know.

“She’s safe?”

“There’s Switch to worry about.”

Ava smiled and turned her attention to her breakfast. Her shoulders squared with tension. The moment of love and safety had passed.

“We’re going to catch this guy before . . .?”

“I sure hope so,” Seth said.

He took out his wallet and put enough cash on the table to cover their meal and the tip.

“Ready?” He drained his coffee cup.

She nodded. Standing, he took her hand and they left the restaurant.

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