“I’ve got an errand to run tomorrow. Thought maybe you’d like to come with me.”
Jane glanced up from where she’d curled up on the couch, the tattered paperback romance she’d fallen into after dinner resting on her lap.
Leo stood over her, two steaming mugs in his hands. He offered her one, an expression of expectation on his face. A face she had to admit she’d missed the past weeks. She’d brushed the horses down so often she was afraid they’d go bald. She’d baled more hay than possibly existed in the entire state, and listened to enough wild-man Trapper stories she could start her own nature program on cable. But other than the occasional breakfast in the morning and dinner every evening, she’d barely seen Leo other than the occasional hello. And even those greetings sounded...strained. With Trapper and Ollie around, she didn’t feel lonely but she did miss him.
“Thank you.” She accepted the mug and sipped. The citrus notes of the tea danced on her tongue, while the hint of whiskey almost made her smile. “Why?”
“I thought you could use something to help you sleep.” He sat in the leather recliner at the end of the coffee table and crossed a bare foot over one jean-clad knee. They’d finished dinner—singed chicken breast, sweet potatoes and fresh roasted corn—a little over an hour ago. Long enough for Trapper to finish up the dishes before he ambled back to the bunkhouse, grumbling that he was going in search of what he called real food.
“Not the tea. Why would you like me to come with you? Wouldn’t that make it harder to avoid me?” The accusation had been poised behind her lips for longer than she cared to admit. Every time she came anywhere near him, anytime she inadvertently touched him, he jumped as if she were a rattlesnake.
Inclining her head toward him, she narrowed her eyes, silently daring him to deny it.
“You’re right,” he said finally. “I have been avoiding you.”
She set her mug down, closed the book. “And?”
“And what?” He drank what she strongly suspected was boosted coffee and shrugged at her.
“You aren’t going to apologize?”
“For avoiding you? No. I’m not.”
“Oh.” Well, she’d played that completely wrong, hadn’t she? Here she’d assumed once he’d apologized they could move forward and get beyond whatever had gotten between them. “If you’ve changed your mind and want me to leave—”
“I don’t.” His calm, matter-of-fact response snapped her patience like a twig. “That’s not it, Jane.”
“Then what’s going on? Look, if this is about my nightmares waking you up—” Ollie let out a whine and rose from his place in front of the fireplace. He walked over and dropped his chin onto her drawn-up legs.
“He doesn’t like raised voices,” Leo told her in a tone that told her neither did he. “This isn’t about waking me up, Jane. I’m a bit offended you think it is.”
“Then what is it?” She gently pushed Ollie away, then uncurled from the sofa. “Did you find out something about me? Is it bad news? Has it changed your mind about helping me?”
“I didn’t think you wanted help.” He sat forward as she stood to approach him. “You’ve been attending the horses, cleaning up the house, doing just about anything you can it seems to avoid finding out who you are. Which is one reason I’ve been leaving you to it. So do you?” He dropped his loosely clasped hands between his knees and tilted his head up to look at her. “Want my help?”
“You know I do,” she snapped, and shot to her feet. “We aren’t in the, what did you call it? The hour of the tiger? You were right. I can’t keep hiding from whatever is out there.” No matter how much she preferred holing up in the house or in the stable with the horses. The encounter with the lost motorist had rattled her more than she wanted to admit, but he was right. Maybe it was time to charge ahead again. “I need to find out what happened to me. It might be the only way—”
“To figure out who you are. I agree.”
Wait. Jane stopped pacing.
“Which brings me back to my original question,” he said. “I have an errand to run tomorrow, and I think you should come with me.”
“Oh, my God. You just played me.” Jane’s hands tightened into fists, and she actually felt a growl build up in her throat. When she let it out, Ollie whimpered again and moved closer for inspection. “That wasn’t just reverse psychology. That was... I don’t even know what that was.”
“That was me letting you take the lead.” Leo stood up and reached out to lay gentle hands on her shoulders. “How’s your head?”
“How’s my head?” Ready to spin off her shoulders. Shoulders that were far more warm than the rest of her. Shoulders that relaxed beneath his touch. She’d missed him. So much. “It still hurts. But not as bad as it did.” Truth be told, she’d been so irritated with Leo and so focused on helping Trapper with the horses, she hadn’t been paying that close of attention. “What do you mean that you were letting me take the lead?”
“You have to want to get your life back, Jane. I can’t make it happen for you. So I gave you some space. But it’s been long enough. You needed a push.” His lips curved into a grin that ignited a flame of irritation.
But that flame flickered into something else as she looked up into his eyes. Eyes so dark, so deep, so fathomless, she wanted to drown in them. Her stomach fluttered, as if something burst to life. The feel of his hands on her shoulders, the warmth of his body radiating against hers, slipped through her, soothed her. Tempted her.
If he knew what she was thinking, he’d probably run for the hills. But he wasn’t that quick. He couldn’t be. Because the slingshot impulse that kicked through her had her raising her hands to clasp the sides of his face. Before she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Feeling Leo’s surprise was as intoxicating as it was empowering. The shock of her action had her smiling against his mouth, a mouth that softened against hers as his hands moved off her shoulders, skimmed along her sides and came to rest against her hips.
Jane knew when reason shot through him; she felt it in the hesitancy of his kiss. But instead of demanding more, which she craved more than her next breath, she lowered her heels and pulled herself away. She didn’t move. Instead, she simply stood there, her heart pounding hard against her chest as she still clasped his face in her hands.
“What was that?” he asked in a hoarse whisper that nearly had her kissing him again.
“Me taking the lead.” And then she did kiss him again. Quick. Hard. And felt his fingers flex against her flesh. “Best get used to it, cowboy. ’Cause you asked for it.”
Leo’s plan had been to head out to the Preston place after lunch the next day, but moving the herd into the next pasture and a routine check of fence line had gone quicker than expected. Probably due to the fact he’d headed out even earlier than normal, anxious to get the day started and find some answers for Jane. The sooner they found out what happened to her, the sooner they’d unlock whatever door her mind had closed on her. The sooner she’d be...gone.
Yeah. Leo grimaced and tightened his hands on the steering wheel. Yeah, that’s what was pushing him out the door. Getting Jane home. He certainly hadn’t been avoiding the prospect of facing her the morning after she’d kissed him.
In all his years he’d never tasted anything as sweet as Jane’s lips—like the summer wind and strawberries, laced with a touch of that whiskey he’d added to her tea. Rather than quenching a desire he’d hoped was a passing fascination, having her so close, feeling her so near, had righted something inside him he hadn’t realized was wrong. No. Not wrong. Missing.
He slipped the truck into its usual space between the house and the stable, and caught a flash of movement over in the paddock.
Fascinated, stunned, Leo pushed open his door, bent down to greet Ollie, who bounded over to him with an excited bark, and then escorted him over to the fence.
The world around him slowed. The air stilled. And there she was...long red hair braided down her back, a too-large hat on her head, galloping around the pen on Ginger’s back. Jane’s face radiated utter and complete happiness.
He had to remind himself how to move, but move he did, closer even as he saw her almost in slow motion.
He’d lived in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, amid the glaciers and waterfalls and forests of Alaska. The quiet, the solitude, even among the machinery and boisterous male population, had been his solace, and yet nothing could compare to the breathtaking sight before him.
“She’s a natural.”
Leo started as the world came back into focus. The sound of Ginger’s hooves beating into the ground echoed against the occasional laugh or comment coming from Jane’s smiling lips. “She sure is,” he told Trapper.
“I’m betting it’s gonna be tough, getting her out of the saddle. She had a bit of a rocky start, but now she rides like that’s where she belongs.”
“Except it’s not.” The last of the fantasy faded. Leo’s heart tipped as he straightened his spine. “She’s not ours, Trapper.” She’s not mine. He could feel it in the deepest part of his soul. As much as he wanted to believe, as much as he wanted her, she didn’t belong here. Besides, Jane wasn’t anyone’s until they found out who she really was.
“Could be ours. Just sayin’.” Trapper shrugged. “You headed out to the Preston place?”
“In a few, yeah.” Why couldn’t he stop watching her? Why couldn’t he stop imagining...
“Nothing stopping you from changing your mind, you know.” Trapper braced a foot up on a fence rail and slung his arms over the top. “She doesn’t seem to be in any rush to get answers.”
“Maybe I am.” Maybe it was foolish, maybe he was living in a dream, but he found himself clinging to the thin thread of hope that it wouldn’t matter who she was. That their kiss last night was only the beginning. “I gave her my word I’d get her home, Trapper. I mean to keep it.”
“Stubborn as your granddaddy.” Trapper shook his head before he removed his hat and waved it at Jane and Ginger. “That’s enough for today, little girl. Let’s cool her down and get her settled back in.”
A plume of dust rose around Ginger’s feet as Jane brought the horse to a stop in front of them. “Oh, come on. Just a few more minutes?” She pretend-pouted at Trapper before turning those pleading eyes on Leo.
“Don’t look at me.” Leo held up his hands in mock surrender. As beautiful a sight as she was from a distance, she stole his breath close up. Skin glistening and damp with sweat, her eyes alive and bright, the way her jeans and shirt clung to every curve of her body had his fingers itching to discover what she might have worn beneath the denim and red plaid. A streak of dirt crossed her cheek and her nose, and dust coated her skin. “Trapper’s in charge of the horses these days. Besides, we have a lunch date.”
Jane grinned. “We do?”
That hadn’t come out quite the way he’d meant it, but what the heck. She’d started it last night, hadn’t she? “We do. You take care of Ginger and get cleaned up. I’ll make some sandwiches and load up a cooler.”
“Where are we going exactly?”
Trapper eyed Leo over one shoulder, daring him to tell her the truth—that this wasn’t some romantic romp through the mountainside, but an investigative trek to where they believed she’d been held hostage.
“It’s a surprise.” Leo managed a quick smile. He was keeping his promise so far. He hadn’t lied to her. “Do you still like surprises?”
“I do today.” She grabbed the saddle horn and swung a leg behind her to dismount.
It was then he noticed the boots. “Where’d you get those?”
“Trapper found them for me.” Jane kicked a heel up behind her and beamed at him. “Aren’t they marvelous? I love the silver stitching detail. I can’t believe they fit.”
“Almost like they were meant for her.” Trapper arched a brow at Leo. “Hope you don’t mind. I thought I’d take a look through the attic boxes. See if there was anything Gwen and Lacey might be able to use once they’re back.”
Leo looked the old man dead in the eye. “You were looking for stuff for Gwen and came across the box of my mother’s things?”
“Oh.” Jane’s smile faltered. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”
“It’s fine.” Leo pushed up the brim of his hat as he caught a glint of sparkle off the boots. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen them.” And the last time certainly wasn’t a moment he wanted to remember. Watching his father box up his mother’s things was one of his earliest memories—the day he’d watched a man who had been through so much, finally break. Here? Now? She’d just turned that sadness into light. “Really, Jane. Trapper’s right. They were made for you. And I’m sure my mother would have preferred them on someone’s feet than sitting around in a box. I’m going to head inside and clean up.”
“Now, don’t you be giving me the evil eye like that.” Trapper wagged a finger at Jane once they were back in the stable.
“You didn’t tell me these were his mother’s.” Jane unbuckled the girth and drew Ginger’s saddle off. “Why not?”
“Gives you two something to talk about, don’t it?” Trapper reached for the saddle, but Jane slapped his hands away. “You wanted to ask about his folks, now you have a reason.”
“I’ve got this.” She glared at him when he tried to help again. “And since when do Leo and I need help finding a topic of conversation?” She grabbed hold of the saddle and pulled. Too hard apparently because her head went light and the room spun. “Uh-oh.” Her knees buckled and she hit the ground. Hard. “Oh, wow. Ow.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as nausea washed over her and pain sliced through her head. For the second time, she saw an image of herself, but not herself, laughing and singing and carrying on before she flipped her long hair over her shoulder.
Jane shuddered, tried to cling to the memory even as the sight vanished behind her eyes. That emptiness, that void she’d been so determined to ignore, had filled, before evaporating again.
“Lordy, little girl. What did you do?” Trapper yanked the saddle free of her other hand while Ollie moved in to press his nose against her suddenly clammy face. “What hurts? Is it your head? Did you knock it again?”
“My head’s been fine,” Jane reassured him and reassured Ollie with a pet. That image was so odd. It looked like her, but didn’t feel like her. Didn’t sound like her. But then, did anyone ever sound like they expected themselves to? “I’m fine. Just...maybe you’re right. I did too much today.” She’d been nervous at first, climbing on Ginger’s back, but the second she was settled in the saddle, she’d felt...free. The beating sun hadn’t mattered. The dust and dirt didn’t matter. All she’d wanted to do was ride.
“I’ll get Leo.”
“You will not.” Jane locked a hand around the old man’s thin arm. “I mean it, Trapper.” She took a long, deep breath and willed the pain in her head to go away. No such luck. The throbbing, bass-deep thudding was back. “There’s nothing Leo can do except drag me into town to the doctor, and I’m not ready for that.” She winced. “Not yet.” But she knew the time was coming. The headaches hadn’t stopped. She’d just gotten used to them. And the last thing she needed was dizzy spells.
“You trying to get me killed, little girl?” Trapper crouched in front of her, and for the first time since she’d known him, she saw genuine concern in his gray eyes. “Leo finds out about this, I’ll be a pelt on that living room floor of his.”
“Leo isn’t going to find out because neither one of us is going to tell him.” And if she had to, she’d leave Trapper out of it. “Please, Trapper. I’m feeling better already. If we tell him, he’s just going to plunk me on that couch for the rest of the day, and that might just drive me out of my mind.”
The temptation to do just that was something she had to fight against every day. Inside that house she felt safe, where nothing—and no one—could touch her. This morning had been the first morning in over a month where she hadn’t looked over her shoulder after stepping outside. “I’m already antsy for something more to do around here. No offense to the horses and you.”
“You’ll take one of those pain pills when you go inside?” Trapper didn’t look convinced. “And you’ll take it easy the rest of the day?”
“I will. Cross my heart.” She made the motion to be safe.
“This happens again, I’ll tell him. I don’t take to keeping secrets. You understand me?”
“I do. And it won’t happen again. Now, help me up.” She was still feeling a bit shaky, but once she was on her feet again, her stomach righted itself. But her head still hurt. “Let’s get Ginger—”
Trapper cut her off. “You get yourself inside and clean up. I’ll take care of her.” He shooed her away as if she was a hoard of flies.
“I told you, I’m fine.” But she didn’t feel fine. Her ears were ringing, and she swore she heard sirens in the distance. Her imagination again. Her mind playing tricks on her. She was getting really tired of the tricks.
“Fine enough, you can do as you’re told,” Trapper ordered. “Now git. Ollie, you, too.”
Ollie whined and pushed his head up under Jane’s hand.
Because she knew it would irritate him, she gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “You really are a sweet man, Trapper.”
“I am not,” Trapper grumbled after her, but that only made Jane laugh as she headed into the house, Ollie by her side.
“Hey, Daria.” Sheriff Trey Colton rapped a knuckle on Deputy Daria Bloom’s door and poked his head in. “Heading out for lunch. Can I bring you back anything? Since it looks as if you’ve cemented yourself to that chair.”
Daria blinked herself out of her Hunting the Avalanche Killer trance and reached for the stone-cold coffee she’d forgotten to drink. “Sorry, lost in thought. Was there something you wanted?” She sniffed at the cup and decided she wasn’t that hard up. Yet. Daria leaned back in her creaky, wheeled chair and shoved her fingers into her tangled, curly hair.
When Trey stepped inside and closed the door, her feet hit the ground and she sat forward. “Uh-oh. What have I done?” Her mind raced through the past twenty-four hours, wondering if she’d said something to someone that had hit the front page of the paper. Or worse, was circulating through town. Did he know? Had he somehow found out she was a Colton? She wasn’t ready to deal with all that. Not yet. Not until she had thought out every fallout scenario.
“When was the last time you were home?” Trey crossed his arms over his chest and turned those dark, laser beam eyes on her.
“Ah, a while ago.” She scrubbed tired hands over her face, hiding her relief. “Long enough to grab a shower and a change of clothes.”
“What about sleep? You thinking about getting some?”
Daria chewed the inside of her cheek and reminded herself that while they were technically related and she considered Trey a friend, he was also her boss. “I’m always thinking about sleep,” she said with a too-innocent smile. Translation: she’d sleep when they put the case to bed. “Hey, it’s lunchtime, right?”
Trey’s jaw locked. “Figured you didn’t hear a word I said. I’m actually on my way out, and I’ll be bringing you back something.”
“What?” Knowing Trey and how he liked to tease her, he’d slide an avocado club sandwich under her nose. Daria shuddered. She hated avocado.
“I think that’s what I should be asking. You heard about Levi McEwan, right?”
“Small-time drug dealer we’ve put away at least three times?” She’d had a few run-ins with him over the years. Harmless for the most part. Except for the fact he was selling poison on the streets. “What’s he done now?”
“Something that got him killed, apparently. Hikers found his body in the woods near the gas station off Roundabout Road. Stabbed enough times to make Caesar jealous. They think he’s been dead a few days.”
“Rage killing from a dissatisfied customer?” Try as she might, Daria couldn’t quite bring herself to feel sorry for the loss, other than for Levi’s grandmother. Someone was going to have to tell her he wasn’t coming home.
“Probably. Forensics should have fun with the scene. Either way, it’s on the books if you need a palate cleanser.”
“I don’t, but thanks.” The Avalanche Killer was more than enough for now.
“What’s going on? You keep staring at that board as if it’s going to speak to you.” Trey pushed off the door and approached the magnetic whiteboard Daria had wedged into her office. But it wasn’t the topography images, forensic photos or the newspaper headlines that he was focusing on. He stared at the photograph of Sabrina Gilford. “What’s it saying?”
“Truthfully?” Daria gnawed on her cheek. “I don’t think the Avalanche Killer killed Sabrina.”
“What’s your evidence?”
Daria let out a laugh. “Oh, that. Yeah. Don’t have any. What I do have is—”
“Your gut.” Trey didn’t miss a beat. “One of the reasons I knew you’d be able to handle this case. You mention this to our FBI friend?”
“Stefan?” Daria resisted the urge to clear her throat and fidget. “No. Not directly, anyway.” Whenever she was around Very Special Agent Stefan Roberts, talking wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. Compartmentalization was a talent of hers. Or at least it had been before Stefan had turned up. Easy on the eyes and honorably dedicated to the job, Stefan was also fairly uncomplicated to work with. For a Fed. If Daria was completely honest with herself, uncomplicated worked to her advantage. Stefan was someone with access to information she wanted—information she needed—if she was ever going to track down her mother. Daria had exhausted all her database possibilities, but a Fed had other avenues...
“Did I lose you again?”
“Sorry, what?” Daria blinked again.
Trey just arched that brow again. Feeling her cheeks warm, she shook her head and refocused. “With each of the bodies we found, there was this odd feeling of caring about them. The way the arms were crossed, as if they were sleeping. And look, here. The necklace on her is perfectly centered. It’s all the little details. But with Sabrina...” She stood up and joined him at the board, gestured at the image that showed how Sabrina Gilford had been buried. “She looks tossed aside. Discarded. As if he was angry. Even though location and manner are perfect.”
“Too perfect?”
“Maybe.” Daria shoved her hands in the back pockets of her navy uniform slacks. “Sabrina’s different. And different, to me, says someone else killed her, but that someone else must have known the details. How else would he have known where to leave her? How to leave her.” She looked to Trey for guidance, for reassurance she wasn’t totally off the rails. “He knows who the Avalanche Killer is, Trey. He’s using him to cover up his own crime.”
Trey shifted slightly, his accessing eye catching on the image of Skye Colton tacked to the top left corner of the board.
Daria’s stomach twisted. She knew what the sheriff was thinking. The same thing she’d been thinking when she’d garnered the courage to put up Skye’s photo in the vicinity of the Avalanche Killer. She hadn’t wanted to. The very idea that his cousin might be the murderer’s latest victim made her sick to her stomach. Skye was one of the bright, shining beacons of the Colton family. A heart of gold with a mind like a steel trap. Whip-smart, determined and savvy. For the most part.
Hooking up with record producer Brock Madsen hadn’t been Skye’s most impressive move, especially not with her social media presence being so prolific and attention-grabbing. As far as Daria was concerned, putting your entire relationship up for public consumption spoke more of insecurity and desperation than social interaction. Disappearing the way Skye had after getting very publicly dumped probably hadn’t been the best course of action, either. Now it had been weeks since anyone had heard from Skye. Normally Daria wouldn’t be concerned, but given how close Skye and her twin sister, Phoebe, were...
“Any word?”
“On Skye? No.” Daria swallowed the fear. “The missing persons alert hasn’t earned us anything other than false leads and people looking for gossip, and these days people barely notice missing persons flyers. We have an APB out for her car, which, since it’s red and impractical, stands out like two sore thumbs. We’ve got a warrant request for her banking records and credit cards. I’ve got Gerard going up to The Chateau today to talk to Phoebe and other members of the family again in case they’ve remembered anything more that might help.” Gerard might not be the most likable of the other deputies in the department, but he got the job done. They had the best deputies in Colorado on the job. “We’re rolling out patrols to the outlying areas and smaller towns. We’ll find her.”
“Yeah, but will we find her alive?”
“I hope so.” Daria’s gaze slipped back to the other victims. If she was right and there were two killers, Skye’s chances of survival seemed nil. “I really hope so.”
The lunch of tuna sandwiches, coleslaw and BBQ potato chips didn’t sit well in her stomach. And it wasn’t the burnt chocolate chip cookies Leo had made for dessert. Truth be told, Jane wasn’t entirely sure why she was feeling sick, but the sensation had struck the second they turned onto the highway after lunch.
Leo had driven them to a beautiful picnic spot overlooking the edge of the town. He’d pointed out other farms and ranches and helped establish her bearings as far as what was where in Roaring Springs. He told her as much history about the town as he knew, from its founding by historic families, including the Coltons and Gilfords, to the still-bitter emotions that ran as deep as a Roaring Springs lake over the family’s commercialization of the area. An odd feeling panged in her stomach, as if the name or even the story should mean something to her. If Leo noticed her self-imposed and confused silence, he didn’t let on.
As it was a weekday, they’d been alone. Ollie had probably enjoyed the stop the most as he spent his time bounding about chasing bees and butterflies, and the occasional dandelion tuft. If Leo had been biding his time and watching the clock, she hadn’t noticed. Except now she began to wonder...
As they bounced along the highway in Leo’s truck, Jane dug her fingers into Ollie’s coat and the dog turned his head toward her, his expression asking what was wrong. “Where are we going, exactly?” Her throat felt tight, as if the question was going to snap under the pressure of her growing anxiety.
“Since the police still aren’t an option, I’m testing a theory.”
Leo’s explanation didn’t help. If anything, it only raised more questions. “How is that an errand?” An errand was grocery shopping or picking up ranch supplies or...honestly? She’d thought he was trying to trick her into going to the doctor.
Every time she looked at the road ahead, she felt dizzy again. Nauseated. She tried to focus on the tree line as they sped past, but even that was making her a bit carsick. The farther they drove, the more nervous she got. Her skin prickled as if a million fire ants had skittered up her spine.
“Stop.” She gripped the door handle and might have snapped it open if the lock hadn’t been secure. “Leo, stop the truck, please.”
He glanced over at her before doing as she asked. The tires ground in the dirt and rocks as he pulled over to the side of the road.
Jane jumped out and dived for the trees, where she threw up her lunch. Humiliated, cold and sweaty, she stepped back, bracing one hand on the trunk of a nearby tree and caught her breath. Leo was right there, cold water bottle in hand, Ollie at his side.
“Darlin’?” Leo stroked her back soothingly. “You okay?”
“Sorry. Better here than in your truck.” She tried to make light of it after washing out her mouth and drinking, but couldn’t. Maybe Trapper was right. She should have told Leo about the dizzy spell. And that the headaches weren’t getting any better. And that she couldn’t stop hearing...
She looked over Leo’s shoulder. The road. The curve of the road. The trees... “I know this place. I’ve...been here.” Her gaze shifted back to his. “That night. This was where I was running from. After the shed, I broke through the trees. There.” She pointed before facing him and narrowed her eyes. “You knew. How?”
“I suspected.” The cursory nod killed that anxiety she’d been feeling and replaced it with irritation.
“You knew and you didn’t tell me? You didn’t warn me this is where we were going?”
He shook his head. “I’ve dealt with trauma before. What the mind loses, or chooses to forget, sometimes the body remembers. I was watching you in the truck. The closer we got to this place, the more antsy you became. I could feel it. Ollie could, too. And now we have a place to start.”
A place to start. “Guess you’re in a rush to get rid of me after all.”
“You know I’m not.”
That same growl of frustration built up in her throat again. Was there anything that got under his skin? Did he always have to be so freaking calm all the time? So rational and reasonable and... She sagged back against the tree. Did he always have to be so right?
She couldn’t keep living this way. She couldn’t keep biding her time taking care of horses that weren’t hers on a ranch that wasn’t hers with a man who... She swallowed more water along with the regret. A man who wasn’t hers. She couldn’t keep hiding. She couldn’t let the fear win. “Where are we?”
“About a quarter mile from the Preston farm. Paul Preston. He died a while back. After I filled Trapper in, he looked into a few things. Found this place. Thought it was worth checking out.”
“How much did you tell Trapper?” No wonder the old coot had been so solicitous and concerned back in the stable. He’d probably been waiting days for her to snap or fall apart.
“I told Trapper what he needed to know. Are you feeling better? Are you ready to push further and see where this goes?”
Was she? Jane’s gaze skittered back to the highway, then in the other direction. She could hear the past sounds of her feet crunching in the leaves and twigs and debris littering the ground as she’d run from the shed, run toward the only direction she could find. This highway. This road. Which meant...
She walked past Leo and Ollie, keeping close to the trees as she headed down the side of the road. The traffic was as sporadic as it had been that night, with only an occasional passing car. It made sense. Earlier Leo had told her this was one of those out-of-the-way roads that while it got you to the heart of Roaring Springs eventually, only those who lived on the far outskirts of the town knew about it or even used it.
“There were lights that night.” She didn’t have to turn to know Leo was right behind her. He had her back. Just as he had from the moment he’d first found her in his barn. And that knowledge pushed the last tendrils of fear aside. “The night I got away.” Her voice sounded hollow, detached. “Down that way. Far in the distance, but I could see them.” She shivered. She could feel them.
“What kind of lights?”
“Red. Blue. Spinning.” Blinding. Just thinking about them made her head hurt. She pressed her fingers against her temple as if doing so would help her remember more.
“Police.”
“Yes.” The fear was back, a hot bubble pressing into her throat, blocking her air. “They scared me. Drove me the other way.” She turned and pointed across the highway. “There was a truck. White I think? A young man was driving. He, I think he tried to help me but I just kept running.”
“Maybe he reported seeing you to the police.”
She shook her head. “Maybe.” For some reason she hoped not.
“That’s something we can look into. Do you want to get back into the truck and drive on or do you want to walk?”
“I don’t know where—” She turned along with Leo and found the narrow road beneath the undergrowth leading deep into the trees. Deep into the darkness.
Big enough for a truck to pass through.
Small enough to contain her fear.
“I’m right here, Jane.” He brushed gentle fingers down her arm, as if afraid of startling her out of a trance. “Whatever you decide—”
“I know.” She held out her hand and blinked back tears of relief when he didn’t hesitate. The sensation of his fingers sliding between hers, clasping her hand securely in his as Ollie came around to her other side, comforted her beyond measure. “I know you are. Let’s go.”
He didn’t say another word. He simply squeezed her hand.
Together, they stepped onto the road.