I set my mug down and nodded.
He took the chair at the far end of the table, then spun it around so he could rest his arms along the back. The move should have looked staged, but on him it read as a kind of challenge—to himself, to the room, to the facts.
“First thing,” he said, “your presence here is not a secret, but it isn’t public knowledge either. We run a tight comms protocol. Anyone on ranch payroll gets a need-to-know only.”
I let that sink in. “You’re saying some people do know, but they’re not talking.”
He inclined his head, a half-nod that meant “Correct, and let’s move on.”
“Second,” he said, “Eleanor’s attorney is escalating. They posted a new bulletin to two of the northern community boards. This time it’s not just a missing-person; it’s a request for sighting, vehicle, and any companions, with a cash reward.”
He paused just long enough to see if I’d flinch. I didn’t, but my hands were wrapped so tight around the mug I could feel my heartbeat in every finger.
“The boards?” I asked. “What towns?”
“First was Havre, second was Wolf Point. Both posts are less than twenty-four hours old.”
I thought about that. If Eleanor had started her net that far north, she already knew where I was headed before I did.
Rawley watched me process, then continued. “Someone probably saw you at a gas station or diner and called it in. Don’t take it personally; it’s not malice. People like to think they’re helping.”
I swallowed, then said, “Do you think she has a private investigator?”
He shrugged. “Her attorney’s firm is heavy with ex-law enforcement. They know how to find people, but they also know how to ask for favors without leaving a footprint.”
I let go of the mug and set my hands in my lap. “What do I do?”
Rawley’s eyes flicked to Hooper, then back to me. “Wekeep the perimeter tight. Nobody comes on property uninvited, and we control the narrative about who lives here. We have a contact in the county sheriff’s office, and we’ll get advance warning if any law enforcement comes looking. If you need to communicate off-site, use the secure channel.”
His tone wasn’t reassuring, but the precision of it was.
I nodded. “What’s the secure channel?”
“Old ranch radio system,” Hooper said, finally joining the conversation. “Shortwave, point-to-point. Not traceable unless someone is parked in the next county with a scanner.”
Rawley grunted, which I interpreted as approval. “Use it if you have to, but don’t over-communicate. Less is more.”
There was a silence then, dense as insulation. Emilio snored against Hooper’s chest, a tiny vibration that seemed to set the whole table humming.
I looked at Rawley, who was watching me with an intensity that bordered on clinical. “Can you tell if anyone else is here for me?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nobody credible so far. If someone shows up, you’ll know before they make it to the porch.”
Another pause. I glanced at Hooper, expecting him to fill the gap, but he just held the baby and let the air settle.
Rawley finally broke the moment by standing. The chair legs made a sound like a blade being sharpened on concrete.
“One more thing,” he said. “The less you move around, the better. If you have to leave the property, take a driver and don’t use your own vehicle. That’s for your safety, and for ours.” He looked directly at me then, his face impossible to read. “You got any more questions?”
I shook my head. “No. You answered all of them.” At least the ones I could think of at the moment.
He nodded, turned toward the door, then hesitated. For the first time, he looked not at me, but at Hooper, and there was something in the glance—an entire conversation’s worth of information traded in a fraction of a second. Hooper nodded back, just once.
Rawley left, closing the door behind him with a soft finality. The cold air lingered, swirling around my ankles, before fading back into the kitchen’s warmth.
I listened to the wind outside, the distant sound of the barn’s weather vane creaking as it turned. I kept my hands in my lap and tried to will them to stop shaking.
Hooper set Emilio in the center of the table, where he flopped onto his back and made an unimpressed face at the ceiling.
