Page 98 of The Cowboy and the Stray

I blinked, and for a second, the fear faded. Not all the way, but enough that I could function again.

Calder took the card, folded it, and stuck it in his back pocket.

Ash stood up, stretched her arms overhead, and said, "I'm gonna go set some new tripwires."

Midge went inside to start lunch, leaving Calder and me alone on the steps.

We sat there, silent, watching the dust swirl off the road.

After a while, Calder said, "He'll never touch you again."

It should have sounded like a line from a bad movie, but coming from him, it was a fact. Like gravity, or the weather, or the way the sun always rose on this ranch, no matter how dark the night got.

I didn't say thank you. I didn't need to.

I just leaned against his arm, let him hold me up, and tried to believe it.

I made it maybe thirty seconds into believing everything might be okay before Calder’s phone went off. It made a little ping, not the fancy ringtones most people had, just the default. He checked it, squinted at the screen, and then handed it to me.

There was a missed call and a voicemail from a number I didn’t know. I just stared at it, not ready for the next disaster. Calder nudged the phone closer. “You should listen.”

A man’s voice, scratchy, old, but trying hard to sound official, filled the porch. “Hey, Calder listen. We found something strange under the dash when we went to move it this morning. Looks like a GPS tracker, with a battery taped on. Thought you’d want to know. You can call back the yard if you want it.”

The message ended there.

“Who was that?” I asked.

Calder said, “Junkyard. They found a tracker on your car.”

Midge spat in the grass. “Son of a bitch.” I jumped. I hadn’t heard her come out the door. Ash looked over her shoulder with one eyebrow arched.

I wanted to say something, but I just stared at the phone, like maybe I could will the whole message to un-happen. Instead, I said, “He’s known what town I was in since I got here.”

“Yeah, but not where to find you exactly. Not until we went to the bar.” Ash cursed, one of her signature long, elaborate phrases. “Son of a fucking donut eating cocksucker. If we hadn’t had to have night out.”

I shook my head. “Don’t think like that. I’d already been here over a month when we went out. He’d hung around here that long waiting to maybe catch a glimpse of me? There’s no way he knew I was still in town. By all rights, after wrecking I should’ve taken off.”

Calder growled low in his throat. “I’m going to kill that fucker.”

My hands were still shaking. I shoved them under my thighs and tried to be normal. “So what do we do?”

Calder pressed a button on his phone and called the junkyard back. The ring was loud in the silence, and I counted every buzz like a countdown. After four, a woman answered. She sounded tired. Calder got right to the point. “This is Maddox Ranch. We got your message about the car. Don’t let anyone take the tracker. We’re coming to get it.”

The woman yawned, then said, “Sure thing. It’s in the office, with the paperwork.”

Calder said, “Thanks,” and hung up.

I tried to keep up, but my brain was running behind. “Wait. Why do you want the tracker?”

Midge shot Calder a look. “He’s got a plan,” she said, half-approval, half-warning.

Calder’s jaw tightened. “If that man wants you to be scared, he’ll watch the tracker. If he wants you to run, he’ll wait for you to do it.” He turned to me, eyes hard. “But you’re not running this time. I am.”

It took me a second. “You’re going to bait him.”

Ash caught on fast. “He’ll chase you, thinking it’s Tess. And when he gets close⁠—”

Midge interrupted, “You take him out back and dig a hole.” Midge put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You don’t have to go anywhere, honey. We’ll handle it.”