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DOYLE

Fuck.This woman was going to keep him off balance for the rest of his life. He didn’t know how yet, but he’d figure out how to keep her in it. And damn if he didn’t welcome the instability she would bring.

Wally sighed and started moving again as he explained.

“I didn’t want to upset you any more than I already had by invading your life. And I didn’t know until after I’d met you and Teddy and looked you up in our archives on the TCR.”

Sadie fell in step with him and narrowed her gaze sidelong, one hand on Darcy.

“Eli would have killed you. Both of you.” There was no easy way to say it, but he knew Sadie was as strong as anyone he’d ever met.

She stopped walking, eyes open wide.

“Sadie?” Doyle turned and waited, hoping he hadn’t misjudged.

“That yellow-bellied son of a bitch!” she swore, making him jump.

“He’s dead now instead, if it helps,” Doyle added.

“Thanks to you,” she said, smiling at him.

“I wish I could take credit, but it really was coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in that, and I don’t think you do either, deep down.” Sadie grabbed his hand as they walked. “There ain’t no such thing. I don’t know who arranges it all, but there’s no way things are left to chance.”

Wally didn’t argue. He knew better. Instead, he focused on what to do when they got to the machine. He didn’t have his wristband, and it looked like neither did Sadie. His had been removed when he was tied up, and he hadn’t found it. Caroline probably convinced Sadie to hand hers over too. How was he going to let them know he was there?

“So, does the Watcher know? About how I’m supposed to be dead? Is that why Teddy was sent back to the ranch?” Sadie asked, calling his attention back to the conversation.

“It’s highly likely,” he admitted. “They’re there to help, but bringing them in complicates things.”

“You don’t think they’d want to eliminate us, do you? To fix the timeline and set it back to normal?”

Doyle hadn’t considered that. They wouldn’t consider murder a reasonable fix, would they?

“Maybe you should wait here,” Doyle offered.

“Teddy’s in there. They won’t hurt my son.” The note of panic in Sadie’s voice let him know he had better intervene before she stormed the place. In fact, he was done interfering in Sadie’s life. He might have meant well, but she deserved to call the shots when it came to her and her son’s lives. All he’d done was make a mess of things. Even trying to help her horse out of the barn had gone terribly wrong.

“No. There are laws. They can’t—won’t—murder someone.” Just the same, Wally held her hand tighter. The sooner they caught up to Teddy and Caroline, the better. Maybe they could still catch them before they got to the resort.

As if reading his mind, Sadie put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loud. In a matter of moments, Target came thundering over from where she’d been grazing at the edge of the well. “You said you liked to ride.”

Wally climbed on along with Sadie and, leaving Darcy behind with a wistful glance, she ushered Target toward the resort.

The TCR came into view after only a short gallop. Its cylindrical glass walls glinted in the sun, now high in the sky. From the outside, it appeared like something out of a science fiction tale about the lost city of Atlantis—a modern glass structure stuck in the desert.

Target slowed, and the two dismounted only for the horse to prance away toward the desert. “Where’s she going?” Doyle asked.

Sadie shrugged. “She deserves a break. Besides, there ain’t no hitching posts out here. Now let’s get to Teddy.”

Doyle led the way and started waving when they got close enough for those inside to possibly spot them.

“What are you doing?” Sadie asked, hand on a hip.

“Trying to get their attention. You took my wristband.”

“No I did not.” Sadie gasped. “Caroline did.”