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“You know,” I say, inhaling deeply, “we could outrun those two. Sensor or not, if we hit the ground running, they’d be hard up trying to stop us.”
She gives a small smile. “I’ve considered it, but I have a problem with running. My ass doesn’t like it. What do they think we’re going to do anyway? Murder everyone on the ranch? Seriously.”
I laugh. “Well, for what it’s worth I didn’t get far last night. Lake was onto me long before I reached my destination.”
“Could be worse,” she murmurs, raising her brows.
I laugh softly. “Yeah, it could be.”
“If I didn’t have too much on my mind and a desperate need to get the hell out of this place, I would take down one of those cowboys.”
I burst out laughing at her statement.
She grins, for real this time.
“What are you two laughing about?” Ember murmurs, walking outside, hair a mess, eyes sleepy.
“Careful, those sensors will get you,” Fallon points to the door and Ember looks up, then rolls her eyes.
“Have they seen me? Who am I going to hurt?”
There isn’t a truer statement. Ember couldn’t hurt a fly. She’s tiny and sweet.
“It’s always the innocent ones, look at our girl Willa here.” Fallon points to me. “Looks like a model and yet she went down for armed robbery.”
“How do you know that?” I mumble.
“I know what every single person here did, I made it my mission.”
“That’s not fair, we know nothing about you.”
Fallon nods. “Exactly.”
Ember crosses her arms. “Okay, what did Marg and Betty do then, because they don’t look like they’re dangerous.”
Fallon glances at her. “Both of them got done for fraud. Don’t let them fool you, they’re smart and they very nearly got away with it.”
I raise my brows. “Well, there you go.”
“You got done for armed robbery?” Ember looks to me. “Should we be worried?”
I snort. “No, it was a misunderstanding. Trust me, I’m safe.”
“Well, it seems only fair that we know why you were in there, Fallon.”
Fallon stands, crushing out the cigarette. “Good day, ladies.”
She walks off down the front steps, knowing full well that one of the guards is going to be on her tail in seconds. I glance at Ember and she shrugs as we both watch the mysterious Fallon. No less than thirty seconds later, Aaron is walking after her, his face tight, like he could think of a million better things to be doing. Well, should have thought about that before becoming a guard, buddy.
“Did you hear what we’re doing today?” Ember asks.
“I’m scared to ask.”
“We’re hiking up the main cliff and having lunch. It’s not far, but apparently the view is gorgeous and you can sit on the rocks and just stare out. That’s one thing I missed the most, beautiful views.”
I exhale. “I used to love a good hike, but I’m not so certain my fitness level would handle it now.” But, Ember is right, a view is something I’ve missed and I’m a little eager to experience that feeling again.
“Get dressed, ladies,” Waylen yells from his patio, which is literally a few feet from ours.
We both whip around to see him standing, shirtless, and oh boy, what a morning view.
“Very unprofessional, Waylen. We’re ladies,” I say, with a slight drag of the eyes up and down his body. “I’m offended.”
He glares at me. “Get dressed, Willa. No crap today.”
I blow him a kiss and then point to the sensors. “How fast can you run?”
His eyes narrow. “You even consider it ...”
I turn and skip happily inside.
This is going to be a blast.
“NOW, LADIES, WATCH your step going up here. It’s not safe if a rock stumbles and falls.”
I glare at the skinny, tall, young man that is leading us up to the cliff site this morning. I thought we’d get the pleasure of seeing the ranchers, but we were informed something urgent came up and now we have this stable hand, Vic, guiding us for the day. It’s only for today, but still, he’s nothing to look at and that’s a letdown.
Waylen and Aaron follow the group, both of them looking less than impressed.
The climb to the small cliff is steep, but not unmanageable. It gets my lungs burning and my legs aching and that’s a feeling I’d almost forgotten about. My heart races as the need to go further, climb higher, takes over my body. I could go for hours more, but unfortunately we’re nearing the top and that means we have to stop. I wonder if they have any more hikes planned for us.
I might just want to stay if there are more.
When we reach the top, the view is incredible. You can see all the surrounding hills and mountains, the ranch, the wide open spaces, rivers and rocks—it’s spectacular. We all take it in for a moment, suddenly feeling very free, something I’m certain we have all been lacking. I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh breeze that tickles my face and let my lungs fill with the crisp air.
