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Bindi nodded with satisfaction. Nash would deal with Mutt. He’d spend a long time in jail, where he could cogitate on all the things he’d done wrong in his life. And be as remorseful as he liked, as long as it was far away from her.
Mack’s warm fingers curled around hers, reminding her that he was still standing beside her. It made her wonder. Did she really blame Mutt for fixating on her? Maybe not as much as she’d once done; not now that she knew the full extent of his obsession with Kai. How would she react if the one person she loved most in the world took their own life? Would she blame someone else for her lover’s failings? Bindi couldn’t answer those questions, but she turned to stare at Mack as he squeezed her hand again.
How would she feel if Mack died?
The idea made her toes curl inside her boots with dread, and her stomach clenched so tight she almost doubled over. It wasn’t a thought she ever wanted to entertain.
“I should’ve known something was up,” Timmo went on. “When my comms went on the fritz and I had to go outside, Aaron was trying to tell me he and Steve had found a white ute parked up by the new cabin site. He wasn’t sure if it was abandoned, or what. I’d just worked out from his description that it might belong to this fellow when I heard you scream.” Timmo looked crestfallen, as if he should’ve worked it all out much sooner. Taken more care of Bindi and not allowed her to wander around the stables alone. But it was her fault. She’d been the one to send him away, he’d been doing everything right.
“I’m really sorry, Bindi. I want you to know that,” Mutt continued from his seat on the ground, as if determined to gain Bindi’s forgiveness. “When I followed you out of Dimbulah, I know it looked like I was going to do it. Try and hurt you, I mean. And I wanted to. I really did. But even before I heard that cop siren, I’d lost my nerve. I just couldn’t go through with it. I was so mad at myself. So, I came back to finish it today, but instead…” He shrugged, those big shoulders rolling with the effort. “In a way, I kind of expected to be caught. If I’d truly wanted to stick that knife in your heart, do you think you would’ve been able to stop me?” he asked, looking her directly in the eye for the first time.
His question brought Bindi up sharp. He had a point. He was so much bigger than her. Would her puny arms really have had enough strength to hold him at bay? She went over the scene in her head, but in the end couldn’t decide. Perhaps she’d never know.
“All right, enough of this self-exoneration,” Timmo said, taking two strides past Bindi and levering Mutt to his feet with a hand under his arm.
“Wait.” Mack released her fingers and held up his hand. “Can I just clarify something, before you take him away?”
Timmo nodded, but didn’t let go of his grip on the Maori’s collar.
“You’ve talked about the time we saw you in Dimbulah and then today. But what about tampering with the front wheel on my car? Did you have anything to do with that?”
Mutt tilted his head to the side and regarded Mack with sad brown eyes. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“My truck. The one parked at the rodeo that night. Someone tampered with the front wheel, and we crashed on the way home the next day.”
“Nah, sorry, mate, I don’t know anything about that. Like I told the cops, I was really drunk that night. Me mates took me back to the hotel room, and we all crashed out until morning.”
Mack looked at Bindi, and she finally grasped the importance of Mutt’s words. “So, if you didn’t sabotage Mack’s truck, then who did?”
“I don’t know.” Mutt stared at her, and for some mad reason, she believed him. A chill of apprehension slid up her spine. Just when she thought this whole saga was over, solved so she and Mack could move on, maybe it wasn’t.
“Come on, mate.” Timmo hauled on Mutt’s collar. “You two need to come down to the lodge, as well,” he said. “Nash will be here soon, and he’ll need your statements. You also need to hightail it into town to get that injury seen to.”
Oh, shit, for a second Bindi had forgotten about Mack’s knife wound. “Yes, let’s go,” she urged. But just as they exited the tack room into the stables, three figures exploded around the side of the open front. Julie, Sasha, and Alek skidded to a halt in front of them, all out of breath from their sprint up the road from the lodge.
“Dale just called us on the two-way and told us what happened. Holy shit, are you two okay?” Julie punctuated each few words with a short pant.
Before Bindi could tell her they were fine, Alek added, “We came to help as soon as we heard.” He was eyeing the big Maori man as if he wanted to go a round in a boxing ring with him. “Aaron, Dale, and Steve are on their way, too.”
“It’s all right, I have everything under control,” Timmo growled, pushing Mutt, so he began to walk down the length of the stables. Alek followed him, taking up position on the other side of Mutt, just in case. Bindi had to smile. She hoped Sasha appreciated this masculine act he was putting on, because it was as much for her as it was to keep Bindi safe. Alek had this impression of himself as a tough Polak, with Viking blood running through his veins, who could keep up with any of the other ringers and stations hands who worked at the station. In reality, Alek was more of a pussycat, but Bindi liked him just the way he was. And she was sure Sasha thought much the same. She couldn’t say that to Alek, however. Male egos were fragile things, sometimes.
Julie and Sasha crowded around Bindi, but when she assured them—five or six times—that she was unhurt, they focussed on Mack, Julie demanding to see his arm, because she knew first aid.
The next hour was confusing and frenetic. The one thing that Bindi remembered, though, was that Mack stayed by her side the whole time, refusing to be separated from her.
Nash and his offsider, Constable Willow arrived in a spray of gravel from the wheels of his police Land Cruiser only fifteen minutes after they escorted Mutt to the lodge and Timmo sat him down in a corner of the dining room, handcuffing him to the table. Dale, Aaron, and Steve had also arrived, all scowling at Mutt like a bunch of SAS troopers, as if daring him to move even one finger. Bindi almost felt sorry for Mutt. He’d become a sort of exhibit, as everyone crowded down the opposite end of the dining room, come to stare at the criminal and get up to date on Bindi and Mack’s story. Bindi felt a little like an animal at the zoo herself, with so many people asking her questions, swarming around her, wanting to touch her. She had to keep reminding herself it was because they were concerned for her well-being, not because they’d come to rubberneck at this sudden and unexpected drama on the station.
After they’d given their statements, Constable Willow had bundled Mutt into the back of the Land Cruiser, and he and Nash had driven him to the station to formally book him, and lock him up.
Steve took it upon himself to personally drive Mack and herself into the clinic in town so they could both get checked over. He was so upset that he hadn’t been there to protect Bindi, that he said it was the least he could do. Bindi had been about to protest that she was fine, but a chance to get away from the throngs in the dining room and to spend some time alone with Mack was too much to turn down. He was so sweet, he held her hand all the way into town, as they sat in the back seat of the car. And he chatted to Steve amiably, so she could lay her head back against the seat rest and stare out the window to process everything that’d just happened.
She glanced down at their fingers locked together. Such a simple gesture, and yet it could mean so much. Sure and strong, his tanned hand grasped hers, his thumb occasionally running over her knuckles. A physical connection that led to an emotional connection. It felt natural and easy, as if they’d been doing this all their lives, like they were an old couple in their sunset years and still remained terribly in love.
Shifting her gaze from their hands, she looked up to trace his profile. Alluring lips turned up at the corners, as he smiled at something Steve had said. Then he spoke, saying something about Madonna and how she and her filly were doing nicely now. Bindi wasn’t really listening, she was intrigued by his face. A vestige of dust still lingered on the edge of his nose, probably from where he’d rolled in the dirt and hay when he attacked Mutt. His designer stubble roughened his jaw, making him look sexy, like he’d just got out of bed. But he was aware of her scrutiny. He winked at her out of the corner of his eye, without even turning his head, tawny eyes sparkling in the mid-afternoon sun. Still that cocksure, slightly dazzling guy she’d first met. So full of himself and his own bravado. But that part of Mack was growing on her. Because she knew what lingered beneath that layer of swagger. And she could see now that it was part of the act of being a bull rider, competing in a cut-throat contest with other men who’d gladly see him land in the dust on his backside. But there was a camaraderie there as well, even though the other riders were his opponents, and a charming and friendly demeanor was also necessary to get along with the rest of his peers. Someone—she wasn’t sure who—had mentioned that Mack had been the Golden Boy of the PBR at one stage. It was a long way to fall from grace, but Mack seemed to have done it with equanimity, and at least his self-respect was still intact.
Bindi wanted to know more about Mack. Wanted to delve deeper, get to know more than just the bull-rider. But what was the point, a tiny voice asked? If he was indeed heading back to America? That was the plan, at least. Things could change; they often did. But it’d be foolish of her to live on a false hope. And foolish to let hope persuade her to open her heart to Mack. Even though he was tugging at the gates guarding her heart with just about everything he did and said, she’d be a fool to let him in. Wouldn’t she?
He finally looked over at her and smiled. Bugger. It didn’t seem like her heart was listening to her reasoning, because it jumped like a frog in a sock at that smile, meant only for her.
