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“But she survived?” Concern gathered at the corners of the chief’s wide blue eyes.
“Yes. But the bullet narrowly missed her brain.” And now the horse was suffering, scared, confused, and without her herd. And Tess had to foot the bill to take care of her.
“Did you see the perpetrators?” Natalie refocused on her computer screen, clicking around, likely starting a new report.
“No.” If only Tess could’ve gotten a look at the UTV they were driving. Then they might have something to go on. “When we got back up there, whoever had been firing was gone.”
Natalie nodded, her lips tight. “Well… I can take a ride up there later and alert the Bureau of Land Management.”
“In other words, you can’t do much.” Tess had expected to hear that, but disappointment still weighted her heart. She knew Natalie didn’t have the manpower or resources to patrol the public lands and open spaces around here. That wasn’t even necessarily her job. “There has to be something we can do.”
The woman sighed and smoothed some of her dark hair back toward the neat bun sitting on top of her head. “If you give me some coordinates, I’ll look around for evidence, but you know as well as I do that an investigation isn’t going to go anywhere. I mean, the shooters could’ve been from anywhere. People come all the way up from Jackson to ride the trails around here.”
“All due respect, Chief…” Silas stepped forward. “Random tourists aren’t going to shoot a horse for no reason.”
Yes! Tess shot him a look of appreciation. “You’ve heard the talk around here lately, same as I have. Some of the ranchers are fed up with the wild herds. They think they’re doing too much damage.”
“Listen, I get it.” Natalie leaned back in her chair. “This is awful. I hate it every bit as much as you do. Trust me.” Tess knew the woman loved horses and had a whole stable full of her own. “But we don’t have the manpower to spend time tracking these guys down. I can put out the word to the county and to the Bureau of Land Management and ask for more surveillance, more flyovers, maybe…”
Which they wouldn’t do. The county was too cheap to follow up on one horse getting shot.
“And I can keep my ears and eyes open too. If someone around here did this, they’ll talk to the wrong person eventually. And we’ll find them.”
But probably not before they injured or killed more of the horses. “Fine.” Tess rose from the chair. “I understand.” She understood she would have to take matters into her own hands, after all. “Thanks for your time.”
“You bet.” Natalie walked them to the door. “I really will look into this. I’ll do my best.”
“So will I,” Tess assured her before saying goodbye.
After another quick exchange with Terry, she and Silas stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“So what’s the plan?” He caught her in a knowing gaze.
“Well… first we need to go pick up the girls at school. They had a special art class but it’ll be over soon. Do you mind?” Tess climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Uh, I don’t know.” Silas slid into the passenger side. “Maybe that’s not a good idea. Me going with you to pick up the girls.”
No. Oh no.He was not going to do this—back out of their friendship now. A month ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice about picking up the girls with her. “Why not?” She had an inkling about where his hesitation was coming from, but she wanted to hear him say it.
“Because.” His shoulders slumped. “You said it yourself. People might start to speculate. We’re not acting normal around each other. I’m trying but…”
“But what?” She started to lean toward him but that was as close as she dared get.
“I don’t want things to get complicated, that’s all.”
No surprise there. This was Silas, after all. He liked his hookups quick and straightforward. No strings attached. He probably didn’t have to see most of the women he slept with ever again. “Things don’t have to be complicated.” What, did he think she had some expectation that he’d actually settle down with her or something? That was laughable. “I still need my friends, Silas. That hasn’t changed because I slept with you. We both want things to go back to normal.” And that would only happen if they could power through this awkward phase and get to the point where they could hang out the way they used to.
“All right. I’ll pick up the girls with you.” He clicked in his seat belt. “Normal, here we come.”
CHAPTER SIX
Tess started the engine of her truck wearing the same determined expression Silas had come to recognize over the last year whenever she’d faced an obstacle or a difficult client at the ranch. Yes, she wanted to take on whoever had shot Legacy, but she seemed just as driven to make everything go back to the way it had been before they’d ended up in bed together.
Only he didn’t know if that was possible.
“We’ll have a town meeting.” She slipped on her sunglasses and gave him a no-nonsense glance.
In the two years he’d lived in Star Valley immediately following Jace’s death, Tess’s facial expressions and her mannerisms had embodied the marks of grief in between fleeting and rare smiles. But these days… he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such strength in her.
