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“No.” He didn’t smile back. He never should’ve told him about Tess. Now his friend seemed to be on a mission to convince him they had a shot at a future. “We haven’t even talked.” And things were better that way. It didn’t matter how many pep talks he gave himself about being smart and keeping his hands off of her, Tess always seemed to bring his resolve to its knees.
“I overheard her talking with Lyric at the café yesterday,” his friend pushed. “She’s going out to dinner with that Brad guy this weekend.” He seemed to watch for a reaction.
Silas did his best to shrug lightly, but his shoulders stayed tense. “Good.” Like Aiden had pointed out the morning they’d seen Cowboy Brad, Tessshouldbe dating. Sheshoulddo what makes her happy. “Brad has a daughter. He knows the ropes.” He was probably great dad material.
Silas guided the UTV around a series of boulders, gunning the engine enough to make it too loud to talk.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about what you said about not knowing how to be a dad,” Thatch yelled. He clearly didn’t want to let this conversation die. “This right here is something a dad would do—chase down the guys who’d put his kid in danger.” He paused while Silas gunned the engine again but then went right back to the lecture. “You obviously love Morgan and Willow. We all do. And it seems to me that love is all you need to be a dad.”
He did love those girls. As much as he knew how anyway.
Facing another steep incline, Silas had no choice but to slow them down to a crawl. It was time to end this little chat for good. “Every time something happens between Tess and me, she treats me like a mistake.” That was all the reality he needed. “When her brother drove up while we were kissing the other day, she freaked out. Because she doesn’t want me. Not really.”
Maybe he made her feel good for those few minutes they kissed or for that night they’d spent together. But her actions spoke volumes; she didn’t want anyone to know about them. “I don’t want to be some dirty little secret Tess has to keep.”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” Thatch finally seemed to give up on the conversation, turning his attention instead to the landscape in front of them.
They rode in silence the rest of the way and then came over the top of the last rise before the land evened out into the meadow. Silas punched the gas again. “She said the shots came from the public lands.” Yet another confirmation that these guys were locals. They clearly knew where Tess’s land boundary ran, and it sounded like they hadn’t crossed over. At least from what she’d seen.
At the edge of the woods, he stopped the UTV and cut the engine so they could listen. He and Thatch took off their helmets, sitting in silence for a few minutes. Sure enough, the buzz of a UTV finally whirred faintly in the distance.
“Sounds like we should head north,” Thatch said. “Let’s try that trail.” He pointed to a narrow path that disappeared into a grove of aspens.
“On it.” Silas plunked the helmet back onto his head and fired up the UTV before slipping it into gear. He drove fast, cranking the wheel to follow the faint path, turning to wind in between trees, gaining more elevation. At a fork in the trail, he stopped again but didn’t have to turn off the engine to hear that the other UTV was somewhere close by.
“We’re getting there.” At least the culprits were still out in the woods. Now they had a chance of finding out who they were—and turning them in.
“They’re gonna hear us coming.” Thatch had his game face on—mouth tense, jaw tight. It was the same expression he’d worn into every mission.
“There’s no stopping that.” Silas only hoped they could get to them before they took off. After a few more sharp bends, the trees opened up and he caught a glimpse of another machine about a quarter of a mile up the trail. “Hold on.” He hit the gas pedal, thankful that the trail had flattened out some, but the white side-by-side UTV in front of him must’ve seen them coming. There were three figures inside—two of them holding what appeared to be small-caliber rifles. They made a hard right turn, going off the trail.
“They’re definitely armed,” Thatch yelled, reaching back to grab the rifle Silas had thrown in.
“They won’t shoot at us.” They knew they were caught and now they were trying to get away. “We’ve gotta keep up with them, see if we can get a look at their faces.” As it was, all three of them were wearing hunting hats—bright orange beanies that pretty much every man in town owned. “I don’t recognize the UTV.” He’d seen a few of them around Star Valley—but no white ones with a purple stripe. That had to be a unique color choice.
“They’re headed back toward the trees,” Thatch warned, setting the rifle on the floor at his feet.
“I see that.” Silas cranked the wheel and sped up, trying to cut them off before they could get out of sight. “We’ll follow their sorry asses all the way back to town if we have to.” He could still see them, though he was losing ground. “We’ve gotta go faster or they’ll get away.” He tightened his grip on the wheel, increasing their speed. He really should’ve spent more time playing Mario Kart with Morgan and Willow.
“Left,” Thatch yelled. “Get to the left!”
“I’m trying,” Silas growled back. “It’s not like this thing has awesome power steering.”
“Right!” Thatch leaned in that direction as if he could control the UTV with his body movements. “Hard right!”
“Yeah, I’ve got—” The left wheels lifted off the ground and their momentum pitched them sideways. Silas braced his body while the UTV rolled down an embankment. Slivers of sky and trees and earth flashed in front of him as the impact jarred his body until they came to rest on the right side of the vehicle.
The second they stopped, he turned his head to check on Thatch.
“Well, shit,” his friend said mildly. “That was fun.”
Silas let out a breath, grateful they both seemed to be in one piece.
“You okay?” Thatch pulled off his helmet, undid his seat belt, and crawled out of the vehicle onto the ground.
“I’m fine.” Thanks to the roll cage. Silas wrestled out of his seat belt too and then pulled himself out of the driver’s seat before ripping off his helmet and letting it fall to the ground in frustration. The left front end of the UTV was crunched into the ground. Steam rose from the mangled metal. “Looks like we’re out of commission though.” Damn it. And they’d been so close to catching those guys.
“I’ll call the chief.” Thatch stood and dug out his phone. “Hey, Natalie.” He paused. “Oh. Yeah. Great. Glad to hear you’re on your way up here. We were following the UTV with the shooters in it but we wrecked and lost them.” Another long pause. “Right. But we’re fine. No injuries,” his friend finally said. “No, I’m sure they’re long gone, but we could use a lift back down to the ranch.”
