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Sam lay cowering beside her, the poor dog shaking like a leaf. “I’m fine. Listen. There’s an old hunting cabin not two, three hundred yards that way.” He nodded toward the trees on his left. “Grab Sam and haul ass toward it as soon as I start firing. Got it?”
“What about you?” Her voice shook, but her eyes held an angry, determined glint he was glad to see.
“I’ll be right behind you. Don’t argue. Just go. Ready?”
At her nod, he stood and fired, walking backward the few feet into the safety of the woods again before spinning around and rushing inside the old one-room cabin. He slammed the door then drew a deep breath and dragged the worn armchair in front of it.
“What’s going on, Slade?” She sat on a rickety chair at the dust-covered table, stroking Sam, her face tense, her blue eyes stormy.
“That’s whatyou’regoing to tellme. I’m guessing those texts weren’t as harmless as you thought.”
“You think Natalie’s trying tokillme?” She shook her head, still refusing to consider that possibility. “No, I can’t believe she is that unhinged. Mad and grieving, yes, but not deranged. It must be a hunter chasing something we haven’t seen.”
Slade leaned against the wall by the one window, reverting to sniper-mode watchfulness while he tried to stay patient with Nicole. “Set aside the woman she was before Tony’s death, go through those texts with an open mind to the possibility, and give me more info on this family. Anything you can tell me. You never know what small tidbit will help in a situation like this.”
“Can’t you call the cops and wait for them?”
“Paul is doing that, and getting hold of my brothers, who are a lot closer. He returned right after I got to your place. Help is coming, but I don’t wantanyonehurt here, not if I can help it.”
***
BRETT SWORE AS HE READa text from Nicole’s new handyman. He replied, telling Paul they were on their way, and then strode from the stable toward the corral where Reed was talking to Keith and Evan in Slade’s place, urgency in every step he took and his tone when he addressed his brother.
“We have to go now. Slade and Nicole are in trouble.”
For some reason, Evan’s face paled, and he joined Reed in withdrawing his rifle from the scabbard on his mount. “I’m going with you.”
“Fuck that. You’re enough trouble around here. This is our brother we’re talking about,” Reed snapped.
“He’s my brother too,” Evan announced, shocking both Reed and Brett into a moment of stunned silence.
Brett recovered first, stating, “Explain on the way. Keith, hang until you hear from one of us.”
“Yes, sir.” Worry colored the young man’s voice. “Be careful.”
The three of them got into Brett’s truck, Evan in the rear. Brett sped toward the wooded area Paul mentioned, knowing where he was talking about, just not their exact location within those trees. “Explain,” he ordered Evan as they bounced across the rougher terrain of the fields.
“Yeah, let’s hear this cock-and-bull story.”
“Reed.” Brett used his stern, older-brother voice to calm down Reed who appeared closed-minded to Evan’s declaration.
“Jesus, you grew up with the old man’s public womanizing and doubt he could sire another kid?” he answered with bitterness. “Well, guess what? It’s true, according to my mom. I’m the result of their brief fling, which I learned about as a high school graduation gift. All those years of watching my mom struggle to make ends meet, while dear old Dad could afford to help us.”
“That’s why you took the job, to get even through the malicious pranks?” Brett inquired, feeling bad for the kid. His story would be simple enough to check out, which Evan must realize. That alone made it easier for him to believe, but when he added Casey’s reputation into it, there was no plausible reason to discount Evan’s claim outright. Reed’s shrug as he looked his way signaled he agreed with Brett’s thoughts.
Evan blew out a breath and turned his face aside, toward the window. “Yes. I’m sorry, I never wanted to see any of you hurt or the blame to land on anyone else.”
“Let’s finish this later and concentrate now on finding Slade and Nicole,” Reed suggested when Brett parked as close as he could get to the area Paul had mentioned.
“Agreed. Stay behind us, Evan, and keep your gun ready. We don’t know what’s...” A shot echoed from the trees, prompting them to move faster. “This way. Move fast but carefully.”
***
SAM LAY DOWN, FINALLYrelaxing, and Nicole stood to pace while flipping through her texts. She still couldn’t wrap her head around Slade’s assumption about Natalie. Whenever they spent time with Tony’s sister, she would spout nonsense or outrage over something or someone. She swore that girl wasn’t happy unless she was on a tirade. Tony had certainly never taken her seriously. Regardless, she would do Slade’s bidding just to makehimhappy.
She paced back and forth, opening the texts she’d ignored and reading them while pausing to glance toward Slade, her gaze constantly dragged his way by an invisible magnet. Each time, her heart flipped and her pulse jumped. An odd place and situation for her to crave what he was so damn good at delivering, but since when did common sense rule her body? At a minimum, not since she’d met the rugged cowboy looking at her with sharp concern reflected in his silver eyes. She’d never imagined the impact or the pleasure of having a man’s focus stay so attuned to her every word, gesture, and need whenever they were together, regardless of where. The reward of that intense fixation was an irresistible, unquestionable aphrodisiac, impossible to ignore or trivialize.
While coming to terms with the impact of Natalie’s threatening texts that she’d ignored, another reality slowly unfurled deep inside her. Not since first meeting Tony had she been so drawn to a man, and their relationship had been the closest she’d ever gotten to falling in love. She always figured she would know when the feeling was right, when the big L bit her on the ass. It would come at her out of the blue, likely an unexpected time or place, from someone she’d never imagined herself falling for. That’s what had deceived her about Tony in the beginning yet never panned out. With a sigh of disgust, she thought the real deal would drive her nuts, but she would hunger for him regardless. He would be there for her even though she didn’t want...
