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“Hey,” William protested as Ted pushed him against the truck. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing here?” Ted asked again, getting really close to William’s face. “And I spent almost six years in prison, so I know a lie when I hear one. Donotlie to me.”
“Get your hands off me.” William shoved against Ted, and he fell back, his vision going white. Ted sucked at the air, trying to blink his way back to reality.
What had he just done?
He’d left the ranch.
Strike one.
He’d put his hands on another human being.
Strike two.
He couldn’t afford a third strike. “Sorry,” he said, sucking at the air. Nothing in his life made sense anymore. “I’m sorry.”
“I know who you are,” William said. “And you best get back over that fence, Ted.”
Ted looked up and into the man’s brown eyes. “Why are you here? What does Emma have that you want? What does Robert want with her?”
William sighed like Ted was being difficult on purpose, and he looked down the road in both directions. “His ex-wife lives here, and his son is graduating from high school this week. So he’s back in town. He won’t be here long.”
“What does he want with Emma?”
“They were an item, back in the day.” William brought his gaze back to Ted’s, and it was filled with meaning. “I suppose he wants to see if there’s anything left there. His ex mentioned that Emma was still in town, because she was the boy’s second-grade teacher. Robert’s interest got piqued.”
That only made a bright fire burn in Ted’s soul. William took a step away from the truck and toward Ted. “I’m here to make sure whatever he says or does with her is legal.” His eyes shone with a new energy. “Do you get my drift?”
Ted studied the man’s face, trying to read between the lines. Confusion filled his brain, and everything felt so muddy. “No. Spell it out for me.”
“I’m a CI,” William said. “And trust me when I say you donotwant me to tell your parole officer—or any police officer—that you just assaulted me.”
“I didn’t—” Ted started, but he cut himself off. He had dragged the guy from his truck and slammed him into it. And not just a guy. A guy who worked for the police. A confidential informant. Regret lanced through him hard, causing fear to slice through his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“You have an overprotective streak,” William said. “Reminds me of myself.” He got behind the wheel and closed his door. “Go back over the fence, Ted. I’ve been working on Robert for months. Let me handle this.”
“Do you know where Emma is?”
“She’s not on the ranch?”
“No.” Ted shook his head. “She left on Saturday morning. Some garbage about visiting friends in San Antonio. She didn’t come home last night.”
Alarm crossed William’s face, and he reached for his phone. “No wonder you’re worked up.” With that, William started to roll away from Ted.
“Hey,” he called after him. “Do you know where she is?”
But William didn’t answer. He didn’t wave out his window. Nothing.
Frustrated, and feeling like he was right back in prison—inside situations he couldn’t control and couldn’t change—Ted did what William had said to do.
He went back over the fence, his mental prayers now centered around blessing William with a forgiving heart so he wouldn’t tell anyone that Ted had snapped and done what he’d sworn to never do again—break the rules.
