by Elle James
“You like this place, don’t you?” he asked.
She nodded. “It makes me feel… peaceful.”
“I can see that,” he said. “It does have that sense. There are a lot of things in this world that make us feel less than peaceful.”
Her lips twisted. “Like cars sitting out in the apartment parking lot? And trucks pulling in next to them until they leave?”
He shook his head. “You saw that, huh?”
She nodded. “I did and thank you.”
He shrugged. “I would’ve done it for anyone.”
“Yeah.” JoJo glanced down at her food and lowered her voice. “I almost called you when he came back.”
Max shot a glance toward her. “He came back?”
“Yes, he did. I took a shower, and by the time I got out, he was back in the parking lot, backed into the space where he could stare at my apartment. Not that I know that’s what he was doing, but it sure seemed kind of creepy to me.”
“JoJo, you should have called me,” Max said.
She laughed. “I thought about calling the sheriff’s department, but what would I have told them? For all I know, somebody who lived in the apartment building was sitting in that car or had parked that car and had gone up to their apartment. I would’ve looked a fool, and if I’d called you, I would’ve gotten you worked up over nothing.”
“JoJo…”
“It’s okay. Better safe than sorry. I moved a chair in front of the door, and I slept with my gun next to me.”
He shook his head. “You really should have called me. I would’ve come back.”
“I told you…”
Max raised his hands. “You can handle it. You can take care of yourself. But everybody needs a friend, and I’m telling you I can be that friend for you. For the record, I’m not asking for strings or anything else. I’m just worried about you. I left and I didn’t want to.”
“Why?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, you’d get mad if I said anything.”
“I’ll get madder if you don’t,” she said.
“I don’t know. I just felt like you were vulnerable, even though I know you can kick my ass. Not only does everybody need a friend, but they also need someone who’ll watch their six.”
She chewed on the last bite of her wrap and swallowed. “Well, I appreciate the sentiment. What was kind of scary about the whole thing was when I got up this morning and opened my front door it appeared that somebody had been scraping at the lock with something sharp.”
Max swore. “Dammit, JoJo, you should’ve called me.”
“I didn’t know he was going to try and break in that way, and I didn’t hear anything. Plus, I had the bedroom door locked, and again, I had my gun next to me. If he had managed to get the door open, he would’ve knocked the chair over. I’d have heard it when it crashed to the ground. Then I would’ve had my gun out and put a couple of holes in him.”
“Wow, JoJo,” Max said, “I don’t like the sound of that.”
She grinned. “What? The part about putting a couple holes in him?”
He shook his head. “No, the part about somebody breaking into your apartment while you’re in it. You should speak with Gunny and RJ and ask them if you can stay the next few nights here at the ranch.”
JoJo pressed her lips into a thin line. “I already did. I’m staying.”
“Good. Otherwise, I would have to camp out in your apartment parking lot.”
Her brow furrowed. “You’d do that?”
Max nodded. “I would.”
“Again,” she said, “why?”
“I don’t know. I think you’re pretty special and sassy, and I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
She wadded up her foil wrapper, rose to her feet and put it into the cooler. She retrieved a small bottle of water and started to toss it to him, then rethought it and handed it to him instead and got another one out for herself.
JoJo shrugged. “It works out for the best anyway, for me to stay at the lodge with everybody coming in this weekend.”
Max nodded, glad that she was going to stay. That way he wouldn’t have to park out in that parking lot, and he could keep an eye on her while she was at the ranch. “Do you think it was Roy trying to get into your apartment?”
“I can’t think of any other suspect. I don’t know if I’ve pissed off anybody else.” JoJo pinched the bridge of her nose. “That’s why I try to be nice to the bar patrons, even when they’re jerks.”
“Well, I’ll work in the bar with you tonight and keep an eye out to see if there’s anyone there who acts suspicious.”
She dropped her hand to her side. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t, Max said. “But I’m your friend, and I’ve got your six. How much farther will we be traveling on this trail with the guests?”
She stared up a hillside. “Probably up to the old mine, and then we’ll turn around and come back. I think that’s far enough to take the others. Although, there is a really pretty bluff area that I’d like to take them to so that they can see the view from there.”
“You lead, I’ll follow,” he said.
She climbed aboard her four-wheeler and took off.
He did the same, following her. They made it up to the old mine where she made a circle in front of it. Without stopping, she pushed on, climbing higher up the mountain.
When they reached the top of a ridge where the ground leveled off, she got down off her ATV and walked toward the edge of a cliff.
Max killed his engine, jumped off and hurried after her. He hadn’t been near the edge of a cliff since he’d fallen. Seeing JoJo so close to the drop-off made his heart pound. It shouldn’t have. How many times had he stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down, judging the route he would take and where he would anchor his ropes to descend? He caught up with her before she got to the edge. He started to reach out for her and remembered how she’d reacted before.
“JoJo,” he said.
She turned to face him. “Yes?”
He thought how ridiculous he’d sound by saying don’t get too close to the brink, but he’d rather do that than have her fall over. “Be careful,” he said instead.
“Always am,” she said. “It’s an over three-hundred-foot drop to the bottom of the gorge here.” Her brow furrowed. “Does it bother you to get close to the edges of cliffs since your fall?”
He sighed. “I haven’t rappelled since then, nor have I climbed any mountains. For me, personally, I’d probably be okay standing by the edge of the cliff.”
She smiled. “But it bothers you that I’m standing so close, doesn’t it?”
He nodded. “In the past, I was eager to try my hand at cliffs like this and to teach the young soldiers how to navigate them. Both up and down.”
“And now?” JoJo asked.
He shrugged. “I really don’t know. I haven’t tried.” He touched a hand to his leg. “I don’t know how this will hold up.”
“You obviously liked mountaineering, or you wouldn’t have done it for so long.”
He smiled. “Believe it or not, I have a fear of heights.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously? Isn’t it kind of hard to be someone who climbs mountains and still have a fear of heights?”
He nodded. “It forced me to confront my fears. I always felt stronger afterward. I beat my fears when I met the challenge.”
JoJo’s brow furrowed. “So, confronting your fears helps make you stronger?”
“It did in my case,” he said, “but then I got cocky.”
“Is that what happened?”
“I got complacent about checking my gear. I assumed it was all in good working order. When you’re stepping over the ledge, it’s not a good time to discover a key piece of equipment isn’t in good working order. Not when you’re two-hundred and fifty feet above the bottom of a cliff.” He stared out across the mountains. Blue filled the sky, in stark contrast to the ragged peaks. It was hard to have ba
d thoughts when you were surrounded by so much beauty.
“Will you ever climb mountains again?” JoJo asked.
“Probably, if my body cooperates.”
“Will your leg ever fully recover?”
“Probably not,” he said. “The doc thinks I’ll always have a limp. And it will take a lot of effort to build back my strength. But I’m working on it.”
She tilted her head, her gaze meeting his. “And then you’ll confront your fear again?”
He nodded. “I will. Have you ever thought about challenging your fears?”
It was as if the light in her eyes shut off. She turned away. “I think it would be easier to climb a mountain.” In other words, she didn’t want to talk about it. “We should be getting back. Our guests should be arriving soon. We might want to be there when they do.”
And just like that, she shut him down. And it was fair. He had no right to butt into her life and figure out her problems for her. If anything, he should know you can only resolve your own problems.
They mounted the ATVs and started down the mountain, heading back to the lodge. The haunted look in JoJo’s eyes stayed with Max for the rest of the day. He’d really like to know what had happened to her. It might help him understand why she acted the way she did, and then, maybe, he could help her in some small way. Obviously, she wasn’t ready to talk about it. He hoped that she would want to talk about it someday with him. He knew she was hurting over something, and he wanted to take her pain away. Why? He didn’t know. She was practically a stranger to him, but he understood pain.
Chapter 7
Confront your fears?
Ha! JoJo thought. How does one confront your fears when you were raped? You don’t challenge that kind of fear unless you can stand face to face with the one who did it. That would be the only way to confront that kind of fear. Until then, every man she met could be her attacker.
JoJo barely saw the scenery as she drove back down the trail all the way to the barn. Her thoughts leaped back and forth between Max’s issues with his accident and his subsequent hesitancy to get back into mountaineering, and then her own issues with her attack and her resistance to getting back into life.
Or attempting any type of relationship.
She could tell that Max wanted to help her. But what had happened to her was a lot more personal than falling off a mountain.
When she arrived at the barn, several other vehicles were parked outside near the house. She recognized the one belonging to Jake. Beside it was a truck. Jake and another man stood in front of that one. A dark SUV was parked beside the truck with a big campaign sign on the door proclaiming Lawrence Stover’s candidacy for the US Senate, encouraging whoever read the sign to vote for him.
Max pulled up behind her, killed the engine, climbed off his ATV and walked over to the two men standing by the truck. He shook hands with Jake and the new guy.
JoJo opened the barn door and parked her ATV in the last stall on the left. She removed her helmet and laid it on the seat. Then she bent over and ran her fingers through her hair, lifting it off her scalp where the helmet had pressed it close. Not that she was trying to look good for anyone in particular, she told herself. It wasn’t as if she were trying to impress Max, Jake or the new Brotherhood Protector.
She exited the barn and headed toward Max’s ATV.
Max waved and said, “I’ll take care of that in a minute. Come meet Weaver.”
JoJo would rather have stuck with the machines, but he’d put her on the spot, so she walked across to be introduced.
“Weaver, this is Ms. Ramirez,” Jake said. “She works for Gunny. JoJo, this is Cage Weaver. He just came on board with the Brotherhood Protectors here in Colorado. He also agreed to help out this weekend. Anywhere you can think of that he can help, let us know. Or let RJ or Gunny know he’s available.”
She searched the man’s face, looking for any sign of recognition in her own eyes. Nothing in the shape of his face or his eyes triggered any memories, but then again whoever attacked her could be anybody as long as she couldn’t remember his face. “Prior military?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Branch?”
“Army.”
Nothing in his face, Jake’s, or Max’s triggered any kind of memories. She didn’t expect it with Jake, him being a SEAL. However, SEALs could have been temporarily located where she’d been deployed.
From what Jake had said about Max, he’d been stationed here in Colorado around the time of JoJo’s attack. He had been training younger soldiers in the art of mountain warfare. The possibility of Max being in the same place that JoJo had deployed was pretty slim. But she didn’t know anything about Weaver, and him being Army…he could’ve been deployed where she was. She’d have to find out more. Still, she hesitated to take his hand in a firm handshake, but she ultimately did.
His grip was firm and blessedly short, and he released her hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Ramirez.”
“Please, people call me JoJo.”
He nodded. “JoJo.”
Jake glanced up at the house and tipped his head toward the two gentlemen walking down to the barn with Gunny. “That must be Stover and his campaign manager.”
Jake, Max, Weaver and JoJo met them halfway.
Gunny turned to the man at his side. “Mr. Stover, these are some of the people who will be helping out this weekend. Ms. Ramirez works for us here at the ranch. She’s quite a good mechanic, and she helps out in the bar at night. She’ll also be with my daughter RJ on the ATV tour Saturday.”
Stover smiled and held out his hand. “Ms. Ramirez, nice to meet you.”
JoJo placed her hand in his. Almost immediately, she wanted to jerk it back, but she forced herself to hold on and shake the politician’s hand.
His palm was cool and dry, as if he’d just stepped out of an air-conditioned SUV. “Gunny tells me that most of the people helping out this weekend are prior military. Does that include you, Ms. Ramirez?”
She nodded.
“Which branch?” he asked.
“Army.” JoJo pulled her hand free of his.
His smile broadened. “I, too, was Army. Recently retired. We’ll have to visit for a while and figure out where we might have been stationed together. Who knows, we may have worked together.”
“Unless you were in the motor pool, I doubt it,” she said.
He turned back to his aide. “Ms. Ramirez, this is my aide, Miles Curry. He’ll be able to answer most questions anyone might need to direct to me, if I’m not available.”
Mr. Curry shook her hand, his eyes narrowing. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Ramirez.”
His face wasn’t familiar, but something about his voice…
That was the trouble with losing her memory. She tried to read too much into everything. Every prior military man was a suspect. She just didn’t know which one was the actual bastard who’d attempted to murder her.
The politician and his aide turned to the three men. Gunny introduced them. “These guys are with a start-up that just leased my basement. You might be able to use their services. They’re the Brotherhood Protectors Colorado Division. From what I understand, they’ll provide security services. But here, talk to Jake. He’s the one in charge, and he’ll be better able to explain what exactly they can do for you.”
JoJo hung around for a few seconds more, hoping to be able to hear more of the aide’s voice, but Stover was doing all the talking, and they listened as Jake talked about the Brotherhood Protectors and what their role was and how they could help politicians and others with their security needs by providing bodyguards or security personnel.
As the men talked, JoJo studied the politician and his aide. She didn’t know any other politicians, but this one’s military background was apparent. He stood straight with his shoulders back and his head held high, as did his aide. She wondered if he was also prior service and, if so, what branch of the military?
After a few minutes she excused
herself. “I think I’ll go help RJ clean up the bar and get it ready for tonight’s crowd.” She turned to Gunny. “Everything’s ready as far as machinery goes. All the ATVs are running, and I can hook up the trailer to the tractor tomorrow morning for the hayride.”
He nodded. “Thank you, JoJo.”
JoJo escaped with a creepy feeling crawling over her skin. Nothing about the new Brotherhood Protector triggered any weird feeling, but the politician and his aide…
JoJo’s stomach clenched. Something about them didn’t ring true. But was it because they were politicians, and JoJo had a natural distrust of anyone who was a politician? They tended to be so focused on getting elected, they never seemed to show their true selves. At least, that’s how she saw it. Most of them seemed to go around kissing babies when they really didn’t like children at all.
No matter how she felt about Stover and his aide, she had to keep a game face on through the weekend while helping Gunny and RJ make this event a success. If Stover got elected, he’d have connections, and he could recommend the Lost Valley Ranch to his friends. That would bring in more business for RJ and Gunny. JoJo would keep her opinions and her weird feelings to herself.
She entered the Watering Hole through the back door and found RJ in the kitchen scrubbing the stove after what appeared to have been a busy lunch.
“Need some help?” JoJo asked.
RJ looked up, sweat pebbling her brow. “You bet I do. Grab a scrub pad and help me with the pans in the sink. The weekend guests ended up arriving right at the end of the lunch rush. I told Gunny go on, I’d take care of the cleanup. Did you get to meet them?”
JoJo nodded. “I did.”
“What did you think?” RJ asked.
“I think we’ll have a busy weekend,” she said.
RJ shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. Is he the kind of guy you would vote for?”
Her stomach clenched again. “I don’t know anything about him, what he stands for or what his platform is.”