by Jenna Night
Lily looked away and he felt the sudden break of connection between them like a sharp physical sting.
He felt like a jerk, but it was the right thing to do.
A few seconds later she turned back to him and crossed her arms over her chest. He’d expected hurt or sorrow in her eyes. Instead, she saw fire. “Speaking of worries, I’m about to create a big one for you,” she said crisply.
Uh-oh. “And what’s that going to be?”
“I need to go see my mom.”
Nate shook his head. “No.”
She squared her shoulders. “Look, I’m not careless and I’m not an idiot. But my mom’s been sick and I need to see for myself that she’s okay. I haven’t exactly been telling her the complete truth lately and I think she might be doing the same thing with me.”
Nate crossed his arms over his chest, matching her stubborn stance. “Let’s wait a few days.”
“I’ve already been up here for a few days. There’s no sign the bad guys know I’m here. We can rent or borrow a car that’s not connected with me in any way. I can hide in the back or wear a disguise. We can take Vanquish riders with us if you want to. Or if you think that will draw too much attention, we won’t. And if you don’t want anything to do with it, I understand. I can figure out a way to make the trip without you.”
She had really thought this through. And if there was one thing he’d learned about Lily Doyle, she wasn’t a quitter. She wouldn’t back down.
It looked as if he was going back to Copper Mesa. Because until this was finished, she wasn’t going anywhere without him.
* * *
“Looking at mug shots and not recognizing any of the faces still gives us valuable information,” Nate said to Lily. “It helps us narrow our focus.”
That was good to hear, because she was beginning to feel as if she’d let everybody down.
She and Nate were standing with Sheriff Wolfsinger in the squad room of the sheriff’s department in Copper Mesa.
“Nate’s right,” Sheriff Wolfsinger said. “You’ve been helpful. Thank you for coming in.”
“You’re welcome.”
The sheriff nodded, then turned and headed back toward his office. He was a busy man, yet he always managed to make her feel as if he didn’t begrudge the time spent with her.
When Nate had called to tell Sheriff Wolfsinger he wanted to use a vacation day and take Lily to visit her mom, the sheriff had told him to consider it a workday, but to dress in casual clothes to better help Lily fade into the landscape. And then he’d told Nate to bring Lily by his office. He’d assigned a detective to thoroughly investigate Torrent Trucking and the detective had collected pictures of known criminals that had passed through the trucking facility. Sheriff Wolfsinger wanted Lily to take a look at them and see if anyone seemed familiar. Unfortunately, no one had.
He’d also asked a few questions about Sheila, but Lily couldn’t provide much information about her, either. Sheila worked in a different office from Lily and while they’d passed the time chatting now and then, they’d never had any deep conversations or talked much about their personal lives. If Sheila was involved in any criminal activity, she’d hidden it well.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get ’em eventually.” Deputy Rios walked into the squad room with Bubba at her side. The loyal K-9’s ears were tilted forward as though he didn’t intend to miss a single word anyone said.
“Criminals get greedy and rat each other out. Or they get impatient or lazy,” Rios added. “Even the smart ones. Then we get ’em.”
“I know everybody’s working hard on this,” Lily said to her. “I just hope Eddie Drake or somebody else involved with all this makes a mistake soon.”
“Hang in there.” Rios gave her arm an encouraging squeeze. Then she turned to Nate. “Bubba and I are headed back to Painted Rock. See you later.”
“Looks like we’re done here. Let’s go check on your mom,” Nate said. “See how she and those furry little big-nosed mosquitoes she calls dogs are getting along.”
Lily knew he was trying to cheer her up. She tried to smile, but couldn’t. “Let’s swing by Ruby’s Plant and Pottery Shop. I know Scott is out of the hospital. I’d like to stop by and see how things are going.”
Nate raised his eyebrows slightly. “All things considered, they might prefer you didn’t.”
“You’re right. They probably don’t ever want to see me again.” Lily felt her shoulders drop. “I bet I don’t have my catering job anymore, either. Who would want to be anywhere near me?” She sounded like a petulant twelve-year-old but she didn’t care. After a series of stupid decisions she’d finally gotten some traction putting her life together, made some headway toward not being a financial burden on her mom. And now this. She’d nearly gotten killed, she’d likely lost all of her jobs and other people had gotten hurt because of her.
Vaguely, she remembered her recent decision to stop trying to control every single thing. To trust God. But that was really hard to do.
Nate led the way, heading out a side door of the sheriff’s department and toward the truck he had borrowed from the Morales ranch. Elijah had looked slightly pained as he’d handed over the keys to his shiny black truck while his wife grinned beside him, reassuring her husband that he could drive her small sedan anytime he wanted.
Nate took Lily’s arm and seemed to be looking every direction at once as they walked to Elijah’s truck. She tried not to think too much about the comforting feel of his muscles.
“I should have bought a wig,” she joked grimly as they got into the truck. Nate had been trying to lighten up things a couple of minutes ago. She should try, too.
She’d been pleasantly surprised when he’d agreed to this trip into town. Elijah had suggested gathering some of the riders from Vanquish to come with them, but Nate had quickly shot that down as a bad idea. Deputy Rios had insisted she follow at a discreet distance behind them as they drove to Copper Mesa and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Wolfsinger had decided to keep Rios in Painted Rock even though Nate had returned to work, just so there’d be an extra deputy in the area if someone found out Lily was at the Morales ranch and came after her.
Inside the truck Nate gave Lily a long look and she thought he might actually be considering a trip to a wig shop. Then he started rooting around, first in the front seat and then in the back, until he finally found a baseball cap. It looked like something Jonathan would wear. “Put this on,” he said. “And tuck your hair underneath it.”
She did as he asked and he nodded approvingly. “You look different with your hair up. That should make it harder for anyone to recognize you. While we’re driving around in town we need to be extra careful.”
Lily flipped down a visor mirror and looked at her reflection. The cap was not a flattering look for her.
“Those black rims on your glasses are distinctive, too.” Nate turned the key and the truck engine rumbled to life. “Maybe you should take them off.”
And ride around town with everything a blur? “I think I’ll keep them on.”
“Okay.”
They’d talked about this part of the trip before leaving Painted Rock. That they might not be so noticeable on the highway, but driving around town was a different story. Someone could glance over from the next lane or from the sidewalk and recognize Lily. Or Nate.
Eddie Drake had not been seen or heard from since Lily talked to him on the phone. There was some discussion at the sheriff’s department that the missing Sheila might be with him. Maybe they had left town together. Or maybe they were still here in Copper Mesa looking for Lily, waiting for her to become impatient and show her face in town.
Maybe this trip was a mistake.
Lily flipped up the collar on her jacket and slid down in her seat. Why couldn’t these criminals leave her alone? She hadn’t heard
or seen anything significant. If there had been any illegal activities going on around her at Torrent Trucking she’d been oblivious.
“Why did they even hire me?” she asked, voicing the question that had just popped into her head.
“Huh?” Nate glanced over at her.
“At Torrent Trucking. If something criminal was going on, something secret, why did they even hire me to begin with?”
“It could be that not everyone there is involved in the criminal activity.”
“So Mr. Torrent might really be innocent?”
Nate shrugged. “Maybe they want some noncriminals around to maintain the appearance that the business is legit.”
Lily’s thoughts took a dark turn. “What if Sheila is one of the noncriminals and now somebody’s afraid she may have seen or overheard something, too? What if they’ve done something to her?”
Nate’s jaw muscles tensed and he was quiet for a few seconds. “Let’s hope that’s not the case,” he finally said.
They headed for Penny’s house, but instead of taking the straightest, fastest route Nate looped around a few times. He’d randomly make a series of right or left turns, which would take them back to where they’d just been. Lily tried to stay vigilant and look around like Nate did, but if she saw the same car behind them after a loop—a sign that they were being followed—she wouldn’t know. Memorizing all the cars she saw as they passed through downtown Copper Mesa turned out to be a talent she just didn’t possess.
Watching Nate concentrate so hard on looking out for her, Lily felt appreciation for all he’d done for her tug at her heart. Okay, it was probably something more than appreciation. She tried to make the feeling go away, but she couldn’t. Sitting here in the truck, close to him, she started to feel that sense of connection she’d felt for a few moments in his apartment and in the Morales kitchen last night.
Maybe she didn’t want to resist the feeling anymore. Maybe she wanted to see where it would lead.
Maybe that would be another big mistake.
They reached Penny’s house. After taking a good look around, Nate let her get out of the truck and walk inside.
Abigail and Beatrice barked in happy hysteria when they saw Lily. Nate moved stiffly around them, as if terrified he’d step on one of the little dogs.
Lily’s mom came over and gave her a hug. Her lungs still made a slight whistling sound when she breathed and she looked pale, but she didn’t seem nearly as bad as Lily had imagined.
“You look well,” Lily’s mom said, giving her daughter a quick visual assessment. “When you called and said you were coming by I was worried something else had gone wrong.”
A pang of guilt squeezed the center of Lily’s body. Her mom had enough going on health-wise without having to worry so much about Lily. She would withhold the details of some of the more terrifying things that had happened to her for a little while longer.
They settled onto a couch while Penny went to make tea.
Lily’s mom smiled at Lily and glanced at the top of her head. “Nice hat. Have you joined a baseball team?”
Lily touched it, then grinned as she pulled off the baseball cap and let her hair fall down to her shoulders. Seeing her mom smiling despite everything reminded her she came from tough stock. Doyle women were survivors. Not just survivors. Fighters. They might get knocked down, but they got back up.
She glanced at Nate, wondering if he’d noticed that was true about her despite her occasional moments of fear and hopelessness.
Penny came back with tea and they sat and talked for a little while. Beatrice climbed up into Nate’s lap and let him pet her. Abby stubbornly sat on the floor and eyeballed Nate.
“Let’s go by the Blue Spruce,” Lily said to Nate when they walked out of Penny’s house fifteen minutes later. “We can check on Bud and Ellen.”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Nate said distractedly as he looked up and down the street. When they got to the truck he opened her door for her. “Gaston would tell me if there was anything to worry about.”
“Well, they might want to check on you and make sure you’re okay.” She climbed up into the seat, flipped down the visor mirror and tucked her hair back up under the baseball cap. “We’re already this close to the ranch,” she continued after Nate got in and shut his door. “We’re in a truck no one would connect with either one of us. At the rate things are going, who knows how long it’ll be before it’s safe for us to come back this way again?”
Nate didn’t say anything as he pulled away from the curb and steered the truck toward the highway. When he got to the intersection where he had to make a turn, he hesitated.
“Come on,” Lily said. “You know you want to check on them.”
“You’re relentless,” he finally muttered. And then he made the turn that would take them to the Blue Spruce Ranch.
TWELVE
Nate parked in front of the house at the Blue Spruce Ranch, got out of the truck and took a deep breath of cool, crisp air. He glanced up. Clouds had rolled in, bringing a gentle flurry of snow with them.
His moment of peace came to an abrupt end when Gaston strode over to him from the stables, red-faced.
“Your truck is fine.” Nate held up his hands in a placating gesture before Gaston could open his mouth. “I got it back from the mechanic yesterday. It’s better than new. And it’s definitely a lot cleaner than it was when you lent it to me. The only reason I’m driving Elijah’s truck right now is because Lily and I didn’t want to be easily identified.”
Speaking of which, he turned toward Lily and watched her slide out of the truck. She’d taken a couple of minutes to ditch the baseball cap, brush her dark hair and put on some lip gloss. She looked gorgeous.
Whoa. It didn’t matter how she looked. And Nate needed to get a grip. Now.
The front door of the house swung open and Bud and Ellen walked out to greet them. Gaston, still red-faced, flexed his jaw muscles. He looked as if he had something to say, but was struggling to keep his trap shut.
After Bud and Ellen finished with hugs and pats on the back, Ellen turned to Lily. “You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat.”
“That sounds good,” Lily answered.
Nate thought it sounded good, too.
“I’ll put on a pot of coffee, too,” Ellen added, crossing her arms over her chest and shivering a little. “I’ve got some chicken salad and fresh rolls for sandwiches.” She tilted her head toward the house. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”
As soon as the door shut behind them, Gaston finally spoke. “You shouldn’t have brought Lily here. We’ve had somebody on the property today. Not near the house, but on the road. I don’t know who it is. It might be someone looking for you and Lily.”
“Maybe it’s just kids,” Nate countered, not wanting to fan the flames of panic. The Blue Spruce had some very scenic spots. Waterfalls, ponds, small canyons. People sometimes came up to have a look around. Adults usually asked for permission. Teenagers didn’t.
“That’s possible,” Gaston said as he, Bud and Nate moved toward a corner of the long front porch, where they were sheltered from the snow flurry. “But it’s also possible it’s some idiot looking for you and Lily.”
“Maybe it’s Eddie Drake,” Nate said, thinking out loud. “Or his criminal bosses.” A ripple of fear passed through him before hardening into frustration. He turned his gaze from Gaston to Bud and then back to Gaston again. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back to the ranch?” Gaston snapped back. “And by that I mean doing something other than what you did. Waiting to call until you were just a couple of miles down the road with Lily beside you so she’d likely hear anything I said.” Gaston shook his head. “What were you thinking?”
“Th
ere’s no reason to hide the truth from Lily. She can take it.”
It was true. At her core, Lily was rock-solid. Nate stayed focused on that realization for a few seconds, then he wrenched his thoughts away from her and glanced toward the ranch house. “Are you keeping this a secret from Ellen, too?”
“Oh, no.” Bud emphatically shook his head. “I wouldn’t keep anything like that from her.” He exchanged glances with Gaston. “It didn’t seem wise to mention it in front of Lily before we talked to you. We meant no disrespect to her, we just didn’t know if her nerves were shot after all she’s been through. And nobody would blame her if that was the case.”
“Did you call the deputy assigned to this area?” Nate asked.
“Not yet,” Gaston said impatiently. “I called you first. Check your voice mail.” He exchanged glances with Bud and then turned back to Nate. “We had no idea you and Lily would show up out here without warning us ahead of time.”
Nate’s phone rang. It was Sheriff Wolfsinger.
“Where are you?” the sheriff asked without preamble.
Nate told him.
“We found Torrent’s dispatcher, Sheila,” Wolfsinger said.
“Alive?” Nate held his breath.
“No.” The sheriff sighed. “She was shot and thrown down a ravine.”
“Where?” Nate asked, dreading to hear that she’d been found somewhere on the Blue Spruce Ranch. Maybe that’s why the stranger was out here. He glanced up toward the high ridges on the property, looking for a human silhouette. But the clouds had dropped down low and his view was blocked.
The sheriff described a location a good twenty miles away back in the direction of Torrent Trucking and the Starlight Mart. While Wolfsinger was talking, Nate walked into the house looking for Lily.
“We don’t know if Eddie Drake killed Sheila or if it was somebody else,” the sheriff added. “But it looks like somebody’s getting desperate again.”
Nate told him about the car that had driven by the ranch. Wolfsinger said he’d have the deputy assigned to the area drive up to the ranch house and stay there to protect Nate’s family.