by Rhavensfyre
“Traitor,” she muttered, chuckling at the show.
Mac got tired of sharing scratches with his pasture buddy and returned to Ransom with an apologetic snort. “Yeah, now you want me, huh?”
Mac was a laid back boy, but you wouldn’t know that just from looking at him. He was very muscular, with the thick neck and heavy mane of a stallion. Not surprising since his owners had kept him as such until he was older. Combine that with the solid black coat and you had a very impressive looking horse that tended to make people nervous, unless you were familiar with him. All he wanted in life was a good scratch and a friendly voice and he was putty in your hands. Mac was so easy, such a pushover really, and he was her favorite.
She looked over at Victoria and found Casper pretty much in the same pose, his pale-cinnamon eyelashes drooping as Victoria found a particularly itchy spot between his ears. It was funny to see the other woman cooing over him, but was delighted that Victoria didn’t exhibit any of the fear she had seen in others. Horses were big animals, and it was easy to be intimidated by their sheer size.
“It looks like you made a friend.”
“He’s beautiful.” Victoria lightly stroked Casper’s nose, bringing her open palms down in front of his inquisitive nostrils so he could sniff at her, letting him get her scent. “They both are. Do you know how old they are?”
Ransom had to do some quick math.
“Uh, I’d say they’re both around eight. I helped Mr. Petersen get them under saddle right before I left for boot camp.”
Ransom’s face turned pensive; a look Victoria was learning to recognize. It happened whenever Ransom stopped talking but kept thinking.
What happened to make her retreat from society so thoroughly? Victoria knew the only memories you had that woke you up at three in the morning and required you to work out as violently as Ransom had been, were nightmares you couldn’t escape or ignore. Victoria’s old job had put her in contact with some of the worst cases of abuse and neglect she never wanted to imagine, so she understood nightmares. It was hard not to be affected by the stories, especially when confronted with hard evidence. The casual cruelty that one human being could mete out to another amazed her as much as it repelled her, and that was just everyday life. War was something else altogether.
“Can I ask you a question?” They had been walking in quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying the walk and at least for Victoria, each other’s company.
“Have I been able to stop you yet?” The rhetorical question was laced with sarcasm, but Ransom found she was also curious about what Victoria wanted to know. This was a new thing: she really hadn’t been curious about anyone or anything in a very long time. It was easier to simply exist day to day without thinking about anything too much.
Victoria had placed demands on her to engage more with the outside world, partially because she had brought the outside world crashing down into her private little refuge, partially because she brought with her forgotten memories. Memories of a happier time that made the months that followed all the more bitter and painful, she amended. She glanced over at the newly familiar face and felt time fold back on itself like a single sheet of paper, hiding all of the text between point A and point B. If only life was that easy, she thought, just folding over the pages of your life you’d like to skim past.
“Good point. Okay then—and please don’t be upset. If you don’t want to answer, just tell me to mind my own business.”
“Victoria just spit it out. This foreplay is getting tedious.”
“Fine, what had you up so early the other morning?” Stunned by Ransom’s unusual choice of words, Victoria’s well scripted inquiry completely fell apart. Finding Ransom downstairs working herself to exhaustion in the middle of the night still disturbed her. She had promised not to play therapist, but the need to know was still there. I’m not breaking my promise. I’m asking as a concerned friend. I can still be that.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“I think I figured that part out, unless you were walking, uh…boxing in your sleep.” Victoria’s droll reply was met by a stony glare.
“I thought we had covered this already,” Ransom said, every word bitten off between clenched teeth. “I don’t need a therapist.”
“I’m asking as a friend, Ransom.” Victoria closed her eyes and prayed she wasn’t making a mistake, then cleared her throat before glancing up at Ransom’s face. She was as still as a stone and looked just as hard, but Victoria convinced herself that she couldn’t keep avoiding the past, their past. “Not only a friend, but as someone who knew you before whatever happened to make you like this. I haven’t forgotten you, Ransom…and I know that you remember me, too.”
Ransom backed up a step, then turned her back on Victoria. It was her own damn fault. She had given Victoria permission to ask her a question, hell, she had practically demanded she just spit out whatever was gnawing at her, she just hadn’t expected her to go there. She’d been avoiding the past long before Victoria arrived on her doorstep, living alone and like a hermit for the last two years because that was what she needed. Victoria had a bad habit of waking things up in her, things that clamored for her attention and disrupted any sense of peace she had managed to gain.
“Just memories. Memories best forgotten.” Ransom chose to answer the least of her questions.
“What type of memories?”
“Bad ones.” Ransom’s jaw twitched. The woman was stubborn as hell. “Let’s just drop it, okay? I need to get you back to the house.”
Casting one last longing glance down the thin path, Ransom veered left onto a wider path that turned west and back towards the house. The ATV path was less tasking than the deer trail she had chosen this morning. The return trip would be quick, if not necessarily easy. As it was, she was behind on her rounds and would have to make up the lost miles this afternoon on the ATV.
“Sounds fair,” Victoria murmured, feeling nothing of the sort. There was nothing fair about it, but Ransom held all the cards.
***
The walk back turned into a second, slower run. This time it wasn’t Ransom setting the pace, it was Victoria trying to move past the awkward situation she had created. She accepted the burning lungs, the cramping leg muscles, as penance for trying to push her own agenda.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
Victoria sounded defeated, wobbling her way down the hall to her room and closing the door behind her. Ransom followed her slow procession, then ducked into her own room to do the same. She barely made it to the shower when she heard Victoria screaming.
“Ransom!!!?” Victoria’s voice, sharp and edged with panic, sent her rushing into the other woman's room, gun drawn and expecting trouble.
“What? What's wrong?” Ransom asked, skidding to a halt just inside the door while simultaneously scanning the room for any signs of danger. Odd, she thought, there’s nothing out of place. So what the hell is Victoria screaming for?
“I have a tick on me,” Victoria squealed, practically dancing around the room in nothing but a matching pair of blue silk and lace panties and bra. Perfectly bronzed skin contrasted sharply with the deep hue of the underwear, and she had brushed her still wet hair back from her face, reminding Ransom of another time and place. Ransom found it hard to concentrate on what she was saying. It wasn’t like the spandex shorts and tank top she wore this morning had left much to the imagination, but this was different. Very different, indeed.
“Are you serious? I thought something was seriously wrong,” Ransom huffed, trying to get her emotions back under control.
“There is something wrong. Get it off me.” Evidently the ick factor for ticks was high in Victoria’s world. If she hadn’t looked so distressed, Ransom would have been tempted to laugh at her.
“Come on.” Ransom took Victoria back into the bathroom and dug out a pair of tweezers.
“Where is it?” Ransom asked. Victoria pointed at the offending bloodsucker and Ransom groaned. Great, just great
.
Like most ticks, this one had found a nice warm place to set up home. Unfortunately for Ransom, that place was a lovely piece of real estate along Victoria’s inner thigh.
“Oh, please, please…just get it out,” Victoria begged.
“Okay, okay…just stop squirming. I’m going to have to get up close and personal here.”
She was forced to get down on one knee to pluck the little bugger from Victoria’s inner thigh, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Victoria needed to move her leg so she could get to the darn thing, and that meant exposing even more of her inner thigh to her. Victoria gasped when she touched her, then bit her lip and apologized for being such a baby. Ransom could barely hear past the sound of her pulse whooshing past her ears, a tide of hot blood that matched the hammering in her chest. The smooth flesh beneath her fingertips trembled, and Ransom found herself having to practice the same breathing exercises she used to steady her hand before pulling off a shot with her rifle. Inhale, exhale, hold your breath and go for it.
She quickly pulled the tick out, the offending insect hanging on for dear life before releasing its hold on Victoria’s flawless skin. She inspected it carefully to make sure the head was intact before tossing it in the toilet, then dabbed the bite with antiseptic.
“Got it!” Ransom crowed, then attempted to get up from the cold floor. She hadn’t meant to grab at Victoria’s scantily clad hip—really she hadn’t, but her left calf cramped up from the lactic acid buildup, and it threw her off balance.
Holy shit, she feels so good. Victoria was lightly muscled like she did yoga or Pilates regularly; but not so lean that she wasn’t soft in all the right spots. She was nothing like Ransom, who was all hard muscle and definition from years of military training; it would make a good combination in bed. Ransom tried to tamp down that thought immediately, pulling her hand away from the enticing combination of smooth skin and cool silk that nonetheless felt like pure fire beneath her reticent palm.
“There you go, all gone. You should be okay, it wasn't in there long enough to make you sick, but we’ll keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get inflamed.”
“My hero.” Victoria could barely breathe. She had seen the heat flaring in Ransom's eyes, the color in her lips darkening with desire. The spot where Ransom’s fingers had touched her, where her hand had rested for a moment before she snatched it away—those places tingled like her skin was more awake there.
Victoria leaned in and lightly kissed those lips, startling Ransom as much as herself for her boldness.
“Thank you,” she whispered, pulling back from that subtle meeting of lips and walked away. She was sure she could feel those enticing green eyes staring at her ass. A quick glance behind was all it took to confirm her suspicion. Ransom’s eyes were definitely glued to her backside, her expression openly hungry enough to make Victoria shiver. For a moment, she thought Ransom would follow her into her room and make the decision for the both of them. Instead, Ransom turned and went out the hallway entrance to the bathroom, leaving her alone and wanting.
Victoria slipped on a thick robe and pulled the collar up close to her neck. The room felt cold and empty and she wasn’t willing to give up the heat Ransom’s touch had sparked inside her.
“Ransom.” Victoria ran her fingertips across her lips and smiled. It was a small victory, but so worth it. Ransom tasted like summer promises no amount of winter storms could erase.
***
Got you. You will never be in Victoria’s house again.
Chapter Twelve
“You have got to be kidding.” Disgusted with the entire ordeal, Ransom filled her lungs with as much air as they could hold and blew her breath out slowly, ticking off the seconds it took to cool down. There was no getting back the last twenty minutes of her life, and the extreme level of stupid she had just been exposed to made her brain hurt.
“It’s settling in,” she muttered. What the hell does that even mean? She had asked the smug technician the same question, and he had launched into a circular explanation meant to make her exasperated and hopefully, just give up and end the call. She did, but not until she had let him know exactly what she thought of his excuses. Ransom shook her head again. People settled in, foundations settled, hell, sometimes people settle for less, or settle a farm…but to say an upgrade on a cellphone tower was making her cell service worse instead of better because the upgrade was still “settling in” made no sense. What did the tower need to settle into? Was it still unpacking, did it plan on moving somewhere else?
Stupid answers deserved stupid questions, but they didn’t help her temper any.
What she really wanted to know, and what he wouldn’t or couldn’t tell her, was when her phone would work properly again. That meant she was stuck manually downloading last night’s data from each and every one of the new camera’s she bought last week, a tedious process that involved positioning the ATV just so and balancing on the seat to reach the hard plastic box containing the latest and greatest in field camera’s. If anyone or anything waltzed by since the last time she checked them, she would know immediately…and get a nice little candid shot to identify them with. Every camera had to be checked personally. There was no way to tell if the flashing light meant someone had been trespassing, or if a good size buck had bounced by and got a selfie on the way up to the high meadows.
Her job was to check the memory card and find any non-four-legged critters running around on the farm and convince them that it wasn’t a good idea to trespass on conservation land. Now, the cameras were a helpful second, third and tenth pair of eyes she could use as backup. If or when Victoria’s stalker found her, she would have evidence. A face was all she needed to find him, and the stalker would find out what it was like to be hunted by someone with a hell of a lot less patience than he’d exhibited.
“Damn, this freaking sucks,” Ransom growled. She jumped down from the ATV and rubbed her forearm vigorously to take away the sting, then inspected the damage. Luckily, there was no blood, but the patch of linear scratch marks looked like she’d been attacked by a gang of crazed chipmunks. Rug burn had nothing on bark burn, especially the gnarly old oaks populating the farm and that was the third time she had slipped and scraped the hell out of her arm.
A yawn big enough to impress a hibernating bear made her jaw ache and reminded her that she was down more than a few hours of sleep.
“Nightmares, bullshit phone issues, and now this, what more could go wrong?” Ransom uttered the five words every military person knew should never pass their lips, even when everything around them was FUBAR. Her phone buzzed before she could kick her own ass for saying it.
“Dammit.” Ransom rubbed at her forehead, trying to smooth out the wrinkles before answering, then gave up. Today was so not going to be a good day, she just knew it, her forehead knew it…so did the pressure building behind her eyes. Pinching her nose and scrunching her eyes closed in preparation, she put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Sam, what’s going on?”
Samuel launched into his updates. Ransom sighed and found a fallen log to rest on.
“Shit, Samuel.” Ransom rolled her neck to get some of the kinks out. The couch was not as comfortable as she wished it was, and she had a feeling after tonight, it was going to become even more familiar. “Are you sure it was an accident?”
“That’s what the traffic cops are saying. A simple hit and run. It was nighttime, and she was wearing dark clothing.”
“What the hell was she doing out so late?”
“She must have gone out for some groceries. Maybe she figured it was safer after dark?”
“Or maybe she was following someone?” Ransom found a rough patch of nail and chewed on it. Samuel knew this person. He wouldn’t have hired someone stupid enough to step out in front of a car and get themselves thrown thirty feet, and while she’d met some pretty sleazy PI’s, they were usually pretty street savvy.
In Ransom’s world, there was no such thing as coincidences, and acciden
ts were rarely just that. Too often they were due to lack of planning…or more likely, someone taking advantage of a moment of carelessness.
“I don’t know, Ransom. It’s troubling, and I’m not thrilled she got hurt.” Samuel’s voice was barely audible and what she could hear sounded like he was stuffed inside a metal drum.
Ransom growled. Damn phone. “Look, Sam…I’ve got to go. Call me back when she wakes up or you hear anything useful.”
If she wakes up. Ransom wasn’t too sure that was going to happen. Whoever took a run at her made sure it wasn’t just a love tap. From what Samuel told her, they had done some real damage. Broken ribs, fractured pelvis, and a collapsed lung weren’t something you just snapped back from. If someone hadn’t heard tires screeching and come running, the PI wouldn’t have made it to the hospital at all.
“Come on, tell me what you’re up to.” Ransom stared blindly ahead of her, her vision turned inward on itself. Her mind raced along old but familiar pathways, trying to play out the game ahead of the action. It was what she did best. An old friend of hers had tried to put words to the process, telling her that she was prone to thinking around corners and chasing possibilities down dark alleys. At the time she thought it was a great compliment, until the day the world exploded around her, and pain rained down on her in the form of glowing shrapnel and liquid fire. That day reminded her that no matter how good you were, it didn’t do a damned bit of good if no one was listening to you. And people died, remember? Ransom’s heart contracted painfully in her chest. Of course she remembered.
This time will be different. This time I won’t be constrained by rules and regulations, she vowed, pushing back the paralyzing doubt that threatened to make her a liar. Fingernails digging into her palms, she rode the storm out in silence when all she wanted to do was scream in defiance. She would protect Victoria. Not for Samuel, not because it was her job, but because she wanted this for herself and the possibility of a future she had thought was lost and gone forever.