He’d been an idiot to leave her. How strange they found themselves together again under this dangerous, high-pressure situation. Her lashes fluttered again, then her eyes opened and she stared right into his as if she’d sensed someone watching and that alone had stirred her awake.
Her lips parted with a small gasp.
She stood and moved to his side. “You’re awake.”
Unable to find his voice, he nodded.
She grabbed his hand. He appreciated the warmth and strength in her grip, and her soft skin. And that she was here in the room with him.
“What . . . what are you doing here?”
A confused frown twisted her beautiful features.
An idiot’s question. “I mean . . . thank you for being here.”
A soft smile replaced the frown, and her bright blue eyes shimmered. “Of course I’m here. I had to make sure you were all right.”
Terra released his hand.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“I’m getting the chair.” She moved the chair she had been sleeping in closer to the bed and sat down, but it still wasn’t close enough for Jack.
“Your aunt will be here to relieve me in the morning. She wanted to be here tonight, but I convinced her to get some rest.”
“I hope to get out of this place before she gets here. What time is it?”
“It’s four a.m.”
“And they let you stay? You’re not family.”
“Aren’t I?” Her beautiful eyes held so many promises.
Or was he imagining she felt more for him than she really did?
He forced his thoughts to the immediate threat and danger to her and others. “Did we get him?”
A shadow crossed her gaze. “Not yet.”
Anger boiled through him. “How could he get away?”
“It takes a while for the forces to gather out there. You know that. He was probably long gone.”
He thought about her brother. If she was here with him, he assumed that meant she hadn’t gone to face Owen. Jack hoped that the sheriff or someone within his department had already approached her brother with a few questions. If Owen was involved, the last place Terra needed to be was at the ranch.
Nor should she continue her investigation. He hoped her superior would put her on desk duty while the shooting was being investigated, but he wasn’t sure how the forest service did things, considering they had so few investigators. She had to have thought of all this already. But he wouldn’t bring it up now because he didn’t have the energy to argue. He couldn’t stop her if she walked out that door.
How could he keep her here until it was over?
“Can you hand me my cell?” he asked.
She frowned again. “You don’t have a cell, Jack. Let’s just say you survived the bullets, but your cell didn’t.”
He started to sit up. “I’m getting out of here. There’s too much to do.”
She pressed a hand on his shoulder. “The doctor hasn’t released you yet. Even if he does, you know you’ll be on desk duty for a couple of days.”
He groused. “I don’t care. I can’t stay here. There’s something I can do.”
Jack’s left arm screamed when he tried to move it. Dizziness swept over him, and he gripped the bed until it passed. Then he eased his bare feet onto the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. Realization dawned that he was in a hospital gown.
“See, Jack. You’re pushing it.”
“I’ve been through worse. A graze isn’t that bad. I lost some blood, that’s all. The doctor patched me up.” He reached for the landline phone next to the bed.
“Who are you going to call at this hour? Nobody is expecting you to check in.”
He slammed the phone down. “I don’t know his number off the top of my head.”
“Whose number?”
“Detective Campbell’s.” Nathan could share details about what was going on.
“Nathan? Fine.” She stood and handed over a cell. “I lost my phone out in the cornstalks. But this is a burner. Nathan wanted me to text him.”
Jack grabbed the phone. “So, you guys are friends now?” That sounded entirely too possessive. But at the moment, he didn’t care if she thought he sounded jealous.
“He’s worried about you,” she said. “I was supposed to text him with any news.”
Jack hit Nathan’s name next to Owen’s in the contact list. Nausea threatened. Had she talked to Owen? The call buzzed a few times.
“Terra, what is it?” Nathan answered with the question.
“This is Jack. What’s going on out there?”
Terra crossed her arms.
“I was going to call Terra in the morning with the news,” Nathan said. “Or maybe deliver it to you in person.”
“Well? Did you find him?”
“Yeah.” Campbell blew out a breath. “In a grain silo. He’s dead.”
“He fell in trying to hide?”
“He fell in, all right. Right after someone put a bullet in his head.”
FIFTY-SIX
No idea who?” A stunned expression on his face, Jack kept her pinned with his gaze as he listened to Nathan. “This just gets better and better. Keep me updated. I’m getting out of here soon.”
He ended the call and handed the cell over to Terra.
She moved closer and wrapped her fingers around it. “What is it, Jack? What did he say?”
“Someone shot and killed Leif.”
What? She let the shock of that news roll over her. She hated to think it, but that almost seemed a fitting end. Still, she gasped and tried to step back, but Jack stood and gently grabbed her wrist, then reeled her in. He urged her even closer until their foreheads touched.
Being so near, especially when she wasn’t sure she had control over her emotions, scared her. She tried to back away, but he held her in place. He was much stronger than she imagined he would be after his injury.
“What . . . what are you doing?” Her voice came out breathy and revealed far too much emotion. She didn’t know if she could hide it anymore. Hide behind the facade of professionalism that had been required to work this case with him.
Did he know how he affected her? Did he understand how deeply she cared for him, despite her efforts to move on? Jack had been her world back then. And if she wasn’t careful, he might become her world again. She could see it happening so easily, feel it happening when he held her like this.
“I’m holding you close, that’s what. I’m holding this moment close. I almost lost you out there. I can’t let that happen ever again.”
“Me? You were the one who was shot. If anything, you almost lost yourself. What happened to you? I mean, before you came back to Montana. Don’t hide it from me. I saw how haunted you were that first day we met again.”
A few breaths passed, then he said, “I lost someone close to me. Someone important. I failed them.”
“Who did you lose?”
“I can’t talk about it yet. Not until . . . just trust me, I’ll tell you someday. Maybe soon. But in the meantime, I want you to know that I don’t want to lose you again.”
He spoke in the language of hearts, and deep inside, she understood all too well that he was still emotionally connected to her. Jack gently touched the back of her neck and drew her closer . . . closer. She lingered near his lips, waiting for him.
But Jack waited on her, his way of asking permission.
With her heart calling the shots, her mind had no control to stop what came next as she closed the distance. Tenderness surged between them while a whirlwind of past and present emotions swirled in her mind. Their hearts connected, touched, entwined. Jack deepened the kiss until he left her breathless. Terra broke away to catch her breath but lingered near, her heart beating erratically.
“We have unfinished business, you and I,” Jack said.
Did they?
The tenderness, longing, and desire pouring from him could draw her deeper, if she wasn’t careful. Pu
tting up the wall required to walk away would take every ounce of her strength.
She eased away, her heart cracking, breaking all over again as the whirlwind of their past died down, leaving her with the memories of brokenness. “I’ve lost people too, Jack. Whether by an avalanche or by choice, people I love have left me, and I don’t have it in me to set myself up to feel that pain again. I’m sorry.” Owen, Gramps, Alex, and Erin made up the small circle of people she could trust. But as far as giving over her heart like she once had to Jack? No.
I can do this. I have to do this.
She took a full step back and stiffened her backbone. “Now that I know you’re going to be okay, I should go. Our business, Jack, our personal business, is finished. It’s over. You left me, walked out on us before, and I won’t let you do that again.”
Terra gathered her bag and headed for the door.
“You don’t understand. Terra, wait—”
In the predawn hours, Terra sat in her vehicle, Jack’s last words to her as she walked out of his hospital room still echoing through her mind and heart. What had she done? Had she just wanted to be the one to walk away this time?
She swiped at the tears. She had plenty to distract her from the pain. Staring at her grandfather’s ranch house, she tried to work up the nerve to go inside. Worry had kept her company through the night while staying in Jack’s room. She had also wanted to head to Gramps’s house to speak with Owen. To warn them both. Terra believed that Owen had nothing to do with his friend’s crimes. What’s more, he had to be devastated at the news.
Owen . . . was a hero.
She was half surprised no law enforcement vehicles were at the house now. She’d known the sheriff’s department would want to talk to Owen because of his association with Leif. Maybe he had opted to answer their questions at the county offices rather than upset Gramps. Or bring potential issues into a political campaign that was only beginning.
So, she sat in her vehicle, helpless to fight the uncertainty that had settled in her gut. Her superior could very well remove her from this investigation completely now.
Regardless of what happened, how did she approach Owen? He would feel betrayed if she didn’t talk to him about Leif, yet how did she tell him those sordid details? Did he even know that Leif had been killed? This incident could crush him when he was beginning to build a new life here.
Her throat tightened. She had the distinct impression the world was closing in around her.
No lights were on in the house yet.
Oh, Owen. She wanted to reach out to him.
But she couldn’t face him. Not yet. Now was as good a time as any to head back to her apartment for a few days, if not giving up her temporary stay at Gramps’s entirely. To think she’d only recently decided to move into the ranch house permanently. Life kept changing the rules on her.
She started the vehicle. God, help me. What do I do?
Someone pounded on the passenger-side window, and she yelped.
“Owen?” She unlocked the door.
He got in. “Can we just drive?”
“Why? What’s going on?” Dread flooded her.
“I need to get out of here.” His eyes were pleading, his tone desperate.
“I don’t know if we should.”
“Terra, I’m your brother. Please . . . just drive.”
His own vehicle was parked there—why didn’t he take that?
“Okay, then.” She steered from the house, down the long drive, and stopped where the drive intersected with the county road.
“Drive away from town, please,” he said.
You’re scaring me. “What’s going on?”
“Two deputies came by the house last night really late. I was up, so I stepped outside. I didn’t want to wake Gramps.”
“And?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know. They were looking for Leif and wanted to know if I knew where he was. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Okay, that was it. Terra swerved to the side of the road and shifted into park. She drew in a few calming breaths. “Leif shot at us, Owen. He used an assault weapon and . . .” Her voice closed up. She swallowed, breathed, and found it again. “I barely escaped with my life, Owen. Jack . . . he’s in the hospital. He was shot.”
Owen gasped. “Is he—”
“He’s going to be okay. But we both could have died.”
“Terra, I had no idea.” Anguish filled his words. “The deputies didn’t mention any of this, only that Leif had evaded officers and was considered armed and dangerous. I was worried about you when you didn’t come home. You texted that you were all right and nothing more.”
Owen leaned over and hugged her hard and tight. “I’m glad you’re alive. I can’t believe any of this.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She eased away from him. How did she tell him the rest? “Owen . . . Leif didn’t make it. He’s dead. I don’t . . . I don’t know the details.”
Owen hung his head. She gave him a few moments to absorb the news. He blew out a few breaths.
“In the message you left,” he finally said, “you warned me that Leif could be dangerous, but you told me none of this. You didn’t share those details about what happened because”—Owen’s eyes narrowed—“because you’re not sure that I’m not involved.” Hurt and anger edged his tone.
“No, Owen. That’s not it. I know you are not involved. I know that. But I had to be careful what I said to you because I’m part of this investigation. Or . . . I was.”
He released a heavy sigh and leaned back against the seat, deflated.
“Tell me something,” she said. “After the deputies left, what did you do?”
His eyes clouded with disappointment. “I texted you to find out if you were okay. They didn’t tell me that you were involved, but you hadn’t come to the ranch.”
“Then did you try to contact Leif?”
“Of course.”
“Did you get ahold of him?”
“No.”
“And what would you have said had he answered?”
“Terra, you can’t—”
“And I don’t. I don’t believe you’re involved. But you guys were together for so long, this has to be hard on you. Did you have any idea something like this would happen?”
Owen nodded. “I didn’t want to believe it. I heard that he’d done things before. But he’s . . . he was . . . like a brother to me, and I guess . . . I guess I ignored that he was close to the edge.” Owen pressed a hand against his eyes for a few moments, then dropped it. “I think he was out for revenge. He never got over his sister’s death.”
“How did she die?”
“She was murdered.”
“By who? Is that who he wanted to take out his revenge on? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’d tell you if I knew anything. Leif was here in Montana for me, but he was here for another reason too. He wouldn’t tell me more because he didn’t want me involved. See? He . . . was like a brother.”
“Who tried to kill your sister tonight.”
Owen hung his head and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “If I’d had any idea he was that dangerous . . .”
“Tell me what you would’ve said to him if you had gotten ahold of him.”
“If he had answered, I would’ve asked where he was and what was going on. But I figured he wouldn’t answer me because he knew I would give him away. I would give him up. He knew I would do the right thing, and he didn’t want to put me in such a tough position.”
“Would you have given him up? You once said he saved your life. So that means you owed him.”
Another car steered along the road, and Terra watched as it passed. She pulled back onto the road and kept driving—to where, she wasn’t sure.
“Of course I would have done the right thing, Terra. How can you even ask me that? And, yes, he saved my life. And he’d come to see me here. Not only that, but he said he could help with my new venture. He wanted to
be part of it. To invest in it. Said he had come into some money.”
“This is what you should be telling the other investigators. I shouldn’t have come to the ranch. I don’t want to jeopardize the investigation or—”
He held up his hand to stop her. “You’re going to want to hear this. He wanted to invest in Gramps’s campaign.”
The discussion in Gramps’s office during the party.
“And you know this because he told you? Or Gramps told you?”
“Because I overheard the conversation. And I overheard another conversation but thought I had misunderstood. Now I’m not so sure.”
“Tell me.”
“I think Gramps wanted someone to break into that safe. That he planned for us to be gone.”
Terra kept driving, but she wanted to park again. “How can that be, Owen? This is all . . . I don’t believe it’s what it looks like.”
“You don’t want to believe it.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Just what do you think was in the safe?”
Owen stared at his hands. “I don’t know. All I know was that I was at the stables this morning, early. I couldn’t sleep last night. When I saw your vehicle, I made my way over. I knew we needed to talk away from the house. What do you make of it?”
“I need time to figure it out.” She needed time and access. Knowledge she couldn’t get if she was no longer in on at least her part of the investigation.
“What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to keep doing what you do, Owen. There’s no reason why this has to ruin your plans for the future. You aren’t involved in anything criminal. You keep working with the horses and your connections to build your team. I believe in your project, and I believe in you.”
“And you? What are you going to do?”
I’m going to face Gramps. “Me? I’m going to get answers.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
Head pounding, Chance woke up in his motel room. Cabin. Whatever. He had no idea how he’d made it back. He didn’t remember anything except those moments with Darth Maul. The man had left him with that photograph—only God knew how he’d gotten his hands on it—and that name. Chance had exited the bar out the back. Escaped the deputy and hobbled to his temporary dwelling.
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