Chapter Fourteen
Church had seen a lot of sunsets. Over deserts, in battlefields, from the air and by sea. But the ones in Wyoming had to be the most striking.
Now they were special because, he had someone he wanted to share them with.
He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and held Zee’s hand with the other.
As usual, she had her head turned slightly to look out the side window as they drove away from the movie set.
She loved one view in particular, but they hadn’t caught another sunrise there since she started her yoga classes.
On impulse, Church slowed the truck.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’ll see.” He rolled to a stop off the side of the road and put the truck in park.
A confused smile lit her beautiful eyes. “Church?”
“C’mon.” He jumped out and circled the vehicle to lower the tailgate. When she joined him, he lifted her onto the metal. They sat side by side, legs dangling. She didn’t speak, only put her arms around his waist and leaned into him.
His heart was so damn full. Fuller than he ever thought it could be. Fuller than he deserved.
Insects hummed and birds soared through the sky, on their way home to their own nests.
Zee let out a sigh. “It’s beautiful.”
He took in the view—sunset and sky over thick grass. The land had a gentle rise, and in the distance it faded to deeper green as it sprawled toward the mountain.
Then he turned his head and studied the woman beside him. She was as much of a work of art as the scenery, her skin glowing in the final golden rays, hair turned to copper where the sun hit it. Her eyes, her full lips…
He kissed them, just a soft brush that left him burning for more.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He stroked a lock of hair off her face.
She dipped her eyes, a smile toying around her lips and a faint flush on her cheeks.
“Sweet talker.”
“You like it.”
“No—I love it.” She flashed a smile at him.
They sat there watching the sky change from gold and orange streaked with pink to the deep gray-blue that washed out the horizon.
He caught Zee’s hand and threaded their fingers. “Ready to head home?”
She blinked up at him. “Home,” she repeated as if testing the way it sounded. She nodded. “Home.”
He slid off the tailgate and turned to stand between her knees, unable to resist cupping her face and kissing her long and deep. When they pulled apart, his chest worked like he’d just run a mile instead of tasted her sweet mouth.
For a second all he could do was look at her, memorizing her in the fading light.
A low rumbling noise broke the moment. Zee clapped a hand over her stomach.
“I guess I’m hungry.” She laughed.
“I guess I’d better feed you.”
When they arrived at the ranch, they headed straight to the dining hall. Luckily, the dinner buffet was still up for those vets who’d just finished their ranch chores.
They filled their plates and sat with a group of vets, including Truman and his dog.
Zee was charmed by the service dog who settled next to his master, well-behaved and ready for anything. “Who is this?” She waved a hand at the German Shepherd.
Truman offered her a simple nod. “Ranger.”
“He’s beautiful.”
He nodded again but said nothing more. Seeing that he wasn’t in a talkative mood today, Church filled the gaps with a little chat about the movie set; that had the guys interested.
They were just finishing their meal when Church spotted Theo out of the corner of his eye.
The grim expression he wore had his stomach going cold.
Theo stepped up to the table and greeted the vets with nods. Then his gaze landed on Church. “If you’re finished, can I talk to you and Zee?”
He felt Zee stiffen. When he caught her eye, she gave him a worried look.
They cleared their plates and followed Theo outside.
“You got something on the package?” she asked him.
Theo half turned, throwing her a glance. “In the office,” was all he said.
Church heard her drag in a deep breath. He clasped her hand to offer support as they entered the Black Heart Security office.
The space was empty but all the monitors were up and running. One screen showed a few views of the ranch via the security feed.
Theo didn’t waste a second. He waved for them to sit, and Church seated Zee in a chair before taking one of his own.
“We have some new information on the package.”
Under the table, Zee’s hand shot out, seeking, and Church enveloped it in his own.
“Talk to us, Theo,” he said.
“I got my brother Gray on the project. We did a deep dive on Lucian Pike and his finances.” Theo moved to a laptop and punched a couple keys. A second later, one of the monitors lit up with a bank statement.
“This is what we’re looking at since he left his SEAL team and set foot on American soil. You can see every dollar he spent in all of these states.” He scrolled through the list.
Zee pulled in a sharp breath, her fingers growing cold in Church’s hand. “I wasn’t imagining it. He was following me.”
Church dragged air through his nostrils, expanding his lungs as a way to gain control. But he wanted to hunt down Pike and take matters into his own hands. The man had followed Zee. Everywhere she went, he was right behind.
“How did he find her?”
Theo gave them a dark look before picking up a black object and setting it on the table in front of them.
Church’s body went rigid. He started to reach for it but stopped.
“We disabled it,” Theo told him.
He stared at the tracker. “Where did you find it?”
“Zee’s vehicle.”
Her head snapped around. “What!”
“Gray had a hunch we were dealing with something like this. I guess he’s seen it before on one of our jobs. We think Pike stuck it on Zee’s vehicle around the time of the funeral.”
She let out a gasp and snatched up the device. She stared at it with a twist of her lips like it was a giant spider before she dropped it again.
“Okay, but how do you explain the truck? He found me in Church’s truck.”
“This is all speculation, but we believe he followed the two of you.”
Church stiffened. “He could see your vehicle was on the ranch and he watched the gates. He saw you leave with me. He saw us enter the movie set.”
“And saw me leave, so he followed me to the store that day.”
Church’s muscles hardened one by one until they were all locked. He wanted to find that son of a bitch and gut him for all the fear and pain he’d caused Zee after all she’d been through.
But a darker thread wove through his mind.
Lucian Pike didn’t care what she’d gone through when Matt died. Because he was probably behind it.
“Where is that bastard right now?” he gritted out.
Zee grabbed his arm, fingers digging into the sinew as if she was trying to hold him back. He covered her hand with his own and squeezed lightly.
Theo scrolled to another page that revealed a string of transactions in Colorado.
“He’s regrouping.” Church skimmed the list of charges—gas, motel, highway tolls, burner phone reloads.
“How do we know he hasn’t given up?” Zee asked.
Theo picked up another object and held it up. The black card.
“Because we finally figured out the QR code on this card. It’s a way to access a cryptocurrency wallet. There’s a lot of money on this.”
In a flash, Church connected all the dots.
“Lucian was paid off for something,” Theo said.
“And Matt took it from him,” Church added.
“Matt was killed for it.” Zee’s voice was flat.
* * * * *
By the time they stepped out of the security office, Zee felt like the ground beneath her had shifted again, with deep crevices cutting through the earth.
The food she’d eaten sat like a rock in the pit of her stomach, and she hadn’t felt this shaky since…the funeral.
Church just reached for her hand and set off at a slow walk. Before they crossed the field, she knew they’d end up at their spot. The place where they could talk about everything.
Even about this? She wasn’t so sure.
The sun had dropped behind the mountains, leaving a chill in the air. She huddled deeper into her jacket, thinking it wouldn’t be long before snow was falling. Her first winter on the ranch, at her new job. Her first season with Church.
And all of that might vanish if she had to run again.
The thought left her feeling hollow. They stopped at their spot and leaned against the fence. The horses that were usually pastured here had been taken inside for the night, probably tucked up in their cozy stalls with food and warm straw.
As she rested her forearms on the rail, she let out a sigh as a measure of calm crept back over her. She tipped her head back to take in the sweep of stars across the velvet sky.
“This is our communication spot now, isn’t it? Couples have them—the kitchen table, the sofa. This is ours.”
A trace of a smile ghosted over his lips. “Seems that way.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” she said softly.
He slid his arm around her and anchored her to his side. “It is. I’m worried about you, honey.”
A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to speak even if she had the words to express all the things she was feeling.
He stroked his knuckles over her cheekbone. “You okay?”
A breath that almost passed for a laugh burst from her. “No.”
“Christ, honey. No wonder.” He drew her tighter against him.
“It keeps hitting me. That every time I ran, he already knew where to find me.”
He issued a low sound like the tearing of rock and buried his face in her hair.
All the towns, apartments, hotels and jobs. The only thing that remained constant was her old Ford, and he’d planted a tracker on it.
“He was looking for the card with the code.”
“It’s probable.”
“If Lucian was paid off for something…and Matt stole the money from him…”
She pulled in a breath of cold air but it didn’t ease the hot tears in her throat. “Matt didn’t die in the line of duty.”
“I already have a plan to reach out to the rest of the guys who were on the team. Most of them have cycled out now, are doing other things. I’m going to talk to them all and find out what they know.”
A shiver slipped through her, and Church planted his hand on her lower back, giving her something solid to lean on.
She lifted her gaze to his, searching his eyes. They glimmered with pain…and more.
“I’m worried about you too,” she whispered, cradling his angled jaw. The stubble rasped against her hand.
He started to stiffen, to retreat inward. But she cupped his face and held him in place even though his eyes were guarded.
“Grant, look at me.”
He shifted his stare back to hers.
“You’ve been blaming yourself all this time. It wasn’t your fault.”
He didn’t respond.
“If there was something dirty in that op. If Lucian did something. If Matt was killed because of this. It wasn’t your fault, Grant.”
His brows slanted in a sharp line as his composure began to crack.
Her heart hurt for him so suddenly and fiercely that she had to curl her toes inside her boots. All these years he’d been shouldering that weight. Every look she’d seen on his face when Matt’s name came up wounded her.
Now there was a crack running through the whole story.
“Grant, do you hear me? You’ve been punishing yourself for an event that may not have even been what you thought.”
He searched her eyes, his own intense with things he held back.
“I know,” he roughed out at last. He scrubbed a finger under his eye, but they were dry as he locked away all his emotions. “I hate that this might change what you remember about him.”
The tenderness in his words undid her.
Her eyes burned with tears. “He didn’t do anything wrong—that much I know. None of this changes who he was to me,” she said thickly.
His grip on her tightened. They stood there for a while, supporting each other. Just touch and truth and being here for each other.
He drew her close and rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. “We’re going to deal with Lucian.”
“What happens next?”
“We hand everything over to the authorities. The letter, the card, the information about the wallet. All of it.”
“And Lucian?”
“This kind of crime doesn’t go unanswered.” The force behind his hard tone sent a shudder through her.
She wanted to believe that men like Lucian—if he really was behind Matt’s death—didn’t get to take someone’s life and change those of everyone who loved him without some justice.
“What if he really is regrouping in Colorado and comes back?”
He slipped a fingertip under her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “You’re still safe. With me. On the ranch. That doesn’t change.”
Her chest tightened with the love that blazed from his gaze.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Zee.”
She covered his hand where it rested against her face. “You can’t promise nothing will ever happen.”
“No. But I can promise that nobody gets to you without coming through me first.” The ruthless declaration sent a spike of love through her.
She rose on her toes and kissed him. Their mouths melted together with all the tenderness they needed in this moment.
When they drew apart, he locked his arms around her and yanked her tight against him.
“I don’t know what I did to get so damn lucky. I don’t know what higher power brought you to me, Zee. But I’m so damn glad it did.”