Chapter 7
7
A rcher had made a mistake. The kiss could have cost their lives and could have killed Owen to boot. What the hell kind of brother allowed himself to get caught up in a kiss when his brother was being held captive somewhere?
“It should be me,” he mumbled to no one in particular.
“We’ve been walking around in circles, Archer. I lost track of time hours ago.” A wall had come up. He heard the chill in Annalee’s voice. Good. Maybe she would keep him at arm’s length since he didn’t seem to have the willpower to keep a distance with her this close.
Owen deserved better.
“You’re right,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to leave here since we aren’t making any progress. I’ll grab a vehicle from the ranch. One that’s not tied to me, and we’ll find a new strategy to approach this situation and find my brother.”
“Okay.” The one-word response was another sign Annalee had closed up. It was for her own good. “Which way do we go to get out of here?”
Well, damn. That was a good question.
“Let’s head this way until I get my bearings again.”
After a nod, Annalee followed him. This time, she didn’t reach for his hand or walk close to him. Why did that bother him as much as it did?
They walked for at least ten minutes in silence. Then came, “Wait. I recognize this area.”
Annalee moved ahead of him, walking with purpose.
“If I’m right, that means…” She picked up the pace. Then, abruptly stopped.
She dropped down to her knees. “Ohmygod, Archer. It’s still here. We found it.”
He didn’t think this was the right time to point out the fact she’d found the backpack on her own. “Pop it on your back, and let’s get the hell out of here.”
The creepy feeling of eyes on him sent an icy chill down his spine. “We need to get going. Now.” He helped her to her feet since she was struggling. It meant her legs were giving out on her. Archer cursed the timing. It would be next to impossible to carry her and be ready in the event the shooter caught up to them. Out here, they could just as easily be prey to a mountain lion. Attacks might be rare, but he knew enough to watch out for the possibility of one. Feral hogs were just as dangerous, but they wouldn’t stalk their prey like a mountain lion would.
Annalee stumbled. He had to grab her to keep her from face-planting.
“I’m okay,” she said, dismissing the misstep as nothing. It was something, though. Because every instinct inside him said they needed to be ready to run. If a mountain lion wasn’t stalking them, the shooter could be. It was too soon to tell. Both might require quick maneuvers, and Annalee had no gas left in the tank.
Could he find a good spot to stop and rest? Give her an hour or two of shuteye? Just enough to keep her going without losing too much precious time?
Other thoughts drifted in as he helped her walk. Since his phone was out of range, he had no idea if Owen had been found. It was possible, if not likely. And how would he explain Annalee’s sudden appearance if she wasn’t willing to speak to the law? Archer had no intention of letting her out of his sight until Owen was returned, found unharmed, and any and all threats to him or any of his family members were in the rearview.
How did he return to the ranch and not discuss what he knew about the case?
Twigs snapped behind them, causing Archer to pick up the pace. They might not be able to outrun a predator, but they could make themselves extremely difficult targets. He listened to see how close the predator was, doing his best not to make a peep.
Silence would normally be a good sign. In this case, it sent his stress levels soaring because a mountain lion would become quiet seconds before an attack—so might a shooter, lining them up in his scope. The earlier shots had come from some type of high-power rifle, not exactly the kind of tool ranchers used to fend off coyotes or hogs. A high-power rifle meant business. Long-range business.
The trees would make getting off a clean shot difficult.
With stress levels jacked up, he stepped carefully and lightly. Annalee had caught on, doing the same. She’d always been a quick study.
Archer needed cell coverage. It was the easiest way to make a vehicle appear once they were literally and figuratively out of the woods. Going back to his truck could make them sitting ducks.
Another twig snapped. A figure moved out from behind the trees in front of them.
“Archer?” Kade’s voice sent a mix of relief and fear rocketing through him.
How the hell was he supposed to explain any of this to his family?
“What are you doing out here, Kade?” he asked, stopping before helping Annalee sit on a dead log.
Kade walked straight over to Archer and brought him into a bear hug. “Looking for you and Owen,” his older brother said before releasing him. “Thank the stars I found one of you.”
“I’m good.”
“I can see that,” Kade said. “No one’s heard from you, and Chloe saw your truck…” Kade cleared the emotion knotting in his throat with a cough. “Suffice it to say we all panicked.”
“Didn’t mean to rile up the family. Is there still no word from Owen?” Archer asked. If he could maintain control of the conversation, maybe he could keep his brother from asking too many questions—questions he didn’t have answers to and wasn’t allowed to respond to without talking it through with Annalee first anyway.
“None,” Kade said, his gaze bouncing from Archer to Annalee and back. “Been a long time. Good to see you again, Annalee.”
No going back now.
“You, too, Kade.” Annalee managed to stand and give his brother a brief hug.
Kade cocked an eyebrow. “Archer thought he saw you at the remembrance.”
“He was right,” she said. “I was passing through town and stopped in for a second.” She paused long enough to come up with an excuse. “The truck is my fault. I was walking back to town when Archer swerved to avoid hitting me. Couldn’t see me in the dark.”
Kade compressed his lips like he was stopping himself from saying something. No doubt, he heard about the shot-out tires.
Archer made a mental note of how easily a lie slid out from Annalee’s tongue. Cast to the ground, her eyes told a different story.
He couldn’t bring himself to be dishonest with Kade, but he didn’t have to tell his brother everything.
“Where is everyone?” he asked, redirecting the conversation.
“Spread out,” Kade said, thankfully letting the lie slip past without calling Annalee out. He fished out his cell and glanced at the screen. “I’ve been out of range for a while now, so I haven’t had updates for the past half hour or so.”
Archer needed to get Kade away from the area or risk letting his brother walk right into a shooter.
On second thought, not telling his brother could put his life at risk. He looked at his brother. “Could you excuse us for a sec?”
Kade nodded. “I’ll walk around and see if I can pick up a signal.”
“Stay close,” Archer said before he could reel the words back in. “Thought we might have been followed by a mountain lion there for a while.”
Annalee suppressed a gasp while Kade gave another nod of acknowledgment. Growing up on a ranch, they’d encountered pretty much every predator possible at one time or another. Kade would know better than anyone that most predators were opportunistic. Now that they were three, a mountain lion wouldn’t risk injury unless it was starved. There were easier meals out here. It would move on.
“I heard noises but didn’t realize,” Annalee started when they were just out of earshot.
“Look, I know what I said, but not telling my family what we’re up against could put them in unnecessary danger,” he whispered emphatically. “Like it or not, this ordeal is bigger than the both of us. It’s bigger than you and your mother. These bastards involved my family, and neither one of us knows how far they’ll go.”
Annalee seemed to run a few scenarios in her mind before compressing her lips in a frown. “You know I’d do anything to protect you and your family. I just don’t know how to do that without putting my mother in more danger.”
He didn’t see the need to mention that it might be too late for that. Her mother had gone MIA. She might have been found. For all they knew, she was being held captive along with Owen to be used as bait to bring Annalee out of hiding.
“Chloe is married to the acting sheriff,” he continued. “Travis can be trusted. He will investigate this while keeping it on the down-low.”
She bit down on her bottom lip. Hard.
He was making progress on convincing her.
“We’re running out of time,” he urged. “I need you to make a decision.”
“What choice is there?” was all she said.
Annalee walked straight over to Kade and then filled him in on what was happening.
“We need to pull the family together for a meeting,” Kade said.
“We can tell everyone to come to Sky’s The Limit. Let’s get out of here,” Archer said. For the first time since this ordeal had begun, she heard a hint of relief in his voice.
They hadn’t taken more than five steps when Kade turned to her. “I should take the backpack. That way, if anything happens and we scatter, the bastard shooter will most likely follow the two of you. I’ll split off and then meet up with you later.”
She didn’t have to think long and hard about the offer. Instead, she slipped the backpack off her shoulder and handed it over. Kade shrugged it on before taking her arm to help speed her out of the woods. With Archer on one side and his brother on the other, she felt a sense of safety. She reminded herself not to get too used to the feeling. This would be over soon, and she would go back to her normal life.
Why did that strike her as depressing as hell now?
The walk to Sky’s took another forty-five minutes, give or take. At this point, Annalee’s feet were so numb she couldn’t feel her toes inside her shoes. Running shoes might have come in handy when she’d had to make a quick getaway, but they did little to keep her toes warm. Being from Texas meant perpetually being unprepared for cold weather, which made stepping inside a building with heat feel like hitting the lotto.
Archer jimmied open a window. She decided better against asking him how and why he’d picked up the talent. He’d done so without damaging the frame or the pane. Then again, what was there to steal inside Sky’s? This wasn’t the kind of establishment that kept a cash register. She was certain any financial transactions would have been handled well ahead of time and, quite probably, online. As far as she could see, the floor plan was simple. Doors open, a few flower arrangements still sat in the remembrance room. Chairs were still out from the service.
“Why don’t you lie down and see if you can grab a little sleep while we wait for the others?” Archer said, leading her toward a row. He scooted enough chairs together to make a decent attempt at a temporary bed.
“We can’t wait around, Archer. Every second we lose could—”
“I know,” he cut in, using an unfairly reassuring tone. “But you’re important, too. You’ve told me everything you know, and now Kade has the information. We’ll update Travis while he’s enroute to get him up to speed quicker.”
She started to protest again, but he made too much sense to argue.
“Lie back and close your eyes for a few minutes,” he said, placing his coat over her body. Not a second later, Kade approached and handed his over to cover her the rest of the way. “If you end up sick, you won’t be able to think as clearly.”
Was she? Thinking clearly? The thought of losing the only family she had caused all kinds of dark thoughts to creep in—thoughts that scared the hell out of her at the idea of being all alone in this world.
It was strange because she’d never thought in those terms before. Being around Archer and Kade reminded her of what it would be like to have a big family. Beaumont might have been an asshole, but he’d somehow managed to produce amazing humans. Then again, like her, they’d had a powerful example of what not to become.
“I doubt I could fall asleep, but lying here and powering down is probably good for me,” she finally agreed. As it was, her nerve endings tweaked at every gust of wind outside. A storm was picking up steam. Being wet and cold was the absolute worst.
“You’re important, Annalee,” Archer said, his voice low and gravely. “It’s important to get some rest.”
Archer meant she was key to finding his brother, and that was why he’d called her important. Her heart wanted to argue that something else was brewing behind his beautiful dark eyes. Something that could be confused for love.
However, that ship had sailed a long time ago.
He stood up and started to walk away. Annalee reached for his arm.
“Stay close,” she whispered. There was no way she could rest if she were left alone in a room.
Archer’s gaze intensified as emotions she couldn’t quite pinpoint passed behind those gorgeous honey browns. “I will.”
His promise before he walked away meant she could trust closing her eyes. No one would sneak up on her during his watch like she feared every waking moment. Her sleep had been in fits and starts during this four-day ordeal.
Lying there, her thoughts drifted to the time she’d decided to surprise the person placing bags of groceries on her doorstep. Pride had her wishing the person who’d taken pity on her and her mother would stop. The groceries had reminded her just how bad and fragile their living situation was, and she’d craved stability more than anything in the years she’d spent here.
The grocery sneak had been hard to catch. Whoever it was had given her no pattern to decode, so she’d gotten up early every day for a week and sat in the dark at the side of her living room window. Imagine her surprise when she’d discovered Archer was the culprit. Telling her that he’d had no idea who was behind the deliveries had been the only lie he’d ever told her. Technically, though, he’d been skirting the truth. His twin brother had been the one sneaking across the lawn with full arms. Owen had been the one to make the delivery, so Archer hadn’t lied when he’d said it wasn’t him.
Annalee had never admitted to Archer that she’d known who was responsible. She’d stopped asking about it and, instead, saw it as the kind gesture it was meant to be.
Her mother had no qualms about taking the freebies. Annalee, on the other hand, had been setting aside a few dollars a week from tips for years to pay him back. When this ordeal was over, she would hand over the funds, come clean about knowing it had been Archer, and hopefully give him closure on the past.
Then, she could walk away with a clear conscience.
Right?