Chapter Ten #2
was hoping for divine intervention.
Delaney knew she was in trouble when,
despite her worry for him, she found even that sexy.
“Give me a break here,
Laney. Aren’t you supposed to be avoiding me? You’re doing a lousy
job of it.”
“Answer the question and
I’ll get back to avoiding you.”
“I told you it’s no big
deal.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal,
you’d already have explained to get rid of me.”
“Damn straight.” But he
raised his hands in mock surrender when she leaned forward, ready
to blast him. “When did you get so damn nosy?” he muttered under
his breath. When she crossed her arms like she’d wait all day for
an answer, he said, “Fine. A couple assholes tried to stop me on
Mill Creek Road last night. I didn’t want to be stopped so they
fired a few shots. That’s it.”
“What do you mean they
wanted to stop you? Why would they want to do that?”
“Just what I said. They
tried to force me to stop, boxed me in. Since the one guy got out
of his rig with a crowbar and the other had a gun, my guess is they
wanted to fuck me up. I didn’t take the time to ask politely for
them to explain.”
She waited, fingers tapping on her
elbows. He breathed another of those frustrated sighs. “Jesus
Christ. I don’t know what the hell they wanted, okay? Best guess is
me coming back here isn’t popular with some people.”
“Did Sawyer catch them? Do
you know who they were?”
“No, and no.”
“Maybe it was Vance. He
threatened all of us.”
“It wasn’t Vance holding
the crowbar. Not his height or build. And Vance hasn’t got the
balls to shoot the shit out of my pickup. It wasn’t Dicarlo,
either.”
“Vance could’ve hired
someone to have it done.”
“True, and more his style.
Sawyer will talk to him if he’s thinking in that direction.” He
paused, seeming to debate whether to say more. He plowed a hand
through his hair, only to have it falling back across his forehead.
“There are other people who won’t be happy I’m back.”
“Who do you
mean?”
“Whoever set me up for
raping Melanie.” He hitched a shoulder. “They might be getting I’m
coming for them.”
The grim determination in his tone
made a chill snake down her spine, fearing for his
safety.
“James and Clara got your
conviction dismissed. You were unequivocally cleared, and you’ve
been out of prison nearly six years. Why do something about it
now?” She kept her tone neutral. Not by any means did she want him
to know how him taking off for anywhere but here after getting out
of prison had affected her. She wouldn’t have him feeling sorry for
her, and he would if he suspected she’d thought of him any more
than he’d thought of her.
“I wasn’t ready before. I
am now.”
Her fingers tapped faster. Getting
information from him meant accepting a tiny nugget at a time. His
motioned to the tools in the back of the side-by-side. “What are
you working on? I’ll help you.”
An obvious ploy to change the subject,
but it reminded her of the difficult task ahead. “No, it’s awful
and mine to deal with.”
“Tell me.”
Her shoulders tensed at the disturbing
memory and she found herself grateful she could share it with him.
“Callie found a dead calf this morning. Poor thing was torn to
pieces. I’m guessing it was coyotes.”
“Where?”
“East orchard, by the
bridge across the creek.”
“You sure it was coyote?
Were there tracks?”
“What else would it be?
No, I didn’t see tracks and if I did, I wouldn’t know if they were
Callie’s or a coyote. I guess it could have been a bear. There are
bears in the hills, but they don’t usually kill livestock. I think
I would’ve noticed bear tracks. Shane’s ranch borders the east
orchard so that’s probably where the calf came from. I need to call
him.”
“Show me.”
He scooped Bud from inside the truck
and put him in the cabin, then slid into the passenger seat of the
side-by-side as she got behind the wheel. Discovering the calf had
been disturbing, and while dealing with whatever came up on the
farm was her job, she had to acknowledge Walker’s presence steadied
her.
Minutes later she pulled to a stop on
the road near the bridge. Flies had multiplied and rose in a black
cloud when they approached, only to descend again onto the remains
of the calf strewn in the dirt. The stench of death had risen with
the warmth of the day. Walker shooed away the flies as he bent to
examine the carcass. He reached into his pocket for his phone and
took several pictures. Delaney’d had enough looking at the poor
creature and went to grab the shovel. In a shady spot under a tree,
she started digging. The smell of the sage brush and the call of
crows flying through the deep blue sky should’ve helped calm her,
but she couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness.
Dry underbrush crunched under his
boots as Walker approached. “Hold off on the digging. We can’t bury
it until Sawyer’s had a look. I called. He was already coming to
give me a hand at the cabin so he’ll be here shortly.”
“Why does Sawyer need to
have a look?” She stuck the shovel in the ground, the grim
expression on Walker’s face heightening her anxiety.
“The calf wasn’t killed by
coyotes. They got to it, chewed off pieces and scattered them
around, but they didn’t kill it. I didn’t find an ear tag, so
whoever did this likely removed it to slow down
identification.”
“You’re not thinking
bear.”
“No, not bear.
Human.”
She glanced at the mutilated remains
strewn in the dirt and figured Walker was only confirming what she
hadn’t wanted to think about. “What makes you think
human?”
“Throat was slit with a
clean cut, and it was gutted with a knife. Blood soaked into the
ground shows it was killed here and bled out. The coyotes got to it
after it was already dead.” Tone grim, he continued. “A lot of
what’s spread around are what’s left of the entrails after the
coyotes finished with it. Hindquarters are missing, but that likely
was coyote dragging it off to bury and eat later.”
“Oh god.” Bile rose from
her stomach and she swallowed convulsively. “I need to find out
from Shane if it’s his calf.” She shook her head. “I don’t
understand this. Why would someone kill a calf, and why leave it in
my orchard?”
She caught a quick flash of something
on Walker’s face before he schooled his features.
She pointed a finger. “You know, or at
least you think you know.”
He took her hand, holding it firmly in
his. “The bastards who wanted to fuck me over last night might’ve
moved on to Plan B when they failed.” He tugged her closer. “Be
careful, Laney. You could be in danger.”
“Me? What about you? You’re the one with a bullet hole in his
head.”
“Graze. There’s a
difference. Listen up, if it was those fuckers who did this, then
they could come after you to get at me. This calf is on your
property. That’s not an accident. It could’ve been left where you’d
find it as a warning.”
“Why would anyone think
hassling me would be a way to get at you? That doesn’t make
sense.”
“It makes sense if they
heard about that kiss you laid on me at Easy Money and think we’re
together.”
“The kiss I laid on you?
What about the kiss you laid on me? Your kiss was a lot hotter and
likely to set people to wondering.”
His eyes glinted. “Yeah, it was hot.”
He kept her hand in his as he walked to the side-by-side. “Go on
back to the house. I’ll talk to Sawyer and clean this
up.”
“No, this happened on my
property, and according to you, it might be a threat targeting me.
I’m not going to go hide in the house and let the
menfolk take care of
it.”
He let out a short laugh. “Not
surprised.”
Then his expression changed to one she
couldn’t decipher. Hands still clasped, he caught her off guard by
dipping his head and capturing her lips with his. Her brain short
circuiting, a flood of need and a white-hot rush of lust
simultaneously assaulted her.
Kissing him was a dangerous mistake.
God, she knew that. But that didn’t stop her heart from thundering
in her chest as she grabbed hold of his shirt to anchor herself as
she pulled up to her tiptoes to go all in on the kiss.
Every caution she’d lectured herself
about was carried out to sea by the warm wave of feeling crashing
over her. That her shaky grip on reason was so easily cast aside
should’ve been infuriating, but she was too wrapped up in the
divine feeling of Walker’s mouth on hers to care. If he was trying
to distract her, it worked—in spades.
The sound of a vehicle approaching had
them breaking apart, but when she released her grip on his shirt,
he kept her firmly against him with a hand at the small of her
back, his lips inches from hers. She had to resist the urge to
press harder against the rigid length pushing against her
belly.
“We’re not done with each
other, Laney.”
“You confuse me. I don’t
know where we are, especially when you kiss me like that. I can’t
think when you do that.”
A corner of his mouth turned up, his
gaze hot on hers. “I wanted to see how we are together when you
aren’t making a point to an audience. To see if we both still feel
what we had before. It’s there, as strong as it ever
was.”
His words were like cold water poured
over the heat they’d generated. More than anything, she wanted to
open to him and let her feelings take her where they would. But
their history told her it would only end in heartbreak. Sometimes
reality sucked. “I’m no longer a na?ve twenty-something, Walker.
Our relationship reinforced what I already knew, namely that
relationships don’t last. And guess what? I’m not willing to lay my
heart out for you to trample all over one more time. I’m smarter
than that.”
A big black truck, Sawyer behind the
wheel, made the last turn on the road and stopped behind the
side-by-side.
“Laney, I—”
“No.” Delaney shook her
head and stepped away, ignoring Sawyer’s speculative glance as he
exited his truck.