Chapter 13
Silver sat in her office at the ranch and reread the latest letter from the stalker. It was printed in the same font and on the same plain white paper as the previous letters, with no identifying information.
“Your new bodyguards won’t stop me from getting what I want. Wire the money to the bank that I listed in the last note, or I will get you. Have no doubt about it.”
She tried not to shudder. She’d done enough of that during her panic attack last night.
Her thoughts returned to the incident, but the usual jitteriness and fear and nausea in the aftermath of a panic attack were gone.
She peered across the desk to Dustin’s thick arms that had comforted her, and she breathed in deeply.
Just the sight of his arms brought back a sense of security.
Of course, looking at his hands reminded her of how he’d so gently caressed her back and calmed her.
He’d also held her all night long in those arms, letting her sleep against him.
Well, maybe all night long was a stretch. Even so, his body and his presence had made her feel safe, as though no one and nothing could touch her.
Truthfully, she wanted to be in his arms again. During the helicopter ride back to Boulder, she’d tried not to think about that. And during the time she’d showered and changed, she’d also tried to keep her thoughts from straying to him.
But now that they were together again with Isaac in a private meeting in her office, Dustin’s strong arms and chest were right there, straining against the T-shirt he’d changed into.
“So . . .” Isaac said as he finished downloading the results of the photos Dustin had taken of the stalker’s getaway car.
Dustin cleared his throat.
At the noise, Silver lifted her gaze off his arms and chest to his face. He was watching her watching him, and his brows were quirked and his eyes alight with humor.
Did he think she was drooling over his body? Well, maybe she was to some degree. But what woman wouldn’t be after being wrapped up by him?
Dustin responded with a smirk.
She was half tempted to blurt out something about how she was feeling.
But she also suspected the quickest way to alienate him was to make a big deal out of the attraction.
Yes, doing so would turn him into Mr. Professional Robot, who refused to talk with her or show any emotions at all and was only there to do his job.
She much preferred the friendlier version. That meant she had to keep her cool and not start acting like a lovesick schoolgirl.
Isaac glanced at Dustin and then her before leaning back in his chair and grinning broadly. His long hair was pulled up into a man bun, and he wore a shirt with a large peace symbol at the center. “And you expect me to believe that nothing happened last night between the two of you.”
Dustin’s expression immediately turned stormy. “Yep.”
She had the urge to press Dustin’s buttons, and she wasn’t sure why. “Well, maybe not exactly nothing.”
His dark gaze collided with hers and filled with warning.
“We did technically spend the night together on the couch.”
“I knew it!” Isaac was chomping on a piece of gum and paused to blow a bubble.
“Nothing happened,” Dustin growled.
“Nothing except that you made me feel safer than I have in a long, long time.”
His eyes held hers.
She smiled, hoping he could read the truth.
His gaze softened, the brown turning from hardwood to soft pine within seconds.
“Good.” Isaac popped his gum. “Then you won’t be opposed to the plan Dustin and I came up with while you were getting ready.”
“Why would I be opposed to it?”
Isaac exchanged a glance with Dustin.
Dustin dropped his attention to his tablet, probably going over his list of suspects—a list that contained every possible person who could be involved in the stalking and threats.
She’d wanted him to cross off some of them, especially Franklin and Beryl.
Even if Silver was an eternal optimist and always tried to see the best in others, she was smart enough to know that the two people who’d been there for her over the years weren’t threats now, even though Dustin might have his reasons for including them.
However, Dustin refused to cross anyone off and had even added Timmy, claiming that the disgruntled college boyfriend couldn’t be ruled out.
“I’m sure I won’t object to any plan that you come up with,” Silver persisted.
Isaac shot a look at the closed door, then dropped his voice. “We’re going to tell all the employees that you’ve gone into hiding. Then we’ll strategically leak the details about where you’re at to those on the suspect list.”
“One at a time,” Dustin whispered. “In order to see who shares the confidential information.”
“I like that idea,” she replied. “Why did you think I wouldn’t?”
Dustin didn’t look up. “Because we’re going undercover at Healing Springs Ranch.”
She lost her response. She hadn’t been there since she’d turned sixteen, and she hadn’t wanted to go back to a place that would remind her of Dustin and his rejection. She’d wanted to focus on the happy memories of her life and not the negative.
“Surely we can find another place.”
“I was lucky to get a cabin there.” Dustin’s eyes were full of apology. “When I called Ty a little bit ago, he’d just had a cancellation. He’d been about to give the cabin to one of the many people on the ranch’s waiting list, but he gave it to me instead.”
Another protest formed on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. The past was in the past. She was moving on. And she’d already made peace with Dustin. Returning to the ranch would probably be just fine. She really had nothing to worry about.
She shrugged. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“You can’t tell anyone where we’re going.” Dustin spoke softly, stealing another glance toward the door. “It has to be a secret if this is going to work.”
She pretended to take a key and lock her lips.
“You can’t mention it to even Franklin or Beryl.”
She tossed away her pretend key. Even though she knew she could trust Franklin and Beryl, she would cooperate with Dustin and Isaac if it brought an end to the stalker’s threats.
Earlier at the condo, when Dustin had returned with another letter and explained what had happened and shown her the images of the stalker, dread had pooled deep inside. She’d spent years trying to get over the dark-closet incident. She didn’t need another problem to traumatize her.
She just wanted the whole thing to go away and for her life to resume as usual.
But she supposed that was one of the negative aspects of having been born into a family with so much wealth and a father who’d made far too many enemies with his ruthless practices.
She would probably face threats from time to time.
Unless she could show the world that she was different from her father . . .
She’d already done that a little with her ranch.
But most people didn’t know about her efforts or that she never made anyone pay what they couldn’t afford.
In fact, she’d had clients with no insurance coverage and no ability to pay the fees, and she hadn’t charged them, had instead given them scholarships that she’d funded.
“There’s still the possibility the stalker could trace us to Healing Springs Ranch,” Dustin whispered. “Which is why we won’t be using our real names there.”
“I don’t mind.” Silver wasn’t opposed to taking a fake name in order to keep her identity a secret. It wasn’t as though she was a movie star or famous country singer who was recognized everywhere she went.
But . . . people may have read the recent obituary about her father and the paragraph about her being the billionaire heiress.
The other vacationers at Healing Springs Ranch were all very wealthy people, because the luxury resort catered to the rich and famous.
If anyone there heard her real name, they would likely recognize it, and it was possible they could spread the information.
“Just so you know,” Dustin started hesitantly, “our cabin happens to be one of the honeymoon cabins.”
“Oh.” She’d always admired the honeymoon cabins when she’d stayed at the ranch, had thought they were so romantic with the elegant decor, king-sized bed filled with pillows in the middle of the cabin, the heart-shaped champagne glasses, private hot tub overlooking the river, and more.
“I’m sorry.” Dustin’s expression was tight.
Was that a flush moving into his neck? Was he embarrassed to stay in a honeymoon cabin with her?
“Will we need to pretend to be honeymooners?”
“Yes,” Isaac said almost gleefully.
“No,” Dustin said at the same time.
Isaac’s smile widened. “You’ll obviously have to play along with it if you plan to stay undercover.”
“No,” Dustin said again, louder.
She arched a brow at both of them. She’d watched the newly married couples come and go from their cabins, always so in love and so enraptured with each other. How would she and Dustin be able to pull off something like that?
“Our goal,” Dustin continued, “is to stay as inconspicuous as possible and try not to interact with other guests.”
“That makes sense. We never know who might recognize either one of us, right?”
“Exactly.”
“But, yes,” Isaac added. “You’ll have to pretend to be honeymooners whenever you’re out of the cabin.”
“Which won’t happen often.” Dustin’s tone was firm.
She let the information sink in. She would be spending an indefinite amount of time with Dustin in a honeymoon cabin at his family’s ranch. They would be together at all times, and any time they left the cabin, they would have to pretend to be newlyweds.
A place deep inside—probably the place that still harbored hurt from Dustin’s original rejection—told her again that she needed to object to the plan, to force the men to find another hiding place.
But another part of her was suddenly excited about the adventure ahead.
She was, after all, someone who saw the roses through the ashes, looked for the silver lining, viewed the cup as half full . . . and all the other positive clichés.
She could make the best of going to Healing Springs Ranch. In fact, she would make the best of it. She’d take the opportunity to erase sad memories and replace them with happy ones.
She pushed back from her desk and stood. “When do we leave?”