Chapter 32
JEREMIAH
“This is a terrible idea,” Liam said. He rubbed Indigo’s nose as he held him steady.
“Have to agree with Liam. I don’t like it.” Seb attached my extra sleeping bag to the back of Indigo’s saddle. He might not like it, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t help me do it.
“This guy set her car on fire over a frog onesie,” Mateo chimed in. “How do you think he’ll react when he discovers you and Lennon are gone? He’s gonna lose his shit.”
“That’s the idea.” Sleeping bags, sat phone, food.
Extra supplies, because I wasn’t taking chances.
Rifle, for the same reason. “People will notice we’re gone.
He’ll be one of them. Tell anyone who asks that we’re planning a three-week trip up near Yellowstone, and we’ll leave Friday.
Tonight is the trial run to get Lennon acclimated. Got it?”
They stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Three weeks in a tent?” Seb scratched his jaw. “You think Lennon will go for that?”
“It’s what you’re telling people. We’re not actually doing it.” But I remembered the way she woke up every morning to see the stars. I remembered the way she tilted her face to the rain. My city girl had a wild streak in her. “But yes, I think she’d go for that.”
Holly tilted her head, her black hair sweeping over her shoulder. “You’re trying to smoke him out of hiding. Force him to play his hand before he’s ready.” Her mouth tipped up in a sly smile. “It’s not a bad plan.”
I grunted as I buckled the pack down. “Lennon’s idea. She doesn’t like fighting ghosts. She wants him out in the open where she can hit him.”
“Dammit,” Holly grumbled. “I’m actually starting to like her.”
With a firm grip on her elbow, I steered her away from the others. “This shit with you and Lennon? It stops now.”
Dark brows winged upward. She didn’t respond well to being told what to do. I changed tactics. “I know I can trust you, Holly. I need Lennon to know she can trust you, too.”
Her eyes flitted back and forth as she studied me. “You want her to stay.”
“Yeah. I want her to stay.”
She turned away, but not before I saw the hint of a smile on her lips. “She can trust me.”
We finished the packing. Lennon was safe in the kitchen with Amos and Cecily. She’d sneak out while breakfast was being served and if all went to plan, we’d be an hour away by horseback before anyone realized we were gone.
“We don’t know what he’ll do when he realizes Lennon is out of reach,” I said.
“Stay vigilant. No one is above suspicion until we know for sure who we’re dealing with.
I figure he’ll either create an emergency to lure us back early, or he’ll start planning his move for the moment Lennon is back.
It’s probably better that everyone believes you have no way of contacting us. ”
“He might try to follow you. That’s a third option,” Seb pointed out.
“Maybe,” I allowed, “but I think it’s unlikely.
We’ll have a head start. There are too many trails in Forest Service land for him to find us easily.
My guess is he’ll take the twenty-four hours we’re gone to make a plan.
That’s what I would do.” My gaze flicked to Liam.
“Any ranch hands go AWOL, I expect to hear about it immediately.”
Liam gave a curt nod. “You got it.”
“Seb, you keep eyes on the guests,” I continued. “Mateo, I don’t care if you have to stare at a screen until your eyes bleed. I want every single one of Lennon’s subs verified and checked out before we get back.”
Mateo pushed his glasses higher on his nose. For once, he looked completely serious. “I’m on it.”
“Good. Holly—”
“I know. If we solve the mystery before you return, I’ll handle it.” She smiled widely.
“Keep him alive.” That could have gone unsaid with anyone else, but it was better not to take chances with Holly. “We want him in prison, not you.”
Seb’s gaze went over my shoulder and he jerked his chin. “Here comes your girl now. You sure you want to do this?”
“We’re doing it.” Everything I needed was walking toward me. The circumstances sucked, but twenty-four hours alone with this woman, nothing but stars and trees and mountains for company? That was my idea of heaven.
“Hey, you,” Lennon greeted me. “You ready to piss off my psycho stalker?”
Whatever reservations I had—and I had plenty—I pushed aside. “Hell, yeah, honey.”
Her lips curved and she bounced on her toes. Déjà vu. That day we’d gone into town for boots, she’d bounced exactly like that. Fight or flight. But I’d read her wrong in that moment. My girl wasn’t a bolter. She was a fighter.
Her stalker, for all his we and us bullshit, he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did, and I had the feeling that was going to be his downfall. I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
But then the wind rustled the leaves and Lennon whipped around, searching, and my gut clenched. Fuck that guy for putting that mix of fear and fury in her expression. I didn’t feel sorry for him at all. He better be praying to the Patron Saint of Jackasses that the police caught him before I did.
Holly laid a hand on my arm. “Keep her safe, okay? Lennon makes a good nemesis. It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those. She got the best of me twice. Twice, Jay. No one does that.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I never saw her coming.”
Me, either. A month ago I had no idea who Lennon Graves was, and now I didn’t know how I was supposed to keep breathing without her.