Chapter 4
From his vantage point in the kitchen, Sully watched Elena exit the big house, enter the barn, and a few minutes later, come out riding Harley. She rode at a slow clip toward the tree line that led to the untamed area beyond.
He frowned. His blood pressure had just returned to something resembling normal after the terror of knowing Ollie had slipped out of the cabin and over to Elena’s without anyone seeing her do it. Piper might never get hers back to a safe number.
Thank God Elena had texted. He and Ollie had had a very intense chat on the way back to their cabin, and Ollie had promised not to sneak away again. He wasn’t sure he fully believed her, just prayed she understood the risks he’d graphically laid out for her.
And what was Elena doing, heading across the ranch toward the northwest pasture? The horses were all in the barn or the south pasture at this time of day.
“Where are you going?” he muttered.
Piper looked up from her phone. “What?”
“Nothing.” He walked to the door. “You okay here?”
“Yes. I’m taking Ollie down to the gym for some basketball.
” She held up a hand before he could ask if that was a good idea.
“At the indoor arena. This kid can’t sit inside all the time.
I have a teenage daughter only slightly older than her, and trust me, it’s not going to go well unless she gets outside some. ”
“What about her school?”
“You’re such a rule follower,” Piper said, her voice sharp. “Her mental health is more important at the moment.”
He managed not to flinch at the rule-follower comment and held up his hands in surrender. “Right, of course. Do what you think is best, just keep your eyes open for anyone who doesn’t belong here.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean—” He sighed. Seemed like he was going to be apologizing all day.
“Of course you can.” She might be a relatively new agent, but she wasn’t incompetent.
Quite the opposite. “I’ll be back.” If he didn’t hurry, he’d lose Elena.
Sully darted out of the cabin and hurried around to the barn, saddled up Belle, and kicked the horse into motion.
It wasn’t long before he spotted Elena cantering toward the trees, head ducked against the wind.
She had on jeans, boots, and a heavy sherpa coat that looked warmer than his FBI-issued one.
He almost called out to her, but she was a good distance away, and for a reason he couldn’t explain, other than her body language, he kept his mouth shut and simply followed.
From what little Maya had told him, Elena was a skilled outdoorswoman and could take care of herself in pretty much any situation.
But they’d had an intruder.
Who ran from him.
Whose motives he had no idea about.
So, in his mind, it made sense to follow her and have her back.
She disappeared over a ridge and into a line of trees.
The ranch was open land, gently rolling hills, and part of what seemed to be endless acres of hardwood forest with a mix of oak, cedar, maple, and hickory trees.
A host of wildlife lived in those woods, including deer, fox, the occasional coyote, bobcats who stayed in the denser area, and so much more.
He’d ridden every inch of this ranch during his summers as a teen, helping his grandfather and the other ranch hands with all the chores that came with a working ranch.
He’d loved it at the time, but then the call of law enforcement pulled him away.
He didn’t regret it. Much.
Elena disappeared ahead, and he nudged Belle faster, working to catch up. Where was she going? Maya hadn’t alerted him to any more trouble, so . . .
It didn’t take much effort to find Elena and Harley’s path as she stayed on the dirt road leading through the trees. He pulled Belle to a stop, thinking. Maybe he should just leave Elena alone. If she’d wanted company, she certainly had her pick of who to take along on a ride.
He turned Belle around and headed back the way he’d come.
Then pulled the horse to a stop again.
No. He needed to listen to his gut and keep an eye on Elena’s back. If he was just being overly protective, then whatever. He swung Belle around and urged her forward at a slower pace, maintaining enough distance that Elena wouldn’t spot him through the trees or hear the horse’s occasional snort.
The sun cast shadows across the trail, and the wind did its best to dig beneath the neckline of his coat.
He hunched his shoulders and kept watch.
Every so often he’d catch a glimpse of her ahead as she followed the winding path straight to the perimeter fence and turned Harley to follow the fence line.
Sully frowned and continued his surveillance, but in order to keep her from noticing him, he had to veer off the path and make his own. He picked his way carefully through the undergrowth, staying parallel to her as best he could.
Movement just ahead of her pulled his attention from her. A figure crouching behind a tree. Watching Elena.
What—?
He started to yell about the same time the person burst from his hiding spot toward Elena and her horse.
The movement to her right yanked her gaze from the cut fence just in time to see a figure dressed in black grab for Harley’s reins.
She’d been so intent on examining the fence, she hadn’t heard the approach. “Hey, what—”
His right hand clamped around the rein closest to him and his left hand slammed around her right calf.
He pulled her off-balance and she tumbled out of the saddle. She came up swinging and her fist caught him under his chin. He cursed and stumbled back. Elena dropped into a fighting stance, instincts pushing out the shock of being caught off guard. She noted the tac hat and sunglasses.
Then crashing in the underbrush to her right reached her.
“Elena! Hey! Get away from her!”
Sully?
She didn’t dare spare a look as her attacker spun and landed a kick on her thigh.
Elena cried out and whirled away, but he lunged in a surprise move and swept out a foot that slammed into her ankle.
Pain flared and she went to her knees. He was a fighter too.
When she rolled to her feet, he clamped a hand around her wrist and dragged her toward the opening in the fence.
A horse broke through the dense vegetation.
Belle’s hooves thundered on the ground. Harley reared and his hoof barely missed her head.
Only because her would-be kidnapper jerked her hard.
Off-balance, she stumbled after him and crashed into his back.
He whipped around and secured her hands behind her, then shoved her forward. “Go. Or my partner will shoot him.”
Partner? She registered the order and allowed him to pull her over the fence, then push her toward a waiting truck. His grip slackened a fraction in preparation to open the vehicle door.
“Federal agent! I said stop!” Sully’s voice rang out once more.
“Sully, down!” From the corner of her eye, she saw him jump from the horse and hit the ground while she twisted her right wrist out of her captor’s grasp, spun, and aimed the edge of her palm at his throat.
He pivoted out of reach but left his midsection open.
She got in a swift kick to his ribs that doubled him over.
Still bent at the waist, he took off, rounded the front of the truck, jumped into the driver’s seat, and roared down the road.
Footsteps and hooves sounded, and then Sully had his hands on her arms. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” At least she thought she was. She took inventory. Her thigh ached, ankle throbbed, but overall she was still in one piece.
“Why’d you tell me to duck?” he asked.
“He said he had a partner waiting to shoot you.”
He glanced around. “I don’t see anyone. And I never saw anyone with him. No one shot at me, so that’s a good sign.”
“Definitely. I’m very grateful for that.” So grateful. “I thought he was lying, so I called his bluff.”
“How’d you know I’d duck?”
She raised a brow at him. “You’re trained.”
“Good point.”
She walked to the area of the fence that had been cut, not far from the northern gate. “He was here waiting.”
“For who?”
She shrugged. “The first person who came along? I don’t know.”
“That wasn’t the person I chased earlier.”
“No, this was a man. Definitely not a woman.”
He frowned. “He had on the same kind of hat, though. A tactical hat.”
Elena blew out a breath. “I noticed that too.”
“So, they’re possibly working together?”
“Maybe.”
He shook his head. “But why grab you? He could have stayed hidden and waited for us to move on.”
“Who knows?” She wasn’t sure, but she had some suspicions. It would take some investigating to figure it all out.
“Did you see his face?” Sully asked.
“No. Not with the hat and sunglasses. Stupid hat didn’t even come off in the fight. I couldn’t pick him out in a lineup, I don’t think.” She paused. “And I don’t remember any identifying features. Like a tattoo or whatever. Honestly, everything is kind of a blur.”
“Understandable. All right, well, we know there are at least two people who’ve been on this property who aren’t supposed to be.”
“Yes. We do know that.”
“What are you doing out here anyway?” he asked.
How much should she tell him? What could she tell him? All she had were suspicions. Nothing confirmed. Which was what she’d been trying to do with her little ride out to the edge of the property. “I recognized the hat you found.”
This time it was his turn to raise a brow at her. “Really? Whose is it?”
“I don’t know the person it belongs to, but a group of preppers I’m familiar with wear them. They never put a logo on the front. Just leave the big Velcro square blank to symbolize their beliefs.”
“Which are?”
“It’s an antiestablishment statement. They reject the idea of mainstream society’s need to label and categorize everything.
They don’t want to be a part of that. Think about it.
Everyone has a logo. Corporations, military, everyone on social media.
Deliberately wearing nothing is their way of saying ‘We refuse to be labeled, categorized, or tracked.’”