“Did you see who was shooting?” she asked him.
“No, I didn’t.”
He didn’t say so, but she could see from his stance and the way his shoulders hunched in concentration that this attack had him rattled. “It’s them, isn’t it?” She crouched to the ground with a whimpering Dylan.
“We don’t know that for certain.” He kneeled but remained in front of her and Dylan. “We have cover in the trees. We’ll just wait for backup to arrive, then I want you to head back to the ranch while I go after whoever was doing the shooting.”
She reached out to touch his arm. “Come back with us. Please, Miles.”
“I can’t. If our location has been compromised, I need to know it.”
She heard an engine and looked to see a truck approaching them. Miles stood and motioned for her to do the same. As the truck came closer, she saw Paul and their father in it. John stopped the truck between the trees and the shooter, and Miles quickly ushered her and Dylan into the back seat as Paul exited and handed him a rifle.
She grabbed for his arm again. “Please come with us.”
“We’ll check it out and be back to the ranch soon,” he promised.
“You’re their father. Why don’t you stop them?” she asked as John turned the truck around and headed back to the ranch house.
“They’re grown men who know how to take care of themselves and each other. And if there’s a threat to this ranch, we need to know about it. They’re doing what needs to be done.”
She clung to Dylan and tried to calm him down as she turned and glanced out the back window to see Miles and Paul chase down the horses, climb on them and then ride to the area where the shots had come from.
* * *
“I think the firing came from this direction,” Miles said as he rode into the trees.
No shots had been fired for nearly ten minutes and Melissa was bound to be safely back at the ranch, so he was sure whoever had shot at them was long gone. Still, they needed to check it out.
“How many shots did you hear?” Paul asked.
“Three, all aimed in our direction.”
“Could have been hunters on our land illegally. We had something similar happen back in the summer with someone firing at Lawson and Bree. You were here for that, weren’t you?”
“Actually, I’d already left to return to work.” But he remembered being told about it and wishing he’d remained at the ranch to help.
“Of course, in that case, it turned out to be drug dealers trying to kill Bree. Melissa doesn’t have a drug ring after her, does she?”
He could tell his brother was kidding, but he shook his head. “No, not a drug ring.”
Paul’s joking demeanor vanished. “Who then?”
He shouldn’t be sharing this info with his brother, but he wanted someone else to at least have an idea about the danger that might be lurking. And he trusted Paul completely. “Someone dangerous from her past. That’s all I can say.”
“Does he know she’s here at the ranch?”
“I didn’t think so, not until today.”
Paul took off his cowboy hat, fiddled with it a moment then slid it back onto his head. “Well, it’s probably nothing but stray bullets, but in case it’s not, I’ll ride over to the Simmons ranch. If someone entered our property here, they would have had to pass the Simmons ranch and they recently installed cameras.”
“They did?” He’d told Melissa he knew this town like the back of his hand, but he hadn’t known about that development.
“Yep. Seems Mr. Simmons had a rash of vandalism on his property. Trees and fields damaged, fires set, so he installed those cameras. Found out his property had become a place where these college kids hung out at night and had their parties. He took the images to Josh and he shut them down the next night. Anyway, his cameras might help us figure out who drove this way.” He climbed onto the horse and took off toward the Simmons ranch.
Miles hoped Paul found something because he didn’t like not knowing for sure and he was lacking the resources he was accustomed to in order to figure things out. He kneeled down and looked at the ruts in the mud and the tire tracks. This didn’t feel like stray bullets to him. Those shots had been too accurate to be accidental.
He pulled out his phone to call Griffin, but his hand hovered above the dial button. Griffin would tell him to pull out and find another safe house—and Miles wasn’t ready to leave. He still thought being here was a good plan, even if he couldn’t deny the fact that someone had been shooting at them.
He hit the button and dialed Griffin’s number and when his boss answered, he spoke the words he didn’t want to say.
“Our location may have been compromised.”
FOUR
“Now hold on,” Griffin stated. “Are you sure it was someone after Melissa?”
That was the problem. Miles wasn’t sure about anything. The shots had seemed deliberate and targeted, but how could anyone have found them so quickly? It didn’t make sense.
Griffin advised him to wait to gather more evidence before making any rash decisions and Miles decided he was right. He was jumping to conclusions, acting hastily because the fact that Melissa and Dylan had been found before had him rattled. Bad enough that he still didn’t understand how they’d been discovered at the hotel. But he’d made these plans. No one connected with the marshals office, not even Griffin, knew where they were.
Miles returned to the house, where they all looked at him anxiously.
“What happened?” Kellyanne asked. “Did you find anything?”
He noticed Melissa was on the couch as Dylan played at her feet. Her expression was one of anxiety and she must be wondering, like he was, if they’d been discovered and would have to leave.
“Paul went to the Simmons place to look at their video feed. He thinks it might have been stray bullets from illegal hunting.”
His mother nodded, latching on to that explanation. “Yes, yes, that’s probably right. We do get hunters this time of year.”
“I’m just glad no one was hurt,” his father stated, then promptly changed the topic. “Why don’t we all get ready for some supper?”
Miles glanced at Melissa. He needed to get her alone and talk about this situation. “I think we’re going to skip supper tonight, Mama.”
Melissa stood. “Yes, I think that’s for the best. I should really put Dylan down. It’s been a long day.” He liked how calm and collected she looked. She even smiled, though it didn’t go to her eyes. None of them did. What would it look like to see her really smile? He wanted to make that happen someday.
His family didn’t like the idea of them leaving but didn’t put up much of an argument. Miles loaded Dylan into his car seat while Melissa climbed into the front. They were silent for several moments before she turned to him and asked the question he’d been expecting.
“Have we been discovered?”
He gripped the steering wheel. He wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t want to mislead her. Honesty was the best option. “I’m not sure. I don’t see how anyone could have discovered where you are. No one knows I’m even on the case, let alone that I brought you here.”
“So you believe it might have just been an accident?”
He wanted to. He wanted to believe it so much. “The shots didn’t seem accidental, but like I said, I don’t know how anyone could have found us. I think it’s too early to decide we’ve been discovered. My family is right. We do get hunters on the property this time of the season and Paul said the neighbors have been having trouble with kids trespassing to throw parties.”
“So we’re not leaving?”
“I don’t want to go until we absolutely have to. I still believe you’re both safe here.”
He saw relief in her expression. “I’m glad. I like it here. It’s a lot better than any other place we�
��ve been. I like your family, too, though I hate lying to them.”
“It’s necessary.”
“I know it is and that’s why I do it, but they’ll be devastated when they discover the truth. They’re already growing attached to Dylan and he to them.”
His instinct was to reach across the seat and take her hand, but he didn’t. That would be crossing a line. It was one thing to play the considerate husband in front of his family. It was another thing entirely while they were in private. Besides, it was better to keep his distance. He’d already gotten too close to the lovely brunette, was too admiring of her strength and determination.
He parked in front of the cabin and carried a sleeping Dylan inside, placing him on the bed. But he stood awkwardly in the doorway as she pulled a blanket over the boy and tucked him in for the night before leaning down to plant a kiss on his forehead. This woman was amazing in so many ways. She kept her calm in the face of danger and plastered a smile on her face for his family. It took a lot of strength to keep up the charade that everything was fine when her world was crumbling around her.
“Are you two going to be okay?” He wasn’t ready to leave them alone and that surprised him. He had stuff to do—make certain their cover was still intact, check the perimeter, follow up with both his brother and Griffin—but his feet were planted in this doorway with this little family that reminded him of everything he’d ever wanted.
“We’ll be okay,” she said, but she didn’t seem to be in any hurry for him to leave, either. She wasn’t pushing him away. “I did enjoy the horse ride. So did Dylan. Thank you for doing that.”
“You’re welcome. It didn’t turn out to be as much fun as I’d hoped.”
“Dylan had a good time.”
She crossed her arms over her body and he sensed the fear she’d kept pushed down was starting to resurface.
Despite his determination to keep his distance, he reached out and stroked her arm. “Everything is going to be okay, Melissa. I won’t let anything happen to you or Dylan.”
A tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away. “I think I’m just tired. Tired of all the running and the hiding and deceit. Today, for just a moment, I let my guard down and enjoyed myself. I want to be able to do that again. I don’t want to live my life looking over my shoulder, constantly on guard, the way my mother did. And I don’t want my son to have to live that way.”
No one should have to live that way, but he couldn’t change the way the world worked. His job was to make sure she was safe and that often meant constantly being on guard. But she was right. It was no way to live. He would do his best to ensure that wherever she wound up was secure and no one could find her. She might still carry some fear, but hopefully, someday, she’d feel safe again. He’d watched her today when she’d let go and had fun. He’d enjoyed seeing her that way, and he wanted to see her really smile, the kind of smile he imagined made the golden specks in her brown eyes shine. That was the kind of life he hoped for her and Dylan.
He said good-night and left her. She didn’t need him to see her falling apart. She needed her privacy. It was his job to keep her safe, not comfort her...despite how much he longed to do so.
A knock at the door had him reaching for his weapon. He kept it hidden while he glanced through the peephole and spotted his brother Paul. He tucked the gun back into its holster and opened the door, anxious to hear what his brother had discovered.
Paul walked inside and glanced around. “Where’s Melissa?”
“She’s already gone to bed. What did you find?”
Paul pulled out his phone and showed him surveillance-camera images of a pickup that pulled into the clearing between the Simmons ranch and their property. “It’s definitely two young guys, can’t be older than early twenties. I had Josh run the truck’s tags and he recognized the names immediately as some college kids he’s run from the property before for illegal hunting.”
“You think that’s all this was? Illegal hunting?”
“It seems likely.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “Unless you want to give me more information about whoever it is that’s after Melissa.”
He wished he’d never said anything to Paul, especially if it really turned out to be nothing more than stray bullets from these kids hunting illegally on their property.
“It’s nothing. I shouldn’t have even said anything.”
Paul shot him a look to let him know he didn’t believe him, but he didn’t push the matter, probably figuring that Miles would share when he was ready. But he wasn’t going to share. He couldn’t. Not when it meant putting his family and Melissa in even greater danger.
Paul left and Miles checked the perimeter then locked up. He fell into a chair and pushed a hand through his hair as the events of the day caught up to him. He’d overreacted and it had nearly cost them their safe house. He should have remembered about the illegal hunting problems that were an ongoing issue in the area. He sent off a quick text to Griffin that he thought they were safe after all.
He took comfort in knowing that he’d done everything he could to protect Melissa and that no one should be able to connect them, or find her here. She was safe at Silver Star, safe with him and his family.
* * *
Early the next morning, Miles drove Melissa and Dylan back to the main house for breakfast with the family. It was Sunday and that meant all the Averys loaded up for church. Melissa had been a good sport about going when Miles had mentioned it. He’d offered to make up an excuse, but she’d assured him she didn’t mind going.
He parked in front of the house and wasn’t surprised to see activity already happening in the barn. Ranch work demanded an early start. It was one thing he hadn’t missed about being home.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen, noticing Lanie’s number on the caller ID. “I need to take this. I’ll meet you inside,” he told Melissa, who took Dylan and walked into the house.
He answered, expecting to hear Lanie’s voice, but instead heard two voices—Lanie’s and Adam’s. “We’re just here having breakfast together,” Adam told him. “You’re missing out on doughnuts and coffee.”
“Griffin told us about your dad’s relapse,” Lanie added. “We wanted to call and see if there was anything we could do.”
“I appreciate the offer. He’s doing a little better, but I’m going to stick around the ranch until he’s one hundred percent.”
“That makes sense,” Lanie said. “Give him our love and let us know if we can help in any way.”
He thanked them both, then hung up and put away his phone. Lying to his best friends left a sour taste in his mouth. Lanie and Adam had always been the ones he didn’t have to keep secrets from and that had been special to him. Now, everything had changed.
Miles spotted an unfamiliar face working on a piece of equipment and walked over to check him out. He was young, probably no more than seventeen or eighteen, but Miles didn’t recognize him. “What’s your name?” he asked the boy.
“Luke Mitchell.” The boy reached out to shake his hand but Miles hesitated. He didn’t know him or what Luke was doing working on this piece of equipment.
Paul came around the corner and greeted Miles. “I see you’ve met Luke.”
“I did.” Miles pulled his brother aside. “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s one of the kids Josh and Lawson are mentoring and training to work on a ranch. They’re hoping by giving them ranching skills, they’ll stay out of trouble.”
He wasn’t thrilled at hearing his brothers were letting juvenile delinquents onto the property, especially with Melissa and Dylan around. “When did this start?”
“They’ve been talking about doing it for a while, but last month they converted that old shed behind the barn into a bunkhouse and Josh picked four boys for the program.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to let
criminals, even kid criminals, around?”
“They’re just kids, Miles. None of them are violent offenders. They got in over their heads and need some help straightening themselves out. I think Josh just wants to do whatever he can to keep them out of juvenile detention. Besides, so far, they’ve all been good workers. Especially Luke over there. He has a real knack for mechanical work. It seems to come naturally to him.”
He glanced at Luke, who was also eyeing him with suspicion. Miles still didn’t like it. He hadn’t anticipated having extra people hanging around the Silver Star when he’d brought Melissa and Dylan here. But it wasn’t really his place to tell anyone they couldn’t stay. The Silver Star might be his childhood home, but Josh and Lawson lived here permanently and Paul had been living here during his recuperation from his injuries sustained in a Special Forces operation.
He motioned toward the stables. There seemed to be several new horses he didn’t recognize also. “These are new, too. Lots of changes around here in the past few months.”
Paul shook his head. “These aren’t ours. We’re just caring for them. They belong to the Woodwards, but Clint isn’t able to look after them right now.”
He remembered the Woodwards as a nice couple who’d purchased a ranch closer to town several years ago. A lot of their neighbors had been having a hard time keeping their ranches going. “What happened to them?”
“Their barn caught fire. Clint ran inside to free the horses. They all survived, but he suffered burns. He’s still in a recovery center in Dallas, but even after he gets home, I doubt he’ll be able to take care of them for a while. I’m hoping one of these boys will be willing to help him out until he gets back on his feet.”
Miles was sorry to hear about Clint Woodward. He remembered him as being a nice guy. “How did the fire start? Lightning strike?”
Texas Holiday Hideout Page 5
