Black Hills

21

He thought: Shit. And let her take her distance. Maybe she’d blow off the steam of temper, maybe she wouldn’t, but temper was better than exhaustion. She needed to ride, he thought, needed to just breathe awhile. The air filled with the scents of sage and juniper, while overhead an eagle circled on the hunt. He heard what he thought was the drumming of a grouse from a thicket of buckbrush that looked like it wanted to open its tight buds and bloom.

Mad or not, he knew she’d take it all in and be better for it.

She might not look up and watch the eagle, but she knew it was there.

When she finally slowed, he caught up with her. No, he decided, she hadn’t blown off the steam. She rode on it every bit as much as she rode on Rocky.

“How can you say that to me?” she demanded. “All you’ve ever wanted? You left me. You broke my heart.”

“We’re remembering it differently, because I don’t remember anybody leaving anybody. And you sure didn’t act brokenhearted when we decided the long-distance deal wasn’t working.”

“When you decided. I came halfway to New York to see you, to be with you. I’d wanted to go all the way, to spend real time with you on your turf. In your place. But you wouldn’t have that.” Those dark eyes stabbed at him, lethal as knives. “I guess you figured it would be harder to dump me if I was sitting in your New York apartment.”

“Jesus Christ, Lil, I didn’t dump you.” They wounded him, those eyes, spilled blood she couldn’t see. “It wasn’t like that.”

“What the hell was it like, from your perspective? You told me you couldn’t keep doing it, that you needed to concentrate on your own life, your own career.”

“I said we couldn’t, we needed.”

“Oh, bullshit!” Rocky shied a bit, disturbed by the tone, the temper. She controlled him with no sign of effort or concern. “You had no right to speak for me or my feelings. Not then, not now.”

“You sure as hell didn’t say so at the time.” His horse danced, as uneasy as Rocky. Coop steadied him, and would have turned so he and Lil were face-to-face. But she trotted off. Again. Setting his teeth, Coop nudged his mount to follow. “You agreed with me,” he added, annoyed with the defensiveness in his tone once he’d caught up.

“What the hell was I supposed to do? Fling myself into your arms and beg you to stay with me, to love me?”

“Actually-”

“I drove all the way to that damn motel in Illinois, so excited. It felt like years since we’d seen each other, and I was worried you wouldn’t like my hair, or my outfit. Stupid things. And I was aching to see you. Literally aching. Even my damn toes hurt.”

“Lil-”

“And I knew the minute I saw you that something was wrong. You got there before I did-remember? I saw you crossing the parking lot, coming from that little diner.”

Her voice changed. The anger leaked out of it as misery pushed in. Where the anger wounded him, the misery simply destroyed.

He said nothing, let her finish. Though he could’ve told her yes, he remembered. He remembered crossing that pothole of a parking lot, remembered the first instant he became aware of her. He remembered the thrill, the need, the despair.

All of it.

“You didn’t see me, at first. And I knew. I tried to tell myself it was just nerves, seeing you again. It was just… you looked different. Tougher, harder.”

“I was different. We both were by then.”

“My feelings hadn’t changed, not like yours.”

“Wait a minute.” He reached out to snag her bridle. “Wait a minute.”

“We made love, almost the minute we closed the door of that motel room. And I knew you were going to end it. Do you think I couldn’t tell you’d pulled away, pulled back?”

“I pulled back? How many times had you? Why had it been so long since we’d seen each other? There was always a project, a field trip, a-”

“You’re blaming me?”

“There’s no blame,” he began, but she swung off her horse, stalked away.

Struggling for patience, he dismounted to tether both the horses. “You need to listen.”

“I loved you. I loved you. You were the one, the only one. I’d have done anything for you, for us.”

“That’s part of the problem.”

“Loving you was a problem?”

“That you’d have done anything. Lil, just-hold still, damn it.” He gripped her shoulders when she would have walked away from him again. “You knew what you wanted to do with your life. You knew what you wanted, and you were doing it. Top of your class, honors and opportunities. You came alive, Lil. You were exactly where you needed to be, doing exactly what you needed to do. I couldn’t be a part of that, and I sure as hell couldn’t get in the way of it.”

“Now you’re claiming you dumped me and ripped my heart out for my own good? Is that how you choose to look at it?”

“That’s how it was, how it is.”

“I never got over you, you bastard.” Anger and insult in every part of her-face, body, voice-she shoved at him. “You ruined me. You took something from me, and I could never get it back, never give it to anyone else. I hurt a good man, a very good man, because I couldn’t love him, because I couldn’t give him what he deserved to have and you’d thrown away. I tried. Jean-Paul was perfect for me, and I should’ve been able to make it work. But I couldn’t, because he wasn’t you. And he knew, he always knew. Now you want to stand there and tell me you left for my sake?”

“We were children, Lil. We were just kids.”

“I didn’t love you any less, or hurt any less, because I was nineteen.”

“You were going somewhere. You were making a mark. I needed to make mine. So yeah, I did it for you, and for me. I had nothing to give you.”

“Bullshit.” She started to wrench away, but he yanked her back.

“I had nothing. I was nothing. I was broke, living from paycheck to paycheck-if I was lucky. Living in a dump because it was all I could afford, and moonlighting when I could get the extra work. I didn’t get out here often because I didn’t have the money for the trip.”

“You said-”

“I lied. I said I was busy, or couldn’t get time off. Mostly true, since I was working two jobs if I could get the extra work, and angling for overtime when I could get it. But that wasn’t why I didn’t come back more than I did. I sold the bike because I couldn’t afford it. I sold blood to make rent some months.”

“For God’s sake, Coop, if things were that bad why didn’t you-”

“Tap my grandparents? Because they’d already given me a start, and I wasn’t going to take more money from them.”

“You could’ve come home. You-”

“Come back here a failure, with barely enough to pay for a bus ticket? I needed to make myself into something, and you should understand that. There should’ve been money, a cut from my trust, when I turned twenty-one. I needed it, to get a decent place to live, to have a breather so I could work on the job and make that mark. My father tied it up. He was so pissed that I’d gone against his decisions, his plan for me. I had some money, what my grandparents gave me-what was left of it-my savings. He got my accounts frozen.”

“How?”

“It’s what he does. He knows people, he knows the system. Add that to the fact I’d screwed up in college, tossing money around like it was confetti. That’s my fault, nobody else’s, but I was young, stupid, in debt, and he had me by the balls. He figured I’d fall in line.”

“Are you telling me your father cut you off financially, cut you off from even what was yours, because he wanted you to be a lawyer?”

“No.” Maybe she’d never understand. “He did it because he wanted control, because he wouldn’t-can’t-tolerate anyone defying that control.”

Since she was listening, Coop eased back. “Money’s a weapon, and he knows how to use it. He’d release some of the funds if I… well, he had a list of conditions, and it doesn’t matter now. I had to get a lawyer, and it took a lot of time and money. So even when I got what was mine, I owed a lot of it in legal fees. I couldn’t let you come to New York and see the way I was living back then. I needed to put everything I had into the job. I needed to make detective, to prove I was good enough. And, Lil, you were flying. Getting articles published, traveling, making the dean’s list. You were amazing.”

“You should’ve told me. I had a right to know what was going on.”

“And if I had? You’d have wanted me to come back, and maybe I would have. With nothing. I’d’ve hated it. And I’d have blamed you sooner or later. Or you’d have given it all up and come to New York. And we’d have hated each other sooner. If I’d told you, Lil, if I’d ask you to stick with me until I made something, there wouldn’t be a Chance Wildlife Refuge. You wouldn’t be who you are now. Neither would I.”

“You made all the decisions.”

“I’ll cop to that. You agreed with them at the time.”

“I said I did because all I had left was pride.”

“Then you should understand that’s all I had.”

“You had me.”

He wanted to touch her, just his fingertips on her face, something to smooth away the hurt in her eyes. But it wasn’t the way.

“I needed to be someone, for myself. I needed something to be proud of. I spent the first twenty years of my life wanting my father to love me, to be proud of me. Just like my mother, I guess. He’s got a way of making you want that approval, then withholding it so you want it more, and feel… less, because it never really comes. You don’t know what that’s like.”

“No, I don’t.” She saw, so clearly, the boy she’d first met. Those eyes, those sad and mad eyes.

“I never knew what it was like to have someone care about me, for me, feel pride in me for anything until I came out here that summer to stay with my grandparents. After that, in some ways, it was even more important to get it from my own parents. From my father most of all. But I was never going to get it.”

He shrugged that off, something over, something no longer important. “Realizing that changed things. Changed me. Maybe I did get harder, Lil, but I started going after what I wanted, not what he wanted. I was a good cop, and that mattered. When I couldn’t be a cop anymore, I built up a business, and I was a good investigator. It was never about the money, though let me tell you it’s damn, fucking hard not to have any, to be afraid you won’t make the rent the second month running.”

She stared out over the canyon where the rocks rose in silent power toward the deepening blue of the sky. “Did you think I wouldn’t understand any of this?”

“I didn’t understand half of it, and I didn’t know how to tell you. I loved you, Lil. I’ve loved you every day of my life since I was eleven years old.” He reached in his pocket, drew out the coin she’d given him at the end of their first summer. “I’ve carried you with me, every day of my life. But there was a time I didn’t think I deserved you. You can blame me for that, but the fact is we both had to make our way. We wouldn’t have made it if we hadn’t let each other go.”

“You don’t know that. And you didn’t have the right to decide for me.”

“I decided for me.”

“And you can come back now, a decade later, when you’re ready? I’m supposed to go along?”

“I thought you were happy-and believe me it sliced up a part of me when I’d think about you going on, doing what you wanted to do, without me. Every time I’d hear about you, it was about the name you were making for yourself, how you were building the refuge, or off to Africa or Alaska. The few times I saw you, you were always busy. Heading off somewhere.”

“Because I couldn’t stand being around you. It hurt. Goddamn it.”

“You were engaged.”

“I was never engaged. People assumed we were engaged. I lived with Jean-Paul, and we traveled together sometimes if our work coincided. I wanted to make a life. I wanted a family. But I couldn’t make it work. Not with him, not with anyone.”

“If it makes you feel any better, anytime I heard about him, or about you seeing someone else, it killed me. I had a lot of miserable nights and days, hours, years, wishing I hadn’t done what I thought-still think-was the right thing. I figured you’d moved on, and half the time I hated you for it.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, want me to do.”

“Neither do I. But I’m saying to you I know who I am now, what I am, and I’m okay with it. I did what I needed to do, and now? I’m doing what I want to do. I’m going to give my grandparents the best I have, because that’s what they always gave me. I’m going to give you the best I have, because I’m not letting you go again.”

“You don’t have me, Coop.”

“Then I’ll fix that until I do. If for now all I can do is help you, keep you safe, sleep with you, and make sure you know I’m not going anywhere, that’s okay. Sooner or later you’re going to be mine again.”

“We’re not who we were.”

“We’re more than we were. And who we are, Lil? Still fits.”

“It’s not all your decision this time.”

“You still love me.”

“Yes, I do.” She faced him again, studied him with eyes that were both clear and unfathomable. “And I’ve lived a long time knowing love isn’t enough. You hurt me, more than anyone else ever has, more than anyone else ever could. Knowing why? I’m not sure if it makes it better or worse. That’s not an easy fix.”

“I’m not looking for easy. I came out here because my grandparents needed me. And I was ready to let go. I expected to find you the next thing to married. I told myself I’d have to suck that up. I’d had my chance. The way I look at it, Lil, you had yours, too. Take your time if you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

“So you keep saying.” She stepped back, started to turn toward the horses, but he took her arm, swung her back.

“I guess I’ll have to, until you believe me. Here’s one for you, Lil. Do you know how many ways love can hit you? So it makes you happy, or miserable? It makes you sick in the belly or hurt in the heart. It makes everything brighter and sharper, or blurs all the edges. It makes you feel like a king or a fool. Every way love can hit, it’s hit me when it comes to you.”

He drew her in to take her mouth, to give in to that endless ache while the wind swept the air with the perfume of sage.

“Loving you made a man out of me,” he said when he let her go. “It’s the man who came back for you.”

“You still make my knees weak, and I still want your hands on me. But that’s all I’m sure of.”

“That’s a start.”

“I have to get back.”

“You’ve got color in your cheeks, and you don’t look so tired now.”

“Well, yippee. That doesn’t mean I’m not pissed off at the way you got me out here.” She mounted her horse. “I’m pissed off at you in so many ways right now, on so many levels.”

He studied her face as he swung into the saddle. “We never fought all that much the first time around. Too young and horny.”

“No, we didn’t fight so much because you weren’t such an asshole.”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

“You’re probably right. You were probably just as much of an asshole back then.”

“You liked flowers. You always liked it when we’d go hiking or riding and the wildflowers were blooming. I’ll have to get you some flowers.”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll make everything just fine.” Her tone was as brittle as juniper in a drought. “I’m not one of your city women who can be bought off with a bunch of fancy roses.”

“You don’t know anything about my city women. Which probably sticks in your craw.”

“Why should it? I’ve had plenty of men… bring me flowers since you.”

“Okay, point for you on that.”

“This isn’t a game, or a joke, or a competition.”

“No.” But she was talking to him, and he considered that a check in the win column. “At this point, I have to believe it’s just destiny. I worked pretty hard on my life without you. And here I am, right back where I started.”

She said nothing while their horses waded through the high grass and back to the trailhead.

He waited until they’d loaded the horses, secured the tailgate. Behind the wheel, he started the engine and glanced at her profile. “I brought some of my things over. I’m going to be staying there, at least until they have Howe in custody. I’m going to bring some other things over tomorrow. I need a drawer, some closet space.”

“You can have a drawer and the closet space. Just don’t assume it means anything but that I’m willing to make it convenient for you, as I’m grateful for your help.”

“And you like the sex.”

“And I like the sex,” she said, very coolly.

“I’ll need to do some work while I’m staying at the cabin. If using the kitchen table doesn’t work for you, I need somewhere else to set up my laptop.”

“You can use the living room.”

“All right.”

“Are you not mentioning how James Tyler was killed because you think I can’t handle it?”

“There were other things I wanted to talk about.”

“I’m not fragile.”

“No, but it’s wearing on you. They’ll have to wait for the autopsy, but from what Willy said, his throat was slit. He was stripped down to his pants and boots-so I figure his killer thought he could use the shirt and jacket, the cap he’d been wearing. His watch, his wallet. He probably destroyed the cell phone, or Tyler lost it along the way. The killer must have had the cord he used on him. He weighed the body down with rocks. Went to some time and trouble to get it in the river, in that spot, secure it. But the rain shifted things enough to bring it up to the point Gull spotted it.”

“He’s probably disposed of other bodies with more luck.”

“Yeah, that would be my take.”

“So if he’s the one who killed Molly Pickens, he wasn’t dead or in prison like you thought, or not in prison for the length of time you thought. He’s just been mixing it up. Leaving some bodies for the animals, bodies that can be found or have been found. Hiding others.”

“That’s the way it looks.”

She nodded slowly, the way he knew she did when she was reasoning something out. “And killers who do this, serial types, who troll and travel, who know how to hide and blend, who have some measure of control, they aren’t always caught.”

“You’ve been reading up.”

“It’s what I do when I need information. They end up with creative names-and maybe a feature film. Zodiac, Green River. Still, they usually need to taunt the police, or use the media. He doesn’t.”

“It’s not about glory or acknowledgment. It’s about the work. It’s personal, and he gets his satisfaction from that. Every kill is proof he’s better than the victim. Better than his father. He’s proving something. I know what that’s like.”

“Did you become a cop to be a hero, Coop?”

His lips curved. “In the beginning? Yeah, probably. I was completely out of place during my short stint in college. Not just trying to find my place, but out of it. The only things I learned about the law were-I didn’t want to be a lawyer, but the law itself was fascinating. So, law enforcement.”

“Fighting crime in the urban canyons.”

“I loved New York. Still do,” he said easily. “And sure, I imagined I’d be hunting down bad guys, protecting the populace. I found out, fast, I’d be standing around a lot, sitting around, knocking on doors and doing paperwork. There’s so much tedium in proportion to moments of absolute terror. I learned to be patient. I learned how to wait, and what it means to protect and serve. Then on 9/11, everything shifted.”

She reached out, laid a hand over his, lightly, briefly. But it was all there in the touch. Comfort, sympathy, understanding. “We were all terrified until we knew you were safe.”

“I wasn’t on the roll that day. By the time I got down there, the second tower was gone. You just did what you had to, what you could.”

“I was in class when we heard a plane had hit one of the towers. Nobody knew, not at first, what was happening. And then… everything stopped. There was nothing else but that.”

He shook his head, because if he let them, the pictures would form in his mind again, of what he’d seen and done, and hadn’t been able to do.

“I knew some of the cops who went in, some of the firefighters. People I’d worked with, or hung out with, played ball with. Gone. After that, I never thought I’d leave the job. It was like a mission then. My people, my city. But when Dory was killed, it switched off for me. Just like somebody cut the wire. I couldn’t do it anymore. Losing that was the worst thing in my life next to losing you.”

“You could’ve transferred to another place.”

“That’s what I did, in my own way. I needed to build something back, I guess. To make something out of the death and the grief. I don’t know, Lil. I did what came next. It worked for me.”

“You’d still be there if Sam hadn’t had the accident.”

“I don’t know. The city came back, and so did I. I was done there, and I’d already put plans in place to come back before the accident.”

“Before?”

“Yeah. I wanted the quiet.”

“Considering what’s happened, you haven’t gotten what you wanted.”

He looked over at her. “Not yet.”

It was nearing dark by the time he turned onto her road. Long shadows at the end of a long day.

“I’m going to help with the feeding,” she said. “Then I have some work to finish up.”

“I’ve got some of my own.” He reached over before she could open the door, and cupped the back of her neck in his hand. “I could say I’m sorry, but I’m not, because here you are. I could tell you I’ll never hurt you again, but I will. What I can tell you is I’m going to love you for the rest of my life. Maybe that’s not enough, but right now it’s what I’ve got.”

“And I’ll tell you I need time to think, time to settle, and time to figure out what it is I want this time.”

“I’ve got time. I have to run into town. Do you need any supplies?”

“No, we’re good.”

“I’ll be back in an hour.” He tugged her over, pressed his mouth to hers.

MAYBE WORK WAS a crutch, Lil admitted. Something to lean on, to help her limp along after a hard knock. It still had to be done. So she hauled food while the animals chorused. She watched Boris pounce on his dinner, rip at it. And thought, If things go well, he’ll have company within the week.

Another notch in the refuge’s belt, true enough, she mused. But more important, to her, another abused animal given sanctuary, freedom-as far as she could manage-and care.

“So how was your adventure?”

From the smile on Tansy’s face, Lil concluded her friend had wit nessed her humiliating exit earlier. And those who hadn’t actually seen it had certainly heard of it.

She owed Coop for that one.

“Men are idiots.”

“Often true, but we love them for it.”

“He decided to do the caveman routine so he could tell me why he stabbed me in the heart back in the day. Manly pride and for my own good, and other bullshit reasons, which-natch-I was too young and starry-eyed to consider or understand at the time. Better to rip me to bloody pieces than to actually talk to me, right? Stupid bastard man.”

“Wow.”

“Did he ever consider what it did to me? How much it hurt? That I thought I wasn’t enough for him, that he’d found someone else? That I’ve spent damn near half of my life trying to get the hell over him. And now he’s back and, gee, Lil, it was all for you. I’m supposed to just jump and cheer, and be what, grateful?”

“I couldn’t say. And probably shouldn’t if I could.”

“He’s always loved me. Always will love me, and tra-la-la. So he hauls me off like I’m some package he can drop off and pick up on his whim, again for my own good, and dumps all this in my lap. If I were less civilized, I’d kick his ass for it.”

“You don’t look very civilized right at the moment.”

She heaved out a breath. “Well, I am, so I can’t. Plus, it would be sinking to his Neanderthal level. I’m a scientist. I have a doctorate. And you know what?”

“What, Dr. Chance?”

“Shut up. I was dealing with all this, with him, with me, with it before this. Now I don’t know what the hell to think.”

“He told you he loves you.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is? You love him. You told me when you and Jean-Paul called it a day it was because you were still in love with Coop.”

“He hurt me, Tansy. He ripped me to pieces, again, just by telling me why he did it in the first place. And he doesn’t see that. He doesn’t get that.”

Tansy put her arm around Lil, drew her against her side. “I do, honey. I really do.”

“I can even understand, intellectually. If I step back and look at everything he said, objectively, I can nod sagely. Yes, of course, that’s reasonable on this particular level. But I’m not objective. I can’t be. I don’t care about reasonable. I was so pitifully in love.”

“You don’t have to care about reasonable. You only have to care about how you feel. And if you love him, you’ll forgive him, after he suffers.”

“He should suffer,” Lil stated. “I don’t want to be fair and forgiving.”

“Hell no. Why don’t we go inside? I can make Men Suck margaritas. I can stay tonight, thereby avoiding my own idiot man. We’ll get drunk and plot female world domination.”

“That sounds so good. I could really use all of that. But he’s coming back. Until we’re secure here, that’s the way it’s going to be. I need to deal with it, somehow. Plus, I can’t get drunk on Men Suck margaritas-though you do make the champions-because I have to work. I have to work because some asshole hauled me off for two hours.”

She turned, wrapped her arms around Tansy. “God, God, there’s a man dead, and his wife must be destroyed. And I’m standing here, feeling sorry for myself.”

“You can’t change what happened. None of it’s your fault.”

“I can think that, intellectually again. Not my fault, not my responsibility. But Tansy, my gut says differently. James Tyler was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it was the wrong place and time because this maniac’s focused on me. Not my fault, no. But.”

“When you think like that, he scores points.” Firmly, Tansy drew her away so their eyes met. “It’s terrorism. It’s psychological warfare. He’s pushing at you. For him, Tyler wasn’t any different than that cougar or that wolf. Just another animal to be bagged and used to get to you. Don’t let him get to you.”

“I know you’re right.” She wanted to say “but” again. Instead, she gave Tansy another hug. “You’re awfully good for me. Even margarita-free.”

“We’re the smart girls.”

“We are. Go on home, and deal with your own idiot man.”

“I guess I have to.”

Lil checked on the injured fawn-treated, fed, and secured in an area of the petting zoo. If she healed clean, they’d release her to the wild. If not… well, she’d have sanctuary here.

Time would tell.

She spent another hour in her office. She heard trucks leaving, trucks coming. Staff heading home, volunteer guards coming. Soon, she thought, the security system would be finished and she could stop imposing on neighbors and friends. Now she could only be grateful for them.

She went out, and spotted Gull immediately. “Gull, nobody expected you to come here tonight.”

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. It’s better to be doing something.” He might’ve looked a little peaked yet, but his eyes were healthy enough to be lethal. “I half hope that son of a bitch comes around here tonight.”

“I know it’s terrible, but because of you, his wife knows. She’s not wondering anymore. If you hadn’t found him, it would be worse. She’d still not know.”

“Willy told me her boys came.” His lips pressed together as he looked off and away. “Her sons came, so she’s not alone.”

“That’s good. She shouldn’t be alone.” She gave his arm a rub before she walked on.

When she stepped inside the cabin, Coop was on the couch, his laptop on the coffee table. He turned something over, casually-too casually-as she stepped in.

A photograph, she thought, from the brief glimpse.

“I can make a sandwich,” she said. “That’s about all I have time for. I want to go take my shift outside.”

“I picked up a pizza in town. It’s in the oven on warm.”

“Okay. That works, too.”

“I’ll finish up here. We’ll grab a slice together, and take first shift.”

“What are you working on?”

“Couple of things.”

Annoyed with the nonresponse, she simply walked back to the kitchen.

There, on her table was a vase filled with yellow tulips. Because they made her eyes sting and her heart soften, she turned away to get plates down. She heard him come in as she dealt with the pizza.

“The flowers are pretty, thank you. They don’t fix things.”

“Pretty’s good enough.” He’d had to nag the woman who owned the flower shop to open back up and sell them to him. But pretty was good enough. “Do you want a beer?”

“No, I’ll stick with water.” She turned with two plates and nearly rammed him. “What?”

“We could take a break tomorrow. I could take you out to dinner, maybe a movie.”

“Dates won’t fix things either. And I don’t feel right being away too long. Not now.”

“Okay. Once the system’s up and running, you can make dinner, and I’ll rent a movie.”

He took the plates, carried them to the table.

“Doesn’t it matter how mad I am at you?”

“No. Or it doesn’t matter as much as the fact that I love you. I’ve waited this long. I can wait until you stop being mad at me.”

“It might be a really long wait.”

“Well.” He sat, picked up a slice. “Like I keep saying. I’m not going anywhere.”

She sat down, picked up a slice of her own. “I’m still mad-plenty-but I’m too hungry to bother about it right now.”

He smiled. “It’s good pizza.”

It was, she thought.

And, damn it, the tulips really were pretty.

22

In his cave, deep in the hills, he studied his take. He imagined the watch-decent, high middle-range-had been a birthday or Christmas present. He liked to imagine good old Jim opening it, expressing his pleasure and surprise, giving his wife-also very decent if she looked like the photo in the wallet-a thank-you kiss.

Six months, maybe a year down the road, he could pawn it if he needed some cash. Right now, thanks to good old Jim, he was flush with the $122.86 he’d taken out of Jim’s pockets.

He’d also scored a Swiss Army knife-you could never have too many-a hotel key card, a half pack of Big Red gum, and a Canon Pow ershot digital camera.

He spent some time figuring out how to work it, then scrolling through the pictures Jim had taken that day. Mostly scenery, with a few shots of Deadwood, and a couple of the not-shabby Mrs. Jim.

He shut it off to preserve the battery, though Jim had considerately brought along a spare in his pack.

It was a good-quality pack, and brand-spanking-new. That would be handy down the road. Then there were the trail snacks, extra water, first-aid kit. He imagined Jim reading a hiking guide, making himself a checklist for what he should take on a day trip. Matches, bandages and gauze, Tylenol, a little notebook, a whistle, a trail map, and the hiking guide, of course.

None of that had done Jim any good, because he was an amateur. An intruder.

He’d been meat.

Spry though, he mused as he munched on some of Jim’s trail mix. The fucker could run. Still, it had been so easy to herd the bastard along, to push him farther off the trail, to move him toward the river.

Good times.

He’d gotten a good shirt and a new jacket out of the match, too. A shame about the boots. The bastard had good Timberlands. And really small feet.

All in all, it had been a good hunt. He’d give Jim six out of ten. And the take was prime.

He’d considered the rain a bonus. No way the half-assed cops and rangers, the hayseed local yokels, would find any sign of good old Jim with the rain washing out the tracks.

He could have, he and those who’d come before him. Those who owned the holy ground.

It had saved him the time and trouble of backtracking, brushing out tracks, laying false trails. Not that he minded doing all that. It was part of the job, after all, and carried some satisfaction.

But when Nature offered you a gift, you took it with thanks.

The problem was, sometimes the gift was a booby prize.

Without the rain, the flooding, old Jim would’ve stayed where he’d been put-and for a good long while, too. He hadn’t made a mistake there, no sir. Mistakes could cost you your life in the wild. That’s why the old man had beat him bloody whenever he’d made one. He hadn’t made a mistake. He’d loaded Jim down good and proper and tied him down strong under those falls. He’d taken his time. (Maybe not enough time, he thought in the secret part of his mind. Maybe he’d hurried it up because the hunt made him hungry. Maybe…)

He pushed those thoughts away. He didn’t make mistakes.

So they’d found him.

He frowned at the handset he’d stolen weeks before. He’d heard them on their radios, scattered all over hell and back. He’d gotten a good laugh out of it, too.

Until that asshole got lucky.

Gull Nodock. Maybe he’d look up asshole Gull one of these days. He wouldn’t be so damn lucky then.

But that would have to wait, unless the opportunity jumped up and bit him. It was thinking time now.

What he should likely do was pack it up, move on. Cross over into Wyoming and set up for a few weeks. Let things cool off. Asshole cops would take a dead tourist more seriously than a dead wolf or cat.

To his mind the wolf and the cat were worth a hell of a lot more than some fucker from St. Paul. The wolf, now, that had been a fair hunt. But the cat, he had had some bad moments over that cougar. Bad dreams about the cougar’s spirit coming back and hunting him.

He’d just wanted to know what it was like, that’s all, to kill something wild and free while it was caged up. He hadn’t known it would feel so bad, or the spirit of the cat would haunt him.

Hunt him. In the dreams, under a full moon, it stalked him, and screamed as it leaped for his throat.

In dreams the spirit of the cougar he’d killed stared at him with cold eyes that left him shaking with sweat and waking with his heart pounding.

Like a baby, his father would’ve said. Like a girl. Sniveling and shaking and afraid of the dark.

Didn’t matter, over and done, he reminded himself. And he’d given pretty Lil a good scare, hadn’t he? Have to weigh the good against the bad there.

They’d be looking for him hard now, over good old Jim. It’d be prudent-like his old man used to say-it’d be prudent to put some miles between himself and the hunting ground.

He could come back for Lil, for their contest, a month from now, six months if the heat stayed on. Leave those cops and rangers chasing their tails.

The trouble was, he wouldn’t be around to see it. No fun in that, no kick, no punch.

No point.

If he stayed, he’d feel them hunting him. Maybe he’d hunt them, too. Take a couple out along the way. Now, that would be worth the risk. And it was the risk that got the blood moving, wasn’t it?

It was the risk that proved you weren’t a baby, you weren’t a girl. You weren’t afraid of any goddamn thing. The risk, the hunt, the kill, they proved you were a man.

He didn’t want to wait six months for Lil. He’d waited so long already.

He’d stay. This was his land now, as it was the land of his ancestors. No one would run him off it. He’d take his stand here. If he couldn’t beat a bunch of uniforms, he wasn’t worthy of the contest.

Here was his destiny, and whether she knew it or not, he was Lil’s.

WORK IN THE compound moved efficiently, even more so to Lil’s eye when Brad Dromburg arrived. He cracked no whips, pointed no fingers, but everything seemed to move faster when he was on-site.

Lil’s only problem with the nearly completed system was the learning curve.

“You’ll have some false alarms,” Brad told her as he walked the paths with her. “My advice would be to limit access to the controls to your head staff, at least for now. The fewer people have your codes, know the routine, the less margin for error.”

“We’ll be fully operational by the end of the day?”

“Should be.”

“That’s fast work. Faster, I know, than usual-and smoother because you came out to oversee. It’s a lot, Brad. I’m grateful.”

“All part of the service. Plus I’ve had a few days of what we’ll call a working vacation, a little time to catch up with a friend, and the best damn chicken and dumplings this side of heaven.”

“Lucy’s masterpiece.” She stopped to stroke the sweet-eyed donkey who called to her before moving on again. “I have to say I was surprised you stayed at Coop’s instead of a hotel.”

“I can stay in a hotel anytime. Too many times. But how often does a city boy get to stay in a refitted bunkhouse on a horse farm?”

She glanced at him and laughed because he sounded very much like a kid who’d been given an unexpected holiday. “I guess not often.”

“And it’s given me some insight on why my friend and fellow urbanite traded the concrete canyons for the Black Hills. It’s just like he always described,” Brad added, looking off to the hills, green with the burgeoning spring.

“So he talked about it, about coming out here as a boy?”

“About how it looked, felt, smelled. What it was like to work with horses, fish with your father. It was clear that while he lived in New York, he considered this his home.”

“Odd. I always thought he considered New York home.”

“My take? New York was something Coop had to conquer. This was where he always felt… well, at peace. That sounds a little strong. The way he talked about out here, I thought he was romanticizing, putting the pretty touches on it the way you do when you remember something from childhood. I have to say I thought he was doing the same when he talked about you. I was wrong, in both cases.”

“That’s a nice compliment, but I imagine everyone romanticizes or demonizes their childhood to some extent. I can’t imagine Coop had that much to say about me. And, wow, that was such obvious fishing,” she added quickly. “Picture me packing up my rod and reel.”

“He had plenty to say about you, when you were kids-when you weren’t exactly kids anymore. He’d show me articles you’d written.”

“Well.” Baffled, Lil simply stared. “That must’ve been fascinating for the layman.”

“Actually, they were. Into the Alaskan wilderness, deep in the Ever-glades, on the plains of Africa, the American West, the mysteries of Nepal. You’ve covered a lot of the world. And your articles on this place helped me with the security design.”

He walked another moment in silence. “It’s probably a violation of a buddy rule to tell you, but he carries a picture of you in his wallet.”

“He stayed away. That was his choice.”

“Can’t argue with that. You never met his father, did you?”

“No.”

“He’s a cold son of a bitch. Hard and cold. I had some issues with my father off and on. But under that? I always knew I mattered to him. Just as Coop always knew the only part of him that mattered to his father was the name. Takes a while to build up self-esteem when the person who should love you unconditionally continually chips away at it.”

Sad and mad, she thought. It would make you sad and mad. “I know it was hard for him. And hard for me, who has the best parents in the history of parents, to fully understand what it’s like to go through it.”

Still, she thought, damn it.

“But tell me, is it a guy thing? Separating yourself from people who love and value you, and fighting it out alone, continually butting head to head with those who don’t love and value you?”

“How do you know you deserve to be loved and valued if you don’t prove yourself?”

“A guy thing then.”

“Could be. Then again, I’m standing here talking to a woman who recently spent six months in the Andes, a long way from the home fires. Work, sure,” he said before she could respond. “Work you’re dedicated to. But you don’t travel with a safety net, do you? I imagine you’ve taken a lot of trips, spent a lot of time on your own because you needed to prove you’d earned your spot.”

“That’s annoyingly true.”

“After his partner was killed and he was shot, he made an effort to reconcile with his mother.”

Oh, she thought, then. Of course, then. It was perfectly Cooper Sullivan.

“It worked out pretty well,” Brad continued. “He tried to mend some fences with his father.”

“Did he?” she asked. “Yes, of course, he would have.”

“That didn’t work out. After, he built a very solid business for himself. It was a way to prove, if you ask me, that he didn’t need the money from the trust to make his way.”

“That would be something his father would say to him, I imagine. I’ve never met him, no, but I imagine him saying, when Coop tried to mend those fences, that he was nothing without the money. The family money. Money that had come from his father. Yes, I can hear him say that. Can imagine Cooper bound and determined to, again, prove him wrong.”

“He did prove him wrong. More than once. But I’d say that was the point where Coop stopped needing his father’s approval, on any level, in any way. He’s never said, and probably wouldn’t admit it, but I know him. And he’s never stopped needing yours.”

“He’s never asked me what I thought, if I approved.”

“Hasn’t he?” Brad said lightly.

“I don’t-” She turned at the shout, watched the van ease up in front of the first cabin. “That’s our tiger.”

“No shit, the strip-club tiger? Can I watch?”

“Sure, but she won’t do a lap dance. We’ll start her out in the enclosure,” Lil began as they walked toward the van. “On the other side of the fencing we put up in Boris’s. He’s old, but he’s feisty. She’s young, but she’s been declawed. And she’s been chained or caged, drugged most of her life. She hasn’t been around her own kind. We’ll watch how they react to each other. I don’t want either one of them hurt.”

She stopped to introduce herself and shake hands with the driver and the wrangler. “Our office manager, Mary Blunt. Mary will take the paperwork. I’d like to see her.”

Lil climbed into the cargo area, crouched so the dull eyes of the tiger met hers. Defeated, Lil thought, resigned. All the pride and ferocity sheared away by years of mistreatment.

“Hello, pretty girl,” she murmured. “Hello, Delilah. Welcome to a whole new world. Let’s take her home,” she called out. “I’ll ride back here with her.”

She sat cross-legged on the floor of the van, cautiously pressed her palm to the bars. Delilah barely moved. “No one’s ever going to hurt you again, or humiliate you. You have family now.”

As they had with the pampered Cleo, they set the cage, locked open the door to the opening of the enclosure. Unlike Cleo, the tiger made no attempt to leave the cage.

Boris, on the other hand, prowled back to the fenceline, scenting the air. He marked his line, preening, Lil noted, as he hadn’t done in a very long time. And puffing out his chest, he roared.

In her cage, Delilah’s muscles twitched.

“Let’s back off. She’s nervous. There’s food and water in the enclosure. And Boris is talking to her. She’ll go in, in her own good time.”

Lucius lowered his camera. “She looks kind of beaten down. You know, emotionally.”

“We’ll get Tansy to work with her. And if we need to, we’ll bring in the shrink.”

“You have a tiger shrink?” Brad asked, astonished.

“A behavioral psychologist. We’ve worked with him before, in extreme cases. I guess you could call him an exotic animal whisperer.” She smiled. “Check him out on Animal Planet. But I think we’ll be able to take care of her. She’s tired and… her self-esteem’s an issue. We’ll just make sure she knows she’s loved, valued, and safe here.”

“I think the big guy there is smitten,” Brad observed as Boris rubbed himself against the fence.

“He’s been lonely. A male tiger mingles well with females. They’re more chivalrous than lions.” She moved back, sat on a bench. “I’ll just keep an eye on them for a while.”

“I’ll go check on the progress on your gates. We should be able to test the system in another couple of hours.”

After about a half hour, Tansy came to join her, and offer one of the two bottles of Diet Pepsi she’d brought out.

“They used cattle prods and Tasers on her,” Tansy said.

“I know.” Still watching the motionless cat, Lil sipped her soft drink. “She expects to be punished if she steps out of the cage. Sooner or later, she’ll go after the food. If she doesn’t, by tomorrow, we’ll have to get her out. I’m hoping we won’t. She needs to leave the cage on her own, and not be punished.”

“Boris already has stars in his eyes.”

“Yeah. It’s sweet. She may respond to him, to the alpha, before she gives in to hunger. And she’ll need to void. She’s probably had to void in her cage before, but she won’t want to, since there’s a choice.”

“The vet working with animal abuse treated her for an infected bladder, and had to pull two of her teeth. Matt’s going over all the reports, and wants to examine her himself. But he feels, as you do, that she needs to be left alone for a while first. How are things between you and Coop?”

“We’re in a kind of moratorium, I guess. We need to get this security up and running. Plus I think he’s working with the police. He has files he doesn’t want me to see. I’m leaving it alone for now.”

“Like the tiger.”

“As a metaphor for my relationship with Coop, it’s not bad. It’s fairly shaky, with the potential for a feral strike. I found two clips for his handgun in my lingerie drawer. Why the hell would he put them there?”

“I guess it’s hard to forget where you put them. Your everyday stuff, or the fuck-me stuff?”

“The fuck-me stuff. It’s mortifying. I was going to get rid of most of it. It’s weird having it around. The Jean-Paul factor. He bought most of it, and enjoyed all of it.”

“Clean it out. Buy your own.”

“Yeah, I’m just not sure I want to invest in that area right now. It sends a signal.”

“It does. I bought two extreme rip-this-off-me-big-boy nighties the other day. Online shopping is my friend. I’m still wondering why I didn’t stop myself.”

“Farley’s going to swallow his tongue.”

“I keep telling myself I’m going to break this off before it gets any deeper. Then I’m scoping out the spring line from Victoria ’s Secret. I am not well, Lil.”

“You’re in love, honey.”

“I think it’s just lust. Lust is good. No harm done. And it passes.”

“Uh-huh. Just lust. You bet.”

“All right, stop badgering me, you fiend. I know it’s more than lust. I just haven’t figured out how to handle it. So stop your insidious torture.”

“All right, since you begged. Look. Look.” Lil clamped a hand on Tansy’s knee. “She’s moving.”

As they watched, Delilah bellied forward an inch, then another. Boris growled his encouragement. When she was halfway out, she went still as a statue again, and Lil feared she’d retreat. Then she quivered, bunched, and leaped on the whole chicken left on her concrete pad.

She gripped it in her paws, her head shifting as she scanned right, left, forward. Her eyes met Lil’s.

Go on and eat, Lil thought. Go on, now.

She cocked her head, and still watching, sank her teeth into the meat.

She ripped and bolted the food. Lil squeezed her hand on Tansy. “Waiting for someone to lay into her. God, I wish I could take a cattle prod to those bastards in Sioux City.”

“Right there with you. Poor girl. She could make herself sick.”

But she kept it down. Rather than clean her paws, she slunk over to the trough, drank and drank.

On the other side of the fence, Boris rose on his hind legs, called to her. She kept low, kept subservient, but approached the fence to sniff at him. When he lowered, she scurried back to stand at the entrance to her cage.

To what, Lil knew, she thought of as safety. He called her again, insistently, until she bellied over to the fence, quivering, trembling as he sniffed her nose, her front paws.

When he licked her, Lil smiled. “We should’ve called him Romeo. Let’s get the cage away, close her in. Boris will take it from here.”

She checked her watch as she rose. “Excellent timing. I need to run into town.”

“I thought we had our supply run.”

“I’ve got to do some errands. And I want to swing by and see my parents. I’ll be back before sundown.”

SHE DIDN’T INTEND to stop by the Wilkses’ stables, but she was early, and they were right there. In any case, it was irresistible when she spotted Coop leading a little girl around the paddock on a sturdy bay pony.

The kid looked as though she’d just been given the keys to the universe’s biggest toy store. She bounced in the saddle, obviously incapable of being still, and her face under her pink cowgirl hat glowed like the summer sun.

As she stepped out of her truck, Lil heard the kid chattering away at Coop while her mother laughed and her father took pictures. Charmed, Lil walked over to the fence and leaned against it to watch.

Coop looked pretty damn pleased himself, she noted, giving the kid his attention, answering endless questions while the little horse plodded along patiently.

How old was the kid? she wondered. Four maybe? Long sunny pigtails twined down under the hat, and her jeans had colorful flowers embroidered on the hem.

Impossibly cute, Lil concluded. Then felt a hard, deep tug as Coop reached up to lift the girl out of the saddle.

She’d never really thought of him as a father. At one time she’d simply assumed they’d have a family together, but it had all been vague and silver-edged. Pretty dreams of “one day.”

She thought of all the years between. They might have had a little girl.

He let the girl stroke and pet the horse, then fished a carrot out of a sack. He showed her how to hold it, and put the frothy icing on the kid’s happy cake by allowing her to feed the pony.

Lil waited while he spoke with the parents, and saw him grin when the girl flung her arms around his legs in a hug.

“She’ll remember you for the rest of her life,” Lil commented when Coop came her way.

“The horse anyway. Nobody forgets their first.”

“I didn’t know you offered pony rides.”

“It just happened. The kid was dying for it. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about opening that area up. Low overhead, nice profit. The father insisted on giving me a ten-dollar tip.” He grinned again as he dug it out of his pocket. “Want to help me spend it?”

“Tempting, but I’m meeting somebody. You were good with the kid.”

“She made it easy. And yeah, I’ve thought about it.” When she lifted her brows in question, he laid his hands over hers on the top of the fence. “What kind of kids we might have made.” He tightened his grip when she would have pulled back. “Your eyes. I’ve always been a sucker for your eyes. I wondered what kind of a father I’d make. I think I’d be okay. Now.”

“I’m not going dewy-eyed over dream children, Coop.”

“This is a good place to raise kids, the real kind. We both know that.”

“You’re taking a lot of big leaps. I’m sleeping with you because I want to sleep with you. But I have a lot of things to resolve, a lot to think through before it can be anything more than that, and what’s turning out to be a tenuous friendship.”

“I said I’d wait, and I will. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to use whatever comes along to get you back. It occurs to me, Lil, I never had to work for you before. Could be interesting.”

“I didn’t come by to talk about this. God, you frustrate me.” She yanked her hands from under his. “I wanted to tell you Brad thinks we’ll have the security up and running by the end of the day.”

“Okay. Good.”

“I’m going to let everyone know we won’t need patrols. That includes you.”

“I’m there until Howe’s in a cell.”

“That’s your choice. And I won’t pretend I’d rather not stay in the compound alone at night. You can keep your drawer and your share of the closet. I’ll sleep with you. For the rest, I don’t know.” She started to walk away, then stopped. “I want to know everything Willy’s shared with you, because I know he’s kept you up on the investigation, the manhunt. I want to see those files you’ve been so careful to keep away from me. You want a chance with me this time around, Coop? Then you’d better understand I expect to be trusted and respected. On every level. Good sex and yellow tulips aren’t nearly enough.”

FARLEY WAS PACING a trough in the sidewalk in front of the jewelry store when Lil arrived. “I didn’t want to go in without you.”

“I’m sorry I’m late. I got hung up.”

“No problem.” The hands in his pockets jingled loose change. “You’re not late. I got here early.”

“Nervous?”

“Some. I just want to make sure it’s exactly the right one.”

“Let’s go find it.”

There were a scatter of customers and a lot of glitter inside. Lil raised a hand in a wave to the clerk she knew, then hooked her arm through Farley’s. “What did you have in mind?”

“That’s why you’re here.”

“No, just tell me what you think.”

“I… Well, it’s gotta be special, and kind of different. I don’t mean fussy or…”

“Unique.”

“Yeah, unique. Like she is.”

“So far, you’re exactly right, according to her best friend.” She drew him over to a display of engagement rings. “White or yellow gold?”

“Oh, shit, Lil.” And he looked as panicked as if she’d asked if he’d prefer cyanide or arsenic in his coffee.

“Okay, that was a trick question. Given her coloring and her personality-and her appreciation for the unique-I think you should go with rose gold.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Like this.” She gestured to a band. “See, it’s warm, and a little soft. Glows, I think, rather than glitters.”

“It’s still gold, right? I mean, it’s good-it’s not less, I don’t know, important? It’s got to be important.”

“It’s still gold. If you don’t like it, then I’d go with yellow gold.”

“I do like it. It’s different, and it’s, yeah, warm. Kinda rosy. Rose gold, ha, that’s why.”

“Relax, Farley, it’s all good.”

“Right.”

“Just take a quick scan, pick the one that pops out to you first.”

“Ah… That one? It’s got that pretty round diamond in it.”

“It’s beautiful, but the trouble with that one is how it sticks up from the band.” Lil held her thumb and index finger a little apart to show him what she meant. “Tansy works with her hands a lot, with the animals. That’s going to catch.”

“That makes sense. So she’ll want something that doesn’t stick up so high.” He shoved up his hat to scratch his head. “There’s not so many with this color, but still a lot to figure from. That one’s nice, with the working on the band, but the diamond’s kind of puny. I don’t want to go on the cheap.”

As Lil leaned forward for a better look, the clerk bounced up.

“Hey! Do you two have something to tell me?”

“We can’t keep our great love for each other a secret any longer,” Lil said and made Farley blush. “How are you, Ella?”

“Just fine. So you’ve dragged Farley in here for your cover? If you see what you want, I’ll be glad to steer Coop to it when he comes in.”

“What? No. No, no.”

“Everybody’s just waiting for the two of you to make an announcement.”

“There is no announcement. Everybody’s just… off.” Flustered, she felt her own color rise. “I’m just here as consultant. Farley’s in the market.”

“Really?” Ella all but squealed it. “It’s always the quiet types who run deep. Who’s the lucky lady?”

“I haven’t asked her yet, so…”

“It wouldn’t be a certain exotic beauty I’ve seen you dancing with a time or two? The one who lives a couple blocks down, where your truck’s been parked pretty regularly these past weeks?”

“Ah…” This time he shifted his feet.

“Oh, my God, it is! This is huge. Wait until I tell-”

“You can’t. You can’t tell anybody, Ella. I haven’t asked her yet.”

Ella laid a hand on her heart, held the other up to swear. “Not a word. We’re experts at keeping secrets here. Though I may just pee my pants with this one if you don’t ask her quick. Let’s get down to business. Tell me what you have in mind.”

“Lil thinks this rose gold.”

“Oh, lovely choice for her.” Ella unlocked the case, and began to set a small selection on a velvet pad.

They discussed, debated, with Lil helpfully trying on each contender. After considerable time and worry, he gave Lil a pained look. “You have to tell me if I’m wrong. I like this one here. I like how the band’s wide-looks substantial, you know? And how the little diamond things ride up against the round one in the middle. She’ll know she’s got it on. She’ll know I put it there.”

Lil rose on her toes and kissed his cheek, as Ella stood behind the counter and sighed. “I was hoping you’d pick that one. She’ll love it, Farley. It’s just exactly right.”

“Thank the Lord, ’cause I was starting to sweat.”

“It’s beautiful, Farley. Unusual, contemporary, and still romantic.” Ella replaced the other rings. “What size does she wear?”

“Oh, well, hell.”

“Around a six,” Lil told her. “I’m a five, and we’ve traded rings before. Hers are a little bigger than mine. I wear hers on my middle finger. I think…” She picked up the ring and slid it on her middle finger. “This is about right.”

“Must be fate. If it needs to be sized, you just bring her in with it, and we’ll take care of it. Or she can exchange it if she sees something she likes better. I’m going to get the paperwork on it, Farley, and we’ll do the deal.”

Ella crooked her finger so he’d lean down. “And because I once let you kiss me behind the bleachers, I’m giving you fifteen percent off. You make sure you come back to me for the wedding bands.”

“I wouldn’t go anywhere else.” He looked over at Lil, his eyes dazed. “I’m buying Tansy a ring. Don’t do that,” he said when Lil’s eyes filled. “I’m afraid I’m going to water up myself.”

She put her arms around him, laid her head on his chest while he patted her back. Choices, she thought, and chances. Some made the right choices, and made the best of their chances.

23

Farley followed her to the farm, so Lil experienced the sweetness of watching him show off the ring to her parents. There was backslap ping, a few tears, and the promise to bring Tansy over for a family celebration once she’d accepted.

When Farley asked Joe to take a walk, undoubtedly to ask for man-to-man advice, Lil sat down with her mother.

“My God, he was a boy five minutes ago,” Jenna said.

“You made a man out of him.”

Jenna dabbed at her eyes. Again. “We gave him access to the tools so he could make a man out of himself. If Tansy breaks his heart I’m going to kick her ass to Pierre and back.”

“Get in line. But I don’t think she will. I don’t think he’ll let her. Farley’s got a plan, some of which I imagine he’s running by Dad right now. She’s cooked.”

“Think of the babies they’ll make together. I know, I know.” With a laugh, Jenna waved a hand. “Typical reaction. But I would love some babies around here. I’ve got the cradle your grandfather made for me, and I used for you, in the attic, just waiting. And I need to put all that on the back burner and think about wedding plans. I hope they let us throw the wedding. I’d love to get my hands into all that. Flowers and dresses and cakes and…” She trailed off.

“I haven’t given you that.”

“I made it sound just like that, and I didn’t mean to. I don’t have to tell you how proud we are of you, do I?”

“No, you don’t. I had a plan once, and it didn’t work out. So I made another plan, and it did. Now? I’m in a strange and complicated place. I could use some input.”

“Cooper.”

“It’s always been Cooper. But it stopped being just that simple a long time ago.”

“He hurt you so much.” Leaning over, she cupped Lil’s hand in both of hers. “Baby, I know.”

“He took a piece out of me. Now he wants me to put it back, and I don’t know if it can fit the way it did.”

“It won’t. It can’t.” Jenna gave her hand a squeeze before she leaned back. “That doesn’t mean it won’t fit another way. A better way. You love him, Lil. I know that, too.”

“Love wasn’t enough before. He told me-took his sweet time about telling me-why it wasn’t enough.”

As she related the story, she had to push out of her chair, walk to the window, open the front door for air. Move, just move while her mother sat quietly.

“For my own good, because he had something to prove, because he was broke, because he felt like a failure. What difference did any of that make? And besides all that, I deserved to know the reasons. I was part of that relationship. It’s not a relationship if one person makes all the choices. Is it?”

“No, or not a balanced one. I understand what you’re feeling, why you’re angry.”

“It’s more than being angry, though. One of the biggest decisions of my life was made for me. And the reasons it was made kept from me? How can I believe that won’t happen again? And I won’t build my life with someone who’d do that. I can’t.”

“No, you can’t. Not you. And now I’m going to tell you something that may disappoint you. I’m sorry, so sorry, you were hurt. I hurt for you, Lil. I did. I felt your heartbreak inside my own. But I’m so grateful he did what he did.”

Lil flinched, jerking back from the shock. “How can you say that? How can you mean that?”

“If he hadn’t, you’d have given up everything you wanted-every passion you had-but him. If it had come down to him or your personal and professional goals, you were much too much in love to choose anything but him.”

“Who’s to say I couldn’t have had both? Damn it! Where’s the compromise, the working together?”

“Maybe you’d have made it, but the odds were so stacked against you. Oh, Lil,” she said with such compassion Lil felt her eyes burn and tear. “You, not quite twenty and with the world opening up for you. Him almost two years older with his world narrowing and harsh. He needed to fight, and you needed to grow.”

“So we were young. You were young when you and Dad married.”

“Yes, and we were lucky. But we also wanted the same thing, even then. What we wanted was right here, and that gave us a better chance.”

“So you think I should just shrug off the last ten years. All is forgiven, Coop, I’m yours?”

“I think you should take as much time as you need, and see if you can forgive him.”

Lil let out a long breath as some of the pressure on her chest lifted.

“And I think while he had something to prove to himself before, this time he has to prove something to you. Make him. And while you’re taking that time, ask yourself if you want to live the next ten years without him.”

“He’s changed, and who he’s changed into… If I’d just met him, if there wasn’t any history between us? I’d fall flat on my face. Knowing that is very scary. Knowing if I let myself fall flat, I’m giving him the power to rip another piece of me away.”

“Aren’t you tired, honey, of only getting close to men you know can’t?”

“I don’t know, honestly, if I did that deliberately or if it’s because he’s the only one who can.” Lil rubbed her own arms as if to warm them. “Either way, it’s another scary choice. And a lot to think about. I need to get back. I didn’t mean to be gone this long.”

“Important business.” Jenna rose, laid her hands on Lil’s shoulders. “You’ll find your way, Lil. I know that absolutely. I need you to tell me if you’re sure you don’t need us to be there tonight.”

“The system was nearly done when I left. If they ran into any glitches, I’ll call. I promise. I may be confused about myself, about Coop, but I’m clear on the refuge. No chances taken.”

“Good enough. Most people think he’s gone. That he wouldn’t stay in this area with the manhunt.”

“I hope most people are right.” She laid her cheek on Jenna’s. “And I know we’re not going to relax, not all the way, until he’s caught. Don’t you take chances either.”

She stepped out on the porch, saw Farley and her father circling one of the outbuildings with the dogs pacing around them. “Tell Farley I’m pulling for him.” She started for her truck, turned, walking backward as she studied how pretty her mother looked standing there on the porch of the old farmhouse. “He gave me yellow tulips.”

And prettier yet, Lil thought, when she smiled.

“Did they work?”

“Better than I let him know. Talk about your typical reaction.”

SHE GOT BACK before closing and found the new gate open. Still she glanced at the security camera, at the key swipe and code pad. They would, she thought, stop anyone from entering, in a vehicle, after closing. But you couldn’t secure the hills.

She drove the road slowly, scanning the land, the trees.

She could find a way in, she mused. She knew every inch of the section, and could find a way to elude the security if she wanted to take the time and trouble.

But knowing that only made her more aware.

She let her gaze skim up as she drove. More cameras, positioned to pan the compound, the road. It would be hard to elude all of them. And the new lights would wash everything. No hiding in the dark, not once you were inside.

She pulled up in front of the cabin, pleased to see there were three separate groups making the tour of the habitats. She spotted Brad at the far western corner, talking to one of his installers. But her attention moved toward the newest member of the Chance family.

Everything in her lifted. Delilah lay against the fencing with Boris stretched on the other side. She made that her first stop.

The female didn’t lift her head when Lil stepped up. She was crouched down, but her eyes opened. Still wary, Lil noted. She may very well always be wary of the human. But still, she’d found comfort in her own kind.

“I guess we’ll be taking that barrier out sooner rather than later.” She kept her voice easy, her movements slow. “Nice job, Boris. She needs a friend, so I’m counting on you to show her the ropes.”

“Excuse me, miss?”

She glanced around to the group of four who stood behind the safety rail. “Yes?”

“You’re really not supposed to be on that side.”

She straightened, walked over to speak to the man who’d addressed her. “I’m Lil Chance.” She offered a hand. “This is my place.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“No need. I was just checking on our newest addition. We don’t have her plaque up yet. This is Delilah, and it’s her first full day here. She’s a Bengal,” she began, and indulged in one of her rare guided tours.

By the time she’d finished and passed the new group on to a pair of interns, Brad was ready for her.

“You’re online, Lil. Fully operational. I want to go over the whole system with you and your senior staff.”

“I’ve let them know they may need to stay late tonight. I’d rather wait until closing, if that’s okay with you.”

“Not a problem, especially since Lucius said I could help with tonight’s feeding-if you cleared it.”

“It’s a lot of work.”

“I’d like to go back to New York and say I’ve fed a lion. I can dine out on that for a long time.”

“Then you’re on. I’ll walk you through that, then you can walk us through the system.” She turned back toward the habitat. “Even though I saw the design, I was afraid it was going to look intrusive, high-techy, and well, institutional. It doesn’t. Everything’s nicely camouflaged. It doesn’t intrude.”

“Aesthetics count, but so does efficiency. I think you’re going to find we delivered both.”

“I already do. Let me take you to the commissary.”

AFTER FEEDING, AFTER closing, Lil worked through the controls of the security system, under Brad’s tutelage. For the late staff meeting, she’d broken out the beer, provided a bucket of chicken and some sides. It might’ve been serious business, but there was no reason her people shouldn’t enjoy it.

There’d been enough stress.

She went through sectors, then elements, switching on lights, alarms, locks, cutting them again, varying the camera view on the monitor.

“Aced it,” Brad told her. “Not as fast as Lucius. He still holds the record.”

“Geek,” Tansy accused.

“And proud of it. Split screen, Lil, four views.” Lucius bit into a drumstick, pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Let’s see what you’re made of.”

“You think I can’t do it?”

“I’ve got a buck says you can’t first time out.”

“I’ve got two she can,” Tansy countered.

Lil rubbed her hands together, and quickly ran over the codes and sequence in her head. When four images appeared on-screen, she took a bow.

“Luck. I’ll put five down Mary can’t run the sequence.”

Mary only sighed at Lucius. “I’d bet against me. Key cards, security codes. Next thing it’ll be retinal scans.” But she stepped up gamely. Inside thirty seconds, she had the alarms shrilling. “Damn it!”

“Thank God.” Matt swiped a hand over his forehead. “That takes the pressure off me.”

As Brad walked a frustrated Mary back through the drill, Lil eased over to Tansy. “You’ve got it. You can cut out any time.”

“I want to run through it one more time. Besides”-she held up her paper plate-“potato salad. I’m not in a rush. What?” she said when Lil frowned at her.

“Nothing. Sorry. I was thinking of something else.” Which would be the ring burning a hole in Farley’s pocket. “You know, it’s going to be quiet around here tonight. No guard duty.”

“Well.” Tansy wiggled her eyebrows when Coop came in. “In a manner of speaking. Maybe you should break out the sexy lingerie and give it one more wear.”

Lil gave her an elbow bump. “Quiet.”

She muffled a laugh as Mary managed to shut down the monitor. “It’s going to be a while.”

“If he could put the security on a spreadsheet, she’d kick ass.”

“Meanwhile…” Lil eased a hip onto Lucius’s desk, and nursed her beer.

It was full dark, with the three-quarter moon on the rise, when she saw off the last of her staff. She hoped they all managed the key card on the gate in the morning, but for now, she wanted a quick pass at some of the work she’d had to neglect during the day.

“I’ll be by tomorrow,” Brad told her. He lingered on the porch while Coop sat on the rail. “Work with Mary a little more, and make sure we don’t have any glitches.”

“I appreciate all you’ve done.” She looked out toward the habitats, the streams of lights, the red blink of motion detectors. “It’s a relief to know the animals are secure.”

“You’ve got the local number if you have any problems. And you’ve got mine.”

“I hope you’ll come back, even if there aren’t any problems.”

“You can count on it.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She went to her own cabin. Considering the time, she opted to make a pot of tea to get her through the hour or so of work she hoped to put in.

In the kitchen, on her rugged table, stood a vase of painted daisies. Pretty as a rainbow.

“Damn it.”

Was she weak, was she simple, for going a little gooey inside? But really, was there any more direct hit than flowers on a woman’s table put there by a man?

Just enjoy them, she ordered herself, as she put the kettle on. Just accept them for what they are. A nice gesture.

She made the tea, got a couple of cookies from her stash, then sat at the table with her laptop and the flowers.

She brought up her refuge e-mail first, as always amused by the letters from children, and pleased by the ones from potential donors asking for more details about certain programs.

She answered each in turn, and with equal attention.

She opened the next, caught her breath. Then slowly read it through a second time.

hello lil. long time no see at least for you. you’ve sure been doing a lot around the place, it gives me a good laugh to watch. i figure we’ll get reacwainted. i figured on it being a surprize but seems like the locals figured out i was around. i’m haveing fun watching them chase there fat asses in the hills and will be leving a present for them soon. i have to say im sorry about the cougar but you never should of caged in that way so it’s your fault it’s dead. you think about that animels are free spirits and our ancesters knew it and respected them. you vialated the sacred trust i thougt about killing you for that back aways but i got sweet on carolyn. she was fine and she gave me a good game and died well. diing well is what counts. i think you will. when we are finished i will free all the animels you have put in prison. if you give me good game i will do it in your honer. stay well and strong so when we meet we will meet as equels. good old jim was good practise but you will be the mane event. i hope this gets to you ok i am not good with computers and have only borrowd this to send you this messag. yours truely ethan swift cat

Carefully she saved the post, copied it. She took a moment to make sure she had her breath, and her calm, before she walked out to get Coop.

She saw the taillights of Brad’s rental car as Coop strolled toward the cabin porch. “Brad wanted to get back to the farm in time to sweet-talk my grandmother out of a piece of pie. He’ll-” He broke off as she stepped into the light. “What happened?”

“He sent me an e-mail. You need to see it.”

He moved fast, shifting her aside to go through the door and straight back to the kitchen, where he angled the laptop around to stand and read the message.

“Did you copy it?”

“Yes. It’s saved to the hard drive and the thumb drive.”

“We’ll need hard copies, too. Do you recognize the e-mail address?”

“No.”

“Should be easy to trace.” He crossed over, picked up the phone. Within a moment, she heard him giving Willy the details in a flat, expressionless voice that went with his face. “I’m going to forward it to you. Give me your e-mail.” He scrawled it on the pad by the phone. “Got it.”

He passed the phone to Lil on his way to the computer.

“Willy? Yes, I’m all right. Would you arrange for a drive-by? My parents.” She glanced over at Coop as he tapped keys. “Coop’s grandparents. I’d feel better if… Thanks. Yes, we will. Okay.”

She hung up, barely stopped herself from twisting her hands together. “He said he’ll trace the e-mail and check it out right away. He’s going to call or come by as soon as he knows something.”

“He knows he made a mistake with Tyler.” Coop muttered it as if speaking to himself. “He knows we’ve identified him. How does he know? He’s got a way to get information. A radio maybe. Or he risks coming into town to hear the local gossip.”

Eyes narrowed, Coop reread the message. “Several places in town you can buy comp time, but… That’s a stupid risk. We’d find the source, then find someone who’d seen him, talked to him. That gives us too much more. So a break-in’s more likely. He sent it at nineteen thirty-eight. Waited for dark. Scoped out a house. Maybe one with a kid or a teenager. They tend to leave their computers on.”

“He may have killed someone else. He may have murdered someone, more than one, just to send me that. Oh, God, Coop.”

“We don’t go there until we have to. Put it outside,” he ordered, and coldly. “Focus on what we know, and what we know is he made another mistake. He came out of the shadows because he was compelled to connect with you. He learned we know who he is, so he felt free to make that connection, to communicate with you.”

“But it’s not me. It’s his warped idea of me. He’s talking to himself.”

“That’s exactly right. Keep going.”

“He, ah…” She pressed a hand to her forehead, shoved it back through her hair. “He’s uneducated, and unfamiliar with computers. It had to take him some time to write that much. He wanted me-his version of me-to know he’s watching. He wanted to brag a little. He said he laughed at what we’ve done here. The new security. At the manhunt. He’s confident neither will stop him from the goal. The game. He said Carolyn gave him a good game.”

“And Tyler was practice. Everything points to his driving Tyler off the trail, way off, pushing him toward the river. Tyler was a healthy man, in good shape. And bigger, heftier than Howe. The conclusion would be Howe had a weapon. A knife doesn’t work, not if Tyler managed to get any distance away. What’s the game if you force-march some guy miles?”

She could see it now, the steps and the layers. And seeing it helped her stay calm. “We know he has a gun, and he knows the hills. He can track. He… he hunts.”

“Yeah, you’d’ve held your own on the job. That’s the game-the hunt. Pick the prey, stalk the prey, make the kill.”

“And he’s picked me because he believes I’ve violated sacred ground, sacred trust by building the refuge here. Because we share, in his head, the cougar as spirit guide. It’s crazy.”

“He also picked you because you know the land. You can track and hunt and elude. So you’re a major prize.”

“He might have come here before, for me, but Carolyn distracted him. She was young and pretty and attracted to him. She listened to his theories, certainly slept with him. And when she saw through enough to be afraid, or concerned, to break things off, he went after her instead. She became his prey.”

Shaken, she lowered to the bench.

“It’s not you, Lil. Not your fault.”

“I know that, but she’s still dead. Almost certainly dead. And there may be someone else dead tonight just so he could get his hands on a computer to send that to me. If he goes after anyone else, any of my people, I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t know.”

“I’m less worried about that than I was.

“He’s put you on notice,” Coop said when she looked up at him. “He doesn’t have to show you any more. Doesn’t have to bait you or taunt you.”

She took a breath. “Tell me. Is Brad staying at your grandparents’ just because he likes Lucy’s cooking, or did you ask him to so he could keep an eye on things there?”

“The cooking’s a bonus.” He got out a bottle of water, twisted the top off, and handed it to her.

She drank. “He’s a good friend.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“I think…” She steadied herself with another long breath. “I think you can get an idea about someone by their friends.”

“You need an idea when it comes to me, Lil?”

“I need an idea when it comes to ten years of you.” She glanced toward the phone, wishing she could make it ring, make Willy call and tell her no one was hurt. No more death. “How do you stand waiting like this?”

“Because it’s what comes next. This place is locked down. If he tries to come here, he’ll trip an alarm. You’re safe. You’re with me. So I can wait.”

Trying to keep her calm, she reached out, smoothed a finger over the petals of a daisy. “You brought me more flowers. What’s that about?”

“I figure I owe you about a decade’s worth of flowers. For fights, birthdays, whatever.”

She studied his face, then went with impulse. “Give me your wallet.”

“Why?”

She held out a hand. “You want to get back in my good graces? Hand it over.”

Caught between amusement and puzzlement, he reached back to pull it out of his pocket. And she saw the gun at his hip.

“You’re carrying a gun.”

“I’m licensed.” He passed her his wallet.

“You had clips in my drawer. They’re not there anymore.”

“Because I have a drawer all of my own now. Nice underwear, Lil. How come you never wear it?”

“Another man bought it for me.” She smiled humorlessly when annoyance flickered over his face. “Or some of it. It didn’t seem quite appropriate to use it on you.”

“I’m here. He’s not.”

“And now, if I slipped that little red number on, for instance, it wouldn’t pass through your mind as you’re slipping it off me again, how he’d done the same?”

“Throw it out.”

For very small, smug reasons, his clipped suggestion made her smile and mean it. “If I do, you’ll know I’m ready to take you back-all the way back. What will you toss out for me, Coop?”

“Name it.”

She shook her head and opened the wallet. For a time, for her own satisfaction, she studied his driver’s license, the PI license. “You always took a good picture. Those Viking eyes, and the hints of trouble in them. Do you miss New York?”

“Yankee Stadium. I’ll take you back for a game sometime. Then you’ll see some real baseball.”

With a shrug, she flipped through, and found the picture. She remembered when he’d taken it, the summer they’d become lovers. God, how young, she thought. How open and wildly happy. She sat by the stream, wildflowers spreading around her, the verdant green hills behind her. Her knees drawn up, her arms wrapped around them, and her hair free and tumbled over her shoulders.

“It’s a favorite of mine. A memory of a perfect day, a perfect spot, the perfect girl. I loved you, Lil, with everything I had. I just didn’t have enough.”

“It was enough for her,” she said quietly.

And the phone rang.

24

Willy followed up the phone call with a personal visit. Lil opened the gate for him by remote, and had a moment to think, At least, this is safer and easier. She’d switched from tea to coffee, and poured Willy a cup even as Coop went to the door to let him in.

She carried it to the living room, offered it to him.

“Thanks, Lil. I figured you’d want to hear the details in person. He used Mac Goodwin’s account. You know the Goodwins, Lil, have the farm on 34.”

“Yes, I went to school with Lisa.” Lisa Greenwald then, she thought, a cheerleader, whom she’d disliked intensely because of Lisa’s constant state of “perk.” It made Lil’s stomach twist just to think of how often she’d sneered at Lisa behind her back.

“I got a call from Mac not five minutes after I got yours. Reporting a break-in.”

“Are they-”

“They’re all right,” he said, anticipating her. “They’d gone out for dinner and to their oldest boy’s spring band concert. They got back and found the back door broken in. Did the smart thing, went right back out again and called me from the cell phone. Anyway, it seemed like too much coincidence, so I asked him if they had an e-mail account that matched the one I got from you. Sure enough.”

“They weren’t home. They weren’t hurt.” She sat then as her knees went shaky.

“They’re fine. They’ve got a new pup since their old dog passed a few months back, and he was closed up in the laundry room. He’s fine, too. I went by to talk to them, take a look at things. Left a deputy there to help Mac board up that door. It looks like he busted in, found the computer. Mac didn’t shut it down before they left. Kids carrying on, he said, and just forgot. People do.”

“Yes. People do. They went together all through high school. Mac and Lisa, Lisa and Mac. And got married the spring after graduation. They have two boys and a girl. The girl’s still a baby.”

Wasn’t it funny, Lil thought, dazed, how much she knew about the once-detested Lisa.

“That’s right, and they’re all fine. The best they could tell on first look was he took some food supplies. Bread, canned goods, Pop-Tarts of all things, some beer and juice boxes. Left the kitchen in a state. Got the two hundred in cash Mac kept in his desk, and the money the kids had in their banks, and the hundred Lisa kept in the freezer.”

He watched Lil’s face, glanced at Coop, then just kept talking in that same easy way. “People don’t seem to realize those are the first places any thief worth his salt is going to check. They need to take a second look when they’re not so upset, to see if anything else is missing.”

“Weapons?” Coop asked.

“Mac keeps his guns in a gun safe. Locked up tight. So that’s a blessing. We got prints. We’ll eliminate the Goodwins’, and I’ll go out on what I think’s a damn sturdy limb and say we’ll match the others to Ethan Howe. I’m planning to call the FBI in the morning.”

He cocked his head at the expression that ran over Coop’s face. “I don’t much relish the idea of working with the feds, or having them take this investigation over, either. But the fact is it looks like we’ve got evidence that points to serial murder, and Lil got an e-mail threat. That’s cybercrime. Added to it, it’s a given that this fucker’s-sorry, Lil-that his territory includes the national park. I’m going to fight for my stake in this, but I’m not going to worry about pecking order.”

“When you match the prints, you need to plaster Howe’s photo all over the media,” Coop said. “Anybody coming into the area, using the trails, any of the locals, need to be able to ID him on sight.”

“That’s on the list.”

“If he’s using this aka, this Swift Cat, we might find something on it.”

“Thirty-five miles per hour,” Lil mumbled, then shook her head when Coop turned to her. “That’s the peak for a cougar, and on a sprint. They can’t run at that speed for any real distance. There are swifter cats. Much faster cats than the cougar. What I mean is…” She paused, pressed her fingers to her eyes to help line up her thoughts. “He doesn’t really know the animal he claims is his spirit guide. And I think he gave me the name he’s chosen because he believes we share that guide. I doubt he’s used it before, or often.”

“We’ll do a little checking on it anyway.” Willy set his coffee aside. “Lil, I know you’ve got your new alarms here, and the ex- New York City detective, but I can arrange for protection.”

“Where? How? Willy, this guy covers ground fast, and he can and will go to ground and wait it out if I leave. He’s watching this place, and he knows what’s going on. The only chance you have of tracking him down is if he thinks I’m accessible.”

“Lil gets volunteers and interns,” Coop began. “There’s no reason you couldn’t put a couple of officers in soft clothes and have them go to work around here.”

“I could fix that.” Willy nodded. “Work with the state boys, with the park service. I think we could get a couple of men on-site.”

“I’ll take them,” Lil agreed immediately. “I’m not being brave, Willy. I just don’t want to go hide out, then have to face this all over again in six months, a year. Ever. I want it over.”

“There’ll be two men here in the morning. I’m going to start setting up what I can tonight. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

Lil caught the glance that passed between the men.

“I’ll walk you out,” Coop said.

“No you won’t.” Lil took his arm, held on. “If the two of you have something else to say about this, I’m entitled to know. Keeping information from me isn’t protecting me. It’s just pissing me off.”

“I’ve placed Howe in Alaska at the time Carolyn Roderick went missing.” Coop glanced at Lil. “It’s just added weight. I tracked down a sporting goods store where the owner remembered him, and ID’d him through the picture I faxed him. He remembers him because Howe bought a Stryker crossbow, the full package with scope, carbon bolts, sling, and ammo for a thirty-two. He spent nearly two thousand, and paid cash. He talked about taking his girl hunting.”

Lil made a little sound, thinking of Carolyn.

“I expanded my like-crime search after Tyler,” Coop continued. “A body found in Montana four months later, male, mid-twenties, was left for the animals, and in bad shape. But the autopsy showed a leg wound-into the bone-the ME there concluded was from a bolt strike. If he still has the bow…”

“We could tie him up on the Roderick disappearance and the Montana murder,” Willy concluded. “Odds are he does. That’s a lot of cash.”

“He got over three hundred from tonight’s break-in, and what he took off of Tyler. It wouldn’t take long, the way he works, to build up a cash supply.”

“I’ll add the bow and bolts to the APB. That’s nice work, Coop.”

“If you make enough calls, you can get lucky.”

When they were alone, Lil went over to poke at the fire until the flames kicked up. She saw he’d brought his baseball bat, the one Sam had made him a lifetime ago. It stood propped against the wall.

Because this is home now, she thought. At least until we’re done with this, he’s home here.

And she couldn’t think of that, not yet.

“It’s harder to hide a crossbow than a handgun.” She stood there, watching the flames rise. “He’d be more likely to carry the bow when he’s specifically hunting. Maybe toward evening, or before dawn.”

“Maybe.”

“He didn’t use a bow on the cougar. If he had it, if he’d used it, it would’ve given him more time to get away, cover his tracks. But he didn’t use the bow.”

“Because you wouldn’t have heard the shot,” Coop concluded. “Which is probably why he chose the gun.”

“So I would hear it, and panic for the cat.” She turned now, put her back to the light and the heat. “How much more do you know you haven’t told me?”

“It’s speculation.”

“I want to see the files, the ones you put away whenever I come in.”

“There’s no point.”

“There’s every point.”

“Damn it, Lil, what good is it going to do for you to look at photos of Tyler before and after they dragged him out of the river, after the fish had been at him? Or to read the details of an autopsy? What’s the point in having that in your head?”

“ Tyler was practice. I’m the main event,” she said, quoting the e-mail. “If you’re worried about my sensibilities, don’t. No, I’ve never seen pictures of a body. But have you seen a lion spring out of the bush and take down an antelope? Not human, but take my word, it’s not for the faint of heart. Stop protecting me, Coop.”

“That’s never going to happen, but I’ll show you the files.”

He unlocked a case, drew them out. “The photos won’t help you. The ME determined the time of death somewhere between fifteen and eighteen hundred.”

Lil sat, opened the file, and stared at the stark black-and-white photograph of James Tyler. “I hope to God his wife didn’t see him like this.”

“They’d have done what they could beforehand.”

“Slitting his throat. That’s personal, isn’t it? From my vast police knowledge from CSI and so on.”

“You have to get in close, make contact, get blood on your hands. A knife’s generally more intimate than a bullet. He took Tyler from behind, going left to right. The body had cuts and bruises incurred perimortem, most likely from stumbling and slipping. The knees, hands, elbows.”

“You said he died between three and six. Daylight hours, or just going to dusk on the later side of that. To get from the trail Tyler was seen on to that point of the river has to take several hours. Probably more if we agree he’d have driven Tyler over the roughest ground, the least likely areas where he’d have found help or another hiker. Tyler had a day pack. If you’re running for your life, you’d shed weight, wouldn’t you?”

“They didn’t find his pack.”

“I bet Ethan did.”

“Agreed.”

“And when he maneuvers Tyler to the right position, he doesn’t shoot him. Not sporting. He comes in close for the personal kill.”

She flipped through to the list of what the victim’s wife stated Tyler had on him when he’d started for the summit. “It’s a good haul,” she added. “Victory spoils. He won’t need the watch. He knows how to tell the time by the sky, by the feel of the air. Maybe he’ll keep it as a trophy, or pawn it later on, a few states away, when he wants more cash.”

She looked over. “He took something, some things from every victim you think he’s responsible for, didn’t he?”

“That’s the way it looks. Jewelry, cash, supplies, articles of clothing. He’s a scavenger. But not stupid enough to use any victim’s credit cards or IDs. None of the MPs have had any account activity on their credit cards since they disappeared.”

“No paper trail. Plus maybe he considers credit cards a white man’s invention, a white man’s weakness. I wonder if his parents had any credit cards. I’d bet not.”

“You’d bet right. You’re a smart one, Lil.”

“We’re the smart girls,” she said absently. “But he buys a crossbow, not traditional Native American weaponry. He picks and chooses. He’s full of shit, basically. Sacred ground, but he defiles it by hunting an unarmed man. For sport. For practice. If he really has Sioux blood, he’s defiled that, too. He has no honor.”

“The Sioux considered the Black Hills the sacred center of the world.”

“Axis mundi,” Lil confirmed. “They considered-and still consider-the Black Hills the heart of all that is. Paha Sapa. Sacred ceremonies started in the spring. They’d follow the buffalo through the hills, forming a trail in the shape of a buffalo head. Sixty million acres of the hills were promised in treaty. But then they found gold. The treaty meant nothing, because the white man wanted the land, and the gold on it. The gold was worth more than honor, than the treaty, than the promise to respect what was sacred.”

“But it’s still under dispute.”

“Been boning up on your history?” she asked. “Yeah, the U.S. took the land in 1877, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie, and the Teton Sioux, the Lakota, never accepted that. Fast-forward a hundred years, and the Supreme Court ruled the Black Hills had been taken illegally, and ordered the government to pay the initial promised price plus interest. Over a hundred million, and they refused the settlement. They wanted the land back.”

“It’s accrued interest since then, and now stands at more than seven hundred million. I did my research.”

“They won’t take the money. It’s a matter of honor. My great-grandfather was Sioux. My great-grandmother was white. I’m a product of that blending, and the generations since have certainly diluted the Sioux in me.”

“But you understand honor, you understand refusing a hundred million dollars.”

“Money isn’t land, and land was taken.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you think Ethan is into this because it’s some sort of revenge for broken treaties, for the theft of sacred ground, I don’t. It’s not that deep. It’s an excuse, and one that might make him think of himself as a warrior or a rebel. I doubt he knows the entire history. Bits and pieces maybe, and probably bastardized ones at that.”

“No, he kills because he likes it. But he’s chosen you, and this place, because it fits his idea of payback. That makes it more exciting, more satisfying. And his definition of honor’s warped, but he has his own version. He won’t pick you off when you’re crossing the compound. It’s not the game, it’s not satisfying, and it doesn’t complete the purpose.”

“That’s comforting.”

“If I didn’t believe that, you’d be locked up a thousand miles from here. Trying to be honest,” he added when she frowned at him. “I’ve got a picture of him, a kind of profile, and it assures me he wants you to understand him, to face him, then to give him real competition. He’ll wait for an opportunity, but he’s getting impatient. The e-mail pushes it forward.”

“It’s a dare.”

“Of sorts, and a declaration. I need your word, Lil, you won’t let him goad you into that opportunity.”

“You’ve got it.”

“No argument? No qualifications?”

“No. I don’t like hunting, and I know I wouldn’t like being hunted. I don’t need to prove anything to him, certainly not to myself by going out and doing a one-on-one with a homicidal maniac.”

She went deeper into the files. “Maps. Okay, okay, we can work with this.”

She rose, cleared everything else off the coffee table. “You’ve been busy,” she said, noting he’d marked the map with incidents ascribed to Ethan Howe. “You’re trying to triangulate locations where he might have his den.”

“The sectors that seemed most likely have been searched.”

“Next to impossible to cover every square foot, especially when you’re looking for someone who knows how to move, and cover his trail. Here. We found Melinda Barrett. Nearly twelve years ago. In that case, there was no indication he’d hunted her. No signs she’d run or been chased. The signs pointed to him following her up the trail. Stalking her, maybe. Or as likely just running into her. What set him off, made him kill her?”

“If the kill wasn’t the goal, he might’ve wanted money or sex. They found some bruising on her biceps, the kind you’d get if someone gripped you hard and you tried to pull away. He knocks her back into the tree, with enough force to bash her head, open a wound. Bleeding.”

“Blood. Maybe blood was enough. The wild scents blood, it spurs them.” Lil nodded because she could see it, see how it might have been. “She fights, maybe screams, maybe insults him or his manhood in some way. He kills her-the knife, close-in, personal. If it was his first, it would have been a tremendous rush-and he was so young. A rush and a panic. Drag her off, leave her for the animals. He might have thought, probably thought, her death would be blamed on a cougar or a wolf attack.”

“The next time we can confirm he came back, it was here. The refuge.” Coop laid a finger on the map. “He made contact with you, tried to play on a shared heritage.”

“And he met Carolyn.”

“She finds him attractive, interesting, feeds his ego. And could probably tell him more about you, about the refuge. She meets a need, sex and pride, so he goes into her world. But it’s not a good fit, and she begins to see him for what he is when he’s out of his element. He follows her to Alaska, to close that door, to fulfill that need-stronger than sex-then winds his way back to you.”

“And I’m in Peru. He has to wait.”

“While he’s waiting, he comes down at night, pays at least one visit.”

“When Matt was here alone. Yes. And he disabled the camera, here. Only a few days before I was due back.”

“Because he knew you were coming back. If someone else had gone to check it out, he’d have disabled it again. Until he got you.”

“He assumed I’d come alone,” she continued. “I like to go into the hills and camp alone. I’d planned to. He’d have been able to start the game if I had done that, and he might have won it. So I owe you.”

“He probably thought he could take me out once he saw you had company. Eliminate me, take you. So I’d say we both owe countless nights on stakeouts and the ability to sleep light. Comes into camp here,” Coop continued with his attention back on the map. “Heads back to camera site here, and doubles back to camp. Then it’s to the main gate of the refuge to dump the wolf. Another pass at the refuge to let your tiger out.”

“And to some point on the Crow Peak trail where he intercepted Tyler, to here, at this point by the river where he left him. Hits the Good-win farm, which is about here. That’s a lot of ground. The majority of it’s in Spearfish, so he’s at home here. Well, me too.”

She glanced at her empty mug of coffee, wished more would magically appear. “Lots of caves,” she added. “He has to have shelter, and I don’t see him pitching a tent. He needs a den. Plenty of fish and game. His best cover, best ground would be in here.” Lil drew a circle on the map with her finger. “It would take weeks to search that many acres, that many caves and hidey-holes.”

“If you’re entertaining the idea of going up as bait to draw him out, you can forget it.”

“I entertained the idea for about two minutes. I think I could track him, or certainly have as good a chance as anyone they’ve got searching.” She rubbed the back of her neck, where the lion’s share of her stress had chosen to make camp. “And I’ve got a better chance of getting whoever’s with me killed. So no, I’m not going to be bait.”

“There should be a way to look at this and figure where he’ll go next, or where he goes when he’s done. There should be a pattern, but I don’t see it.”

She closed her eyes. “There has to be a way to goad him into coming out, to pull him into a trap instead of the other way around. But I can’t see that either.”

“Maybe you can’t see it because you’ve had enough for one day.”

“And you’d be willing to take my mind off this.”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

“In the interest of truth, I’ll admit the thought crossed mine.” She turned to him. “My mind’s pretty busy, Coop. It’s going to take some doing to distract me.”

“I think I can handle it.” Even as she reached out he rose, evading her.

“Straight upstairs, huh? I thought you might warm me up a little right here.”

“We’re not going upstairs.” He turned off the lights so only the fire glowed, then moved to her little stereo and punched the button for the CD player. Music poured out, low and soulful.

“I didn’t know I had any Percy Sledge.”

“You didn’t.” He crossed back, took her hand to bring her to her feet. “I figured it might come in handy.” He drew her in, and swayed. “We never did this much.”

“No.” She closed her eyes as Percy’s magic voice told her what a man would do when he loved a woman. “We didn’t do this much.”

“We’ll have to start.” He turned his head to brush his lips over her temple. “Like the flowers. I owe you several years worth of dances.”

She pressed her cheek to his. “We can’t get them back, Coop.”

“No, but we can fill them in.” He ran his hands, up and down, up and down the tensed, tight muscles of her back. “Some nights I’d wake up and imagine you were there, in bed beside me. Some nights it was so real I could hear you breathing, I could smell your hair. Now some nights I wake up and you’re in bed beside me, and there’s this moment of panic when I hear you breathing, when I smell your hair, that I’m imagining it.”

She squeezed her eyes tight. Was it her pain she felt, or his?

“I want you to believe in us again. In me. In this.” He drew her back until his mouth found hers. And took her under, deep and breathless while they swayed in the gold shimmer of firelight.

“Tell me you love me. Just that.”

Her heart trembled. “I do, but-”

“Just that,” he repeated, and took her under again. “Just that. Tell me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, Lil. You can’t believe the words yet, so I’ll just keep showing you until you can.”

His hands skimmed up and down her sides. His mouth sampled and savored hers. And the heart that trembled for him began to beat for him, slow and thick.

Seduction. A soft kiss and sure hands. Easy, easy movements in golden light and velvet shadows. Quiet words whispered against her skin.

Surrender. Her body pliant against his. Her lips yielding to a gentle, patient assault. A long, long sigh of pleasure.

They lowered to the floor, kneeling, wrapped close.

Swayed there.

He drew her shirt away, then brought her hands to his lips, pressed them to her palms. Everything, he thought, she held everything he was in her hands. How could she not know?

Then he laid her palm on his heart, looked into her eyes. “It’s yours. When you’re ready to take it, to take me for what I am, it’s yours.”

He pulled her close so her hands were caught between them, and this time his mouth wasn’t gentle, wasn’t patient.

Need leaped inside her, alive and fierce, while his heart kicked its wild beat against her palms. He tugged her jeans open, and drove her roughly up and up, drove her higher even when she cried out.

When she went limp, when it seemed she melted to the floor, he covered her with his body. Took more.

His hands and mouth stripped her, left her raw and open, weak and dazzled. Her breath sobbed out, caught on a fresh cry when he thrust into her. He gripped her hands, held tight as her fingers curled with his.

“Look at me. Look at me. Lil.”

She opened her eyes, saw his face washed in the reds and golds of firelight. Fierce and feral as that heartbeat. He plunged inside her until her vision blurred, until the slap of flesh to flesh was like music.

Until she’d given him everything.

She didn’t object when he carried her upstairs. She didn’t protest when he lay down with her and drew her close, his arms wrapped tight around her.

When he kissed her again it was like the first in the dance. Soft, sweet, seductive.

She closed her eyes and let herself dream.

IN THE MORNING, she rolled out of bed as he came out of the bath, hair still dripping.

“I thought you might sleep longer,” he said.

“Can’t. Full day.”

“Yeah, me too. Some of your people should be here in about thirty minutes, right?”

“About. That’s assuming they all remember how to work the new gate.”

He crossed to her, skimmed a thumb down her cheek. “I can wait until some of them get here.”

“I think I can handle myself alone for a half hour.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Because you’re worried about me or because you’re hoping I’ll use the time to fix you breakfast.”

“Both.” Now that thumb traced the line of her jaw. “I picked up bacon and eggs since you were out.”

“Do you ever give a passing thought to cholesterol?”

“Not when I’ve got you talked into fixing me bacon and eggs.”

“All right. I’ll slap a couple biscuits together.”

“I’ll toss a couple steaks on the grill tonight. A trade-off.”

“Sure, eggs, bacon, red meat. Screw the arteries.”

He caught her hips, levered her up for a hard good-morning kiss. “So speaks the beef farmer’s daughter.”

She headed downstairs thinking it seemed almost normal, this talk of breakfast, of dinner plans, of full days. But it wasn’t normal. Nothing was quite within that safe, normal zone.

She didn’t need the scattered clothes on her living room floor to remind her.

She swept in there first, gathered them up to shove the whole armload into her laundry room.

Once the coffee got going she heated up a pan. Leaving the bacon sizzling, she opened the back door, stepped onto the porch to breathe in the morning air.

Dawn broke in the east, bringing the hills into soft silhouettes against the first light. Higher, higher still, the last stars were going out like candles.

She scented rain. Yes, she was a farmer’s daughter, she thought. The rain would bring more wildflowers out, unfurl more leaves, and let her think about buying some plants for the compound.

Normal things.

She watched the sunrise and wondered how long he would wait. How long would he watch and wait and dream of death?

She stepped back in, closed the door. At the stove she drained bacon and broke eggs in the pan.

Normal things.

25

Tansy wasn’t wearing the ring. Lil actually felt her spirits plummet; she’d been counting on some happy news. But when Tansy rushed over to where Lil and Baby were having their morning conversation, the ring finger of her left hand was bare.

Her eyes shining with distress, Tansy threw her arms around Lil and hugged hard.

Lil said, “Um.”

“I started to call you last night. I was so upset. But then I thought you had enough to do and didn’t need me adding to it.”

“Upset? Oh, Tans.” As the plummet became a dive, all Lil could do was return Tansy’s crushing hug. “I know you can only feel what you feel, and you have to follow those feelings, but I hate that it upset you.”

“Of course it upset me.” Tansy pulled back, gave Lil a little shake. “Upset isn’t even close to the mark when my best friend’s being threatened. We’re going to start screening your e-mail as of now. In fact, we screen all e-mails.”

“E-mails?”

“Honey, did you take drugs this morning?”

“What? No! E-mails. The e-mail. Sorry, I saw you just drive up, so I didn’t think you knew about it yet.”

“Then what the hell did you think I was talking about?”

“Ah…” Flustered, Lil managed a weak laugh. “Got me there. I’m a little turned-around yet this morning. How did you find out so fast?”

“Farley and I ran into the sheriff last night after you called him about it. He-Willy-knew you were concerned about your parents, and wanted Farley to know what was going on. He went right home.”

“Farley went right home?”

“Of course, Farley. Lil, maybe you should lie down awhile.”

He didn’t ask her, Lil realized as Tansy checked her brow for fever. Never had the chance to ask her. “No, I’m okay. Just a lot on my mind, and I’m trying to stick to routine. I think it’ll help.”

“What did it say? No.” Tansy shook her head. “I’ll read it for myself. I should’ve told you right away everyone’s fine at your parents’. Farley called before I left this morning just to let me know.”

“I’ve talked to them, but thanks. It’s nice, you and Farley.”

“It’s weird, me and Farley. Nice and weird, I guess.” She watched as Lil picked up the bright blue ball and winged it high over the fence, into the enclosure. Baby and his companions screamed in happy competition as they gave chase. “They’re going to find him, Lil. They’ll find him soon, and this will be over.”

“I’m counting on it. Tansy, he mentioned Carolyn in the e-mail.”

“Oh.” Tansy’s dark eyes sheened. “Oh, God.”

“It sticks, right here, when I think about it.” Lil fisted a hand at her sternum. “So, routine.” She looked over to where Baby and his friends rolled and wrestled for the ball. “And comfort.”

“There’s always plenty of routine.”

“You know what I’d like, Tansy? You know what would bring that comfort?”

“A hot fudge sundae?”

“That’s a never-fail, but no. I’d like to be up there, hunting him down. I’d be comforted if I could be in the hills, tracking him.”

“No.”

“Can’t do it.” Lil shrugged, but her gaze stayed on the hills. “It would put others at risk. But it’s something else that sticks right here. That I have to wait, just wait while others go after the person responsible for all this.” She heaved out a breath. “I’m going around to check on Delilah and Boris.”

“Lil,” Tansy called after her. “You won’t do anything stupid?”

“Me? And risk losing my smart-girl status? No. Routine,” she repeated. “Just routine.”

HE HAD A PLAN, and it was sweet. He believed it had come to him in a trance vision, and convinced himself his great ancestor in the form of a cougar guided him. He’d claimed Crazy Horse as his own for so long that the connection had become truth to him. The longer he remained in the hills, the truer it became.

This plan would take care and precision, but he was not a careless hunter.

He knew his ground, had his stand. He would lay the trail. He would gather the bait.

And when the time was right, spring the trap.

He scouted first, considering and rejecting several sites before settling on the shallow cave. It would do for his purposes, for the short term. Its location worked well, a kind of crossroads for his two main points.

It would serve as a holding cage.

Satisfied, he took a snaking route back toward park territory until he could ease onto a popular trail. He wore one of the jackets he’d stolen along the way, along with a pair of aviator sunglasses and a Chance Wildlife Refuge cap. A nice touch, he thought. Those and the beard he’d grown wouldn’t fool any sharp-eyed cops for long, but it gave him a thrill to stay out in the open, to use good old Jim’s little Canon to take photos.

He moved among them, he thought, but they didn’t know him. He even made a point to talk to other hikers. Just another asshole, he thought, tromping around on sacred ground like he had a right.

Before he was done, everyone would know who he was, what he stood for. What he could do. He would be a legend.

He’d come to understand this was what he’d been born for. He’d never seen it prior to now, not clearly. No one had known his face, no one had known his name, not in all the years before. That, he realized, had to change for him to turn truly toward his destiny.

He could not, would not move on as he had in the past when he’d felt the hot breath of pursuit on the back of his neck, or feared-he could admit the fear now-capture. It was meant to be here, in these hills, on this land.

Live or die.

He was strong and wise and he was right. He believed he would live. He would win, and that victory would add his name to those who’d come before him.

Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud.

Years before, before he had understood, he’d made sacrifice to this land. When the woman’s blood had spilled, by his hand, it had begun. It had not been an accident, as he’d believed. He understood now his hand had been guided. And the cougar, his spirit guide, had blessed that offering. Had accepted it.

She had defiled that sacrifice. Lillian Chance. She’d come to the place of his sacrifice, his holy ground, where he’d become a man, a warrior, by spilling the blood of the woman. She’d brought the government there, in the form of the police.

She’d betrayed him.

It all made sense now, it all came clear.

It must be her blood now.

He traveled with a small group, merged with them as a helicopter buzzed overhead. Looking for him, he thought, and felt the pride fill his chest. When the group chose one of the many crossings over a narrow creek, he waved them off.

It was time to slip away again.

If he fulfilled his destiny, the government would surely have to disclose to the public what they’d stolen. And perhaps one day, the true people would erect a statue of him on that very land, as they had to Crazy Horse.

For now, the hunt and the blood would be their own reward.

He moved quickly, covering the ground-the rises, the flats, the high grass, the shallow creeks. Even with his speed and skill, it took most of the day to lay the false trail west toward the Wyoming border, leaving behind signs he thought, derisively, the blind could follow. He sweetened it with Jim Tyler’s wallet before backtracking.

Once again he headed east through the pine-scented air.

Soon the moon would be full, and under that full moon, he would hunt.

LIL PERSONALLY PLANTED pansies in the bed across from Cleo’s enclosure. They’d handle the frosts that weren’t just likely but inevitable, and the spring snows that were more than probable for the next few weeks.

It felt good to get her hands in the dirt, and satisfying to see that splash of color. Since the jaguar watched her avidly, Lil crossed over to the path. “What do you think?”

Cleo appeared to have no particular bias against or liking for pansies. “If you’re still waiting for some Godiva, you’re doomed to disappointment.”

The cat pressed her flank against the fence, rubbed back and forth. Interpreting, Lil went under the barricade. She watched Cleo’s eyes as she approached, and watched them slit with pleasure when she stroked and scratched through the fencing.

“Miss that, don’t you? No chocolate or poodles, but we can give you a little personal attention now and then.”

“Doesn’t matter how often I see you do that, I’m never tempted to try it for myself.”

Lil glanced back to smile at Farley. “You pet horses.”

“A horse may kick the hell out of me, but it’s not going to rip my throat out.”

“She’s used to being touched, to being spoken to, to the scents and voices of people. It’s not just humans who need physical contact.”

“Tell that to Roy. Or Siegfried. Whichever one of them had that real contact with the tiger.”

“Mistakes cost.” She backed away, ducked under to join Farley. “Even a kitten will scratch and bite when it’s annoyed or bored. Nobody who deals with cats gets out without a few scars. Were you looking for Tansy?”

“I wanted to see you, too. I just wanted you to know I’ll be sticking close to home, so you don’t need to worry.”

“This screwed up your plans for last night.”

“I was hoping I could work things out for a picnic maybe. That’s romantic, right?”

“Meets the top ten requirements.”

“But spring’s a busy time around the farm and around here.”

“Go raid the pantry in my cabin. Use the picnic area over there.”

“Here?” He gawked at her. “Now?”

“I’d bet my budget for the next five years you’ve got the ring in your pocket here and now.”

“I can’t take that bet. I need to save my money.” He looked back around, his face full of excitement and concern. “You think I could ask her here?”

“It’s a pretty afternoon, Farley. She loves this place as much as I do, so yeah, I think you could ask her here. I’ll make sure everyone gives you some room.”

“You can’t tell them why.”

“Have some faith.”

He had plenty of faith in Lil, and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the right thing. After all, he and Tansy had gotten to know each other right here at the refuge. He’d fallen in love with her here. And she with him, something he thought she was just about ready to admit.

Lil didn’t have much in the way of picnic food, but he found enough to put a couple of sandwiches together. He took apples, a bag of chips, and two Diet Cokes-since that was all she had.

Then he nagged Tansy over to a picnic table.

“I can’t take much of a break.”

“Neither can I, but I want to spend what I’ve got with you.”

She went soft, he could see it. “Farley, you just kill me.”

“I missed you last night.” He tipped her face up for a kiss before he gestured her to the bench he’d already brushed off.

She sighed. “I missed you, too. I really did. But I’m glad you went back. It was the right thing. Everyone’s trying not to be jumpy, and that makes me more jumpy. I spend a lot of my time in what most people consider a danger zone. And there is risk, of course. But it’s calculated and it’s respected and understood. I just can’t understand any of this. Humans are, to my thinking, the most unpredictable of animals.”

“You got that scar right here.” He reached out to trace the mark on her forearm with his finger.

“From a cheetah who saw me as a threat. And my fault more than hers. None of this is Lil’s fault. None of it.”

“We’re not going to let anything happen to her. Or you.”

“He’s not interested in me.” Tansy laid a hand over his. “And I’m spoiling this quick picnic. What’ve we got?” She picked up a sandwich, laughed. “Peanut butter and jelly?”

“Lil didn’t have a lot of choices on the menu.”

“She always has pb &j.” Tansy bit in. “How are things at the farm?”

“Busy. Time for spring plowing soon. And we’ll be turning some calves into steers shortly.”

“Into… oh.” She lifted a hand, made a scissor motion with her finger. “Snip, snip?”

“Yeah. It always pains me a little.”

“Not as much as the calf.”

He smiled. “One of those got-to-be-done things. Living on a farm, well, it’s a lot like here. You get to see things as they are. You get to work outside, feel a part of things. You’d like living on a farm.”

“Maybe. When I came out here to help Lil, I really thought it would be temporary. I’d help get her up and running, train some staff, and then go to work for one of the big outfits. Make a big name for myself. But this place got its hooks into me.”

“You’re home now.”

“Looks like.”

He drew the ring out of his pocket. “Make home with me, Tansy.”

“Farley. Oh.” She held up a hand, thumped the other on her heart. “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

He dealt with the problem by spinning her around then shoving her head between her knees. “Take it easy.”

“This is crazy.” Her breath hitched and pitched.

“Just in and out a few times.”

“Farley, what have you done? What have you done?”

“Bought a ring for the woman I’m going to marry. Couple more times in and out.”

“Marriage is huge! Huge. We’ve barely dated.”

“We’ve known each other a long time now, and we’ve been sleeping together regular the last little while. I’m in love with you.” In firm strokes he rubbed her back to help her settle. “And if you weren’t in love with me, you wouldn’t have your head between your knees.”

“That’s your gauge of love? That I’m dizzy and short of breath?”

“It’s a good sign. Now, are you ready to sit back up so you can get a look at this ring? Lil helped me pick it out.”

“Lil?” She popped straight up. “She knows about this? Who else?”

“Well, I had to tell Joe and Jenna. They’re my parents in every way that matters. And Ella at the jeweler’s. It’s hard to buy a ring without her knowing about it. That’s all. I wanted to surprise you with it.”

“You did. A lot. But-”

“You like it?”

Maybe some women could have resisted taking a good look, but Tansy wasn’t one of them. “It’s beautiful. It’s, oh, it’s gorgeous. Really. But-”

“Like you. I couldn’t ask you to wear a ring that wasn’t. It’s rose gold. So that makes it a little different. You’re not like anybody else, so I wanted to give you something special.”

“Farley, I can honestly say you’re not like anyone else either.”

“That’s why we suit. You just listen a minute before you say anything. I know how to work, make a decent living. So do you. We’re both doing what we’re good at, and what we like. I think that’s important. This is our place, yours and mine. That’s important, too. But most important is I love you.”

He took her hand and kept his eyes, so clear and serious now, on hers. “No one’s ever going to love you the way I do. Joe and Jenna, they made me a man. Every time I look at you, I know why. What I want most in this world, Tansy, is to build a good life with you, to make you happy every day of it. Or most every day, because you’ll get mad at me sometimes. I want to make a home and a family with you. I think I’d be good at that. I can wait if you’re not ready to wear this. As long as you know.”

“I have all these arguments in my head. Rational, sensible arguments. And when I look at you, when you look at me, they all seem weak. Like excuses. You’re not supposed to be the one, Farley. I don’t know why you are. But you are.”

“Do you love me, Tansy?”

“Farley. I really do.”

“Are you going to marry me?”

“I really am.” She let out a quick, surprised laugh. “Yes, I am.”

She held out her hand. He slipped it on. “It fits.” Her quiet murmur was thick and shaky.

Dazzled, he stared at the ring, then at her. “We’re engaged.”

“Yes.” Now she laughed, full out, and threw her arms around him. “Yes, we are.”

Lil kept the staff working on the other side of the compound as much as possible. She had to shift her own position to keep the picnic table in view when interns led a group around the habitats.

She told herself it wasn’t like spying. She was just… keeping an eye on things. And when she saw Tansy go into Farley’s arms she didn’t quite muffle the cheer.

“Sorry, what?” Eric asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Ah, can you make sure everything’s set up for the school group tomorrow morning? In the education center. Take a couple of the other interns along.”

“Sure. Matt’s going to do his exam of the new female tiger this afternoon. I was hoping I could observe. Maybe even assist.”

“If Matt clears it.”

“The word is you’re going to take the barricade down between the enclosures.”

“Yes. When Matt finishes the exam. She’s still caged, Eric. It’s a bigger cage, and it’s clean, it’s safe. Once we take the barrier down, she’ll be free to interact with her own kind, and she’ll be able, when she’s ready, to roam her habitat, walk in the grass, run. Play, I hope.”

“I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just rumor. I hate what they did to her. Cleo was different. She was so sleek and arrogant. But this one, she just seemed sad and tired. I guess I feel for her.”

“That’s why you’ve been getting better at your work. Because you feel for them.”

His eyes brightened. “Thanks.”

Was she ever that young? Lil wondered. So that a compliment from an instructor or trainer put that look in her eyes, that spring in her step? She supposed she had been.

But she’d been so focused, so absolutely determined to carve out her route. Not only to reach the goal but to make up for what she’d lost. To make up for Coop.

She drew a breath as she studied the compound. All in all, it had worked out for her. Now it would be her decision, her choice if she wanted to open back up, take back what she’d lost.

She heard the steps on the gravel, slow steps, and whirled to defend. Matt wheeled back so quickly he slid and nearly went down.

“Jesus, Lil!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Had she been braced like that all day? she wondered. “You startled me.”

“Well, you scared five years off my life, so we’re more than even. I want to set up to examine the female tiger.”

“Right. Eric wants to assist.”

“That’s fine.” Matt gave her just the lightest pat on the shoulder. For Matt, Lil knew, it equaled a hug from anyone else.

“There’s a lot of inside work. You could be doing that.”

“He should see me. If he’s watching, if he’s out there, he should see me. See that I’m doing what I always do. It’s about power.” She remembered what Coop had said. “The more I hide, the more power I give him. And hell, Matt,” she added when she saw Farley and Tansy exchange a kiss by his truck. “It’s a really good day.”

“Is it?”

“Wait and see.”

She stuck her hands in her back pockets and strolled toward Tansy as Farley drove away.

Tansy turned, and her shoulders went up and down with a bracing breath as she walked toward Lil.

“You knew.”

“Let me see how it looks on you.” She grabbed Tansy’s hand. “Fabulous. Perfect. I am good. Though he actually picked it himself, unless my mental shove actually worked.”

“It’s why you were babbling this morning. You thought I was talking about Farley asking me to marry him. Not the e-mail.”

“There was momentary confusion,” Lil allowed, “but no babbling.”

“He told me, just now, how he’d planned to ask me last night. He had a bottle of champagne and candles. He was going to set the stage in my apartment.”

“And instead he went to take care of family.”

“Yes, he did.” Tansy’s eyes went damp. “That’s who he is, and that’s one of the reasons this ring’s on my finger. I figured it out. So he’s younger and paler than I am. He’s a good, good man. He’s my man. Lil? I’m going to marry Farley.”

With a laughing hoot Lil grabbed Tansy to dance in a circle.

“What the hell is this?” Matt demanded.

“I told you it was a really good day.”

“So the two of you are yelling and jumping?”

“Yes.” Tansy ran to him, leaped, and nearly knocked him over with a hug. “I’m engaged. Look, look, look at my ring!”

“Very nice.” He eased her back, out of his personal space, and smiled. “Congratulations.”

“Oh! I’ve got to go show Mary. And Lucius. Well, mostly Mary.”

When she ran off, Lil just grinned. “See? A really good day.”

FAMILY CAME FIRST, Lil reminded herself and tried not to worry as she sat at her parents’ dining room table. Her mother wanted-insisted on-a celebrational family dinner, so she was where she should be. With them, and Farley and Tansy, with Lucy and Sam, who’d stood as Farley’s unofficial grandparents. And, of course, with Coop.

But her mind kept turning back to the refuge. Security system up and running, she reminded herself. Matt and Lucius and two of the interns on-site.

Everything was fine. They were fine, her animals were fine. But if something happened when she wasn’t there…

As conversation buzzed around them, Coop leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Stop worrying.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

She lifted her wineglass and made sure she had a smile on her face.

Late summer wedding. She tuned in. And here it was already April, so much to be done. Debates ran on the venue. The farm, the refuge. On the time. Afternoon or evening.

Did he know she wasn’t there? Lil wondered. Would he try to hurt someone just to prove he could?

Under the table, Coop took her hand and squeezed. Not supportive and lover-like, but cut it out.

She kicked him, but pulled herself back. “If I get a vote, it’s for here at the farm, afternoon. That way we can party right through the evening. We’ll close the refuge for the day. There’s more room here, and if we have any sort of bad luck with the weather-”

“Bite your tongue,” Jenna ordered.

“Well, the house is more accommodating than the cabins.”

“Close for the day?” Tansy pushed that single point. “Really?”

“Come on, Tans. It’s not every day my best friend gets married.”

“Oh, boy, we have to shop!” Jenna winked at Lucy. “Dresses, flowers, food, cake.”

“We were thinking to keep it kind of simple,” Farley put in.

To which Joe muttered, “Good luck, son.”

“Simple’s no problem. But simple still has to be pretty and perfect.” Jenna emphasized the point by jabbing a finger in Joe’s arm. “I hope your mother can come out soon, Tansy, so we can put our heads together.”

“There’s no stopping her. She’s called three times since I told her, and already has a stack of bride magazines.”

“We’ll have a girl trip when she comes. Oh, this will be fun! Lucy, we have to have a shopping safari.”

“I’m already there. Jenna, remember the flowers at Wendy Rearder’s daughter’s wedding? We can outdo that.”

“Simple.” Sam rolled his eyes at Farley.

“Before you women get too far along and start talking about releasing a hundred doves and six white horses-”

“Horses.” Jenna interrupted her husband by clapping her hands together in delight. “Oh, we could do a horse and carriage. We could-”

“Just hold on, Jenna. Farley’s looking pale.”

“All he has to do is show up. You leave the rest to us,” Jenna told Farley.

“Meanwhile,” Joe said, pointing a hushing finger at his wife. “Jenna and I talked about some practicalities. Now, the two of you might have something else in mind, or maybe you haven’t thought about it as yet. But Jenna and I want to give you three acres. Room enough for you to build a house, have a place of your own. Close enough to make it easy for both of you to get to work. That is, if you’re planning on staying on here at the farm, Farley, and Tansy’s staying on with Lil.”

Farley stared. “But… the land should go to Lil, by rights.”

“Don’t be an ass, Farley,” Lil said.

“I… I don’t know what to say or how to say it.”

“It’s something you’ll want to talk to your bride about,” Joe told him. “The land’s yours if you decide you want it. And no hard feelings if you decide you don’t.”

“The bride has something to say.” Tansy rose, went first to Joe, then Jenna, to kiss them both. “Thank you. You’ve treated me like family since Lil and I were roommates in college. Now I am family. I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to have a home here near you, near Lil.” She beamed over at Farley. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”

“I’d say that’s settled.” Joe reached up to close his hand over the one Tansy had on his shoulder. “First chance we get, we’ll go scout out that acreage.”

Too overcome to speak, Farley only nodded. He cleared his throat. “I’m just gonna…” He rose, slipped into the kitchen.

“Now we’ve got something interesting to talk about.” Sam rubbed his hands together. “We’ve got a house to build.”

Jenna exchanged a look with Tansy as she got up and followed Farley.

He’d gone straight through and stood on the porch, his hands braced on the rail. The rain Lil had scented that morning pattered the ground, soaked the fields waiting for plowing. He straightened when Jenna laid a hand on his back, then turned and hugged her hard. Hard.

“Ma.”

She made a little sound, weepy pleasure, as she pressed him close. He rarely called her that, and usually with a kind of joking tone when he did. But now that single word said everything. “My sweet boy.”

“I don’t know what to do with all this happy. You used to say ‘Find your happy, Farley, and hold on to it.’ Now I’ve got so much I can’t hold it all. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You just did. Best thanks going.”

“When I was a boy they said I’d never have anything, never amount to anything, never be anything. It was easy to believe them. It was harder to believe what you and Joe told me. Kept telling me. I could be whatever I wanted. I could have whatever I could earn. But you made me believe it.”

“Tansy said she’s the luckiest woman in the world, and she’s pretty damn lucky. But I’m running neck-and-neck. I have both my kids close by. I can watch them make their lives. And I get to plan a wedding.” She drew back, patted his cheeks. “I’m going to be such a pain in the ass.”

His grin came back. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“You say that now. Wait until I’m nagging you brainless. Are you ready to go back? If you’re out here too long Sam and Joe will have designed your house before you get a chance to say whoa.”

“Right now?” He swung an arm around her shoulders. “I’m ready for anything.”

26

Wicked, windy thunderstorms pounded through the night, hammered into the morning. Then it got nasty.

The first rattle of hail spat out like pea gravel, bouncing on the paths, chattering on the rooftops. Well-versed in spring weather, Lil ordered all vehicles that could fit under cover. She maneuvered her own truck through the mud as the golf balls began to ping.

The animals had enough sense to take shelter, but she watched some of the interns racing around, laughing, scooping up handfuls of hail to toss. As if it were a party, she thought, and the slashes of lightning cracking the black sky were just an elaborate light show.

She shook her head as she caught sight of Eric juggling three balls of hail, like a street performer while the cannon fire of thunder boomed.

Someone, she thought, was going to get beaned.

She cursed as a clump the size of a healthy peach slammed into the hood of her truck. Even as she squeezed the truck under the overhang on the storage shed she snarled at the new dent.

Not laughing now, she noted, as interns scrambled for the nearest shelter. There would be more dents and dings, she knew. Shredded plantings and an unholy mess of ice to scrape and shovel. But for now, she was warm and dry and opted to wait it out in the truck.

Until she saw a softball of ice wing into the back of one of the running interns, and pitch her forward into the mud.

“Crap.”

Lil was out and sprinting even as a couple of her other kids rushed to pick up the fallen.

“Get her inside. Inside!” It was like being pelted by an angry baseball team.

She grabbed the girl, half dragged, half carried her to the porch of her own cabin. They arrived wet and filthy, with the girl pale as the ice that battered the compound.

“Are you hurt?”

The girl shook her head, and wheezing, braced her hands on her knees. “Knocked the wind out of me.”

“I bet.” Lil flipped through the jumbled data in her brain to find names for the two of the new crop of interns while thunder roared over the hills like stalking lions. “Just relax. Reed, go in and get Lena some water. Wipe your feet,” she added. For all the good it would do.

“It happened so fast.” Lena shivered, and her eyes stared out of a face smeared with mud. “It was just like little ice chips, then ping-pong balls. And then…”

“Welcome to South Dakota. We’ll have Matt take a look at you. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“Um. No. Just sort of… wowed. Thanks, Reed.” She took the water bottle, drank deep. “Scared me. And still.” She looked past Lil to where the ice balls hammered the ground, and a vicious pitchfork of lightning hurled out of the clouds. “Weirdly cool.”

“Remember that when we’re cleaning up. The hail won’t last long.” Already slowing, Lil judged. “Storm’s tracking west now.”

“Really?” Lena blinked at her. “You can tell?”

“The wind’s carrying it. You can use my shower. I’ll lend you some clothes. When it’s over, the rest of you report to the cabin. There’ll be plenty to do. Come on, Lena.”

She took the girl upstairs, gestured toward the bathroom. “You can toss out your clothes. I’ll throw them in the wash.”

“I’m sorry to be so much trouble. Taking a header in a hailstorm wasn’t the way I wanted you to notice me.”

“Sorry?” Lil turned from where she dug fresh jeans and a sweatshirt out of her dresser.

“I just mean we’ve been working mostly with Tansy and Matt since I got here. There hasn’t been a lot of opportunity to work with you directly with everything that’s going on.”

“There will be.”

“It’s just that you’re the reason I’m here. The reason I’m studying wildlife biology and conservation.”

“Really?”

“God, that sounds geeky.” Lena sat on the john to drag off her boots. “I saw that documentary on your work here. It was that three-part deal. I was home sick from school and really bored. Channel surfing, you know? And I hit the part about you and the refuge. I missed the other two parts, because-you know-back to school. But I got the DVD, the same one we sell at the gift shop. I got really into what you were doing, and what you said and what you were building here. I thought, That’s what I want to be when I grow up. My mother thought it was great, and that I’d change my mind a dozen times before college. But I didn’t.”

Intrigued, Lil set the jeans, the sweatshirt, and a pair of warm socks on the bathroom counter. “That’s a lot from one documentary.”

“You were so passionate,” Lena continued, rising to unzip her mud-died hoodie. “And so articulate and involved. I’d never been interested in science before. But you made it sound, I don’t know, sexy and smart and important. And now it sounds like I’m sucking up.”

“How old were you?”

“Sixteen. Up till then I thought I’d be a rock star.” She smiled and wiggled out of her wet jeans. “Not being able to sing or play a musical instrument didn’t seem to be a problem. Then I saw you on TV, and I thought, now that’s a rock star. And here I am, stripping in your bathroom.”

“Your instructors gave you a very high rating when you applied for internship here.”

Obviously unconcerned with modesty, Lena stood in her underwear and watched Lil with wide, hopeful eyes. “You read my file?”

“It’s my place. I’ve noticed you work hard, and you listen well. You’re here on time every morning and you stay late when you’re needed. You don’t complain about the dirty work, and your written reports are thorough-if still a little fanciful. I’ve noticed you take time to talk to the animals. You ask questions. There may be a lot going on, and that’s cut into the one-on-one time I like to put into the intern program. But I noticed you before you took the header in the mud.”

“Do you think I have what it takes?”

“I’ll let you know at the end of the program.”

“Scary, but fair.”

“Go on and clean up.” She started to leave, hesitated. “ Lena, what’s everyone saying about what’s going on? How are you guys dealing with it? You talk,” she said. “I was an intern once. I remember.”

“Everyone’s a little freaked. But at the same time, it doesn’t feel really real.”

“It’d be good if you all stuck together. As much as you can. Head over next door when you’re done.”

Lil went down to toss the clothes in the wash, ordered herself to remember to put them in the dryer when they were clean. While thunder, distant now, echoed, she thought about the girl up in her shower, and realized Lena reminded her of Carolyn.

The idea gave her a quick shiver before she went out to start cleaning up from the storm.

AT THE FARM, Coop and Sam let the horses out to pasture. Sam limped a bit, and maybe always would, but he seemed sturdy and steady enough. Enough that Coop didn’t feel the need to watch his grandfather’s every step.

Together they watched the young foals play while the adults grazed.

“At least we hadn’t gotten any of the spring crop in. Could’ve been worse.” Bending, Sam picked up a baseball-sized hunk. “How’s that arm of yours?”

“I’ve still got it.”

“Let’s see.”

Amused, Coop took the ice, set, then winged it high and long. “How’s yours?”

“Might be better suited for the infield these days, but I put it where I throw it.” Sam plucked up another ball, pointed to a pine, then smashed the ice dead center of the trunk. “I still got my eyes.”

“Runner on second’s taking a long lead. Batter fakes a bunt, takes the strike. Runner goes.” Coop scooped up the next ball of ice, bulleted it to his imaginary third baseman. “And he’s out.”

Even as Sam chuckled and reached for more ice, Lucy’s voice carried to them. “Are you two fools going to stand around throwing ice, or get some work done around here?” She leaned on the hoe she’d been using to clean the ice from her kitchen garden.

“Busted,” Coop said.

“She’s mad ’cause the hail tore into her kale. Fine by me. I can’t stand the stuff. Be right there, Lucy!” Sam brushed his hands on his pants as they started back. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about getting more help around here. I’m going to look into it.”

“That’s good.”

“It’s not that I can’t handle the work.”

“No, sir.”

“I just figure you should put more of your time into the business. If we get somebody to pitch in with what needs doing around here, that gives you that time for the rentals and guiding. That’s what makes practical sense.”

“I agree.”

“And I figure you won’t be using the bunkhouse all that much longer. Not if you’ve got any sense or spine. If you’ve got that sense and spine, you’ll be adding on to that cabin of Lil’s. You’ll want more room when you settle down and start a family.”

“You kicking me out?”

“Bird’s got to leave the nest.” Sam grinned over at him. “We’ll give you a little time first. See you don’t waste it.”

“Things are complicated right now, Grandpa.”

“Boy, things are always complicated. The two of you might as well untangle some of the knots together.”

“I think we’re doing that, or starting to. Right now, I’m focused on keeping her safe.”

“You think that’s going to change?” Sam stopped a moment, shook his head at Coop. “It won’t be what it is now, God willing, but you’ll be working to keep her safe the rest of your life. And if you’re blessed, you’ll be keeping the children you make between you safe. Got no problem sleeping with her, have you?”

Coop barely resisted the urge to hang his head. “None.”

“Well, then.” As if that was that, Sam continued on.

“To get back to the business,” Coop said. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you and Grandma about it. I’m looking to invest.”

“Invest what?”

“Money, Granddad, which I’ve got.”

Sam stopped again. “The business is doing well enough. It doesn’t need a… what’s it? Infusion.”

“It would if we expanded. Built on to the stables, added pony rides, a small retail space.”

“Retail? Souvenirs?”

“Not exactly. I’m thinking trail gear and supplies. We get a lot of customers who buy them somewhere else. Why shouldn’t they buy their trail mix, water bottles, trail guides, and disposable camera when they realize their battery’s dead from us? If we upgraded the computer, the printer, we could do photographs, make them into postcards. A mother’s going to want a postcard of her little cowgirl sitting on a pony. She’s going to want a dozen of them.”

“That’s a lot of add-on.”

“Think of it as an organic expansion.”

“Organic expansion.” Sam snorted. “You beat all, Coop. I expect we could think on it. Postcards,” he muttered and shook his head.

Frowning, he shaded his eyes against the beam of the sun that broke through after the storm. “That’s Willy coming.”

Lucy had seen him, too, and stopped to pull off her gardening gloves, push at the hair the wind blew around her face.

“Miss Lucy.” Willy tapped the brim of his hat. “The hail sure did a job on your garden.”

“Could’ve been worse. Doesn’t seem to’ve hurt the roof, so that’s a blessing.”

“Yeah. Sam. Coop.”

“Willy. Did you get caught out in that hail?” Sam asked him.

“I missed the worst of it. Weatherman never said a thing about hail today. I don’t know why I listen half the time.”

“That’s about the amount he gets it right. Half.”

“If that. Seems to’ve blown in some warm though. Maybe that’ll stay awhile. Coop, I wonder if I could have a word with you.”

“William Johannsen, if you’ve got something to say about that murdering so-and-so, you say it right out.” Lucy fisted her hands on her hips. “We’ve a right to know.”

“I guess that’s the truth. I’m going by to talk to Lil, so it’s not something you won’t hear.” With a nudge of his knuckle, he tipped up the rim of his hat. “We found Tyler ’s wallet. Or what we believe is Tyler ’s wallet. Had his driver’s license and some other ID in it. No cash, no photographs like his wife said he had. But all the credit cards she listed.”

“Where?” Coop demanded.

“See, now, that’s the interesting thing. Well west of here, only about five miles from the Wyoming border. It looked like he was heading toward Carson Draw. The rain washed some of his trail, but once the men picked it up, they followed it well enough.”

“That’s a ways from here,” Lucy said. “A good long ways.”

Out of his current territory, Coop thought. Out of the hunting ground. “He took the pictures but left the ID.”

“That’s a fact. One theory is he figured he was far enough away from the search area to toss the wallet. Another is he just dropped it by mistake.”

“If he wanted to toss it, he could’ve used the river, or buried it.”

Willy nodded at Coop. “That’s a fact, too.”

“But this is good news, isn’t it? If he’s that far west and still moving, he’s leaving.” Lucy reached out for Coop’s arm. “I know he needs to be caught, to be stopped, but I won’t be sorry if that happens miles from here. So this is good news.”

“Might be.”

“It’s sure not bad news,” she shot back at Willy.

“Now, Miss Lucy, in circumstances like this, I’ve got to be cautious.”

“You be cautious. I’ll be sleeping easier tonight. Come on in and sit down a minute or two. I’ve got some sun tea cold and coffee hot.”

“I’d like that, I would, but I’ve got to get on. I want you to sleep easier tonight, but I want you to keep your doors locked just the same. Don’t you work too hard now. Miss Lucy, Sam.”

“I’ll be right back.” Coop walked off with Willy. “How long to verify it’s Tyler ’s wallet, and match his prints?”

“I’m hoping tomorrow. But I’m willing to put money down it’s Tyler ’s, and that Howe’s prints will be on it.”

“Are you putting the same money down that he tossed it, or dropped it?”

“That’s not a gamble I’m willing to take.”

“I’d put mine on him planting it.”

Willy pressed his lips together as he nodded. “I’d say we’re on the same page of this book. It just strikes too easy. We barely find a sign of this bastard for days. Then he leaves a trail, even after it rains, that my nearsighted grandmother could follow. I may be small-time law, but I’m not as stupid as he thinks.”

“He wants a little time, a little space, to prepare for whatever he has in mind. You make sure Lil understands that. I’ll be doing the same when I see her, but I want her to hear it from you first.”

“I’ll do that.” He opened the door of his cruiser. “Coop, the feds are putting their focus on Wyoming. Could be they’re right.”

“They’re not.”

“The evidence points there, so they’re following the evidence. All I’ve got is a gut telling me he’s hornswoggling us. That’s what I’ll be telling Lil.”

He got in the car, tipped Coop a salute, and drove back down the farm road.

BY THE TIME Coop got to the compound, the dusk-to-dawn lights had glowed on. He knew by the sounds the animals made they were feeding. A group of interns, finished for the day, piled into a van. Immediately, Weezer rocked out.

A glance at the office cabin told him that was locked up for the night. Still, he made the rounds, over gravel, concrete, mud to offices, sheds, stables, ed center, commissary to assure himself all was empty and secure.

Lights shone in the windows of Lil’s cabin. As he circled, he saw her-her hair pulled back from her face in a tail, the strong blue of her cotton sweater, even the glint of the silver dangles that swung at her ears. He watched her through the glass, the way she moved as she poured wine, sipped it while she checked something on the stove.

He saw the steam rise, and through it the strong lines of her profile.

Love rolled through him, over him, in one strong, almost violent, wave.

Should be used to it, he thought. Used to her after so much time, even counting the time without. But he never got used to it. Never got through it or over it.

Maybe his grandfather was right. Time was wasting.

He stepped up on the porch, pushed open the door.

She spun from the stove, drawing a long, serrated knife from the block as she whirled. He saw, in that moment, both the fear and the courage.

He held up both hands. “We come in peace.”

Her hand shook, very slightly, when she shoved the knife back in the block. “I didn’t hear you drive up, and didn’t expect you to come in the back.”

“Then you should make sure the door’s locked.”

“You’re right.”

Time might be wasting, Coop thought, but he had no right pushing now.

“Willy’s been by?” Coop asked and got down a second glass.

“Yes.”

He glanced at the stove, the bottle of good white wine. “Lil, if you’re thinking of a kind of celebration dinner-”

“When did I suddenly go stupid?” She bit off the words. Snapping more out as she took the lid off the skillet and made him lift his brows when she poured the good wine over the chicken she had sautéing. “He’s no more in Wyoming than I am. He made sure he left enough signs for them to follow, and might as well have put up a ‘Here’s a Clue’ sign pointing to that wallet.”

“Okay.”

“It’s not okay. He’s trying to make fools out of us.”

“Which is worse than trying to kill us?”

“It adds insult. I’m insulted.” She grabbed up her wine and drank.

“So you’re cooking chicken using twenty-five-dollar-a-bottle wine?”

“If you knew anything about cooking you’d know if it’s not good enough to drink, it’s not good enough for cooking either. And I felt like cooking. I told you I could cook. Nobody said you had to eat it.”

After she’d slapped the lid back on the skillet he crossed to her. He said nothing, just grabbed her, tightening his hold when she tried to pull away. Drawing her in, holding her to him, saying nothing at all.

“He’s up there somewhere, laughing. It makes it worse. I don’t care how petty it is, it makes it worse. So I’m going to be pissed off.”

“That’s fine, be pissed off. Or look at it this way: He thinks we’re stupid, that you’re stupid. He thinks we bought his little game, and we didn’t. He underestimated you, and that’s a mistake. It took a lot of time and effort for him to make that trail, plant that wallet. He wasted it on you.”

She relaxed a little. “When you put it that way.”

He lifted her face to his, kissed her. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

He ran his hand down the length of her braid, wishing he could ask, demand, even beg. And let her go. “Any hail damage?”

“Nothing major. How about at your grandparents’?”

“To my grandfather’s secret pleasure, they lost most of the kale.”

“I like kale.”

“Why?”

She laughed. “No good reason. There’s a ball game on tonight. Toronto at Houston. Wanna watch?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. You can set the table.”

He got out plates, laid them with the scent of cooking, of her, filling the air. He decided it wasn’t pushing just to ask. “Is that sexy underwear still in your dresser?”

“It is.”

“Okay.” He glanced at her while he opened a drawer for flatware. “You need to pick a date this summer. I’ll give you the Yankee schedule, and you can pick whichever game works for you. I can get Brad to send the plane. We could take a couple of days, stay at the Palace or the Waldorf.”

She checked the potatoes she had roasting with rosemary in the oven. “Private planes, fancy hotels.”

“I’ve still got my box-seat season tickets.”

“Box seats, too. Just how rich are you, Cooper?”

“Really.”

“Maybe I should hit you up for another donation.”

“I’ll give you five thousand to throw away the red number in the drawer upstairs.”

“Bribery. I’ll consider it.”

“ New York and the Yankees were the first bribe. You missed it.”

She’d missed this, too, she realized. Just poking at each other. “How much to toss them all?”

“Name your price.”

“Hmm. Could be steep. I want to build a dorm for the interns.”

He turned back, head angled. “That’s a good idea. Keep them on the property. They have more time here, probably more interaction with one another and the staff. And you’d have a number of people on-site at all times.”

“The last part wasn’t a consideration until recently. Which I just don’t want to talk about right now. Housing and transportation aren’t huge problems, but they always take some work. I want to build a six-room dorm, with kitchen facilities and a community room. We’d have room for a dozen interns. Fork over enough and I’ll name it after you.”

“Bribery. I’ll consider it.”

She grinned at him. “How does it feel? To be loaded?”

“Better than it did to be broke. I grew up with money, so I never thought about it. Part of my mistake when I hit college. I never had to worry where a meal was coming from or how I’d pay for shoes, that kind of thing. I blew through my savings and then some.”

“You were just a boy.”

“You were just a girl and you made a budget, and lived by it. I remember.”

“I didn’t grow up rich. You spent plenty on me, too, back then. I let you.”

“In any case it was a come-to-Jesus when I got in a hole, which I compounded by going against my father and dropping out of college, wanting to be a cop. Still, I figured I could do it.”

He shrugged and sipped as if it didn’t matter. But she knew it did.

“I’d have the first chunk from the trust coming along so I could live thin for a while. I didn’t know what thin was. But I found out.”

“You must’ve been scared.”

“Sometimes. I felt defeated and pissed off. But I was doing what I needed to do, and I was pretty good at it. Getting good at it. When he blocked the trust payment and froze my accounts, what there was of them, it turned desperate. I had the job, so it wasn’t like I’d be on the street, but thin got thinner. I needed a lawyer, a good one, and a good one wants a good retainer. I had to borrow the money for that. Brad lent it to me.”

“I knew I liked him.”

“It took months, close to a year, before I could pay him back. It wasn’t just the money, Lil, breaking my father’s hold on the trust payment. It was, finally, breaking his hold on me.”

“His loss. And I don’t mean the control. He lost you.”

“And I lost you.”

She shook her head, turned back to the stove.

“I had to prove myself before I could be with you, and proving myself meant I couldn’t be.”

“Yet here we are.”

“And now I have to prove myself to you.”

“That’s not it.” Fresh annoyance shimmered in her voice. “That’s not right.”

“Sure it is. It’s fair. A pisser, but fair. There’s a lot of thinking time when you’re working with horses. I’ve spent a good chunk of that thinking about this. You’ve got me on probation, and that’s a pisser. You want to make sure I’m not going to leave again, and you want to make sure you want me to stay. But in the meantime, I get to have you in bed, and now and then I get a hot meal I didn’t have to make myself. And I can watch you through the kitchen window. That’s fair.”

“Sex and food and occasional voyeurism?”

“And I can look in your eyes and see that you love me. I know you can’t hold out forever.”

“I’m not holding out. I’m-”

“Making sure,” he finished. “Same thing.” He moved, fast and smooth, and had her wrapped in a kiss, layered in the warmth, in the need. He let her go slowly, and with a soft, lingering bite.

“The chicken smells good.”

She eased him back a little farther. “Sit down. It should be done.”

They ate, and by tacit agreement turned the conversation to simple things. The weather, the horses, the health of her new tiger. They did the dishes together. After he’d checked the locks-the only outward sign of trouble-they settled in to watch the ball game. They made love while the waxing moon poured its light through the windows.

And still, in the night, she dreamed of running. A panic race through the moonstruck forest with terror galloping in her chest and her breath a harsh echo. She felt the sweat of effort and fear slick her skin. Brush tore at that skin as she fought through it, and she scented her own blood.

So would he.

She was hunted.

The high grass slashed at her legs when she reached the flats. She heard the pursuit, steady, always closer no matter how fast she ran, which direction she took. The moon was a spotlight, mercilessly bright, leaving her no place to hide. Flight, only flight could save her.

But his shadow fell over her, nearly bore her to the ground with its weight. Even as she turned, to face, to fight, the cougar sprang out of the high grass, its fangs bared for her throat.

27

A day passed, then another. There were reports of sightings of Ethan in Wyoming as far south as Medicine Bow, as far north as Shoshoni. But none panned out.

The search team in Spearfish thinned, and talk in town and the outlying farms turned to other matters. Spring plowing and planting, lambings, the cougar who’d perched in an apple tree in a yard not a quarter-mile from downtown Deadwood.

People agreed over pie at the diner, across the counter of the post office, between sips of beer at the bar that the man who’d killed that poor guy from St. Paul had run off.

The trail had gone cold.

But Lil remembered the dream, and knew they were wrong.

While those around her lowered their guard, she only strengthened hers. She began to slip a knife in her boot every morning. Its weight gave her peace of mind even as she resented the need for it.

Good weather brought the tourists, and the tourists meant increased donations. Mary reported their seven percent increase for the first quarter held steady for the first weeks of the second. Good news, Lil knew, but she couldn’t work up enthusiasm.

The more settled and ordinary the days became, the more her nerves frayed. What was he waiting for?

She asked herself that question as she carried hampers of food, or hosed down enclosures, as she uncarted supplies. Every time she made her rounds of the habitats her muscles braced for attack.

She all but willed it to come. She’d rather see Ethan leap out of the woods armed to the teeth than wait and wait for some unseen trap to spring.

She could watch Boris and Delilah curled together, or see him lead, and her tentatively follow into the grass, and feel pleasure, a sense of accomplishment. But under it brewed worry and stress.

She should be helping Mary and Lucius plan the summer open house, or put real effort into helping Tansy plan her wedding. But all she could think was: When? When would he come? When would it be finished?

“The waiting’s driving me crazy.” Following another new habit, Lil circled the habitats with Coop after the staff had gone for the day.

“Waiting’s what you have to do.”

“I don’t have to like it.”

She wore one of their new Chance Wildlife Refuge hoodies under her oldest jacket, and couldn’t seem to stop playing with the strings.

“It’s not like sitting in a jeep half the night waiting for a pride of lions to come to the watering hole, or even sitting at a computer tracking a collared cougar for a report. That’s doing something.”

“Maybe we were wrong. Maybe he did head west.”

“You know he didn’t.”

Coop shrugged. “Willy’s doing the best he can, but he’s got limited resources. There’s a lot of ground up there, and a lot of hikers, trail riders, and campers making tracks.”

“Willy’s not going to find him. I think we both know that.”

“Luck plays, Lil, and you have a better chance at getting lucky with persistence. Willy’s damn persistent.”

“And you have a better chance of getting lucky if you take a chance. I feel like I’m locked in here, Coop, and worse, just running in place. I need to move, need to act. I need to go up there.”

“No.”

“I’m not asking for your permission. If I decide to do this, you can’t stop me.”

“Yes, I can.” He glanced at her. “And I will.”

“I’m not looking to argue, not looking to fight. You’ve gone up. I know you’ve guided tours on the trail the last couple days. And we both know he’d be happy to hurt you if only to get to me.”

“Calculated risk. Hold it,” he ordered before she could debate. “If he tried to take me out, he’d bring back the full force of the search. He took the time and effort to point the arrow west and the FBI’s followed it. Why bring them back? Second, if he was stupid or impulsive enough to try, I carry a radio, which I show every member of the tour how to use, in case of accident. So he’d have to take me out, and the entire group I’m guiding. Calculated risk,” he repeated.

“And you get to sit your ass on a horse, ride. Breathe.”

He skimmed a hand over her hair, a subtle show of sympathy. “That’s true enough.”

“I know you’re going up hoping to find some signs, pick up a trail. You won’t. You’ve got some skills, but they’re rusty. And you were never as good as I was.”

“Circles back to luck and persistence.”

“I could go up with you, take a group up with you.”

“Then, if he happened to catch sight of us, or you, he might take me out. Then he could force you off at gunpoint, so by the time anyone still alive radioed for help, you’d be gone. Well gone if he used the horses. Waiting means he moves first. He exposes himself first.”

She stalked down the path and back. In his enclosure, Baby mirrored her move. The reflected motion had Coop’s lips curving. “That cougar’s a slave to his love for you.”

She glanced over, nearly smiled herself. “No ball tonight, Baby. We’ll play in the morning.”

He let out a call that Coop would have called a whine if cougars were capable of it.

Lil ducked under the barricade, relenting enough to rub him through the cage, let him butt her head, lick her hand.

“Is he going to be pissed if I come over there?”

“No. He’s seen you with me enough. He’s smelled you on me, and me on you. A cougar’s sense of smell isn’t his strongest asset, but Baby knows my scent. Come over.”

When he’d joined her, Lil put her hand over his, and laid it on Baby’s fur. “He’ll associate you with me. He knows I’m not afraid of you, or threatened. And he really likes to be rubbed. Bump foreheads with me. Just lean down, touch your forehead to mine.”

“He smells your hair,” Coop murmured as he rested his brow against hers. “The way I do. It smells like the hills. Clean, and just a little wild.”

“Now rest your forehead on the bars. It’s an offer of affection. Trust.”

“Trust.” Coop tried not to imagine what those sharp teeth could do. “Are you sure he’s not the jealous type?”

“He won’t hurt what I care about.”

Coop laid his forehead on the fencing. Baby studied him for a moment. Then he rose to his hind legs, bumped his head against Coop’s.

“Did we just shake hands or exchange a sloppy kiss?” Coop wondered.

“Somewhere in between. Three times I tried to release him to the wild. The first, when I took him and his littermates up into the hills, he tracked me back-to my parents. I’d ridden there to visit. You can imagine the surprise we got when we heard him, then opened the back door and saw him sitting on the porch.”

“He followed your scent.”

“For miles, and he shouldn’t have been able to, he shouldn’t have wanted to.”

“Love adds to ability, I’d say, and desire.”

“Unscientific, but… The second time, he tracked me back to the refuge, and the last, I had Tansy and an intern take him. That was guilt on my part. I didn’t want to let him go, but felt I had to try. He beat them back. He came home. His choice. Good night, Baby.”

She moved back to the path. “The other night I dreamed I was being hunted. Running and running, but he kept getting closer. And when I knew I was done, when I had to turn and fight, a cougar leaped out of the grass and went for my throat.”

She leaned into him when he put his arm around her shoulders. “I’ve never dreamed of being attacked by a cat. Never. Not even after I’d been bit, or come out of some dicey situation. But this has done that. I can’t keep being afraid. I can’t keep being locked in here.”

“There are other ways to get out.”

“What? Going into the city to shop?”

“It’s out.”

“Now you sound like my mother. It’ll do me good, take my mind off things. That’s when I’m not hearing how Tansy wants her best friend and maid of honor with her when she picks out her wedding dress.”

“So you’re going.”

“Of course I’m going.” But she sighed. “Tansy’s mother flew in today, and tomorrow we’re off on our safari. And I feel guilty about being irritated about it.”

“You could buy new sexy underwear.”

She slanted him a look. “You’ve got a one-track mind.”

“Stay on track, you eventually reach the finish line.”

“I need the hills, Coop.” Her fingers went back, tugging and twisting the strings of the hoodie. “How long can I let him take them from me?”

This time he leaned down, pressed his lips to her hair. “We’ll take the horses down to Custer. We’ll ride the hills all day.”

She wanted to say those weren’t her hills, but it would have been petty and pouty.

She looked toward their silhouette, blank and black under the night sky. Soon, she thought. It had to be soon.

LIL REMINDED HERSELF, again, she liked to shop. Geography and circumstances meant she did a lot of that online, so when she had the chance to really dig into the colors, shapes, textures, smells of shopping in three dimensions, she did so with enthusiasm.

And she enjoyed the company of women, particularly these women. Sueanne Spurge had charm and a sense of fun, and got along like a house afire with Jenna and Lucy.

She liked the city, too. Usually. She enjoyed the change of pace, the sights, the stores, the crowds. Since childhood a trip into Rapid City had been a special treat, a day of fun and busy doings.

But now the noise annoyed, the people just got in the way, and she wanted nothing more than to be back at the refuge-which only the night before had begun to feel like a prison.

She sat in the pretty dressing room of the bridal boutique, sipping sparkling water garnished with a thin slice of lemon, and thought about what trails she would take if she had the opportunity to hunt Ethan.

She’d start on the flat, where he’d disabled the camera. The search had covered that area, but that didn’t matter. They might have missed something. He’d killed there, at least twice. A human and her cougar. It was part of his hunting ground.

From there, she’d cover the ground to the Crow Peak trail, where he most likely had intercepted James Tyler. From there to the river, where the body had been found. From that point-

“Lil!”

Lil jolted back so fast she nearly tipped the water into her lap. “What?”

“The dress.” Tansy spread her arms to model the off-the-shoulder ivory confection of silk and lace.

“You look gorgeous.”

“All brides look gorgeous.” A hint of impatience edged into Tansy’s tone. “We’re taking opinions on the dress.”

“Um…”

“I just love it!” Sueanne clasped her hands together at her heart as her eyes filled. “Baby, you look like a princess.”

“The color’s lovely on you, Tansy,” Jenna put in. “That warm white.”

“And the lines.” Lucy rubbed her hand up and down Sueanne’s back. “It’s very romantic.”

“It’s a spectacular dress,” Lil managed finally.

“And it’s an outdoor country wedding. Doesn’t anyone else think this is, yes, spectacular, but too much for a simple, country wedding?”

“You’re still the showpiece,” Sueanne insisted.

“Mama, I know you’ve got Princess Tansy in mind, and I love you for it. I love the dress, too. But it’s not what I have in my mind for my wedding.”

“Oh. Well.” Obviously deflated, Sueanne managed a wobbly smile. “It has to be your dress.”

“Why don’t we go hunt some more?” Lucy suggested. “Lil can help her out of that one, and into one of the others we’ve got in here. But maybe we missed the perfect one.”

“That’s a great idea. Come on, Sueanne.” Jenna took the mother of the bride by the arm to steer her out.

“I love it, I really do.” Tansy did a turn in front of the three-way mirror. “What’s not to love? If we were doing something more formal, I’d snatch this in a heartbeat, but… Lil!”

“Hmm. Damn it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Setting the water glass aside, she rose to unhook the back of the dress. “I’m a terrible friend. I’m the worst maid of honor in the history of maids of honor. I deserve to wear puce organdy with two dozen flounces and puffy sleeves. Please don’t make me wear puce organdy.”

“I’m holding it in reserve,” Tansy said darkly, “so watch your step. I know you didn’t want to come today.”

“It’s not that. I just haven’t been able to get my head here. But now it is. I’m keeping it here. Solemn swear.”

“Then help me get into the one I hid behind the one with the enormous skirt. I know Mama wants me in a big white dress, and would like it better yet if it had a twenty-foot train and six million sequins. But I saw that one out there and it hit. I think it’s the one.”

It was the color of warm, rich honey, its sweetheart neckline outlined with tiny, delicate pearls. It dipped in at the waist then flowed out in a subtle flair. Ribbons crisscrossed the back down to the elaborate bow that flirted from the waist.

“Oh, Tansy, you look… edible. If it weren’t for Farley I’d marry you myself.”

“I glow.” Tansy turned in front of the mirror, her face radiant. “That’s what I want. I want to glow on the outside the same way I am on the inside.”

“You really do. It’s not spectacular. It’s stunning and it’s so absolutely you.”

“It’s my wedding dress. You have to help me convince my mother. I don’t want to disappoint her, but this is my dress.”

“I think-”

Lil stopped short as Sueanne bustled back in, leading the parade. Sueanne stared at Tansy, then pressed her hands to her mouth. Tears spilled out of her eyes. “Oh, baby. Oh, my baby girl.”

“I don’t think she needs convincing,” Lil concluded.

Shopping did take her mind off things when she let it. And there was nothing quite like the fun of an all-girl day in the shops. Pretty dresses and pretty shoes and pretty bags, all guiltlessly purchased thanks to Tansy’s wedding.

Intermission was a fancy lunch, which included, at Sueanne’s insistence, a bottle of champagne. With the mood as bubbly as the wine, they went back to the task at hand, scouring florists and bakeries for ideas and inspiration.

Triumphant, they squeezed back into Jenna’s SUV with their mountain range of shopping bags. By the time they dropped off Tansy and her mother in Deadwood, the streetlights burned.

“I bet we walked twenty miles.” With a little groan, Lucy stretched out her legs. “I’m going to top off the day with a nice long soak in the tub.”

“I’m starving. Shopping makes me hungry. And my feet hurt,” Jenna admitted. “I wonder what I can eat in the tub.”

“That’s because you walked out of the store wearing new shoes.”

“I couldn’t resist.” Jenna curled and uncurled her aching toes. “I can’t believe I bought three pairs of shoes at one time. You’re a bad influence.”

“They were on sale.”

“One pair was on sale.”

“You saved money on the one, so it’s not like buying them.”

“It’s not?”

“No,” Lucy said in reasonable tones. “It’s like saving on them. So look at it that way: you only bought two pairs. And one of them’s for the wedding. Those you were obligated to buy. Really, you only bought one pair.”

“Your logic is wise. And confusing.”

In the backseat Lil listened to the old friends enjoy each other’s company, and smiled.

She hadn’t taken enough time for this, she admitted. Time to just sit and listen to her mother talk, to be with her, with Lucy. She had let that bastard steal that from her too, those little moments of pleasure.

That would stop.

“Let’s have a spa day.”

Jenna flicked a glance in the rearview. “A what?”

“A spa day. I haven’t had a facial or a manicure since before I left for South America. Let’s figure out when we can all take a day off and book a bunch of decadent treatments at the day spa.”

“Lucy, there’s someone in the backseat pretending to be Lil.”

Lil leaned up, poked her mother’s shoulder. “I’m going to have Mary call and book us as soon as I check my schedule and Tansy’s, so you’d better let her know if you’ve got any day next week that doesn’t work. Otherwise, too bad for you.”

“Somehow I believe I can clear my schedule. How about you, Lucy.”

“I may have to shuffle a few things, but I think I can clear the decks. Won’t that be fun.” She shifted to smile back at Lil.

“Yes. It’ll be fun.” And long overdue.

Lil got out when they reached Lucy’s to stretch her legs and switch to the front seat. “Let me help you in with those.”

“I bought them, I can carry them,” Lucy replied.

At the back of the SUV, the three of them pawed through bags.

“That’s mine,” Lucy said. “That one’s your mother’s. This one, yes, that’s mine. That one there. And, oh, my, I did go a little overboard.”

With a laugh, Lucy kissed Jenna on the cheek. “I don’t know the last time I had so much fun. ’Night, sweetheart,” she said with a kiss for Lil. “I’m going to listen to Sam ask me why I needed another pair of shoes when I’ve only got two feet, then I’m putting these old bones in the tub.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Jenna called out, and waited until Lucy was in the house before heading down the farm road.

“What about you? Are you looking to soak or eat?”

“I’m thinking shoes off, feet up, and a big fat sandwich.”

“You had a good day, and you’re going to be a beautiful maid of honor.”

“It’s a great dress.” Sighing, Lil let her head tip back. “I haven’t done a shopping marathon like that in years. Literally years.”

“I know it wasn’t easy for you to take a full day away like this. And now you’re planning a spa day. You’re a good friend.”

“She’d do the same for me. Plus, great dress, fabulous shoes, and assorted other items I really had no need for.”

“It’s more fun when you don’t need them.”

“Too true.” Lil toyed with the new earrings she’d bought, and-like her mother and the shoes-had worn out of the store. “Why is that?”

“Buying what you need’s the result of hard work. Buying what you don’t need’s the reward for hard work. You work hard, honey. I’m glad you took the time away. It was nice, wasn’t it, seeing how happy and excited Sueanne is? She can’t say enough about Farley.”

“It makes you proud.”

“It really does. It’s so satisfying when other people tell you what a good person your child is. I feel so good about it, about knowing how welcome he’s going to be in that family. You’ll be happy, too, having her living so close.”

“You want to bet Dad and Farley ditched the chess game and spent all evening playing with plans for the house?”

“No question. They’ll probably be sorry to see me home.”

When they got to the gate, Jenna stopped so Lil could swipe her card, and key in her code.

“I can’t tell you how much better I feel knowing you’ve got this security in. Almost as good as I feel knowing you’re not going home to an empty house.”

“It’s an odd situation, having Coop here. I want him here, but at the same time I’m trying not to get used to having him here.”

“You’re gun-shy.”

“I really am. Part of me feels that I might be punishing him for something he did, or didn’t do, said or didn’t say, when I was twenty. I don’t want to do that. Another part of me wonders if we’re together here because of the situation, because I’m in trouble and he needs to help.”

“Do you doubt he loves you?”

“No. No, I don’t.”

“But?”

“But if I don’t hold something back, and he leaves again, I don’t know if I’d get through it.”

“I can’t tell you what to do. Well, I could, but I won’t. I’ll just say nothing in this world comes with a guarantee. With people, with love, a promise has to be enough. When it’s enough for you, you’ll let go.”

“It’s hard to think straight or feel straight with this cloud over my head. I don’t want to make a decision or take a step like that when everything around me is in such upheaval.”

“That’s very sensible.”

She narrowed her eyes at her mother as Jenna set the brake in front of the cabin. “And wrong?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yes you did. Just not out loud.”

“Lil, you’re my daughter. My shining star.” Reaching out, she lifted a lock of Lil’s hair, let it slide through her fingers. “I want you safe and happy. I’m not content until I know you’re both, as much of both as is possible. I love Cooper, so I’d be thrilled if you decide he’s a part of making you safe and happy. But the safe and happy’s what I want most for you, however you decide. For now? I like seeing his truck there, and the lights on in your cabin. And… I like seeing him stepping out on the porch to welcome you home.”

Jenna slid out of the car. “Hi, Coop.”

“Ladies.” He walked down. “How’d it go?”

“You can judge that by the amount of bags still in the back. We considered renting a U-Haul for the loot, but we managed to stuff it and everyone in for the ride back. Barely.”

She opened the back, began to pass him bags.

“Did you leave anything for the rest of the state?”

“Not if we could help it. There. The rest is mine, all mine.” She turned, gave Lil a hug. “We don’t do this often enough.”

“I’d have to give myself a raise to do it more often.”

“You call me tomorrow.”

“I will.”

“Take care of my girl, Cooper.”

“Top of the list.”

Lil waved her off, watched the tailgate fade. “Is everything all right here?”

“Fine.”

“I should check, see if anyone left me any messages.”

“Matt and Lucius were still here when I got home. They said to tell you things ran okay without you. Even though you wouldn’t like to hear it.”

“Of course I like to hear it.”

“Then why are you frowning? I’m taking all this stuff inside.”

“I’m just not used to being away all day.” And now that she was back she wondered what had possessed her to suggest another day away.

“You were in Peru for six months.”

“That’s different. I don’t care if it’s illogical, it is different. I should do a circuit around the habitats.”

“I already did.” He dumped the bags at the base of the stairs. “Baby made do with me.”

“Oh. That’s good, too. I guess there’s no word on Ethan, or anything in that area.”

“I’d tell you if there were.” He leaned down, kissed her. “Why don’t you relax? Isn’t stripping stores of all their stock supposed to relax the female?”

“That’s very sexist, and mostly true. I’m starving.”

“I ate the leftovers.”

“I want a sandwich. A really big sandwich.”

“Then it’s a good thing I went shopping, too,” he said as he walked with her to the kitchen. “Because you were out of bread and anything-other than peanut butter-to put between it.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.” She opened the fridge, and stood staring with her eyes wide. “Wow. This is a lot of food.”

“Not if two people actually eat a couple of meals a day.”

With a shrug, she pulled out packs of deli meat. “We did fancy for lunch, which means you end up ordering salad. Fancy salads. I nearly ordered a Reuben, but somehow it felt wrong. Especially since we had champagne. I just don’t think you can have a Reuben and champagne at the same time.”

He sat on the bench, watched her. “You had a good time. It shows.”

“I did. It took me a while to change gears, get in the groove, whatever. But thankfully I did and will not be forced to wear puce and flounces at Tansy’s wedding.”

He cocked his head. “What is puce, anyway?”

“Every bridal attendant’s worst nightmare. Tansy got the most fabulous dress. A killer of a dress, which mine will complement perfectly. Then there were the shoes. Watching Lucy and my mother in the shoe department is an education and a thrill. I’m a rank amateur in comparison. Then there were handbags.”

She chattered about purses, then the flower shops, reliving little pieces of the day in the telling while she poured a glass of milk.

“We grazed through shops like a herd of starving deer. I think my credit card gasped weakly at the end of the day.” She brought the sandwich to the table, plopped down. “God, my feet!”

Even as she bit in, she toed off her shoes.

“It’s work, you know. The shopping safari. As physical as mucking out stalls.”

“Uh-huh.” He lifted her feet onto his lap, and began to rub, running his knuckles up her instep.

Lil felt her eyes roll back in her head. “Oh. This is probably what heaven’s like. A huge sandwich, a glass of cold milk, and a foot rub.”

“You’re a cheap date, Lil.”

She smiled and took another bite. “How much of my shopping adventures did you actually listen to?”

“I tuned out in the shoe department.”

“Just as I suspected. Lucky for you, you give a good foot rub.”

Later, when she hung her new dress in the closet, she thought it had been an exceptional day. Stress-free, once she’d put stress aside, and touched with moments of real joy and wonderful foolishness.

And her mother had been right, she realized as she heard Coop tune in for the baseball scores. It was nice to have someone who’d walk out on the porch to welcome her home.

28

Lil felt him touch her, just the lightest touch, a brush on her shoulder, down her arm. As if he reassured himself she was there before he got out of bed in the predawn dark.

She lay, wakeful now, in the warmth of the bed, the warmth he’d left for her, and listened to the sound of the shower. The hiss of water against tile and tub.

She considered getting up herself, putting on the coffee, getting a jump on the day. But there was something so comforting, so sweetly simple about staying just where she was and listening to the water run.

The pipes clanged once, and she smiled when she caught his muffled oath through the bathroom door. He tended to take long showers, long enough for the small hot water heater to protest.

He’d shave now-or not, depending on his mood. Brush his teeth with the towel slung around his hips and his hair still dripping. He’d rub the towel over it briefly, impatiently, maybe scoop his fingers through it a few times.

Oh, to have hair that didn’t require fuss or time. But in any case, vanity wasn’t part of his makeup. He’d already be thinking about what needed to be done that day, which chore to deal with first on the daily list of chores.

He’d taken on a lot, she mused. The farm, the business, and because of who and what he was, the responsibility of finding ways to keep his grandparents involved in the day-to-day while making sure they didn’t overdo.

Then he’d added her, she thought. Not trying just to win her back but also to help her deal with the very real threat to her and hers. That piled extra hours, extra worry, extra work into his day.

And he brought her flowers.

He came back into the bedroom, moving quietly. That, she knew was both an innate skill of his and basic consideration. He took some care not to wake her, dressing in the half-dark, leaving his boots off.

She could smell the soap and water on him, and found it another kind of comfort. Heard him ease a drawer open, ease it shut again.

Later, she thought, she’d go downstairs to the scent of coffee, the scent of companionship. Someone cared enough to think of her. He’d probably light a fire, to take the chill off the house, even though he’d be leaving it.

If she needed him at any time of the day, she could call. He’d find a way to help.

He came to the bed, leaned down, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She started to speak, but felt words would spoil the moment, would distract from what was happening inside her. She stayed silent as he slipped out of the room.

The night before he’d come out on the porch to greet her. He’d eaten the leftovers, and gone to the market. He’d walked with her on her evening check of the habitat.

He waited for her, she admitted. But what was she waiting for?

Promises, guarantees, certainties? He’d broken her heart and left her unspeakably lonely. It didn’t matter that he’d been motivated by good intentions, the hurt still happened. Still existed. She feared it nearly as much as she feared Ethan.

In fact, Coop was the only man who’d ever had the power to break her heart or make her afraid. Did she want to live without that risk? Because she would never get there, not with Coop. Just as she would never, never feel so utterly safe, happy, and excited about anyone else.

As dawn streamed in the windows she heard him leave. The door closing behind him, and moments later, the sound of his truck.

She rose, crossed to her dresser to open the bottom drawer. She dug under layers of sweats to draw out the cougar he’d carved for her when they’d been children.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she ran her fingers over the lines as she had countless times over the years. She’d put it away, true. But she took it with her when she traveled, kept it in that drawer at home. Her good-luck piece. And a tangible piece of him she’d never been able to toss away.

Through that roughly carved symbol, Coop had gone with her to Peru, to Alaska, to Africa and Florida and India. He’d been her companion on every field study.

Twenty years, she thought, nearly twenty years since he’d taken a block of wood and carved the image of what he knew-even then-she valued.

How could she live without that? Why would she choose to?

Standing, she set the cougar on her dresser, then opened another drawer.

She felt a tug for Jean-Paul. She hoped he was well, and he was happy. She wished him the love he deserved. Then she emptied the drawer.

She carried the lingerie downstairs. A fire crackled in the hearth, and the scent of coffee tantalized the air. In the kitchen she put the nightwear in a bag, and with a smile ghosting around her mouth put it in the laundry room.

It would wait until he got home, she thought, because this was home now. For both of them. Home was where you loved, if you were lucky. Where someone would light the fire and be there when you came back.

It was where you kept the precious. A baseball bat, a carved cougar.

She poured a mug of coffee and, carrying it with her, went upstairs to dress for the day. It was a good day, she thought, when you opened yourself to both the joys and the risks of love.

COOP WORKED UP the first sweat of the morning mucking out the stalls. They had three group rentals booked for the day, two of them guided, so he’d need to load up a couple more horses and get in to set up. He needed to schedule a visit from the vet and the farrier, both at the stables and at the farm. He had to get in, check the website for future bookings.

And he wanted an hour, a good hour without interruptions to study the files, his notes, the map and try to find a new angle for tracking down Ethan Howe.

It was there, he knew it was there. But somehow he was missing it. A handful of men couldn’t cover the hundreds of acres of hills, forests, caves, and flats. The dogs couldn’t hold the scent when there was essentially nothing to hold.

A lure was needed. Something to lure Ethan out, just far enough to trap him. But since the only bait that seemed potent enough to accomplish that was Lil, he had to find another way.

Another angle.

He tossed another load of soiled hay into the wheelbarrow, then leaned on the pitchfork as his grandfather came in. Barely a limp now, Coop noted, though it generally increased if Sam stayed on his feet for several hours.

The angle there, Coop knew, was to get the man to take periodic breaks without making them seem like breaks.

“Just the man I wanted to see.” Coop shifted to stand between Sam and the barrow before his grandfather got it in his head to haul the manure out to the pile. “Do me a favor, will you? We need vet and farrier appointments here and at the stables. If you could set those up it would save me some time today.”

“Sure. I told you I’d see to the mucking out.”

“Right. I guess I forgot. Well, it’s nearly done.”

“Boy, you don’t forget a damn thing. Now hand over that pitchfork.”

“Yes, sir.”

“In case you’re working your brains trying to find other ways to keep me out of trouble and in the rocking chair, I’ll ease your mind.” With the grace of long experience, Sam went to work on the last stall. “Joe and Farley are going to give me some time today helping check fences. I’m going to hire the young Hossenger boy to do some chores around here, before and after school. If he works out, I’ll keep him on through the summer. He’s got it in his head he wants to work with horses. We’ll give him a try.”

“Okay.”

“He’s got a strong back and he’s not an idiot. I was talking to Bob Brown yesterday. He tells me his granddaughter’s looking for a job. Girl can ride, and she’s thinking about asking you if you need another guide.”

“I could use one, especially with the season coming up. Does she know the trails?”

“Bob says she does, and she’s got a head on her shoulders. You can talk to her yourself, and decide.”

“I’ll do that.”

Sam puffed out his cheeks. “Jessie Climp teaches over at the elementary, and she’s looking for summer work. You might want to talk to her. She’s been around horses all her life, and she’s good with kids. Might be she’d do fine for those pony rides we’re adding in.”

Coop smiled. So they’d discussed the changes and additions he wanted to make. “I’ll talk to her.”

“New computers and what-all, I’m leaving to you and Lucy. I don’t want any more to do with them than I have to.”

“We’ll look into that, first chance.”

“As for adding on, could be I’ll talk to Quint about drawing something up for that. I had a conversation with Mary Blunt about this retail business, and she tells me Lil’s place does a good turn on things like postcards and such.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“I saw the doctor yesterday. He says I’m fit and I’m sound. The leg’s healed up.” To prove it, Sam gave his thigh a smack. “At my age I’m going to have to pamper it some, but I can walk and stand and I can sit a horse and ride a plow. So I’ll be taking on some of the guideds again. You’re not here to work yourself to the bone-that’s not what your grandmother and me want.”

“I’m a long way from the bone.”

As Coop had, Sam leaned on the pitchfork. “I’ve been dug in about hiring on. Don’t like change. But things change whether you like it or not, and the fact is we’ve got a good business going with the rentals. Better than we ever expected. We need to hire on more help there. We need more help around the farm so you can do what you came out here to do, and if that’s adding some things, changing them some, that’s the way it is.”

“More help’s not going to hurt my feelings, but I’m doing what I came out here to do, whether we add on or change a thing.”

“You came out to help your crippled grandfather.” Sam did a bounce and kick that had Coop laughing. “Do I look crippled?”

“No, but you don’t look like Fred Astaire either.”

Sam wagged the pitchfork. “You came back to start digging in the roots you planted when you were just a boy. To run the horse business and help with the farm.”

“Like I said, I’m doing what I came out to do.”

“Not all.” This time Sam pointed a finger. “Are you married to that girl? Did you just forget to invite me to the wedding?”

“I didn’t come out here to marry Lil. I thought she was going to marry someone else.”

“Had that been the case, you’d’ve been working out ways to win her away from that French guy ten minutes after setting eyes on her again.”

“Maybe.”

Pleased, Sam nodded. “You would’ve done it, too. Anyway, we’re hiring on, and we’re adding on. Your grandma and me decided on it.”

“Okay. I’ll make it work for you, Grandpa.”

“You make it work for you, I expect it’ll work for me. And you’ll have time to do everything you came out here to do. I’ll finish up here. You go in and sweet-talk your grandmother out of some breakfast before you go on. She’s got the start of her spring cleaning in mind today, so God help me. I got the names and phone numbers of those I told you about in the kitchen.”

“I’ll haul this load out first.”

“Do you think I haven’t got the muscle for that?”

“Grandpa, I figure you can haul your share of shit and everyone else’s, but it’s on my way.”

Coop wheeled out the barrow while Sam guffawed. He headed to the manure pile with a grin.

IN THE CHANCE kitchen, breakfast was on. Farley plowed into flapjacks, dazzled by his luck. Along with them were sausage and hash browns. A kingly breakfast, in his mind, for the middle of the week.

“Our stomachs are getting full because Jenna emptied my wallet yesterday.”

Jenna bumped Joe’s shoulder with her elbow, then topped off his coffee. It did ease the guilt of the sting she put on their credit card. “That’s our wallet, mister.”

“It’s still empty.”

She laughed and sat to look over her grocery list, the list for the feed store, and other errands. “It’s market day, so I’m going to be putting another dent in that tin can with the spare cash you’ve got buried outside.”

“I used to think you really had one of those,” Farley said between bites.

“What makes you think I don’t? Take my advice, Farley, get yourself a tin can and bury it deep. A married man needs some backup.”

Jenna’s eyes twinkled with humor even as she narrowed them. “I know where everything’s buried around here. And just where to bury you where no one will ever find the body if you’re not careful.”

“A woman who can threaten your life before you’ve finished breakfast is the only kind of woman worth having,” Joe told Farley.

“I’ve got one of those. I’m a lucky man.”

“The two of you lucky men better finish up and get out of here if you expect to get your work done, then help Sam.”

“We’ll be the best part of the day. We’ll have the radio if you need anything.”

“I’ve got my own full day. Lucy’s packing you two lunch so you won’t starve, or have need to come back in before you’re done. I’ll be heading into town later on, then swinging by Lucy’s. She’s started her spring cleaning, so I’m picking up what she needs at the market.”

“Can you go by the hardware? I need a couple things.”

“Put it on the list.”

Joe wrote down what he needed while he finished his coffee. “We can call the dogs in if you want them around today.”

“I’ll be leaving in a couple hours anyway. Let them have a good run with you. Are you home for supper, Farley?”

“Well, Tansy’s mom’s going back today, so I was thinking…”

“I know what you’re thinking. I’ll see you in the morning, then.” She added to her list while Farley cleared the table.

“I’ll load up the tools,” he said. “Thanks for breakfast, Jenna.”

When they were alone, Joe winked at his wife. “We’ll have the house to ourselves tonight, so I was thinking…”

She laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, too.” She leaned over for the kiss. “Get going so you can get back. And don’t work so hard you’ve got nothing left for what you’re thinking.”

“I’ve always got something left for that.”

She smiled as she finished her lists in the quiet kitchen, because that was the pure truth.

LIL HELPED CLEAN and hose down the enclosures before going into the offices. It was dental hygiene day at the refuge, so Matt and several of the interns would be busy drugging animals and cleaning teeth. And a shipment of chicken was due to arrive that morning. More interns busy unloading and storing. The winch on the door of the lion’s habitat had made unfortunate noises that morning as she’d lowered it to keep Sheba out of the enclosure while they’d cleaned and disinfected it. Maintenance on the list, she thought, and some prayers that it didn’t need replacement.

Maybe one day she’d be able to afford hydraulics, but that was not today.

“Don’t you look bright and happy this morning,” Mary commented.

“Do I?”

“Yes, you do.” Mary tipped down her cheaters. “Good news?”

“No news, so I suppose that’s good. It’s going to hit seventy today, a veritable heat wave. Forecasters claim it’ll hang around through tomorrow before we drop about twenty degrees. We do need more feed for the petting zoo.”

“I ordered it yesterday.”

“I’ve got news.” Lucius waved the whip of red licorice in his hand. “I just checked the website. We’re up to five thousand dollars in donations attached to Delilah. People are all excited about her, and her and Boris. It’s the love story that’s done it, I think.”

“If it is, we’re going to generate a romance for every animal in here.”

“They’ve gotten more hits than any of the others on the webcam this week, and more comments. I was thinking we could update the bios on all the animals, juice them up a little. And replace some of the photos, maybe do a couple of short videos.”

“That’s good. And you know what, Lucius, maybe you could get some videos of Matt and his interns working on the dental. It’s not sexy, but it shows what kind of care we give them, how much work’s involved. It’s educational, plus it may stir up donations from people who don’t realize what goes into tending them.”

“Sure, but it would work better if you wrote up a little piece on it. Something fun that talks about how people hate to go to the dentist and stuff like that.”

“I’ll play with something.”

She went into her office to work on a piece she hoped to pitch for pay on Delilah’s rescue. She’d beef it up with the romance angle with Boris, she decided. Good nutrition, proper care, and housing all mattered, she mused, but the connection to another living thing made life rich.

Nodding, she sat down to work on it, and thought romance was certainly in the air.

HEWAS READY, fully prepared. It had taken hours of work, but he felt everything he needed and wanted was now in place. Timing would be an unknown, a risk factor, but it would be worth it. In fact, it would be more exciting, more important with that unknown.

He was ready to kill, here and now, and take that risk as well. But as he watched, hidden, he lowered the crossbow. He might not have to kill to retrieve the bait. It would be better if he could make this clean. Take less of his time, his energy.

And make the real hunt-and-kill that much more satisfying.

Look at them, he thought, look at them going about their business, their useless business, without a clue he was close. No idea they were being watched.

He could kill them so easily. As easy-easier-than shooting a buck at his watering hole.

But wouldn’t she try harder, run faster, fight more viciously if he let them keep their worthless lives? Too much blood and she might lose heart.

He couldn’t have that. He’d waited too long, worked too hard.

So he watched them load the fencing. Fucking farmers, making their rooms out of the land. His land. Trapping their mindless cattle, animals not even worth the hunt.

Go on, go, he urged them, setting his teeth as their voices and laughter carried to him. Go. Everything will have changed when you get back. Yes, it was better to let them live, let them suffer when they realized what he’d done right under their noses.

Their tears would be sweeter than their blood.

He smiled as the dogs raced and ran and leaped in anticipation. He’d been resigned to killing the dogs, but he’d have been sorry for it. Now, it seemed, even that blood could be spared.

They rode off, the dogs in joyful pursuit. And the little farm in the valley of the hills went quiet. Still he waited. He wanted them well away, out of sight, out of hearing before he broke cover.

He’d watched the women many times in the past, studied the routine of the farm as he would any herd he stalked. She was strong, and he knew they had weapons inside the house. When he took her, he’d take her quickly.

He circled behind the barn, moving fast and silent. In his mind he wore buckskin and moccasins. His face bore the symbols of the warrior.

Birds sang, and some of the cattle lowed. He heard the chickens humming, and as he neared the house, the sound of the woman’s voice singing.

His mother hadn’t sung. She’d kept her head down, kept her mouth shut. She’d done what she was told to do or she got the boot. In the end his father had had no choice but to kill her. As he’d explained, she’d stolen from him. Held back her tips. Hoarded money. Lied.

A worthless white bitch, his father had explained when they’d buried her deep. A mistake. Women were no damn good, and white women the worst of the bad.

It had been an important lesson to learn.

He eased up to the side window, letting the lay of the kitchen come into his head from the times he’d scouted it. He could hear clanking and clattering. Doing the dishes, he thought, and when he risked a look, he saw-pleased-that she had her back to him as she loaded the dishwasher. Pans stood stacked on the counter, and her hips moved as she sang.

He wondered what it would be like to rape her, then dismissed the idea. Rape was beneath him. Just as she was beneath him. He wouldn’t soil himself with her.

She was bait. Nothing more.

Water ran in the sink, pots clattered. Under the cover of the kitchen noise, he stepped lightly to the back door, tried the knob.

He shook his head, vaguely disappointed it wasn’t locked. He’d visualized kicking it in, and the shock on her face when he did. Instead, he merely pushed it open, stepped inside.

She spun around, a skillet in her hand. As she raised it to strike or throw he simply lifted the crossbow. “I wouldn’t, but you go ahead if you want this bolt in your belly.”

She’d gone white, so her eyes shone black against her skin. He remembered then she had some of his blood. But she’d let it go pale. She’d ignored her heritage. Slowly, she set the pan down.

“Hello, Jenna,” he said.

He watched her throat work before she spoke, enjoyed the fear. “Hello, Ethan.”

“Outside.” He plucked her cell phone out of its charger on the counter, stuck it in his back pocket. “I can put one of these in your foot and drag you,” he said when she didn’t move, “or you can walk. That’s up to you.”

Giving him as wide a berth as possible, she went to the door, and out to the porch. He closed the door behind them.

“Keep moving. You’re going to do exactly as I say and exactly when I say it. If you try to run, you’ll find out how much faster a bolt is than you are.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.” He shoved her forward when he decided she wasn’t moving fast enough.

“Ethan, they’re looking for you. Sooner or later they’ll find you.”

“They’re idiots. Nobody finds me unless I want to be found.” He forced her across the farmyard toward the trees.

“Why are you doing this?”

He watched her head move, left to right, and knew she was looking for a place to run, gauging her chances. He almost wished she’d risk it. As Carolyn had. That had been interesting.

“It’s what I am. What I do.”

“Kill?”

“Hunt. Killing’s the end of the game. Against the tree, face-first.” He pushed her. She threw her hands out to catch herself, scraping her palms on the bark. “Move, and I’ll hurt you.”

“What have we done?” She tried to think, to find a way out, but couldn’t push past the fear. It crawled inside her, crawled over her skin until there was nothing else. “What have we done to you?”

“This is sacred ground.” He looped a rope around her waist, pulled it tight enough to stop her breath. “It’s mine. And you, you’re worse than the rest. You have Sioux blood.”

“I love the land.” Think, think, think! “I-my family has always honored and respected it.”

“Liar.” He pushed her face against the bark, drawing blood. When she cried out, he yanked her back by the hair. “Put this on, zip it up.” He thrust a dark blue windbreaker into her hands. “And pull up the hood. We’re going for a hike, Jenna. Listen close. If we run into anyone, you keep your mouth shut, your head down, and just do what I say. If you make a move, try to get help, I’ll kill whoever you speak to. Then they’re on your head. Understand?”

“Yes. Why don’t you just kill me now?”

He smiled widely. “We have places to go and people to see.”

“You’re going to try to use me to get to Lil, and I won’t let you.”

He grabbed her hair again, yanked until she saw stars dancing. “I can use you dead as easy as alive. Alive’s more fun, but dead works.” He patted the knife sheathed on his belt. “Do you think she’d recognize your hand if I cut it off and sent it to her? We can try that. What do you think?”

“No.” Tears born of helplessness and pain tracked down her cheeks. “Please.”

“Then do what I tell you. Put this on.” He handed her a battered backpack. “We’re just a couple of hikers.” He gave the rope a yank. “And one of us is on a short leash. Now, walk. Keep up or you’ll pay for it.”

He avoided the trail as much as possible, kept a hard pace over rough ground. If she stumbled, he yanked or dragged. And since he seemed to enjoy it, Jenna stopped any attempt to slow him down.

She knew they skirted the edges of her daughter’s land, and her heart thundered. “Why do you want to hurt Lil? Look at what she’s done. She’s preserving the land, giving shelter and care to animals. You’re Sioux. You respect animals.”

“She puts them in cages so people can stare at them. For money.”

“No, she’s dedicated her life to saving them, to educating people.”

“Feeding them like pets.” He gave Jenna another shove when she paused. “Taking what should be free and caging it. That’s what they want to do with me. Cage me for doing what I was born to do.”

“Everything she’s done has been to preserve the wildlife and the land.”

“It’s not her land! They’re not her animals! When I’m done with her, I’ll free them all, and they’ll hunt as I hunt. I’ll burn her place to the ground. Then yours, then all the rest.”

His face shone with madness and purpose. “Purify.”

“Then why did you kill the others? James Tyler? Why?”

“The hunt. When I hunt to eat, it’s with respect. The rest? It’s sport. But with Lil, it’s both. She has my respect. We’re connected. By blood, by fate. She found my first kill. I knew someday we’d compete.”

“Ethan, you were only a boy. We can-”

“I was a man. I thought, at first, it was an accident. I liked her. I wanted to talk to her, to touch her. But she pushed me away. She cursed at me. Struck me. She had no right.”

He yanked the rope so she stumbled against him. “No right.”

“No.” Her heart skidding, Jenna nodded. “No right.”

“Then her blood was on my hands, and I was afraid. I admit it. I had fear. But I was a man and knew what should be done. I left her as a token to the wild, and it was the cougar who came for her. My spirit guide. And it was beautiful. I gave back to the land what had been taken. That’s when I became free.”

“Ethan, I need to rest. You have to let me rest.”

“You’ll rest when I say.”

“I’m not as strong as you are. God, I’m old enough to be your mother; I can’t keep up.”

He paused, and she saw a flicker of hesitation on his face. She swallowed on her dry throat. “What happened to your mother, Ethan?”

“She got what she deserved.”

“Do you miss her? Do you-”

“Shut up! Just shut up about her. I didn’t need her. I’m a man.”

“Even a man starts as a boy and he-”

She broke off when he closed his hand over her mouth. His eyes scanned the trees. “Someone’s coming. Keep your head down. Your mouth shut.”

29

She felt Ethan’s arm go around her waist, to keep her still, she imagined, and to cover the rope snaking from under the jacket. She prayed for the life of whoever crossed their path, and at the same time prayed they would sense trouble. She didn’t dare give them a sign, but surely they would sense her fear, sense the madness in the man holding her hard against his side.

It was in his eyes. How could anyone not see the murder and madness in his eyes?

They could get help. There was a chance for help. And then Ethan would never get to Lil.

“Morning!”

She heard the cheerful greeting and risked lifting her eyes a few inches. Her pulse picked up speed when she saw the boots, the uniform pants. Not another hiker, she thought, but a ranger.

And he’d be armed.

“Morning,” Ethan called back. “It sure is a pretty one!”

“Nice day for hiking. You’re a little off the trail.”

“Oh. We’re exploring some. We saw some deer, and figured we’d follow them for a while.”

“You don’t want to wander off too far. It’s easy to get lost if you go off the posted trails. Just out for the day, are you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Can’t you hear the madness? Can’t you hear it in his overbright cheer? It’s licking at every word.

“Well, you’ve made some real progress from the trailhead. If you’re going to stick to this loop it gets pretty steep, but the views are worth it.”

“That’s what we’re here for.”

“If you backtrack to the posted trail, you’ll have a better time of it.”

“We’ll do that, then. Thanks.”

“Enjoy the day, and this fine weather. Just head over…” The ranger hesitated. “Jenna? Jenna Chance?”

She held her breath, shook her head.

“What in the world are you doing out…”

She felt it, that moment of awareness. On instinct she raised her head and pushed her body hard against Ethan’s. But even as she moved, he swung the bow from behind his back.

She screamed, tried to lurch forward. But he was right. The bolt moved faster, much faster, than she could. She watched it strike home, and the force of it knocked the ranger back and off his feet.

“No. No. No.”

“Your fault.” The backhand sent Jenna sprawling to the ground. “Look what you did, stupid bitch! Look at the mess I’ve got to clean up. Didn’t I tell you to keep your mouth shut?”

He kicked her, his boot slamming into the small of her back so she rolled and curled up in defense. “I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything. God, God, he has a wife, he has children.”

“Then he should’ve minded his own business. Assholes. They’re all assholes.” When he stomped over to wrench the barbed bolt from the ranger’s chest, Jenna began to retch.

“Look here. Got something out of it.” He pulled the sidearm out of the holster, brandished it. “Spoils of war.” Shoving the body over, he dug out the wallet. He slapped the gun back in the holster, unclipped it, and fixed it to his own belt before pushing the wallet in his backpack.

“Get up, help me drag him.”

“No.”

He walked over, pulled the gun again, and pressed the barrel to her temple. “Get up or join him. You can both be wolf bait. Live or die, Jenna. Decide.”

Live, she thought. She wanted to live. Fighting sickness, breathless from the pain radiating from her back, her face, she got to her feet. Maybe he wasn’t dead. Maybe someone would find him, help him. His name was Derrick Morganston. His wife was Cathy. He had two kids. Brent and Lorna.

She said his name, his family’s names as she followed orders, took the feet and dragged the body farther off the trail.

She said nothing when he used the rope to tie her to a tree so he could retrieve Derrick’s radio, go through his pockets for anything else he found useful.

She kept silent when they began to walk again. Nothing more to say, she thought. She’d tried and failed to find some place in him to appeal to. There was no place inside him. Nowhere to reach.

He wasn’t covering the tracks, and she wondered what that meant. She wondered if she would live through the day, such a pretty spring day. See her husband again, her home. Hold her children. Would she speak with her friends, wear her new shoes?

She’d been washing the skillet, she thought, when her life had changed. Would she fry bacon again?

Her throat burned, her legs ached. Her palms throbbed where she’d scraped them against the bark. But those discomforts meant she was alive. Still alive.

If she had the chance to kill him and escape, would she? Yes. Yes, she would kill him to live. She would bathe in his blood if it meant protecting Lil.

If she could get his knife or the gun, a rock. If she could find a way to use her bare hands.

She concentrated on that, on the direction, the angle of the sun, the landmarks. There, she thought, look at the brave pasqueflowers, blooming. Delicate and hopeful. And alive.

She’d be the pasqueflower. Look delicate, be brave.

She walked, one foot in front of the other, with her head down. But she kept her eyes, her body alert for any chance of escape.

“We’re home,” he announced.

Confused, she blinked sweat out of her eyes. She barely saw the mouth of the cave. It was so low, so narrow-like a slitted eye. It looked like death.

She spun around, launched herself at him to fight. She felt the pain, and the satisfaction when her fist connected with his face. Screaming, she used her nails, her teeth to claw and bite like an animal. And when she tasted his blood, it thrilled.

But when his fist plowed into her belly, he took her breath. When it rammed into her face, the sun went dim in a wash of dark red.

“Bitch! Bitch whore!”

Dimly, she heard the harsh wheeze of his breath. She’d hurt him. That was something. She’d given him pain.

He used the rope to drag her over the rough ground and into the dark.

She fought as he bound her hands and feet, screamed, spat, and cursed until he gagged her. He lit a small lantern, and with his free hand dragged her farther into the cave.

“I could kill you now. Carve you up and send the pieces to her. What do you think about that?”

She’d marked him, was all she could think. Blood welled and dripped from the grooves she’d scored in his cheeks, on his hands.

Then he smiled at her, wide and wild, and she remembered to be afraid.

“The hills are honeycombed with caves. I’ve got a few nice ones I use regular. This one’s yours.”

He set the lantern down, then drew out his knife before he crouched. He turned the blade so the soft light stuck the edge. “Need a couple of things from you.”

Joe, she thought. Joe. Lil. My baby.

And closed her eyes.

IT TOOK LONGER than he’d hoped, but he was still well within the time frame. The rush, the incidental kill, the unexpected fight left in the mother bitch all added a fresh anticipation. The best part was walking right into the refuge like any other paying customer. It was the biggest risk and the biggest thrill.

But he had no doubt Lil would give him more of both.

He smiled at the pretty intern through the beard he’d grown over the winter. It hid most of the scratches the mother bitch had given him. He wore old riding gloves to cover the ones on his hands.

“Is something wrong with the lion?”

“No, not a thing. She’s getting her teeth cleaned. Cats especially need regular dental checks, as they tend to lose teeth.”

“Because they’re caged up.”

“Actually, they’ll keep their teeth longer in the refuge than in the wild. We provide them with bones once a week, an important element of dental hygiene. Cats’ mouths tend to be full of bacteria, but with regular cleanings, good nutrition, and the weekly bones, we can help them maintain that smile.” She added one of her own. “Our vet and his assistant are making sure Sheba ’s teeth are healthy.”

It made him sick, made him furious. Brushing the teeth of the wild animal, as if it were a kid who ate too much candy. He wanted to drag the smiling girl off, plunge the knife into her belly.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Fine and dandy. I thought this was a nature preserve. How come you don’t let it be natural?”

“Part of our responsibility to the animals here is to give them good, regular medical care, and that includes their teeth. Nearly all of the animals here at Chance were rescued from abusive situations, or taken in when they were sick or injured.”

“They’re caged. Like criminals.”

“It’s true they’re enclosed. But every effort has been made to provide them with a habitat natural to their needs and culture. It’s unlikely any of the animals here would survive in the wild.”

He saw the concern, even suspicion in her eyes, and knew he’d gone too far. This wasn’t why he was here. “Sure. You know more about it.”

“I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about the sanctuary, or any of our animals. You can also visit our education center. There’s a video on the history of the refuge, and on the work Dr. Chance has done.”

“Maybe I’ll do that.” He moved along before he said something to make her worried enough to call for assistance. Or before he gave in to the urge to batter her bloody.

He understood the need. He’d washed carefully, but he could still smell the ranger’s blood. And the mother bitch’s. That was sweeter, and the sweet wanted to stir him up.

He needed to do what he’d come to do, and get out before he made a mistake.

He wandered, pausing at each enclosure even while the resentment burned in his gut. When he reached the cougars he expected to find his center again, to look into the eyes of his spirit guide and see approval. A blessing.

Instead the cat snarled, showing fangs as it paced.

“You’ve been caged too long, brother. I’ll come back for you one day. You have my promise.”

At his words, the cougar called a warning and hurled itself against the fence. In the compound, guests and staff came to attention. Ethan moved on quickly, and the cat screamed behind him.

She’d corrupted it, he thought as rage shook through him. Turned it into a pet. No better than a guard dog. The cougar was his, but it had come at him like an enemy.

Just one more sin she would pay for, and soon.

ERIC HURRIED ACROSS the compound to check on Baby. The usually playful cougar continued to pace. He leaped into his tree, over to the roof of his den, leaped down again to rise on his hind legs at the gate at the rear of the enclosure.

“Hey, Baby, hey, take it easy. What’s got you all stirred up? I can’t let you out for a run. You need your teeth checked first.”

“It’s that guy.” Lena jogged back to Eric. “I swear it’s that guy.”

“What guy?”

“That one. He’s heading toward the ed center. See him? Ball cap, long hair, beard. His face is all scratched up, too. You can’t see it from here, but he’s got some nasty scratches under that ugly beard. I was talking to him a few minutes ago and, I don’t know, something creepy. Something in his eyes.”

“I’ll go check him out.”

“Maybe we should tell Lil.”

“Tell her what? Some creepy-eyed guy’s taking the tour? I’ll just keep an eye on him.”

“Be careful.”

“My middle name.” He walked backward. “There are a couple of groups in the center, and a few of us in there, too. I don’t think creepy-eye’s going to cause any trouble.”

Ethan didn’t go to the center, but cut over and circled back to leave the present he’d brought with him on the table on Lil’s back porch.

By the time Eric crossed the compound he’d melted into the trees. He moved fast from there. The next phase of the game was about to start. Once he’d reached the watching post, he settled down, took out his field glasses. He washed trail mix down with water and played with Jenna’s cell phone.

He’d never owned one, never wanted one. But he’d practiced on others he’d stolen or taken from the kill. He punched and scrolled until he found the contact list, and smiled when he reached the entry listed as Lil’s Cell.

Before much longer, he thought, she’d get a phone call she’d never forget.

IN HER OFFICE Lil answered the last e-mail on her list. She wanted to get over to the commissary and make sure the meat had been properly stored before she checked on Matt’s progress. She looked at the time, surprised to find it was nearly three.

She’d asked Matt to hold off on Baby and the other cougars until she could help out. Baby hated dental hygiene day. So she’d check Matt first, she decided.

As she rose, Lena tapped on her doorjamb.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Lil. It’s just… Baby’s acting up.”

“He probably knows he’s about to get put under and have his teeth cleaned.”

“Maybe, but… There was this guy, and he was weird, and that’s when Baby started up. Eric went over to check him out at the center. But I just got this bad feeling and wanted to tell you.”

“What kind of weird?” Lil asked and was already on her way out of the office.

“Creepy weird-to me. He was saying stuff like we caged the animals like prisoners.”

“We get that sometimes. What did he look like?”

“Long hair, beard. Baseball cap, denim jacket. He had fresh scratches on his face. He kept smiling, but, well, it just made my skin crawl.”

“It’s okay. I’ll head over to the center, just in case. Do me a favor? Tell Matt I’m handling this, and I’ll be over to help with Baby and the others as soon as I’m done.”

“Sure. It was probably nothing. It’s just he hit the red zone on my Creep-O-Meter.”

They parted ways, with Lil veering toward the center. Her phone rang, and absently, she pulled it out of her pocket. Seeing her mother’s number, she clicked on. “Hey, Mom, can I call you back? I need to-”

“She can’t talk right now either.”

A chill arrowed down her spine. When her fingers trembled, she gripped the phone tighter. “Hello, Ethan.”

“Funny, that’s what she said. Like mother, like daughter.”

A terrible fear had her shivering, as if she’d plunged into an icy river. But she fought to keep her tone calm and even. Steady, she thought, stay steady with him as you would with anything feral. “I want to talk to her.”

“You want to stop where you are. You take another step back toward the office, I’ll cut off one of her fingers.”

She stopped dead.

“Good girl. Remember, I can see you. You’re wearing a red shirt, and you’re looking east. A wrong move, she loses a finger. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Start walking toward your own cabin, around the back. If anyone comes up to you, calls to you, wave them off. You’re busy.”

“All right. But how do I know you didn’t just steal my mother’s phone? You have to give me more than that, Ethan. Let me talk to her.”

“I said she can’t talk right now. But you keep walking. I left you something on your back porch. Right up on the table. Yeah, that’s right. Run.”

She bolted, rounded the cabin, sprinted up the short steps. Everything inside her stopped, heart, lungs, brain, for one terrible instant. Then she made herself pick up the small plastic bag.

Inside was a hank of her mother’s hair, and her wedding ring. Blood smeared the gold band.

“I figure you recognize those, so you know I’m not bullshitting you.”

She gave in to her shaking legs and lowered to the porch. “Let me talk to her. You let me talk to her, goddamn you.”

“No.”

“How do I know she’s still alive?”

“You don’t, but I can guarantee she won’t be in two hours if you don’t find her. Head due west. I left you a trail. If you follow it, you’ll find her. If not… If you tell anyone, try to get help, she dies. Toss the phone into the yard. Start now.”

He could see her, she thought, but she had the porch rails and pickets for partial cover. She curled into a ball, angling her body toward the house. “Please don’t hurt her. Don’t hurt my mother. Please, please, I’ll do whatever you say, whatever you ask. Just don’t-”

She pushed end, cut off the call. “Please God,” she whispered, and punched Coop’s number. She rocked, made her shoulders shake, let the tears come. “Answer, answer, answer.” She squeezed her eyes shut when it switched to voice mail. “He has my mother. I’m heading west from the back of my cabin. He can see me, and I only have seconds. He gave me two hours to find her. I’ll leave you a trail. Come after me. God. Come after me.”

She clicked off, pushed to her feet. She turned to face west, hoped Ethan could see the tears, the fear. And she threw the phone away. Then ran.

She picked up the trail right away. Trampled brush, broken twigs, prints in soft ground. He didn’t want her to go astray, she thought. He might be leading her miles from wherever he had her mother, but there was no choice.

Her wedding ring smeared with blood. The hacked-off hank of her beautiful hair.

She forced herself to slow, to breathe. If she rushed she might miss a sign or follow a false one. He might be watching her still, so she’d have to take care in the markings she left for Coop.

He’d given her two hours. Had he taken her mother from home? It seemed the most logical. Wait until she was alone, then take her. On foot or by horseback?

On foot most likely. A hostage would be easier to control on foot. Unless he’d forced her into the car and… No, no, don’t think that way, she ordered herself as panic bubbled into her throat. Think simple. Under it, he’s simple.

Two hours from her cabin-and he’d want to push her, want it to be close. She put a map in her mind. Somewhere accessible and solitary from the cabin and from the farm. If she was alive-She was alive, she had to be alive. He’d have to hide her. A cave would be best. If he…

She stopped, studied the tracks, the carelessly trampled wildflowers. He’d backtracked. She drew a breath, then another, steadying her nerve, and did the same until she found where he’d laid the false trail.

She scuffed out his prints, used her penknife to mark the bark of a tree so Coop wouldn’t make the same mistake. She picked up the trail again, then picked up her pace. She had an idea where he was leading her and knew she’d need nearly all the time he’d allotted.

JENNA WORMED AND rolled. She’d lost all sense of direction, could only pray she was inching her way to the mouth of the cave. He’d blindfolded her before he’d left so her dark was complete. Whenever she had to rest she lay still and tried to judge if the air was any fresher. But all she smelled was dirt, her own sweat, her own blood.

She heard him coming, screamed against the gag, struggled against the rope.

“Just look at you, Jenna. You’re a real mess. And with company coming.”

When he yanked off her blindfold the lantern light burned her eyes. “She’ll be along soon, don’t you worry. I’m going to clean up a bit.” He sat cross-legged on the cave floor, and with a travel razor, a broken piece of mirror, began to shave.

AT THE REFUGE Lena waved to Eric. “Hey! What did you think of Creepy Guy?”

“I never saw him. He must’ve gone right through the center, or changed his mind.”

“Oh. Well, what did Lil say?”

“About what?”

“About the guy. When she came over.”

“I didn’t see her either.”

“But… She was going over. I don’t see how you could’ve missed her.”

“Maybe she got hung up.” Eric shrugged it off. “She wanted to help Matt when he got to the cougars. Listen I’ve got to get back to-”

Lena simply grabbed him by the sleeve of his T-shirt. “I’ve just come from Matt. She’s not there, and he’s waiting for her.”

“She’s around somewhere. So okay, we’ll look around. I’ll check the commissary, you check her place.”

“She knows Matt’s waiting,” Lena insisted, but she hurried over to the cabin. She knocked, then pushed open the door to call out. “Lil? Lil?” Baffled, she walked straight through, and out the back. Maybe the office, she thought.

When she jogged down the steps, she heard the jingle of the phone. Relieved, she glanced back, expecting to see Lil striding along with the phone to her ear. But there was no one. She turned back, following the ring.

She snatched the phone off the ground, flipped it open.

“Hey, Lil, I just saw my mother off, so-”

“Tansy, Tansy, this is Lena. I think something’s really wrong.” She began to run toward the office cabin. “I think we need the police.”

ON A STRETCH of road between the farm and the stables, Coop tightened the lug nuts on the spare tire of a minivan. The two kids inside watched him like owls while they sucked on sippy cups.

“I really appreciate this. I could’ve changed it, but-”

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full.” He nodded toward the windows. “It’s no trouble.”

“You saved me a lot of cursing.” The young mother beamed a smile. “And took care of it in probably half the time it would’ve taken me, not including breaking up the fights inside. We’ve been running errands all day, so they missed their nap.” Her eyes sparkled with a laugh. “Boy, so did I.”

After sending the kids a wink, he rolled the flat around the back of the van to stow it. He shook his head when she offered him a ten-dollar bill. “No, but thanks.”

She leaned in, rooted around in the grocery bags. “How about a banana?”

He laughed. “I’ll take it.” He replaced the tools, gave the kids a quick salute with the banana and made them both giggle, then closed the door. “You’re good to go.”

“Thanks again.”

He walked back to his truck, waited for her to pull out. He did a U-turn to head back the way he’d been coming when he’d seen the van on the side of the road. In about half a mile, his phone signaled a voice mail.

“I got your Hefty bags, Grandma,” he muttered. “And the big-ass bottle of Lysol.” Still, he punched the key to play the message.

He has my mother.

Coop slammed on the brakes, swerved to the shoulder.

After the first flash of heat, everything in him went to ice. He punched the gas, pushed speed dial for the sheriff.

“Put me through to him. Now.”

“Sheriff Johannsen’s not in the office.”

“You patch me through to wherever the hell he is. This is Cooper Sullivan.”

“Hey, Coop, it’s Cy. I can’t really do that. I’m not authorized to-”

“Listen to me. Ethan Howe has Jenna Chance.”

“What? What?”

“He may have Lil by now, too. You get Willy, and you get him over to the refuge. Now. Fucking now.”

“I’ll get him, Coop, Jesus God, I’ll get him. What should I-”

“I’m heading to the refuge now. I want Willy there, and as many men as he can get. No air search,” he said quickly, fighting to stay focused. “He’ll just kill them if he sees copters. Tell him she said she’d leave me a trail. I’ll be following it. Do it.”

He shut it off and burned up the miles to Lil’s.

LIL SAW HIM sitting cross-legged at the mouth of the cave, the crossbow in his lap. His face was raw, cross-marked with vicious scratches under the streaks of war paint he’d applied. She thought of the bearded man who’d set off Lena ’s radar.

He wore a braided leather strap around his head, with a feather from a hawk woven through it. On his feet were soft leather knee boots, around his neck a necklace of bear teeth.

It would’ve been funny, she thought, this half-assed play at being Indian. If she didn’t know how murderously serious he was.

He lifted his hand in greeting, then slid back into the cave. Lil climbed the rest of the way, held her breath, then followed him in.

It opened after the first few feet, but was still low enough she had to crouch. Deep though, she noted, as she watched the pale light of the lantern.

He sat in that light with a knife to her mother’s throat.

“I’m here, Ethan, you don’t have to hurt her. If you do hurt her, you’ll get nothing from me.”

“Have a seat, Lil. I’ll explain how things are going to be.”

She sat and wanted to tremble. Cuts and bruises marred her mother’s face, her hands. Blood stained the rope around her wrists, her ankles.

“I need you to take that knife away from my mother’s throat. I did what you asked me to do, and I’ll keep doing that. But not if you hurt her more than you already have.”

“She did most of this to herself. Didn’t you, Jenna?”

Jenna’s eyes said everything. Run. Run. I love you.

“I’m asking you to take the knife off my mother. You don’t need it. I’m here. I’m alone. That’s what you wanted.”

“It’s just the start.” But he lowered the knife an inch. “Everything else was just the start. This is the finish. You and me.”

“You and me,” she agreed. “So let her go.”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m not wasting time on stupid. I’m going to give you ten minutes. That’s a good head start for somebody who knows the hills. Then I hunt you.”

“Ten minutes. Do I get a weapon?”

“You’re prey.”

“A cougar, a wolf, have fangs and claws.”

He smiled. “You’ve got teeth, if you get close enough to use them.”

She gestured toward the bow. “You weigh the game heavily in your favor.”

“My game, my rules.”

She tried another angle. “Is this how a Sioux warrior shows his honor, his courage? Hunting women?”

“You’re more than a woman. This one?” He yanked Jenna’s head back by the hair and had Lil braced to leap. “Half-breed squaw? She’s mine by rights now. I took her as captive, just like our ancestors took captives from the white. Made them slaves. I might keep her for a while. Or…”

He knew so little, she realized, about those he claimed as his own. “The Sioux were hunters of buffalo and deer, of bear. They hunted for food, for clothing. How does it honor your blood to kill a woman who’s bound and helpless?”

“You want her to live? We hunt.”

“If I win?”

“You won’t.” He leaned forward. “You’ve disgraced your blood, your spirit. You deserve to die. But I’m giving you the honor of the hunt. You’ll die on sacred ground. If you play the game well, maybe I’ll let your mother live.”

Lil shook her head. “I won’t play at all unless you let her go. You’ve killed before, you’ll kill again. It’s what you are. I don’t believe you’ll let her live, however I play your game. So you’ll have to let her go first.”

He lifted the knife to Jenna’s throat. “I’ll just kill her now.”

“Then you’ll have to kill me, too, where we sit. I won’t play your game, use your rules unless she’s out of it. And you’ll have wasted all this time, all this effort.”

She ached to look at her mother, reach out to her, but kept her gaze on Ethan’s face. “And you’ll be nothing but a butcher then. Not a warrior. The spirit of Crazy Horse will turn from you.”

“Women are nothing. Less than dogs.”

“A true warrior honors the mother, for all life comes from her. Let mine go. You won’t finish this, Ethan. It’ll never be finished unless we compete. Isn’t that right? You don’t need her. But I need her to be worthy of the game. I’ll give you the hunt of your life. I swear it.”

His eyes glowed at her promise. “She’s useless anyway.”

“Then let her go, and it’s just you and me. Just the way you want it. It’s a bargain worthy of a warrior, worthy of the blood of a great chief.”

He cut the ropes on Jenna’s wrists. She moaned as she tried to lift her aching arms to pull off the gag. “Lil. No, Lil. I won’t leave you.”

“Touching,” he said, and spat as he cut the ropes at her ankles. “Bitch probably can’t even walk.”

“She’ll walk.”

“I won’t. I won’t leave you to him. Baby-”

“It’s all right.” Lil drew Jenna close, gently. “It’s all right now. Step back from her,” she told Ethan. “She’s afraid of you. Step back so I can give her comfort, and say goodbye. We’re only women. Unarmed. You can’t fear us.”

“Thirty seconds.” Ethan stepped back three paces.

“Lil, no. I can’t leave you.”

“Help’s coming,” she whispered in Jenna’s ear. “I need you to go, I need to know you’re safe or I won’t be able to think to win this. I know what to do. You have to go or he’ll kill us both. Give her some water,” Lil demanded in disgust. “What kind of honor is it to beat a woman, to deny her water?”

“She can drink her own spit.”

“Water for my mother and you can take five minutes off my lead time.”

He kicked a bottle over. “I don’t need your five minutes to beat you.”

Lil uncapped it, held it to her mother’s lips. “Slow now, a little at a time. Can you find home?”

“I-Lil.”

“Can you?”

“Yes. Yes, I think.”

“Won’t help you. By the time she gets there-if she does-and they start looking for you, you’ll be dead. And I’ll be smoke.”

“Take the water and go now.”

“Lil.”

“If you don’t he’ll kill us both. The only chance I have to live is for you to go. You have to believe in me. You have to give me that chance. I’m going to help her out of the cave, Ethan. You can hold the bow on me. I won’t run.”

She helped her mother to her feet, cursing when Jenna wept from pain, from grief. Crouched over in the shallow space, she helped Jenna hobble to the mouth. “Help’s coming,” she whispered again. “I can keep him off me until they come. Get home as fast as you can. Promise me.”

“Lil. Oh, God, Lil.” As the sun lowered toward the hills, Jenna held her tight.

“I’m going to lead him to the grassland above the river.” Lil pressed her face to her mother’s hair as if in grief, and murmured against her ear. “Where I saw the cougar. Remember that. Send help there.”

“Shut up! You shut up and she goes now, or she dies now, and you after her.”

“Go on, Mom.” Lil pried Jenna’s scraped and bruised arms away. “Go on or he’ll kill me.”

“Baby. I love you, Lil.”

“I love you.” She watched her mother limp and stumble, saw the agony of emotion in her battered face when she looked back. For that alone, Lil thought, he’d pay. Whatever it took.

“Start running,” Ethan ordered.

“No. The hunt doesn’t start until I know she’s away. Until I know you won’t go after her first. What’s your hurry, Ethan?” Deliberately she sat on a rock. “You’ve waited a long time for this. You can wait a little longer.”

30

The compound was chaos. A dozen people raced from various directions when Coop jumped out of his truck, and all of them talked at once.

“Stop! You.” He jabbed a finger at Matt. “Sum it up, and fast.”

“We can’t find Lil. Lena found her phone in the yard behind the cabin. And when I went back, I found this.” He held out the plastic bag with Jenna’s hair and wedding ring. There was somebody here, paying customer. Lena got a bad feeling about him. Baby didn’t like him either. Nobody can find him. We’re afraid he took Lil. Mary’s inside, calling the police.”

“I already called them.”

“I think it’s Jenna’s ring.” Tears spilled down Tansy’s cheeks.

“Yeah, it’s Jenna’s. He’s got her, and Lil’s gone in to find her. Shut up and listen,” he ordered when everyone began to talk at once. “I need anyone who can handle a gun without shooting themselves. Lil’s got a good hour’s head start, but she’s leaving a trail. We’re going to follow it.”

“I can.” Lena stepped forward. “I can handle a shotgun. Trap shooting champion, three years running.”

“In Lil’s cabin. Shotgun in the front closet, ammo on the top shelf. Go.”

“I’ve never shot a gun in my life, but-”

“Stay here.” Coop cut Matt off. “Wait for the police, then lock the place down. Tansy, go to the Chance farm. If Joe hasn’t heard, he needs to. Listen to me. Tell him it’s most likely Jenna was taken from there. He and Farley, and whoever else he can round up, should start from there. He taught Lil to track. He’ll pick up the trail. We need radios.”

Mary came out of the cabin as two interns sprinted for radios. “The police are on their way. Fifteen minutes.”

“Send them in after us. We’re not waiting for them. You upstairs, bedroom, top left dresser drawer. Three ammo clips. Get them. Wait.” Struck, he held up a hand, looked over to the enclosures. “I need something of Lil’s, something she was wearing.”

“Sweater in the office,” Mary said. “Hold on.”

“That cat loves her. Will he track her?”

“Yes! God, yes.” Tansy pressed a hand to her mouth. “He followed her back every time she tried to release him.”

“We’re going to let him out.”

“He hasn’t been out of the habitat since he was six months old.” Matt shook his head. “Even if he leaves the compound, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“He loves her.” Coop took the sweater Mary brought him.

“We’ll have to separate the others.” Tansy hurried to the enclosure with him.

“Do what you have to do. Make it fast.”

He held the sweater to the bars. Baby prowled over, then grumbled in his throat. Rubbed his face against the sweater. Purred.

“Yeah, that’s right. You know her. You’re going to find her.”

Interns chicken-baited the range area while Eric pulled up the door. Baby lifted his head, looked around while his companions rushed through the feed. Then turned back, pushed his face against the sweater.

“This is crazy,” Matt said, but he stood by with the drug gun. “Get back, well back. Tansy.”

She unlocked the cage. “Find Lil, Baby. You find Lil.” Using it as a barrier, she opened it.

He slunk out slowly toward the unknown, drawn by Lil’s scent. Coop held up a hand toward Matt as the cougar approached him. “He knows me. He knows I’m Lil’s.”

Once more, the cougar rubbed against the sweater. Then he began to track. “She’s everywhere, that’s the problem. She’s everywhere.”

Baby leaped onto Lil’s cabin’s porch, called, called. Then leaped off again to circle around.

“I packed you a kit.” Mary pushed it into his hands. “Bare essentials. Put that sweater in this plastic bag. It’ll confuse him otherwise. Get her back, Cooper.”

“I will.” He watched the cat stalk over the yard, then gather himself to run for the trees. “Let’s move.”

LIL GAUGED HER time, mentally planned out routes while she sat on the rock in the dying day with the man who wanted to kill her.

Her nerves smoothed out with every minute that passed. Every minute took her mother farther away and brought Coop closer. The longer she could keep him here, the better her chances.

“Did your father teach you to kill?” She spoke conversationally, her gaze aimed west, toward the setting sun.

“To hunt.”

“Call it what you like, Ethan. You gutted Melinda Barrett and left her for the animals.”

“A cougar came. A sign. Mine.”

“Cougars don’t hunt for sport.”

He shrugged. “I’m a man.”

“Where did you leave Carolyn?”

He smiled. “A feast for the grizzlies. She gave me a good game first. I think you’ll do better. You may last most of the night.”

“Then where will you go?”

“I’ll follow the wind. Then I’ll come back. I’ll kill your parents and burn their farm to the ground. I’ll do the same with that zoo of yours. I’ll hunt these hills and live free, the way my people should have lived free.”

“I wonder how much of your view on the Sioux comes from actual truth or your father’s bastardization of the truth.”

Color flooded his face, warning her not to test him too far. “My father wasn’t a bastard.”

“That’s not what I meant. Do you think the Lakota would approve of what you do? The way you hunt down and slaughter innocent people?”

“They aren’t innocent.”

“What did James Tyler do to deserve to die?”

“He came here. His people killed my people. Stole from them.”

“He was a real estate agent from St. Paul. It’s just you and me here, Ethan, so there’s no reason to pretend this is anything but what it is. You like to kill. You like to terrorize, to stalk. You like the feel of warm blood on your hands. It’s why you use a knife. Otherwise, saying you murdered Tyler because of broken treaties, lies, dishonor, greed perpetrated by people who’ve been dead more than a hundred years would just be crazy. You’re not crazy, are you, Ethan?”

Something-a slyness-came and went in his eyes. Then he bared his teeth. “They came. They killed. They slaughtered. Now their blood feeds the ground like ours did. On your feet.”

Fear blew through her again, one icy blast. Ten minutes, she reminded herself, if he kept to his own rules. She could cover a lot of ground in ten minutes. She got to her feet.

“Run.”

Her legs quivered to. “So you can watch where I go? Is that how you track? I thought you were good at this.”

He smiled. “Ten minutes,” he said and backed into the cave.

She didn’t waste time. Her first priorities were speed and distance. Cunning had to wait. The farm was closer, but she needed to draw him away from her mother. Cooper would come from the east. She scrambled down the slope, warning herself not to sacrifice safety for speed and risk a broken ankle. Fear urged her to take the shortest, straightest route toward the compound, but she thought of the bow. He’d track her too easily that way, and he could disable her from a distance with the bow.

And any trail she left for Coop, Ethan could follow.

She veered north, and raced ahead of the dark.

AT THE CHANCE FARM, Joe stuffed extra ammo in his pockets. “We’re losing the light. We’ll use flashlights until moonrise.”

“I want to go with you, Joe.” Sam gripped Joe’s shoulder. “But I’d just slow you down.”

“We’ll stay by the radio.” Lucy handed him a light pack. “We’ll wait for word. Bring them home.”

He nodded, moved out of the door ahead of Farley.

“Be careful.” Tansy wrapped her arms around Farley, held hard and brief. “Be safe.”

“Don’t you worry.”

Outside, Farley took point with Joe ahead of the three armed men who would join them on the search. Dogs, already on the scent, bayed.

“If he’s hurt her,” Joe said quietly to Farley. “If he’s hurt either of them, I’ll kill him.”

“We will.”

MILES AWAY, Coop studied the signs Lil had left for him. He hadn’t seen the cougar since it had run into the forest. He had two college kids with him, and twilight falling fast.

He should’ve come alone, he thought now. Shouldn’t have wasted even the few minutes it had taken to outfit the backup, release the cat.

The others were ten minutes or more behind him, with some steering south, others north. He knew Joe, by the information relayed by radio, led another group headed in from the west.

And still, there were untold acres to cover.

“You two wait here for the rest to catch up.”

“You’re worried we’ll screw up, or get hurt. We won’t.” Lena looked at her companion. “Right, Chuck?”

Chuck’s eyes were huge, but he nodded. “Right.”

“If you fall behind, go back. Radio back our new direction,” he ordered Chuck, then headed southwest.

She’d left clear markings, he thought as he forced himself not to run, not to run and miss one of those markings. She was counting on him. If he hadn’t stopped to play Good Samaritan, he’d have gotten her call, he’d have convinced her to wait until he could go with her. He’d have…

No point, no point. He’d find her.

He thought of Dory. Good cop, good friend. And the long, syrupy seconds it had taken to draw his weapon.

He wouldn’t be too late, not this time. Not with Lil.

SHE LAID A trail to a stream, backtracked. With sundown the air chilled. Despite the sweat of exertion and fear, she was cold. She imagined the warm sweater she’d shed in her office that afternoon as she took the time to remove her boots, her socks.

Brushing out tracks as she went, she returned to the stream, gritted her teeth as she waded through the icy water. The false trail might fool him, might not. But it was worth a try. She waded downstream ten yards, then ten more before she began to search the banks. Her feet were numb by the time she spotted the tumble of rocks. They’d do.

She climbed out, put her socks and shoes on again, then picked her way over the rocks until they gave way to soft ground. She ran, cutting away from the water, circling the brush until she was forced to shove through it. Her boots thudded as she propelled herself up a slope.

She sought the shelter of trees again to rest, to listen.

The moon rose like a spotlight over the hills. It would help her avoid tripping over roots or rocks in the dark.

Her mother should be halfway back to the farm by now, she calculated. Help would be coming from that direction, too. She had to believe her mother would make it, and would direct the help toward the high ground she’d chosen for her stand.

She had to cut east again. She rubbed her chilled arms, ignoring the sting from nicks and scrapes she’d incurred on the run. If her maneuver at the stream bought her any time, she had the distance to make it. She just needed the stamina.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed to her feet, then cocked her head as she heard a quiet splash.

Some time, she thought as she turned east. But not as much as she’d hoped.

He was coming. And he was closing in.

COOP STOPPED AGAIN. He saw the slash, fresh, on the pine bark. Lil’s sign. But he studied the prints-cougar tracks. The first pointed west, and the second north.

Nothing to prove it was her cougar, he thought. And clearly, she’d gone west. Following Ethan’s trail, to find her mother. But after, he’d want the hunt. Want the thrill.

Coop’s head said go west, but his heart…

“Head west. Be slow, go quiet. Follow the slash marks. Radio back, tell them I’m heading north from here.”

“But why?” Lena demanded. “Where are you going?”

“I’m following the cat.”

Wouldn’t she have led Ethan away from her mother? Coop asked himself. His heart thudded every time he thought he’d lost the trail. What made him think he could track a cougar? Mr. Fucking New York. She wouldn’t leave signs now. No handy slash marks or rock piles. She couldn’t leave signs because by now he was hunting her.

Come after me, she asked him. He could only pray he was.

Twice he lost the trail, so desperation and terror made his skin clammy. And his belly would clutch each time he found it again.

Then he saw the bootprints. Lil’s. Even as he crouched, touched a finger to the impression she’d left on the ground, his body shuddered. Alive. Still alive and moving. He saw where others-Ethan’s-crossed hers. He was following, but she was still ahead. And the cat followed both.

He moved ahead. When he heard the murmur of water on rock, he picked up his pace again. She’d headed toward water, to lose him in the water.

When he reached the stream, he stood, baffled. Her tracks led into the water, while Ethan’s moved forward, back, circled around again. He closed his eyes, tried to clear his mind and think.

What would she do?

False trails, backtracking. He had no skill for that. If she’d gone into the water, she might’ve come out again anywhere. The cat had gone in, that was clear enough. Maybe just to cross, or maybe to follow her. Which way?

His hands fisted at his sides as he struggled to see, to look at the land as she would. Upstream and across, she could cut around to his grandparents’ farm, or other houses. A long clip, but she could do it. Down and across, her parents’ farm. Closer.

She had to know help would come from that direction.

He started to wade in, to follow that instinct. Then stopped.

Downstream, and east. The grassland. Her camera. Her place.

He cut back, circled, and ran. He didn’t follow tracks now, but the thoughts and patterns of a woman he’d known and loved since childhood.

JOE STARED DOWN at the blood staining the ground. It was black in the moonlight. His head went light, his knees weak, so he knelt down, laying his hand over the blood. He thought, could only think: Jenna.

“Over here!” one of the deputies called out. “It’s Derrick Morganston. Goddamn it, it’s Derrick. He’s dead.”

Not Jenna. Not his Jenna. Later, sometime later, he might feel sorrow that he didn’t think of the man, his family, and only of his own. But now fresh fury and fear pushed him to his feet.

He started forward again, searching for tracks.

Like a miracle, she came through the shadows and the moonlight. She staggered, fell, even as he raced toward her.

He dropped to his knees again, pulled her up, rocked, wept. He stroked her bruised face with his fingers. “Jenna.”

“The grasslands.” She croaked it out.

“Here’s water. Ma, here’s water.” Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes as Farley held water to her lips.

She drank to ease her raging thirst as Farley petted her hair, as Joe rocked. “The grasslands,” she repeated.

“What?” Joe took the bottle from Farley. “Drink a little more. You’re hurt. He hurt you.”

“No. Lil. The grasslands. She’s leading him there. Her place. Find her. Joe. Find our baby.”

HE HAD TO know where she was going now, but it couldn’t be helped. She only had to get within range of the camera, trust someone would see. Then hide. All that tall grass, she could hide.

She had the knife in her boot. He didn’t know about that. She wasn’t defenseless. She hefted a rock, clutched it tight in her fist. Damn right she wasn’t defenseless.

God, she needed to rest. To catch her breath. She’d have sold her soul for a single sip of water. She wished the moon behind clouds, just for a few minutes. She could find her way now in the dark, and the dark would hide her.

The muscles in her legs wept as she fought her way up the next slope. The fingers that clutched the rock were numb with cold. Her breath whisked out, little ghosts, as she panted, as she pushed herself to the edge of endurance.

She nearly stumbled, hated herself for the weakness, and braced her hand on a tree until she found her balance.

The bolt slammed into the trunk inches from her fingers. She dropped, rolled behind the tree.

“I could’ve pinned you like a moth!”

His voice carried through the clear air. How close? How close? Impossible to tell. She lunged up, keeping low in the sprint from tree to tree. As the ground leveled out, she pushed harder. She imagined the shock and pain of one of those vicious bolts in the back. Cursed the thought. She’d come so far, nearly there. Her lungs burned, pushing air out as whistles as she tore her way through the brush, waking her freezing skin with fresh cuts.

He’d scent her blood now.

She burst out, praying someone would see as she flew across camera range. Then she dived, into the grass. Clamping her teeth, she slid the knife from her boot. Her heart pounded against the ground as she held her breath. Waited.

Such quiet, such stillness. The air barely stirred the grass. As the blood beating in her head slowed, she heard the night sounds, little rustles, the lazy call of an owl. Then him, coming through the brush.

Closer, she thought. Come closer.

The bolt cut through the grass a foot to the left. She bit back the scream tearing at her throat, stayed still.

“You’re good. I knew you would be. Best I’ve had. I’m sorry for it to end. I’m thinking I might give you another chance. Want another chance, Lil? Got any left? Go on and run.”

The next bolt dug into the ground to her right.

“You’ve got until I reload. Say thirty seconds.”

Not close enough, not for the knife.

“What do you say? Starting now. Thirty, twenty-nine-”

She sprang up, wheeled back, and pitched the rock with the heart of a girl who’d believed she could play in the majors. It struck his temple with a crack of stone on bone.

When he staggered, when the bow fell from his hands, she charged forward, screaming.

He pulled the gun he’d taken off the ranger, plowed a bullet into the ground at her feet.

“On your knees, you bitch.” Though he swayed, and blood dribbled down from the wound, the gun held steady.

“If you’re going to shoot me, just shoot me. Goddamn you.”

“I might. In the arm, in the leg. Not a kill shot.” He slid the knife out of his sheath. “You know how it’s going to be. But you did well. Even drew first blood.”

He swiped at it with the back of his knife hand, glanced down at the smear. “I’ll sing a song in your honor. You brought us here, where it’s right to end. Destiny. Yours and mine. Full circle, Lil. You understood all along. You deserve to die clean.”

He started toward her.

“Stop where you are. Put the gun down. Step away from him, Lil,” Coop ordered as he stood on the edge of the grass.

Shock had Ethan’s gun hand jerking. But the barrel stayed beaded on Lil. “She moves, I shoot her. You shoot me, I still shoot her. You’re the one, the other one.” He paused, nodded. “It’s only right you’re here, too.”

“Put the fucking gun down or I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“It’s aimed at her belly. I can get one off, maybe two. You want to watch her bleed? You back off. You fucking back off. We’ll call this a standoff. There’ll be another time. If you don’t lower that gun, I’ll put a hole in her. Lower it and I’ll ease back. She’ll live.”

“He’s lying.” She’d seen it. That slyness again, sliding into his eyes and out. “Just shoot the bastard. I’d rather die than see him walk away.”

“Can you live with that?” Ethan demanded. “Live with watching her die?”

“Lil,” Coop said, trusting her to read his eyes, to understand. His finger twitched as he lowered his gun an inch.

The cat leaped out of the brush, a streak of gold, of flashing fang and claw in the streaming moonlight. Its scream sliced through the night like silver swords. Ethan stared, eyes dazed, mouth slack.

Then it was his scream as the cougar sank its teeth into his throat and took him down.

Lil stumbled back. “Don’t run, don’t run!” she shouted at Coop. “It might go for you. Stop!”

But he kept coming. Coming after her, she thought dully as her vision hazed. Kept coming to catch her when her knees finally gave way.

“We found you.” He pressed his lips to hers, to her cheeks, her throat. “We found you.”

“Have to move. Too near the kill.”

“It’s Baby.”

“What. No.” She saw the eyes gleam at her as the cat sat in the grass. Saw the blood staining his muzzle. Then it walked to her, bumped its head against her arm. And purred.

“He killed.” For me, she thought. For me. “But he didn’t feed. It’s not-he shouldn’t-”

“You can write a paper on it later.” Coop pulled out his radio. “I’ve got her.” Then he brought her hand to his lips. “I’ve got you.”

“My mother. She’s-”

“Safe. You’re both safe. We’re going to get you home. I need you to sit here while I check on Ethan.”

“He went for his throat.” She buried her face against her knees. “Instinct. He followed instinct.”

“Lil. He followed you.”

LATER, WHEN THE worst was over, she sat on the sofa with the fire roaring. She’d taken a hot bath, sipped brandy. And still, she couldn’t quite get warm.

“I should go see my mother. I should.”

“Lil, she’s sleeping. She knows you’re safe. She heard your voice on the radio. She’s dehydrated, exhausted, and bruised up. Let her sleep. You’ll see her tomorrow.”

“I had to go, Coop. I couldn’t wait. I had to go after her.”

“I know you did. You don’t have to keep saying it.”

“I knew you’d come after me.” She pressed his hand to her cheek, closing her eyes, absorbing the warmth. “But Matt and Tansy had to be crazy to release Baby that way.”

“We were all crazy. It worked, didn’t it? Now he’s eating his feast of chicken and has hero status.”

“He shouldn’t have been able to track me, not like that. He shouldn’t have been able to find me.”

“He found you because he loves you. The same goes for me.”

“I know.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I know.” She smiled when he leaned in to brush his lips to hers.

“I’m not going anywhere. It’s time you believed that, too.”

She let her head rest on his shoulder, studied the fire. “If he’d won, he’d have come back for my parents eventually. Killed them, or tried. He’d have come here, and killed. He liked to kill. Hunting people excited him. It made him feel important, made him feel superior. The rest, the sacred land, the revenge, the bloodline, that was smoke. I think he’d come to believe it, or parts of it, but it was smoke.”

“He didn’t win.” He thought of how many dead might never be found. How many he’d hunted and killed they’d never know. But those, Coop decided, were thoughts for another day.

He had Lil, had her safe in his arms.

“You were going to shoot him.”

“Yes.”

“Lower your gun enough to make him believe you meant it-so he’d swing his toward you. Then you’d have killed him. You figured I had brains enough to get out of the way.”

“Yes.”

“You were right. I was about to dive when Baby came out of nowhere. We trusted each other-life-and-death trust. That’s pretty damn important. Anyway.” She let out a long breath. “I’m tired. God.”

“Can’t think why.”

“One of those days. Do me a favor, will you? I left the trash in the laundry room this morning. Would you take it out for me?”

“Now?”

“I’d appreciate it. Small change compared with saving my life, but I’d appreciate it.”

“Fine.”

She folded her lips on the smile when he strode out, so obviously annoyed. She took another sip of brandy, and waited.

When he came back, he stood in front of her, looking down. “You put that trash in there this morning?”

“That’s right.”

“Before I saved your life-or had some part in it?”

“Right again.”

“Why?”

After shaking back her hair, she stared straight into his eyes. “Because I decided you’re not going anywhere, and since I’ve loved you most of my life, I want you not to go anywhere with me. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and the only man I’ve ever loved. Why should I live without you just because you were a moron at twenty?”

“That’s debatable. The moron part.” He skimmed a hand over her hair. “You’re mine, Lil.”

“Yes, I am.” She got to her feet, wincing only a little. “And you’re mine right back.” She went into his arms. “This is what I want,” she told him. “So much of this. Will you walk with me? I know it’s silly, but I want to walk in the moonlight, safe and loved and happy. With you.”

“Get your jacket,” he said. “It’s cool out.”

The moon beamed down, pure and white, as they walked. Safe and loved and happy.

In the stillness, in that chill of early spring, the cougar’s call echoed over the valley. And it carried into the hills looming black in the night.