The Shadow

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were hot.” Her eyes grew wide and her face flushed crimson.

He laughed. “Well, I’m not exactly eye candy. I’m too scarred up.”

“If you won those fights, I’d hate to see the other guy,” she said with a smile.

He grew somber and shook his head. “I saw my share of action as a Ranger, but half the battles overseas are with an enemy you never see—as in mortar rounds and IEDs.”

“I imagine things are very different for you now that you’re working for the tribe.”

Seeing the softness in her eyes as she gazed at him scrambled his brain, and for a moment he didn’t answer. “Yeah, it’s different,” he said, cursing himself for getting distracted. “Give me a minute to change shirts. I’ve got clean clothes in my pickup. Then I’ll be ready to go.”

“I need to clean up, too. I’ll meet you at your truck in a few minutes.”

Emily changed into a clean pair of slacks and her favorite long-sleeved blouse. The ruffles around the collar had sold her on it. Though the garment was plain cotton, that small detail softened the look and gave it an extra feminine touch.

As she brushed her hair and tied it back into a ponytail, she focused on her future. The Tamarisk Inn would be a reality someday soon. It had taken her weeks to figure out what to call it. She’d finally decided to name it after the hardy plant that grew with its fragrant pink blossoms near the river bosque. It survived by finding just the right place for itself in the dry desert.

Moments later, she met Jonas by his pickup. He’d changed into a gray-blue shirt. The open collar revealed the very tip of the long, narrow scar she’d seen earlier. Scars meant experience, and the sight fueled her imagination. As far as she was concerned, Jonas was sexier than ever.

Pushing those thoughts back, Emily slipped into the passenger’s side and fastened her seat belt. Everything in her life was upside down at the moment. Straightening things out—that’s where her focus had to remain.

As they headed into town, she glanced around the cab of his truck. He had clothes on hangers, a backpack, a coil of rope and a locked metal box behind his seat. The rifle that hung on a rack over the rear window was almost standard equipment for rural New Mexico. The strange-looking radio with antennae was not.

“That looks like a police radio,” she commented.

“I’m not a cop, but my work for the tribe requires top-notch communications equipment.”

She had a million questions she wanted to ask him about his job as a vindicator, but knew he’d told her all he intended about that. “It looks like we both have our secrets,” she said, and realized a moment too late that she’d spoken the thought out loud.

“Most of what I do has to remain confidential—to protect the clients.”

“It’s not just your job. You never talk about yourself—not at all.”

“I’m boring. I’d rather know about you.”

“Nice hedge.” Emily smiled. “But if you want to earn someone’s trust, you have to show that you trust them, too.”

She could sense him trying to figure out how to respond, but after several long moments, she knew his silence was her answer.

As they continued the drive toward the city of Farmington, her thoughts slowly shifted to other pressing concerns. “The tribe made my father an offer for a parcel of our land, the strip along the bluffs, and I haven’t been able to find anything that suggests the deal was ever finalized. The county never recorded the transaction, either, according to conversations I’ve had on the phone. I also haven’t had any word from the tribe, so I need to know if they’re still interested. Who would you suggest I speak to?”

“I’m aware of the deal and I assure you the tribe is still interested. Would you like me to handle that for you?”

“Sure. I’d like to get that matter settled as soon as possible. That…was my father’s last gift to me,” she said, fighting the tears that tightened her throat.

Jonas reached out and took her hand in his. Even now, with sorrow bearing down on her, his touch soothed, and filled an empty spot inside her.

Emily took a deep breath and concentrated on the problems ahead. “The price for the land was already agreed to, so I’d like to finalize the paperwork and get payment as soon as possible. Truth is, I’ll need the funds to complete the inn. The special amenities I need for my guests are very expensive, and my resources are stretched tight.”

“Quick payment may not be possible,” Jonas said after a momentary pause. “You wanted me to trust you, and I’m about to do that. But what I’m going to tell you has to remain between the two of us. Will you give me your word?”

“You have it,” she said, excited by the fact that he was willing to confide in her.

“Our missing man was carrying the entire payment with him—in bearer bonds,” he said. “Those have disappeared along with him.”

“Does the tribe think he may have just run off with the money?”

“No. He’s completely trustworthy. If he’s running it’s because someone’s on his heels.”

“Do you think my father’s death is connected to the bonds?”

“It’s possible, but there are other issues involved. The attack might be linked to some of the other work your father did for the tribe. But we don’t know anything for sure yet.”

“Except that I’ve become a target, and your man is missing, along with a great deal of money,” she said.

Jonas nodded. “The threat to you is too well timed to be unrelated. If we can figure out who’s coming after you, that should provide other answers, as well.”

She sighed softly. “All I wanted was to build my inn—a place where I could always be useful and contribute to our community. It was a perfect idea, one meant to bring peace and good things. Yet all I’ve done is attract violence.”

“No, that’s not all,” he said, brushing her face with his palm.

The tender gesture dissolved her defenses. Feelings and needs she’d sworn to ignore tore into her, tempting her, urging her to stop planning—stop thinking.

“You’ve got to fight for what you want,” he added.

His words brought her back to reality. “And that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

He made it a point not to look at her. No one would have ever accused him of being weak willed, but all men had their vulnerabilities. Emily was his.

“We can’t ignore what’s going on between us,” he said at last.

“No, we can’t,” she agreed, her voice a whisper. “But we don’t have to give in to it, either. It can’t lead anywhere…good.”

“It could be good. Very good.”

His voice was a deep rumble, and the vibrations coursed through her like fire, melting her insides. “For a while we’d find heaven. But afterward…”

“You’d regret it?”

Emily didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was at war with herself, torn between logic and wanting to capture the wind—or just surrender and enjoy it while it lasted. But she needed more than stolen moments. The qualities she wanted in her future—roots, security—were the very things Jonas’s nature urged him to avoid.

“I was sent to protect you,” he said when she didn’t answer. “And I’ll see it done—even if it means protecting you from me.”

He’d been “sent.” He hadn’t come of his own free will. Holding to that one fact, she drew into herself and said nothing more.

They were entering town, having turned off the truck bypass and onto Lake Street, when she felt the change in him.

“Slump down in the seat a little and keep your head away from the window,” he murmured.

Alarmed, she instinctively did the opposite, sitting up and looking around anxiously. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Get down,” he insisted fiercely, his gaze on the rearview mirror. “Shortly after we left your property, a white pickup caught up to us, then passed us on the highway before we reached the bridge. Now it’s back there once more, following us, though staying well back. When I slowed down to see what he would do, the driver turned west on the truck bypass. But he must have reversed course once he got out of sight, because he’s behind us again.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

“No. As careful as he’s been, my guess is that he’ll disappear the second he knows we’ve made him. Let’s play things a little differently.”

As they entered the downtown area, Jonas turned right, on Main Street. Halfway down the block, he abruptly cut left into an alleyway between two multistory brick buildings.

“Get ready to jump out when I say so.” They approached a small parking area set into a recess of the building. Next to it was a small loading dock.

“Just say when,” Emily replied, feeling claustrophobic in the narrow urban canyon. She reached down, ready to press her seat-belt release.

Suddenly he slammed on the brakes. “Now!”

Emily jumped out, and by the time she reached the front of the truck, Jonas was already there, waiting. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the loading dock.

Once they were out of sight, he motioned with his head toward the corner. “Go back there and stay behind cover. I’ll take care of this.”

Before she could say anything, Jonas sprinted across the alley. With the pickup in the way, she lost sight of him almost immediately.

Emily kept her back to the brick wall of the former hotel, now an office building. A second later, she heard the sound of squealing tires, a shout, then a door opening.

Unable to suppress her curiosity, she peered around the corner. Jonas had ambushed the driver the moment he’d come to a stop, and yanked him out of the cab. Trying to get a clearer look, she turned her head, since the vision out of the corners of her eyes was better. With a gasp, she realized the other man was holding a gun.

Jonas gripped the driver’s wrist and slammed it against the side of the cab. The blow knocked the gun free, and it flew into the bed of the pickup with a thud.

Jonas next delivered a powerful jab to the gut, doubling his opponent up. As he bounced off the open door, Jonas instantly pushed him down on the pavement, then wrapped his arms around the man’s in a deadly hold.

Emily knew that with just one twist, Jonas could break his neck. That’s when she saw the man’s face.

“Jonas, stop!” she said, running out into the open. “That’s Grant, my neighbor. Remember?”

Jonas hauled him to his feet, then shoved him over the hood of the pickup, his arm still at the man’s throat. “I remember. What the hell are you up to, Woods?”

Jonas’s voice was nothing more than a snarl, and it made her heart freeze. The gentle man she’d had beside her just seconds ago on the ride into town was gone, and in his place was someone she didn’t recognize.

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