“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s good work if you’re built for it.” I stopped in front of the door that was ajar. “This is him. His locker will have his name on it, and I think his bed is the bottom bunk on the right.” I stood to one side, letting the police officers inside to do whatever they needed to do.
“What time is he expected back?” The sheriff asked, flicking through a book on the nightstand.
“Their working day ends at six but it’s not uncommon to find him hanging around the stables.” My hands clenched into fists as I thought about all the times I’d caught him shirking work. The idea of his eyes on Tally, wondering what he was thinking, what he was planning. It made me feel sick.
“This shouldn’t take long.” Sheriff Jackson opened Glenn’s locker. “Seems he travels light.”
Poking my head inside I saw that he had very few clothes, another pair of boots and a couple of books stacked at the bottom.
“Not much for him to pack up then is there,” I muttered. “When I fire his damn ass.”
The sheriff raised an eyebrow and smirked. He was young to be a town sheriff, a couple of years older than Nash from what I remembered, but his election had been pretty much unanimous. He was up against a guy from Aurora who wanted to relocate and Dean Samuels, an egotistical prick who tried to sell insurance to people who didn’t need it. It was obvious he’d have won anyway, Silver Peaks people liked Christian Jackson and his wife Emery, who worked as a hairdresser.
There weren’t many bad people in Silver Peaks. It was a great place to live, fresh air, beautiful land, low crime rate, which was another reason why Glenn Cameron needed to leave and get back to the city.
An hour later and I was letting myself back into the house, filled with dread at having to give Tally the news. I didn’t have time to prepare myself because she came running into the front hallway.
“Well? Has he been arrested?”
Taking her hands in mine, I pulled her closer. “I’m sorry, Brownie. They didn’t find anything that could be used to charge him.”
Her whole body sagged, and she dropped her forehead to my shoulder. “I thought it was the end of the nightmare, Wilder.”
“It is. I’m firing him as soon as he gets back.”
Her head shot up. “Can you do that?”
“Too fucking right, I can. He had to be escorted out of Downtown Bar & Grill and,” I swallowed back the great ball of poison stuck in the back of my throat, “the sheriff found some photographs of you.” She gasped, her whole body going stiff. “Nothing weird and they could easily be of other people but you’re in the background of them all. Every single one.”
“H-how many?” Her legs gave way.
“Shit, Brownie, I’ve got you.” Pulling her to my chest, holding her up, I managed to get us to the stairs, dropping us both down. “It’s okay, I swearhe’ll be gone by tonight.”
“It’s him, Wilder, I know it’s him.” Tally slapped a hand against her chest. “In here, honey, I can feel it here that he’s the one who went in my cabin. The one sending the messages, too. Did they find his phone? Did they see any messages to me?” Her words tumbled over each other as she gripped my shirt, begging me to give her the news she was desperate for.
“Brownie, baby, please take a deep breath.” I took her face in my hands. “Look at me. Breath with me, baby, please. In and out, in…” I took every single breath with her, urging her to match my pace and stay with me. “That’s it. Good girl.”
Slowly she started to calm down. Her breathing normalized so that I could cocoon her with my arms. As we sat in the silence of her fear I knew I couldn’t wait for him to come back to the ranch, I was going out to find him.
Tally
“I need to go,” Wilder said, taking my hands and pulling me to my feet. “I’m going to call Lily and get her to come home and be with you.”
“Why? Where are you going? Stay please.”
He shook his head. “I have to go and fire that fucker, Brownie. I want him gone from this ranch now. I can’t wait until he finishes.”
“Please don’t. Like you said he’s forty minutes away, he’ll be on his way back soon.” The desperation was banging at the wall of my chest, thudding like a jack hammer and sending shock waves around my body. “Please Wilder.”
He paused and then exhaled a slow, steady breath. “Let me call Ray and tell him to come over with him as soon as they get back.”
Wilder took out his phone, his eyes firmly fixed on me, one hand on my shoulder. “Ray. I need you to bring Glenn to the house as soon as you get back…nope it’s not good…yeah, he’s getting fired he got into trouble at Downtown Bar & Grill, getting handsy with a woman and there’s some other stuff…I’m not having that sort of behavior associated with this ranch…Bring him in the truck so he can’t make any excuses…see you later.”
“Thank you.”
Wilder dropped to his haunches and ran his hands up my thighs, to my waist. “Anything for you, Brownie. Anything at all.”
“I’ll do it,” Wilder said, shaking his head at Nash. “I’m in charge of the men.”
