He drew rein, pausing on a knoll to survey the vast green landscape stretching in front of him. There were four ponds on the ranch, dark spots scattered in the vast stretches of green. A heavily wooded area full of wild game rose off to his left. A shallow ravine veered to the right and the river lay ahead.
The old hunting cabin wasn’t much farther. The porch looked out over an oxbow in the stream. He’d head in that direction in case a thunderstorm blew in.
The wind felt good against his face as Josh leaned over the buckskin’s neck and urged the big horse forward.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The afternoon was slipping away. With the bad weather, Tory was working in Josh’s office, getting the webpage design finalized, preparing to post the photos she was ready to start taking.
She glanced at the time at the bottom of the computer screen. Josh had been gone for hours. Tory was worried about him.
Outside the window, the sky was the color of pewter, intermittent gusts of rain coming down, the wind tearing through the branches of the trees. Still, he didn’t come home. Tory had sensed his dark mood that morning and tried to give him some space.
With everything that had been happening, she didn’t blame him for seeking the solace of the vast, open spaces around him. Josh was a man’s man. The ranch suited him perfectly.
She thought of his restlessness and couldn’t help wondering how all of this would end. Clearly, Josh wasn’t ready to settle down. When she had arrived six weeks ago, she would have said the same thing about herself.
Now everything she had ever wanted was right there in front of her, right there on the Iron River Ranch. She loved this wide-open country, loved the horses, loved the small community, the friends she and Ivy were making.
And she loved Joshua Cain.
Her heart squeezed. She knew he cared about her, knew he cared about Ivy. But he had just come home from the war, just gotten his life back, his freedom. She wished they had met at some later time. Maybe things would have been different.
She took a shaky breath. She could see where this was headed, see how much it was going to hurt when they parted, how hard it was going to be on Ivy. But she knew it was going to hurt Josh, too.
He was a good man. He had tried to do what was right, keep things professional. They had both known the dangers.
She wiped away a tear. Damon was in jail. He had legal troubles that might keep him there this time. She hadn’t known about the other battered woman. Now that she did, she figured there were probably more.
Linc would find out. She had a feeling Lincoln Cain was a bad enemy to make. This time Damon wasn’t going to get away with using his father’s name and his family’s wealth to escape the consequences of whatever he had done.
She could leave without fear, make a new start somewhere else. She knew deep down that no matter where she ended up, Josh and Linc would both be there to help her if she needed them.
It was time to start planning in earnest. She would talk to Josh, tell him the truth. This time she had a feeling he would agree.
An ache throbbed in her chest. She loved him. Deeply and without reservation. She would do anything for him. She thought that on some level he knew.
Timing was everything. This thing between them, it was just wrong place, wrong time. Maybe someday they would meet again. Things like that happened, didn’t they?
Her throat closed up. She had known for a while it was time to leave. She felt safe enough now to go. When Josh came home, she would talk to him, convince him that leaving was best for both of their sakes.
The landline phone on the desk rang, jarring her out of her mournful thoughts.
Tory picked it up. “Iron River Ranch.”
“Tory, it’s Agent Quinn Taggart. I need to speak to Josh.”
“I’m afraid he isn’t here, Agent Taggart. He went riding this morning. He hasn’t come back.”
“Do you have a way to reach him? A problem’s come up. I need to get word to him as quickly as possible.”
The urgency in Taggart’s voice alerted her. “What is it, Agent Taggart? What’s wrong?”
He hesitated a moment, not long. “The man we arrested yesterday at the camera store?”
“Yes?”
“The pistol he was using matched the weapon used to kill Pete Saldana, but when we searched his apartment in Dallas, the rifle that killed Coy Whitmore wasn’t there. There were two men using the apartment. Two men, Tory, not one. That means there’s another terrorist still out there.”
