Gideon took over. “Small town, like you said. Who’s the power player in these parts? You must know.”
Kevin shrugged. “Nah. I stick to myself and that keeps me out of trouble, but you got somebody mad at you and that’s the truth. Made me feel horrible to think of you two wandering around with no help or shelter, and I decided I’d try to find you if I could. Honestly, though, I was just about to cut bait and get out of town, but I figured I’d wait another hour and see if you showed up here.” He smiled. “I knew you’d come back to get your Jeep. You said as much.”
Mackenzie decided to try a different approach. “Did you know my brother, Aaron Bardine?”
Kevin rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Your brother? I don’t think so. Why would I?”
She could detect no tell that Kevin was lying. “He visited here.”
“Hmm. Like I said, I stick to myself. If he was a young fella, probably popped into the tavern where there’s live music, but I wouldn’t have seen him there.” He laughed. “My wife wouldn’t cotton to me hanging out in a place like that.” He looked them over. “You two haven’t had an easy time of it since you left, have you?”
“No.” Gideon was still scanning warily. “We’ve narrowly avoided a few ambushes like we did at the stables.”
Kevin whistled. “Hard to believe.”
“It certainly is.” Mackenzie glowered at him. “The people trying to kill us seem to be one step ahead. You sure you didn’t have anything to do with that?”
“What are you accusing me of?”
“That you know full well the guy who owns this town and you’ve been doing your best to help him catch us,” she snapped.
Kevin puffed up, stabbing a thick pointer finger in her direction. “Like I said, I only have one priority and that’s my family, okay? I shared our home and our meal with you and came here to give you a ride out of town because you’re gonna get yourself killed one way or the other. If you don’t want my help, so be it. At least I can sleep tonight knowing I tried.” He spun on his heel and stalked back to the ATV.
Gideon looked at Mackenzie. She knew what he was asking. The same question they’d considered before. Was Kevin a man to be trusted or not? They required additional information, but more than that, they desperately needed a ride.
“Wait,” Mackenzie said.
Kevin stopped and turned, his expression stony.
“I’m sorry for accusing you. We’ve had a very bad couple of days. We’d appreciate it if you could give us a ride to the bridge.”
Kevin hesitated for a minute. “All right. Get in.”
“Thank you,” Mackenzie said.
“I’ll take the back seat.” Gideon followed her to Kevin’s ATV and clasped her forearm. His pressure told the story.Don’t let your guard down.
A ride to the bridge and they’d separate. It was a risk worth taking, she’d decided, a way to save them arduous hiking.
She climbed into the front and Gideon behind the driver. Her heart pounded against her ribs.
Kevin looked profoundly relieved once he fired up the engine.
“I can’t believe I found you. I’ve been trying to track you since we got separated at the stables.” He laughed, which ended in a wheeze. “You’ve covered some miles, I’ll give you that.”
Gideon cocked his head. “How did you know where and when to intercept us?”
“It wasn’t easy. Cordelia called me to make sure I’d gotten away from those two thugs.”
Suspicion threaded Gideon’s reply. “Do you know who they are?”
“Uh-uh. Maybe hired help from out of town? You made somebody real mad around here.”
Gideon prompted him to continue. “So you and Cordelia talked?”
He grinned. “Mostly I listened. She was steaming mad about the attack near her horses. Probably she’d take it harder if a horse got hurt than a human. Anyway, she took a guess which direction you took. I had to get the ATV because I didn’t think my rig could take the terrain, so I lost time. Found a disabled white truck though. Your handiwork?”
“Possibly,” Gideon said. “You caught our trail?”
