The figure in black kept going. The guy must have had experience with running, because he easily gained ground on them.
Of course, the way they had to keep ducking to avoid being shot didn’t help.
Then he heard the low rumble of a car engine. Not again! This guy was going to get away.
He put on a burst of speed in time to see a black sedan drive away. It took Jordan a minute to realize the assailant had parked down the road, then crossed to the house and pasture from there.
He bent over, bracing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Bear trotted past him, continuing on the scent trail. Jordan couldn’t help but smile at the dog’s determination to follow the intruder to the very end.
Autumn followed her dog. Bear reached the edge of the road, sniffed for a long moment, then sat and let out a howl. Jordan was familiar enough with the tracking process to understand Bear was alerting on the scent that appeared to end at the road.
“Good boy, Bear. Good boy!” She tossed a rope toy in the air. Bear caught it, looking satisfied with a job well done. Autumn played with him for a few minutes, tugging on the toy.
Jordan caught up to them. “I should have had him back there.”
“I’m just glad he didn’t manage to hit what he was aiming at.” Autumn released the toy, glancing at him with annoyance. “You could have been killed!”
That shot had been too close for comfort. “I know, I just didn’t want him to get away.” He scowled and stared at the road the black car had taken. “What I can’t figure out is how he found us here. I mean, he knows who you are, but finding me here on the ranch?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense.”
She sighed and bent to play tug-of-war with Bear for a minute. “Maybe he spotted my SUV in the driveway.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t like knowing the intruder had been on his property. And worse, he really didn’t like this guy knowing Autumn was staying there with him. “Let’s put your car in my garage.”
She tucked the rope toy into her pocket. “That’s a little like locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.”
“Let’s go back to the house.” He fell into step beside her. “I have several trail cameras that I can put up so that we’re alerted to anyone getting close.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Why aren’t they up now?”
“My dad purchased them, then he got sick.” He flushed, thinking back to the argument they’d had. He wished he’d been easier on his dad in those last months prior to his death. “I thought they were a waste of money—it’s not like we’ve had trouble with trespassers. I didn’t make it a priority to put them up.”
“I see.” She glanced at him. “I need to call this in, so the attempt is on file. But now that he showed up here, it might be better if I head to a hotel. I don’t want to put you or your livestock in danger.”
A fist of panic squeezed in his chest. “Please stay. I won’t get any sleep if you leave.” They walked in silence for a minute. “Durango isn’t a bad watchdog. And we have Bear and Cutie to alert us to trouble, too.”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I’m the target here.”
The wordtargetreminded him of the tattoo. “When I snagged the guy’s hoodie, the sleeve of his jacket rose enough for me to see a part of a dagger tattoo on his wrist.”
“A dagger tattoo? That’s great news.” She reached over to grasp his arm, her green eyes brightened with anticipation. “Can you draw it for me?”
“Sure, but it was a quick glimpse so don’t expect a lot of detail.”
“That’s okay. Whatever you can give me will help. I’ll run the dagger tattoo through the database to crossmatch with any of the people I’ve arrested. That should help identify him.”
“Good.” He wanted nothing more than to help Autumn put this guy behind bars.
And he was secretly thrilled she wasn’t packing up to head to town. He might not be a cop, but he was still determined to protect her, no matter what.
EIGHT
Autumn rewarded her K-9 for following the assailant, then headed back to her SUV to get the bucket of food she’d dropped when Jordan and Bear had alerted her to the danger. She was annoyed at how Jordan kept putting himself in harm’s way. He was a rancher, not a cop.
While it was sweet that he cared about her welfare, she would feel terrible if he were wounded because of her.
Or worse, killed.
“Come, Bear.” She headed to the ranch house with the food. Bear, who loved to eat, quickened his pace and sniffed at the container as they went inside.
