“I admire the work you do.” He seemed to search her gaze again and she felt her mouth go dry.
Then, suddenly he was closing the scant distance between them, drawing her in for a quick kiss. It was over so fast she thought she might have imagined it. “Thanks for everything you’re doing for me.”
“Ah, you don’t have to thank me.” She pulled her scattered thoughts together. The chaste kiss shouldn’t have rattled her, but it had. “This is my job. I want answers about what happened to Jenny as much as you do.”
“I know you’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Jordan said with confidence.
She hoped he was right about that. Bear had come to stand next to her, likely to avoid playing with Cutie. “I think Bear is ready to go in.”
“Come, Cutie.” Jordan stepped back and led the way to the house. The puppy romped at his heels, with Bear staying close to her side. Their fingers tangled briefly before he opened the door.
“I—uh—should get some sleep.” This constant togetherness was wearing on her. Maybe she should have gone to a hotel, but it was too late now. She managed a wan smile. “Good night, Jordan.”
“Good night.”
Bear followed her down the hall to the guest room. She was physically exhausted enough to fall asleep in a heartbeat.
Yet, rather than drifting off, Jordan’s brief kiss replayed in her mind.
She cared about him, far more than she should.
* * *
Jordan propped his shotgun against the wall near the front door. He mainly used it to kill snakes or to scare off the occasional bobcat from stalking his calves during calving season.
Satisfied that he was prepared for anything, he stretched out on the sofa with Cutie curled in a ball next to him, staring blindly up at the ceiling. He shouldn’t have kissed Autumn because all he could think about now was kissing her again.
He was glad his impulse hadn’t scared her off. If she’d insisted on going to stay at a hotel, he’d have probably gone with her, asking for an adjoining room. It would mean getting up extra early to get back here to care for the animals, but he didn’t care. Better to be inconvenienced than to be far away if the dagger-tattoo guy showed up again.
He set the laptop on the coffee table next to him, so that he’d be alerted when the cameras detected movement. He could use his phone, too, but the screen would be too small to see much of anything. He had all four of the trail cameras up at one time. He watched for a long moment, then settled back and closed his eyes.
He didn’t expect to sleep, but a beeping sound had him bolting upright in time to see a coyote lope past the camera facing the back of the property.
The first of many false alarms, he thought with a grimace.
Cutie lifted her head, then settled back down. Thankfully, the puppy was good about sleeping through the night.
Having Autumn at the ranch, especially cooking and sharing meals with her, made him keenly aware of what he was missing. He’d been so preoccupied with running the ranch—in particular when the beef prices had dropped, and Jenny’s getting pregnant then going missing—that he hadn’t allowed himself time to realize how lonely he was.
In truth, he hadn’t missed Shiloh as much as he thought he would.
He told himself to stay focused on finding Jenny’s baby and arresting those who’d taken his sister and killed her. It was horrible to think about other pregnant young women being treated just as callously. Like the missing Mia. He hoped Jenny hadn’t suffered too much at the hands of her abductors. He wanted to believe that they’d care for the women so their babies would be healthy, but there was no guarantee they had. At least in Jenny’s case.
Jordan lifted his gaze to the ceiling, praying that Autumn and the other task force members would find Mia, and any other young women who’d been taken against their will, before it was too late.
And for the first time in months, he felt a strange sense of peace. Maybe God was watching over them after all. It was a comforting thought.
Another beep had him glancing at the computer screen. This time, Cutie ignored him, which was a good thing. He didn’t see anything at first, then caught a brief shadow of a white-tailed deer moving along the side of the barn. He watched it for a moment, then settled back down.
This was going to be a long night, he thought with a sigh. He closed his eyes and willed himself to relax and get some sleep.
Jordan wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the beeping of the computer pierced his subconscious. He startled badly, as if the sound had been a gunshot rather than a computer chime. He blinked, staring at the computer screen, trying to figure out what had triggered the alarm.
Then he abruptly sat up, earning a protest from Cutie, when he realized there was a figure in black creeping toward the house.
The intruder had come back!
He shot off the sofa, shoved his feet into his boots and hurried down the hall to the guest room. He’d promised Autumn not to go after this guy alone, so he knocked on the door. “Autumn? Are you decent?”
