River arched a brow, but she ignored her colleague. “Stay in touch,” she told him as they got their dogs situated in their respective SUVs.
“I’ll be here another day before I head back to Ridge, so call me if you need backup,” River said, his gaze serious.
“Thanks. I will.” She appreciated River’s willingness to lend a hand on something that wasn’t his case. She didn’t want to burden the task force with her personal problems. Or detract from the main issue of finding Mia and her unborn baby.
On their way back to the Clarke Cattle Ranch, Autumn received a phone call from the security company letting her know she was on the schedule for the system she’d chosen to be installed the following day.
That meant spending one more night at the ranch, with their trail camera security system. She didn’t like putting Jordan in danger but was also worried the attacker would strike again here, regardless. The last thing she wanted was for Jordan to get hurt. She liked him more than she should.
Hopefully, she’d find the shooter by looking through her list of perps and matching their license registrations with black cars with a plate ending in the number eight. Really, how many of them could there be?
She hoped only one.
She pulled into the driveway behind Jordan. He slid out of his truck, which still had the damaged windshield, and crossed to her. “Do you want to park your SUV in the garage? Hiding it from view might help. Maybe this guy won’t try anything if he thinks you’re not here.”
She considered that for a moment. The perp was escalating. Drawing this guy out into the open might be the best way to find and arrest him once and for all.
She shook her head. “Leave my car out here. I’m hoping I’ll be able to identify him by the partial plate number you provided. We are short on resources at the department, with a couple of cops off on medical leave, but I’m going to ask if I can get a squad to sit out here. That way, when this guy sees my SUV and tries again, we can grab him.”
Jordan frowned. “You want to make yourself a target?”
“Yes, to arrest him.” She needed to talk to Redding about freeing up cop resources to help her. She was convinced this guy would try again, and soon. Tonight or tomorrow at the latest. Nothing had slowed him down so far.
Jordan reluctantly nodded in agreement. They gave the dogs a moment to get busy outside. Upon entering the ranch house, Jordan headed to the fridge.
“I didn’t get a chance to go to the store.” He poked around in the freezer. “Thankfully, I’m long on meat. Is spaghetti okay for dinner?”
“That sounds wonderful, thank you. I feel bad that you’re feeding me.” She set the laptop on the table along with the list of perps.
“I don’t mind,” Jordan said. “I like having you here.”
She glanced up at that, her gaze clashing with his. Her heart thudded in her chest, and it was suddenly difficult to breathe.
It took a moment for her to realize the awareness tingling down her spine wasn’t one-sided.
Jordan felt it, too.
Swallowing hard, she tried to think of something to say. But the opportunity was lost when Cutie pounced on Bear and her K-9 bolted under the table, nearly taking her down with him, to escape.
“Easy, boy.” She bent and stroked his fur. “Cutie only wants to play.”
Her K-9 stared up at her with big, imploring brown eyes as if begging her for peace and quiet. When Cutie tried to crawl under the table to join him, she scooped the puppy into her arms.
“Not now,” she chided. “Bear worked hard today and deserves some rest.”
Cutie licked her hand, then settled in her lap. Feeling Jordan’s gaze, she glanced up.
The room seemed to shrink and she realized staying here for another day made her long for something she hadn’t considered in a long time. Not since Steve had made it clear he wasn’t interested in settling down with a cop.
Being with Jordan had her wishing for something she’d long since pushed aside. A family of her own.
* * *
Keenly aware of Autumn’s presence, Jordan focused on making dinner. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable to the point she headed back into town to stay at a hotel.
As he thawed and browned the ground beef, he was secretly thrilled that he’d given her another piece of evidence to use to find this guy. Between the dagger tattoo and the license plate digit, he was confident she’d find the person responsible, very soon. A good thing, as he was getting angry at the way this guy had targeted her. He wanted nothing more than for this attacker to be locked up.
Yet, that also meant an end to their time together. He tried not to think about that, since there was nothing more important than Autumn’s safety.
