I walked the fence line again, keeping my gun with me while I checked posts I already knew were fine, scanning the tree line for movement I prayed I wouldn’t see. The cold bit at my cheeks, but it didn’t clear the feeling crawling under my skin.
Someone had sent him.
By the time I circled back to the house, my hands had stopped shaking but the anger hadn’t. It sat low and hot in my chest, steadier than fear, easier to hold.
Inside, I locked the door. Something I rarely bothered with in daylight and went straight to the kitchen window. From there I could see the road, the barn, and the stretch of pasture where thefence had been cut. Everything looked normal and peaceful. Like the day hadn’t just shifted something fundamental.
I hated that he’d gotten to me, but more, I hated that he’d known he had.
My phone buzzed on the counter, and I leaned my gun against the counter and picked up the phone, staring at the number I didn’t recognize. It stopped and then started again almost immediately, and I frowned at it as it clicked off and then immediately rang once again.
This time I answered, my jaw tight. “Rowan Hale.”
A pause of silence. Not static, but breathing.
Then a voice, low and familiar. “You should’ve been nicer to me.”
My stomach dropped, but I didn’t speak. I didn’t give him anything.
“You think you can handle this alone?” he asked. “You can’t. And the people you think are helping you, they’re not. No one can help you. The best thing you can do is leave, before you regret not leaving.”
My grip tightened on the phone. “Who is this?”
Another pause. “Just a friend trying to give you some friendly advice before it’s too late.” A soft click followed as the line went dead.
I stared at the now blank screen, my breath shallow, the silence in the house suddenly too loud. But the worst part, the part I didn’t want to admit even to myself, was that Tex had been right. Whoever was doing this wasn’t going to stop. They were escalating. For the first time since this had all begun, I let in the fear of what might happen, and my body began to tremble.
I set the phone down carefully, like it might explode.
For a long moment I stood there, palms pressed to the counter, trying to steady my breathing and quit my shaking. Theranch had been my refuge, my anchor. Now it felt like a target on my back painted in broad daylight.
I hated needing anyone, but I knew right then that I needed him—them.I needed the club.
They might have somehow dragged me into something I didn’t want to be a part of, but I was smart enough to know when I needed them to help keep me safe and to protect my livelihood.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.
If Tex thought he was protecting me, and keeping me alive, he was about to get his chance. Because I had no choice any longer. I had to ask the Kings for their protection. Despite every muscle in my body protesting against it.
