CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

C AIN AWOKE SLOWLY, DRAGGING HIMSELF FROM THE DEPTHS OF A heavy, drugging sleep. His eyes felt gritty, his mouth dry. He wasn't sure what time it was, but the curtains were drawn, and it was dark in the room. The sound of beeping drew his groggy attention to the monitor hooked up to a stand beside the bed. There was an IV in his arm, a bag of fluid dripping clear liquid into his veins.

Little by little, memories returned—riding Gladiator over the ridge, getting ready for a picnic by the stream, the echo of gunshots. The pain and the blood.

The bastard who had shot him.

He turned his head a little, saw Jenny curled up asleep in a chair next to the bed, her head propped against her shoulder. She looked uncomfortable and exhausted, and the knowledge she was there tightened something in his chest.

Eased by her presence, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Night turned into morning; the hours slipped past and it was noon. Jenny sat with Nell and Emma in a waiting room down the hall from Cain's hospital room. There was a row of vinyl-cushioned chairs along the wall, more placed back-to-back in the middle of the room. Sunlight streamed in through the window.

After the shooting, Cain had been flown to the Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott and taken directly into surgery. Doctors had dealt with his loss of blood, torn ligaments, and tendons, removed the bullet, and stitched up the wound.

Emma had driven Nell down yesterday as soon as Jenny had called to tell her about the shooting. After the doctors had assured her that Cain was going to be all right, she had gone home for the night, but came back early this morning. According to Emma, nothing could dissuade her.

Jenny thought of the mother she had barely known. It was good Cain understood how lucky he was.

At the Copper Star, Jenny had relied on Troy, Barb, Heather, and the rest of her employees to take care of things while she was gone. The Cross Bar ranch hands had all shown up at the hospital, including Maria. The men stayed in shifts, one of them outside Cain's door at all times.

Someone had tried to kill their boss, who was also a friend. The men were there to protect him until he could protect himself.

Jenny checked the time on her phone. Currently, hospital staff were finishing the paperwork needed to release Cain.

"They'd better hurry this along," Nell grumbled. "Cain'll be chomping at the bit to get out of here."

"I doubt he likes hospitals any better than the rest of us," Jenny said.

"He spent some time in 'em off and on. Got beat up pretty good when he was a kid. He was runnin' with a bad bunch. Found trouble one night with another bad bunch. Took four of them to take him down. Cain spent three days in the hospital that time. Turned out to be a good lesson."

"I knew he had problems when he was a teen." Jenny glanced toward the door, hoping the nurse walking down the hall was coming to tell them Cain was ready to leave, but the nurse kept walking, heading farther down the corridor.

"What about the scars on his hands?" Jenny asked. "Those are burn scars, aren't they? How did it happen?"

"He never talks about it," Nell said. "Happened in a mine he was workin'. There was an explosion, then a fire. One of the miners got pinned beneath some heavy timber. The other men took off and left him, but Cain stayed behind. Boy's strong as a bull. He managed to free the man before the fire swept over them, but his hands got badly burned. My boy was a hero."

Jenny's throat tightened. The more she learned about Cain, the more she was drawn to him. It worried her. Getting more deeply involved was the last thing she wanted.

"After the way he protected me, I'm not surprised. I'm glad you told me. What about the tattoo on his arm?"

One of Nell's silver eyebrows went up. "The skull wearing a hard hat? He was just young and dumb."

Jenny laughed.

Another hour passed before the nurse finally came in to tell them Cain was ready to leave. Jenny headed down the hall, while Emma pushed Nell in her wheelchair.

When Jenny shoved open the door, Cain was getting dressed. Apparently, the nurse had helped him into the gray sweatpants that Denver had brought, but he was naked from the waist up.

Her pulse thrummed. He had the most incredible body, his arms and chest heavily muscled, his waist narrow and flat. She had never liked muscle jocks, but there was something about a man who had earned all those sexy muscles by doing actual hard work.

She grabbed the matching gray sweatshirt off the bed and handed it over. "Looks like you're ready to go. How does your shoulder feel?"

"Like a cannon ball tore through it, but I'll live." His left shoulder was covered with a thick white bandage, his arm in a sling. The doctor had said Cain had been lucky in a way. The path the bullet had torn had missed most of the major muscles and tendons.

"Sanchez is in the hall," Jenny said. "Your men have been staying outside the door in shifts. They're probably armed, even if they aren't supposed to be."

He nodded. "They're good men."

"And good friends. They were worried about you."

Nell made a disgruntled sound in her throat. "Who'd you piss off bad enough to try killing you?" she asked.

Cain clenched his jaw. "I wish I knew." He bent and brushed a kiss over Nell's cheek. "You can bet I'm going to find out. In the meantime, I don't want you to worry, I'll be fine." He smiled. "Why don't we get out of this place and go home?"

"Good idea," Nell said. "You goin' to the ranch or back to Jerome?"

He glanced at Jenny.

"I have to get back to work," she said. "Tomorrow night's Halloween, one of the busiest nights of the year." She wished she could stay with Cain at the ranch, make sure he was okay, but she was determined to make the Star a success, and she had a responsibility to the people who worked there.

Cain's dark eyes locked with hers. "I'll be going back to Jerome."

A look passed between them. He was going back for her. He was worried about her. Jenny felt a pinch in her heart.

"Emma, can you give us a lift?" Cain asked.

"Of course. I'll go get the car and pick you up out front."

The door to the room opened, and Cain's nurse, a short, buxom woman dressed in green scrubs, walked in, pushing a wheelchair. "Take a seat," she said.

"It's my shoulder, not my legs," he grumbled. "I can walk just fine."

"Standard procedure." The nurse cast him a warning glance. "Get in or you don't leave."

Jenny bit back a smile as Cain muttered something no one could hear and settled himself in the chair. The nurse pushed him out into the hall, where he stopped to thank Sanchez, who was sitting on a bench near the door.

"I want you to know how much I appreciate the way you and the other guys looked out for me. Tell them that, and tell them I plan to find the a-hole who shot me and make him pay."

Sanchez just nodded. "We are amígos . Friends take care of each other."

Cain squeezed the older man's shoulder. "Tell the boys to be careful out there. This bastard is dangerous, and we don't have a clue who he is."

They left the hospital and headed through town, back up the curvy road to Jerome. Jenny got out of the car at the Copper Star.

"I'll be right back," Cain told Emma as he followed Jenny out of the vehicle.

Jenny stopped and turned. "You need to relax, let yourself heal," she reminded him.

Cain ignored her. "I'm putting someone on you until this is over."

"What? A bodyguard? I don't need a bodyguard. They're after you, not me."

"And a good way to get to me is through you."

"I don't need—"

He leaned down and kissed her, lingered, went a little deeper. "I'm overruling you on this. I need to make some calls, then I'll be back. I'll stay with you until he gets here."

She could still feel his mouth on hers, the possessive way he'd kissed her. Jenny just nodded. "Okay . . . if you think it's necessary."

"I hope it isn't, but I'm not taking any chances."

He kissed her one last time, then climbed back into the car, and Emma drove off toward the Grandview.

Jenny thought of Cain and how close he had come to being killed. As she crossed the saloon to where Troy stood behind the bar, she said a silent prayer for Cain's safety.

* * *

The first call Cain made went to Nick Faraday. He told Faraday about the attack at the ranch and that the shooter had escaped on a mountain bike.

"You sure there was only one of them?" Nick asked.

"That's the only one Denver spotted. Doesn't mean they didn't split up and scatter, but the shots all seemed to come from the same direction. One rifle, I'd say. I think I hit the bastard, but he still managed to get away."

"I'll check the hospitals in the area, see if there were any reported gunshot wounds. You talk to the sheriff?"

Cain leaned back in the chair behind the desk in his study. "Denver called him, gave him a report. I haven't talked to him yet. Just got out of the hospital." And his shoulder hurt like a bitch. "I figure he'll show up in Jerome sooner or later. But I don't have much faith in the guy."

"Maybe he'll surprise you."

"Maybe," Cain said. "I need to hire a bodyguard."

"Good idea."

"Not for me—for Jenny. I'm not completely up to speed, and I don't want to leave her unprotected. You know anyone local?"

"I work with a guy named Will Price. He's a vet, stays in shape. He's done this kind of work before. Will lives in Scottsdale. I'll call him, see if he's available."

"If he is, send him up. He can stay at the hotel when I don't need him."

"I'll text to let you know."

"Making any progress on Sun King?" Cain asked.

"I've narrowed down your list. Your old buddy Tank Rosen was busted two weeks ago in California for armed robbery. He's cooling his jets in the San José County jail."

"So he can't be our shooter."

"No. Turns out he's been living in California for the past five years. Has a girlfriend, a life of sorts. I talked to the girl. Said they needed money, so he robbed a Fast Trip convenience store. Cutting the balls off your horse wouldn't have solved the problem."

"Which means he's likely not our horse thief, either."

"Doesn't sound like it. But after the shooting, Ryder Vance has moved up the list. Could have been Vance who shot you. Might not have had anything to do with stealing your horse and everything to do with your woman."

Cain thought of Ryder's attack on Jenny. The guy was exactly the sort who would want revenge. "I wouldn't put it past him, but a dirt bike isn't a Harley."

"A bike's a bike. He moves up the list."

Cain scrubbed a hand over his face, felt the roughness on his unshaven face. "So, aside from Rosen, we're right back where we started."

"I'm going to try to locate Harwell and dig deeper into Ray Aldridge. In the meantime, keep your head down and an eye on Jenny."

"Believe me, I intend to." He ended the call, went into the bathroom, and popped a couple of Advils. The doctor had given him some meds, but he didn't like the groggy feeling they gave him, and if he ran into more trouble, he needed to be alert.

He rode his private elevator down to the main floor. He wanted to check on things at the hotel, but he needed to get back to Jenny. His shoulder was aching, throbbing like a thousand drumbeats, but the Advil would soon kick in.

The elevator door slid open, and he walked out into the hallway off the lobby. The Grandview was now open to the public. Tomorrow night was Halloween. The whole town would be masked up, people's identities hidden. The perfect night to cause trouble.

Cain planned to spend the evening at the Copper Star.