Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

H OLDEN SADDLED UP and rode out as the sun rose over the mountains. There was a chill to the fall air this morning. The leaves on the cottonwoods had turned to golds, dark reds and browns. They rustled overhead as he rode along the river.

He couldn’t help the melancholy he felt at this change in season. Winter would be on its heels. He’d heard on the news this morning that it had already snowed in the high country. The weather changed quickly in Montana. In a single day, the greatest temperature change in history happened not all that far away. It had gone from fifty-four degrees below zero to forty-nine above—a shift of one hundred three degrees Fahrenheit.

It wasn’t just the thought of winter that had him down today. Summer was Charlotte’s favorite time of year. He’d been so sure his Lottie would return. Now he feared she would never come back. He’d held out hope with each hot, cloudless-blue-skied day, thinking how much she loved their spot on the creek with the deep green of the cottonwood leaves a canopy overhead. They’d spent hours there when they were young, lying on the warm, flat rocks, staring up at the cottony clouds drifting past. They hadn’t known then how their lives would turn out, and he was thankful for that.

He picked up the scent of the creek even before he saw it through the trees. His horse shuffled along through the fallen leaves, the air colder, the deeper he went into the trees. He followed the creek to their spot. Ahead, he could see that there was no one along the opposite shore.

Why had he thought there was a chance Lottie might be here waiting for him? How many days could he ride over here, filled with hope, only to have it bashed? She wasn’t coming back. He had to accept it. As he reined his horse in to leave, though, he knew he would continue hoping. It was all that kept him going.

Just as he’d started to turn away from the spot where he and Lottie used to make love as teens, he saw something that made him pull up short. At first he thought he was seeing things, that his imagination was playing tricks on him, that the flash of red was no more than wishful thinking.

Turning his horse, he rode deeper into the trees. He spotted what appeared to be a piece of red fabric tied to a tree limb. It fluttered in the breeze by the edge of the creek bed near a large boulder.

Dismounting, he worked his way across the creek from stone to stone until he reached the spot where it was tied. He saw that it was her scarf, one he remembered her wearing. He took the end of it in his fingers and brought it to his face. It smelled of her perfume. Red was definitely Lottie’s color.

His heart began to pound as he looked around, spotting her tracks and her horse’s in the earth along the bank of the creek. Lottie had been here. She’d left her scarf. To let him know she was back?

Holden felt his pulse pound. He dared not to believe it for fear the disappointment if he was wrong would knock him to his knees. But if Lottie was back... He thought about the way he’d left things. He had to see her. After moving quickly to his horse, he mounted and rode back toward his ranch, determined to get changed and drive over to the Stafford Ranch. He had no idea how long she’d been back, but he couldn’t wait another minute to see her. She had to know how he felt about her. She’d come home.

For the first time in years, he felt as if she might have found her way home to him. But when he reached his house, Bailey and the sheriff were waiting for him.

T HE SHERIFF WATCHED Holden look from him to Bailey warily. When the rancher had seen them waiting for him, he hadn’t looked happy about it. When they’d told him they had to speak to him right away, he’d been clearly irritated.

“I don’t understand,” Holden said once they were all seated in his office. “What is so important that you can’t even let me change clothes after my ride?”

Stuart reached over and took Bailey’s hand. He knew how hard this was for her. Earlier, he’d seen her turning the engagement ring around and around on her finger as they’d driven to the ranch. While they hadn’t talked about it, he could tell that she was still mad at him for not warning her. After their dinner last night, they drank more at the hotel bar and came home to pass out—in separate rooms.

“This can’t wait,” Stuart said now and explained what they needed.

Holden let out a curse. “You’re...engaged? Since when?”

“Last night,” Bailey said. “Stuart surprised me at dinner at the café. I would have thought you’d have heard.”

“And now you want me to throw you a barbecue engagement party immediately?”

“And only invite people from the old invitation list I wrote up for you,” Bailey said.

“What the hell is this really about?” her father demanded. “Are you pregnant? Is that why you’re in such a rush?”

“I’m not pregnant.”

Stuart noticed the way she avoided his gaze. They hadn’t even slept together. He’d almost given up on the idea all together. “It’s better if you don’t know why it’s so important.”

“Like hell,” Holden bellowed, and looked at his daughter. “I held that barbecue you’re talking about right before you went off to college. When you came back...” The sheriff caught the sudden change in the man as if he’d glimpsed something in his daughter’s eyes that was like a closing fist around his heart. His voice broke when he spoke. “Did something happen at that barbecue?”

Tears filled her eyes. Holden looked from her to Stuart again. “Tell me.”

It wasn’t the sheriff’s story to tell. Bailey had only finally broken down and trusted him enough to tell him . Stuart wasn’t about to betray her trust. “It’s up to Bailey.”

“I was assaulted at the barbecue,” she blurted out.

“What?” Holden was shaking his head. “How is that even possible?”

“You remember telling me that someone mentioned one of our horses was out? I went down to take care of it, and he was waiting for me.”

“He?” her father asked.

“I never saw his face. He grabbed me from behind, injected me with something that put me out for a little while. When I woke up...” She stopped to swallow. “I was naked. He raped me and then tried to...brand me.”

Holden swore and shot to his feet. For a moment, he swayed as if he was going to pass out. He pushed his palms down hard on his desk, dropped his head and seemed to be fighting hard to catch his breath.

“Are you all right?” the sheriff asked, alarmed.

“Of course I’m not all right,” he snapped as he raised his head and looked at his daughter. “Why didn’t you come to me, tell me...”

She shook her head. “He planned to kill me, but I managed to fight him off. I injured him. He was bleeding badly when he left the cabin.” She stopped, took a breath and said, “And now he’s done it again. He murdered Willow and did the same thing to her. I’ve been looking for him for twelve years. I know he’s still here. He’s one of the ranchers you invited to the party.”

Holden slumped into his chair. For a moment, he broke down, dropping his face into his hands. After a few moments, he said, “Now I understand why you’ve been so upset with me. I sent you out to the stables, right to him.”

“You didn’t know,” she said. “I shouldn’t have blamed you.”

He lifted his head and looked at Stuart. “You’re on board with this...barbecue?”

“We know he’s coming for her,” he said carefully. “Bailey feels he’ll wait until the barbecue to strike again. This time we’ll know he’s going to try to abduct her, and it will be on home ground. But no, I’m not exactly on board. It terrifies me that we might not be able to keep her safe. We can’t bring in a bunch of undercover cops. This man knows everyone. He’d back off, and who knows when he’d come for her?”

“He has to suspect that he’s walking into a trap either way,” Holden said.

“He’s done this twice and gotten away with it,” Bailey said. “He’ll think he can do it again.”

“Only this time,” her father said, “he could kill you.”

No one said anything for a few moments as his words hung in the air. “Is this really what you want?” he asked his daughter. Bailey nodded. Holden sighed. “Then I’ll send out the invitations to the barbecue. When do you want it?”

“As soon as possible,” the sheriff said. “Bailey’s convinced he’ll wait to try to redo what went wrong the first time he attacked her. I’m not so sure that he’ll wait. So the sooner the better.”

Holden nodded.

“You can’t tell the ranch hands or anyone else,” Stuart said. “If you mention this to the wrong person—”

“I understand,” her father said, and looked to Stuart. “You do realize that you are taking one hell of a chance with my daughter.”

“I do, but it’s what Bailey wants. We’ve been trying to find him. We haven’t been able to. She’s been looking for twelve years. We both believe he plans to come for her again. If she’s right about him, he’ll wait until the barbecue. At least we’ll know when and where.”

“You’re sure he’s still here, that he’s local?” Holden asked.

“He’s still here,” she said. “He’ll come.” Stuart could see how hard this was for her. “I know it’s been twelve years, but please try to remember who told you that one of the horses had gotten out.”

The rancher shook his head. “There were so many people...”

“It would have been a man you trusted,” the sheriff said. “Someone who wouldn’t have taken it upon himself to put the horse back in the pasture.”

He saw Holden’s expression change and felt a jolt as he realized how true his words were. No rancher would warn his host that he had a horse out. He’d try to put the horse back himself.

“It wasn’t a rancher,” Holden said. “It was a woman. One of the wives?” He frowned as if trying to remember. “I’m sorry. I can almost see her...”

Stuart exchanged a look with Bailey. This was new information. He considered what she’d said about the man getting help after he was injured from someone he trusted. What if he’d gotten help before the attack as well?

Then he’ll probably use his accomplice again , the sheriff thought.

W HEN CJ S TAFFORD heard he had a visitor, he’d been more than a little surprised. He hadn’t had any visitors since his arrest, other than the one time his mother’s attorney had stopped by to tell him she wasn’t going to help him.

He couldn’t imagine Treyton McKenna coming here. As far as most people in the Powder River Basin knew, he and Treyton were mortal enemies—just like their parents.

Nor was there any reason CJ’s sisters or his two younger brothers would come visit him. He’d tormented them their whole lives. At least he’d never almost killed Brand and Ryder, so maybe...

But when he walked into the visiting area, he stopped short. Sitting on the other side of the Plexiglas window in the small booth was his mother. He couldn’t imagine what she was doing here. On top of that, Charlotte Stafford looked different, he thought as he walked slowly toward her and sat down. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, though. She’d aged, but she was still beautiful, still regal in the way she held herself. Yet there was something different in her eyes.

She pulled her phone off the hook and put it to her ear. He did the same on his side of the clear partition, his mind racing. Surely she hadn’t come here just to tell him she never wanted to see him again, she wasn’t going to help him, and she’d left the ranch to his siblings. She’d already made all that clear the last time he saw her, before the cops arrived to take him away in handcuffs.

“Chisum Jase,” she said quietly, catching him off guard even more by calling him by his full name.

“Mother,” he said, his heart pounding. He still had no idea what she was doing here, but the way his luck went, this wasn’t going to end well. He felt his free hand fist against his thigh, his nails biting into his palm. “I never expected to see you. I heard you left the ranch.”

“I did. But now I’m back. I had to see you.”

He waited, expecting to take a verbal beating that would be worse than some of the physical ones he’d already endured behind bars. “I can’t imagine why.”

“You’re my son, the one most like me, as you’ve pointed out many times.”

“Your greatest disappointment, as I recall.”

She nodded. “I need to ask you something.” He held his breath. “Is there any chance you think you could change?”

The question caught him flat-footed. His first instinct was to lie. Lying had always come easy to him. “I don’t know.”

“Would you be willing to try?”

He laughed and looked away from her green eyes so like his own, before he licked his dry lips and met her gaze again. A bubble of hope rose in his chest, making it ache. “What are you asking me?”

“I’ve thought about change a lot in the time I’ve been away from the ranch. I have changed, but I have a long way to go.” Her eyes focused on him. “If I can change, I wondered if you could.”

His throat had gone dry. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Yes, you do, or you would have lied right away. Why don’t you think about it. You have time. I’ll come back when you have an honest answer.” She hung up her phone before he could say another word.

He watched her rise. What was she offering him? At what cost? He reminded himself what he was looking at if he stayed here. His trial was coming up soon. Even his cheap lawyer had been able to put it off for a while, but he was headed for prison.

He was still sitting there holding the phone when the guard came to take him back to his cell. He’d known seeing her would upset him. He hated her and loved her. He knew he’d done wrong, but when she’d turned on him... He still tasted that bitterness after all these months.

“That your mother, huh?” the guard asked with a chuckle as they reached his cell.

“I have no idea who that woman was,” he said, stepping in and letting the door slam behind him.

H OLDEN SAW THAT Bailey had sent over the original list of ranchers he’d invited to the barbecue. It would take a few days to get the invitations out and a few more to get the RSVPs back. Some ranchers wouldn’t respond. Bailey and Stuart seemed to think that the announcement of their engagement would get the man who’d attacked his daughter to attend.

Elaine had been shocked when he told her about the barbecue. “Isn’t it risky this time of year with the weather changing?” she’d asked. When she’d seen that the event was only two weeks away, she demanded, “What’s the rush?”

“The weather,” he’d snapped back, and felt her knowing gaze on him.

“I need some time to get everything ready.”

“Bailey has already lined up a caterer,” he’d said without looking at her. “Hire all the help you need to get the house and property ready. Just make sure they are all finished by the day of the barbecue and gone.” At her silence, he turned to see if she was still in the room. She was. She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“What is going on, Holden?”

“A barbecue. I thought I made that clear.”

His even more clipped tone didn’t stop her in the least. “I’ve known you all my life. You think I don’t know when something is going on?”

“Elaine, please. Just do this for me, and no more questions.”

“I can see how upset you are,” she said. “This isn’t just about an engagement party, is it?” He gave her a don’t-ask-any-more-questions look. “Fine, I’ll do my part, but I’m going to be watching you, Holden.”

“I’d prefer you watched Bailey,” he said, then started to turn away. This woman knew him too well. She would weasel it out of him if he wasn’t careful. He’d already said too much. “By the way, have you heard if Charlotte is back at her ranch?”

“I believe she is, but you could drive over and see for yourself,” Elaine said. For years she’d encouraged him to mend fences with Charlotte and end the long-standing feud between their families. He’d been shocked to learn that Elaine and Charlotte had some kind of old friendship.

“I have too much to do getting ready for this barbecue, but after that...maybe I will,” he said, and left the house. Bailey’s confession, her so-called engagement to the sheriff, and now this barbecue had him where he couldn’t eat or sleep. It also had him out walking the property at all hours. There were no old cabins left standing. No place for this monster to take her, he told himself.

He couldn’t believe he was being asked to invite the man back here. He told himself there had to be another way, even as he remembered that his daughter had been looking for the man for twelve years. Twelve years!

Holden knew he would do what Bailey asked. He owed her. He’d let his daughter down last time. He wouldn’t this time. He checked out where vehicles would be parked. The sheriff had suggested valet parking so no one could leave without someone knowing it.

He would put Pickett in charge of parking since he trusted him with his life. He didn’t know what more he could do. But even as he thought it, he questioned how he could play host at this barbecue, pretending his daughter wasn’t using herself as bait for a killer. Any one of the ranchers he’d known most of his life could be the one who’d assaulted and tried to kill Bailey.

The thought turned his blood to ice and made him question if he’d ever known his neighbors in this river basin.

But his biggest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to stop the bastard from succeeding this time.