“Then why are we blaming ourselves?” she asked. I shrugged, and she offered me a smile. “We need to focus on Blur and stop beating ourselves up over something that’s out of our hands.”
Carefully, I reached out and lifted her ponytail from her shoulder, pushing it to her back before I rubbed my thumb along her jaw. She leaned into my touch, and when her eyes shuttered, I took that as a good sign. “Will you come back to Rapid City with me until we can find out what’s going on?”
“I’ll be safe here,” she returned as she opened her eyes, and I wanted to paddle her ass for being so stubborn.
“What if something else is sent here? What if someone shows up and tries to take you, or worse?
“I already got something else,” she remarked and walked to a curio cabinet along the side wall. “I didn’t think anything about it until just this second.”
She picked up a brown envelope and walked back to me before handing it over. There was no postmark or sender on the envelope, telling me it was delivered by hand, so maybe the neighbor’s camera caught that movement. Pulling a picture out of the envelope, I looked at it but didn’t recognize anything, so I asked her.
“Where was this taken?”
She shrugged and looked at it before replying, “I don’t know. It was waiting for me when I got back from Rapid after . . . the stock show, and I assumed it was from someone in the tribe wanting to draw my attention to something specific.” She paused and whispered, “I’m not so sure now.”
Her hands were twisted together, and I could tell she was suddenly unnerved over the realization that someone was stalking her. Without hesitation, she looked up at me and said, “I’ll come back with you, but I don’t want you thinking I’m keeping you to your claim. I’ll stay at the ranch with Cheyenne, but I don’t want you worrying about me. Deal?”
I wasn’t going to honor it, but I answered, “Deal.”
Jackie had spent too many years alone, and the fact she didn’t punch me in the face when I walked up told me one thing—she was ready to forgive me, but she was going to make me work for it. And I’d work every minute of every day until she forgave me. Then, I would show my little warrior exactly how much I missed her and how she’d never be without me again.
Chapter 14
Jackie
Irefused to leave my car at my house, so after pulling the clean, wet clothes from the washer and pushing them into a bag to dry when I got to Cheyenne and Trent’s house, I grabbed a few personal items and walked back to the living room.
“We won’t have room for all that stuff on my bike,” he remarked.
“It’s a good thing I’m taking my car then,” I returned and could see his jaw clench with frustration.
He should know by now that I won’t be told what to do and I won’t be dependent on anyone. So, we stared at each other for close to a minute before he sighed heavily and grabbed the bag with my wet clothes. He helped me make sure the house was locked, and as we stepped outside, a freezing cold blast of air blew around us, signaling the storm was getting closer.
I unlocked my trunk, and he pushed the bag into the space as I set my duffle beside it and closed it back.
He looked at me and said, “We’re gonna need to haul ass if we want to beat the storm into Rapid City. It’s predicted to start in two or three hours, and I don’t want either of us to get caught in the elements.”
“I’ll let my father and Granny know that I’m out of town so they don’t come to check on me.” I paused and asked, “Are you going to call Trent on the way and let him know what you found?”
“I’m sure Animal called him, but yeah, I’ll let him know we’re on the way in case we get stuck on the road, so someone can come get us.” He stepped closer, and I looked up at him as he gently cupped my cheek and said, “Stay close, little warrior.”
I nodded, and he walked to his motorcycle parked behind my car and cranked the loud machine as I got into my car and cranked it to get the heat going. When he walked his bike out of the driveway, I watched from the rear-view mirror and reversed when I saw he was pulled up the road slightly. As we made the turns to head out of our settlement, I dialed my father first, knowing he would check on me when he made the rounds of the village tonight.
“Hey, pumpkin,” my father said. “Granny said you got back a few hours ago. How was the back country?”
“It was good. I got some great pictures, and a lot of the tribe members were willing to speak with me about what they thought would make things better.” I waited for a quick second then decided to tell him the whole truth. “Dad, I’m on my way to Rapid City.”
“Why? There’s a big storm coming. I’d rather you be up here with us if it gets bad.”
“It’s necessary that I go, and I wanted you to know.” Swallowing hard, I proceeded to tell him the truth. “Do you remember when I told you a few weeks ago that I’d met a guy?” He made a noise in response, so I continued. “He’s been looking for the man who hurt Trent’s father and kidnapped Cheyenne last year, and today, when I got home from the back country, there was a box waiting for me.”
“What kind of box?” he inquired.
“It wasn’t anything special, but . . . there was something wrong with the box, so he came up here to check it out.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I’m much closer.”
I could hear the pain in his voice, but this wasn’t something he could be involved in. Whoever left the box for me had hurt someone, and the tribe couldn’t be involved in what I assumed was murder. We didn’t need that kind of spotlight on us.
