The New Cowboy Page 7

  They walked into the house. After she’d freshened up, she entered the kitchen and got out the bread and peanut butter. He joined her and added milk from the fridge. In a minute they sat at his breakfast table to eat.

  “What’s this favor all about, Zane?”

  “I’m going on a stakeout at the site for the next two nights. I’ll be gone all day tomorrow, as well. Connor is letting me rent his trailer. I need a partner who’s up-to-date on the case and can give me an extra set of eyes and ears.” His intense blue gaze fused with hers. “Would you be willing to do the honors?”

  Zane wanted her to stay overnight in the trailer with him? Avery was so surprised she stopped chewing. “You mean you’re going back there again tonight?”

  He nodded. “I’m headed to your ranch soon to hitch up the trailer. If your answer is no, I’ll drop you off first.”

  “Then you think the culprits are coming back?”

  His eyes narrowed. “I think they’ve waited long enough before trying to make another haul of artifacts. As you pointed out, there are a lot more of them still in the ground. The police can’t be there every night and they know it. I plan to surprise them if they show up.”

  “But what about the trailer being in sight?”

  “I’ve obtained permission from one of the land owners to use their right-of-way road to park. Anyone watching will assume the trailer belongs to the owner.” He finished off the last sandwich and cleaned up the kitchen. “Excuse me while I pack some things.”

  Her heart was thudding again as they left the house a few minutes later in his truck. When they pulled into her ranch, he slowed down in front of the ranch house. “What’s your decision?”

  He wasn’t interested in her, but he’d asked for her help in solving this case. Though she knew there would be a price to pay later, more than anything in the world she wanted to go with him, be with him one more time. “I’ll come with you. While you hitch up the trailer, I’ll hurry inside and pack an overnight bag.”

  “Good. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He stayed where he was so his headlights were trained on her until she let herself in the door.

  The first thing she did was hurry down the hall to her grandfather’s room. He was still up watching the ten o’clock news.

  “There you are!”

  “Hi, Grandpa.” She kissed him. “I’m back, but I’m leaving again and won’t be home until Monday morning.”

  He took off his glasses. “Where are you going?”

  “Zane has asked me to help on a case at the Absarokee site.” She explained the details. “We’re going to keep watch.”

  “Well, as long as you’re with him, I’m not worried. He’ll catch those renegades before long.” He didn’t even blink about her plans. That was how much he trusted Zane.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow with an update. Love you.”

  “You, too, darlin’. Give Zane my best.”

  “I will.”

  She rushed through the house and up the stairs to get packed. In a few more minutes she stepped out on the porch with her small suitcase. Zane was waiting in front. He’d driven up with Connor’s black-and-silver trailer. Avery felt like a thief sneaking out in the night on some clandestine adventure. Excitement raced through her body.

  Zane levered himself from the truck and reached for her case, which he put in the backseat. When he walked around to open the passenger door for her, she climbed in the cab, but their arms and legs brushed. The contact sent a curl of warmth through her body.

  “Grandpa sends his regards,” she said to counteract her reaction. “You’re a favorite of his.”

  “The feeling’s mutual. It comes with the territory of being related to Sadie.”

  Not necessarily, but Avery didn’t voice her thoughts. Ralph Bannock was a shrewd judge of character and no one’s fool. He’d been impressed with Zane from the first day.

  Zane shut her door and walked around to get in behind the wheel. They took off. “When we get to White Lodge, we’ll stop at the supermarket and pick up some groceries. Whatever sounds good to you. On the drive over, I’d like to hear about this latest book you’re writing based on your thesis.”

  She swung her head around, causing her hair to swish across her shoulders. “Who told you about that?”

  “Your brothers. They’re open in their praise. Jarod’s so proud of you he could burst, but he lets you know in a different way.”

  Warmth filled her cheeks.

  “The reason I know he cares so much is that he recently told me you’ve honored his mother’s people by undertaking this work. The undertones of love were apparent.”

  Tears smarted her eyes. “Thank you for telling me that. I’m no writer in the sense you mean. What I am doing, as you already know, is working on a collection of stories from the Crow culture. They’re a compilation of personal narratives, legends, myths and historical traditions.

  “My biggest struggle during interviews—that is if I’m granted an interview—is to translate their words correctly in order to preserve their stories with the greatest accuracy. It’s a painstaking process and I work with a tape recorder. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. You have to understand I’ll be studying their language for the rest of my life.”

  “I’m still working on English,” he quipped. “Tell me one of the stories.”

  She shook her head. “You’re just humoring me.”

  “I asked because I’m fascinated,” he came back in a serious tone. “Part of my job is dealing with the national Safe Indian Community Initiative. I’ll be working with the Crow people from time to time for the rest of my life. I need to learn everything I can.”

  She couldn’t help but admire his inquiring mind. “Have you ever heard of the Spirits of the Rivers?”

  “No. You’ll have to teach me.”

  “Well, there’s one thing you need to understand first. The members of the Crow Nation were animists. In other words, they believed spirits were everywhere in nature. They make the grass and plants grow. They cause the winds to blow and the clouds to float. They believe every animal and bird has a spirit.

  “A boy, or a girl in some tribes, wants to partake of this mystery power from nature and spends a few days and nights alone in a place of supernatural power to fast and dream. The spirit of an animal speaks to him in human form, teaching him his individual sacred song. Jarod went for four days and nights on his quest.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “He was taught to be patient and believes his dream helped him to wait for Sadie.”

  “You’ve just given me goose bumps.”

  She laughed gently. “I know what you mean. He has the gift of vision like his uncle Charlo. He told Sadie he knew Liz would win the overall barrel racing championship several days before it happened, but he didn’t have the same dream for Connor.”

  A strange sound came from Zane’s throat. She could tell she’d grabbed his attention.

  “There are several tales of the Spirits of the Rivers in the Crow oral history. From earliest times they say strange animals or spirits have lived in the rivers. They’re always hungry and ready to devour humans. I’ll tell you one.

  “The old woman Red Feather who repeated this story to me was taught by her grandmother to always throw food into the water before crossing it so she would be spared. And she needed to paint her body with spots and stripes in bright colors to frighten the spirits. The last spirit she saw was in the Rosebud River. It had the form of a human, but it was very fat and had unusually small limbs.”

  Zane turned to her. “And she told you this?” They were coming into White Lodge.

  “Absolutely. One day if you like, I’ll take you to meet her and translate for you so you’ll have heard it from her mouth.” That comment had just slipped out, shocking her. There’d be no �
��one day”...

  “She’s an entertainer and a historian. Storytelling is an inherent part of her culture. They have a strong oral tradition and do a lot of their storytelling at night in winter with their children gathered round.”

  He pulled into the supermarket parking lot. “After we get settled in Absarokee for the night, I want to hear all the other river stories.”

  “You’ll fall asleep long before then.”

  His eyes flashed that brilliant blue. “You want to make a bet?”

  Her pulse rate flew off the charts.

  Zane took her inside the store with him and they bought what they’d need so they wouldn’t have to leave the trailer. Over the past year he’d dreamed of being with her like this and could hardly believe it had become a reality.

  He considered it a big breakthrough for her to stay with him in the trailer. Whatever had caused her to tense up on him the other night, he no longer had the feeling she was nervous around him. It seemed that since he’d told her of a woman he was interested in, she’d dropped some of her defenses and was interacting with more warmth and enthusiasm.

  But he wouldn’t be able to keep up the facade for too much longer before she saw through him. Already he knew a few days and nights without holding and kissing her would never satisfy him. Then the truth of his feelings would have to come out.

  Chapter Five

  When they reached the dig site, Zane drove the trailer onto the private road past one of the owner’s homes. He continued enough of a distance for it to look as if the owner was leaving the trailer there out of the way. Together with Avery they carried everything into the trailer.

  She put the food away and closed the fridge. “I can see why Connor said he could have lived in here with Liz on a permanent basis and have been perfectly happy. It has everything a person needs—a living-slash-dining room, kitchen, bathroom, TV...”

  “A home on wheels. If you’ll plan to sleep in the niche and keep watch through the window you can open, I’ll take the sofa pullout bed, so I can come and go quickly from the roof.” He handed her a black case.

  “What’s this?”

  “Go ahead and open it.”

  She put it on the table and did as he asked. The second she lifted the lid, he heard a quiet cry. “Two pairs of night-vision goggles with headgear!” She darted him a natural smile that made her so entrancing it was impossible to look away. “Something left over from your SEAL days?”

  “You guessed it. It’s amazing what you can see with them, and your hands are free. No spy should be without them.”

  She chuckled. “You mean you’ll trust me with one of these?”

  “I thought you understood I brought you along to help me.”

  Avery did a little jump. “This is going to be fun!” For just a moment she was a different person, acting carefree and happy. He’d do whatever it took to make her this excited all the time.

  “Come on. We’ll take these outside in the dark and put them on. You’ll see green imaging.”

  She followed him out into the balmy night air and waited while he adjusted the lenses and helped her with the headgear. He longed to plunge his fingers in her hair, but again he had to wait until the time was right.

  “I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” she said softly. “Oh, Zane—”

  The breath caught in his lungs to hear her thrilled reaction. “It’s pretty amazing the first time you look through them.”

  “I feel like a superhero with magic powers.”

  He laughed. “What’s even more amazing is when you lock onto a target that comes in range.”

  “To think you used these all the time in the SEALs,” her voice trailed. “It’s a miracle you survived what you were sent to do. How bad is your PTSD?”

  She sounded as if she really wanted to know. “It’s much better now. Mostly I have bad dreams. Sometimes I wake up disoriented and have night sweats, but the sensation goes away faster than it used to. If I seem agitated, just talk to me calmly and I should be fine. Now, tell me what you see out there.”

  Her goggles were aimed at the site probably three hundred feet away. “I don’t know. I keep looking.” While she was engrossed, he was totally engrossed in her. “Oh—there’s a rabbit!”

  “I don’t think he’s our culprit.”

  Soft laughter bubbled out of her. “Hey—I think I see a chipmunk!”

  Zane had seen it and the rabbit and half a dozen other small animals. No humans yet. If anyone planned to come, it would probably be around two in the morning.

  She moved farther away from the trailer door and looked all around. “I’ve never had so much fun!” Suddenly she turned toward him and actually jumped. “Wow!”

  “Am I really that scary?”

  “Yes! Take off your headgear. I want to see what you look like without it.”

  Smiling, he removed it. “Is this better?”

  “Not really. You don’t look the same.”

  “How do I look?” He was curious.

  “Alien.” But she laughed before he realized she was teasing him.

  “I hear that some green aliens are pretty good-looking,” he teased back.

  She removed her headgear. “I’ve heard some aliens are good at fishing for compliments. For your information, you don’t need to fish. Without the goggles I can understand why Sadie says you leave hordes of females in the dust.”

  “Hordes?”

  “Now that I can see you clearly, I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. How could your wife have given you up?”

  The tremor in Avery’s voice touched him in areas he didn’t know were there. “She wanted a different life.”

  “Did she know about your PTSD?”

  “We got to a point in our marriage that she didn’t care.”

  Avery looked down. “That’s so incredible to me.” She started for the door and opened it. Before she stepped inside she turned to him. “But there’s something else I find even more incredible.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Your PTSD isn’t obvious. You handle it in a way that’s remarkable.”

  Zane had trouble swallowing. “I’m glad, if you haven’t noticed. But one day you’ll catch me out. Something will trigger a flashback and my behavior will be different.”

  On that note her smile faded. Once again he’d touched on something that had disturbed her. She went inside and put her goggles on the table. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll use the bathroom first before I climb up to the niche.”

  “Go ahead.” After she disappeared he grabbed a chocolate doughnut and opened his laptop. His first order of business was to send in a report to the Billings office apprising them of the weekend stakeout. No word back from the lab in Missoula yet. To his surprise there was another message from Margaret who had more information. He’d call her later.

  He sent a message to Connor thanking him for the use of the trailer. One more message to Sadie and Jarod, letting them know he was with Avery keeping watch over the dig site for the next couple of days. The last message went to Matt and Millie, informing them he’d be back Monday to put in some time on the ranch.

  Zane had just finished when Avery emerged from the bathroom. She was still dressed in her clothes and reached for one of the pairs of goggles. She started for the ladder. He got up from the table. After she reached it and started to climb, he put a hand on her back to assist her.

  “Don’t touch me!” she cried out as if in terror.

  But it was too late. In that instant she used a technique on him she had to have been taught in a self-defense class. As she dropped down and used her elbow as a weapon, his hand felt something hard under her top beneath her left arm, and he knew exactly what it was. Pure revelation flowed through him. He could rule out fatal illness as the rea
son for her behavior.

  She’d been assaulted.

  Before this minute it had only been speculation on his part, but no longer. The knowledge ripped his guts to pieces. She scrambled into the niche with the goggles. He stood at the bottom of the ladder and looked up at her. “I’m sorry, Avery. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It’s all right. I know you were only trying to help. Forgive me.”

  “I should have realized you don’t need it.”

  In a lightning moment, everything had changed for him. He couldn’t touch her the way he wanted to. Getting physically close to Avery would be like navigating through a minefield. You had to deal with the mental component before you did anything else. Even before that, she needed to know how he felt about her in order to lay a groundwork of trust. He’d frightened her, the last thing he’d ever want to do.

  “I’m going outside to climb the ladder to the roof. Why don’t you open your window? We’ll take turns watching. When you get tired, call to me and let me know.”

  “I will. Same goes for you.”

  A few minutes later Zane lay down on his sleeping bag on top of the roof, his goggles within reach. In the small holster of his belt was his SIG Sauer 40-caliber gun. He had everything he needed to protect them.

  But no one had been there to protect Avery.

  During wartime he’d seen a lot of that kind of atrocity from the enemy. He thanked God he’d never known anyone personally who’d undergone such evil trauma. It crushed him to realize that Avery of all people had been a victim and was still suffering acutely.

  His eyes filled. He groaned for her and her torment.

  Zane had been trained for a lot of contingencies in his life, but there was no training for this. He didn’t know which foot to put in front of the other. He needed to talk to his counselor in Billings. He’d drive there early on Monday morning.

  Before that he’d drive her back to the ranch tomorrow morning. She needed to be around the safety of her family. Keeping watch from the trailer had been a bad idea. In wanting to be alone with her, he’d learned her secret, but he’d made a grave mistake at the same time.