Page 17 of Rawhide and Ransom

He exchanged another knowing look with Miley. “There was a fire,” he said slowly. “At the farmhouse.”

Annalee felt the blood leave her face. “How did you find out? Did it happen while you were there, baby girl?” She turned impulsively to Miley.

Miley reached for her hand. “It’s okay, Mom. I made it out in time.”

Mercy!“Tell me again how you got that cut on your arm,” Annalee implored.

Miley filled her in on the details. By the time she finished, weakness was coursing through Annalee’s limbs. The smallest puff of air could’ve easily blown her off the stool where she was seated.

“Someone is trying to kill all three of us,” she wheezed. “First Chayton and now us.”

“Looks like.” Hawk’s voice was grim.

She shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know what we did to bring this on ourselves...or what to do next.” She felt like a sitting duck, exposed and waiting for her evil imposter to take her next shot.

“No one besides me and a few others you can trust know you’re here,” their host reminded. “You’re in the perfect position to launch an investigation into your husband’s death, along with the attempts on your and Miley’s lives.”

“True.” She eyed the e-device longingly. “As soon as I log on to my bank account, I’ll freeze my debit card and have it reissued. Only then will I be in the position to hire Lonestar Security.” She also needed to have her driver’s license reissued, her old cell phone contract discontinued, and a new one activated.

He waved at the tablet. “It’s yours and Miley’s to use as long as you need it. I’ve got a laptop you can borrow, too.”

“Oh, this will be enough,” she assured hastily, not wanting to become a nuisance.

The three of them munched on their burritos for a minute before he started speaking again. “Not to make light of anything that you and your daughter have suffered, but I’m old-fashioned enough to believe everything happens for a reason.”

She wanted to believe that. “I’m not sure I’m there yet,” she confessed softly. It was difficult to think clearly while her family was still in danger.

“That’s understandable.” His voice was kind. “Like our pastor says, it’s always easier to pray for the other guy when he’s in trouble. It’s a lot harder being the one in the hot seat.”

“Well said,” she murmured, practically squirming from the discomfort of being in the hot seat.Very well said.

* * *

Miley’s fevergot worse before it got better. When Hawk’s newly purchased tiny house on wheels arrived, he didn’t have the heart to relocate her to it. He parked it beside his rawhide workshop out back and carried a few armloads of his belongings out there.

Annalee watched him from the open back door of his cabin with her arms crossed in protest. “I feel awful about running you out of your home.” The wind blew a few tendrils of hair into her eyes that he longed to reach out and brush away for her. He was forced to watch her do the deed herself.

“You’re not,” he assured gruffly as he jogged back up the porch steps to face her. “I just really don’t think it’s a good idea to move Miley tonight, and it would be an even worse idea to separate the two of you. She needs you right now.” Normally, Johnny asked him to work at the dairy farm on Saturday evenings, but he’d called him a few minutes ago to explain that he was needed at home this evening. It had been a long time since he last felt this needed.

“Why are you helping us?” she bleated, looking even more stressed.

“Because I can.” He’d been on his own for so long that he wasn’t accustomed to explaining himself to others.

“There’s gotta be more to it,” she pressed. “We’re imposing on you. No way around it. And you’re just taking it on the cheek. I want to know why.”

He leaned back against the porch railing, facing her. “You know how I said I believe things happen for a reason?”

She nodded.

He pointed at the floor of the porch. “This property once belonged to Running Bear, which means you and Miley have already arrived at the place you came looking for.”

“I don’t understand.” She wrinkled her forehead at him. “We didn’t come looking for a place. We came looking for Uri Dakota.”

“And you found him.” He rushed to explain. “Running Bear was born with an old-school mentality. He believes in living off the land, so he pitches his tent wherever the wind blows. When he heard I was looking to buy my own place about ten years ago, he offered to sell me this one real cheap. His only condition was that he would continue to live off the land.”

She dropped her arms and stepped up to the railing near where he was standing, gazing out over the empty, overgrown acreage behind the cabin. “You’re saying he’s out there somewhere right now?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She didn’t seem to realize how close they were standing. “He doesn’t own a cell phone, though. He says being out there makes him feel closer to God, and he doesn’t wish to be disturbed while spending time with his Maker.”

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