Page 46 of Rawhide and Ransom

She sniffled loudly and burrowed closer. “I hear you and my mom talking sometimes when you think I’m not listening, so I’m well aware some whack job is still after us. Guess it just sorta hit me a few minutes ago that this is the only place on earth we may ever be safe again.”

He wasn’t sure that was true. He definitely hoped it wasn’t, but he let her keep talking. It sounded like a storm was bottled up inside her that she needed to let out.

“I don’t want this to ever end,” she wailed, “which is why I said what I said.”

He dropped his chin on top of her head. “Idohope to marry your mom someday.” He didn’t mind admitting it, since her mother already knew it. “It’s something I’ve been praying about a lot lately, and I’ll ask her when the time is right.” Not today.

She wiggled to loosen his grip so she could gaze joyfully up at him. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He curled his upper lip at her. “That I’ll be married to your mom, genius.” Man, but he enjoyed giving her a hard time!

“You’ll also officially become my dad, which in no way means you’ll ever be the boss of me,” she warned, waving a sassy finger beneath his nose.

He flicked her finger away. “I’m already the boss of you,” he taunted. “Who else do you think writes your paychecks?”

She jutted her chin at him. “You pay me in cash, mister.”

“For now.” He dropped his arms, waggling his eyebrows suggestively toward the checkout station she’d set up for their customers in the middle of their booth. “But if you don’t get your skinny hiney back to work soon, your wallet might feel lighter come next payday.”

“Harsh!” She stuck her tongue out at him, wiping the tears from her face. She returned to her workstation looking and sounding a lot more like her normal self.

He followed her. “You gotta problem with me? Tell someone like Rex. For reasons I will never understand, he puts up with all of your nonsense.”

Miley burst out laughing. “Three words,” she informed him loftily. “Late night snacks.”

Hawk shook his head in mock disgust at her. “Is that why my grocery bill has quadrupled?” His cell phone buzzed with an incoming call, interrupting their bickering. He held up a finger to her as he answered it.

“Yo, Hawk,” a familiar voice greeted him. “This is Tucker with an update on the case.”

“What happened to Johnny?” Hawk was starting to feel like his friend was completely ghosting out on the case.

“Red tape, man. Lots of red tape.” Tucker sounded exasperated. “You wouldn’t believe all the hoops the tribal council has him jumping through right now. Exhuming a body is never easy, but all their in-fighting feels like World War III.”

“I hear you.” Hawk was less than thrilled to hear that Lonestar Security hadn’t yet succeeded in obtaining a second autopsy on Chayton Dakota. The last he’d heard, some of the old-timers on the council were violently opposed to disturbing the man’s grave, citing it as sacrilege. Without an updated autopsy, however, the investigation into Chayton’s death was at a standstill.

“But that’s why you’ve got me,” Tucker said quickly. “I know you’re with your family, so just listen.”

Liking the way others already saw him and the Gilbert women as a blended family, Hawk shot a quick look at Miley and found her watching him worriedly. He winked at her, hoping to reassure her that everything was okay, turning away so she couldn’t see his face. “I’m listening.”

“The APB the police have out on Mirabelle Gilbert just went state wide.”

Hawk gave a low whistle.

“It’s a big deal, I know,” Tucker agreed. “Nobody ever imagined it would take this long to apprehend her. She’s hoofing it around alone on foot with no ID, no vehicle, no medical coverage, and no money. At least, that’s what the state hospital administration told us.”

Here it comes.“But,” Hawk prompted grimly. “I know there’s abutto your story.” There was always abutwith Tucker.

“But what if it’s not true?” the P.I. drawled.

“Which part?”

“What if she’s not working alone?” Tucker warmed to his theory as he laid out his argument for it. “There’s no way she could’ve remained on the run for more than a month without any money. And if she’s got money, then someone is helping her. It’s that simple.”

Hawk agreed with everything but the simple part. Nothing about this case so far had been simple or straightforward. “What’s our next move?”

Tucker never called to just shoot the breeze. He was always working on some angle or another. As far as Hawk could tell, he led a solitary life, being friendly to everyone without bothering to make any actual friends.

“It’s not my place to tell you what to do, but you might wanna tighten security around Annalee and Miley.” Tucker sounded bothered about something. “At least, that’s what I’d do.”

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