Page 48 of Valor

“I reached out to Will Minor after I left the Double D Ranch. He told me he’d spoken to Granger about how to get me back in with the Hernandez operation. The next day, he told me to meet with a contact by the name of Juan Sanchez at a specific location. I knew Juan from before, so I went to the meeting. Only the contact who showed up to the meeting wasn’t Juan Sanchez and he tried to kill me. Oh, and I took a picture of him with my phone, but then had to ditch the device.” He sighed. “That’s when I went to find Emily. I was concerned someone would show up there, hoping to find me. And they did. I shot and killed the man who assaulted her. We went on the run and barely managed to escape several more attempts until we reached the ranger station.”

“I will need more details about those attempts,” Doug said. “But I appreciate you providing the overview.”

“I honestly thought Will Minor was the leak. But when I saw Granger’s bearded face behind the wheel, I realized it must have been him.”

“It was Granger.” Doug’s gaze hardened. “We’re in the process of going through his phone records in more detail, but the fact that he had a burner cell with calls that corresponded to the dates and times matching the attempts to kill you and Emily has convinced me he was involved. Now that I know you took a picture of the shooter, we can try to link him to Granger. As well.”

Owen was glad to know that Doug hadn’t killed an innocent man. He took another ice chip. “I’ll gladly give you all the details I knew about the Hernandez organization. I’m not sure how much help it will be considering so many months have passed since I was directly involved.”

“It can’t hurt, but that can wait.” Doug rose to his feet, and for a horrible moment, Owen thought he was pulling handcuffs out. But it was only his phone. “Emily? You can come up now.”

Owen frowned. “Why would you encourage her to come up to see me?”

An ironic smile tugged at the corner of Doug’s mouth. “Because emotions are rarely logical. And you’re not under arrest. I think you’ve more than paid your debt to society.”

He had? Owen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Thank you,” he managed just as Doug headed for the door.

“Treat her right, Owen,” Doug warned. Then disappeared.

Owen wasn’t sure what to think. He was elated he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life in jail, but he also knew Emily deserved someone better than him.

He gazed out the window, lifted his heart, and thanked God for saving him.

* * *

“How did it go?”Emily asked as she hurried into Owen’s room cradling Bear in her arms. Doug hadn’t said much other than he was satisfied with the way Owen had handled things over the past two days.

“Ah, good.” Owen appeared dazed. “He was nicer than I probably deserved.”

“That’s not true. You’re a good man, Owen. I knew it back when I first met you in January.” She set Bear on the bed. The pup climbed up onto Owen’s chest. “I’m glad you worked things out.”

“Me too.” Owen smiled as he stroked his hand over Bear’s soft fur. “Thanks for whatever you told Doug. I know you swayed his opinion of me.”

“I only told him the truth.” She pulled up the chair to sit close. “I knew Doug would do the right thing.”

“The right thing,” Owen repeated. His smile faded. “I need to do that too. I want you to go back with Doug. Maybe spend some time on the Sullivan ranch. You need to recover from all of this.”

She narrowed her gaze, sensing a brush-off. “Doug asked me to stay at the Sullivan ranch, and I agreed as long as you come with us.”

“Me?” Owen’s gaze shot to hers. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

She barely resisted rolling her eyes. “Where else are you going to recover from your second gunshot wound in five months? Staying at the K9 ranch is the best plan. We can start training Bear while you get well.”

A hint of wistfulness brightened his blue eyes. But then he shook his head. “Emily, you need to move on with your life.”

“I plan to do exactly that,” she said firmly. “With you, Owen.” She softened when Bear licked his chin. “Please, Owen. Come back to the Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue Ranch with me and Bear.”

“Emily.” Her name was a sigh. “I want nothing more than to do that. But I don’t have much to offer you. I haven’t worked a legitimate job in over eighteen months. I liked doing construction, but that was back in Colorado where there were a lot of jobs. I’m not sure there are similar opportunities in Cody. And if there are, I’m not sure anyone will want to hire me.”

“I believe in you, Owen.” She reached over to take his hand. “I believe in us. I know God brought us back together for a reason.” She hesitated, then added, “I love you, Owen.”

His eyes widened. “Love?”

“Yes.” She tightened her grip on his hand. “I loved you even when I thought you were an outlaw. Although even back then, I knew you were a good and decent man. And I was right.” She smiled encouragingly. “I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. If you want to go back to working construction, then great. If you want to learn to do something else, that’s fine too. I’ll support you in every way.”

“Ah, Emily.” He lifted her hand to kiss it. Bear took that as an invitation to lick her hand, making Owen chuckle. The sound was rusty, as if he hadn’t laughed in a long time. “You are an amazing woman. And I want you to know that I love you too.”

“Really?” She searched his gaze, hoping he was being truthful. “You’re not just saying that because you don’t have any place to go?”

---