Page 65 of Falling for the Cowgirl
Besides, now that she’d figured out the nature of his work in South Park, he could tell her the truth about Steele’s land. He’d have to keep up his public pretense of wanting to buy it, but at least she would know she didn’t have anything to worry about.
“I can’t believe this.” She dragged on her end of the stone, inching it upward.
The opening widened until they could see a dark pit underneath like a yawning mouth. As they set the slab aside, he leaned forward at the same time she did in order to peerinto the hole. Their faces were close enough that he could feel her breath against his cheek.
He went to the brink of heaven and back every time he kissed her. Even now, he wasn’t sure how he’d been able to stop, why he wasn’t still kissing her. Because that’s all he wanted to do.
He forced himself to focus on the pit. He’d told her they couldn’t kiss again. She’d promised she wouldn’t kiss him until he asked her to. Which he wasn’t planning to do. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Even though he’d told her he’d think about their relationship and a future together, he had no intention of dragging her into his world—a world filled with brutality, lawlessness, and death.
Into his mind flashed the image of his mom’s dead body. As the coroner pulled down the sheet covering her, his stomach had roiled at the sight of the bruises marring her pretty face and the realization of the pain she had suffered, how scared she must have been, how she’d probably begged her captors for mercy, only to have them hurt her even more.
He’d learned that day exactly how cruel and soulless some criminals were. All because they believed they were above the law and could live the way they wanted, destroying people—entire families—for their own personal gain and pleasure. Those men needed a reckoning. And he planned to make sure they got it. He might not be able to bring back his mom, but he could make the world a safer place for others. It was what God had called him to do, and he couldn’t toss that aside, not for anyone. Not even for Ivy.
Rodney James was one of those cruel and soulless men. He’d been caught near the end of the war and charged with murder, but he’d escaped from jail and disappeared. Untillast year, when the Department of Justice had relayed to Pinkerton that the war criminal was living in South Park. Apparently, he’d bragged to a Denver prostitute about his crimes as well as his plans to settle in South Park, most likely in Fairplay. She’d told a fellow prostitute about the strange man. Clearly she hadn’t anticipated that he’d murder her before he left town. But he did, and he cut out her tongue.
Unfortunately, Denver investigators hadn’t been able to get a detailed description of Rodney to help update his profile. So they were still working with one of the pictures taken during the war.
The fact was, even though Jericho was narrowing down his list of suspects, he still needed more time. Which meant he had to warn Ivy not to speak a word about his mission to anyone—for his sake and hers.
She was already reaching her hand down into the hole.
“Hold on. What if there’s a nest of rattlers at the bottom?” It was unlikely, but she was too impulsive at times.
She paused, grabbed the end of a flaming bone from the fire, and held it over the opening. The light illuminated the hiding spot. Approximately two feet deep, it was shadowed with dust and debris. But at the bottom sat two satchels.
Before he could stop her, she grabbed one and hefted it up. The leather was crinkled and worn, a knotted drawstring at the top. “It’s heavy.” She plopped it onto the cave floor, and something inside clanked.
“This has gotta be the treasure.” She fumbled at the drawstring. “What else could it be?”
He sat back on his heels and waited. The leather knot wouldn’t budge, and Ivy grew flustered the more she workedat it. Finally, he reached over and sliced the strip with his knife. The binding fell away, and the bag opened.
She grinned. “What would I do without you, Jericho Bliss?”
“Land yourself in trouble up to your neck.”
“I can manage just fine, and you know it.”
She was capable, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease her. “Then why are we trapped in a cave in the middle of a forest fire?”
“Because I need this.” She patted the bulging bag.
“Treasure or not, you can have Steele’s land.”
She paused in peeling back the satchel. Her brows rose above her expressive eyes.
“I don’t need the land, was only buying it to keep up appearances so no one would grow suspicious of why I came back to South Park.”
“You put me through all that worrying for nothin’?”
“Figured a little hard work and sweat wouldn’t do you any harm.”
She shoved his arm.
He toppled back in an exaggerated fashion, pretending her playful push had more power than it did.
Her expression was somber, anything but playful. “I was real worried.”
“I know and I’m sorry.” He sat up. “You don’t know how bad I wanted to tell you that day after meeting at Steele’s office. But I knew then I’d have to explain the nature of my work.”
