Colton's Lethal Reunion (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

Without giving him any say in their fate at all.

On one hand, he didn’t blame her. Their safety was her job. Facing danger was her job. He’d opted to sign on, knowing there was danger. He’d jumped in his truck before she could drive off without him. It all made sense.

They were all sound decisions.

She hadn’t even tried to connect with him one last time. Now all he could do was pray.

As her body moved in and out

of view with the easy, stealthy movements she made, he watched her go knowing that she’d given up.

And he understood that, too.

It’s exactly what he’d done twenty-three years ago.

Chapter 24

“Kerry, where are you?”

The phone had connected. Chief Barco’s voice boomed in Rafe’s ear. In as few words as possible, he described what was going on.

“She found the mine,” he said, as soon as he’d explained that Kerry had taken off on her own and they needed backup as soon as possible. “We can’t see what’s inside it, but it’s pretty clear that Odin Rogers has an intense stake in it.” He told the chief Kerry’s theory of what was going on below, and said, “Not clear why the guy isn’t going down below, but he’s clearly trying to convince Rogers of something. Lots of gesturing and pointing.”

“Are they both armed?”

“You’d assume so,” he said. “I can only see one gun.” He answered Barco’s questions succinctly.

“Are you armed?”

“With a hunting rifle.”

“What’s going on now?” He described the mine opening, the two men whose argument seemed to be heating up as Odin’s thug looked down into the mine, shook his head and threw up a hand. The hand Rafe hadn’t been able to see until then.

“They’re both armed,” he said. Kerry was already halfway down the vertical part of the climb. Would make it to the road in half the time he’d figured. He told the chief to hurry.

“Dane and I are almost there, and there are six others behind us,” the chief said.

Townsmen who’d agreed to help search if need be. Kerry had already told him about them. He was told to stay where he was, to keep his eye on Kerry at all times. The chief deputized him over the phone. He had no idea if such a thing was even legal, or if the chief had meant him to take it that way, but he didn’t care.

He had a sister who could sort all that out later, if need be.

After he rang off, he lay there on the ground, moving as necessary, to keep Kerry in sight. Praying he saw the chief before he saw Odin’s thug enter the mine. Saw Odin leave.

And for one brief second he looked at something else, too.

The first number programmed in Kerry’s speed dial was his.

* * *

Kerry was almost in position when all hell broke loose. She could hear two voices, Odin and his thug, she knew, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Their anger, however, was evident. They were getting desperate, and disagreeing. Not a good combination.

Because she’d done her job and put pressure on them.

Everyone made a mistake eventually. She’d heard it said often enough, in law enforcement circles, when talking about criminals who were hard to bring in.

Feeling a bit of a rush, knowing that she was at least somewhat complicit in Odin Rogers’s making his error, she came around the edge of the cliff closest to them, her gun drawn, ready to announce herself and demand that they put the guns down. She didn’t glance up at the cliff where she’d been. Didn’t make certain that Rafe had her back with bullets that would travel the distance between them. She wasn’t planning to give him a need to shoot.

She glanced again, just quickly, finalizing her plan, based on where the two were standing and obstructions in her path, just in case they didn’t do as she demanded and drop their weapons.