Cade breathed deeply, fought to do so steadily. His heart was beating out of control, fear snaking like an evil wind down his spine.
“Looks like whoever it was, was here not too long ago.” The other cowboy, Jake, moved to the side of the room, along the wood stove. “These ashes ain’t old, the stove barely cold. He’s also stocked coffee and some canned stuff in the back. He intends to come back.”
Cade’s fists clenched. Was the bastard preparing the cabin to bring Marly here? Had he somehow convinced himself he could take Marly from Cade, and the family that loved her? The man was clearly obsessed with her, in a way that ruled out any possibility of sanity.
“Let’s get out of here. Leave everything the way you found it. Pull out, we’ll move along the edge of the rise.” Cade eased from the cabin, moving back into the night, heading for his horse.
The light was doused inside the cabin, the door relocked as they rushed back into the night. Cade wanted everything cleaned, out of sight. To catch the bastard, he would have to make him think he was still well hidden, undetected by the family or the ranch hands.
“Clear the horses’ tracks from the area,” Cade ordered them as he gathered the horse’s reins and led them from the cabin yard. “Make it as natural as possible.”
He pulled the horses back until they stood in the high pasture grass that made the remote area perfect for grazing.
“What do we do?” Cade could hear the fear in Sam’s voice. It was thick, punctuated by harsh breaths and the heavy beat of his own heart.
God. Someone was stalking Marly. And if those pictures were anything to go by, then it had been going on for a while. The truly terrifying part was the range of those pictures. The older ones had begun out of focus, from a distance. As the months had progressed, they had gotten closer. Cade clenched his fists as he watched the cowboys rushing to clean the area of hoof prints, or any sign of visitation. Cade wanted the bastard caught. He wanted to know who it was, and what he wanted, and there was only one way to do that. They had to catch him before he learned that Cade knew he was there. Let the bastard know they were onto him, then he would run, getting more deceptive, more dangerous to Marly.
Could it be Jack Jennings? Cade left the horses with one of the cowboys and moved silently along the canyon that led off the side of the cabin. Stepping on stone and grass, careful not to leave footprints, he worked the flashlight over the ground. The last report they had of Annie’s ex-husband, he was working out East, and Annie was safe in California, though the last time he talked to her, she was certain Jack wasn’t where he was supposed to be. She swore he had found her again. But the investigator was even more certain, in the form of pictures that Jack was still in the New York area.
There they were. Tire prints. Large ones. A four by four by the looks of it. Cade’s eyes narrowed. Dillon wasn’t sure what had happened the other night, but he remembered a black four by four, and a large man trying to drag Marly to the truck. Jack Jennings was a large man. Nearly as tall and broad as Cade himself.
“Shit,” Cade breathed roughly as he stared around the canyon, thinking of the cabin area. Where could he place guards, get them in and out without being seen until they could take the intruder down?
There was no place. The rise above the cabin might work, but it would be hard for the men to get down without being heard, which would put them at risk. Anyone bold enough to risk the pictures he had taken of Marly on the ranch, would be more than dangerous. And there was also the ammunition found in the back of the cabin. The guy was well prepared for anything.
Working his way back out of the canyon, he rejoined Sam outside the cabin yard.
“Four by four in the little canyon, well hidden,” he said softly. “Ammo in the cabin, but no weapons. He has them with him.”
“What do we do, Cade?” Sam hissed. “We can’t let her leave the ranch now. There’s no way we can protect her at school.”
Cade shook his head, trying to figure out quickly the best way to solve this problem. Marly would fight them if she thought they were trying to shelter her. She hated that, and wouldn’t stand for it. He didn’t want to have to fight her, and whoever was stalking her.
“We need to leave some men up here. Catch the bastard when he comes back,” Cade told him imperatively. “You know the area better than I do. Where do we put them?”
Sam breathed in deeply, looking around the area. The line cabin was well sheltered from the fierce storms that hit the mountains. Dug into the face of the hill behind it, with only the rough wood front visible to the eye. No other way to get out, which would help. But no other way to get in, either.
“What about the canyon? Catch him as he gets out of the truck?” Sam asked. “There are several small rock houses in there where a few of the boys could hide.”
“What about the horses?” Cade asked. “There’s no way to hide the damned horses in there.”
“Hell, turn them loose. The cattle have been grazing all over this place for a month now. A few more horses shouldn’t spook him. After they take the bastard, they can drive him out in his own truck,” Sam suggested, his voice rough with fury.
There had been pictures of Marly, standing on her balcony, dressed in one of the shirts she slept in. Cade narrowed his eyes, judging the area the picture would be taken from.
“Let’s get back.” Cade headed quickly for his horse. “Bret, you and Michael let your horses loose here in the pasture. Get in one of those rock houses and keep an eye on that canyon. When he brings that truck in, take him.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Cade.” Bret nodded quickly, rushing to join Michael to follow orders.
“You two be careful, Bret,” Cade told him roughly. “Don’t do anything foolish. If you can’t take him, let him go and we’ll get him later. I’ll send you relief out here in the morning. You have your cell phone?” Cade mounted his horse, swinging quickly into the saddle and turning the horse for home.
“Me and Mike both.” Bret nodded. “We have everything we need. You guys head out, I’ll check in, in a few hours.”
Bret was already removing the saddle from his horse, checking his flashlight, his gun. Cade watched him for long moments, knowing well the competence of the man taking charge of the watch. Bret wasn’t reckless, but he wasn’t one to back out either. And the Augusts were as close to family as he had since the death of his own parents. He wouldn’t let Cade down if he could help it.
Cade nodded, checked behind him for Sam then set the horse off at a run, hearing the steady beat of hoofs behind him. The time for caution was over. He was going to have to trust in his own experience, and the horses instincts now. His first priority was to get home as quickly as possible.
Those last pictures had been taken from the rise behind the ranch house. It was the only way to achieve that angle, or to get such a clear shot into the pool area. Whoever the bastard was he had plenty of weapons, which meant a bullet could be aimed at her next time. Fear thrummed through his body, setting his blood to a rhythm as harsh and pounding as that of the hooves striking the ground.