Marly's Choice (Men of August 1)

Cade had to get back to Marly. The overwhelming need nearly stopped the breath in his chest as he urged his horse to a faster pace, feeling the wind blowing through his hair, the urgency flowing through his body. He had to protect her. He had to keep her safe. And to do that, he had to find the mad man stalking her.

Chapter Seventeen

Cade and Sam slipped silently into the dark house, their rifles ready, their eyes narrowed as they attempted to pierce the darkness. There wasn’t a sound that could be heard. Cade glanced at Sam, seeing the tense readiness for action in his body. If anyone had managed to get into the house, he felt he would know it. The bond he and Brock shared would have warned him.

It was eerie though, stepping into a home that had never known darkness. As far back as Cade could remember, the hall light at least was left on after dark, all night. The inky blackness wrapped around them now. There was no creak of floorboards; the only sound Cade could hear was the beat of his own heart.

“Settle down.” Brock’s whisper was infused with caution. “Marly and I are the only ones in here.”

“Then why are all the stinkin’ lights out?” Sam growled. “I can barely see my hand in front of my face.”

“Beats the bullet getting a clear aim to your heart,” Brock hissed back. “Quit being such a baby.”

“Baby—”

“Enough.” Cade wanted to rap both their heads together. Now was not the time for another of their infernal arguments.

Brock had stepped from the shadows of the curved staircase that led upstairs. He walked out, a dark silhouette m

oving dangerously through the darkness. He was more controlled, quieter and less intense than his twin.

“Where’s Marly?” Cade’s voice was strained and concerned.

“Still sleeping on the couch. I left her there.” Brock nodded to the opened door of the study. “All things considered, maybe we shouldn’t let her sleep in her room for a while.”

“Why?” Cade’s eyes narrowed on Brock’s expressionless face as he neared them silently.

“Come upstairs, I’ll show you why. I saw it right after you left.” Brock moved quickly up the steps as they followed. “After Marly went to sleep, the cattle started acting funny in the pasture out back. So, I locked everything up, shut out all the lights and started watching. I didn’t see anything until I got to Marly’s room.”

He opened the door to Marly’s bedroom, careful to stay against the wall as he entered rather than moving into the center of the room. Edging along silently, he came up beside the glass balcony doors.

“Look out there, and tell me what you see.” He nodded into the night.

Ducking to use the cover of the balcony railing, Cade slid over to the other side of the doors. Leaning over slowly, he stared outside. The night was moonless, a thick cover of clouds making the land darker than usual and filled with shadows. At first Cade didn’t see anything. He knew the area the stalker was most likely taking the pictures from, so he centered his attention there. It only took a few minutes to see what Brock had seen.

A flare of light in the darkness, the strike of a lighter or a match as tobacco was lit. As Cade watched closer, he was able to pick out a shape moving against the boulders on the furthest point as a shaft of moonlight lit up the inky darkness.

“He’s watching her room,” Cade said softly. “That’s why he wasn’t at the cabin.”

“He could be using infrared glasses too,” Brock said softly. “I watched him for a while through my own. He can see everything going on from the house, and would know the minute anyone set out for that rise, in any direction.”

“Are you sure he’s using them?” Cade asked carefully.

Brock breathed roughly. “Not sure, but I wouldn’t doubt it. None of our men have seen him, and if he didn’t know what the hell was going on down here, he would have been caught by now.”

“We’ll trap him. He has to leave sometime. We’ll let more of the cattle out into the pasture there, and give the impression we’re working it tomorrow. That should run him off again until dark,” Sam murmured. “He would come back soon. The man’s obsessed.”

Cade watched the area, considering Sam’s plan. It had merit, but it required waiting, and taking a chance that they missed him entirely. He was there now, watching the house, waiting to see Marly. Undressing. Cade gritted his teeth, wondering how many times the bastard had watched her dress, or undress. His fists clenched with the need for violence.

“This room is easily watched from that rise,” Brock told them as they continued to stare at the high rising hill. “Cade, yours is harder. But if the bastard is intent on grabbing her, he’s gonna be damned hard to catch this way. We’re cowboys, not Green Beret’s.”

Cade swiped the hat from his head, running his fingers through his hair worriedly. Brock was right, they weren’t soldiers and had no idea how to be. But a man didn’t have to be a soldier to track a rabid animal. And the one on that rise could be nothing else.

“We tell Marly about this, it’s going to terrify her,” he said softly, moving carefully from the window. “Let’s get downstairs, I need to check on her. There’s no way to watch that son of a bitch from here for long. He could sneak away and we’d never know it.”

They moved from the bedroom, using the same route they had entered, careful to stay away from the window just in case the infrared binoculars were being used.

“Cade, remember that pair of investigators the Stewarts used a year or so ago when that kidnapper tried to take their daughter?” Sam asked as they made their way down the stairs. “They caught four guys, and rescued the girl on the last attempt. Maybe we need to check into that. Brock’s right, we’re cowboys, not hot shot bodyguards or military types.”