Sighing, I finish loading the dishwasher and stand up. The dark window over the kitchen sink draws my attention. Cord’s cabin is somewhere out there in the night, and I’d probably be able to see its lights if any were on.

For some reason, he didn’t show up to dinner.

I guess I shouldn’t be too worried. Tonight marks the fourth or fifth meal he’s skipped this week. He gets so busy patrolling that he forgets to eat.

The thought of him out there all alone makes me catch my lower lip between my teeth. He really should take at least one other person with him.

Behind me, the last of the men say their goodnights to Miranda and exit through the front door. I’m just turning on the dishwasher when a flash of light outside catches my eye.

Leaning closer to the glass, I squint, but don’t see anything else.

Curious, I wipe my hands on a dishtowel and head for the back door. Miranda’s and Piotr’s muffled voices come from the dining room, but other than that, the house sounds empty.

Outside, I turn and jog in the direction I saw the light coming from. Near a line of trees, I see a familiar figure, moonlight illuminating his broad shoulders and thick, strong legs. Cord.

I open my mouth to call after him, but I can tell by his stance that something is wrong. He’s crouching slightly, creeping over the ground with the carefulness of a cat stalking prey. The movement makes my stomach clench.

What’s going on?

I follow him instantly, refusing to let the man I care so deeply about out of my sight. He sticks to the path between the woods and one of the fields, but soon he’s too far ahead of me. The night is so dark and the moon is so small that I can no longer see him.

Then, suddenly, his rugged back looms right in front of me, stiff and still as a boulder, and I can’t stop my feet from moving. I lurch into his side as he gives a small gasp and whirls on me, grabbing my arms so hard that I have to stifle a cry of pain.

“Sloane?” he hisses in confusion, loosening his hold. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw you—” I begin, but he presses a hand against my lips as a man’s low laugh floats down the tree line.

Cord, again gripping me too roughly, drags me into the woods, where we stumble down behind a thick tree. My heart hammers in fear, and I can hardly breathe. Cord keeps his hand on my shoulder, and we peer carefully around the tree trunk. Dark forms come into view.

“We got this ol’ boy good,” a man laughs. “He’ll go for a real good price. We’ll be eatin’ damn near caviar with this bunch. I’m glad we waited and took our time checkin’ out the place.”

A second man laughs as well, his own hand twined tight around a rope that leads to what is unmistakably a bull. Cord goes so rigid that it feels like he’s made of stone. I’ve heard Uncle Daniel talk about how important bulls are to the ranch. They’re prized cattle, expensive and valuable. To lose one would be a huge blow.

“Oh no,” I breathe quietly. “Cord, the thieves.”

He presses his hand to my mouth again, and I shut it.

“I need you to go get help,” he whispers, his breath hot on my ear as he bends closer. “I need you to run back to the house as fast as you can and get Daniel and the boys. Send them quick, Sloane, and you stay behind.”

“But—”

“No buts, now hurry, or these thieves are going to escape.”

I want to argue, but we don’t have time for that. Just this once, I’ll let Cord call the shots.

As I frown and give a sharp nod, he grabs my face and plants a quick kiss on my lips before pulling back. Though it’s dark and I can barely see, I think a smile twitches on his mouth.

“For good luck.” He shrugs, pushing me gently toward the house. “Go through the woods, where they won’t see you.”

My ears roar, and my heart pounds against my chest. I’m terrified, but I can’t let the fear control me. With a spring, I’m up and running through the woods, going toward the main house. The lights of the windows shine in the distance, like the beacon of a lighthouse.

I haven’t made it more than halfway, however, when I hear a yell that turns my blood to ice.

Cord!

I whip back around, searching the dark. More shouts. The crunching of leaves and branches. A shiver goes up my back. They’re fighting.

“This son of a bitch has been following us!” one of the men yells.

Before I know it, I’m running back toward the voices. I have to get to Cord. I have to find him. I have to help him. A wind picks up, moving the clouds away from the moon. I can see the trees and the fence posts now. But no Cord.

Branches crack directly beside me, and I halt just in time to see Cord jump backward. He reaches toward his side, expecting to find his gun holster, but it isn’t there.

The two men are coming at him fast, no longer dragging the bull behind them.

“Sloane,” Cord gasps. “Run!”

But I can’t. We’re way beyond that now.

The men both advance on Cord, taking him from two sides. With a swell of nausea, I realize how badly I just screwed up. I should have kept going to the house. I should have gotten help.

One of the men goes for Cord, but my cowboy is faster. He grabs the man’s arm and twists it before landing a punch on his jaw. The other man grabs the back of Cord’s shirt, but Cord is ready. He slams his boot heel into the thief’s knee, making the guy howl.

He’s winning the fight for now, but two against one isn’t looking good.

I desperately search the ground near me, looking for anything I can use as a weapon. It’s still hard to see much, though, and there’s grunting and swearing, and I think I’m going to throw up . . .

I take a step forward, and my toe hits a branch. Yes!

Hands shaking, I heft it up. One of the men is behind Cord now, holding him in a bear hug while the other man stumbles up from the ground. Tightening my grip on the branch like it’s a bat, I step forward and slam it into the head of the man holding Cord.

The crack that resounds isn’t nearly as loud as I expected it to be, but the man gives a startled yelp and lets go of Cord. Clutching the back of his bruised cranium, he whirls to face me.

The branch drops from my hands, landing with a thud.

Fortunately, though I didn’t do any real damage, it gave Cord time to act. He flies at the man nearest him, tackling him hard to the ground.

The rage in the bald man’s face slowly melts. He steps closer, the moonlight catching in his eyes as he inspects me.

“What’ve we got here?” he murmurs hungrily, alcohol so heavily laced on his breath that I can smell it from a few feet away.

I grimace and stumble back, my foot catching on a thick root in the ground. I lose my balance and reach out toward a tree to catch myself, but the man takes advantage of my moment of disorientation and grabs hold of me, pushing me down to the ground as he climbs on top of my body.

His dirty, clammy hands are suddenly everywhere, his bitter breath crawling up my nose.

A scream that I don’t recognize rips through my throat as I struggle, hitting the sides of his head with my hands until he grabs my wrists and pins them so hard above my head that I can feel his fingernails digging into my wrists.

“No!” I cry shrilly as his other hand pulls at my shirt and his laughter pierces the night air.

I try to kick my legs up, but they’re pinned to the ground. I turn my face sideways to escape the man’s horrid breath and see Cord still fighting. He roars in rage, pulling back one strong fist and plunging it right into the nose of the man he’s wrestling with.

The man’s head snaps back, and he stops moving. Leaving him on the ground, Cord jumps up and heaves the bald man off of me. The man tries to turn to get in a punch, but Cord is too quick. He throws the stranger down to the ground and leaps on top of him. Punch after punch hits the man’s face, the sound of knuckles on bone cracking through the night.

I stand up, but my legs are shaking, and I have to reach out to the tree next to me. Footsteps sound nearby, and I suck in a breath.

Oh, no. More of them?

But then familiar figures appear. Uncle Daniel. Tucker. Piotr.

Tucker grabs Cord, heaving him off the now-unconscious man as Uncle Daniel surveys the situation.

“What the devil,” Uncle Daniel mutters. “Sloane? Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” I gasp. I feel anything but all right, but at least I’m alive.

My whole body shakes as Cord retreats back to me, taking me into his arms and holding me tight against him. It’s only in his embrace that I finally begin to feel warm again, and the feeling of the bald man’s eyes and hands begins to recede.

“They were taking Danny Bull,” Piotr announces. “He is tied up to a fence post.”

“Well, Tuck,” Uncle Daniel sighs and rubs his forehead. “It’s a good thing you had to piss and heard this ruckus.”