Jagger straightened his chair and sat back in it. He grabbed the paper and looked at it with a hardened glare. “Why do you think it’s the cartel again?”
I was having a hard time not screaming at my dad. He was driving me insane with the cartel bullshit. It wasn’t the cartel. I hadn’t poked my nose in any cartel business and the border patrol that controlled the land just south of our ranch was a lot more intense than it was twenty years earlier. There was no cartel.
“When Jason was shot… I’d been at the south end of our ranch one day and it’d been the wrong place, wrong time, because I stumbled upon a guy sneaking over. Instead of staying down and acting like I didn’t see him, I stuck my nose in it and demanded he give me some answers for what he thought he was doing. I didn’t mind my own business. This is the same message I got all those years ago. Not word for word, obviously, but the point is the same.
“Lacey must’ve been closer to them than she realized while walking the fences or something. They must think she saw them coming over.”
I shook my head so hard my bun slumped to one side of my head. “It’s not the cartel again, Dad. The man who did that to Jason is in prison, still. Mexican prison. He’s rotting away for what he did. It’s not them.”
Bradley cleared his throat and looked from me to my father. “I don’t think it’s the cartel, Dan. I don’t think it’s Franklin, either, though. I don’t know who it is.”
Jagger suddenly stood up and slammed the paper onto the table. “Did either of you think to get this tested for prints? Fuck. I’ve got to make some calls.”
I watched him leave and felt Dad’s earlier words tightening my chest. I hated to admit it, but Dad was probably right. I’d been an idiot to go ahead and sleep with Jagger. As good as it was, he was going to leave and I was going to stay. He was going to hurt me, even if he didn’t mean to.
“He’s not good for you, Lacey. You’ve been so careful to protect yourself. Why’d you go and fall for him? He’s a leaver, a runner. He’s not cut out for the life you want.”
I stood up and shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t fallen for anyone. And what do you know about the life I want? You don’t even listen to me. You just shower me with disappointment. It’s been the same since Jason died. I’m sorry it was him and not me, but this is just how it is. You’d think you would’ve learned to live with the idea that I’m the kid who survived in the past twenty years.”
His mouth opened but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t argue with what I’d said. He just watched me with shock on his face.
I shook my head and headed up to my room to change. “I’m going to walk some of the fences today. I need the time to myself and I need to make sure no one has sabotaged anything else.”
Bradley stood up and pulled his hat back on. “I’ll go with you.”
I looked back at him and shook my head. “I’ll take my gun. I’ll be fine.”
Without giving them a chance to argue, I hurried to my room and yanked off my clothes to change into jeans and a tank top. I fixed my bun and slipped my phone into my pocket before going to my closet and kneeling before the safe there. I put in my code and opened the door so I could grab the gun case my .38 stayed in. I opened it and slipped the gun into its holster before snapping the holster around my shoulders.
I didn’t want to run into Jagger or anyone else, so I took the back stairs down to the main floor and then slipped out the back door. I circled around the property, adding an extra mile to my walk, but I didn’t hate it. I needed the time to just be alone and away from the men in my life that made me fucking miserable.
Although, that probably wasn’t fair to Jagger. He didn’t make me miserable. He made me feel accepted and beautiful. Two things I normally didn’t feel working the ranch with Dad. He would eventually make me feel miserable, though. There was no other way for it to end. It wasn’t like Jagger was suddenly going to want to marry me and stay on the ranch with my overbearing father and slightly crazy mother.
Marry? Where the hell was my head? I didn’t want to get married, either. One time was enough for me. Not that things had ended badly with Bradley, but I wasn’t willing to do it again. So the fact that my brain had even gone there showed an imbalance in my thoughts.
Hell, the fact that my thoughts were on Jagger and not the ranch or the fact that someone had stripped me down and left me on my own porch showed that something was off with me. I had to get my head in the game and figure out what to do. I knew that it was Franklin. I knew it.
I walked the fence, heading towards the south end of the ranch, unable to get Dad’s words out of my head. He really thought the cartel was using the south end again. I wanted to check it and be able to assure him that everything was normal there.
Just part way down the south fence line, my phone rang. I took it out and answered. “Hello?”
“You ditch me on purpose?” Jagger’s annoyed voice came through loud and clear.
I stopped walking and tried not to sigh in his ear. “I just wanted to walk the fences for a while.”
“You were kidnapped yesterday. Taken while out on your own. Forgive me for feeling a little paranoid today. Where are you?”
I looked around at the property around me. Farther west, there was an old abandoned barn that we’d never torn down. On the other side of that was the same little winding stream that the guys had gone frog giggin’ in, only it was barely flowing so far south. A beaver dam a little farther north had done a number on it.
“I have my gun, Jagger. I’m really okay.”
He grunted. “Not what I asked. That’s the second time you ignored a question of mine. I’m coming to you. I’m bringing Jameson. Either you tell me where you are, or I’m going to be riding your horse all over the ranch, wearing him out.”
“Dammit, Jag. I’m walking the fence at the south side of the ranch. I’m about a mile in.”
“See you soon, sweetheart.”
I snarled at myself for the stupid grin that touched my lips. I was an idiot. A blooming idiot who was going to get her heart handed to her. Which could be a moot point if I didn’t find out what Franklin was up to.
Several minutes later, I heard trotting and looked back to find Jagger sitting astride Jameson. Jagger was heavy, but Jameson looked fine. He looked downright giddy, in fact. My horse even liked the man. Damn.
He stepped off Jameson and strode towards me. His body slammed into mine and his arms wrapped around me, walking me backwards with him, until my back hit a fence post, and then he was kissing me. Jagger could kiss. If kissing had been an Olympic sport, he would’ve taken bronze, silver, and gold.
“You looking smoking hot with this holster. I could take you right here.”
I looked up at him and reached for his hair. He turned his cheek into my palm, though, and kissed my wrist. I sucked in a breath and ran my hand over the rough blonde stubble on his face.
“I called a guy who’s going to come by to get the paper to test it. He’s also going to check out the system. See if I fucked something up. I know I didn’t, but I want a second opinion.”
I nodded. “Makes sense.”
“I also talked to Cash. I don’t know how much longer I can afford to stay away from him right now. He won’t say anything, but I think he needs help.” He stepped away from me and ran his hand down his face. “He lost a little girl a few years ago. Only now, someone is fucking with his head. Telling him that she may not be dead. He’s on a war path, trying to find his ex-wife, but she’s disappeared from the face of the earth. He’s losing it.”
I frowned, my heartbeat suddenly too loud in my ears. My head pounded harder than it had since the night before and the backs of my eyes burned. I felt his step back like a physical blow. He was already leaving.
I tried my hardest to remove my feelings from the situation and nodded. “I never heard anything about him losing a baby. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. If he needs you, you should be there.”
Jagger tugged at the ponytail holder in his bun and turned away from me while he fixed it again. “You’re looking at me like I just kicked your dog, Lace.”
I hardened my face and rolled my shoulders. I wasn’t going to cry in front of him. It was stupid, anyway. I had no business feeling anything for him. He was basically a stranger. “Sorry, Jagger. Just have a lot on my mind. Honestly. You should go.”
He spun back around and backed me into the fencepost. “It’s not like you’re thinking, Lace. Fuck. I don’t want to go. I just don’t know what else to do. Hendrix can’t get to Cash. The other guys are tied up, too. I’m the only one who can go to him and I think he really needs someone.”
I nodded. “Of course. I get it, Jagger. Things are fine here. I know it’s Franklin. If he didn’t kill me while he had the chance, I can’t imagine he wants to. I’ll stick with Bradley, too.”
“I’m not going yet. I need to find out where Cash is first. He won’t tell me. I’m going to spend some time today trying to hack into his phone’s GPS. It’ll take me some time.”
I just kept nodding like a bobble head. “Okay. I want to keep checking the fences. I’ll see you back at the house tonight.”
Jagger glared at me. “Stop it. You’re trying to cut me out right now, aren’t you?”
I shoved him, surprising us both. “I’m trying to walk the fences! Go, Jagger. I want to be alone.”
He growled and then tried to kiss me again. I couldn’t do it, though. I couldn’t drag it out. He was leaving and I’d get over it. That was all there was to it. I turned my face to the side and pushed him away again.
“Go home, Jagger.” I ducked under his arm and continued down the fence line. “You can take Jameson back. I feel like walking today.”
I kept my back stiff as I moved away from him. My eyes weren’t seeing anything, my vision blurred by stupid tears that I couldn’t stop from falling. I wanted to slap myself for being stupid enough to get attached to Jagger. It was probably best if he left. I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel about the idiot if he was around for much longer.
I heard Jameson’s hooves heading away from me and kept walking. I couldn’t afford to fall apart. There was too much riding on me. Dad was on some wild goose chase and it wasn’t Bradley’s responsibility. I had to hold the ranch together. Which meant I couldn’t fall apart over Jagger leaving.
I wiped my face and balled my fists at my side. I was stronger than anyone gave me credit for. Including Franklin. If he thought he was going to scare me away, he was in for a nasty surprise.