Guardian. Terri Reed
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death. From the sounds of it, he was a hero.”
She arched her eyebrows and ignored the comment about her husband being a hero. For Charlie’s sake, she wouldn’t ever dispute the assumption. She wanted him to be proud of his father. She hoped her son never learned the truth about the kind of man Jeff had truly been. “From the sounds of it? Did you do a background check on me?”
“I wouldn’t be a very good investigator if I didn’t do my homework,” Leo replied evenly.
“Right. Of course.” She shouldn’t be surprised. For all he knew, she could be a nutcase wanting attention by claiming to have witnessed a murder.
Still, it made her feel vulnerable to know he had information about her that she hadn’t shared with him. Was there a file on her? What did it say? Was her and Jeff’s dirty laundry listed in the file? She shuddered as she did anytime she thought about Jeff’s cheating and lying.
They arrived at the police station, and Alicia didn’t wait for Leo and True, but jumped out the second the SUV halted and hurried inside. She found Charlie with the chief’s wife, Lynette Jarrett. The silver-haired woman was reading a book to her son in the chief’s office.
Lynette smiled warmly at her as Alicia stopped in the doorway. “Here’s your mommy,” she said to Charlie.
“Mommy!” He jumped down from the chair to wrap his arms around her legs. “I missed you.”
Love tore through her heart and she scooped him up into her arms. “I missed you, too, bug.” He laid his head on her shoulder. Over his head, Alicia smiled at Lynette. “Thank you. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble for you to come to the station. I’m surprised the chief dragged you over here.”
Lynette rose and touched Charlie’s back. “Dwayne didn’t drag me. I called to see how his day was going, and he said he was watching your little one. I had to come. I haven’t seen my grandbabies in a while, and I was needing some little-boy time.” She picked up a sack from the floor. “I brought books and treats. We were well entertained.”
Grateful to the older woman, Alicia said, “I appreciate you keeping him busy.”
“Of course. How’s your father?”
“He’s doing okay. Ornery and not wanting to do as the doctor tells him to keep his blood pressure under control. His diet is horrible. He’s worse than a three-year-old when it comes to eating his veggies.”
Lynette laughed. “Disguise them. It worked with my kids and grandkids.”
“I will.” Alicia glanced down and realized Charlie had fallen asleep in her arms. She needed to get him home.
Leo stepped into the office with Chief Jarrett.
“Agent Gallagher,” Jarrett said, “this is my wife, Lynette. Lynette, Agent Gallagher is from the FBI and is helping on a case.”
Lynette’s smile widened. “Well, that’s special. I don’t think I’ve heard of the FBI visiting our small slice of life here. I hope you’ll find Settler’s Valley to your liking.”
Leo blinked, clearly not sure how to take the older woman’s words. “I’m only here until this case is solved. The town is quaint, though.” He turned to Alicia. “Are you ready?”
She tucked in her chin. “For?”
“The chief said you live on the outskirts of town. True and I will escort you to make sure you arrive safely.”
“That’s not necessary,” she said. “It’s a twenty-minute ride at best. We’ll be fine.” She could just imagine what her father would think if she brought home a federal agent.
Leo’s jaw visibly tightened. “Yes, you will be fine. I’ll see to it.”
“No. You don’t have to do that.”
Chief Jarrett cleared his throat. “If you’re willing to wait an hour or so, I can have officers escort you, if you’d rather.”
Alicia whipped her gaze to the chief. She had no intention of staying here any longer than she absolutely needed to. “That’s not necessary. The killer is most likely long gone.” At least she prayed so.
“We can’t take that risk. He might come after you since he knows you’ve seen his face,” Leo stated in a firm voice.
“But I’ve already talked to the police, so what good would coming after me do?”
“He could eliminate you as a witness.”
Leo’s dire words sent fear cascading down her spine. She’d had that same thought earlier in the woods, but had dismissed it as paranoia. But realizing that the FBI agent and the police chief both thought she was still in danger had her heart pounding. Better to be safe than sorry, as the saying went. “All right. Agent Gallagher, you may follow us home.”
And she’d send him on his way once they were safely back at the ranch.
* * *
Leo kept the SUV a couple of car lengths from the tailgate of Alicia Duncan’s little all-wheel-drive sport vehicle as they headed away from the police station. The kid had fallen asleep in his mother’s arms. Leo had to admit the little boy was very cute. And so was Alicia. He liked her spunk. She may not have wanted an escort home, but she was smart enough to realize that she was still in danger.
It was slow going through town due to congestion. Cars and people were out as evening was setting in. The turn-of-the-century architecture gave the place a quaint feel though he’d noticed a new hospital complex on the way in. Settler’s Valley was nestled in the shadow of the Blackthorn Mountains, and the Blackthorn River flowed down the middle of town.
Several bridges connected the two sides, some for pedestrians, and others for vehicles. Alicia turned off the main drag, traveling away from the river and town. They cruised at fifty miles an hour on a flat stretch of asphalt that had fenced pastureland on either side of the two-lane road.
Having never been to Wyoming before, Leo took in the countryside. It was similar to nearby Montana, but there were distinct differences, too. Like the huge, brown bison walking along the side of the road. True barked at the creatures as they passed by five or six of them.
The terrain became more wooded the longer they drove. They passed several turnoffs marked by mailboxes. Gravel driveways led to far-off ranches that could barely be seen. What would it be like to reside so far from civilization?
Leo had lived and worked on a ranch in Kansas as a teen, but it hadn’t been that far from town. He’d been able to ride his bike back and forth to school and later college. Those had been the hardest and the best years of his life. If not for the ranch foreman, Ben Smith, Leo’s life would have followed a different path. A less productive one.
After a series of foster homes, he’d run away from the last one at age fourteen. He’d lived on the streets for two years before landing in Andale, Kansas, on the outskirts of Wichita. Population, nine hundred.
In a back alley behind a diner, Ben had found him scrounging through the garbage looking for something to eat. Ben had dragged him to the Crescent Ranch, where he put Leo to work mucking out stalls in exchange for food and board. Ben had been the one to insist Leo enroll in the local high school. And later to apply for college and scholarship money.
Leo’s gaze snagged on a dark-colored muscle car with tinted windows waiting at the end of a driveway. Not exactly the type of vehicle one would expect to see coming from a ranch. Leo figured a teenager was probably at the wheel. No adult male would purposely put such a sweet ride through the torture of a gravel drive.
As Alicia’s car approached the driveway, the muscle car’s headlights came on and its engine revved, the rumble unmistakable despite the fact Leo’s windows were rolled up. True reacted to the rumble with a series of frantic barks.
The nerves in Leo’s gut constricted. He pressed the accelerator, forcing the SUV to gain on