Evidence of Trust (9 page)

She must be crazy, defending the mare. Or maybe that knock on the head had done it. But suddenly she couldn’t bring herself to give up the challenge. “I appreciate your concern, but now that I’ve seen it a few times, I honestly don’t think she’ll follow through with the charge. Besides, you and Casey will still be here if I need any help.” One look at his expression, and she hastily added, “Which I won’t.”

He hesitated, his gaze shifting from her to the mare.

“Please, Mark. I can do this.” Suddenly it felt like she was pleading for so much more than the horse.

His gaze met hers once more and she swore he understood. Without a word, he retraced his steps back to the fence. She followed, relieved beyond what was rational.

When she passed Casey, he shook his head with a soft, “You’re nuts.”

Chapter 11

Joel pulled into the ranger station right behind his supervisor, Ryan Wagner. By the time he parked, the shorter man stood at his driver’s side window and motioned for him to roll it down.

“I’m glad I ran into you,” Ryan said. “I had a meeting scheduled with Highlands this morning, but I got a call from the Grand Lake station a few minutes ago. Any chance you can take my place and meet with Mark Jennings to go over their access contract? Then I wouldn’t have to reschedule.”

“Are you sure you even want to renew it?”

The older man nodded. “I trust Highlands. I trust
Mark
. Not to mention, I heard Britt Lucas is back for another summer. She spends most of her off time camping and knows the park like the back of her hand. She might even be of some help to you.”

Joel began shaking his head before Ryan finished. After the other night, he highly doubted she would do a single thing to assist him. Besides which, he didn’t want her help. “If you’re suggesting a civilian ride with me—”

“I’m not suggesting anything of the sort, but it wouldn’t hurt to brief Highlands on the situation. They can keep an eye out on their overnights.”

“That could compromise my entire investigation. There’s been no evidence that proves the poacher isn’t a local resident.”

“I’m not saying you hold a press conference, Joel. Just talk to Mark, he’ll let you know which of his wranglers can be trusted.”

He didn’t agree with the idea one bit. Boss or no boss, he didn’t like being told how to run his investigation. “I’d prefer to suspend their contract until we catch this bastard.”

“No, not just yet.”

Unable to completely stem his resentment, he asked, “What about the other ranches? Do I need to make house calls on them as well?”

“Highlands is the only ranch with unlimited access.”

“And what makes them so special?”

“It’s grandfathered in from years ago. We choose not to challenge it as long as Mark’s there.”

Twenty minutes later, he made the turn for Highlands Ranch and parked in the lot. This was the last place he’d expected or wanted to be this morning. It had as much to do with his investigation as it did with the woman who’d declared,
All you’ve proved is you can kiss halfway decent.
He’d almost pulled her back to prove a hell of a lot more than that, but thankfully common sense overrode his ego.

She was going to love him showing up on her turf questioning their right to be in the park. Because grandfathered or not, that’s exactly what he intended to do.

He paused, and a small smile tugged at his mouth.
Hmm.
Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. Might even be fun.

As he approached the stables, he saw all the activity was centered alongside an arena beside the barn where a lone horse stood on the far side of the enclosure. He switched direction and approached the men by the fence with a simple greeting. “Mark. Casey.”

Fuller ignored him from where he sat on the fence, a lasso coiled in his hands. Mark cast a swift glance from his watch, down toward Joel, and back to the arena. “Where’s Ryan?”

“He couldn’t make it…” He trailed off as he caught sight of Brittany standing dead center of the fenced circle. Now that he was closer, he could hear snippets of her soft voice carried on the wind.

Without warning, the dark bay horse charged straight at her. Mark and Casey tensed, but neither made a move to help her as she stood frozen, like a deer in the headlights. Joel’s stomach dropped, and he rushed to climb the fence, then vaulted over the top board even though he knew he’d never reach her in time.

He raised his arms and yelled, hoping to distract the animal before it trampled her into the dirt. At the very last second, the horse swept past her, within mere inches. He had no chance to be relieved over her safety as the muscled bullet angled his way.

“Get out of here,” he hollered at Brittany.

“Don’t move,” she countered, her voice sharp like when she commanded her stallion.

He froze, mentally judging the distance to the fence, weighing his chances while unfamiliar feelings of protectiveness for the woman twenty yards away warred with the natural instinct to run. As the mare bore down on him, he took a backward step.

“
Hold
.”

The mare swerved past him and circled toward Brittany again. The foolish woman held her ground and the mare galloped past, finally returning to the far side of the arena. Brittany had pivoted, keeping her full attention on the horse. Without moving from where she stood, she called out to her boss that she’d meet them in the office.

Mark instructed Casey to stay with her, but now with the excitement apparently over, Joel’s temper surfaced in full force. What the hell were they thinking letting her do something so dangerous?

“Come on inside, we’ve got fresh coffee in the pot,” Mark offered.

“Not until she comes in.” He leaned against the inside of the fence, making it clear he had no intention of moving. From the corner of his eye, he saw Casey open his mouth to protest, but Mark silenced him with a jerk of his head.

“We’ll meet you inside then.”

Joel didn’t take his eyes off Brittany still talking to the horse. Why did he let her get under his skin? He shouldn’t care one bit about the risks she took, and yet the thought of her getting hurt bothered him at a level he didn’t quite understand—and definitely didn’t welcome.

After a few minutes, she raised a hand to brush her wind-blown curls from her face and turned toward the gate. Her step faltered the instant she spotted him. Then she squared her shoulders and started forward.

God, she really was something. He just wasn’t entirely sure how to handle that something. His gaze swept past the defiant tilt of her chin, those lips that he couldn’t seem to keep from kissing, and screeched to a halt on the bruise that darkened the left side of her face.

Instead of marching by as he expected, she stopped in front of him. “What do you want?”

“I have a meeting with your boss.” He shifted his gaze to her cheek. “That was a pretty stupid thing you did.”

“Yeah, but it worked.”

The concession surprised him; the haughty confidence did not. He reached out and took hold of her chin, tilting her face for a better look at the reddish-blue bruise. “It was a reckless plan. This could’ve been a lot worse.”

Confusion clouded her eyes before she pulled free. “What do you care?”

“I don’t like to see anyone get hurt,” he said as she opened the gate and waited for him to step through. While she closed it again, he added a note of warning to his voice. “Or take needless risks.”

“Well, this is
my
turf. You’ve got no say here.”

She stalked ahead of him into the barn, leaving him to follow with a grim smile. He was really going to enjoy these next few minutes. Then he noticed a slight tremble in her hand as she reached for the door of what looked to be their tack room. She wasn’t as unaffected as she’d have everyone believe. So what the hell was she trying to prove?

Inside the stable office, he accepted the coffee cup Mark offered. After stirring in a little cream and sugar, he leaned against the wall by the window. Much as he wanted to tear someone a new one over what’d just happened outside, he reminded himself he was here for the investigation, nothing more.

“I assume Ryan briefed you on the reason I was brought to Colorado?”

“He did, even though I’d already heard the rumors.”

“Yeah…I love that about this town.” A twitch of Mark’s lips was the only response to his sarcasm. “Ryan wanted me to review the ranch’s contract, but I’m also going to need to talk to your staff. In particular, whoever typically guides your overnights into the park.”

“That’d be Casey, Britt and Mitch.”

He still had his reservations about Casey, but hadn’t met the other guy yet. Brittany was a contradiction he didn’t want to think about. “Can I trust each one of them?”

“Explicitly.”

Joel nodded, and Mark called the others in to join them. The only one who offered a somewhat congenial greeting was Mitch as he took a seat on the couch against the wall. Casey sat on the opposite side of his co-worker, his demeanor cool and reserved. Despite plenty of room, Brittany remained standing, her resentment tangible.

He kept the meeting short, only giving them a very brief overview of the most general details of his investigation while stressing everything remain confidential. The main thing he needed was for them to watch for anything unusual on their trail rides—one in particular.

“I want to know immediately if anyone local books the Wildlife Ride, or if you notice any repeat riders, even from the past couple years. Highlands is the only stable allowed into that particular area, and all of the hiking trails near there have been closed. So, besides the rangers, you guys are the only ones with access. How often is the ride scheduled?”

“Once a week on Thursdays,” Mark answered. “It depends on the guests. We have to be assured they have the riding ability to handle the rough trail.”

“There are other areas in the park where the bighorn graze for the summer,” Brittany pointed out.

Joel zeroed in on her. “Yes, and those areas have been sealed off and will be patrolled on a regular basis. But your trail leaves a main area open to the public. It may be regulated through your ranch, but it’s still open.”

“Then why are you allowing us access?”

“If it was solely up to me, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. The whole area would be closed to
every
one.”

“So it’s not your decision?”

The challenging lift of her eyebrows questioned his authority in front of everyone and poked his ego—exactly as he was sure she intended.

He locked his gaze with hers. “For
now
, I
have decided not to question Ryan’s judgment. However, at any time I feel the need to restrict your access, I won’t hesitate to do so.”

His slight emphasis on
your
had her pressing her lips together as if trying to hold back a retort.
Go on, say it
, he urged silently. He’d love any reason to shut them down right now.

“We understand,” Mark said, his warning tone unmistakable in the silence. “We want whoever is doing this caught as much as you do. Whatever we can do to help, we’ll do it.”

“Good. Then we’re on the same page.” He didn’t shift his gaze away from Brittany’s. “Another thing I want to be clear on, no going into the park alone.”

Renewed resentment filled her expression. “You can’t dictate—”

“I
can
, and I
am
. This guy murders animals for money, and based on what I’ve seen, my gut says he’s moving beyond financial gain. What you were afraid
I
might do up there,” he pointed out the window toward Long’s Peak, “this guy won’t think twice about if he catches you alone.”

Color bloomed in her cheeks at the reminder of their first meeting.

“Joel’s right, Britt.”

The firm reinforcement came from Casey. Joel cast him a quick glance, and noted the gravity in the brown gaze that met his. A brief nod told him Fuller was one hundred percent on his side in the matter. Surprising, yet good to know.

“I agree,” Mark added in a voice that said the discussion was closed.

Mitch was the only one who didn’t chime in. The dark-haired wrangler’s silent observation of the entire meeting, including speculative glances between him and Brittany, did not escape Joel’s notice. Nor did the fact that Brittany wasn’t prepared to take his order sitting down.

“Does this rule of yours apply only to me?”

Joel wished he could say yes, just to piss her off in the face of her defiant sarcasm. But there were still too many unknown variables to consider, and safety came first. “No. Buddy system for everyone, and keep your batteries fresh in your radios. You see anything at all suspicious, call it in immediately.”

* * *

Joel strode into the ranger station Friday morning despite Ryan’s suggestion he take some time off after working straight through since arriving in Colorado a couple weeks ago. His dad had called yesterday about driving down from Montana for a visit after he finished the investigation, he’d take a day or two then.

For now, he just needed to focus on the job, and this morning, he planned to review the background checks he’d ordered for Highlands’ employees.