Her Cowboy Defender. Kerry Connor

Cade alone, she could give it to him. She just prayed Cade would be able to convince him to cooperate. “I’m sorry. Is there any way I can use the bathroom?”

       “Sure,” Cade said, glancing back toward the entryway. “The closest one is down the hallway, third door on the right.”

       “Thanks.”

       She wasted no time making her exit, slipping out of the room.

      CADE AND MATT SAT in silence staring at each other as Piper’s footsteps retreated down the hallway. Cade could tell Matt was holding his tongue, just as ready to say something as Cade himself was. They waited, locked in a silent standoff.

       Finally the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut down the hall reached them.

       “What are you doing?” Matt said lowly before Cade could open his mouth. “Why are you getting involved in this mess?”

       “Because somebody has to.”

       “Why does it have to be you?”

       “Because I don’t see anyone else, do you?”

       Matt simply stared at him through narrowed eyes for a long moment before giving his head a small shake.

       “What?” Cade demanded.

       “I remember the last time you decided to save some woman who needed it,” Matt said flatly.

       The reminder sent a searing hot pain slicing through him. “This is nothing like Caitlin,” Cade said. “And even it was, I sure as hell learned my lesson the last time. I’m damn well not going to make the same mistake again.”

       “Glad to hear it. But you’re still putting yourself on the line for a woman you don’t even know, and this situation’s a hell of a lot more serious than that one. Somebody was shooting at you? I mean, come on. Don’t you think this story is a little hard to believe?”

       “Of course. But with everything I’ve experienced in the past hour, I know it’s all true.”

       Matt’s expression tightened with suspicion. “There’s more to this than what you’re telling me, isn’t there?”

       “I told you everything you need to know.” He wasn’t about to tell Matt that Piper had pulled a gun on him, that that was how they’d first met. It wasn’t exactly something that would make Matt any more eager to help her, and would only further convince him that Cade was crazy for wanting to do so.

       “I don’t think so,” Matt said. “Not if you want me to help you. Not if you’re putting more people in danger than just yourself. Because that’s what’s happening here. You’re putting everyone on this ranch in danger. If this woman has people after her, they could come here looking for her and every one of us could be at risk.”

       He was right, Cade conceded. It was something he hadn’t really considered in the middle of trying to work out Piper’s situation. But he should have. He owed it to everyone who worked for him.

       “I won’t expect anyone else to get involved with this. I’ll give everybody a few days off with pay.” It was still early in the year, and he only had a few hands working for him at the moment. In fact, it may be better that way. He might be letting Piper’s paranoia get to him, but the fewer people who knew about this, the better. As long as he didn’t know who was over there, he couldn’t be sure who they might know and who might tell them things.

       “And if this isn’t resolved in a few days, what happens then?” Matt asked.

       “I’ll figure that out when I have to.” He had enough to worry about in the present for the time being. He’d deal with the future when it came.

       He did have an idea of what to do next, but wasn’t ready to bring it up yet, especially since he knew what Matt’s reaction would be.

       “You say you don’t expect anyone else to get involved in this, but you’ve already asked me to.”

       “I’m asking you to, because she needs my help and I need yours.”

       “You may be enough of a fool to get mixed up in this. That doesn’t mean that I am.”

       “Are you really willing to stand by and do nothing while a young woman is being held hostage and could be killed?”

       Cade saw the instant Matt relented, exactly as he’d known he would. They wouldn’t have been able to work together this long if Matt was the kind of man who would stand by.

       “No,” Matt gritted out, his jaw tight.

       “So you’ll give Abby a call?” Under different circumstances, Cade might have felt bad about taking advantage of somebody’s relationship like that, but with somebody’s life on the line, he didn’t feel an ounce of regret. Not to mention that what Matt and Abby had was no love match. It was more an arrangement between two people who had needs and no interest in settling down.

       “Yeah,” Matt finally relented.

       The sound of footsteps drew their attention back to the hall.