we’ll have to go back to the house.”
“Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a nail in my eye,” Molly said, making a motion across her chest.
A chuckle escaped Garrett. She was so like his Ella. But so different, too. Molly jumped from the rock. She scampered to the edge of the clearing.
He folded Laurel’s hand in his. “She’ll be okay. I promise we’re making too much noise for the cougar to be interested,” he said.
“Bears?”
“Not here. Not enough vegetation and large animals.”
Laurel dropped her half-eaten sandwich in the box and stood. She watched Molly. “I’m scared for her.”
Garrett rose from the rock. “She’s a strong girl. She’s got a great aunt. You’ll both make it through this.”
“What if whoever killed Ivy gets away with it?”
Garrett couldn’t stop his teeth from grinding together. No way would he let that happen. Not while he still lived. But he couldn’t promise anything. The people after him had no morals, no conscience. If anyone got in their way, they killed them. And they didn’t care about the innocent ones who got hurt in the process.
He turned Laurel in his arms and stared into her eyes. “However this goes, I’ll make sure you and Molly find a way to be safe.”
Laurel lowered her lids. “They might get away with it.”
Garrett couldn’t deny the truth of her words. Instead, he tilted her chin up with his finger. His heart stuttered at her pain-filled gaze. She’d lost her sister, her brother-in-law, one niece and nephew, and she might have lost her father. She’d lost the life she once had. He wanted to make everything go away, but he might not be able to. “I won’t stop until I find them, Laurel.”
She shivered in his arms. He tugged her a bit closer, his gaze falling on Molly. The little girl had hunkered down, stacking pinecones. He wrapped Laurel in his arms, pulling her close, and rested his cheek against her hair. Her warmth seeped into his skin, even as the sun shone down on his face.
For one moment he could comfort her. She sighed, leaning against him. “I wish we could stay here forever and the rest of the world would stop,” she said.
Garrett closed his eyes, breathing in the fragrance of her hair. He turned and kissed her temple. Her arms tightened around his body. The comfort shifted into something more. Laurel tilted her head, her gaze stopping at his mouth. Garrett stilled, unable to stop the desire flaring just beneath the surface.
“I found a track, Sheriff Garrett,” Molly shouted.
Laurel stiffened in his arms. He sighed and touched his finger to her lips. “Sometime soon,” he promised. “When we can’t be interrupted.”
A pang of conscience needled the back of his neck. They were in danger and no one knew what was going to happen, but he couldn’t deny the pull between him and Laurel. He’d been so alone for so long. Having her in his arms made him...made him feel hope again.
She squeezed his hand, her gaze warm, her cobalt eyes flaring with a hidden fire. With a sigh of regret, he walked across the small clearing where Molly hunkered down just at the edge.
“What have you found, sugar?”
She pointed a few feet past the row of pines. Garrett stilled. The track was human.
He peered past the trees into a clearing. The remains of a campfire had been hastily shoved aside, but the ash and rocks used to surround the small flames couldn’t be mistaken.
Garrett’s hand hovered over his weapon. His voice soft and low, he reached out a hand. “Come on, Molly.”
“But I found a track.”
“And you did well, but we need to go.” He scooped her into his arms and strode away from the edge of the trees, one hand still inches from his weapon.
“What’d I do?” Molly whispered. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Laurel met him and he handed over the little girl. “What’s wrong?” Laurel pulled the girl to her. “Shh, Molly.”
“Company,” he said, his voice calm.
Her eyes widened and a line of tension drew her mouth.
Molly squirmed in her arms. “I’m scared.”
“Go back the way we came,” Garrett said. He tugged the Beretta from beneath his jacket. “You have your SIG?”
She nodded.
“Be ready.”
She shuffled Molly in her arms.
“Fire in the air if you see anything or anyone and then head back toward the ranch. I’ll catch you. Can you find it?”
She nodded, placing herself at the edge of the clearing, ready to bolt, her hand gripping the weapon.
Garrett pushed through the pines and studied the ground. There were at least two sets of shoes. He sifted the dirt. The fire’s remains were cold. They hadn’t been watching. The tension in his chest eased a bit.
He glanced over at Laurel. She stood alert, watching everything. She would protect Molly with her life. He didn’t like leaving them alone, but he needed to discover who these two people were. He followed the trail. The ground told many truths. One person fell, then scrambled to his feet. Garrett hit some granite rock and the trail vanished, but he picked it back up again on the other side.
Kneeling down, he studied the prints. “Who are you?”
Then he caught sight of a small impression. A kid’s sneaker.
Aah. Quietly, he topped a hill. Below, a man hurried his wife and son across the terrain. The guy looked at him, and Garrett knew he recognized the sheriff’s uniform, even without the star.
His face erupted in terror, but he didn’t pull a weapon. He shoved his wife and son behind him and stared up at Garrett.
Not a great place to cross the border. Especially with a family. Was a coyote nearby? Most of the men who made a living illegally bringing people across the border made Garrett’s stomach turn. They charged thousands of dollars to cross into the United States, and if their “customers” were lucky, the coyote got them to civilization. The unlucky ones ended up dead of thirst in the desert.
Garrett scanned the horizon, searching for signs of a coyote, but he didn’t see anyone.
With a quick nod to the man, he turned and hurried back toward the clearing. He had to get Laurel and Molly to safety.
They might end up much like that man and his family. Living under the radar.
Unless Garrett succeeded where he and James had failed for the past eighteen months.
Garrett shoved his Stetson on his head. Now, though, he had to succeed for more than just revenge—he had to succeed to protect two innocent lives.
He wouldn’t lose. He couldn’t.
* * *
LAUREL CARRIED MOLLY back into the cabin. Her niece was way too quiet. The little girl toyed with the collar Ivy had placed around the neck of her lion.
Garrett followed her in. “I’m canvassing the area once more. Lock the door behind me. I’ll knock three times when I get back. And keep the gun handy.”
“Shoot if someone else tries to get in,” Laurel said. “Got it.”
“Not if it’s me.” Garrett shut the door, putting the box of food on the floor.
Molly wiggled from Laurel’s arms. “I want to go into my fort,” she muttered. “I want Mr. Hairy Houdini to come with me.”
“Want me to play with you?”
The