“Well, Officer McKenna, these guys put a bullet in me and they very well may have killed my brother. I’m with Warner. If you want to get to where the bad guys are, then we’re going with you.”

She huffed out a breath and looked at me questioningly. All I could do was shrug and mutter, “I go where he goes, and if they took Sutton, that means they probably have my best friend, as well. I can’t stay here by myself and I can’t leave her wherever she is. We’re going.” There was no time for doubt, no time to consider failure or fault. All I could think about was the fact that Em needed me and I had to be there for her. No matter what kind of dangers might be waiting for me on the way to her.

Cy put his arm around me and gazed steadily at the woman. “You can take Leo back to the ranch and I can call in when I get to the field. The other option is that my little lion is right and we all go in together. They outnumber us but I bet they can’t outsmart us.”

The woman was silent for a long moment and then she threw up her hands in frustration. “Still as stubborn and as hard headed as always, Cy. You can’t ever make things easy. You’re impossible. If I didn’t know that it’ll take me twice as long to find the field without you, I would throw some cuffs on you to keep you all out of my hair. I don’t like involving civilians but I don’t see how I can stop you from sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“I’m not a civilian.” That came from Grady at the same time Cy snorted and said, “Show me a man who lives out here you wouldn’t want to have at your back, Ten. You know we protect what’s ours.”

She didn’t have a rebuttal.

Because while Cy might not be what I imagined a cowboy to be, he sure as hell was what I’d always imagined what a hero should be.

No Man Left Behind

The trip back the way we came went slightly faster with Webb able to hitch a ride on the four-wheeler behind the pretty park ranger. She didn’t look like she loved the idea, especially when he refused to give up his weapon, but he was still bleeding pretty steadily and unable to use the arm with the bullet hole through it, so she didn’t have much choice in the matter. The rain picked up again, which made the now loaded down horses slip and slide even more in the mud and loose brush. Cy had insisted on taking every single weapon and as much of the canned provisions as he could from the ranger’s cabin. Officer McKenna didn’t like that plan either, but apparently, she knew Cy well enough to know that arguing with him would be futile and a waste of time we didn’t have. Cy was worried about his brother. Webb was worried about his brother. I couldn’t let myself think about what may or may not be happening to Emrys if she was in the wrong kinds of hands.

If I let my mind go there, it was going to nosedive right into the worst-case scenario which would render me worthless and useless on this very risky expedition. I was the only one who didn’t know how to use a weapon, the only one shaking from more than the cold, and the only one who seemed like they were struggling to keep it together. So instead of thinking about Em and how she was holding up, I was turning over the fact that Cy and the park ranger clearly had history. He had loved and lost, was still missing pieces to his heart, but that didn’t mean the man was dead or had lived like a saint in the passing years. I was wondering why the stunning and seemingly perfect for him woman who was part of our rag-tag group hadn’t stuck.

Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, he turned to look at me and slowed Edgar down so that he could ride next to me. Rain had made his dark hair even darker and the chill turned his skin a rosy pink that didn’t suit him. He was uncomfortable and concerned, two things he made an effort to conceal but the feelings managed to shine through anyway.

“How are you holding up, Sunshine?” Instead of being comforting, the rasp of his voice grated across my skin.

“I’ve been better.” My tone was cool and so was my gaze as I considered him for a long moment. “You and the blonde? What’s that all about?” I sort of hated that I felt compelled to ask because I had no claim on him. The fact that I wanted to know made me realize I also wanted to own enough of him that I was entitled to the information. It was foolish but I couldn’t stop the sense of propriety where he was concerned. In almost no time at all, I considered him mine, which was insanity considering I had spent a lifetime skipping out of the reach of anyone who wanted to love me enough to call me theirs.

“Ten? We went to high school together. Her folks own the ranch that borders ours. She left about the same time I did with big plans to join the FBI or something like that. I’m not sure what brought her home. She doesn’t talk about it much.” He lifted his eyebrows up and lifted a hand to wipe the water gathered on his forehead with a flick of his wrist. “She came around after my wife left and we spent some time together, still do if either one of us gets lonely enough and doesn’t have any other option available. She never asks for much and she’s always gone before morning.” He shrugged a shoulder and met my gaze steadily and unashamed. “We never really got along as kids and honestly we don’t really mesh well outside of the bedroom. But we both have something the other can use, so it’s easy enough.” The corner of his mouth curled up in a sardonic grin. “It’s not like there is an endless amount of women to choose from out here. Ten is just that . . . a ten . . . and she gets that all I have to offer her is a couple hours in bed. She’s good with it because that’s all she has to offer as well.”