It was only once they’d cleared the back of the ranch house and were headed for the large, recently rebuilt stable that Ryder finally spoke. “You take care of them.”

  The late winter air was cold as it swirled around them and Arden ran a hand over the sleeves of her multicolored workout sweatshirt. “Of course I do.”

  “But you’re the youngest.”

  “So?”

  “So isn’t that their job?”

  “For starters, we’re family. We look out for each other. It’d be a mistake to underestimate us. Any one of us.” She eyed him beside her before stopping and turning to look at him fully. “Do you have siblings?”

  “Sisters.”

  “And what do your sisters think of your high-handed tactics?”

  “They don’t know.” He grinned broadly. “And who said I was underestimating anyone?”

  “It didn’t need saying. It was all over your face and it’s an even more evident trait if you assume your sisters are unaware of your attitude.”

  He looked momentarily chagrined so Arden pressed on, taking the small advantage while she had it. “Sort of like us.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  His lazy tone had a slight bite and Arden warmed to the idea that she was getting somewhere. “You want to run your op and you want our blessing to do it.”

  “I can get support from my bosses with or without your family’s cooperation.”

  It was a gamble—Arden could see that in his eyes—and for some reason she couldn’t quite identify, it broke the tension. “I think that’s the first honest thing you’ve said since you arrived tonight.”

  “I haven’t lied.”

  “You’ve omitted.”

  “I didn’t lie,” Ryder said with more force.

  To be fair, while her mother would likely turn in her grave at the direction of Arden’s thoughts, Arden couldn’t fully argue with Ryder’s assessment. Omission wasn’t an out-and-out lie. Growing up with three older brothers had taught her early on how to keep her own counsel. To her way of thinking, people blabbed what they were doing far more often than they needed to. Her thoughts were her own business and she’d be a hypocrite if she thought anything less of the federal agent for acting the same way.

  Once again at an impasse, Arden moved on ahead, tapping in the code to open the stables. They’d had a scare the prior summer, their previous stable going up in flames at the hands of an old threat to Reese, and the new security system had been one of the outcomes of rebuilding. “This is quite a setup,” Agent Durant marveled as he followed her through the door.

  “We spared no expense to rebuild the barn and make it state-of-the-art.”

  “I can see that.” The man’s assessment was clear-eyed as he looked around the entryway. “Cameras, infrareds. Nicely done.”

  “Our horses are a part of the family. Nearly losing them was a big wake-up call.”

  “Belle told me about what happened.”

  Arden turned at that, her gaze once again finding his all-too-compelling one. “You mean you spoke to local law enforcement? Collaborated with them, even? I’d have expected you got all your information out of carefully worded reports.”

  “I know how to talk to people.”

  “As I understand it, it’s not one of the traits they focus on in your training.”

  “Look, Arden. I’m not going to apologize for being here.”

  Her pulse tripped unexpectedly at his use of her name and her voice came out gruffer than she intended at the surprising pleasure. “No one’s asking you to.”

  “Oh no?” Ryder’s eyebrows lifted. “I thought that was exactly what you were asking.”

  Since she hadn’t brought him out to the stables to pick a fight, Arden wasn’t quite sure where the impulse had come from to do just that. Nor had she come here to have rioting feelings fluttering her pulse like a schoolgirl. She’d had that once and, when it ended, learned to live without it. That part of her life was closed.

  Simple. Easy. And done.

  But she did need to keep the agent close and she wasn’t about to do it with trippy feelings and googly emotions that had no place in her life. The man could be an ally. One they’d all need to keep at arm’s length, but an ally all the same. That was her focus.

  “Look. I’m willing to go along with your scheme, but I need a few reassurances.”

  “You speak for your family?”

  “No, but I can be a voice of persuasion. If I’m going to do that, there need to be some rules. And I can tell you, trying to keep us out of things is going to be a problem.”

  Although Ryder Durant didn’t strike her as a man who backed down from much, she didn’t miss the quick flare of interest that lit his dark gaze in the muted lights of the stable.

  “This isn’t about a stakeout at all, is it?” The idea took root and Arden quickly got up a head of steam. “You have a plan. A bigger score than catching a few stray drug dealers crossing the border.”

  The subtle humor that seemed to perpetually light his gaze winked out, leaving behind something she’d seen in Belle. Cop eyes. Flat. Focused. And enough banked aggression to know something dark and serious lived beneath the surface of the easygoing agent.

  “I laid it out for you. For all of you.”

  “No.” Arden shook her head, conviction rising up strong and true. “It’s something more. You want to run a full-blown op. I don’t know how we missed it.”

  “You can’t miss what you aren’t told.”

  One of the horses let out a soft whicker—Grumpy, she thought—and it was enough to break the moment. Murphy perked up his head, his attention on the interior of the barn.

  The shift in momentum was also enough to have Ryder stepping back a few paces. “Look. This isn’t about omission or lies or anything else. I’m not at liberty to share what I know.”

  “Then I guess that’s a real shame for you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

  Copyright © 2022 by Frances Karkosak

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  ISBN-13: 9780369713902

  Conard County Conspiracy

  Copyright © 2022 by Susan Civil-Brown

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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