* * *

  Jamie had finished checking her email and reading Denver news while she waited for Ben to return. A distant thumping cadence made her scowl. Its increasing volume took her to the window, then on to the kitchen to join Mrs. E. “Do you hear that?”

  The older woman nodded. “Sounds like a chopper circling.”

  “That’s what I thought. Why would one be all the way out here?”

  “I don’t know. Ask Ben.”

  “Ask me what?” His hair was wet, and he was tucking in a plaid Western shirt.

  Jamie grabbed on to the edge of the kitchen counter to steady herself to ask. “Is that helicopter we hear dangerous? Should I hide?”

  “No.” Joining her, he peered at an open field beyond the yard. “Black with no identification is a pretty sure sign it’s federal. Probably FBI or DEA.”

  “Why would they come here?”

  Pulling on his boots at the back door, he looked so relaxed Jamie stopped being so fearful, although she knew she’d be happier once any strangers were gone.

  “My boss was going to see about turning your hunting trophy over to the feds. I assume they’re here to pick it up before the sheriff gets his hands on it.”

  “Won’t he be mad that it’s gone?”

  Ben chuckled. “Only because he’s a nosey kind of guy. Between him and his deputies and half the residents of Washakie and Johnson Counties, the chances of keeping the evidence uncontaminated are slim. The dead drone will be in better hands with a federal agency.”

  He squared his Stetson and started out the door.

  “What about lunch,” Mrs. E called. “It’s almost ready.”

  “Got enough for all of us if I ask the chopper pilot and his passengers to stay and eat?”

  “Sure. I was planning on leftovers.”

  Jamie stood mute as he swung out the door and disappeared from the porch. Everybody seemed to be taking these interruptions and disruptions of their schedules quite well. Everybody but her. Logic insisted that she wasn’t to blame for any of it, yet still the guilt haunted her.

  She hugged her unborn daughter for comfort and reminded herself why she was there and how important it was to take better care of herself. It wasn’t merely the responsibility of bearing a child, it was love. Purpose. Belonging. For the first time in ages she was beginning to occasionally feel content, at peace, part of a tribe that would have her back in a pinch.

  Stepping out onto the porch, she raised her face to the sunlight and took a moment to enjoy the warmth before concentrating on the chopper again.

  Ben ducked beneath the still-rotating blades that began to droop like week-old flower petals. Jamie didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until he was joined by two men, one in a dark suit and the other wearing one of those white protection outfits favored by forensic technicians.

  She knew exactly where they were going because Ben led them straight toward the makeshift shooting range. By the time the visitors emerged and made a beeline for the helicopter, she was shaky from tension and holding on to the railing by the porch stairs.

  “I don’t think we need to set extra places,” she called through the screen. “Looks like they’re leaving.”

  “Just as well,” Mrs. E replied. “The sooner they get that contraption back to their lab, the sooner you’ll know where it came from.”

  The blades began to spin faster, centrifugal force lifting them as Ben ran back toward the house. He paused to turn and wave, then came up the steps, grinning. “Mission accomplished.”

  “When will we know something?” Jamie asked.

  “Soon.” He reached past her to open and hold the door. “After you, Annie.”

  “Annie?”

  Mrs. E was laughing. “He means Annie Oakley, honey. I think it’s a compliment.”

  “Please take it that way,” Ben urged. “Have a seat and let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  Jamie knew she should be hungry, but the events of the morning had left her stomach upset. “Not until you tell me what just happened.”

  “It went the way I figured it would when I called my boss. The FBI will handle the testing of the drone and coordinate with the DEA if they come up with any prints that match known smugglers. That’s how they managed to snag a free ride from Drug Enforcement.”

  “Why Drug Enforcement?”

  Guiding her to the table, Ben pulled out a chair for her and waited until she sat. “Did you miss the reports in the files I gave you about the congresswoman being hard on drug gangs, and her killer, the one you’re going to testify against, being a known affiliate?”

  “I must have skimmed that part.” Or my brain is scrambled by extra hormones, she added to herself. There was no advantage to making excuses when the fault was hers. “I’ll reread the stuff you gave me after lunch.”

  The truth hit her like a punch. She’d only half concentrated on reading the information Ben had provided because she didn’t want to think about the crime.

  About the blood.

  About how close she, herself, had come to being the second victim that terrible day. And since.

  ELEVEN

  Ben heard a car coming before they had finished eating. “Good thing you’re a great cook,” he told Mrs. Edgerton. “Maybe if we feed the sheriff he won’t go ballistic about losing his chance at the evidence.”

  Meeting the uniformed, middle-aged man at the door, Ben shook hands and took his hat for him. “Just in time for spaghetti and garlic bread,” he said, gesturing. “Pull up a chair. You know Mrs. E. My other guest is not from around here. Honey, this is Sheriff Zumwalt.”

  A widening of her green eyes and slight parting of her lips were the only signs she’d been surprised at the term of endearment.

  “Pleased to meet you, Sheriff.”

  “Likewise.”

  Mrs. E set a plate piled high with food in front of the lawman and handed him a fork. Bless her, Ben thought, she can practically read my mind.

  That was all it took to delay any questions and the group had moved on to dessert before Zumwalt got around to asking, “So, where’s this suspicious toy you found?”

  In an instant Ben was positive he and Tyson had made the right decision by sending for the FBI. He smiled. “About that. There’s been a new development. You won’t have to mess with the drone at all. It’s gone already.”

  “Good.” He began to scowl. “Hold on. Where did it go? You didn’t lose it, did you?”

  “No, nothing like that. I just happened to mention what had happened and my boss sent in the DEA to take care of it.”

  “Can’t say I like that,” the sheriff said gruffly. “You could have saved me a drive all the way out here if you’d called.”

  “I didn’t know they were coming until their chopper landed.”

  “So that’s where it was going? I had a couple reports of a suspicious aircraft circling low over the valley. Nobody managed to get call letters so I figured it was either crooks or some federal operation.”

  “You were probably almost here,” Ben reminded him. “If I’d contacted you then, you’d have missed this great meal.”

  “True, true.” He forked up a mouthful of the berry pie he’d been served. “Got any vanilla ice cream for this?”

  Ben met Jamie’s gaze and saw her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Was she relieved by the way he’d handled the situation? He hoped so because things hadn’t been going very smoothly since she’d arrived. Not that he was at fault, he mused. There was nothing in his training to cover dealing with sheltering a witness in his home or defending against invisible enemies, although if he went back to being in the army this was almost the same as conducting a covert operation.

  That conclusion actually helped. This was war and his ranch was a battleground, whether he liked it or not. Every soldier occupying this makeshift fort needed to stay on full alert or their mutual chances of survival would definitely suffer.

  * * *

  The events of the morning had left Jamie exhausted beyond normal. Rather than go to her room and nap, however, she decided to wrap a light blanket around her shoulders and venture out onto the porch with her laptop. Her only companion was Shadow, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t be giving unwanted advice.

  Ben’s handling of the rural sheriff had been so masterful she was still astounded. He’d used distraction and conversational banter to manipulate the man into not only forgiving but also apparently forgetting. It wasn’t lost on her that that skill also proved how easily Ben could switch between a casual, honest approach and the kind of perfidy she hated when it was directed toward her. That was partially how her ex had fooled her in the first place and how his promises of reconciliation had left her alone and pregnant.

  “Right,” she murmured, comparing the two men and finding little similarity. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to let herself be fooled again. Not by anybody, man or woman. If her heart and mind couldn’t agree she’d trust her brain every time. Period.

  Settling on the swing on the front porch, Jamie sighed. This place could feel cozy when she bridled troubling memories, couldn’t it?

  She pushed her feet against the wooden deck. Slow, even swinging quickly relaxed her. A breeze off the mountains brought chilly air so she pulled the blanket closer, covering her arms. The more she tried to banish thoughts of the events of the past few days, the more they kept swirling through her head. This led to giving thanks that she and her baby had survived.

  Jamie sighed. “Here we are, little one. Just you and me,” she crooned softly, as if holding her daughter in her arms. “Mama’s tired. So tired. But I won’t give up. I promise.”

  A nudge on one side of her stomach was repeated. Jamie began to smile as tears of gratitude filled her eyes and started down her cheeks. “I know you can hear me,” she told the unborn baby. “I love you so much. And I’m sorry for the mess I got us into, sweetheart.”

  Swinging continued. The baby changed position at least three times before she settled down. “That’s better,” Jamie said. Beneath the blanket she caressed her child as best she could. Oh, how she loved this little, unseen person. At first, being pregnant had come as such a shock she’d been less than thrilled, even antagonistic, but now? Now she could hardly wait for the birth. For the fulfillment of her dream to become a mother, to no longer be all alone.

  A whispered prayer for the health of her baby morphed into a sweet, hummed lullaby, so faint that only she and the baby inside her were supposed to hear it.

  A click of the latch on the door made her jump and clutch the blanket more tightly.

  “Sorry to startle you,” Ben said as he joined her. “We wondered where you’d gone.”

  “I came out here to work but this is unbelievably relaxing.”

  “Yeah. My mother loved to sit out here. After she died I used to spend a lot of time here.” He paused. “At night you can hear whippoorwills. They nest on the ground and legend has it that once they sing we won’t have any more hard freezes.”

  “It does feel colder here than back in Denver, even if it is May already.”

  “The Rockies strongly affect weather. It’s not impossible to get a light dusting of snow here, even this late in the year.” He gestured at the open seat on the swing. “May I?”

  “I should go in. I’m getting chilly.”

  To her surprise, Ben carefully seated himself next to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders over the blanket. Truth to tell, it did help warm her. That part was comforting. Other feelings, not so much.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  His boots had taken control of the back and forth motion, giving Jamie’s legs a rest. She settled next to him as if they had been friends for ages and often sat that way.

  A sigh preceded her question. “Have you heard anything about the drone?

  Ben huffed. “It’s a little soon, don’t you think?”

  “I guess. I’m just anxious to know more. I came out here in the first place to reread the files you copied for me, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet. Would you care to tell me the short version?”

  “If you like.”

  She thought she felt his hold tighten. Had it? Probably not, she told herself. After all, he was just trying to take care of her as best he could and after the repeated attacks he was undoubtedly getting tired of coming to her rescue.

  A tiny smile ticked at the corners of her mouth. That shotgun. Boom. Ben hadn’t exactly done it all, had he?

  With her ear so close to his chest his voice rumbled as he spoke and reminded Jamie of the way she thought her baby must be hearing her.

  “It seems likely that you have been traced here and the gang behind Hawkins is targeting you.” She was sure she felt him tense this time. “Prints on the drone should prove it, one way or the other, at least basically.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I took the shot, huh?”

  From where she sat it was hard to tell whether he snorted derisively or chuckled, so she leaned away to look up at him. “What? You still upset?”

  “Me? Naw. Why would I be upset? A total novice who has never shot a gun before, let alone a shotgun, takes matters into her own hands and fires blindly into the sky without any thought of where the stray pellets are going to land.”

  “I pointed it away from your barns.”

  “On purpose?” One dark eyebrow arched. “Truth.”

  “Well, yes, I did think of it.”

  “Before or after you pulled the trigger?”

  “Um, can I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may make you mad?”

  “You don’t have to say any more. I get it. We were extremely fortunate nobody was hurt, especially you.”

  “Yeah, I’ve come to the same conclusion. I guess God is protecting my baby, huh?”

  This time Jamie was sure he chuckled. “It would be the answer to plenty of prayers if He is.”

  “Yours, you mean?” The notion that he might have prayed for her was as comforting as his presence, maybe more so.

  “Mine and Mrs. E’s and all the prayer warriors at her church, not to mention the believers in law enforcement. Why? Does that surprise you?”

  “Yes and no,” Jamie said. “I’d never thought about it before but I suppose people who risk their lives all the time have to have faith.”

  “We all believe in something,” Ben said soberly. “The ones who rely on their own strength or a gun or even a K-9 partner can eventually be disappointed. Being a Christian shifts the trust to the Lord.”

  Although Jamie did nod she also said, “I agree, except I also know that there have been times when I was so scared I didn’t know what to believe.”

  “The toughest times can turn out to be the best. I discovered that in the army, in combat. The worse things got, the more I prayed and the stronger my faith grew.”

  “Thank you,” Jamie said, ruing the telltale catch in her voice. She sniffled. “Mrs. E said she thinks I was sent way out here for a purpose. Maybe it was so I could hear about your faith.”

  “Maybe.” Nodding, Ben eased his arm from around her and got to his feet, then picked up her laptop. Jamie would have preferred a few more moments in which to control her emotions but she took his free hand when he offered it and stood, too. Her fingers tingled in contact with his and she noticed the calluses from hard work that roughened his palm.

  Her ex had left figurative calluses on her heart. Would the upcoming labor and delivery she faced be enough to soften them?

  Grasping Ben’s hand a little more tightly, she kept hold until they reached the kitchen. Even the cook’s raised eyebrow and smile were not enough to make Jamie let go until Ben forced the issue by pulling away. Losing contact was surprisingly upsetting, although she wasn’t ready to puzzle out why. It was hard enough to tolerate the notion of being away from him without adding to her emotional turbulence by thinking too much. Pregnancy had clearly had a negative effect on her common sense and strong will. No way was she going to let rampaging hormones sway her previous sensible decisions.

  Meaning? Jamie asked herself.

  Meaning I am in serious trouble if I let myself misinterpret this man’s gentleness and care as anything but what he keeps saying it is—a good cop just doing his job.

  There was so much truth in that conclusion it brought new tears to her eyes. Upset at herself she swiped them away with a corner of the blanket.

  Ben looked quizzical when he laid a hand lightly on her shoulder. “How can I help?”

  Jumping back, Jamie almost knocked a chair over the way she had that first night when she’d come down to make tea.

  “Don’t,” she said flatly.

  “Don’t what?” He looked totally confused.

  “Don’t be nice to me,” she managed through tears. “Just don’t.” After one ragged breath she added, “I don’t want to like you, okay? I don’t need anybody.”

  A glint of anger seemed to light his dark gaze. “As long as I’m assigned to protect you that’s what I intend to do whether you like it or not.”

  “Fine.” She dropped the blanket on the seat of a chair and stalked out of the room.

  Ben’s “Fine” echoed after her all the way up the stairs and she could still hear it in her mind while she fought to calm down.

  A scratching noise drew her to the bedroom door and she eased it open to peek out. It was Shadow, of course. The black Doberman looked so pleased with himself she had to smile.

  “Okay, boy, you can come in. But not your partner. Him, I don’t get along with.”

  Tongue lolling, stub of a tail wagging, Shadow wiggled himself through the half open door and turned his dark, expressive eyes to her as if pleading for instructions.