Hiding Out At The Circle C Read online

  Cam walked to the water's edge. "Jason came with me. He'd had some trouble with college, then on a job. He was as desperately unhappy as I was. But within a week of being here, that changed. He's got a knack for working the place. It's really amazing. And then he met Nellie. Things have been good for him."

  She came up beside him, the wind teasing color into her pale cheeks. "And Zach?"

  "Zach came later. He'd been working as a cop. Saw a lot of junk, and it burned him out. Then he went to work on another ranch, so it was only natural he'd come here. He and Jason make this place work, not me."

  "But you love it, too."

  He watched a squirrel dash across a branch, chattering busily. "I do." He looked at her and decided to take the plunge. "You want to start at the beginning or at what happened in the library?"

  Turning her face away, she sank to the ground as if her legs wouldn't support her. Her nervous fingers played in the dirt. She was silent for so long he didn't think she'd answer, but she surprised him. "I used to work with her. The geologist who died."

  "Did you steal the uranium?"

  Abruptly, she stood and stalked toward the horses.

  Catching up with her, he whirled her around, spurred by that temper he so rarely felt, and by his fear that Haley could still prove to be no different from Lorraine. A horrifying thought, since he figured he was already halfway in love with her. "Answer me."

  "I didn't steal anything! And if you think I could, then I was wrong about you." She shook herself free. "I'm not going to tell you anything. I don't have to."

  Like a knife in his heart, he thought. And when the hell had he forgotten his promise to walk away? "No," he agreed, dropping his hands from her. "You're right. You certainly don't have to. I guess I'd just hoped you'd want to. Forget it. You know what? This was dumb. Let's go back."

  He expected her to stomp off, or to at least stare at him in stoic silence as usual. The last thing he expected was for her to touch his arm and meet his angry gaze steadily.

  "No, wait. I'm sorry, Cam. I'm so on edge." She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, they were damp. "There were five of us in South America. We were a team, working specifically on earth movement. Our office was blown up, one week after we made a particularly critical discovery. The reports are saying that the discovery was uranium, but I never heard anything about that when I was there. If they found it, they kept it a secret. But we did discover something else that day, something just as unbelievable."

  "Okay." He crossed his arms and stared at her, hardening his heart to the appeal in her blue eyes. "More."

  "Alda was the last to die. Every one of them is now dead except me." She drew a ragged breath. "I'm next."

  She was next. God. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would feel like to lose her. Yet she looked like she expected him to push her away. "I'm sorry."

  She was sorry. He yanked her close, closing his eyes when he felt her nuzzle her face into his neck. He wrapped her in his arms and wondered how he could feel so much. "Haley—"

  "Please. Just this. I'm about to explode from the tension."

  He could feel it in her trembling form. "Okay, darlin', okay."

  She clutched him. "I don't want to fight. Not with you."

  He wrapped his arms tightly around her, feeling the vise that had gripped his chest loosen slightly. "We're not fighting, it's all right."

  She snuggled against him for a bit. "It's a good thing, Cam," she said with ironic wit, "that you walked away from me."

  He let out a little laugh. "Yeah. I sure showed you, didn't I?"

  She was quiet for another moment. "I'm too screwed up for anything more than this. You know that."

  "No."

  "Friends, Cam. That's all this is." She sounded panicked. "You promised."

  God, had he really ever agreed to anything so asinine?

  "Hold me," she whispered, her eyes closed, her arms around his neck.

  He did, even knowing his heart was in big trouble.

  * * *

  Cam found Zach in the study. He slapped the article he'd had faxed down on his brother's desk. "Got it."

  Zach pushed aside the large lawbook he'd been studying. "And?"

  "The uranium was indeed stolen. No suspects other than Haley."

  "And we're so absolutely certain it isn't her."

  "Absolutely," Cam said in a steady voice, ready to do battle.

  "And her boss?"

  "Lloyd Branson. Reported dead in the bombing, but according to the USGS, with which I just got off the phone, there's no body."

  Zach frowned and picked up the faxed sheets. "They didn't just tell you that."

  Cam grinned devilishly and affected a British accent. "Of course not. As Lloyd's youngest nephew, I deserved to know. I have memorial arrangements to make, you know."

  Zach shook his head in amazement. "Does Haley know?"

  "That I called? No." Cam sat on the edge of the large oak desk he'd made last year. "She's terrified. For us. It's what has kept her silent. She'd flip if she knew we'd started investigating on our own."

  "If Haley is found here, they'll extradite her to South America and try her for murder."

  "That's why she won't be found," Cam said with finality. He tapped the papers and tried to ignore the ball of tension growing inside him. "Haley says the entire team is dead—except her."

  "You really think she's safe here?"

  "Yes." He had to believe it. The brothers looked at each other, mirror images of stain and concern on their faces.

  "What about Nellie?" Zach murmured. "If danger comes looking for Haley…"

  "We'll protect what's ours. Are you going to fight me on this?"

  "Could I?"

  Tense, they stared at each other. "No," Cam admitted.

  Zach stood, laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll help her. But if she's innocent—"

  "She is."

  "Then maybe we should call the police, let them prove it. It might be the best way to keep her safe." He lifted a hand when Cam's expression darkened. "Think about it."

  He was so close to gaining her full trust, so damned close.

  "They'll take her, you know they will. And what if they can't prove her innocence? Or they have to send her back to South America?"

  "You can't make her accept your help," Zach said quietly. "Or you."

  Welled-up fear for Haley had him shrugging off his brother's hand and stalking to the window. The day had faded, leaving nothing but a black sky. It matched the terror in his heart. "Do you think I don't know that?" The decision was painful, but he saw no choice. "Her safety comes first. When we can no longer provide that for her, we call the police."

  "How long?"

  "A couple of days. Just give me a couple of days. If we haven't come any closer to flushing out the danger…" God. "We'll call and let the authorities help her." Just the thought chilled his blood. "I can't let anything happen to her, Zach."

  "You can't control this." Zach paused. "Just like before, with Lorraine. What happened to her and the baby … you couldn't have stopped it. It wasn't your fault."

  "You're wrong." Cam paced the room, unbearably restless, frustratingly helpless. "I could have called Lorraine sooner that night. If I had, I could have gotten to the hospital faster. I might have seen my son alive."

  "But he still would have died." Zach watched him pace, his expression holding a deep sorrow Cam wasn't sure he could bear. "It's the truth, Cam. You couldn't have stopped what happened."

  "I can this time. I can protect her." Or he'd die trying.

  * * *

  Haley sat on the split-rail fence, next to where Nellie leaned on it, and bit back her laughter. Hard to believe she could feel like laughing, but that was exactly what she wanted to do.

  Nellie, unable to hold anything back, held her stomach and roared.

  In the pen, the three Reeves brothers—rough-and-tough cowboys—struggled to corral the largest pig for his shots. The pig wan