Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley #1)(60)
Twenty minutes later, Shiloh left the first aid office, taking the wooden steps to the red brick sidewalk. Anton remained quiet, watching her. She quickly climbed the steps to the main office, disappearing inside. But she wasn’t carrying the papers she had in her hand before. Was she working in the office? If so, WHERE was she staying on the ranch? He’d noticed a KEEP OUT sign as he’d walked with the group down the red brick sidewalk. A sign read: EMPLOYEE HOUSING. And it had a large white picket fence around the entire area, along with the big red KEEP OUT sign. He had also seen six large wood cabins beyond the main ranch building area. It appeared that tourists stayed in them.
Picking up the brochure, he read that the Wind River Ranch offered six cabins to tourists who wanted to stay on the ranch. The prices were in line with what a motel might charge. In another brochure was an illustrated map of the hundred-thousand-acre ranch. There were plenty of roads in and around the main area. He saw Pine Grove and the wide, flat dirt road that led between and around it. Anton wondered if Shiloh ever rode out in the area of Pine Grove. He could set up a hide, like a sniper, and lie in wait for her to appear. Of course, getting onto the ranch property wouldn’t be easy, but not impossible. Anton saw another dirt road a mile from the main road into the area that led around and to the pine grove area, as well.
He saw most of the vehicles were gone, and decided he’d best be leaving too. He didn’t want to draw any interest as to why he was sitting in the parking lot alone. Reluctantly, Anton slowly drove out of the lot and onto the main asphalt two-lane road that would lead to the entrance of the ranch. Smiling to himself, he felt his chest swell with pride. He’d hit pay dirt.
*
“I had the weirdest feeling this morning,” Shiloh confided to Roan after dinner. They sat at the dinner table after finishing their dessert. She frowned and rubbed the nape of her neck.
Roan frowned. He saw anxiety in Shiloh’s green eyes. It had been a while since he’d seen her like this. “Did something spook you?” he wondered.
Shrugging, Shiloh muttered, “I have no idea what happened. I was walking from the accounting office back to the main office when this horrible feeling came over me.”
His mouth thinned as he heard the worry in her tone. “What triggered it?”
Frustrated, Shiloh said, “That’s the problem. I don’t know.” She looked around the quiet house, the slats of the western sun flooding the living room area. “It really caught me off guard because I felt this same way when my stalker was standing outside my apartment door and waiting. . . .” Setting the coffee cup aside, Shiloh gave Roan a distressed look. “I am so happy here.... I’ve finally settled in and I’m relaxed. I don’t worry about my stalker.”
“And then this overwhelming feeling of threat hit you this morning?”
“Yes.” Rubbing her brow, she shook her head. “It was stupid.”
“Did you look around? See who was in the vicinity?”
“Yes, a quick glance. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot, some cowboys riding past on their horses, but nothing else. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary. That’s what has me so flummoxed, Roan.”
“Did you have a nightmare last night? Maybe that triggered the reaction this morning?”
“No . . . no, I slept really, really well. I woke up happy and looking forward to the day. To writing another chapter on my book that’s due.” She moved her fingers across the gold and red cedar table. “I don’t know. It was crazy. Out of sync.”
Roan moved the coffee cup slowly around between his large hands. “Did you get this feeling of threat all the time back at your apartment in New York City?” He saw the stress and worry amp up in Shiloh’s eyes. He wanted to hold her. He had sworn not to make any move in that direction with Shiloh. He would respect her boundaries although, God knew, it was the last thing he wanted to do. Roan KNEW he could calm her. Help her. Make her feel safe and protected. But Shiloh’s fear of getting too deep into a relationship was scaring her away from him and Roan had no answer or way to get her to change her mind. She was worrying her lower lip; something she’d done often when she first came to the ranch. The last three weeks, he’d seen her relax. Until just now.
“I got that very same threat feeling at different times,” she admitted quietly. “I’d be out jogging in Central Park and it would hit me. But not all the time. Just sometimes.”
“Did you ever see a man watching you?” he wondered.
“There’s so many men and women in the park, Roan, I couldn’t honestly tell if one of the men was looking in my direction or watching me from the bushes.”
“What other times did this feeling come over you?”
“In my apartment.” She wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes, trying to push away the terror that she always felt when it happened. “I’d be at my desk writing, or watching TV, and it would hit me. And then, I could hear movement on the other side of my apartment door. Like . . . like he was rubbing sandpaper against the door. I could hear it. It scared the hell out of me.”
He felt his gut tighten. “Did your door have a peephole?”
Nodding, Shiloh said, “Sometimes, when I heard that noise, I knew he was out there.” She gave him an apologetic look. “But I was too scared to go check. To see who it was. I was afraid if I approached the door, he’d bust it down and grab me.” She tapped her head. “Writer’s imagination firing on all cylinders, believe me.”