Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley #1)(89)

He would have to make sure Shiloh was kept silent. She would have to remain in the hide with him, undetected. He’d have to feed her, give her water because he wanted her alive and alert. There were a lot of other considerations to change in his plans, but Anton would give his right hand if he could extend her suffering. He’d lived too long for this one moment in his life.

Sliding the SOG into the black nylon sheath, he set it aside. He’d brought plenty of MREs and there was a creek nearby. Luckily, he had purification tablets on him.

Anton knew a grizzly lived around the area, and Pine Grove was her territory. When he finally allowed Shiloh to die, he’d dump her body near where he had seen bear scat and leave it there. The grizzly would be getting one hell of a meal eating her up. Bears ate bones as well, so there would be very little of Shiloh left when it was all said and done. One day, someone might stumble upon a few bone fragments up on this hill, but that could be years from now and he would be long gone. Out of this country. Back to Africa, his first love. He would live like a king there.

So, what should he cut on her first? Anton didn’t want her bleeding out. She’d die too quickly that way. No . . . it had to be something that would terrorize her, but not kill her. Something that would cause her agony. His mind ranged over numerous ways. He was used to skinning and gutting his African animals he’d taken down with his gun. Skinning. Hmmmm, that had possibilities. Skinning Shiloh alive. How perfect. It would cause her horrific pain. It might even make her faint from the pain, but he’d stop the procedure and wait until she became conscious. And then, he’d continue the job.

*

Shiloh’s hands trembled as she rinsed off her lunch dishes to put them into the dishwasher. Her mind was going wild, leaping from here to there. She’d been able to identify the two guns for Roan that Leath had in their apartment when her mother was alive. Roan was pleased and sent the JPEG images directly to Sarah at the sheriff’s office. Then, he’d told her to get workout gear and meet him in the gym. There, he’d shown her some Special Forces close quarters combat moves that could incapacitate someone who was charging her, trying to grab and capture her. She’d worked an hour getting accustomed to the moves until Roan was satisfied. Her muscles were tight afterward. Inwardly, she felt trapped once again.

And now, Roan had gone into town because Sarah had asked to see him. She’d seen him hesitate at the request because she knew he didn’t want to leave her alone. At the same time, Roan didn’t want her seen out in public, so she couldn’t ride into town with him. Shiloh had persuaded him she’d be all right, feeling that Anton would never know she was here. How could he? Roan wasn’t fully convinced of her argument, but reluctantly left, promising to remain in cell phone touch with her once an hour to make sure she was all right. Shiloh felt he was overreacting. This cabin was hidden from everyone. Very few people even knew it existed.

Looking out the window, she saw the noontime sunlight overhead, making the green pastures around the cabin look emerald. There were no trees in the pastures and no cattle right now. The five acres the cabin sat on were bracketed to the north and west of it. Straight ahead, to the east was open ranch land without fences. In the distance, Shiloh could see the mountain peaks of the Salt River Range. To the south of the cabin, a half a mile away, sat Pine Grove. Earlier, Roan had told her that no one could sneak up on the cabin and explained why. It had made her feel better. More settled.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to write today, she was too upset over the situation with Anton Leath. Roan had made sure that the deadbolt locks on the front and back doors worked and had asked her to keep them locked when he was gone. Further, he’d checked all the windows and made sure they were locked as well. Shiloh felt trapped, Hunted, just as she’d felt in her small apartment.

She had to do SOMETHING. Anything to get her mind off what was going on around her. What would Roan find out from Sarah? Did they know where the monster who was stalking her was at? Had they located Leath? Roan had promised to call her and Shiloh waited on tenterhooks, her iPhone in her pocket, never to leave her side.

Unable to remain quiet, far too restless and nervous, Shiloh decided to deep-clean the cabin. Not that it needed it. It was brand-new, never been lived in before she stepped into it with Roan. But she couldn’t remain sitting. She felt like a target, her gaze darting from one window to another. Shiloh hated the idea of pulling the drapes and curtains across all the windows. She loved the light that flooded the cabin, making it so alive and beautiful with color and radiance. For her to close the curtains would be admitting she was scared out of her mind. So, she kept looking at the windows from time to time as she dusted, frightened if she saw Leath’s big, heavy face, his heavy-lidded eyes staring back at her.

She was coming apart at the seams. Shiloh’s imagination was going wild and she could barely control it as her hands shook as she took the dustcloth over the coffee table.

The phone rang.

Jerking, a gasp escaping her, Shiloh dropped the cloth. She jammed her hand into her pocket, frantic to pick up the iPhone.

“Roan?” she asked, her voice low and strained.

“Yes, it’s me. How are you doing?”

Shiloh grimaced. “Not well. My damned imagination is scaring the hell out of me. Did you find out anything about Leath?”

“A couple of things. No one has seen him. With the rifles you identified and the pictures I sent to Sarah, there’s one gun shop here who sold a .300 Winchester Magnum, to a man. It wasn’t Leath. Sarah thinks he was a shill who was sent to buy it and they’ve got the man in custody and are talking to him right now. He did identify Leath’s picture. The sheriff’s artist put out an updated drawing of him with the brown beard and hair. The man said he was the one who gave him money to go buy the weapons.”