Home For a Cowboy Christmas(41)

“It’s okay. Stay here,” he whispered.

He walked from the feed room, sliding the door shut behind him. Emmy backed up, her gaze locked on the door.

“What’s up, Carlos?” Dwight said from the other side of the wall.

Emmy’s heart pounded as she waited for the answer. She couldn’t make out Carlos’s words. The only thing that kept her semi-calm was the fact that Dwight seemed to know Carlos. Otherwise …

She stopped. Otherwise, what? What would she do? Run? The only place for her to run was the mountains, which would be tantamount to suicide since she knew nothing about surviving out in the wild. A wilderness that included bears, wolves, and mountain lions.

Emmy jerked when the door opened, and Dwight’s form filled the entrance. She breathed a sigh of relief. Without a word, he walked to her and enveloped her in his arms.

“It’s all right. It was one of my hands,” Dwight said.

“I was so scared.”

“You’re still shaking.”

Emmy pulled back to look up at him. “Is he gone?”

“Yes. Do you want to stay out here, or would you rather go back inside?”

“Inside.”

“I’ll take you,” he said and linked his hand with hers.





Chapter 20


Orso smiled as he put his gun back into the holster. He didn’t give the dead body at his feet another thought as he walked out of the office and got into his car. He opened his glove box and pulled out the Montana map.

After finding his current location, he scanned the area, looking east—the direction the owner of the storage facility had said he saw Emmy and the marshal head right after Orso had promised not to kill him. Orso pulled the small notebook he used to write notes out of his coat pocket. The marshal drove anywhere from three to six hours before exchanging vehicles.

Orso turned his attention to the map once more and calculated how far that would be on the map. After drawing a circle with a compass to accurately depict a radius, Orso realized the territory he would need to search was massive and included many mountains.

He had to start somewhere, however. Luckily, much of Montana was uninhabited. Towns were small and set far apart. It would mean a lot of driving time for Orso, but he wouldn’t be searching huge cities like Denver.

The map showed a few small towns within the three-hour radius heading east. He’d begin there. If he didn’t locate Emmy, he’d expand his search. He started his car and backed out of the parking space. He looked both ways to make sure traffic was clear before pulling out onto the road.

Once he set the cruise control to ensure that he didn’t go over the speed limit, Orso called Tony. The phone barely rang twice before someone answered, the voice coming through the car speakers.

“Tell me you have good news.”

“I’m heading east.”

Tony’s voice held a bite when he said, “That isn’t good news.”

“I located where the marshal picked up his next vehicle and got a direction. I’d say that’s good news.”

“If you haven’t found her yet, then it’s bad news.”

Orso tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “They crossed state lines. Four times. For all I know, they drove through Montana and headed south. I’m doing my job.”

“Not fast enough,” Tony snapped. “Do you have any idea what the date it is?”

“Of course I know.”

“We barely have any time left before the trial.”

Orso clenched his teeth. “I know very well the time.”

“Then you need to work faster. The woman should’ve been dealt with already.”

“And she would’ve been had Joe sent me the first time instead of his cousin.”

Tony snorted. “I happen to agree with you, but I’m not going to tell Joe that. Are you?”

Orso remained silent.

“Look, Joe isn’t in a good way here. Other things are going on. We all assumed at least this would be over by now.”

“I’m out here working alone, Tony. I can only do so much. But the one thing I can assure you is that I will find her.”

“Before or after the trial?”

Orso slowly released a breath, bringing his rage under control.

“If it’s after, don’t bother coming home,” Tony said.

“Is that a threat?”

“It is. Joe has paid you well for your services in the past.”

Orso bared his teeth as his fury intensified. “And I’ve been loyal to him, just as I was with his uncle.”

“Then do your fucking job because if Joe goes to prison because you failed to do what was required, you won’t have a home to come back to.”

The call disconnected.

“Bold threat from someone who won’t be running the family,” Orso said to himself.

He didn’t take threats of any kind lightly. If Emmy eluded him until the trial for some reason, he would still finish his job and take her life. Then, he would find Tony and let him know what he thought of his threats.





Chapter 21


Dwight glanced at the house as he walked around to the barn. Emmy had told him repeatedly that she was fine, but he had felt her shaking. He knew how upset she had gotten when Carlos showed up. They had been having such a good time until then. He hoped it didn’t spoil things for Emmy getting out of the house again.