She was also half expecting gunfire to ring out. She had to wonder if this was all somehow connected. They’d decided the attacks on Kevin and Falcon were related to rustling and a devious plan to kill off the heirs in the midst of the confusion over Clovis’s will. But there were too many dry-gulchings. Too many cowards involved in this mess. It seemed like they’d wandered into a gang of outlaws who’d all learned the lowest of skills from each other.

Could Hawkins have known about the thieving? Could he somehow have been involved in it? Could those rustled cattle, a mix of his own Herefords and the Angus from the RHR, have been sent to that canyon with Hawkins’s knowledge?

It was too much to get in order right now. She had to get Rachel home, set Kevin up to guard her, then ride to find Wyatt and Molly and get them out of the Hawkins Ranch before something terrible happened.

Because whatever lies Wyatt had told to get the job, it was almost certain Hawkins knew there was suspicion cast on him. The attempt on Rachel’s life by Hawkins’s old friend Randall Kingston proved that.

They were a good stretch of the way home when they heard thundering hoofbeats approaching.

“That’s the direction of the Hawkins Ranch. Be alert.”

Falcon flashed her a huge smile, which was a simple reminder that her husband was always alert. Then he produced his gun with lightning speed and turned to watch who was coming up beside them.

“It’s Wyatt and Molly.” Falcon holstered his gun. “And Kevin and Win.”

Cheyenne, the reins of a plodding single horse well in hand, twisted around to look, and a huge smile broke over her face. “They’re leaving the Hawkins Ranch. They must be.”

The foursome caught up to Cheyenne.

“Rachel?” Win looked in the wagon, which never stopped its steady forward march.

Win’s brow furrowed with worry as Rachel struggled to sit up, then resigned herself to making the trip flat on her back. “What happened? Is she badly hurt?”

“We’ve got a lot to tell. We were going to get Rachel home, then come and get Wyatt and Molly out of Oliver’s clutches. Rachel’s been knocked unconscious, but she’s coming out of it, somewhat. We hope she’ll be all right.”

“And shot,” Falcon added.

“What?” Win shouted.

Grimly, Wyatt watched their back trail.

“Rachel had to write down the names of the missing women somewhere,” Molly said.

Falcon rode up beside her. “She didn’t carry much with her. But maybe she’s got notes tucked in her satchel.”

“We’ll look,” Wyatt said. “But unless we can find something, until we know names, and hopefully they’re the same names as what we found in Hawkins’s safe, I’m not sure what to do next.”

“You got in the safe?” Cheyenne kept driving.