“Rachel, I agree with Falcon,” Cheyenne said. “And not because I doubt you’re tough, but we really need you to make it, and we need you to get back here. When Wyatt gets evidence against Hawkins, unless he just shoots him or drags him to the sheriff, we need someone who knows the details of your investigation and how you’ve tied him to the deaths of three women. We can explain it, but Sheriff Corly isn’t likely to take our secondhand account of things. We need you here.”

“Didn’t you take off alone in the wilderness a few weeks ago?” Rachel arched a brow at Cheyenne. “And apparently Wyatt didn’t think twice about it except regretting you were upset.”

“That’s different.”

Shaking her head, Rachel said, “That’s the same.”

“Kevin, just tell Rubin I’ve gone back to my cabin with Falcon.” Cheyenne looked at Rachel. “But I can’t be gone one minute more than necessary. We’ll ride out as soon as the ranch settles for the night.”

“You’ll reach White Rock by morning,” Win said. “Then send the wire and turn around and ride back. It’ll be after dark by the time you get home. One day. Rachel shouldn’t be gone a minute longer than necessary, either. And if you’ve got a letter to write, you’d better write it now.”

The man listened at the window, noting every detail. Then he slipped away and got a message sent as he’d been instructed.

They thought their trip would be made in secret. They thought that stranger hiding in their house was still a secret. But he knew everything, and so did the man who was paying him.

Finally, Molly set her lantern in the window, her signal for Wyatt to come, and he hurried across the shadows on the snow-covered yard and climbed in through Molly’s window.

After his first night examining the account books, and after the way Hawkins had tried to get Molly to come to his room, Wyatt came over every night as soon as the lights went out.

He wasn’t leaving Molly alone in that house—it was hard enough in the daytime but impossible at night.

He couldn’t search every night. It was too exhausting, considering the long, hard days he was working, trying to clean up the horrible mess around the ranch. But he came over and slept.

The ridiculous house was so large, he could’ve taken over the whole third floor, half the second, and the cellar if he’d wanted. Hawkins never went in most of the house. But Wyatt picked a place close to Molly. He’d picked a pantry near Molly’s rooms, laid a pallet of blankets on the floor, and slept in there.