“What’s the situation with Delaney and the security we need?” Kade asked Ellie as she finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes, with Turtle Farley pitching in to help. Kade had a hunch Turtle was infatuated with the pretty redhead. Fortunately, he was smart enough to know his interest wasn’t returned.

“Conn’s sending a team out today. They’ll need someone to show them around and find a place they can stay.”

“They can use the other guesthouse. I’ll talk to Slate, have him show the men around.” Kade left with the hands, talked to Wyatt about the day’s assignments, and returned to the ranch house.

“You ready to head out?” he asked Ellie.

“I just need to grab my gear, some food, and my weapon. I’ll be right back.”

Kade watched her walk away, her ponytail moving with the same tantalizing rhythm as her hips. Which returned his thoughts to the hot kiss in his study. Jesus, he couldn’t remember wanting a woman the way he did this one. Not even Heather. But he had been younger then, without much experience with women. In the years since his wife’s death, his sexual needs had changed. He was a man now, not the boy he had been back then.

A man who needed a woman, and the woman he wanted was Eleanor Bowman.

* * *

A weak sun lit the horizon by the time they all set out, Kade on Hannibal, his big buckskin, Ellie riding Painted Lady. She and the brown-and-white mare had already bonded. Ellie trusted the horse, and the horse trusted her. They made a good team, both of them spirited and unique.

The hands split up a half mile down the dirt road and headed off to tend herds grazing in different pastures. Wyatt led the way to the place the men had been working when Alejandro was shot, a grassy meadow surrounded by hills that rose to mountain peaks.

Kade didn’t like it. The pasture was way too close to the house.

“First the steers, then the mine, Smoke, and now one of the men. He’s getting bolder.”

Ellie nodded. “He escalating—or he’s trying to draw you out. Which is exactly what’s happening right now.”

A muscle tightened in Kade’s cheek. “Well, if that’s his plan, he’s in for a big surprise when I find the sonofabitch.”

“You need to be careful, Kade. There’s every chance he’s lying in wait somewhere to take you out.”

Kade studied Ellie from beneath the brim of his hat. She was right. She was smart and good at her job. He was paying her top dollar for her skills. Still, he hated the idea of putting her in danger.

Wyatt rode to a spot in the meadow and dismounted. “We were working right here.” He collected his horse’s reins. “Clearing a downed tree at the edge of the pasture.”