Page 153 of Dusty Spur Ranch Cowboys

Travis Mercer.

Every instinct tells me to turn around.

Every other instinct keeps me rooted where I am.

My grip tightens on the tree trunk as I watch Travis Mercer stand a few yards from Beau like they meet out here all the time.

“…getting impatient,” Travis says.

Beau shakes his head. “You need to disappear for a while. Everybody’s watching the ranch.”

“They’ve been watching from the start.”

“They found the missing inventory.”

Travis shrugs. “So they found it.”

“They’re asking questions.”

“We’re too close now.”

The breeze steals part of Beau’s reply, but I catch enough to hear, “…getting too risky…” before Travis cuts him off.

“You’ve lost your nerve.”

Beau closes the distance between them, throwing his hands out in frustration. “I’ve done my part.”

“You don’t quit now.”

I edge around the log, trying to catch the rest of the conversation, when my boot snaps a dry branch beneath the leaves.

The crack echoes through the trees.

Both men go still.

Beau turns toward the woods. “You hear that?”

Travis doesn’t answer. His gaze sweeps the tree line before he starts walking in my direction, and Beau falls in beside him.

“I saw movement,” Beau says.

I press myself flat against the trunk and stop breathing.

I slip behind the next pine just before Travis reaches the edge of the clearing and press myself against the rough bark, willing my heartbeat to settle before it gives me away.

He sweeps his gaze across the trees while Beau hangs back a few steps behind him, then Beau glances into the brush and says, “Probably a deer.”

Travis keeps looking long enough to make my stomach knot before he finally tears his eyes away and jerks his head toward the truck.

“Forget it.” Beau nods, and they turn back toward the clearing together.

“Yeah.”

They walk back to the truck.

I stay hidden until both doors slam and the engine fades down the trail. The second the truck disappears, I run.

Branches whip at my sleeves as I run for the side by side, my mind racing faster than my feet.