Page 88

‘I don’t care,’ Skye replied. ‘As long as she’s okay.’

‘You have any idea who’d do this to your horse?’ Ford asked as he prepped a syringe of what Skye assumed was a painkiller.

‘No.’ The lie came instantly.

Behind her, TJ made a low sound of warning in the back of his throat.

Skye tilted her head back to glare at him. ‘You don’t have a say in this.’

‘Think again,’ he replied, his eyes flashing dangerously.

‘While you two figure that out,’ Ford interrupted, ‘could you get me a bucket of clean warm water?’

TJ left to go and do Ford’s bidding.

Skye followed. ‘I don’t know who the hell you think you are,’ she spat at his back as he walked away.

TJ turned slowly. He faced her with his back straight and his eyes bleeding fury. ‘If you refuse to take the necessary steps to start getting these assaults on file, then I will.’

‘You don’t get to make decisions for me,’ Skye said, lowering her voice.

‘Maybe.’ He took one ominous step closer, sending her treacherous pulse into a full gallop. ‘But that doesn’t change the fact that I will do anything to make sure that fucker doesn’t hurt you. When the cops get here, this is going on file.’

‘I’ll never forgive you.’

TJ laughed bitterly. ‘Yeah, what else is new?’

He started to walk away again, and Skye’s panic took over. As angry as she was with him, she couldn’t let him talk to the cops. ‘It won’t work.’

The words stopped TJ in his tracks. He sighed, his shoulders drooping visibly. ‘Skye—’

‘No,’ she cut him off. She closed the distance between them, glared up into familiar green eyes. ‘This isn’t a bad movie, TJ. Holden is smart. He’ll have his whereabouts accounted for – he wouldn’t do the dirty work himself. He’ll act shocked and hurt and – worse – sad. He’ll spin a story about my mental health, and my medical history will affirm it. To top it all off, he’ll take his anger at me out on my mom.’

‘We have to do something,’ he insisted. ‘Otherwise, it’ll never end, Skye. You know that.’

‘It will – as soon as I cut him off. He’ll have no leverage and nothing to gain by harming me.’

‘And until then?’ TJ demanded hotly. ‘You’re just going to run? Constantly look over your shoulder and hope that the next time it isn’t you he takes a knife to?’ TJ leaned in close. ‘Not good enough.’

Skye gritted her teeth. ‘What else am I supposed to do?’

‘Either you accept that I’m along for the ride this season, and let me travel with you, or I tell the police what’s going on. It’s your choice, Skye. But pretending the threat isn’t real – running – is not the right way to handle this. Not anymore.’

Skye saw the trap – of course she did. Because it was expected, she muttered, ‘Motherfucker.’ But because she absolutely believed that he would talk to the cops, she said, ‘Fine.’

TJ’s eyes flashed with triumph.

Unwilling to let him have the last word, she added, ‘But you realize my season is over, right? I’ll have to turn out of tomorrow’s run. You heard Ford: Smokey’s out for at least three weeks. Even if I had another horse to run, the rodeo has started. It’s too late to submit a horse change form.’ The disappointment clawed through her, making her eyes burn.

TJ walked to her. His eyes bore into her face. ‘So, we submit a horse change for Colorado.’

‘Change between who?’ Skye asked, throwing up her hands.

‘Smokey for Kai.’

That took the wind out of her sails. ‘What?’

‘He’s patterned. He’s fast. He’s in shape.’ When she just stared at him, TJ shrugged. ‘Tia’s been training him.’