Page 53 of Some Cowgirls are Worth Protecting

“You think we’ll find anyone willing to pay as much as them?”

“Not likely. They come from money. You can tell by the way the guy talks. It’s in his voice,” the smoker slurred. “He demands respect.”

“Yeah, but don’t you feel like he couldn’t care less if something happened? What if we’d been caught?”

The smoker laughed as he extinguished his cigarette into the nearby ashtray. “We’re too smart for that. It’s the reason we’ve gotten so good at what we do.” He turned his head in Hudson’s direction, but Hudson dipped his head down to avoid being seen.

The things these guys were talking about were too vague for Hudson to be able to connect with the string of issues out at Rachel’s property. He would have to follow them and dig a little deeper. The worst thing he could do was find the wrong guys, then have word get out that he was looking for people so he could turn them in.

He strained his ears to hear the group, but when he couldn’t get anything, he glanced up only to find that they had left.

Shooot! How had they slipped out without Hudson hearing their chairs and the thuds of their boots?

It was the blasted music that played in the bar. While he’d been able to drown out most of it while he eavesdropped on conversations, it was the one thing that drowned out the other basic sounds from a bar in this part of Colorado.

Hudson swiveled around, but the men weren’t in the building. They weren’t at the billiards table nor at the darts. They’d up and left entirely.

Shoot, shoot, shoot! How was he going to follow them and see what they were up to if he didn’t know who they were or where they lived? For all he knew, they didn’t even live in this town. What if they were passing through?

This was the epitome of one step forward and two steps back.

He shoved away from the bar and threw down a twenty. If he wanted to find these guys, his best bet would be to come back again and again until they showed.

Hudson’s sour mood followed him all the way to the camper trailer he had set up in a nearby abandoned parking lot. He marched up to the small living space and climbed inside, his disappointment heavier than it had been in days.

One by one, he pulled off his boots, then climbed onto the full mattress, locked his hands behind his head, and stared at the plain, fiberglass ceiling. If Rachel knew what he was up to, he knew exactly how she’d respond. She’d tell him it was too dangerous and that he needed to come home. Thankfully, she seemed to only be aware that he needed his space from her—from everything that had happened.

He missed her more than he would have missed his beating heart. The empty ache he felt had only continued to grow with each passing day. It didn’t help that he had left Odin behind. The dog had whined when Hudson had told him to stay on the porch.

Take care of Rachel. That’s what Hudson had told the animal, and some part of him believed that Odin knew what that meant. The dog didn’t follow him to his truck. He didn’t bark and make a scene. It was just that squeaky whine.

Odin shrank in Hudson’s rearview mirror as he drove away from the house.

Who had become the bad guy now?

Hudson, that’s who.

He’d done the one thing he’d sworn he never would. Not only had he left Rachel, but he’d left the one creature whose loyalty was his only weakness. Hudson didn’t doubt that the dog would have followed him to the ends of the earth if Hudson had allowed it.

Closing his eyes didn’t help detract from the betrayal Hudson felt he’d bestowed on the two individuals who mattered most to him. He was never going to live this down.

But he wasn’t the only one to blame. Rachel had left. Perhaps she hadn’t left physically, but she’d left mentally long before Hudson had. She’d already gotten it in her mind to run away from things when they got hard.

Hadn’t he said that would happen? He’d even tried to prepare himself for it. Hudson had told himself that Rachel was no good because she was just like her sister, and both of them were capable of leaving just like anyone else—more so because of their background. Athena was a runner out of necessity. Rachel was one due to her upbringing.

The endless number of wealthy people who were willing to quit when things got hard was ridiculous. Unfortunately, Rachel had lumped herself into that group.

Hudson rolled over onto his side and stared at the darkened wall, his thoughts shifting once more to those cowboys in the bar. Maybe he should head back to the bar and ask about them. If they were regulars, then he’d have a better starting point. He sat up. Duh, why hadn’t he thought of that before?

Before he could get to the door, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket to see Mateo’s number filling the screen. That was a new one. Was something wrong with Odin? Hudson shot to his feet, his worry flooding his stomach. Without a second thought, he answered the phone.

“Please tell me you’re not calling about the dog.”

There was a brief silence, and then Rachel’s quiet voice came through as if she was standing right beside him. “Hudson, you should come home.”

“Has something happened?” he demanded. “Are you hurt?”

“Well, no, but?—”

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