Page 21 of Montana Heat

“What was done to her car could’ve been deadly,” I continued. “At best, she might have gotten stranded. But if the weather had taken a turn for the worse and she’d done much more driving, it could’ve easily forced her off the road violently—impossible to recover from. In my opinion, someone was trying to kill her.”

“Fuck.” Liam was the one who muttered it, but it captured what all of us were feeling.

“All of this needs to be investigated further, and we need your help keeping an eye on Kenzie,” Lachlan said. “We don’t have the staff. I know you guys don’t know her, but Charlie said to tell you he’d take it as a personal favor.”

“For Charlie, we’re on it,” Daniel volunteered, and the other men nodded.

Relief flooded my system at Daniel’s words. There was no way I could keep an eye on Kenzie all by myself, plus run the garage. Not that it was my responsibility to keep her safe, but I knew I wasn’t going to abandon her to deal with whoever this stalker was herself.

Neither were the rest of the Resting Warrior Ranch guys. This was what they did.

Whatwedid.

“We’ll dig around with our sources and then fill you in if we find anything,” Daniel continued. “Then you guys can fill in the Denver detective as needed. Does that work foreveryone?”

“Agreed,” the guys all called out in unison.

The next hour was spent coming up with a plan to help Kenzie that would still allow us all to handle our normal daily duties here and in town. Daniel got the other Resting Warrior guys on speakerphone and filled them in.

Not a single one said they couldn’t help. None of them even asked for more info about Kenzie. They just knew one of their own was making a request, and that was enough.

“Can you look into the identity of the person who’s been DMing Kenzie threats?” Daniel asked Jude. On the Resting Warrior team, he had the most skill with computers.

“Sure, I’ve got some backdoor ways I can dig around. See what pops up,” Jude offered.

“I can help with that too,” Harlan volunteered.

I crossed my arms. “Sucks that the Denver PD is taking so long to investigate.”

“I doubt they’re being slow on purpose,” Lachlan said. “Watters is a good man. But we do have less crime here. And with you guys helping, we have more resources to expend.”

“That’s true,” Lucas agreed.

And it was. Hell, law enforcement aside, among the eight of them, we wouldn’t have any problem handling Kenzie’s safety, while the police handled the town and served as backup.

“Hey, what about Cole?” Liam chimed in. “We could use his skills.”

Daniel was already shaking his head before Liam finished talking. “He and Rayne aren’t back yet. Her conference lasts through the weekend, at least.”

“He’d be a good asset to have if we get stuck,” Noah pointed out. Cole had ties with the FBI.

The others nodded in agreement, and Daniel added, “Yeah, if we can’t figure this out before they get back, we’ll read him in when they return and see what he thinks.”

“Okay. It seems like you’ve got everything covered for now, and I can’t thank you enough for your help.” Lachlan stood. “I know this will be a weight off Charlie’s shoulders.

Everyone nodded. If they could take one small thing off the older man’s list, especially after all he’d done for them over the years, that was the least they could do. “I’ll leave you guys to it and head back to town.”

Daniel and Lachlan started walking to the door when Lachlan suddenly stopped and turned back to me. “One last thing. If you wouldn’t mind sharing your news with Kenzie about her car? It would probably be better coming from the mechanic in case she has questions. Let her know you’ve informed us, and Charlie will check in with her later.”

“Sure. No problem,” I agreed. I tamped down my excitement at the thought of seeing her again and turned back to the others and the planning while Daniel escorted Lachlan out.

“Jenson, I think you should serve as point bodyguard for Kenzie, if you don’t mind,” Daniel said when he came back in.

“Me?” I wanted it, but I wasn’t sure I was the best choice.

“You’ve got the security background, and you’re closest. And…I think you’re the most invested.”

There was that silence again, but now everyone looked at me with a variety of expressions, from raised eyebrows, smirks, and Liam’s boisterous laugh. They knew I was attracted to her, but no one wanted to call me on it right now.

---