Page 10 of River Wild

“A couple of months off and on. Willow was falling for him. She didn’t care that he was a decade older than her.”

An older rancher. It wasn’t much to go on. “Can you think of anything else?”

Branson shook his head, tears in his eyes. “Willow was careful. She’d already had her heart broken. She had her whole life ahead of her.”

“Why did she come to Powder Crossing?” Stuart asked.

“To put the past behind her. Her fiancé from college had just gotten engaged. She needed to go to a place where no one knew her. I think she said she found the job posted on a bulletin board at a gas station in Miles City.”

“Are you going to be in town for a while?” the sheriff asked. “I know the state crime team will want to talk to you.”

CHAPTER FOUR

THESHERIFFWOKEto the sound of knocking on his front door. He glanced at his phone. Three a.m. Startled awake, then remembering the body at the river and realizing a killer was still out there, he hesitated. Pulling on his jeans, he grabbed his service weapon from the end table next to his bed before padding barefoot to the door.

To his relief, he found Bailey McKenna standing on his back step, facing away from him. He felt some of the fear dissipate and knew he’d had the dream again, because his body ached as if he’d been fighting off the stabbing. He took a breath, let it out and felt his heart rate drop a little. It was Bailey, not his almost-killer.

So why did his chest still ache? She seemed to be staring out into the darkness, but he could feel the tension coming off her body, smell the panic.

He thought about all the other times she’d shown up at his door, apparently just to visit. The night before had been different, and so was tonight. He remembered why he’d been so determined to find her earlier. It came back to him like a swift kick to the gut as she turned to gaze at him.

She looked as if she’d been in a fight with a mountain lion. “Bailey, what the hell?” he said on a ragged breath when he saw the scratches on her face, the black eye. He drew her into the house and into the light.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “You should have seen the other woman.”

He let out a curse. “Come on.” She protested as he closed the door and led her down the hall to the bathroom. “Sit.” He put down the toilet seat and nudged her onto it. “What happened to you?”

“I fell down.”

He shook his head. “Right. Before or after you were dragged through the dirt?”

She was silent as he got out the first aid kit and went to work. As he did, he took in her injuries, glad to see that they all appeared minor. She didn’t flinch as he cleaned the wounds and applied antiseptic to them. Most were scratches, some deeper than others, but there were bruises on her face as if she’d run into something hard.

He brushed back her long, curly, dark hair, his fingers grazing her cheek and making her flinch. “That should do it,” he said drawing his hand back. “Now tell me what really happened.” He busied himself by closing the first aid kit and putting it back into the cabinet.

While he’d been patching her up, he’d been concentrating on her injuries. But now the close confines of the small bathroom felt too intimate.

She looked up at him, her blue eyes luminous. The pain he saw there nearly dropped him to his knees. “Bailey—”

Rising abruptly, she shoved past him and out of the bathroom. He took a breath, his chest aching again, the memory of the dream hanging around like a bad smell. Being around her like this was killing him. He wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take. Once he resigned as sheriff, there would be nothing keeping him in Powder Crossing, he told himself. A bald-faced lie.

He turned to find her standing in the doorway and felt his heart break at the thought of walking away. But if he didn’t—

Her voice sounded strange as she reminded him, “You said you didn’t tell me everything about Willow.”

Stuart shook his head. “Bailey—”

“Just tell me.”

He met her gaze and felt his stomach drop. She already knew, but if she did... “She was assaulted.” He swallowed, fear running an icy finger down his spine as he saw that she was waiting for more. “She was raped, choked, tied up, and her body was disfigured.” The moment the words were out of his mouth he saw her reaction.

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded. “I have to go.” She rushed toward the door.

But she wasn’t fast enough this time. He grabbed for her arm and pulled her around to face him. “You aren’t going anywhere until you start telling me the truth,” he said, locking eyes with her as he tightened his hold. He told himself that there was no way he was letting her go back out into the darkness alone, not tonight, maybe not ever. But even as he thought it, he knew he couldn’t keep her here with him against her will—any more than he could force her to talk to him. She would do as she pleased, and there was nothing he could do to stop her. There had never been.

He tried a different approach. “Bailey, you wouldn’t have kept coming back here unless you needed my help.”

Her gaze softened. Her whole face did. “You think that’s the only reason I come here?” She took a step toward him, rocking up on tiptoe to press her mouth to his.

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