Page 68 of River Wild

He was still sitting there holding the phone when the guard came to take him back to his cell. He’d known seeing her would upset him. He hated her and loved her. He knew he’d done wrong, but when she’d turned on him... He still tasted that bitterness after all these months.

“That your mother, huh?” the guard asked with a chuckle as they reached his cell.

“I have no idea who that woman was,” he said, stepping in and letting the door slam behind him.

HOLDENSAWTHATBailey had sent over the original list of ranchers he’d invited to the barbecue. It would take a few days to get the invitations out and a few more to get the RSVPs back. Some ranchers wouldn’t respond. Bailey and Stuart seemed to think that the announcement of their engagement would get the man who’d attacked his daughter to attend.

Elaine had been shocked when he told her about the barbecue. “Isn’t it risky this time of year with the weather changing?” she’d asked. When she’d seen that the event was only two weeks away, she demanded, “What’s the rush?”

“The weather,” he’d snapped back, and felt her knowing gaze on him.

“I need some time to get everything ready.”

“Bailey has already lined up a caterer,” he’d said without looking at her. “Hire all the help you need to get the house and property ready. Just make sure they are all finished by the day of the barbecue and gone.” At her silence, he turned to see if she was still in the room. She was. She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“What is going on, Holden?”

“A barbecue. I thought I made that clear.”

His even more clipped tone didn’t stop her in the least. “I’ve known you all my life. You think I don’t know when something is going on?”

“Elaine, please. Just do this for me, and no more questions.”

“I can see how upset you are,” she said. “This isn’t just about an engagement party, is it?” He gave her a don’t-ask-any-more-questions look. “Fine, I’ll do my part, but I’m going to be watching you, Holden.”

“I’d prefer you watched Bailey,” he said, then started to turn away. This woman knew him too well. She would weasel it out of him if he wasn’t careful. He’d already said too much. “By the way, have you heard if Charlotte is back at her ranch?”

“I believe she is, but you could drive over and see for yourself,” Elaine said. For years she’d encouraged him to mend fences with Charlotte and end the long-standing feud between their families. He’d been shocked to learn that Elaine and Charlotte had some kind of old friendship.

“I have too much to do getting ready for this barbecue, but after that...maybe I will,” he said, and left the house. Bailey’s confession, her so-called engagement to the sheriff, and now this barbecue had him where he couldn’t eat or sleep. It also had him out walking the property at all hours. There were no old cabins left standing. No place for this monster to take her, he told himself.

He couldn’t believe he was being asked to invite the man back here. He told himself there had to be another way, even as he remembered that his daughter had been looking for the man for twelve years. Twelve years!

Holden knew he would do what Bailey asked. He owed her. He’d let his daughter down last time. He wouldn’t this time. He checked out where vehicles would be parked. The sheriff had suggested valet parking so no one could leave without someone knowing it.

He would put Pickett in charge of parking since he trusted him with his life. He didn’t know what more he could do. But even as he thought it, he questioned how he could play host at this barbecue, pretending his daughter wasn’t using herself as bait for a killer. Any one of the ranchers he’d known most of his life could be the one who’d assaulted and tried to kill Bailey.

The thought turned his blood to ice and made him question if he’d ever known his neighbors in this river basin.

But his biggest fear was that he wouldn’t be able to stop the bastard from succeeding this time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

PICKETTHADALWAYSthought of himself as a nonviolent person. But last night, it took everything in him not to go find Buck and beat some sense into him. The only thing that had stopped him was Holly Jo’s reassurance that Buck hadn’t hurt anything more than her feelings

Still, he wanted to kick the kid’s butt. He knew he couldn’t, that it would only make things worse for Holly Jo. Instead, he’d stayed cool. He’d gone to the school, and there was she was, waiting outside. One of the chaperones must have seen her waiting and had also waited nearby in her car as if she’d known that Holly Jo was embarrassed and wanted to be alone. He’d found her sitting on the front step of the school.

It had broken his heart, but he’d done his best to hide it from her.

He’d waved to the chaperone and they’d driven home in silence. Holly Jo curled against the door most of the way home until he’d gotten her to open up to him. Pickett had really believed that after Holden had paid the Savages a visit, Buck wouldn’t dare act up. He’d been wrong.

“I’m sensing that you don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

“You think?”

“I know you want us all to put the kidnapping behind us so you can. We’re trying.” He’d glanced over at her. “But it’s hard. We all worry about you.”

“Because you think I’m going to get kidnapped again?”

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