Page 30 of The Trail Boss

But he forced himself to stand, breaking the moment before it could go any further. She needed time and space. “Get some rest,” he said, his voice gruff. “We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Roxie nodded, her eyes lingering on him as he turned and walked back into the house.

As Gavin stepped into the dimly lit hallway, he could feel his teeth grinding. Those who were behind this had made a grave mistake coming after Roxie.

Because now, they were going to answer to him.

When he re-entered the war room, it was alive with quiet energy. Papers were spread across the large oak table, along with a laptop projecting a digital timeline onto the wall. Gavin stood at the head of the table, his sharp gaze scanning the details they’d managed to compile. The team had been working hard to connect the dots that painted an increasingly grim picture.

“Jeremiah’s first debt to Carter Dugan was recorded three years ago,” Reed said, gesturing to the timeline. “It started small—poker games, probably—but within a year, he was in deep.”

“Deep enough for Dugan to start applying pressure,” Jesse added, leaning back in his chair. “My guess? Dugan saw Jeremiah as a way to launder some money or gain access to Albright family assets.”

“And when Jeremiah died?” Gavin asked.

“Dugan didn’t care,” Hawke said, tapping a pen against his notebook. “The debt doesn’t die with the man. It shifts to whoever’s left holding the bag. In this case, Roxie.”

Gavin’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he absorbed the implications. “So, Dugan’s crew goes after her perhaps with her in-law’s blessing or worse, at their behest. All the while Kessler is siphoning off the estate to cover his tracks, while the Albrights turn a blind eye.”

Reed nodded. “Kessler likely figured no one would notice with Roxie overwhelmed by the in-laws’ smear campaign. But when that wasn’t enough to shut her up…”

“They escalated,” Gavin finished grimly.

Gavin caught sight of Roxie lingering near the doorway, her arms crossed and a hesitant look in her eyes. She’d been standing there for a while, watching quietly, as if debating whether to step in or stay out of the way. He could tell she was drawn to the room—the energy, the unspoken rhythm of teamwork and camaraderie that came so naturally to him and his men but might have felt entirely foreign to her.

“Come in,” he said, his voice low but inviting.

She hesitated before stepping forward, her hands fidgeting at her sides. “You’re really going all out for this, aren’t you?”

Gavin leaned against the edge of the table, his arms crossed. “You think we’d do anything less?”

Roxie looked around the room, her eyes landing on the timeline and the tangled web of connections they’d laid out. “It’s just… a lot. For me. For someone you barely know.”

“Doesn’t matter how well we know you,” Reed said, his voice steady. “Someone’s targeting you, and that’s all the reason we need.”

Roxie’s throat tightened, and she looked down, her fingers brushing against the edge of the table. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I can’t say that enough.”

Gavin stepped closer, his presence grounding her. “You don’t have to thank us, Roxie. Just let us do our job.”

She looked up at him then, her eyes searching his face. “It’s more than a job to you, isn’t it?”

Gavin’s lips pressed into a thin line, his silence confirming what she already suspected.

“Gavin,” Reed interrupted, his voice breaking the charged moment between them. “You might want to see this.”

Gavin turned, his focus snapping back to the screen. Reed pointed to a highlighted entry in the financial records they’d uncovered.

“One of Kessler’s offshore accounts shows a recent deposit from a shell company. We just got back the results from the deep trace—it’s one of Dugan’s operations,” Jesse said.

“Payment for services rendered,” Dawson guessed.

“Or to fund the next attack,” Gavin said darkly.

The room fell silent, the weight of his words settling over the team like a heavy fog. Gavin turned to Roxie, his protective instincts flaring as he saw the worry flicker across her face.

“Hey,” he said, stepping toward her. “We’re ahead of them now. We know their playbook.”

Roxie nodded, though her shoulders remained tense. “What’s the next step?”

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