Page 30 of The Cowboy's Promise

But it had been worth the wait.

Now he knew where the girl lived, and he had just enough time to give Courtney the good news.

* * *

Staring at the clock, knowing visiting hours were about to end, Courtney was trying to control her growing agitation when Joe walked through the door.

“Thank God! Where the hell have you been?” she whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of the deputy in the hall.

“Sorry, I had to wait for that stupid girl to leave the ranch,” he said softly, standing at her bedside. “The good news is, she didn’t go anywhere. I mean, she didn’t make any stops on the way to her place or I would never have made it here in time. Anyway, it’s easy to find. The house is set back, and there’s a detached garage in front. She lives above it.”

“She lives above a garage? What a peasant,” Courtney muttered. “Are the stairs inside the garage or—”

“No, no, outside. She parked her truck in a carport then walked around it and up the steps from behind.”

“What about lights?”

“There’s one in the carport and one shining onto the staircase. They both went on automatically when she drove in.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Could you tell if the door leading into her place can be seen from the house?”

“Maybe, but it was pretty dark before those lights went on.”

“Perfect,” Courtney said with a satisfied sneer.

“I’m still not sure about—” Joe began, but a knock on the door cut him off.

“Excuse me, visiting hours are over,” a young nurse declared, stepping in with a glass of water and a tiny paper cup. “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave now.”

“I understand,” he replied cordially. “Courtney, you get your rest and I’ll be back tomorrow. Sorry I wasn’t able to get here sooner.”

“Hey, you got here and that’s what matters.”

As Joe kissed her on the cheek and left, Courtney had trouble suppressing a wide smile.

“How are you feeling?” the nurse asked, walking up and handing her the glass and the tiny cup holding two pills.

“Still a bit dizzy when I stand up, and my stomach doesn’t feel good. Not as painful as it was when I first got here, but something’s not right. When will the doctor have my test results?”

“Probably tomorrow afternoon, but if the lab isn’t too busy he’ll get them in the morning.”

“It can’t be soon enough,” Courtney said, taking the glass and holding out her other hand for the pills. But popping them into her mouth, she held them under her tongue as she took a drink.

“I’ll be back to turn off the lights in a bit,” the nurse said. “Do you want any more magazines?”

“No, thanks. In fact, you can turn the lights out now. I’m really tired and I need to close my eyes.”

But the moment the nurse left Courtney spat out the pills, made her way to the bathroom and flushed them down the toilet.

“You’re all such morons,” she muttered, padding back to her bed. “This is so easy it’s laughable.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

As Heather drove to the Moonshine Campground she kept checking the rearview mirror. Grateful it was only a short distance and there were no headlights behind her, she pulled into the parking area, hurried into the restaurant and headed straight into the cashier’s office. It was easy to find the order for the Spanish Omelette, and she quickly called Blake.

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