Page 48 of Rawhide and Ransom

“I know, but?—”

“Let him do his job.” He stopped her with an upraised hand. “There’s nothing else he’d rather be doing. No one else he’d rather be protecting. He was honored that the tribal council chose him for the task.”

“Well, I’m honored that he said yes.” Like Running Bear, she shaded her eyes to watch Miley and Hawk at work in their booth.

Hawk had his back to Miley, talking on his cell phone. A customer wearing a gray hoodie and jeans was bent over the table directly in front of Miley, examining the row of wallets on display there.

Though Hawk was within spitting distance of her daughter, Annalee didn’t like the fact that the customer in the gray hoodie had their hood pulled up. She also didn’t like the fact that Miley seemed less animated than usual. She was just standing there, staring wide-eyed at the customer.

“Please assure me they put every customer through a metal detector on their way into the parking lot,” Annalee gritted between her teeth. So help her, if Hoodie Person was giving her daughter a hard time…

“We do not.” Running Bear glanced her way in surprise. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Have you ever seen the person browsing through Miley’s products?” Annalee squinted their way, trying to make out the details, and decided it was a woman beneath the gray hoodie. Definitely a woman.

Running Bear shaded his eyes again to take another look. “I’m gonna need to see her face before I answer that.”

Annalee tried to tug him in the direction of the booth, but he dug in his heels. It would’ve been easier to uproot a tree stump.

“Let her test her business skills, Mother Bear.” Running Bear’s voice was mildly chiding. “Hawk is right there. He won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

She bit down on her lower lip. “He’s not even looking at her.”

“He doesn’t need to be.” Running Bear nudged her in the opposite direction. “He has eyes in the back of his head.”

Unfortunately, Annalee didn’t. She had to keep craning her neck and twisting her body around to keep her daughter in sight. “We should go check on her,” she pleaded after a few minutes. It seemed to her that the woman in the hoodie was purposely keeping her back to Hawk, and Miley’s body language still looked off. “I think I know my daughter well enough to know when something is wrong.”

Running Bear stopped walking and pivoted with Annalee back toward the booth he’d been trying to distract her from.

The mysterious woman was gone, and Miley was jumping up and down. She waved both arms in the air, as if trying to get someone’s attention.

“Mom!” Her shriek carried all the way across the parking lot, turning heads.

Annalee didn’t hesitate. She yanked her hand from Running Bear’s arm and broke into a sprint, drawing more curious stares.

Hawk looked up as she reached Miley and threw her arms around her.

Miley hugged her back so tightly that she had trouble breathing. “You’re not gonna believe what just happened.”

“Who was that woman?” Annalee demanded, holding her daughter at arm’s length. “The one in the gray hoodie. Who was she?” She glanced up at Hawk, including him in the question.

“It washer!” Miley’s words tumbled all over themselves. “She introduced herself as my Aunt Mirabelle, and I didn’t doubt it for a second. She looks just like you, Mom!”

Annalee’s knees started to shake. Her greatest fear had come true. The woman trying to harm them had come within inches of her precious daughter. She opened her mouth to say something, but a whimper of alarm was the only sound that came out.

She coughed and tried again. “Why didn’t you call the police, hon?” They’d gone over this a million times. The danger the two of them were in was no joke.

Miley pinned her with a beseeching look. “Because she asked me not to!”

Annalee’s eyes widened with indignation. “Miley Dakota! This isn’t the time to be a rebellious teenager, for pity’s sake. Your safety is at stake.”Mine, too. And probably Hawk’s.

Miley slapped her hands down on her skinny hips. “She told me she was innocent of all that stuff people are accusing her of, and I believed her.”

“Oh, Miley,” Annalee groaned.

Her daughter’s expression grew mutinous. “Don’toh, Miley me, Mom! Just listen to me, will you? I’m the same kid you taught how to be a hard target. The same kid who always played in the center of the playground and never went anywhere alone at night. I’m also the same kid you taught to think for herself and make her own decisions, and I decided a few minutes ago that my Aunt Mirabelle wasn’t here to harm me or anyone else. She asked me to tell you that, so that’s what I’m doing. I’ll tell the same thing to the police, if you want. I’ll put it in writing. I’ll?—”

Annalee shushed her by throwing her arms around her and hugging her again. “Just tell us what happened. Every detail.”

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