Page 24 of Montana Freedom

“I shouldn’t.”

Liam shrugged. “Maybe not. But it’s probably better you do it now and satisfy the itch before the same itch makes you snap and do something you should do evenless.”

I shoved a hand through my hair. Fuck, he was right. Outside the lodge, I heard tires on dirt. If I was going to do it, it had to be right now. My resolve was formed before I registered pouring the coffee down the sink and striding to the door.

Liam laughed behind me, but I ignored him. I only wanted to make sure she was all right—and nothing more. That’s what I told myself as I jogged down the stairs to my truck, started it, and pulled out just as I glimpsed her turning left out of the gate.

The same direction she’d gone when she’d run on foot. At least she had some consistency there. I kept my distance, making sure I was far enough behind her she wouldn’t mark me following her.

Guilt was still churning in my gut, warring with the instincts tingling at the back of my neck. She’d hidden her memory from me already. I understood it, but it also raised questions I couldn’t answer. Maybe this would solve some of them.

It wasn’t long before she turned off the main road, but nowhere I recognized as being a driveway. No, if anything, this was a rough dirt path which headed up into the foothills and woods. I could just make out the ranch truck bouncing up the hill through the trees, and I waited.

Out here, following her would be a lot more obvious than on a main road. So I took my time guiding the truck up the barely visible path. It wasn’t long before I saw it. A well-hidden cabin, the truck sitting outside it, and nothing else.

An entire bucket of relief poured down on my head. I hadn’t known what to expect, but this must have been the cabin she’d found and stayed in. It was her home for six months and probably felt a lot more like home than the ranch. It made sense she’d want to come back here and spend some time alone.

Throwing the truck into reverse, I turned around and left. I didn’t need to know anything more than that, and I was glad it was something so innocent. Seeing the cabin didn’t entirely erase those tingling instincts, but then again, those had been going since the night I pulled her out of the cage and she disappeared. For all I knew, the extra awareness was because Simon, the leader of the Riders, had promised to take revenge on all of us and then disappeared.

Hopefully we wouldn’t have to wait forever for some kind of resolution.

With that in mind, I didn’t turn back into the ranch drive—I continued into town. It was time to talk to Charlie.

Though Charlie didn’t look particularly happy to see me. He sighed when they ushered me into the police chief’s office. “Daniel, I like you and your crew as people, but I’ll tell you something. I’m getting tired of y’all visiting with emergencies.”

I laughed and waved a hand. “No emergencies this time, promise. But I have something connected to the Riders.”

He perked up when I said it. “Well, in that case, I’m listening. That’s a puzzle I damn well want to solve, but as long as there aren’t any new puzzles for a while, okay?”

“We’ll do our best.”

Charlie finally cracked into a laugh. “This town has seen more excitement since you moved in than in the tenure of the last three police chiefs. And I’m not saying that as a compliment.”

“At least we’re not dropping trouble on your doorstep and leaving you to clean up the mess alone.”

“That’s true,” he sighed. “You guys can hold your own. What did you find?”

I paused, figuring out how best to say it. “Not a what. A who.”

Charlie’s eyebrows rose.

“Did you hear about a woman who collapsed in the grocery store parking lot a little less than two weeks ago?”

“Yeah, I heard about it. Caused quite the stir.”

“I happened to be in the parking lot. I caught her before she could smash her head on the pavement, and she outright refused to go to the hospital. So we brought Dr. Gold to the ranch, and she’s been staying with us. She finally told me she was the woman in the cage that night—the one beside Kate who disappeared into thin air.”

“No shit?”

“No shit,” I said with a laugh. “Her name is Emma. I don’t know if she’ll have anything useful, and she’s skittish as all get-out, but she said she’d be willing to talk to you. I don’t know how solid her answer will be if I have to bring her down here.”

He leaned back in his chair. “For the Riders? I don’t mind coming to you. When do you want me?”

“Whatever’s good for you.”

“Let’s do tomorrow afternoon. I’ll give you a call before I head over.”

I stood and shook his hand. “Sounds good. Thank you, and I promise Resting Warrior is doing its best to stay out of your hair.”

---