Page 21 of Montana Rain

“Thank you,” I said. “Take care of yourself.”

I hung up and kept scrolling through the stories. The woman—the murder victim—wasn’t someone I recognized. Regardless, if this was what Rayne was worried about, I needed to speak with her. Chicago wasn’t my home, but I’d been there long enough to know these people were serious, and you didn’t mess with them, even by accident.

Lena was still swamped when I left, but she threw me a wave. I was sure Jude would know I was here today. And if Lena told him I’d been on the phone, it would back up my story.

Stop it.

I needed to stop acting like I had something to hide. None of the guys at the ranch would care about Rayne and me. Some of them already knew about my interest. These people weren’t out to get me, and acting like it wasn’t going to endear me to them.

It was a hard habit to break.

Rayne’s office was close. If she wasn’t in a session, I would see if she was willing to talk to me. I was risking her anger, but perversely, it made me smile. When Rayne was pissed at me, she wasn’t pushing me away, and that was only a good thing.

My heart dropped when I saw her office. Yellow police tape crossed over the door with a uniformed officer at the entrance. His car sat on the curb. Pure terror ran through me. Had she gone straight to her office after she left the ranch? In that case, it hadn’t been too long.

I put the truck in gear, passing the officer before accelerating. Rayne had my number. I didn’t have hers. There was no way for me to call her and ask what was going on, but I needed to know if she was okay. I needed to know if she was safe.

I barely slowed down, speeding through the roads to where Rayne’s house was, slamming to a stop in front, where more police cars were parked. There was no breath in my chest.

Part of my mind was screaming that I didn’t have a right to be here, and I wasn’t smiling anymore at the thought of Rayne’s anger. All I needed to know was if she was safe. Because this thing between us had barely started to bloom, and already, I knew losing her would destroy me.

Chapter 10

Rayne

“I’m sorry about this.”

I blew out a breath and watched Charlie flip over the cover of his notepad and put it away. “Not like you’re the one who vandalized my office, Charlie.”

“No, but I’m still sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll get—” The pounding on my front door interrupted him. Probably one of the ranch crew. Things didn’t stay secret in Garnet Bend for long.

I went to the door and opened it, my whole body freezing when I saw Cole leaning against the frame, heaving in breath like he’d been running, eyes wild.

“Cole?”

Stepping aside, I let him in as Charlie approached. I walked outside with the sheriff, pulling the door closed. “Like I was saying, we’ll get the techs in there as quickly as possible and everything dusted so you can get things back to normal.”

“Thank you, Charlie.”

“I’ll keep you posted.” Then he looked behind me at the door. “You okay here?”

I smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

He headed to his cruiser, and I noted the haphazard way Cole’s truck was parked against the curb. Had he sped to get here? What was going on?

Cole stood in the entryway, looking out the front window. “What are you doing here, Cole?”

“Why are the police here?”

“Just routine checkup about some things.”

“Really?” Cole’s voice went dark, eyes intense as he stepped toward me. “You’re going to play that game with me?”

I shook my head. “What game?”

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