The New Cowboy

“I’ve seen that strength. She’s already become a mother to her own half brother. Sadie has a remarkable capacity to love. Jarod relies on that love. It’s really touching to watch the two of them.”

The wistfulness in her tone wasn’t lost on Zane, who couldn’t take the separation from Avery much longer.

“I’m afraid I need to get off now. Grandpa is waiting for me.”

No-o—

Zane felt exactly like Ryan. “I guess I’ll be seeing all of you on the Fourth of July for the big family get-together.”

“It’ll be fun. I’ve enjoyed talking to you, Zane. Hold on while I tiptoe to Ryan’s room. Sadie will want to say good-night.” There was a slight pause. “Take care,” she said with a throb in her voice he felt go through his system. It was always there...that little nuance of emotion that told him she missed him, but she’d never admit it.

“The same back to you, Avery.”

* * *

ANOTHER MONDAY MORNING, but it had started out with a surprise phone call that left Avery Bannock frightened and tense. She’d had to leave the Crow Indian dig site where she was working outside Absarokee, Montana, and drive all the way to Bozeman, Montana.

Once inside the police department on Sixteenth Street, she approached the sergeant at the front desk. “A Detective Rymer phoned me two hours ago and asked me to come in because he needed to tell me certain information in person. He said it was urgent.” After hearing that message, the warm June morning she’d awakened to had been lost on her.

The officer nodded. “Go down the left hall to the first door on the right.”

“Thank you.”

She hadn’t been inside this building for eight years, but the emergency that had brought her here would haunt her for her entire life. “Detective Rymer?”

He stood up when she entered the small office. “Ms. Bannock?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad you came so fast.” He shook her hand and asked her to be seated. “Detective Palmer, who has worked tirelessly on your case, is having back surgery at the moment and asked me to take over for him.”

“Was he injured in the line of duty?”

“No. He has a recurring ailment that needed to be fixed.”

“I’m glad that’s the reason, but I’m sorry for him. He’s been a great support to me.”

“To you and a lot of people. We’re all waiting for him to come back.”

“You said this was urgent?”

“Very. I’ll get right to the point. The man who assaulted you on September 10, eight years ago, outside the women’s dormitory on campus at Montana State University, was captured in Helena, Montana, last week.”

What? She reeled. “Is that the truth?”

“Forensics matched his DNA with the DNA taken from you and two other victims.”

Two others? She shuddered. “I can’t believe it! After eight years...”

“I’m sure it has seemed like a lifetime. He’s a thirty-nine-year-old Caucasian male from Butte, Montana. In the past eight years he’s been responsible for two other assaults that the police know of and probably many more.

“Unfortunately those victims who didn’t go to a hospital and notify the police will never know that he’s been arrested. After his trial he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison. If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that you no longer need to fear that he will be back to assault you again.”

She put a hand to her mouth and jumped up from the chair. “Thank God.”

“All the particulars are here in the report if you want to look at it.”

“No—” she said. “Not right now. I couldn’t.” Though she’d promised that she would be willing to testify against the person if he was ever brought to trial, the thought of having to divulge all the details again in front of a room full of people made her ill.

He eyed her with compassion. “I understand. Detective Palmer will want to talk to you when he’s recovered. He’ll be the one to keep you informed when the suspect is brought to trial for his crimes. You can discuss all that with him when he’s back on his feet.”

“Thank you.”

Avery rushed out of the office and down the corridor to the front lobby, but everything was a blur. When she reached her truck in the parking lot and climbed inside, she broke down in a convulsion of tears.

A half hour passed before she lifted her head, once again aware of her surroundings. Pulling herself together as best she could, she reached for her cell phone and called Dr. Moser, her psychologist. When she got the other woman on the line and told her the incredible news, the doctor who practiced on the other side of town asked her to come to her office straightaway.

Once inside, Dr. Moser enveloped her in a fierce hug, causing Avery to shed more tears when she hadn’t thought it possible. “I don’t have to be frightened that he’s stalking me any longer.”

“That’s true and takes away a whole world of stress.”

Avery sat down. “But not all of it,” she admitted.

“No. With two other victims, there will be a trial and then you’ll have to decide if you want to go through it and face him. For now it’s enough to know he’s been caught. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. Only a small percentage of victims come forward. How wonderful that you listened to your half brother’s aunt and did the right thing by calling the police right away and getting to a hospital.”

One day Avery would thank Jarod’s Aunt Pauline for her wisdom. By listening to her, she now had closure, even if it had taken eight years for her assailant to be caught.

“You have a special kind of courage that’s going to get you through this life. Mark my words. One day you’re going to know real happiness again. With this news you can live your life without always having to look over your shoulder in fear. I’ll call the pharmacy in White Lodge and refill your prescription. Is there anything else I can do?”

“You’ve been here for me. I’ll always be thankful for that.”

Avery had been fighting to get her life back since the night the assault had happened, but this news was like receiving a “get out of jail free” card, even if it couldn’t take away the horrendous memory of it.

She thanked the doctor and left for the dig site. Work helped her keep her sanity, especially on a day like this when she didn’t know what to do with all the new emotions flooding her system. It was so automatic to worry that her assailant might try to attack her again that she’d probably continue to worry out of habit for a long time. Hopefully the news that he’d been caught would finally sink in.

All these years of fearing he would target her again had left their mark. Now that it was over, she could breathe a little deeper. But since there were other assailants out there, the fear would never completely go away.

Today had to be a new beginning—the start of a happy future—but she still couldn’t comprehend it. Happiness was found in all kinds of ways, but she feared that the kind of joy she longed for with the man she’d loved for the past year would always elude her. After talking to him over Skype at Sadie and Jarod’s ranch house the other night, her thoughts had been filled with him.

He was coming home for the Fourth of July, but it was just a vacation. Then he’d go back to northern Montana where he’d be unavailable for who knew how many months. But none of it mattered because even if he was attracted to her, he wouldn’t be able to handle what had happened to her if he ever found out.

* * *

THURSDAY MORNING, ZANE LAWSON left the Bureau of Land Management’s office of Law Enforcement and Security in Glasgow, Montana, where he’d been an undercover special agent, and headed for the parking lot. Once he’d climbed into his unmarked blue four-door Dodge Power Wagon without government plates, he started the engine and headed for Billings.

En route he phoned the Corkin ranch he’d bought a year ago near the Montana-Wyoming border. He needed to talk to his foreman, Matt Henson.

Matt and his wife, Millie, lived in the house next door to the Corkin ranch house. She did the housekeeping for Zane. They were both salt of the earth people. Since a little over a year ago when he’d first come to Montana from San Francisco with his stepniece, Sadie, and his nephew, Ryan, Zane had grown to look upon Matt and Millie as family.