Ranch Refuge

She didn’t seem convinced. “Whatever you say, Colton.” She turned to Laura. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

He envied what his friend Blake had with Miranda.

Compton had become a safe haven for Colton since leaving the Rangers. The quiet, laid-back lifestyle suited his needs. He had nearly everything he needed here, except someone to share it with. He was ready to settle down and start a family, and had been thinking about it more and more lately. But he doubted that would even be possible given his past.

He watched as Laura sorted through clothes on the rack. She was just the kind of woman he would choose to fall for if he could. She was beautiful and smart, and she was compassionate, too. He’d seen it when he’d trailed her, noticing her kindness toward her elderly neighbor. Even the way she’d bent and rubbed his old mutt this morning on the porch had touched his soul. Laura was a good person, a giver. And too many people had already taken more from her than she had to give.

She tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned over the rack to get a closer look at the tag. He got an up close view of her creamy white skin and long, graceful neck. She moved her head and caught him staring, but she didn’t look upset. Instead her pink lips lifted at the corners, then she turned back to the jeans’s tag.

He pulled his eyes away from her and tried to focus on something else. No sense pining after something he could never have.

He spotted a man looking their way and Colton’s radar went off. It was possible he was merely admiring Laura’s good looks. She was a fresh, new face in town, after all. But something about the man’s expression caught Colton’s attention. The man kept glancing at his phone, then curiously back at Laura.

He was probably overreacting. No one knew Laura was here. No one could know. Still, he led her away from that department and headed for the grocery aisle with the excuse that he needed to pick up a few things. She went willingly and didn’t argue.

As they approached the frozen foods section, Colton spotted the man again. This time he was peeking out from behind a freezer, his cell phone raised as if he were trying to get a photo of them.

“Wait right here,” Colton told her. He moved away from her and around the freezers. The man’s eyes never left Laura, further confirming for Colton that he was targeting her. He approached the man from behind, grabbed him by the shirt and yanked his phone from his hand.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the man protested.

Anger pulsed through him when he scanned the device and saw several photos of Laura on the man’s phone. “Why are you watching her?”

“I—I need the money. At first I thought it was nothing, but then when I saw her, I couldn’t believe it. I’m in deep. I need the money.”

“What are you talking about? What money?”

“The reward.” He motioned toward the cell phone. “It was posted this morning on one of the social media sites I’m on. I, of course, just scrolled on through it, but when I saw her...”

“Show me,” Colton demanded, then watched eagle-eyed as the man scrolled through his social media pages. He stopped when he found what he was searching for and showed it to Colton. “Here it is. Like I said, I couldn’t believe it was her.”

The image stopped his blood cold—a photo of Laura with the caption Have You Seen This Woman? There was a reward for anyone who could bring her home.

The message had been posted this morning by an account named Bring Laura Home. Colton saw that it had already been liked and shared many times.

Colton noted that the man hadn’t yet given away Laura’s location...and he wouldn’t.

He pocketed the phone. “You’ll forget about her if you know what’s good for you. Bother her again and I’ll make sure you regret it. Got it?”

The man nodded solemnly. He didn’t seem like a threat, just an opportunist, and that was what Randall had been hoping for by sending out that message.

He’d in essence placed a bounty on Laura’s head and Colton was sure there would be a line of people hoping to collect.

He sent the man on his way, then retrieved Laura. “We have to leave now.”

He grabbed her arm and led her away.

“Wait! What about the buggy?”

“Leave it,” he barked, hurrying her along.

Anger bit through him at his own foolishness. He’d let down his guard and placed Laura in a perilous situation. Protecting her should have been his first priority.

“What’s going on?” she asked in a low voice as they made it to the truck. “What happened back there?”

Fear tinged her features, making him feel like a heel for getting so worked up.

“It was probably nothing, but I’d rather not take the chance.”

She crawled into the truck. Colton scanned the parking lot and the front of the store, making certain the mystery man hadn’t followed them out. Satisfied he hadn’t, Colton slid into the truck, gunned the engine and roared away before anyone had the opportunity to follow.

* * *

Whatever had happened at the store had Colton shaken. She could see it in his tense muscles and the vein throbbing in his neck as he drove like a maniac. He didn’t let up on the accelerator until he pulled into the ranch and stopped the truck in front of the house.

“What happened back there?” Laura asked him again as they got out of the truck and walked inside.

He locked the door, then turned to her. “Someone was watching you.” He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to her. “He had this on him.”

She opened the phone and saw a message on the screen asking for information about her location and offering a reward. She gasped at the amount. Ten thousand dollars was a lot of money, but she supposed that was only a drop in the bucket, since her father still owed Randall close to fifty thousand dollars.

“It looks like Randall is reaching out to anyone who might know your whereabouts.”

“This man had my picture and he was watching us.” She swallowed hard. “Did he follow us there?”

“I don’t think so. I think he just happened upon us and recognized you from your photo.”

Her heart started pounding and fear crept into her soul again. It seemed Randall would do anything to get his hands on her.

“I thought you said I was safe, that no one knew I was here.”

“No one does and no one is going to know,” he rushed to assure her. “We just need to stay low here at the ranch and not go out in public again.”

“But he knows. This man knows I’m here.”

“He only knows approximately. That store is ten miles away from here and there’s a lot of country between there and here. Besides, it’s centrally located. For all he knows, we could be in another city. We’re still okay.” He turned away, heading for the kitchen.

She stared at the phone number at the bottom of the message. It was most assuredly Randall’s number. She recognized it from the multiple calls he’d placed to her trying to win her affection.

Laura thought about the men last night. She’d seen their expressions in the lamplight. They’d been on a mission and she was their target. Had Colton not been there, she didn’t know what might have happened to her.

Without a second thought, she dialed the number. It rang twice before a man answered.

“It’s Laura,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m calling to tell you to leave me alone.”

“Laura! Where are you? I’ve been searching all over for you.”