“He’s on the phone with his banker. He’s planning on making the drop by himself.”
Of course he was. Stuart swore under his breath. “I’m on my way.” Disconnecting, he looked at Birdie. “I have to go. Get back to Powder Crossing. Stay out of trouble. Please.” Neither she nor Brand said anything as he climbed into his patrol SUV and, hitting his siren and lights, headed back to the McKenna Ranch, hoping to get there before Holden did something that could get him killed.
AS THE SHERIFF drove away, Birdie said, “You know what we have to do.”
Brand looked over at her from where he’d been leaning against the passenger side of her SUV. He’d seen this look in her eyes before. What was it about this woman that he couldn’t seem to help himself when it came to her? He knew she was trouble and yet...
“Did you not hear anything the sheriff said?” He could see that it hadn’t mattered. “Whatever it is, I want nothing to do with it. I’m doing what the sheriff said. Keeping my head down and staying out of it.”
She laughed. “Brand Stafford, I suspect you’ve been keeping your head down all of your life. Aren’t you tired of it yet?”
He started to argue, but it was true. He and his younger brother, Ryder, both escaped their older brother CJ’s brutality by keeping their distance from him. They spent their days away from the house, leaving as quickly as possible in the morning and not returning until long after dark. Brand had told himself that they were busy running the ranch. Which was true. But they had also been avoiding their treacherous brother and their mother and the Stafford Ranch drama.
“You don’t know anything about me,” he argued, even though she seemed to know him better than he knew himself—and she’d just met him. Worse, given the grin on her face right now, she knew that he was attracted to her—against his will. Why else had he agreed to come with her today?
“What are you so afraid of, Brand?” she teased as she began to close the distance between them.
“You,” he said, holding up both hands to ward her off. “You scare me. You’re too impulsive. Like today. You didn’t give a thought to what you were doing. You risked your life and mine!” She kept coming toward him until she was within inches of him. He dropped his voice as he looked into her gray eyes, fighting that pull he’d been battling since he’d laid eyes on her. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?” she whispered. “Throw caution to the wind? Let yourself go? Take a chance? Or do this?” She leaned into him, stealing his breath and his determination to keep her at arm’s length as she brushed her lips over his, teasing, taunting, daring him to act on his feelings.
Oh, he felt all right. Birdie made his body come alive, all of it aware of this woman in a way he’d never felt before with any other woman. She was everything he’d spent his life avoiding. Trouble wrapped in temptation. Kissing her was like diving out of an airplane with a parachute—but having no idea how to pull the cord. Her kiss was a promise of something he’d told himself he didn’t want or need even as he knew he wanted it more than his next breath.
He drew back to look at her. She had no idea what she’d stirred up in him, and while it scared the hell out of him, she was right. He was tired of playing it safe. “Birdie.” Her name came out on a ragged breath.
She chuckled and started to turn away.
He grabbed her arm, spinning her around and into him. He moved quickly, remembering how fast she’d put him on the ground yesterday. He turned her to press her against the side of her SUV in the same spot he’d been only moments before.
“My turn,” he said, his voice rough with emotion and need. He didn’t sound like himself, nor did he feel like himself as he kissed her. He didn’t tease or taunt. He kissed her like he’d been fighting doing since he’d met her. Her lips parted to him, and her arms encircled his neck. He deepened the kiss as he molded his body to hers, pinning her against the side of the SUV.
Desire burned like hot syrup through his veins, sweet but more powerful than he’d ever felt. If a car hadn’t gone by and honked on the highway some distance away, he thought he might have taken her right there.
“Wow,” she said, seeming at a loss for words as they drew apart. She grinned, her gaze meeting his. “I knew you had it in you, Brand Stafford. I’ve just been waiting for it to come out.” Her grin broadened. “Wow.”
He shook his head. He’d succumbed to this impulsive, maddening woman and now felt as if there was no turning back. He wanted her in every way he could imagine, even as a less testosterone-fueled voice inside him warned that she was going to get him killed.
“You still scare me, Birdie,” he said as he brushed a lock of her hair back from her face.
“I’m not what scares you,” she said with a laugh. “It’s how we make each other feel that scares you.” Her gaze burned into his, daring him to say differently. He feared she was right, but he wasn’t about to admit it to her.
“But right now we have to think about Holly Jo,” she said, getting down to business. He felt both relief and disappointment. “I know the sheriff said that Melanie Baker probably only turned up this road to throw me off because she spotted me tailing her. The thing is, he doesn’t have the manpower to search this entire area.” She frowned. “I just have a feeling Holly Jo is somewhere near here. I’m going to have to check it out. You don’t have to come with me. I’ll take you back to town and come back alone.”
He groaned. “Birdie, that’s a bad idea.”
She shrugged and walked around to the driver’s side of the SUV. “Well, I have to try.”
“You’re determined to go looking for Melanie Baker, a probable kidnapper, to give her another chance to kill you?” he asked from the other side.
“I’m going looking for Holly Jo,” she said over the top of the SUV. “I can give you a ride back to town. Or if you’re that afraid of me, you could hitchhike back to Powder Crossing. Or you could come with me and save us both the trip.” She grinned.
He looked back up the road toward the highway, then at Birdie. All his instincts told him to stick out his thumb and start walking away. But he couldn’t.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
AT THE MCKENNA RANCH, the sheriff listened to the recording of the call between the kidnapper and Holden with instructions for the ransom drop. Midnight tonight, just as Elaine had said. “Suicide Pass. Come alone. I see anyone but you up there and the girl is dead.”
“You will have Holly Jo with you,” Holden had said, not a question. “We’ll make the trade then. If you don’t have her, all you’ll get is a bullet.”
The kidnapper laughed in a spooky computerized voice. “Fair enough. You try anything and I kill her right before your eyes. And you’d better have the money.”
“Midnight,” the rancher had said, and the call ended.
Stuart looked up at Holden sitting behind his big desk, his expression set in a hard line of determination.
“The kidnapper chose one of the worst places in the area for the drop,” the sheriff told him, even though the rancher had to know that. “From the top of that pass, he will be able to see anyone coming or going. There won’t be any way to have deputies up there waiting for him. Whoever the kidnapper is, he knows the area, might even be a neighboring rancher or someone who worked for one. Don’t you think it’s time you told me who the person is?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m taking the money,” Holden said stubbornly. “I’m going alone.”
The sheriff shook his head, ready to argue, but Holden didn’t give him a chance. The rancher rose and walked out of the room, headed outside—just as he had earlier.
Trying to find both patience and diplomacy, Stuart followed Holden. “There’s only one reason you’re determined to do this alone. You know who you’re meeting.” When the rancher didn’t answer, he said, “You’ve been lying to me from the beginning, haven’t you?”
Holden had stopped a few yards from the house and was now staring out toward the river. “I know what I’m doing. I need you to just stay out of my way.” His voice broke with emotion. “I’m trying to save my family.”
“Or cover up the truth?”
The rancher shook his head, his gaze shifting to Stuart for a moment before returning to the river. “I’ve already spoken to my banker. He’s gotten the money together. I’ll make the drop tonight by myself.”
