Page 85 of Savage Rancher
The evidence folder.
Oh God—the evidence folder.
The folder was in my father's office. In the desk drawer, hidden beneath tax documents and veterinary records.
And my father's office was in the house.
The house that's currently a smoking ruin.
My knees go weak as the realization crashes over me.
"Emma?" Jake's voice cuts through the fog. "What is it?"
I turn slowly, looking at what's left of the structure. The roof has collapsed. The walls are blackened, skeletal. Smoke still rises from the wreckage, thick and acrid, coating the back of my throat. Ash drifts through the air like snow.
Everything inside is gone.
There’s not a chance in hell those records survived.
"Emma." Jake's hand is on my arm now, his grip firm. "Talk to me."
I can't. I blink up into his eyes, shaking my head.
Because if I tell him about the folder, I have to admit I hid it from him. I have to admit I found documentation of Turner family crimes and chose to keep it a secret.
87
JAKE
Iwatch Emma stare at the embers of the house she grew up in.
I will destroy Cole Turner for putting that look in her eyes.
88
EMMA
The sound of tires on gravel cuts through the morning air.
Turning, I tense as I watch a black SUV roll up the driveway. The vehicle is pristine—too clean for ranch country, too expensive for anyone who actually works the land.
Cole Turner.
Jake's hand tightens on my arm. I feel the shift in him immediately—the way his shoulders square, the way his breathing changes. Behind us, Mason and Luke materialize from wherever they were and whatever they were doing.
They move like wolves closing ranks.
Honestly? Right now? I’m kind of grateful for that.
Mason positions himself to Jake's left, his eyes locked on the approaching vehicle. Luke takes the right flank.
Jake steps in front of me.
Not beside me—in front of me—a barrier between my body and whatever's coming.
The SUV stops twenty feet away. The engine cuts, and the door opens.
Cole Turner steps out.
