Page 73 of All We Carry Home

“We’ll do what we can.”

I laughed, unable to put up any more of a fight. “I guess there’s no way I’m getting rid of you, huh?”

Something flashed across his face, and he leaned back.

Suspicion flared inside me. There was something he wasn’t telling me. Something big. I’d felt as much during our conversation at Beacon’s Bluff, and now I knew it.

But who was I to judge? I had my own secrets. It was just another reminder of the unbreakable barriers between us.

Warren

JUNE 7

“What have you found out?” I asked Reid.

We’d met at a small diner in La Grande, almost two hours north of Baker, to avoid Victor’s men getting any possible whiff of my angle. Reid Erickson had always had a knack for intelligence gathering and interrogation. He looked the part now, with a tipped fedora and suit as if he were Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. He even had the same tall forehead as Bogart.

Reid had been digging into Merrick for over three weeks. Birkstrom now had an army of seven crammed into the two tiny cabins and barn apartment while we rebuilt the third and fourth. We hadn’t had an incident since that morning ride I took with Eva.

“Victor Merrick is working with a group of investment moguls originally from New York,” Reid said, reading from his notepad full of scribbles. “They’re hoping to make Baker a destination once more like it was in the gold rush days.”

“Any ties to the Mafia?”

“There are always ties to the Mafia.”

“How did Victor get involved?” I swirled my now-cold coffee.

“Debt. He’s leveraged or sold everything of value just to stay afloat. They want Birkstrom Ranch to put in a housing development. It’s a prime location. Beautiful views, from what I hear.”

I nodded. The scenery from Beacon’s Bluff was still seared into my mind. If a house or two were placed on that bluff, it would fetch top dollar.

“Is Keith involved?”

“Not that I’ve seen.” Reid drew in a long breath. “He keeps to himself, and I couldn’t dig up much about him. The horses are his life.”

I wanted something definitive on Keith so I knew whether he was trustworthy or not. Eva’s loyalty to him still bothered me, though I wasn’t sure if it was my gut or jealousy.

“There’s something else you should know,” Reid said, lowering his tone even though we were the only souls in the diner aside from the waitress and cook. “They’re watching you too. I’ve seen several different cars and a few different faces, but you’ve got a tail.”

I nodded. I’d suspected this for some time, ever since our drive to pick up Stormy. Was it in relation to Eva? Or was it something tied to my political ambitions? Kenneth had warned me that my life would soon be under scrutiny.

“Want me to stay on that and see if I can catch them and learn their identity?” Reid asked.

I looked out the window at the flat, barren desert beyond. “I only care if it’s a threat to Eva.”

Reid winced and flipped his notepad to a different page. “I wanted to ask you about the girl too. You know she’s not a Birkstrom by blood, right?”

“I didn’t hire you to investigate her.”

“Some of what I found might be relevant, Captain.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I said. My heart pounded and my thoughts were spinning at the possibilities. What had he uncovered? Would it change my perspective on her?

No—nothing could. Besides, Reid was only here to give me the information I needed to protect her.

“Okay. I’ll keep looking into Victor and report back in another week.” He stood and dropped a bill on the table to cover his coffee, which he hadn’t touched either. “Just be careful, Captain. I wouldn’t get too attached to the lass.”

I wouldn’t take the bait, wouldn’t flirt with that temptation to invade her privacy. “Keep to your assignment, Reid.” I paused. “Please.”