Evidence of Trust (10 page)

Cal Rogers, the overweight, balding ranger who manned the front desk covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his free hand. “Morning, Joel.”

He nodded while pouring a cup of coffee, then grabbed the patrol reports the night-shift rangers had turned in. Nothing unusual stood out with his first scan, so he tucked them under his arm to read more thoroughly at his desk. Sipping from the steaming cup, he ambled over to check out the camper registration map on the wall.

A green pin was stuck in the map near Storm Peak. Once he realized it was the restricted area where Highlands guided their Wildlife Ride, irritation sparked that they hadn’t notified him personally with a list of registered guests for his review.

As soon as Cal hung up the phone, Joel indicated the pin. “This Highlands Ranch?”

“Yeah. Britt and Mitch are scouting the trail before the season starts. They wanted us to be aware of the campfire in case there were any patrols tonight.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

He headed into his office with a scowl and slapped the reports on the desk. Damn it, he didn’t care if the two of them were spending the night up there together. Didn’t care that Mitch had danced with her at the Kick-off party, nor did he care that the guy had shown undue interest in their exchange the other day at the meeting.

He located the envelope with the background files Randy Gifford had left on his desk and broke the seal. Brittany’s was the top one. After a moment of temptation, he set it aside.

Next he found Casey Fuller’s and was surprised to discover he had a Bachelor’s degree in National Resource Management. In addition, the wrangler had completed the Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program required to become a law enforcement ranger. So why the hell was he working at Highlands? Looked like he and Fuller would have to have a more in-depth conversation.

His gaze drifted to Brittany’s pages more times than he wanted to admit, so finally he just read the damn report. He committed the information to memory, but didn’t give himself a chance to process before moving on to Mitch Levins’ file.

That’s when he discovered just how much he did care who Brittany spent her time with. He grabbed his cell phone and truck keys, and called Mark Jennings on his way out the door.

Chapter 12

Britt stewed in the saddle as her stallion picked his way along the trail. Mark had called a half-hour ago, claiming he needed Mitch back at the ranch. He hadn’t given a specific reason, and the moment she’d heard Joel was riding in to be her new safety buddy, she figured there was more going on than he would say.

Or could say
.

Mitch’s initial frown had morphed into an emotionless mask, so different from his usual carefree attitude. He hadn’t questioned the request, or even commented when she tried to speculate about the change of plans. With a grim “Good luck,” he’d turned his mount back toward the trailhead and left her wondering what the heck was going on.

She’d slowed Paelo’s stride, but sure as hell wasn't going to stop and twiddle her thumbs while waiting for Mr. Power-trip Ranger to catch up. She was tired of him issuing orders and ruining her day every time she turned around.

With the sun warming her back, she tried to enjoy the scenery while she could. Lord knew once
he
appeared she wouldn’t have a moment’s peace for the rest of the trip. In the past week, the new leaves on the trees had darkened to a deeper shade of green, their thick foliage shading the trail so much in places the snow from a week ago still hadn’t completely melted. She knew the terrain well, had each landmark etched in her mind. The hands of time and Mother Nature changed something about them every year and she looked forward to cataloguing the alterations each spring.

Her gaze scanned the trail ahead and the sight of hoof prints in the snow made her draw back on the reins. The tracks didn’t appear fresh, maybe a few days old judging by how they disappeared wherever the sun had melted the snow. She dismounted and gave Paelo a soft command.

Inspecting the bare ground, she saw no sign of passage in the moist soil, not even a slight indent. She’d guess the rider had come through sometime after the storm a week ago because there hadn’t been any precipitation since then.

This guy won’t think twice if he catches you alone.

Joel’s ominous warning from the meeting sent a tingle of uneasiness along her spine. She rose to her feet, shifting her gaze from tree to tree, studying the shadows as she imagined someone out there, watching her.

A sudden rustle from behind made her jump and spin around. Paelo stared back at her as he chewed a small branch loaded with green leaves. The pounding of her heart eased.

“Oh, this is ridiculous,” she muttered. The tracks were obviously old, and whoever it had been was long gone by now.

Still, she decided it might not be a bad idea to wait after all. She backed Paelo up so they wouldn’t disturb any more of the tracks and found a large boulder alongside the trail where she could sit.

Quite a bit later than she expected, Joel rode up, his face cast in shadow from the low-sitting brim of his Stetson. She stood as he dismounted before facing her with a scowl.

“I specifically instructed you to wait.”

Irritation flared even as she wondered how he knew she hadn’t. Then it dawned on her, Paelo had left behind his own set of single tracks. Shrugging, she retorted, “You caught up, didn’t you?”

His jaw tightened and his fists clenched at his sides. Britt stood her ground despite the fact her stomach was doing that damn little flippy thing it did whenever he was near. She moistened suddenly dry lips, and his attention flicked down.

Heat flared at the memory of his mouth on hers. She’d re-imagined both kisses way too many times over the past couple days.

“I—” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I found some tracks.”

He finally took a small step back and she moved past to direct him to the spot. As he squatted for a better look, a reassuring thought occurred to her. “They’re probably from a ranger, but I figured you’d want to look at them.”

He rose back to his full height. “Stay here. I’m going to see if I can pick up the trail further on.”

She automatically took a step after him, and he whirled so fast she gasped.

Taking hold of her shoulders, he backed her up until the heels of her boots came up against the boulder she’d been sitting on. “Damn it, Brittany, I said
stay here.
”

“I was just going to—”

With a low growl, he pressed her shoulders until she sat. She leaned back as he planted a hand on either side of her. “This is precisely why I told you to wait. Any evidence up to this point you’ve trampled, now let me see what I can salvage of the rest of it without you getting in the way. Move off this rock and I’m going to take you straight back down this mountain—trail be damned.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, meeting him stare for stare as her stomach muscles quivered from the extended backward lean. When he straightened and walked away, she fantasized about throwing something at his head, then got up and went to stand by her horse.

Guilt began to creep in and she tried to rationalize it away. If anything, he ought to be grateful she’d even noticed the tracks for him. If she and Mitch had still been riding, they might have missed them all together.

Joel returned after a few minutes. His gaze narrowed at the sight of her next to Paelo, but he didn’t say a word as he stuck a foot in the stirrup and swung astride his horse. She mounted up as well.

“Where’d they go?”

“Nowhere. This was it. “

He touched his heel to his bay’s side, and as they moved forward, she urged Paelo to follow. “Was it a ranger?”

“Can’t tell that from a set of prints.”

His sarcasm only made her feel worse about potentially destroying evidence. “I meant were there any patrols over here after the storm?”

“No.”

She gave the silence a few minutes, then asked, “You going to explain why Mitch had to go back?”

“No.”

“Why not?” When he didn’t reply, she asked, “Don’t you trust him?”

“I don’t know him.”

“You don’t really know me, yet I’m still here.”

“You didn’t have anything pop up in your background check.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “You ran a background check on
me
?”

“I ran one on everyone at the ranch.”

She’d deal with that later. “So, what was in Mitch’s?”

He cast a quick glance back over his shoulder, then faced forward again.

When he didn’t offer more, she huffed out a breath of annoyance. “Really? That’s it?”

“I’ve got a valid reason for pulling Levins back that is none of your business, so just leave it alone.”

Her annoyed glower was useless pointed toward his back. “I work with the guy, Joel. We take guests on overnight camping trips into the remote wilderness. I feel like I do know him and trust him, but clearly you’ve found something out, so it’d be nice to know if I have anything to be concerned about.”

He spun his horse around to face her on a more open section of the trail. His eyes were narrowed in speculation. “You think you know him?”

“I’ve worked with him for three summers. We’ve spent a lot of time together at the ranch and on overnights.”

Leaning a forearm on the saddle horn, he dangled the reins with a loose wrist. “Exactly how close are the two of you?”

“Excuse me?” She stiffened in the saddle at his obvious inference, indignation revving her pulse. “You think that’s
your
business?”

He shrugged, but his gaze remained laser sharp beneath the brim of his hat.

“Mitch and I are friends, nothing more. Furthermore, there have never been any problems with him, otherwise Mark wouldn’t keep him around. He can’t be the poacher; he’d never kill animals just for sport.”

“What about for money?”

She shook her head. “Highlands pays well.”

“Sometimes people get themselves in trouble. Sometimes they simply get addicted to the thrill of the kill.”

“Mitch doesn’t even hunt! He’s a genuinely nice guy. Yes, he’s a huge flirt, but once you get past that, he’s
nice
. He works hard, doesn’t get into trouble, doesn’t even drink that I know of.” That was one of the reasons they’d bonded over the past couple years.

“Did you know your
nice guy
has a criminal record?”

That she did
not
know.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Joel sat up straight and adjusted the reins. “Neither did your boss.”

“What’d he do?”

“That’s not for me to say.” He reined his bay around and started along the trail again. “I shouldn’t have even told you that much, but I happen to agree that with your work situation, it’s something you should’ve been aware of.”

Paelo followed without any direction from her, but she was too busy trying to imagine Mitch’s grin on a mug shot. Even when paired with his bleak reaction to Mark calling him back earlier, it didn’t fit.

“If he’s a suspect, why are you here with me? Why didn’t you take him in for questioning?”

“I got what I needed when he and I met at the trailhead. For the moment, I’m satisfied with his responses.”

“Then why are you here instead of him?” she repeated.

“Because Mark said you guys need the trail cleared, and I can’t have a convicted felon roaming around with free access to restricted areas in the middle of my investigation.”

Convicted felon.
The words echoed in her mind, along with
lying cheater
. Mitch was just another example of
what you see is not always what is true
. She’d trusted the face he presented to the world. Just like she’d trusted Daniel, only to find out he didn’t want her, he’d only been using her to further his position in her father’s company. She’d trusted her father to back her up, and instead, he’d informed her he had no intention of letting a bad personal choice ruin his protégé’s promising career.

Hearing herself described as a
bad personal choice
was a knife to the heart she’d never let her father see. He would’ve preached about staying focused and not letting emotions get in the way—like her mother had. Which her mother would tell her was exactly why the marriage didn’t last longer than ten years.

Funny thing, she suddenly realized her father’s lack of support hurt more than Daniel’s numerous infidelities and lies. Her pride had suffered more than her heart, likely because she’d also been using him, as a way to gain her father’s approval. And it’d worked, until business got in the way, and she’d disappointed him once again.

No,
he
disappointed
me
.

Her gaze shifted to Joel’s broad shoulders. He reminded her of her father in his single-minded dedication to the job, yet protecting the animals was a noble cause she couldn’t condemn. The difference made her wonder, was there more to the bossy, arrogant jerk than she’d seen so far?

Chapter 13

She’d been awfully quiet the past couple hours. Which should’ve been fine with him, but instead, Joel wondered what was going on in that stubborn head of hers. Especially when she avoided his gaze whenever they had to stop to clear a fallen tree or loose rocks from the trail. Had she lied about her relationship with Levins and now worried about what kind of man she’d gotten herself involved with?