“Hi.” The small tremor in her voice brought out his protective instincts.
“Is all well with you and your horses?”
“They’re in fine form.” She’d ignored his question about herself. The tension had to be getting to her. “I just wanted you to know my parents are driving me home now. We should be there in five minutes.”
“Good. Before you come in the house, check your mailbox.”
“I will. See you soon.” She hung up.
He got up from the table and walked into the living room while he prepared himself for what might happen tonight. If the stalker suspected Kellie had been telling the truth about a husband, he might lie low so she would think the menace had gone away. But neither he nor his twin would ever go away. One thing about a sociopath. Once he’d fixated on his victim, he’d dog her to the bitter end no matter how long it took. With two sociopaths working together, they were a lethal combination.
He ground his teeth, hoping both of them showed up. Once they were taken down, Kellie could get on with her life. So could he...
While he was trying to imagine what that would be like now that he’d met her, he heard her key in the lock. In order not to frighten her, he moved to the kitchen so she’d see him when she walked in. After she locked the door behind her, she turned around.
He noticed she was wearing her riding clothes and boots. Kellie’s eyes flew to his. She held up a couple of catalogs. “This was all I found in the box.” She put them on the kitchen table.
Cy thumbed through them, but there was no envelope hiding inside the pages. He looked up. “Have you eaten dinner?”
“Ages ago.”
“Why don’t you sit down and tell me what’s wrong? Did something happen you need to talk to me about?”
Her chin lifted. “What’s wrong is that you’re putting your life on the line for me,” she said in a voice shaking with emotion.
He cocked his head. “Would you rather someone else were doing this job? It can be arranged.”
“No!” she cried out. “No,” she said in a softer tone and looked away. “That isn’t what I meant at all.”
“Then what did you mean?” came his deep, almost-seductive voice.
She folded her arms to her waist. “Situations like this shouldn’t happen to anyone, but I know they do. Horrible things happen all the time, all over the world, and a handful of men and women like you are courageous enough to make the bad people go away. There isn’t a way to repay you for what you have to face twenty-four hours a day in order to protect someone like me.”
Cy put his hands on one of the chair backs. “I get my payment every time I lock up a criminal and throw away the key. There’s no satisfaction like it.”
“Then you’re an amazing breed of man.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking about you when I saw you perform in Bandera. Only a few exceptional women have the patience and the skills to work year in and year out to thrill the thousands of people who can only dream about what you do on your horse. The heart of a champion is inside you. All I could do watching you at the rodeo was sit back and marvel.”
She eyed him with a frank stare. “What you do and what I do aren’t comparable, but I appreciate the compliment.”
“It was heartfelt.”
“You enjoy the rodeo?”
“All my life.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
“I love it. Growing up we had horses and always went to the rodeo. I still keep my horse on my parents’ small ranch and ride when I have time. Like most of my friends when I was young, I thought it would be fun to try bull riding and calf roping. But our pitiful attempts that ended in pain and suffering let me know it takes a lot more than just wanting to do it. You know...like possessing the skill, like being born to it, like having the guts to go at it again and again.”
Her chuckle delighted him. “That’s my father.”
“Some of us have it. Some of us don’t.”
“Instead, you face a terrifying human enemy with no thought for your own life.”
Cy laughed. “Don’t be deceived. I give a lot of thought to my own life, believe me.”