Tory had never met Lincoln Cain. She wasn’t prepared for the big, handsome, powerful man who strode across the tarmac in her direction.
“Looks like you’re in good hands,” Ham said from beside her. He had helped her pack up both hotel rooms, taking Josh’s holstered pistol from the nightstand and stuffing it into the satchel that held his clothes. Tory had checked out of the hotel and Ham had driven her in the rented Jeep out to the airport. He was going to catch a cab back to get his car, still parked in the hotel lot.
“Call me if you need me,” he said.
“Thanks for everything, Ham.”
“Just stay safe.” Ham turned and walked away as Linc closed the distance between them, his strides long and purposeful.
During their brief but intense phone conversation, Linc had told her the plane would be arriving at the airport an hour later than scheduled, but that he would be on it.
Dressed in a short-sleeve button-down yellow shirt and a pair of expensive beige slacks, he moved with the authority of a man used to being in charge. He was worth millions, she knew, having Googled him that morning before Ham arrived. And every inch of his six-foot-five-inch frame oozed success.
She’d known Cain was going to be on the plane, but she hadn’t expected to see the smartly dressed blond woman in the white linen skirt suit walking beside him, his wife, Carly Drake Cain.
Tory looked down at the stretch jeans she was wearing with a sleeveless peach print blouse and a pair of open-toed sandals and thought of the tailored skirt suits and expensive heels she had once worn to work.
Each time she had run from Damon, she had left some of her things behind. When Damon had found her in Carlsbad, she’d been forced to abandon the last decent clothes she still owned.
“Victoria?” Even Linc’s voice sounded powerful.
“I’m Tory.” She held out her hand, which Linc wrapped in both of his.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
“You too.”
“We’re neighbors. We’re still working on rebuilding the big house so we’re out at the ranch quite a bit. If work hadn’t been so hectic, we would have met sooner.” He turned. “This is my wife, Carly.”
“Hello,” Tory said.
Carly leaned over and gave her an unexpected hug. “I’m so glad we got to finally meet you.”
Tory’s russet eyebrows went up. “I didn’t realize Josh had mentioned me.”
Carly smiled. “He told us you were staying at the ranch. You wouldn’t be there if he didn’t care about you.”
Tory returned the smile. She supposed that was true. Josh was definitely the kind of guy who took in strays.
She glanced up as a man in a navy blue pin-striped suit came off the plane and crossed the tarmac to join them. He was fortyish, with silver threaded through his light brown hair, stylishly dressed.
“Tory, this is Nathan Temple,” Linc said. “He’s a criminal attorney. He’s going to handle things for Josh.”
Criminal. The word made her stomach burn. Josh was no criminal. And yet as she looked at Nathan Temple, relief washed through her. The attorney had competence and professionalism written all over him.
Plus, a man as successful as Lincoln Cain would only hire the best.
“It’s really good to meet you, Mr. Temple. How soon can you get Josh out of jail?”
Carly and Linc exchanged amused glances. Maybe she was being a little too pushy, but she couldn’t stand to think of a vital man like Josh being locked behind bars.
“Please call me Nate,” Temple said, “and it shouldn’t take long. I need to get down to the jail and talk to him, find out what’s going on.”
“The Jeep that Josh rented is parked in the lot.” She dug the keys out of the small leather purse slung over her shoulder.
“I’ll drive,” Linc said, holding out one of his big hands.
Since he didn’t look like the kind of guy who ever lost an argument, she simply handed them over.
They all piled into the Jeep, Tory in back with Carly, who had insisted Nathan Temple ride up front with her husband. Linc punched the address for the Scottsdale Police Department into the GPS and drove the Jeep out of the lot.
“You said Josh mentioned I was staying at the ranch,” Tory said to Carly as Temple cranked the air conditioner up another notch. It was a little after one in the afternoon and the Arizona heat was climbing.
“I heard about it first in town,” Carly said. “Iron Springs is a small community. Everyone knows Josh has a pretty new housekeeper living out at the ranch.”
Tory glanced away. “Yeah, I can imagine what they’re saying.”
Carly reached over and caught her hand. “What they’re saying doesn’t matter. Linc and I had to deal with the town gossips, too. One thing I learned—all that matters is what makes you and Josh happy.”
Tory smiled, liking Carly right away. “Thank you for saying that.”
“Josh and Linc talk fairly often. Josh explained about your friend, Lisa, and the terrible things that happened to her. Of course you had to come back to Phoenix.”
“I’m just so glad she’s going to be okay.”
Carly squeezed her hand. “Josh told Linc about Damon Bridger and how you ended up in Texas.”
“Josh told Linc about Damon?”
“Both of us know about him. We know you have a little girl. Josh says she’s adorable.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about Josh discussing her personal business with his family, but knowing how he felt about her daughter took away some of the sting.
“Her name is Ivy.” She thought of her little girl as she gazed at the sandy desert landscape passing outside the window. “I need to get back to her, but I can’t leave Josh. It’s my fault he’s in jail.”
“Why is that?” Linc asked from the driver’s seat.
“If Josh hadn’t been trying to protect me, he wouldn’t have gone after Damon and he wouldn’t have been arrested. I don’t know exactly what happened last night but I should have found a way to stop him.”
A rumble of disbelief came from Cain’s broad chest. “I don’t think that was going to happen, no matter what you did.”
Maybe not, she silently conceded. Josh could definitely be strong willed.
“In some ways, my brother’s a lot like me,” Linc said. “He’s protective of the people he cares about. If he feels one of them is in danger, he isn’t going to stand by and do nothing. I doubt there was any way you could have stopped him from doing something he believed was necessary.”
Maybe Linc was right, but whatever had happened last night, she wasn’t going to abandon him now.
“We’re going to get Josh out,” Linc said. “We’re going to fix this, Tory. You can count on that.”
She relaxed back in her seat, her worry easing a little. Everything about Lincoln Cain said he would keep his word.
Her worry resurfaced as the Jeep turned off Indian School Road into the parking lot of the Scottsdale Police Department, a flat-roofed structure painted a bright sunflower yellow. In front, big glass windows looked over the parking lot.
For the next half hour, Tory and Carly sat in the waiting area while Nathan Temple and Linc were in the back talking to Josh. Making use of the time, they both made phone calls, Carly calling her Drake Trucking office in Iron Springs while Tory phoned Mrs. Thompson.
“I’m really hoping we can come back today,” she told the older woman. “I’ll call you as soon as I know for sure.”
“Ivy’s really been good, but she misses you. She keeps asking when you’re coming to get her.”
Tory’s heart pinched. “Could you put her on the phone?”
“She’s right here.” There was a pause while Mrs. Thompson handed Ivy the phone.
“Mama?”
“I’m here, sweetheart. Are you and Mrs. Thompson having fun?”
“When are you coming home, Mama?”
“There’s a chance Josh and I will be back this afternoon, honey, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise.”
“I really miss you, Mama.”
Her throat went tight. “I miss you, too, sweetheart. I’ll call you as soon as I know for sure. Be good for Mrs. Thompson until I get there.” Tory ended the call and wiped a tear from her cheek. She looked up to see Carly watching her.