In those early days, she hadn’t yet accepted reality, hadn’t realized her life, as she knew it, was over. Back then, she’d been determined not to let him win.
She had managed to undo the identity theft and clean up her bank accounts and credit cards, but Damon’s harassment had only gotten worse, until she’d finally been forced to leave Houston.
At least she knew what to do for Josh.
Working in his converted bedroom-office, Tory leaned back in the chair in front of his computer and rubbed the ache in her neck. She’d been sitting there for hours, either on the Internet or the phone, determined to fix the mess she had brought down on Josh’s head.
She heard his footfalls as he walked into the office, turned to see him standing there in a pair of worn jeans and a snug-fitting dark blue T-shirt. A zing of sexual awareness slipped through her, sending a flush into her cheeks that made her freckles stand out. She hoped he wouldn’t notice.
“How’s it going?” he asked, coming up to look over her shoulder.
“I made a list of everything you gave me, your bank accounts, IRAs, stocks, and bonds. Location, numbers, amounts, anything pertinent. The ranch is your only mortgage. I’m not quite sure what to do about stopping the foreclosure, but I’ll figure it out.”
He smiled. “I know you will. I wouldn’t have had a clue how to fix this. You’re a handy lady to know.”
Guilt swept through her. “If I hadn’t driven up in front of your barn, you wouldn’t be having this problem.”
Josh drew her up from the chair. “I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t driven up in front of my barn. Bridger could have found you. He could have—” He broke off at the look on her face.
“Sorry. I’m glad you’re here, that’s all.” He kissed her softly and eased her back down in the chair.
As soon as they’d figured out his accounts had been hacked, Tory had called the credit card companies and had Josh give them notice of the theft. Acting that quickly, there was a fifty dollar limit per card, no matter how high the fraudulent charges.
Josh would be okay there, except for the hassle of getting new cards and giving the new numbers to accounts that billed directly to the card, like Amazon and the feed store and the mercantile in town.
As Josh’s representative, she had phoned the bank. There was something called the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which protected consumers, again with a fifty dollar liability charge. The money stolen out of Josh’s bank accounts would be replaced.
Next she phoned in a fraud alert to the credit reporting companies so no one could make purchases using his name and Social Security number. A report would come back showing any problems, and there would be a freeze on opening new accounts.
“You’ll need to change all of your passwords,” she said. Josh groaned, but Tory just smiled. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to come up with something a little more sophisticated than ‘river ranch one.’”
Instead of laughing, his features hardened. “I can’t believe that guy. I’d like to stomp his balls into a grease spot on the pavement.”
Tory’s eyes went wide. Josh rarely said things like that. Then she grinned. “Yeah, me too.”
Josh laughed. She noticed him doing that more often.
“We still need to call the Social Security hotline,” she said. “And the utility companies, just to make sure he hasn’t screwed things up there. And you’ll have to get a new driver’s license.” She sighed. “At least it only cost you a couple of hundred bucks.”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?”
“It’d be the sheriff out here, and we both know how much good that would do.”
Tory made no reply. She didn’t like the sheriff any more than Josh did.
*
After all the time Tory had spent on the computer, Josh figured she deserved a break. They had stopped to pick up Ivy that morning on the way back from Gainesville, but the little girl had begged to stay and work in her garden. Mrs. Thompson seemed delighted to have her.
Now that the credit repair was done, they had the afternoon to themselves, and though it was hot, it was also cloudy and a little breezy, and being from Phoenix, Tory didn’t seem to mind the heat.
She wanted to see the ranch, she’d said, and being proud of the home he was building, Josh was excited to show her more than just the closest pasture.
They headed for the barn. Josh saddled Rose for Tory and Thor for himself. The big gelding had become his favorite, one of the most reliable horses on the ranch.
They rode through the first gate, Tory handling the mare with an ease that pleased him, something he hadn’t really expected from a city girl like her. They started across the pasture toward the trail that wound along the creek to the river at the back of the ranch, the buckskin alert, the mare following his lead.
“Josh, wait!” Tory suddenly called out. “Someone’s coming!”
He pulled rein and turned in the saddle, his gaze going past the house to a plain black SUV rumbling down the dirt road.
“Looks like our ride is going to have to wait,” Josh said, worried something else had gone wrong.
Whirling the buckskin, he gigged Thor into a trot, then a gallop, glanced over to see Tory galloping up beside him, a grin on her face, her fiery curls flying out behind her. She was handling the mare like a pro.
An odd pressure expanded in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it did feel good having her riding beside him.
They slowed to pass through the gate, then rode past the trailer toward the house. Cole walked out of the barn just as the black Chevy Suburban pulled up and the engine turned off. Josh swung his leg over the back of the saddle, stepped to the ground, and handed Cole the reins. Noah took the mare’s reins and Josh swung Tory to the ground.
“Who is he?” Cole asked.
“No idea.” But the colored light bar in the front grille said it was an unmarked police car and his nerves kicked up another notch.
“Don’t unsaddle the horses till we see what’s going on,” Josh said, still hopeful.
The men led the horses into the shade of the barn and disappeared out of sight while a big man in a brown suit with a short blond buzz cut unwound himself from inside the SUV.
Josh flicked a glance at Tory, who stood close beside him, clearly as worried as he.
The blond man pulled off a pair of wraparound sunglasses. “You Joshua Cain?”
“That’s right.”
“FBI Special Agent Quinn Taggart. I’m a friend of your brother’s.”
Josh remembered hearing about him. He’d helped Linc and Carly out of a jam. He’d also helped his brother’s partner, Beau Reese.
“Taggart. I know who you are. This is Victoria Bradford. Why don’t we go inside out of the sun?”
Taggart nodded. Josh held the door open for Tory, and Taggart walked in behind her. Josh followed them inside and closed the door.
“How about a glass of lemonade?” Tory suggested.
“Sounds good,” Taggart said.
They pulled out chairs and sat down around the kitchen table. Tory brought over the pitcher and glasses and took a seat.
Josh poured for all of them. “So what can I do for you, Agent Taggart?”
Taggart glanced pointedly at Tory.
“It’s okay,” Josh said. “You can speak freely.”
“All right.” Taggart took a drink of lemonade. “You were in Gainesville for a funeral yesterday. Your friend Coy Whitmore was murdered.”
“That’s right.”
“A couple weeks back another friend of yours was killed.”
“Murdered,” Josh corrected.
“I stand corrected. The first man who was murdered was Pete Saldana. According to our information, both these men were special operations marines.”
Josh’s gaze sharpened on Taggart. “The police have been looking for a connection. You think that’s what it is? Someone killed them because they were soldiers?”
“It’s beginning to look that way. For more than a year, Homeland Security has been dealing with a group of terrorists working in Texas. Your brother ran into trouble with a guy named Bharat al-Razi. In February, there was an attack on the Texas State Capitol.”