Page 16 of Chance (Wild River Ranch #3)

He was so busy planning the ass-kicking he would deliver, he almost missed Joy's next words. “But I got lost. I’m so stupid! Who gets lost in a town of nine hundred eighty-two people? There’s one grocery store, two drugstores, three churches, and four gas stations.

We don’t even have any stoplights. Who could possibly get lost in Nameless?

Me. That’s who. Calliope Joy Joplin, the girl with the worst sense of direction in the entire state of Texas. ”

Oh, hell no. He wasn’t going to stand for that. How had she convinced herself this situation was her fault? That stopped right now. He took her cheeks between his hands. Her gaze shot to his. “You listen to me, little girl. What did I just say about lying?”

“But I didn’t lie, Daddy. That’s what happened. ”

“You didn’t lie about that, but you did lie about yourself.

Because you are not stupid. You are one of the smartest people I know.

And on top of that, you’re brave, kind, funny, and beautiful.

Trust me when I say you can’t afford any more tally marks until we take care of the ones you have.

You will not lie to people. And newsflash, gypsy, you are people, too.

I will blister your bottom anytime, anywhere, and with anyone watching if I ever hear you say something like that again. Do you understand me?”

He couldn’t read her expression, but he hoped she was listening. Because he was completely serious. From what he could tell, she had been lied to her entire life. The people who should have built her up had instead taught her to lower herself to what made them comfortable.

After a quick glance at those gathered in the room, she looked back at him and nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Now, tell me why you believe you have a poor sense of direction.”

Her brows scrunched in concentration, hitting him straight in the heart. Hard. She was adorable. “I guess that’s what people always told me. My mom used to say when I fell, I fell up, not down.”

Chance gritted his teeth like a dam against the words he wanted to say. His mother would never have said something like that. She was their number one cheerleader, the one who believed in them no matter what and made sure they knew it.

It broke his heart that his gypsy hadn’t grown up in the same environment. He couldn’t change the past, but he could damn sure teach her how wonderful she was now. “Did you ever get lost when you were driving north to get away from Eddie?”

“Um, well, no. But?—”

“Did you get lost the two days you were in Wilder?”

“No, Daddy. I…” She raised her gaze to his once more, her eyes filled with realization and wonder. He felt privileged to witness a li nk in the chain that had held her self-esteem down for so long break. “I didn’t get lost. Not any of those times. Why did I think I had a bad sense of direction?”

His girl. She put that together quickly. “I don’t know, gypsy. But now you know it isn’t true. And I bet the more you start to think about it, the more you’ll realize there are other things you believe about yourself that aren’t true.”

Sam cleared his throat. “I have a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

Chance glared at his friend but nodded. “Go ahead.”

Sam smiled at Joy before asking, “So, what happened after you took the pictures and realized you were lost?”

Joy tightened her grip on Chance’s finger. He would give anything to be able to do this for her, but he couldn’t.

“I figured out I was in the alley behind the One Shot Saloon. I was about to leave the alley when the door behind the saloon opened. A man I’d never seen before stumbled out, or at least I thought he stumbled.”

Sam nodded. “Did something happen to change your mind?”

Joy’s breathing quickened as she pressed tighter against Chance’s side. While it felt great that she considered him a safe harbor, he hated she needed one. He caressed her arm, trying to offer what little comfort he could.

“Yes,” she said, her voice growing softer, as if the words themselves might hurt her. “Eddie stepped out after the man.”

“Were you surprised to see him?”

She shook her head. “No, you could find Eddie there most nights. What surprised me was he had a gun pointed at the other man. If it was his, it was a Colt forty-five.”

Sam jotted the information down in his notebook, and Joy turned to him. “I thought it was a joke, at first. I promise. If I’d known, I would have… well, I don’t know what I would have done. But I would have tried to do something. ”

Thank God she hadn’t. Chance couldn’t even think about her trying to distract Eddie. She could have been killed. “You did the right thing, babygirl. There was nothing more you could have done.”

Sam had more questions. Chance wished he could relive what happened that night for his gypsy so she wouldn’t have to.

But all he could do was hold her and help her through it.

Sam better damn well get all his questions asked and answered because Chance wasn’t going to let her live through this again.

Sam waited for Chance to give the go-ahead, then said, “I know this is hard, Miss Joy, but can you tell me what happened next?”

Joy was trembling so hard she might as well have been having another seizure. “E-Eddie sh-shot him.” She shook her head as if to wipe away the memory like those Etch-a-Sketches he played with as a child. “I… he just forced the man to his knees, pointed the gun at his chest, and… and shot him.”

Tears streamed down Joy’s face. Chance had never felt more helpless in his life. “It’s okay, babygirl. Daddy’s got you. We’re all here for you. No one can hurt you now.”

“Oh, God, Daddy. I w-was so sc-scared. I tried to back up, get closer to the wall so he wouldn’t see me. But I tripped.”

Chance closed his eyes, holding her close as he rocked her in his lap.

“It was h-horrible. I fell, and when I did, my finger was on the shutter button. The flash was on, so when I fell, the camera lit up the alley. Eddie saw me. And his face, I’ll never forget the look on his face. He was so angry.”

She turned to face him and grabbed his shirt.

“I knew, Daddy. I knew if he caught me, he’d shoot me just like he had that man.

But I twisted my ankle when I ran, and he was catching up to me.

He almost had me, but Jordy Carter was working late at the bakery and backed out from behind his store just in time to block Eddie. ”

Thank God! Chance’s heart was beating almost as fast as his gypsy’s must be. He could have lost her before he ever knew her. His blood turned cold.

“Keep going, Miss Joy,” Sam said. “Just get it out so we can move on from the scary part.”

Joy continued her story. “I made it to my car and got inside. After I locked the door, I tried to start my car, but it w-wouldn’t crank.

Eddie c-came running around the corner and made it up to the car.

He wasn’t thinking about anything but getting to me because he was screaming at me to open the door.

When I told him no, he aimed the gun at me, and I knew he was going to shoot.

But when he pulled the trigger, it didn’t fire.

He tried over and over, but it wouldn’t fire.

I finally got my car to crank and drove straight to the police station. ”

“That’s good, Miss Joy. You’re doing real good. Is that where you met Detective James?”

Chance shot Sam a look he hoped the sheriff understood. Friend or not, the sheriff needed to wrap this up. He needed to get her upstairs, find a way to help her calm down, and forget everything she had just had to remember.

“Last thing, Miss Joy. What did Detective James tell you? Was it his idea for you to go into witness protection?”

“Sort of, but not exactly. Nameless isn’t big enough to have a witness protection fund.

After I told him what happened, he did like you and took a lot of notes.

He tried to take my camera as evidence for the pictures.

When I said no, he gave in and let me email him a copy of the photographs I had.

He said I needed to get out of town to be safe and to keep Eddie from finding me.

He even got me a hotel room in Austin and a burner phone.

I was supposed to stay there for a few days until he could get Eddie arrested.

Then he would call me to tell me when it was safe to go home. ”

Sam looked up from his notebook. “You say that’s what you were supposed to do. What did you actually do?”

“Well, I was thinking when I was alone in that hotel. Eddie’s the oldest son in the most powerful family in town.

In the entire tri-county area. I knew if he wanted to kill me, he’d find a way to do it.

And if the detective stood in his way, he’d kill him, too.

Detective James has a wife and two kids.

I couldn’t take the kids' father away from them. I couldn’t live with myself.

So, early the next morning, I left the hotel and headed north.

I didn’t tell him where I was when I checked in with him, only that I was still safe. ”

Sam nodded. “We’ll need to talk a bit more later, but I think I have the gist of it.

Now let me share a few things with you, then I’ll go.

Someone stole your card at the gas station you stopped at when you arrived in Wilder.

They hacked into it and used it twice before you canceled your card.

Eddie, the manager of the bank down there where you have your account, received the fraud alert when that happened.

Evidently, Detective James keeps his card close to his chest, because Eddie reported you as missing and possibly in danger.

He also reported the fraud alert here in Wilder.

That’s how the detective knew to contact me. ”

Grant spoke for the first time. “Does that mean Eddie Sharp is headed this way?”

“God, I hope so,” Boone said, anger graveling his voice.

Grant nodded. “I agree, but that means we need to heighten ranch security.”

Boone agreed, adding, “I’ll get Grif to coordinate with you. Wilder Security can help.”

Chance stood with Joy still in his arms. “I agree as well. We’ll meet first thing tomorrow morning to plan out what that means and how to secure the ranch to keep everyone safe.

But right now, I need to take care of my Little girl.

Sam, I’ll be in touch with you tomorrow morning as well.

Thanks for your help. One of the others will see you out. ”

Joy had her face turned toward his chest. Kenzie and Tildi both had tears in their eyes. He should never have allowed them in the room, but Boone wanted Tildi with him, and Kenzie wasn’t about to be the only one left out. Hopefully, what they heard would make both of them more cautious.

He couldn’t worry about them right now. He signaled to Trace to look after Kenzie as Tanner escorted Sam to the door.

With everyone taken care of for now, it was time for him to focus on his babygirl.