Page 55 of Cowboy Heat

There’s a good chance all of them are still awake; none of us were ever any good at sleeping.

My thumb hovers over Maximus’ name before scrolling back to Lee’s. Then I think about Killer. Macy wouldn’t say much, or Jesse.

I’m back to Lee quick.

He answers on the first ring. He’s furious by the end of my no-nonsense recap of what happened since we last hung up.

“I’ll do a deeper dive on Guidry, and maybe we can find a connection to whoever that son of a bitch is who attacked y’all,” he says after a string of curses that are so foul I can only agree to them. He simmers himself down in the next breath though and is all thoughtful. “Let’s say Guidry is lying low. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him in a town so small, right?”

I shake my head, even though he can’t see me.

“Robin’s Tree might be small but it’s wild. There’s more trees and hills and dips and these little pockets of tricky scenery than I ever saw when I was living in Alabama. I might could track him otherwise, or at least take a stab in the dark and get close to hitting a spot.”

Lee turns thoughtful.

“You know, speaking of tracking, I have a buddy who might be able to help,” he says. “Do you remember me talking about this guy who I called Chaos? He’s a part of this search and rescue group with his brother. They’re both former Navy SEALs.”

I remember, vaguely.

“Yeah, based in…Virginia right?”

I can hear Lee’s excitement come through. It’s hard to get Lee in awe but I hear it in his next words.

“Yeah. Ethan’s his name, and he’s insane. In a good way. He can track just about anyone and anything and even just helped save the day out in some gnarly woods there. I can put a call out to him and see what he might suggest for finding Guidry in a place like Robin’s Tree.”

I’m hesitant because Virginia isn’t small-town Louisiana. I say as much.

“What do you think he could do up there that we can’t down here?”

Lee isn’t put off at all by that.

“There comes a point when you’re so good at what you do that the landscape changing doesn’t change the fact that you’re just damn good. In fact, let me reach out to him now. I’ll shoot you a text the second I figure anything out.” Lee’s excitement flatlines to worry. “Until then, go get some sleep, Baby Beau.”

I sigh but agree to try.

The phone call ends and, before I can wonder again about a search and rescue team from Virginia helping us all the way here in Robin’s Tree, footsteps from the hall distract me.

It’s a soft sound, and I know it’s Kissy before she comes into view.

“I figured I might not be the only one having trouble sleeping,” she says, voice on the low side.

I’m the one who brought in the overnight bag the doc packed with her, but this is the first time I see her night clothes.

It’s a simple outfit: oversized cotton shirt with a logo for some show I haven’t heard of and a pair of dark gym shorts that hit mid-thigh. Her socks are rainbows and fuzzy. Her face is wiped clean and her hair is gathered in a bun on the top of her head.

She should look relaxed.

She doesn’t.

“Sleep doesn’t seem to care about the willing,” I say in greeting. There’s a chair catty-cornered to my spot on the couch that Kissy takes. I’d like to offer her a blanket, but there’s none around. It’s something else to add to the list of things to buy for the house. “How are you feeling?”

Kissy doesn’t consider the answer long. “I think I’m starting to get to the more painful part of being walloped.” She runs a finger across the part of her lip that was busted open. It’s a small mark that looks to be healing up already. “This is more annoying than painful. This—” she points to the bandage on her cheek, “—stings still. Not as bad. The rest of my face is the part that’s throbbing a little. I just took another two ibuprofen, though.”

I get up and go into the kitchen without preamble. I’m back with a frozen bag of vegetable medley. “I got into a fist fight with a guy twice my size my second day on the job in Orlando. My partner at the time gave me a bag of this to help the swelling. Now I always make sure I have at least one bag on hand.”

Kissy takes it with a thanks and presses it gingerly to a spot along her jaw.

The bruising will be bad, I realize, already seeing a hefty set of marks even in the somewhat dim light of the lone lamp in the living room.