Page 72 of Cowboy Heat

It makes my blood boil now.

I go to the window over the sink next to her and make a show of looking out of it. I’m hoping my presence in her periphery will comfort her a bit.

She opens the door and asks if I’d like a water.

I accept, and we hover between the rooms again.

Finally, Kissy sighs. “It just feels wrong here,” she admits. Her tone shifts to something undeniably different. “And thatpissesme off! Do you know how hard it was for me to get this place? I worked two jobs since the age of fifteen in this town, saving every scrap of money I could and not touching an ounce of my savings account to do it so I could prove it to myself, to the memory of my parents, that Icould do anything,and now here I am, feeling sick in this place. Why?” She whirls around to me. “Whydid that man come for me?”

I see her pain and anger, and for the first time in days, I seeher.

The Girl Beneath the Floor returns to remind me that some things can’t be erased. She’s just out of the corner of my eye, sitting on the floor with anguish rolling off her.

But I reach out to the only person I can.

Kissy lets me hold her shoulder. I peer down at her twisting face.

I’m peeringdownat her face.

I’m peering down ata face.

Some idea falls loose.

“You took a picture of him,” I say.

Kissy’s anger dissipates as confusion rolls in. “Huh?”

“The man who attacked you. Before the deputies got here, you and Damien took a picture of him with your phones.”

Kissy nods. “Yeah, I thought I’d look at it more later but honestly haven’t had the stomach. I wasalsohoping the sheriff’s department would find out who the heck he is from the go.”

“But they haven’t yet, right?”

“No. Detective Fabre said they’d let me know when they did.”

I feel like an idiot for not thinking about doing this earlier. “Could I see the picture? Send it to myself?”

I drop my hand as she pulls out her phone. She gives it to me with an eyebrow raised.

“What are you going to do with it?” she asks.

“Call in another favor.”

Lee is already awakewhen I get him on the phone. He’s glad I spoke to Ethan but not happy about the lack of anything I found at Guidry’s and what I’ve learned and seen ofLa Lumieresince we talked last. “Jesus, bro,” he lets out when I’m done. “I never would’ve guessed some place called Robin’s Tree would be this insane.”

Kissy is in her bedroom, showering in the connected bathroom. The door is shut. Still, I lower my voice. “I don’t think it’s always like this, but Everett Guidry sure sounds like he’s been a pain in some way or another for a while.”

Lee’s in a hotel room, one he’s personally staying in until he completes his bounty hunting job. I want to ask him what’s giving him trouble with his current bounty, but, well, I’m dealing with monkeys in my own circus, and they seem to be a bit more intense than his.

“Can you use the picture to see if anything comes up on your side of things?” I reiterate. “I don’t know if the department here has already found out who the attacker is and kept it on the down-low or if they have no idea.” Either way, I trust Lee more. I don’t need to say as much because if our roles were reversed, I know he’d do the same thing.

“Yeah. I can look this guy up.” He cusses big; there’s movement on his end of the line. “I might have to change locales to do it, though. I can get you some kind of answer in an hour or two? Maybe some extra info if I can fall down the right rabbit hole.”

“That would be much appreciated. Thanks, man.”

There’s more movement, and I think I hear a door close.

“You need to be careful, Baby Beau. It sounds like the only big thing that changed in town recently was you rolling into the ranch. That might be a coincidence or—”