Page 134 of The Moments You Were Mine

I needed to learn from the past—mine, Spencer’s, and my ancestors. Maybe the curse Uncle Adam talked about wasn’t from the poker game where one family had taken the land from another. Maybe it was simply pride. Arrogance.

I cupped Parker’s cheek, running my thumb along his jaw. “Some of the worst mistakes my family and I have made were the moments we tried to face a battle alone. The legacy of the land doesn’t just belong to me because of a deed and a bank account. It belongs to everyone who works the ranch, every person who loves it and invests their heart and soul into it. It’s not mine to carry alone. Right now, I need you to help me keep it and the people there safe.”

“I can’t promise no one will get hurt, Ducky. Like you said, a battle is being waged against the ranch and your family, and there are always casualties in a war. But I promise to do everything in my power to ensure the ones who get hurt aren’t you and yours. That it’s Ace and Ike and anyone helping them who pays the price.”

Renewed fear for Teddy wound through me and for Chuck. People who’d stepped across a line, maybe not even realizing they had.

Parker grabbed my wrist, kissed the palm of my hand, and then set it aside as he started the SUV and backed out of the parking spot.

We were going home. And for the first time in more years than I could count, that thought filled me with trepidation instead of peace.

Chapter Thirty-six

Fallon

THE ARCHER

Performed by Taylor Swift

TEN YEARS AGO

HIM: Please tell me Dad heard wrong. Tell me you did not fly a fucking plane by yourself.

HER: Everyone is freaking out over nothing. It was harder to figure out how to get to and from the airports than it was for me to fly the Cessna. It practically flies itself.

HIM: Ducky…that was fucking reckless. What the hell am I going to do with you?

HER: Go ahead, scold me like my parents. Be as hypocritical as them. Everyone expects me to be a goddamn adult when they need another pair of hands but calls me a reckless and impulsive kid when I actually make the tough calls and do what has to be done.

Minutes passed.

HER: Sorry. I’m angry. And upset. Ignore me.

Another few minutes went by.

HER: Taylor’s right… ‘who could leave me, but who could stay.’ I make it unbearable.

HIM: Don’t do that. Do NOT belittle yourself. You’re just like her—your idol. You’re ready for combat and showing everyone around you exactly what a hero should look like.

PRESENT DAY

The teary-eyed goodbye with Theo addedanother layer of somberness to the mood that had settled over Parker and me. The little boy retreated into himself, hugging Dog and nodding as if he already knew we weren’t coming back, as if we’d already broken our promise. It was heartbreakingly sad.

The sorrow and fear all but swallowed me and made it almost impossible to focus on what I needed to do—fly home, question Teddy, and find Ike. I ended up having to review some of the items on my preflight checklist multiple times while the SEAL I’d married had already zeroed in on his next task.

While I talked with the tower, Parker downloaded everything he could find on Ike, his half of the Puzo family, Ace, and Lopez Construction. After we were in the air, he spent the entire flight digging through the research while I spent it anxiously coming up with a plan for my talk with Teddy.

It was dangerous to fly so distracted. Dangerous to be going home at all.

But I had to hold out hope that we’d be able to end this once and for all, now that we knew we were looking for Ike.

As we passed over the Sierras, I spoke with the tower and received the go-ahead to land. Much of what a pilot did was automated these days in the newer planes, more like watching a video game run versus actually flying. But the takeoffs and landings still required a steady hand and clear mind, especially as the airport in Rivers wasn’t equipped for auto-landing. Those few moments were some of my favorite parts of being a pilot—the moment when I had complete control.

I started our descent, watching the horizon on our approach.

At about a thousand feet, two blasts rocked the plane in quick succession. The cockpit shook, metal screeched on metal, and the wings dipped sideways.

A startled, frightened yelp escaped me.