“Why does that matter? If it’s inappropriate conduct, it’s inappropriate conduct. At the very least, it shows a lack of judgment.”

A flash of heat claimed Julia’s cheeks as she recalled a few of Jim’s personal e-mails and phone calls to her. Ryder was right. Jim broke the rules, but that didn’t make him a bad therapist…or a dangerous one.

“I’m supposed to fire someone I’ve been seeing for three years because of one mistake or just because you tell me to?”

“Like I told you before, Julia, maybe Brody hasn’t been much help to you because he doesn’t want you to recover your memory. If he has a thing for you, he wants to keep you dependent on him.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Seems to be a lot of that going around.”

Ryder gripped her shoulders and shook her. “He has a history. Even if he’s not slashing panties and tires, he’s not the best choice for a therapist-not for you.”

Ryder made sense. Jim belonged to that twilight life she’d been living for the past three years as a frightened, uncertain woman jumping at shadows and bumps in the night. She knew from Ryder’s descriptions and her own memories, she really didn’t have anything in common with that woman anymore…except Shelby.

“Maybe…” Her cell phone chirped in her purse and she held up her hand to Ryder as she shrugged out of his grasp. She snagged her purse from the porch by the side of the swing and dug out her phone. “Hello?”

“Julia, this is Sheriff Ballard.”

“Hi, Sheriff.” Ryder spun around and she raised her brows at him. “Did you discover anything about the break-in at my house?”

“No, it’s not that. I got a call this morning from Craig Settles. Do you remember him?”

“Yes.” She clutched the phone and licked her lips. “He’s the owner of the stolen car I was driving when I crashed.”

Ryder planted himself in front of her, mouthing words she couldn’t understand.

“Right. He was cleaning his garage and discovered that old duffel bag the police recovered from the car. He found something in there he didn’t notice when he first got his stuff back.”

“What is it?” Her dry mouth could barely form the words. If she hid something in that car, it couldn’t be good.

“A computer disc.”

The blood pounded in her ears and she gripped the chain of the porch swing for support. Ryder’s hand curled around her waist as he urged her to sit down.

“How does he know, how can he remember whether or not it belongs to him after all this time?”

“There’s writing on the case he doesn’t recognize, and he popped it in his computer and got some gibberish about encryption. He can’t even read what’s on it.”

She and Ryder hadn’t told Sheriff Ballard about the CD she delivered to Jeremy in Arizona. It looked as though she never delivered the real one after all. Was that why she and Jeremy were fighting before the house blew up? “Is Settles going to send it?”

“He already did. I’m holding it in my hand right now. He called to tell me to expect it today, but it arrived yesterday.”

“Have you tried it in your computer?”

“I get the same thing-gibberish. The way I see it, this CD probably belongs to you or whoever stole the car in the first place. Do you want it?”

She didn’t want anything to do with the CD. Jeremy had used it to threaten Ryder and it may have gotten Jeremy killed instead. The CD signaled trouble, but it might be important for Ryder.

She expelled a long breath. “Yeah, I want it.”

“Are you at home? I can drop it off or if I can raise Zack on the radio, I’ll have him come in and take it to you.”

“I’m at the McClintocks’ ranch, but I can be home in half an hour.”

Dropping onto the swing, Julia ended the call and held her phone cupped in her palm.

Ryder whistled. “Let me guess, the owner of the stolen car found a computer disc that didn’t belong to him. Wasn’t that car totaled?”

Drawing her leg up, Julia balanced her chin on her knee. “I totaled the car, but the cops salvaged a duffel bag out of the trunk, along with the bag of money in the backseat. The duffel bag had a few tools in it and some fishing gear. They figured it didn’t belong to me. When they contacted Craig Settles about the car, he claimed the duffel bag. I guess nobody searched it thoroughly…until now.”

A chill rippled up her spine and she hunched her shoulders.

Ryder’s strong hands massaged her neck, and she wished she could just collapse like a rag doll into his arms, let him handle everything. She wanted her memories to stop right here. She didn’t need to know anything more about her dangerous ex-husband or his lies and deceit.

The touch of Ryder’s hands melted the tension in her back, flooded her with warmth, filled her with strength. She straightened her shoulders and pushed up out of the swing. “I’m going to meet Sheriff Ballard at my house to get that CD.”

“You’re not going alone. If Ballard can’t read that CD, neither can you, but the agency just might have a chance. You’re not keeping that CD in your possession for more than thirty seconds.”

Fingers of uneasiness trailed across her flesh. She didn’t want the damn thing. She’d turn it over to Ryder and his spook buddies to decipher.

Ryder’s stepmother, Pam, stepped out onto the porch, planting her hands on a pair of slim hips. “Are you leaving, Julia? Shelby ’s napping. That little girl was born to ride. Can’t tell you how nice it is to have another female in the house.”

Pam, like her husband, was larger than life, tall and wiry and tough as shoe leather. She and Ralph had been married for almost twenty years and rumor had it that she’d been having an affair with Ralph while he was still married to Ryder’s mother. When Ralph and his wife divorced, Pam went from part-time ski instructor to reigning queen of Silverhill.

Pam’s affection for Shelby surprised Julia. Rod said she’d been waiting for a grandchild, but Julia figured Pam would prefer a boy to a girl. She probably got a kick out of Shelby ’s tomboy tendencies.

“Why don’t we let Shelby nap here until we get that…other business settled.” Ryder put on his hat and tipped it over his forehead to hide his face.

“Is that all right with you, Pam?”

“That’s fine with me as long as you don’t mind coming all the way back out here to pick her up.”

“I’ll get her for Julia.”

“Really?” Pam raised a brow that disappeared beneath the fluff of blond hair on her forehead. “You’re taking your responsibility toward Julia seriously, aren’t you? It’s good to see you care for something or someone close to home.” Pam turned to Julia and smirked. “That’s my three boys. Ryder feels responsible for the whole world, not so much his family. Rod feels responsible for this ranch and Rafe feels responsible only for himself.”

“We better get out of here.” Scowling, Ryder grabbed Julia’s hand. “Don’t get Pam started on the defects of me and Rafe.”

Pam waved from the porch. “Take your time.”

“Does Pam really think protecting the country and protecting and serving as a cop are defects?”

“I don’t know what her problem is. She should be down on her hands and knees thanking me every day. I’m the one who spilled the beans to my mother about the affair between my father and Pam, which led to my parents’ divorce and left the field wide open for Pam.”

“You? Your father and Pam have been married for quite a while. You couldn’t have been more than…”

“Ten.” His lips tightened. “I was ten years old and I’d been up at Snowhill skiing with my friends. I saw my father with Pam, but they didn’t see me. Later that night during dinner, I asked him in front of the entire family what he and the blond ski instructor were doing up at Snowhill Lodge.”

Julia caught her breath. Ryder blamed himself for his parents’ divorce? “What happened?”

“My parents excused all of us from the room and proceeded to have a huge fight. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time my father had checked out the ski instructors. My mother left the next day and never came back.”