“Ava was only sixteen when she came home and saw our parents’ murder. She told me...Ava thought they were going to kill her, too, but she ran away. Managed to make it to the Montgomery ranch—they’re our only neighbors within miles out here.” He ran a hand through his hair. “When the cops couldn’t find any leads, gossip started spreading that Ava wasn’t a victim. That she’d been in on the killings all along.”

Her heart ached for him—for Ava.

“We’re going to prove that Ava is innocent. And the people who killed my family—they’re going to spend the rest of their lives in prison, if they don’t get the death penalty.”

He took out his own horse, controlling the steed easily. The sun was starting to set as they made their way out of the stables. Streaks of orange and gold shot across the sky. Jennifer stopped, her breath caught by the gorgeous sight.

“Ava can’t see the beauty here any longer,” Brodie said, his voice sad. “All she sees is the blood and the death.”

Jennifer’s gaze slid away from the sky and locked on him. “What do you see?”

He wasn’t looking at the setting sun. He was looking at her. “Dreams that were lost.”

Her heart seemed to stop.

“This was my safe haven. Whenever I’d come back from my missions, my tours, I knew this place would be here for me, waiting. No matter what hell I faced, my refuge was waiting for me.”

Until that refuge had been ripped away.

“Davis and I...we rebuilt the main ranch house. We didn’t want Ava to walk in and see—” He broke off, clearing his throat. “We tried to keep the good memories and get rid of the bad ones, but it just didn’t work.”

She hurt for him and all that he’d lost. “Maybe you should try making some new memories.”

He gave a grim nod even as his eyes raked over her. “Is that what you’re doing? Trying to give up the life you had before and start somewhere new?”

“I didn’t really have a life before I became Jennifer Wesley.” She hadn’t meant to say that. Jennifer jumped on her horse. “We don’t have a lot of daylight left. We’d better hurry.”

“Jennifer...”

Her mare rushed forward under Jennifer’s guidance. She’d bared enough of her soul that day.

* * *

THERE WAS YELLOW police tape still up at the scene of the explosion. Brodie secured his horse and walked forward cautiously. The ground was blackened, and every time he thought about how close Jennifer had come to death—

He forced himself to take a deep breath. She’s alive.

She was also a very, very good liar.

“I want to scout around the woods, see if this guy left any other tracks.” He studied the scene around him. The stalker had driven out there on an old dirt road. He’d left the Mustang, setting it up as the perfect bait.

Then he’d waited...just waited for them to follow the signal from that phone.

Boom.

“The cops traced the motorcycle’s tracks to the main road, but the guy vanished there.” Either he’d kept going on the bike, hitting old trails and dirt roads, or he’d had another vehicle waiting for him. It would have been a simple matter to load the bike into a truck or a van and then vanish.

A simple matter...especially since they were dealing with a professional. A man who seemed to particularly enjoy fire. First her house, now the car.

What would be next?

Brodie figured the guy had stuck to the old trails. Davis had set up a watch position near the main road, but he hadn’t seen the guy on the motorcycle come roaring through. Not after the explosion.

“Stay close,” Brodie ordered Jennifer. If the guy had come back, he could be hunting them at that very moment.

He wanted to find the man. If that jerk had been responsible for killing Brodie’s parents...

I swear I will make him pay.

He’d learned to track at an early age, but when Brodie slipped into the woods near that old dirt road, he didn’t see any signs of his prey. Branches weren’t broken, and the earth wasn’t disturbed. No footprints had been left behind.

He kept searching, fanning out. Jennifer was silent as she followed him.

Guarding his back, just as she’d promised.

The sun sank deeper into the sky. The gold vanished, and the streaks of red started to look more like blood.

But still he found no trace of the stalker.

The guy is good.

That fact made him exceptionally dangerous.

“Nothing,” Brodie snapped when they went back to the horses. “The guy is a ghost.”

Jennifer’s gaze swept the area. “Ghosts can’t hurt you. It’s only the living who can do that.”

She reached for her horse’s reins, but Brodie’s hand flew out, and he caught her wrist.

“Why did you come to my bedroom last night?” Because he was starting to think that the woman was playing him, pulling him into some kind of game that he didn’t understand. He wanted to trust her, but she’d been lying to him from the start.

“Because I wanted you.” She was staring down at his hand, and his fingers tightened around her wrist. “I was tired of feeling afraid. When I’m with you, you push the fear away, at least for a little while.”

“Jennifer...” Then it hit him. Is that even her name? He dropped her wrist and stepped back. “What’s your name?”

Her head jerked up.

“Jennifer,” Brodie snapped out. “She’s just pretend. A cover. What’s your real name?”

She flinched, and what could have been guilt knifed through him because he saw the pain in her eyes. She’s been lying to you. You have to protect yourself. Protect your family.

And you have to use her to find your parents’ killers.

“Jennifer is my real name,” she whispered. “It’s easier...in the business...if you keep things simple. Keep your first name the same or close to your real one. You’re already used to answering to that name. Seems more natural.” Her gaze slid away from his. “Wesley isn’t the last name I was born with, but I’ve had it for so long that...well, the other name doesn’t matter anymore.”

She climbed onto the horse. He wasn’t about to let this go, not yet. “What about your family? Your real family. Do you ever see them?”

Her hand slid into the horse’s mane as she leaned forward. “I don’t have a family, Brodie. I spent most of my teen years bouncing from one foster home to another.” She gave a slow nod. “That’s one of the reasons I was recruited, you see. It’s better not to have close ties with anyone.”

Better?

“They gave me the option of dying.”

“What?” Shock punched him in the gut.

“I could have started with a brand-new identity, someplace else. But I thought I was safe as Jennifer Wesley. No one knew the truth about me. No one outside of my division was supposed to know.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “I guess I was wrong about that.”

The sun had fallen even deeper into the sky. Jennifer shivered.

Get her in for the night. In case that maniac is out there, watching, waiting...

“Want to hear something ridiculous?”

He mounted his horse, then frowned at her.

“You knew Jennifer Wesley. If I became someone else...” Her smile was bittersweet. “Someone with a new face and a new name, then it would be as if we’d never met before.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want to lose that. I didn’t want to lose everything again.”

Then her horse rushed by him. He stared after her a moment as her words replayed in his head. Part of him was furious with her for her deception. But another part...

As if we’d never met...

Another part was determined to keep Jennifer as close as he possibly could. Brodie spurred his horse after her.

* * *

HIS PLAN HADN’T WORKED.

Brodie hadn’t turned on Jennifer. He hadn’t kicked her out, hadn’t left her to face the wolves on her own.

He’d seen the picture, but the fool must have chosen to believe whatever lies she’d spun.