If there was even a lingering trace of love for the man back in Oklahoma, then his advice might have been different. Instead, he advised one more time. “Talk to Janet. She will tell you what your legal options are.”
“I’ll think about it,” she promised.
“Do it,” he said more sharply than he’d intended. He sighed. “Sorry. It’s just that I can’t bury these notices forever and neither can Tate.”
She stared at him, her expression horrified. “Tate knows?”
Justin nodded. “He found the first report. He’s left it up to me to take care of this for the moment, but it can’t wait forever. Earlier today it escalated from a simple missing persons report to a kidnapping charge. It sounds as if your husband’s getting desperate.”
“I’ve put you in a terrible position, haven’t I?”
He noticed that she put concern for him ahead of concern for her husband. That was something to hold on to in the days ahead. There was no question it was going to get messy. Any man who would threaten his wife with violence as Will Longhorn had was dangerous. He was also a lawyer with political connections. It was impossible to tell what lengths he might go to before everything was sorted out in a courtroom.
“I want you to think about moving out to White Pines,” he said carefully. “Billy will have a wonderful time on the ranch and there will be people around.”
“You think this is going to get ugly, don’t you?”
“Hasn’t it already?” he asked dryly.
“But I can’t involve your family. It’s bad enough that you’re in the middle of this.”
“I made the choice,” he said. “I could have called the Oklahoma authorities the second I knew who you were. So could Tate.”
“Why didn’t you?”
His mouth curved slowly. “Darlin’, if you don’t know that, then you’re not half as quick as I’ve been giving you credit for being.”
A faint smile touched her lips, then faded just as quickly. “And Tate?”
“Tate’s a lot like Grandpa Harlan. He’s the kind of a man who trusts his gut instincts. And when it comes to a choice between that and a piece of paper coming in over a fax machine, he’ll go with his gut every time. He likes you. He believes there’s more to the story than what’s on those papers and until his back’s to the wall, he’ll do everything he can to protect you. In the meantime, I’d feel a whole lot better if you were out at White Pines.”
“I can’t impose like that, especially not if things start getting ugly.”
“That’s exactly why you need to be there. Grandpa Harlan will stand up to the devil himself to protect those he loves. Cody’s there and Harlan Patrick, not that I want you seeing too much of him.”
“No,” she said, that familiar stubborn tilt to her chin. “This is my fight, not your family’s.”
He regarded her soberly. “I’m making it mine.”
“No,” she said again, though a little less forcefully.
Justin grinned. “Yes. Don’t fight me on this, darlin’. My mind’s made up and nobody on earth’s more stubborn than an Adams.”
“We could debate that,” she teased, her expression brightening for the first time since the conversation began. “I’m not exactly a pushover.”
“No, you are anything but a pushover,” he agreed, amused. “Let’s just say you’ve met your match.”
He’d made the remark lightly, but the words hung in the air and set off a sizzling tension. Patsy’s gaze locked with his.
“Yes,” she said very quietly. “I think maybe I have.”
After that soft-spoken admission, it took every last bit of willpower Justin possessed to walk away from her and go back to his own place. It was late. He was exhausted. Stress piled on top of stress for days now had left him thoroughly drained. And yet he knew he wouldn’t sleep.
He was a man who liked to control his own destiny and too much of his future hinged now on other people. For the first time since he’d put on a badge he regretted it. It kept him from being able to track down Will Longhorn and bloody his nose for the hell he’d put Patsy through and the likely anguish that was yet to come.
Even with right on her side, there was no way to be sure that things wouldn’t get twisted around in a courtroom with Patsy coming out the loser. That was why she needed Janet at the moment, even more than she needed him. He could love her—and God knows he’d finally recognized that he did—but