“Come see. It’s all ready.” He led the way to the clearing, where they feasted on premade peanut butter sandwiches, apples and, of course, some chocolate.

They were back on the trail in less than an hour.

Bri hadn’t been back in the saddle very long before, out of the blue, she said, “I’m sorry.”

At Tanner’s invitation, she was still riding alongside him. Turning slightly in his saddle, he tilted his head to give her a puzzled look.

“About what?”

She hesitated, licked her lips, then blurted out, “I realize now I shouldn’t have forced you to take me with you, nor followed you when you left me at Hawk’s. I’m slowing you down and I know it.”

“Brianna…” he began.

She rushed on. “I haven’t been on a horseback hunt in ages. Hell, other than a jog in my father’s fields every so often, I haven’t been on horseback at all, at least not long enough to ache.” She barely paused to draw breath, not giving him time to speak, before babbling on. “Now I’m beginning to ache all over, and, and…”

“And, as I said,” he quickly inserted, “you’re really nuts.”

He smiled, so softly, so gently, she felt a twist in her chest. “First off,” he continued, “you didn’t force me into anything. Trust me, sweetheart, I don’t force easily. Secondly, we couldn’t go any faster without wearing out the horses, especially the one packing.” He smiled again, only this time his smile was sheer temptation. “And third, but most importantly, after a bit of consideration, I knew I wanted you along.”

For an instant Bri’s heart appeared to stop. No, everything inside her seemed to stop. “But you said-”

Once again he cut her off. “I know what I said. I changed my mind.” One dark brow lifted. “Did you think only women were allowed to do that?”

“No, of course not, but-”

“Wait.” Tanner brought his mount to a halt and reached out to halt her horse. “Look at Boyo.”

Bri swept her gaze around, almost missing the dog standing perfectly still in the underbrush. Even from the distance separating them she could see him quivering. Boyo spotted something and was ready to spring into action.

Ten

“Stay, boy.” Tanner’s low command told her he knew the dog was ready to bolt for whatever it was he saw.

“It couldn’t be Minnich already, could it?” Bri asked quietly. “He took off yesterday, but you had to wait for me. Could we have caught up already?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t know he was being followed until yesterday, and even then he might have thought we were just packers,” he answered just as quietly. “Why would we have spooked him?”

“Because you fired at him?”

“Maybe. But on the other hand, he saw you, apparently alone…”

“I was,” she cut in. “At least I thought I was.”

“Right, and so did he. So, yeah, it could be him. He’s deep in the wilds now, likely giving himself and the horses a rest. I’m gonna have to get closer.”

“We’re going to get closer?”

“We are.” Moving to the packhorses, he removed his gun belt from one of the packs and strapped it around his waist. Digging back into the pack, he retrieved his pistol, checked it and settled it in the holster. She couldn’t miss the pair of binoculars in a pouch on the left side of the belt. Walking back to his horse, he slid his rifle from the scabbard.

Bri turned to her horse to get her own rifle.

He frowned. “Do you really think you’ll need that weapon?”

“I’m taking it.” She allowed him a sweet smile. “But I’ll leave the pistol here.”

“Wonderful.” Sighing, he moved slowly, silently forward.

Boyo paced beside him on the left, while Bri matched his steps on his right. They hadn’t gone very far when Tanner and Boyo came to a halt. Bri stopped next to him.

Across the stream, some distance away, she could just make out a man standing on the other side. There was a small clearing near the bank, but the horses were tethered and a makeshift camp had been set up to the back, under cover of the tall pines, surrounded by brush.

Tanner took out the field glasses. He gazed through them a few moments, then slid them back in the pouch. “It’s Minnich,” he murmured, sounding positive.

Then all hell broke out, everything seemingly happening at once.

A shot rang out and Tanner’s hat went flying. In unison, they dropped to the ground. Tanner scooped up his hat and poked his finger through the hole in front. Bri vaguely heard him mutter, “Son of a bitch, I thought that only happened in the movies.”

With a bone-chilling yowl, Boyo took off running, as Tanner and Bri raised their rifles to their shoulders.

Another shot rang out. Boyo let out a horrible-sounding yelp and flew into the air, then crashed to the ground. At the same time, two more shots rang out. With an outcry of pain, Minnich went down.

“I got the bastard.” Tanner took off at a run toward the downed man, splashing through the stream.

“I got him,” Bri yelled, also running, but she was not running through the water but to Boyo.

She went cold at her first sight of the dog. He was lying still, not whining. Breath eased from Bri as she saw his chest move. He was alive.

She dropped to her knees next to him, gently running her hands over his wiry-haired body. Her hand came away wet with blood when she touched his shoulder. “Bastard’s too mild a word for the lowlife,” she mumbled, parting Boyo’s fur to examine the wound.

She sighed with relief when she saw the bleeding was not profuse, indicating a major artery hadn’t been hit. But had the shell gone through his body?

Even as the thought went through her mind, Bri was carefully sliding her hand beneath Boyo, feeling for a wet spot. There was none. The bullet was still inside somewhere.

She had to stop the bleeding. Not wanting to leave him even long enough to run back to the horses for the first-aid kit, Bri yanked her shirt from her waistband, popping buttons as she pulled it off.

Without a thought that she was sitting there with only her silk long undershirt on or the chill in the air, she began tearing the shirt into strips. Folding them into pads, she lay them on the wound, applying gentle pressure. She had just changed pads when Tanner loped up to her with the first-aid kit in hand.

Sliding around to give him access to the wound, Bri gently lifted the dog’s head to her lap. “You’re such a brave boy,” she murmured, stroking Boyo’s head as Tanner poured water over the pad before carefully removing it from the wound. The dog didn’t so much as whimper as Tanner dried and cleaned the ugly gash. Bri continued to soothe the animal with soft praise. “You risked your life for us, Boyo. You’re a genuine hero.” She stroked his head and muzzle, and every time she got close to his mouth, his long tongue flicked out to lick her hand.

“Why, thank you for the kisses,” she said, watching Tanner as he applied an antibiotic cream to the wound before pressing a sterile pad against it. Taking out a roll of gauze, he wound it around Boyo’s body, anchoring the pad. Then he took out a syringe, rubbed a spot on the animal’s leg with a sterilized pad and carefully slid the needle into the leg.

Bri glanced up at Tanner in question.

“For pain,” he said. “I didn’t want to waste time before we stopped the bleeding,” he explained. “He should rest easy now.” He raised his brows. “You must be uncomfortable. Do you want me to move him?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” It was a bald-faced lie. Bri was aching all over now, partly from tension, but there was no way she was letting him move the injured dog away from her.

Tanner smiled as if he’d known her answer before asking the question. “Okay. I’ve notified Hawk. He and a rescue helicopter will be here in a couple of hours.”

Bri frowned. “How did you reach Hawk?”

He smiled again, teasingly. “It’s called a cell/walkie-talkie phone.”

She gave him a narrow-eyed look. Then suddenly she remembered. “Minnich. Did you get him?”

Tanner nodded. “Took a couple of bullets, but he’s still alive. I carried him back to our horses. He’s in a lot of pain, so I tied him up real tight. Make him suffer for what he’s done.”

Seemingly picking up on her inner turmoil, Boyo licked her hand as if comforting her. “Do you think he might be thirsty?” she asked, nodding down at the dog.

“Probably.” Tanner nodded, handing her the thermos he had used to clean the wound. “There’s still some water in here. He can’t get up, but you can lift his head enough so he can lap up some of it.”

Bri was already pouring the cool liquid into the small cup and slowly lifting his head. “Come on, Boyo, help me here. You’ve got to be thirsty after all you’ve been through.” She barely noticed Tanner turning away.

“I’m going to check on Minnich,” he said. “Then I’m going to tear down that excuse for a shelter he threw together.”

What seemed like forever later, Bri was cradling Boyo in her arms, her head resting against his. She was still murmuring encouragement to him, every bone and muscle complaining in pain at the awkward position she was sitting in, when she heard the sound of the helicopter approaching. She’d have cheered, but she didn’t have the energy.

Boyo had been dozing from the effects of the painkiller, but he opened his eyes and moved his head enough to look up at the sky, golden now with the setting sun.

“Yes, baby,” she said, ruffling his wiry coat. “It’s the boss. He’s come to take you home.” For the first time, Boyo whined, but it had a happy sound to it.

Bri watched as the copter came into sight, then stopped to hover overhead. She saw the line with the rescue basket attached, Hawk in a harness, clinging to the line as it slowly dropped to the ground. Tanner was waiting to catch it.

Between them, Tanner and Hawk lifted an unconscious Minnich into the basket and motioned to have it hauled up. Before it was off the ground, Hawk was striding to where Bri sat cradling his wounded pet.