The New Cowboy. Rebecca Winters

many more.

      “Unfortunately those victims who didn’t go to a hospital and notify the police will never know that he’s been arrested. After his trial he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison. If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that you no longer need to fear that he will be back to assault you again.”

      She put a hand to her mouth and jumped up from the chair. “Thank God.”

      “All the particulars are here in the report if you want to look at it.”

      “No—” she said. “Not right now. I couldn’t.” Though she’d promised that she would be willing to testify against the person if he was ever brought to trial, the thought of having to divulge all the details again in front of a room full of people made her ill.

      He eyed her with compassion. “I understand. Detective Palmer will want to talk to you when he’s recovered. He’ll be the one to keep you informed when the suspect is brought to trial for his crimes. You can discuss all that with him when he’s back on his feet.”

      “Thank you.”

      Avery rushed out of the office and down the corridor to the front lobby, but everything was a blur. When she reached her truck in the parking lot and climbed inside, she broke down in a convulsion of tears.

      A half hour passed before she lifted her head, once again aware of her surroundings. Pulling herself together as best she could, she reached for her cell phone and called Dr. Moser, her psychologist. When she got the other woman on the line and told her the incredible news, the doctor who practiced on the other side of town asked her to come to her office straightaway.

      Once inside, Dr. Moser enveloped her in a fierce hug, causing Avery to shed more tears when she hadn’t thought it possible. “I don’t have to be frightened that he’s stalking me any longer.”

      “That’s true and takes away a whole world of stress.”

      Avery sat down. “But not all of it,” she admitted.

      “No. With two other victims, there will be a trial and then you’ll have to decide if you want to go through it and face him. For now it’s enough to know he’s been caught. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. Only a small percentage of victims come forward. How wonderful that you listened to your half brother’s aunt and did the right thing by calling the police right away and getting to a hospital.”

      One day Avery would thank Jarod’s Aunt Pauline for her wisdom. By listening to her, she now had closure, even if it had taken eight years for her assailant to be caught.

      “You have a special kind of courage that’s going to get you through this life. Mark my words. One day you’re going to know real happiness again. With this news you can live your life without always having to look over your shoulder in fear. I’ll call the pharmacy in White Lodge and refill your prescription. Is there anything else I can do?”

      “You’ve been here for me. I’ll always be thankful for that.”

      Avery had been fighting to get her life back since the night the assault had happened, but this news was like receiving a “get out of jail free” card, even if it couldn’t take away the horrendous memory of it.

      She thanked the doctor and left for the dig site. Work helped her keep her sanity, especially on a day like this when she didn’t know what to do with all the new emotions flooding her system. It was so automatic to worry that her assailant might try to attack her again that she’d probably continue to worry out of habit for a long time. Hopefully the news that he’d been caught would finally sink in.

      All these years of fearing he would target her again had left their mark. Now that it was over, she could breathe a little deeper. But since there were other assailants out there, the fear would never completely go away.

      Today had to be a new beginning—the start of a happy future—but she still couldn’t comprehend it. Happiness was found in all kinds of ways, but she feared that the kind of joy she longed for with the man she’d loved for the past year would always elude her. After talking to him over Skype at Sadie and Jarod’s ranch house the other night, her thoughts had been filled with him.

      He was coming home for the Fourth of July, but it was just a vacation. Then he’d go back to northern Montana where he’d be unavailable for who knew how many months. But none of it mattered because even if he was attracted to her, he wouldn’t be able to handle what had happened to her if he ever found out.

      * * *

      THURSDAY MORNING, ZANE LAWSON left the Bureau of Land Management’s office of Law Enforcement and Security in Glasgow, Montana, where he’d been an undercover special agent, and headed for the parking lot. Once he’d climbed into his unmarked blue four-door Dodge Power Wagon without government plates, he started the engine and headed for Billings.

      En route he phoned the Corkin ranch he’d bought a year ago near the Montana-Wyoming border. He needed to talk to his foreman, Matt Henson.

      Matt and his wife, Millie, lived in the house next door to the Corkin ranch house. She did the housekeeping for Zane. They were both salt of the earth people. Since a little over a year ago when he’d first come to Montana from San Francisco with his stepniece, Sadie, and his nephew, Ryan, Zane had grown to look upon Matt and Millie as family.

      “Hey, Matt—”

      “Zane? What’s going on? I thought you were out on a case and couldn’t be reached for a while.”

      “That sting produced results at long last and now I’m coming home.”

      “For how long?”

      “Permanently.”

      Zane could hear Matt’s mind turning things over. “What kind of permanently do you mean? Is that good or bad?”

      “Oh, it’s good. After cleaning up a drug ring that had been plaguing the area for a long time, the transfer I asked for came through to work in the Pryor Mountains area. The lead state ranger in Billings just phoned to let me know I’ve been assigned to the Billings office. They’ve added a bonus I never expected.”

      “What’s that?”

      “I’ll be running a satellite station for the BLM Law Enforcement Division right here at the ranch.”

      After being in the grasslands around Glasgow at the northern end of the state, the thought of going home to the mountains thrilled him. He’d missed three-year-old Ryan and the ranch so badly he could taste it. Their latest Skype session that had included Avery had been hard on him.

      “You’ll be working from the ranch?” Matt wasn’t one for drama, but after hearing about the transfer, he let go with a long ear piercing whistle. “That’s the best news I ever heard.”

      Zane smiled. “No. I’m pretty sure the best news came the day your rodeo champion daughter married Connor Bannock. But now I’ll be on hand to do the ranching with you more often.”

      “You’ll be just in time to help me calve out the heifers from the herd.”

      “Yeah? I’m looking forward to it more than you know. How’s Millie?”

      “She’s going to be higher than a kite when she hears this.”

      “I’m pretty happy, too.” The opportunity to buy the Corkin ranch where Sadie had been raised had come at the same time he’d left the SEALs to work for the Bureau of Land Management—both changes had turned his life around. With two viable careers, one of them ranching in the area of Montana he loved, he could plan for his future and put down roots. “How are the lovebirds?”

      “Which pair of newlyweds are we talking about?”

      Zane chuckled. “Both!”

      “I do believe Lizzie and Sadie have found their soul mates.”

      “That’s a fact.”

      Zane