The baby.
She was still crying, and even though the sound was muffled, it was enough for Landon to pinpoint their location. Tessa was headed for the back exit.
And then he saw her.
Tessa saw him, too.
She didnât stop. With the baby gripped in her arms, she threw open the glass door and was within a heartbeat of getting outside to the parking lot. She might have made it, too, but Landon took hold of her arms and pulled her back inside.
As heâd done by the barn, he was as gentle with her as he could be, but he wasnât feeling very much of that gentleness inside.
âPlease, just let me go.â Her eyes filled with tears. âItâs not safe for you to be with me.â
âWhat the hell does that mean?â Landon snapped.
She closed her eyes, the tears spilling down her cheeks. âIâm not who you think I am. And if you stay here with me, theyâll kill you.â
Chapter One
Deputy Landon Ryland was looking for a killer.
He stood back from the crowd whoâd gathered for the graveside funeral, and Landon looked at each face of the fifty or so people. Most heâd known since he was a kid, when he had visited his Ryland cousins here in Silver Creek, Texas.
But today he had to consider that one of them might have murdered Emmett.
Just the thought of it felt as if someone had Landonâs heart in a vise and was crushing it. Emmett and he were cousins. But more like brothers. And now Emmett was dead, and someone was going to pay for that.
Especially considering how, and why, Emmett had died.
Landon knew the how, but it was the why that was causing his sleepless nights. He intended to give the killer a whole lot worse than just lack of sleep, though.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye when he sensed someone approaching. Landon didnât exactly have a welcoming expression, and everybody had kept their distance. So far.
Since he was on edge, he slid his hand over his gun, but it wasnât necessary. It was Sheriff Grayson Ryland, yet another of his cousins.
Grayson, however, was also Landonâs new boss.
The ink was barely dry on his contract with the sheriffâs office, but he was the newest lawman in Silver Creek. Newest resident, too, of the Silver Creek Ranch since heâd moved to the guesthouse there until he could find his own place. Landon just wished his homecoming had been under much better circumstances.
âYou see anything?â Grayson said. He was tall, lanky and in charge merely by being there. Grayson didnât just wear a badgeâhe was the law in Silver Creek, and everybody knew it.
Grayson was no doubt asking if Landon had seen a killer. He hadnât. But one thing was for certain: she wasnât here.
âAny sign of her yet?â Landon asked.
Grayson shook his head, but like Landon, he continued to study the funeral attendees, looking at each one of them from beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. Also as Landon had done, Grayson lingered a moment on Emmettâs three brothers. All grief stricken. And that didnât apply just to them but to the entire Ryland clan. Losing one of their own had cut them each to the bone.
âTessa Sinclair might not be able to attend, because she could be dead,â Grayson reminded him.
Yes. She could be. But unless Landon found proof of that, she was a person of interest in Emmettâs death. Or at least, that was how Grayson had labeled her. To Landon, she was a suspect for accessory to murder since Emmettâs body had been found in her house. That meant she likely knew the killer.
She could even be protecting him.
Well, she wouldnât protect that piece of dirt once Landon found him. And old times wouldnât play into this. It didnât matter that once sheâd been Landonâs lover. Didnât matter that once theyâd had feelings for each other.