Lincoln rose and dusted off his trousers. “No, we need to stay together.”
Placing a hand on her hip, she asked, “When are you going to start trusting me?”
“This has less to do with trust and more about safety.”
“I have two guns on my person,” she challenged. “I’ll be fine.”
“I am responsible for you as the lead—”
“Lead agent,” she said, finishing his sentence. “I get it. You are the lead agent. But I’m not an inexperienced agent. I don’t need a protector.”
“Your actions prove otherwise.”
She pursed her lips together. “You need to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
Lincoln watched her closely for a moment before tossing up his hands. “Fine, but you’d better not get yourself killed.”
“I can agree to those terms,” she said, smiling.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because we’re finally starting to see eye to eye.”
Lincoln took a step closer to her. “Has anyone told you that you’re an infuriating woman?”
“I’ve been called worse,” she replied cheekily as she tilted her head to look up at him.
“Have you?” he asked, his eyes darting toward her lips.
Her breath hitched a little, but she managed to say, “I would argue that you are equally infuriating, if not more.”
“Am I?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
She nodded, unable to formulate a response with him looking at her like that.
“Amey,” Lincoln murmured as he started to lean into her.
As much as she wanted to kiss him, she knew that it would be the wrong thing to do. They were Pinkerton agents on an assignment, and a kiss would just complicate their already confusing situation.
Amey brought her hand up and placed it on his chest, stilling him. “I think this would be a bad idea.”
“I don’t,” Lincoln replied, flashing her a flirtatious smile. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
“As you pointed out earlier, we’re colleagues,” she said. “You don’t even consider me a friend.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You can’t deny that there’s something between us.”
“Perhaps, but we can’t get distracted from our assignment.”
Lincoln frowned before he lowered his hands. “You’re right,” he replied. “I apologize. I’m afraid I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“No harm done,” she said, taking a step back. “Why don’t we both start heading back toward Jacob’s ranch, but take different paths?”
“I agree,” he replied.
“Good.”
He stood there, his eyes roaming her face. “Good.”
“What?”
Lincoln cleared his throat. “I meant that it’s good that we finally agree on something.”
“Yes, that is good,” she said, feeling awkward. “I find I prefer it when we agree on things.”
“As do I.”
She took another step back, creating more distance between them. “If either of us runs into danger, or finds something important, then just shoot your gun into the air.”
“That sounds logical,” Lincoln agreed.
“All right. I guess I’ll go this way,” Amey said as she started walking backwards.
She didn’t wait for Lincoln’s reply as she spun on her heel. Good heavens, she had almost kissed him… again. Hadn’t she determined that no good would come from kissing Lincoln? She would need to be more careful, because she seemed to lose all rational thought around him.
Amey’s eyes scanned the ground as she looked for any sign of the blue fabric. If the fabric wasn’t in the woods, then they had just wasted two days on this lead. And Archie would be furious if they didn’t get a break in the case soon. They were supposed to wire him tomorrow to give him an update. And right now, they didn’t have any suspects.
She came to a stop on a small ledge and glanced down at a rocky terrain. Could Doris have fallen down this sloping hill? If so, she would have had a hard time climbing back up. As she stood there, a slow crumble of falling dirt broke loose and rolled down the hill.
Amey peered down, but she saw no indication that Doris had come this way. She started to turn around, but the sight of brown paper caught her attention. It was sitting on a cluster of leaves next to a tree at the bottom of the hill. Could that be the fabric?
Deciding there was only one way to find out, she started carefully descending the hill. As she skidded to a stop at the bottom, she retrieved the package. The brown paper was tied up with string.
She loosened the string, and she found herself staring back at a rich, blue bundle of fabric. They’d been right. Doris had been in these woods on the day she was killed. But what was she doing so deep into the woods? And why was the fabric at the bottom this hill? They still had more questions than answers.
Amey knew she needed to tell Lincoln what she’d found, but she wanted to continue her search first. Something was in these woods that someone wanted to keep hidden. And someone was willing to kill to ensure that happened. She was sure of it. But now she needed to solve this case and prove to Lincoln that she was a competent agent.
That thought brought her up short. Why was it so important for her to prove herself to him? They had an undeniable attraction for each other, but Lincoln still didn’t trust her completely. She could see it in his eyes. Those dark brown eyes that could hold her captive. Why did her husband have to be such a complex creature? One moment he was trying to kiss her, and the next moment he was pushing her away.
She tucked the fabric under her arm and weaved around the trees as she went deeper into the woods, being mindful to stay low. Perhaps it was a counterfeiting ring, she thought. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d discovered a counterfeiter in the woods.
The sound of trickling water could be heard in the distance, and she found herself gravitating toward it. She’d barely arrived at the creek when she saw a crude structure leaning against a tree for support. The roof was covered with branches, in a pathetic effort to conceal it. A
