Last Stand Ranch by Jenna Night

be impossible to find someone intent on hiding.”
    â€œThey had to stop looking when it got dark. That’s when Elijah came here to the hospital. He stayed all night.”
    It wasn’t anything personal, Olivia told herself. She needed to get a few things straight in her head before she started to believe he felt a deeper concern for her. Elijah Morales might look rugged and he might even be rugged, but he was a church guy. Helping people was what church guys did. They’d do it for anybody.
    Again, the tears started. Olivia was beginning to think she’d never be able to completely turn them off again. She couldn’t help it. The truth was, deep in her heart, she wanted to be very important to somebody.
    â€œI’m so sorry.” Claudia reached for Olivia’s hand. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, too.
    â€œDon’t cry, Aunt Claudia. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
    â€œYes I do,” she answered forcefully. “I told you to get outside and go for a walk.” Her voice cracked. “I told you it was safe.”
    â€œAnd I let myself get careless.”
    As she watched Claudia dab at her eyes with a tissue, Olivia felt a flash of emotion. Something familiar, like a fleeting glimpse of her former self. It put some strength into her spine. “We’re not going to do this,” she said, reaching for the hem of Claudia’s bright yellow blouse and tugging on it until her aunt finally looked at her. “We are not going to blame ourselves.”
    Claudia nodded and Olivia smiled at her. She hadn’t thought of herself as a strong woman for a while. Not since the debacle with Kurtz started. But she was still alive. She was a survivor.
    * * *
    Elijah picked up Olivia at the hospital and got her into his truck as quickly as he could. Since the shooter hadn’t been caught, he wanted her safe in his family’s house. And Claudia would be safer traveling in a separate vehicle. Fortunately, Claudia agreed with his plan and helped talk Olivia into it. Claudia had called him as soon as the doctor signed Olivia’s release forms.
    â€œAre you sure your family’s okay with me going to your house?” Olivia asked, running the hand from her uninjured arm through her hair as she fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat of his truck. Claudia followed along in her own car as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “The last thing I want to do is put somebody else in danger.”
    â€œMy parents love company,” Elijah answered. “And they’re used to trouble.”
    Most of it brought by him.
    He stopped at a red light on Stagecoach Road, in what passed for downtown Painted Rock, and then turned left toward the Morales ranch.
    â€œAunt Claudia’s fortunate to have your family living so close by,” Olivia said.
    Elijah glanced over and saw her looking at all the small downtown businesses.
    â€œWide-open space can be nice. But being isolated gets old. It’s good to have neighbors.” In the side mirror jutting out from the truck he could see Claudia following along in her pearl-white sedan.
    Elijah looked ahead, then right and left before he moved forward when the light changed. Kurtz or a hired gun could be anywhere. He kept an eye on the vehicles nearby, trying to make sure no one other than Claudia was following them.
    â€œThere might be some riders hanging around the house,” he said. “I know you won’t remember them from the night you came into town, but a couple of them remember you. And they want to help.”
    He glanced over to see her reaction. Some people were uncomfortable with motorcycle riders. If that was the case with Olivia, he’d need to come up with another plan.
    â€œVanquish the Darkness. That’s a pretty dramatic name for a group.” She didn’t sound as if the idea of them being around bothered her.
    â€œThe founders wanted a name that made a