A Promise Worth Remembering (Promises Collection) Read Free

prized male Copper had escaped the safety of the sanctuary. His trail disappeared into the water.
    Nausea wormed through her tummy. With narrowed gaze, she glared at the opposite bank, the Pierce’s side staked with Trespassers Shot on Sight signs. How could Copper have left her care? Unless…
    Poachers. Had Old Man Pierce purposefully targeted her cats with the intent of closing down the sanctuary to claim her family’s lands?
    Her pulse ratcheted up until heat filled her face. She scanned the thick branches that swung over the river, searching for a glimpse of orange fur among the shadows, but Tucker’s movement pulled her attention his way. She considered how his hand clasped on his gun’s strap conflicted with the compassion he’d had for her uncle’s preserve. Back then, he hadn’t agreed with his father’s sport hunting practices, but had he changed? “Don’t shoot him!”
    Tucker’s glare found hers and his blue eyes darkened in the same way they had the night he’d turned from their last kiss and faded into midnight’s shadows never to be seen until now. But his eyes then, like now, held something she couldn’t define.
    She quickened her pace and left a trail of size seven footprints in the red mud. Ignoring Tucker’s shouts from behind, she grabbed her backpack and lifted out her pants. Quickly, she retrieved her cell from the front pocket and called her ranch hand who’d worked the preserve since before she’d been born. “Raymond, Copper is on Pierce land.”
    “W-what? How can you be sure he’s crossed the river?”
    Her fingers tightened on the phone. “Tucker’s home. He spotted the cat.”
    “Where are you?”
    “The Rock .”
    “Be there in twenty. You stay put, Bailey,” Raymond snapped out. “The future of the preserve hinges on Copper’s safe return.”
    She understood Raymond’s alarm. Without Copper, the upcoming grant renewal to continue the Bengal breeding program would be forfeited. The animals would be left homeless. That wasn’t an option. Nor was waiting to reclaim what belonged to her. “Copper wouldn’t have wandered too far from the pride. And he’ll come to me.”
    At least, she hoped he’d return to with her. How could she be sure with an entire mountain enticing him to stay on the wrong side of the river, the same way something had lured Tucker from her arms? Raymond’s steady breathing resonated in her ear along with heavy footprints.
    “Tucker make any threats against you?”
    As she considered her answer, a thought formed. Would Tucker hurt her or her tigers?
    No. She believed that, even if he’d changed his mind about loving her. Just because his father had targeted the tigers, Tucker had brought her cat’s escape to her attention.
    “No,” she said firmly. “But I’m going after what’s mine before Old Man Pierce gets involved. I have to protect Copper from that lunatic.”
    “No need to take on the world by yourself. If poachers are in the vicinity, you both could be in danger. I’ll contact the warden, but remember Pierce’s restraining order against you still stands. So stay put.”
    Raymond was right. She’d practically gone ballistic when Old Man Pierce had run her off Crooked Bridge road. Although she’d defended her harsh words against Pierce Sr. during mediation, he’d still counter sued for a restraining order. With her prized tiger’s life teetering on false freedom, she decided the heck with a paper warning.
    Someone had cut the fence. No doubt Copper could be caught in the crosshairs of human hunters on her adversary’s side of the river, even with Tucker out there trying to find him. She had to bring Copper home and find the hole she’d overlooked. “Do what you have to do. I’m going after Copper.”
    From across the river where the two banks narrowed to less than twenty feet, hound dogs bayed, but the cottonwoods’ thick plumes muffled their cries and kept their numbers hidden. They also kept Tucker’s voice from