Earth and Sky

him.”

    They didn’t sleep much in their luxurious hotel room, both because they were alone for the first time in weeks and because they were excited about their plans to catch Delco in the act of trying to steal horses. Eventually, after two bouts of lovemaking, one hurried and one more languid, they fell asleep, entangled, as they’d slept for the past months. Despite their short night, habit made them get up at the crack of dawn.

    Another round of talking to housekeeping led nowhere, and they decided to stake out a few other hotels on the Strip. Totally by accident, Grant saw a picture of a stripper in one of the more shady hotels and recognized her as Danielle. They called the number on the poster and were directed to a small club off the Strip.

    When Danielle saw them walk into the place, she immediately recognized Grant. “Grant, so nice to see you here!”

    Grant nodded. He could tell Danielle wasn’t completely at ease, although she was giving them her most welcoming smile. “We’re actually here to look for Christy, and we thought you might know where to find her. She was saying something about you being able to get her a job in housekeeping for one of the large hotels?” Grant figured they would go farthest just appearing naïve about it all.

    “Well I’ll tell her you asked for her,” Danielle said dismissively as soon as it was clear the guys weren’t there for her services.

    “We drove for eleven hours to see her, Danielle,” Grant rebutted. “If you know where she is, you need to tell us.”

    She picked up a beer coaster off the bar. “Write down the name of your hotel and your room number and I’ll ask her to call.”

    Grant was about to protest, but Hunter stopped him. “If she doesn’t call by tonight, we’ll be back to find you, Danielle. We came here to see Christy, and we’re not leaving until we at least talk to her.”

    Danielle nodded, not looking straight at them. Hunter didn’t really know Danielle, but he was pretty sure she’d be on the phone with Christy as soon as they left, so he ushered Grant out of the club.

    “I wanted her to call while we were there, Cowboy,” Grant said on the way over to their hotel.

    “She wouldn’t have,” Hunter replied. “They’re friends. Danielle is obviously covering for her.”

    “So you think Christy is stripping too?”

    Hunter sighed. “It had crossed my mind.”

    Grant shook his head. “She wouldn’t. She wouldn’t sell her body like this. She’s a typical small-town girl, Hunter.”

    Hunter took Grant’s hand despite the fact they were still in the middle of the Strip. “People do desperate things in desperate times.”

    “I know,” Grant said, barely audible. He couldn’t wrap his head around it, but he was glad the way Hunter looked at him was more concern than pity or jealousy. Sure, he had feelings for Christy. At one point they were two lost souls who’d found comfort in each other. The knowledge that they’d always be there to cover each other’s backs was something that had always given them strength. Now Grant felt he’d failed his friend.

    Once inside their hotel room, Grant sank down on the bed, and Hunter joined him. “It’s okay, Grant. She’ll call,” he said, placing a soothing hand on Grant’s thigh.

    “I failed her, Cowboy. I should have protected her better.”

    Hunter shook his head. “She’s a grown-up. As grown-ups, we make our own choices, and some of them, in hindsight, aren’t the best ones we could have made, but we made them and we’ll have to live with them.”

    Grant was just turning into Hunter’s soothing embrace when they heard a knock on their door.

    Hunter got up to open it, and over his shoulder, Grant saw it was Christy. To Grant’s relief, she looked the same as when she’d left him at Hunter’s house, wearing simple, inconspicuous clothes. He’d been afraid she’d come in looking like a Vegas showgirl.

    As soon as she took one step inside, Grant pulled her into a tight hug.

    “Hey, put me down, you big lug,” Christy said after a long time. “I’m fine.”

    Although he and Hunter had agreed they’d persuade her gently, Grant knew then he couldn’t wait. “Come back home with us, Chris. Don’t stay here. It’s not good for you to be so far away from the kids. They need you.”

    In the end it didn’t take much for Hunter and Grant to persuade Christy to come back to Idaho with them. Her job in the hotel barely paid enough to