Flowerbud will not be in every chapter, but I felt the need to include it in the first few to set up my story. I am really enjoying this one. Hope you like it too!

Sheriff Gwen Winters would have recognized mercenary Vaughn Layton anywhere. What he was doing in her hometown of Flowerbud, piqued her curiosity. When she had worked in the city, she'd seen him at the station quite often. She'd been a lowly grunt at that point, she'd only recently been promoted with her move back home. Vaughn was tough, and he liked to "bend the rules" as he called it. She called it what it was, breaking the law. He always managed to evade captivity thanks to one hell of a lawyer. His appearance here could mean nothing good.

She made her way to the Sanatorium, where it was apparent he was staying. She wondered how anyone there could be associated with someone like Vaughn. Everyone there seemed to be upstanding. But Gwen knew from the job that she couldn't just trust appearances. Gwen entered the Sanatorium, Vaughn turned to look at the imposing guest. She could see that she was not welcome. She didn't allow that fact to rattle her, instead she put on her brightest smile.

"Hello there," Gwen greeted.

"Miss Gwen," Alex greeted nervously. "H-have you met my cousin, Mark?" Gwen's smile never faltered, as she registered the doctor's lie. He was clearly nervous about the fact that she had showed up. She was hoping Vaughn didn't recognize her. It was unlikely he would, When she'd been on the force in the city, she'd looked a lot different. She hadn't wanted to earn her way up through her beauty, but through her own merits. Now that she had the promotion, she no longer cared about hiding certain attributes like her golden blonde hair.

"Hello Mark," Gwen greeted. "Of course I just wanted to check on the new person in town."

"Of course," Vaughn answered dryly. Gwen could see him sizing her up. She hoped that he would underestimate her abilities. Confident criminals covered up less, and made more mistakes.

"Gotta take care of the town," Alex stated. Gwen could still hear the nervousness in his voice. She knew something was up, but she let the matter drop.

"Welcome to Flowerbud," Gwen said and extended her hand out. Vaughn stared at it for a moment, then shook it.

Rachel had not anticipated farm work to be so hard. Henry had put her to work with the animals. She enjoyed the chickens. In the henhouse she felt somewhat in control. Gathering eggs and feeding chickens was simple. However when she got to the barn, it was another story altogether. She worked for a half hour trying to get milk out of one cow, and she'd barely filled a quarter of the bucket. Suddenly the cow kicked up and knocked over her bucket.

"Argh!" Rachel screamed out in aggravation. She backed away from the cow, knowing that her aggravation would only make things worse at this point. She had a determination to make this work. She was so grateful for a safe place to stay. Waking up not remembering anything was frightening. Even though being on the farm felt relatively safe on the farm, she still felt a bit unease. She couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that there was something she needed to remember.

Rachel stepped out of the barn to relieve some of the tension she was feeling. She was embarrassed to admit the cow had gotten the better of her. Spending time with the cow had brought up anxieties that she felt about not remembering her past. She rubbed her hands over her face. When she looked up, she saw Felicity coming out of the large farmhouse with a bright cheery smile on her face.

"Morning Rachel!" She called out.

"Good morning," Rachel greeted in response.

"How's it going?" Felicity inquired. The young farmer's wife had a look of genuine concern on her face. Rachel found herself feeling comfortable around her. She still felt a bit on edge around Henry, but Felicity had been nothing but kind to her.

"Um... okay," Rachel replied. Felicity cocked her head to the side.

"What's up?" She asked, making her way over to the barn.

"Just taking a breather," Rachel said. "Been struggling with that same cow now for a while."

"Ah," Felicity sighed. "That'd be Betty, she's a real hard one. Didn't Henry tell you the trick with her?" Rachel shook her head. If there was some trick to getting on that cow's good side, she'd like to know.

"No ma'am," Rachel answered.

"Tsk, that Henry! Well the trick is you have to brush her down first, then give her a cow treat, she's the oldest cow we own and very set in her ways," Felicity informed.

"Thank you!" Rachel sighed. She turned back around to head into the barn with a new determination.

It took a while, but Rachel finally got old Betty to cooperate. After dealing with that fiasco, the rest of the animals seemed easy by comparison. Rachel took the animal products to the maker shed, and settled into making butter, cheese and mayonnaise. The coolness of the she'd and the hum if the machines was rather pleasant. She could definitely get used to this part of the job.

All of her jobs took her until early afternoon to finish. The work was tough, but rewarding. Henry had told her that when she was done, the rest of the day was hers. She retreated to her small house to take a shower. The water washed away the stink, sweat and frustration she'd had earlier. Being still early in the day, Rachel decided to explore town a bit. She passed by the square where she'd been found, a shop of animals and another of pets were set up. That area still have her shivers so she steered clear of there. She was also careful to avoid the clinic. On the farthest western part of town stood a beautiful mansion. It amazed her to see the gorgeous topiaries and perfectly manicured lawn surrounding it. Her eyes caught a small pasture of exotic alpacas. A man with a long almost silvery braid was attending them. He looked so at ease with the animals, Rachel couldn't help but stare. The one alpaca at Henry's farm had been quite fidgety around her.

"Who might you be? And what are you doing here?" A voice asked. Rachel jumped. She'd been so entranced watching the other man, she hadn't even noticed one come up to her. Another man with silvery hair dressed in bright white clothing, gleaming with gold stood before her.

"I- I am s-sorry," Rachel stammered. The man looked at her for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. Rachel had the distinct feeling she was being mocked, and didn't appreciate it.

"You must be the new girl everyone's talking about," the man stated.

"People are talking about me?" Rachel asked.

"This is a small town. Everyone talks about everything," he stated. "By the way, sorry for being so rude, I am Prince Amir. I own these properties."

"I'm Rachel," she greeted, shaking his outstretched hand. She was slightly awestruck at meeting a prince.

"Well my lady, as much as I like having random beautiful women on my property, I must ask again, what are you doing here?"

"I was just exploring," Rachel stayed. She felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "I got wrapped up watching the alpacas, I apologize."

"Don't, everyone is welcome here. I had just never seen you around before," Amir mused. Rachel was confused by this strange man. He seemed to be contradicting what he said at every moment. "Sanjay! Come meet the new girl!"

The man attending the alpacas turned to where they were standing. Rachel felt herself blushing even more. She felt uncomfortable with all this attention. Sanjay walked over to them.

"Hello," he greeted. His voice was warm and melodic. Rachel instantly felt herself relaxing.

"Hello," Rachel echoed.

"This is the new girl in town, Rachel," Amir informed.

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Rachel," Sanjay stated. Rachel blushed again, and extended her hand, instead of shaking it, he lifted it to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss. A warm heat spread through her arm.

"Well I hope to see you again Miss Rachel, if you'll excuse my rudeness, I have to finish attending to the alpacas, they are a finicky bunch," Sanjay stated. He bowed slightly and returned to his work.

"Sanjay is great with animals," Amir said. Rachel barely heard what he was saying. She was trying not to stare at the man who had just left; and also trying to forget the tiny jolt she had felt when he had kissed her hand.

Alex was relieved that Gwen had bought the story of Vaughn being his cousin. He had rehearsed it several times the night before. Vaughn was the man that had been sent to him. Alex instantly hated him. He was rude, and harsh, and had made Alex feel like an idiot. But according to the man in charge, he was the best. If anyone could find The girl, it'd be Vaughn.

"So where's the last place your man saw her?" Vaughn asked again.

"I told you this already," Alex sighed. Vaughn came up close into Alex's face. He stood a good half foot taller than Alex.

"Tell me again," Vaughn stated. "I want to make sure you and I are on the same page."

"Right outside of Flowerbud, she ran into the forest and they lost her." Vaughn eased back a bit. Alex still didn't relax. The sooner they could find the girl and get this project finished, the sooner Alex could be done with Vaughn.

"What's beyond the forest?" Vaughn asked.

"I don't know, it's a huge forest, there's no telling where she could have gone, or which direction," Alex stated.

"Then we start tonight with the surrounding forest area searching for clues," Vaughn barked.

"We?" Alex asked.

"Yes we," Vaughn answered. Alex inwardly groaned. This was not what he had bargained for at all when he'd signed on to this project.