Книга - Delivering Justice

Delivering Justice
Barb Han


A sexy cowboy comes to the rescue of a beautiful woman who has no idea who she is…When Tyler O'Brien finds a woman lying helpless after an ATV accident on his ranch, nothing adds up. Especially his real, sudden attraction to "Red." But aiding the amnesiac only compounds the rich Texas cowboy's doubts. How can he unlock the truth?Learning that Red is desperately searching for her twin sister who may have come to harm, Tyler—who doesn't "do feelings"—promises help and protection. Soon he's also burning with desire. As the two race against time to find Red's sister, they're drawn deeper into a complicated mystery. Tyler will have to draw on every ounce of strength to keep this stanger safe…and resist taking her to bed.







A sexy cowboy comes to the rescue of a beautiful woman who has no idea who she is...

When Tyler O’Brien finds a woman lying helpless after an ATV accident on his ranch, nothing adds up. Especially his real, sudden attraction to “Red.” But aiding the amnesiac only compounds the rich Texas cowboy’s doubts. How can he unlock the truth?

Learning that Red is desperately searching for her twin sister who may have come to harm, Tyler—who doesn’t “do feelings”—promises help and protection. Soon he’s also burning with desire. As the two race against time to find Red’s sister, they’re drawn deeper into a complicated mystery. Tyler will have to draw on every ounce of strength to keep this stranger safe...and resist taking her to bed


“You want to scream? Go ahead. No one will hear you out here,” he said, as if daring her to.

“I would if it would help,” she shot back. “Can’t see how that’ll make it easier to be around you, though.”

“I’m the problem?” He almost sounded sincere, but damn—that grin! It was sexy, she had to give him that, but a little sexy—okay, a lot sexy—wasn’t about to make her cave. Besides, she was getting whiplash from his mood swings. One minute his hands were all over her. And then the next he couldn’t put enough distance or a bigger wall between them.

“Glad you see this from my point of view,” she said, knowing full well his was a question, not a statement.

The smile faded from his lips and his hand flew behind his back. “Get down.”

She dropped to all fours at the exact same time his gun came around and leveled at a spot where her head had been seconds before.


Delivering Justice

Barb Han






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


USA TODAY bestselling author BARB HAN lives in north Texas with her very own hero-worthy husband, three beautiful children, a spunky golden retriever/standard poodle mix and too many books in her to-read pile. In her downtime, she plays video games and spends much of her time on or around a basketball court. She loves interacting with readers and is grateful for their support. You can reach her at www.barbhan.com (http://www.barbhan.com/).


Cast of Characters (#ulink_613fcd27-d0c9-5499-bd21-fda23127c8de)

Jessica Davis—Stepping in for her sister puts her directly in the line of fire. When she turns up on a handsome cowboy’s ranch, she realizes that she’s in over her head in more ways than one.

Tyler O’Brien—He’s the level-headed brother, a born negotiator. The third of six boys, Tyler is used to talking his way out of trouble. But he might have met his match with Jessica.

Jennifer Davis—This twin has a knack for getting herself in sticky situations. Her latest foray into trouble might just be her last.

Tommy Johnson—The sheriff who grew up at the O’Brien ranch and considers them family.

James Milton—This guy shoots off more lies than common sense should allow. But does he really know what happened to Jennifer?

Emma-Kate Brasseux—She owns the priceless Infinity Sapphire necklace that goes missing.

Ashton Brasseux—Does Emma-Kate’s husband know more about the missing necklace than he’s admitting?

Elijah Wolffe—This musician might be playing more than Zydeco. He’s supposed to be Jennifer’s friend. What does he really know about her disappearance?

Randall Beauchamp—Just how deeply involved is this wealthy Louisiana man and known criminal?


This book is dedicated to: Allison Lyons for making every single book better.

Jill Marsal for always being there and ready to answer every question.

The great loves of my life: Brandon, Jacob and Tori, the best people I could ever hope to have in my world (I feel crazy blessed!).

Patricia Allsbrook for the last-minute save (thank you, thank you!) and always being such a steady, calming force. And her daughter, Paulina, for her quick wit (what are you, a twenty-year-old?) and warm smile.

And Babe for always being the one I can’t wait to talk to every night.


Contents

Cover (#u797f18c2-4aff-5c5f-a5a5-b98e13835d29)

Back Cover Text (#u8b632aaf-c32e-5d66-a105-e5e624abda22)

Introduction (#u4febbd74-1a62-5642-b4b6-e1724cc538fc)

Title Page (#u063b26e1-2503-59fc-af62-dd34336b7da9)

About the Author (#u8e815b2f-6ba1-56a5-904c-978a6cdfe428)

Cast of Characters (#ulink_035d04d1-e366-5aca-b986-bad4c5fe92ab)

Dedication (#u4d3b9aad-ac68-58b0-8e62-6eeb40fb4a87)

Chapter One (#u1e0cf7aa-62c9-55b9-9621-74e95bf35bfc)

Chapter Two (#u2878fb00-3b1a-5f44-8c73-6f1be62434f3)

Chapter Three (#ud1d97888-96ad-573b-9bc6-baa34036ba4c)

Chapter Four (#u5045ea14-22eb-54f1-8334-71be94798011)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter One (#ulink_491bba1d-e251-5c7d-9b3c-9a7de7988a2b)

For a few seconds as Tyler O’Brien scaled Diablo’s Rock and pushed up onto its crest, everything in the world was peaceful. Looking out onto the land that breathed life into his soul, he couldn’t imagine a better place to be.

Tyler’s gaze swept down and he muttered a curse as he stared at an overturned four-wheel ATV with an unmoving body splayed out underneath.

A dead body was not part of Tyler’s lunch plans.

Tyler hated accidents. He and his five brothers had inherited the cattle ranch two months ago after his parents had died in an “accident.” New evidence had the sheriff opening a homicide investigation before the will was out of probate.

“You okay?” he shouted, wishing for a response but not really expecting one. Not with the way the body was pinned under the ATV. It was too far away to get a good visual on the person. Yet Tyler had seen enough scenes like this one to get a good feel for how it would turn out.

Cell phone coverage was nonexistent on this part of the ranch so he couldn’t call for an ambulance or the sheriff. He’d left his walkie-talkie with Digby, his gelding. Most ranchers used ATVs and pickup trucks for convenience when checking the vast amount of fencing on a ranch the size of The Cattlemen Crime Club. But Tyler figured his horse needed the exercise and it made him feel connected to the land to do things the way his father had. His ranch hands used ATVs, and for a split second he feared one of them might be below, but the area around Diablo’s Rock was Tyler’s to check.

Maybe someone had their wires crossed. Or a group of thrill seekers had wandered onto the land and one got separated.

His pulse kicked into high gear as he moved into action, digging the heels of his boots into the rocky forty-foot drop one careful step at a time. He scanned the horizon looking for the rest of the ATV party. There was no sign of anyone else as far as the naked eye could see.

Diablo’s Rock wasn’t a good area for people new to ATVs and only an idiot would come out here alone. There were black bears and copperhead snakes, badgers and all manner of wildlife running around this part of Texas. The land was beautiful and its danger only enhanced Tyler’s respect for it. It was a reminder that people weren’t always at the top of the food chain. An unprepared person could end up at the wrong end.

The closer Tyler descended toward the body, the more his pulse spiked. He could tell that the figure was smaller than a man, and that definitely ruled out one of his employees.

As he approached, he could clearly see the creamy skin of long legs, which meant the woman either had on shorts or a dress. He assumed shorts considering the fact that she wore running shoes. Neither outfit was appropriate this time of year, which struck Tyler as odd if she’d been planning on this excursion. Wouldn’t she dress for the occasion? Thanksgiving was right around the corner. The average temperature in November was in the sixties in this part of Texas and this week had been colder than usual, barely breaking fifty with a blanket of cloud coverage most days.

A good part of the reason he’d intended to eat lunch on the rock was that the sun had finally broken through and its heat would reflect on the surface, offering a warm place to eat.

Then again, maybe the visitor hadn’t planned on being out there at all. When Tyler got closer, maybe he’d recognize her face. The notion she could be someone he knew pricked his throat as if he’d swallowed a cactus.

People wandered off trails and did all kinds of random things while on scheduled hunting expeditions, but there was nothing on the calendar and the safety record on their land was unblemished. Right up until now, he thought.

The ATV had flipped over and was on top of her. At first blush, she looked trapped. He shoved thoughts that she could be a young runaway or in trouble to the back of his mind while he moved around the ATV, trying to get a better look at her positioning.

Her body was positioned awkwardly and close to the handlebars, but she wasn’t being pinned by them as he’d first suspected.

On closer appraisal, the ATV wasn’t touching her at all. And that was the first positive sign he’d had so far. He couldn’t tell how bad the damage was to her body from this angle and he didn’t see any signs of her breathing.

As soon as he rounded the side of the vehicle, he noticed blood splattered on the rocks next to her head. He was no expert at analyzing an accident scene but he’d heard enough stories around the campfire from their family friend Sheriff Tommy Johnson to know the splatter most likely came from an injury to her head. An impact hard enough to create that amount of blood wasn’t good.

She was facedown in the dirt with her head angled toward the side he was standing on. Not that he could see past that thick red mane of hers.

This didn’t look good at all. He’d make the short hike back to Digby in order to use his walkie-talkie to call for someone to pick her up. And it was such a shame that a young woman’s life had been cut short.

“We’ll get you out of here soon,” Tyler said softly, dropping to his knees to get a better look at her face. She wasn’t wearing a backpack nor did she have a purse. A physical description might help the sheriff identify her.

Tyler brushed her hair away from her face, expecting to see her eyes fixed, and then checked her neck for a pulse. She blinked sea-green eyes instead and mouthed the words, Help me.

She was alive?

Shocked, Tyler nearly fell backward. His pulse pounded even faster as he located hers on her wrist, which was strong.

“You’re okay. I’m going to get you out of here.” Tyler had enough training and experience to know better than to move her. He needed to reposition the ATV so he could better assess her injuries.

Just as he pushed up to his feet, her arm moved and then her leg. Was she trying to climb out from under the machine?

“Hold still, there,” he said. “Let me get this out of the way.”

Tyler dropped his backpack and hoisted the ATV upright and away from her body. It popped up onto all four wheels. His right shoulder pinched at the movement, the old injury liked to remind him of the reason he didn’t have a pro baseball career anymore, and he rubbed the sore spot trying to increase blood flow.

The mystery woman had managed to roll onto her side and was trying to climb away.

“I’m not going to hurt you so you don’t have to go anywhere,” he said. “I have water. Are you thirsty?”

She nodded. Based on her pallor and the freshness of the blood on the rocks, she couldn’t have been out there for long. That was the second good sign so far.

He had medical supplies in his saddlebag, enough to dress a field wound. He could tend to that gash and try to stem the bleeding while they waited for help to arrive. It wouldn’t take long to scale Diablo’s Rock, get to his horse and then return with provisions. But he didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone.

“What’s your name?” He went down on a knee next to his backpack, pulled a bottle of water out of the main compartment and unscrewed the cap before offering her the bottle. He shrugged out of his denim jacket, draping it over her.

She looked like she was drawing a blank in the name department as she took the water and poured the liquid over her lips. They were pink, which was a good sign. She couldn’t have been out there for long.

It didn’t surprise him that she’d temporarily forgotten her name and other details about her life, given the blow she’d taken to her head. Tyler had witnessed plenty of concussions out on the baseball field. The good news here was that she could recover, a huge relief considering he’d started the afternoon thinking he would be reporting a body.

“Do you have ID?” he asked.

She looked panicked and disoriented.

“Mind if I check in your pockets?”

She shook her head, angling the bottle to get more water into her mouth than her last attempt. Again she failed miserably.

He scooted closer to her.

At this distance, he could see the dirt on her clothes. The cotton long-sleeved shirt was a deep shade of green that highlighted her lighter-colored eyes.

“Let me help you.” He cradled the base of her neck with his right hand, ignoring the spark of electricity shooting through him. He shouldn’t be feeling attracted to her. A sexual current couldn’t be more inappropriate under the circumstances. He didn’t care how beautiful she was. And she was beautiful, with her sea-green eyes, creamy complexion and heart-shaped mouth. He’d force himself to look away from her lips if it didn’t mean that he’d spill water all over her face.

But feeling a real attraction to a woman he’d found lying helpless on his land a few minutes ago?

Nice one, O’Brien.

When she signaled that she’d had enough to drink, he set the bottle within her reach and then pushed up to his feet. “Okay, I’ll just check for that ID, okay?”

She nodded her agreement and winced with the movement.

“Did you come out here with anyone?” he asked, chalking his physical reaction up to his overreactive protective instincts.

Looking startled, she glanced around.

Then she shook her head. Another fact she might be fuzzy on, given that hit she’d taken to her forehead.

“A group?” he continued.

The only thing he knew for certain was that she wasn’t from around Bluff. It was dangerous for tourists to get lost on a massive ranch like his. She was darn lucky he—and not a black bear or hungry coyote—had found her.

She squinted her eyes. A raging headache was one of the side effects of a concussion. Luckily, that could be dealt with by popping a few pain relievers. Tyler had those in his pack, too, but the doctor would want him to wait to give them to her.

Tyler didn’t want to notice her full hips or sweet round bottom as he checked her back pockets.

If he could think of another way to search her front pockets, he’d be game. As it was, he had to slip his fingers into them and ignore the way her stomach quivered.

It was safe to say that she had no ID. For the moment, neither of them knew who she was. Maybe her handbag or backpack had gone flying when she’d crashed. He scanned the ground, taking a few steps in one direction and then another.

No cell phone or purse could be seen anywhere and that struck him as odd. Tyler couldn’t think of one woman he knew who would go anywhere without her cell. And that fact put a few more questions in his mind that he didn’t have answers to. Like, if she was alone why wouldn’t she have supplies or ID?

The panic in her eyes didn’t help matters, either. Of course, waking up to a stranger and not being able to remember who she was or where she’d been would cause a certain level of panic in any normal person. Hers bothered him and he wished there was more that he could do to put her at ease.

He pushed his feelings aside as just needing to offer comfort to a stranger. It couldn’t be anything more than that. He’d only known her for ten minutes, and when it came right down to it, he still didn’t know her. He didn’t even know her name.

“I’m going to send for help,” he said.

Her eyes pleaded, filled with more of that panic he didn’t like seeing, but she didn’t argue. Then again, she hadn’t said anything except “help me” since he’d found her.

“It’s okay. I’m coming right back. I promise,” he added to ease her concern. He whistled, hoping the family’s chocolate lab, Denali, was somewhere within earshot. He could keep her company. After a few seconds of quiet and no Denali, Tyler said, “My horse is tied up on the other side of that rock and I need to get there so I can contact my men and send for medical attention.”

She didn’t relax but she nodded, wincing again at the movement. That was going to be one helluva headache when the dust settled.

As Tyler got to his feet, he scanned the area for any signs of wildlife. In her weakened state, he doubted she could fight off a flea. He pulled out his pocket knife anyway and her hand met his faster than he’d thought possible for hers to move.

“It’s okay, I’m here to help.”

She nodded as she took the knife.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He filed her reaction away as another interesting thought. If she’d come out alone, what was she really afraid of? Him? Animals? She’d come out by herself without identification or a way to defend herself. This patch of land wasn’t anywhere near a road. Clearly, he’d never met the woman before but he didn’t have to know her to realize that she didn’t look the type to wander off on her own on a four-wheeler. Not that she looked weak or like she couldn’t handle herself in most situations. But the type of clothes and shoes she wore didn’t fit with the activity and those expensive running shoes belonged out here about as much as a woman wearing a light jacket in the cold.

She didn’t give the impression that she was a bandana-wearing thrill seeker. Nor did she particularly strike him as a granola-eating nature girl. Especially since the latter wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat of a four-wheeler.

There was another thing that bugged him as he walked away from the accident. He’d noticed another set of tire tracks when he scanned the ground for her personal belongings, which meant there could have been another person involved.

If she and a friend had ventured onto his land by mistake, what kind of jerk would leave her alone in her condition?

Then again, with no cell service the other person might’ve been forced to go for help.

And it wasn’t like Red was talking. All she’d said so far was, “Help me.” Pretty much anyone in her situation would say the same thing.

Tyler quickened his pace. If there was someone on his land searching for reception, he needed to get a search team out while there was still plenty of daylight. The accident might’ve already been called in. If the person wasn’t familiar with the area he or she might not be able to lead rescuers to Red.

Even so, a person would have to be new at this to panic and leave an injured person alone with all the dangerous wildlife here on the ranch. A darker side of him also noted that this would be the perfect way to cover up an attempted murder.

Tyler wrote the sentiment off as the result of learning that his parents had been murdered. He would like nothing more than to solve the case that had been made to look like an accident. Thinking about it made him angry. Who would want to hurt his family?

He shelved those thoughts for now.

Another one struck him about the mystery woman. If the scene back there had been an attempted murder, then the murderer could still be around. With her lying there vulnerable and alone, it wouldn’t take much to finish the job.

Tyler crested Diablo’s Rock and took the back side just as fast shivering in the cold breeze. He’d tied Digby to a tree in a spot where his horse could decide if he wanted to be in the shade or not.

The gelding was standing in the sun, right where Tyler had left him. He blew out a breath as he pulled his walkie-talkie out of his saddlebag and got hold of his foreman, Russ.

“What can I do for you, boss?” Russ asked.

“There’s been a four-wheeler incident at the base of Diablo’s Rock. A woman took a pretty bad hit to her head. She’s not going anywhere without help.”

“You don’t know who she is?” Russ asked. It was more statement than question.

“Never seen her before. She doesn’t have any ID on her and I’d put money on the fact she has a concussion.”

“Sounds like a mess,” Russ agreed. “Hold on for one second, boss.”

Tyler would never get used to the title even though he owned just as much of the ranch as his brothers. Together, they had a ninety-five percent interest—or would as soon as the will was out of probate, which would take another ten months. The other five percent had been divided between Pop’s only living brother and sister a few years ago. Uncle Ezra and Aunt Bea didn’t agree on much of anything except being taken care of. The two of them were as alike as a water moccasin and a frog.

Pop had included them both in ownership of the ranch to help take care of them financially as they aged, since Bea’s daughter had left for California and Ezra’s only son had died before his tenth birthday. The family cattle ranch was the biggest in Texas, both in land and net profit. As if that wasn’t enough, the hunting club brought in more money than they could spend, much to the benefit of the many charities their mother had loved—a tradition Tyler and his brothers had every intention of continuing in her honor.

Even though the family had money and the boys had grown up knowing that they stood to inherit the highly successful family business, none had relied on that inheritance. All six O’Brien brothers had a deep-seated need to make their own way and depend on themselves. None were like their aunt or uncle, who seemed content to ride their successful brother’s coattails. Especially Uncle Ezra, who had been angling to sell his interest or be given more control over the hunting club in recent months. Tyler’s older brother Dallas figured the man was getting bored in his old age and wanted more to keep him busy.

Tyler hoped that was all there was to it, especially since it was his job to keep the peace. Of all the sons, he was the best negotiator and he’d talked Ezra down for the time being. They’d already set aside one percent of theirs for Janis, their housekeeper, who would be wealthy enough not to work for the rest of her life. Although, she’d said she was way too young to retire.

“I have emergency personnel on their way to the Rock,” Russ said, interrupting Tyler’s heavy thoughts—thoughts he’d volunteered to ride fences to try to stem in the first place.

Ranch hands called Tyler a Renaissance man for doing things the old-fashioned way, but the truth was that it was as good for Tyler’s soul as it was for Digby’s health. Being out on the land on his horse made him feel connected and whole in a way he couldn’t easily explain, nor did he care to examine.

“Let Tommy know about this, will you? Someone might be sick with worry looking for her,” he said. The sheriff had been Dallas O’Brien’s best friend and like a brother to the rest of the O’Brien boys. He’d grown up on the land. His uncle, Chill Johnson, had worked for Pop as long as Tyler could remember. Tommy had come to live with his uncle after his parents died.

“Will do, boss. I’ll see if the sheriff can meet you at the hospital to take statements. Maybe he can help figure out who she is.” Russ knew Tyler well enough to realize that he wouldn’t be able to walk away until he knew the mystery woman was all right.

Silence meant Russ was taking care of that phone call right now, which was good because if someone had already reported her missing, then Tyler might be able to bring back more than medical supplies. He might be able to give her an identity. And if that second set of tire tracks had someone frantically searching for help, Tyler could ease that burden, as well.

“Sheriff said no one called in an emergency or missing person’s report,” Russ said.

Tyler feared as much.

“Said he’ll meet her at the hospital since he’s tied up on another interview right now,” Russ continued.

If no one was looking for her, then Tyler had to consider other possibilities for those tire tracks.

“Much appreciated,” he said to Russ. “Have someone ready to take Digby from me so I can head to the hospital as soon as I get back to the barn. And send out a search team in the chopper to make sure there’s no one out here lost.”

Tyler thanked Russ before ending the transmission and starting the journey back toward the redheaded mystery. He couldn’t completely ignore the fear that he’d return to a lifeless body. She’d been upright and responsive so he’d take those as positive signs. Being away from her while she was vulnerable had his blood pressure spiking faster than a pro volleyball player. He picked up his pace, needing to see for himself that she was still okay.

At the faster speed, he crested Diablo’s Rock in half the time. Part of him wondered if she could have managed to crawl away. She’d seemed determined and half-scared out of her wits—a combination that could be dangerous—or deadly—and left him wondering what really had her so freaked out.

He found her right where he’d left her. His pulse had slowly wound back to a decent clip when he saw that she was still conscious. And yet something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on was eating away at him. What was the creepy, fire-ants-crawling-on-his-spine feeling about anyway?

Danger, for one thing, in the form of poachers. Sure, there were poachers in South Central Texas. People looked for trophies and illegally hunted on the large ranches in the area, which created a dangerous situation for all involved.

The O’Briens worked diligently to keep the land free of people who trespassed to hunt or steal game, so that risk should be minimal. If it wasn’t poachers, then what was it? The fact that so many things didn’t add up?

A beautiful single woman alone on a four-wheeler in territory she didn’t know and wasn’t dressed for? Yep. That made about as much sense as a deer eating barbeque.

“Help is on the way,” he said, trying to give her hope to hold on to, wishing he could do more. He knelt next to her and opened his medical supply kit.

“Thank you,” she managed to get out.

“My apologies if this hurts.” It was going to hurt. That gash on her forehead was deep and had him worried. He poured clean water over it and then dabbed antibiotic ointment onto an oversize gauze bandage, pressing it to her forehead to stem the bleeding. She seemed determined not to give in to the pain. Or maybe she was just too weak.

It didn’t take long for the cavalry to arrive. Tyler heard the chopper moving toward them before he got a visual on it. A helicopter was the only logical choice for rescue workers to use in order to access this part of the land. Otherwise, they’d have to take her on one helluva bumpy ride to get her to a main road, and that could jeopardize her condition.

Tyler saw the chopper moments before the pilot landed.

From there, it was only twenty yards to reach him and Red. The land was flat enough to manage easily on foot.

As emergency personnel neared, the mystery woman squeezed Tyler’s hand.

He glanced at her and saw that same look of fear in her eyes. What was that all about? Didn’t she realize this was the help she needed?

Depending on how bad that blow to the head was, she might not recognize them as the people who would help her. That had Tyler more worried than when he’d found her. Just how badly injured was she?

The blow she’d taken to the head looked bad. He’d give anyone that. But her panic looked like she was in one of those horror flicks being chased by an ax murderer.

“It’s okay. I know these men. They’ll take care of you,” he tried to reassure her. Tyler had known the EMTs, Andy and Shanks, for years. They were good guys. Dougherty would be piloting the chopper. Tyler didn’t need to see him to know that.

So what was up with the way she kept squeezing his hand, looking like she was trying to say something?


Chapter Two (#ulink_ab97611e-baa3-5ecf-8645-eaa466cfb9af)

The heel of Tyler’s boots clicked against the white tile floor in the hospital hallway as he neared room 367 to check on Red.

He removed his gray Stetson before crossing the threshold, pausing long enough to finger comb his hair and chew on the facts. No one had reported the mystery redhead as missing or reported the accident. That had not been the news he was expecting and it made him worry that some other outsider was on his property, hurt, lost or just a damned fool who was hunting illegally and ditched the redhead when her ATV overturned. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on had his radar on full alert and it was more than just finding her in the condition he had.

Tyler pushed open the door at Bluff General and walked inside Red’s room. Her eyes were closed. The bed had been raised so that she was halfway sitting and she had an IV attached to her left arm. He’d seen enough of the inside of hospital rooms to know the IV most likely contained fluids and possibly antibiotics to stem infection. All good things that her body needed to recover.

In fact, the fluids seemed to be working magic already because there was a rosy hue in the creamy complexion on her cheeks now. Her forehead had a proper bandage on it and his makeshift head wrap had been replaced with clean, white gauze.

Since she looked to be resting peacefully and he didn’t want to disturb her, he figured this would be a good time to visit with her doctor and find Tommy to see if he’d managed to get a statement or put a name to Sleeping Beauty here.

Her eyes fluttered open and he felt like a fool for staring at her.

“How are you?” he asked, for lack of anything better to say. Even through the gauze and tape she was stunning.

“Better,” she managed to squeak out. Her throat sounded scratchy. It was the dry air.

He set his cowboy hat down on the chair and moved next to her bed. Now that she seemed able to speak, maybe he could find out if there were others on his land or if he should call off the search.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She made a move to speak but coughed instead. Her gaze locked onto a large white mug situated on the wheeled table next to her bed just out of reach.

“You thirsty?” he asked as he moved to the mug.

“Yes, please” came out on a croak.

At least she was talking and making sense. Those were good signs.

“Were you alone earlier?” he asked as he held the oversize mug filled with ice water toward her. She eagerly accepted but didn’t answer.

After a few small sips, she leaned her head against the pillow, but her eyes never left Tyler’s face. Those sea-green eyes stayed fixed on him, panic and fear still there.

“Do you know who you are?” he asked, setting the mug down on the tray and then repositioning it so that she could reach water whenever she wanted.

“Jennifer,” she said, throat still scratchy but sounding much better. Her voice had a nice pitch to it. “Who are you?”

“Tyler O’Brien. My brothers and I own the land you were on earlier.”

Her gaze darted toward the door and then her eyes widened in fear, so Tyler turned to follow her line of sight.

A decent-looking man in his early thirties walked in. His gaze ricocheted between Jennifer and Tyler. He was several inches shorter, so Tyler guessed he was around five foot eleven. He was on the thin side, built like a runner, and had sandy-blond hair. A fresh-looking pink sunburn dotted his tanned nose and cheeks.

Tyler didn’t recognize him.

“Honey,” the man said with a sigh and he seemed to pour on the drama if anyone asked Tyler. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

Tyler glanced at Jennifer in time to see a moment of sheer panic, so he stepped in between them, blocking Tan Face’s path.

“Name’s Tyler.” He stuck out his hand.

“What happened to you, honey? Are you all right?” Tan Face said, sidestepping Tyler and his hand.

“Hold on there, pal,” Tyler said, placing his hand on Tan Face’s shoulder, ensuring he couldn’t get to Jennifer’s bedside. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“James Milton,” he said, puffing out his chest like a cobra, looking none too thrilled that Tyler had put a hand on him.

“Do you mind?” he asked. “My fiancée is lying in a hospital bed and she’s none of your business.”

Fiancée? Tyler didn’t normally misjudge situations. His instincts were usually spot-on. Red seemed scared of the man. But if the two of them were engaged then he needed to take a step back. Some lines shouldn’t be crossed no matter how irritated the man’s presence made Tyler.

He let go of the man’s shoulder. It might be better to take a wait-and-see approach to this one. Tyler told himself that he’d leave as soon as he knew she was going to be fine. Besides, he needed to make sure she had no intention of suing him for having an accident on his land. As crazy as that sounded, he’d heard of people doing that and more.

He ignored the little voice that said he was lying to himself about why he was sticking around and that it had to do with an attraction.

Milton made a dramatic scene of rushing to Red’s side once he was free of Tyler’s grasp. The man was fresh-from-a-shower clean and had on dress slacks and a button-down shirt. Not exactly the kind of clothes one would wear on an ATV adventure, so the logical question was why would he let Red go alone if he cared about her as much as he professed?

“I didn’t know what to think when you disappeared,” Milton said to her.

Tyler folded his arms and leaned against the wall. The panicked expression on Jennifer’s face intensified. He’d probably regret this later, but he had to ask, “About that, James. What happened exactly?”

“I’m fine,” Red interjected, her gaze darting from Tyler to Milton.

Tyler didn’t have a strong reading on the guy other than general dislike and her reaction wasn’t helping. Milton’s concern came off as insincere. Tyler had learned long ago to trust his instincts. This guy looked like he was putting on a show.

The door opened and the sheriff walked in.

Milton turned and the look on his face when he caught sight of the sheriff was priceless. Also, it strengthened Tyler’s intuition that this guy was up to no good. This was about to get interesting.

Tommy introduced himself to Jennifer and Milton, and then shook Tyler’s outstretched hand.

“I’ve been worried sick about you, darling,” Milton said, turning to Jennifer, and Tyler thought the man was overselling.

She managed a weak smile.

Tyler noticed that she stiffened when Milton took her by the hand. Not exactly a warm reception for her fiancé, and that got Tyler’s mind spinning with scenarios, none he liked.

“Do you have ID?” Tommy asked.

“Did we do something wrong, sheriff?” Milton produced two Louisiana driver’s licenses. His and Jennifer’s.

“Just routine under the circumstances in which—” Tommy glanced at one of the plastic-covered cards “—Ms. Davidson was found.”

When Tommy took down the information and then returned the cards, Milton refocused on Jennifer.

“I can’t believe I almost lost you,” he said, his voice had more syrup than Granny’s pancakes when she’d started losing her sight but refused to wear glasses.

If anyone asked Tyler’s opinion, and Tommy would as soon as they were alone, he’d say the guy was a fake. That didn’t exactly make him a criminal.

“Mr. Milton, do you and Ms. Davidson mind answering a few questions?” Tommy asked.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Sheriff, but I’d like to spend some time alone with my fiancée,” Milton said.

Tyler would bet his horse Milton would. He stifled a snicker.

“But I do understand that you’re just doing your job,” Milton added and Tyler was sure it was part of the concerned-fiancé act.

“Given that you seem to sympathize with my position, I hope you won’t mind if I ask Ms. Davidson a question,” Tommy said.

“Of course,” Milton responded.

“Ma’am, would you be more comfortable giving me your statement alone?” Tommy asked. “I’d be happy to clear the room.”

Milton balked at the request. Before he could puff up again, Tommy held out a warning hand.

“It’s part of the job,” he said to Milton. Then he turned his full attention to Jennifer. “Ma’am?”

She looked to be contemplating her answer.

“Why on earth would she want that?” Milton’s cheeks turned a shade of red as he focused on Jennifer.

Her weak smile died on her lips as soon as he turned back to the sheriff and didn’t that make the hair on Tyler’s neck stand at attention. Was she being manipulated? Abused? Milton didn’t seem to want her to speak up for herself.

Tyler ground his back teeth, thinking about a man being physical with the opposite sex.

“No, thanks,” she said to Tommy.

“Were the two of you riding ATVs earlier today?” Tommy asked Milton.

“Yes, and I lost her on the trail so I left and went back to our motel to wait for her,” Milton said.

Tyler’s eyebrow shot up about the same time as Tommy’s. Tyler also noted that she’d deliberately kept the truth from him earlier about being alone on the trail. He’d seen the tracks himself. What was she hiding?

The two of them might have gotten into a fight and it could have gotten physical. He could’ve taken off and then she could’ve chased after him before the crash.

“You decided to leave her unprotected in unfamiliar territory?” Tommy asked.

“We’d had a fight.” James turned toward Jennifer with a stern look.

“I searched everywhere for her once I lost her on the trail. I figured she was mad and needed to blow off steam.”

“Do you realize there are black bears in these parts of Texas?” Tommy asked, incredulous.

“No. I didn’t. I would never...” Milton let that sentence hang in the air. “I searched for her everywhere and couldn’t find her so, like I said, I decided to give myself time to cool off, as well. I went back to my room, got worried, and when she didn’t answer her cell I called around local hospitals.”

“But not the police station?” Tommy asked.

Milton shook his head.

“Did you take off before or after she’d been in an accident?” Tyler asked, since he hadn’t had a chance to brief Tommy on the situation yet.

Milton whirled on Tyler.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“I was just wondering if you knew she’d been in an accident before you took off to ‘cool down’ as you said,” Tyler elaborated.

“If I’d known anything had happened, I’d have stayed with her,” Milton shot back, turning his attention to Jennifer with another overexaggerated look.

That rang more warning bells.

And there was another thing bugging Tyler. If these two were engaged, wouldn’t she be wearing a ring?

“You said the two of you were getting married,” Tyler began. “Set a date yet?”

“We’re working on it,” Milton said. “Why?”

“Just checking to see how far along your plans are,” Tyler said coolly.

“And why would that be any of your business?” Milton asked, not bothering to hide his disdain. He’d been reasonably respectful to Tommy since he was the law, but the man must see Tyler as an inconvenience. A lot could be said about a man who treated people poorly if he saw them as beneath him.

Tyler shrugged, his casual demeanor was clearly getting to the guy. “Thought it was customary for the woman to wear a ring.”

Milton’s gaze shot to Jennifer. “We haven’t made it that far. I just asked her.”

Tyler studied Jennifer’s reaction. Her expression was blank, her eyes dead as she forced a smile.

She was doing exactly what Milton said and yet she feared the man. Had Tyler read this situation wrong? Sure, none of it was adding up and she looked less than thrilled to be around Milton, but no one was forcing her to be with the guy.

Tyler couldn’t figure why anyone would stay in a bad relationship. And yet it happened all the time.

“There are two sets of tracks leading up to the accident. And one left. How do you explain that, Mr. Milton?” Tyler asked.

“I can’t because I wasn’t there,” Milton responded.

“Is that true?” Tommy asked Jennifer.

She glanced up at Milton first, and then nodded.

If she was going to corroborate Milton’s story, then maybe Tyler needed to mind his own business. He’d tried to defend a few buddies who were in the middle of domestic fights and had learned just how quickly tempers could escalate. Tyler wasn’t afraid of Milton; he could handle that jerk. But he couldn’t make Red leave the guy.

If she wouldn’t give him anything to work with, then he had to come at this from another angle.

“Have the two of you had any lifestyle changes lately?” Tommy asked Milton, picking up on Tyler’s tension. “In preparation for the wedding?”

Milton’s face scrunched up. “No.”

“Haven’t taken out any life insurance policies on each other? Named the other as the beneficiary?” Tommy pressed.

“No. Nothing like that.” Milton’s face looked ready to explode from anger. “Am I under arrest, Sheriff?”

Not yet, Tyler wanted to say.

“Can I see you in the hall for a minute?” Tyler asked Tommy.

“I was just about to suggest the same thing,” Tommy said and then turned to Milton. “I’ll be back as soon as I take a statement from the landowner.”

The door had barely closed when Tyler turned around and asked, “How is it that a man could, first, leave his fiancée outside in a strange place alone and, second, not call the police when she’s missing for hours?”

“Good questions,” Tommy said. “He’s a jerk. I just don’t have anything that I can charge him with. I need something solid in order to take him in.”

“Did you notice how scared she looks?” Tyler asked. “Or the fact that he was so concerned about her that he decided to take a shower before he bothered to figure out where she’d gone or what might’ve happened to her?”

Tommy frowned, nodded. “It’s not illegal, though.”

“His story doesn’t add up and he’ll most likely run out of town the minute our backs are turned.” Frustration ate at Tyler.

“You’re right on both counts, but he has every right to go where he pleases for now. As far as I can tell no crime has been committed.”

“He’s hurting her.” Tyler clenched his fists.

“Which is a shame, but not against the law unless someone witnesses it or she steps forward on her own to press charges.”

“It should be.” Tyler knew this guy was up to no good.

“I’ll stay on him. If he so much as makes a wrong turn while he’s in town I’ll question him for it,” Tommy said.

“There has to be more you can do than that,” Tyler said.

“We can scare him,” Tommy said after thinking about it for a minute. “We better get back inside. I don’t want to leave him alone with her longer than we have to.”

“I have a few more questions for him,” Tyler said through clenched teeth.

Tommy paused before opening the door. “Go ahead and ask everything you want. See if you can get him to mess up and admit to something. Without her willing to go against him, we have nothing otherwise.”

Milton stood, rising to his full height when they reentered the room, which was still considerably less than both of the other men.

“Earlier, you said you lost your fiancée after a fight?” Tyler took up his position leaning against the wall near the doorjamb.

“She was tired and decided to turn back but I wasn’t ready to go, so I told her how to find her way to our original meet-up point.” Was Milton changing his story?

“I thought you said the two of you got into a fight,” Tyler said.

Milton glanced down and to the right, a sure sign he was about to lie.

“That’s what we fought about,” he said, quickly recovering, as pleased with himself as if he’d just won the big stuffed animal at the state fair.

Clearly the man had just made another mistake. First he said he lost her, then he said that she turned back on purpose—which was it?

“You can’t have it both ways, so pick one,” Tyler said point-blank.

“Well, originally she said she was going to turn back, but then I got a bad feeling about her being out there alone in a place she didn’t know and so I turned back to look for her, thus find her.” Another satisfied smirk crossed Milton’s features.

If that wasn’t a sack of dung bigger than a bull, Tyler didn’t know what was. Who did Milton think he was fooling?

Tyler’s right hand fisted. He flexed and then forced it to relax.

“Good that you had time to clean yourself up, you know, while you were so busy being worried about your fiancée here,” Tyler pressed.

Another frustrated pause.

“When I couldn’t find Jennifer I figured she got angry at me for leaving her, so I decided to be ready to smooth things over when she came back to the motel,” Milton said.

“Even though you couldn’t find her when you went looking for her? You still assumed she’d be able to find her way back?” Tyler asked, not letting up. “And where was this meet-up point you mentioned?”

Milton didn’t answer.

In all honesty, the man could walk out at any time. But then, that would leave Jennifer alone with Tyler and the sheriff. No way did James Milton want that.

“What are you doing in town, anyway?” Tyler continued.

“We came for the...nature. We wanted to get out of the city for a long weekend and decompress before kicking our wedding plans into high gear,” Milton said. “Life from here on out is going to be crazy, isn’t it, honey?” Milton shot another look at Red.

“What trail were you on? Do you remember anything about it that stuck out?” Tyler asked.

“Not really.” Milton shrugged.

“Was it rocky or were there trees?”

“Trees,” Milton said, trying a little too hard to sound convincing.

“Which direction did you come from?” Tyler asked.

“We came from the north,” Milton supplied.

Tyler didn’t immediately respond.

“You sure about that?” he finally asked.

“Yeah. North, right, honey?” Milton said, glancing down at Jennifer.

She managed a weak smile and a nod.

No one got to Diablo’s Rock from the north on an ATV. Tire tracks at the scene indicated the opposite. Tyler slanted a look at Tommy.

“That’s impossible,” Tyler said. “Tracks came from the south.”

Anyone could get confused in an area they aren’t familiar with, but this guy wouldn’t be confused about direction because he was wearing one of those expensive compass watches.

“Guess I didn’t notice.” Milton shrugged. “If I’m not under arrest, then can we be finished with this conversation?” His lips flattened, indicating his patience had run out.

Well, guess what, buddy? So had Tyler’s.

And they were far from done.


Chapter Three (#ulink_bbe719ad-2f79-5bfb-908c-c2eb5b4c0da9)

“Where’s the doctor?” Milton asked, rotating toward Jennifer and effectively turning his back on Tyler and Tommy. “How much longer do you have to stay in here?”

“In a hurry to go somewhere, Mr. Milton?” Sheriff Tommy asked, blond eyebrow arched.

“I’d like to get her home where I can take better care of her,” Milton said. “It’s impossible to get any rest in one of these places.”

“And where is home?” Tommy asked.

“Louisiana, like on my license. You saw that earlier,” Milton said. “You’d like to come home with me, wouldn’t you, darling?”

There he went with that darling business again. Tyler wanted to vomit. Again, Milton was pouring it on a little thick.

While Tommy was finishing his interview, Tyler excused himself in order to talk to Jennifer’s doctor, Dr. McConnell.

McConnell was a no-nonsense middle-aged woman who’d been working at the hospital since graduating medical school. A local, she wore jeans and boots under her white coat and she’d been a close family friend since longer than Tyler could remember.

“Is there any chance she’s being abused?” he asked McConnell when he was sure they were out of earshot.

“I’m bound by oath not to respond to that question,” Dr. McConnell said. “However, since you found her, I don’t mind telling you that she has quite a few bruises on both of her arms.”

“I’m guessing that’s a yes,” he said.

“She’s been through a lot.” McConnell frowned. “I’m not saying she’s been abused, but even if she has there’s no way to prove anything. And, of course, nothing can be done unless a victim is willing to talk about it or press charges.”

“In theory, would you have offered that kind of help by now?” he asked.

“I would’ve. We’re not talking about a child here, where I’d be forced to report suspected abuse and Tommy could step in,” Dr. McConnell said. “I can only help patients who want it.”

Tyler didn’t like what he heard.

“When I see a patient with bruising like we’ve discussed, I’m always sure to have another conversation with her. I can promise that she’ll know that there are folks who can help. I’ll offer assistance, but it’ll be up to her to accept,” Dr. McConnell said, placing her hand on Tyler’s shoulder. She had to reach up, considering she wasn’t more than five foot three.

“Much obliged to you, doc,” Tyler said.

“Before you go, any word on the investigation? It’s been two weeks since I submitted the results from the third-party analysis of the toxicology report,” she said, and he knew that she was talking about his parents. She’d been one of his mother’s closest friends and he could see how much the doctor missed her in the dark circles under her eyes. The recent news that his parents had been murdered hit their friends hard, their children harder.

“Nothing so far, except that Tommy is reviewing the case file personally,” he said. Tyler and his brothers benefitted the most from their parents’ deaths so they’d be at the top of anyone’s suspect list. There were no other leads at the time.

Dr. McConnell gave that a minute.

“Give your brothers a hug for me,” she finally said.

“I will.”

Walking toward Jennifer’s room, Tyler’s footsteps fell heavy. Even though he wanted to take James Milton out back and teach him a thing or two about why real men didn’t hurt women, the reality was that there wasn’t much else he could do at the hospital.

Tommy seemed to be wrapping things up by the time Tyler returned to the room. As much as it soured him to do so, Tyler shook James Milton’s hand. Milton’s wasn’t moist or hot, indicating that he was fairly relaxed about the situation.

But should he be?

A man who hit a woman might be a practiced liar. Tyler didn’t care much for people who couldn’t be bothered to tell the truth. And this jerk was poised to walk right out the door and go scot-free. He hadn’t violated any laws that Tommy could arrest him for. Tyler could see Tommy’s frustration written all over his face.

“One last thing,” Tommy said to Milton. “Did you have permission to ride on the O’Brien ranch?”

“Permission?” Milton echoed. His eyes widened when he heard the name O’Brien. Most people knew it and had a similar reaction.

“The land that you and your fiancée were riding ATVs on is owned by the O’Brien family,” Tommy continued. “It’s protected by a fence and No Trespassing signs are posted everywhere. I’ve been out hunting on that property myself. So, my question to you is, were you aware that you were breaking the law when you took your recreational vehicles on the land?”

“Well, no, we hadn’t planned on being on his property. We got lost. Is that a crime?” For the first time in the interview, Milton looked like he might break a sweat.

“Being lost? No. Trespassing on someone else’s land and destroying their property? Yes.” Tommy turned to Tyler. “Will you be pressing charges today, Mr. O’Brien?”

Tyler might not be able to stop Jennifer from walking out of the hospital with this jerk but he could slow them down.

“As a matter of fact, I will,” Tyler said, shifting his gaze to Milton. “You say that you innocently got lost, but how do I know that you weren’t out on my property, illegally hunting?”

“I don’t own a gun, for one,” Milton shot back.

Tyler figured that Tommy could check the gun registration database all day long and not find a gun registered to James Milton. That didn’t mean he wasn’t carrying one anyway. There was no shortage of illegal guns on the black market and in the hands of people who had no business with them.

“I can’t know that for sure. Besides, you might’ve ditched it when you realized you were close to getting caught. In fact, I have another scenario worth the sheriff’s consideration,” Tyler said.

“Care to enlighten me?” But Milton’s gaze said the opposite.

“How about this? You take your fiancée here on a hunting trip on my land. We offer excursions but you don’t want to pay the price. You decide to do things on your own. But then you hear someone and you know you’re about to get caught. Rather than risk it, you take off, leaving your fiancée to fend for herself. You go hide in your motel room waiting for her to come back. You clean up because you don’t want to risk anyone realizing you might’ve been outside. But here comes the problem. Your fiancée gets herself in trouble and ends up in the hospital, so you make up this wild story about the two of you fighting to cover for the fact that you were illegally hunting on my property,” Tyler said, his gaze zeroed in on Milton.

“You can’t be serious.” Milton’s gaze darted from Tyler to Tommy as he took a step back. A few more and he’d be in the corner.

“Sure I can,” Tyler shot back, watching Milton’s reaction.

“Can I see your hunting license, Mr. Milton?” Tommy asked.

Milton balked. “I don’t have one. I’ve already told you that I don’t even own a gun.”

“Did you realize that you’d need one?” Tommy continued.

“I didn’t come here to hunt. I wasn’t out looking for game on his land.” Milton shot daggers toward Tyler before narrowing his gaze when he looked at Tommy again. “I’ll ask again. Am I under arrest?”

“If you were, we’d be having a different conversation right now, Mr. Milton. One that would include reading your Miranda rights to you. Since I haven’t done that yet, you’re free to go.” Tommy turned toward the door. “But I have every intention of investigating Mr. O’Brien’s complaint. In which case, I’m advising you not to leave town until this dispute has been resolved.”

It was weak. Tyler knew enough about the law to know that, but Tommy was betting that Milton didn’t realize it.

“I have no plans to go anywhere until my Jennifer is better. And then I have every intention of driving out of this town and back to Louisiana,” Milton said.

“Mind if I speak to you privately, Mr. Milton?” Tommy shot a wink toward Tyler so subtle he barely caught it.

Tyler immediately caught on. He grabbed the pen and paper off the wheeled tray table and jotted down his cell number. Then, he moved to the bed next to Jennifer.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded, looking resolved. If she was engaged to Milton, then wouldn’t she seem more comforted by his presence? Tyler figured he could rack his brain trying to solve that and other mysteries for the rest of his life and still come up short. There wasn’t much else he could do or say if he stuck around. Red...Jennifer, he corrected himself, seemed intent on staying with this jerk. Just in case she changed her mind and wanted a friend, he folded up the piece of paper into a tiny square.

“You change your mind or need anything, call me.” He managed to slip it under her pillow before Milton returned.

Tyler figured it might help him sleep at night, knowing he’d done everything he could.

Heck, who was he kidding? Those sea-green eyes were going to haunt him.

* * *

TYLER’S CELL BUZZED. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was hours until the sun would rise. The noise should’ve jolted him awake but his eyes had barely closed all night thinking about Red.

He threw off the covers and walked over to the dresser where his phone sat on its charger, thinking what he really needed to clear his head was a night on the town and a stiff drink.

The number didn’t look familiar but he answered anyway.

“I don’t have anyone else to call. Please help me.” The frail voice on the other end of the line belonged to Red.

Was she ready to talk? To get out of the relationship with Milton? To get help?

“Are you there?” she asked. Panic raised her voice a couple of octaves.

“Yes,” he said. “As long as you’re ready to tell me what’s really going on.”

“I’m sorry about before. It’s just...” She paused, sounding almost too tired or scared to finish what she started to say. “If he finds out I’m talking to you, to anyone, then I’m dead.”

“Seems to me that he’s going to hurt you either way, Jennifer,” Tyler said.

“My name isn’t Jennifer. It’s Jessica,” she confided.

“I saw your driver’s license,” he said, chalking up the mistake to her head injury.

“Please, give me a chance to explain,” she begged. “I’m not who I said I was. I know who I am and my name is Jessica.”


Chapter Four (#ulink_4ea64397-a4ac-5ec6-bb76-45710596f238)

“Okay.” The handsome cowboy paused as if he was seriously considering what Jessica had just said. “Is the license a fake?”

“No.”

“Well then, I’m the one who’s confused,” he said, his voice gruff from sleep.

Jessica didn’t know Tyler from Adam and yet his calming voice and masculine strength had her believing she could trust him. There was something about the tall cowboy that made her believe he would protect her.

Then again, it wasn’t like she had a lot of options. The game had changed somewhere along the line and she hadn’t expected Milton to try to kill her. He didn’t even know that Jennifer had an identical twin, let alone that Jessica was posing as her sister.

“What’s really going on?” Tyler asked.

How much should she tell him? Could she tell him? She needed to say enough to convince him that she wasn’t crazy.

“I wish I knew,” she said honestly. All Jessica thought she was supposed to be doing was subbing for her party-girl sister, Jennifer, in order to give her time to fix whatever needed fixing. Since no one in Jennifer’s circle knew she had an identical twin, the two figured they could pull off a switch and no one would be the wiser. “I need to contact my twin sister and I can’t do that while he’s watching my every move.”

“You’re a twin?” Tyler sounded surprised but not shocked.

“Yes. Sorry for lying to you earlier,” she said quietly into the phone, praying she wouldn’t disturb Milton, who was sleeping ten feet away from her bed. Jessica despised lies. Anyone could ask her ex-boyfriend, Brent, about that. He seemed to be an expert at manipulating the truth when they’d been together.

Jessica refocused. She’d waited all night for Milton to doze off, and this might be her only chance to reach out for help. She’d be released sometime tomorrow afternoon and if she didn’t get away from Milton it would be all over. Jessica’s memory was still spotty but one thing was clear. She needed to get away from that man while she was still alive and connect with her sister before he figured her out. He kept asking her where she’d hid “it.” Jessica had no idea what he’d been talking about. Her sister had warned her that Milton believed she had something valuable and had said to pick a place to take him. When she’d taken him to the O’Brien ranch and told him she’d buried it nearby, he’d slammed a rock against her head.

“What are you asking me to do?” he asked in that deep raspy voice.

“Get me out of here,” she whispered. She was taking a huge risk in calling the cowboy. Milton could wake at any second. She had no idea what her sister had gotten herself involved in, but it must be pretty darn bad for that man to want her dead.

“Is he there right now?” the cowboy asked.

“Yes.”

Milton stirred in his sleep and Jessica panicked. She hung up the phone before he could catch her. If hospital staff didn’t show up every hour or so she figured Milton would’ve already found a way to finish the job. The fact that his earlier attempt to kill her had been staged to look like an accident made her believe that he didn’t want to be associated with a murder investigation.

If Jessica didn’t figure out what was going on and find her sister, they’d both be dead. Losing contact yesterday had settled an ominous feeling over Jessica. She wasn’t sure who she could trust anymore, except the rich cowboy who seemed determined to help. He sent her pulse racing for a whole other set of reasons she didn’t want to examine. But she’d called him as a last-ditch effort to try to help her escape and find her sister. Was that a mistake?

Milton rolled onto his other side in the chair next to her bed, causing her pulse to race.

Jessica had no idea how long she’d been lying there, staring at the white ceiling, when a pair of nurses walked in pushing a gurney.

Milton shot straight up and rubbed his puffy eyes. “What’s going on?”

The nurse shot him a warning look before checking the chart affixed to the foot of Jessica’s bed. “We’re taking our patient for an X-ray.”

Milton stood, blocking her path to Jessica.

“At this hour?” he asked, puffing out his chest, and Jessica noticed he’d done that earlier when he tried to intimidate Tyler. It hadn’t worked with the rich cowboy.

“This is a hospital, sir. We run 24/7,” the nurse shot back and she didn’t appear affected, either. “Now, if you’ll step out of the way on your own it’ll save me the trouble of calling security and having you removed from the building. We can do this any way you want. It’s your call.”

Jessica grinned despite trying to hold it in. Luckily, Milton’s back was to her so he couldn’t see her face. The man frightened her.

The nurse could see her, though, and she winked at Jessica as she brushed past him.

Between the two nurses, they detached Jessica from the monitors and hoisted her up onto the gurney.

Milton made a move to follow them into the hall, but the lead nurse put up a hand to stop him. “I don’t think so, sir. No one but the patient and X-ray tech are allowed where we’re taking her.”

His agitation was written in the severe lines of his forehead, and his eyebrows looked like angry slash marks. Jessica worried that wouldn’t bode well for her later. Then again, he’d made his intentions pretty clear.

Milton stood in the doorway, watching, as Jessica was wheeled down the hallway. She could almost feel his eyes on her and she’d never be able to shake the horror of turning to find him standing there, rock raised in the air, and then a sharp pain before everything went dark.

With him in the room, she hadn’t been able to sleep a wink for fear he’d make sure she never woke. But that didn’t make sense, did it? Would he be so bold as to kill her in the hospital where he could be discovered? Especially now that their situation had drawn so much attention. He’d gone to great pains to make his first attempt look like an accident. Jessica had every intention of figuring out why he wanted to kill her sister and what she’d gotten herself into by agreeing to help.

The nurses made a right turn at the nurse’s station and then broke into a run. Before Jessica could manage to get a word out, they stopped. A blanket was tossed over her head as she was ushered off the gurney. Her claustrophobia kicked into high gear but she resisted the urge to fight against it, taking a deep breath instead of giving in to panic. She could only pray that the nurses could be trusted.

* * *

“DON’T SAY A WORD,” Tyler said, turning the light on his phone toward Red as he took off the blanket.

“What are—”

“You asked me to help and that’s what I’m doing,” he said, hating how scared she sounded, looked. He expected her to argue or put up a fight. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

“Thank you,” she said, and he could feel her shaking.

Tyler would do whatever it took to help Red. The mystery woman stirred up all kinds of unfamiliar feelings. And seeing her in an abusive relationship dredged up all kinds of bad emotions from the past...feelings he couldn’t set aside as easily as he’d like. He’d told himself that he’d agreed to help her solely based on the fact that she was a woman in need, but there was more. The best Tyler could do was let Red explain herself. He intended to get to the bottom of what was really going on.

“Can I use that phone?” she asked.

“As soon as you tell me why you’re with that jerk.”

Shock widened her sea-green eyes. “I’m not. We’re not. It’s just that everything’s so complicated right now. I’m not sure how to explain.”

“Start at the beginning.”

“I need to get ahold of my sister first, so I can sort this out. Please.”

Tyler figured he needed to buy some goodwill so he handed over his cell.

Red made a phone call and it ran straight into voice mail.

“That’s not good. She should be picking up.” Exasperation ran deep in her voice. She called another number.

A sleepy-sounding woman answered.

“Where’s Jennifer?” Red asked.

Tyler now knew that she’d been posing as her sister. It was a trick his twin younger brothers had played on the family more than once when they were growing up. It had all been good-natured fun. But Red’s life was on the line.

And then a thought dawned on him. Red wasn’t in a bad relationship with Milton, her sister was. Maybe she was giving her sister time to get her bearings enough to leave the jerk. She might’ve been the one to deliver the message. A guy like Milton wouldn’t have taken news like that lying down. Had he gotten angry, found the nearest rock and bashed her in the head?

“What do you mean she just disappeared?” There was outright panic in Red’s voice now as she spoke quietly into the phone. “No. Don’t call anyone. Don’t tell anyone. Promise me you won’t look for her.”

Red’s shoulders slumped forward and tears rolled down her cheeks as she ended the call. She closed her eyes as if trying to shut out the world.

“Tell me what’s going on and we’ll figure something out.” Tyler’s fingers itched to hold her but making that move was a slippery slope. “Does he know who you really are?”

“No. And I have no idea what I’ve actually gotten myself into,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “My head hurts.”

“You can start by telling me what your sister’s relationship to James Milton is,” Tyler said.

The mention of Milton’s name got her eyes open in a hurry.

“We can’t talk here.” She glanced around. “Where are we anyway?”

Tyler didn’t like the idea of taking her out of the hospital without knowing exactly what kind of danger she was in and from whom, but he had no choice under the circumstances. Milton would be asking questions soon and wouldn’t be satisfied without an answer. Tyler needed to get her away from the building. He pulled out a bundle of clothing. “Here. Put these on.”

“Scrubs?” she asked, and when he nodded she turned to face the other way.

He took the cue to untie the back of her gown and had to force his gaze away from the silky skin of her shoulder as she slipped out of the cotton material. In addition to the surgical scrubs, Dr. McConnell had provided a bra and panties and shoes. He needed to call her in the morning to thank her for arranging everything on such short notice.

Luckily she’d believed the story about Red wanting out of the relationship. Since she’d planned to release her the next day, McConnell didn’t see the harm in giving Red an out tonight. She’d joked that it was already morning somewhere and made him promise to let her stop by his place after rounds to check on her patient. Lying to McConnell sat sourly in Tyler’s gut. He’d explain the situation when he could. His first order of business was getting Red away from Milton and to safety. Then, the two of them would have a conversation about delivering justice to Milton.

“What now?” Red said, turning around to face him.

“Put these on.” He handed her a surgical mask and hair covering. “And then meet me downstairs near the ER. If he sees me he’ll think something’s up. I want to give us as good of a head start as I can.”

She took a deep breath and he assumed it was to steel her nerves.

“Okay. Let’s do this,” she said.

“You go first. That way, if he’s wandering around and happens to see you, I won’t be far behind,” Tyler said. “Once you walk out the door, make a right toward the stairs. I don’t want you waiting around for an elevator. The ER is on the first floor so you’ll have to make it down eight flights of stairs on your own. Can you handle it?”

She nodded and all he could see were her eyes, the green stood out even more against the light-blue face mask.

“Okay, then. Once you’re down, I’ll meet you at the ER bay,” he said. “Don’t forget to take off the mask before you walk out of the stairwell.”

Red stood at the door for a long moment. She pressed her flat palm against it but stopped short of opening it.

Then she stole a last look at him before walking out and to her right.

Tyler figured he needed to wait a bit before he followed. It would take all his self-control not to hightail it to Red’s room and deliver his own brand of justice. Milton needed to see what it was like to fight with a man. But that would only alert the creep to the fact that Jessica was on the run. Since Tyler couldn’t be in two places at once, he waited a few minutes, then pushed the door open. If Milton saw him at all, it could be game over.

Besides, there was a lot more to this situation than met the eye and Tyler needed to get to the bottom of what was going on before he let his fists fly. He’d take Jessica to the ranch for tonight. There wasn’t a place around with better security than home.

Tyler made it down the hall and then to the elevator without incident. In the ER, Red was standing right where he’d told her to and a part of him sighed in relief. He couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t bolt as soon as she had the chance and he had all kinds of questions that needed answers.

Then again, she was in a strange town. Running from the one person helping her didn’t make a bit of sense.

So far, Red had told Tyler that she’d stepped in for a sister who was now missing. Twins. He shook his head as he walked toward her. Wouldn’t his little brothers Joshua and Ryder have a field day with this? Red and her sister’s trick would be right up their alley. Even though they weren’t actually identical, his youngest brothers looked enough alike that they got away with a few too many pranks, switching places to confuse people.

Tyler took Red’s arm and led her out to his waiting SUV.

“What has your sister gotten herself into?” he asked as soon as they were safe inside his vehicle. He turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the parking space.

As he meandered through the lot and onto the highway he expected her to speak. She didn’t.

“We can turn back and I’ll ask Milton, if that makes you feel better,” he threatened. No way would he go through with it but she needed a little motivation to get her talking.

“I told you before, she’s my twin sister. She’s in trouble.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on,” Jessica said, staring out the front window.

“Then start with what you do know,” he said.

“I got a call from my sister three days ago asking if I could take time off work to help her out,” she said. “She needed me to step into her life and go on a trip with a friend of hers for a few days while she fixed a problem. She said go along with whatever he said, so I did. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to bail her out of a bad situation, so I agreed.”

“Is your sister involved in something illegal?”

“Before yesterday I would’ve been ready to fight if you asked that question about her. Now, I’m not sure what she’s gotten herself into,” Jessica said on a heavy sigh. “She’s not a bad person. I normally get called in for a relationship that has gone south and she doesn’t have the heart to break it off herself. I show up and help ease her out of it. At least that’s how it started five years ago. It kind of grew from there.”

“So you had no prior relationship with Milton?”

“We’re not engaged, if that’s what you’re asking, and neither was Jenn,” she said with an involuntary shiver. “I’d never seen the man before two days ago. My sister sent me with him. She said I could trust him and to go with him and pretend that I knew what he was talking about. We checked into the Bluff Motel and he started demanding that I tell him where something was. Some kind of box. I can’t remember clearly.” She touched the bandage on her forehead.

“Is that how you ended up on my property?”

“Yes. I picked a remote place thinking that he’d give up when we couldn’t find the box right away. He got angry instead. Demanded that I tell him where it is, told me to stop playing games. I said that I’d tricked him and had no idea where the box was. The next thing I know I’m being hit in the head with a rock,” she said, leaning back against the headrest. “Where are we going, by the way?”

“My ranch,” he said.

“Maybe you should just take me to the airport and drop me. I can grab a flight or rent a car there and drive to Louisiana. I have to find my sister.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re in no condition to drive anywhere. Milton still has your ID so renting a car or getting on a flight is out of the question,” Tyler countered. “And then there’s the issue of him trying to kill you. We need to update the sheriff first thing in the morning.”

“No. We can’t.”

Was she serious? She balked pretty darn fast when he mentioned Tommy.

“This is his town and he has a right to know the truth. You should be pressing charges against that jerk who tried to kill you,” Tyler said. “In case you hadn’t noticed, he seems intent on finishing the job.”

“I have,” she retorted, motioning toward her forehead. “But I have no idea what’s really going on, I can’t remember everything, and I’ve already put my sister in danger by leaving the hospital. All I know for sure is that Milton isn’t the one in charge. Until I know who’s trying to hurt her, I can’t bring in the police. You can drop me off at a bus station.”

She wouldn’t last a day without money or transportation, and she seemed to realize it about the same time Tyler started to tell her.

“This must look bad to an outsider,” she said. “But I have to ask you to keep everything I’ve told you between us. Give me a little time to figure out what happened to my sister and help her.”

“She might be hiding.”

“Or hurt,” she said.

“In which case, doesn’t it make more sense to bring in the law?” Tyler turned in to the ranch and security waved him ahead.

“This isn’t a good idea. I shouldn’t have called you and gotten you involved,” she said, and he could hear the fear and panic in her voice. Not a good combination.





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