Texas Manhunt

by Linda Conrad

  “Stop!” He was out of breath, but not from running. “I thought I told you to wait for Summer to make breakfast.”

  His child was already wearing her denim barn jacket and turned to look at him over her shoulder. “No, Daddy. I said I wanted breakfast, but I changed my mind. I wanna see baby Mumps.” Rather than wait for an additional comment she might not like, Jenna opened the door.

  “Halt, young lady. Not another step. We need to talk, and you need breakfast.”

  “But, Daddy…” She turned to him with the precocious kind of pout that usually worked to soften him up.

  Not today. “Shut the door. I’ll help you out of your coat.”

  “Aw, shoot. Not fair,” she complained, but did as he’d said anyway.

  She raised her arms one at a time so he could shake her out of the jacket, which he noted was getting to be too small. It pained him to think about how fast she was growing. But it hurt a lot worse when he thought of telling her about the filly.

  Bending down on one knee so he could look her in the eye, he began, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to go to the barn today—maybe not at all this week. It’s…”

  “What? But, Daddy, I’ll be good.” Tears swelled in his little girl’s eyes, grown wide with hurt.

  He drew her to him. “It’s got nothing to do with you, sweetheart. You’re always my best girl. But something bad happened last night. Something that means you’ll have to stay away from Mumps this week.”

  “Oh, no. Is Mumps hurt? She’s not…not…dead, is she?”

  Children on ranches had to grow up fast and learned about death far too soon. Such as when the pet chickens had been killed by a coyote. Or when the neighbor’s 4-H lambs were sold at auction for someone’s table. Jenna had already lost an animal or two and knew what dead meant.

  Travis was real glad this wasn’t one of those times. “Mumps is alive. But she’s hurting pretty bad. The vet wants to keep her quiet for a few days. Like you had to stay in bed with pneumonia when you were little, remember? So we’re going to give her the space to heal.”

  “What happened to her?” Her sweet blue eyes were as wide as a Texas sky.

  This was going to be touchy. “Well, it seems the feed door was accidentally left open last night. Mumps apparently got hungry, wandered inside the feed room and ate until she made herself sick.”

  Jenna’s eyes filled with tears again, and this time her bottom lip quivered. He waited for another question. One that would be harder to answer. But it didn’t come.

  She shifted on one foot and looked at him hesitantly. He opened his arms wide, expecting her to need a hug. But instead of running into his embrace as she normally would, she turned away and dashed into the kitchen.

  “Jenna?” Bolting upright, he quickly followed.

  The sight that greeted him as he entered the kitchen’s warmth made his heart do somersaults. There, by the sink, was his baby girl, crying her eyes out with her arms around Summer’s waist and her face buried against Summer’s belly.

  He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. In a way, it hurt to think he wasn’t the one she would run to anymore. But in another way, he was happy that Jenna had found a woman she considered safe—like a mother figure.

  His own eyes welled as he listened to her cry. But he balled his fists and stood there waiting.

  “And it was an accident,” Jenna wailed. “The door was open. But Daddy says she’ll…she’ll be okay.”

  Summer stood still, quietly petting Jenna’s hair. “Yes, that’s what the vet said. We just have to wait.”

  “I don’t want to wait. I want to see Mumps now.”

  “Jenna…” Summer looked up at him over his daughter’s bowed head, her eyes saying she was at a loss for words.

  Travis figured that was his cue. “Okay, ladies,” he said in the firmest tone he could manage, while walking toward them. “Here’s the plan. We’re going to have something to eat, and then I’m taking Jenna into town to stay with her Aunt June for a few days.”

  Jenna whirled at the sound of his voice. “But…” She stopped whining when she looked up into his eyes and saw his determination. “Yes, Daddy. But I’m not going to like it.”

  “Sure you are. You love going to Auntie June’s. She has a whole yard full of toys to play with, and there are a couple of little kids in the neighborhood who go to your school. Plus, I’ll bet Rosie will stop by and ask you to practice your part in her wedding.”

  Jenna brightened. “Do you think so? Really?”

  “I’m sure she will. Why don’t you run upstairs now and pack your duffel, while Summer finishes making the breakfast?”

  “Okeydokey.” Jenna turned and disappeared, going a hundred miles an hour toward the stairs.

  Summer ran a dish towel under her eyes and said, “That was tough. How do you handle your emotions when your child is hurting?”

  He shrugged and took her in his arms. “Not a clue. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with emotions myself lately. No choice but to do what comes naturally.”

  “I guess.” She flipped her hair off her forehead and sighed.

  At least she didn’t say she wouldn’t be here long enough to find out. A step in the right direction. “You’ll get the hang of it,” Travis said. “All you need is to love your child. Once you’ve got that handled, the rest comes easy enough.”

  “Jenna didn’t ask about the accident.”

  “No, she didn’t.” And Travis couldn’t say how glad that made him. “She might yet. It’s possible she’ll hear rumors in town from the other kids.”

  “Oh?” Summer frowned and turned around to face the stove.

  “Don’t worry. I intend to find the real bad guy before then, sugar. I’ve had an idea. I’m going to call my brother Gage, the P.I. You met him once, remember?”

  She nodded but kept her back turned.

  “Gage is a genius at security. He wired my brother’s house when my sister-in-law had a stalker. And he’s the best at uncovering mysteries, just like Sherlock Holmes. He’ll know how to pin down this jerk.”

  Travis went to the ranch’s intercom on the kitchen wall and dialed the foreman’s line. “I’ll take Barrett with me to town while I drop Jenna off. Afterward, we’ll stop by Gage’s office. Between me, Barrett and Gage, we’ll either be able to figure out who the guy is, or we’ll lay a trap and catch us a saboteur.”

  He made arrangements with Barrett to go to town, then thought of something else. Turning to Summer, he said, “I’m a little concerned about you staying on the ranch without me. It could be dangerous.”

  “You said you wouldn’t try to smother me, Travis. I’m an adult. I’ll be fine. You’ll still have hands working here, won’t you?” She kept her back to him as she took the egg sandwiches she’d made and wrapped them in tin foil.

  Heaving a heavy sigh, he gave up. “All right. But promise me you’ll stay in the house and away from the barns this morning until I return. And if you need anything—anything at all—use the intercom to call the ranch office. I’ll leave the men instructions to come running.”

  “I said, I’ll be fine. Please don’t worry about me.”

  She was asking the impossible, but he kept his mouth shut. He was about to explain his concern to her with another kiss when Jenna rushed back into the kitchen.

  “I’m all set. Let’s go.”

  Summer handed her a bag with two sandwiches. “For the road.”

  “Will I see you later?” Jenna asked.

  “Sure you will. I’ll be coming into town this week to run errands. I’ll stop by your aunt’s to say hello.”

  Jenna grinned, stood on tiptoes and dragged Summer’s head down for a kiss on the cheek. “Make sure the vet takes good care of Mumps. Okay?”

  “I will. Don’t worry.”

  Jenna grabbed her coat and skipped out the door. He needed to be right behind his daughter.

  Twisting around, he gave Summer a quick kiss—much too quick for his liking—and took a step t
o follow his daughter.

  “Don’t forget about our date tonight,” he said before reaching for the door handle.

  “What date?”

  “To talk. You haven’t forgotten?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Good.” The idea of seeing her again made feel him all warm and mushy inside.

  Oh, he wanted her. The lust nipping at his gut was a constant state. But just being around her made him happy—more, it made him feel like a teenager again. Now, how about that?

  * * *

  Summer finished cleaning the kitchen and trudged up the stairs to finally get dressed. It promised to be a long day without Jenna or Travis around the house.

  The endorphins left over from last night had quit bouncing around inside her at about the same time Jenna had come tearing into the kitchen needing a hug and comfort. Then Summer’s more lustful hormones had quickly been replaced with a heavy dose of the mothering instinct.

  And now that Jenna and Travis had gone, her guilt had come back stronger than ever. She didn’t believe anymore that she’d been the cause of the filly’s sickness. Travis had convinced her it wasn’t her fault. But still, she was here under false pretenses, and it was killing her. While they were gone today, she’d better think over what she wanted to do from here on out.

  Everything would be so much simpler if she could only find her man and turn him in. Then she could really think about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

  She’d been so impressed with the way Travis had handled Jenna this morning. He was basically deep down a good man who loved his child, his ranch and his life. It made her wonder why some smart woman had not already snapped him up since his divorce.

  Lost in her thoughts of Travis, and holding back a cascade of love for him so strong it threatened to swamp her, she opened her bedroom door. What she saw next erased everything else but the horror before her eyes.

  Her room had been destroyed. Clothes and bedspread lay strewn across the floor. Drawers were left open and askew. Pillows had been shredded to pieces and spread into every corner. A lovely artwork had been removed from the wall and destroyed. Photos of Jenna as a baby were slashed and the frames smashed.

  Her first thought was that maybe she’d done this and not remembered. Certainly she’d been crazy enough lately.

  But in the next instant, she looked at the mirror over the dresser and saw the words written in what looked like lipstick:

  Crazy witch! Die!

  That snapped her out of it. She recovered her senses and realized someone else had to have done this. She wasn’t crazy, she was better. And in love. She could never have done anything like this.

  So who had done it? And where were they now?

  Belatedly, she ran to the balcony window and checked the door. It wasn’t locked. But no one was out there lurking, either. She locked the balcony door with trembling fingers and spun to the closet.

  Had she just locked herself in with a crazed stalker? Her knees were shaking badly as she tiptoed to the open closet door and peered inside. Everything that had been hanging was piled on the floor, making it easy to see inside the empty space. Thank goodness no one was waiting to kill her.

  Her legs refused to hold her up any longer, but she made it to the bed before collapsing. Stomach rolling and heart racing, she fought pure panic. She started to shake, her whole body as cold as a glacier.

  Wrapping herself in a blanket, she rocked back and forth until the spots before her eyes finally disappeared. Think. She needed to regain some kind of calm and think.

  The rest of the house had seemed fine. No sign of anything out of place. So all this hatred and evil had been directed at her.

  But who in Chance would hate her enough to…?

  The answer hit her and splattered her to pieces like a truck barreling down the highway. It had to have been him! In fact, all the sabotage on the ranch had to have been coming from him, too.

  Her target, the second man she’d come to Chance to find, had found her first.

  Chapter 14

  “Damn,” the man standing in a shadow below Summer’s room muttered under his breath. It had taken the bitch nearly the whole morning to finally show up back in her room to find what he’d done.

  She sure was pretty. Pretty enough to want to eat. Though slow on the uptake.

  But he bet she got his message now. He’d caught a glimpse of the terror on her face when she’d come to the window.

  That ought to take Travis Chance down a peg or two. The bastard was so smug. Just sure that he could protect his own and track down all enemies without breaking a sweat. Wrong guess, Chance.

  The owner of the Bar-C hadn’t even been able to find his enemy when he’d been right under his nose. Ha!

  Eenie, meenie, minnie, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he eats you, let him go!

  Rubbing his hands together and finding them to be both sweaty and cold, the man tried to organize his thoughts. He needed to feel sure everything was in place for his plan to come together. But he was positive he’d been thorough and smart enough to set the trap correctly.

  Yes, indeed. Come to papa, you crazy broad. You’re gonna make terrific bait.

  His major plan was just getting to the good part. Too bad the woman would have to die.

  Chapter 15

  Summer couldn’t get out of the guest room fast enough. It took her two minutes to find clean underwear, jeans and a shirt. Sixty more seconds to put them on and run her hands through her hair to comb out the tangles.

  By the time she made it to the kitchen, she was out of breath. But she ran to the ranch intercom and dialed the office. One of the hands answered and said he’d be right there.

  Pacing the kitchen floor while she waited, it suddenly hit her that the man who was after her could be working for Travis. What a terrible thought. She hadn’t met everyone who worked on the Bar-C yet. Of course he could work here.

  She started to shake again as she ran to the drawer and pulled one of the butcher knives out of the block. Holding it made her feel a little better, but not a lot.

  Was it too late to run? A banging on the back door gave her an answer.

  “Ms. Wheeler, it’s Billy Ray and Charlie. Let us in.”

  Two men had come? Gasping for air, she realized she’d been holding her breath. At least one of these men would help her, even if the other was her stalker.

  She unlocked and ripped open the back door, and two strangers were in the mudroom before she had time to be afraid. But to her relief, both hands were strangers and entered the house quickly and carefully.

  “Upstairs in the guest room,” she managed in a too-high voice.

  One of the men carefully locked the kitchen door behind him and then joined the other. “I’ll check upstairs, Charlie. You make sure everything is locked down tight on the first floor.”

  Summer stood out of the way for a few seconds, put the knife back, and then crept up the stairs to see what was going on. Billy Ray was checking every room and every closet. He also jiggled every window lock, just to make sure.

  “Which room?” he asked when he returned to the hall from Jenna’s room.

  Unable to speak, she pointed at the guest bedroom.

  “Stay out here in the hall,” Billy Ray told her as he opened the door and stepped inside.

  Nodding absently, she followed him.

  After checking the closet, he went straight to the balcony door and tried it. “Was this locked?”

  “Not when I first came in this morning.”

  “Did you lock it last night?”

  “I don’t remember. But it’s two stories up. How…?”

  Unlocking the door, Billy Ray checked outside and then inspected the lock. “Could’ve had a ladder. It’s not that high. And the door looks like it could’ve been jimmied. When did this happen?”

  “Um…I can’t be sure.”

  “So, do you think the guy could’ve done all this damage while you were asleep rig
ht in the same room?”

  She didn’t want to embarrass Travis by saying that she hadn’t slept in this room for most of the night last night. And truthfully, she hadn’t bothered to turn the light on when she gotten up at 1:00 a.m., so it was possible she had actually been here while it happened.

  “Maybe.”

  Billy Ray threw her an incredulous look that said he thought she might be crazy. He could join the rest of the town.

  All of a sudden, she just wanted these men gone. Out of the house. “If you’ll check the rest of the house and then around the grounds, I’ll clean this up.”

  “Don’t you think Travis needs to see the mess?”

  “Not especially. I can tell him about it.”

  Billy Ray shrugged. “Okay. Then why don’t I call him or Barrett? One of them should get back here.”

  “That’s not necessary. They’re busy in town with Travis’s brother Gage, but they’ll be back soon enough.”

  “Ma’am.” He nodded as if he accepted her word but then narrowed his eyes at her. “You shouldn’t be in the house alone, you know. You want one of us to stay with you?”

  “No, thanks. I intend to go to town, too. Just as soon as I clean the room.”

  He stood with an indecisive look on his face. She knew he wanted to stay with her, but he also didn’t want to offend a woman who might be his boss’s girlfriend.

  Travis’s girlfriend. Instead of the good feelings those words should’ve produced when she’d thought them, they just made her nauseous.

  It was past time to take a stand. She had to find her quarry and put a stop to all this—before Travis or Jenna really got hurt as innocent bystanders. She was obviously the cause of all the trouble. But she still needed help to track down her target, the stalker. She couldn’t find a man as elusive as this one on her own. He’d already proven he was tricky. And dangerous.

  “Look,” she said on a sigh. “You and your buddy finish checking around the house, and then come back to nail the upstairs balcony doors and windows shut. Just until Travis’s brother can come do a better security job. When you’re finished, I’ll go to town and see if I can catch Gage. I’ll make sure he’ll be out here later this evening to do a more professional job.”