A Cowgirl at Heart

by Christine Lynxwiler

Her breath closed off and she whimpered. “I. Can’t.” She hated her weakness, but she could feel her body start to shake.

  “Whoa,” Andrew said softly as if she were a frightened pup. He kept the gun aimed at Zeke and squeezed her shoulder with his free hand. “It’s okay.”

  They stood without speaking for a few seconds.

  Finally, Elyse found her voice. “I’ll go check on his sister.”

  He nodded. “Holler if you need any help.”

  She started for the door.

  “Wait!” Andrew’s voice stopped her again. He kept his gaze and gun trained on Zeke as he stepped over to the door and pushed it open then waited. From behind him, Elyse could see a foyer, just like a million other foyers, a mirror on the wall and a small bench beneath it. She saw Andrew’s shoulders relax, and he stepped back to allow her to enter.

  “Thanks.” In the foyer, she stopped and wrinkled her nose. The house smelled of mildew and ruined food. “Hello?” Her voice sounded unnaturally loud. The only answer was the faint hum of the refrigerator.

  Her heart slammed against her ribs, but she squared her shoulders and started down the hall. If the painter out on the porch could kick a gun out of a man’s hand and not even break a sweat, she could surely check on a sick woman without fainting.

  ***

  Andrew Stone stared into the beady eyes of the man he’d been staking out for the past two weeks. He’d painted every house within a mile radius dirt cheap just to be able to keep an eye on this guy without arousing suspicion. Lie low and watch. That had been the plan. But all it had taken was a beautiful brunette on the wrong side of a gun to change his plan.

  Keeping the gun steady, he pulled the gold and amethyst necklace from his pocket and inspected it one more time before holding it up in the sunlight. It looked exactly like the one Melanie had worn all the time. If he knew for sure it was the same necklace, he wouldn’t be able to trust himself with a gun on this guy. “Where’d you get this?”

  Zeke’s eyes widened, but he quickly looked down. “Never saw it before in my life.”

  Red hot anger bubbled at the edges of Andrew’s consciousness, but he ignored it and subtly pushed the gun a little closer. “That’s not what the guy at the pawn shop said. He got a real good picture of you on his security camera when you came in to pawn it.”

  Zeke grunted. “Why do you care? Who are you anyway?”

  Andrew stepped closer, his anger and frustration spilling over. “Your worst enemy if you don’t tell me where you got the necklace,” he growled through gritted teeth.

  Beads of sweat glistened on Zeke’s round face as sirens sounded in the distance. “It was my mother’s. My only inheritance.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Andrew!” Elyse’s voice was shrill with panic. “Help me!”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Hurry!” Elyse screamed.

  “Coming!” he yelled then stared at Zeke. “Stay put. The cops will be here in just a second. It’ll go worse for you if you run.”

  The sirens grew steadily louder. But Elyse could be in danger. He’d found Zeke once; he could find him again if he had to. He had no choice but to tuck the gun in his waistband and run in the house. “Elyse, where are you?”

  She stepped out of a door at the end of the hallway. “I don’t think she’s breathing!”

  He sprinted down the hall and brushed past her into the small crowded bedroom. Furniture lined every wall, and a bed was centered under the only window. A woman with short salt-and-pepper hair lay on the bed, her face an alarming shade of blue.

  Elyse looked up at him. “She was breathing when I came in, pretty raspy. But then she quit.”

  Andrew felt for a pulse, and his gaze met Elyse’s frightened brown eyes. “It’s thready but she’s still alive.” The woman’s chest rose and fell slightly. The loud noise of sirens filled the house. “Just in time,” he murmured. “Let’s go see if they sent an ambulance.”

  She stood by the rumpled bed without moving, just staring at the sick woman.

  He gently took her hand in his and tugged her out of the room. The shock of the last hour was taking its toll on her.

  On the porch, he was thrilled to see an ambulance pulling in but not really surprised to see that Zeke was gone. Andrew quickly located the sheriff and gave him a rundown on the situation, leaving out the fact that he’d been staking Zeke out.

  The EMTs rushed the house, and the deputies scattered out over the property, searching for Zeke.

  Andrew kept Elyse close to his side. She seemed to be glad of his presence.

  When the EMTs came out after about ten minutes with Zeke’s sister on a stretcher, Elyse touched his forearm. “Do you think they’d tell us if she’s going to be okay?”

  Happy to hear her speak, Andrew nodded. He guided her toward the ambulance, and they waited until the uniformed workers loaded the sick woman into the back and shut the door.

  “How is she?” Andrew asked.

  The man shrugged. “Too soon to tell. Maxine’s tough. Good thing you two found her when you did though. I don’t think she’d have made it much longer.”

  They stood and watched as the ambulance sped away, lights flashing and siren screaming.

  Sheriff Jack Westwood walked over to them. “Elyse, what are you doing here?”

  She kept her gaze on the ground. “I overheard some guys at the diner talking about a mistreated dog.”

  Jack slapped his forehead with his palm. “I should have known there was a dog involved.”

  Elyse didn’t answer.

  “You okay?” Jack asked gently.

  She nodded but didn’t speak.

  “She’s had a rough time. Zeke shoved her around and threatened her with a gun.” Andrew slipped the gun from his waistband, and Elyse shuddered. “This gun, actually.”

  Jack pulled a large Ziploc bag from his pocket and held it out for Andrew to put the gun in. “I’ll need you to come by the station next time you’re in town and be fingerprinted so we can separate yours from anyone else’s.”

  Andrew dropped the gun in the bag. “Sure.”

  Jack shook his hand. “Thanks for being here. Elyse is really important to a lot of people.”

  Andrew was glad the sheriff didn’t question him closer about why he was there. He’d long ago crossed the line from “investigating” into “obsession” as far as most lawmen were concerned. Jack Westwood seemed like a nice enough man, but Andrew would rather keep the local officials out of it. “It was nothing.”

  Elyse seemed to snap out of it a little. She looked at Andrew, her olive complexion still ashen. “You saved my life.”

  He ducked his head. “I just did what anyone else would have done.”

  “I doubt that,” she said. “Most people I know can’t kick a gun out of someone’s hand.”

  Jack looked from Andrew to Elyse then back to Andrew. “You kicked the gun out of his hand?”

  Andrew shrugged. “Adrenaline.”

  “And years of karate lessons, I’m guessing,” Elyse said softly.

  “Well, that, too.” A sheepish grin played across Andrew’s mouth. Even in shock, she was sharp.

  She looked up at the sheriff. “Can we go check on Pal?”

  Jack shook his head. “Not as long as Zeke’s out there. But as soon as we catch him, you can take the dog home with you. I know Maxine will be glad for you to take care of him while she’s in the hospital.”

  Andrew shook his head. “I’m sorry about letting Zeke get away. Hopefully he won’t get far.”

  “On foot?” Jack snorted. “Not likely.”

  A deputy ran up to them, his radio in his hand. “Sheriff, we’ve got a problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Dispatch has had three calls from people on River Road about some guy driving like a maniac.”

  Andrew slapped his hand to his forehead, and his gaze met Jack’s. “He stole a car,” they said simultaneously.

  “A blue Jeep Wrangler to be
specific,” the deputy said.

  “Put out an APB on the man and the vehicle,” Jack barked.

  Elyse swayed on her feet.

  Andrew grabbed her forearms to keep her from falling down. “Whoa there. You okay?”

  She shook her head and let him lead her the short distance to the porch and sit her down on the wooden plank step.

  Guilt rushed him. Maybe he’d made the wrong decision running into the house when she’d screamed. Now thanks to him, she had to worry that her attacker was on the loose. “It’ll be all right. They’ll find him.”

  Jack cleared his throat. “Elyse?”

  She looked up at him, her brown eyes huge.

  “Did you drive here today?” the sheriff continued.

  She nodded, looking so nauseous that Andrew wanted to put his arm around her and hold a cool cloth to her forehead.

  “Where’d you park?”

  “River Road. At the edge of the woods,” she mumbled.

  “Keys in it?” Jack asked.

  Her shiny brown curls bobbed up and down, and realization hit Andrew like a pouncing ninja. “You have a blue Jeep.” Andrew didn’t even bother phrasing it as a question.

  “Brand-new,” she muttered. Suddenly she looked up at him and Jack, her eyes panic-stricken. “My insurance—will it pay since I left the keys in it?”

  Jack cleared his throat, hesitation in his eyes. “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we need to get you home.”

  “I’ll handle that,” Andrew said then glanced at Elyse. “If that’s okay.”

  Doubt clouded her face.

  “The sheriff needs to go see what he can do about finding Zeke and your Jeep,” he added.

  She nodded.

  “I just live about a quarter of a mile away. We’ll go get my truck, come back, and pick up the dog, and I’ll run you home. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Thanks, Andrew.” Jack cast a concerned glance at Elyse. “I’ll send a deputy back to stake out the house in case Zeke comes back. Not that I’m expecting—” He broke off as a white van pulled into the driveway. Channel Six News was emblazoned in huge black letters on the side. Jack frowned. “How did she find out about this so quickly?”

  The van doors opened and a dark-haired woman in a suit climbed out, followed by a man with a video camera.

  “Blair, what are you doing here?” Jack growled.

  Elyse scooted over on the porch as if trying to hide behind Andrew.

  “We were across the road at the River Fest when we heard the sirens. Wasn’t that lucky?” She walked over to the porch. “I got the basic facts of what happened on the police scanner on the way over. I can fill that in at the station. Let’s just get to the interviews.”

  Andrew heard Elyse gasp softly. Her face had lost even the slightest bit of remaining color.

  “You’re Elyse McCord, aren’t you?” Blair asked curtly.

  And just as quickly as it had paled, Elyse’s face flamed. She nodded.

  “We’ll start with you.”

  “Now wait a minute,” Jack said, but Blair held up her hand and motioned to the cameraman to start recording.

  “I’m here at the scene of the crime with local legend Elyse McCord. Many people in the Channel Six viewing area have heard of this mysterious woman who some call our very own dog whisperer. Elyse, why don’t you tell us what you were doing here today?” She stuck the microphone in Elyse’s face.

  Elyse pushed the microphone away and shook her head, panic as evident in her eyes as it had been when Zeke was shoving his gun in her face.

  Andrew stepped in front of her. “She was here trying to feed a dog she’d heard was starving.”

  Blair’s eyes lit on him like a dog’s gaze on a juicy steak. She turned the microphone on him. “And who are you?”

  “I’m just a house painter who happened to be in the area.”

  “And what did you see?”

  Andrew looked at the sheriff, who gave him a curt nod and motioned toward the reporter. “Blair, if you have any more questions, ask me. You’re done harassing innocent citizens today.”

  She made a cut motion to the cameraman and narrowed her eyes. “Sheriff, I know you aren’t trying to stand in the way of freedom of the press.”

  He shook his head, looking way more relaxed than Andrew guessed he felt. “Nope. Just volunteering for an interview.”

  “Very well, we’ll come back to you two,” she said to Elyse and Andrew.

  As soon as the cameraman started rolling, Andrew slipped his hand under Elyse’s arm and helped her to her feet. She was trembling. “Let’s go,” he whispered.

  Her brown eyes widened. “Really?”

  He tugged her down the porch steps and over past the property line away from the news crew. “Hurry before they see us.” At the road, he released her arm. “Are you okay to walk?”

  “I think so. Sorry about earlier.” Her color had evened out, and she seemed to be breathing better.

  “No problem. Lots of people have stage fright.”

  “I have it whether there’s a stage or not,” Elyse mumbled as she hurried down the road, her brown curls blocking her face from his view.

  “Porch fright then.”

  “How did you happen to be in the right place at the right time?”

  His brain whirred with possible answers. Finally, he settled on the truth. With all the extra details pared away. “I’m painting a house right down the road. Sometimes I take a shortcut through the woods on the way home.” He frowned. “Almost didn’t today.”

  They walked in silence for a minute. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her. “I’m thankful you did.”

  CHAPTER 3

  “You always loved dogs?” Andrew’s blue eyes bore into Elyse’s.

  She ducked her head. “As long as I can remember ... especially after...”

  “After?”

  She shrugged, angry at herself for giving so much away so quickly. “After I got old enough to take care of them.”

  He accepted her evasion as if it were nothing and glanced down at the gravel road they were walking on.

  Even though he’d saved her life and rescued her from making a fool of herself on television, she felt odd going home with a man she’d just met today. “Is your house much further?”

  He shook his head.

  “So do you have a dog?”

  A grin tipped his lips. “’Fraid not. Sorry to disappoint.” Something unreadable flashed through his eyes. “Not anymore.”

  “What kind was it?”

  “Collie.”

  Sympathy came easily to her. The man had obviously lost a dog that meant a great deal to him. She used her hair to shield her face and cut a glance at him. Or had he just known that would be the quickest way to get her to trust him?

  “You only trust people with dogs?”

  She drew in a soundless breath. There was more than a grain of truth to his observation. “Zeke had a dog,” she evaded. “Didn’t make him trustworthy.”

  “Wasn’t his dog, either.”

  They rounded the curve, and River Road Campground entrance lay directly to the right.

  To her surprise, Andrew guided her into the gates. “I need to run in and get the keys. You want a bottle of water?”

  “You live in a campground?” she blurted out.

  “Something wrong with that?” He walked ahead of her, leading the way to a small camper near the river.

  She wouldn’t have thought she was capable of smiling, but the sight of the satellite dish on the roof of the tiny camper tilted her lips upward. “Nothing at all wrong with it. Looks like you’ve got all the comforts of home.”

  He followed her gaze and nodded. “And none of the hassles.”

  She stared at his back. What was his story? “There’s more to home than just the hassles.”

  He fished a lone key from his pocket and glanced over his shoulder at her. “Really? Nice to know there a
re people who still believe that.” He turned back to slide the key in. “Not that I’d expect any less from someone who would risk her life to save a dog. Why did you do that, anyway?”

  “He was starving. How could I have just ignored that?”