Wyoming Bold (Mills & Boon M&B)

by Diana Palmer

  “Very brave. Rourke’s known her since she was a child. He hates her most of the time, God knows why. But he went berserk when she was kidnapped.”

  “Yes. I saw her,” she replied. “I told Rourke what I saw.”

  He raised both eyebrows.

  She just smiled.

  He shook his head. He got the idea. She didn’t talk about her readings.

  “I’ll get back to work. Sing out if you need me,” he said.

  “I will. Thanks,” she added gently. “For taking care of us.”

  “I’m just working the perimeter.” He laughed. “I don’t think you’re really in any danger, either of you. I think he’s just pulling Dalton’s strings, making him dance.” His eyes went cold. “He’s a piece of work, this guy, whoever he is.”

  “I wish we knew why he’s targeting Dalton,” Merissa said worriedly.

  “No idea?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. “I can’t see things that closely. In this case, I wish I could!”

  He nodded. He left her to her thoughts.

  * * *

  LATER IN THE day, Merissa had a phone call. “Tough luck. About your father, I mean,” a voice with a thick Cockney accident said.

  “Who is this?” she demanded, but she knew. It was obvious. “Why did you send him here?” she added.

  “If your boyfriend had stayed away, your father might have solved a problem for me.”

  “What problem?” She was looking out the window, wishing Carson would come in.

  “I don’t want you telling Dalton anything else. I don’t want you warning him, Witch Woman,” he added in a cold, merciless voice.

  “You can’t stop me unless you kill me,” she said angrily.

  “I don’t have to threaten you. There’s always mommy.”

  Her heart stopped. Clara had driven into town to shop. “What have you done to her?” she exclaimed, terrified.

  “Relax. She’s safe. At least, for today.” He paused. “I want you to stop reading Kirk’s future. You tell him anything else, about me, about the past, and your mother will pay for it, do you understand me?”

  She swallowed hard. “Yes.”

  “I’ll know. Your boy Rourke may have removed all the bugs, but I have a couple he won’t find.”

  “There’s someone else,” she told him in the monotone she employed when she was reading someone, when she touched some nebulous force that supplied her with intelligence that came from God knew where. “Someone who knows all about you. You think he’s dead, but he’s not, he’s...” She shut up quickly. “Even if you kill Dalton, the other man will tell. Men are looking for him right now.”

  “Which men? Where?” he demanded.

  She blinked. “I don’t know,” she said. Her voice was racked with pain. “It’s not like reading a book or watching a movie. I just get feelings, impressions.” She hesitated. “You should go away right now, while there’s time,” she said huskily. “I can see your future. If you were a friend, and I was reading for you, I wouldn’t even tell you, it’s so horrible...”

  “That’s just pathetic,” he spat. “You think I believe all that hoodoo? It’s just made up things!”

  “If you truly believe that, then why do you want me to stop telling Dalton things?” she asked reasonably.

  There was a pause. Carson walked in and she gestured at the phone frantically, hoping he’d understand.

  He was quick. He went into her office.

  “I don’t believe it,” the man on the phone said angrily.

  “Neither does Dalton,” she assured him.

  “Sure. But you warned him I was after him,” he replied. “You knew.”

  “Yes, I knew, but I don’t know why and neither does Dalton! What do you want?”

  There was a pause, as if she’d surprised him with the sincerity in her tone.

  “Well?” she persisted. “You’re targeting a man for something that he doesn’t even know,” she said angrily. “It’s the other man you’d better worry about. He knows you...”

  This time there was an intake of breath. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said to himself. “I know who you’re talking about. Thanks, kid. I’ll take care of that little problem right away!”

  He hung up.

  Merissa stared at the phone with horror. She’d sent him out to kill a man by telling him about his future. She didn’t know who the man was, she couldn’t warn him. Whoever it was, he was going to die because of her!

  Carson came in, hesitating.

  She looked at him with horror as she hung up the phone.

  “I’ve got a trace on the call,” he told her. “What did he say?”

  “I told him that he had another man to worry about instead of Dalton, a man who knew him and would tell what he knew. I don’t know who it is, but he’ll die because of me!” she moaned. “I’ve killed him!”

  Carson moved closer. “You haven’t,” he assured her. His black eyes narrowed. “Did he threaten you?”

  “He threatened my mother,” she said miserably. “He says if I tell Dalton anything else he’ll know it. He says Rourke didn’t find all the bugs...”

  He held up a hand and motioned her outside.

  “Yes, Rourke did,” he said deliberately. “The man lied to you. He can’t hear what’s going on in here. It’s perfectly safe to talk.”

  “You’re sure?” she replied, playing along.

  “Positive. Come here a minute, I want you to look at something.”

  She followed him off the porch and out into the yard.

  “I’ll get Rourke over here to do another sweep,” Carson assured her.

  “But what about the man...?”

  “We’ll try to find him,” Carson said. “I’ll make some phone calls. It’s not your fault. You were trying to save your mother.”

  She looked world-weary. “I’m so tired of all this,” she said. “Will it ever end?”

  “Yes, it will. I promise you, it will.”

  She smiled sadly. She wasn’t convinced.

  * * *

  CLARA CAME HOME and Merissa spoke to her in the yard, telling her what had happened in her absence.

  “Maybe we should move in with the Kirks,” Clara said worriedly.

  “It’s Christmas day after tomorrow,” Merissa said softly. “I don’t want to impose on their family that way. We’re going to be all right,” Merissa promised. “I know it’s scary, but I trust Carson. He’s a good man.”

  “He’s a very odd man.” Clara laughed. “But if you trust him, I will, too.” She hugged the younger woman. “My poor baby. It’s been such a traumatic few weeks. We should look forward to spring. I mean, we always get good times after bad ones. Don’t we?”

  Merissa nodded. She sighed. “I hope so.”

  “We won’t say anything in the house that concerns Dalton or spies or bugs or anything else,” Clara assured her. She was somber then. “People in town are talking about Bill’s death,” she said. “We’re going to be the subject of gossip again. And what do we do about his funeral, sweetie?” she added.

  “Will it be up to us to bury him, or does his girlfriend want to take care of the arrangements? Could we ask Sheriff Banks to call her?”

  “I think we might,” Clara replied. “That terrible man, to send him back here and subject us to the horror all over again.” She closed her eyes. “He killed Bill.”

  “I may have helped him kill someone else,” Merissa said with anguish, and explained.

  “Perhaps if I tried to help you with a reading of my own,” Clara pondered.

  “Would you?” Merissa asked. “You’re better at some things than I am. It might help. Whatever you find out, we could tell Dalton.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid the sheriff thinks we wear pointy hats and dance naked around bonfires in the deep woods.”

  “He’s a nice man,” Clara responded. “He’s just very normal. The paranormal has no place in his life.”

  “That’s like most people.”
r />   “Oh, I ran into Dr. Harrison,” Clara said. “He asked about your headaches.”

  “They’re better,” Merissa replied. “I do wish they’d go away, though,” she grumbled as they went into the kitchen. “I just got a refill on my prescription medicine yesterday and stuck it in my bedside table. I don’t know what I’d do without those capsules.”

  “At least you have something that works now. Carson said he’s driving over to see Dalton.” She pursed her lips. “Might you like to go with him?” she teased.

  Merissa’s face lit up. “Might I? I’ll get my coat!”

  She went to the front door. “Carson, can I go, too?” she called.

  He threw up a hand and motioned her to the car he was driving.

  “I’ll just be a minute!”

  She grabbed her coat, kissed her mother and ran out to the car. Carson opened the door for her, smiling at her surprise.

  “My mother had excellent manners,” he explained as they drove to the Kirk ranch. “She taught me courtesy.”

  “It’s very nice in a man,” she said.

  “Works wonders with women,” he quipped.

  She stared at him quietly. “Women will be your downfall,” she said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pipe up like that.” She flushed.

  “No offense taken,” he replied. He glanced at her. “What do you mean, though?”

  “Your past will affect your future,” she repeated what she’d told him once.

  “You mean I’m going to meet some innocent little thing who’ll think I’m a rake and avoid me because of it?” He laughed.

  It wasn’t really funny, what she’d seen in her vision. But it was perhaps better not to tell him all of it. “Something like that, I’m afraid,” she said instead. However, it was going to be much more serious than he ever realized. He didn’t seem to think of his wild lifestyle as a problem. It would become his worst one.

  * * *

  THEY DROVE UP at the Kirk ranch and Dalton turned from a conversation he was having with one of his men. When Merissa got out of the car, he was smiling from ear to ear as he came to meet her.

  “What a nice surprise!” he exclaimed, and hugged her. “I was coming over to see you later,” he teased. “Saved me a trip.”

  She smiled. “I have a little problem.”

  He looked immediately at Carson.

  “Hey,” Carson said indignantly, “I don’t poach.”

  Tank looked embarrassed. “Sorry.”

  Carson just chuckled. “I need to talk to Rourke.”

  “He’s in the house. Go ahead.”

  He nodded and left them alone.

  “It’s nothing like that,” Merissa told him softly. “Carson is...not what he seems. The other man called me, the one who’s stalking you.”

  “What did he say?” Dalton asked at once, concerned.

  “He said that if I tell you anything else about him, he’ll know, and my mother will pay for it.” She ground her teeth together. “Then I slipped up and told him there was someone else, someone he thought was dead, who knows much more than you do and who was about to tell people.” Her eyes teared up. “He’ll kill the man, and I don’t even know who it is or how to warn him. Carson said he’d make some phone calls.” She looked up at Tank. “I don’t want someone innocent to die because of me.”

  He drew her close and hugged her. “We’ll find out who it is and warn him. Don’t take it so to heart. You might even be wrong, for once,” he teased.

  “I don’t think so.”

  He lifted his head. “You worry too much.”

  She grimaced. “Not so much anymore, I wore out my nerves on you, thinking about that man killing you.”

  He touched her mouth with the tips of his fingers. “I’m hard to kill. Honest.”

  She managed a smile.

  “Come on inside.”

  “I can’t stay long,” she said worriedly. “Mama’s by herself. I’m afraid for her...”

  Even as she spoke, Carson came down the steps and went toward his car. “I’m going back over to the Bakers. Can you bring Merissa home?” he asked Tank.

  Tank grinned. “Of course.”

  “Thanks. See you.”

  He drove off with a wave.

  * * *

  TANK TOOK MERISSA into the house. The whole family was in the living room, playing with Mallory and Morie’s little boy on the carpet. Even Bolinda, visibly pregnant, was sitting on the floor beside her husband, Cane. They looked absolutely fascinated.

  There was a huge, brilliantly decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the room, with gaily wrapped presents piled up to the second limb around it. The tree was artificial, Tank had told her, because Morie had allergies that kept them from having a live tree.

  “The tree is beautiful,” she whispered.

  He chuckled. “Morie puts them up on Thanksgiving eve,” he told her. “And they stay up until New Year’s Day.”

  “We’re always late with ours. But we usually take them down the day after Christmas.”

  “I could come and help you take it down,” he offered with a smile. “I can reach the top to get the star off without a ladder.”

  She laughed softly. “We don’t have a star. But that would be nice.”

  He grinned from ear to ear. The others, hearing voices, looked over at them.

  Merissa glanced up at Tank worriedly.

  “It’s all right,” he said softly, putting an arm around her. He walked her closer to the sofa.

  Four people and a baby looked at her.

  She flushed and moved closer to Tank.

  His arm tightened.

  “Have a seat and an ugly, nonbiodegradable but functional highly colored plastic baby toy, and join in the fun,” Mallory invited with a grin, handing her a rattle.

  It broke the ice. Merissa burst out laughing as she took the toy from him.

  “Sit down,” Morie invited with a smile. “We don’t bite, honest.”

  “And nobody’s going to make sarcastic remarks,” Bolinda added gently.

  Merissa sat down, Tank dropping to the couch beside her. “You were always kind to me in school, when a lot of people weren’t,” she said to Bolinda. “I had to drop out and be homeschooled eventually because I couldn’t take it anymore.”

  Bolinda reached up and patted her arm. “Different is not bad. You have a real gift. We’re all grateful that you were able to warn Tank in time to save his life.”

  “Amen to that,” Mallory agreed, and Cane nodded. “We’re sort of used to him. Even if I can play the piano better than he can,” he added dryly.

  “Challenge. Challenge!” Cane piped in.

  “Yeah. You think you’re better than me, you can prove it,” Mallory said haughtily.

  Tank flexed his fingers and grinned at Merissa, who was laughing. “Okay.”

  He went to the piano. “Requests?” he called out.

  “Anything except Rach Three,” Mallory said sourly, alluding to the almost impossible-to-play Rachmaninoff 3 composition by the great Russian composer.

  “Jealous,” Tank told Merissa in a stage whisper. “I can play it and he can’t.”

  “I could play it if I wanted to,” Mallory muttered.

  “I love ‘Send in the Clowns,’” Merissa said softly.

  Tank’s eyebrows lifted.

  “Did I say something wrong?” she asked worriedly.

  “It’s his favorite,” Cane said gently and laughed.

  “Oh!” She flushed as she met Tank’s soft, searching eyes.

  “Similar tastes in music,” he teased. “Not a bad thing at all. Okay. Here goes.”

  He began to play. Merissa closed her eyes to drink in the sweet beauty of the song. It was timeless, ageless, haunting. Her mother had a recording of it sung by Judy Collins, inherited from Merissa’s grandmother, who had loved it dearly. Merissa had fallen in love with the recording long ago. Even without the words, the melody was exquisite.

  Tank finished. Merissa wiped her eye
s. He grinned.

  “Okay,” he invited Mallory, who was holding his son and grinning. “Your turn.”

  Mallory kissed the little boy and handed him over to a beaming Morie. “On my way.”

  Tank got up and sat beside Merissa on the sofa. Mallory flexed his own fingers, gave Tank a smug grin and launched into his own favorite, the theme from August Rush.

  Merissa sat entranced while he played. When he finished, she clapped.

  “Sorry,” she told Tank.

  He only laughed. “No need. He really is better than me. I just like to pull his chain occasionally. Bravo, Mallory,” he added, and he clapped, too. “I yield to a maestro.”

  Mallory made him a mock bow. Then he went back to playing with the baby.

  “Coffee?” Morie asked, surrendering the baby to Mallory again as she got to her feet.

  “That would be very nice,” Merissa said.

  “Come with me,” Morie invited, smiling.

  Merissa smiled at Tank and went to join the other woman in the kitchen.

  “You can be in charge of mugs.” Morie laughed. “They’re in the cupboard, there.”

  Merissa went to get them. They were thick white mugs. She looked at them with surprise. The Kirk ranch was massive. She expected bone china, at the least.

  Morie saw her expression and grinned. “We don’t use the good china except at Christmas dinner,” she confessed. “Nobody likes hand washing every single piece of it, you see. Those—” she indicated the mugs “—go very nicely into the dishwasher and never crack.”

  “You aren’t what I expected,” Merissa confessed shyly. “I mean, I knew Bolinda from when I was very young, and she was always kind. But people say you’re from a very powerful ranching family in Texas. I thought...”

  Morie put an arm around her shoulders impulsively and hugged her. “We’re just people,” she pointed out. “My dad’s just as much at home in a dented pickup with torn seats as he is in a Jaguar. He and my mother raised my brother and me not to be snobs,” she added with a chuckle.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Merissa said softly, and smiled.

  “I know.” Morie sliced pound cake and put it on a platter. She glanced at Merissa. “We all know what happened over at your place. I’m so sorry. Just before Christmas, too.”

  “I still don’t understand why the man would do something so horrible. He sent my father to terrorize us.” She closed her eyes and shivered delicately. “You have no idea what he did to us, to my mother and me, before Dalton came and the others came and rescued us. He said he was going to kill me....”