Colton's Cowboy Code

by Melissa Cutler

  Then he turned tail and ran toward the saddled horse that Ryan had used for patrol that night.

  The horse was jittery, but Rafe had caught his lead rope before the beast could skitter out of reach. Rafe hooked a boot into the stirrup and swung on, then took off southwest into the prairie.

  “Are you hurt?” Brett dropped to his knees next to her, his expression bald with fear. “Hannah, talk to me.”

  “I’m okay. Just a little roughed up. Rafe took off on Ryan’s horse.”

  He cradled her face in his hand. “I don’t care. I need to know you’re okay.”

  She clamped a hand on his wrist. “I’m okay. And I’m so glad you are, too. I was out of my mind with worry.”

  Ryan dropped to her other side. “Is she all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Hannah said. “Rafe took off on your horse, headed southwest.”

  “The police will never catch him in that direction. He’s long gone.”

  “I could catch him,” Brett said.

  Hannah grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “Don’t. Please. Who cares what happens to him now?”

  Brett’s jaw rippled. “I do.”

  “I’ll stay with Hannah. You go get him,” Ryan said. He handed him a pair of handcuffs. “Just don’t kill him. I’d get a lot of pleasure out of watching him rot in jail for the rest of his life.”

  Brett stood. He set his top teeth on his lower lip and whistled.

  Hannah pushed herself up to her knees, then stood and took hold of Brett’s hand. “Brett, I’m begging you. Just stay here with me. Safe. Our baby needs a father.”

  He shook his hand away and stroked her hair. “Hannah, I love you so much. I have to do this. I won’t live the rest of our lives in fear of him coming back.”

  Outlaw appeared at Brett’s side. Brett brushed a kiss across Hannah’s lips, then mounted the horse. Brett nodded to Ryan, then took off, man and beast flying over the countryside. Hannah stepped in their direction, drinking in the sight of him until he disappeared from view in the darkness.

  * * *

  Spying on Hannah was a personal violation of the worst order, but there was no greater sin on this earth, in Brett’s mind, than a man laying hurtful hands on the woman that he loved. Outlaw knew this prairie from memory, every scrub bush, every tree, every rock. With only the occasional lightning strike to illuminate their path, they flew through the outback—straight in the direction of Vulture Ridge.

  He and Outlaw caught up to Rafe and Tumbleweed long before they reached the ridge. Though Brett was the only man armed with a gun, he didn’t dare chance a shot that might accidentally hit the horse.

  “Freeze, Sinclair. This is it. You’re going down.”

  Rafe looked over his shoulder. “Go to hell.”

  “Not tonight. But my horse is faster than yours and more experienced in this backcountry than yours. You’ve got no hope of getting away tonight.”

  “Stop flapping your lips and shoot me if you’re gonna. I ain’t got nothin’ to live for anyhow. And if you’re not gonna shoot me, then just leave me be because the only way I’m going back to that ranch is dead.”

  They rode neck and neck through the night. Outlaw could’ve run faster if Brett had commanded him to, but pacing Tumbleweed would preserve his energy if necessary. All they needed to do now was trap Rafe against the ledge of Vulture Ridge, their best chance of cornering him.

  When the ridge came into view, Tumbleweed slowed. Rafe dug his heels into the horse’s flank, but Tumbleweed was undeterred.

  Brett reached into his saddlebag for a lasso. When the ridge was no more than a football field away, he let the rope go. It fell over Tumbleweed’s head. Rafe sprang into action, pushing the rope, trying to free the horse, but Brett clicked his tongue and gave a tug on the lasso. On cue, Tumbleweed ground to a stop.

  But Rafe wasn’t ready to surrender. He swung off the horse and took off running. Brett stayed on Outlaw, crowding Rafe against the ridge of the gully. Now that Brett was close to the edge, he could see that the gully was rapidly filling with water.

  “Déjà vu, Outlaw. I don’t like the way this is going.”

  The next time Brett looked at Rafe, he’d taken a running jump over the ledge.

  Cursing, Brett pulled Outlaw to a stop and looked over the edge.

  Rafe stood in the middle of the gully, looking dazed. His arm swung at a funny angle, one that made Brett wonder if he’d broken it in his fall.

  Gun in hand, Brett slid down the mud wall into the gully. He took aim.

  “Now will you freeze?”

  Rafe limped toward Brett. “I hate to sound repetitive, but go to hell.”

  Brett put his finger on the trigger. “You have no idea how badly I want to kill you right now.”

  Rafe panted, his nose and lip bleeding again. He limped toward Brett, but Brett held his ground.

  Rafe bumped his chest right into the rifle barrel. “So do it. I won’t go to jail. I won’t. And if I don’t pay back the money I owe, I’m dead, anyway. Just kill me and get it over with.”

  There had been a time that Brett was as impetuous as to do exactly that. When he was a hot-blooded, hot-tempered young punk. But now he understood the value of mercy. He understood the value in watching Rafe get handed justice by the courts. He straightened his trigger finger and rested it along the side of the rifle.

  “I’m not going to give you that kind of mercy, Rafe. I’ve heard that committing murder changes a man. And I’m not willing to go down that road for a pathetic excuse of a human being like you. It’s over, Rafe. I’m taking you in.”

  A roar sounded behind them, a sound Brett remembered all too well. A wall of water in the gully bore down on them. They had to get out of the gully immediately if they wanted to live.

  “I know that sound, Rafe, and it’s all kind of bad. We need to get out of this gully.” Dropping the gun to his side, he grabbed hold of Rafe’s shirt, but Rafe shoved at him, then stumbled back, out of reach.

  He limped away from Brett, toward the roar. “This is God’s way,” he said.

  There was no more time to spare or else they were both going to lose their lives that night. Brett took one last look at Rafe, then started his climb up the cliff face, digging his boots into the earth and clawing at the muddy wall with his fingers, blinking out rainwater and bits of mud as he used every last ounce of his strength to save himself.

  He had his torso on the top of the ridge when water hit his boots, sucking at his legs. He clawed at the ground, fighting for a grip as water pushed him with the force of thousands of tons of pressure. Growling with the effort, he pulled as hard as he could, but made no progress. His muscles burned with the effort to keep from succumbing to the raging flood.

  Outlaw nudged Brett’s forehead with his nose.

  “Not now, buddy,” he said through gritted teeth as he clung to the lip of the ridge.

  Outlaw’s rein smacked him in the cheek. In a moment of perfect clarity, Brett knew what Outlaw was up to. Keeping one hand on the ground in the meager grip he’d created, he said a quick prayer, then let go with one hand and grabbed hold of Outlaw’s rein.

  Outlaw stamped the ground and tossed his head, scooting backward. Brett slid up an inch, then another, until his boot cleared the water and he could swing it onto solid ground.

  He rolled away from the edge of Vulture Ridge and stood, then threw both arms around Outlaw. Breathing hard, his legs turned to jelly, he rubbed his face against Outlaw’s cheek. “Thank you, buddy. Thank you.”

  With one arm still hugging Outlaw, he turned and looked at the raging flood.

  “What a waste, Outlaw. But it’s over now. Hannah’s going to be safe.”

  When Brett got back to the homestead, he’d tell the police to start a search for Rafe and clue them in to the dire
ction that the Lucky C’s new mama cow’s body was recovered a month earlier, but he had no doubt that all they’d find was the broken body of a broken man once the floodwaters receded after the storm had passed.

  Chapter 19

  “I think this shade of green is your color. Brings out the different shades of black in your hair.” From his seat next to the examination chair Hannah sat in, Brett fingered the edge of the paper hospital cover-up she wore.

  “My hair doesn’t have different shades. Black is black.”

  He winked at her. “Just testing to see if you’re paying attention.”

  She took his hand. “I can’t wait to find out which color hair the baby inherits, yours or mine.”

  “We’ve got a few more months before we learn that, unless it’s bald and then we have even longer. Either way, as long as it has your features, it’s going to be one beautiful kid.”

  Though Hannah’s original ultrasound appointment was scheduled for the following day, Brett had insisted that she have a full medical workup the morning after her attack at the ranch to make sure she and the baby were healthy and hale.

  Hannah knew in her heart that the baby was fine. If anything, it was even more active inside her belly, having shifted from playing soccer to learning acrobatics. But Hannah didn’t mind Brett’s concern or having her appointment moved up. She was eager to find out if she was going to be a mother to Faith Elizabeth Colton or John William Colton. And she couldn’t wait to share the news with the rest of Brett’s family—her family now, too—beginning with Abra.

  Brett had talked to Eric that morning, who’d assured him that their mother had stabilized since last night’s scare. The cardiologist thought her code blue had been the result of a bad reaction to a new medication. Now that they’d switched her meds up, she was back to a quiet, stable state and her doctors gave her 70 percent odds of pulling through and waking up. Thank the Lord.

  “You look a million miles away. What are you thinking about?” Brett asked.

  She took his hand. “Just how twisty a road we traveled to get here. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not one moment of it.”

  He tightened his grip on her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “I love you, Hannah. You know that, right?”

  She did know that. Even more, she felt it in her heart. Having Brett by her side, with motherhood only a few short months away, her life was close to being perfect.

  Before she could answer, the ultrasound technician strode into the room, her head bent over Hannah’s chart. “Hey, Mom and Dad. Are you ready to meet your little one for the first time?”

  Hannah’s eyes crowded with tears. Oh, how she loved the sound of that. “We’re ready. More than ready.”

  The technician prepped Hannah’s stomach with a thick drizzle of cold gel that made Hannah jump, then squished the ultrasound wand right into the goop, pressing hard on her belly.

  “You hear that, Mom and Dad? That’s your baby’s heartbeat. You can see it, too. There it is, right there on the screen. That flutter.”

  Hannah didn’t think she’d ever seen a more amazing sight as the scratchy black-and-white image on the screen. “Hi, baby,” she breathed.

  In her periphery, she saw Brett dab at his eye.

  “And that’s our baby’s face,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  “And two perfect arms, and two perfect legs,” the technician said, pointing to various parts on the screen. “I have to take some measurements, and while I’m busy with that, how about you two count fingers and toes.”

  Hannah and Brett were riveted by the sight. Neither spoke, neither moved, unlike the baby waving its arms and bucking for them. For the first time, Hannah was able to put a visual with the movements she’d been feeling for weeks and weeks.

  “Active little jelly bean, isn’t it?” the technician said with a smile. “And perfectly healthy, by all accounts.”

  A tear jarred loose and traveled over Hannah’s cheek. “Our little star.”

  Brett dropped his head to Hannah’s shoulder. “We’ve had so much bad news lately. This, right here, is more than a star. It’s our little miracle.”

  “Are you two ready to find out if you’re having a girl or a boy?”

  Brett took a deep breath. “Ready. I can’t wait.”

  The technician slid the ultrasound wand over Hannah’s belly. Grays, whites and blacks undulated on the screen, then refocused. “There it is,” she said.

  Hannah narrowed her eyes in concentration. If only she’d brought her reading glasses. “What?”

  “You see that little thing between the legs?” the technician said.

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open. She was filled with a joy and love so powerful, she’d never experienced anything quite like it. “I see it.”

  Brett stood up, his eyes glued to the sight of his son. “Well, hello, John William Colton. I can’t wait to meet you.” His swabbed the back of his hand over his wet eyes. “But I’m glad you’re here to watch me do this.”

  Confused, Hannah wrenched her gaze from the screen to study Brett. From his pocket, he pulled a little black velvet box.

  This wasn’t the life she’d been meticulously plotting and planning; this, with Brett and their son, was beyond her wildest dreams, and here he’d gone and made the moment even more perfect.

  “We agreed when I found out you were pregnant that we wouldn’t marry for the wrong reasons. We both agreed that love was the only reason for two people to spend the rest of their lives together.”

  “We did say that, didn’t we?”

  “Hannah Elizabeth Grayson, I’m in love with you. With everything about you. I can’t imagine my life without you by my side, and I need to know if you love me, too.”

  “I do, Brett. I love you so much. It was impossible odds, wasn’t it? Me falling for the man I met in a club one night. Impossible, but just like this little baby, the impossible can happen. We’ve proved that.”

  Nodding like crazy, tears on his cheeks, he opened the box, revealing a gorgeous solitaire diamond ring set in platinum.

  Hannah sniffled at the sight. “When did you have time to buy that, with everything that’s been happening?”

  “The day after we first made love and I told you that I was going to fight for you, for us. I knew that morning when we were lying in bed that I’d fallen hard for you. There’s nothing I want more than to be a family with you and our children.”

  “Children?”

  He gave her a watery grin. “We have to give John some siblings, right?”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “So I guess there’s only one question left to ask. Will you marry me?”

  There was nothing in Hannah’s heart or mind except love for the most amazing man she’d ever known. “Yes, Brett. It would be my honor.”

  He slid the ring on her finger, then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She poured her heart into the kiss, all the while feeling little John kicking and celebrating inside her. Had there ever been a woman as lucky as she?

  “Let’s finish this appointment, then go tell my mom,” Brett said. “She’s going to want to hear all about her new grandson. And after that, what do you say we take the long way back home and find ourselves some twisty roads to explore?”

  Over the past five months, she’d discovered the joy of the long and windy road, not so unlike the path to forever that she and Brett had forged. She took the hand of the man she loved, the father of her baby—her hero. “As long as I’m with you, that sounds just exactly perfect.”

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss the next book in the

  COLTONS OF OKLAHOMA series,

  THE TEMPTATION OF DR. COLTON

  by Karen Whiddon, available August 2015

  from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
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  Keep reading for an excerpt.

  And if you loved this novel, don’t miss other

  suspenseful titles by Melissa Cutler:

  HOT ON THE HUNT

  SECRET AGENT SECRETARY

  TEMPTED INTO DANGER

  SEDUCTION UNDER FIRE

  Available now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense!

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  SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM

  ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  When a beautiful stranger is run down by a car right in front of him, surgeon Eric Colton rushes to help. Miraculously, she isn’t badly hurt—except she has amnesia. Can he keep her safe long enough for her to regain her memory?

  Read on for a sneak peek at

  THE TEMPTATION OF DR. COLTON

  by Karen Whiddon,

  the latest in Harlequin® Romantic Suspense’s The Coltons of Oklahoma series

  Flipping through the chart, Eric Colton barely noticed when the nurse bustled off. Unbelievably, all Jane Doe appeared to have suffered was a concussion and some bruised ribs. No broken bones or internal injuries. Wow. As far as he could tell, she was the luckiest woman in Tulsa.

  He might as well take a look at her while he was here. Chart in hand, he hurried down the hall toward her room.

  After tapping briskly twice, Eric pushed open the door and called out a quiet “Good morning.” Apparently, he’d woken her. She blinked groggily up at him, her amazing pale blue eyes slow to focus on him. He couldn’t help but notice her long and thick lashes.