by Rachel Lee
Then he stilled, his dark eyes becoming like twin chips of obsidian. Soulless. “You remembered.”
“Yes. All of it. And it doesn’t matter if you kill me now because I wrote it all down. By tomorrow, someone will be reading it. They’re going to get you, Todd.”
“But you won’t be around to testify and I’ll be long gone.” He licked his lips again. He appeared to be losing his sense of control. Kylie didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“Just tell me why. Why did you attack me in Denver? What good does it do to kill me if I don’t know why?” Never taking her eyes from him, feeling the rage turn icy, she edged away from the pit, using her peripheral vision to find something, anything, she could kick at him. She seemed to remember glimpsing some tools hanging on a post nearby. If she threw him off balance, maybe she could run.
She didn’t have much hope that she’d get far, but she had to try. Everything within her rebelled at the idea of making this easy for him.
“Because you always treated me like something you wanted to shake off your shoe. Staying home was better than going to the prom with me, as far as you were concerned. Then when I ran into you in Denver, you had one excuse after another. No time. Too much schoolwork. The job. But I saw you go out with your other friends!”
A shiver of shock ran through her. “All of this because I didn’t date you? You’ve carried a grudge this long?” At least he didn’t seem to notice she was moving away from her intended grave. He seemed to be sure once again that he had full control. Farm implements appeared in the corner of her eye, and since her hands were bound in front of her instead of behind she might be able to grab and use one.
But how long did she have? He was looking wilder and crazier by the second. She had to move fast.
“You were never really nice to me,” he said. “None of you were, but you were the worst. Dating me twice and then telling me to get lost.”
“How was that worse?”
“I know you laughed about me with all your friends. I remember how they looked at me after.”
She had never done that, and any looks he thought he’d gotten had probably been the same looks he’d been getting all along. But she couldn’t argue against that. She racked her brain for a way to buy more time. “I didn’t tell you to get lost. My Lord, Todd, we were in high school. Almost nobody dated anyone else for very long.”
“What was wrong with me?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” she said, sidestepping toward the implements hooked on the post. “Not one thing. It just didn’t feel right to me. Have you forgotten I dated a couple of other guys? Some of them only once. There was nothing wrong with you.”
“What about Denver?”
“What about it? A job and a graduate school program? I wasn’t kidding about time. Did you think those study groups were social?” She knew he wouldn’t believe her but apparently he’d watched her sometimes. The thought might have sickened her except for the icy fury that filled her. This guy had terrified Connie and her son because he was hung up on her?
He stepped toward her, and her heart leaped into her throat. She had to get to those implements.
Just then, a window to the side broke. Todd whirled to look. Kylie jumped to grab some clawlike thing that looked like it could do a lot of damage.
And then the marines arrived. One, anyway. He came charging through the barn door, vengeance personified, and jumped on Todd before he could do more than half turn.
*
Coop wanted to beat Todd to a pulp. He wanted to wring his neck. He wanted to kill him for all he’d done to Kylie and evidently to James.
But cool reason edged his anger. He laid a few good blows before the creep covered his face and started to cry. Damn, what a coward.
“Coop! He knows where James is.”
“I heard,” Coop growled. “See any rope?” When Todd wiggled under him, he punched his shoulder right in the brachial plexus. The man froze with agony.
He listened to Kylie scurry around, and then an adequate, dirty piece of rope fell in front of him. Straddling the man, Coop quickly bound his wrists, then flipped him over, hog-tying the guy’s feet.
Spying Todd’s knife, he kicked it to the side, safely away.
Only then did he do the thing he most needed to do. Pulling his own knife, he cut the wrist cuffs off Kylie. Once he’d shoved the knife back into his boot, he wrapped her in his arms and held her so tightly she squeaked.
Thank God. Thank God. He didn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t found her in time.
Much as he wanted to savor the moment, however, there was other business. He let her go and went over to Todd. He nudged him with his boot. “Where’s James? You’ve got ten seconds to tell me or I’ll start kicking you.”
Chapter 14
The bright morning sunlight hurt Kylie’s eyes as they emerged from the sheriff’s offices after a long night. Connie had gone home long ago to be with James, who didn’t seem awfully traumatized by his experience. At least not yet.
His grandfather, Deputy Micah Parish, stayed at the office, however, as they sorted through all the facts Kylie could give them. His Cherokee face looked older than Kylie had ever seen it.
But while a team scoured Todd’s homestead for evidence, the real story was unfolding in a conference room where Kylie told the sheriff, Gage Dalton, Micah and soon a cop from Denver everything she knew and remembered. It was a long night, but she could understand why they didn’t want to let her go.
And truthfully, she wanted to tell them everything she could. Todd had not only tried to kill her, but if one thing had gone wrong with his misbegotten plan they still might be looking for James. She shuddered to think of it.
Todd was under guard at the hospital. The detective from Denver was already talking about extradition so he could face charges for what he’d done to Kylie there. Dalton and the county attorney figured he’d be facing serious charges in Conard County, as well. Two kidnappings. Quite a record for one night.
But at last they told her she was free to go. Get some rest. She wondered if she’d ever sleep again.
Wound up, edgy, not ready to settle as the night and the events in Denver kept playing through her mind. She was glad to let Coop take her home. Glad to feel his big hand tight around hers. Glad that he apparently didn’t care what Glenda might think as he took her upstairs and put them both to bed. Together.
Somehow curling up naked with him punctured the nervous energy that had kept her running. Almost as soon as he wrapped himself around her, urging her head onto his shoulder, she fell asleep. Deeply asleep.
*
When next she woke, it was late afternoon and she was looking into Coop’s smiling eyes. “Welcome back,” he said.
She felt a sleepy smile come to her own face. She knew he’d be leaving soon, but that shadow didn’t enter the room. Not yet. She wouldn’t let it.
Then he said utterly without preamble, “I love you. I love you more than life. I realize everything’s been messed up for you, so I’m not asking you to say anything in return. I just want you to know. I love you. And whenever, if ever, you’re ready to consider it, I’ll be waiting for you. In fact, I’ll come running.”
She drew a sharp breath as joy began to fill her, driving away the demons that had haunted her days.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” he said. “You’d have to put up with a few more years of me being in the corps. You might wonder sometimes why you’re with a guy who leaves you alone so much. Maybe you could never do it. But I had to tell you, even if it’s selfish of me. I love you.”
“Coop...” She could hardly find the breath to speak. Happiness beyond description squeezed out every other thought or feeling.
“You could go on with your own plans,” he said. “Finish your master’s, or go to medical school. I’d be proud to help with that. But you don’t have to give up your life if you decide to be with me. I want to be sure we’re clear on that. Like I said, you’d have to
put up with my job. Why wouldn’t I put up with yours? They’re your dreams and that makes them as important to me as they are to you.”
When she didn’t answer immediately, his smile softened. “Take your time, Kylie. As much time as you want to be sure I’d be right for you.”
But she already knew. Deep in her heart she knew. This was the man who had stood as her protector before he had even known her, who had comforted her during her flashbacks, who had been willing to devote himself full time to watching over her. He had shared his dark cemetery with her, a trust she fully valued.
But mostly, she realized that she loved everything about him, from his quiet strength to his willingness to be gentle. An avenging angel with a heart of gold.
And she wanted him in her life for every day yet to come. “I love you, Coop,” she said softly, then repeated it more strongly. “I love you.”
At once he laughed and rolled over until he was half on top of her. “I love you, Kylie Brewer. And right now I want to show you how much.”
Bending his head, he kissed her deeply, and swept her away to the distant mountaintops of desire.
Her heart sang with more joy than it ever had. He loved her.
*
Don’t miss the next
CONARD COUNTY: THE NEXT GENERATION book, coming in January 2017.
And don’t forget previous books in this thrilling series by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lee:
CONARD COUNTY SPY
A SECRET IN CONARD COUNTY
CONARD COUNTY WITNESS
Keep reading for an excerpt from HIGH-STAKES COLTON by Karen Anders.
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HIGH-STAKES COLTON
by Karen Anders
Chapter 1
This county was probably one of the prettiest places on earth, as far as Texas Ranger Jake McCord was concerned. And he’d been to a few. Rolling grassland was carved by deep gullies and dotted with copses of oak and pine. It was so damned beautiful with the prickly pear cacti, emerald green color and blue sky.
He squinted slightly as he reached for the thermal coffee mug on the dash. At least the road was decent, largely due to the influence of the wealthy Coltons who owned and lived on this one-hundred-thousand-acre, billion-dollar spread: Colton Valley Ranch. The ranch was his current destination and located just outside of Dallas.
He was fortunate to woo a wealthy woman, Darla, and after purchasing the land and beginning what would become his vast ranch, Eldridge Colton, now also an oilman, had amassed a substantial fortune.
The road made a sweeping curve over the rise, and before him lay a piece of flat land, the cut banks along the southern boundary giving it a plateau effect. Beyond the trees, ranch buildings came into view, and sunlight glinted off a running horse weather vane atop a huge arena. Various outbuildings and five stark white barns with red X’s on the doors. The apartments for the hands built out of a former barn and steps from the working barns were situated right in the center, the space between blocked into paddocks. About a mile away the big rear of the mansion loomed with more paddocks and pastureland, along with another stable, most likely where the Coltons kept their family horses as the arena and barns were at least a mile away. He felt immediately at ease here, the spread reminding him of the ranching he’d done before his stint in the Texas Highway Patrol and getting accepted as a Texas Ranger.
His expression sobering, Jake braced his elbow on the window ledge and absently rubbed his thumb against his mouth, thinking that he hadn’t been on an undercover operation in quite some time. He had recently spent his time at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice French Robertson prison, or the TDCJ French Robertson, training chase horses for manhunts for the Texas Rangers.
Nearing the approach of the long lane, he signaled for a left turn and slowed to a crawl, checking the side mirror as the horse trailer tracked into the turn, the whole outfit rocking as Valentine, his roan gelding in the back, shifted. He kept his speed to a crawl as he drove across the cattle guard, and he checked the side-view mirror again. Once clear, he accelerated slightly, the bright sunlight bounding off the shiny hood of his midnight blue 4x4.
There were two entrances onto the property, a service road from the highway that he was currently using and the more formal drive up to the vast mansion. The first floor was where Eldridge and his second wife, Whitney, had their suite, with the second floor occupied by his children with Whitney: Thomas or more well-known as T.C., and Reid. Also occupying the second floor were his two adopted stepchildren from the marriage with Whitney, Marceline and Zane—who also lived with his new pregnant wife, Mirabella—and another adopted daughter, Piper. That left Eldridge’s children with his deceased first wife, Darla. Fowler Colton had his residence in the left wing along with Alanna Colton. Jake’s main mission was to get close to the family and find out what they were hiding.
Alanna was the manager of Colton Valley Ranch Stables, a huge equestrian center that exclusively bred, raised, trained and sold top class cutters and award winners.
She was probably still asleep in her posh king-size bed, all cozy and warm as it wasn’t quite six yet. The little princess most likely supervised from her high horse named along the lines of Emperor or Rembrandt.
His mood reflective, he absently rubbed his thumb across his mouth again, his gut tightening. He wasn’t exactly sure accepting this mission was the smartest idea his superiors had. He wasn’t the most tactful guy. Granted, he was touted as the best horse handler in the Rangers, and it was bandied about that he was an honest-to-God horse whisperer. But he tended to be blunt, and rich folks weren’t keen on an outspoken employee.
His gut was suddenly in knots. He felt as if he was a hair away from disaster. All he knew was that for the last four and a half months, he’d been kicking himself hard over the death of Tim Preston, a rookie Ranger. The gnawing only got worse and every time he went to sleep, he’d see the whole scene played over in Technicolor. The headshrinkers called it occupational burnout. Jake just called it doing his damn job. Came with the territory, but he’d been relegated to the TDCJ French Robertson prison after he had rushed into a hostage situation. A street thug on the lam from police had run into a resident and her child. Knocked the mother down and took the girl inside with him. Jake had gone in, stared the guy down and saved the girl without bloodshed. He was sure the guy was never going to give up and he would have killed that little girl. Negotiations would have been a waste of time. He’d trusted his instincts and been reprimanded
for it.
His superiors weren’t happy, and his psych test told them he “was unable to cope fully with the stress.” No kidding, Sherlock. He’d cope just fine once he found the bastard who had killed Preston. He should have gone with his gut and realized there was something off during that case. Now he had a dead man haunting him and a bad guy who’d gotten away.
When Sheriff Troy Watkins had requested assistance from the Rangers for someone to infiltrate the ranch and spy on the wealthy Coltons, he was the likely candidate. It seemed that their patriarch, Eldridge, was missing and foul play was involved. The sheriff had so far not made any progress on finding who had been behind the kidnapping, hitting a dead end. On the recommendation of the sheriff, Colton Valley Ranch’s new foreman, Buck Tressler, hired Jake to tame a blooded but unruly stallion named Zorro.
It was considered a low-stress mission and tapped into Jake’s expertise—blending in seamlessly with his ranching background and taming horses as though he knew their special language.
So, he got tagged.
A big sign said COLTON VALLEY RANCH STABLES indicating with an arrow that he should go right at the next turn.
He parked the rig in front of the big white clapboard arena with a sign outside that read Abilene, then tossed his sunglasses on the dash. Settling his pearl gray hat on his head, he grabbed the halter lead in the passenger seat and got out of the truck. Two border collies came around the back of the truck, and he reached down and ruffled their ears, grinning when one nudged his leg begging for a deeper scratch.
He wasn’t sure he agreed that this was a low-stress assignment. He couldn’t seem to trust himself and his time in the Rangers had been tumultuous. He was born to be a Texas Ranger. It was in his blood with the long line of Rangers in his family. Both he and Matt, his younger brother, had been groomed to carry on the family legacy. With Matt’s memory came the sense that he’d let his little brother down. Dead at sixteen from an overdose. His brother’s death made him question his instincts. Instead of pushing his little brother, he should have supported him. There was no reason for him to change now. Why did every day add to this belief that he was dying inside? He pushed away those thoughts. He was just going through a bad patch.