Will of Steel

by Diana Palmer

  He smiled, his usual easygoing self, as he walked beside her with his hands deep in the pockets of his khaki slacks. “What would be going on?”

  “You’re usually at work during the day, Ted,” she murmured dryly.

  He grinned at her. “Maybe I can’t stay away from you, even on a workday,” he teased.

  She stopped and turned to him, frowning. “That’s not an answer and you know…!”

  She gasped as he suddenly whirled, pushing her to the ground as he drew his pistol and fired into a clump of snow-covered undergrowth near the house. Even as he fired, she felt a sting in her arm and then heard a sound like a high-pitched crack of thunder.

  That sound was followed by the equally loud rapid fire of a .45 automatic above her. She heard the bullets as they connected with tree trunks in the distance.

  “You okay?” he asked urgently.

  “I think so.”

  He stopped firing, and eased up to his feet, standing very still with his head cocked, listening. Far in the distance was the sound of a vehicle door closing, then an engine starting. He whipped out his cell phone and made a call. He gave a quick explanation, a quicker description of the direction of travel of the vehicle and assurances that the intended victim was all right. He put up the cell phone and knelt beside a shaken Jillian.

  There was blood on her arm. The sleeve of her gray sweatshirt was ripped. She looked at it with growing sensation. It stung.

  “What in the world?” she stammered.

  “You’ve been hit, sweetheart,” he said curtly. “That’s a gunshot wound. I didn’t want to tell you, but one of my investigators learned that Harris bought a high-powered rifle with a telescopic sight this morning, after I had his rented room tossed for evidence.”

  “He’s a convicted felon, nobody could have sold him a gun at all…!” she burst out.

  “There are places in any town, even small ones, where people can buy weapons under the table.” His face was hard as stone. “I don’t know who sold it to him, but you’d better believe that I’m going to find out. And God help whoever did, when I catch up to him!”

  She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she’d been shot. Rourke, who’d been at the other end of the property, came screeching up in a ranch Jeep and jumped out, wincing when he saw the blood on Jillian’s arm.

  “I spotted him, I was tracking him, when I heard the gunshot. God, I’m sorry!” he exclaimed. “I should have been quicker. Do you think you hit him?” he asked Ted.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe.” He helped Jillian up. “I’ll get you to a doctor.” He glanced at Rourke. “I called the sheriff to bring his dogs and his best investigator out here,” he added. “They may need some help. I told the sheriff you’d been on the case, working for the Callisters.”

  Rourke’s pale brown eye narrowed. He looked far different from the man Jillian had come to know as her easygoing friend. “I let him get onto the property, and I’m sorry. But I can damned sure track him.”

  “None of us could have expected what happened here,” Ted said reassuringly, and put a kindly hand on the other man’s shoulder. “She’ll be okay. Sheriff’s department investigator is on his way out here. I gave the sheriff’s investigator your cell phone number,” Ted added.

  Rourke nodded. He winced at Jillian’s face. “I’m sorry,” he said curtly.

  She smiled, holding her arm. “It’s okay, Rourke.”

  “I didn’t realize he was on the place, either, until I heard the gunshots,” Ted said.

  “Not the first time you’ve been shot at, I gather?” she asked with black humor.

  “Not at all. You usually feel the bullet before you hear the sound,” he added solemnly.

  “And that’s a fact,” Rourke added with faint humor.

  “Let’s go,” Ted said gently.

  She let him put her into the patrol car. She was feeling sick, and she was in some pain. “It didn’t hurt at first,” she said. “I didn’t even realize I was shot. Oh, Ted, I’m sorry, you have to wait…!” She opened the door and threw up, then she cried with embarrassment.

  He handed her a clean white handkerchief, put her back in the car, and broke speed limits getting her to the emergency room.

  “It’s never like that on television,” she said drowsily, when she’d been treated and was in a semi-private room for the night. They’d given her something for pain, as well. It was making her sleepy.

  “What isn’t, sweetheart?”

  She smiled at the endearment as he leaned over her, gently touching her face. “People getting shot. They don’t throw up.”

  “That’s not real life, either,” he reminded her.

  She was worried, but not only for herself.

  “What is it?” he asked gently.

  “Sammy,” she murmured. “I know, it’s stupid to be worried about a calf, but if he can’t get to me, he might try to hurt something I love.” She searched his eyes. “You watch out, too.”

  His dark eyes twinkled. “Because you love me?” he drawled.

  She only nodded, her face solemn. “More than anyone in the world.”

  There was a flush on his high cheekbones. He cupped her head in his big hands and kissed her with blatant possession. “That goes double for me,” he whispered against her lips.

  She searched his eyes with fascination. “It does?”

  “Why in the world do you think I’d want to marry you if I didn’t love you?” he asked reasonably. “No parcel of land is worth that sort of sacrifice.”

  “You never said,” she stammered.

  “Neither did you,” he pointed out, chuckling.

  She laid her hand against his shoulder. “I didn’t want to say it first.”

  He kissed her nose. “But you did.”

  She sighed and smiled. “Yes. I did.”

  For one long moment, they were silent together, savoring the newness of an emotion neither had realized was so intense.

  Finally he lifted his head. “I don’t want to leave you, but we’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

  She nodded. “You be careful.”

  “I will.”

  “Ted, could you check on Sammy?” she asked worriedly.

  “Yes. I’ll make sure she’s okay.”

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  Sassy came and took her back to the Callister ranch as soon as the doctor released her.

  “I still think they should have kept you overnight,” Sassy muttered.

  “They tried to, but I refused,” Jillian said drowsily. “I don’t like being in hospitals. Have you heard anything more?”

  “About Harris?” Sassy shook her head. “I know they’ve got dogs in the woods, hunting him. But if he’s a good woodsman, he’ll know how to cover his trail.”

  “He talked about that once,” Jillian recalled. “He said there were ways to cover up a scent trail so a dog couldn’t track people. Funny, I never wondered why he’d know such a thing.”

  “I’m sorry he does,” Sassy replied. “If he didn’t have those skills, he’d be a lot easier to find.”

  “I guess so.”

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” Sassy said when they walked into the house. She smiled mysteriously as she led Jillian down the hall to the guest bedroom she’d been occupying.

  “What is it?” Jillian asked.

  Sassy opened the door. There, hanging on the closet door, was a duplicate of the beautiful wedding gown that Sassy had chosen, right down to the embroidery.

  “They only had two of that model. The other was in a store in Los Angeles. I had them overnight it,” Sassy chuckled. “Nothing is going to stop this wedding!”

  Jillian burst into tears. She hugged Sassy, as close as her wounded arm would permit. “Thank you!”

  “It’s little enough to do. I’m sorry the other one was ruined. We’re just lucky that there was a second one in your size.”

  Jillian f
ingered the exquisite lace. “It is the most beautiful gown I’d ever seen. I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Sassy.”

  The other woman was solemn. “We don’t talk about it, but I’m sure you know that I had a similar experience, with my former boss at the feed store where I worked just before I married John. I was older than you were, and it wasn’t quite as traumatic as yours, but I know how it feels to be assaulted.” She sighed. “Funny thing, I had no idea when you came running up to the door with Harris a step behind you that I’d ever face the same situation in my own life.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, so am I. There are bad men in the world. But there are good ones, too,” Sassy reminded her. “I’m married to one of them, and you’re about to marry another one.”

  “If Davy doesn’t find some horrible new way to stop it,” Jillian said with real concern in her voice.

  “He won’t,” Sassy said firmly. “There are too many people in uniforms running around here for him to take that sort of a chance.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Ted was going to see about Sammy. I don’t know if Harris might try to hurt her, to get back at me.”

  “He won’t have the chance,” Sassy said. “John and two of our hands took a cattle trailer over to your house a few minutes before I left to pick you up at the hospital. They’re bringing her over here, and she’ll stay in our barn. We have a man full-time who does nothing but look after our prize bulls who live in it.”

  “You’ve done so much for me,” Jillian said, fighting tears.

  “You’d do it for me,” was the other woman’s warm reply. “Now stop worrying. You have two days to get well enough to walk down the aisle.”

  “Maybe we should postpone it,” she began.

  “Not a chance,” Sassy replied. “We’ll have you back on your feet by then if we have to fly in specialists!” And she meant it.

  Eleven

  Jillian carried a small bouquet of white and pale pink roses as she walked down the aisle of the small country church toward Ted, who was waiting at the altar. Her arm was sore and throbbing a little, and she was still worried about whether or not Davy Harris might try to shoot one of them through the window. But none of her concerns showed in her radiant expression as she took her place beside Ted.

  The minister read the marriage ceremony. Jillian repeated the words. Ted repeated them. He slid a plain gold band onto her finger. She slid one onto his. They looked at each other with wonder and finally shared a kiss so tender that she knew she’d remember it all her life.

  They held hands walking back down the aisle, laughing, as they were showered with rose petals by two little girls who were the daughters of one of Ted’s police officers.

  “Okay, now, stand right here while we get the photos,” Sassy said, stage-managing them in the reception hall where food and punch were spread out on pristine white linen tablecloths with crystal and china to contain the feast. She’d hired a professional photographer to record the event, over Jillian’s protests, as part of the Callisters’ wedding gift to them.

  Jillian felt regal in her beautiful gown. The night before, she’d gone out to the barn with Ted to make sure little Sammy was settled in a stall. It was silly to be worried about an animal, but she’d been a big part of Jillian’s life since she was first born, to a cow that was killed by a freak lightning strike the next day. Jillian had taken the tiny calf to the house and kept her on old blankets on the back porch and fed her around the clock to keep her alive.

  That closeness had amused Ted, especially since the calf followed Jillian everywhere she went and even, on occasion, tried to go in the house with her. He supposed he was lucky that they didn’t make calf diapers, he’d teased, or Jillian would give the animal a bedroom.

  “Did anybody check to see if I left my jacket down that trail where I took Sammy for her walks?” Jillian asked suddenly. “The buckskin one, with the embroidery. It hasn’t rained, but if it does, it will be soaked. I forgot all about it when I came to stay with Sassy.”

  “I’ll look for it later,” Ted told her, nuzzling her nose with his. “When we go home.”

  “Home.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “I forgot. We’ll live together now.”

  “Yes, we will.” He touched her face. “Maybe not as closely as I’d like for a few more days,” he teased deeply and chuckled when she flushed. “That arm is going to take some healing.”

  “I never realized that a flesh wound could cause so much trouble,” she told him.

  “At least it was just a flesh wound,” he said grimly. “Damned if I can figure out why we can’t find that pole cat,” he muttered, borrowing Rourke’s favorite term. “We’ve had men scouring the countryside for him.”

  “Maybe he got scared and left town,” she said hopefully.

  “We found his truck deserted, about halfway between the Callisters’ ranch and ours,” he said. “Dogs lost his trail when it went off the road.” He frowned. “One of our trackers said that his footprints changed from one side of the truck to the other, as if he was carrying something.”

  “Maybe a suitcase?” she wondered.

  He shook his head. “We checked the bus station and we had the sheriff’s department send cars all over the back roads. He just vanished into thin air.”

  “I’m not sorry,” she said heavily. “But I’d like to know that he wasn’t coming back.”

  “So would I.” He bent and kissed her. “We’ll manage,” he added. “Whatever happens, we’ll manage.”

  She smiled up at him warmly. “Yes. We will.”

  They settled down into married life. Ted had honestly hoped to wait a day or so until her arm was a little less sore.

  But that night while they were watching a movie on television, he kissed her and she kissed him back. Then they got into a more comfortable position on the sofa. Very soon, pieces of clothing came off and were discarded on the floor. And then, skin against skin, they learned each other in ways they never had before.

  Just for a minute, it was uncomfortable. He felt her stiffen and his mouth brushed tenderly over her closed eyelids. “Easy,” he whispered. “Try to relax. Move with me. Move with me, sweetheart…yes!”

  And then it was all heat and urgency and explosions of sensation like nothing she’d ever felt in her life. She dug her nails into his hips and moaned harshly as the hard, fierce thrust of his body lifted her to elevations of pleasure that built on each other until she was afraid that she might die trying to survive them.

  “Yes,” he groaned, and he bruised her thighs with his fingers as he strained to get even closer to her when the pleasure burst and shuddered into ecstacy.

  She cried out. Her whole body felt on fire. She moved with him, her own hips arching up in one last surge of strength before the world dissolved into sweet madness.

  She was throbbing all over, like her sore arm that she hadn’t even noticed until now. She shivered under the weight of Ted’s body.

  “I was going to wait,” he managed in a husky whisper.

  “What in the world for?” she laughed. “It’s just a sore arm.” Her eyes met his with shy delight.

  He lifted an eyebrow rakishly. “Is anything else sore?” he asked.

  She grinned. “No.”

  He pursed his lips. “Well, in that case,” he whispered, and began to move.

  She clutched at him and gasped with pure delight.

  He only laughed.

  Much later, they curled up together in bed, exhausted and happy. They slept until late the next morning, missing church and a telephone call from the sheriff, Larry Kane.

  “Better call me as soon as you get this,” Larry said grimly on the message. “It’s urgent.”

  Ted exchanged a concerned glance with Jillian as he picked up his cell phone and returned the call.

  “Graves,” he said into the phone. “What’s up?”

  There was a pause while he listened. He scowled. “What?” he exclaimed.

  “What i
s it?” Jillian was mouthing at him.

  He held up a hand and sighed heavily. “How long ago?”

  He nodded. “Well, it’s a pity, in a way. But it’s ironic, you have to admit. Yes. Yes. I’ll tell her. Thanks, Larry.”

  He snapped the phone shut. “They found Davy Harris this morning.”

  “Where is he?” she asked, gnawing her lip.

  “They’ve taken him to the state crime lab.”

  She blinked. “I thought they only took dead people… Oh, dear. He’s dead?”

  He nodded. “They found him with his leg caught in a bear trap. He’d apparently been trying to set it on the ranch, down that trail where you always walk with Sammy, through the trees where it’s hard to see the ground.”

  “Good Lord!” she exclaimed, and the possibilities created nightmares in her mind.

  “He’d locked the trap into place with a log chain, around a tree, and padlocked it in place. Sheriff thinks he lost the key somewhere. He couldn’t get the chain loose or free himself from the trap. He bled to death.”

  She felt sick all over. She pressed into Ted’s arms and held on tight. “What a horrible way to go.”

  “Yes, well, just remember that it was how he planned for Sammy to go,” he said, without mentioning that Harris may well have planned to catch Jillian in it.

  “His sister will sue us all for wrongful death and say we killed him,” Jillian said miserably, remembering the woman’s fury when her brother was first arrested.

  “His sister died two years ago,” he replied. “Of a drug overdose. A truly troubled family.”

  “When did you find that out?” she wondered.

  “Yesterday,” he said. “I didn’t want to spend our wed ding day talking about Harris, but I did wonder if he might run to his sister for protection. So I had an investigator try to find her.”

  “A sad end,” she said.

  “Yes. But fortunately, not yours,” he replied. He held her close, glad that it was over, finally.

  She sighed. “Not mine,” she agreed.

  Rourke left three days later to go back to Africa. He’d meant to leave sooner, but Sassy and John wanted to show him around Montana first, despite the thick snow that was falling in abundance now.