The Wranglers' Sexy Fugitive [The Wranglers of Bear Mountain 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  “We need you to tell us everything, little one. We’ve got to figure out the best course of action. Don’t leave anything out,” Dalton said.

  Shelby drew in a deep breath before letting it slowly. She’d known this was coming, but it didn’t make it easier to tell the two men. They meant so much to her and she didn’t want to see their disappointment in her on their faces. She knew she’d screwed up several times, but at the time, she’d thought it was the only thing she could do.

  “I used to work for a law firm in Virginia that dealt mostly in land and real estate ventures and deeds. They handled a lot of wills, set up trust funds and acted as executors for a lot of wealthy people. I was their office bookkeeper. They used an outside accounting firm for their taxes and such, but handled the day to day bookkeeping. About a year after I started, I began to notice that something just didn’t add up to me.”

  “What did you do about it?” Dalton asked, interrupting her.

  “At first, nothing. I didn’t really know what it meant and since I wasn’t a lawyer or a paralegal, I just assumed it was all aboveboard.”

  “What made you change your mind?” Bo asked.

  “Well, several weeks later, I was working on a set of ledgers they still kept by hand and noticed that an entry had been whited out. Since I was usually the only one who worked with the books, I wanted to double check that whoever had corrected the entry had entered the correct numbers, so I had to dig through the files and records to find the original bill of laden to compare the numbers.”

  “Did the numbers match?” Dalton asked.

  “Actually, they did, but what I figured out by going through all of the records to find that one piece of paper was that most of the ones I found weren’t entered on the books I worked in on a daily basis. It told me that there was a second set of books somewhere and a good bit of money was funneled through it without ever hitting the surface. They were money laundering for some reason.”

  “So they were involved in something illegal and you found evidence of where the money was going,” Bo said. He and Dalton exchanged looks.

  Shelby ignored it for now. She’d find out what they were keeping from her soon enough. Right now she needed to get it all out. It was all eating her up inside.

  “Not only did I figure out about a second set of books being used, but I found a list of property where there wasn’t a successor for the land once the present owner died. It would end up in probate and auctioned off to the highest bidder. I didn’t really understand what that meant until I located a file of wills for each piece of property on the list. What sealed the deal was that most of the successors or heirs were people that I knew or knew of. They were all friends, family, or acquaintances of the lawyers in the firm.”

  “Sounds like they had a tidy little business going,” Bo said. “They rewrote the will so that someone in on their scheme inherited when the landowner died and they could sell it to make a tidy profit, free and clear of probate.”

  “That’s basically what they were doing. They liquidated the assets, sold the land and launder the money through the second set of books. They even set up false business deals where they supposedly researched titles, or something then took the money from the illegal sales and funneled it through the business for work they were never asked to do and never really completed in the first place.”

  “I can see why they didn’t want you turning them in, but to pursue you for years all across the country seems like overkill,” Dalton pointed out.

  “Yeah, well. The thing is, I began to worry that they were even going so far as to help the landowners move on to the next life. I checked the obituaries and newspapers for the dates the owners died and found that the majority of them had died from strange accidents. Even the ones attributed to natural causes might have really been foul play. I just didn’t know.”

  “What did you do once you’d gathered evidence?” Bo asked.

  She told them about going to the police and how they had put her in touch with the FBI. They wanted her to gather more evidence so she’d stayed on until the lawyers seemed to be getting suspicious of her. Still, they dragged their feet and by the time they’d gotten around to arresting the ringleaders, her part had been revealed by someone in the legal system, essentially putting a price on her head.

  “They stuck me in witness protection, but that didn’t last long. They had a leak in their office. And after the third move, one of the men who’d been protecting me and had become a really good friend was killed trying to keep me safe. I ran and I’ve been running ever since.” She looked down at her sore hands and winced when she realized she’d been squeezing them and opened one of the small cuts back up.

  “Here, let me fix that.” Dalton took her bleeding hand and covered it with a small square of gauze from the open package on the rolling table. He taped it securely but didn’t let go of her hand.

  “What is your real name, kitten?” Bo asked.

  Shelby hesitated, then sighed. “I was going by Andrea Loche then I took Annie Jones and I don’t remember all the others I used, but I got tired and went back to Shelby. Shelby is my real name. Shelby Caruthers. I got tired of running away from who I was, but I was too scared to use my last name.”

  “No more running, kitten. We’re going to take care of you and put a stop to this once and for all.” Bo ran one finger down the side of her face before cupping her cheek in the callused palm of his big hand.

  “You don’t understand. They think I have a drive of some type with data on it. That’s what they want, but I don’t have it. Everything I had, I gave to the FBI. They aren’t going to stop coming after me as long as they think I have it.” She couldn’t stop the tear from rolling down her cheek.

  Bo stopped it with his thumb and wiped it away. He smiled at her, a miracle in itself since he so rarely smiled anyway. Normally all she got from him was a half-smile, but right then, he gave her the full one that lit up his face and took away her fears for as long as it lasted.

  “Dalton. Stay with her. I’m going to make those phone calls now.” Bo leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips before winking at her and striding confidently out of the room.

  “Who is he calling?” she asked when the door had closed behind him.

  “Some people who can get things done, little one. Don’t worry about it. Close your eyes and rest. As soon as the good doctor has you ready to go, we’re heading out.” Dalton gave her uninjured shoulder a light squeeze.

  Despite thinking she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep after having been unconscious for so long, Shelby lost the battle to stay awake until Bo returned.

  * * * *

  Bo finished making the phone calls but didn’t return to the hospital right away. He needed to calm down and regain some measure of control. He was so angry right then that even Dalton might think twice about allowing Shelby to go anywhere with him. Thank God they had friends like Laramie and Laredo as well as some of his old squad. Several of them had formed their own security business that specialized in espionage and hostage extraction. Between them all, they’d figured out what to do.

  While Buddy and his group gathered the Intel needed to shut the bastards down who were terrorizing Shelby once and for all, Laramie and Laredo were using their connections to clean up the mess in Virginia where it had all started. He dreaded telling her the truth of what she’d gotten in the middle of.

  Hell, he didn’t want her to know any of it and never have to even think about it again, but that wasn’t an option with someone like their Shelby. She’d insist on knowing everything and he didn’t want there to ever be secrets between them. Secrets had nearly torn apart the bond he and Dalton had as blood brothers, and secrets had been the cause of Dancing Doe killing herself. No, there would be no secrets between the three of them.

  He thought about the life they would have together once this was over. It went a long way to calming him down. He just prayed that Shelby would be okay with being the wife to both of them and th
eir being wranglers on the ranch. What would they do if she wanted more than they could provide for her as poor wranglers? Maybe Buddy would have room for him in their organization. It wasn’t something he really cared about doing, but for her, he’d do just about anything. She was his life’s blood.

  He shook it off and climbed out of the truck to head back inside. He hoped the doc would have the paperwork ready by now. They needed to get on the road so they could make it to the next hospital before dark. He wanted Shelby home with them where they could take care of her as soon as possible. Nothing would feel right until she was theirs, heart and soul.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Shelby had never thought she would see Bear Mountain Ranch again. As they drove up at just past noon on her second day out of the hospital, she felt tears burning her eyes. Everyone had hurried outside to greet them. What had she ever done to deserve these people as friends?

  “Easy, kitten. They’re really glad to have you back safe and sound.” Bo gently squeezed her hand so as not to hurt her.

  “I just can’t believe they still care about me after I ran off like I did,” she said, trying not to break down and cry.

  “Shelby, honey. They care about you because you were nice to them and because you didn’t want anything to happen to them, so you ran to keep the danger away.” Dalton grinned at her. “Let’s see what Billy Jean has for you to eat.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. Dalton had a bottomless pit for a stomach as she’d learned while they’d been on the road back. Home. This was her home.

  Bo helped her down from the passenger side. Billy Jean wrapped her in a tight hug, telling her over and over how much she had missed her and how worried everyone had been about her.

  “Easy there, Billy Jean. She’s got some places that aren’t healed,” Dalton told her.

  “Oh! I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” The other woman’s tear-filled eyes looked horrified.

  “No. I’m fine. Just sore. You didn’t hurt me. Thank you for taking me back. I’ll be back at work tomorrow,” she said.

  “No you won’t!” several male voices yelled out.

  “Why?” She looked from Bo’s frowning face to Laredo’s. “I–I thought you were letting me have my job back.”

  Fear that they had already found someone else rolled in the pit of her stomach. What would she do? She had to work.

  “Of course you can have your job back, Shelby, but not this soon. You’re supposed to be taking it easy for another few days according to your doctor,” Laredo told her.

  “But I don’t do anything except sit at the desk anyway. It’s not like I’m on my feet or anything.” She looked up at Dalton. “Tell him for me.”

  Dalton grinned down at her and shook his head. “Nope. He’s right. The doctor told you to take it easy and that doesn’t mean working even if you just sit behind a computer.”

  She rolled her eyes but gave up. They weren’t going to let her work right away. She’d figure out a way to get back to the office sooner than they planned.

  “Can you guys carry my bags up to my room? I could use a nap before time for dinner.”

  “Um, that isn’t your room anymore,” Billy Jean said with a worried expression on her face.

  “Oh, okay. Where am I staying now?” She didn’t care where they put her. She’d liked the little apartment, but wasn’t really picky considering some of the crappy places she’d lived in the past.

  “Come on. We’ll show you,” the other woman said.

  Before she knew what was happening, Bo had swung her up into his arms and Dalton had their bags, following the large group of people that was walking with them. Shelby smiled at the men and women surrounding them and spoke to a few of them like Rusty Fowlkes and Reed Santana. Even Dakota Woods was following along. Several of the women who helped out in the kitchen and waited tables were there as was Shakespeare, the general maintenance and transportation manager. It felt so good to be surrounded by people she considered to be good friends.

  When she turned her attention back to where they were going, she recognized the path leading to where Billy Jean lived with her men. After another few minutes of walking, the large group emerged in a clearing surrounded by older trees that provided just enough shade to keep the heat down in the middle of summer but not enough to block the snow that would fall in winter. There amidst the trees stood a cute cabin with flowerboxes under the front windows and a large front porch complete with a porch swing and three rocking chairs. It was beautiful.

  “This is for the three of you,” Laramie said. “We figured you’d want something bigger than the apartment over the lodge and a little more privacy to boot. What do you think? Will it do?” he asked.

  “The three of us?” she looked from Bo to Dalton.

  “Um, we hadn’t gotten around to asking her yet,” Bo told them.

  “Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” Billy Jean said, covering her face with her hands.

  “It’s okay. This is as good a time as any, I guess.” Dalton looked over at Bo then back at her.

  “Shelby. I know we haven’t talked much about it, but we had hoped you could tell by the way we acted and the fact that we came after you that we care about you. I guess we should have talked about this sooner, but so much was going on and you were hurt. We didn’t get…”

  Shelby cut him off with a finger to his lips. She couldn’t stand hearing him struggling in front of everyone something that should have been private. They’d been put on the spot but she knew that no one had meant to do it.

  “It’s okay, Dalton. I understand. You’re asking me to move in with you, right?” she asked.

  Dalton heaved out a sigh of relief and nodded.

  “Then yes, I’ll move in with you.” She stood on tiptoe and pulled his face down so she could kiss him.

  When she turned to Bo, he had a scowl on his face. It nearly broke her heart in two to see it. Had she made a mistake?

  “Bo?”

  “That’s not right. We don’t want you to move in with us, Shelby,” he bit out.

  She took a step back but fought to keep her face calm. She would not fall apart in front of all those people. They’d put them on the spot and Dalton just went along with it, but Bo wasn’t one to do that. He’d always be completely honest and say what he meant. She should have asked him before just accepting like that.

  “I understand, Bo. I’m sorry. I just assumed that what Dalton was having so much trouble doing was asking me to move in with you. Don’t worry about it, Bo.” She started to say more, but he grabbed her and stopped her from talking with his mouth on hers.

  The kiss was almost brutal before he softened his lips on hers. When he finally pulled away, they were both panting and an expectant hush had settled over the group. Even the usual noises of the ranch seemed to have faded away.

  “Dang it, woman, hush up so I can talk. We aren’t asking you to move in with us because we want more than that. We want you for always, together. What he was trying to say was that we’d planned on asking you to marry us but too much was going on and it didn’t seem like the right time.” Bo sighed and pulled off his necklace. “Will you marry us, Shelby, be our wife and let us care for you and protect you?” He held out the necklace to her.

  She stared up at Bo, unable to believe that he was asking her to marry him. She never would have believed it of him. He was so reserved and slow to speak. She’d been ecstatic that they wanted her to live with them, but marry them? She didn’t know what to say.

  “I–I don’t know what to say. You’ve really surprised me, Bo.” She covered her mouth with one hand as tears brimmed in her eyes.

  “Say yes, kitten. Say you’ll be our woman for the rest of our lives.” Bo settled the necklace around her neck, lifting her hair so it would rest against her skin. “This is my totem, the bear. He will be your totem now, too.”

  Dalton walked over and grinned at her before removing his necklace and doing the same thing. “And my bear will always be there as well.
Marry us, little one. You are our heart and soul. Without you, our lives will be empty and our souls bleak.”

  She took both of their hands in hers and squeezed them. “Yes. I’ll marry you both. But not until after everything is settled with what is happening right now. I want to come to you a free woman, not one with a price on her head.”

  Laredo cleared his throat. “Um, we may be able to take care of that for you. Once you get settled into your new home, come on over to the office and let’s get the ball rolling.”

  Shelby frowned, looking at the twins and Billy Jean before looking at her men. “What is he talking about?”

  “Later, woman. First we have bags to unpack and a house to see to.” Bo picked her up and carried her up to the porch and once Dalton had opened the door, he carried her over the threshold.

  * * * *

  Bo wasn’t about to put her down until he could put her on a bed. His need for her had gotten way out of hand with everything that had happened the last few days. They nearly lost her, and the man in him needed to prove to himself that she was alive and safe and under his and Dalton’s care.

  The little cabin’s front room was a nice-size den with comfortable couches and chairs and a gas log fireplace. He chose left through a doorway that proved to lead to a hall that had several bedrooms. Dalton had gone ahead and already had the last door on the right open for him to carry her through.

  “Wow. This is really nice,” Shelby said, looking around as much as she could in Bo’s arms. “Put me down so I can look around.”

  Bo grunted and carried her over to the bed. He laid her on the soft comforter of burnt orange and gold. Before she could sit up and climb off the bed, both he and Dalton climbed up beside her.

  “What are you doing?” she said with a giggle when Dalton started pulling at her shirt.

  “Undressing you. You’ve got way too many clothes on, little one.” Dalton smiled as he managed to get her shirt over her head without bothering the small bandage on her shoulder.