Cowboy Protector

by Margaret Daley

  The soothing cadence of his voice tempted her with the idea she was truly safe. But she knew the truth. She would never be safe, and now she knew he would never be safe with her near. That one day in her life five years ago had changed it forever. If only she hadn’t been…

  “Hannah, you’re worrying me. Talk to me.”

  His fervent tone drew her back to the here and now. She blinked, focusing on his endearing face, the smile that warmed her cold, cold body. “I’m okay,” she said slowly, trying desperately to believe those two words.

  “Let’s go home. The temperature is dropping fast.”

  “Yes, home,” she whispered, wishing she had one.

  Austin shrugged out of his overcoat and slipped it around her shoulders. “I’m gonna help you up and onto the horse. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  His arms about her made her want so much more in her life. His support as they walked toward the mare, cocooned for the time being in a shelter of protectiveness she knew wouldn’t last long. She leaned into him, drawing on the solace of his strength.

  He mounted the mare, then reached a hand down to her while Rodney formed a step by interlocking his fingers together.

  “Boss, we’ll take this one back for you.” Rodney tossed his head toward the assailant strapped to the gelding’s saddle. “Max called to say that they tracked the footprints back to a place along the highway where it looks like a pickup was parked.”

  “I think it was a black, Ford-150 truck, new, clean. I saw it earlier.”

  Like the one in town last night. She hadn’t overreacted for once.

  “I’ll call that in to the sheriff so they can be on the lookout for one,” Rodney said as he walked toward the gelding.

  Austin gripped the reins. The muscles in his arms that touched her bunched. “I’d like to get my hands on that guy.”

  “If he’s smart, he’s long gone.” Rodney led Austin’s gelding away.

  Austin directed the mare toward the edge of the forest, near where she’d come into it hours before. An eternity. He didn’t say a word on the long ride back to the main house. But he held the reins in one hand and clasped her to him with his other arm. Exhausted, she laid her head back against the cushion of his shoulder. His warm breath fanned her neck. The gentle rocking of the gait lulled her into a trance she welcomed.

  The sight of the house, the sheriff’s car parked next to it, aroused Hannah from her daze. She didn’t look forward to being involved with a law enforcement agency yet again in the area. She didn’t want some inquisitive sheriff delving deeper into her life. She had caused havoc not once but twice in a short amount of time in his county.

  Thank You, Lord, for Your help. I would have died back there if it wasn’t for You. Austin would have, too. Now I have another request. Help me make it through the interview that is surely going to follow. The fact she was so automatically praying again was a marvel to her and gave her some peace.

  Dusk cloaked the landscape as Austin dismounted and held his arms out to help her down. She practically fell into his embrace. He gave a hired hand the reins of his mare, and then without a word, led her up the steps to the deck. Caroline threw open the front door, her mouth etched in a frown, worry in her eyes.

  “Gil told me what happened,” Austin’s grandmother said, placing a hand on her arm. “Come in. I’ve got a fire going. You two must be cold.”

  “Is the sheriff in the living room?” Austin entered his house holding Hannah against him as if he were afraid to let her go.

  Caroline nodded. “I’ll get something for you two to drink and keep Misty away.”

  “Does she know anything?” Austin asked.

  “No. I made sure of that. You might go see her when things calm down.” His grandmother shifted her attention from Austin to Hannah. “You, too. She’s been wondering where you are. She wants to show you her arm and what she has on her leg now.”

  Hannah wanted to postpone the interview with the sheriff for as long as possible. Maybe then she could have made some sense out of what happened and have something to tell the man. “Let me go talk to her for a minute.” Hannah slipped from Austin’s embrace and almost crumpled to the floor if she hadn’t clutched the table nearby.

  Austin wound his arm around her again. “We’ll go together.”

  She didn’t argue with him, but when they drew close to the child’s bedroom, she halted. “If I go in with you supporting me, she’s going to know something happened. And one look at your wounded head will alert her something is wrong.”

  He stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. “I’d say we both better do something about how we look.”

  “Listen, I can make it.” She straightened her shoulders, pressed her lips together and lifted her chin a notch. “I’ll change and go see her. You talk with the sheriff. I’ll be in there by the time you finish. Then you can clean up and see Misty.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Very.” Because she had to be. She didn’t want to alarm Misty, and she needed time to compose herself before talking to the sheriff. And at the moment Austin’s nearness complicated things.

  As he saw her to her own bedroom door, she stiffened her resolve. She’d lived with fear for five years. This was really no different. Falling apart didn’t accomplish anything. By the time he left her, she knew what she needed to do. Slowly she undressed, her movements jerky. After she donned another pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, she examined herself in the mirror in the bathroom and saw the haunting linger of terror in her eyes.

  Somehow she had to camouflage that from a perceptive little girl. Concentrating on the positive—she and Austin were alive—she washed her hands and face, cleansing the cut on her palm and cheek with some peroxide. She could keep her hand hidden, but she would have to come up with something to explain the scrape on her face.

  At the entrance into Misty’s room she heaved a breath, forced a smile to her lips, hoping it reached into her eyes, and thrust open the child’s door.

  “Hannah, look at my arm!” Misty held it up, waving it. “And this.” She pointed toward her leg immobilizer.

  “That looks great to me.” She crossed the bedroom to the wheelchair and kissed the girl on the top of her head. “It won’t be long before this will come off, too.” Gesturing toward the immobilizer that encompassed her whole leg, she gave Misty a hug, wishing she could hold her the rest of the night.

  But the sheriff waited.

  “What happened to your face?”

  Hannah touched her cheek. “I wasn’t looking where I was going and fell in the forest.”

  “Daddy said you went to the lake. Did you see any animals?”

  “Yes, some elk, ducks, geese. And I heard an owl but couldn’t find him.”

  “When I get my cast off, can we go to the lake for a picnic?”

  “That sounds nice,” Hannah said because she wouldn’t promise something she didn’t know she could do.

  Caroline came into the room. “Hey, I’m ready for a game of Go Fish. How about it, Misty?”

  “Sure, Granny. I can hold the cards better now.”

  “I’ve got to leave you for a while, but I’ll be back later.” Hannah hugged the child one more time, then left while Caroline settled into a chair nearby to play Go Fish.

  When Hannah entered the living room, Gil and Austin stopped talking. She lowered herself down next to Austin on the couch. His hand immediately covered hers on the cushion between them.

  “Austin was just telling me about what happened when he found you. I’d like you to tell me what happened, especially before Austin appeared.” Gil held a pen, and a pad sat on his thigh.

  “I fell asleep at the lake. When I woke up, I noticed it was getting late so I decided to head back to the house.”

  “So what happened next?”

  “I headed into the woods. Not too far in, I heard some men talking in low voices. I thought they might be lost like the other one, so I went to check them out.” She slanted a
glance at Austin, whose expression grew tense. “Or hunters who were hunting something illegally.”

  “Were you planning on saying anything to them?”

  Hannah tried to think back to the time before everything exploded and she had to run for her life. “I don’t know.”

  “Austin said the one he shot talked about an Eloise.”

  “Yes, they mentioned looking for an Eloise Hill. One of the men had a rifle and the other a handgun. I thought that was strange even if they were trespassing.”

  “Did you hear what they were talking about?”

  “Some. They talked about getting their mark and this Eloise Hill.”

  After scribbling something on the paper, Gil asked, “You don’t know anyone by that name?”

  “No. You don’t know anyone in the county called Eloise Hill?”

  “No, and Austin said he didn’t, either.”

  “So who is Eloise Hill?” Austin tightened his hold on her hand.

  “That’s a good question because it looks like someone wants her dead.”

  She leaned toward the sheriff. “You’ve got to warn this woman.” She remembered her own terror in the woods and never wanted another to go through that.

  “I’ll be asking around. Make sure she isn’t here on vacation. I’ll put something out to other law enforcement agencies in the state. Maybe they had the wrong location.”

  “A case of mistaken identity?” Austin leaned back on the couch, pulling Hannah close as though he would protect.

  “That would be my guess. You said the guy said Hannah looked like this Eloise Hill.”

  “Who is the guy?” As Austin slung his arm around her shoulder, cradling her against him, she relaxed some of the tension building in her.

  “Harry Milton from Chicago. He clammed up and asked for a lawyer. I couldn’t even get the name of the guy with him or where he had been staying while here.”

  “Chicago? That’s a long way from Montana.” Austin drew slow circles on her upper arm.

  “That’s what I’m thinking. I’m gonna do a little checking up on this dude while he’s getting patched up at the hospital. I know someone with the Chicago police. I’ll call him and see what he can run down for me.” Gil rolled the pen between his forefinger and thumb.

  “Hannah, anything else you can think of?”

  “They took one look at me and pursued me so I must really look like this Eloise Hill. I’d be dead if Austin hadn’t shot the man. He’d already shot at me once.”

  “If either one of you think of anything else, please call.” The sheriff rose and put his pad in his shirt pocket. “I’ll keep you informed about what’s going on.” He peered right at Austin. “I’m posting two deputies outside. I don’t think either one of you are in danger because I’m sure Harry’s partner is long gone, but I like to cover all my bases.”

  Austin shook Gil’s hand. “Thanks. Anything you can do is appreciated.”

  A memory flashed into her mind. “Wait, Sheriff. I have thought of something else. They also mentioned something about messing up before and not wanting to make their boss angry.”

  “So they could have killed or attempted to kill before. I’ll check about unsolved murders recently and see what I can find out.” He tipped his hat toward Hannah. “You’ve been a big help.”

  While Austin walked the sheriff to the front door, Hannah paced. Maybe the sheriff could find out if those two women were murdered and if it appeared as though the killings were a professional hit. If she could, she would flee the ranch and Montana right now, but she couldn’t with two deputies guarding them and a hit man still on the loose. So the next best thing was discovering all she could about Eloise.

  When Austin reentered the living room, he took one look at her and asked, “What have you thought of?”

  “I want to do an Internet search for an Eloise Hill. What do you think?”

  “That’s a great idea. Let’s go into my office and see what we can come up with.”

  “It’ll probably take a while.”

  “You can start the search while I shower and pop in to talk to Misty, then let Granny know what’s going on. We’ll take a break for dinner, but even if it takes all night, I want to track down all references to an Eloise Hill on the Net.”

  Well past midnight Hannah finally found something on Austin’s computer that interested her. “Take a look at this,” she said when he came back into his office with two mugs of hot chocolate.

  He hovered behind her right shoulder, placing her drink on the coaster next to the computer. “This reference is about an Eloise Hill in Chicago who testified against Salvatore ‘No Conscience’ Martino twenty-two years ago in a murder and extortion trial. After the trial she disappeared.”

  Hannah pointed at the screen. “The mafia kingpin is still alive. It doesn’t look like for long, though. It says the old don served five years and got out on a technicality. Some people wondered what happened to Eloise.” Clasping her mug in her cold hands, Hannah twisted around to look up at Austin. “Did Salvatore’s thugs get rid of her? Or are they searching for her in Montana?”

  TEN

  “This could be the Eloise Hill they’re looking for.” Austin settled his hand on her shoulder. “Or not.”

  “This is the best possibility so far. They’re from Chicago and so was this Eloise woman, but I know Chicago is a big town.” She turned back to the screen and printed the information concerning Eloise Hill who had gone missing years before.

  “There is another thought. What if she went into the Witness Protection Program?”

  Hannah tensed, her eyes squeezing closed. The words he uttered struck too close for comfort. Why was there a hit out on this Eloise Hill after twenty-two years? What had changed? Was she still in the Witness Protection Program? Were the U.S. Marshals protecting her somewhere or did she flee their protection like Hannah had? And what about the possible leak? The questions triggered fear. “It’s definitely a possibility.”

  “First thing tomorrow morning I’ll call Gil. He can give the U.S. Marshal’s office a call about what happened. Who knows? If she’s in federal protection, his call will alert them that someone is looking for her. It might save a life.”

  “That’s what’s important.” She wanted to tell Austin not to call Gil because there could be a leak in the U.S. Marshal’s office, but what reason could she give? Maybe, though, if the sheriff stressed that Hannah wasn’t Eloise Hill, whoever leaked the information would let the Martino crime family know she wasn’t the woman they were searching for.

  She brought her mug to her lips and took several sips, hoping her quavering hands weren’t visible to Austin. Those thugs hadn’t been after her, but that could have been her as the target if Devon Madison ever found her.

  Austin reached around her and picked up the sheets she’d run off. “You know, this old picture sure does look like you.”

  Hannah laughed shakily. “Yeah, but she’s probably ten or twelve years older than me. I don’t think I’m flattered that those thugs mistook me for a woman who has to be forty at the very least.”

  “What makes me wonder is how those men ever picked up on you in the first place?”

  She wanted this conversation to come to an end. It was moving into uncomfortable territory with questions she had no answers to. She wished she did, but she didn’t want Austin or the sheriff delving too much into her background. There was no long-term background for Hannah Williams.

  Hannah rose, cradling her mug between her hands. “Did one of your employees say something about a truck parked off the highway near your property? They tracked the other shooter back to some tire tracks.”

  “That’s right. I think that was the black Ford-150 I saw on the way home from Misty’s doctor.”

  “Last night in Sweet Creek I saw the same kind of truck parked a block away from where your car was. There were two men in it. I was sure they were staring at us, but then they drove off.” She started for the kitchen. “Do you think they spo
tted me in town and thought they had found the Eloise Hill they were hunting?”

  “I guess they could have. But why Sweet Creek? I know we aren’t too far from Missoula and it could have all been a coincidence, but still…” He left unsaid all the doubts she had about the whole situation.

  In the hallway she angled toward Austin. “We may never know the whole story. Harry isn’t talking, and if he works for the mob, I doubt he will. By now his lawyer has probably arrived.”

  “Then we need to make sure the sheriff gets it across to Harry and his lawyer that you aren’t this Eloise Hill.”

  “That might not convince them.”

  “You’re at least ten years younger. If they got an up-close look at you, they would see their error. And one thing about our good sheriff. He’s mighty convincing.” Austin plucked the mug from her hands. “You go to bed. I’ll put these up in the kitchen. We may know more tomorrow. And don’t forget we have two deputies guarding the house and a manhunt out for the other shooter.”

  She stifled a yawn. “My day off didn’t quite turn out as relaxing as I thought it was gonna be.” Traversing the length of the hall to her bedroom, she leaned against her doorjamb. “Next time you offer me a day off, I think I’ll stick to working. Besides, being with Misty and helping her and Caroline isn’t what I consider work.” She bent toward Austin, getting a good whiff of his masculine scent. “But don’t tell my boss that. He might expect me to work for free.”

  “Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that. I hear he’s a pushover for a beautiful woman.”

  The heat of a blush stained her cheeks.

  He brushed a finger over those cheeks. “I think you could even persuade him to allow you to sleep in tomorrow. You certainly deserve it.”

  The mind-shattering sensations assailing her from all angles at his mere touch nearly overwhelmed her. She clutched the doorjamb tighter. “I’ll take that under advisement. I’m so tired, but I don’t know if I can sleep much. I’m afraid every time I shut my eyes I’ll relive that man chasing me through the woods.”