Lock, Stock and McCullen (The Heroes of Horseshoe Creek Book 1)

by Rita Herron

  Rose’s vision blurred, death whispering her name. Another image came out of nowhere—another gun. Another man. The sound of a gunshot firing.

  Blood spraying everywhere. The floor, the walls...

  What was happening...?

  Thad’s fingers closed around her wrists, tightening so painfully that a sob escaped her.

  But reality surfaced and the blurred image of the other shooting faded. The will to live kicked in, giving her a surge of adrenaline, and she used one hand to knock the gun upward. He cursed, and she slammed her fist into his crotch, causing him to double over and roll off her.

  She lunged to get away, crawling on her hands and knees into the bedroom, but another gunshot pinged off the floor beside her. Her foot hit the lamp as she tried to get up, sending it crashing to the floor.

  Terrified, she reached for the gun and managed to snag it. They struggled with it, both trying to gain control, but the gun went off. Thad grunted, then his eyes widened in shock and he looked down at his chest.

  Blood oozed from his torso and soaked his shirt. Frantic, she pushed herself up, grabbed her purse and ran outside. The night sky was dark, void of stars, the endless sea of wilderness swallowing her as she raced to his sedan.

  “You can’t get away,” Thad shouted as he staggered onto the porch after her.

  She jumped in the car, keeping her eyes on Thad, her hand trembling as she fumbled with the keys. Three tries and finally the engine fired up.

  Thad staggered down the steps, one hand to his bloody chest as he collapsed. She pressed the gas pedal, shifted into Reverse and sped backward, slinging dust in her wake. Thad managed to lift his head and raised the gun and fired again, but he was too far away and the bullet hit the dirt.

  She swung the sedan around, stomped on the accelerator and roared down the graveled road to the highway. Nausea clogged her throat as she dug in her purse for her cell phone. Dammit, she had no service!

  Tears streamed down her face as she drove back toward Pistol Whip. She repeatedly checked over her shoulder in case Thad found a way to follow her. But she didn’t stop until she drove into the small town and parked at her rental house.

  Fighting a sob, she careened into the drive, threw the car into park and dove out. She ran up the steps to the porch, the keys jangling as she let herself inside. Her phone was ringing as she entered. She flipped on a light in the hallway, then raced to get it.

  Whoever it was, she’d get rid of them and call the sheriff. Maddox McCullen would know what to do. He’d help her.

  But a sinister voice echoed from the other side of the phone. “You can run, but you can’t hide, Rose. I’ll find you.”

  Chapter Two

  “No, Ray, I’m not exaggerating.” Maddox grimaced at the fact that Ray had even suggested such a thing. “Dad is...dying. Emphysema.”

  Silence stretched between them for a long minute. Maddox braced himself for Ray to deny his father’s request. How he’d explain that to his father he didn’t know.

  “I’ll think about it,” Ray said in a belligerent tone.

  “Do more than think,” Maddox said tersely. “The least you can do is to say goodbye to him. You two might have butted heads, but he is your father.”

  Ray muttered something ugly that Maddox couldn’t understand, but he refrained from asking him to repeat it. He didn’t want to know.

  He’d given up understanding Ray a long time ago.

  His phone beeped that he had another call, and he sighed in relief. Sad that he welcomed a work call to save him from talking to his own flesh and blood. “I’ve got another call I have to take. Now get your butt home. If you don’t, I’ll track you down and drag you back to Pistol Whip myself.”

  He didn’t bother to wait on a response. He clicked over to answer the other line. “Sheriff McCullen.”

  “Sheriff, it’s Rose Worthington.”

  Maddox frowned at the way her voice warbled. “What’s wrong, Rose?”

  “Someone...my fiancé...he tried to kill me tonight.”

  Shock bolted through Maddox. He’d seen Rose around town, even lusted after her a few times. How could a man not? She had silky red hair, raspberry-ripe lips and a body that made a man want to bury himself inside her.

  But he’d been too busy taking care of his father and the ranch, and protecting the town, to get entangled with her. Besides, she’d had a ring on her finger.

  “Did you hear me?” Rose said. “He tried to kill me tonight.”

  Maddox swung into professional mode. “Where are you?”

  “My house,” Rose said. “Please hurry. I’m afraid he’ll come after me.”

  “What’s your address?”

  “Two-thirty-one First Street.”

  “I’m on my way. Just stay on the line.” Maddox fastened his holster and gun and hurried outside to his squad car. “Tell me what happened?”

  “Before he attacked me, I heard him talking on the phone. He said I’d be dead before morning. He had a gun and I tried to run, and he grabbed me and...the gun went off.”

  “Are you hurt?” Maddox flipped on his siren and sped toward the street where Rose lived. A Mustang pulled out in front of him, and he beeped his horn and passed it, irritated to see the driver on his cell phone. If he’d had time, he’d have pulled the jerk over, but Rose sounded terrified and he needed to hurry.

  She might still be in danger.

  * * *

  ROSE SHIVERED AS she peered out her front window. Was Thad dead?

  Or if he’d survived, had he followed her here? Was the person he’d been talking to watching her?

  Nausea rolled through her, and she checked to make sure the door was locked, then looked down and realized she was still wearing her robe. Her diamond glittered beneath the light, a reminder of how excited she’d been when she and Thad had left for their trip. All her hopes and dreams were going to come true. Thad loved her.

  All lies.

  Revulsion mingled with humiliation. She ripped off the ring and tossed it into a drawer, then turned to go upstairs to get dressed. But a noise sounded above and she froze, terrified someone was upstairs.

  No...she was probably just paranoid. It was just the furnace...

  But...what if the mysterious voice had been calling from inside the house?

  A siren wailed, and she pulled back the curtain again and watched as the sheriff’s car spun into the driveway. She ran to the door, threw the lock open and rushed outside to the porch.

  Seconds later, Sheriff McCullen stepped from the vehicle, his tall frame emerging in the shadows.

  “Rose?”

  “I’m here.” Her voice faded as she ran down the steps toward him. He rushed toward her and she fell into his arms, trembling as a sob escaped her.

  * * *

  MADDOX PULLED ROSE into his arms, cradling her close as she shuddered against him.

  He murmured soothing words to her and stroked her hair, hating himself for noticing that it was just as soft as he’d imagined when he’d seen her around town.

  What kind of man lusted after a woman when she was quaking in his arms from nearly being killed?

  “You’re all right, now,” he said, lowering his voice to a gentle pitch. Both his brothers had told him that he sounded like a bear when he talked. He couldn’t help that he’d been given a deep baritone voice.

  It came in handy when he wanted to intimidate a suspect. Not so much when a frightened woman was looking for someone gentle to comfort her.

  She clung to him, rasping for breath. “You’re safe now, Rose. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She heaved another breath and sniffled, her damp tears soaking his shirt. “I’m sorry. I...didn’t know what to do. Who to call.”

  “I’m the sheriff,” he murmured. “I’m here to protect you and everyone in this town.”

  She nodded against his chest, her sobs finally subsiding. Then she lifted her chin and looked up at him. The pain in her eyes tore at him.

  She
blinked, tears glistening on her eyelashes in the moonlight that seeped through the clouds.

  “Let’s go inside and you can tell me everything.”

  Her lower lip quivered as she released him and folded her arms around her waist. She stumbled on a fallen tree limb on the ground, and he steadied her as they walked up the steps to the porch. When they made it to the doorway, she froze, her eyes widening again in fear.

  “I thought I heard a noise upstairs earlier.”

  He immediately drew his gun and coaxed her aside. “Wait here. Let me check the house.”

  She nodded and gripped the doorjamb as he scanned the living room to the left. It was clear, so he veered to the right and scanned the kitchen, which was connected to the living room by a breakfast bar. The kitchen was empty, so he took the staircase, his senses honed for sounds of an intruder.

  The furnace kicked on, rattling in the silence, and he paused at the top of the staircase to glance into the room to the right.

  An iron bed covered in a pale blue-and-white quilt dominated the room, and an antique dresser held perfume bottles and candles by the bathroom door. He went inside, instincts alert, but saw nothing amiss. A quick check in the closet told him this was Rose’s room. Feminine dresses, blouses and shoes filled the closet.

  Exhaling slowly, he turned and crossed to the room on the opposite side of the hall. This must be a guest room. The bedding was simple, with a white coverlet on a four-poster Shaker-style bed, and there was a Shaker-style dresser by the wall. The closet held a few containers stacked with extra clothing and items.

  But the rooms were clear.

  Relieved, he headed back down the stairs. Rose was pacing by the fireplace, her hands worrying the belt of her robe, her face pale.

  “No one is upstairs.”

  “Let me put some clothes on,” she said as if she suddenly realized how naked she was.

  He nodded. He needed her clothed so he could forget about how she’d felt in his arms and focus on the reason someone had tried to kill her.

  * * *

  ROSE THREW ON a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, fighting a sob. Thad had not only made a fool out of her but he also wanted her dead.

  Why?

  She glanced in the mirror, shocked at the woman she saw looking back. Her eyes were puffy and red with dark circles beneath them, her face bruised, her hair stringy and tangled. She didn’t even look like herself.

  Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she dragged a brush through the tangles, then slowly descended the steps, relieved that the sheriff had made it to her house so quickly. She didn’t know Maddox McCullen very well, but everyone in town said he was decent and hardworking—a family man.

  A man to trust.

  God knows she’d trusted the wrong man so far.

  “I’ll make coffee,” she said, desperate for something to do with her hands as she met him at the foot of the staircase.

  He gave a grim nod and followed her to the kitchen. An awkwardness, thick and unsettling, cloaked the room as she measured the grounds and filled the coffeepot with water, and they waited on it to brew.

  She removed two mugs from the cabinet. “Sugar or cream?”

  “Black,” he said.

  Just as she’d expect from a man like him. Everything about Maddox screamed alpha male. Strong, take-charge...masculine.

  When it was ready, she filled his mug. He blew on his coffee for a moment, and she gestured toward the pine table and sank into a straight chair. He joined her, still silent, as if he knew she needed time to pull herself together.

  Finally she shoved her hair from her eyes, took a deep breath and began. “Thad suggested we elope yesterday,” Rose said. “Since neither of us have family that we’re close to, I agreed.”

  “You were anxious to get married?”

  She nodded, although heat flooded her cheeks. Why did men make it sound as if women were desperate to get married? “I thought he loved me, that we were going to build a life together.”

  His jaw tightened. “Go on.”

  “We decided to go to Cheyenne for the ceremony, but on the way Thad said he knew this private little place off the path, that we could spend the night and have a romantic evening before the wedding.”

  “So you went to this cabin?”

  “Yes.” Rose sipped her coffee, tidbits of the last twenty-four hours taunting her. Little things that at the time had seemed insignificant, or even thoughtful, now took on a sinister meaning.

  “At first, I thought it was eerie when he drove down this dirt road to the cabin, but he had flowers and wine and...he said he wanted us to be alone, and he made it seem romantic.”

  “Did you tell anyone where you were going? That you were eloping?”

  She shook her head. “I wanted to call Trina, my assistant at the antiques shop, but he said it was more fun if it was our secret, so I texted her that I was taking a couple of days off and asked her to manage Vintage Treasures.”

  “You didn’t tell her where you were going?”

  “No, no one knew.” Self-disgust ate at her. “Now I understand the reason. He planned to kill me and leave me in the wilderness so no one would find me.”

  Silence lingered for a full minute before Maddox asked, “What happened at the cabin?”

  She massaged the scar at the base of her temple, a nervous habit she’d had since she was young. “I went to take a bubble bath while he was supposedly setting up a picnic for us. But when I got out of the tub, I heard him talking on his cell phone.”

  “Who was he talking to?”

  “I don’t know.” The conversation echoed in her head, making her blood run cold. “I heard him say that I was the one... At first, I thought he meant it romantically. That I was the one he loved, the one he was meant to be with.”

  The irony of that statement seemed to hit both of them. “Then what happened?”

  “He held up this flyer. It had a picture of a little girl on a milk carton on it.”

  Maddox’s brows drew together in a deep frown. “A little girl?”

  “She was about five years old.” She fidgeted, still trying to make sense of it. “Then he said I was the one they’d been looking for, and that I’d be dead by morning.”

  A heartbeat passed. “He meant that you were the girl on the milk carton?”

  “Yes,” Rose whispered, her agitation mounting. “But that doesn’t make sense.”

  “He didn’t elaborate?”

  “No.” She shivered. “Instead, he pulled a gun from his briefcase.”

  “Did you know he carried a weapon?”

  “No, I’d never seen it.” She twisted her hands together. “But it scared me, and I stumbled. Then he saw me and came after me.” Her breath came out in spurts as fear once again seized her. “He shot at me and missed, and we fought. I tried to get away but the gun went off again.”

  Maddox covered her hand with his. “Go on.”

  “I shot him, Maddox. I didn’t mean to, but the bullet hit him.” She blinked back more tears, her heart pounding. “Blood soaked his shirt, and I was terrified, so I ran to the car. He staggered to the door and fired at me again.”

  Another tense silence. “Did he follow you?”

  “I don’t know, he collapsed on the ground,” she cried. “I think I might have killed him.”

  Chapter Three

  Tears filled Rose’s eyes again, the terror returning. She could still see the sinister look in Thad’s eyes, see him lunging for her with that gun.

  “You didn’t call an ambulance or the police?”

  Rose tensed. “No, I tried my cell as I was leaving and there was no service. Then all I could think about was escaping.”

  He lifted her wrists, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he noted the bruises. “He grabbed you here?”

  “Yes,” she said, remembering the horror of his fingers clenching her as Maddox gently stroked the tender area.

  “Can you tell me where this cabin is?” Maddox said.

 
; “I don’t know the name of the road we turned off on. But...I could probably find it.”

  He stood. “I have to go out there and see if he’s still alive.”

  Nerves fluttered in Rose’s stomach. What if Thad was dead? Would she be arrested for murder?

  * * *

  MADDOX CONSIDERED CALLING the Cheyenne Police Department, but figured he’d assess the situation first and find out if Thoreau was dead or alive.

  He texted Mama Mary to let her know that he might not be home tonight, and to call him if his father’s condition changed.

  “I understand it may be difficult for you, Rose, but do you mind riding with me and guiding me to the cabin?”

  Wariness darkened her eyes, but she squared her shoulders as if to gather her courage. “No, I’ll take you there.”

  He led the way outside, giving her time to lock the door. She still seemed wobbly as they walked to his car, and he opened the passenger door and waited until she settled inside before he circled around to the driver’s seat.

  Anxiety vibrated between them as he veered onto the highway and drove through Pistol Whip, which was situated in a flat stretch between the mountains. Land spread out before them, miles and miles that were untamed, where antelope, deer, elk and other wildlife thrived.

  Tourists wanting a frontier town and trail riding, or a layover on their way to Laramie or Cheyenne, often stopped in Pistol Whip. Hikers, mountain climbers and fishermen especially took advantage of the proximity to the majestic mountains and river.

  Locals had created a small museum showcasing the area’s history. Apparently in the late 1800s, a famous gunslinger had ridden through the hills in search of a hideout. When three local vigilantes discovered his identity, they strung him up in town and pistol-whipped him to death.

  The town council at the time dubbed the town with the name Pistol Whip to remind people that they couldn’t take the law into their own hands.

  “Tell me about your fiancé,” Maddox finally said. Any background information on their relationship would be helpful.

  Rose toyed with a string on the bottom of her T-shirt. “We met in Cheyenne,” she said. “I was there for an antiques show, and he was on business.”