by Vonna Harper
His comment brought the world back full force. “Maybe we’ll never know,” she reluctantly admitted.
“I hope you’re wrong. Wait. There were two shots, right.”
“Yes.”
“Which one hit her?”
“Does it matter?”
“Maybe a lot.”
“I guess.” She concentrated. “Oh my God, it was the first.”
3
“Two bullets were fired,” Maco told the sheriff’s deputy when the man arrived more than a half hour later. “Whoever’s responsible fired again after Ms. Afton let him know what he’d done. She also said she saw the sun glinting off something.”
“Like a rifle?” the deputy asked.
“I don’t know,” Shari admitted. Darn it, she had to concentrate. “Everything was so—I was upset, shocked.”
“That’s understandable,” the deputy said. “Anything else catch your attention?”
“I’m pretty sure I heard a motorcycle,” Maco answered before she could think of anything to say.
“Is that what it was?” she asked. “I wasn’t sure.”
The deputy, tall with long arms, stood over Ona, who was still on the couch but watching the activity. “There’s idiots out there, unfortunately,” he said, lightly stroking Ona’s neck. “Hunters whose families have lived in the area for generations and figure they have a right to bag a deer whenever they get a notion. Most get licenses but that doesn’t mean they don’t stretch the season to meet their arrogance or justification.”
“You really believe that’s who it was?”
Still petting Ona, the deputy aimed his attention at her at the same time Maco did. “You’re thinking it might be someone else?”
“No. I mean, I have no idea. I just can’t stop thinking about that second shot. Like Mr. Durant said, whoever it was had to have heard me yell.”
“Poachers aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. He probably panicked and his finger twitched. Boom. When he realized what he’d done, he took off, and that’s what you heard. I see a lot of that in this business. Act first, think later, if ever.”
“It sounds as if you know this area and the idiots in it,” Maco said. “Just the same, you’re going to check things out, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am. Chances are whoever’s responsible is long gone.”
“I realize that.” While in Maco’s arms, she’d felt feminine and in need of protection—and something else. Now sanity had returned. Her legs felt strong, her resolve enough to get her through whatever needed getting through. “Darn it, this is my property. It’s well posted as a no hunting area. Not only do I keep dogs I’m training here, I also board an average of twenty when their owners are on vacation, sick, or working out of town.”
“There’s no accounting for stupid,” the deputy said. “As for the motorcycle, if that’s what it was, the moron might have figured that would attract less attention than a truck because he could go cross country.”
“It’s also useless for hauling off a carcass,” Maco added.
The deputy headed for the door. “Which means he was after the thrill of the kill, not venison.”
“That’s disgusting!” she blurted. “Absolutely sick.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately there’s a handful of people around here who don’t feel the same way. You get that dog of yours to a vet. I’ll take a look around. You do need to know that unless I come across something, which I doubt, this’ll be the end of it.”
“I wish it was different.” Maco kept pace with the deputy.
“So do I. Sounds like you showing up when you did was being at the right place at the right time.”
“Yes, it does,” Maco said.
“Particularly if whoever it was saw that you were armed. That’s an original Rodeo revolver, isn’t it? Damn, I’d love to have one of those.”
“Wait,” Shari said from her position near Ona. “Does the sheriff’s department have tracking dogs? One might—”
“I wish, but it’s not in the budget.”
“Budget be damned,” she blurted. “Trained dogs have proven themselves to be invaluable to law enforcement.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” the deputy said as he stepped outside. “I’d love to work with one.”
The door closed, and Maco turned around. With the length of the living room between them, Shari shouldn’t feel as if he was touching her. Despite everything she’d gone through and said, however, her skin hummed, and her jeans felt too tight against her crotch.
The moment he took that first step toward her, she knew why. This man with his dark, caress-his-chest shirt, work-worn jeans, hand-tooled boots, and a weapon that made her think of John Wayne, exuded male. Dressed as if he spent his days herding cattle or fighting outlaws, he was self-confident.
And sexy. Don’t forget that.
Like I can.
“Let her up.” He indicated Ona, who had started whining. “We need to see how she handles herself.”
We? Ona was her pet. Never again would her newest client see her cry. It was too unnerving. She was perfectly capable of making decisions, not just about how to care for Ona but about how to handle her whole life. Her most important promise to herself hadn’t changed. She would not run scared from life the way her mother had.
Neither would she ever let a man control her, as her mother had once done.
“Come on, baby,” she whispered. This effect Maco was having on her libido was manageable, damn it. Nothing to lose focus over. “Take it easy. One step at a time.”
After a moment, Ona stretched her front legs to the carpet. The dog started to support her weight, then suddenly her knees buckled. Before Shari could come to her rescue, however, Ona recovered. Standing with her legs spread, she lowered her head and slowly shook it. “I know it hurts,” Shari crooned. “At least the bleeding’s stopped.”
“My guess, she has a headache,” Maco observed. “Hopefully that’s the only thing bothering her.”
Not rushing her response, she took the better part of a minute to observe Ona, who seemed to be steadily gaining strength. No doubt about it, it was going to take a while to convince herself that Ona hadn’t died. “I’m still taking her to the vet.”
“I understand that, but not until we’re sure it’s safe to go outside.”
Although she agreed, she hated waiting. Besides, with Maco so close she could touch him, she was determined to match his self-confidence and not let him suspect she was responding to the male in him.
Unless he’d already figured it out.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done,” she said. “I could have never gotten Ona inside on my own.”
“It was a joint effort. I felt better knowing you had my back.”
A memory of what they’d gone through together surfaced, and she remembered the weight of his revolver in her hand, something she’d never thought she’d feel. “You’re armed. Do you always carry—?”
“These days, most of the time.” He touched the handle sticking up from the holster.
“Why?”
“My family runs thousands of cattle on our Wyoming ranch. I grew up being expected to do what I needed to protect them. I got out of the habit when my brother and I started our business because it wasn’t the kind of image we wanted to project. We started packing heat again shortly after getting our latest contract. Let’s call it insurance.”
“You mean you never before needed that kind of insurance?”
He studied her for so long she dropped her gaze from him to Ona, who was heading for the kitchen and, she suspected, the water bowl. Just like that, Maco became a gunslinger in her mind.
He’d storm into her world and order her to climb behind him on his great black stallion so they could gallop over the land with stars and a full moon lighting their way. Head up to catch the wind, she’d wrap her arms around his six-pack. Horsepower between her legs and manpower against her breasts would make her crazy, wild, wond
erful crazy.
And once they’d reached their destination?
Knock it off! Just because you haven’t been laid in forever is no—
“I didn’t want to have to get into this yet,” he said. His tone pulled her gaze back to him and immediately made a lie of her vow to stop thinking of him as a male in a hot package. “Not until I had a better sense of what side of the fence you’re on.”
“Side? Of what?”
A sigh, coming from deep in that solid chest. The sound spiraling into her. “You’ve heard about the Graves River Dam, haven’t you?”
“The dam?” Concentrate! “That’s why you’re here, to work on it?”
He shook his head. “Not just work. Mustang Construction—that’s our business—has been awarded the contract to finish what was proposed more than ten years ago. Our bid trumped the competition, not that there was much.”
With everything that had happened today, she had to work at changing mental gears. The dam project had been in the news off and on for years. Even before she’d moved back here, Aunt Robynn and Uncle Dan had kept her informed about it. Most recently the articles and news reports had focused on how the legal objections to what a number of vocal people called a rape of the land had finally all been struck down. State and federal courts had ruled that the water needs of the vast farming and ranching lands to the south took precedence over keeping the remote canyon that the Graves River ran through about thirty miles away unspoiled. The dam would be completed. The canyon would fill, providing new recreational opportunities as a side benefit. Present and future agricultural and livestock water needs would be assured. Animals living in the canyon would have to find another place to live. Some trees and plants would be buried under tens of thousands of gallons of water.
“You thought I might be one of those who’ve been fighting the project?” she asked.
“I didn’t know.”
“I’m not, believe me. Truth is, I’ve been too busy to form an opinion. I figured the courts knew what they were doing.”
He shrugged, the movement emphasizing his shoulders’ width, not that she needed the reminder. “Not everyone agrees with you.”
“So I understand. There have been some pretty inflammatory letters to the editor.”
“That there have. I just needed you to know what you’re getting involved with. You came highly recommended. I—”
“Highly recommended?” She had to laugh. “I’m the only person in this part of the state training dogs for security and defense for the public.”
“Just the same, my inquiries led me to believe you could provide me with exactly what I need. In other words, without you supplying the product, I’d be SOL.”
“Nevertheless, you thought it might jeopardize our business relationship if I knew what you’re doing?”
He straightened. “I wish you hadn’t put it that way. I felt it was important to learn where you stand on the issue.”
She shrugged, glad that the conversation had returned her to the land of reality. “For the record, I don’t have much of an opinion about the dam one way or the other except that ranchers and farmers have to have water. The way I look at it, the courts are all about law. They’ll sort things out. Besides, the truth is, I’ve been so busy since I bought the property and started my business last year that I’ve hardly had time to come up for air. And before that, well, I haven’t been back in the county for long.”
The moment she admitted that, she wished she could make the words disappear. One thing she didn’t want to get into today, or ever, was where she’d been and why she’d decided to put down roots here after fleeing in the middle of the night with her mother all those years ago. The past was buried, thank goodness.
“In other words, you have no objections to seeing the dam completed?”
“None. My uncle works for the county planning department. He says it’ll be good for the immediate area because of the recreational opportunities. You have my approval.”
That elicited a smile from him she felt all the way to her toes but mostly settled in another part of her anatomy. So much for shrugging off his impact. Was it just her need for sex or was he the sexiest man she’d been near in, what, forever? Hell, maybe this was her new and improved way of dealing with stress. “And since you do, can I assume that we’ll be doing business together?” she came up with. “Of course, there’s the matter of what I owe you, given what you did for Ona.”
“You don’t owe me anything. Helping her, and you, are the highlights of my day.”
Silence stretched out. For the first time since his initial call there was nothing they absolutely had to talk about, no crises to deal with. The tension that had clung to her from the moment she’d heard that first shot eased out of her. With an inner sigh, she relegated the shooting to something she’d try to make sense of later. Suddenly she wanted to ask a million questions about Maco’s personal life, like what had growing up on a cattle ranch been like, why was he no longer there, where did he presently call home, and was a woman waiting for him. Like, what did he think of rainy nights and summer sunrises? Like, did he know about the itches she wished he’d scratch?
Ona padded back into the room, water dribbling from both sides of her mouth. “For the record, that isn’t a new development. She’s always been a drooler. Again, thank you. The thought of losing her ...”
“You didn’t.” He patted her shoulder.
Just like that, she came as close to collapsing against him as she had earlier. Before that could happen, she again forcefully reminded herself that she was a strong, modern woman who didn’t believe in jumping into the sack with near strangers.
“No, I didn’t. And I am wrapping my mind around that. Ah, do you want to look at the two Dobermans I told you about now? That’s what you came for. I don’t want your trip out to be for nothing.”
“It can wait.” That said, he sat on the couch Ona and she had vacated. “I’m guessing that’s no more on your mind right now than it is on mine.”
“True, but I needed to ask. Obviously you don’t have much free time these days.”
He frowned, the thin line between his eyes adding character. For reasons woven into her reaction to his presence in her bare-bones house, she settled into the chair opposite him and leaned back. The form-fitting cotton shirt threatened to stop her thoughts.
“Cowboy boots,” she came up with. “They’re comfortable for what you’re doing?”
He glanced down. “I tried other footwear, but I think my feet have molded to these, so the answer is yes, they’re comfortable.”
Another silence settled between them. Her work brought her in contact with more men than women. She’d even had a few of those men in this room while the sun streamed in through the windows. None of them had scraped her skin the way Maco did. He wasn’t handsome, much too rugged for that, complete with a slightly peeling nose and a hairline that had started to pull back. But then she’d never understood why advertisers used so many pretty boys in their commercials. Life experience made men interesting—and more. Especially this man.
“Where’s your Stetson?” she blurted. “That’d complete the outfit.”
He blinked. “In my Jeep. I didn’t want it blowing off.”
So he wore a western hat. Black she decided, midnight black.
“Ah, from what you said about having to ask around about where to go for the dogs you need,” she stumbled over, “I take it you don’t live in the area.”
“Not until recently. Like I said, I grew up in Wyoming on the family ranch in the middle of nowhere. Because I’m going to be here for several years, I recently bought a place.”
“I’ve never been to Colorado.”
He smiled, the gesture drawing her attention to the stubble-haze over his jaw and cheeks. “Some of it can be pretty harsh, but I love the open spaces. I’ve never been one for cities.”
Grateful for the bit of personal information, she pointed at her picture window. “That’s part of why I
chose this property. Not only does it have the room I need, I’m surrounded by open land.”
“No cities for you either, then?”
Not anymore, thank goodness. “It’s all I can do to make myself go to town for supplies.”
“Have you been out to the dam site? Maybe the news clippings are all you need to see. After all, except for the machinery and equipment, there’s nothing but a hole in the ground, trees, and rocks.”
Despite the image he’d created in her mind, she struggled to concentrate. Surely he knew the impact his voice had on women. Maybe that’s what this conversation was about, softening her up and making her amenable to his suggestion that they have sex.
Right. Getting you out of your dirty clothes is the last thing on his mind.
She swallowed. “That’s what the dogs will be expected to patrol then? The trees and rocks in the canyon.”
His gaze held. “That and equipment worth more than I want to think about. Jason—he’s my brother—and I brought in our chopper late last week. Without it up and operating, we’re out of business.”
“Helicopter, you mean?”
Another smile transformed his serious expression. “It’s more than that. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the biggest you’ve ever seen. Thanks to it, we can quickly and efficiently move equipment and get material into otherwise inaccessible places.”
“You fly it?”
“Both Jason and I do. Experienced aircrane pilots are hard to come by. Besides, given everything we’ve got invested in the machinery, we feel better piloting the beast ourselves.”
Her mind filled with images of two macho males who’d grown up on horseback now working the controls of a massive helicopter. Then, propelled by an overload of emotion and energy, she stood and stalked to the window. The patrol car was still there, but she couldn’t see the officer. Why wasn’t she concerned about his safety? Because he wasn’t the target?
Get a grip, darn it!
Only about a third of her land had trees on it, but the acres of bushes and blackberries all around added to the places where a person could hide. Her property was almost perfect for her needs, but she more than rattled around in it. She was vulnerable. Exposed.
