But this morning, she’d awakened ready to face whatever would be awaiting her tomorrow back at the office in town. Coming up here in the mountains had been the best thing she could have done. For months she’d been worried and confused as small amounts of money kept disappearing from the foundation.
Then last week, she’d realized that more than a hundred thousand dollars was gone. She’d been so shocked that she hadn’t been able to breathe, let alone think. That was when she’d called in an independent auditor. She just hoped she could find out what had happened to the money before anyone got wind of it—especially her father, Senator Buckmaster Hamilton.
Her stomach roiled at the thought. He’d always been so proud of her for taking over the reins of the foundation that bore her mother’s name. All her father needed was another scandal. He was running for the presidency of the United States, something he’d dreamed of for years. Now his daughter was about to go to jail for embezzlement. She could only imagine his disappointment in her—not to mention what it might do to the foundation.
She loved the work the foundation did, helping small businesses in their community. Her father had been worried that she couldn’t handle the responsibility. She’d been determined to show him he was wrong. And show herself, as well. She’d grown up a lot in the past five years, and running the foundation had given her a sense of purpose she’d badly needed.
That was why she was anxious to find out the results of the audit now that her head was clear. The mountains always did that for her. Breathing in the fresh air now, she swung up in the saddle, spurred her horse and headed down the trail toward the ranch. She’d camped only a couple of hours back into the mountain, so she still had plenty of time, she thought as she rode. The last thing she wanted was to be late to meet with the auditor.
She’d known for some time that there were...discrepancies in foundation funds. A part of her had hoped that it was merely a mistake—that someone would realize he or she had made an error—so she wouldn’t have to confront anyone about the slip.
Bo knew how naive that was, but she couldn’t bear to think that one of her employees was behind the theft. Yes, her employees were a ragtag bunch. There was Albert Drum, a seventy-two-year-young former banker who worked with the recipients of the foundation loans. Emily Calder, twenty-four, took care of the website, research, communications and marketing. The only other employee was forty-eight-year-old widow Norma Branstetter, who was in charge of fund-raising.
Employees and board members reviewed the applications that came in for financial help. But Bo was the one responsible for the money that came and went through the foundation.
Unfortunately, she trusted her employees so much that she often let them run the place, including dealing with the financial end of things. She hadn’t been paying close enough attention. How else could there be unexplained expenditures?
Her father had warned her about the people she hired, saying she had to be careful. But she loved giving jobs to those who desperately needed another chance. Her employees had become a second family to her.
Just the thought that one of her employees might be responsible made her sick to her stomach. True, she was a sucker for a hard-luck story. But she trusted the people she’d hired. The thought brought tears to her eyes. They all tried so hard and were so appreciative of their jobs. She refused to believe any one of them would steal from the foundation.
So what had happened to the missing funds?
She hadn’t ridden far when her horse nickered and raised his head as if sniffing the wind. Spurring him forward, she continued through the dense trees. The pine boughs sighed in the breeze, releasing the smells of early summer in the mountains she’d grown up with. She loved the Crazy Mountains. She loved them especially at this time of year. They rose from the valley into high snow-capped peaks, the awe-inspiring range running for miles to the north like a mountainous island in a sea of grassy plains.
What she appreciated most about the Crazies was that a person could get lost in them, she thought. A hunter had done just that last year.
She’d ridden down the ridge some distance, the sun moving across the sky over her head, before she caught the strong smell of smoke. This morning she’d put her campfire out using the creek water nearby. Too much of Montana burned every summer because of lightning storms and careless people, so she’d made sure her fire was extinguished before she’d left.
Now reining in, she spotted the source of the smoke. A small campfire burned below her in the dense trees of a protected gully. She stared down into the camp as smoke curled up. While it wasn’t that unusual to stumble across a backpacker this deep in the Crazies, it was strange for a camp to be so far off the trail. Also, she didn’t see anyone below her on the mountain near the fire. Had whoever camped there failed to put out the fire before leaving?
Bo hesitated, feeling torn because she didn’t want to take the time to ride all the way down the mountain to the out-of-the-way camp. Nor did she want to ride into anyone’s camp unless necessary.
But if the camper had failed to put out the fire, that was another story.
“Hello?” she called down the mountainside.
A hawk let out a cry overhead, momentarily startling her.
“Hello?” she called again, louder.
No answer. No sign of anyone in the camp.
Bo let out an aggravated sigh and spurred her horse. She had a long ride back and didn’t need a detour. But she still had plenty of time if she hurried. As she made her way down into the ravine, she caught glimpses of the camp and the smoking campfire, but nothing else.
The hidden-away camp finally came into view below her. She could see that whoever had camped there hadn’t made any effort at all to put out the fire. She looked for horseshoe tracks but saw only boot prints in the dust that led down to the camp.
A quiet seemed to fall over the mountainside. No hawk called out again from high above the trees. No squirrels chattered at her from a pine bough. Even the breeze seemed to have gone silent.
Bo felt a sudden chill as if the sun had gone down—an instant before the man appeared so suddenly from out of the dense darkness of the trees. He grabbed her, yanked her down from the saddle and clamped an arm around her as he shoved the dirty blade of a knife in her face.
“Well, look at you,” he said hoarsely against her ear. “Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes? Guess it’s my lucky day.”
* * *
JACE HAD JUST knocked at the door when another truck drove up from the direction of the corrals. As Senator Buckmaster Hamilton himself opened the door, he was looking past Jace’s shoulder. Jace glanced back to see Cooper Barnett climb out of his truck and walk toward them.
Jace turned back around. “I’m Jace Calder,” he said, holding out his hand as the senator’s gaze shifted to him.
The senator frowned but shook his hand. “I know who you are. I’m just wondering what’s got you on my doorstep so early in the morning.”
“I’m here about your daughter Bo.”
Buckmaster looked to Cooper. “Tell me you aren’t here about my daughter Olivia.”
Cooper laughed. “My pregnant bride is just fine, thanks.”
The senator let out an exaggerated breath and turned his attention back to Jace. “What’s this about—?” But before he could finish, a tall, elegant blonde woman appeared at his side. Jace recognized Angelina Broadwater Hamilton, the senator’s second wife. The rumors about her being kicked out of the house to make way for Buckmaster’s first wife weren’t true, it seemed.
She put a hand on Buckmaster’s arm. “It’s the auditor calling from the foundation office. He’s looking for Bo. She didn’t show up for work today, and there seems to be a problem.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Jace said.
“Me, too,” Cooper said, sounding surprised.
“Come in, then,” Buckmaster said, waving both men inside. Once he’d closed the big door behind them, he asked, “Now, what’s this ab
out Bo?”
“I was just talking to one of the wranglers,” Cooper said, jumping in ahead of Jace. “Bo apparently left Saturday afternoon on horseback, saying she’d be back this morning, but she hasn’t returned.”
“That’s what I heard, as well,” Jace said, taking the opening. “I need to know where she might have gone.”
Both Buckmaster and Cooper looked to him. “You sound as if you’re planning to go after her,” the senator said.
“I am.”
“Why would you do that? I didn’t think you two were seeing each other,” Cooper asked like the protective brother-in-law he was.
“We’re not,” Jace said.
“Wait a minute,” the senator said. “You’re the one who stood her up for the senior prom. I’ll never forget it. My baby cried for weeks.”
Jace nodded. “That would be me.”
“But you’ve dated Bo more recently than senior prom,” Buckmaster was saying.
“Five years ago,” he said. “But that doesn’t have anything to do with this. I have my reasons for wanting to see Bo come back. My sister works at the foundation.”
“Why wouldn’t Bo come back?” the senator demanded.
Behind him, Angelina made a disparaging sound. “Because there’s money missing from the foundation, along with your daughter.” She looked at Jace. “You said your sister works down there?”
He smiled, seeing that she was clearly judgmental of the “kind of people” Bo had hired to work at the foundation. “My sister doesn’t have access to any of the money, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He turned to the senator again. “The auditor is down at the foundation office, trying to sort it out. Bo needs to be there. I thought you might have some idea where she might have gone in the mountains. I thought I’d go find her.”
The senator looked to his son-in-law. Cooper shrugged.
“Cooper, you were told she planned to be back Sunday?” her father said. “She probably changed her mind or went too far, not realizing how long it would take her to get back. If she had an appointment today with an auditor, I’m sure she’s on her way as we speak.”
“Or she’s hiding up there and doesn’t want to be found,” Angelina quipped from the couch. “If she took that money, she could be miles from here by now.” She groaned. “It’s always something with your girls, isn’t it?”
“I highly doubt Bo has taken off with any foundation money,” the senator said, and shot his wife a disgruntled look. “Every minor problem isn’t a major scandal,” he said and sighed, clearly irritated with his wife.
When he and Bo had dated, she’d told him that her stepmother was always quick to blame her and her sisters no matter the situation. As far as Jace could tell, there was no love lost on either side.
“Maybe we should call the sheriff,” Cooper said.
Angelina let out a cry. “That’s all we need—more negative publicity. It will be bad enough when this gets out. But if search and rescue is called in and the sheriff has to go up there... For all we know, Bo could be meeting someone in those mountains.”
Jace hadn’t considered she might have an accomplice. “That’s why I’m the best person to go after her.”
“How do you figure that?” Cooper demanded, giving him a hard look.
“She already doesn’t like me, and the feeling is mutual. Maybe you’re right and she’s hightailing it home as we speak,” Jace said. “But whatever’s going on with her, I’m going to find her and make sure she gets back.”
“You sound pretty confident of that,” the senator said sounding almost amused.
“I know these mountains, and I’m not a bad tracker. I’ll find her. But that’s big country. My search would go faster if I have some idea where she was headed when she left.”
“There’s a trail to the west of the ranch that connects with the Sweet Grass Creek trail,” her father said.
Jace rubbed a hand over his jaw. “That trail forks not far up.”
“She usually goes to the first camping spot before the fork,” the senator said. “It’s only a couple of hours back in. I’m sure she wouldn’t go any farther than that. It’s along Loco Creek.”
“I know that spot,” Jace said.
Cooper looked to his father-in-law. “You want me to get some men together and go search for her? That makes more sense than sending—”
Buckmaster shook his head and turned to Jace. “I remember your father. The two of you were volunteers on a search years ago. I was impressed with both of you. I’m putting my money on you finding her if she doesn’t turn up on her own. I’ll give you till sundown.”
“Make it twenty-four hours. There’s a storm coming, so I plan to be back before it hits. If we’re both not back by then, send in the cavalry,” he said, and with a tip of his hat, headed for the door.
Behind him, he heard Cooper say, “Sending him could be a mistake.”
“The cowboy’s mistake,” Buckmaster said. “I know my daughter. She’s on her way back, and she isn’t going to like that young man tracking her down. Jace Calder is the one she almost married.”
Find out what happens next in
LONE RIDER
by New York Times
bestselling author B.J. Daniels
available August 2015,
wherever HQN Books and ebooks are sold.
www.Harlequin.com
Copyright © 2015 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781460388136
Tamed
Copyright © 2015 by HelenKay Dimon
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Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) Page 19
