GENRE: Romance
LENGTH: 70,234 words
RATING:

Single mother Mollie Rodriguez returned home to Bisbee, Arizona, after losing her husband in a mining accident. For ten years she has focused on her four children and her job as a dispatcher for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department. Now a new man has come in from Texas to join the department. The last thing she expects is for Wade McGuire to turn her orderly world on its ear. When he becomes not only her boss but her tenant by renting the small apartment over her garage, proximity adds further tension.

Wade has his own demons, but quickly gets involved in a complex case involving cattle rustling. When Mollie’s twins and three 4H project calves disappear, Wade must confront his demons head-on. He has come to deeply admire this strong, courageous woman and knows they both feel a sizzle of attraction. How can he convince her he will honor and cherish her for the rest of their lives and accept her children to create a new family?

EXCERPT:

Caroline Conover was in a semi-private room, the second bed currently unoccupied. She had a cast on one arm and the opposite leg, an IV tube running into her free wrist, and was almost as white as the sheets on her bed. She glanced up when Wade and Mollie, led by a nurse, paused in the doorway.

Answering Wade's gentle push, Mollie went ahead, walking slowly to the side of the bed. She smiled down at the injured woman as she approached, hoping to put her at ease. Caroline's expression was tense and drawn. "You had everyone very worried," Mollie said. "I'm glad to see you beginning to recover."

"They told me I was unconscious for almost three weeks." Caroline's voice was low and scratchy, as if rusty from disuse. "I had no idea ... it seemed like such a short time ago that it all happened."

"This is Lt. McGuire, the Chief Criminal Deputy. He'll be arranging the police protection you requested. Is your request because of the accident? Can you tell us about it?"

Caroline's gray glance slid to Wade and quickly back to Mollie. It appeared that men made her nervous or uncomfortable. "I'll try," she said after a moment's silence. "I'm not sure I remember everything, but I'll tell you what I can." She exhaled a slow sigh.

"That morning I was working on Amigo, a new horse I'd recently obtained. He showed a lot of promise for endurance. so I was beginning to develop his stamina. We went up into the hills quite a ways, maybe five miles. Finally I decided I'd better turn around and head back. That's when I realized I was almost directly above the place where the offal was, all those slaughtered cattle and the other skeleton." When her voice quavered, she paused, blinking her eyes shut.

"Is this too difficult for you?" Mollie could not keep her anxiety out of her own voice, but tried to sound sympathetic instead of fearful. The poor woman has been through an awful ordeal.

"No, I need to tell you, to help you understand. I rode on down that ridge for some distance, maybe close to a mile. Then I heard something on a ledge above me, a rocky place I had skirted by dropping down the hillside below it."

Again she stopped for a moment, while a shudder wracked her thin frame. Before Mollie could speak again, Caroline went on.

"The next instant, I heard a shot. Amigo jumped because the sound was so sudden. So unexpected. The second one came much closer. I think it must have creased his rump because he took a prodigious leap. I felt he was going to fall so I pushed myself clear. I saw too late that there was another ledge, close beneath me, and there was no way I was going to land above it. It seemed to take a long time to reach the ground. I had a sense that Amigo stampeded away but I didn't see where he went. Everything went black too quickly."

"Do you know anything about firearms? Could you make a guess what kind it was?" Once more Caroline's glance flickered to Wade as he posed that question.

She lifted her hand, let it fall when the IV line tightened. "I've done some target shooting, a little hunting years ago. I think it was a rifle, probably like one a person would use for deer hunting, with a telescope sight and a fairly good range."

"How far from you was the shooter?"

"About fifty feet, maybe a little more. Close. The second shot -- I'm not sure I even heard it, but I suppose I must have. Too much happened too fast then." Again she blinked, a grimace as of pain twisting her face.

For a long moment, Caroline stared past them both, her thoughts clearly turned back to that frightful time. "Yes," she said finally. "It was Paco Santillan. I don't suppose I can prove it, but I'm sure it was him. He meant for me to be killed and not found for some time. It would not have been the first time he killed nor likely the last."

"Why?" Mollie burst out, too shocked to be cautious. "Why would he want to kill you?"

"Yes," Wade added. "Why? When we were out investigating the dead cattle, I spoke with him about your report. He seemed to respect you greatly."

"He lives a half-dozen different lives," Caroline said. Her voice had faded until they could barely hear her. She took a couple of deep breaths and then spoke more strongly. "He may have misunderstood what Barry expected of him or he may have had another plan entirely. But I'm terrified he'll come back to finish the job. He's a horrible, sly, evil man. Right now there is no way I could defend myself. I can barely lift a hand. I can and will pay for it, but I've got to have someone here to guard me, someone trustworthy."

"I'd be most grateful if you can set this up for me," Caroline said. "I don't know who to call, but I will gladly pay a regular deputy's hourly rate for however many men it takes. I assume three for the twenty four hours at least."

"Consider it done," Wade assured. "In a few days, we'll need a formal statement from you so we can get into a real investigation. I have Ms. Rodriguez as a witness for all you've said today which is enough for now."

As rhey walked out together, Wade glanced at his watch. "I don't know about you, but my stomach tells me it's about lunch time. What do you say we stop to get something to eat?"

She'd managed to keep the sizzle of awareness fueled by the kiss to a flicker this morning, but Mollie wasn't sure if she could keep that up. Sitting and eating with him, maybe starting to discuss things besides this case would feel too intimate. Her immediate reaction was to refuse, but she'd look foolish if she did that. Okay, I'll take the chance.

"Sure, why not? I don't eat much breakfast as a rule so I'm a bit hungry myself."