Finger On The Trigger
Delores Fossen
SHE SWORE SHE’D NEVER FALL FOR A COP. But will a hot Texas Ranger change her mind?After a one-night stand with Rachel McCall, Ranger Griff Morris reveals a long-kept secret. Feeling betrayed, Rachel flees. But when she returns, complications abound: she's pregnant. With danger threatening her life can Griff earn Rachel's trust to keep her and their baby alive?
She swore she’d never fall for a cop...
But will a hot Texas Ranger change her mind?
After a one-night stand with Rachel McCall, Ranger Griff Morris reveals a long-kept secret. Feeling betrayed, Rachel flees her ranch. But when she returns, complications abound: she’s pregnant and unable to forgive Griff, but she’s also wildly attracted to him. With three attempts on her life and no shortage of suspects, can Griff earn Rachel’s trust to keep her and their baby alive?
The Lawmen of McCall Canyon
DELORES FOSSEN, a USA TODAY bestselling author, has sold over seventy-five novels, with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award. You can contact the author through her website at www.deloresfossen.com (http://www.deloresfossen.com).
Also by Delores Fossen (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
Cowboy Above the Law
Always a Lawman
Gunfire on the Ranch
Lawman from Her Past
Roughshod Justice
Grayson
Dade
Nate
Kade
Gage
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Finger on the Trigger
Delores Fossen
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07925-9
FINGER ON THE TRIGGER
© 2018 Delores Fossen
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
Cover (#u9e8c18c9-fc3d-5412-b701-a8620be4b60c)
Back Cover Text (#u10da6fdb-f6b5-5fb6-9190-63bf6c2896e8)
About the Author (#u29a75b7d-efed-552f-a385-8cca9f4656d1)
Booklist (#ud970d53f-45e4-502a-af01-ecf547a043cf)
Title Page (#u3e5ee925-1f80-59f6-ae2f-3725ae075e58)
Copyright (#u0556974d-aa7a-56cf-ba1c-19ce2c71caca)
Chapter One (#u584ff8f7-67de-537d-8361-549f706b7969)
Chapter Two (#uc62c3575-e16e-57f8-bf32-a305f1957fc5)
Chapter Three (#u474dd334-ec91-5ae2-9fc8-1224f527d6da)
Chapter Four (#u91047745-4da8-5674-a311-6148611675c7)
Chapter Five (#u91521f84-ac02-597e-8264-17a7e3a3d5d7)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
Something wasn’t right.
Rachel McCall was sure of it. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch, and she glanced around Main Street to see what had put the sudden knot in her stomach.
Nothing.
Well, nothing that she could see, anyway. But that didn’t help with the knot.
She walked even faster, trying to tamp down her fears. It had been only a month since someone had tried to kill her father and had kidnapped her mother. That wasn’t nearly enough time for her to force the images out of her head. The sound of the shot. All that blood. The fear that she might lose both her parents.
There were images and memories of the other things that’d happened over the course of those two days, too.
Remembering that wouldn’t help her now, though. She had to get to her car, and then she could drive back to the inn on the edge of town and figure out why this “not right” feeling wouldn’t budge.
She continued to walk from the small pharmacy up the street to where she’d parked her car. There had still been plenty of daylight when she’d gone into the pharmacy twenty minutes earlier to wait for her meds to be ready, but now that the storm was breathing down on her, it was dark, and the sidewalks were empty. There were so many alleys and shadows. Enough to cause her nerves to tingle just beneath her skin.
Rachel silently cursed herself for not parking directly in front of the pharmacy, but instead she’d chosen a spot closer to the small grocery store where she’d first picked up some supplies before going for the meds. That grocer was closed now—as was seemingly everything else in the small town of Silver Creek.
She’d chosen this town because in many ways it’d reminded her of home. Of McCall Canyon. But bad things had happened there, and they could also happen here.
The moment her car was in sight, she pressed the button on her key fob. The red brake lights flashed, indicating the door was unlocked, just as a vein of lightning lit up the night sky. A few seconds later, the thunder came, a thick rumbling groan. And it was maybe because of the thunder that she didn’t hear the footsteps.
Not until it was too late.
Someone stepped out from one of those dark alleys. She saw only a blur of motion from the corner of her eye before that someone wearing a white cowboy hat pulled her between the two buildings.
The scream bubbled up in her throat, but she didn’t manage to make a sound before he slid his hand over her mouth.
It was a man.
Rachel had no trouble figuring that out the moment her back landed against his chest. But she didn’t stay there. The surge of adrenaline came. And the fear. She rammed her elbow into the man’s stomach, breaking free, and turned to run. She didn’t make it far, however, because he cursed and hauled her back to him.
“Shhh. Someone was watching you,” he said.
She continued to struggle to get away, until the sound of his voice finally registered in her head. It was one she definitely recognized.
Griff.
Or rather, Texas Ranger Griffin Morris.
How the heck had he found her? And better yet, how fast could she get rid of him?
Rachel pushed his hand away from her mouth and whirled around to face him. She hoped the darkness didn’t hide her anger. Even if it did, Griff didn’t seem to notice, because his attention was focused across the street.
“Shhh,” he repeated, when she started to say something.
Rachel nearly disobeyed him on principle just because she didn’t want Griff telling her what to do. But she wasn’t stupid. His own expression told her loads. Something was wrong. The knot in her stomach hadn’t been a false alarm.
She followed Griff’s gaze and tried to pick through the darkness to see if she could figure out what had caused him to grab her like that. There was a row of buildings, mom-and-pop type stores, all one and two stories high. Like the side of the street that Griff and she were on, that one had alleys, too. If someone was hiding there, she couldn’t see him.
“Who’s watching me?” she whispered. That was just the first of many questions she had for Griff.
He didn’t jump to answer, but merely lifted his shoulder. Since he still had his left arm hooked around her waist, she felt his muscles tense. Felt the handgun that he’d drawn, too. Apparently Rachel wasn’t the only one who’d thought something was wrong.
“Is this about my father?” she pressed.
That only earned her another shoulder lift. For a couple seconds, anyway. “Your dad’s alive, by the way. Just in case you want to know.”
She hadn’t needed Griff to tell her that. Rachel had kept up with the news about his shooting. Her father had survived the surgery and had been released from the hospital. She hadn’t wanted him dead. But Rachel no longer wanted him in her life.
That applied to Griff, too.
“I got here about five minutes ago,” Griff went on. He tipped his head toward the end of the street. “I parked up there and came to your car to wait for you. That’s when I saw the guy across the street. He’s about six feet tall, medium build and dressed all in black. I didn’t get a look at his face because he stepped back when he saw me.”
Even though Griff and she were at odds—big odds—she believed everything he’d just said. Griff wasn’t the sort to make up something like that just to get her in his arms again. Though it had worked. Here she was, right against him. Rachel was about to do something about that, but Griff spoke before she could put a couple inches of space between them.
“Keep watch of the alley behind us,” he said. “I don’t want him backtracking and sneaking up on us.”
That tightened the knot even more, and Rachel wished she’d brought her gun with her. Too bad she’d left it at the inn.
“There might be nothing to this,” she whispered. However, she did turn so she could keep an eye on the back alley. “Unless...” She almost hated to finish that. “Has there been another attack? Did someone try to kill my father again?”
Griff didn’t answer right away, but he did spare her a glance. He looked down at her just as she looked up at him. Their gazes connected. It was too dark to see the color of his eyes, but she knew they were gunmetal gray.
Rachel also knew the heat was still there.
Good grief. After everything that had happened, it should be gone. Should be as cold as ice. But here it was, just as it always had been. Well, it could take a hike. Her body might still be attracted to Griff, but she’d learned her lesson, and she wouldn’t give him another chance to crush her.
“There have been new threats,” he finally said. A muscle flickered in his jaw. “Both emails and phone calls. Have you gotten any?”
She shook her head. “No, but then I closed my email account and have been using a burner cell.”
Of course Griff knew that, because he was the reason she’d gone to such lengths. Rachel had been trying to get away from him.
“How’d you find me?” she snapped. “Why did you find me? Because I made it clear that I didn’t want to see you.”
There was too much emotion in her voice. Not good. Because it meant she was no longer whispering. Rachel tried to rein in her feelings so she could keep watch and put an end to this visit.
“Your meds,” Griff said.
Because she was still doing some emotion-reining, she didn’t immediately make the connection. Then Rachel remembered she’d needed the pharmacist to call her former doctor in McCall Canyon to verify the prescription for her epilepsy medicine. Without them, she would have had a seizure, something that hadn’t happened in two years.
Rachel cursed herself for that lapse. She should have figured out a way to get the meds without anyone having to contact Dr. Baldwin. Of course, Dr. Baldwin shouldn’t have ratted her out to Griff, either, and as soon as she could, she’d have a chat with the man about that.
“I’d been so careful,” she mumbled. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud, and it got Griff’s attention because he glanced at her again.
“No. You haven’t been. You shouldn’t have parked here. If I could find you, then so could the person who made those new threats.”
She couldn’t argue with that, but what Rachel could dispute was that the person who’d made those new threats might not even be after her. Yes, a month ago someone had put a bullet in her father’s chest while he’d been in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office where both her brothers worked. But that person, Whitney Goble, who’d been responsible for the shooting, had tried to kill Rachel’s father so Whitney could set up someone else that she wanted to punish. Now, Whitney was dead.
Not that it helped lessen the memories just because Whitney was no longer alive.
No. Because of everything else that’d happened in the twenty-four hours following the shooting. That’s when they’d learned that her father also had secrets.
Well, one secret, anyway.
That, too, twisted away at her. Just as much as reading the threat he’d gotten and seeing him gunned down in the parking lot. But the truth was her father had been living two lives and had a mistress and a son living several counties over. Her brothers, Egan and Court, hadn’t known. Neither had her mother, Helen.
But Griff had.
Of course, Griff hadn’t breathed a word about it. Not after the shooting. Not even when later that night she’d gone to his bed to help ease the worry she was feeling for her father. That’s why the cut had felt so deep. Griff had known, and he hadn’t told her.
All of those emotions came flooding back. “I don’t want you here,” she said.
If her words stung, he showed no signs of it. “Yeah, I got that, but I made a promise to your mother that I’d keep you safe.”
It didn’t surprise her that her mother had made that request. Or that Griff had carried it out. But there was possibly another side to this. “Are you using this as a way to mend fences with me? Because if so, it won’t work.”
He didn’t even acknowledge that, but Griff did push her behind him. He brought up his gun as if getting ready to fire. That put her heart right in her throat, and Rachel came up on her toes so she could see over Griff’s shoulder. She shook her head and was about to tell him she didn’t see anything.
But she did.
Rachel saw someone move in the alley to the right of the small hardware store. Since it was only 8:00 p.m., she reminded herself that it could be someone putting out the trash. However, that knot in her stomach returned. It was a feeling that her brothers had always told her never to ignore.
Was this the person who’d made those new threats against her family?
Maybe. Whoever it was definitely seemed to be lurking. And looking in their direction. Rachel doubted the person could see them because Griff and she were deep enough in the shadows on this side of the street. Or at least they would be unless there was more lightning. Which was a strong possibility. She could hear more thunder rumbling in the distance.
“Why would someone want to hurt me?” she whispered.
“To get back at your father. At Warren,” Griff answered without hesitation. “Everyone in the McCall family could be at risk. Don’t worry,” he quickly added. “We have a guard on your mother’s room at the hospital.”
Good. Because her mother was mentally fragile right now. Suffering from a breakdown. Helen didn’t need to be fighting off idiots obsessed with getting back at Warren.
Rachel felt the first drops of rain hit her face. They no doubt hit Griff, too, but they didn’t cause him to lose focus. He kept watching the man across the street. But the guy wasn’t moving. She did see something, however. The flash of light, maybe from a match or lighter. A moment later, a small red circle of fire winked in and out.
That caused her to breathe a little easier. “He’s just smoking.”
But Griff didn’t budge. “He’s carrying a gun.”
Rachel certainly hadn’t seen anything to indicate that, but she took a closer look. She had to wait several snail-crawling moments, but she finally saw the glint of metal. Maybe a gun in his right hand.
More raindrops came. So did the vein of lightning that lit up the sky, and Griff automatically moved her deeper into the alley. He also took out his phone.
“I’m calling the locals for backup,” he said, without taking his attention off the man. “Yeah, it’s me again,” he added, speaking to whoever answered.
That probably meant Griff had already been in touch with local law enforcement. In fact, he’d probably called them as soon as he’d figured out she was in Silver Creek.
“Do a quiet approach,” Griff instructed. “If you can, try to get someone behind this guy so we can take him into custody.” He ended the call and put his phone away.
She doubted it would take long for someone to arrive, but it would feel like an eternity. And might be completely unnecessary.
“If he means to do me harm, why hasn’t he fired at me?” Rachel asked.
Again, Griff took his time answering, but judging from the sound of agreement he made, it was probably something he’d already considered. “Maybe he’s waiting for a clean shot.”
That gave her another jolt of memories. Of her father’s shooting. They hadn’t seen the gunman that day because she had fired from a heavily treed area behind the police station. But it had indeed been a “clean shot” that went straight into her father’s chest. It was a miracle he’d survived.
“We can cut through the back of the alley and then get to my truck that’s parked up the street,” Griff whispered. “That way you’re not out in the open.”
“My car is right there,” she pointed out. “Only about ten feet away. And the doors are already unlocked.”
“If this man wants you dead, he could shoot you before you get inside.”
That caused her breath to stop for a moment. Griff normally sugarcoated things for her, but apparently those days were over. Maybe he truly understood that their friendship—and anything else they felt for each other—was over, too.
“There’s a deputy,” Griff said.
Rachel immediately looked out and spotted a man on foot coming up Main Street. He had his gun drawn and was ducking in and out of doorways of the various shops. He was still three buildings away when the guy who’d been watching them turned and started running out the back of the alley. He quickly disappeared from sight.
“He’s getting away,” she blurted out.
“The sheriff might have had time to get someone back there.” Griff didn’t sound very hopeful about that, though. “Come on.”
He took hold of her arm to start them moving, and she saw his truck. It was indeed at the back of the alley. But they had barely made it a step before a deafening noise blasted through the air. Not lightning or thunder from the storm. The impact slammed Griff and her into the side of the building.
And that’s when Rachel saw that her car had exploded into a giant ball of fire.
Chapter Two (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
Griff didn’t bother to curse himself for not being able to prevent this from happening. No time for cursing and regrets.
He had to get Rachel out of there. And it didn’t matter if she no longer trusted him—that explosion should be plenty enough proof to her that someone wanted her dead.
“This way.” Griff hooked his arm around her waist to get her moving.
He didn’t take her out onto the sidewalk, though. It was too risky for them to go there, because the person who’d just blown up her car could be waiting for them to do just that. Nor did he want to stay put in case there was a second explosion.
The rain started to pelt them, and the lightning suddenly seemed way too close. It definitely wasn’t a good time to be outside, especially since there were metal gas pipes leading into the buildings.
“Was that really a bomb?” Rachel asked. Her voice was as shaky as the rest of her, and she seemed to be talking more to herself than to him.
Griff wasn’t sure exactly what it had been. Definitely some kind of explosive device, and that meant someone—probably the guy from the alley—had put it on Rachel’s car. He could have done that after she’d parked and gone to the pharmacy, but if so, it was a huge risk. Because someone could have spotted him.
Of course, the idiot could have planted it hours ago and waited until now to detonate it. Even if it didn’t kill Rachel and him, it created enough of a diversion for the goon to get away.
Griff kept them moving. Not too fast, though. He needed to try to listen, to make sure someone wasn’t coming up behind them.
Or in front of them.
Because it was entirely possible the bomber had a partner somewhere in the maze of alleys. One who could be waiting to ambush them.
“Stay close to me,” Griff warned her. “We’ll go to my truck.”
Rachel immediately started shaking her head. “What if he planted a bomb on it, too?”
“It wasn’t out of my sight long enough while I’ve been here.”
Which wasn’t long at all. As soon as he’d gotten word that Rachel was in Silver Creek, Griff had come to find her.
Normally, it would have been a forty-five-minute drive from McCall Canyon, but he’d shaved off the minutes to make it in just half an hour. And he was damn lucky he had, too. Because if he hadn’t gotten to Rachel in time, she would have tried to get into her car and would have been blown to smithereens.
A thought that felt like a knife to his heart.
Rachel and he weren’t a couple. Never had been, really. But Griff wouldn’t have forgiven himself if he hadn’t been able to save her. And her father wouldn’t have forgiven him, either.
“Keep watch behind us,” Griff told Rachel, repeating the order he’d given her earlier, and he passed her his phone. “Text the sheriff, Grayson Ryland. That’s the last number I called. And tell him where we’re going.”
He could feel her doing that, hopefully managing to do so while he kept her moving. However, Griff stopped as soon as he made it to the end of the alley. He peered around the corner of the building, but it was too dark to see much of anything. Hearing was a problem, too, thanks to the rain and thunder. He did hear a dinging sound, and figured that meant Rachel had gotten an answer to the text.
“The sheriff says he and his deputy are in pursuit of the guy who was in the alley,” she relayed.
Good. Griff didn’t want him getting away. If they caught him, they might finally have answers as to who was trying to kill the McCalls.
And why.
Griff and Rachel’s brothers had been investigating that for nearly a month now and had come up empty. Even if Sheriff Ryland and his deputies didn’t manage to nab this bomber, maybe they’d be able to get some DNA off the cigarette that the guy had almost certainly ditched somewhere in the alley. Of course, the storm wasn’t going to help with that, which meant time was critical right now.
Thanks to another bolt of lightning, Griff was able to get a glimpse of the darker spaces in the alley. He didn’t see anyone lurking there, so he stepped out to get a better look.
Not good.
Because all he managed to see was a gun. And that glimpse happened at the exact same moment that a bullet slammed into the brick wall right next to where Griff was standing.
Rachel gave a sharp gasp and grabbed hold of his shoulder, pulling him back just as another shot came at Griff. An inch closer and he would have been a dead man.
Griff cursed and pushed Rachel even deeper into the alley, putting his own body in front of hers. It was far from ideal, mainly because the smoke from the explosion was spilling into the alley and making its way toward them.
Hell.
First an explosion, then lightning. Now a gunshot. This was not the quick in-and-out that Griff had planned for Rachel.
“Did you see the shooter?” she asked. She was shaking even harder now.
“No. But he’s to our left.” In the opposite direction from Griff’s truck. Still, the guy was in the catbird seat right now because he could be hiding behind heaven knew what, just waiting for them to step out so he could shoot them.
Maybe this was the same guy who’d been in the alley across the street. If he knew the layout of the buildings, he could have possibly made his way here. But it was just as likely there were at least two of them.
That didn’t help settle Griff’s raw nerves.
His phone buzzed, and since Rachel was still holding it, he motioned for her to answer. She did, and even though she didn’t put it on speaker, she held the phone close enough for him to hear.
“Did you fire that shot?” Sheriff Ryland asked.
“No. The shooter’s somewhere in the alley. I’m taking Rachel back to Main Street.”
Shock flashed through her eyes, and Griff could tell from her tensed muscles that she didn’t think that was a good idea. He didn’t believe it was an especially good one, either, but staying put was too dangerous. If there were indeed two attackers, then they could try to trap Rachel and him in the alley.
“Hold tight for a few more minutes if you can,” Sheriff Ryland said. “I’ll try to make sure the street is clear.”
It was a generous offer, one that Griff accepted, but he knew it was going to be tough for the sheriff to manage. The smoke would be cutting his visibility, too, and they weren’t out of the woods yet. There was still the possibility of a second explosion.
Griff moved Rachel to the center of the alley. “Stand with your back to mine and face Main Street,” he instructed. That way, he would be in a position to shoot the attacker who’d fired those shots at him.
He took out his reserve weapon from a slide holster in his jeans and handed it to her. Griff prayed she wouldn’t need it, but at least if she did, Rachel could shoot. He knew that because he’d been the one to teach her.
That reminder brought back some unwanted thoughts. Rachel’s and his lives had been intertwined since he was twelve years old. That’s when Griff had moved to McCall Canyon and started doing odd jobs for her father at the McCall Ranch. That meant they had twenty-four years of memories. Some had been bad, really bad, but this would be at the top of the heap.
She took his gun, automatically positioning it the way he’d taught her. Griff hated that he had to put her in this position. Hated that she was in this kind of danger. Later, when they made it out of this, he would need to do something to fix it, to make sure it never happened again.
Of course, Rachel might not let him fix anything. She might try to go on the run again.
“Who’s doing this?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” Griff wished he did. “But if you’ve got any ideas, I’m all ears.” He expected her to say no.
She didn’t.
“Marlon Stowe,” she said.
The name meant nothing to Griff, but judging from the way she shuddered, it meant plenty to Rachel.
“Who the hell is he?” Griff demanded.
He wanted to hear every word she said, but he also didn’t want anything they were saying to cause him to lose focus. He had to keep watch, and listen, for that shooter.
Rachel shook her head. “It’s just some guy who works at the inn where I’m staying. The first week I was there, I saw him and his girlfriend get into a serious argument. I intervened when I thought he was about to hit her, and after the girlfriend and I talked, she broke things off with Marlon and moved out of town. Marlon blames me for that.”
Griff was slammed with emotions. Anger that some clown wouldn’t leave Rachel alone.
“It’s probably not him, though.” Rachel gave her head another shake. “I don’t think he was mad enough, or crazy enough, to want to kill me.”
Griff would soon find out if that was true. Once he had Rachel safe, he would make it a top priority to find out everything he could about this guy. Rachel had been through entirely too much to have to deal with a hothead.
“It’s more likely that this is connected to my father and those new threats,” Rachel added a moment later.
Griff didn’t voice his agreement. Didn’t ask her to elaborate, either. That’s because he knew what she meant. This could go back to her father’s mistress. Or maybe to someone else Warren had ticked off when he’d carried on a three-decades-long affair.
The rain started coming down harder, and Griff felt Rachel shiver. He didn’t think it was solely from fear this time. It was May, which meant the temps were already high, but the rain was cold, and their clothes were past the damp stage. The water was starting to stream down their bodies.
His phone dinged again with another text message. “The sheriff says he doesn’t see a shooter anywhere near your truck. His deputy is still pursuing the bomber on foot.”
Good. Maybe that meant the bomber wouldn’t double back. But even if he was trying to do that, it was too dangerous for them to wait around and find out. If the guy had managed to plant one explosive, he could have others on him.
“Let’s go,” Griff told her.
She nodded, shoved his phone in her pocket and got moving. While they made their way back to the front of the alley, Griff tried to keep watch all around them, and Rachel was doing the same. He prayed it would be enough.
“Stay down,” he muttered, when they reached Main Street.
There wasn’t much left of her car, but still plenty of flames and smoke. Both could conceal a shooter, but could hopefully give Rachel and him some cover, too.
As he’d done at the back end of the alley, Griff leaned out from the building and looked around. There were plenty of places a shooter could hide. Too many. And Griff didn’t see either the sheriff or a deputy. Still, he couldn’t wait any longer.
“Keep low and watch where you’re stepping,” Griff warned her.
In addition to the limited visibility from the smoke, there were bits of car parts, metal and glass all over the sidewalk. He didn’t want Rachel getting tripped up once they started to move.
Griff took out his truck keys, said a quick prayer and stayed in front of Rachel when they stepped out from cover. He didn’t have to tell her to move fast because she did it automatically. She also started to cough.
The smoke quickly began to burn his eyes, so Griff picked up the pace as much as he could. He also continued to keep watch. Especially behind them. He didn’t want that shooter coming out of the alley and gunning them down.
It seemed to take way too long to get to his truck, and the moment he reached it, he unlocked the driver’s-side door and threw it open. He was about to push Rachel inside when he heard a sound. Not on the street.
But from above.
Griff glanced up just in time to spot the man on the roof of the one-story building. Even though he didn’t have a good view of the guy’s face, he had no trouble seeing his gun. A gun the man fired.
The bullet ripped through the rear window on his truck and exited the windshield. The only reason it missed Rachel was because she moved a split second before the guy pulled the trigger. She dived across the seat, and in the same motion caught Griff’s arm to pull him in, as well.
He shook off her grip, turned and took aim, firing two shots at the man on the roof.
That sent the guy ducking for cover, and Griff took advantage of that. While he would have liked to go after this moron and arrest him, he couldn’t put Rachel at risk like that. He had to get her out of here. And not just off Main Street and out of the line of sight of this shooter. He needed to get her away from Silver Creek and whatever the heck was going on here. He had to take her to McCall Canyon so they could regroup and catch these SOBs.
Griff jumped behind the wheel, got the engine started and hit the accelerator.
“Get down!” he warned Rachel.
She did.
Just as bullets slammed into the back window.
Chapter Three (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
Griff and she had managed to get away from a killer.
She kept reminding herself of that. Kept reminding herself, too, that they were alive. But it might be a long time before that all sank in. Especially since the would-be killer had managed to escape. He was still out there. Maybe regrouping. Perhaps planning another attack. And maybe next time, Griff and she wouldn’t be so lucky.
With that terrifying possibility going through her mind, Rachel looked out at the McCall Canyon sheriff’s office when Griff pulled to a stop in front of it. She took a deep breath, trying to steel herself.
It didn’t work.
Of course, there wasn’t much that would help steady her right now. She was going to have to face her family, and there probably wasn’t enough steel in her backbone to get her through that. Because she was already close to the breaking point.
If Griff hadn’t pulled her into that alley when he did, she would have died in the car explosion. Ditto for him getting her to his truck so they could get away. While she was very glad to be alive, she couldn’t forget that in those blink-of-an-eye moments, the outcome could have been a whole lot different. Griff and she could both be dead.
“Thank you,” she told him.
He’d already reached to open the door of his truck, but he stopped and looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. That’s when she realized he’d misinterpreted what she’d said.
“I’m not thanking you for bringing me here,” Rachel corrected. “But for saving my life.”
Griff just sat there, perhaps waiting for something else. Maybe for her to blast him for finding her when she’d made it so clear that she hadn’t wanted to be found. She hadn’t wanted him in her life, either. However, that was an argument that could wait. For now, she had two other items on the agenda.
Her brothers.
Both Court and Egan were right there in the squad room when Griff and she went in. Anyone who saw her brothers together like this had no doubt they were related. They had the same dark brown hair and intense gray eyes. Rachel had obviously gotten their mother’s genes, since her hair was blond and her eyes blue. Still, there was enough family resemblance for people to tell she was a McCall, too.
Thankfully, there were no other lawmen around, not even a dispatcher. And she was especially thankful that her father wasn’t here. Since this probably wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation, Rachel preferred that as few people as possible were present.
Griff’s phone dinged with a text message—something that had been happening during most of the drive from Silver Creek. He’d had Rachel read those to him so he could focus on the drive, but he didn’t make that offer now. He stepped to the side, probably not only to read the text but to give her some time with Egan and Court.
As Griff had done in the truck, her brothers just stared at her for a moment. They looked her over from head to toe, their gazes lingering on the jacket she was wearing.
It was Griff’s.
He’d given it to her in the truck when she’d started shaking. Not just because she was wet from the rain, but because the adrenaline had still been slamming into her. She’d gladly accepted the jacket. And had tried not to notice that it carried Griff’s scent.
Rachel failed at that, too. She noticed.
Court was the first to budge. He cursed—the profanity definitely meant for her—and then he pulled her into his arms. “Leaving town like that was a really stupid thing to do,” he whispered to her, while he brushed a kiss on her cheek.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she whispered back.
Court pulled away, studied her eyes, then he nodded. Perhaps that meant he understood that what their father had done had shaken her so badly that she’d needed to put some distance between them. What Court probably didn’t know was that the deepest cut had come from Griff.
Again, though, that was an argument with Griff she’d need to postpone, because she had to face Egan. Unlike Court, he didn’t come to her. Her other brother stood there, giving her one of his infamous glares that no doubt worked on criminals. Not kid sisters, though. Rachel went to him and hugged him. It was like hugging a statue, because his muscles were rock hard. But then she felt him relax.
“I was worried about you,” he said against her ear. “Don’t you ever make me worry about you like that again.”
No need for her to tell him that she’d been concerned, too. Not just with leaving McCall Canyon, but with everything that had gone on tonight. Concerned and scared. All their lives had changed on a dime when their father had been shot, and the changes apparently weren’t over yet. Griff had said there were new threats, and with the attack, it could mean the person who’d made those threats wasn’t finished with her family.
Or not.
This might not be connected at all, which made it all the more frustrating. Someone wanted her dead, and she not only didn’t know who, Rachel didn’t know why.
“Griff said you weren’t hurt,” Egan added. “Is it true?”
“I’m okay,” she settled for saying.
He let the hug linger a few more seconds before he moved back and looked at Griff. “Tell me how we catch the SOB who tried to kill Rachel.”
On the drive over, Griff had filled Egan in on the basics while on speakerphone. Well, he’d done that after they’d been sure the shooter wasn’t following them. He had also had several conversations with Sheriff Ryland.
What Griff hadn’t done was talked to Rachel.
Like Egan, he was clearly still fuming that she’d left town and then had gotten herself into a dangerous situation. She hadn’t purposely run toward the danger. She’d been running to get away from Griff and her father. Now, here she was—right back with them. Or at least she soon would be with both of them because she was certain that either Egan or Court had already called their father.
Griff quit reading the text on his phone and shifted his attention to Egan. “Sheriff Ryland is getting us footage from a security camera outside a bank that was just up the street from where Rachel had her car parked. We might be able to see who planted the explosive device.”
Rachel wasn’t holding out hope. If the guy was bold enough to do something like that on Main Street, then he was probably aware of the position of the camera. Still, they might get lucky. If not, maybe someone had even seen the person and could give them a description.
Egan hooked his arm around her and got her moving to his office, which was at the back of the squad room. Once he had her there, he practically sat her in the chair next to his desk, then got her a bottle of water from his fridge.
She’d been in this office many times—when it’d been her father’s, and then for the past four years since it was Egan’s. It hadn’t changed in, well, forever. Same desk. Same filing cabinet. Same fridge.
The picture was there on the wall, of course. A photo of Egan, Court, her and their late brother, Warren Jr.—or W.J. as folks had called him. W.J. had been dead for nearly a decade now. Shot and killed in the line of duty when he’d been a deputy sheriff on call at a domestic dispute that had turned deadly.
The pain and grief from losing him felt as fresh as if she’d just lost him hours ago instead of all those years. That was the picture she had in her head. Her brother dead. His life cut much too short because he’d been wearing a badge and trying to do the right thing.
And that was the reason Rachel had sworn she would never fall for a cop.
That included a Texas Ranger like Griff.
“Tell me about this dirtbag who’s riled at you,” Egan insisted.
That was his big-brother tone, and it caused her to sigh. Egan had always been protective of her, which was why he often shot Griff scowling looks. Like now. Neither their father nor Egan had ever thought Griff was the right man for her. And he wasn’t. He’d proved that last month.
“His name is Marlon Stowe,” Rachel answered, after she had a long sip of the water. “His folks own the inn where I was staying, and he works part-time in the office there. He believes I’m responsible for his girlfriend leaving him. I suppose I am,” she added.
“I’ve already requested a background check on him,” Griff explained. “I’m waiting on a call about him now.” He took out his phone and showed her the photo on the screen. “That’s the guy, right?”
She nodded. It was Marlon’s DMV photo that Griff had apparently gotten in that text. “His hair’s a little lighter in this picture than it was the last time I saw him.” Marlon definitely didn’t look like a cowboy. He had the clean and polished appearance of a businessman. One with a tense edge to him.
“Checking out Marlon is a good start,” Rachel continued. “He gives me the creeps, but he hasn’t been around the inn for the last week or so. Plus, he’s never been...actually physically aggressive. He just made it very clear that he was furious with me because I convinced his girlfriend to leave him.” She paused. “You’re sure our half brother or our father’s mistress isn’t behind this?”
Griff quickly shook his head. “Your half brother is a cop. And no, there’s no indication whatsoever that he’s dirty. His name is Raleigh Lawton, by the way. He’s a county sheriff.”
She knew that. Rachel hadn’t been able to resist looking him up online. “We’re certain Raleigh is really Warren’s son?”
“Warren says he is,” Griff confirmed. “Raleigh refused to have a DNA test. He wants nothing to do with Warren, your brothers or you.”
Rachel didn’t fault him for that, since she felt the same way about Warren. “How about his mother then?”
Her name was Alma Lawton. Rachel knew plenty about her, too, but it wasn’t plenty enough to understand why her father had carried on an affair with the woman and had a child with her.
“I’ve already called Alma,” Court said. “She’ll be in first thing in the morning for questioning.”
Rachel was betting the woman wouldn’t care much for that, and it almost certainly wasn’t the first time her brothers or Griff had brought the woman in. No. Because Alma was once a person of interest in her father’s shooting and could have been connected to the actual shooter, Whitney. After all, Alma had been his mistress for years, and it was possible she’d just gotten tired of waiting for Warren to leave his family for her.
But that wasn’t motive for Alma to go after one of Warren’s kids.
Was it?
Maybe if the woman wanted to punish Warren, she might believe that was the way to do it. But there were a lot of “ifs” in that theory. It was possible that Alma was the one who’d ended the longtime affair, and if so, that would mean she didn’t have a motive for what was going on.
“We haven’t told Mom about the attack,” Court went on. “We thought that was best, considering.”
Yes, considering that their mother was in a mental hospital. That was something else she could thank her father for doing. Hearing the news of her husband’s affair and his other life had sent Helen over the edge.
“I won’t say anything when I talk to her,” Rachel assured them. Which would be soon. Rachel had been calling her every day for the past month, and she wouldn’t miss the call tomorrow, either.
“You haven’t asked about Dad,” Egan said. He didn’t wait for her to respond. “He got out of the hospital about two weeks ago, and he’s upset that you ran off before he had a chance to explain.”
Rachel could practically feel her blood pressure soaring. “Well, you can tell him I’m upset that he couldn’t be faithful to his wife.”
She didn’t bother to take the venom out of her voice but hated that she’d aimed it at Egan. Court was more of the forgiving sort and had probably worked out a way to make amends with Warren, but Egan was likely just as bitter about this as she was. The difference was that he hadn’t left.
Egan grunted in agreement and tipped his head to Griff, sending another scowl his way. “Griff told us what happened between you two the night Dad was shot. That you landed in bed for comfort sex.”
Rachel snapped toward Griff so fast that her neck popped. She was certain she was scowling at him now.
“I thought they needed to hear what’d happened,” Griff said, his mouth tight. “I wanted them to know that you might have left because of me and not Warren.”
“I left because of both of you,” she snapped. And intended to say a whole lot more to Griff—in private.
Mercy. He had no right to tell her family about that.
“I’m guessing it’s over between Griff and you?” Egan asked.
“Yes.” Rachel snapped that response, too.
And she scowled at Egan when he gave her that big-brother look again. Egan didn’t have to come out and say it, but she felt a mental lecture coming on. One where he would say something about hoping she’d remembered to practice safe sex. She had.
Or rather, Griff had.
They’d used a condom, but with the way her life had been going, she’d taken a pregnancy test two weeks later just in case. It’d been negative. So at least her mistake of sleeping with Griff hadn’t resulted in a pregnancy.
The mental lecture was still going on between Egan and her when the front door opened. Griff, Court and Egan all reacted by drawing their guns. But they all soon holstered them again, Court and Griff making grumbling sounds. Rachel knew the reason for the grumbles.
Their visitor was the district attorney, Brad Gandy.
It was an understatement that Brad and Griff didn’t get along. She was the main reason for that. Brad had always had a thing for her. And Court had been on Griff’s side. In fact, Court was the only McCall who’d ever wanted to see Griff and her together. Of course, that probably didn’t apply now that Court knew Griff had slept with her while keeping Warren’s dirty little secret.
Brad made a beeline to Egan’s office, volleying glances at all of them when he stepped inside. His eyes narrowed a bit when his attention landed on Griff. Griff’s only reaction was to scowl even harder than he already was.
The two men were definitely a huge contrast. Brad, in his pricey gray suit, looked as if he’d just stepped out of the courtroom. Griff was pure cowboy in his jeans and Stetson.
“Rachel,” Brad said on a rise of breath when he’d finished with his glances. “I heard about someone trying to kill you. God, I’m so sorry.” He went straight to her and pulled her into his arms.
She tried not to go stiff. After all, Brad and she had once dated in college, and he’d hugged and kissed her back then. However, it didn’t feel right for that little display of affection to happen in front of her brothers. Or Griff.
Especially Griff.
Rachel silently cursed him. And the blasted attraction. She wished she could make herself immune to him.
Brad eased back, making eye contact with her. Except it wasn’t just mere contact. He was looking at her as if examining her, to make sure she was all right. She wasn’t, but Rachel tried to appear a lot stronger than she felt as she stepped out of his grip.
“How’d you know about the attack?” she asked, and she prayed it wasn’t on the news. Rachel didn’t want her mother to find out that way—or any other way, for that matter.
Brad flinched a little. Maybe because her tone had been so brusque. Or maybe because she hadn’t greeted him with the same enthusiastic hug he’d given her. “I’m friends with the DA in Silver Creek.”
She glanced at Griff, and before she could voice her concern about that, he took out his phone once more. “I’ll make sure no one at the hospital mentions it to your mother.” He stepped outside the office to make the call.
Rachel made a mental note to thank him for that, too. Another mental note to make arrangements to put some distance between Griff and her. She needed to think, and right now, her head wasn’t cooperating. She was dizzy and exhausted, and being around Griff had a way of making her not think straight. The blasted attraction kept getting in the way.
“Are you really okay?” Court asked her.
That’s when Rachel realized she was massaging her right temple. “I’m not about to have a seizure. And I’ve been taking my meds.”
Of course, that didn’t mean a seizure wouldn’t happen, but if it did, there was nothing she could do to stop it now.
“Please tell me you know who tried to murder Rachel,” Brad said to Egan.
Egan lifted his shoulder. “Sorry, my ESP isn’t working so great tonight. But I’ve got a lead, and I’ll question Alma Lawton.”
“Alma!” Brad spat out the name like he would profanity. Maybe some of his tone was due to Egan’s smart-mouthed remark. “Yes, definitely talk to her. She hates every one of you. What kind of lead do you have?” he pressed.
Egan hesitated, as if debating if he would tell him. Brad and he were on the same side of the law, but Rachel figured sometimes it didn’t feel that way. They’d butted heads on several cases over the years. However, Rachel thought the underlying current was because Egan didn’t want her to be with Brad any more than he wanted her to be with Griff.
At the moment, she felt the same way—despite the simmering heat between Griff and her. There was heat, too, when it came to Brad, but it was all one-sided.
“Marlon Stowe,” Egan finally answered. “He’s a guy who might blame Rachel for his girlfriend leaving him. Did the Silver Creek district attorney happen to mention him to you?”
Judging from the way Brad’s mouth tightened, that would be a no. “When are you bringing him in for questioning?”
Egan shrugged. “When I’ve got probable cause, and right now—”
“You’ve got it,” Griff interrupted, stepping back into the room. He looked at Egan and then tipped his head to the laptop on the desk. “First things first. Sheriff Ryland just emailed you the surveillance footage from the bank camera.”
That sent both Court and Egan to the computer. Rachel would have joined them, but it was obvious Griff had something else to say.
“Marlon’s ex-girlfriend from a year ago took out a restraining order against him because he was stalking her,” Griff continued. “Sheriff Ryland said Marlon also hit her, but she wouldn’t press charges against him. There are rumors that he hit his last girlfriend, Taryn Harrison, too. That’s the woman you saw with Marlon while you were staying at the inn.”
Yes, and Marlon blamed her for the breakup. Rachel felt the chill slide through her. Here, she’d left McCall Canyon to escape, and instead she’d crossed paths with a bully. One who might be unhinged if he was indeed into stalking.
Brad turned toward her. “See? This is why you should have never left,” he snapped. “Did that man touch you?”
“No. He just said I should mind my own business.” She stopped, thought of something else. “But the next time we crossed paths, he seemed to know who I was. I mean, I was using an alias. I’d told everyone there at the inn that my name was Margaret O’Malley.”
“Mom’s middle and maiden names,” Court supplied, looking up from the laptop. Egan kept his attention planted firmly on the screen.
She nodded. “I lied and told them I didn’t have any ID because my wallet had been stolen. I used cash to pay for the room.”
“Cash that you withdrew from your bank account right before you left town,” Brad said.
So obviously he’d checked on that. That wasn’t a surprise, not really. They’d probably all been looking for her. It was ironic that Griff had been the one to find her.
“What made you think Marlon knew who you were?” Griff asked.
She almost dismissed it, but that would mean dismissing the knot in her stomach. After what’d happened, it was best if she listened to it.
“When I was paying for my room last week, Marlon was in the office, and he wrote the receipt,” she explained. “He started writing my name with an R, then he quickly scratched it out and wrote ‘Margaret’ instead. I think he’d been about to put down ‘Rachel.’”
Brad made a sound to indicate he was giving that some thought. “Maybe he saw you on the news. After Warren’s shooting,” he clarified.
It was possible, but Griff didn’t look as if he was buying it, either. Good. She wanted him and her brothers to dig into Marlon’s activities and see if there was something to find.
“Hell,” Egan said. “There’s someone on the footage.”
Brad hurried behind the desk to have a look, but Griff stayed right next to her. Egan turned the screen so they could see, and it didn’t take long for her to realize they were looking at the man who’d been in the alley.
A man she instantly recognized.
Oh, God.
Chapter Four (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
What the hell was Warren doing on the Silver Creek surveillance video?
That was the question Griff was very anxious to ask the man. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had an urgent need to know, because Rachel whipped out her phone and pressed in her father’s number. Since Griff had been about to do the same thing, he just waited for Warren to answer.
But he didn’t.
After a few rings, the call went to voice mail. “Call me now,” was all that Rachel snapped into the phone when she left her father a message.
Since Warren was worried about Rachel and had spent the past month trying to find her, he would no doubt do just that. Well, he would unless he’d done something stupid.
“It appears you’ve got a new person of interest,” Brad said, his mouth tight and his eyes narrowed as he stared at the screen.
Griff didn’t like that Brad had jumped to the worst-case scenario. Of course, he’d never been a fan of Warren, because they, too, had clashed when Warren had been sheriff.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Griff said to Rachel. “Warren wouldn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t hurt any of his kids.”
“Not unless he was finished with me,” Rachel quickly pointed out. But even she had to wave that off. “No. He wouldn’t hurt me. Not intentionally, anyway.” She pointed to the screen. “So why is he there?”
Griff had a theory, and this was going to be a good news/bad news kind of deal. “Maybe Warren found out where you were and went to check on you.” That was the good news. “And maybe while Warren was watching you, he could have gotten caught up in the attack.”
After everything she’d been through tonight, Griff hated to point that out to her, but Rachel was smart and would have soon come to the same conclusion. Plus, that was still better than thinking Warren could have had any part in that explosion or the shots being fired.
“I’ll call the Silver Creek sheriff,” Egan volunteered, taking out his phone, as well.
“And it might be jumping the gun, but I’ll see if I can have Dad’s cell phone traced,” Court added. He stepped away as if to start doing just that, but then volleyed glances at Brad, Griff and his sister before his attention settled on Griff. “Why don’t you go ahead and get Rachel out of here so she can get some rest?”
Since Rachel was no doubt on the verge of an adrenaline crash, that was a good idea, but judging from the way her forehead bunched up, it was going to be hard for Griff to sell her on doing that. He definitely didn’t want to use her epilepsy to get her to leave. Over the years, he’d learned that she didn’t want any special considerations because of it. Still, the stress might trigger a seizure. He’d been with her once when that’d happened. They’d been teenagers then, but he’d never forgotten it.
“I can take Rachel to my place,” Brad suggested. “I’ve got a great security system, and it’s not somewhere that the gunman would expect her to go.”
Griff wanted to nix that suggestion right off, but had to admit that was because he didn’t like Brad. He didn’t want Rachel under Brad’s roof at any time, but especially not when she was so vulnerable.
Of course, that might be his own guilty conscience at work. Rachel had certainly been vulnerable after learning of her father’s affair, and that hadn’t stopped Griff from sleeping with her.
Apparently, Rachel had her own concerns about Brad, however, because she shook her head. “Thanks, but your place is over a half hour’s drive from here. I don’t want to be that far from the sheriff’s office in case they catch the shooter. I want to be here if they get a chance to question him.”
Griff figured there was no way to stop her from observing the interview. No way to stop him, either, since this idiot had nearly killed Rachel and him. But first they had to catch the guy, and he was most likely long gone by now.
“If you don’t want to ride all the way out to the ranch,” Griff suggested to her, “my house is closer.”
She looked at him, and he saw the concern she had about that. Rightfully so. The last time she’d been at his house, they’d landed in bed. No way would that happen again. Not now, maybe not ever.
“The Silver Creek cops haven’t seen Dad,” Egan relayed when he got off the phone. “But they’ll look for him while they continue their search for the shooter.”
Maybe they’d get lucky and find both. Griff just didn’t want the cops to find Warren and the gunman together. Because if that happened, it meant Warren was either a hostage or had been involved in some way. That involvement might not necessarily be of his own doing, though.
“There’s nothing else you can do here,” Court chimed in, glancing at Rachel. “Griff could drive you to the ranch or his place, and I could follow to make sure you get there all right.”
In other words, Court would go to make sure they weren’t attacked along the way. It was a possibility, but since the other attack had happened on Main Street in Silver Creek, the ranch was probably safer than keeping her here. The ranch had a security gate, so someone couldn’t just come driving through. Of course, there were fences that could be scaled, which meant Griff would need to alert the hands to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.
Rachel huffed and then finally nodded. “The ranch. It’ll give me a chance to catch up on some paperwork that I’m sure has been piling up since I’ve been gone.”
It had been, because Griff had heard Warren, Court and Egan complaining about it. Normally, Warren and his sons handled the livestock supply, but Rachel managed the ranch’s finances and day-to-day operation. The McCall Ranch was big so it was a full-time job. With Warren recovering from the shooting and Rachel’s mom in the hospital, the business side of things had been neglected during Rachel’s absence, and it was costing the McCalls business.
“Does this mean you’re moving back?” Court asked.
“No.” Rachel didn’t hesitate, either. “But I’ll try to organize the paperwork so that whoever Dad hires to take my place will have an easier transition.” She paused. “I don’t want the ranch to lose business, for Egan’s and your sakes. It’s your home.”
Court went to her, brushed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s your home, too. And you don’t have to stay under Dad’s roof. You can do what I did and build a place of your own on the ranch grounds.”
She gave no indication whatsoever that she would consider that, but she did give her brother’s arm a gentle squeeze. Maybe Court would be able to help mend the fences between Warren and Rachel. Of course, there was a lot of mending to be done, and now that had to include a good explanation of why Warren had been in Silver Creek tonight.
“Rachel, I can drive you out to the ranch,” Brad volunteered. “That way, Griff could stay here and work the investigation. I’m sure he has plenty to do.”
Griff did have plenty, but he could do it at the ranch. He also didn’t like the way Brad was pushing this.
“We don’t need Griff here,” Court argued. Griff really needed to buy Court a drink for that. “And I’d rather Rachel be with a lawman. No offense, but if the shooter comes back, a Texas Ranger would be better able to protect her than a DA.”
Brad’s mouth went tight again, and he looked at Rachel, no doubt hoping that she would choose him over Griff for protective custody.
Rachel glanced at both of them and took a deep breath before she answered. “I’ll go with Griff. But I’ll be at the ranch just for tonight. I’ll make other arrangements tomorrow.”
It didn’t sound as if she wanted Griff in on those arrangements, but there was no way Egan and Court would just let their kid sister go someplace that wasn’t safe. Well, as safe as they could make it, anyway.
“We can use the cruisers out front,” Court suggested, and he turned to Griff. “I can have someone bring your truck to you.”
Griff thanked him, and after Rachel said a quick goodbye to Egan, she followed Court and Griff to the front. Court went out first, glancing around to make sure no one was out there. Once Court had given him the all clear, Griff got Rachel moving as fast as he could. Brad was right behind them, and for a moment Griff thought the man might try to get into the cruiser with them, but he stopped at the passenger door. He kept his attention nailed to Rachel as if he hoped she would change her mind.
She didn’t.
Rachel looked everywhere but at Brad as Griff drove away. He spared the DA just a glance, to make sure he stayed put, but Griff was more interested in making sure Court was right behind them and that no one else pulled out to follow them. He didn’t see another vehicle other than Court’s cruiser and hoped it stayed that way.
“Sorry about this,” Griff said. “I know you don’t want to be with me—”
“I don’t.” Then she paused. “But I don’t want to die. Nor do I want to tie up Egan and Court to babysit me.”
She probably had meant that to be a dig, and Griff didn’t mind if it was. He didn’t want to tie up her brothers, either. He needed them to focus on catching whoever was behind the attack. Griff would help with that, too, but the sheriff’s office wasn’t his jurisdiction, and he could work the case from his laptop.
“This doesn’t mean things are good between us.” Rachel tacked that onto her comment.
He nodded. “It won’t make sense to you, but I don’t want things to be good between us. I screwed up, and I don’t expect you to ever forgive me for it.”
Her expression let him know that she wasn’t buying that he was being genuine about that. Well, she should. Because it was true. If it’d been just keeping Warren’s secret, then in time she might have relented. But Griff had slept with her, and he didn’t see a way past that.
Since their relationship was a touchy subject, Griff moved on to something else. Something that could end up being touchy, too, but he was getting a bad feeling in his gut about the DA.
“Is it my imagination or is Brad...clinging more than usual when it comes to you?” Griff asked.
She shot him a look as if that was something she might not want to discuss with him before she sighed. “He’s clingy,” she confirmed. “Before things fell apart at home, Brad had been pressuring me to go out with him again. And you should know that my father was encouraging it.”
That didn’t surprise Griff, but it still stung. It was also a reminder that as much as he loved Warren, Warren had never felt Griff was worthy of Rachel. And he wasn’t. But it bothered Griff that Warren thought Brad was the right man for his daughter. Brad wasn’t anywhere near good enough for her, but then Griff admitted that he was biased about that.
“I think Dad was starting to believe I’d become an old maid,” she added in a grumble.
Nowhere close to that. Rachel was only thirty-one. Since Griff was five years older, that’d been another reason Warren had wanted him to keep his distance from Rachel. It had been a big deal when she was just sixteen, but no longer seemed an obstacle. However, there were other obstacles now, including the fact that Rachel might never trust him again.
Griff continued to look around. So did Rachel, and because she was so quiet he heard the rhythm of her breathing change. For one heart-stopping moment, he thought it was because she’d seen someone lying in wait for them, but he soon figured out it was because the ranch had come into view.
He hated that this place was no longer a sanctuary for her. No longer a home. And he wondered if it ever would be again. Her mother would be getting out of the mental hospital soon, and it was entirely possible that Helen would file for a divorce. No one would fault her if she did. But that meant one of Rachel’s parents would almost certainly move.
Griff turned onto the ranch road and immediately spotted several hands near the gate. They opened it for him, and he drove through. As planned, Court turned around and headed back toward town. Griff kept watch in the rearview mirror to make sure the hands closed the gate behind them. They did.
Rachel eyed the main house and then Court’s place, which was just up the road. “Is Rayna living there now?” she asked.
Rayna Travers was Court’s girlfriend and likely soon to be his fiancée. “No. Not yet. She’s still living at her place.” A small horse ranch not far from there.
Rachel’s eyes widened. “She’s not alone, is she? Because the shooter could go there.”
He quickly shook his head. “She’s at a horse show in Dallas. I’m sure Court has someone watching out for her.”
In fact, there was no doubt in Griff’s mind about that. Court was clearly in love with Rayna and would take plenty of precautions to make sure she was safe. Ditto for taking those precautions for his sister. Both Court and Egan would work this case to make sure the danger ended fast. Griff just hoped it was fast enough that there wouldn’t be another attack.
“So far, Rayna hasn’t been included in the new threats we’ve been getting,” Griff added.
“We? You’ve been getting them, too?”
He nodded. “Court, Egan and your dad, as well. And your mom. Obviously, we haven’t let her know about that, and yes, we’ve alerted the hospital. Egan hired a private guard to watch her.”
The guard wasn’t only because of the new threats, though. It was because a month earlier someone had kidnapped the woman, and Egan and Court wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.
A heavy sigh left Rachel’s mouth. “How bad are the threats?”
Bad. In fact, they still twisted away at him. And while he would have liked to have sheltered Rachel from knowing the exact words, he wouldn’t keep this from her. He’d learned his lesson about doing that. Besides, if he sugarcoated it, she might not take it as seriously as she should.
“The person who sent them wants Warren to suffer,” Griff answered. “He or she says Warren will watch his children die one by one until he has nothing left but misery in his life.”
Rachel shuddered and turned away from him. “Please tell me you have a suspect.”
“Too many of them,” he admitted. “Along with Alma Lawton, who could be connected to Whitney, there are plenty of criminals who’d like to get back at Warren for arresting them. We’re making our way through the case files now.”
But the investigation was moving at a snail’s pace since they were basically having to use the looking-for-a-needle-in-a-haystack approach. Because it might not be an actual convicted criminal who was doing this, but rather someone connected to a person who Warren had managed to convict. Warren had made more enemies than friends during his long reign as the sheriff of McCall Canyon. He’d made an ample share of enemies in his business dealings, too. So, yeah, definitely slow going.
Rachel looked up at the house when Griff pulled to a stop in front of it. The porch lights were on, and Griff spotted one of the hands in a truck parked in the side driveway.
“You know the drill,” Griff reminded her. “Move fast.”
She did. Rachel got out of the cruiser and hurried up the porch steps, but the door opened before they reached it. Griff automatically went for his gun, but it was only Ruby, the McCalls’ longtime cook and housekeeper. The woman was more family than employee, and immediately pulled Rachel into a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” Ruby whispered to her.
Griff hated to cut the reunion short, but he didn’t want Rachel out in the open any longer than necessary. That’s why he took both women by the arm and maneuvered them inside.
“Are you all right?” Ruby asked, pushing Rachel’s hair from her face. “Egan called and said there’d been some more trouble. I figured we’d already had enough of that.”
“We have,” Rachel assured her. “And I’m fine.”
No, she wasn’t. She looked ready to collapse, and Ruby must have noticed.
“Should I do anything special to be certain that she stays safe?” Ruby asked Griff.
“Make sure all the windows and doors are locked and set the security system. I’ll call the head ranch hand and see where he has guards posted.” Griff took out his phone to do that, but Rachel’s cell rang.
She sucked in her breath when she saw the screen, so Griff knew this was important. He went to her and saw the name.
Warren.
Rachel’s hand was trembling when she pressed the button to put it on speaker. “Where are you?” she snapped.
“Rachel?” It was Warren all right, but he sounded groggy or something. “Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me. You called my phone, remember?”
“What?” Warren mumbled something else that Griff didn’t catch. “Are you all right?”
“No, I’m not,” she answered, her tone edged with anger. “Are you in Silver Creek? And did you attack Griff and me tonight?”
Griff expected Warren to jump to deny that last question. He didn’t. Instead, Warren groaned. “Someone tried to hurt you,” he said, but he slurred his words, making Griff wonder if the man was drunk.
“No, someone tried to kill me. Was it you?” Rachel demanded, her voice much louder than before.
“God, Rachel.” Warren groaned again. “I’m so sorry. But I just don’t know.”
Chapter Five (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)
Rachel paced across the living room of the ranch house, each time checking out the huge bay window as she walked past it. There was no sign of Egan or her father yet, but according to Egan’s last text, they should be here any minute.
Maybe then she could get answers.
Answers that she certainly hadn’t gotten the night before, when her father had called her. He’d sounded disoriented, maybe even drunk, but she’d never witnessed him having more than a beer or two. Certainly not enough alcohol to make him forget where he was. Or if he’d had something to do with the attacks.
She heard Griff’s footsteps, but even before she could see him, he grumbled out a warning. Probably because he heard her footsteps, too. “The pacing won’t help. They’ll get here just as fast if you’re sitting.”
Yes, but there was no way she could sit with all this restless energy inside her.
Griff came from the direction of the kitchen, carrying two mugs. She could tell from the smell that one was the strong coffee he favored. The other was her usual tea, which he handed to her.
“Ruby fixed it,” Griff added, “so it should be good.”
Rachel had a sip, nodded. It was exactly the way she liked it, and she made a mental note to thank Ruby the next time the woman came in to check on her. Which would no doubt be very soon. Ruby had been making those checks ever since Griff and she had arrived at the ranch the night before, and the frequency had increased in the past hour, since Egan’s text.
“I talked to Court a couple of minutes ago,” Griff said. “Your father is more lucid this morning.”
“But?” Rachel definitely heard the uncertainty in his voice.
“But he has some memory gaps about last night. In other words, don’t expect him to be able to tell us a lot more than we already know.”
She shook her head. “He has to tell us more. I need to know why he was in that alley.”
Griff made a sound of agreement and sipped his coffee. He didn’t sit, but instead joined her at the bay window. At first she thought that was because he was anxious to see Egan and Warren, too, but he gently took hold of her arm and moved her back. Only then did she remember that it probably wasn’t safe to stand in plain view like that, because there could be a sniper in the area.
She silently cursed. She hated that she had to be cautioned about that kind of threat in a place where she’d once felt so safe.
“I just assumed if the doctor released Dad from the hospital, it meant his memory had fully returned,” Rachel grumbled.
She didn’t really expect Griff to have an answer to that, because he’d already told her the details of his conversations with both her brothers. Her father had had an overnight stay because the doctor had wanted to run tests on him to see why he was so disoriented. The tests had been inconclusive, but all the results weren’t in yet. She was hoping when they had those results back, they’d have answers to go along with them.
Rachel got up and went to the window again when she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle, and spotted Egan’s cruiser as he pulled to a stop in front of the house. She’d thought she had steeled herself enough to see her father. She hadn’t. When he got out of the car, he looked frail and old. It seemed as if he’d aged a decade in the past month.
Griff went to the front door and opened it after he disarmed the security system, then he helped Egan get Warren up the steps. Her father was short of breath by the time he made it inside.
“Rachel.” His gaze immediately connected with hers, but he didn’t come toward her. Probably because he didn’t want to risk her turning away from him.
She nodded a greeting, and because she suddenly felt a little unsteady, sank down onto one of the chairs in the family room. Griff led her father in there, too, and had him sit across from her.
“Nothing yet on the rest of the test results,” Egan volunteered. “The doctor wants Dad to take it easy for a day or two.”
“I don’t want to take it easy,” Warren immediately protested. “I want to find the person who tried to kill Griff and Rachel. Because I’m betting that’s the same person who did this to me. He must have drugged me. My guess is it was some kind of barbiturate, since I’ve got memory loss.”
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