The Lawman Claims His Bride. Renee Ryan

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      Her cooperation was at odds with the Mattie Silks he knew. “After I look around the crime scene.”

      Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Cole’s body is already gone. Sheriff Scott’s deputy took him away over an hour ago.”

      “I want to see the room where he was stabbed.” Trey was always thorough, but maybe he’d overlooked an important piece of evidence. Logan clung to that small hope.

      Mattie pushed away from the chair and started out. “Follow me.” Without a single argument, coy look or detour, she led Logan directly to her private sitting room.

      He didn’t second-guess her continued cooperation. Yet.

      “Here we are,” she said, moving aside so he could enter the room ahead of her.

      With a quick glance, Logan surveyed the small, confining space. Cataloguing the contents of the room, he counted a fireplace, a small sofa, a winged-back chair and a bookcase actually filled with books.

      Surprised by the hominess of the decor, Logan worked his way around the perimeter quickly, with a smooth economy of motion that belied his sense of urgency.

      There was something here. He could feel it.

      Noting the trace of blood on the mantel, he ran his hand along the wood, searching for the groove where Kincaid had hit his head. After he’d attacked Meg—

      Focus. Logan had to focus on the facts alone. No emotion. No thoughts of Megan. No dwelling on what had happened to her in this room.

      “Give me another ten minutes to look around,” he said through a tight jaw. “Then send in the first girl.”

      “Whatever you wish.” She turned to go.

      “And Mattie?” he called after her retreating back. “I’ll need the names of last night’s clients, as well. All their names.”

      She stiffened at the request, but didn’t turn around. “Are you sure this is the route you wish to take, Marshal?”

      The woman was warning him off? A huge mistake on her part, especially if Logan found out she had a personal connection to the killer.

      “One way or another I will find out who murdered Kincaid,” Logan said in the kind of ruthless tone a woman like Mattie understood. “I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but it could mean life or death for Megan.”

      Mattie lowered her head and sighed. “I’ll draw up a complete list of names later today.”

      “Thank you.”

      Normally, those two simple words would earn him a snide remark. But when Mattie spun around to face him, her eyes were filled with gratitude. And genuine sincerity.

      “It’s good you’re home, Logan. Megan needs you, now more than ever.”

      Caught off guard by the woman’s heartfelt words, Logan didn’t have a ready response. What the woman didn’t realize, what he hadn’t fully understood himself until last night, was how much he needed Megan in return.

      And no matter who tried to stand in his way this time, he would never desert Megan again.

      Chapter Five

      Megan burrowed deeper under the blanket and forced her mind to relax. But no matter what position she attempted, peace eluded her. Too tired to sit up, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to capture a few moments of sleep.

      Every part of her body hurt, resulting in an allover ache that went far beyond the physical. The pain brought an odd sense of relief, a bold reminder she was alive.

      Alive was good. That meant God still had a plan for her life. Megan clung to that hope, even as dark thoughts tried to surface.

      Shivering from a sudden burst of cold air, she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and took a slow, steady breath. The smell of blood and death hung in the air. She didn’t want to know why that scent was so strong. Why it seemed so real, so tangible.

      Best to forget, a voice whispered in her head. Yes.

      Yes. She let her mind go blank, let her sense of time and place garble in her head. The nothingness soothed her.

      Distant, hollow voices buzzed around her, like an annoying mosquito.

      She took another, slower breath.

      At last, sleep began to claim her, promising a temporary respite, if only she could give in to the blessed darkness. She reached out to the void. But then the watery sounds in her head began to form into clear, distinct words.

      “You must allow me to wake her.” The urgent request came from somewhere close by. “It’s not good for her to sleep this long.”

      A low, menacing growl followed. “I said, leave…her…alone.” There was a deadly calm in the carefully spoken words. And an unmistakable threat. “I mean it, Shane.”

      Dr. Shane was here?

      “You have to trust I know what I’m doing, Logan.”

      Logan, too?

      Megan wanted to see him for herself, wanted to know he was real and not a dream like she feared. But opening her eyes required too much effort so she tucked the blanket under her chin and prayed for sleep to return.

      “Step back, Logan. Or I’ll have the sheriff personally escort you out of here until I’m through examining her.”

      A brief moment of silence filled the room.

      “All right. Wake her.” Another pause. “But do it slowly. Don’t scare her.”

      A masculine sigh accompanied the sound of footsteps. Very loud footsteps. Like hammers to nails, pounding relentlessly in her head.

      She shied away from the noise.

      “Megan.” A gentle hand touched her shoulder. “Megan, you need to wake up now.”

      She moaned in protest, even as her mind placed the familiar voice. It did indeed belong to Shane Bartlett, the doctor from the clinic connected to Charity House. She knew the man well. Trusted him implicitly. Not only because he was married to her good friend Bella, but because he was an exceptional doctor. Compassionate and thorough.

      “Megan.” The hand shook her again, a little more firmly this time.

      “Sleep,” she mumbled.

      “No. No more sleep.”

      She tried to protest again, but her mind drifted over a dark void of shifting images, images she couldn’t quite capture.

      Best to forget…

      If only her head didn’t hurt so badly.

      Eyes still firmly shut, she lifted a hand to touch the tender spot above her temple. The movement sent unspeakable pain spearing behind her СКАЧАТЬ