Clandestine Christmas. Elle James

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СКАЧАТЬ can be tricky at night in the Rockies.”

      “Then you’ll have to stay awake long enough to guide me.” She shifted into Drive and pulled away from the curb. “Which way?”

      Chase got her going on the correct highway. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the hospital before they got completely out of town and lost cell phone service.

      Sadie had arrived at the county hospital and the doctor was working with her. So far she was holding on, but she hadn’t woken up since she’d last spoken with Chase. Because of sketchy vital signs and possible internal injuries, they’d intubated her and placed her in a medically induced coma.

      With the connection crackling in his ear, Chase thanked the informative nurse and rang off.

      “How is Sadie?” Kate asked.

      His jaw tightened and he stared straight ahead. “They’ve intubated her and she’s in a coma.”

      “I’m sorry to hear that.” Kate glanced his way. “Are you related to Sadie?”

      “No, why do you ask?”

      “Most hospitals won’t give out that much detailed information about a patient unless it’s to a close relative.”

      Chase shrugged. He’d donated a considerable amount of the fortune he’d inherited from his grandfather to the little hospital to give the locals a place they could trust for their medical needs. Everyone in the hospital knew that. “Sadie gave the hospital and her primary care physician a medical power of attorney for me to inquire about her medical conditions and needs. I’m the only family she has.”

      “Everybody needs somebody,” Kate muttered.

      “What did you say?” Chase asked, sure he’d heard her, but giving her a chance to expand.

      “Nothing.”

      “Hank told me he was sending a former Texas Ranger to help out.”

      “And he did.” Kate’s gaze never left the road in front of her. She wasn’t offering much in the way of information. If he wanted to learn more, he’d have to drag it out of her.

      Chase had the advantage, sitting in the passenger seat. “Why did you give up the Texas Rangers?”

      “It wasn’t my choice,” she said, her voice flat, unemotional.

      “Were you fired?”

      She shook her head. “No.”

      “Then what happened? Surely they aren’t downsizing like so many corporations in America.”

      “No.” She let out a long breath. “I was medically retired from injuries received on the job.”

      Chase nodded. He’d noticed a little hesitation when she’d risen from Sadie’s side, but had attributed it to the situation.

      Having been in several car wrecks during his younger, more daredevil days, he knew the pain of old injuries.

      Kate shot a narrow-eyed glance his way. “If you’re worried I can’t handle the job, don’t. In hand-to-hand combat, I can still take down a man twice my size and I fired expert on Hank’s range using the .45, nine millimeter and .40-caliber handguns.”

      His lips quirked and he couldn’t contain his smile. “That’s all good to know. Have you ever worked undercover?”

      She didn’t answer at first. “No, but I’ve worked on SWAT-type ops several times, infiltrating and neutralizing several large meth labs.” Her fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles turned white.

      “Is that where you were injured? On one of those missions?” he asked softly.

      For a long time, she didn’t answer, but the tightness of her lips gave her away.

      “In another mile you’ll turn off the main highway onto a small road. There will be two big stone columns with a sign arched over them in wrought iron.”

      Kate slowed the car, turning in at the gate to the Lucky Lady Ranch.

      For a gate that had stood for almost one hundred and fifty years, it was still in good shape with a coat of black paint applied every other year to the ironwork. The only change had been the addition of an automated gate opener with a keypad.

      Had Chase thought ahead, he’d have grabbed his remote control from his truck before they’d headed to the ranch. He gave Kate the code, trusting her from the moment she’d thrown herself into saving Sadie’s life.

      After she punched the number in, Kate waited for the gate to swing open. “To answer your previous question, yes. The last meth lab sting was also my last mission as a Texas Ranger.”

      The drive up to the ranch house was completed in silence. As they cleared the twisting mountain road and emerged on the hilltop, the moon overhead shone down on the mansion his great-great-grandmother had built from the proceeds of the Lucky Lady Gold Mine before it had run dry.

      The huge structure loomed three stories above them with its colonial-style verandas and double layered porches wrapped around the entire house. The only concession to the deep snow and frigid winters of the high country in Colorado was the steep roofline. Though the original roof had been of split shingles made of hardened hickory, the new roof his grandfather had installed consisted of highly polished aluminum. The snow never stuck, simply sliding off.

      Frances Quaid opened the front door and Barkley bounded out. The giant black-and-tan Saint Bernard raced across the ground to the truck.

      Kate remained in the driver’s seat, the door closed. “Yours?” she asked.

      “That’s Barkley. He’s friendly as long as you don’t try to attack me, the Quaids or Jake.” He climbed down from the truck and braced himself.

      Barkley reared up on his hind feet, standing nearly as tall as Chase and weighing almost as much. He planted his paws on Chase’s shoulders and gave him a big sloppy kiss.

      “Okay, okay, you’ve said your hellos. Behave yourself now, or you’ll scare Ms. Rivers away.”

      Kate stepped down from the truck and rounded the front.

      Barkley dropped to all fours and loped over to sit at her feet, his big tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. He barked once, the sound deep and booming. Then he nudged her hand with his nose. At first stiff, Kate reached out a hand, allowing the dog to sniff. When Barkley nudged her again, she ruffled his ears, a small smile curling her lips.

      Chase watched in amazement as her expression transformed. From tense, almost pinched features, her entire face lit up as she smiled down at the dog.

      Seeing her happy for the first time, tugged at Chase and made him look at her in a different light. Not as an agent sent by Hank, but as a beautiful woman who stirred his blood and made him want more than he should from a bodyguard.

      “He’s not shy, is he?” she asked.

      “Not in the least. And he knows what he wants, which is more than СКАЧАТЬ