Point Blank Protector. Joanna Wayne

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СКАЧАТЬ your coming by to check on me, Zach, but I really don’t have time for your negativism and I do have to get back to work. Let yourself out, will you?”

      Before he could reply, she walked away and left him standing in the middle of the den floor. He had a feeling her irritation had as much to do with the situation as with him, though he could have been a bit more tactful.

      He started to leave, then remembered the rest of the reason he’d been sent to visit Kali. He wandered to the back of the house and found her in the kitchen pouring liquid detergent into a large bucket.

      “Mom asked me to invite you to dinner tonight,” he said.

      She dipped a rag into the soap mixture, then wrung it dry. “Tell your mother I appreciate the invitation, but that I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I plan to go to bed early tonight.”

      “I’ll tell her, but she doesn’t give up that easily. If you don’t go to dinner, she’ll likely bring dinner to you.”

      Kali straightened and turned to face him, her enticing breasts pushing against the fabric of her hot-pink T-shirt. “Was it your mother’s idea for you to come over and check on me, Zach?”

      “Actually it was the sheriff’s idea. He thought you might still be upset over finding the body last night.”

      “Of course I’m upset. Any sane person would be, but I’m not going to fall apart if that’s what you think.”

      “I don’t, but…”

      “But what?”

      But now that he was thinking about it again, it didn’t seem safe for her to stay here alone. “You might sleep better if you stay at our place tonight. There’s plenty of room.”

      “Was that the sheriff’s idea, too?”

      “No, that one was all mine.”

      “Thanks,” she said, sounding as if she meant it. “But the sheriff says he’s going to have a deputy keep an eye on my place tonight. And I have the shotgun. Besides, I have to stay alone sooner or later. If you fall off a horse, you get right back on.”

      “We’re not talking horses.”

      “It’s the same principle. I’ll be okay, Zach. Tell your mother I’ll take her up on the dinner invitation soon. And she doesn’t need to worry about me starving tonight. I stopped at Thompson’s Grocery this morning and stocked up on food.”

      “Sounds as if you’re all set.” He smiled, tipped his hat and took the back door out of the house. No use to chance putting his foot in his mouth again and wearing out his welcome on his first visit.

      His thoughts zeroed in on the murder as he left. He couldn’t see a man driving all the way from Houston to the Silver Spurs in a storm just to shoot a woman.

      And what rotten timing for Kali. She’d moved to one of the most crime-free idyllic areas in the state only to step right into the path of a killer.

      He was glad his mother had insisted he check on her. Kali wasn’t the svelte, sophisticated model-type beauty he usually dated, but she had that healthy girl-next-door-thing going on.

      He might consider coming over here and actually doing a little physical labor himself except that he’d just taken a position at Collingsworth Oil that required his presence at the Houston office Monday through Friday. Not that she’d miss him. There would be plenty of eager cowboys to take his place.

      He still thought his offer of her spending the night at Jack’s Bluff made sense, but admittedly there was no real reason to think the killer would return unless…

      Unless the killer actually was a deranged pervert and knew Kali was living alone on the isolated ranch. That thought continued to haunt him as he drove the few miles back to Jack’s Bluff.

      WORK MADE the day pass all too quickly and it was dusk before Kali took her first break. She poured herself a cup of tea and collapsed onto the wooden rocker that she’d polished to a glossy shine.

      The room looked a hundred percent better than it had this morning. The sofas’ worn upholstery was shampooed, and the ragged, dust-infused cotton throw rugs were resting in the bottom of the trash. A bedroom and the house’s one bathroom were just as clean. She’d tackle the kitchen tomorrow.

      The floorboards creaked beneath the movement of the rocker. She shifted and her gaze fell on the spot where she’d scrubbed the blood from the floorboards. The stain had almost completely disappeared, yet the scene she’d walked in on materialized vividly in her mind, sending a foreboding chill through her bloodstream.

      Kali took a deep breath that did little to settle her nerves, then grabbed her jacket and walked onto the porch for a bracing breath of cold air. She’d managed to keep the disturbing thoughts and fearsome questions at bay while she was struggling with the cleaning chores. Now they were claiming her mind and tightening her sore, aching muscles.

      She closed the door behind her and leaned against the porch railing, staring at the dirt drive that led away from the house and meandered its lonely way to the highway. The isolation closed in on her, attacking her self confidence. Perhaps she’d been too hasty in turning down Zach’s offer to spend the night with his family at Jack’s Bluff.

      Zach Collingsworth. His name played in her mind, then slipped from her lips with the frosty vapors of her breath. She’d wondered what it would be like to see him again, had thought she might not even recognize him. Mainly she’d hoped that the childish crush would seem stupid and something to laugh about now that they were both in their mid twenties.

      She should have been so lucky.

      At eleven he’d been cute. Now he was—in a word—gorgeous. Thick, dark hair, cut stylishly short, but long enough that a woman could sink her fingers into it. Lean, not too tall, but tall enough. He looked like a model, yet with that cowboy edge that made him reek of sensuality.

      And here she went, falling into the same Zach trap that she had years ago. But she couldn’t give in to the mind-numbing attraction this time. She needed all her wits about her. She had one year to make a go of the riding stables and training center before she ran out of money. One short year to make her dream a reality—or see it die.

      Pulling her jacket around her, she gave a last look into the growing darkness, then turned and went back inside. The piercing jangle of her cell phone startled her and sent her rushing to the kitchen to find it amidst the cleaning supplies.

      “Hello.”

      “Howdy.”

      Kali recognized the deep, slightly crusty voice even before the sheriff finished identifying himself.

      “How are things going out at the Silver Spurs?”

      “Fine, so far.”

      “That’s good to hear.”

      “Do you have any leads on a suspect?” she asked, hoping that was why he’d called.

      “No, but I thought you might like to know that we’ve identified the body. The woman’s name is Louisa Kellogg.”

      “Is СКАЧАТЬ