Showdown at Shadow Junction. Joanna Wayne

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СКАЧАТЬ him more than once to visit her on the ranch that belonged to her new husband’s father.

      Booker wasn’t much in the mood for taking on a new family, but he would like to meet his niece. He figured he kind of owed that to his mother and his dead half sister. Kimmie was seven months old now. He had no idea what a seven-month-old was like.

      He hated to admit it, but the even bigger draw might be the Dry Gulch Ranch, just outside Dallas. Weather should be nice there in May. Perfect for climbing into a saddle. It was at least five years since he’d ridden. He’d missed it.

      Missed his grandparents and the Oklahoma ranch that had been barely big enough to keep up a few head of cattle and a couple of horses. Booker had spent the best summers of his life on that ranch.

      According to Brit, the Dry Gulch had over five hundred head of cattle grazing in the pastures and two horse barns.

      Riding an open range on a spirited filly might be exactly the kind of R & R he needed. Besides, if he hated it there or found the whole experience of forging new family ties too awkward, all he had to do was ride off into the sunset like an old-time cowboy.

      He should probably call first, let Brit know he was taking her up on her invitation. On the other hand, he might change his mind about visiting before he got there, so better just to surprise her. He’d call after breakfast and book a flight for tomorrow or the next day—if he could find one that didn’t cost more than his budget would stretch.

      He picked up the remote, turned on the TV and then pulled on his jeans. He surfed until he landed on a cable news channel. A gorgeous blonde was smiling at him while she described a developing murder case—the victim a famous jewelry designer in the United States from Spain.

      They flashed a picture of a woman they referred to as a person of interest. Wow. Talk about hot. The Spanish dude should have known to avoid her. A woman that sexy was always trouble.

      Exactly the kind of woman he was not looking for and not likely to find on the Dry Gulch Ranch.

      Jade Dalton. The same last name as Brit now that she’d married Kimmie’s daddy, Cannon. Could there possibly be a connection?

      Naw. No way. There had to be thousands of Daltons in the country.

      He went back to surfing channels and thinking about the Dry Gulch Ranch. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded.

      Back in the saddle, wind in his face, a fishing pole in his hand. And not even a hint of danger in the air.

       Chapter Four

      Jade forced herself from the throes of the terrifying nightmare and opened her eyes. The room was shadowed. Unfamiliar. Cluttered. Pungent odors of stale cigarette smoke, beer and spicy food made her stomach roll.

      The nightmare returned in full force. The vertigo. The loud voices. The gun. Needles poked into her arm.

      For a second she thought she might be dead. But death didn’t include pain and she had a killer headache along with a punishing thirst and need to rinse a sickening metallic taste from her mouth.

      Kicking off the dingy sheet, she shuddered as she slid her feet to the floor. Her feet were bare, but she was still wearing the red cocktail dress she’d worn last night. One strap was broken. Dried blood painted a weird-shaped stain down the front of it. Apparently the blood wasn’t hers, but it likely attributed to the disgusting odor.

      She looked up as a door creaked open.

      “Good. You’re awake. Maybe now you’ll start talking sense.”

      She turned and stared into the face of Reggie Lassiter. Relief surged through her. If she was with Reggie, she must be safe.

      She looked around the room again, recognizing nothing but sure she wasn’t in a hospital. “Where are we?”

      “We’re outside the city, just before the falling-off place on the edge of nowhere.”

      “Why? What happened?”

      “You don’t remember?”

      “Not much. I was in Quaid’s hotel suite. He was showing me the necklace that would highlight his showing. I got sick. The rest is confusing.”

      “You must remember something.”

      “There were voices, men I don’t know. And you. You were there. I remember that. You must know what happened.”

      “From what I hear, that necklace must be a nice little bauble. It would make a sweet nest egg, or so I hear.”

      The sarcasm scratched along her raw nerves. She studied Reggie. Unlike her, he was dressed neatly in jeans and a blue sport shirt, hair combed, freshly shaved. He looked like the competent police officer she’d worked with before, but he definitely didn’t sound like that man.

      “What’s going on? Where’s Quaid,” she demanded.

      Reggie smirked as if she’d made a bad joke. “Quaid is gone to a better place and I’m not talking about Barcelona.”

      “Not dead. Tell me you don’t mean he’s dead.”

      “Afraid so.”

      “How? Who killed him?”

      “Doesn’t really matter. You’re the one you should be worried about now.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Because if you don’t tell me where you and Quaid hid that necklace in the next five minutes, you’ll be joining your phony Spanish jewelry god.”

      Impulsively, her hand flew to her neck. It was bare, as she should have known it would be. “You think I took the necklace?”

      “I know you didn’t take it. You left with me, sweetheart. The necklace is not on your body and it wasn’t on Quaid’s. But it was around your pretty little neck before I arrived on the scene.”

      “Were you spying on Quaid? Was his suite bugged?”

      “Not that I know of.”

      “Then how do you know I tried on the necklace?”

      “You were wearing it when room service delivered Quaid’s champagne.”

      The costly necklace was missing and Reggie had brought her here to search and intimidate her as if she were a common criminal. “Is this how the police work now? Threats? Intimidation? False accusations?”

      “Not threats, Jade. Promises. The clock is ticking. Unless you want to pay your lover Quaid a surprise visit, you’d best start talking.”

      Reality finally seeped through the brain fog. Whatever had happened last night, Reggie was in on it, possibly the mastermind, though there had been others.

      “A dirty cop. You disappoint me, Reggie. I expected so much more of you.”

      “No, like you, I’m just after what СКАЧАТЬ