The Texas Ranger's Family. Rebecca Winters

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      She sat there trembling as she stared at her house, watching to see if someone would come out. Before long, two police cars arrived. Three officers got out and started casing the place, and the fourth walked toward her car. She rolled down the window.

      “Mrs. Harris?”

      “Yes. Thank you for coming.”

      “If I could have a key to your home, we’ll check inside.”

      She pulled her keys out of the ignition and gave him the one that would unlock the front door. “There’s a crawlspace under the house. You have to get to it through the laundry room. Someone could be hiding in there.”

      “We’ll check. Stay right where you are.”

      Natalie nodded and waited. There were several cars parked on each side of the street. Any one of them could be the intruder’s. After several minutes the same officer came back outside.

      “Whoever ransacked your house is gone.” He handed back her key. “Please pull into your driveway, but stay in the car until you hear from Detective Carr. He’ll follow up and give you instructions.”

      “Okay. Thanks for coming so quickly.”

      * * *

      NO SOONER DID she watch the police drive away than her phone rang. She clicked it on. “Detective Carr?”

      “Mrs. Harris?”

      The deep, attractive male voice didn’t sound like anyone she knew. “Yes?”

      “This is Miles Saunders with the Texas Rangers.” Natalie’s heart skipped a beat. Why was a Texas Ranger phoning her? She thought they only worked on big federal cases. “Detective Carr contacted me. I hear you’ve been burglarized while you were attending your husband’s graveside service.”

      “Yes.”

      “I’m about six minutes away. Leave your car in the driveway and go into the house through your garage. I’ll park on the next street over and walk through a few neighbors’ yards to knock on your back door. Use a hand towel to open it. Don’t touch anything. A forensics team will arrive right away to go through everything. They’ll come to your front door.”

      “A-all right.”

      She heard the click as he disconnected, still unable to believe what was happening. She knew there were unscrupulous people who read through the obituaries and chose to break into people’s homes on the day of a funeral.

      Taking a deep breath, she started her car and pulled into her driveway. She got out and entered the house through the garage as instructed, passing through the small laundry room into the kitchen. Cupboards were open and foodstuffs were on the floor.

      Natalie had only been gone two hours, but it looked as though a wrecking ball had been at work. As she walked through her two-bedroom rambler, she saw that drawers and closets had been ransacked. Her bedding had been thrown on the floor and her mattress lay halfway off the box spring. Numerous items lay strewed on the floor of both bathrooms. She checked the nursery and found it in shambles. Some intruder had gone through every room, causing total upheaval.

      She was wild with anger. Last evening after returning from her work at the pharmacy, she’d thoroughly cleaned the rambler in case someone dropped by after the graveside service. The house would be neat, clean and filled with flowers.

      She’d inherited this house from her deceased mother, and she and Rod had made it into their home. But their marriage had started to fall apart soon after Amy was born, and now he was dead and her family home was a disaster.

      Half a dozen floral arrangements had arrived during the week, but several of them had been knocked over. Water had spilled on the carpet. The fireplace screen had been knocked over. Cushions were piled on the floor in the living room and den. The drawers of her computer desk had been pulled out, the contents dumped on the floor. Several framed prints had been taken off the walls and the backings torn. Whoever had gone through her house had been desperately looking for something.

      While she waited for the Ranger, she reached again for her cell and placed a call to Jillian.

      Her good friend lived just across the street and had been looking after Amy since Natalie had gone back to work. The little girl was good company for Jillian’s eighteen-month-old daughter, Susie, and the arrangement allowed Jillian to earn a little extra money while her husband, Bart, served another tour of duty overseas with the marines.

      “Jillian? You’re not going to believe this,” Natalie said when her friend answered. “I just got home from the service and found that my house has been broken into”

      “You’re kidding!”

      “I wish I were. Life has been a nightmare since I got that call from the police about Rod. Can you keep Amy a little longer? I have to wait for some Ranger to come over.”

      “What? Why?”

      “I have no idea. And a forensics team. As soon as they’re gone, I’ll be over to get her.”

      “Don’t you worry about anything. There’s no hurry.”

      “Yes, there is. You’ve gone beyond the call of duty to watch her on a Saturday afternoon. That wasn’t our arrangement. I plan to pay you double.”

      “Natalie—don’t be ridiculous. You’ve been through a horrible experience. What are friends for?”

      “You’re the best, Jillian. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

      The second she hung up, Natalie’s landline rang, startling her. She moved to the kitchen to answer it but checked the caller ID first. It was blank. Would it be one of those hang-up calls she’d gotten twice this week already?

      Natalie hated to answer without knowing who was on the other end, especially after this break-in, although it could be one of many important calls she was expecting—the police, the bank, the attorney, the mortuary, her boss at work, her coworkers, church friends, her insurance agent. But right now she was in no state to talk to anyone and let it ring until the person on the other end gave up or left a message.

      She looked around but couldn’t tell if anything was missing. She’d developed a bad headache and needed a pain pill.

      One look in the bathroom mirror made her realize she needed to freshen up before the Ranger arrived and she washed her face, remembering too late that she wasn’t supposed to touch anything. The burial plot in the newer section of the cemetery hadn’t been planted with shade trees yet. The heat had caused her to break out in perspiration, but she didn’t have time to change out of her lightweight linen suit.

      After drying her face, Natalie refreshed her lipstick and gave her tousled, collarbone-length hair a good brushing. When she heard the knock on the back door, her brush fell to the floor. Her nerves were that bad.

      She walked down the hall, past the nursery and into the kitchen. She used a dish towel to open the door leading to the backyard. Whatever picture of the Ranger she’d had in her mind didn’t come close to the sight of the tall, thirtyish, hard-muscled male in a Western shirt, jeans and cowboy boots.

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