He’ll do anything to protect

a mysterious woman from an unseen foe.

Minutes after finding an unconscious woman on his land, bullets whiz right by rancher Will Kent. Who is this woman? Who’s targeting her? Before long, Kelly Morgan’s secret past emerges and they discover she has a fiancé she’s afraid of…but can’t remember why. For her safety, Will takes Kelly into hiding. But with time ticking down and a Christmas deadline just around the corner, how can he stop an unknown enemy?

USA TODAY bestselling author BARB HAN lives in north Texas with her very own hero-worthy husband, three beautiful children, a spunky golden retriever/standard poodle mix and too many books in her to-read pile.

In her downtime, she plays video games and spends much of her time on or around a basketball court. She loves interacting with readers and is grateful for their support. You can reach her at barbhan.com.

Also by Barb Han

Cornered at Christmas

Sudden Setup

Endangered Heiress

Texas Grit

Kidnapped at Christmas Murder

and Mistletoe Bulletproof

Christmas

Stockyard Snatching

Delivering Justice

One Tough Texan

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Ransom at Christmas

Barb Han

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09448-1

RANSOM AT CHRISTMAS

© 2019 Barb Han

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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All my love to Brandon, Jacob and Tori,

my favorite people in the world.

To Babe, my hero, for being my great love

and my place to call home.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Torpedoing through trees at breakneck speed, Kelly Morgan drew a frustrating blank as she glanced down at the intricately detailed bodice of the white dress she wore. Branches slapped at her face and torso, catching the puffy layers of the full-length dress. She pushed ahead, anyway, because a voice in the back of her mind rang out, loud and clear.

It shouted, Run!

Trying to recall any details from the past few hours, let alone days, cramped her brain. All she remembered clearly was that there’d been a man in a tuxedo trying to force some kind of clear liquid down her throat.

Other than that, Kelly was clueless as to what she was doing in a white dress and her dress cowgirl boots barreling through the woods on a random ranch.

A cold front had moved in and she was shivering in her formal attire. Instinct told her to follow the creek.

As she fought her way through the underbrush, a vine caught the toe of her right boot. Her ankle twisted, shooting pain up her leg and causing her to stumble forward a few steps as she tried to regain balance.

Those couple of steps couldn’t stabilize her.

Momentum shot her forward onto all fours.

Thankfully, she missed banging her head on a mesquite tree by scarcely two inches. Her knees weren’t so lucky. They scraped against thorny branches. Rocks dug into her palms as she landed on the hard, unforgiving earth.

It was probably adrenaline that stopped her from feeling the pain of her knees being jabbed by rough edges and her hands being cut by sharp rocks.

Or whatever was in that glass of water the tall, bulky tuxedo-wearing male figure had forced down her throat.

“Tux” seemed familiar but she couldn’t pull out why. And the drink he’d tried to shove down her throat? Kelly had instantly figured out that it was laced with something. The second that tangy liquid had touched her tongue, she realized how much trouble she was in. The tacky metallic taste must be what it would have been like to lick a glue stick that had been dipped in vinegar.

Of course, she’d spewed out as much of the liquid as she could, but then the dark male figure—why couldn’t she remember who he was or the details of his face?—had pushed her a few steps backward until her back was flat against the wall. He’d pressed his body against hers, pinning her. He’d been so close, mere inches from her face, and yet she couldn’t recollect the details of his face. She’d struggled for control of the glass before he forced the liquid into her mouth.

All she recalled next was the gross metallic taste and the overwhelming feeling she wanted—no, needed!—to vomit. The cool liquid had made gurgling noises in her throat as he forced back her head. The room had spun as a dark cloud wrapped around her, squeezing, suffocating her.

Instinct told her to fight back and get out of the bride’s room of the small wedding chapel. But why she’d been there in the first place was still fuzzy.

The memory caused a rocket of panic to shoot through her and her brain to hurt. She pushed up to a standing position and grabbed a tree trunk to steady herself.

Kelly blinked her eyes, forcing them to stay open by sheer force of will. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that she needed to find shelter while she was still conscious. Temperatures were dropping every minute. There had to be a place she could hide and lie low until the effects of the contents of that glass wore off.

The minute she gave in to darkness and blacked out, any wild animal—coyote, bear or hog—could come along and use her as an easy meal.

Keeping a clear head was getting more difficult. Darkness nipped at her even though the sun shone brightly through the trees. She had no idea what had really been in that drink or how much longer she could fight it off.

At least she’d stopped the man in the tuxedo, aka Tux, from giving her the entire glass like he’d threatened to do, like he’d tried. Her quick thinking and action—a sharp knee to the groin—was the only reason she could still function. Otherwise, she’d be splayed across the velvet sofa, pliant. Dead?

That swift knee to Tux’s groin had put a halt to those plans.

Was he trying to subdue her or kill her? To what end? What could Tux possibly have gained from either?

Her first thought was sexual motivation, but for reasons she couldn’t explain she knew that wasn’t right.

Figuring out exactly who Tux was and what he wanted would have to wait until her mind was clear again. There was another threat closing in. It felt like it wasn’t more than a few feet behind her, gaining ground.

Trees were thickening and the underbrush felt like hands gripping her legs, stopping her from forward progress.

Was there anything or anyone around? Could she shout for help? Or would that draw the wrong kind of attention?

Fear that Tux would be the only one to respond kept her quiet as she dredged through the thicket. Her body was getting weaker, she was moving slower.

What was in that drink?

Rohypnol? She’d read about the date-rape drug being used rampantly on college campuses.

Kelly leaned on a tree’s sturdy trunk to stay upright as her body trembled and she tried to shake the overwhelming feeling of doom as it enveloped her.

THE WORDS HIGH ALERT didn’t begin to describe the mood at the Kent family ranch as Will Kent walked his horse, Domino, along the fence on the north-eastern border of the property. A few days ago, one of the heifers was found near the base of Rushing Creek. Her front left hoof had been cut off, mangled. As disgusting as that act was, it didn’t end her life immediately. From the looks of her when she’d been found, she’d been left to bleed to death.

Will couldn’t allow himself to believe the killer had stuck around and watched, although speculation about what had happened was running wild. Jacobstown was a small, tight-knit community that had seen little crime.

Thinking about the incident caused Will’s trapezoids to tense. His shoulder muscles were strung tight to the point of pain. It didn’t help matters that his older brother, Mitch, and his wife had been targeted by criminals and had narrowly escaped, as well. Thankfully, Mitch, Kimberly and their twins were safe. The jerks who’d been tormenting Kimberly were securely locked behind bars.

A year had passed since that incident, and there was no sign that the person or group who’d brutally killed one of his heifers planned to return. The Kents didn’t leave much to chance. They decided to remain vigilant, anyway. As far as they were concerned the threat to the herd still loomed.

Life was beginning to return to normal around the ranch. And normal for a rancher meant up by 4:00 a.m. every day. Will suppressed a yawn. Early mornings had been always been Mitch’s thing, not Will’s. He’d never been a morning person. His night-owl tendencies were being pushed to their limits since moving back to the ranch to work full-time.

Will, like everyone in his family, was paying extra attention to the threat to their livestock. So far, only one heifer had been affected, but who knew where this would ultimately end. Their cousin, Zach McWilliams, was the sheriff and he had no leads in the case, which had horrified and disturbed the bedroom community of Jacobstown. He tugged at the collar of his shirt.

Anger caused Will’s shoulder blades to lock up. Hurting an innocent animal, whether out of ignorance or blatant torture, was right up there on the list of things Will would never tolerate. Especially not animals in his and his family’s trust.

The Kent family fortune had been made from owning thousands of acres of land across Texas and the accompanying mineral rights. Their mother, the matriarch, had passed away four years ago and their father nearly two years later. Will and his siblings had inherited the ranch and all its holdings, and were sewing up other business pursuits as each made his or her way to living on the land full-time.

Will circled the base of Rushing Creek again in order to cover the area one more time. Normally being out on the land brought a sense of peace. Not today. Not since the heifer.

Other than the occasional and rare prank of cow tipping, the ranch was normally a peaceful place and Jacobstown would be considered a sleepy town by most people’s standards. The kind where everyone was on a first name basis, a handshake was considered similar to a legal document and the streets rolled up by eight o’clock every night. Will ran his finger along the shirt of his collar again, needing a little more breathing room.

He took in a deep breath, trying to breathe a sense of calm into his soul. He was restless. Had been since the heifer. Longer than that if he was being honest. Analyzing himself like a shrink wasn’t at the top of his list. Protecting the herd was, however, and he was all-in when it came to the animals on his family land.

A streak of white caught his eye in the distance. He couldn’t see clearly between the trees and it was most likely nothing. But he turned his horse toward the object, anyway.

As Domino moved closer to the area, Will could see more movement. The white figure was zigzagging between trees and he could tell someone was on the move. A woman?

He nudged Domino into a trot. At the faster pace, the person was no match for his horse, even as he slowed his horse enough to wind through the thickening trees.

“Stop!” Will shouted, not wanting to surprise the person. He was close enough to see that the material was expensive and was wedding-dress white. It was some type of gown that trailed behind her as she whipped in and out of the trees. The cloud-puff-looking garment alternated between the trees, flowing behind her. The scene was something out of a bride’s magazine and was oddly mesmerizing. It also caused his chest to squeeze.

She kept running, which made her look guilty of something quite frankly. He doubted she was responsible for the heifer but she was up to something or she would have stopped when he called out to her. Innocent people didn’t run.

The trees slowed Domino’s pace as he wound through the tall oaks and mesquites that were abundant as they tracked White Dress.

There was something frantic about her pace and the way she zigzagged through the woods. Was she running from someone besides him?

Nah. He shook off the possibility.

“Hold on there.” He decided to take a different tack and intentionally softened his voice. “Do you need help?”

Domino’s pace slowed to a crawl as the woods thickened near the eastern fencing. Kent land stretched miles beyond this area. Where did White Dress think she was going?

“Whoa,” Will said to his horse.

Domino’s size was getting in the way of being nimble enough to catch her. At this point, Will could walk faster.

He climbed off his horse and tied Domino to a tree. He patted his gelding. “This shouldn’t take long. I’ll be right back, buddy.”

From behind, he could see that White Dress was five-and-a-half-feet tall, give or take. As he moved closer, he saw streaks of red on her dress. Blood? Was she hurt?

Her warm brown hair with streaks of honey looked more like a galloping horse’s mane, shiny and flowing as the wind whipped it around.

“Slow down. I have no plans to hurt you,” he said.

She glanced back at him and the look on her face was a punch to his gut. There was so much desperation and fear.

As he got closer, he could see that she wore a short-sleeved lacy wedding dress that fell just below the knee and a pair of dress boots with an intricate teal inlay. Will was gaining on her but not because he was increasing his speed. White Dress was slowing down and she seemed to be stumbling over her boots a little bit. His mind took a different turn. Was she under the influence of something?

She grabbed onto a tree trunk before glancing back at him. She was just far enough ahead for him to barely make out the details of her face. The woman was a looker with those hauntingly beautiful eyes. There was no argument about that. She held onto that tree like gravity would shoot her into the clouds if she let go.

“Who are you?” Will asked again, using the softer tone. She wore the expression of a frightened animal as she made another run for it.

White Dress’s boot must’ve caught on something because she vaulted forward and narrowly missed planting the crown of her head against an oak tree’s trunk when she landed. She popped up onto all fours and tried to scramble away. Her movements were awkward and wobbly, causing more questions to flood him. Had she hit her head? Had she lost a lot of blood and was about to pass out?

Then again, she might’ve been drinking and gotten hurt. He’d seen more than a few instances of hormone-infused good-ol’-boy drinking and the ensuing antics.

Growing up on the family ranch, he’d seen everything from cow-tipping to the south pasture accidentally catching on fire because of a gang of intoxicated teens. They’d claimed to be unaware the state was in a drought when they’d decided to roast hot dogs on a campfire at three o’clock in the morning after sneaking out.

“Look. I’m not going to hurt you so you might as well stop and tell me what you’re doing on my family’s land.” This time, he let his frustration seep in his tone. He didn’t have time for this. It was getting late in the day and he needed to head back to the ranch.

White Dress seemed determined to get away from him. He’d give her that. So, he jogged ahead of her and turned around to face her.

Those violet eyes of hers—filled with an interesting mix of sheer determination and panic—fixated on him as she managed to stumble to her feet and hold onto another tree trunk.

“We can do this for as long as you’d like. But you’re on my land and I’m not going anywhere until I know why you’re here and that you’ll leave safely.” He stood in an athletic stance, ready to take action the second she bolted.

“Then help me.” Her words slurred and for another split second he wondered if she’d been drinking.

“Tell me your name and I’ll see what I can do.” He fished out his cell, keeping an eye on her. For all he knew her tipsiness could be an act and she could take off again once he was distracted.

She hesitated. Her grip on the tree trunk was white-knuckled.

“My name’s Will Kent.” He figured a little goodwill would go a long way toward winning her trust. She had that frightened-animal look that came right before a bite. A scared animal could do a lot of damage.

On closer look, she seemed familiar. Did he know her?

“I know who you are. I’m Kelly Morgan,” she finally said and there was a resignation in her tone that made him inclined to believe she was telling the truth. Her facial expression wasn’t so defeated and he knew instantly that she would take any out that presented itself.

“Are you supposed to be somewhere, Mrs. Morgan?” He glanced at the white dress and then his eyes immediately flew to the ring finger on her left hand to see if the wedding had already taken place. There was nothing.

She shook her head almost violently.

“I’m not. I mean, I know what this must look like but—” Again her words were slurred.

She followed his gaze to the dress and her face paled.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, focusing on the long red streaks of blood.

“I don’t think so,” she said in a panicked tone as she ran her hands along the beading of her dress at her midsection.

His thoughts instantly skipped to the possibility that she’d had a few shots of “liquid courage” before she ended up chickening out and splitting on her wedding day. The thought of the man she’d left behind, another human being, standing at an altar somewhere and waiting—like an idiot!—for a woman who would never show stuck in Will’s craw. He tensed at the possibility. No man deserved to have his hopes trampled like that.

Will bit back what he really wanted to say.

“Today your wedding day?” he asked in an even tone as memories he’d tucked away down deep clawed to the surface.

“No.” She looked bewildered. “But it’s not safe for me. I have to keep going.”

She aimed herself at another tree and more or less threw her body toward it, grasping at the trunk.

“Whoa. Steady there,” Will said, stepping toward her to catch her elbow and hold her upright.

She mumbled an apology and something that sounded like she was saying she’d been drugged.

Did he hear her right?

This close, he could see the unique violet color in her irises, and when he looked deeper there was something else that would haunt him for the rest of his days—a split second of unadulterated fear.

Did she think he was going to hurt her?

“I’ll help you get this sorted out,” he said to reassure her, thinking this day was turning into a doozy.

“Why did he…? What did he…?”

Did she know where she was?

Even sounding confused, there was a musical quality to her voice.

It dawned on him what had been bugging him.

He knew that name.

Chapter Two

Kelly Morgan. Will remembered that name from somewhere. Where?

As inappropriate as the thought seemed under the circumstances, he figured that he’d know if he’d met a woman this beautiful before.

After a few seconds, he realized how he knew her. The two of them had gone to grade school together. They’d been nothing more than kids. Damn, the memory of her reached back into his childhood. And to be fair, the Kelly Morgan he’d known was a tall, scrawny girl. Not a woman who’d filled out in sexy, soft-looking curves.

Being from a small town, he’d prided himself on having history with darn near all local families, but hers had kept to themselves. Kelly had had a quiet but strong quality even then.

And then the summer after fifth grade the family was gone. Years later, he’d heard that they’d relocated to Fort Worth for her dad’s work. Even now Will remembered looking for her that first day of middle school. There was something about the young Kelly that had brought out his protective instincts back then. Was the same thing happening now, too?

Kelly Morgan could take care of herself. Still, he recalled the almost too-thin girl who liked to sit by the window in the back of the room. She’d had a serious quality—too serious for her age. To this day it made him wonder where it came from and why.

“Tell me what’s going on and I’ll help,” he said, the memory softening his tone.

He needed to get her back to Domino before she passed out. In her state he couldn’t be sure the blood on her gown wasn’t hers. She might be hurt and not realize it.

His horse was a fifteen-minute walk from this part of Rushing Creek. He knew the land like the back of his hand, having grown up here.

Kelly took another step back and had to tighten her grip on the tree trunk to keep her balance.

“Tell me what’s going on. What happened to you?” he asked, but her eyes darted around frantically.

“He did this… I don’t know what he gave me,” she said hesitantly. He was close enough to see her pulse pounding rapidly at the base of her throat—a throat he had no business noticing…the soft angles or how silky the skin seemed.

Was this a simple case of woman who’d had too much to drink and ditched her fiancé on her wedding day? That wouldn’t explain the blood. She looked frightened and he wanted to believe it could be that simple. His survival skills, which had been honed in combat, made him think otherwise.

Why would she come into the woods? And what was she talking about? “What did he give you?”

He leaned in, close enough to pick up the scent of alcohol on her breath if it was there. There was no smell. Being this close to her stirred something inappropriate, though, and it was completely out of line given the situation.

Great job, Will. Way to keep yourself in check.

“Lean your weight on me,” he urged, trying to forget the familiar pain that came from seeing someone running in the opposite direction in a wedding dress.

Had Lacey had this same frantic, pained look on her face on their wedding day? Two years had passed, which should have been enough time to tuck away the memories and forget the whole thing had ever happened. Most of the time that was a no-brainer. Done. Then there were moments like these.

Will Kent had lived a charmed life. Until Lacey had crushed his heart with the heel of her boot. He bit back a bitter laugh. Wasn’t he being dramatic? It was most likely the fact that the anniversary of what was supposed to be their wedding was coming up in a couple of days.

A noise to Will’s left nearly caused Kelly to bolt like a motherless doe.

“Shhh,” he whispered. Her reaction heightened his awareness of their surroundings. Her emotions were on high alert and would be overkill for a woman who was solely ducking out on vows. The blood on her dress said there was more to the story.

“Pleas-s-s-e don’t let him hur-l me,” she said, slurring the words. Did she mean hurt? He assumed so.

He scanned the area before catching her eye. He brought his right index finger to his lips, indicating silence.

She unfocused her gaze for a few seconds, like she was looking into herself for answers. Then she blinked before locking onto something in the distance behind him.

Will jerked his head around in time to hear the crack of a gun going off, followed by the unmistakable sound of a bullet pinging off the tree next to him. His eyes immediately followed the sound and saw that the tree trunk had a chunk missing. That was about two feet from his head. His gaze flew in the direction of the gun.

A short man with a slight build who wore jeans and a dark hoodie was bolting toward them, shotgun barrel seeking a better look at its target.

There was no time for debate so he picked up Kelly and darted in between the trees running a zigzag pattern as fast as he could. Work on the ranch had kept him in solid shape, so he could push hard without being winded.

Kelly couldn’t have been wearing a worse color to blend in with the surroundings and to make matters worse her billowy dress bounced and trailed behind them with every step. The breeze toyed with the sinless white material. Her long wavy ringlets blocked his vision and he didn’t want to take in her scent even though it blasted through him, anyway. She smelled like flowers and sunshine on the first warm day of spring, when everything bloomed.

There were half a dozen questions zinging through his mind demanding a response. Answers would have to wait until the two of them were out of danger. He also had a flash of panic that the blood on her dress meant she’d been shot.

Will ducked as another bullet splintered a piece of bark a couple yards away. Thick trees would make getting a clean shot next to impossible and that played to his advantage.

Keeping a calm head no matter the circumstances had always been his strong suit.

Will ran through the situation in his mind as he zipped through the tall trees.

Based on aim, this guy wasn’t a stellar marksman, which played to Will’s advantage. A shotgun wasn’t accurate but the bullet spray might do a lot more damage at this distance. There’d be shell pieces within a range of twenty feet this far away from the shooter. There was a reason it was called buckshot and it spread shrapnel across a decent distance.

The other advantage Will had over the shooter was knowledge of the property. No one knew this area better than a Kent and Will was no exception.

Will weaved through the trees. His speed and sheer willpower kept him a good distance from the shooter. This guy didn’t seem to be a match for Will’s athleticism and he appreciated the fact that Kelly wasn’t fighting against him. He could also thank years of sports in high school and his stint in the military for his fitness. Being used to a daily training routine had him waking up every morning at three o’clock to get in a workout before eating a protein-heavy breakfast and heading out to work an hour later.

The beauty in his arms seemed to be struggling to stay alert. With every few feet of progress, she shook her head or blinked her eyes. She muttered a couple of apologies and he assumed she meant she was sorry for him having to carry her. Although, he couldn’t be sure.

Adrenaline caused Will to run faster. The shooter might not be a great marksman but all it took was one hit for this game of chase to be over. Will knew how to handle the extra power surge that came with adrenaline and he was accustomed to managing the extra cortisol coursing through his body by measuring his breaths to keep them even.

He knew what it was like to have bullets flying past his head and seemingly no easy outs. A smile threatened to crack his lips because a part of him missed the adrenaline rushes that came with his time during combat. The other part of being away from home and coming back to the States in time for his fiancée to ditch him on their wedding day—that had been a humdinger.

Will was good at combat. Real life? Not so much.

Even though he’d grown up in a close-knit family he’d never been one to linger on emotions.

Being left at the altar when he’d believed he and his fiancée were in love showed him just how far off base he’d been. It didn’t seem to matter how many people told him to forget about her. That she wasn’t worth the trouble. He tried to tell that to the beating blob of blood and tissue in the center of his chest. Damn thing had a mind of its own.

Hell, he knew his family was right about Lacey. And normally he’d walk away and never look back. He had a weakness for the woman that defied logic. Or did it? A twinge of guilt pinched his gut. He most definitely felt protective of his ex.

That same protective instinct flared with the woman in his arms and it struck him that he was walking down a path he’d gone down before. Or, in this case, running was more like it, as he dodged another bullet that struck a tree a little too close for comfort.

Keep this up much longer and the law of probability said that even a bad shot would hit his target given enough time and opportunity.

Will needed a plan.

As far as he could tell he was dealing with a lone shooter. His own shotgun was strapped to Domino.

An old treehouse was up ahead around a hill. Maybe he could make it there.

Dodging in and out of trees was slowing his pace. Carrying Kelly was no problem after doing the same for a wounded soldier wearing sixty pounds of gear through mountainous terrain in hundred-plus temperatures.

Of course, he was older now and not nearly in the same shape. His stamina wouldn’t hold out as long. All those factors had to be considered.

Getting to Domino safely without risking a wild shot hitting his horse was risky.

Will didn’t like it, but his only option was to get Kelly out of the woods and to the medical attention she needed. The slurred speech might be caused by blood loss.

But then what? an annoying voice in the back of his mind asked.

STAY AWAKE. STAYING ALERT was Kelly’s highest priority. She hated being in this position, feeling like a victim. There was nothing worse than a feeling of helplessness, but it was taking all the strength she had inside her to stay awake and fight the darkness weighing down her thoughts.

Her mind zinged back to when she was a teenager. It had been two days since her thirteenth birthday had officially ushered her into her teen years. Kelly woke with a cramp in her side that made her double over and left her rocking back and forth in pain.

Her mother walked in after working her shift at the hair salon and gasped when she saw her daughter on the floor. Her appendix had almost burst and she’d been cramping so hard she could barely walk.

“Why didn’t you call me?” her mother had asked.

“I thought it would pass,” Kelly said weakly, in between blowing out breaths to try and manage her pain. She’d done everything she could think of in order to distract herself.

Before she could blow out her next breath, her mother was helping Kelly to her feet.

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” she’d stated and Kelly had heard the panic in her mother’s voice. She had immediately known that she must have looked awful based on her mother’s expression.

After her mother had managed to get her buckled into the passenger seat of the family sedan, Kelly saw how much her mother’s hands were shaking on the wheel. It took three tries for her to get the key into the ignition. Her mother let out a few choice words, glanced her daughter’s way and apologized, before finally finding the hole and starting the engine.

Kelly must’ve been in bad shape because her mother kept repeating, “Stay with me, baby.”

Pain threatened to drag Kelly under and hold her in the current, pulling her further out to sea. Then there were tires squealing as her mother stomped on the brakes in the ER bay. The sun was out, brightening the sky, and would be for hours before plunging into the western landscape. It was an unusually hot afternoon even for August in Texas.

People rushed toward them and then Kelly was being placed on a gurney and wheeled into the hospital. She remembered the rectangles on the ceiling and the bright fluorescent lights. The sound of doors opening and closing while a male voice shouted orders.

She didn’t remember how long the nurse told her she’d been out when she woke from surgery. There was a recovery room and the strangeness of fading in and out. And then suddenly her mother was there.

It didn’t strike her as odd at first that her father was nowhere to be seen. It should have, because he was the family’s rock. Her first thought was that he’d been held up in traffic. Then she’d realized it was Sunday—Sundays were for fishing.

There shouldn’t be any traffic. But still, she reasoned that it would take time to dock the boat and load it onto the platform before driving the boat home. Would he go straight home to drop off the boat? Based on her mother’s panicked expression, Kelly thought he would rush straight to the hospital.

There was no sign of her brother, either.

And then it dawned on her that an eight-year-old most likely wouldn’t be allowed near the surgery area. Her dad was probably in the waiting room with Kellan, feeding a vending machine a few quarters to give him a snack. Her brother had been on a growth spurt and there wasn’t enough food to keep that child satisfied lately.

“Hi, baby,” her mother had said and then her chin had quivered. Her voice was shaky.

Before Kelly could respond, her mother burst into tears.

“What’s wrong?” The words finally came. Her mouth was as dry as west Texas soil in a drought, so she choked when she tried to speak.

Her mother shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

Her words were strained and a knot immediately formed in Kelly’s stomach. She thought there was something terribly wrong with her, like the doctor had found an incurable disease.

And then a few moments later, when her mom said the words that changed both of their lives forever, her father and baby brother had been killed in an accident on the way to the hospital to see her.

Kelly wished she was the one to die.

All Kelly remembered was rolling onto her side and crying herself to sleep. She didn’t want to wake up. Didn’t want to get out of bed. It was as if a heavy weight pressed down her limbs, her body. She was powerless. Helpless.

It had been the worst feeling in the world.

Another bullet pegged a tree near Kelly’s head, shocking her thoughts back to the present.

Anger roared through her. No one got to make her feel that way again.

She cringed and gripped the cowboy as tightly as she could. He was strong and fast, but not even he could run forever while carrying her.

He was zigzagging through the woods, sometimes making a turn just in the nick of time to dodge a bullet.

His fluid movements and ability to cut left or right like momentum didn’t exist reminded her of the best cutting horse she’d ever seen. Denny.

If anything happened to him she’d be to blame.

“Put me down and get out of here,” she squeaked out. Her heart couldn’t take another person dying because of her.

“What?” The cowboy was barely winded.

“No sheriff.”

She tried to form more words but darkness silenced her.

Chapter Three

Will bolted through the property, carrying dead weight in his arms.

Kelly’s body had gone limp.

The shooter had disappeared.

Will rounded the base of Horseshoe Trail, a popular riding trail among visitors to the ranch.

Kelly’s last words spoken before she lost consciousness perplexed him. Why no sheriff? There was a man trying to kill her and now, by extension, him. Hell yes, he was calling the sheriff. Zach McWilliams was not only a damn fine lawman, but he was also Will’s cousin. They’d grown up close. Zach had spent a good bit of his childhood on the ranch and every summer he’d come to live with them while his parents worked. He was more like a brother than cousin and that’s exactly how Will knew he could be trusted.

Innocent people didn’t run from the law, but there was nothing else about Kelly that made him think she was a criminal. Either way, he wanted to get to safety and find out what she was talking about before he made the call.

Figuring it was safe to circle back to Domino now, Will took a couple of right turns and made as little noise as possible as he navigated the journey toward his horse.

Carrying Kelly for the past hour caused his arms to burn. Domino was a good twenty-minute walk from Will’s current location. The walk would give him time to clear his head and focus on his next move.

He wasn’t on the hike five minutes when his cell vibrated in his pocket. He balanced the woman in his arms, using a tree as a foundation, then slipped a hand in his jeans pocket and fished out his phone. He hit the green button with his thumb before cradling the phone against his shoulder.

“Got a strange visitor today.” Will instantly recognized the voice of his older brother, Mitch.

That didn’t sound good.

“Oh, yeah? Who?” he asked.

“A woman stopped by and said her friend was missing. She wanted to know if any of us had seen her and then in a blast-from-the-past move she held up a picture of Kelly Morgan.” Shock didn’t begin to describe Will’s reaction.

“Do you remember her from school?” Mitch asked.

“I have her right here in my arms,” Will admitted. “She’s wearing a wedding dress and a man with a gun was chasing her when I ran into her near the base of Rushing Creek.”

“Are you okay?” Mitch’s concern came through clearly.

“So far, so good, but the shooter could still be out here.” Rushing Creek had seen a little too much action considering his brother had found the dead heifer near the exact same spot where Will found Kelly.

“What’s going on? Did she say?” Mitch asked before it seemed to dawn on him that Will had said she was in his arms. “Did you say you’re carrying her?”

“That’s right. She conked out after asking me not to call Zach,” Will informed him.

“What about the man with the gun? Did she run out on him before their wedding?” Mitch was trying to piece together the story. Heck if Will could fill in his brother.

“He didn’t ask questions before he started shooting,” Will said.

His brother bit out a few expletives. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. She has blood on her dress and the guy’s loose on the property,” he said. “I’m on my way back to Domino where I tied him off.”

“I’ll call Zach.”

“Before Kelly passed out she warned me about bringing in the law,” Will revealed.

“Zach? What could she possibly be talking about? He’s honest and there’s no better investigator in the state.”

“We both know that but I guess she hasn’t figured it out. I’m scratching my head but I imagine she has her reasons,” Will said. “I didn’t pick up any signs of alcohol on her breath, but I have to admit she was acting odd when I found her. Then a guy shows up with a gun and starts shooting. No one’s stopping to ask questions. I grabbed her and took off.”

“Is she hurt?” Mitch issued a sharp breath. His brother wouldn’t like anything about this situation.

“There’s not enough blood for her to still be bleeding,” Will said after taking stock.

“Sounds like she needs a doctor, anyway,” Mitch said and Will agreed.

“I’d like to keep all this under the radar until we know exactly who and what we’re dealing with,” Will said.

“You already know I’ll help any way I can.” Will’s older brother had never let him down.

“I know.” He heard a branch-snapping noise to the east so he lowered his voice when he said, “I’m not out of the woods yet.”

“Where are you now?”

Will provided his general location and where he’d left his horse.

“Hold on. I’m sending men your way right now to secure the area,” Mitch said. “I’ll get Dr. Carter to the house and Zach on the line. We’ll figure this out.”

“I don’t want to endanger anyone unnecessarily,” Will warned.

“How’s Kelly’s breathing?” Mitch asked.

Will dropped his gaze to her chest, doing his level best to ignore her curves. Relief flooded him when he saw her chest rise and fall, steady and strong. “Seems good.” He forced his gaze away from her full breasts, which were pressing against the sheer white of her dress.

“We’ll seal off the area. Make sure this guy can’t get to the house or the casita,” Mitch said.

“Make sure everyone’s careful. This guy isn’t a good aim but he’s not afraid to pull the trigger and spray shells from here to Louisiana. Wish I’d gotten a better look at him so I could give a description,” Will admitted.

“We can work with what we’ve got.” Mitch paused. “He should be the only one out there aside from you since you were working alone today. Right?”

Will had thought about the possibility of others. “Can’t be one-hundred-percent sure what we’re dealing with. It’s safer to assume there are more.” His family was his rock and always had been. The Kent people were a close bunch and especially after losing both parents in the last four years. “I appreciate you.”

“Goes without saying,” Mitch acknowledged.

This land and this family were Will’s life and had become the only two things he cared about since his ex had walked out. Even so, he’d been restless since returning from his tour. He figured it came with the territory. Leaving the military, where his life was literally on the line daily, and returning to a quiet civilian life had seemed like a good plan. Get back to nature. Get his bearings again. Be normal. But things had changed. He’d changed. He hadn’t quite gotten his footing yet.

“The minute she wakes I’ll find out what I can,” Will stated, still on a whisper so as not to draw unwanted attention.

“Zach will need anything we can give him to work with,” Mitch agreed. “Be careful out there until we can get you some backup.”

“Will do.”

“Love you, man,” Mitch said before he ended the call on a similar sentiment.

Fifteen minutes after the conversation with his brother, Will came upon the spot where he’d left Domino.

The horse was gone.

KELLY BLINKED HER eyes open. She felt woozy and disoriented as she pushed up on her elbows.

Fear seized her as she realized it was pitch black and she had no idea where she was or what she was doing there.

“You awake?” A familiar male voice sent a shiver of awareness through her.

She didn’t respond because warning bells also sounded.

He must’ve realized she was scared beyond belief because he added, “It’s Will Kent. I found you on my ranch about an hour ago.”

She searched her memory… Will Kent? The wealthy kid she remembered from grade school? What on earth would she be doing with him? An image of a large man wearing a tuxedo rippled panic through her.

“What are you wearing?” she said in a whisper. Her voice was raspy.

“What?” He sounded bewildered but she needed to know.

“Clothes. What do you have on?” she choked out.

There was a moment of silence before a sharp breath issued. “Well, let’s see. I have on jeans and a T-shirt.”

Tux was definitely not Will Kent. Relief was a flood to dry plains.

“Where am I?” she whispered.

“In a casita on my family’s land. I’d open a curtain or turn on a light but we can’t risk being discovered until help arrives.” His voice brought a sense of calm over her she knew better than to trust.

She strained to remember but it felt like someone had poured concrete inside her skull and it had hardened.

“Why am I here?” she finally asked, hating that she sounded scared.

“You tell me,” the strong masculine voice said. The deep timbre reverberated down her spine, sending sensual tingles behind it. Her reactions were totally inappropriate to the situation and she mentally chided herself for them.

“Mind if I come closer?” Will asked.

She felt around her body to see if she was wearing clothes and was relieved to find that she was. But then she couldn’t imagine a man like Will Kent taking advantage of her.

“Okay,” she said.

She was being cautious but that was silly because a voice inside her told her that she could trust this man. And then the memory of the tuxedo man flashed in her thoughts. Fear was a living, breathing entity growing inside her. The overbearing smell of piney aftershave hit her—Tux’s aftershave. It had burned her nose and threatened to overwhelm her again just thinking about it.

She gripped her stomach to stave off nausea.

The mattress dipped next to her but she felt his male presence as he walked across the room toward her.

She should be afraid. Instead, warmth blanketed her.

This wasn’t the time to remember the crush she’d had on Will Kent in grade school, or that being near him now brought certain feelings to life. As a grown woman she didn’t do childish fantasies and it felt silly that her cheeks flamed with him this close despite her internal admonishment.

Apparently, reason flew out the window as soon as a hot cowboy entered the picture. Will was more than a good-looking face with a body made for sin, though. He was intelligent but careful. He’d always been a little quiet and intense, which only made him more attractive in her eyes.

Will seemed the kind of man who stood by his principles and didn’t seem to see the need to move his lips unless there was purpose.

“Are you taking medication?” he asked.

“What?” She didn’t bother to hide her shock at his question.

“You seemed out of it when I found you—loopy. And at first, I thought you’d been drinking with it being your wedding day and—”

“Hold on right there. My what?”

Chapter Four

Kelly’s reaction threw off Will. But then she seemed to be having a day if ever there was one. “You’re wearing a wedding dress. It seems to fit. I assumed you meant to put it on. So, I’m guessing it’s your wedding day.”

“I put that much together for myself but I have no idea what I’m doing in this getup,” she admitted. If she was lying she was damn good at it.

“You’re Will Kent,” she added.

“That’s right.”

“We were in grade school together,” she said.

“Right again.” His phone buzzed, indicating a text message. He cupped the screen to block light so as not to make it act as a beacon, and checked the message.

“The sheriff is outside.”

He texted back, letting his cousin know the two of them were in position and alone as far as he knew. Zach would take extra precaution so as not to bring the shooter to their doorstep. The last thing anyone wanted was a shootout. A text informing him that Domino had been found spooked but unharmed had come forty-five minutes ago and was a welcome relief. Thoughts of his horse being butchered like the heifer had anger brewing inside him.

He glanced up. His eyes had long ago adjusted to the dark. He could see Kelly’s outline and she was making a move to stand.

“Whoa. Hold on there.” In the next second he was by her side, steadying her and stopping her from taking a fall.

Physical contact sent more unexpected and unwelcomed currents of electricity thrumming through his veins. It hadn’t been that long since he’d been with a woman. An annoying voice in the back of his mind reminded him that it had been too long since he’d been with one who caused that kind of reaction from him. The thought was about as productive as drinking a shot of whiskey after eating a ghost pepper.

“I can’t stay here,” she said and her voice was shaky.

“Why not?” He remembered that she’d warned him against bringing in the law. “Are you involved in something illegal?”

“No.” She took a step and her knee gave.

Will pulled her in tighter, ignoring the shot of electricity.

“Thank you,” she said and her voice was laced with emotion. He didn’t need to see clearly to know that she was crying and it caused his heart to squeeze. Whatever was going on, she was in a fix and he found himself wanting to help. Then again, his blood was pumping for the first time since returning to the ranch. He couldn’t ignore the possibility that being shot at a little while ago was the first time he’d felt alive since leaving the military. Readjusting to the real world, when he’d been damn good at being a soldier, was proving harder than he expected. Thinking about it caused the restless feeling to return.

Those were dangerous thoughts so he shoved them down deep.

“Hang in there. Help is almost here,” he reassured Kelly as she leaned more of her weight against him. The soft curve of her hip came up to the outside of his upper thigh and lit a thousand fires at the point of contact.

His hands felt a little too right on her as he shouldered more of her weight. He told himself that he needed to call Renee back. She’d been after him for a date since her friend’s New Year’s Eve shindig. Will had gone to the party out of boredom and found himself even more restless among the dancing and boozing. He was definitely off-kilter. The old Will would’ve enjoyed a night with a pretty woman. But that was before Lacey had left him at the altar and shredded his heart. He’d tried to convince himself that he wasn’t over her, but that wasn’t true, either. Being burned still stung, but part of him had known he and Lacey had been making a mistake.

Being on the ranch was supposed to provide the answers he searched for. So far, he’d just counted cattle and shoveled manure. Busy work kept his mind from spinning out.

Will moved to the door, maintaining a slow pace so that Kelly could keep up. He situated her so that she could lean against the wall as he texted Zach. The rescue team was in position. He and Kelly were stationed and ready to go.

The doorknob jiggled.

Even knowing who was on the other side didn’t stop the familiar—and comforting?—adrenaline rush from thrumming through him, awakening all that had been dead. There had been one too many times that he felt like one of his parents, or both, would come walking through the kitchen door of the main house since his return. He needed to get it through his thick skull that both were gone.

Within a couple of minutes Will and Kelly were being guided out of the woods and ushered toward the main house.

Kelly had that frightened-deer expression, her violet eyes wild.

He tightened his grip around her waist in a move of silent reassurance as he led her into the house, then to the living room and onto the sofa, where he gently placed her.

Dr. Carter, a longtime family friend, went to work. The man was in his early sixties and had the face of a weathered grandfather. He had a medium build and kept himself in shape with a competitive cycling club. He was average height, had medium brown hair and a prominent nose. In his office there were enough degrees and accolades hanging on the wall to litter a small town. The doc was the best.

“Thanks for coming on short notice,” Will said with a handshake.

The doc smiled, then sanitized his hands and put on a pair of gloves. He took a knee beside Kelly. “I can see that you’re in pain. On a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt?”

“A solid seven,” she said in between breaths. Those huge violet eyes of hers outlined her panic.

Will rounded the coffee table and perched on the edge, opposite the doctor. Kelly reached for Will’s hand and issued a sharp breath with the move.

“I’ll be able to give you something to help with that pain when I’m finished with the exam,” the doc assured her.

“Okay.” Kelly’s shoulders tensed as he dabbed what Will could only guess was some type of cleaning agent on her wound. Her chin came up and he admired her strength. His heart pitched and he reminded himself not to notice these things about her. Soon enough, she’d be whisked away to the hospital and would be out of his life.

EMTs were pulling up outside as Zach came through the front door. Deputies Lorenzano and Peabody were outside standing guard, after having rushed Kelly and Will to the main house.

Will turned and caught a look from his cousin.

“Do you remember Kelly Morgan from elementary school?” Will asked.

Zach shook his head.

Will motioned toward her. Zach had been two grades behind them, so it wasn’t a shock that he didn’t remember her.

“We were classmates. Haven’t seen her since her family moved away from Jacobstown in fifth grade,” he said by way of explanation.

“I just got a call about an abandoned vehicle,” Zach warned. “The owner is missing.”

“We can all see that I’m right here,” Kelly said as she winced.

For the second time, Zach shook his head. “I’m sorry, but the name the car is registered to is Christina Foxwood.”

Kelly took in a sharp breath. “She’s my cousin.”

“When did you last see her?” Zach asked.

Kelly seemed to search her memory. “I can’t remember.”

“Is it safe to say that it’s been a long time?” Zach had a notepad out, and was jotting down a few notes.

“No. We live in the same building.” She massaged her temples as though that might stimulate her thoughts. “I know I’ve seen her, I just don’t remember where or when. I also know that I was forced to drink something and it’s playing havoc with my memory. There was a man. I mean, he’s so hazy but I feel like there was a guy in a tux trying to hurt me. I struggled and got away from him but things are hazy. I feel dizzy and like I might vomit.”

“But you remembered me,” Will stated.

She nodded. “When I saw you. You seemed familiar, so I searched my brain and came up with the connection.”

“Do you have any idea where your cousin might be right now?” Zach asked.

“Not really.”

“Have the two of you spoken to each other?” Zach asked and Will figured his cousin persisted with the line of questions to see if he could spur something in Kelly.

“This can’t be happening.” She had that bewildered look Will had seen earlier when he’d first found her. “Who reported her missing?”

“We know that her abandoned vehicle was found on the side of the road alongside the Jasper property two hours ago. There was blood splattered inside the vehicle.” He held up a hand, as though in surrender. “We don’t know who it belongs to. I put a call in for help from neighboring counties. My deputies are processing the scene but that’ll take time.” He shot a glance toward Will. “Keys were still in the ignition and the vehicle was left running with the passenger-side door open.”

“She wouldn’t just run off and leave her car on the side of the road,” Kelly choked out in between sobs. She bent forward and clutched her stomach, as if she was staving off throwing up.

“I want you to take in a few slow breaths,” Doc soothed, but Will was certain the comforting words fell on deaf ears.

Will moved next to her and, ignoring the sharp look from his cousin, put his arm around her shoulder. She repositioned underneath his arm and she felt a little too right there.

Zach’s cell buzzed. He glanced at Will and Kelly.

“Excuse me,” he said, before moving outside to the front porch.

“What is happening?” Kelly asked in between sobs.

“I’m not sure,” Will said. “But we’ll figure this out. We’ll find Christina and whoever it was that drugged you.”

Kelly looked up at him with those piercing violet eyes. “Promise?”

He nodded. Damned if he didn’t know better than to make promises he couldn’t keep. There was something about being with Kelly that made him feel grounded, connected for the first time since returning to Jacobstown. He needed to hold on to it.

A minute later, Zach stepped back into the room. “I just got a call from a Fort Worth businessman by the name of Fletcher Hardaway.”

“What did he want?” she asked with a mix of shock and disdain in her voice.

“He’s looking for his bride,” Zach informed her. His gaze bounced from Kelly to Will.

Before Will could demand answers, Kelly turned to him with the most lost look in her eyes that he’d ever seen.

“I promise I have no idea what’s going on but I’d know if I was supposed to get married,” she said softly so he was the only one who heard. “Please, help me.”

“Hardaway is under the impression that the two of you had plans to marry today.” His cousin’s words shouldn’t have been a punch to the gut. Will’s stomach lining took a hit, anyway.

He should stand up and walk away from this tangled mess. The feeling of being alive again won, against his better judgment.

“Stay here,” he said to Kelly, pushing to his feet. He squared up with Zach. “Can we have a word outside?”

“I’m afraid not,” Zach said. “That dress is evidence, she’s a witness at the very least and I can’t let her out of my sight.”

THAT DRESS IS EVIDENCE. Those four words hit Kelly hard. They followed “she’s a witness,” and the sheriff’s statement wouldn’t have bothered her if it had stopped there. Kelly’s instincts were screaming at her to get up and get the hell out of there.

The sheriff would stop her.

She already looked guilty without adding to her mounting problems.

Running would only make it worse. So, she fought her fight-or-flight instincts.

Christina was missing. Those words were daggers straight through her chest.

“There was a man in a tuxedo. He made me drink something. It was a clear liquid. He said it was water but it had this awful taste,” she blurted out, figuring she needed to say something in her defense. Her gaze bounced from the sheriff to Will, searching for any signs that either one believed her. For some reason what Will thought especially mattered to her. “I spit it out and then he pushed me up against the wall. Hard. He pushed my head back and poured more of it down my throat. I managed to kick him, break away and run. Everything’s hazy after that, and before is a total wash.”

Will looked at Doc. “Is it strange that her short-term memory seems to be the problem?”

“It depends on what she was given,” Doc Carter said.

“Do you remember where you were when that happened?” the sheriff asked. His voice told her that she wasn’t doing a great job of convincing him.

“Had to be a wedding chapel. Right? I think I was in a bride’s room but I swear I don’t know why I’m the one in this dress.” She pleaded with Will with her eyes. She met a wall of suspicion and it hurt.

“Can you stand?” the sheriff asked.

Will moved to her side and offered a hand up.

She took the offering, ignoring the frissons of heat from contact. They were more complications she didn’t need to focus on right now.

Standing made her woozy. She almost took a tumble, but Will’s hand wrapped around her waist to catch her. She had the fleeting thought that she wondered if the chemistry she felt pinging between them was real. Did he feel it? Those random thoughts had no place inside her head.

Christina was missing.

Kelly glanced down at the bloodstain on her white dress.

Someone was trying to kill her.

She’d trade places with her cousin in a beat because Christina hadn’t turned up and she might be lying in a ditch or an alley somewhere.

Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Thank you,” she said to Will and her voice came out shaky. She chalked it up to overwrought emotions and whatever had been in the glass that Tux had given her.

None of this could be real.

Kelly prayed this was all a nightmare and she’d wake any second to find the world had righted itself again.

“What did the person who drugged you look like?” the sheriff asked and his voice was laced with sympathy. “Tell me everything you can remember. Hair color. Eyes. General size and shape.”

“Tall. Built. He was linebacker-big but shorter. The rest of the details are fuzzy,” she admitted. “He had darkish hair. I think. And he smelled like he’d taken a bath in aftershave. That much I remember distinctly. The scent was cheap, piney and overpowering.”

Zach had taken out a pocket notebook and was writing down the few details she’d given him.

She knew it wasn’t much to go on.

“Am I under arrest?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” the sheriff said but his serious tone didn’t exactly cause warm and fuzzy feelings to rain down. “I will need to take that gown as evidence, though. I’d also like to have you checked out at the hospital.”

“She’ll need something warm to wear,” Will stated. “She looks close enough to Amber’s size. I’ll find something in my sister’s closet for Kelly. Everyone keeps clothes in the main house.”

Will’s face was like stone, hard and unreadable.

The doc finished his exam and declared that there was too much blood for all of it to belong to her and the small wound on her hip.

“There’s blood spatter,” he continued, “which isn’t consistent with the type of injury she’s sustained.

Will had already explained that everyone in the family kept clothes at the main house just in case the need to stay over arose. The reasoning usually included working too late to drive home.

A few moments later, Will returned with garments in hand.

Kelly released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“Is there somewhere I can change?” she asked, flashing her eyes at the sheriff. He’d been a child the last time she’d seen him. Strange how coming back made her think everyone would still be the same age as when she’d left town years ago. It was silly, she knew that. But in a strange way she’d half expected Zach McWilliams to still be in third grade, his younger sister, Amy, in preschool.

“Deputy Deloren can wait in the hall while you change in the bathroom. Door’ll have to stay open, of course,” Zach said.

Panic gripped Kelly at the thought of a stranger watching her undress. She shot a wild look toward Will, whose forehead creased with concern.

He didn’t speak.

Chapter Five

“To be clear. Whatever’s going on legally with Kelly Morgan is none of my business,” Will said to his cousin.

“No argument there.” Zach nodded.

Will issued a loaded sigh. “I’ll look after her while she changes.”

Kelly turned so quickly, the hopeful look on her face shot a spear straight in the middle of Will’s chest.

“I’ll take it from here,” Will said to Deputy Deloren.

The deputy looked to his boss for confirmation.

Zach studied Will for a long moment. And then he gave a nod.

Deputy Deloren held out an evidence bag and a pair of gloves. “Don’t get your prints on the gown.”

“They’ll be on there already,” Will said. “I had to carry her in the woods to get her to safety. She was in and out of consciousness.”

He had the bloodstains on his shirt to prove it.

“Keep her in your sight at all times,” Zach shouted as they rounded the corner into the hallway.

His cousin was taking a risk by allowing Will to accompany Kelly. Will knew that if anything happened, the move could easily cost Zach his job. The only reason Will had insisted was because he would never allow it to come to that. Still woozy, she wasn’t going anywhere.

Will helped Kelly down the hall, ignoring the heat fizzing between them. He stopped at the door.

“Can you take it from here all right?” he asked.

She blinked up at him, those violet eyes wide and even more beautiful this close. His heart fisted when their gazes lingered. Inappropriate didn’t begin to define the reaction he was having to Kelly. He did good to remind himself that she wore a wedding dress. Details of her life were sketchy at best.

She took in a sharp breath as she tried to move on her own. She stopped and he tucked a curly loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

“Did the guy wearing the tux hurt you in any way?” he asked her in the serious tone he used when he was trying to keep from hitting someone. He wanted five minutes alone with the guy in the tux who’d put those marks on her back.

She cocked her head to the side and it was sexy as hell.

“Aside from what you already told us. Did he put a hand on you?” Will asked through clenched teeth. He had half a mind to hunt down the man himself and spend a couple of minutes outlining why a person shouldn’t pick on someone smaller. Although, she’d given the guy hell, and a feeling of pride Will had no right to own welled in his chest.

This close, he could see her pulse racing, thumping at the base of her throat.

Kelly didn’t speak. Instead, she bit her lip and slowly shook her head, maintaining eye contact.

“I’ll wait out here,” he finally said but didn’t move.

A few seconds later, Will took a step back and let go of her waist.

She gripped the doorjamb for support and then stepped inside the bathroom. Will followed but only to place her change of clothes on the counter.

“If you need anything, I’m right here.” He stepped out and, in a show of trust, closed the door behind him.

Memories of a younger Kelly struck him. Her freckle-cheeked smile. The way the sun bounced off her long hair. The easy way she’d laughed.

Even as kids he knew she came from the other side of town. Hell if he’d cared. The two got along and were fast friends. He remembered having a crush on her, his first real crush now that he thought back. The two had been inseparable at school. Her father would wait at the door some days. Will remembered the man had permanent worry lines creasing his face.

The difference in their economic status had never bothered Will. Looking back, it might’ve been a problem for Kelly and could explain why she’d always insisted on walking home by herself. He could walk her to the corner, but where the road forked and he turned left to go down the road to the ranch, she wouldn’t allow him to walk with her. She forked right and to a side of town Will had never seen at age ten.

There were times she missed school. At first, he’d figured she was sick. She’d been out often, he’d noticed. She never wanted to talk about it and the subject dropped as soon as it came up.

What did he know as s kid?

The Kents had never known what it was like to miss a meal.

Looking back, Kelly must’ve. He’d noticed how little there’d been in her lunches at the cafeteria. When he’d asked she’d make up an excuse about not liking to eat a big lunch. She’d said it made her stomach cramp to eat too much before recess. How stupid he’d been not to realize she was covering. She’d been too proud to take anything from his plate. His lunches were packed to the brim with more fresh food than he had time to eat. Never one to waste, and being from a family that looked at wastefulness with the same vigor some people went to church, he’d brought home his leftovers and then had them for a snack after school. That came especially in handy when he’d joined athletics. He’d had almost a second full meal to chew on before hours-long practices began.

Kelly opened the door and held out the evidence bag.

She’d kicked off her boots and had tucked them under her other arm.

“Clothes look like they fit okay.” He skimmed her body. Amber’s T-shirt was tighter on Kelly and revealed a figure of generous curves and ample breasts. She stood there in her stocking feet, looking more lost and alone than he’d ever seen her, and he had to suppress the urge to pull her against his chest and be her comfort. An annoying voice reminded him that she wasn’t his to comfort.

Dozens of questions flooded his mind. He didn’t see a wedding ring and wanted to believe her that she wasn’t the one who was supposed to get married.

“They’ll do all right,” she said and that honey-laced voice stirred other places he didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Thanks for letting me shut the door,” she said.

He tipped his chin before helping her down the hallway. She looked good in casual clothes with her hair tied away from her face.

“We’ll need to head over to the hospital before my office,” Zach said.

Will shot him a questioning look.

“Would you be more comfortable giving the rest of your statement to a female deputy?” Zach asked and the reason dawned on Will. Anger was an explosion in his chest.

“No. I’m fine. I already told you everything I can remember.” She glanced from Zach to Will.

“Then let’s go,” Zach said.

The muscles on her face pulled taut.

“Mind if I tag along?” Will asked his cousin.

Before Zach could answer, Kelly said, “That would be great.”

“Anyone I should call? Let them know that you’ll be late today?” Will asked.

“There’s no one special in my life right now and my cousin…” She wiped the moisture from her eyes.

The drive to the hospital took half an hour. Will had made a few calls using Bluetooth technology in his custom-made crossover vehicle so that everything would be expedited when she arrived.

He followed his cousin’s SUV, respecting the fact that Kelly had to ride with him instead of Will. Protocol needed to be followed and especially since she couldn’t be ruled out as a suspect. At this point, Zach was treating her like a witness, but that could change.

Zach pulled into the ER bay. Will parked nearby.

The look in Kelly’s eyes when he’d first caught up to her would stay with him until he saw this thing through.

More memories stirred. He thought about the time she’d been cornered by Butch Dryden. Butch was tall and played sports. He’d filled out early, while Will was all height and gangly limbs. Butch stopped growing just shy of six feet tall. Will had shot past him by junior year of high school. Middle school was the time Butch had peaked.

Kelly had been beautiful even back then. Her shy smile wasn’t easy to see or coax out of her. But it brightened her face when it finally made an appearance.

Butch had set his sights on Kelly becoming his girlfriend. Much to Will’s relief, she’d had no interest. At five feet eight inches by the fifth grade, one-hundred-sixty-pound Butch had become accustomed to taking what pleased him. That cold winter day in late February it had been Kelly.

Will had rounded the corner of the building after school that day. He’d had to stay late because the science teacher, Mrs. Pander, had asked if he could help her to her car with a prop she’d brought to class to illustrate the solar system. The 3-D model had to be broken down and taken to her SUV in pieces.

His helping Mrs. Pander saved Kelly from Butch, who had decided to pin her up against the wall and force her to kiss him while he touched her.

Kelly might’ve been shy but she knew how to stand up for herself. As Will had rounded the corner she’d belted Butch, blackening his eye.

Will chuckled at the memory of her jerking back her fist, her face wrinkled with pain from hitting such a hard skull.

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