Delivering Justice. Barb Han

Chapter Eighteen

       Extract

       Chapter One

      For a few seconds as Tyler O’Brien scaled Diablo’s Rock and pushed up onto its crest, everything in the world was peaceful. Looking out onto the land that breathed life into his soul, he couldn’t imagine a better place to be.

      Tyler’s gaze swept down and he muttered a curse as he stared at an overturned four-wheel ATV with an unmoving body splayed out underneath.

      A dead body was not part of Tyler’s lunch plans.

      Tyler hated accidents. He and his five brothers had inherited the cattle ranch two months ago after his parents had died in an “accident.” New evidence had the sheriff opening a homicide investigation before the will was out of probate.

      “You okay?” he shouted, wishing for a response but not really expecting one. Not with the way the body was pinned under the ATV. It was too far away to get a good visual on the person. Yet Tyler had seen enough scenes like this one to get a good feel for how it would turn out.

      Cell phone coverage was nonexistent on this part of the ranch so he couldn’t call for an ambulance or the sheriff. He’d left his walkie-talkie with Digby, his gelding. Most ranchers used ATVs and pickup trucks for convenience when checking the vast amount of fencing on a ranch the size of The Cattlemen Crime Club. But Tyler figured his horse needed the exercise and it made him feel connected to the land to do things the way his father had. His ranch hands used ATVs, and for a split second he feared one of them might be below, but the area around Diablo’s Rock was Tyler’s to check.

      Maybe someone had their wires crossed. Or a group of thrill seekers had wandered onto the land and one got separated.

      His pulse kicked into high gear as he moved into action, digging the heels of his boots into the rocky forty-foot drop one careful step at a time. He scanned the horizon looking for the rest of the ATV party. There was no sign of anyone else as far as the naked eye could see.

      Diablo’s Rock wasn’t a good area for people new to ATVs and only an idiot would come out here alone. There were black bears and copperhead snakes, badgers and all manner of wildlife running around this part of Texas. The land was beautiful and its danger only enhanced Tyler’s respect for it. It was a reminder that people weren’t always at the top of the food chain. An unprepared person could end up at the wrong end.

      The closer Tyler descended toward the body, the more his pulse spiked. He could tell that the figure was smaller than a man, and that definitely ruled out one of his employees.

      As he approached, he could clearly see the creamy skin of long legs, which meant the woman either had on shorts or a dress. He assumed shorts considering the fact that she wore running shoes. Neither outfit was appropriate this time of year, which struck Tyler as odd if she’d been planning on this excursion. Wouldn’t she dress for the occasion? Thanksgiving was right around the corner. The average temperature in November was in the sixties in this part of Texas and this week had been colder than usual, barely breaking fifty with a blanket of cloud coverage most days.

      A good part of the reason he’d intended to eat lunch on the rock was that the sun had finally broken through and its heat would reflect on the surface, offering a warm place to eat.

      Then again, maybe the visitor hadn’t planned on being out there at all. When Tyler got closer, maybe he’d recognize her face. The notion she could be someone he knew pricked his throat as if he’d swallowed a cactus.

      People wandered off trails and did all kinds of random things while on scheduled hunting expeditions, but there was nothing on the calendar and the safety record on their land was unblemished. Right up until now, he thought.

      The ATV had flipped over and was on top of her. At first blush, she looked trapped. He shoved thoughts that she could be a young runaway or in trouble to the back of his mind while he moved around the ATV, trying to get a better look at her positioning.

      Her body was positioned awkwardly and close to the handlebars, but she wasn’t being pinned by them as he’d first suspected.

      On closer appraisal, the ATV wasn’t touching her at all. And that was the first positive sign he’d had so far. He couldn’t tell how bad the damage was to her body from this angle and he didn’t see any signs of her breathing.

      As soon as he rounded the side of the vehicle, he noticed blood splattered on the rocks next to her head. He was no expert at analyzing an accident scene but he’d heard enough stories around the campfire from their family friend Sheriff Tommy Johnson to know the splatter most likely came from an injury to her head. An impact hard enough to create that amount of blood wasn’t good.

      She was facedown in the dirt with her head angled toward the side he was standing on. Not that he could see past that thick red mane of hers.

      This didn’t look good at all. He’d make the short hike back to Digby in order to use his walkie-talkie to call for someone to pick her up. And it was such a shame that a young woman’s life had been cut short.

      “We’ll get you out of here soon,” Tyler said softly, dropping to his knees to get a better look at her face. She wasn’t wearing a backpack nor did she have a purse. A physical description might help the sheriff identify her.

      Tyler brushed her hair away from her face, expecting to see her eyes fixed, and then checked her neck for a pulse. She blinked sea-green eyes instead and mouthed the words, Help me.

      She was alive?

      Shocked, Tyler nearly fell backward. His pulse pounded even faster as he located hers on her wrist, which was strong.

      “You’re okay. I’m going to get you out of here.” Tyler had enough training and experience to know better than to move her. He needed to reposition the ATV so he could better assess her injuries.

      Just as he pushed up to his feet, her arm moved and then her leg. Was she trying to climb out from under the machine?

      “Hold still, there,” he said. “Let me get this out of the way.”

      Tyler dropped his backpack and hoisted the ATV upright and away from her body. It popped up onto all four wheels. His right shoulder pinched at the movement, the old injury liked to remind him of the reason he didn’t have a pro baseball career anymore, and he rubbed the sore spot trying to increase blood flow.

      The mystery woman had managed to roll onto her side and was trying to climb away.

      “I’m not going to hurt you so you don’t have to go anywhere,” he said. “I have water. Are you thirsty?”

      She nodded. Based on her pallor and the freshness of the blood on the rocks, she couldn’t have been out there for long. That was the second good sign so far.

      He had medical supplies in his saddlebag, enough to dress a field wound. He could tend to that gash and try to stem the bleeding while they waited for help to arrive. It wouldn’t take long to scale Diablo’s Rock, get to his horse and then return with provisions. But he didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone.

      “What’s your name?” He went down on a knee next to his backpack, pulled a bottle of water out of the main compartment and unscrewed the cap before offering her the bottle. He shrugged out of his denim jacket, draping it over her.

      She looked like she was drawing a blank in the name department as she took the water and poured the liquid over her lips. They were pink, which was a good sign. She couldn’t have been out there for long.

      It didn’t surprise him that she’d temporarily forgotten her name and other details about her life, given the blow she’d taken to her head. Tyler had witnessed plenty of concussions out on the baseball field. The good news here was that she