Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge. Delores Fossen

from Coopersville, and he slipped the phone into his pocket. “Dr. Grange will come out to the ranch to do the bone marrow test on you,” he relayed to her.

      Maggie silently groaned. “Tanner can buy off the doctor.” But the same was true for just about anyone.

      Jake made a weary sound of agreement. “Royce told Doc Grange that he needed to check on Sunny. He doesn’t know you’ll be at the ranch.”

      Well, that was a start, but Grange would soon know that it was a lie. Somehow she had to convince him to keep her return a secret. After convincing the doctor, she’d have to get in touch with Tanner and remind him of their agreement. An agreement that had been broken because she was back in Mustang Ridge.

      But maybe she could keep that from him.

      Jake took the final turn onto one of the ranch trails. Winter was hardly the best time to be sloshing through the icy dirt paths, but this was one more step in keeping her arrival a secret. They passed the outbuildings. Barns.

      Including the barn of the infamous kiss.

      She glanced at Jake, but he was looking everywhere but there, which only seemed to call more attention to it.

      Maggie spotted several ranch hands, all armed, and there was another in the backyard where Jake finally brought the truck to a stop. He’d barely had time to kill the engine when the door opened and his sister, Nell, stepped out. Once, Maggie and she had been friends. Judging from Nell’s troubled eyes, Maggie wasn’t expecting that friendship to resume.

      It was understandable.

      Nell had been friends with Anna. In fact, they weren’t just in-laws; they’d worked together at the county clerk’s office in town.

      “Is she a match?” Nell asked the moment Jake opened the door.

      “We’ll soon find out. That’s why the doc is on the way.” He motioned for Maggie to come across the seat on his side. Probably so she wouldn’t be out in the open any longer than necessary, and he quickly ushered her inside.

      Nell held the door open for them and studied Maggie’s uniform and then her muddy shoes. “I’m guessing you had a rough morning, too.”

      Maggie nodded. It’d been nearly three years of rough mornings.

      The kitchen was toasty warm and smelled liked Christmas cookies. Leave it to Nell to bake cookies when all hell was breaking loose, but then that’s what Maggie had always admired about her cool-under-pressure former friend.

      Nothing had changed much in the time she’d been gone. The place looked exactly as it had when Anna and she had started visiting as teenagers. In those days, they’d both had crushes on Jake.

      Something that would be a good idea to forget.

      Like the house, Nell hadn’t changed much, either, though Maggie thought she was looking more and more like her late mother. In fact, she was pretty sure she’d seen Mrs. McCall wear that very apron. The cross necklace and the engagement ring, too, though Nell was wearing the ring on her right hand instead of her left.

      “I’m sorry about your mother’s death,” Maggie told her. Breast cancer, Jake had told her when she’d asked on the drive over.

      Nell nodded. “It was a tough loss for Jake, Royce and me.” She didn’t add her father to that list, and Maggie knew why. Even though they stayed married, Nell’s parents had had a rocky relationship.

      “I went ahead and sent Betsy home,” Nell told Jake. She put on the oven mitt and took out another baking sheet of cookies from the oven. “I didn’t figure it’d be a good idea if she was here, what with possible trouble brewing.”

      “You’re right.” Jake glanced at Maggie. “Betsy Becker, the nurse who’s been taking care of Sunny.”

      Oh, that Betsy. Maggie remembered the kindly woman, and Nell had been right to get her away from this. The fewer people, the better.

      “You have a security system?” Maggie asked, looking at the windows and then the door.

      Jake nodded. “And the ranch hands are watching both roads.”

      Maybe that would be enough. Maybe. But the Tanners had a long reach when it came to settling a score.

      Nell turned to her brother. “Why would Tanner try to come after us now? And why are those marshals waiting at your office to arrest you?”

      That last part snagged Maggie’s attention. “What marshals?”

      “The ones who arrived several hours ago,” Nell clarified.

      “You knew about this?” Maggie asked him, but there was no answer required. She could tell from his expression that he knew. The marshals obviously hadn’t had any trouble tracing the hacking job back to Jake.

      “Well?” Nell pressed.

      Jake shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

      “Shorten it,” Nell insisted, staring at Maggie now.

      Since the cat was out of the proverbial bag, Maggie didn’t see a reason to keep it secret. “Jake hacked into the classified database to find me.”

      “Mercy,” Nell mumbled. “Is that why the ranch hands are all armed—to keep the marshals away?”

      “No. Royce is supposed to keep the marshals away.” Jake tipped his head to Maggie for her to finish.

      “I made a deal with Tanner so he’d leave all of you alone. He might believe I broke that deal.” She lifted her shoulder. “Technically, I did.”

      “What did Tanner threaten to do if you broke the deal?” Nell asked.

      “To hurt one or more of you.” She had to pause. “I have evidence against his son, so that might be enough to tie Tanner’s hands.” Another pause. “Unless he thinks he can have the evidence negated in some way.”

      Or maybe Tanner would let his temper get the best of him and lash out despite the consequences.

      “The idea is to get Maggie out of here fast and back into WITSEC,” Jake explained. “Then, I can deal with the marshals.”

      Nell practically slammed the cookies onto the counter. “And you’ll be off to jail.”

      Jake nodded. “I did what I had to do.”

      Tears sprang to Nell’s eyes. “I know.” And she repeated it as she gave his arm a gentle squeeze.

      “I had no choice but to bring her here,” Maggie heard Jake say.

      Maggie’s attention shifted to the doorway where she spotted Chet approaching them. Definitely no warm fuzzies from him. He gave her a withering look, cursed and walked away.

      “I can go as soon as the test is done,” Maggie assured Jake and Nell. She cleared her throat. “But I’d like to see Sunny first.”

      Maggie braced herself for a resounding no from both of them, but they exchanged glances. There was some sibling telepathy going on between them, because Nell lifted her left eyebrow. Waited. Jake waited, too, and then finally echoed the profanity his father had just used.

      “Wash your hands,” Jake ordered. “Scrub them clean and take one of the masks.” He pointed to a dispenser box of surgical masks on the windowsill next to the clay pots of fresh herbs.

      For fear he would change his mind, Maggie didn’t waste any time. She shucked off her coat, which Nell took, and Maggie hurried to the sink. Jake did as well, and they both reached for the bottle of antibacterial soap. His hand brushed against hers, causing him to jerk back, but they kept scrubbing until Maggie was certain she couldn’t get any cleaner.

      “This way,” Jake growled. He took two masks and handed her one. “Keep it short, and don’t you dare say a word about Anna. I’ll be the one to explain it.”

      Maggie nodded