Familiar Showdown. Caroline Burnes

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      The fire that had been smoldering between them flamed to life.

      She kissed him, pressing into him, yielding to him. Letting go of whatever trouble waited outside the cabin. In the passion of the kiss, it didn’t exist. There was only Johnny.

      In the rational part of her brain, she knew none of this made sense. She was kissing Johnny Kreel but she didn’t trust him. She didn’t even know him.

      Familiar’s meow caught her attention.

      “He’s trying to tell us something,” she said as the cat ran to the back door and clawed at it.

      As Stephanie opened the door, she saw it. A hooded figure silhouetted against the dawn sky—holding a lead rope on her prized stallion. As the figure brought a whip down across the horse’s back, the stallion reared and bolted.

      “Black Jack!” She started out after the stallion, but Johnny’s grasp caught and stopped her. He manhandled her back into the relative safety of the cabin. “I’ve got to—”

      “No,” he said, cutting her off. “He’s got a gun. And you’re the one he’s aiming for.”

      Dear Reader,

      Twenty-five years ago, I walked into a local bookstore in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. One of the salesclerks knew I loved mysteries, and she pointed out a new line of Harlequin books—one that combined romance and mystery. I was instantly hooked. What could be better? I loved the combination of vivid characters and exciting action so much, I decided to try to write one.

      My first Intrigue, The Deadly Breed, involved horses. But when I wrote a book about a black cat detective, Familiar, I realized that I’d opened the door to unlimited adventures. Familiar and I are very proud to be a part of this landmark 25th anniversary for Harlequin Intrigue.

      Happy reading!

      Caroline Burnes

       Familiar Showdown

       Caroline Burnes

      MILLS & BOON

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      For Aleta Boudreaux, who saves and neuters countless cats, making the world a better place for all of us.

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Caroline Burnes has written fifteen books in her Fear Familiar series. She has her own black cat, Familiar’s prototype, E. A. Poe, as well as Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Maggie and Chester. All are strays and all have brought love and joy into her life. An advocate for animal rights, Caroline urges all her readers to spay and neuter their pets. Unchecked reproduction causes pain and suffering for hundreds of thousands of innocent animals.

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Stephanie Ryan—is following a dream to rescue and train abused horses. Though she’d planned to create Running Horse Ranch in the wild beauty of South Dakota with her fiancé, the untimely death of Rory Sussex has forced her to go it alone. But beyond the borders of the ranch, forces are aligning that she’d never imagine.

      Johnny Kreel—knows how to “cowboy up” when it comes to dangerous broncs and flying bullets, but he also has skills not normally found in a cowhand. When he appears at Running Horse Ranch, danger is hot on his heels. Is he there to help Stephanie or merely to weave another web of lies?

      Familiar—the black cat detective, finds himself caught in the middle of a complex lie that brings danger to Stephanie and everyone—and everything—close to her.

      Rory Sussex—was a charismatic pilot who captured Stephanie’s heart and future when he asked her to marry him and build a ranch based on the horse-training principles of Stephanie’s Oglala grandfather. When Rory disappeared in a plane crash in the Darien Jungle, he left behind a surprise that pulls Stephanie into danger.

      Rupert Casper—is a neighbor of Stephanie’s and a man who’s used to having his way—no matter what the consequences. When a headstrong stallion injures Casper, the horse ends up in Stephanie’s care, and she’s determined to protect the horse from Casper’s ugly temper. But how far will Casper go to prove his point?

      Carlos Diego—is a known criminal, and his harsh hand touches international events on many levels. But why would a man like Diego take an interest in Stephanie and her horse ranch?

      Contents

      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 One

      October is normally my favorite month. Eleanor, my humanoid, lights the first fire of the season in the library, and I curl up on my favorite green velvet pillow, the one that brings out the color of my eyes. But I’m not in Washington, D.C., where I belong. I’m in South Dakota. At the foot of the Black Hills. On a horse ranch of all things. And these aren’t even nice horses. These are rogues and outlaws.

      The only benefit is that I get to hang with one fine-looking woman. While I feel Stephanie Ryan wastes a whole lot of energy on those bad horses, I have to admit that she looks good in tight jeans, boots and even those chaps. With her long, straight chestnut hair and those dark eyes, she could be some cowboy’s fantasy. And she has a special way with horses. Or at least that’s what Eleanor says. She’s a “gentler.” That’s someone who helps troubled horses and makes them safe.

      She’s out there right now working with that devil horse, Black Jack. He’s black sure enough—in color and temperament. In the fifteen minutes I’ve been watching, he’s charged at Stephanie and tried to trample her. All she wants him to do is trot the circumference of the round pen. And he knows it. Yet he acts like she’s trying to kill him. That horse has got a screw loose, and someone is going to get hurt if she isn’t careful. If I could vocalize in human language, I’d suggest that she yield the battle and get out of that pen.

      Why did Eleanor and Peter leave me here at Running Horse Ranch on the backside of nowhere? They told me to watch out for Stephanie. But who can protect a crazy broad who walks into a small pen with a homicidal equine?

      This is going to be a long two weeks. I’m counting the hours until Eleanor