Wyoming Wildfire. Elizabeth Lane

Hammond had just thrown away the last chance of redeeming her ranch.

      Torn between outrage and jubilation, Matt turned back toward Jessie. In freeing the stallion, she had committed an act of reckless audacity—an act of mercy, an act of love. He did not know whether to shake her, hold her, or simply turn his back and walk away.

      In the corral, Jessie had crumpled to her knees. Matt reached her in a few strides and bent down to clasp her shoulders. As he lifted her to her feet, the pistol dropped from her limp fingers and fell to the ground.

      She sagged against him, her throat jerking. “I couldn’t shoot him—” she gasped. “I wanted to. I wanted to kill Midnight for destroying Frank. And I wanted Virgil Gates to find the body. I wanted him to know that he hadn’t won.” Her hands clenched on Matt’s chest. “But I couldn’t do it. I looked at Midnight and I—couldn’t!”

      Matt’s arms tightened around her. She was so small and wounded and alone, her vulnerability tore at his heart. His protective instincts surged. He found himself wanting to comfort her, to fight her battles and keep her from harm. Without conscious thought, his lips nibbled along her hairline, tasting the sweetness of her skin. She was as soft and warm as a child.

      For a moment her breath seemed to stop. She gave a tremulous sigh and began to melt against him. Then, abruptly, she stiffened in his arms. Bracing her hands against his chest, she shoved him firmly away. Shards of ice glittered in her eyes.

      “Maybe I should have shot you instead,” she said coldly. “Heaven knows, you’re more to blame for Frank’s death than that wretched stallion!”

      Spinning away from him, she scooped up the gun, checked the hammer and thrust it into the pocket of her baggy overalls. Then, without another word, she stalked to her mare and sprang into the saddle.

      For the next half mile she barely stayed in sight. Matt followed the flash of her red plaid shirt through the trees, cursing as he trailed behind with Frank’s body. He had taken on the simple errand of bringing in a prisoner, something he’d done without mishap hundreds of times in his career as a lawman. Now he found himself dealing with a dead body, a possible unsolved murder and a woman who was driving him crazy!

      Only one thing was certain. If he had the sense of a mule, he would keep his horny hands off Jessie Hammond. She might be as tempting as a fresh plum tart with cream, but her kind of trouble was the last thing he needed—especially if he ended up having to arrest her for the murder of Allister Gates. Feigning friendship to get her to talk was part of his job. But making love to her could be the worst mistake of his life.

      He could see her now, paused on the ridge above him, glancing back over her shoulder as she waited for him to catch up. Well, let her wait, Matt thought. He’d had enough of her games. It was time he stopped panting after her like a schoolboy and did his job. He had two deaths to investigate, and Jessie was his only link to the truth. He would get to that truth, he swore, no matter what it cost him.

      Jessie watched Matt Langtry as he wound his way up the slope. He moved the horses at a deliberate pace, taking care with Frank’s body on the turns. He did not look up at her.

      She forced herself to keep still and wait for him, even though her nerves screamed with the urge to race on ahead. To keep running would only make things more awkward between them. Sooner or later she would have to stop and let him catch up. It might as well be now.

      Still trembling, she raked her windblown hair back from her face. Her fingertips brushed the spot along her hairline where his lips had nibbled a brief path. The sweetness of that small caress had almost undone her. She had wanted nothing more, at that moment, than to sink into his arms, bury her face against his shirt and cry her heart out.

      No one had held her in a comforting way since the death of her parents in a blizzard four years earlier. Frank had been the focus of her love between that time and now, but there had been no outward affection between the two of them. They had been partners in survival—close in spirit, but private and proper in terms of physical affection.

      Only when Matt had pulled her against him and brushed that light caress along her hairline did Jessie realize how lost she’d felt and how hungry she was for the strength of a man’s arms.

      Terrified by the rush of emotion, she had pushed him away and lashed out to protect herself. Matt Langtry’s actions had tipped the scales against her brother’s life. If he’d manacled Frank’s hands in front instead of behind, or if he’d given her the key when she’d demanded it, this tragedy would never have happened.

      How could she forgive him for that? How could she let him touch her, when her heart screamed against what he’d done and what he stood for? The law was always on the side of rich landholders like Allister and Virgil Gates. Poor farmers and homesteaders didn’t stand a chance.

      Holding the mare in check, she waited for Matt to bring the horses up onto the ridge. Her heart crept into her throat as he came closer. It was easy to hate him at a distance. But when he was near she felt confused and vulnerable. It was all she could do to keep from kicking the mare and bolting off at a gallop, just to get away from him.

      As he came abreast of her, he cast an impersonal glance in her direction. His face was as expressionless as a granite slab. He had chosen to ignore her, she thought. Fine, that would make everything easier.

      Avoiding him with her eyes, she nudged the mare to a brisk walk. He stayed at her side, moving in close enough for conversation. It seemed he wasn’t going to make things easy after all. Jessie’s heart slammed against her ribs as she waited for him to speak.

      “How well did you know the Gates brothers?” It was his lawman’s voice, flat and relentless in its demand for answers.

      “I hardly knew them at all,” she answered truthfully. “I knew who they were, of course. I’d seen them in town and on the road. But I don’t recall exchanging a word of polite conversation with either Allister or Virgil. Ranchers and homesteaders don’t exactly socialize in these parts.”

      “Or any other parts that I know of. What about your brother? What kind of dealings did he have with them?”

      “None—until last fall when Allister laid eyes on the stallion. As I told you, he made Frank an offer in Laramie, and Frank told him the horse wasn’t for sale at any price. That’s the last we heard until the week when the Felton marshal served us with notice that the Gates brothers had redeemed our mortgage and we had three days to clear off the property. Later that day, Allister came by with a half-dozen cowhands from his ranch and took the stallion.”

      Even as she spoke, Jessie was amazed that she could tell the story so calmly. There had been nothing calm about that afternoon. The men from the Gates Ranch had galloped up to the house armed with pistols. They’d caught Frank outside, unarmed except for the heavy double ax he’d been using to break up a stump. Holding him at gunpoint, they’d put a lead on Midnight and taken the stallion out of the corral. Jessie had rushed outside in time to stop her brother from hurling his ax at Allister, which would have surely gotten him shot.

      “You have no right to take that horse!” she’d shouted as Allister’s men led the stallion down the trail. “He’s not part of the ranch. He’s ours.”

      Allister Gates had shot her a contemptuous look, spat in the mud and ridden away.

      Frank had been beside himself. It had taken all Jessie’s persuasive powers to keep him from getting his rifle and going after Allister Gates right then. But that didn’t mean he’d murdered the man. If he had, he would never have been able to keep it from her.

      She glanced back over her shoulder to where her brother’s body lay slung across the bay horse. Now that Frank was dead it would be all too easy to blame him for killing Allister. Case closed. Frank was beyond judgment, but his name would be forever tainted with the stain of murder. And the real killer, whoever he was, would go unpunished.

      Whatever the cost, Jessie vowed, she would not allow that to happen. She owed it to Frank and to their parents’ memory to clear his name. And the one man who might be able to help