A Cowboy To Keep. Karen Rock

ring a bell. You think that could be the other fellow?”

      “It’s possible.” He didn’t say the unspoken...that if Smiley had a job at Mountain Sky Dude Ranch using an alias, so might Everett. But what would tie them to the property? “Is it all right with you if I look around the place for the two men? His family says they dropped nearby a couple of days ago.”

      “My stable manager’s up there alone, Jack.” Larry’s voice grew muffled and he heard him tell his wife to start packing.

      “I believe I met her last night. Thought a late-night look-see might be a good idea until she pulled a rifle on me.”

      A chuckle rumbled through the phone. “Sounds like Dani.”

      “Dani...” Jack prompted, absurdly curious for her full name. The way she’d been filling his thoughts all morning was aggravating, his anticipation to see her again undeniable.

      “Dani Crawford. A Texas gal. Used to be a competitive show jumper. We met her through our son, Ben, who was on the same tour. Sure wish he was here. I’d like his opinion on this, but he’s away on business in some rain forest and we can’t reach him. Maybe you’ve heard of his company? Therm Tel? They work with alternative energy.”

      Jack shook his head and said, “Sounds like an interesting line of work.” Diplomatic. Then, “So, would it be all right if I stop by the ranch again?”

      “Well. There’s one more thing. See, Smiley’s girlfriend works there and she’ll be arriving sometime today. Smiley and she live together in one of our staff houses.”

      Silence descended. The bell above the door jingled when a family of four burst inside, a gust of humid air and the smell of exhaust hot on their heels. Jack’s mind turned over the unexpected information. “I stopped in a few local businesses this morning to inquire if anyone had seen Smiley around town. The owner of Timberland Outfitters said he sold Smiley some camping gear and supplies recently. Is Smiley’s girlfriend the type to help him hide out?”

      “Tanya? Nah.”

      Jack swallowed his last bite and lowered his fork. Seconds passed as he waited for Mr. May to rethink that answer.

      “Well,” the man said at last. “Course, I wouldn’t have suspected Smiley, either. There’s lots of places to hide out around there. Most of the old copper mines are blocked, but not all. Got the Pike National Forest next to us, too, plus the Continental Divide. Some ravines are so steep you’d never find them ’less you fell in.”

      “Sounds like I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’ll need Tanya’s address to request a search warrant.”

      “Technically, she’s living in employee housing and her residence agreement gives consent for searches, but better be safe than sorry. Though I urge you to use your discretion, Jack, and find another way to sniff around without raising suspicions. Same for the cabins. Our first guests arrive day after tomorrow and I don’t want them scared off.”

      “By Smiley and his friend, or me?” Jack asked after jotting down the information.

      “Both. No offense. But folks will get spooked if they think a wanted man’s around.”

      “If I don’t find him before they arrive, I’ll blend in. You can say I’m one of your new hires. A wrangler. That’ll give me an excuse to ride around.”

      “You know anything about horses?”

      Jack pictured a Christmas photo taken of him and his four brothers and sister, Jewel, lined up on horseback. He’d been ten, his youngest brother, Jesse, one. He swallowed hard. “Enough.”

      “Good. Staff arrives today and tomorrow, so no one will think anything of a new wrangler joining the crew. I suppose I’ll need to hire a new groundskeeper,” the owner mused, as if speaking to himself. “And a new cook, if I let Tanya go.”

      “No.” Jack beckoned the waitress for the bill and fished his wallet from his back pocket. “She might lead me straight to him and his partner. Got the best chance of doing that if no one knows why I’m there.”

      “Except Dani,” Larry cut in. “She’s our manager and needs to know what’s going on.”

      A paper receipt fluttered to the tabletop. Jack didn’t bother looking at it, his mind full of the gutsy woman who’d looked all too comfortable with a rifle.

      “She saw me on the property last night. Looks like she’s already in the loop, though I would have preferred otherwise.”

      “Diane took Dani under her wing when she lost her mother while on tour. She turned to us for a job when she quit show jumping. We trust her and so can you. And she’ll be a help.”

      A long breath escaped him. He wasn’t exactly the trusting type. Despite the Mays’ assurances, he’d keep his eye on Dani. “I prefer working on my own, but thanks. I’ll stay until I’ve either found Smiley and his partner, or learned they’ve left the area.”

      “Sounds like you’re the man for the job. Guess you’re hired.”

      Jack pocketed an uneaten apple, dropped a twenty on the table and didn’t bother torturing the skittish server for change. A few steps had him out the door and heading to his parked pickup.

      “Just don’t forget my Christmas bonus,” he said wryly, then hung up, his mind intent on catching his man.

      Though that didn’t explain all of the energy jittering through him. He looked forward to seeing Ms. Dani Crawford again—a lot more than he was comfortable admitting.

       CHAPTER THREE

      A BOUNTY HUNTER.

      Dani leaned her elbows on the main pasture fence and steadied her breath, slowly inhaling the familiar scents of horses, dung and oats as she completed her morning assessment of the herd. Her head refused to wrap itself around the story her employers had called her with minutes ago.

      Her midnight cowboy was a bail agent who sought, of all people, their mild-mannered groundskeeper, Smiley, for jumping bail on a drug possession charge. Worse, he and another unknown suspect were persons of interest in a double homicide. Impossible. She’d never so much as seen Smiley pick up a gun. He was easygoing, friendly and the first to lend a hand. He and his girlfriend, Tanya, one of their cooks, always led the line dancing and square dance groups.

      But you can’t judge a book by its cover... The light stung her gritty eyes as she assessed the ranch’s fifty quarter horses, her thoughts whirling. Everyone had believed her to be a hardworking Texas girl with a bit of a rebellious streak. More mischief than outright trouble. When her mother died ten years ago, around her twenty-first birthday, however, she’d become someone else: a person numb to the drop-kick realization her mom was gone.

      Living from thrill to thrill had kept her grief at bay, especially after her beloved horse, Dolly, broke her leg during a competition four years later and had to be put down. Not only had she lost a companion she’d loved with all her heart, she’d lost her dream of winning enough competition prize money to pay for college.

      Out of prospects and unwilling to go home a failure, what little common sense she’d had leached right out of her and she’d taken acting out to the next level. When her actions nearly landed her in jail shortly after Dolly’s accident, she’d come to her senses fast and started over.

      Much as she’d labored all these years since to right the out-of-control tilt her life had taken, she never could relax. Deep down, she feared her checkered past wouldn’t stay in Oklahoma where she’d left it.

      What if the bounty hunter—Jackson Cade—uncovered everything? Discovered the warrant for her arrest? Her stomach rolled. He’d be working here, undercover, as a horse wrangler. Law enforcement on her doorstep. A bounty hunter, and her a wanted woman.

      Her head dropped.