Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge

That was fine with Jake. One less thing on his plate, but he wouldn’t mind someone other than Tanner’s henchmen checking the body for any evidence to prove who’d hired him.

“I’ll see you when I get back,” Jake told Royce.

“Wait. There’s something else. Like I said, use the back roads, and whatever you do, don’t come into town.”

“Why?” Jake asked cautiously.

“The U.S. marshals showed up about fifteen minutes ago. I’ve talked them out of going to the ranch because of Sunny’s illness. I swore to them I’d get you to come here to the sheriff’s office instead.”

Royce paused, a long time. “Jake, they’re here to arrest you.”

Chapter Five

Maggie had so many bad feelings about going to the McCall ranch, but none of those could override the fact that Jake had no choice in the matter. He couldn’t risk Tanner coming after Sunny. He needed to be there at home with his daughter in case there was an attack.

And that meant Maggie would be there, too.

She’d taken as many precautions as she could. She had made a call to her boss, Gene, to try to convince him that she was all right. And that she’d be back in a day or two. That was an outright lie. She couldn’t go back to Coopersville, and within seconds of telling Gene that lie, Maggie had ended the call, disassembled her phone and tossed the parts out the window.

Now, she kept watch out the side mirror as Jake snaked the truck over the familiar farm roads that led to the ranch. Maggie recognized every part of the scenery, since she’d been born and raised in Mustang Ridge. She also had no trouble recalling from memory all the details of the McCall ranch.

Or the threat that Chet had made the day she left.

Something about killing her and the horse she rode in on if she ever returned. Maggie didn’t think that colorful threat was all bluff, either, but maybe Chet could put his hatred aside long enough for her to get this test done.

Jake finished his call to Royce, the fourth on their nearly three hour drive 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.