Cowboy Conspiracy

“Planning to surprise ‘em, uh? Believe me, they will be. Sure as shootin’, Troy will kill the fatted calf. How long you here for?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, I’d like to sit down and chew the fat with you while you’re in town, see how the big-city way of doing things compares with our methods. The county is growing so fast, we’re adding a specialized homicide division. I could use your input.”

“I’d be glad to give it.”

“Right now we’d better get to the business at hand.”

Wyatt caught a whiff of Kelly’s perfume as she and the sheriff stepped away. Add that to the sway of her hips and the effect was intoxicating.

A half hour later, it had all been said. As suspected, the Corvette had been stolen in Houston earlier that day, the keys taken from a woman in her own driveway as she was getting in the car.

While the sheriff had questioned Kelly, Brent had taken down a detailed description of the suspect from Wyatt and Edie. Jaci was still sleeping soundly.

McGuire took another call on his cell phone, the third since he’d arrived. Evidently the weather was playing havoc with driving. When the sheriff broke the connection, he gulped down the remains of his second cup of coffee and turned to Wyatt.

“I’ve got a truck that skidded off the road and into a ditch on Buchanan Road that I need to attend to. Seeing as how both you and Mrs. Burger are going to Mustang Run, how about you giving her a lift into town?”

An offer Wyatt had made earlier and had the proposal refused. But that was when he and Kelly were strangers. Now they shared a membership in the elite Mustang Run descendants club.

Now Wyatt was the one with concerns. “I’ll be glad to drive Mrs. Burger into town, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to stay at her house tonight.”

“The house needs work, but it’s not going to cave in on her,” McGuire argued. “It’s been standing for more than a hundred years.”

“The thief looked about as unsavory as they come,” Wyatt said. “Even if he can’t break into her computer files, there’s information in the stolen car about where she lives. And I suspect he has a good hunch she’ll be there alone.”

“More likely, the thief is long gone from the area by now,” McGuire said. “But the decision for where she stays is up to Mrs. Burger.”

Kelly chewed her bottom lip nervously and turned toward Wyatt. “Do you really think Jaci and I might be in danger?”

“Probably not, but why chance it? Spend the night in a motel and give the guy plenty of time to move on. There are two in town.”

“That’s an option,” the sheriff agreed, “but they might not have a vacancy tonight. They’re small motels and there’s a big gun show in town this weekend.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to check them out,” Wyatt said.

The sheriff pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and rattled them as if he were eager to leave. “Tell you what, if you do stay at the house, I’ll have one of the deputies do drive-bys every hour or so. If you get anxious or even think you hear someone trying to break in, call 911 and he can get there quicker than a snake can slither through a hollow log.”

Kelly pushed her half bangs away from her face. “I’d appreciate that.”

Wyatt still didn’t like it, but it seemed he wasn’t getting a vote. But as long as he was driving Kelly and Jaci into town, he still had time to talk Kelly into staying in a motel.

He was being overly cautious. But then, dealing with dead victims on a regular basis did that for a man.

McGuire got as far as the door and turned back. “Another option would be to drive Mrs. Burger and her daughter out to Willow Creek Ranch. I’m sure Troy would be glad to put them up for the night,” McGuire said. “There’s plenty of room in that rambling old house.”

Wyatt nodded, but he wasn’t keen on that idea.

“You two work it out and let me know what you decide. The deputy can be in the area if you need him, Mrs. Burger. But now that I think about it, staying out at the Ledger ranch is what I’d recommend.”

“I’ll go make room for a couple of extra passengers in my truck,” Wyatt said, deciding to leave before he said too much. As far as he was concerned, the ranch was a last resort. Reuniting with Troy would be stressful enough without pulling a woman he barely knew into the sticky mix.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped, since making room for two passengers required moving his clothes from the backseat to the covered bed of the truck. When the truck was ready, he made one quick call to Alyssa and then went back for his two charges.

The intriguing and naively seductive Kelly Burger would be the first female passenger in his new truck. This was where Alyssa’s ridiculous raised-by-a-family-of-skunks analogy might actually come in handy.

Too bad that Kelly smelled so damn good.

Chapter Four

Miraculously, Jaci barely stirred when Kelly strapped her into the seat belt. Kelly made a support pillow of her lightweight jacket for her daughter.

“I’ll turn on some heat,” Wyatt said as she settled into the front passenger seat.

“Thanks. Neither Jaci nor I are dressed for this weather. I knew there was a cold front predicted for tonight, but I expected to be in Mustang Run long before now.”

“What made you late?”

“Car trouble.”

“Tough. That’s the kind of luck I’d have wished on the thief.”

They grew silent after that and she leaned back, closed her eyes and contemplated Wyatt and the idea of renting a motel room tonight. She’d counted on staying in the empty house, only now the pillows and sleeping bags she’d packed were speeding down the highway with a low-down thief.

The scenario that Wyatt had brought up was far worse. The thief with the stare that had made her skin crawl could be in Mustang Run, waiting for her and Jaci to arrive.

More than likely, he was miles away by now, just as the sheriff had theorized. But what if the sheriff was wrong? She shivered at the possibility.

“I think I will take your advice and stay at the motel tonight,” she said. “Even if they catch the thief, it sounds as if there’s little chance I’d get my car back right away. And without the sleeping bags, Jaci and I would be sleeping on the cold, hard floor.”

“Good. That will save me having to sleep in my truck outside your house. Overnight stakeouts are the devil on a man’s back.”

“The sheriff offered protection.”

“You know the old adage. A cop on the scene is worth two in a roaming patrol car.”

“I thought it was a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.”

“Now who would want a bird in his hand?”

She smiled in spite of the tense situation. Wyatt Ledger was definitely nice to have around in a crunch.

“I hope there’s somewhere I can rent a car early in the morning,” she said.

“I kind of doubt there’s a car rental location in Mustang Run, but if there’s not, I can always drive you into Austin to pick one up.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. There must be some kind of taxi or car service to the Austin airport. I’m sure the motel will know how to contact them.”