A knight in shining spurs…

Army ranger Trace “Hawkeye” Walsh is in Montana to consider his future, until his involvement in a car chase leaves Olivia Dawson without a foreman for her ranch. Hawkeye can’t walk away from the woman in need. But tackling the role of ranch hand, horses and all, puts this soldier in a hot zone he never imagined.

Olivia needs more than just help with the cattle. The whole reason she’s saddled with Stone Creek Ranch is because someone murdered her father…and now wants the ranch for themselves. Though he’s considering walking away from his career, there’s no way Hawkeye can leave Olivia behind. He must complete this mission for the good of the country—and his heart.

Ballistic Cowboys

Liv bristled. “I don’t need someone to protect me.”

“No one can watch their own back,” Hawkeye said. “As a member of the armed forces, I know what it means to trust the guys behind me.”

“Who did you have in mind?”

He smiled. “Me.”

A thrill of something she hadn’t felt in a long time—if she didn’t count the kiss—rippled through Liv. Taking on Hawkeye could prove to be a big mistake in more ways than one. “What choice do I have?”

“None,” Hawkeye said, his tone firm and final.

For however long it took to find her father’s murderer and stop this insanity going on in her community, she was stuck with Hawkeye. And despite her initial resistance, she had to admit to herself she might just need him.

Hot Zone

Elle James

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ELLE JAMES, a New York Times bestselling author, started writing when her sister challenged her to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job and raised three wonderful children, and she and her husband even tried ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas). Ask her, and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bird! Elle loves to hear from fans at ellejames@earthlink.net or www.ellejames.com.

This book is dedicated to my daughters, who chose to give back to their country by joining the military.

Thank you for following in your mother’s footsteps!

Love you both so much!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Trace “Hawkeye” Walsh checked the coordinates he’d been given by Transcontinental Pipeline Inspection, Inc., and glanced down at the display on the four-wheeler’s built-in GPS guidance device. He’d arrived at checkpoint number four. He switched off the engine, climbed off the ATV and unfolded the contour map across the seat.

As with the first three checkpoints, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for at the location. He wasn’t a pipeline inspector, and he didn’t have the tools and devices used by one, but he scanned the area anyway.

Tracing his finger along the line drawn in pencil across the page, he paused. He should be getting close to the point at which RJ Khalig had been murdered. Based on the tight contour lines on the map, he would find the spot over the top of the next ridgeline and down in the valley.

Hawkeye glanced upward. Treacherous terrain had slowed him down. In order to reach some of the points on the map, he’d had to follow old mining trails and bypass canyons. He shrugged. It wasn’t a war zone, he wasn’t fighting the Taliban or ISIS, and it beat the hell out of being in an office job any day of the week.

That morning, his temporary boss, Kevin Garner, had given him the assignment of following the pipeline through some of the most rugged terrain he’d ever been in, even considering the foothills of Afghanistan. He was game. If he had to be working with the Department of Homeland Security in the Beartooth Mountains of Wyoming, he was happy to be out in the backwoods, rather than chasing wild geese, empty leads and the unhappy residents of the tiny town of Grizzly Pass.

In the two weeks he’d been in the small town of Grizzly Pass, they’d had two murders, a busload of kids taken hostage and two people hunted down like wild game. When he’d agreed to the assignment, he’d been looking forward to some fresh mountain air and a slowdown to his normal combat-heavy assignments. He needed the time to determine whether or not he would stay the full twenty years to retirement in the US Army Rangers or get out and dare to try something different.

Two gunshot and multiple shrapnel wounds, one broken arm, a couple of concussions and six near-fatal misses started to wear on a body and soul. In the last battle he’d been a part of, his best friend hadn’t been as lucky. The gunshot wound had been nothing compared to the violent explosion Mac had been smack-dab in the middle of. Yeah, Hawkeye had lost his best friend and battle buddy, a man who’d had his back since they’d been rangers in training.

Without Mac, he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue to deploy to the most godforsaken, war-torn countries in the world. He wasn’t sure he’d survive. And maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. At least he’d die like Mac, defending his country.

He’d hoped this temporary assignment would give him the opportunity to think about his next steps in life. Should he continue his military career? His enlistment was up in a month. He had to decide whether to reenlist or get out.

So far, since he’d been in Grizzly Pass, he hadn’t had the time to ponder his future. Hell, he’d already been in a shoot-out and had to rescue one of his new team members. For a place with such a small population, it was a hot zone of trouble. No wonder Garner had requested combat veterans to assist him in figuring out what the hell was going on.

Thankfully, today was just a fact-finding mission. He was to traverse the line Khalig had been inspecting when he’d met with his untimely demise. He was to look for any clues as to why someone would have paid Wayne Batson to assassinate him. Since Batson was dead, they couldn’t ask him. And he hadn’t been forthcoming with a name before he took his final breath.

Which meant whoever had hired him was still out there, having gotten away with murder.

Hawkeye double-checked the map, oriented with the antique compass his grandfather had given him when he’d joined the army and cross-checked with the GPS. Sure of his directions, he folded the map, pocketed his compass, climbed onto the ATV and took off.

At the top of the ridge, he paused and glanced around, looking for other vehicles or people on the opposite ridge. He didn’t want to get caught like Khalig at the bottom of the valley with a sniper itching to pick him off. Out of the corner of his eye, he detected movement in the valley below.

A man squatted beside another four-wheeler. He had something in his hands and seemed to be burying it in the dirt.

Hawkeye goosed the throttle, sending his four-wheeler over the edge, descending the winding trail.

The man at the bottom glanced up. When he spotted Hawkeye descending the trail on the side of the hill, he dropped what he’d been holding, leaped onto his ATV and raced up an old mining road on the other side of the ridge.

Hopping off the trail, Hawkeye took the more direct route to the bottom, bouncing over large rock stumps and fallen branches of weathered trees. By the time Hawkeye arrived at the base, the man who’d sped away was already halfway up the hill in front of him.

Hawkeye paused long enough to look at what the man had dropped, and his blood ran cold. A stick of dynamite jutted out of the ground with a long fuse coiled in the dirt beside it.

Thumbing the throttle lever, Hawkeye zoomed after the disappearing rider, who had apparently been about to sabotage the oil pipeline. Had he succeeded, he would have had the entire state in an uproar over the spillage and damage to the environment.

Not to mention, he might be the key to who had contracted Batson to kill Khalig.

At the top of the hill where the mining road wrapped around the side of a bluff, Hawkeye slowed in case the pursued had stopped to attack his pursuer.

Easing around the corner, he noted the path was clear and spied the rider heading down a trail Hawkeye could see from his vantage point would lead back to a dirt road and ultimately to the highway. With as much of a lead as he had, Dynamite Man could conceivably reach the highway and get away before Hawkeye caught up.

Hawkeye refused to let the guy off the hook. Goosing the accelerator, he shot forward and hurtled down the narrow mining road to the base of the mountain. At several points along the path, he skidded sideways, the rear wheels of the four-wheeler sliding dangerously close to the edge of deadly drop-offs. But he didn’t slow his descent, pushing his speed faster than was prudent on the rugged terrain.

By the time he reached the bottom of the mountain, Hawkeye was within fifty yards of the man on the other ATV. His quarry wouldn’t have enough time to ditch his four-wheeler for another vehicle.

Hawkeye followed the dirt road, occasionally losing sight of the rider in front of him. Eventually, between the trees and bushes, he caught glimpses of the highway ahead. When he broke free into a rare patch of open terrain, he spied the man on the track ahead, about to hit the highway’s pavement.

* * *

“I’LL BE DAMNED if I sell Stone Oak Ranch to Bryson Rausch. My father would roll over in his grave.” At the thought of her father lying in his grave next to her mother, Olivia Dawson’s heart clenched in her chest. Her eyes stung, but anger kept her from shedding another tear.

“You said you couldn’t live at the ranch. Not since your father died.” Abe Masterson, the Stone Oak Ranch foreman for the past twenty years, turned onto the highway headed toward home.

Liv’s throat tightened. Home. She’d wanted to come home since she graduated from college three years ago. But her father had insisted she try city living before she decided whether or not she wanted to come back to the hard work and solitary life of a rancher.

For the three years since she’d left college with a shiny new degree, she’d worked her way up the corporate ladder to a management position. Eight people reported directly to her. She was responsible for their output and their well-being. She’d promised her father she’d give it five years. But that had all changed in the space of one second.

The second her father died in a freak horseback-riding accident six days earlier.

Liv had gotten the word in the middle of the night in Seattle, had hopped into her car and had driven all the way to Grizzly Pass, Wyoming. No amount of hurrying back to her home would have been fast enough to have allowed her to say goodbye to her father.

By the time Abe had found him, he’d been dead for a couple of hours. The coroner estimated the fall had killed him instantly, when he’d struck his head on a rock.

Liv would have given anything to have talked to him one last time. She hadn’t spoken to him for over a week before his death. The last time had been on the telephone and had ended in anger. She had wanted to end her time in Seattle and come home. Her father had insisted she finish out her five years.

I’m not going to get married to a city boy. What use would he be on a ranch, anyway? she’d argued.

You don’t know where love will take you. Give it a chance, he’d argued right back. Have you been dating?

No, Dad. I intimidate most men. They like their women soft and wimpy. I can’t do that. It’s not me.

Sweetheart, her father had said. You have to open your heart. Love hits you when you least expect it. Besides, I want to live to see my grandchildren.

Her throat tightening, Liv shook her head. Her father would never know his grandchildren, and they’d never know the great man he was. The tears welled and threatened to slip out the corners of her eyes.

“If you sell to Rausch, you can be done with ranching and get on with your life. You won’t have to stay around, being constantly reminded of your father.”

“Maybe I want to be reminded. Maybe I was being too rash when I said I couldn’t be around the ranch because it brought back too many painfully happy memories of me and Dad.” She sniffed, angry that she wasn’t doing a very good job of holding herself together.

“What did Rausch offer you?”

Liv wiped her eyes with her sleeve and swallowed the lump in her throat before she could force words out. “A quarter of what the ranch is worth. A quarter!” She laughed, the sound ending in a sob. “I’ll die herding cattle before I sell to that man.”

“Yeah, well, you could die a lot sooner if you go like your father.”

Liv clenched her fist in her lap. “It’s physically demanding, ranching in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains. Falling off your horse and hitting your head on a rock could happen to anyone around here.” She shot a glance at Abe. “Right?”

He nodded, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper. “Yeah, but I would bet my best rodeo buckle your father had some help falling off that horse.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that we’d had some trouble on the ranch, leading up to that day.”

“Trouble?”

Abe shrugged. “There’ve been a whole lot of strange things going on in Grizzly Pass in the past couple months.”

“Dad never said a word.”

“He didn’t want to worry you.”

Liv snorted and then sniffed. He was a little late on that account. She swiveled in her seat, directing her attention to the older man. “Tell me.”

“You know about the kids on the hijacked bus, right?”

She nodded. “I heard about it on the national news. I couldn’t believe the Vanderses went off the deep end. But what does that have to do with my father and the ranch?”

Abe lifted a hand and scratched his wiry brown hair with streaks of silver dominating his temples. “That’s only part of the problem. I hear there’s a group called Free America stirring up trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing anyone can put a finger on, but rumor has it they’re meeting regularly, training in combat tactics.”

“Doesn’t the local law enforcement have a handle on them?”

Abe shook his head. “No one on the inside is owning up to being a part of it, and folks on the outside are only guessing. It’s breeding a whole lot of distrust among the locals.”

“So they’re training for combat. People have a right to protect themselves.” She didn’t like that it was splitting a once close-knit community.

“Yeah, but what if they put that combat training to use and try to take over the government?”

Liv smiled and leaned back in her seat. “They’d have to have a lot more people than the population of Grizzly Pass to take over the government.”

“Maybe so, but they could do a lot of damage and terrorize a community if they tried anything locally. Just look at the trouble Vanders and his boys stirred up when they killed a bus driver and threatened to bury a bunch of little kids in one of the old mines.”

“You have a point.” Liv chewed on her lower lip, her brows drawing together. She could only imagine the horror those children had to face and the families standing by, praying for their release. “We used to be a caring, cohesive community. We had semiannual picnics where everyone came out and visited with each other. What’s happening?”

“With the shutdown of the pipeline, a lot of folks are out of work. The government upped the fees for grazing cattle on federal land and there isn’t much more than ranching in this area. People are moving to the cities, looking for work. Others are holding on by their fingernails.”

Her heart ached for her hometown. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“Yeah, I almost think you need to take Rausch’s offer and get out of here while you can.”

Her lips firmed into a thin line. “He was insulting, acting like I didn’t know the business end of a horse. Hell, he doesn’t know the first thing about ranching.”

“Which leads me to wonder—”

Something flashed in front of the speeding truck. A rider on a four-wheeler.

Abe jerked the steering wheel to avoid hitting him and sent the truck careening over the shoulder of the road, down a steep slope, crashing into bushes and bumping over huge rocks.

Despite the safety belt across her chest, Liv was tossed about like a shaken rag doll.

“Hold on!” Abe cried out.

With a death grip on the armrest, Liv braced herself.

The truck slammed into a tree.

Liv was thrown forward, hitting her head on the dash. For a moment gray haze and sparkling stars swam in her vision.

A groan from the man next to her brought her out of the fog and back to the front seat of the pickup. She blinked several times and turned her head.

A sharp stab of pain slashed through her forehead and warm thick liquid dripped from her forehead into her eyes. She wiped the fluid away only to discover it was blood. Her blood.

Another moan took her mind off her own injuries.

She blinked to clear her vision and noticed Abe hunched over the steering wheel, the front of the truck pushed into the cab pressing in around his legs.

The pungent scent of gasoline stung her nostrils, sending warning signals through her stunned brain. “Abe?” She touched his shoulder.

His head lolled back, his eyes closed.

“Abe!” Liv struggled with her seat belt, the buckle refusing to release when she pressed the button. “Abe!” She gave up for a moment and shook her foreman. “We have to get out of the truck. I smell gas.”

He moaned again, but his eyes fluttered open. “I can’t move,” he said, his voice weak. “I think my leg is broken.”

“I don’t care if both of your legs are broken—we have to get you out of the truck. Now!” She punched at her own safety belt, this time managing to disengage the locking mechanism. Flinging it aside, she reached for Abe’s and released it. Then she pushed open her door and slid out of the front seat.

When her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled. She grabbed hold of the door and held on to steady herself. The scent of gasoline was so strong now it was overpowering, and smoke rose from beneath the crumpled hood.

Straightening, Liv willed herself to be strong and get her foreman out of the truck before the vehicle burst into flames. She’d already lost her father. Abe was the only family she had left. She’d be damned if she lost him, too.

With tears threatening, she staggered around the rear of the truck, her feet slipping on loose gravel and stones. When she tried to open the driver’s door, it wouldn’t budge.

She pounded on it, getting more desperate by the minute. “Abe, you have to help me. Unlock the door. I have to get you out.”

Rather than dissipating, the cloud of smoke grew. The wind shifted, sending the smoke into Liv’s face. “Damn it, Abe. Unlock the door!”

A loud click sounded and Liv pulled the door handle, willing it to open. It didn’t.

Her eyes stinging and the smoke scratching at her throat with every breath she took, Liv realized she didn’t have much time.

She braced her foot on the side panel of the truck and pulled hard on the door handle. Metal scraped on metal and the door budged, but hung, having been damaged when the truck wrapped around the tree.

Hands curled around her shoulders, lifted her off her feet and set her to the side.

Then a hulk of a man with broad shoulders, big hands and a strong back ripped the door open, grabbed Abe beneath the arms, hauled him out of the smoldering cab and carried him all of the way up the hill to the paved road.

Her tears falling in earnest now, Liv followed, stumbling over the uneven ground, dropping to her knees every other step. When she reached the top, she sagged to the ground beside Abe on the shoulder of the road. “Abe? Please tell me you’re okay. Please.”

With his eyes still closed, he moaned. Then he lifted his eyelids and opened his mouth. “I’m okay,” he muttered. “But I think my leg’s broken.”

“Oh, jeez, Abe.” She laughed, albeit shakily. “A leg we can get fixed. I’m just glad you’re alive.”

“Take a lot more than a tree to do me in.” Abe grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry, Liv. If it’s messed up, I won’t be able to take care of the place until it’s healed.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Abe. Working for me is the last thing you should be worrying about. I’ll manage fine on my own.” She rested her hand on her foreman’s shoulder, amazed that the man could worry about her when his face was gray with pain. “What’s more important is getting you to a hospital.” She glanced around, looking for the man who’d pulled Abe from the wreckage.

He stood on the pavement, waving at a passing truck.

The truck slowed to a stop, and her rescuer rounded to the driver’s door and spoke with the man behind the wheel. The driver pulled to the side of the road, got out and hurried down to where Liv waited with Abe.

“Jonah? That you?” Abe glanced up, shading his eyes from the sun.

“Yup.” Jonah dropped to his haunches beside Abe. “How’d you end up in a ditch?”

Abe shook his head and winced. “A man on a four-wheeler darted out in front of me. I swerved to miss him.” He nodded toward Liv. “You remember Olivia Dawson?”

Jonah squinted, staring across Abe to Liv. “I remember a much smaller version of the Dawson girl.” He held out his hand. “Sorry to hear about your father’s accident.”

Liv took the man’s hand, stunned that they were making introductions when Abe was in pain. “Thank you. Seems accidents are going around.” Liv stared from Abe to Jonah’s vehicle above. “Think between the three of us we could get Abe up to your truck? He won’t admit it, but I’ll bet he’s hurting pretty badly.”

“It’s just a little sore,” Abe countered and then grimaced.

Liv snorted. “Liar.”

“We can get him up there,” the stranger said.

“Yes, we can,” Jonah agreed. “But should we? I could drive back to town and notify the fire department. They could have an ambulance out here in no time.”

“I don’t need an ambulance to get me to town.” Abe tried to get up. The movement made him cry out and his face turn white. He sagged back against the ground.

“If you don’t want an ambulance, then you’ll have to put up with us jostling you around getting you up the hill,” the stranger said.

“Better than being paraded through Grizzly Pass in the back of an ambulance.” Abe gritted his teeth. “Everyone knows ambulances are for sick folk.”

“Or injured people,” Liv said. “And you have a major injury.”

“Probably just a bruise. Give me a minute and I’ll be up and running circles around all of you.” Abe caught Liv’s stare and sighed. “Okay, okay. I could use a hand getting up the hill.”

The stranger shot a glance at Jonah. “Let’s do this.”

Jonah looped one of Abe’s arms around his neck, bent and slid an arm beneath one of Abe’s legs.

The stranger stepped between Liv and Abe, draped one of Abe’s arms over his shoulder and glanced across at Jonah. “On three.” He slipped his hand beneath Abe.

Jonah nodded. “One. Two. Three.”

They straightened as one.

Abe squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, all of the color draining from his face.

Liv wanted to help, but knew she’d only get in the way. The best thing she could do at that point was to open the truck door before they got there with Abe. She raced up the steep hill, her feet sliding in the gravel. When she reached the top, she flung open the door to the backseat of the truck cab and turned back to watch Abe’s progression.

The two men struggled up the hill, being as careful as they could while slipping on loose pebbles.

Liv’s glance took in her father’s old farm truck, the front wrapped around the tree. Smoke filled the cab and flames shot up from the engine compartment. She was surprised either one of them had lived. If Abe hadn’t slammed on his brakes as quickly as he had, the outcome would have been much worse.

Her gaze caught a glimpse of another vehicle on the other side of the truck. A four-wheeler was parked a few feet away.

Anger surged inside Liv. She almost said something to the stranger about how he’d nearly killed two people because of his carelessness. One look at Abe’s face made Liv bite down hard on her tongue to keep from yelling at the man who’d nearly caused a fatal accident. Once Abe was taken care of, she’d have words with the man.

Jonah and the stranger made it to the top of the ravine.

The four-wheeler driver nodded to the other man. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Jonah asked, frowning. “He’s pretty much a deadweight.”

Jonah was right. With all the jostling, Abe had completely passed out. Liv studied the stranger. As muscular as he was, he couldn’t possibly lift Abe by himself.

“I’ve got him.” The stranger lifted Abe into his arms and slid him onto the backseat of the truck.

Despite her anger at the man’s driving skills, Liv recognized sheer, brute strength in the man’s arms and broad shoulders. That he could lift a full-size man by himself said a lot about his physical abilities.

But it didn’t excuse him from making them crash. She quelled her admiration and focused on getting Abe to a medical facility. If the stranger stuck around after they got Abe situated, Liv would tell him exactly what she thought of him.

Chapter Two

Hawkeye couldn’t follow through on his pursuit of the other guy on the ATV. Not after the fleeing man caused the farm-truck driver to crash his vehicle into a tree. He’d had to stop to render assistance and pull the older man out of the cab before the engine caught fire, or he and the woman might have died.

“I’ll follow on my four-wheeler,” Hawkeye offered.

“No need,” the woman said. “We can take it from here.”

Hawkeye frowned. Though young and pretty, the auburn-haired Miss Dawson’s jaw was set. Her brows drew together over deep-green eyes as she climbed into the back of the cab next to the injured truck driver.

Hawkeye wanted to argue, but he didn’t. She was mad at him for something. Then he realized she’d probably only seen one ATV fly out into the road. Hawkeye had been far enough behind the other guy, he hadn’t emerged onto the highway until the truck had already gone off the road.

The Dawson woman wouldn’t have seen that there were two ATVs. He smiled and turned away, understanding why she was angry, but not feeling the need to explain himself.

He watched as the truck took off. Then he climbed onto his four-wheeler and followed the group back to Grizzly Pass and the only medical facility in a fifty-mile radius.

The clinic was a block from the Blue Moose Tavern—Hawkeye’s temporary boss had set up offices in the apartment above the bar. As Hawkeye passed the Blue Moose, Garner stepped out onto the landing and waved at Hawkeye, a perplexed frown pulling his brows low.

Hawkeye nodded briefly, but didn’t slow the ATV. Though it was illegal to drive an off-road vehicle on a public road, he held steady, pulled into the clinic driveway and hopped off.

An ambulance had pulled up in the parking lot and EMTs were off-loading a gurney. A sheriff’s vehicle was parked nearby.

Olivia Dawson stood beside the truck, talking to Abe and a sheriff’s deputy. One of the EMTs shone a light into her eyes.

She pushed his light away. “I’m fine. It’s Abe you need to worry about.”

“Ma’am, it looks like you hit your head in the accident. You might have a concussion.” He insisted on wiping the dried blood from her forehead and applying a small butterfly bandage. “I suggest you see a doctor before you drive yourself anywhere.”

“Really, I’m fine.” She pushed past him and gripped Abe’s hand.

The deputy flipped open a notepad. “Ma’am, could you describe what happened?”

“A four-wheeler darted out in front of us on the highway. We swerved to miss it and crashed into a tree. You might want to send a fire engine to put out the fire and a tow truck to retrieve the truck.”

“Will do, ma’am.”

“And stop calling me ma’am,” she said. “I’m not your mother.”

The deputy grinned. “No, ma’am. You’re not.”

Olivia rolled her eyes and turned back to her foreman.

When the EMTs had the stretcher ready, they rolled it over next to her. She stepped out of the way and stood to the side as they loaded a now-conscious Abe.

The man was obviously in a lot of pain. His pale face broke out in a sweat as the EMTs lowered him onto the stretcher. Once he was settled, he held out a hand to Olivia.

She took it. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle the ranch.”

“No, Liv, you can’t. Things aren’t the same as when you left. You need help.”

Liv shook her head. “I can work the animals better than most men.”

Abe chuckled and winced. “You’re right, but you can’t do this alone. Promise me you’ll get help.” His gaze shifted to where Hawkeye stood a few feet away. “Make her get help.”

Liv frowned. “You can’t ask a stranger to do that.”

Abe nodded. “I just did.” He waved Hawkeye forward.

Not wanting to get into the midst of a family argument, Hawkeye eased forward. “Sir?”

“I’m Abe Masterson, and you are?”

“Trace Walsh, but my friends call me Hawkeye.”

“Hawkeye, this is Olivia Dawson. Olivia, Hawkeye.” Abe lay back, closing his eyes, the effort having cost him. “There, now you aren’t strangers. Please, Hawkeye, make sure Olivia doesn’t try to run the Stone Oak Ranch alone. She needs dedicated protection. Something’s not right out there.”

When Hawkeye hesitated, Abe opened his eyes, his gaze capturing Hawkeye’s. “Promise.”

To appease the injured man, Hawkeye said, “I promise.”

The EMT interrupted. “We really need to get Mr. Masterson to the hospital.”

“I’m riding with him,” Olivia said.

“No.” Abe opened his eyes again. “The horses need to be fed and the cattle need to be checked.”

“They can wait. You need someone to go with you as your advocate,” she insisted. “You might pass out again.”

“I didn’t pass out,” Abe grumbled. “I just closed my eyes.”

“Yeah.” Olivia snorted. “That’s a bunch of bullsh—”

“Uh-uh,” Abe interrupted. “You know how your daddy felt about you cursing.”

She glared and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not a child.”

“No, but you don’t have to worry about me. I’m alive and still kicking. I can take care of myself. You can visit me at the hospital, if it makes you feel better. But call first. I have a lady friend in Cody. I’m sure she’ll come keep me company and put me up until I can get around on my own.”

Liv pulled her lip between her teeth and chewed on it before answering. “Are you sure?”

The pucker of Liv’s brow and the worried look in her eyes made Hawkeye want to ease her mind. And pull her into his arms. He suspected she wouldn’t appreciate the gesture, no matter how well-intentioned. As far as she was concerned, he was the bad guy in this situation. Hawkeye had yet to set the record straight.

“I’m positive,” Abe said. “Now let the EMTs do their job. I’d like to get somewhere with a little pain medication. My leg hurts like hell.”

Liv backed up quickly, running into Hawkeye’s chest.

He reached out to steady her as the medical technicians rolled Abe’s gurney away.

“Do you need a ride back to the ranch, Miss Dawson?” Jonah asked. “I have a few errands to run before I head back your way.”

Liv nodded. “How long do you need?”

“No more than thirty minutes. I just need to pick up some feed at the feed store and a few groceries for the missus. You’re welcome to wait in the truck.”

She looked around as if in a daze. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to pick up dinner from the tavern. I don’t think I’ll have time to cook anything.”

Jonah nodded. “I’ll pick you up at the Blue Moose, then.”

Hawkeye bit down on his tongue to keep from offering the woman a ride out to her place. No doubt she’d turn it down, preferring a ride from a friend to one from a stranger she thought had caused the wreck.

After Jonah left in his truck, the only two people left on the street were Hawkeye and Liv.

Liv turned to him and poked a finger at his chest, fire burning in her emerald green eyes. “You!”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Me?”

“Don’t lay on the innocent act.” Her brows drew into a deep V. “Your reckless driving nearly got Abe killed. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t turn you over to the sheriff.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Hawkeye glanced at the damning ATV. “I didn’t drive out in front of your pickup.”

“Like hell you didn’t.” Twin flags of pink flew high on her cheekbones. “You didn’t even look left or right before you barreled out onto the highway. What if we had been a van full of children? You could have killed an entire family.” She flung her arm out.

“It wasn’t me.” He shook his head. “I was chasing a guy on another four-wheeler.”

“Right. Why should I believe you?” Her finger shot out again and poked him in the chest. “You’re a stranger. For that matter, why were you on my property?” She jabbed him again. “You were trespassing. I could have you arrest—”

As a sniper, Hawkeye considered himself a patient man. But the finger in the chest was getting to him, and the woman with the green fire blazing from her eyes was far too pretty for him to slug—not that he would ever hit a woman. But she just wasn’t going to listen to him unless he did something drastic.

So he grabbed her finger, yanked her up against his body and clamped an arm around her waist, bringing her body tight against his. Then he slammed his lips down on hers. For the first time in the past five minutes, silence reigned.

With one hand captured in Hawkeye’s hand, Liv pressed the other to his chest and gave a pathetic attempt at pushing him away. Hawkeye strengthened his hold.

After a few seconds, she quit pushing against him, her fingers curling into his shirt.

Her lips were soft and full beneath his. Even though he’d stemmed her tirade, Hawkeye was in no hurry to raise his head. Instead, he raised his hand, his fingers sliding up to cup the back of her head.

She gasped, her mouth opening to his.

Taking it as an invitation, Hawkeye swept his tongue past her teeth to claim hers in a long, slow caress.

The tension in her body melted away and she leaned into him, her tongue toying with his, giving as good as he gave.

When he finally broke the kiss, he briefly leaned his cheek against her temple, careful not to disturb the bandage on her forehead, and then he straightened.

Liv touched her fingers to her lips, her eyes glazed. “Why did you do that?”

His lips quirked upward. “I couldn’t think of a better way to make you shut up long enough to listen.”

Her glaze cleared and her brows met in the middle the second before her hand snapped out and connected with his face in a hard slap.

She raised her hand again, but he caught it before she could hit him again.

“There was another four-wheeler,” he said. “I was chasing him. He was a good fifty yards ahead of me when he reached the road. I would have caught him if I hadn’t stopped to render aid.” He forced her wrist down to her side. “Now, you can choose to believe me or not. But that’s what happened.”

Liv rubbed her wrist, her eyes narrowing. “That doesn’t explain why you were on my land.”

“I started out on government land, up in the hills, when I ran across the other man, planting explosives in a valley. I thought it might be a good idea to ask him why he was doing that.”

* * *

LIV’S BREATH CAUGHT in her throat. “Explosives?”

“Yes.”

“Why would someone plant explosives in the hills?” she asked.

“I suspect it has something to do with the oil pipeline cutting through that area.”

“But why come through my property?”

“I don’t know, but if you have livestock, your fence is down in two places. You should get someone to help you put it back up.”

She laughed, the sound seeming to border on hysteria. “That someone was just hauled off in an ambulance.”

His brows furrowed. “Don’t you have ranch hands?”

Liv’s red hair had come loose of its ponytail. She reached up to push it back from her face. “Only during roundup. It was just my father and our foreman managing a herd of about five hundred Brangus cows and twenty horses.”

“Then you might want to let your father know about the fences.”

Liv couldn’t stop the sudden burning in her eyes, nor could she speak past the instant tightening of her vocal cords. She had to swallow twice before she could answer. “That would be hard considering we buried him today.”

Hawkeye had been in the process of turning away. He froze, his shoulders stiffening. When he faced her again, he stared at her without any expression on his face.

The big man’s lack of emotion and the anger he stirred inside her helped Liv keep it together.

“Who else is with you on your ranch?” Hawkeye asked.

She squared her shoulders. “You’re looking at the sum total of ranch hands on the Stone Oak Ranch.”

His gaze raked over her from top to toe. “You’re serious?”

Lifting her chin, Liv faced him with all the bravado of a prizefighter. “I’m fully capable of mending fences and taking care of livestock. I learned to ride a horse before I learned to walk.”

“You’re alone.” His word wasn’t a question. It was more of a statement. “Have you been living in a cocoon, lady? Are you even aware of what’s been happening around your little community of Grizzly Pass?”

Raising her chin a little higher, Liv met the man’s stare. “I haven’t been home in the past nine months. My father didn’t let me know about any of this. I just got back into town when I was notified of his passing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet Jonah at the tavern in a few minutes.”

She pushed past him and thought that was the end of it.

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her back around.

She raised a brow and stared down at Hawkeye’s big fingers. “Let go of me.”

“You’re not safe out on that ranch by yourself. A man with access to dynamite passed through your place.”

She had already come to the same conclusion, but knew she didn’t have a choice. The ranch couldn’t run itself and she’d be damned if she sold out to that greedy, bottom-dwelling Mr. Rausch. “I’m fine on my own. I learned to handle a gun almost as early as I learned to ride a horse. I’m not afraid of being alone.”

“You should be.” He sighed and released her arm. “Look, at least come with me to talk to my boss. He’ll want to hear what’s going on out your way.”

“Are you crazy?” She shook her head. “I don’t know you from Jack.”

He held out his hand again. “At the risk of repeating myself, my name’s Trace Walsh, but my friends call me—”

She waved away his hand. “Yeah, yeah. They call you Hawkeye.” With a shrug, she stared down Main Street toward the tavern. “Just who is your boss?”

“Kevin Garner, an agent for the Department of Homeland Security.”

Her curiosity captured, she returned her attention to Hawkeye. “Is that it? Is that why you were out in the mountains? You work for the DHS?”

Hawkeye shook his head. “Not hardly. I’m an army ranger on loan to the DHS. This is only temporary duty to help Garner and his team. He seems to think there’s enough activity going on in this area that he needed a hand.”

Liv didn’t say anything, just stared at the man with the crisp, black hair and incredibly blue eyes. Perhaps Hawkeye’s boss was onto something. Liv had never quite swallowed the idea that her father had fallen off his horse and died instantly. He was a good rider. No, he was the best, and had the rodeo buckles to prove it. The man had ridden broncos when he was younger and still broke wild horses. When he was on a horse, he wasn’t just on it—he was a part of it. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to talk to your boss.” She raised her finger. “But don’t ever try to kiss me again.”

Hawkeye raised his hands, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Those lips that had awakened a flood of unwanted desire inside Liv. For a stranger, no less. “Don’t worry. I like my women willing.”

“And quiet.”

“Not necessarily.” He winked. “Just quiet when they need to be.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Just don’t kiss me. I can do a lot more than slap.”

He rubbed the side of his cheek where the red imprint of her hand had just begun to fade. “I’ll remember that. Next time we kiss, you’ll have to initiate.”

“Good. Because that will never happen.” She planted her fists on her hips. “So where is your boss? I’d like to get this meeting over with. I have a ride to catch.”

“You’re in luck. His office is over the Blue Moose Tavern.” He flung his leg over the four-wheeler and jerked his head to the rear. “You’re welcome to ride with me.”

“No, thanks. I’ll walk.” Liv stepped onto the sidewalk and hurried toward the tavern.

The four-wheeler engine revved behind her. A moment later, Hawkeye pulled up beside her. “Sure you don’t want a ride?”

“I’m sure.”

He pressed his thumb to the throttle lever and the ATV sped up the street, disappearing around the back of the tavern.

Alone for the rest of the distance to the tavern, Liv had just enough time to think through all that had happened since she’d arrived home. For a moment her predicament threatened to overwhelm her.

Daddy, why did you have to go and die?

She fought to hold back the tears as she came abreast of the building she’d been aiming for.

Hawkeye rounded the corner and tilted his head. “The staircase to Garner’s office is over here.”

She followed him up a set of wooden stairs to the landing at the top.

Before Hawkeye could knock, the door flew open and a man probably in his midthirties with brown hair and blue eyes stood in the door frame. “Hawkeye, I’m glad you stopped by. The sheriff isn’t keen on the folks around here driving their four-wheelers on the main roads.”

Hawkeye turned toward Liv. “Kevin, this is Olivia Dawson. Liv, this is Kevin Garner with the DHS.”

Garner held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.” His eyes narrowed slightly and he stared hard at her. “Are you any relation to Everett Dawson?”

She nodded, her chest tight. “That was my father.”

Garner squeezed her hand in his. “I was sorry to hear about his passing. Everything I’ve heard from the locals indicated he was a good man.”

“One of the best,” she added, choking on her barely contained emotion. “They told me he died in a horseback-riding accident.”

“That’s what we heard from the sheriff. And you think otherwise?” Garner pulled her across the threshold. “Come in. Tell me what you know.”

Liv hesitated only a moment before following the man into the interior of what appeared to be more an operations center than an office. Two other men stood beside a large table with maps spread out across its surface.

“If you knew my father, you’d know his being thrown from a horse was highly unlikely.”

Garner nodded. “I’d wondered. I understand his ranch butted up against government property.”

Liv nodded. “It does.”

“Was he having any problems on the ranch? Any evidence of trespassing?”

“I’ve been away from home for months. He hadn’t told me anything and, with funeral arrangements, I haven’t had a chance to ride the perimeter.” She nodded toward Hawkeye. “I’m told I have a couple of fences down.”

“She does. I went through them chasing a man out of the hills on a four-wheeler.”

Garner’s eyes widened. “Is that why you rode an off-road vehicle on a state highway?”

Hawkeye dipped his head in a brief nod. “I didn’t have much of a choice. My truck’s back where I parked it at the gravel road leading up to the national forest. While I was following through on the path that pipeline inspector was traveling before he was shot, I ran across a guy planting explosives at the exact location where Khalig was shot and killed.”

“What about explosives?” A tall, red-haired man joined Hawkeye and held out his hand to Liv. “Jon Casper. But you can call me Ghost.”

She shook his hand, her fingers nearly crushed in his strong grip.

A broad-shouldered man with brown hair and green eyes nudged Ghost aside and held out his hand. “Max Decker. You can call me Caveman.”

Yet another man with a high and tight haircut held out his hand. “Rex Trainor. US Marine Corps. Most people call me T-Rex.”

Liv laughed. “Do any of you go by your given names?”

As one, everyone but Garner replied, “No.”

“Guess that answers my question.” She shook T-Rex’s hand. “Are you all like Hawkeye—military on loan to the DHS?”

T-Rex, Ghost and Caveman nodded.

Ghost held up his hand. “Navy.”

Caveman nodded. “Delta Force.”

Liv frowned. “Are things that bad around here?”

The three men shrugged.

“Better than being in the sandbox of the Middle East,” Ghost said.

“Some of the natives are friendly,” Caveman said. “And some...not so much.”

Liv leaned around the three big military men. “Anyone else I should be aware of?”

“Yo!” A thin, younger man sat with his back to the others, his hands on a computer keyboard in the corner of the room. He raised his hand without turning away from the array of monitors he faced.

“That’s Hack,” Hawkeye said. “He’s our tech support guy.”

“While you get to know each other, I’ll call in the sheriff and the state bomb squad.” Garner pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

“I don’t think the bomb squad will be necessary,” Hawkeye said. “I interrupted him before he could connect the detonator. I didn’t see anything but the explosive and the fuse.”

Ghost grabbed a jacket. “I’ll check it out. At the very least we need to retrieve the explosives to keep him from blowing the pipeline.”

Caveman slung his own jacket over his shoulder. “The sooner the better.”

“The trailer’s back where I parked the truck at the base of the mountain,” Hawkeye reminded them. “If you’re going, you’ll have to risk driving the ATVs on public roads. I didn’t run into the county cops. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be so lucky.”

“We’ll take that risk,” Ghost said. “We can cut through some of the less traveled streets.”

“Be careful,” Hawkeye warned. “He might have circled back to finish the job.”

Once the other two men had left the room, Liv cornered Garner. “What the hell is going on here?”

Garner motioned toward the table with the maps. “You got a few minutes?”

She glanced at her watch. “I have about ten before my ride gets here.”

“I can get you where you want to go,” Garner offered.

She shook her head. “This is all too much. I don’t know you, and I don’t know what to think about all of this.” She waved at the map with the red stars marking locations like a military operation. “First my father, then my foreman. And now you say there was a man with explosives trying to blow up the pipeline? Has the entire county gone crazy? This is Grizzly Pass, not some war-torn country on the other side of the world.”

Garner’s lips thinned, his face grim. “I’ve been monitoring this area for the past three months. A lot of internet activity indicated something big was brewing.”

Liv nodded. “You’re right. I’d say an attempt to blow up the pipeline is pretty big.”

He shook his head. “Even bigger. I think there is the potential for some kind of takeover, but we’ve only scratched the surface.”

“Takeover?” Liv’s heart thundered in her chest. “Are you kidding me? This is America. Land of the free, home of democracy. We change things by electing new representatives.”

“Some people don’t like what we’re getting.” Kevin touched the map. “We’ve already had flare-ups.”

Liv sank into a chair. “Flare-ups? Incidents? Takeovers?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache forming. “This can’t be. Not in Grizzly Pass. What do we have here to take over?”

“This is the perfect location to build the equivalent of a small army. There’s lots of space to hide nefarious activities. Mountains with caves to store a weapons buildup. People who know how to use guns can train in the backwoods where no one knows what they are doing.”

“Sweet heaven, and I thought the worst thing about coming home was burying my father,” Liv said. “I can’t take in any more of this. I have to go through my father’s effects, make arrangements with the lawyer and the bank, not to mention the animals to tend and a fence to mend.”

Garner’s gaze shot to Hawkeye. “Accidental or cut?”

“From what I could tell, cut,” Hawkeye answered for her. “My bet is that the man setting the charges cut the fence to give him access to government land without going the usual route.”

“How many acres is the Stone Oak Ranch?” Garner asked.

“Over five thousand.”

He stared down at the contour map. “Lots of hills and valleys.”

“There are. We’re in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains,” Liv said.

Garner glanced up at Hawkeye. “It bears watching.”

Liv’s belly knotted. She wasn’t at all sure she liked the intent look on the DHS man’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Your ranch is in a prime location for trouble. Who do you have working there? Do they know how to use a gun? Do you trust them?” Garner asked.

Hawkeye snorted. “You’re looking at ‘them.’ Miss Dawson is the only person left to run the ranch.”

“I don’t need anyone’s help. If I need additional assistance, I’ll hire someone.” Liv stood. “All this conspiracy-theory talk is just that—talk. I have work to do. If you’ll excuse me, I have a ride to catch.”

Garner stepped in front of her. “You don’t understand. You could be in grave danger.”

“I can handle it.” She tilted her head. “I really need to go.” She stepped around the man and ran into Hawkeye.

“Garner’s right. You can’t run a ranch and watch your back at the same time.”

“Let me assign one of my men to the ranch. Then you’ll get some help and we can take our time making certain the group responsible for the recent troubles isn’t conducting their business on your property or the neighboring federal land.”

Liv shook her head. “I can hire my own help.”

“The men on my team are trained combatants. We think the group planning the takeover are training like soldiers. One of their men had a shooting range and training facility on his ranch.”

Liv tilted her head and stared at Garner through narrowed eyes. “Sounds to me like you already know who is involved in this coup or whatever it is.”

“We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. Someone is supplying weapons on a large scale.” Garner took her hand. “Someone with money.”

Liv’s blood chilled. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

Garner’s lips firmed. “I wish I was.”

She pulled her hand from his and pushed her hair back from her face, wishing she had a rubber band to secure it. “Why do you need my ranch?”

“Stone Oak Ranch is right in the middle of everything.” Garner pointed to the map. “You said yourself you didn’t think your father could have fallen off his horse. He was too good of a rider. What if he didn’t fall off his horse?”

Her gut clenched and she tightened her fingers into fists. “What do you mean? Do you think someone killed him?” Dear Lord, what had happened to her father?

Garner lifted his shoulders slightly. “We don’t know, but if someone was out there, your father could have run across something that person didn’t want to get out.”

A sick, sinking feeling settled in the pit of Liv’s belly. “When my father’s horse returned without his rider, my foreman went looking for him. He found my father on the far northwest corner of the ranch, where he’d gone to check the fences.” Liv swallowed hard on the lump rising in her throat. “That corner of the property borders federal land.”

“Olivia, let me position one of my men on your property,” Garner pleaded. “He can appear to hire on as a ranch hand and help you mend the fences. It will give him the opportunity to keep an eye out for trouble, while protecting you.”

Liv bristled. “I don’t need someone to protect me.”

“No one can watch his or her own back,” Hawkeye said. “As a member of the armed forces, I know what it means to trust the guys behind me. You need a battle buddy.”

“I do want to find out if my father was murdered. And who might have done it.” Liv chewed on her lip a moment before sighing. “Who did you have in mind?”

Garner smiled. “The only other man still in this room besides me.”

A thrill of something she hadn’t felt in a long time—if you didn’t count the recent kiss—rippled through Liv. Taking on Hawkeye could prove to be a big mistake in more ways than one. “What choice do I have?”

“None,” Hawkeye said, his tone firm and final.

For however long it took to find her father’s murderer and stop this insanity going on in her community, she was stuck with Hawkeye. And despite her initial reticence, she had to admit to herself she might just need him.

“Don’t look so worried. You can trust Hawkeye,” Garner said with a smile and a wave before he turned to go back to the maps spread across the table.

It wasn’t Hawkeye she didn’t trust. What bothered her most was the reaction she’d had to his kiss. Hell, she wasn’t sure she could trust herself around the rugged army ranger.

Chapter Three

“We’ll get that meal you wanted and then we’ll head for your place.” Hawkeye cupped Liv’s elbow and guided her through the loft apartment’s door.

For once she didn’t argue or pull away.

Hawkeye counted that as progress.

“Damn. The sun’s already setting.” Olivia shaded her eyes and looked toward the west.

“We can skip the tavern and head right for the ranch,” Hawkeye offered.

She shook her head. “You said yourself that your truck is where you left it on a dirt road. By the time we retrieve it and make it back to the ranch, it’ll already be dark. We might as well get something to eat and take it with us. I can guarantee there’s nothing edible that doesn’t have to be cooked at the ranch.” She started down the steps ahead of him.

“I’ll be down in ten minutes to take you out to Hawkeye’s truck.” Garner followed them onto the landing. “You’ll need it with Liv’s farm truck out of commission.”

“The sheriff called a tow truck,” Olivia said. “The way it was smoking, I’m sure my dad’s old truck is a total loss.” Her lips turned downward. “I’ll be in the market for a used, cheap truck or we won’t be able to haul the hay to the barn before winter.”

“You can use mine until then,” Hawkeye offered.

Instead of nodding, she frowned. “I can’t rely on a man who is at best a temporary solution to a much larger problem.”

“That being?” Hawkeye asked.

“I need more than a truck out at the ranch. I need my foreman, or at least someone who can do some of the heavy work. Tossing hay bales isn’t easy.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

The motion made Hawkeye’s groin tighten. He wanted to pull that lip into his mouth and kiss her worries away.

Why?

He didn’t know. He’d just met the woman. That she was willing to risk her life to pull a full-grown man out of a smoking truck said a lot about her character. Not only was she strong, she was tough and cared about the people around her.

“I’ll be at the ranch,” Hawkeye said. “While I’m keeping an eye on things, I can help with hay hauling and doing other chores as needed.”

Olivia snorted. “Thanks, but you won’t be around for long. I’m sure, once Kevin and his team figure out what’s going on, you’ll be back with your unit. I need a permanent solution. It took both my father and our foreman to manage the ranch with seasonal help. Even if Abe wasn’t laid up with a broken leg, I’d have to find more help. The kind that will stick around for the long haul.”

Hawkeye raised his hands palms up and smiled. “In the meantime, you have me. Use me while you’re advertising for additional staff. What can it hurt? You’re getting my services free.”

Olivia’s stiff shoulders relaxed slightly. “You’re right. And thanks.”

“Don’t sound so ungrateful. Wait until you see what I can do. I’m strong, and I’ve hauled my share of hay in my younger days.” He stopped at the bottom of the staircase and pulled Olivia around to face him. “And I have a special skill.” His lips twitched.

Her breath hitched and her gaze dropped to his lips. “Oh yeah?” she said, her voice a whisper.

Hawkeye leaned toward her, as if he might kiss her, his lips passing her mouth and going toward her ear. “I know the difference between a steer and a cow.” He leaned back and smiled. Yes, he was flirting with her, but he could tell she needed a little levity in a bad situation. Having lost her father and now with her foreman off the ranch, she had a lot weighing on her shoulders. Hawkeye winked.

Olivia’s lips pressed into a tight line.

Not exactly the reaction he was aiming for. For a moment, Hawkeye thought he might have gone too far flirting with the pretty rancher, and she might slap his face again. Just in case, he leaned back a little farther.

A moment passed and Olivia’s firm lips loosened and spread into a wry smile. “You don’t know how important a skill that is.” She stuck out her hand. “For however long you’re here, you’re hired.”

With an accord reached, Hawkeye shook her hand, an electric shock running up his arm and shooting low into his groin. The woman had an effect on him he hadn’t counted on. Rather than kissing her, like he wanted to, he turned her toward the tavern entrance and ushered her inside with a hand at the small of her back. With everything going wrong in Grizzly Pass, helping Olivia was the first thing that felt right.

As Hawkeye opened the door, a young man was thrown through. He stumbled, fell and landed on his knees on the sidewalk.

A man with a scruffy beard and unkempt brown hair lurched through the door, his face red and splotchy, his breath reeking of booze. “No damned stepson of mine is going to be a dishwasher in a saloon, carrying out other people’s trash.” He pointed a finger at the boy. “Get home, where you belong. You have your own chores to do.”

Olivia crouched to help the teen to his feet.

Once upright, the young man shrugged off her hands and faced the angry man. “I finished the chores before I came to town.”

“Don’t talk back to me, boy,” the man growled.

Hawkeye recognized the drunk man as one of the men Garner had on his watch list. Ernie Martin. A man who had a gripe with the government over the discontinuance of the subsidies on his livestock.

“Get back to the ranch,” Ernie said.

The teen lifted his chin and set his feet slightly apart as if ready to do battle. “I have a job. I need to be here when I said I would.”

“Did your mother tell you that you should get a job?” Ernie snorted. “Is she too lazy to get out and get one for herself and bring a little income home for once?”

The teen’s fists clenched. “My mother isn’t lazy. She has three small children to raise. She’d never make enough money to pay for child care.”

“And whose fault is that? She shouldn’t have had all those brats.”

The teen’s eyes narrowed. “You should have stayed off of her. They’re your kids, too. And what are you doing to put food on the table? My mother should never have married you.”

“She’s lucky to be off the reservation. And you should be thankful I took you in out of the goodness of my own heart.”

With a snort, the teen brushed the dust off his jeans. “You didn’t do either of us any favors.”

Ernie’s face flushed even redder. “Why, you ungrateful little brat. That’s all the bull crap I’m taking from you.” He launched himself at the teen.

Before he’d gone two steps, Hawkeye grabbed Ernie’s arm and jerked him around. “Leave the kid alone.”

Ernie glared at Hawkeye through glazed eyes, cocked his fist and swung.

Hawkeye caught the fist in his own palm and forced the man’s hand down to his side. “Take another swing and I won’t go as easy on you.” He fished the man’s keys out of his pocket and then shoved the man backward, out of range of landing another punch. “You’ll have to find a ride home.”

Sheriff Scott pulled up in his county sheriff’s SUV, parked and got out. “What’s going on here?”

Ernie stalked up to the sheriff. “This man stole my keys and threatened me with bodily harm.” He pointed at Hawkeye. “Arrest him.” The stern tone was offset when the man belched, sending out a vile fog of booze-heavy breath.

“Now, Ernie, I’m sure there’s another side to this story,” the sheriff said.

“It’s cut-and-dried.” Ernie pointed at the keys in Hawkeye’s hands. “He has my keys.”

Sheriff Scott leaned away from Ernie’s face. “The man’s doing you a favor and keeping you from getting a DUI.” He stared at Ernie. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Just one beer,” Ernie said. “A man’s got a right to drink a beer. Or is our government going to take that right away, too?”

The sheriff crossed his arms over his chest. “Care to take a Breathalyzer test?”

Ernie opened his mouth and had just enough sense left to close it again before his alcohol-soaked brain let his mouth loose.

Hawkeye almost laughed, but knew it would only rile the man more.

“Hop in, Ernie. I’ll give you a ride home.”

The man folded his arms over his chest and dug his heels into the concrete sidewalk. “Ain’t leaving my truck here.”

“I’ll drive it home,” the teen offered.

Ernie shot a narrow-eyed glare at the young man. “You ain’t touching my damned truck.”

The teen raised his hands. “Okay. I won’t drive your truck.”

“Don’t worry about it, CJ,” the sheriff assured him. He turned to Ernie. “I’ll have my deputies bring your truck out to your house in the morning, after you’ve had a chance to sober up. You shouldn’t be driving anymore tonight.” Sheriff Scott hooked Ernie’s elbow and eased him toward the backseat.

Ernie jerked loose of the sheriff’s hold and pointed a finger at the teen. “You’re done with this job. I didn’t approve of it anyway.”

The teen stood with his feet braced apart, his jaw set. “I’m going to work.”

“Not as a dishwasher, you aren’t. I won’t have members of this community pointing at you, feeling sorry for poor Ernie Martin’s stepson who has to work to support his family.”

“I don’t care what you call it—I want my sisters and brother to have something to eat. It’s either here or somewhere else.”

“I provide,” Ernie insisted. “And it ain’t your place to be telling tales about what goes on at home.”

CJ’s fists clenched. “I’m going to have a job.”

“Not here, you’re not,” Ernie said with a finality that made CJ blink.

“How about at my place?” Olivia stepped forward. “Mr. Martin, you might not remember me, but I’m Olivia Dawson, Everett Dawson’s daughter.”

“Yeah. So?” He ignored her outstretched hand. “That doesn’t give you the right to butt into a private conversation.”

Hawkeye had to stop himself from snorting. The way Ernie had been yelling, the entire town of Grizzly Pass had to have heard his “private” conversation.

Olivia continued. “Since my father passed—” she swallowed hard and pressed on “—my foreman has broken his leg. I could use some help. CJ can work for me out at the ranch. He can make some money to tide you over to better times, or at least pay for his own meals.” Olivia caught Ernie’s stare and held it. “What do you say? You and my father were friends at one time. He’d be proud to have your stepson help me out.”

Ernie bristled. “If you need help, why not me?”

Olivia smiled gently.

Hawkeye could feel himself melt. The woman needed to smile more often. She went from pretty to stunning in less than a second.

“I wouldn’t dream of taking you away from your ranch. I know how hard it is to keep things running. Besides, I can’t afford to pay much.”

“I’ll take it,” CJ said. He turned to his stepfather. “I’ll do my chores before I leave the house and when I get back.”

“And how will you get there and back?” Ernie asked, a sneer pulling at one side of his mouth. “You have school starting in a couple weeks.”

“I’ll manage.”

Ernie snorted and turned back to Olivia. “If he steals something, don’t come crying to me. He’s been nothing but a pain in my rear since I brought him to the ranch.”

CJ’s eyes flashed, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. How he put up with Ernie, Hawkeye had no idea. Just standing near the belligerent jerk made Hawkeye itch to shove his fist in the man’s face.

“Fine.” Ernie waved at Olivia and his stepson. The drunk swayed and practically fell into the backseat of the sheriff’s SUV. As he leaned out to close the door, he said, “He’s your problem now.”

“You got a way home, CJ?” Sheriff Scott asked.

The teen nodded. “Yes, sir.” He glanced toward the sheriff’s vehicle as if it was the last place he wanted to be.

The sheriff shook his head and slid behind the wheel. A moment later, all Hawkeye could see of Ernie Martin were the taillights of the sheriff’s SUV disappearing at the end of Main Street.

Olivia clapped her hands together. “Well, that was lovely. I have the help I needed.” She smiled at CJ. “How soon can you start?”

The young man dug his hands into his pockets. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to start in the morning. Right now, I need to get home.” He gazed in the direction his stepfather had gone.

“Do you need a ride?” Hawkeye asked.

CJ shook his head. “No, sir. I’ll just let my boss know I can’t work here anymore. I have a bicycle. I’ll get myself home.”

“That’s got to be about five miles out of town. And it’s getting dark.” Olivia frowned. “Let one of us take you.”

The young man shook his head. “I’ll need my bike to get to work in the morning.”

“I live three miles out of town,” Olivia said. “Between you living on one side of Grizzly Pass and me on the other, that’s over eight miles several times a day. You need some other way to get there and back.”

“I promise.” CJ stepped forward. “I can do it. I’m used to riding long distances. It’s nothing.” He edged toward the tavern. “I really need to get home.”

Olivia still frowned, but she stepped out of the youth’s way. “Tell you what—don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you, Miss Dawson. I’ll be there in the morning, right after I do my chores.” The teen darted into the tavern, leaving Hawkeye and Liv where they’d been when the ruckus started.

“Are you two ready to go?” a voice said behind Hawkeye. Kevin Garner descended to the bottom step of the staircase leading up to the loft apartment.

“Not quite. We had a little delay.” Olivia started to reach for the door.

Hawkeye beat her to it and opened it wide for her and Garner. As his boss passed, Hawkeye nodded. “I’ll fill you in as we wait for our orders.”

Chapter Four

Liv cradled the food containers on her lap in the backseat of Kevin Garner’s truck.

The Homeland Security agent dropped them off at Hawkeye’s truck where he’d left it parked with the utility trailer. After disconnecting the trailer from his truck, Hawkeye rolled it around to the back of Garner’s and dropped it onto the hitch.

Garner helped Liv into Hawkeye’s truck and then extended a hand. “Be careful and let me know of anything out of the ordinary, even if it seems inconsequential. All the little pieces add up.”

Liv fumbled with the food, but managed to take the man’s hand. “I haven’t been home in nine months. How am I supposed to know what is out of the ordinary?”

“Anything strange and unusual, just give me a buzz.” He squeezed her hand.

Liv snorted. “Things seem to have changed drastically. This used to be a nice, quiet community filled with neighbors who looked out for each other.”

“Apparently, trouble has been brewing for years,” Garner said. “Antigovernment sentiment isn’t new.”

“I suppose.” Liv sighed. “I loved being on the ranch and working hard. I guess I didn’t have time to hang out on the street corners grousing about what I couldn’t change.”

With one last squeeze, Garner released Liv’s hand. “Trust Hawkeye and your own instincts.”

Hawkeye slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Ready?”

Using the food containers as an excuse not to look Hawkeye in the face, she nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” For a moment, the events of the past few days threatened to consume her. This was not the homecoming she’d anticipated at the end of her five-year promise.

All through college and the three years following graduation, Liv could think of nothing she wanted more than to come home to Grizzly Pass. Her promise to her father had kept her in Seattle. Now she was back in the county and the thought of going to the home she grew up in nearly tore her apart.

She sat in the passenger seat, a lump the size of her fist blocking her throat, her eyes burning from unshed tears.

“I take it we go out the way we came into town?” Hawkeye cast a glance in her direction.

All Liv could do was nod, afraid if she tried to get a word past her vocal cords, she’d break down and cry. And what good would crying do now? It wouldn’t bring her father back. Crying wouldn’t unbreak Abe’s leg and make everything all right again. Nothing could fix her world. All she could do was to take one day, one hour and one breath at a time. Her father had taught her a long time ago that cowgirls didn’t cry.

Damn you, Dad. This one does.

As they neared the gated entrance to Stone Oak Ranch, her chest tightened and she couldn’t manage to take that one breath.

When Hawkeye didn’t slow, Liv was forced to squeak out, “Turn here!”

Hawkeye jammed his foot on the brake pedal. The truck skidded to a stop in the middle of the highway, several yards past the ranch entrance.

Liv flew forward. The seat belt across her torso snapped tight, keeping her from jettisoning through the windshield.

“You could give me a little more warning next time.” Hawkeye shifted into Reverse and backed up several yards. Then he drove up to the gate.

Liv shot out a hand, touching his shoulder.

Again, he hit the brakes and turned to her. “What?”

The relentless pressure on her chest refused to subside. “I can’t breathe,” she whispered. “I can’t breathe.”

“What’s wrong?” Hawkeye’s brows dived toward the bridge of his nose. “Olivia, look at me. Tell me what’s wrong.” He reached for her.

She shrank from his hands. If he touched her, she’d fall apart. And she couldn’t fall apart. Not now. With her father and her foreman gone, she was all that was left of what had once been her small family. Who else would take care of the animals, the fences, the house and the ranch?

No matter how hard she tried, Liv couldn’t seem to get enough air into her starving lungs. She punched the buckle on her seat belt, shoved open her door and dropped down out of the truck. Her legs refused to hold her and she fell to her knees. A sob rose up past the knot in her throat, coming out as a keening wail. Liv clamped a hand over her mouth, praying Hawkeye hadn’t heard.

The sound of a truck door opening and closing spurred her to her feet. She didn’t want anyone to see her as her composure shattered and she fell apart. Especially not the stranger she’d just met. Hugging her grief to her chest, she ran.

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, then another and another, until she couldn’t do anything to stem the flow. Soon, she couldn’t see the road in front of her.

The footsteps pounding behind her made her run faster. “Leave me alone,” she cried out. “Just leave me alone.”

Hands descended on her shoulders.

Liv jerked free, tripped, regained her footing and took off. Where, she didn’t know.

Then something big and heavy hit her from behind, sending her flying forward. She hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of her lungs. A heavy mass landed on top of her, pressing her into the dirt and leaves.

She lay still, tears falling and silent sobs racking her body.

The weight on top of her shifted and rolled to the side. Big hands lifted her off the ground and pulled her into a lap and up against a solid wall of muscles.

“Shh, darlin’. Everything’s going to be all right.” Hawkeye’s deep voice rumbled in his chest where Liv pressed her ear.

“H-how can everything be all right?” She hiccuped and more sobs racked her body. “My father is d-dead. I’m going home to a house where he sh-should be, but isn’t. Even Abe is g-gone.”

“Abe will be back sooner than you think.” Hawkeye held her cradled in his lap, smoothing the hair from her damp cheeks. “I’m sorry about your father. He must have been a good man to have you as his daughter.”

“The best.” She turned her face into Hawkeye’s shirt and leaned her cheek against his chest, breathing in the outdoorsy scent she would forever associate with this man. The tears slowed to a trickle and her breathing began to return to normal. “He would have liked you, I think.”

Hawkeye chuckled. “You think? You mean you don’t know?”

“He had a great respect for the men and women who served in the armed forces.”

For a long moment, Liv sat in Hawkeye’s lap, absorbing some of his strength to tide her over when she entered the house she had grown up in, empty now of both of her parents.

Finally, she squared her shoulders and leaned away from Hawkeye. Wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks, she gave him a weak smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t normally fall apart like that.”

“You’re allowed.” Hawkeye tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You haven’t had the best of days.” He bent and touched his lips to her forehead, avoiding the bandaged area.

God, it felt good. A kiss on her mouth would be even better. A flood of desire washed over her with an awareness of where she was. Seated across Hawkeye’s lap, she could feel the hard evidence of his own reaction to her pressing against her bottom.

She swayed toward him, her lips tingling in anticipation of touching his. Everything would be better, all of her pain would be eased, if she just kissed him.

Hawkeye’s arms tightened around her, bringing her closer.

When her lips were a mere breath from his, a sound penetrated the deepening dusk. The urgent, distressed bawling of cattle.

“Shh.” Liv stiffened, her pulse quickening. “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah.” Hawkeye’s hands gripped Liv around the waist. He lifted her out of his lap, scrambled to stand and pulled her up beside him.

“Come on.” Liv grabbed his hand and ran for the truck.

Hawkeye jumped into the driver’s seat.

Liv climbed in on the passenger side and rolled down her window, trying to hear over the rumble of the engine. Again, the sound of cattle mooing reached her. Something was wrong. At dusk cattle settled in for the night, quietly chewing their cud. Wishing she could put her own foot on the accelerator, Liv clenched her fists and willed Hawkeye to go faster.

The driveway up to the ranch house and barn curved through a stand of trees. Finally, it opened to a rounded knoll, on top of which stood her family home, a two-story colonial with a wide, sweeping wraparound porch.

Liv pushed aside the stabbing sadness, her thoughts on the cattle and horses for which she was now responsible. “Head for the barn at the back of the house,” she instructed.

Hawkeye drove around to the barn and shone his headlights at the corral and pasture beyond.

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