He stood behind her, her scent wrapping around him in a sensual cocoon, and he realized he was in serious trouble

The stance was too intimate, their bodies way too close. There was no way he could prevent his reaction to her as she wriggled to get into shooting position.

When her gun sagged in her hands, he clenched his teeth in frustration at their enforced proximity but reached around her to help hold the gun. “This time, don’t close your eyes. It’ll make it easier to see if you hit your target.”

“How will I know if I’m on target?” Kelly demanded and he realized she was playing word games with him. He didn’t know if he wanted to turn her around and kiss her or turn and walk away.

“You’ll know.”

She aimed again, and shot. And when the bullets rang out, she flung herself around in his arms, a pleased grin on her face. “I did it!”

“But you didn’t hit anything.”

“Not yet.” And that’s when she planted a kiss on Wade’s lips.

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

We have another month of spine-tingling romantic thrillers lined up for you—starting with the much anticipated second book in Joanna Wayne’s tantalizing miniseries duo, HIDDEN PASSIONS: FULL MOON MADNESS. In Just Before Dawn, a reclusive mountain man vows to get to the bottom of a single mother’s terrifying nightmares before darkness closes in.

Award-winning author Leigh Riker makes an exciting debut in the Harlequin Intrigue line this May with Double Take. Next, pulses race out of control in Mask of a Hunter by Sylvie Kurtz—the second installment in THE SEEKERS—when a tough operative’s cover story as doting lover to a pretty librarian threatens to blow up.

Be there from the beginning of our brand-new in-line continuity, SHOTGUN SALLYS! In this exciting trilogy, three young women friends uncover a scandal in the town of Mustang Valley, Texas, that puts their lives—and the lives of the men they love—on the line. Don’t miss Out for Justice by Susan Kearney.

To wrap up a month of can’t-miss romantic suspense, Doreen Roberts debuts in the Harlequin Intrigue line with Official Duty, the next title in our COWBOY COPS thematic promotion. It’s a double-murder investigation that forces a woman out of hiding to face her perilous past…and her pent-up feelings for the sexy sheriff who still has her heart in custody. Last but certainly not least, Emergency Contact by Susan Peterson—part of our DEAD BOLT promotion—is an edgy psychological thriller about a traumatized amnesiac who may have been brainwashed to do the unthinkable….

Enjoy all our selections this month!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor,

Harlequin Intrigue

Out for Justice
Susan Kearney

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Kearney used to set herself on fire four times a day. Now she does something really hot—she writes romantic suspense. While she no longer performs her signature fire dive (she’s taken up figure skating), she never runs out of ideas for characters and plots. A business graduate from the University of Michigan, Susan writes full-time. She resides in a small town outside Tampa, Florida, with her husband and children and a spoiled Boston terrier. Visit her at www.SusanKearney.com.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Kelly McGovern—The great-great-granddaughter of Shotgun Sally and Mustang Valley’s most infamous citizen. Kelly is determined to pierce the veil of secrecy around her brother Andrew’s death, even if it means moving in with the town’s bad boy to protect her.

Wade Lansing—Mustang Valley’s original bad boy and Andrew’s best friend.

Sheriff Ben Wilson—Honest law enforcer or man with his own agenda?

Jonathan Dixon—A law school colleague of Andrew’s with a chip on his shoulder and a grudge the size of Texas.

Mayor Mickey Daniels—He’ll do almost anything to win his reelection—but does that include murder?

Debbie West—Andrew’s fiancée and woman with a secret past.

Niles Deagen—Oilman extraordinaire or a man on the verge of bankruptcy?

Lindsey Wellington—New to Mustang Valley and Lambert & Church, she’s determined to get to the bottom of Andrew’s mysterious death, especially if it helps out her new friends Kelly and Cara.

Cara Hamilton—A fledgling reporter and Kelly’s best friend.

Andrew McGovern—Kelly’s brother lost his life much too soon. But was the fire that caused his death really an accident…or arson?

Shotgun Sally—The legendary frontierswoman influences the lives of Kelly, Lindsey and Cara in their quest for the truth!

For Phyllis and Sy Dresser

Contents

Prologue

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

Prologue

“Hi, short-stuff. What’s up?” Andrew McGovern answered his sister, Kelly’s, phone call with such enthusiasm that if she hadn’t known better, she wouldn’t have guessed he’d just worked an eighteen-hour day.

“It’s after midnight,” Kelly pointed out with sisterly affection. Andrew might amuse himself with his gadgets, like the caller ID that had told him she was on the line before he’d picked up the phone, but she’d bet her new diamond-bezel Rolex her parents had given her for a college graduation present that her brother hadn’t checked the time in hours.

Papers rustled. She pictured Andrew behind his battered desk in the annex of his law office of Lambert & Church, his tie and jacket thrown over the back of a spare chair, his desk a mountain of papers, his file cabinet half-open, his eyes bleary despite the numerous cups of black coffee he’d drunk to keep him awake.

“And?” he asked.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than work on Saturday night?”

“Nag. Nag. Nag.” Andrew chuckled. “Short-stuff, if you aren’t careful, you’ll start sounding just like Mom. And if, like her, you want to know if I’m still engaged to Debbie, I am. In fact, I’m bringing her to breakfast at the house tomorrow morning.”

Kelly sucked in her breath. Mom and Dad didn’t approve of Debbie West’s family and they certainly wouldn’t be pleased about his engagement. Andrew’s fiancée lived on an impoverished ranch just outside of Mustang Valley, Texas, about an hour north of town, with her alcoholic father and no-good brother. While Andrew seemed oblivious to his parents’ reservations about his current relationship, Kelly’s stomach knotted. She didn’t like discord. Doing what her parents expected of her was so much easier than butting heads.

She’d always enjoyed her parents’ approval, making straight As, being popular in school and avoiding trouble. Sure, sometimes she’d rather have been out partying than hitting the books on a regular basis, but she had discipline, something the brilliant Andrew, who often worked through the night but then didn’t go into the office for another two days, knew nothing about. And she’d never understood why her older brother seemed so intent on riling up the folks by choosing friends from the other side of Mustang Valley. Like Andrew’s best friend, that renegade Wade Lansing, who owned the Hit ’Em Again Saloon, and Debbie West, a high-school dropout who worked at a local diner.

Daddy had worked hard to buy the biggest house in Mustang Valley, and Mama had spent half her life decorating it. Kelly had enjoyed teen parties by the pool during high school and had been proud to bring home college friends to stay during vacations. Her best friend Cara Hamilton might not be as wealthy as the McGoverns, but she came from a middle-class home just a few streets away and now lived in a new apartment complex with nicely landscaped grounds and all the amenities, including a spa and security system. And she had a respectable career as a fledgling reporter. While her brother turned up his nose at the McGovern life-style, Kelly liked having her own horse and the pretty Jaguar Daddy had bought her after graduation. She saw nothing wrong with appreciating the finer things in life.

However, Andrew seemed to take pleasure in thumbing his nose at convention and the family. He hung out with whomever he pleased and rarely brought them home. Although he’d never been in serious trouble, Andrew had enjoyed racing his souped-up Mustang with dual chrome exhausts down Main Street and spying on the girls skinny-dipping at Half-Moon Lake. All harmless pranks—but ones that could have led to more serious trouble. Then, after finishing law school, instead of joining their father’s oil company, he’d chosen to work at Lambert & Church, happily taking pro bono cases and mixing with all kinds of lowlifes, even criminals, as well as high-paying clients.

“Andrew! I think the only reason you date Debbie is to rile Mom and Dad.” Kelly’s older brother might hang out with some unusual people, but nevertheless the siblings were close. She enjoyed teasing him, especially about his friends. “I thought I should warn you…Dad still wants you to work for him. He’s going to make you another offer.”

“I wish he wouldn’t. I’m happy here. Busy. Needed.” More papers rustled, and she suspected she had only half his attention. “In fact, I’m working on something real interesting.”

His car alarm interrupted their conversation.

Andrew swore. “That stray cat must have jumped on my car, again, no doubt leaving sandy paw prints all over it, never mind waking everyone within a quarter-mile radius. Gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” She set the phone back in its cradle with a shake of her head, turned off her light and pulled up her covers. She wouldn’t have fallen asleep so easily if she’d known that was the last time she and her brother would ever speak.

Chapter One

Six Weeks Later

“Andrew’s dead.” Though Cara spoke to Kelly in her brash, no-nonsense reporter’s voice, there was a catch in it. “And whatever you do isn’t ever going to bring him back.”

“I know.” Kelly hugged her friend. If not for Cara’s support, she didn’t know how she would have made it through the past forty-two days. “Just hear me out.”

“Okay.” Cara plunked herself down on Kelly’s bed, ran her fingers through her short red curls and stared at her through hazel eyes filled with concern and sorrow. A few years ago, Cara had been engaged to Andrew, but they’d mutually ended their relationship and remained friends.

Kelly tried to shove down her own grief over Andrew’s death long enough to put her thoughts in order, thoughts that hadn’t left her since the morning Andrew’s body was found. “According to Sheriff Ben Wilson’s report, an eyewitness saw Andrew chase the cat from his car, turn off his alarm and return to his office. But there was no witness to the fire that started in the annex of Lambert & Church sometime during the night.”

“Word is it was an electrical short, though the fire department is still investigating. Any reason you’re suspicious it was something else?”

“Nothing concrete.” But Kelly just couldn’t let go. Not when the facts didn’t add up. Kelly might have grown up the pampered princess of well-to-do parents, she might not have the bold brashness of Cara, but she had her own kind of genteel determination that had seen her through college and had left her with her pick of law schools.

She liked to believe that her toughness came to her from her grandmother’s grandmother on her mother’s side. Shotgun Sally had been a legend around this part of Texas for well over a century. Dozens of stories about her abounded, and one of Kelly’s favorites was how the aristocratic-born widow lady had come out west at age twenty to start over and make a new life for herself and her sons. Now Kelly had suffered the loss of a dear family member—just like her famous ancestor. Somehow she would survive because surely a smidgen of Shotgun Sally’s toughness ran in Kelly’s blood.

Thoughtful, Kelly twisted a finger around a blond lock. “There was no witness to Andrew’s death.” A death probably from smoke inhalation since his badly burned body had been found still sitting in his chair. That he’d died in his sleep was little consolation to Kelly and her devastated parents.

Andrew might have been a rebel, but he’d been well loved. The entire town of Mustang Valley had turned out for his funeral and to pay their respects, including Debbie West, who’d arrived with her eyes red and swollen from crying. And Kelly had never seen Andrew’s best friend, saloon owner Wade Lansing, so somber as when he acted as one of the pall-bearers. Dressed in an immaculate black suit, shirt and tie that she wouldn’t have suspected he owned, Wade had looked forbidding and dangerous, but had done Andrew proud, standing tall and strong beside her daddy, Sheriff Wilson, Mayor Daniels, and Donald Church and Paul Lambert, senior partners of the law firm where Andrew had worked.

Her father had tried and failed to remain stoic during the funeral, and he’d aged ten years in the past six weeks, his white hair thinning, the circles under his eyes darkening. Beneath her Vera Wang veil, her mother had wept copiously and Kelly should have been crying, too. But she couldn’t. She was too angry at Andrew for dying. Too upset with the sheriff who couldn’t give her any explanations why her brother hadn’t even tried to get out of the first floor of a burning building.

Her world no longer made sense and she needed to put it in order before she could go on with her life. Finding answers for Andrew and herself might not be her specialty, but she was a fast learner and she fully intended to search for the truth.

“If someone else had been around, they would have gotten Andrew up and out of there.” Cara’s special brand of reporter logic made her good at figuring things out.

Kelly picked up a brush and ran it through her hair, not because her shoulder-length hair needed brushing but because she found the action soothing. “That night when I spoke to Andrew he was awake and excited. I have difficulty believing that he fell asleep so soundly that the smoke didn’t wake him.”

“The fire broke out at two in the morning. He must have been exhausted.” Cara stood, took the brush from Kelly and tossed it on the marble and gold cosmetic table.

Kelly frowned at her. “Andrew was always the lightest of sleepers. Remember how picky he was about his sheets?”

“Huh?”

“Surely you haven’t forgotten our sleep-over back in middle school when you put your puppy in Andrew’s bed and she left a little sand behind.”

Cara nodded with a chuckle. “Who would have thought a few grains of sand would keep Andrew tossing and turning all night? Or that he’d retaliate with an ice cold glass of water at 7 a.m.”

“My brother required six pillows to sleep, propping up his knees and back. And now the sheriff expects me to believe that Andrew fell asleep in an uncomfortable office chair? It’s just not possible.”

Cara’s eyes glimmered with interest. “You questioned Sheriff Wilson?”

Kelly shrugged. “Yeah. And he gave me a patronizing hug and told me he would look into my suspicions. Then I asked Paul Lambert what Andrew had been working on, and he just patted me on the head and told me the work was confidential. I don’t know how you investigate your stories. People don’t take me seriously.”

“That’s because you’re…”

Kelly raised a perfectly arched brow. “What?”

“Polite.”

“There’s nothing wrong with good manners.”

Except that six weeks after Andrew’s death, Kelly had no more answers than she’d had the morning she’d been told he’d died. But she was determined to find out exactly what had happened that night. She just wasn’t sure how to go about investigating.

However, Cara did know, and Kelly would eventually learn from her friend how to obtain the information she desired. Kelly might be polite but she knew how to get around Cara. “So you studied investigative journalism. Where should I start? What should I do? How should I act? What should I wear?”

Cara rubbed her forehead. “What if there’s nothing to find? Can you live with that?”

Kelly stood, appreciating her height that allowed her to look down on her shorter friend. Andrew might have called Kelly short-stuff because she was a good eight inches shorter than his six-foot-two, but now she looked down her nose and used her most charming grin on Cara. “I just want to find out the truth. You of all people should understand.”

“Of course I do, but… Look, Kelly. It’s like this. While I was working for the high school newspaper on that exposé of the football coach and the school secretary, you were the head cheerleader. And in college—”

“Hey, I studied damn hard.”

“I know you did, sweetie. Maybe you could investigate the society page or the travel section or—”

“Give advice to the rich and famous?”

“Exactly.”

Kelly fisted her hands on her hips, careful not to wrinkle her silk blouse. “So you think all I can investigate is fluff?”

“If the hat fits…”

“…I’d wear it only if it were in style. But so what if I like fashion and gossip. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love my brother enough to find out what happened to him. Are you going to help me or not?”

Cara nodded. “I just don’t want to see you hurt even more, but the last time I saw you this determined was the day you took your LSAT’s.” Cara looked her up and down, frowning at Kelly’s elegant blouse and frilly, ladylike skirt that ended at midcalf. “I’d say a trip to the mall is our first stop.”

“IF ANYTHING HAPPENS to me, look after short-stuff.” Andrew’s words reverberated in Wade Lansing’s mind as he walked down Main Street and spied Kelly McGovern.

Kelly looked different from the out-of-his-class woman that she always presented to the world. Instead of the feminine silk blouses and lacy skirts or designer dresses she favored, she was wearing jeans, boots and a tucked in blouse with a blazer. She’d done something to her standard shoulder-length blond hair, pulling it back softly with a clip that showed off her blue eyes and model cheekbones.

Wade wished he’d questioned Andrew more fully during the short phone conversation the night of his friend’s death, but the bar had been packed and he’d been shy two waitresses. Still, he’d taken the time to ask Andrew why he thought anything might happen to him, but Andrew had told him it was probably nothing.

Nothing, my ass.

Andrew wasn’t prone to panic or exaggeration. He’d stumbled onto something he shouldn’t have and it had gotten him killed. And as much as Wade had liked and respected Andrew, his friend had grown up protected from the harsher side of life. Andrew trusted people, whereas Wade did not. Andrew always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Wade expected the worst, so he didn’t need evidence to listen to his gut, which told him Andrew had been murdered. He’d been around trouble too many times not to trust his instincts.

As a kid, those instincts warned him to hide on Saturday nights so that his drunk father couldn’t find him until he sobered up. The few times he’d forgotten to hide had taught Wade to never let down his guard. He had few friends, but Andrew had been a good one, and Wade owed him more than one favor.

Besides, watching Kelly’s back and cute little bottom was certainly no hardship. With her long slender legs, she should wear jeans more often. She’d always been attractive in that don’t-touch-me-I’m-off-limits-to-the-likes-of-you kind of way, which he’d accepted out of respect for Andrew. But today she actually looked approachable—if he could discount her five-hundred-dollar boots and the designer bag she’d slung over her saucy shoulder.

The sight of Kelly’s new look not only reminded Wade of his promise to his friend but had his instincts screaming. He and Kelly didn’t patronize the same kinds of establishments or reside in the same part of town. Kelly probably hung out in Dallas’s or Fort Worth’s fanciest malls or perhaps at Mustang Valley’s finest steak house, but he’d rarely seen her on grounds he considered his turf. And why was she walking instead of driving her spiffy new Jag? What the hell was she up to?

His curiosity aroused, he followed her down Main Street past the post office and the pharmacy, keeping his distance and a few shoppers between them, considering possible destinations. Kelly didn’t date guys from this side of town. She picked proper and preppie college boys with impeccable credentials and a family history as tony as her own. She’d only visited his saloon once to pull Andrew home during a family emergency. He recalled how out-of-place she’d looked in her lacy skirt and soft, sophisticated blouse, and yet she hadn’t hesitated to enter his rowdy bar alone, shoulder past several inebriated cowboys to demand that her brother accompany her to the hospital. Her granddaddy had had a stroke. She’d looked sassy and sad then, letting neither Andrew’s drunken state nor his lost cause of the moment, who’d been clinging to her brother’s arm, deter Kelly from her task.

On the sidewalk in front of Wade, Kelly suddenly spun around and made a bee-line straight at him with that same determined pout of her lips that he so vividly remembered from years ago.

He braced for a confrontation. “Hey, short-stuff. What’s up?”

“Don’t call me that, please.”

Kelly was always ultrapolite, but with him she usually sounded so irritated that she couldn’t quite hide that annoyance. In return, he couldn’t help feeling gratified that he was getting under that Cosmo girl skin. Maybe it was a remnant from his teenage years, but he loved bringing out the spark that she kept so carefully controlled. Watching her suppress all those simmering passions, he cocked one hand on his hip and pulled off her sunglasses.

She maintained a cool, superior tone, but vexation and perhaps a gleam of fury shined in her vivid baby-blues. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve missed your gorgeous green eyes,” he teased.

“They’re blue.” She snatched back her sunglasses, her pretty polished pink nails shimmering in the sunlight. “Are you trying to distract me from the fact that you’re following me?”

Ah, she might look like a fairy princess, even in those hip-hugging jeans, but she had a brain almost as sharp as Andrew’s. Wade reminded himself not to get so caught up in the glisten of her lip gloss that he underestimated her. “You caught me in the act.”

She chuckled, her lips absolutely adorable and way-too-appealingly kissable. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

If she was trying to embarrass him with the memory of her walking up to the car her brother had lent him and her getting an eyeful of him and Mary Jo Lacy in the back seat, she wouldn’t succeed. Of the three of them, she’d been the embarrassed one. Funny, he could barely recall Mary Jo’s expression, but Kelly’s had been a sight to behold. Her blush had started at her shapely chest, risen up her delicate neck, flowered over her cheeks and forehead. Her teenage-innocent eyes had widened in surprise before her lips had parted into a big round O.

“So what are you up to?” He eyed her from the tips of her new boots to the designer sunglasses she’d grabbed and thrust up high on her forehead.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, right. When I see Miss Kelly McGovern sashaying down Main Street on this side of town in blue jeans, I know something’s up. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you had an assignation at the Lone Star Lodge.”

“I don’t sashay. I don’t frequent that establishment. And I have better things to do than stand here and—”

“Better things to do? That doesn’t sound like ‘nothing’ to me.”

“My business is no concern of yours.” She turned around to dismiss him.

He fell into step beside her. “Aren’t you even a little curious why I was following you?”

“Not particularly.” She yanked down the sunglasses.

“Okay.” He matched her, step for step, and didn’t say another word. He tipped his hat to a few of the townsfolk and waited. Wade hadn’t always been this patient. In his younger days he’d been known for his hot blood and his blazing temper. But he’d mellowed during his midtwenties. And he had the advantage here. She wanted to be rid of him, so she would either have to speak to him again or accept his company. He looked forward to either decision.

Her floral scent floating between them, the sunlight shimmering off her blond hair, she stopped on the sidewalk and peered over her sunglasses at him. “What do you want, Wade?”

Her respect? Her trust? Damned if he knew. “It’s not what I want but what Andrew wanted.”

“Don’t play word games with me about my brother.” She almost snapped at him, and he realized that the unhealed wound in her heart was responsible for the rawness in her voice. She’d adored her brother, tagging after Andrew into her midteens, shooting hoops with them in the park and getting underfoot. Andrew hadn’t minded, and Wade had enjoyed teasing the prickly princess. But they hadn’t run into one another that often. Andrew hadn’t brought his friends home much, and as Kelly’s popularity increased into her late teens, she’d found her own group of friends. Wade and Kelly might not ever have even spoken if not for Andrew—and now he was gone.

“I’m sorry. I miss him, too.” Wade ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s start over.”

“From ten minutes ago? Or eighteen years ago?”

She was referring to the first time they’d met. At ten years old, Wade had been the terror of the schoolyard and a class-A bully, copying his father, his only role model up to that point in his life. Wade had caught a stray ball from a group of kindergarteners playing kick ball. No one dared ask him for the ball—except five-year-old Kelly. She’d skipped over in her immaculate yellow ruffled dress, smiled at him like an angel and had plucked the ball right out of his hands, murmuring a sweet thank-you. He’d been so stunned at her audacity that he’d just stood there and let her get away with it.

Wade didn’t answer her rhetorical question. “I spoke to your brother the night he died.”

“And?” she prodded.

“He said that if anything happened to him that I should look after you.”

Her tone turned all businesslike. “What do you mean—if anything happened to him? Are you saying my brother expected trouble?”

“I’m not sure. He sounded more excited than concerned. I didn’t question him thoroughly.”

“Why not?” Her voice turned sharp enough to slice and dice, and he refrained from wincing, especially since he’d asked himself that same question a hundred times.

“The saloon was packed. I was shorthanded and I expected him to be over within the hour.”

She stood still for a moment, clearly thinking. “Have you mentioned your conversation to Sheriff Wilson?”

He shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Mitch, Deputy Warwick. He’s looking into it for me on the QT.”

“Why on the QT?”

He squared his shoulders and it only helped a little to know that she wasn’t prying into his personal life but trying to understand the situation with her brother. “Sheriff Wilson isn’t exactly a fan of the Lansing family. Deputies don’t like answering domestic squabbles.” And his folks had habitually fought every Friday and Saturday night. Deputies had stopped at his house as often as the local coffee shop.

He refrained from mentioning that he’d never liked Sheriff Wilson, but Mitch was an all-right deputy. The man had compassion, probably learned the hard way since growing up half Native American wasn’t easy in these parts.

To give her credit, Kelly didn’t fault Wade—at least out loud. “If you hear anything from Deputy Warwick, you’ll let me know?”

“Sure.” He wished he could see her eyes that she’d hidden behind those sunglasses.

“You needn’t worry about looking after me. I’m fine.”

Once again Kelly dismissed him, her booted feet taking the steps, two at a time, up Doc Swenson’s front porch. Wade almost left her to her business. But when Doc opened the front door and stepped onto the porch, Wade decided this meeting had nothing to do with a personal medical problem.

At eighty years of age and Mustang Valley’s only doctor, Swenson conducted his business inside where he’d converted two downstairs bedrooms into patient consultation rooms, or in the former dining room where he now performed autopsies for the sheriff’s department.

The town desperately needed a younger doctor but like most small towns, Mustang Valley didn’t have the population to support one of the medical facilities to induce a physician to move here. Doc had delivered most of the townsfolk around these parts, including Kelly and Andrew. When Wade’s folks couldn’t pay the bill, Doc had treated the thirteen-year-old Wade’s broken leg for free. These days, for more serious problems, folks usually made the one-hour drive to Dallas or Fort Worth.

Kelly shook Dr. Swenson’s hand. “Hi, Doc. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I know you’re busy.” When Wade stepped up on the porch beside her, she stiffened. “Excuse me, but I don’t remember inviting you to join us.”

Doc put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “It’s better if Wade’s here. Just two hours ago, we had a couple of kids throw a rock through the front window. Probably just a prank.” He jerked a thumb at a broken pane temporarily fixed with duct tape. “But I’d feel better if Wade walked you back.”

Wade nodded. “Yes, sir.” But he thought it odd that Doc believed she needed protection against a couple of juvenile delinquents and wondered if he had an ulterior motive.

Kelly looked up at the porch roof as if seeking heavenly patience, then back at Doc and ignored Wade. “Fine. Doc, I wanted to ask you about Andrew’s death.”

Doc gestured to a swing on his front porch. “Please, sit. I need to rest these old bones every chance I get—which isn’t often enough these days.”

Kelly settled on the swing, careful to leave Wade plenty of room so they wouldn’t be touching. Normally he might have deliberately crowded her—just to irritate her some more. But he couldn’t do that with her looking so distressed about Andrew, and behaved himself, sitting on the opposite end of the swing.

“Doc, the sheriff said my brother died of smoke inhalation.”

Doc sat in a rocker and lit his pipe. “I assure you, he didn’t suffer any pain.”

“You could tell that from the autopsy?” Wade asked.

“Yes.”

Kelly twisted her hands in her lap, noticed what she was doing and then grasped one hand firmly in the other. “I don’t see how Andrew could have fallen asleep at his desk. When I spoke to him at midnight, he was wide awake and excited and told me he was working on something interesting.”

“Did he say what?” Wade asked.

“No.” She focused on he doctor. “What else did the autopsy reveal?”

Doc puffed on his pipe and blew out a ring of smoke. “Nasty habit. Don’t ever start. Smoking causes cancer, you know.”

He took his pipe from his mouth and pursed his lips, eyeing her with a scowl. “I didn’t want to mention this at the funeral, and I’m not supposed to tell you this now, but Andrew didn’t die from the fire.”

“He didn’t?”

“He died from a bullet to his head.”

“Oh…my…God.” Kelly turned white. “Andrew was murdered?”

Chapter Two

Murdered?

Kelly’s suspicion had proven correct. Still, having her hunch confirmed proved a shock. Her nerves jerked as if a bomb had gone off and rattled her to the core. At first she feared she might faint, but then, with an inner fortitude, she inhaled a deep breath, squared her sagging shoulders and looked Doc straight in the eyes, listening to his explanation.

“A bullet indicates Andrew’s death was an accident, suicide or murder,” Doc told them bluntly.

Wade defended his friend. “It wasn’t an accident. Andrew didn’t keep a gun in the office and he certainly didn’t kill himself.”

“Why was this kept a secret?” Kelly demanded with unconcealed bitterness. She might have turned white but she hadn’t fainted and her brain was working perfectly as the question burst from her.

“Sheriff Wilson wanted me to keep the particulars quiet while he investigated.”

“Is this the usual procedure?”

“No, but it’s not that unusual, either. If the shooter thinks we’ve attributed Andrew’s death to the fire he started, to cover up the shooting, then the sheriff might have a better chance of catching the killer.”

“That may be so.” Kelly stood, trembling with shock and indignation, wishing she hadn’t been so wrapped up in her grief, that she’d followed up on her suspicions sooner. “But he had no right to keep this from our family. I’d say the sheriff has some explaining to do. Thanks for the information, Doc.”

“Anytime. And be careful. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll make sure she stays that way.” Wade shook Doc Swenson’s hand and walked down the steps with her. She half expected Wade to try to talk her out of going to the sheriff, but he remained quiet.

“What are you thinking?” she asked him.

“I was making a mental list of all the people we should talk to.”

“We?”

“I’m not letting you do this alone.”

“I appreciate your wanting to look after me, but…”

He looped his arm through hers. “It’s not necessary?”

“I’m not sure about that.” She wasn’t going to turn down help from any quarter. Wade could be useful. He knew about a side of Andrew that her brother had sheltered her from. He also heard things at the saloon that might be handy. On the other hand, he was big and strong, and she didn’t trust herself around Wade. Years ago she’d had a schoolgirl crush on him, but hadn’t even considered there could be anything between them since her parents had clearly disapproved of Wade.

She trusted her parents’ judgment, so she really didn’t like the effect he had on her now. She liked the way he’d looped his arm through hers. She liked his intention to follow through on his promise to her brother. And she liked the concerned look in his eyes. Mix that with his flat-out determination to stick with her, and the man was downright irresistible. Yet never once in all the years she’d known him had he indicated even a smidgen of interest in her beyond as his friend’s kid sister.

Considering her interest in him, she should keep her distance. He was all wrong for her. Yet she owed it to her brother to seek justice and, to be fair, she’d have a better chance of success if she accepted Wade’s help. Although she’d lived in Mustang Valley all her life, he knew people that she didn’t.

As long as he proved helpful, she’d let him stick around. But if he interfered, tried to dissuade her or tried to take over, she’d dump him so fast his head would spin. Satisfied with her plan, she picked up her pace.

Just to keep him from getting too familiar, she removed her arm from his. His touch might be gentlemanly and brotherly, but she didn’t relish the way she reacted to him. “Andrew was murdered. If I start poking my nose in where it doesn’t belong, the wrong person might notice.”

“I’m glad you’re going to be reasonable.”

She bristled. “I’m always reasonable.”

“I’m sure that’s true—from your perspective.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He didn’t answer, which infuriated her. Sometimes she had the feeling they came from not just different parts of town but different planets. Maybe that was why he’d always fascinated her. He was so different from the college guys she’d dated.

Wade’s voice remained soft but was threaded with steel. “Just so we’re agreed. When you go talk to the sheriff, we go together.”

She nodded. “Who else is on your mental list?”

“The short list? The fire chief. Andrew’s associates at Lambert & Church. Debbie West. And Mitch, the deputy I told you about.”

“I vote we start with the sheriff. But I have to meet Cara for lunch.” Kelly checked her watch. “Why don’t I meet you at the sheriff’s station at two?”

“What? You don’t want to invite me to do lunch?”

She rolled her eyes skyward. “You wouldn’t be interested in our girl talk.”

“You’d be surprised what interests me.”

She waved him down the street. “Go away, Wade.” Knowing from experience that there was no faster way to discourage his company, she added, “Besides lunch, I have some shopping to do.”

OVER TUNA SALADS and Dr. Peppers in Dot’s sandwich shop, Kelly filled Cara in, recapping her conversation with Doc about her brother’s murder and Wade’s offer to help figure out what had happened. The high-backed booth gave them some privacy, but Kelly kept her voice down below the croon of a Garth Brooks song over the speaker system, well aware that in small towns like Mustang Valley gossip traveled faster than e-mail.

“So Wade and I are talking to Sheriff Wilson next,” Kelly told Cara, pleased with her progress and more determined than ever to keep asking questions.

Cara snapped a bread stick and swirled it in her dressing. “Back up. Slow down. What’s with the Wade-and-me stuff?”

“He offered to help. I accepted.”

“This is Cara you’re talking to, sweetie.” Cara crunched down on the bread stick and swallowed. “I happen to know you’ve had a crush on that guy since practically forever.”

“Had being the operative word.”

“Yeah, right.”

The two friends exchanged glances and both chuckled. Kelly saw no point in hiding anything from Cara. Her friend might disapprove, she might speak her mind, but they always backed each other up.

When they were teenagers, Kelly’s parents had been a big factor in the boys she’d chosen to date. But perhaps she should reconsider their influence. After all, she was no longer a kid but a college graduate.

“Okay. Wade’s still got these very cool gray eyes. I admit it, there’s a certain spark there. At least on my side. However, he’s still treating me like Andrew’s little sister.”

“And you don’t like it?”

“I like the way his chest and shoulders fill out his tacky T-shirt in all the right places.” She held up a hand to stall Cara’s protest. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t accept his help without becoming…involved. I don’t judge a man on just his looks.”

“Wade’s not like those college guys you go with. He’s dangerous. I don’t like the idea of you and him together. It’s like trusting a hungry wolf to guard a newborn calf.”

“Andrew trusted him,” Kelly countered.

“And look where he is now.”

Kelly didn’t bother to hide the pain that statement caused. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“Sorry. My reporter instincts took over. Going in for the kill to win an argument is my specialty.” Cara reached over the table, her eyes filled with remorse, and patted Kelly’s hand. “But hurting my friend is unacceptable.”

Kelly shoved her half-eaten salad away. “Apology accepted. I guess I’m overly sensitive these days.”

“Of course you’re overly sensitive. Who wouldn’t be after losing their brother? You’re not yourself and that’s one of the reasons I’m worried about you hanging out with Wade. I’ll admit he can be useful. He knows almost everyone, and he and Andrew were tight.”

“But?”

“But you’re especially vulnerable right now. These last weeks have been rough. And you know Wade’s reputation is…”

“Just say it.”

“He’s a hard man to read, and at the same time he’s a gifted observer. I’ve seen him at work behind that bar. He can fix food and serve drinks and act totally absorbed in his work, but now and then it pops out how he’s exceptionally aware of his customers. It’s almost as if he senses trouble before it starts—like he has sensory antennae, alerting him to what is awry, out of place or simply off.”

“Those aren’t bad traits.”

“Yeah, but he keeps his own counsel and runs that saloon like it’s his own private kingdom. He’s always in charge. I’ve seen him toss out three-hundred-pound drunks without breaking a sweat or resorting to pulling the knife he keeps strapped to his ankle.”

“He’s a skilled marksman, too,” Kelly added, recalling the picture Andrew had taken of Wade holding a trophy. “He wins the skeet-shooting competition at the state fair every year. But so what if he doesn’t need a bouncer at that saloon of his? Andrew says—said—Wade could be trusted. I figured if there’s trouble, he’s a good person to have on my side.”

“Yeah, as long as he’s not gunning for you.” Cara drummed her fingers on the table. “Trouble has a way of finding that man. And the women, old and young, are still attracted to him like mares to a stallion.”

“Give me a little credit. We won’t do anything that I don’t want.”

Cara shot her a skeptical grin. “And what exactly do you want from him?”

Kelly paid for their meal with a credit card. “We can discuss it while you help me pick out a thoroughly intimidating new outfit.”

“You changing outfits for the sheriff or for Wade?” Cara asked.

“Stop grilling me,” Kelly half demanded, half complained, knowing her friend meant well but would try to boss her until she put a stop to it. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Sure you do.” Cara checked her watch. “I don’t have much time. Some of us have to work for a living.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “You love that job so much, if the Mustang Gazette didn’t pay you, you’d work there for free.”

“And I’ve got an interview lined up with Mayor Daniels over his election campaign.”

“You’re not working on one of your exposés where you’ve got to go undercover?” Kelly asked.

Cara shook her head. “Not this week, but stay tuned. Anyway, how about I catch up with you later?”

“Okay.”

“And Kelly…”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.”

“Would you please stop worrying? I’ll be fine.”

SURELY THAT COULDN’T BE Kelly waiting for him in front of the police station, wearing an outfit Wade classified between summer-break bragging and Vogue good-looking? He swallowed hard and reminded himself that his friend’s little sister was taboo territory. The fact that Andrew was no longer alive to remind him didn’t entitle Wade to forget she was off-limits.

Still, keeping his eyes above her neck was going to be more difficult than controlling a rowdy Saturday night crowd at the Hit ’Em Again Saloon. The contrast between her lace V-neck blouse and string of pearls that dipped between her breasts and her classic smile was almost enough to make Wade spin around and head elsewhere—except he’d promised Andrew to watch out for his little sister.

Wade sighed and kept walking with his teeth gritted in determination. He considered himself fairly knowledgeable about women and their clothes, but Kelly had knocked him off balance for the second time that day.

What in hell did she think she was doing? After working behind a bar he’d learned to recognize that the way a woman dressed said quite a bit about her personality and her mood. Kelly always wore classy, expensive, designer stuff that said hands off. Now her expensive fitted lace blouse stretched across a chest that had suddenly grown ample—no doubt due to some clever underwires designed to tease and entice.

Judging by the heat shooting directly south, he was “enticed” all right. Down boy. Kelly was still Kelly. First and foremost she was one high-maintenance lady. Her manicures alone likely cost more than his electric bill.

He had no doubt she was dressing this way for a reason. If she thought the sheriff might be distracted, she would likely be proven correct. No red-blooded male could possibly look at her without his mouth watering. She still wore her hair up, but some of it now tumbled down, curling around her face, one jaunty lock over the corner of her left eye. And those knotted pearls that tucked into the hollow of her breasts taunted his fingers to touch.

She waved at him and the movement caused her breasts to rise, drawing his gaze to her chest. “Nice.”

She eyed him with a glint of amusement. “You think I look good in blue?”

“I wasn’t talking about your shirt.”

“Oh.” For a moment her eyes widened as if startled, then she eased into a dangerous smile and looped her arm through his. “Good.”

He didn’t know what he thought when she didn’t act the least insulted by his direct reference to her assets. On the one hand, she seemed more touchable by showing a hint of skin, but contradictorily, he wanted her more than he ever had before. Sure, he’d noticed that Kelly was cute, but he’d never really considered getting together with her. First, there had been Andrew who wouldn’t have been pleased, and second, there had always been this unbreachable wall between them. However, the wall had cracks, ones he couldn’t seem to stop himself from peeping through.

He frowned at her. “You going to tell me exactly what you’re up to before we go inside?”

“Sheriff Wilson already thinks I’m a piece of fluff.” She didn’t sound resentful, just stated the obvious. “So I went out of my way to reinforce his attitude by buying this shirt.”

“Why?”

“Suppose he’s hiding more than the fact that my brother was murdered?”

“Like what?”

Wade didn’t believe that just because the sheriff wore a badge that he was an upright citizen. But he had no quarrels with the man, either. Wilson’s deputies left the saloon alone and Wade took care not to give them reasons to hassle him or his patrons. And he’d like to keep it that way.

“I don’t know,” she said. Together they entered the Sheriff’s Department. “That’s why we’re here. To ask questions.”

“Okay.” He wondered if she had a plan or intended to play this by ear. He also wondered if those tight jeans made her hips appear to sway more than usual or if she’d deliberately changed her walk to a sexy swagger.

Kelly headed straight to the front desk, seemingly unaware of the attention several deputies gave her. “We’re here to see Sheriff Wilson.”

“You have an appointment?” asked a male receptionist who wore a headset and didn’t look up from his computer.

“No, sir. But it’s real important that I talk to him.”

“I’m sure it is.” The male officer looked up, then looked again before dismissing her. “He’s busy, but if you care to wait…”

Kelly leaned forward and whispered loudly, “You don’t understand, sir. This is personal. My brother died and I have so many unanswered questions. Sheriff Wilson would much prefer hearing what I have to say in private. However, if you insist, I could go public…”

Wade clamped his teeth together to prevent himself from grinning. Kelly had insinuated that she had crucial information about Andrew and if the desk officer knew what was good for him, he’d give them immediate access to his boss.

The officer pushed a few buttons on a speakerphone, then mumbled into his microphone before jerking his thumb down the hall. “The sheriff will see you now. Third door on your left.”

Sheriff Wilson sat in a loose gray uniform behind his desk, a burning cigar in his hand despite the No Smoking sign on the building’s front doors. In his fifties, tall and rangy, he had tough, leathery skin that bespoke a hard life-style.

His gaze wandered from Kelly’s face to her chest and stayed there until Wade cleared his throat. But that only earned Wade a scowl from Kelly before she turned a high-wattage grin on the sheriff.

“What can I do for you, Kelly?”

“Sheriff, I just wanted to thank you for all your help. It was kind of you to come to my brother’s funeral.”

“I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

Wade wondered where she was going with this conversation. He could tell Sheriff Wilson was just as curious and antsy. No doubt he had more important things on his plate.

Kelly’s tone turned weepy. “My brother…he was very special to me. Everyone loved Andrew. I just don’t understand why anyone would have wanted to murder him.” She opened her purse, removed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes that brimmed with tears.

“Murder?” The sheriff looked from Wade to Kelly, ignoring his smoking cigar. “Who said anything about murder?”

Wade didn’t say a word, but marveled at how she was manipulating the sheriff with her antics. Kelly was just full of surprises. He recalled Kelly had starred in a play during her senior year of high school, but she hadn’t displayed this kind of emotional depth back then. Obviously, her acting abilities had improved and Wade wondered if she was playing him, too. But since he’d already agreed to help her, what would be her angle?

Kelly sobbed and her chest quivered. “Wasn’t Andrew shot with an 11 mm gun?”

“No, 9 mm.” The sheriff’s gaze snapped upward from her chest as he realized what he’d just admitted. He raised the cigar to his lips and puffed, probably stalling as he considered his options. “May I ask how you learned—”

Kelly let the tissue trail over her neck. “I want to know who did it.”

“The case is under investigation.”

“Sheriff, I know you must be doing everything you can, but it’s been weeks and weeks. My parents will be devastated to learn that Andrew’s death wasn’t an accident and that his murderer is still free.”

The sheriff didn’t exactly squirm in his seat but a bead of sweat broke out on his brow. Kelly’s father was a powerful man in Mustang Valley and the sheriff needed his support to keep his job. That he’d kept a secret about Andrew’s murder from Mr. McGovern wouldn’t sit well with Kelly’s father.

The sheriff stubbed out his cigar in an ashtray, reached across his desk and patted her shoulder. “Look, there’s no point in telling your parents what really happened until I find Andrew’s killer.”

“I don’t understand. His family knew him best. Surely we can help, and you haven’t even asked us any questions.” Kelly’s eyes opened wide. “Unless you consider us suspects?”

“Of course not.” The sheriff spoke soothingly, patronizingly. Police procedure dictated that everyone would be a suspect until proven otherwise. “Sometimes it’s better to keep an investigation quiet. We don’t want to scare away the suspect. We want to catch him, right?”

Kelly sniffled. “Yes.”

“So let me do my job, okay?”

Wade figured he’d been silent long enough. “Sheriff, I believe Kelly would like you to keep her informed of your investigation.”

“Yes, please,” Kelly piped in, twisting the screws some more. “That would make me feel ever so much better in keeping a secret from Daddy.”

Sheriff Wilson shook his head. “I’m not at liberty to share the facts in this case with you. However, after we catch your brother’s killer, Kelly, I assure you that you’ll be the first to know.”

“Just how long do you expect that to take?”

“I wish I could tell you. I’d like nothing better than to solve this case and put a murderer behind bars, but I won’t make you a promise I can’t keep. I just don’t know how long our investigation will take.”

Kelly stuffed the tissue back into her purse, her eyes once again dry. “Thank you, Sheriff. I guess there’s no reason to upset Daddy. For now. But promise me…you will place your best deputies on this?”

“Absolutely.”

Wade shook hands with the sheriff and escorted Kelly from the building. “That was quite a performance.”

As soon as they strode out, she dropped the sexy walk. Her voice turned tart. “I’d hoped to learn more. A 9 mm is a real popular gun, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. And considering this is Texas, that information may not help us much.”

“Maybe I’ll learn more at Lambert & Church. I’m heading there next.”

“Uh, Kelly.”

“Yeah?”

“You changing clothes again?”

She winked at him. “Absolutely.”

Chapter Three

Kelly didn’t know if any of the partners would be in at Lambert & Church, but she assumed one of the associates would have time to talk to her—even if she and Wade arrived without an appointment. She’d changed into the conservative navy suit with gold buttons that she’d picked out that morning and added hose, shoes and a bag to match before pulling her hair back and up into a severe bun. In the rest room at the Mustang Gazette, she wiped off most of her makeup and peered at herself in the mirror. She looked like one of those clueless summer law clerks whom Andrew had always liked to tease. In other words, perfectly unremarkable.

With Wade waiting for her to exit, she took a deep breath, hurriedly stashed her jeans and lace top in Cara’s office, then headed through the front doors of the busy building. Outside, the humidity had risen along with the temperature into the mideighties. Gray clouds scudded across the sky, threatening a May shower. Azaleas and bluebonnets bloomed in hanging baskets along the sidewalk. And the townsfolk nodded friendly hellos or tipped their hats to passersby.

They strode past Mayor Daniels’s campaign headquarters where red, white and blue balloons attached to parking meters outside whipped about in the wind. A banner had come loose and flapped, a broken cord dangling.

“Andrew told me you were a fashion plate, but I thought he exaggerated,” Wade teased as he walked beside her wearing the same jeans and dark blue shirt he’d worn since this morning.

“Dressing for the part gives me confidence.”

“You look like confidence personified.”

“Thank you,” she said as self-assurance welled up in her.

Kelly was surprised his patience with her investigation hadn’t worn thin by now, but although his long legs ate up a steady pace on the sidewalk, he didn’t hurry her. He also didn’t pepper her with questions. Unlike the men she’d dated, some of whom could have filled up the Grand Canyon with their compliments, Wade’s simple words touched her. That he actually seemed willing to let her take the lead, she appreciated even more.

Wade opened the door for her at Lambert & Church and the cool air-conditioning caused goose bumps to form on her skin. Or perhaps it was the stench of the burned annex out back where Andrew had died. Although a construction company had cleared the burned timbers, the scorched earth still reeked of smoke.

Kelly headed straight for the receptionist. “Hi, Wanda.” She greeted the friendly woman who answered the phones and guarded passage to the inner sanctum. “I’d like to speak with Mr. Lambert or Mr. Church, please.”

“Sorry, Kelly. Mr. Lambert’s in court and Mr. Church has a meeting with Mayor Daniels.” Wanda spoke softly. “I want to tell you again how sorry I am about Andrew. We all miss him.”

“Thanks.”

Beside her Wade squeezed her hand as if he realized how difficult it still was for her to talk about the loss of her brother. But for Andrew’s sake, she had to be strong.

“If there’s anything I can do—” Wanda’s phone rang and she answered it, then transferred the call. “If you like, I can make you an appointment for next week.”

Kelly was considering the time slots Wanda offered her just as Lindsey Wellington breezed through the front doors. Kelly recognized the woman lawyer as one of Andrew’s co-workers but didn’t know her well. A newcomer to Mustang Valley, Lindsey wore her blouse buttoned up to her neck and a long-sleeved jacket as if she still lived in Boston, where Kelly knew she was from.

“Kelly McGovern.” Lindsey shifted her documents and stuck out her hand, shaking Kelly’s then Wade’s as Kelly made introductions.

Lindsey shoved back her shiny brown hair and surveyed them with piercing blue eyes. “I didn’t expect you so soon. But please come into my office.”

“You’re expecting me?” Kelly looked at Wade, who shrugged and appeared puzzled, too.

“Would you like a cup of coffee, tea or a soda?” Lindsey asked as they followed her into her office where stacks of legal documents perched on top of file cabinets and flowed in a river across the floor. In contrast, her desk was immaculate.

“No, thanks,” Kelly answered for both of them.

Lindsey walked behind her desk, opened a closet door and spoke over her shoulder. “You didn’t get my phone message?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well, I’m glad you came.” Lindsey picked up a carton and set it down on her desk right in front of them in a forthright manner. “Before I moved in here, Andrew had this office. When he relocated to the annex, he forgot to take some of his things. I thought you’d want them.”

At the familiar smell of Andrew’s faded brown leather jacket, Kelly’s throat clogged and her voice hitched. “Thanks.”

“There’s not much here.” Lindsey’s tone, although brusque and polite, still managed to convey sympathy. “A few family pictures. Some work notes. Just old memos and junk he forgot to move.”

That old junk was all she had left of her brother. Oh, God. Kelly hadn’t known this would be so hard. Dealing with his death struck her at the oddest and most unexpected times.

She grappled for self-control. Wade had taken a chair beside her, seemed to understand her difficulty and inserted himself smoothly into the conversation. “Lindsey, did Andrew have any enemies here?”

Lindsey’s eyes widened. “At the firm? Everyone gets along.”

“What about clients?” Wade persisted. “Surely Andrew might have had a few criminals who believed he could have defended them better?”

“Possibly. But they’re in jail.” Lindsey frowned, her gaze cutting from Wade to Kelly with sharp suspicion. “What’s all this about? And why are you here if you didn’t get my message?”

Kelly finally collected herself by ignoring that box of Andrew’s. “We don’t think the fire was an accident.” She didn’t reveal that the killer had used the fire to cover up a shooting. If the sheriff wanted to keep his investigation quiet, Kelly would abide by the man’s wishes.

“You’re implying the fire was deliberate?” Lindsey spoke in her strong Boston accent. “We’re talking murder?”

“Yes,” Kelly admitted. “But please keep this to yourself. The sheriff wants it that way.”

“All right. I always liked your brother.” Lindsey sounded both sympathetic and careful. Clearly cautious and holding back, she peered at them as if trying to make up her mind about something.

“What?” Kelly’s heart hammered her ribs. “If you know anything that might help us figure out who killed my brother…anything at all,” Kelly pleaded, “tell us.”

“I probably shouldn’t—”

“—but you will.”

“—give you this.” Lindsey opened a file cabinet and used a key to unlock a compartment. “Andrew was working on these papers right before he died. It’s a copy of a file.” Lindsey spilled the rest. “I think Andrew left this here for safekeeping, but I have no idea why.”

“What is it?” Wade asked.

“It’s a contract offer to buy the family ranch of Andrew’s girlfriend.”

Debbie’s family was moving? Andrew had never said a word to Kelly about it, but then, he didn’t like to talk about his girlfriend since the family had clearly disapproved of her. And due to that lack of communication, Kelly had no idea if this file could be important. Perhaps Wade knew more than she did, and she made a mental note to ask him about Debbie and her family later.

Wade reached for the documents. “Is there anything unusual about the offer?”

“None that I can see.” Lindsey frowned at them. “But maybe you should talk to the family.”

“We will.” Kelly stood. “Everything you’ve told us is confidential. No one will know where those papers came from. After all, Andrew could have left them at home.”

Lindsey motioned her to sit. “There’s one more person you might question.”

“Who?”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this.” Lindsey shrugged, then sighed. “But I’d like to see justice done.”

“I don’t want to compromise your position, but any help you can give us would be appreciated.”

Lindsey gestured with her hands. “It’s nothing that wasn’t reported in the Mustang Gazette just a few months ago.”

“I was away at college then,” Kelly told her.

“Andrew represented Sean McCardel during his divorce last year. Apparently the client wasn’t satisfied with his representation. When the judge awarded full custody of the kids to his wife, he blamed Andrew. Apparently the man blew up on the courthouse steps, vowing to get even. Of course, it may have just been talk.”

Kelly would ask Cara. If her friend hadn’t covered the story, she would know who had. Kelly stood, walked around the desk and hugged Lindsey. “Thanks so much for all your help.”

WADE DIDN’T WANT to be impressed with the way Kelly had handled Lindsey, but he was. As he carried Andrew’s box to her pretty new silver Jaguar and stowed it in the trunk, he realized that Kelly had displayed the exact right mix of sympathy and determination to elicit Lindsey’s help. Kelly might look and act like a fashion plate, but she had keen instincts about people. While he wouldn’t call her tactics outright manipulation, he would call them brilliant. The way she won people to her cause, Mayor Daniels would have been smart to have hired her on his campaign staff.

Already today she’d learned from the doctor that Andrew hadn’t died in an accidental fire but from a bullet. The sheriff had admitted to her that the gun was a 9 mm, and now Lindsey had just given her several new leads. And they hadn’t yet had time to go through Andrew’s box.

Kelly glanced up at the darkening thunderclouds. “I want to change back into jeans before we head out to Debbie’s ranch. Could we please take your truck?”

“Good idea.” Not only would Debbie’s family resent her pulling up to their struggling ranch in her nifty new sports car, but with the storm brewing and the roads slick, he’d rather have four-wheel drive. “I’m parked behind the saloon.”

Ten minutes later the storm broke, drenching his truck, but they were ensconced safe and dry inside. He switched on his lights and wipers, almost turned up the country station but decided he’d rather talk to Kelly instead—which rocked him back in his seat. Wade had always liked women. He liked their scents, their smiles, the way they moved. And he especially enjoyed how Kelly sugarcoated her determination with an ultra femininity that conveyed a strength he’d never suspected.

He found her too damn attractive and wondered if she was playing him just as she’d done with the doc, the sheriff and Lindsey. He didn’t like that idea at all, but he also didn’t understand why it bothered him as much as it did. What was it about her that called to him? Perhaps she was simply his last living tie to Andrew, his best friend since high school.

Wade turned onto the highway. The heavy downpour had caused several cars to pull under the overpass to wait out the storm. With the large-size tires on his truck, he had good traction and the large cab gave him decent visibility, so he proceeded with caution.

“Tell me about Debbie,” Kelly requested, her eyes focused before them on the road, her tone firm—and yet he sensed a hesitancy to pry into Andrew’s private life.

He risked a glance at her. Her eyes looked troubled. “What do you want to know?”

She rested her hands loosely in her lap. The air-conditioning cleared the moisture from the windshield and carried her scent to him, making the cab seem intimate and cozy, especially with the rain pattering the roof.

“Andrew was going to bring her home to Sunday breakfast. He didn’t care what our folks thought. He was certain of his choice and determined to marry her. But did he love her? Or was he rebelling against my father?”

Astute questions and ones Wade wasn’t sure he knew the answers to. “He didn’t talk much about her to me.”

“But you saw them together?”

“He brought her to the saloon most Saturday nights.”

“And?”

“And what?” Distinct discomfort about answering her questions made him stall.

“What was your impression of her?”

He reminded himself that betraying Andrew wasn’t possible. The most he could do for his dead friend was help his sister seek justice. “If you’re asking me if Debbie was with Andrew because he was successful and had a bright future or because she loved him, I wouldn’t know.”

“You’re holding out on me,” Kelly complained. “I’m not asking you for facts—just your impression. Certainly you must have given some thought to Andrew’s choice in a wife?”

“Frankly, I thought he could do better.” Wade swerved around fallen debris on the highway. “But you know Andrew—”

“He wanted to fix the world.”

“Exactly. He liked to be needed and therefore he tended to pick women in distress.”

“What did Debbie need from him besides legal help with her property?”

Kelly obviously didn’t know much at all, and Wade found himself reluctant to reveal his friend’s secrets. First, he didn’t want to cause the McGovern family more pain. Second, he had to remind himself once again that Andrew was dead and talking to his sister wasn’t a betrayal. Still he knew his revelation would come as a shock and braced himself before speaking sympathetically. “Debbie had been married and divorced.”

“You’re sure?” Kelly’s brows lifted in surprise and consternation.

“Yeah.”

“How could I not know that? How could my parents not know that? Mustang Valley is simply too small for gossip not to have reached us. Daddy has all kinds of connections and not even Cara knew Debbie was married, because she would have told me.”

“According to Andrew, Debbie married Niles Deagen after she got pregnant her sophomore year in high school.”

Kelly gulped. “She has a child?”

“She had a miscarriage. So the hush-hush elopement and Vegas wedding were unnecessary after all. She wanted the marriage annulled, but Niles wouldn’t agree to it, although he did keep it quiet to avoid looking like a fool.”

Trouble seemed to follow Debbie like a dark shadow. While Wade had nothing against her personally, he always had felt she came attached to too many problems. Which was exactly why Andrew no doubt had found her irresistible. His friend had a thing for the underdog, while Wade preferred to keep things simple.

So what was he doing with Kelly? Because sure as hell, there was nothing simple about her. She came with her own set of problems that slowly but surely were becoming his. But even if he could withhold his help, he could never deny Andrew the justice he deserved.

“Why would he look foolish for marrying Debbie?” Kelly asked with an innocence that made him realize once again how protected she’d been. Her folks had made sure she’d only seen the better side of life. Wade didn’t blame them. Kelly had a special spark around her that caused optimism in others. She saw the up side in people, expected the best and was rarely disappointed.

“Debbie was sixteen. Her husband was thirty-eight.”

“Oh.”

“Andrew finally helped her obtain a messy divorce. I heard that Niles still wants her, but that’s rumor—not fact.”

Kelly didn’t let the nasty facts deter her from plunging right in to find out more. “Niles Deagen. Why does that name sound so familiar?”

“He’s a big-time Dallas oil man, with a penchant for teenage girls.”

“But Debbie’s no longer a kid.”

“She still looks like a kid. She’s flat-chested and slender-hipped and has that round baby face that makes her appear about twelve.”

Wade didn’t understand the man. Wade liked his women full-grown and grown-up. While Kelly would fit his physical requirements, he usually dated women who wanted nothing more from him than a good time. Instinctively he knew that when Kelly hooked up with a man, she would be thinking about the possibility of happily ever after.

Kelly shot him a sharp glance. “You think Niles could have had anything to do with Andrew’s murder?”

“That would be pure speculation.” But the thought had occurred to Wade. More than once. However, he didn’t have a shred of evidence to back up that hunch.

“If he’s an oil man, he has the means and a motive.” Kelly sighed. “I never thought finding Andrew’s killer would be simple, but the more I learn, the more complicated this seems. I keep adding suspects to my list and haven’t eliminated anyone.”

He didn’t like the idea of Kelly getting discouraged. Not when she’d done such a good job of keeping herself together.

“Hey, chin up. Today’s only the first day. You’re doing great.”

“Maybe I should ask Daddy to hire a private investigator.”

“You could.”

“But?”

“He’d be a stranger to Mustang Valley, and the folks here don’t open up to outsiders.” And then Wade wouldn’t have an excuse to spend more time with her.

“I imagine you hear all kinds of gossip in your saloon.” She hit him with one of those innocent-sounding, sideways comments that made it difficult to anticipate where she was taking the conversation.

“We’ve been busy lately. That means I have to draft lots of beer and rustle up my Texas-famous chili. You stop by sometime and I’ll serve you up a bowl—on the house.”

“Thanks.” As if uncomfortable with the notion of them spending time together for any reason other than Andrew, she changed the subject. “So what hot buttons have stirred up the town lately? Does Tony Barker have a shot at defeating Mayor Daniels?”

“I doubt it.”

“That’s what Cara said, too. Tony was a friend of Andrew’s, I should probably stop by and see him.”

“Even Andrew, as much as he liked the underdog, didn’t think Tony had a chance of defeating the mayor. Daniels’s contributors have deep pockets, and the town isn’t much interested in local politics these days. Folks are more concerned about the price of beef, land, oil and—”

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe nothing.”

She caught him scanning his rearview mirror, glanced over her shoulder, spied the tow truck with its flashing yellow lights. “It’s Aaron’s Towing. Probably someone broke down in the rain.”

Wade checked his speedometer. Fifty-five. The tow truck must be barreling down the highway at eighty mph to be closing the distance between them so fast. It wasn’t as if the truck was an emergency vehicle with lives at stake, so to be driving at that speed in the stormy weather wasn’t just reckless, but brainless.

Wade pulled over, steering his tires onto the shoulder to give the big truck ample room to pass.

“Wade! He’s not passing.” Kelly tightened her seat belt and braced her feet on the dash. “He’s going to hit us.”

Wade overrode his first instinct to hit the brakes. A collision at a slower speed would cause a more forceful impact. Instead he jammed his foot on the gas and took satisfaction as his truck lunged forward.

Kelly tugged on his arm. “Are you crazy?”

“I’m not racing him. I’m trying to avoid a crash.” In his mirror he glimpsed the tow truck gaining on him and shook her hand off his arm. “Let me drive.”

“He’s catching us. I thought this truck was fast.”

“It is. But he had a head start.” Wade checked the mirror. The tow truck couldn’t be more than a few car lengths behind. “Hold on.”

“Like I have something else to do?” she muttered.

Wade prayed his truck could pick up enough speed to avoid a crash. But he hadn’t recognized the threat soon enough. His late reaction might get them both killed.

“Do something else,” Kelly insisted.

He yanked the wheel. Tires screeched and burned rubber. He steered the truck off the road and thanked God for the flat and rolling land of Texas. They smacked through the guardrail and suddenly the truck was airborne. Kelly let out a gasp. He braced for impact, praying the truck wouldn’t roll. Praying the tow truck wouldn’t come down on top of them. Praying Kelly and he would survive.

Before death, one’s entire life was supposed to flash before him. But all Wade could think about was failing in his promise to Andrew—that he’d failed to take care of Kelly McGovern.

The truck bounced hard. Rolled. Crunched. A vortex of metal spun them and then spit him out.

WADE DIDN’T REMEMBER the truck stopping. Why was he out of the truck when he’d been wearing his seat belt? He’d come to, flat on his back with the rain pelting his face. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, but he was soaked to the skin and shivering. The thunderstorm still raged full force, and the sky had darkened with the sun setting behind the clouds.

For a moment he was tempted to just lie there. But then the accident came rushing back. Kelly. He had to find her. She might need him.

He tasted blood, sat up and spit. Despite his seat belt, he’d been thrown out of the truck. Every muscle in his body roared in pain, but he forced himself to his feet, staggered to his truck.

His truck lay upside down, the cab crushed inward, the windshield a spiderweb of cracks on one side, the passenger’s window long gone. Bending and dreading what he would find, Wade peered inside. Between the rain and the fading light, he wondered if he could be hallucinating.

The truck was empty.

Just to make sure, he crawled inside, praying her body wasn’t wedged against the floorboards. His hand caught on the seat belt strap and tugged free. The end had clearly been slashed with a sharp object, probably leaving just a few frail threads intact, which had torn during the crash.

The chance of one seat belt failing had to be astronomically high. The chance of both of them failing at the same time meant that someone had wanted them dead.

A prickle of ice stabbed down his spine. Wade crawled deeper inside the cab. He felt around, ignoring the bits of glass that sliced his flesh.

Nada.

He wriggled back out, confused and breathing hard.

Think.

His cell phone had been crushed. Calling for help wasn’t an option.

The tow truck was nowhere to be seen. The highway stretched empty ahead and behind as far as he could see.

Perhaps Kelly had been thrown out of the vehicle like he’d been. She could be lying by the road hurt…or worse. Wade pried open his toolbox and retrieved his flashlight.

After a thorough search, he slumped next to his truck in despair.

No one had passed by in all that time, and he hadn’t found any sign of Kelly at all. She was gone.

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