RESCUE AT CARDWELL RANCH
SAVING HER ONCE WAS RISKY. RESCUING HER AGAIN MAY BE FATAL.
When Hayes Cardwell arrived in Big Sky, Montana, for his
brother’s wedding, the Texas P.I. didn’t expect to play hero. But ever since he
saved her from a brutal abductor, he can’t get McKenzie Sheldon out of his mind
and heart. As passion blindsides him, Hayes vows to protect the beautiful
business owner from once again becoming the target of a killer intent on
finishing the job.
McKenzie was drawn to Hayes from the moment she awoke and saw
the tall, dark cowboy who’d rushed to her rescue like some Western fantasy. With
his lean, sexy looks and fierce protective instincts, the gun-shy bachelor is
already lassoing her heart. But can he protect her from a danger that’s much
closer than they think…a killer hiding in plain sight who’s about to spring a
final trap?
“I can’t get you out of my mind—”
“I know what you’re up to.”
“I doubt that.” Hayes leaned toward her, his hand looping around the back of McKenzie’s neck as he gently drew her to him. “Because if you could see what I was up to, then you’d know I was about to kiss you.”
He brushed his lips over hers, then pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
“You don’t have to treat me as if I’m made out of glass and might break,” she said. “I’m a lot stronger than I look.”
“Is that right?” He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him right there in the street between their vehicles. Her full lips parted in surprise. Her sweet, warm breath comingled with his own. She let out a soft moan as he tasted her. Drawing her even closer, he deepened the kiss, demanding more.
RESCUE AT
CARDWELL
RANCH
New York Times
Bestselling Author
B.J. Daniels
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times
bestselling
author B.J. Daniels wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning
newspaper journalist and author of thirty-seven published short stories. That
first book,
Odd Man Out,
received a
four-and-a-half-star review from
RT Book Reviews
and
went on to be nominated for Best Intrigue that year. Since then, she has won
numerous awards, including a career achievement award for romantic suspense and
many nominations and awards for best book.
Daniels lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and two
springer spaniels, Spot and Jem. When she isn’t writing, she snowboards, camps,
boats and plays tennis. Daniels is a member of Mystery Writers of America,
Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death and Romance
Writers of America.
To contact her, write to B.J. Daniels, P.O. Box 1173, Malta,
MT 59538, or email her at
[email protected]
. Check out her website,
www.bjdaniels.com
.
Books by B.J. Daniels
HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE
897—CRIME SCENE AT CARDWELL
RANCH
996—SECRET OF DEADMAN’S COULEE*
1002—THE NEW DEPUTY
IN TOWN*
1024—THE MYSTERY MAN OF WHITEHORSE*
1030—CLASSIFIED
CHRISTMAS*
1053—MATCHMAKING WITH A MISSION*
1059—SECOND CHANCE
COWBOY*
1083—MONTANA ROYALTY*
1125—SHOTGUN BRIDE§
1131—HUNTING
DOWN THE HORSEMAN§
1137—BIG SKY DYNASTY§
1155—SMOKIN’
SIX-SHOOTER§
1161—ONE HOT FORTY-FIVE§
1198—GUN-SHY
BRIDE**
1204—HITCHED!**
1210—TWELVE-GAUGE GUARDIAN**
1234—BOOTS
AND BULLETS^
1240—HIGH-CALIBER CHRISTMAS^
1246—WINCHESTER CHRISTMAS
WEDDING^
1276—BRANDED‡
1282—LASSOED‡
1288—RUSTLED‡
1294—STAMPEDED‡
1335—CORRALLED‡
1353—WRANGLED‡
1377—JUSTICE
AT CARDWELL RANCH
1413—CARDWELL RANCH TRESPASSER
1455—CHRISTMAS AT
CARDWELL RANCH
1497—RESCUE AT CARDWELL RANCH†
*Whitehorse, Montana
§Whitehorse,
Montana:
The Corbetts
**Whitehorse, Montana:
Winchester
Ranch
^Whitehorse, Montana:
Winchester Ranch
Reloaded
‡Whitehorse, Montana:
Chisholm Cattle Company
†Cardwell
Cousins
Other titles by this author
available in ebook
format.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Hayes Cardwell—
The private detective showed up in Montana just in time to save a woman’s life.
McKenzie Sheldon—
Her realty business meant everything to her until the night she almost died.
Gus Thompson—
The hotshot real estate agent thought he was irresistible to women, but the police suspect he was a stalker.
Eric Winters—
How could he get arrested for the attempted abduction of the Realtor? All he did was go to a few open houses.
Bob Garwood—
Was he just an innocent homebuyer? Or was he the man still stalking the Realtor?
Jason and Emily Mathews—
They had their hearts set on having the best house and the best Realtor.
Dana Cardwell Savage—
She loved having her cousin Hayes on Cardwell Ranch, even for a short visit.
Tag Cardwell—
He was determined to move ahead on a Texas Boys Barbecue place in Big Sky, Montana. All he needed was his four brothers on board.
This one is for David Rummel, who makes me laugh with his stories and his wonderful joy for life. You definitely make our lives more fun.
Chapter One
From the darkness, he heard the sound of high heels tapping quickly along the pavement, heading in his direction, and smiled. This could be the one.
If not, he would have to give it up for the night, something he couldn’t bear doing. For days his need had been growing. He’d come here tonight because he couldn’t put it off any longer—no matter how dangerous it was to hunt this close to home.
Since it had gotten dark, he’d been looking. He hated to think of the women he’d let get away, women in their tight skirts and low-cut blouses, women who’d just been asking for it.
But waiting for the right woman, he’d learned, was the smart thing to do. It took patience. Tonight, though, he found himself running short of it. He’d picked his favorite spot, the favorite spot of men like himself: a grocery-store parking lot at night. Once he’d parked next to her car—he knew it was a woman’s car because she’d left her sunglasses on the dash and there was one of those cute air fresheners hanging from the mirror—he’d broken the bright light she’d parked under.
Now the area was cast in dark shadow—just the way he loved it. He doubted she would notice the lack of light—or him with his head down, pretending to be packing his groceries into the trunk of his large, expensive vehicle. Women were less afraid of a man who appeared to have money, he’d discovered.
At the sound of her approaching footfalls, he found it hard not to sneak a peek at her.
Patience.
This would be the one, he told himself. He already felt as if he knew her and could easily guess her story. She would have worked late, which was why she was still dressed as she had been this morning, in high heels. She wasn’t pushing a cart so she wasn’t shopping for her large family.
Instead, he guessed she was single and lived alone, probably in a nice condo since she drove a newer, pricier car—the kind independent, successful single women drove. By the sound of her footfalls, she carried only one small bag of groceries. He could already imagine his hands around her throat.
The footfalls grew closer.
He’d learned a long time ago not to act on impulse. Snatch the first one he saw and bad things happened. He had a scar to prove it. That run-in had almost cost him dearly. Not that she’d gotten away. He’d made sure of that. But she’d wounded him in more ways than one. It was why he’d come up with a set of rigorous guidelines he now followed to the letter. It was the reason, he told himself, that he’d never been caught.
He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the look in her eyes when she realized she was about to die. This woman
had
to be the right one because his need had grown to the point of urgency. He went over his guidelines, the memory of his only mistake still haunting him.
He wouldn’t let himself be swayed by an alluring whiff of perfume. Nor would he risk a woman carrying anything that could be used as a weapon at a distance like an umbrella.
Then there was her hair and attire. It would surprise most women to know that what made her his target was her hairstyle. There was a reason women with short hair were not common prey of men like him. Give him a woman with a ponytail—a recent trend that filled him with joy—or a braid or even a bun—anything he could bury his fingers in and hold on for dear life.
Clothing was equally as important. She had to be wearing an outfit that would come off easily and quickly because he often didn’t have a lot of time. Of course, he always carried a pair of sharp scissors, but a woman in a blouse and a skirt made his life so much easier, even with a blade handy.
Now as the sound of the high heels grew closer, he readied himself with growing anticipation. He was betting this one was wearing a nice short skirt and a button-up blouse. Tonight, he could even handle a matching jacket with the skirt. No blue jeans, though. They were such a pain to get off.
Her cell phone rang. She stopped walking. He groaned since if she’d been just a little closer, she would have already been in his trunk, her mouth duct taped as well as her wrists and ankles.
He cursed her cell phone even though it often made things easier for him. Women who were distracted—either digging in their purses for their keys or talking on their cell phones or unloading their groceries—were oblivious to the fact that he was already breathing down their necks.
He silently urged her phone call to end. Just a few more steps and he would grab her by the hair, overpower her and have her in the trunk of his car before she even knew what was happening. Once he got her to the place he had picked out down by the river...well, that was when the real fun would begin.
His next victim was still on the phone. She sounded upset, so upset that she’d stopped walking to take the call. She would be thinking about the call—not him right next to her car.
The call ended. She began to walk again, right toward him. He doubted she’d even noticed him bent over his car trunk, pretending to be taking care of his groceries.
He heard her vehicle beep as she unlocked it. Any moment she would walk within a few feet of him on his right. He would have only an instant to make his decision. An instant to see what she had in her hands, what she was wearing, how long her hair was. Even with his meticulous planning, there was always the chance that this could be the one woman who would surprise him. The one who would fight back. The one who would get away and ruin his perfect record.
His heart began to pound with excitement. He loved this part. None had ever gotten away—even the one who’d scarred him. He was too smart for them. They were like sheep coming down a chute to slaughter, he thought, as he looked up and saw her start past him.
