The Lawman Read online

  McGuinnes flicked a glance over at Freddy, his bride, and touched the brim of his hat in salute. Then he lowered himself to the bull’s back and gave the signal to open the gate.

  “You idiot!” yelled Freddy, and smacked her hat on the ground.

  Leigh climbed onto the fence for a better view. Her backside wasn’t far from Joe’s cheek, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence. All her attention was focused on the man and animal in the bucking chute.

  Joe followed the direction of her gaze as the bull stood trembling for a moment, then hurled itself into the corral. Cowboys cheered as the bull spun around, the bell strapped to its chest clanging like a fire alarm. Then the animal bucked and landed forefeet first while it kicked out viciously with its hind legs. McGuinnes whooped and stayed on.

  Across the corral Joe spied Lavette. The ex-trucker was yelling and punching his fist in the air. Lavette looked different, too—bigger, stronger. Ranch life had also treated him well, it seemed.

  The bull spun again, its eyes wild, with mucus flying from its nostrils. All four feet came off the ground at the same time, and when they landed, Joe winced at the jarring impact.

  “Ride him, McGuinnes!” Leigh shouted.

  McGuinnes stayed on.

  “Dad.” Kyle pulled on his hand. “What’s happening?”

  Joe picked him up so he could see. “My partner is riding that bull,” he said with a wide grin. Ranch life was going to be more fun than he’d thought.

  Kyle took one look at the heaving, snorting animal and buried his face in Joe’s shoulder, nudging off his hat. “I wanna go home!”

  “Kyle, it’s okay.”

  Leigh glanced briefly in his direction.

  “It’s like a rodeo,” Joe continued, embarrassed by Kyle’s reaction. He was seven, after all—old enough to handle something like this. “Haven’t you seen rodeos on TV?”

  The bull bellowed and lifted itself into the air with the grace of Michael Jordan making a jump shot. Still in the air, it twisted, and that twist sent McGuinnes flying. Joe tensed.

  “Daddy,” Kyle whimpered, still hiding against Joe’s shoulder. “I wanna go! I’m scared.”

  McGuinnes hit the dirt hard. He didn’t move.

  “Get that bull away from him!” yelled Freddy, who was already climbing the fence as if she intended to play the part of rodeo clown herself.

  A grizzled cowboy grabbed her by the belt and pulled her off the fence. “I’ll git him,” he drawled. He was inside the corral in record time and whistling to get the bull’s attention. “Haul Ry outa there while I supervise this critter!” he called to the cowboys at the opposite side of the corral.

  “Gotcha, Duane,” someone yelled.

  Duane taunted the bull, waving his hat like a matador’s cape to get the bull to charge. Meanwhile, the other cowboys hauled a groggy McGuinnes to his feet and helped him over the fence.

  “He’s safe!” shouted a cowboy to Duane.

  “I don’t need to be told twice.” Duane feinted left and charged right, leaping for the safety of the fence only inches ahead of the bull. He scrambled over right in front of Joe, who stepped aside and held tight to a quivering Kyle.

  “‘Scuse me,” Duane said. “That bull’s a bit upset.”

  As if to underscore the statement, the bull bellowed and charged the fence at the point where Duane had just climbed over. Wood splintered and flew in all directions as the fence gave way.

  With another bellow, the bull charged through the opening and veered, coming straight at Joe.

  2

  SPLIT-SECOND TIMING was Joe’s specialty. In one unbroken motion he hoisted a screaming Kyle up to Leigh and reached for his gun. Except there was no gun.

  With a curse, he leapt aside just as the bull charged. People yelled all around him, but he ignored the noise and focused on the animal, which for some perverse reason had chosen him as a target. The bull whirled and Joe headed for the first available cover, the far side of his road-weary Chevy.

  As the bull bellowed and charged, he realized his mistake. He should have hurled himself behind the ranch truck, instead.

  The rampaging animal hit the passenger side with a crunch of metal and an explosion of glass. At the moment of impact, Joe remembered with deep regret that he’d dropped his comprehensive insurance coverage. The Cavalier rocked but didn’t go over. He eased up and looked through the shattered window to discover the bull, apparently unhurt, backing up and pawing the ground as if preparing for another charge.

  Before the bull could accomplish more vehicular damage, two ropes sailed out. One settled around its horns and the second looped one hind foot. A moment later, a third loop dropped over its horns and a fourth snagged his other hind foot. Joe recognized Duane stretching one of the ropes. Equally experienced-looking cowboys held tight to the other three. Joe cautiously stood up behind his car.

  “Git the bull rope and strap off him,” Duane said, directing a fifth cowboy who moved in on the wild-eyed bull. “That’ll settle him down some.”

  Joe noticed with some surprise that the fifth cowboy was Lavette. The ex-trucker deftly removed the chest rope holding the bell and another strap down by the bull’s genitals. When Joe saw where the second strap had been chafing the bull, he figured the animal had a right to be mad as hell. Joe just wished he’d picked a different target.

  As Duane led a considerably more docile bull away, Lavette glanced toward Joe, then gazed at the car. The passenger door was caved in and the window glass sprayed over the interior. Lavette shook his head. “Welcome to the True Love,” he said in a rough imitation of Lorne Greene.

  Joe cleared his throat. “You folks know how to do it up right. Is McGuinnes okay?”

  “He’s fine now, but I wouldn’t give you two cents for his hide after Freddy’s through with him.”

  “I’d better go see about my kid.” Joe glanced toward the corral where Leigh Singleton was climbing down, Kyle still in her arms.

  Leigh. He recalled that in that sliver of a second when he’d handed Kyle up, her gaze had locked with his. It had probably been just the drama of the moment that had given their exchanged glance such importance. But in that moment when he’d entrusted Kyle to her, he’d imagined...no, that was stupid. He didn’t believe in any of that New Age nonsense about fate. He started across the clearing.

  Kyle had a hammerlock on Leigh’s neck as he looked fearfully from the departing bull to the smashed car. Once the bull was out of sight behind the barn, Leigh said something to Kyle and gave him a squeeze. Then she lowered him to the ground and retrieved his hat. When she tried to hand it to him, he shook his head and started toward Joe at a run.

  Joe cursed to himself. This little episode wasn’t going to help Kyle adjust to ranch life. The child could easily demand to go home this very minute. As Kyle came nearer, Joe squatted so he’d be at his son’s eye level. He greeted Kyle with a nonchalant smile. “Pretty exciting stuff, huh?”

  Kyle regarded him with a solemn expression. His voice came out as a whisper. “He smashed our car, Dad.”

  “Nah. Just a little dent.” Over Kyle’s shoulder Joe could see Leigh approaching with Kyle’s hat in her hand. “I can pound it out.”

  “Dad, can I go—”

  “Listen, Kyle.” Joe hoped to avoid the embarrassment of having everyone witness his son begging to leave the ranch. He clasped Kyle by the shoulders and gazed into his eyes. “I know this was a little scary, but don’t bail out on me yet, okay? I think if you give this place a try, you’ll like it a lot.”

  Kyle fidgeted. “But, I—”

  “We drove all the way out here to see Arizona.” Joe’s impatience grew as he longed to instill some grit in the timid boy. “You don’t want to turn around and go back before you know what ranch life is like, do you?”

  Kyle’s soft blue gaze looked distressed. “But can I go—”

  “Just a week, Kyle. Give it a week. Seven days. I know you can do that.”

  “But can I go to t
he bathroom?”

  Leigh’s soft chuckle let Joe know she’d heard most of the exchange. Feeling like a fool, he glanced up, straight into her liquid brown eyes. And he forgot to breathe.

  “I have to go really bad,” Kyle said, hopping up and down.

  “Okay, buddy.” Joe stood, commanding himself to look away from Leigh’s compelling gaze. Damn. And he hadn’t even had a sip of the well water around here yet.

  “You can take him into the bunkhouse,” Leigh said.

  “Where’s that?”

  “Right over there.” She pointed toward a one-story rock building that reminded Joe of an army barracks. “Want me to take him?”

  “No.” Joe glanced at her but didn’t allow himself to fall headfirst into that deep gaze again. “I mean, no, thanks. And I really appreciate your grabbing him when the bull broke through the fence. Not everyone has that kind of quick reaction in an emergency.”

  “No problem.” She held out her hand. “I’m Leigh Singleton. You must be Joe.”

  “That’s right.” He’d been shaking hands with women ever since he’d hit puberty. Sometimes he’d felt the sensuous pull of a potential lover in the simple gesture, sometimes just the touch of a future friend. But when he enclosed Leigh’s hand in his, a connection was made that surged through him with the power of a .357 Magnum. Drawn back into the fathomless mystery of her eyes, he was stunned into speechlessness.

  “I...I’m sorry about your car.” Her voice had a husky edge to it, as if she felt the incredible energy between them, too. Whether she did or not, she hadn’t pulled her hand away and he seemed incapable of releasing it.

  “It just needs a little bodywork,” Joe said. Bodywork. Two bodies, working together in perfect—

  “Daddy!” Kyle grabbed his arm and forced Joe’s attention back to his son.

  If he hadn’t, Joe wondered if he would have remembered Kyle was even there. “Sure thing.” He released Leigh’s hand and looked down at the boy, who was holding his crotch and dancing around.

  “Here’s his hat,” Leigh said, handing it to Joe.

  “Thanks. Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

  “Considering the condition of your car, you’ll need a lift to the house. I can take you if you want.”

  “Sure.” He twirled Kyle’s hat, trying for nonchalance, and had to make a grab for it as it flipped out of his hand. “That would be great.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “Great.” With Kyle tugging on his arm, he sort of backed away from her and damn near tripped himself up before he finally turned around and walked to the bunkhouse facing forward, like a sane person. That’s what he’d been until five minutes ago. He’d embarrassed himself badly. After all, he was a man who would turn forty-two in November, a man who’d taken several women to bed and been married for six years. He considered himself experienced when it came to women. He considered himself in control. He’d never believed in attraction more powerful than reason.

  Until now.

  * * *

  LEIGH TOOK a deep breath and fingered the crystal hanging on a velvet cord around her neck. Her whole body was on red alert. She’d always known this would happen to her someday, but she’d never have guessed the feeling would be brought on by a New York cop. Funny thing was, with his jeans, boots and a Stetson, he looked more like Pat Garrett or Wyatt Earp, especially with the fresh scar across his chin. Leigh could easily imagine him facing down a gunslinger. She pictured how his steel gray eyes would narrow as his face became an impenetrable mask. Not even a twitch of his mustache would betray him until the moment a gun appeared in his hand.

  Leigh shivered. If this was the man with whom she was psychically linked, the cosmos certainly had a sense of humor.

  “Hey, Leigh!”

  She turned to face Ry, who was walking unsteadily toward her. Remembering that he might be angry because she’d told Freddy about his decision to ride the bull, she held up both hands. “Look, she was suspicious and finally asked me a direct question about whether you planned to ride that bull today. You know I’m no good at lying, especially to my own sister.”

  “Oh, that.” He dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand. “It’ll blow over.”

  “I don’t see her hanging on your arm like an adoring bride.”

  “No, I think she caught a ride back to the house with Lavette. Said something about not wanting to ride in any vehicle I was driving.”

  Leigh repressed a smile. “Then I guess it hasn’t blown over yet.”

  “It will. She has something more important on her mind than me riding a bull, as I’m sure you know.”

  “I do?”

  Ry stared at her in astonishment. “She didn’t tell you?”

  “How should I know? I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I think getting thrown from that bull addled your brains.”

  Ry took off his hat and ran his fingers through his sweat-matted hair. “I figured she’d tell you first.” A smile softened his lips. “But apparently, she didn’t. I’ll be damned.”

  “Will you tell me what the heck you’re babbling about?”

  Ry adjusted his hat and looked at her with a jubilant light in his eyes. “Freddy’s pregnant.”

  Leigh whooped and launched herself at him, forgetting he’d been thrown from a bull not long ago. “I knew it!”

  Ry groaned and set her gently away from him. “You did?”

  “Well, I didn’t know, in the sense that she’d told me, but I had a feeling. She made a mysterious trip into town yesterday, but she didn’t tell me why.”

  “Oh.” Ry’s pleased expression returned. “Then I must have been the first one she told.”

  “She told you just now, after the bull ride?”

  He looked sheepish. “I think she was planning to save the news for a more romantic moment, like over dinner in La Osa or a moonlight ride out to the pond. Instead, it sort of—came out. I was a little groggy, but I vaguely remember her saying that a man who was about to become a father had no business risking his ass on a bull. Something like that.”

  Leigh chuckled. “At least you still were the first to know.”

  “Yeah,” he said softly. “I like that. By the way, where did Joe and his son go? I saw you talking to them, but by the time I looked over here again, he was gone.”

  “He took Kyle to the bathroom in the bunkhouse. I’m sure they’ll be back any minute.”

  “Good. When they get back, will you distract his son for a little bit? I want to show Joe the corral fence, and there’s no point in scaring that little kid any more than we have already.”

  A familiar dread gripped Leigh. “What’s scary about the fence?” She could almost predict what he was about to say. The corrals were nearly a century old, but they were strong. A solid wall of mesquite shouldn’t splinter and give way, not even when assaulted by an angry bull.

  “Some of the branches were sawed through,” Ry said. “Not just at that point, but in several places. I need to get Lavette down here with me later on today to check all the corrals.”

  Leigh’s stomach clenched at the thought that someone had taken a saw to the mesquite logs, which had been framing the True Love corrals for generations. “Why don’t you ask Duane to do it?”

  Ry blew out a breath. “Because I can’t trust him.”

  “Ry! Duane just saved your ungrateful hide from that bull!”

  “I know.” Ry looked unhappy. “He’s the one who taught me how to ride him, too.”

  “Not to mention the fact that he’s our top hand. I’ve known him for fifteen years, and he’s not capable of something like that.”

  “Depends on how threatened he feels by the idea of us selling the ranch to developers one day. If he hates the idea as much as I think he does, he has a motive, and he sure as heck has the opportunity. I think that Joe will agree that—” He paused and glanced over Leigh’s shoulder. “Well, here comes our investigator, now. How’re you doing, Joe?”

  Joe grasped
his hand. “You know, McGuinnes, every time I’m around you, things coming flying at me. First your briefcase and now your Brahma bull. It’s an upsetting pattern.”

  Goose bumps rose on Leigh’s arms at the sound of his voice. It’s timbre resonated through her, as if she’d been listening to it all her life. Her first impulse was to stare at him. To avoid doing that, she focused on Kyle, who had his hat back on with the Spock ears poking out under the brim.

  “Romeo’s your bull, too,” Ry said to Joe with a grin. “Just let me know when you’re ready to ride him.”

  “I should have guessed the True Love would have a bull named Romeo.”

  Leigh thrust her hands into her hip pockets. “He was already named when my dad won him in a poker game,” she said.

  Joe glanced at her. “I suppose you’d call that fate.”

  “I suppose I would.” She could feel him testing the link between them the way a high-wire artist tests a tightrope.

  “We’ve considered selling him,” Ry said, “but the guests like to have their pictures taken with him.”

  “And every once in a while some fool climbs aboard to prove his manhood,” Leigh added.

  Joe nodded and looked at Ry. “I’ll admit I was impressed. From the bull market to a real live bull is quite a stretch for a commodities broker, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Wait until you’ve been here a while,” Ry said. “This place inspires you.”

  “I’m sure Joe’s not crazy enough to follow your example.” Leigh said that for Kyle’s sake, but in actuality she figured Joe was at least that crazy. She sensed he was attracted to risk, and for all his feigned nonchalance she’d bet he was already picturing himself on that bull. He probably didn’t even realize his son was standing next to him trembling with fear at the same picture. To end the discussion, she implemented Ry’s plan. “Listen, I know you two have a few things to catch up on, so why don’t Kyle and I unload your car and put everything into the back of my truck while you talk?”

  “Great idea,” Ry said. “As a matter of fact, I did want to consult with you, Joe. Something’s happened concerning that subject I mentioned when I asked you to come out here.”