Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (30 page)

“
No, what you are is
my
kind of woman,” he said, looking into her eyes. 
“
Don’t go back to Denver.  Stay here, Dalton. 
Marry me.”

*
             
*
             
*

Lacy
was bursting with happiness as they drove into town.  Cade loved her.  He wanted to marry her!  That morning her heart had been in pieces.  Now it was pounding with excitement at the promise of a future with Cade.

She looked away from the view outside, her gaze settling on Cade
who sat next to her in his truck.  He looked all cowboy from his hat down to his boots, his muscular arm resting
casually atop
the open window
, and that lazy smile that never failed to make her pulse flutter.
 

He glanced her way with a widening grin. 
“Having second thoughts
, Dalton
?”

“Not on your life
, cowboy
.”  She smiled and sidled
closer
to him on the truck seat. 

“Good,” he replied, slinging an arm
around her shoulders
.

She
slipped the palm-sized tape recorder from her purse and
playfully asked, “
How about giving me the real scoop on my husband to be?  Off the record, of course.”

“
He’s a man who appreciates sassy little reporters with sexy little bodies.
”  H
is hand eased down over her shoulder, his fingers slipping beneath her shirt to caress the swell of a breast. 

She moaned softly, closing her eyes.

“Dalton,” he said with a chuckle.

“Huh?”

He nodded
at her tape recorder.  “That thing on?”

She had forgotten all about it with Cade touching her that way.  “Yes.”  Before she could turn it off, he removed his arm from behind her and took hold of the recorder.

“Hello. 
Cade Tyler
here.  I want to state for the record that
Lacy Dalton is the sexiest woman
I’ve
ever known
from her head down to her toes, including that cute little birthmark on her backside.
”

“Cade!” 
She
reached out
, snatching
the recorder from his grasp.  “Be serious.”

“I am being serious,” he said
, wiggling his brows as his appreciative gaze slid down over her
. 

She laughed.  “You’re incorrigible.  Now keep your eyes on the road and behave yourself.”

“
Hard to do
with you
sitting
next to me
,” he said as they
turned into the parking lot of the Blarney
Stone
.

“Hurry home,” he told her as he turned to kiss her goodbye.

“I’ll be home before you know it.”  She stepped out to get into her own truck
, waving to him as he pulled away.

Starting her truck, she pulled out of the near empty lot and headed down the street to Sparky’s,
the local hardware/grocery store
where Cade said there would be a fax machine.  It was time to send her story off and turn her focus to what really mattered to her.  Her relationship with Cade.

*
             
*
             
*

Burk
sprinted across the yard
the second Cade pulled up the drive
, waving his arms frantically
. 

Cade slammed on the brakes
and threw the truck into park.  He threw open the door and jumped out.
  “What’s wrong?”

“
We’ve got a serious problem,” Burk said, his breathing labored from the sprint he’d made to reach Cade before he drove all the way up to the house.  “
It’s
Bluster
.”

“What about him?”  He
looked toward
the pasture.

“Something’s wrong with him.
  He’s down.”
 

“Shit.”  He turned and reached in to cut the engine and then
broke into a run for the
lifeless mound of black lying in the
pasture.

“I’ve already called
the doc
,” Burk
said as he
followed.  “He’s on his way.”

“Where’s
Danners
?”

“I
n town picking up th
ose fence posts we ordered.”

Cade let out a stream of curses
as they neared the downed bull
.  Without him, there was no hope of saving the ranch.  And without the ranch, he’d have nothing
at all
to offer Lacy. 
Bluster
couldn’t die...

         
*    *
             
*

Lacy stepped up to
the
fax machine
, placing
her briefcase and purse on the
narrow
table beside it.  Her gaze drifted to the tape recorder sticking out the opening in her purse.  She picked it up, running her fingers over it with a smile, remembering Cade’s playful little interview in the truck on their way into town. 

“Any problems,
Danners
?”

The raspy voice in the next aisle and the mention of Brigg’s name had Lacy’s head turning that direction.

“Not a one, Mr.
Brandt
,” came the
hushed
reply.

Brandt
?  Why did that name sound so familiar?  Curiosity getting the better of her, Lacy leaned closer to the paint can lined shelves.

“Have you taken care of Tyler’s prize bull?”

“Sure did.  Cade won’t know what hit him until it’s too late.  And with his main money maker dead, he’ll be forced to sell the ranch.”

Her
heart slammed
against
her chest.  This couldn’t be happening. 

“Well done,
Danners
.  The Flying T is as good as mine.  And
Tyler
will have nothing.  He’s going to wish he had died in that fall at nationals once I’m through with him.  Hell, he should have died in that car accident two years ago.  I didn’t expect his wife to be the one behind the wheel that day.”
Brandt
’s reply was cold, hard. 

“You mean that was an accident? 
Tyler was supposed to die that day instead of his wife
?”

“
Yes, but it all worked out anyway. 
An eye for an eye.  His bull killed my son.
  I killed his wife.
”

Lacy clamped a hand to her mouth to keep from
gasping in horror
. 
Her
legs sh
ook
beneath her
as the men’s conversation sank in fully.
 

“You’ve done well,
Danners
.  Better than that reporter I sent her
e
.  She hasn’t given
me
anything yet
and I’m tired of waiting
.”

That voice.  It was so familiar. 
Brandt
.
 
Her heart pounded even harder as it came to her. 
MacKenzie
Brandt
. 
O
wner of
Bustin’ Loose Magazine.
  Oh, God, she worked for the man who was trying to destroy Cade’s life
.
  A man who had just admitted to murdering Cade’s wife
. 

“Glad to be of help.”

“Here’s your money,
” the older man said.

Lacy
heard
an envelope being ripped open.  No doubt
Danners
checking out the money he’d just been given.

“This isn’t the amount we agreed on,”
the hand
complained.

“You’ll get the rest once I have the deed to Tyler’s ranch in my hand.”

Lacy
couldn’t move.  Her gaze fell to the bright green light on the recorder she held clutched in her trembling hand.  But all she could think about was the revelation that Cade’s wife
had been murdered
and the man responsible was standing in the very next aisle.
 

She had to get back and warn Cade. 
Turning to leave, she gasped as she
ran right into the store’s owner.

“
E
verything all right, Miss Dalton?” he asked, his expression one of concern as he peered up at her from behind his spectacles.  “
Are you having trouble
with the fax machine?”

It felt as though her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.  “N...no.  No problem at all,” she
said
, grabbing her
briefcase and purse from the table
. 
Heavy footsteps behind her had her glancing back over her shoulder.  Mac and Danners were moving her way, scowls on their faces.

“I...I have to be going
.”  She wanted to scream for Mr. Sparks to call the police, but knowing what she did about the lengths Mac would go she feared for the store owner’s life if she did.  So instead she ran.

Outside, the sky had turned a dark gray and it was starting to rain.  Without slowing her step, Lacy
flew to her
truck
, the ankle she’d twisted that morning aching with each pounding step.
  Tossing her briefcase in through the open window, she whipped open the door and scrambled inside.

She fumbled in her purse for her keys.  A quick glance in the rear view mirror told her she was in serious trouble. 
Mac
had come out of the store and was heading straight for her with
Danners
close on his heels. 

T
o her relief, her fingers brushed across the cold metal of her key ring.  Yanking them from her purse, she jammed the key into the ignition and turned
.
  The truck roared to life.  

Suddenly, an arm snaked in through the half-open window and caught the sleeve of her shirt.  Lacy let out a terrified scream.

“Going somewhere?”
Danners
demanded.

The rain began coming down harder, pouring in through the open window.  “
Danners
,” she said, forcing a smile even as the rain soaked her sleeve and the side of her face. 

“Shut off the engine, Miss Dalton,” he replied with a snarl.  “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

“I’m really in a hurry.”

Remain calm. 

Danners
’ hand bit into the tender flesh of her upper arm.  “You seem to be confused.  I wasn’t asking.  I was telling you.”

Her gaze went from Luther
Danners
’ cold hard eyes to
Mac who was sliding in behind the wheel of a black Mercedes
.  She had two options.  One was to do as
Danners
ordered and go with him willingly.  The other...

Before he knew what hit him,
Danners
was sitting in the parking lot, holding the foot she’d just run over in her escape
and
yelping like a wounded animal. 

Lacy glanced back over her shoulder to see
Danners
limp over to the
Mercedes
and
jump
into the passenger side.  She was in so much trouble.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Lacy’s knuckles
glowed white
as she grasped the truck’s
worn
steering wheel.  All she knew was that she had to get back to the ranch.  To Cade.  She’d be safe there.

The wipers, which were probably as old as the truck itself, were little help in the pouring rain.  She leaned forward in hope of seeing the road better.  But it was no use, she had to slow down. 

Her pulse was racing and her mind reeling as she fought to keep the old beater on the wet, winding road.  She had to reach Cade, had to tell him what she’d overheard.  She had her c
ell
phone with her, but neither he nor Burk would hear the kitchen phone from the barn
and she doubted they’d have their cell phones on them
.