Ambush before Sunrise
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B.J. Daniels
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17.3K
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22
Chapter One
JoRay “Jinx” McCallahan stormed into the sheriff’s office, mad, frustrated and just plain beside herself.
Sheriff Harvey Bessler looked up from his desk in surprise, saw her and groaned good-naturedly. “Let me guess. T.D.?”
“What am I supposed to do about him? I’m already divorcing him. I’ve got a restraining order against him—like that does a lick of good. I’ve run him off with a shotgun. But short of shooting him, he just keeps coming back.”
“All you have to do is call when he breaks the restraining order on him and we’ll pick him up.”
“And he’ll be back on the street within hours even madder and more determined to drive me crazy.”
Harvey nodded sympathetically. “Unfortunately, we don’t have anything else we can hold him on. Unless he is caught in the act doing something illegal...” The sheriff motioned her into a chair before he leaned back in his own to eye her over the top of his cheater glasses. “How are you doing other than that?”
She scoffed as she took a seat. She’d been coming to this office since she was a child. Her father and Harvey had been best friends up until Ray McCallahan’s recent death. Because of that, Harvey was like a second father to her. She’d been fortunate to have such good men in her life.
Until T. D. Sharp.
The sheriff got to his feet and came around his desk to call out to the receptionist. “Mabel, get this girl a cola from the machine. Get me one, too.” He turned back to Jinx. “Remember when you were little and you’d come in here with your papa to visit? I’d always get you a cola. It always made you feel better.”
Just the mention of her father made her eyes burn with tears. She missed him so much and she knew Harvey did, as well. “That was back when the worst thing that happened to me was falling off my bike and skinning my knees.”
He laughed. “True enough. Not that you let a little thing like a skinned knee stop you. You’ve always been strong, Jinx.”
She didn’t feel strong as she heard Mabel come to the door with two bottles from the old-timey machine in the break room. Harvey took them and gently closed the door.
“I’m afraid this is the best I can do right now,” he said as he handed over her cola. “What’s T.D. done now?”
She took the drink, feeling embarrassed for the way she’d barged in here. T.D. wasn’t Harvey’s problem; he was hers. She took a sip from the bottle Mabel had opened for her. It was ice-cold. For a moment she felt like a kid again as the sheriff went around behind his desk and lowered his weight into his chair with a creak and groan.
“Other than bad-mouthing me all over town? He’s got it where I can’t find anyone to work out at the ranch and I’ve got cattle that if I don’t get them to summer pasture...” Her voice broke. She took another sip.
“I don’t doubt T.D. did everything you’re saying,” Harvey said quietly. “He been out to your place again?”
She waved that off, knowing if Harvey picked him up it would only make T.D. worse, if that were possible. She hadn’t come here for that. She knew she had just needed to see him because she needed to vent and she knew that he’d listen. “I keep getting offers on the ranch even though it isn’t for sale. T.D. is determined to take half of whatever I could get for the place, even though we were married such a short time. He actually thinks he deserves half the ranch.”
Harvey shook his large gray head. “I’m sure you had your reasons for marrying him.”
Jinx laughed. “You know that you and Dad tried to warn me but I was in...love.” She practically spat the word out. “How could I have been so blind?”
“It happens, especially when it comes to love. T.D. can be quite charming, I’ve heard.”
“Not for long.” She took another long drink of her cola. “What does that leave me?” she asked, her voice sounding small and scared even to her. “I’m going to have to sell the ranch to get rid of him. My only other option is to—”
“You’re not going to shoot him.”
She smiled. “You sure about that?”
Harvey sighed. “I know things have been rough since Ray died. Maybe you should think about getting away for a while. Maybe take a trip somewhere. Give T.D. time to cool down.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Or maybe I should sell the cattle and take a loss and forget about driving them up into the mountains to summer range.” But that would be admitting defeat and she wasn’t good at that. When backed against a wall, her tendency was to come out fighting, not give up.
He said nothing for a moment. “What did your father want you to do?” he asked quietly.
Jinx felt the shock move through her and realized of course her father had told his best friend what he wanted her to do once he was gone. “I’m going to have to sell the ranch, aren’t I?”
“Sweetie, I know it’s not what you want. Are you that determined to keep ranching?”
“It’s all I know, but it’s more than that. That place has been my home since I was born. I don’t want to give it up just because of T.D.”
“That’s the real thorn in your side, isn’t it? T.D. has you against the ropes. But I can’t believe you’re not that set on ranching it alone. Then again, you’re so much like your father,” Harvey said, smiling across the desk at her. “Stubborn as the day is long and just as proud. But if you’re keeping the ranch to show T.D. or people in this town...”
“It isn’t right that T.D. should force me into this or worse, take half.”
“I agree. You hired yourself a good lawyer, right?”
She nodded. “He says T.D. can ask for half of what the ranch is worth on paper. No way can I come up with that kind of money. I don’t have a choice. In the meantime, T.D. has it where I can’t even find any wranglers to work for me.”
His expression softened. “I’m worried about you. If T.D. breaks the restraining order again, you call me. I can pick him up, maybe even keep him overnight.”
She shook her head, finished her cola and stood. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Jinx smiled at the older man. “You listened and the cola tasted just like it did when I was a kid. I do feel better. Thanks.”
The sheriff rose, as well. As she started to take the empty bottle back to the break room, he said, “I’ll take that.” She handed it to him, their gazes meeting.
“I’m going to go have a talk with T.D.,” he said and rushed on before she could say it would be a waste of time. “He’s a cocky son of a bitch and I would love nothing better than to throw him behind bars—that’s just between you and me. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll take a swing at me.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that. In the meantime, somehow I’m going to get my cattle to summer range. I’m not going to let T.D. stop me even if it means taking the cattle up there by myself. Don’t worry, I’ve advertised out of state. Maybe I’ll get lucky. After that...” She shook her head. She had no idea.
Her hope was that T.D. would give up. Or his girlfriend would keep him busy and away from her. Her father used to believe time healed most things. But with a man like T. D. Sharp? She had her doubts.
“Jinx?” She turned at the door to look back at the sheriff. “Just be careful, okay?”
T. D. SHARP THREW his legs over the side of the bed and hung his head. A cool breeze dried the sweat on his naked body as he sat for a moment fighting his mounting regrets and frustration. At the feel of a warm hand on his bare back, he fought the urge to shake it off.
“Come on, baby,” Patty Conroe purred. “You don’t have to leave. You just got here.”
He reached for his underwear and jeans, anxious to escape. Coming here tonight had been a mistake. After his run-in with the sheriff earlier, he’d thought what he needed was a kind word and a soft, willing body. But it hadn’t worked tonight. His body had performed but his mind had been miles away—out on the Flying J Bar MC Ranch.
“I need to go out to the ranch and talk to my wife,” he said as he stood to pull on his jeans, foolishly voicing the thought that had been rattling around in his head. The sheriff thought he could threaten him? That old fool didn’t know who he was dealing with. If T.D. needed to go talk to Jinx, he damned sure would. She could take her restraining order and stuff it up her—
“She isn’t your wife,” Patty snapped. “She’s your ex.”
“Not yet.” He heard her sit up behind him. “We don’t sign the papers until the property settlement is finished and it sure ain’t finished. Which means she’s still my wife. And I can damn well go see her if I want to.”
“What about the restraining order? You go near her and she’s going to call the sheriff.”
“Let her. She already went whining to him, but there isn’t a thing he can do to me. Anyway, I’m not afraid of Harvey Bessler.”
“He’s the law, T.D. You better watch yourself or he’ll trump something up and lock you behind bars. Have you forgotten that he was her father’s best friend? He would love nothing better than to put you in one of his cells.”
He scoffed, more than aware how tight Ray McCallahan had been with the sheriff. But Ray was dead and gone and if Harvey kept harassing him, he’d get the old fart fired. “Let him try.”
“You think he won’t arrest you? Well, I’m not getting you out of jail this time. You hear me? Let Jinx go. She sure didn’t have any trouble letting you go.”
Her words were like a gut punch. He wanted to slap her mouth. “Watch it,” he warned. He wouldn’t put up with her saying anything bad about Jinx, whether the woman was his almost-ex-wife or not.
He looked around for his boots, knowing that if he didn’t get out of this apartment and soon, they were going to fight. He was already fighting with Jinx. He didn’t need another woman on his case.
“Why do you need to talk to her tonight? Anyway, shouldn’t your lawyer be handling this?”
He didn’t answer, knowing better. He wished he hadn’t brought the subject up about his soon-to-be ex to start with. But she’d been on his mind. Nothing new there. Jinx had caught his eye and he’d fallen for the woman. Fallen hard. When she’d told him it was over and sent him packing, he’d been in shock. The woman needed him. How was she going to run that ranch without him?
But somehow she’d managed in the months since he’d been booted out. He’d put the word out that no one he knew had better go to work for her if they knew what was good for them. He chuckled to himself since he’d heard she was having trouble hiring wranglers to take her cattle up to summer range.
That would teach her to kick him to the curb. He’d thought for sure that after a week or two she’d realize the mistake she’d made and beg him to come back. So he’d made a few mistakes. Like hooking up with Patty.
But Patty wasn’t even the reason that Jinx had thrown him out. She’d said she didn’t care about his girlfriend, his drinking, his not working the ranch like he should have. She said she was just over him and wanted him gone.
Maybe as his friends said, the only reason he wanted her back was because of his bruised and battered ego. But he knew in his heart that wasn’t all of it. He still wanted Jinx. She was the sexiest woman he knew. He was crazy about her.
If she hadn’t made him feel like he was a hired hand, he wouldn’t have needed Patty. But from the day they married, he’d been too aware that it was her ranch. Not that she didn’t always tell him that it was their ranch and that was why she wanted him more involved. But he knew better.
Once she threw him out, though, he threw her words back at her. Our ranch, huh? Well, then I want half of it. Not that it was even about the ranch and the property settlement anymore. He couldn’t stand that he’d let a woman like her get away. Just the thought of another man touching her drove him insane.
He told himself he could change. He could be the man she needed. She had to give him another chance. He figured if the two of them could just talk—or even better, hit the sack together—they could work this out. Once he got her in bed, she’d listen to reason.
“You’re bound and determined to go out there, aren’t you?” Patty said behind him, sounding close to tears. She was wasting her time. Her tears no longer moved him. For months she’d been trying to get him to divorce Jinx and marry her. The woman was delusional.
“Maybe I should drive out to that ranch myself,” she said, sniffing dramatically. He heard the threat, the anger, the spite, dripping with jealousy. “I’d like to tell her what I think of her.”
T.D. refused to take the bait as he found his boots and began to tug them on. Now, if he could just find his shirt...
“I think it would do her good to know that you’ve been sneaking over to my place the whole time you’ve been married to her. Her lawyer might want to hear about it, too.”
The words swung at him like a baseball bat to the back of his head. He spun around, going for her throat before he could call back his fury. The woman was threatening to ruin everything. Before she could move he was on her. He saw the shock and fear in her eyes as his large hands clamped around her scrawny neck. She opened her mouth, gasping like a fish tossed up on the bank, but no sound came out.
He’d known about the bad blood between Jinx and Patty. Apparently, they’d gone to school together. Jinx had dated Patty’s brother in high school. When the fool had gotten drunk and driven off the switchbacks on the highway west of Jackson Hole, Patty was convinced that he’d done it on purpose because of his breakup with Jinx.
T.D. had known how jealous Patty was of Jinx. He’d always suspected that was the reason she’d come after him, determined to get him into her bed not long after his marriage to Jinx. As if it took a lot of effort on her part. Patty was a nice-enough-looking woman with willing ways.
But tonight she seemed to have forgotten her place in the scheme of things. Leaning closer, he tightened his hold on her throat and, pressing his lips to her ear, whispered, “You listen to me. You won’t go near that ranch. You won’t go near Jinx. You ever say a word to her and I’ll...” He felt her go limp and let go of her, dropping her back on the pillows.
For a moment he thought he’d killed her, but then she came to, gasping, eyes wild, hands going to her red and bruising throat. He watched her wheeze for breath as she scooted across the bed out of his reach.
Good, he thought. She needed to know exactly what she was dealing with if she ever betrayed him. She’d been getting a little too cocky for her own good lately. All that talk about the two of them getting married as soon as his divorce went through. Like he would tie a noose around his neck again, especially with a woman like her.
He found his shirt and pulled it on. As he walked out, he didn’t look back. Let her wonder if he would ever return. Women like Patty Conroe were a dime a dozen. Women like JoRay “Jinx” McCallahan were another story.
Regret flooded him as he climbed behind the wheel of his pickup. He’d blown it with Jinx. Talk about cocky. Once he had that ring on her finger, he thought he could just coast with her. He’d been dead wrong.
Letting out a snort, he still couldn’t believe that she was going to divorce him, though. But then again when Jinx threatened to do something, look out, because the woman was going to do it, come hell or high water.
As he started the engine, he reached over and pulled a can of beer from the near-empty six-pack he’d left on the seat. He told himself that he’d get Jinx back because he couldn’t live without her. He knew that now, he thought as he opened the beer and took a long pull on it.
Admittedly, he shouldn’t have cheated on her. He should have helped out around the ranch more. He should have done a lot of things differently. With a second chance, he would.
Not that it was all his fault. Jinx wasn’t an easy woman. She was too damned independent. Truth was, she didn’t need him and that stuck in his craw.
But now with her daddy in his grave, Jinx was all alone except for Max, that old cook of hers—and all those cattle that needed to be taken up to summer range in the high country.
Maybe she would realize that she couldn’t live without him, either. He’d heard that she was so desperate she had even advertised for wranglers out of state.
T.D. smiled to himself. Thanks to him, she was high and dry right now. No one around here was going to work for her. He knew most of the wranglers for hire because of all the years he’d gone from ranch to ranch as one. Unless they wanted to get on his wrong side—a bad place to be—they’d stay clear of Jinx and her ranch. And they had.
What better time to have a talk with her, he thought feeling good. He’d make sure it was just the two of them, restraining order or not. He’d charmed her into marrying him. Surely, he could charm his way back into her life—and her bed.
JINX MCCALLAHAN SLOWED her pickup as she spotted two trucks and horse trailers sitting in her ranch yard. She didn’t recognize either of them. After parking, she climbed out and took in the group waiting for her.
She shoved back her Western hat as she considered what looked like a straggly bunch of wranglers standing in the glow of her yard light. She told herself that beggars couldn’t be choosers since she had several hundred head of Herefords to get into the high country and time was running out.
Normally, she had no trouble hiring on help this time of year. She was no fool. Her inability to find local help was T.D.’s doing. He’d put the word out, forcing her to look for help much farther from home, but hadn’t heard anything. Unfortunately, word traveled fast among ranching communities about her “problems” with her soon-to-be ex-husband. She couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to get into the middle of it, especially if they knew anything about T. D. Sharp.
But after stopping at the sheriff’s office, she’d run some errands, bought herself some dinner and made up her mind. She wasn’t going to let T.D. put her out of business even if she had to take the herd to summer range all by herself—just as she’d told the sheriff. Maybe she wouldn’t have to if any of these wranglers were decent hands, she thought now.
She stepped to the first cowboy who’d climbed out of the trucks and stood waiting for her. As he removed his hat, she looked into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and felt a start. Was it the scar on his chin or something about his eyes? What was it about him that made her think she knew this man? Or had at least run across him sometime before? Surely, she would have remembered if she had stumbled across such a handsome cowboy.
Stress and lack of sleep, she told herself. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Or her body was. Because she felt strangely close to him as if they’d once shared something almost...intimate? She knew that was crazy. There’d never been that many men in her life.
Jinx shook her head. Her father’s illness, his death, T.D.... All of it had taken a toll on her, she knew. She couldn’t trust her mind or her body or her instincts. And if she and this man had met, wouldn’t he have said something?
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
“Angus Cardwell Savage, ma’am.”
“Cardwell?” Her eyes narrowed. “Any relation to the Cardwell Ranch in Montana?”
“Dana Cardwell Savage is my mother.”
She considered the tall, lanky, good-looking cowboy for a moment, telling herself that she had to be wrong about having met him before and stepped to the next one. “And you’re...”
He quickly removed his hat. “Brick Cardwell Savage, ma’am.”
She felt a start as she did a double take, looking from Angus to Brick and back. “You’re twins?”
“Identical,” Brick said with a chuckle. “Except I’m more charming.”
Jinx ignored that. A charming cowboy was the last thing she needed. She’d married one and look how that had turned out.
She considered the two for a moment. Angus had a small scar on his chin in the shape of a crescent moon. Other than that, she couldn’t tell the brothers apart. She moved on to the next wrangler.
As the cowhand removed the weathered straw hat, a long blond braid tumbled out. “Ella Cardwell,” the wrangler said, lifting her chin in obvious defiance.
Jinx shook her head. “I said I needed men. Not—”
“I can do anything these two can do,” Ella said, aiming her elbow at the two cowboys next to her who were also from Cardwell Ranch. “Usually better,” the cowgirl added, lifting her gaze until Jinx was staring into emerald green eyes that flashed with fire.
She shot a glance at the two Cardwell men, expecting them to object. Neither did. Turning back to the young woman, she said, “Ella Cardwell, huh?”
“My mother’s Stacy Cardwell. Dana’s my aunt.”
“What are you doing riding with these two?” Jinx asked, indicating Ella’s cousins.
“I like wrangling. I’m more at home on the back of a horse than anywhere on this earth.” She shrugged. “My cousins watch out for me and I watch out for them.”
Jinx studied the young woman whom she estimated to be in her late twenties, early thirties—about her own age and that of her cousins. They were all young when what she needed was seasoned help. Unfortunately, there was none to be had right now because of her almost-ex-husband. It was why she couldn’t afford to be picky and yet...
“Why aren’t you all working on your family ranch?” she asked, concerned about their ages and lack of experience. Also their possible safety, given what was going on.
“I will someday, but in the meantime, we wanted to see more of the country and experience life before we settled down,” Angus said.
Brick chuckled. “Just sowing some wild oats, ma’am.”
That was what she was afraid of. “There won’t be any of that on this cattle drive. We have to get my herd up into the mountains for the summer and I’m already running late. If you’re looking for fun, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
“We’re good hands and we aren’t afraid of hard work, ma’am,” Angus said, giving his brother’s boot next to him a kick. “Don’t mind my brother. He likes to joke, ma’am.”
She’d had more than enough of this ma’am stuff. “Call me Jinx,” she said as she moved to the next two wranglers who’d answered her help-wanted ad.
“Royce Richards,” said the fourth cowboy. At least he was older. “Cash and me here used to wrangle for—”
“Huck Chambers,” Jinx said, nodding as she eyed the men more closely. She’d seen them around Jackson Hole. Cash looked to be in his early forties, much like Royce. He removed his hat and said, “Cash Andrews.” While Royce was tall and wiry-thin with a narrow, pinched face and deep-set dark eyes, Cash was larger with a broad face as plain as a prairie. But when her eyes met his pale brown ones she felt something unsettling behind them.
She tried to remember what she’d heard about the men and why they were no longer with Huck. She thought about calling Huck, but told herself if they didn’t work out, she’d pay them off and send them packing. She only needed them for a few days, a week at most, depending on the weather and how long it would take them to move the cattle.
Looking the lot of them over, she reminded herself that she was desperate, but was she this desperate? She hesitated. She could use all of them, but hiring a young woman wrangler? That seemed like a recipe for disaster on a cattle drive. She thought of the spirit she’d seen in the young woman’s eyes, a spirit that reminded her of herself.
“All right,” she said with a sigh, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake—not just with the Cardwell bunch but with Royce and maybe especially Cash. What was that she’d seen in his gaze? Just a flicker of something she couldn’t put her finger on. A lot of cowboys didn’t like taking orders from a woman. She hoped that was all she’d seen.
“See your way to the bunkhouse. We ride out at first light in the morning. I notice that you brought your own stock,” she said, glancing at the two pickups parked in her yard and the horse trailers behind them. “You can bed them down for the night in the barn or that corral. Cook will rustle up something for you to eat. I wouldn’t suggest going into Jackson Hole tonight.” Or any other night, she thought. But since they would ride into the mountains early tomorrow, they’d have little chance to get into trouble.
At least that was what she told herself as she headed inside the ranch house to talk to Max about feeding them. She found him in the kitchen finishing up washing some pots and pans, his back to her. The cook was short and stocky as a fat thumb with a personality as surprising as what he often cooked. He’d been with Jinx’s family for years. She didn’t know what she would do without him. Or vice versa if she sold the ranch.
But as she studied the man from behind, she realized Max was getting old. He wouldn’t be able to handle a cattle drive much longer. For him, her selling the ranch might be a relief. He could retire since she knew her father had left him well-off.
The moment he turned around and she saw Max’s face, she knew he’d seen her wranglers. “They might not be as bad as they look,” she said defensively.
“Didn’t say a word.”
“You didn’t have to.” She leaned on the counter. “Can you rustle up something for them to eat?”
He nodded and began digging in the refrigerator. He came out with a chunk of roast beef. She watched him slice it and said, “They’re young, I’ll admit.”
“Unless my eyes are going, that one looked distinctly female.”
She sighed. “I like her.”
Max laughed, shaking his head. “Bet she reminds you of yourself.”
“Is that so bad?” He said nothing, letting that be his answer. “You hear anything about Royce Richards and Cash Andrews?” she asked, changing the subject. “They used to work for Huck Chambers.”
He looked up from the beef he was slicing. “If you have any misgivings, send them on down the road.”
“I can’t. I have to take a chance with them. I need the help and at least they’re older and probably more experienced.” She looked toward the window and wondered what her father would have done. In the twilight, the pine trees were etched black against the graying sky. Beyond that, the dark outline of the mountains beckoned.
She told herself that she had to follow her instincts. First, she would get the herd up to the high country to graze for the summer. It would buy her time. Then she would decide what to do. She couldn’t think about the future right now.
But of course that was all that was on her mind. “Once this cattle drive is over...” She didn’t finish because she didn’t know what she would do. Just the thought of ever leaving this ranch brought her to tears.
“I’ll run sandwiches over to the bunkhouse,” Max said. “You should get some sleep. You worry too much. You have five wranglers. With a little luck—”
“My luck’s been running pretty thin lately.” If the wranglers had heard what was going on at her ranch, they wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with the Flying J Bar MC and she’d really be out of luck.
“I have a feeling your luck is about to change for the better,” Max said as he picked up the plate of sandwiches and started for the door. “You’re due. You want one of these sandwiches? I don’t remember you eating much for dinner earlier.”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry, but thanks. Max,” she called, stopping him at the door. “You didn’t have anything to do with those three showing up from Cardwell Ranch, right? You didn’t call Dana Savage, did you?”
He didn’t turn as he said, “Go behind your back? I know better than to do something like that. I’m no fool.” With that he left.
Jinx sighed, still suspicious. Her mother had been friends with Dana and it would be just like Max to try to help any way he could. She let it go, telling herself not to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had five wranglers, and tomorrow they would head up into the high country. Maybe Max was right and her luck was changing.
Still, she stood for a long time in the kitchen, remembering how things had been when both of her parents were alive. This house had been filled with laughter. But it had been a long time ago, she thought as she heard Max leave the bunkhouse and head out to his cabin. Her father’s recent illness and death had left a pall over the ranch even before she’d finally had it with T.D.
You need a change. Don’t stay here and try to run this ranch by yourself. I don’t want that for you. Her father’s words still haunted her. Did he really think it would be that easy just to sell this place, something he and his father had built with their blood, sweat and tears?
She shook her head and was about to head up to bed when she heard the roar of a vehicle engine. Through the kitchen window, she spotted headlights headed her way—and coming fast. “T.D.” She said his name like a curse.
