Ambush Before Sunrise

Angus thought of the woman standing on the porch with the loaded double-barrel shotgun trained on her not-soon-enough-ex-husband. He realized he wasn’t here to rescue her. She could rescue herself. But maybe, with some luck, he could keep her from killing T.D. and going to jail.

PATTY STOOD IN front of the bathroom mirror inspecting her throat. It was still red in spots and bruised in others. She could make out T.D.’s fingerprints where he’d choked her. She touched the spot tenderly and cursed Jinx. Just the mention of her name sent T.D. in a tailspin. Until he was done with that woman, he wasn’t himself. She had to remember that.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she thought she heard a vehicle. T.D. would come back. He’d be all apologetic and loving. He’d done it before another time when he’d gotten rough with her. And like tonight, it had been over Jinx McCallahan.

Oh, how she hated that woman, she thought, fisting her hands, fingernails biting into her palms. She’d give anything to get that woman out of their lives.

And now T.D. had gone out to her ranch to see her as if he could talk her into giving him another chance. The damned fool. It would serve him right if he got himself arrested—or shot. She wouldn’t put it past Jinx to shoot him. Maybe then he’d realize that she didn’t give two hoots about him.

Tears burned her eyes. What was wrong with the man? He had a woman who loved him unconditionally and still he couldn’t stay away from that…ranch woman. He’d left her to go to Jinx. It burned at her insides. What if he didn’t come back tonight? What if Jinx gave him a second chance? The thought made her sick to her stomach. Why couldn’t she just let T.D. go?

She felt bitterness roiling in her stomach. If only Jinx would sell her ranch and leave town like most people thought she would after her father died. Let her move far away. Then T.D. would come to his senses. As long as Jinx was around, she’d keep him stirred up.

Her phone rang. For a moment she thought it would be T.D. Maybe he’d gone down to the bar and had started feeling guilty about their fight and was now calling to apologize. Or maybe invite her down to the bar to have a drink with him. Wouldn’t it be something to be able to go out in public together? That would show Jinx.

She checked her cell phone, instantly disappointed. It was only Wyatt, T.D.’s friend, probably calling to ask if she knew where the man was. “Hey,” she said, picking up. Maybe T.D. had asked him to call her.

“Are you all right? I saw T.D.’s truck down at the bar. Figured you’d be alone. You two have a fight?”

Patty’s heart dropped. If T.D. was at the bar, then maybe he wasn’t planning to come back tonight.

“You okay?” Wyatt asked.

She felt touched by his concern. The shy cowboy was so sweet. Too bad she couldn’t fall for him instead of T.D. “Wyatt, you have to stop worrying about me.” He’d found her sobbing her eyes out the last time she and T.D. had had a bad fight. He’d run a clean washcloth under the cold-water faucet in the bathroom, wrung it out and handed it to her. He’d asked if he could get her anything to eat, something to drink.

He was so thoughtful. She wished T.D. was more like him. And while she appreciated the fact that Wyatt cared, at the same time, it felt a little creepy. Sometimes she wondered if he watched her apartment just waiting for T.D. to leave in one of his moods.

“I could come over,” Wyatt said now.

She touched her throat. It still hurt. Wyatt would notice the bruises and the dark spots that looked like fingertips. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know how T.D. is. He wouldn’t like it.” Who was she kidding? T.D. wouldn’t care.

“Was he alone at the bar?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t go inside. Patty, what do you see in him?”

It was a question she’d asked herself many times over the year she’d been seeing T.D. He’d never made it a secret that he loved his wife and yet, she’d been convinced that one day he would leave Jinx and marry her. Instead, Jinx had thrown him out and now T.D. was determined to get the woman back.

“I’m in love with him,” she said simply. “You know that.”

“I know. It’s just that…he doesn’t treat you right, Patty. You need a man who values you for who you are. You have so much to offer a man. A man who deserves it.”

She couldn’t argue that. Like tonight, she didn’t need Wyatt to tell her that it was mean of T.D. to come by only to leave right after they’d had sex. She knew he was using her and it broke her heart, but what could she do? The alternative was to not see him at all.

“You have to know how I feel about you. What can I do to show you? Just name it, Patty,” Wyatt pleaded. “I would do anything for you.”

She walked back into the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. Wyatt was right. She deserved better. “There is something you could do. Where are you now?”

“Just down the street.” His voice sounded hopeful and she knew he’d meant it about doing anything for her. With a little persuasion, she thought she could get Wyatt to do the one thing she might ask.

“Come on up. But make it quick. T.D. will be coming back soon.”

AFTER LEAVING THE RANCH, T.D. had considered going back to Patty’s. But he wasn’t up for another fight. Nor was he up for apologizing. Patty just didn’t get it. He wanted Jinx, as much as he hated her right now. His wife thought she had the upper hand at the moment. Maybe she did. Maybe that was why he was so angry.

He’d driven straight to the bar, telling himself that maybe he would sneak back out to the ranch later tonight and surprise Jinx. A need stirred in him like none he’d ever felt, and he kept reminding himself that she was still his wife. She’d better not be seeing anyone else. Just the thought of that cowboy who’d come out with his six-shooter strapped on his hip…

He ordered a beer even though he could tell Marty hadn’t wanted to serve him at all. But Marty also didn’t want any trouble, as if he could sense that T.D. was just spoiling for a fight. It had been a long time since he’d broken up a bar.

“One beer, T.D., and then you head on home,” the bartender told him.

“Home? And where exactly would that be, Marty?” he asked angrily as he picked up the cold beer the man had set in front of him. He took a long drink. It did little to cool down his fury. Jinx had no right to treat him this way. She’d made him the laughingstock of town. He couldn’t let her get away with it. Half that ranch was his and damned if she wasn’t going to give it to him. If she thought they were finished, then she didn’t know him very well.

He smiled to himself and took another gulp of beer. From what he’d seen out at her place, she was planning to take that herd of hers into the mountains tomorrow. It would take her a few days of good weather and good luck to get them up to the high country.

T.D. had made that trip with her last year. He knew the route she took and where she camped each night. As he finished his beer, he realized that he hadn’t believed she would get anyone to help her take her cattle up to summer range. Now that she had, she’d forced his hand. He could no longer just threaten to follow her up into the mountains. He had to do it. He had to show her. And he knew just how to do it.

WYATT FELT SHAKEN to his core as he left Patty’s apartment. His hands actually shook as he started his truck. On one hand, he couldn’t believe his good luck. On the other… He left, driving aimlessly through town, his mind whirling.

He’d had a crush on Patty since grade school. Not that she’d ever noticed him except on those few occasions when he’d stopped into the café where she waitressed. She was nice enough then, smiling and chatting him up. He wasn’t stupid. He knew she was like that with everyone because she hoped for a good tip.

Over the years, he’d watched her go through a couple of bad marriages and twice as many equally bad relationships. But nothing had cooled his ardor for her. He’d always known he was what she needed. He’d only hoped that one day she would realize it.

Now he had finally told her how he felt and to his surprise, she’d made him an offer. The offer was less than what he’d hoped for and yet more than he’d expected. He felt as if full of helium. This must be what people meant when they said they were floating on cloud nine.

Of course, there was a catch, he thought, feeling himself come back to earth with a thud.

“Word is that Jinx is driving her cattle up to summer range tomorrow,” she’d said once they were seated on the couch in her living room. She’d sat so close to him that her perfume had filled his nostrils making him feel weak. He couldn’t help but notice that she’d forgotten to button the two top buttons on her blouse, making it gap open. Sitting this close he could see the swell of her full breasts above her lacy black bra.

He’d also seen the red marks on her neck, a couple of them deep bruises, but he’d known better than to say anything. He’d figured it was why she’d invited him up so he waited for her to bring up the subject.

“Wyatt, you’re his best friend,” she’d said, leaning toward him. “You know T.D. is planning something. Once Jinx gets those cattle to the high country, T.D. will lose his leverage—or at least what he sees as leverage.”

He’d nodded, surprised that Patty knew this about T.D. and yet still wanted the man. “He’s threatened to follow her up into the mountains,” he’d admitted. “But I think it’s just talk.”

She’d scoffed at that. “He’ll get himself all worked up tonight after a few beers and then he’ll want you and Travis to go with him since he doesn’t have the guts to do it alone, and the two of you don’t have the guts to turn him down.”

He’d winced, knowing it was true and that she was right. He’d agree to go once T.D. started pressuring him. You just didn’t say no to him, and Wyatt hadn’t since they were kids growing up. T.D. had gotten him into so much trouble over the years. But like she said, the man was his best friend.

What she’d said next had floored him. “I want you to make sure that Jinx McCallahan never comes out of those mountains.”

At first he’d thought he’d misunderstood her. “I don’t know what you mean.”

And then Patty had leaned toward him, her full breasts brushing his arm as she kissed him. “Do this for me and I promise you won’t regret it.” She kissed him harder, giving him a little of her tongue. He’d about lost it right there.

But when he’d reached for her, she’d pushed him away. “Not until you do me this favor.” Then she’d taken his hand and put it on her warm breast. He’d felt her nipple harden under his palm. And just as quickly, she’d pulled it away. “Now you should go. You wouldn’t want T.D. to catch you here.”

He’d stumbled out of her apartment to his rig and started driving aimlessly. She wasn’t serious about any of it, he told himself. Not the offer. Not the favor she’d made him promise to think about as he was leaving. The woman didn’t realize what she was asking. Or what she was offering.

“If you and T.D. get up in those mountains trying to sabotage Jinx and her cattle drive, anything could happen,” Patty had insisted as she’d walked him to the door. “Accidents happen. No one even knows who did what.”

There was no mistaking what she’d asked him to do for her. Kill Jinx. As if the woman was Patty’s only problem. It astounded him that she didn’t know T.D. at all. Even if Jinx wasn’t in the picture, T.D. wasn’t going to marry her. He’d string her along until he found someone else he thought he deserved more. Then he would break her heart all over again. But this time Wyatt would be there to pick up the pieces. Unless he let Patty down now.

He saw T.D.’s pickup parked in front of the bar and their friend Travis getting out of his rig to go inside. He pulled in, honked his horn and Travis stopped to wait for him.

That he’d even given a second thought to Patty’s favor was insane. He couldn’t kill anyone, especially his best friend’s wife, he told himself as he climbed out of his truck in the glow of the neon bar sign. Why would Patty think he was capable of such a thing?

Because she knew how much he wanted her.

Patty was the only woman in town who saw him as anything but a shy, awkward cowboy who lived with his mother when he wasn’t working on some ranch or another. She was offering him something he’d only dreamed of for years. He could still taste her on his lips as he and Travis pushed into the bar.

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