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Cowboy Brigade
Elle James
Agent Wade Coltrane, ex-Army Special Forces, has returned home to Freedom, Texas, for his next assignment: infiltrate the Long K Ranch and bust the owner for attempted murder. The obstacle: Lindsay Kemp, his high school sweetheart–and his target's granddaughter.Wade never expected Lindsay to still be living on the struggling ranch, let alone be a single mother to precious twin girls. Each day he spends undercover only intensifies his lingering desire for Lindsay and rouses his protective instincts. And he'll need them, for there's a killer on the ranch, and he's set his vengeful sights on Lindsay….
“We need to talk.”
Wade conducted an about-face and bumped into Lindsay, who had followed him. He grabbed her arms to keep her from falling, his fingers sliding across her skin, the urge to draw her closer so powerful he shook with the effort to resist.
The green of her eyes drew him in, mesmerizing him. The curve of her full lower lip begged to be kissed. Wade swallowed hard on the rise of desire. He hadn’t come to the Long K Ranch to rekindle a burned-out flame. His mission was to expose this woman’s grandfather for attempted murder.
With all the self-control he could muster, his hands dropped to his sides, his fingers still tingling with her warmth. “Your grandfather said that if you want to talk to him, hurry up. He’d like to go to bed.”
She pulled that full bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it like she always had when she worked a problem in her head. “Okay. But we really need to talk.”
“Tomorrow.” Wade turned and left before he forgot why he’d come. Before he started thinking there might still be something between them, if he gave it a chance.
Cowboy Brigade
Elle James
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is dedicated to my husband
whose patience and understanding allows me to pursue my
dreams and follow my imagination in my writing career.
Love you, honey!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Golden Heart Winner for Best Paranormal Romance in 2004, Elle James started writing when her sister issued a Y2K challenge to write a romance novel. She managed a full-time job, raised three wonderful children and she and her husband even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas Hill Country. Ask her, and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe to toe with an angry 350-pound bird! After leaving her successful career in information technology management, Elle is now pursuing her writing full-time. She loves building exciting stories about heroes, heroines, romance and passion. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at ellejames@earthlink.net (mailto:ellejames@earthlink.net) or visit her website at www.ellejames.com (http://www.ellejames.com).
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Wade Coltrane—Former Army Special Forces member whose specialty is infiltrating enemy lines, hired by Corps Security and Investigations to infiltrate the Long K Ranch.
Lindsay Kemp—Granddaughter of the owner of Long K Ranch who had the misfortune of falling in love with Wade Coltrane and now bears the secret of a night of passion between them.
Henry Kemp—Owner of the Long K Ranch who has a hatred of all things Lockhart and isn’t afraid to tell everyone. Identified as a suspect who may be responsible for hiring a gunman to shoot Governor Lockhart, does his hatred of the Lockharts go deep enough to hire a killer?
Lila Lockhart—Governor of the state of Texas and potential candidate for the next U.S. presidential election. Her family is in jeopardy thanks to an unknown threat.
Bart Bellows—Wheelchair-bound owner of the Corps Security and Investigations Agency. Bart is an eccentric billionaire, a Vietnam vet and a former CIA agent determined to help others.
Frank Dorian—Recently hired ranch hand on the Long K Ranch who is aggressive, possessive and won’t leave Lindsay Kemp alone.
Cal Murphy—Local pediatrician, Lindsay Kemp’s ex-fiancé and Wade Coltrane’s high school rival.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Prologue
“Hello, Bart.” Governor Lila Lockhart spoke softly into the cell phone. With a bodyguard on either side, she had no privacy and it had been that way since the incident.
“Lila, I’m glad you called. Have there been any more threats?”
“Not since the Rory Stockett shooting, thank goodness. I just called to thank you and your team for all of your help. I couldn’t have gotten through the past two weeks without knowing I had you watching my back.”
“Lila, Rory was hired by someone and that someone still hasn’t been found,” Bart warned. “My men are still on full alert. I expect you to be equally vigilant.”
“I am, believe me. I hate that all this is happening. I’m beginning to reconsider my options once this gubernatorial term is over.”
“We’ll find him, Lila. Don’t go making rash decisions based on a crazy man taking potshots at you. You’re not one to run. That’s what I find most attractive about you.”
Lila smiled. “Thanks, Bart. A little flattery always works wonders.”
Bart chuckled. “My pleasure. Let me know if you need anything else. The men of Corps Security and Investigations are here to help see you through this.”
Lila clicked the off button and leaned back in her seat, the smell of leather relaxing to her senses. It had been a grueling day of meetings, and she couldn’t wait to get home and take a long hot bath.
It seemed a little odd thinking of getting naked in a bathtub with two very large, very strong bodyguards sitting on either side of her. A smile curved her lips. They would be appalled if they could read her mind.
Loud popping sounds erupted around her. The vehicle lurched and skidded sideways, metal screaming against pavement.
Lila clutched the armrest. “What’s going on?”
The bodyguard on her left removed the Sig Sauer pistol from his shoulder holster and leaned forward, bracing his hand on the door.
The driver clung to the steering wheel, the veins standing out on his forehead as he fought to straighten the vehicle, but the wheels leaped over the shoulder of the road and the limo crashed downward into a ditch and up an embankment.
The bodyguard with the gun lost his grip on the weapon and grabbed for the armrest on the door.
With nothing to hold on to, Lila bounced in her seat, flung from side to side like a rag doll.
Barely able to view out the tinted windows, Lila didn’t see the fencepost until the side of the car slammed into it. The bodyguard beside her crashed against the door, his head thumping the window. Bulletproof glass held true, even as the metal frame of the limo bent around the post. The bodyguard went limp.
Lila’s seat belt held her in the middle, but the bodyguard on her other side hit her shoulder, jolting her hard, pain shooting through her neck and back.
When the world finally came to a jarring halt, the limo horn blared. Lila blinked and dragged in a deep breath, not having realized she’d been holding it since the first pop. The limo listed to the left, pointed back down the embankment at a forty-five degree angle. If not for the seat belt, Lila would have gone through the front windshield.
“Jimmy?” she called out to the driver.
His body slumped over the steering wheel, the source of the horn’s blare.
“Jimmy!” Lila fiddled with the belt buckle.
“Governor Lockhart, please stay put.” The bodyguard beside her reached out a hand too late to catch her.
The buckle opened and Lila fell across the open space between the driver and where she and the bodyguards perched in the rear compartment, slamming headfirst into the back of the driver’s seat.
Stunned, she pushed against the seat so that she could see Jimmy, her driver. Blood dripped down over his arm.
“Jimmy?” Lila felt for a pulse. For a moment she didn’t feel one and her own heartbeat skittered to a halt. A second later, she could have cried out with joy. The faint thump of blood passing through a vein gave her hope that Jimmy would live.
“Help me out of here.” She crawled up the side of the limo, pulling herself along by gripping the upholstery. “We have to get him help.” She stared up at the bodyguard and across to his partner who hung like a crash dummy from the restraints. “What about Tom?”
“He’s out, but his heartbeat is strong.” The bodyguard above gave her a stern glare. “You have to stay inside the car while I check for trouble outside.”
“I can’t stand by and do nothing.”
“Then find your cell phone and dial 9-1-1.”
Her heart hammering against her ribs, Lila searched the tilted interior of the limo. It took her three precious minutes to locate her cell phone and even longer to reboot it to get it to work.
Her finger hit the speed dial for 9-1-1 and she relayed her location and the condition of the vehicle’s occupants. Then she put the dispatcher on hold and speed dialed Bart.
“Lila?” Bart answered. “What’s wrong?”
“It happened again.”
Chapter One
Wade Coltrane stepped out of his truck and stared at the ranch house. Five years hadn’t changed much. The paint was a little more worn, flaking off in a few places. The lawn could use cutting and the barn out behind the house had that weathered, old-wood look, but other than that, it appeared the same.
He tried to push back the feeling of having come home. He hadn’t returned to the Long K Ranch to get comfortable and reminisce about old times, or to pick up where he’d left off. In many ways you could never go back. Time had a way of changing people, places and perspective.
Wade had come to secure employment with the ranch owner as cover for his real mission—spying on the one suspected of carrying out threats against Governor Lila Lockhart.
Second thoughts about his task had no place in his life. After the disaster of his military career, he needed this job and he needed to redeem himself. If not to anyone else, then in his own mind. He had a lot to atone for and nothing and nobody would get in the way of that atonement.
A pang of guilt sat like a wad of soggy sweat socks in his gut. Old Man Kemp had been his father’s employer, the grumpy ranch owner had been tough but, for the most part, fair.
Wade had grown up on the ranch, playing in the barn, riding horses and swimming in the creek. Kemp’s granddaughter had tagged along, getting in his way almost every step of the way.
Being the boss’s kin, he’d put up with her.
An image of a redheaded hellion riding bareback at breakneck speeds across the pasture flashed across his memories.
Lindsay Kemp. Beautiful, passionate and fiercely independent and loyal. The boss’s granddaughter. Completely out of his league, only he hadn’t been bright enough to recognize it until too late.
A sigh rose up his chest and he swallowed hard. History had no place in the present other than as a reminder not to repeat one’s mistakes.
Lindsay had forgotten him as soon as he left for boot camp. By the time he’d built his career in the Army and returned to ask her to marry him, she’d up and gotten herself engaged to a local doctor.
Just as well that she married a doctor. She’d have hated the life of a military spouse. And he hadn’t been willing to give up his Army career. Then.
In five years, a lot could change.
Wade knocked at the door. When no one answered, he rounded the house and headed for the barn. He spied movement in one of the training pens and altered his course.
A white-haired man, astride a sturdy bay gelding trotted around a well-worn circle inside the round pen. When he spied Wade, the old guy drew back on the reins, bringing the big gelding to a stop. Henry Kemp glared down at Wade with rheumy blue eyes. “We ain’t buying anything.”
“I’m not selling.”
“You’re trespassin’.”
“I’m here to apply for the ranch hand job you posted at the Talk of the Town.”
The old man’s gaze traveled Wade’s length. “Why should I hire you?”
“Because I know this ranch as well as you do, Mr. Kemp.” Wade forced a grin he didn’t feel. “Do you remember me, Mr. Kemp? Wade Coltrane. Jackson Coltrane’s son.”
“Little Wade Coltrane?” Henry slung his leg over the horse and eased to the ground. For a seventy-five-year-old man, Mr. Kemp got around pretty good.
