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Red Thunder Reckoning
Sylvie Kurtz
EVERY MAN HAS HIS DAY OF RECKONING…With a new face and new life, Kevin Ransom vowed never to return to that small Texas town where an impulse of anger had destroyed his body and soul. But then, he never dreamed that his actions that day on the Red Thunder River had led a madman to keep the woman he loved in a drugged state, trapped as a prisoner in her body for fifteen years. Kevin had caused Ellen Paxton enough pain, but for her sake he had to go back to make things right, especially when he found out that she and her horse ranch were in grave danger. He would keep his identity hidden…. But would he be able to hide the love still in his heart?
“The sheriff says you don’t exist.”
Ellen’s offhand comment zinged like a cattle prod. Kevin’s jaw tightened. “I’m real enough. You checked my references.”
“They only go back a few years. What did you do before?”
This was the time. All he had to do was open his mouth and let the truth spill out. I’m Kyle. I’ve come to pay back my debt to you.
But the truth would sting. So he turned away, peered into the night.
“I was in an accident,” he started. The words stuck in his throat. “I spent a couple of years recovering.”
“Why did you change your identity?”
Did she know? He glanced at her over his shoulder. Her gaze studied him. Did she see through his scars, through his deception? What would she do if he ran a finger along the curve of her cheek? Would she recognize the taste of his kiss?
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
We’ve got another explosive lineup of four thrilling titles for you this month. Like you’d expect anything less of Harlequin Intrigue—the line for breathtaking romantic suspense.
Sylvie Kurtz returns to east Texas in Red Thunder Reckoning to conclude her emotional story of the Makepeace brothers in her two-book FLESH AND BLOOD series. Dani Sinclair takes Scarlet Vows in the third title of our modern Gothic continuity, MORIAH’S LANDING. Next month you can catch Joanna Wayne’s exciting series resolution in Behind the Veil.
The agents at Debra Webb’s COLBY AGENCY are taking appointments this month—fortunately for one woman who’s in serious jeopardy. But with a heartthrob Latino bodyguard for protection, it’s uncertain who poses the most danger—the killer or her Personal Protector.
Finally, in a truly innovative story, Rita Herron brings us to NIGHTHAWK ISLAND. When one woman’s hearing is restored by an experimental surgery, she’s awakened to the sound of murder in Silent Surrender. But only one hardened detective believes her. And only he can guard her from certain death.
So don’t forget to pick up all four for a complete reading experience. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Denise O’Sullivan
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin Intrigue
Red Thunder Reckoning
Sylvie Kurtz
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Marci—
For all the phone calls, the emergency road service and
brainstorming—but mostly for the friendship.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Flying an eight-hour solo cross-country in a Piper Arrow with only the airplane’s crackling radio and a large bag of M&M’s for company, Sylvie Kurtz realized a pilot’s life wasn’t for her. The stories zooming in and out of her mind proved more entertaining than the flight itself. Not a quitter, she finished her pilot’s course and earned her commercial license and instrument rating.
Since then, she has traded in her wings for a keyboard, where she lets her imagination soar to create fictional adventures that explore the power of love and the thrill of suspense. When not writing, she enjoys the outdoors with her husband and two children, quilt making, photography and reading whatever catches her interest.
You can write to Sylvie at P.O. Box 702, Milford, NH 03055. And visit her Web site at www.sylviekurtz.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Kevin Ransom—He needs to make things right, not worse, so to help the woman he once loved earn a piece of her dream, he comes to her assistance pretending to be a stranger.
Ellen Paxton—To heal, she needs to be the voice of the broken horses who have come to her from a highway wreck. But when a drifter with a scarred face comes into her life, will she let him heal her heart?
Nina Rainwater—Kevin’s “grandmother” gave him a second chance at life. Now her dying wish is for the son of her heart to find peace.
Chance Conover—He’ll see that no one hurts Ellen again, especially not a drifter cowboy who reminds her of the past.
Taryn Conover—Ellen’s friend sees through the scars both visible and invisible.
Garth Ramsey—Even behind bars, he seems to know just how to find Ellen’s most tender scar.
Bradley Bancroft—He’s used to winning and doesn’t take no for an answer very well.
Tessa Bancroft—The trophy wife talks of protocol and data, but doesn’t fit the part of horsewoman she seems to desire.
Dr. Silas Warner—He sold his soul years ago. What does he have to lose?
Dr. Lillian Harmon—Her discovery has unexpected side effects.
Vance Dalton—The judge holds the power over the horses Ellen hopes to save.
ELLEN’S EASY SPAGHETTI SAUCE
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
1 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 6-oz can of tomato paste
2 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp crushed red pepper
Sauté vegetables and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft and transparent. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasonings and crushed red pepper. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for twenty minutes.
This sauce can also be placed in a crockpot and slow cooked all day for an easy dinner after a long day at work. Leftovers freeze well.
Variation: Add one pound of browned hamburger, meatballs or a bag of soy crumbles to sauce, then simmer.
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
Epilogue
Prologue
“Not bad.” Tessa Bancroft clicked the stopwatch as the black colt crossed the six-furlong mark. From beneath the protection of the covered stand her giddy delight galloped in time to the thunder of hooves making mud fly. Neither rain, nor mud, nor wind could slow him down. Nothing.
He was the one. Come November he would win the Texas Breeders’ Cup championship for two-year-old colts. She had no doubt. The first true test was in less than a month—the Texas Stars Derby. He would make a splash.
And so would she.
Then next year she would go national. She could practically taste the mint juleps now.
“Best I’ve ever seen,” said the trainer as he mopped rain from his face with a faded bandanna. “He’s got heart, soul and guts. Come inside. I’ll show you the training schedule for next week. I wish you’d reconsider and let me work him in the morning with the others.”
“No, I don’t want him seen until I’m ready.” She wanted to take all those highbrow blue bloods by surprise. Teresa Vega was born in the gutter, but Tessa Bancroft belonged among the cream. When they saw him, when he won…
Sharp trumpets of terror blared from the television set on the corner of the desk in the cramped barn office. The trainer reached for the knob. With a hand clawed around his wrist Tessa stopped him.
Spreading pools of blood, drumming spikes of rain and the fitful windmill of trapped equine legs filled the screen. Then the camera zoomed in on a pair of firemen opening the side of a trailer like a sardine can. A woman’s hand soothed one of the horses jammed inside. The animal’s eyes were wide with panic. Rain slicked its red mane against its neck. Blood ran in rivulets tracing pink worms on the white blaze on its face.
Horror crawled down her spine as she recognized the beast.
“On the outskirts of the small town of Gabenburg, northeast of Beaumont,” a reporter said, “a horse-transport van overturned on the slick roads caused by today’s torrential downpour and the near hurricane-strength winds blowing through the Gulf Coast region.” The reporter’s yellow slicker flapped in the wind, sending her careful hairdo into frenzied flight. Her eyes narrowed against the onslaught of rain and her grip tightened around the microphone. “The six horses trapped inside are still alive. Sheriff Conover, can you tell us how the rescue operation is going?”
Tessa swore and flicked down the volume. She didn’t need this. Not so close to reaching her goal. No one could know about the project.
Without asking, she snagged the phone off its cradle and dialed. “Have you seen the news?”
“No,” the voice hedged.
“Turn on your set. Now.” She waited until she heard the report buzzing in the background. “Get out there and take care of that mess.”
“I can’t leave—”
“How is your dear Lillian?” She let the threat hang.
The time to call on ethics was long past. The good doctor had made his choice years ago. He could blame his choice on youth. He could blame it on mistaken idealism. But that did not alter the fact he was responsible for making the decision in the first place. No one had held a gun to his head. At least not then.
Now, well, sometimes people needed a reminder of their goals. She would use every weapon at her disposal to ensure he saw the project he’d started to its perfect completion—even his dying wife’s welfare. “I want them back at the clinic tonight.”
Chapter One
“What is this?” Nina Rainwater asked in disgust, flipping through channels and landing on the only one showing news. “A million channels and this is what I get? I’m in Colorado, how come I’ve got to listen to weather from Beaumont, Texas?”
“Satellite dish, Grandmother,” Kevin Ransom said as he entered the hospice room. Nina looked out of place in the pink frill of the room. He’d always associated her with blue skies and green pastures, with the scent of sweet hay and the smoke of a wood fire—with undying energy.
She didn’t look well this evening. Strands of hair, dull as a rainy November sky, poked out of her usually neat braid. Her brown eyes were listless and her breathing seemed more labored in spite of the tubes feeding her oxygen through her nose.
The mock disgust was for his benefit. She didn’t want him to worry about her. But he couldn’t help himself. She’d given him his life back after he’d thrown it away. He owed her more than gratitude, and now, when she needed him most, he was helpless again. “Sometimes you can’t get local news with a satellite dish.”
“Pah!” She pitched the remote and looked longingly at the sun starting to set outside her window. The bearberry flowers, pussytoes and columbines in the rock garden bordering the property swayed in the breeze.
