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.Not that she didn’t have the potential.“I’ll be fine.” But even as she said the words, she worried that she might be wrong about that.She wanted to throw herself into his arms.Just to be held for a moment and then she really would be fine.For the time she was wrapped in his arms anyway.“Regina?”Why didn’t he call her Reggie? That would have made her mad, made her not want to cry.He leaned in to look at her, his expression puzzled.He must have seen her trying hard not to cry.He made a face.“Don’t…”He put his arm around her awkwardly as if this man who could run a ranch, round up six hundred head of cattle and boss grown men around didn’t have a clue what to do with one five-foot-six-inch woman.She leaned into him, pressing against his broad solid chest.His arms came around her, pulling her to him with obvious reluctance.She didn’t care.She didn’t even like him most of the time but right now it felt wonderful just being held, being sheltered in all that warmth and strength, feeling safe, no longer feeling alone and scared.He seemed to soften, his arms molding her to him.He bent his head and she felt his breath in her hair.“Oh, Reggie,” he whispered.“What am I going to do with you?”He seemed to breathe her in, dropping his head to hers, his cheek against the top of her head.She was completely enclosed by his arms, his body, cocooned in his protective embrace.She couldn’t remember ever feeling so safe.She would have stayed there forever.But boots thumped across the porch outside.McCall opened his arms, took her shoulders in his big hands and held her in front of him at arm’s length.“Ready when you are,” Nevada called.“Give me a few minutes,” J.T.called back, then seemed to wait until he heard Nevada’s boots retreat back down the porch.His expression softened as he looked at her.“Sit down.Please,” he added.“I need to tell you something.I’m not trying to frighten you.But I think you should know this.”She nodded as she sat down, even more afraid of what he was going to tell her.“Nine years ago three men came up with a plan to rustle my cattle,” J.T.began, his jaw tight, his face pale.“The plan was to get rid of as many of my men as possible to make the odds better once we had the cattle down the mountain where they had semitrailers waiting.”She stared at him.This roundup had started with six men and was now down to three.“They killed them?”He shook his head.“Only the ones they couldn’t get rid of other ways.They camped nearby and hit us at night, taking out the men one at a time, scaring some off, killing several.I didn’t know what was happening.At first I thought the cowhands had just left.” Like Luke, he didn’t say but she heard it anyway.“The things that happened seemed like accidents,” he continued.“Until I realized they’d disabled the truck.I set up a trap, caught them in an old cabin down by the truck where we used to keep supplies.”She held her breath.“During the gunfight that ensued, a kerosene lantern inside the cabin was knocked over.The fire burned quickly, the cabin was old, the timbers dry.The men could have gotten out.But they wouldn’t give themselves up.”“They burned to death?” she asked, aghast at the thought of being trapped in a cabin that was on fire.“We found two bodies inside.The third man got away but we knew he was badly burned.We knew he couldn’t have made it off the mountain alone.”“You never found his body?”J.T.shook his head.“But we found some of his clothing and marks in the dirt where he’d been dragged off.”She grimaced.“By what?”“A bear.A grizzly.There were prints in the dirt near the scraps of clothing we found.”She thought she might be sick.“I thought you said there weren’t any grizzlies up here.”He shook his head.“I said the bear you fed pancakes to wasn’t a grizzly.” He stepped over to the woodstove to throw on another log.“There was an investigation nine years ago.My brother Cash was and still is sheriff so the state held the inquest.Legally, the case was closed because the three men were dead.There were semitrailers found near the county road on the way out of here where they’d planned to load the cattle.”She stared at his broad back.“Steal the cattle?”He nodded.“You think it’s happening again,” she said, shocked to realize that’s exactly what he had to be thinking—and with good reason.“The incidents are similar enough.”“But how, if the men are dead?”He turned to look at her.“Someone connected to that old incident could be trying to get revenge.It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”“But it wasn’t your fault.”“It was my roundup.I’m responsible for everyone under my hire.”Like her.Except he hadn’t hired her exactly and certainly didn’t want her up here.She was beginning to understand why he was so upset, so worried.This was no place for a woman.“If it really is about revenge, why has it taken them nine years?” she asked, not wanting to think about the spot she’d put J.T.in by being here, complicating things.And no wonder he’d thought she had something to do with what was going on.She shows up and look what happens.“The time frame bothers me too,” he said.“Why wait? Maybe because I wouldn’t be expecting it, not after all this time.” He shrugged.“I hope I’m wrong about what’s going on up here.But in case I’m not, I wanted you to know.”She nodded, not sure how knowing this helped her.She’d been scared before.Now she was terrified.“You think they’re hiding out in the woods like last time?” If he was trying to keep her in the cabin, he didn’t have to worry.To her surprise, he shook his head.“I think the person doing this is here in camp.”She stared at him in shock.“There are only three men left.”He nodded and walked over to a cabinet in the corner.Opening it, he fished around in back.To her amazement, he took out a gun.“Have you ever fired a 9 mm pistol?” he asked, sounding hopeful.She shook her head, hating to see the disappointment on his face.“I’m not planning on you ever having to use it, okay? But I want you to know how—just in case.”She nodded as he pressed the gun into her hand.She listened as he instructed her on how to fire it.She wasn’t sure what frightened her most.That he feared she would need it.Or that she might have to shoot someone.AS J.T.RODE OUT of camp with the three men, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he shouldn’t be leaving Reggie alone.Maybe especially with a gun.But he couldn’t leave her unarmed and he had to get ready to move the cattle down.He had thought about taking her with him but they had a long ride ahead of them later this afternoon and with her ankle, the ride would be painful enough without making her ride this morning as well.The only way he could be sure she was all right would have been to stay with her.Since he couldn’t do that, he hoped that by keeping an eye on the last three cowhands she would be safe.As long as he was right about the trouble he was having coming from within the ranks—not from the outside, then all he had to do was keep track of the men
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