Outlawed! Read online

  “Delaney?”

  She looked up to find Cooper standing over her. His hair was still wet, making it dark blond. The cold creek bath had left a glow on his handsome face. He smiled at her, and for a moment all she saw was his irresistible charm, that cocky arrogance that came ready-made with his good looks. Then his eyes darkened with concern as he reached for her. She flew into his arms.

  COOPER HELD HER tightly, afraid at first to ask what had happened. “Is it Digger?” He knew how much Delaney cared for the old prospector. He just hoped that if Digger had died, it was in his sleep and not at the hands of a murderer.

  She shook her head against Cooper’s flannel shirt and hugged him fiercely as if her world had suddenly dropped out from under her. “It’s Ty.”

  She leaned back just enough that he could see her face.

  “The DNA tests came back. He is my brother.” She bit her lip. “And what if he’s telling the truth about the will? My father really may have left him the ranch.”

  Cooper pulled her even closer, rubbing her back with his hand, as he thought about what that would mean to Delaney. If she lost the ranch—He held her, searching for words that would comfort her, knowing there were none. Maybe this was why Jamison thought they were close to getting the ranch. If he’d been in contact with Ty and knew about the DNA results, that meant Jamison also knew about the will Ty had from his father.

  After a few minutes Cooper felt her strength coming back. Delaney Lawson wasn’t the kind of woman to stay down and he suspected she’d come up fighting. It was a trait he couldn’t help but admire. Unfortunately, with her strength would come the wall between them. She was still his boss, he her hired hand. And the other night he’d hurt her, something he regretted.

  After a moment, she pulled away and wiped her tears. When she looked up at him, her eyes were clear and dangerously dark. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s clear to me that as long as you stay around here, your life will be in jeopardy.”

  He stared at her, suddenly worried. “I hope you’re not thinking of firing me because I have to tell you right now, I won’t leave.” He grinned at her, hoping to lighten up this conversation—and fast. “You’ll have to run me off with a gun. And even then I’ll still probably come back.”

  She smiled. “That’s good to hear, McLeod. But why is that?”

  He met her gaze, then pulled his away. Normally he’d have some quick, response that would appease even the meanest of women. But Delaney wasn’t just any woman. “I guess I’ve gotten involved in your troubles. And I want to see them through.”

  She nodded. “Good answer, McLeod. Well thought out.” She shook her head. “I know I must be nuts, but I realize I can’t save this ranch by myself. Buck’s gone and fallen in love, and Jared…well I can’t depend on the sheriff for any help, that’s for sure.”

  Cooper nodded, seeing where she was headed. “So, since there isn’t anyone else—”

  “Exactly,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

  “Well, when you put it that way—” He tried to joke about it, but he was hurt that it would come down to this. And he realized with regret how much it had meant to him to have Delaney’s confidence in him.

  “McLeod, I have a feeling it is only going to get more dangerous from this point on. If you’d rather pass, I’ll understand,” she said, watching him closely. He started to argue that he couldn’t leave, but she held up a hand to stop him. “I just need to know one thing. Can I trust you?”

  He almost laughed. He didn’t even trust himself. A lie came to his lips as naturally as breathing. And yet the words just wouldn’t seem to come out. Instead he stared at her, seeing the strong, hardheaded, determined Delaney Lawson, but remembering the soft, vulnerable, passionate one he’d kissed. The one he’d held in his arms just moments before. He couldn’t walk away now. Not the way he felt about her.

  He saw her shake her head at his hesitation. “The other night you said you’d done some things,” she said. “I don’t care what they are or who you used to be. What I need to know, McLeod, is can I trust you now?”

  He looked into her eyes. “Yes,” he answered, hoping that for once in his disreputable life it was true.

  “WHERE DO WE BEGIN?” Delaney asked as they drove toward Helena. She was sure Cooper would have an idea. He always did.

  “It seems we’ve got two problems, finding your father’s will-”

  “If it exists,” she added.

  “And finding out who’s behind the problems on the ranch and why. I thought we should talk to Digger about Johnson Gulch Lake. That’s where he saw something that frightened him, where he got hit on the head and where we were shot at,” Cooper said. “Do you still have that spur you found?”

  She nodded. “What does the spur have to do with it?”

  “Nothing, more than likely.” He grinned at her. “But you said it looked familiar to you. It’s obviously old. Maybe Digger will recognize it.” He saw the doubt in her expression. “I thought it might jog his memory, get him talking about what he saw that night. Digger might know more than he thinks he does.”

  Why did she get the feeling the spur was the least of Cooper’s interest in talking to Digger? “Digger thinks there were space aliens,” she said.

  “True. But when you add it all up—the rifle shot, the swim-fin tracks and an old road reopened—”

  “Don’t forget the spur.” She gave him a smile. “It doesn’t add up to anything, does it?”

  They drove in silence for a while. In the distance she would see Lake Helena gleaming in the sun. She felt shaky and unsure, and blamed it on all her troubles—not on her feelings for Cooper McLeod.

  “Are you all right?” Cooper asked as they passed the capitol building.

  She glanced over at him. “I was just thinking. What will happen to Digger if Ty gets the ranch?”

  Cooper figured Ty wouldn’t have the ranch for long—not with Rattlesnake Range around. The days of the old prospector wandering the Rockin’ L were quickly coming to an end.

  THE DOCTOR LED them into a small office at the end of the hall.

  “Physically, Digger is on the mend,” he said. “But mentally, he’s very confused. And frightened. I’d like to run some more tests on him.”

  “For what?” Delaney asked.

  “I think this might be more than senility.”

  “Like what?” Cooper asked.

  The doctor sighed. “Digger can’t seem to tell reality from his nightmares. He’s paranoid. He thinks people are after him. He’s extremely agitated. These are symptoms of what could be Alzheimer’s.”

  “Alzheimer’s?” Delaney asked, her voice breaking. She looked over at Cooper. He gave her a reassuring smile.

  “The tests can’t hurt,” he said.

  “With Alzheimer’s,” the doctor added, “all we can do is rule out everything else.”

  The symptoms could also fit a person who thought his life was in danger, Delaney noted.

  She looked down the hall. A deputy lounged outside Digger’s room. She hoped that as long as Digger was in the hospital, he was safe.

  THEY FOUND Digger in his room, sitting up in bed, yelling at a nurse. When the nurse saw her chance to escape, she scampered from the room.

  “When am I getting out of here, Winnie?” Digger demanded the moment he saw Delaney.

  She went to his side. “It’s Delaney, Digger.”

  He blinked a couple of times, then smiled. “Of course it is. You just remind me so much of your grandmother.” Digger motioned for Cooper to close the door. “What did you find at Johnson Gulch Lake?” he whispered conspiratorially. “You don’t think I’m losing my mind, too, do you, Winnie?”

  Cooper pulled up a chair for Delaney and another for himself beside Digger’s bed.

  “We did find odd tracks in the sand,” Delaney said, trying to give Digger some hope. “They looked like swim fins, as if someone had been swimming there.”

  The old prospector nodded an
d smiled. “I told you I saw them in the water. The space aliens. I never noticed their feet, though.”

  The early-morning sun spilled through the window, warm and bright. Delaney realized the normalcy of it made their discussion all that much more bizarre.

  “We definitely think you saw something,” Cooper said.

  “You remember Cooper McLeod,” Delaney said to Digger. “He’s my…” She started to say hired hand, but somewhere along the way he’d become much more than that. “Friend.”

  She saw Cooper smile at that and she looked away. Honestly, the man was incorrigible.

  “Did you hear a pickup engine that night?” Cooper asked.

  Digger’s face wrinkled in a frown. “Can’t say as I did. Can’t say as I didn’t. Tess was kicking up a fuss, noisier than the devil.” He looked at Delaney. “How is that old mule of mine doing? Better than me, I suspect.”

  “Tess is fine.” She started to say that the mule missed him, which she knew was probably true, but realized that would only make Digger want out of the hospital sooner.

  “Gus came again last night,” Digger said after a moment. He stared at the window; worry etched his face. “I told him I didn’t steal his gold, but he doesn’t believe me. He said he’d come back for revenge. And I imagine he’ll have it.”

  Delaney felt pulled between her loyalty to Digger and fear that these were only the hallucinations of a diseased mind. How could Gus have gotten in with the deputy outside Digger’s door? She tried to imagine Gus Halbrook. Gus had died so young. And so violently in the cave-in. It must have been horrible for Digger. She wondered if he felt guilty for what had happened and that was causing some of this.

  “It wasn’t your fault Gus got killed,” Delaney said, taking Digger’s old weathered hand.

  He smiled at her, tears in his eyes. “He was my friend. I should have been there with him. Maybe—”

  “Digger, would Gus go back to the mine?” Cooper asked.

  Delaney shot him a look of surprise. Gus? The mine?

  Digger turned his rheumy old eyes on McLeod. “You mean the Golden Dream?”

  Cooper nodded. “Wouldn’t he go back to the place where he died?”

  “I suspect he would.” He eyed Cooper with respect. “Young man, you’re thinkin’ that’s where we’d catch him, ain’t ya?”

  Cooper smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Can you tell me how to find the mine?”

  “Excuse me, even if you found it, my grandfather dynamited the entrance years ago,” Delaney interjected. Why was Cooper bringing this up now? Surely he didn’t believe Gus was back and on his way to the mine. He was beginning to sound like Digger.

  “There’s evil at that mine, Winnie,” Digger said. His gaze flickered around the room. Agitation showed in his features. “Pure hatin’ evil. Anyone who goes near there—”

  “Don’t worry, Digger, I’m not about to let Del—Winnie go there,” Cooper said. “The mine’s up Johnson Gulch, isn’t it?” Digger nodded. “Tell me about the other entrance.”

  Delaney stared at Cooper. “Another entrance?”

  “We got to stop Gus,” Digger said, digging in the drawer beside his bed. “What if he tries to hurt Winnie?”

  “That’s why you have to tell me where it is,” Cooper said. Digger handed him a bent-up, worn photograph.

  Delaney shook her head but said nothing. She knew it was the photo Digger still carried of his old friend; Gus’s face was barely visible anymore. She felt a chill, although the room was unusually hot, even with the air conditioning. What if the doctor was wrong about Digger’s delusions? Digger didn’t sound confused. If anything, his story had been consistent from the beginning. Space aliens. And Gus Halbrook back from the dead for revenge. Now even Cooper sounded as if he believed Digger. She hugged herself, afraid there might be more truth in Digger’s story than any of them had been willing to admit.

  “There was a boulder, a huge thing, and a massive old pine tree, as gnarled as my old hands,” Digger said hesitantly. “The entrance is small. Used to be covered in brush.”

  “The entrance is upstream of the lake, right?” Cooper asked.

  Digger nodded. “Up on the hillside. But you shouldn’t try to find it alone. Not with Gus out there.”

  Cooper patted Digger’s arm and thanked him. “Don’t worry.” But Delaney could tell Cooper was disappointed. With directions like that, he’d never be able to find the mine.

  “We found something else at the lake,” she said, rummaging into her bag. “It looks familiar to me.” She pulled out the antique spur. “Cooper thought you might—”

  Digger let out a gasp. He held up his hands as if to ward off something horrible. She looked down at the spur, the sapphire sparkling, then at Digger. But his gaze was on the window. Shadows waltzed into the room. “Gus.”

  “Gus?” Delaney actually turned, expecting to see an old prospector still covered with dirt from the grave. She felt a chill.

  “No, Gus! Not Winnie.” Digger clutched his chest. He seemed to be fighting for breath. His words came out in a hoarse whisper. “Revenge.” The alarm on the monitor beside the bed went off and Delaney could hear nurses running down the hall toward them.

  “What is it?” she cried.

  “I think he’s having a heart attack,” Cooper said, moving her back as the nurses rolled a cart into the room.

  “Oh, Cooper,” she cried, turning into the cowboy’s embrace. “He can’t die.”

  “IT WAS JUST AN anxiety attack,” the doctor told them a half hour later. “He’s resting comfortably.”

  “He scared me,” Delaney said. “One minute he was just fine and the next—”

  “He’s scaring himself,” the doctor said. “He’s convinced someone is trying to kill him. Someone named Gus. Do you know who that would be?”

  Delaney looked down at her boots. “Gus Halbrook. He was a prospector friend. Only, Gus died in the 1930s in a mine cave-in on the Rockin’ L.”

  The doctor nodded. “I suspected it was something like that. Well, don’t worry. We’ll see that he’s taken care of. I’ll run those tests.” Delaney nodded. “I’ll call you when I know something,” the doctor added.

  COOPER SUGGESTED they stop at the York Bar for a beer and a burger. He wanted to talk to Dude about the night before. He’d noticed a definite animosity between Dude and the sheriff and he was curious why, and having Delaney along might help. She still seemed shaken from what had happened at the hospital, and didn’t appear all that anxious to get back to the ranch.

  Dude wasn’t working. A petite blonde was behind the bar. She gave them a broad smile and a beer and took their orders.

  Delaney sipped her beer, worry etching her beautiful face. The bartender went to play some songs on the jukebox before she started their burgers. The place was empty this time of the day. It smelled of beer, worn wood and burgers, not an unpleasant aroma, Cooper thought.

  A soft, slow western song filled the barroom.

  “Digger’s going to be all right,” Cooper said, taking Delaney’s hand. “There’s nothing more we can do. What do you say to a dance?” She started to resist, but he gave her his best grin. “Look, there’s only one spot left for us.”

  She glanced over at the empty dance floor and smiled. “McLeod, you could charm the wind out of the trees.”

  He laughed as he pulled her into his arms. Holding her was becoming a habit he thought he could get used to. She felt so right. He wondered how he would ever be able to give her up. But he knew his past was eventually going to catch up with him and then…He looked into her dark eyes and wished he could tell her the truth.

  “Why were you asking Digger about the Golden Dream Mine?”

  He shrugged. “With Digger going on about Gus and strange happenings at Johnson Gulch Lake, I thought it might all tie up somehow. And that I could put it together and—”

  “And solve all my problems.” She laughed. “You’re a romantic at heart, McLeod.”

 
He grinned. “Yeah. That’s me.”

  They moved slowly to the music, their bodies in unison. He felt her breasts, soft and full, against his chest. Desire spread through him. He saw it reflected in Delaney’s dark eyes, in the way she molded her body to his. The music drifted with them, part of them. He kissed her, then traced her lips with the tip of his tongue. She moaned softly as the song ended.

  “Well, well, well, isn’t this an interesting sight.”

  Cooper looked up to find Jared standing in the doorway of the bar. The smile on his face couldn’t disguise the meanness in his eyes. “Let me buy you two lovebirds a drink.”

  “Thanks, but we were just about to have lunch,” Cooper said as he and Delaney returned to the bar.

  “Oh, that’s too bad.” Jared studied Delaney openly for a moment. Cooper couldn’t help but notice the animosity between them. He wondered just how badly their date had gone.

  “You haven’t forgotten about my rodeo Saturday,” Jared said to Delaney. “McLeod told you he’s riding saddle bronc, didn’t he?”

  Cooper saw the look of disbelief on Delaney’s face. He groaned under his breath. Damn. He’d never be able to convince her he wasn’t just like her father, that rodeoing had been one of the last things on his mind since he’d met her. But he had to admit, just the thought of riding Hell’s Fire excited him.

  DELANEY COULDN’T believe her ears. She shot Cooper a look, expecting him to deny it. Instead he gave her a shrug and a grin. They never changed! Once they got rodeo in their blood—She kicked at the leg of her barstool and swore to herself.

  “It’s just a one-time thing,” Cooper said, obviously thinking that would calm her down.

  “And what if you get hurt?” she demanded. “Or killed? I’ll have to find a new hand, won’t I.”

  Jared laughed. “Tarnation, Del, new hands are a dime a dozen, but a man who can ride Hell’s Fire, well, that’s some kind of man.”

  “Hell’s Fire?” she cried. “Isn’t that the wild bronc you bought for this rodeo? The horse no one’s been able to ride yet?”

  Jared smiled. “That’s right, Del.”