Outlawed! Page 20

  Jared studied the ground but didn’t say anything.

  “You want to tell me what kind of deal you made with Burton Mining? I have a feeling the will changes your plans as well as Ty’s,” she said, anger making her voice break.

  Jared let out a long sigh and looked again into the darkness. “Not that it’s any of your business, Del, but I’ve been considering selling my ranch.”

  “And what about my ranch? Did you make a deal for it, as well?”

  “Del, it’s been a long day,” the sheriff said. “We’re all tired, so I’m going to overlook your behavior.”

  Delaney’s eyes flashed like lightning in a bad thunderstorm. Cooper stepped over to touch her arm, afraid of what she was going to do next. She jerked her arm free, her gaze still locked on the sheriff, the threat clear in those dark eyes of hers.

  “If I find out you’re behind any of this—” She turned and mounted her horse. Without another word, she galloped down the road toward the ranch house.

  Cooper mounted up and rode after her.

  DELANEY HEARD Cooper come into the barn behind her. “I need to talk to you, Delaney,” he said softly.

  His tone made her heart feel as if someone were squeezing the life out of it. She feared what he had to tell her, feared it would break her heart and leave neither of them a choice.

  “You hungry?” she asked as she led her horse to a stall.

  “Dammit, Delaney, food is the last thing I have on my mind right now.”

  “I make the best chicken enchiladas you’ve ever tasted,” she said, unable to hide the pleading in her voice as she turned to face him. “And I never talk on an empty stomach.”

  They unsaddled their horses in the cool silence of the barn. Delaney watched Cooper out of the corner of her eye, loving him, wanting him. Did it matter what he’d done in the past? She didn’t want to know, but he was hell-bent on telling her. Whatever he had to confess, it was bad, she knew that in her heart.

  She swung her saddle up onto the stall railing and turned to find him standing, his thumbs hooked in the front pockets of his jeans, his hat tipped back slightly, his blue-eyed gaze on her. “Coop.” It came out a whisper. A plea.

  Cooper stepped to her and took her in his arms, crushing her to him. “Delaney. My precious, Delaney.” She hugged him, her arms wrapped around him with a fierceness that frightened him.

  He knew he’d never be free of the aching desire inside him to hold her. Never. Just as he knew, no matter what happened here tonight, that he’d never get over loving this woman.

  “Let’s go up to the house,” he said, taking her hand in his.

  DELANEY FELT her heart break. It snapped like a branch in a strong wind. As he told her, she listened, knowing somewhere in her heart that he’d been too good to be true right from the start.

  “I was twenty-two and working on a ranch in Wyoming,” Cooper said quietly.

  He had insisted she sit on the couch. He’d gone to stand by the fireplace, his body tense, and she was again reminded of a mountain cat. About to spring.

  “Accidents started happening on the ranch.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes widening with the sudden rapid beat of her heart.

  “At first they seemed like accidents,” he said, his gaze avoiding hers. “Then the barn burned down and I decided to get the hell out of there.” He looked up at her. “You know me. Always running. Well, I got blamed for it, and since I couldn’t prove I didn’t cause the accidents, I went to jail.”

  “Did you do it?” she asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

  He shook his head. “But after that I had trouble getting jobs. I rode the circuit for a while. And then I got an offer from a company called Rattlesnake Range.”

  She stared at him. “Not the same Rattlesnake Range—”

  He nodded. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but my little brush with the law was what attracted them to me. And looking back, I think they probably set me up for the fall to begin with.”

  “You work for Rattlesnake Range?” she asked, her voice breaking, along with her heart. It was all so clear now. So damned clear.

  He turned to face her. “Yes.”

  She felt her heart plummet. Angry tears rushed her eyes. “That’s why you came to my ranch.”

  He didn’t deny it, as she’d hoped he would, prayed he would.

  “I came to make you an offer.”

  “One I couldn’t refuse, no doubt.” She glared at him as she got to her feet. “So you were behind my so-called accidents.”

  “No, Delaney.”

  He reached for her, but she stepped back out of his grasp. His blue eyes darkened, just as they did when he made love to her.

  “There was a mix-up. I wasn’t even supposed to get this ranch assignment. I stayed on just to make sure everything went according to plan.”

  “And what was the plan, Cooper? Scare me out? If that didn’t work, kill me?”

  He shook his head. She saw the pain in his eyes but refused to let it soften her heart to him. “I’m not the first, am I, Cooper?”

  “I won’t lie to you,” he said. “I’ve done things on other ranches I’m not proud of. I’ve persuaded people to sell. I never cared what happened to them or their ranches. But I never burned any barns or threatened anyone’s life.” He held her gaze. “This was going to be my last job for Rattlesnake Range. I would have had enough money after this assignment to buy my own ranch. But when I met you, everything changed. I started wondering about the ranches and the people I helped take them from. I started caring. About you. About what I was doing with my life.”

  She stared at him, unable to think about anything but the ranches he’d taken, the ranchers he’d conned. “So who’s behind the accidents on my ranch if not you?”

  “I don’t know. That’s one reason I stayed around at first. To find out. I didn’t want to see you hurt.”

  “Hurt?” She laughed, unable to hide her bitterness. “Don’t you know that finding out you work for Rattlesnake Range would hurt me? Knowing that’s why you got close to me, just to take my ranch away from me, would hurt me?”

  “Maybe that’s why I did at first, but—” He slashed his hand through the air. Pain welled in his eyes. “Good God, Delaney, can’t you see that I love you? That I’d die for you?” He met her gaze, not flinching as she glared at him. “Why do you think I had to tell you the truth? Don’t you think it would be easier to go on lying if all I wanted was your ranch? I’m quitting Rattlesnake Range. I’m quitting because of you. Hell, I didn’t even earn my commission for this job anyway.” He stepped closer. She moved back out of his reach, knowing that if he touched her now, she’d shatter like thin, old glass. “I knew we couldn’t go on from here, without you knowing who I really am.”

  “’Go on from here’?” she asked with a shaky laugh. “And where is it you think we’re going, McLeod?”

  He stared at her. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to lose you. You said you loved me.”

  “I didn’t know who you were then,” she said, pain making her heart ache.

  “And now that you know?”

  “How could I possibly be in love with a man who came here to steal my ranch from me?” Her voice broke. “How could I ever trust you?” Tears rushed her eyes; she bit her lip, desperately trying not to cry. She stared at him, wanting to hurl angry words at him, wanting to pound her fists against his chest, wanting him to take her into his arms and hold her and never let her go.

  “I want you off my property by morning,” she said. It came out a hoarse whisper. “I want you out of my life.”

  He picked up his hat with an obvious reluctance from the chair where he’d thrown it. Then he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him with a finality that broke her heart.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cooper awoke the next morning, after a restless night, to find Delaney nowhere around. Her pickup was still parked in front of the house, but she didn’t answer the door. When
he checked the barn, he found her horse and saddle were gone.

  All night he’d thought of nothing but her and ways to get her back. He’d hoped that with the morning light she’d change her mind about him leaving. But he couldn’t help thinking about the defeated look he’d seen in her eyes last night. He knew he’d destroyed her trust in him. Yet there had to be a way he could get it back, that he could prove to her his love, his loyalty.

  He’d lain awake most of the night, wondering how he could make things right with her. How he could make her trust him again. Just before dawn he realized he couldn’t make Delaney do anything. But he’d hoped that if he could see her this morning before he left, maybe talk to her, hold her in his arms—He swore as he remembered how easily his charm had worked on other women. But Delaney wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known. Or would ever know.

  He packed up everything and was just about to load Crazy Jack into the horse trailer, when he heard the phone ring inside the house.

  The front door was open, so he let himself in and hurried to answer it, hoping it might be Delaney calling from the York Bar or—

  ”Where’s Del?” Jared asked irritably.

  “I don’t know,” Cooper said, unwilling to tell the sheriff even if he had known.

  “Well, tell her Digger’s taken off. He left the hospital sometime during the night. No one’s seen him since he was rantin’ and ravin’ about Gus Halbrook coming back for revenge. Tell Del she’d best do somethin’ about that old man before the county has to.” He hung up.

  Cooper stared at the phone for a moment, cursing Jared under his breath. He started to put the receiver back, when he remembered there was something he had to do.

  “I just thought I should let you know, it’s over,” Cooper told Thorn Jamison when he came on the line. “Delaney found the will that leaves her everything, including the ranch and the mineral rights. And she isn’t selling. So call off your agent. Now.”

  “I see,” Thom said. “Can I assume that if we don’t, we’ll be fighting you, as well?”

  Cooper smiled to himself, wishing the lie he was about to tell were true. “Yeah, you can assume that, Thom. And you might want to tell the board that I’ve officially quit.”

  “What about that ranch you were planning to buy? You won’t have enough money now.”

  Cooper glanced around the room, seeing Delaney everywhere he looked. “It doesn’t matter anymore.” He was sacrificing his dream, but it was worth it. He had something more valuable, but he knew Thorn wouldn’t understand even if he tried to explain it to him.

  “You were good, Coop.”

  “Too good. Goodbye Thom.”

  “Good luck. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”

  Cooper hung up, worrying what the businessmen at Rattlesnake Range would do now. Probably send their agent to tie up all the loose ends. Cooper McLeod was at the top of that list.

  DELANEY RACED with the wind, her hair whirling behind her, the horse’s hooves pounding the baked clay. She rode as if the devil himself chased close behind her. In truth, he did.

  The devil in blue jeans. Wearing Cooper McLeod’s handsome face. Grinning Cooper’s grin. And calling her name. She rode faster, determined to outrun any thought of the cowboy. Riding had always calmed her, cleared her mind so she could think. It’s what she did to solve problems. To get over hurts. To find herself.

  But this morning all the ride did was make her think of Cooper. Of the way he looked straddling a horse; or standing against the horizon; his eyes as blue as the big sky; his body as familiar now as the land that stretched to that horizon. She brought her horse up and sat looking at her land. Once the deep green pines against the rocky bluffs and miles of reddish brown clay had offered her contentment. This morning they served only as a reminder of what the ranch would be like without Cooper in her life. She saw an emptiness she’d never noticed in the big sky before. A hollowness that echoed across the hard, dry clay. And no matter how hard or fast she rode, she couldn’t seem to outrun it.

  Delaney didn’t even realize where she was until she heard a vehicle coming up the county road. She looked up, surprised to find she’d ridden to Cooper’s old camp at the far side of the ranch. She stared at the stand of pines on the other side of the fence, remembering the night she’d driven him back here. It seemed like a lifetime ago instead of just days.

  The vehicle she’d heard slowed, then came to a stop at the edge of the road. Delaney saw that it was a dark-colored van. Angel rolled down the passenger side window.

  “I was just on my way to your place,” the writer said.

  She sounded a little shaken, and she looked as if she’d just woken up. The dark sunglasses she wore made her face seem especially pale.

  “Have they found Buck?” Delaney asked hopefully.

  Angel shook her head and Delaney realized why Angel looked so different. This was the first time she’d seen the woman without a mountain of makeup. Her hair, which normally was sculpted to perfection around her face, was pulled back in a no-nonsense twist at her neck.

  “And they’re not going to find Buck,” Angel said, close to tears. “Buck sent me to get you. He has to talk to you. He said it’s urgent.”

  Delaney felt a surge of relief. “Is he all right? Where is he?”

  “He called me this morning.”

  Angel sounded frightened and a little breathless, Delaney realized.

  “He told me to come get you and take you to him.” She lifted the glasses long enough to brush at her tears. “He’s in some kind of trouble, isn’t he?”

  “I think so,” Delaney said. “The sheriff and his posse have been looking for him all night.”

  “Why?” Angel asked, surprised.

  “His horse turned up without him and—” Delaney hesitated to tell her about the blood she and Cooper had found on the saddle or about the dredging for gold in the lake. “When was the last time you saw Buck?”

  Angel frowned. “Yesterday at Jared’s rodeo. I had to leave early to do some research. I was at the Helena library until it closed. Why?”

  “I just thought you might have seen Buck sometime last night,” Delaney said. She’d just assumed Angel had been the other diver.

  “I didn’t even know Buck was missing until this morning when he told me he was hiding out and that you were the only person he could trust,” Angel said, as if she wasn’t so sure about that. “You’re going to help him, aren’t you?”

  The desperation in Angel’s voice made Delaney wonder if she’d misjudged the woman. Maybe she actually did care for Buck. “Of course I’m going to help him.”

  “He insisted we come alone,” Angel warned. “He sounded scared.”

  Delaney nodded. “Meet me at his place up the road. I’ll leave my horse there.”

  Without waiting for a response, Delaney spurred her horse into motion and took off across the pasture. As she rode, she hoped mining gold illegally was the only trouble Buck was in. She had a bad feeling it wasn’t.

  AFTER HE’D HUNG UP with Thom, Cooper wandered into the living room, not certain what to do about the news on Digger. He had no doubt that the old prospector was headed for the Golden Dream mine in the hope of sending Gus back to the grave. The problem was, Cooper didn’t have any idea where to find the mine. Cooper smiled as a thought struck him. He couldn’t leave the Rockin’ L as long as Digger was missing. He knew it was just an excuse to maybe see Delaney again. But at this point, he’d take anything he could get.

  Not that he wasn’t genuinely worried about Digger. While he doubted Gus had returned from the grave, someone dangerous was definitely out there. And he had a feeling Digger knew who it was.

  The photo albums Delaney had gotten out for Angel were still stacked on the coffee table. He picked up one and opened it. Just as he’d thought, the albums were full of old photographs of the ranch. He started looking through them, hoping to find a photograph of the Golden Dream. Instead he found photographs of Delaney as a baby. Wild dar
k hair around the face of an angel. Cooper smiled as he caught that familiar twinkle in her eyes. Pure mischief. He thumbed through the book, watching Delaney grow, fascinated to see her go from a child to a beautiful woman.

  Seldom was she without a horse in any of the photos. Her love for this ranch and her life-style were what had first suckered him in, he realized. He cursed himself for blowing it with her and wondered where she was. Probably hiding out, waiting for him to leave.

  Closing the album, Cooper picked up what looked like an older snapshot book.

  Bingo. Photographs of old miners. His heart pounded with hope. Maybe there were photos of the Golden Dream, something that would give him at least an idea where to look for Digger.

  He was flipping through the book, when one of the photographs stopped him. It was a yellowed snapshot of a cowboy sleeping at the base of a large gnarled old tree, his hat over his face, his clothing dirty and worn as if he’d been working. But it wasn’t the tree that captured Cooper’s eye or the gaping mine entrance behind him. It was the man’s spurs. They were identical to the one that Delaney found in Johnson Gulch Lake. He turned the photograph over. A date was written in faded ink. Nineteen thirty-four. And a name. Gus Halbrook.

  DELANEY TURNED her horse into Buck’s corral with the other two horses and threw her saddle onto the fence railing. Angel waited in the van, looking worried.

  When Delaney climbed into the passenger seat, she noticed Angel fidgeting with the hem of her jean jacket. The scent of her perfume reminded Delaney of Buck’s pickup that night he’d given her a ride home.

  “Whatever trouble Buck is in, we’ll do the best we can to get him out of it,” Delaney said, hoping she sounded more confident of that than she felt.

  Angel gave her a trembly smile as she got the van going, and Delaney had an odd wave of apprehension. She shook it off, blaming it on Angel’s obvious nervousness. On Cooper’s leaving. Cooper. By now he’d be gone. Her heart cramped with the thought. It was for the best, she assured herself. It would never have worked out. Never. And yet, suddenly she wished she’d told someone, even Cooper, where she was going. Except she didn’t even know herself.