wished all her worries could wash away with the water. As she stood in her father’s house, on the ranch he’d bequeathed to her, she wondered if she’d done the right thing bringing Lily here.
She’d come to start over and to find answers. For one, what did the key fit? The video had been all static and with a brief glimpse of her father, but it cut off before her father could tell her what the key belonged to. Her father’s letter left instructions for her to get help from the only man he trusted, Hank Derringer, the owner of the Raging Bull Ranch in Wild Oak Canyon. He’d help her with whatever she needed.
She hadn’t called Mr. Derringer at first, taking a day to digest the fact that her father hadn’t died when her mother had told her. The news had been so shocking that it took that long for it to sink in. Contacting his trusted friend was the furthest thing from her mind.
Until someone broke into her apartment in Houston while she had been at work and Lily had been at day care.
When she’d come home to find the apartment she and Lily had called home for four years looking as if the place had been tossed in a Texas-size salad bowl, she’d been angry and scared.
How dare someone break into her home? Kate knew she couldn’t stay in the apartment, not after it had been violated and especially not knowing the reason. Nothing had been taken, as far as she could tell.
She’d packed up her daughter, boxed their belongings and headed west to Wild Oak Canyon and the Flying K Ranch to find the answers. How permanent this move proved to be was up to what she found, but she’d quit her job and given up her lease before she left. Either way, she couldn’t go back and pick up where she’d left off.
Alone in the world except for Lily, Kate had turned to the phone number of the stranger her father had recommended.
Hank Derringer had answered on the first ring. He’d tried to talk her out of coming to Wild Oak Canyon. When she’d insisted, he’d promised to send a cowboy to her, one who could help her get the ranch back up and running and provide the protection she and Lily needed. Her cowboy would be there before they turned in for the night. Or so Hank had promised. Kate wondered what kind of protection she needed on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere.
She’d waited as long as she could to take her shower and still the cowboy hadn’t arrived and probably wouldn’t until morning.
When the water grew tepid, Kate turned it off and grabbed for the fluffy white towel she’d unearthed from one of the boxes she’d brought with her in the moving van. Bent over, her head upside down to wrap her long hair in the towel, her hands froze. Was that a sound downstairs?
She strained to listen.
Nothing.
Kate shrugged, worried her imagination was getting the better of her. She continued towel drying her hair when something crashed below and a low curse followed.
Her breath caught on a gasp and her pulse raced. She’d turned out the lights on the main floor and locked all the doors before she and Lily had come up for the night. Whoever was down there was moving around in the dark. Inside the house.
Kate wrapped the towel around her and ran into the master bedroom she’d planned to share with Lily the first night until she could prepare another room just for her daughter.
Lily lay sound asleep, oblivious to the danger, the only light in the room the glow from the open bathroom door.
With nowhere to run, Kate quietly gathered her daughter, blankets and all, and hurried to the closet where she’d hung all of the clothing she’d brought with her next to those of her father’s. Kate thanked her lucky stars that Lily slept soundly. The little girl didn’t stir as Kate laid her down in the back corner of the closet, tucking the blankets around her, blocking her from view.
Once she had her daughter hidden, Kate tiptoed back to the nightstand, slid the drawer open and removed the 9 mm Glock she’d brought with her.
A board creaked on the stairs, sending Kate scurrying toward the door where she eased it closed.
Her hands shook as she alternated between holding up her towel and balancing the pistol. She wished she’d had time to dress, wishing more that she’d loaded the weapon. She prayed that the sight of it would scare a trespasser into leaving without hurting her or Lily. On second thought, she turned the gun around and held it by the barrel. Hitting the man would be better than pointing an unloaded pistol.
The doors down the hallway opened one by one. Kate held her breath as the intruder made his way toward the room she and Lily occupied. What she wouldn’t give for cell phone reception.
Though, what good would it do when the sheriff wouldn’t reach her ranch for fifteen to twenty minutes? She was on her own.
Where was the cowboy? Why hadn’t he arrived already? Was the man moving down the hallway her cowboy? If he was, he had a lot of nerve barging in and sneaking around. He deserved the same as any thief and Kate would give it to him.
With Lily in the closet and her own hands shaking, Kate couldn’t chance it. She had to divert attention and get the attacker away from the room where her daughter lay sleeping.
Kate prayed the man would give up and go away.
As she watched in horror, the doorknob turned. She wished it had a lock on it she could twist to buy her a little more time. Maybe not having a lock would work out for the better. She raised her arms and waited, her breath caught and held.
A dark figure stepped through the door. The man wore a ski mask. Anyone in a ski mask meant trouble.
As soon as his head cleared the entrance, Kate slammed the butt of the pistol down on his skull so hard the gun bounced out of her hands and skittered across the floor.
The man lurched forward and dropped to his knees.
Kate flung the door wide and leaped past the intruder.
Before she could take two steps, a large hand snagged her ankle.
Her forward momentum brought her down hard, knocking the breath from her lungs. She clawed at the carpet, kicking with all her might with her free foot, landing a couple hard heels in the attacker’s face.
His grip loosened and Kate scrambled to her feet, running as fast as she could for the stairs, thankful and terrified when she heard the intruder’s footsteps behind her.
She had to get the man as far away from Lily as possible. If he hurt Kate, maybe he’d leave her for dead and never find the little girl hiding in the closet.
Kate took the stairs two at a time, missing the last one, toppling to the floor and wasting precious seconds.
The man above her came crashing down the steps and leaped over the railing to land beside her.
Kate swallowed her scream, fearing she’d wake Lily. She rolled to the side, her fingers wrapping around the cord of a lamp.
She yanked the lamp toward her, grabbed the base and turned in time to see the man flying at her. He landed on top of her, knocking the wind from her.
With her hand still around the base of the lamp, Kate swung as hard as she could. The ceramic lamp made contact with the ski mask and bounced off, crashing to the
