Dangerous (24 page)
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Ruby McKenzie knelt beside her cousin Caroline in the Texas dirt and gazed down at the campsite. The fire barely glowed in the pre-dawn light. She loved her life. She loved what she did for a living.
“Were you nervous the first time?” Caroline asked her voice soft and trembling.
God, sometimes she just wanted to shake the girl. How could she ever expect men to respect her with a voice more suited for the bedroom? “No. I couldn’t wait. I wanted my first man so bad, I was eager to tackle the job.”
Ruby’s occupation was a lonely, dangerous one. One she’d learned after her father had died, saddling her and her beloved sisters with a bank note on their farm and no skills to earn a living. So they’d become bounty hunters. Hunting criminals for cash.
“The man laying in front of the fire is the man on the wanted poster,” Caroline said, gazing down at the camp below them. “But I don’t recognize the other man.”
Ruby glanced over at Caroline, her cousin’s black as midnight hair was braided down her back, making her look almost like an Indian squaw with her dark coloring. She was beautiful and sophisticated and much too soft for the job. This was her first hunt and Ruby worried, was she ready for the action? The possibility of having to use her gun? Could she protect Ruby in a gunfight?
She sighed and peered down in the darkness trying to discern the features of the second man. “There’s no way of knowing who that second man is until we get down there. He could be a bounty we hadn’t planned on collecting.”
“Or not,” Caroline whispered.
“Relax,” Ruby said squirming, an itchiness to get started making it hard for her to sit still. She couldn’t wait to get down there and snap up another criminal. Maybe even two.
“How are we going to do this?” Caroline asked licking her lips nervously. “It’s almost morning. The sun should soon be rising.”
“Once we catch them, we’re two hours from town. We’ll turn them into the sheriff in Dyersville and be on our way,” Ruby said pushing back her blonde curls away from her face. Excitement pulsed through her veins as she prepared herself mentally to capture these men. She could hardly wait to slap the rope around their wrists, but maybe that would be better for Caroline to handle. “Let’s go over the plan.”
Caroline bobbed her head, her eyes large in the moonlight. “What do I do?”
“We’re going to walk into their camp with our guns drawn. You tie them up while I hold my gun on them. You’ve got to be quick before they start to think we’re just a couple of women and they try to disarm us. I don’t want to shoot our guy, but I will if I have to.”
“What kind of knots do I tie? A bow or a square knot? How tight around their wrists? I don’t want to hurt them if I don’t have too.”
The words sent uneasiness flowing through Ruby. Why had her sister, Meg decided now was the time to fall in love and marry the Sheriff? They were great partners and she’d left Ruby stuck with a novice like Caroline. “Just tie a knot that keeps them from getting loose. I’ll double check them once you’re done.”
“Oh,” she said biting her lip. “So, we burst into their camp with our guns drawn and tell them, we’re bringing them to justice. Then I approach the men and pull their hands back behind their back and tie a rope around their wrists?”
“You’re over thinking this. Are you sure you can handle tying them up?”
What if they got into the situation and Caroline froze? How would Ruby be able to save both of them if she got scared?
Caroline inhaled enough air for a battalion of soldiers. “I think so. But what if they grab me? What if they pull their guns on us? What if they shoot at us?”
“Calm down and take a deep breath, Caroline. I don’t need you hyperventilating on me.”
Ruby watched as Caroline sucked in more leisurely air and released it slowly. She did it several times. “Better. When we charge into camp I will tell them to throw down their weapons. I’ll collect the guns while you keep your six-shooter trained on them. Once I have their guns, then I will hold them at gunpoint while you tie them up.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t like this. I’ll hold the gun on them, while you collect the guns and tie them up. I’m afraid to get too close.”
“All right,” Ruby said her tone clearly frustrated. But she had to make certain whatever job she gave Caroline could handle. Right now she wasn’t certain Caroline wouldn’t get them both killed. “You’re as nervous as a prostitute in church.”
Caroline’s body stiffened, placed her hands on her hips and gave Ruby a haughty glare. “Now, Ruby there’s no need to get nasty. Don’t be using prostitute and church in the same sentence. That’s just not nice.”
Ruby wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained. Caroline had always been a little uppity. Well in this business, there was no place for airs. Working alone had to be simpler than training this novice. “Concentrate on us getting the bounty.”
“Okay,” she said taking a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll keep my gun trained on the bad guys while you pick up their guns and tie them up.”
“Correct. Now let’s get going before it gets any lighter.”
“Just let me get my horse.”
“No, we’re walking.”
“But what about my mare?” she said her eyes widening like she’d lost her best friend.
Really? She thought Ruby was going to walk all the way to Dyersville? That she would leave their horses behind. The next time she saw Meg, she was going to tell her marriage and motherhood better be well worth the sacrifice.
“You’ll come back for the horses.”
“Oh. Okay.” Caroline stood slowly and glanced around almost like she wanted to run. Like anything would be better than capturing this bounty.
“Come on, after this first time, it’ll be a piece of cake. You’ll wonder why you were so nervous.”
“I hope so. Because right now that pig farmer is starting to look a little better.”
“Soon you’ll start to enjoy the chase. The rush of excitement you get every time after you catch one of these guys and the sense of gratification when you collect the money. You’ll soon love this life as much as I do.”
Of course, Annabelle, Ruby’s other sister had hated being a bounty hunter. And after she’d chased Beau only to learn he was a Pinkerton Agent, she’d given up the profession. Now, she was expecting her first child.
What was it with her sisters? They went bounty hunting, came home married and soon were pregnant. That would never happen to her.
Ruby watched Caroline shaking her head. “I don’t know. Maybe I should have stayed in Zenith and married that pig farmer. At least I wasn’t risking life and limb.”
“You think not? You would have slowly died from boredom. I’m waiting for the day my sisters come to me and tell me they are bored out of their minds. Men do that to you. Crawl inside your skin and mesmerize you with their soft words and silky lies. You’re not going to fall for that.”
Ruby couldn’t believe her two sisters were married and both expecting babies. Marriage and men, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with either. The taste of men she’d experienced was enough to swear off of them forever. Men were easily deceived, would pay for kisses, assumed the worst about a girl and couldn’t be trusted. Nope she wanted nothing to do with the opposite sex, except to bring him into justice and collect the bounty. And she’d do the same if a woman had a price on her head.
“Are you ready,” Ruby said rising from the ground. She dusted off the split skirt Meg had fashioned for her. She loved how she could ride like a man, but it looked like a skirt.
“Yes,” Caroline said pulling back her shoulders, lifting her head. “I’m going to earn a living on my own without the aid of a husband.”
“That’s the spirit. We don’t need men,” Ruby said.
“Especially not a pig farmer,” Caroline said her voice whispery soft.
God, if only she could toughen up this woman’s image. She talked like she was about to attend a tea party, not haul in a wanted criminal.
End of Excerpt
Second Chances at Love Can Be Deadly
Meg McKenzie has been responsible for her sisters since she was twelve when her mother died. While she longs to have a normal life like all young women, she must dress in pants and take on a man’s job as a bounty hunter in order to provide for her sisters. In this western historical romance, she has her pistols set on one last bounty to pay off the farm and began to live her dream. But one man stands in her way. One man that can’t see past her bounty hunter façade to see the true woman inside.
Sheriff Zach Gillespie has a secret. In the small Texas town of Zenith, there is only one woman who could calf rope his heart. Unfortunately, Meg McKenzie has the opportunity to expose his secret to the world. In the past, she’d already left him vulnerable, naked, and tied up and now she’s on the prowl again. He must choose what kind of man he is, a law-abiding sheriff or an on the run outlaw. Will her belief in him lead him down the right path? Will she give him a second chance to show he’s the only man for her?
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In Fort Worth, Texas, Rose Severin, runs a seance parlor where she speaks to the dead or at least she pretends to until she can earn enough money to get out of this cowboy town and become a famous actress like her mother. Travis Burnett is resolved to rid the western town of imposters like Rose. But Eugenia thinks the fiery Rose is just the woman for her obstinate son. She schemes to keep Rose at the family ranch where Travis soon realizes that the supposed spiritualist is more than just a pretty swindler.
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Copyright © 2015 by Sylvia McDaniel
All Rights Reserved
Published by Virtual Bookseller, LLC
Cover Art by Lyndsey Lewellen
Edited by Andrea Grimm
Release date: February 2015
This book and parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author and publisher, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
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