Montana Hearts (22 page)

“What about me?” Delaney demanded.

“You're unarmed and staying back here.”

She held up her bow. “I am
not
unarmed.”

Her father gave her a skeptical look, then turned toward him
.
“Jace, you stay with her.”

“She's not going anywhere without me,” he promised, then watched as the groups slowly circled the mine like a pack of wolves.

Delaney nodded toward an outcropping of rock a few feet away. “C'mon,” she said, her earnest expression pulling him along as much as her hand. “Let's move closer.”

Except closer didn't mean stopping behind the rocks. A moment later, she took off toward another grouping, then another, and he had no choice but to follow her and hope neither one of them were either seen or heard.

“There's my grandma,” Delaney choked out in a whisper as they crouched behind an old rusted piece of mining equipment with a large pulley and metal base. “And there's the sheriff. We thought maybe the Randalls had tricked Grandma into only
thinking
she had a date with him, but he's here. I can't believe he could betray her like this.” Glancing at her watch, she added, “There's only five minutes left before it's four o'clock.”

“Your father said you are
not
going out there to face them,” he reminded her. “They said they'd handle it if they have to.”

“If they go in with a bunch of guns, someone's going to get hurt,” she argued.

Gavin McKinley walked into view and spoke to Isaac Woolly and the Randalls, who stood by the sheriff. Each of them held a pistol but it was the sheriff who kept his gun on Ruth Collins. They'd tied a rope around her hands, another around her feet, and placed a gag around her mouth, but she stood erect, so at least she wasn't sitting in the snow. Sadly, she wore dress slacks and a stylish black winter coat and matching fuzzy hat, as if she'd dressed to go someplace special.

“It's time,” Gavin said, marching toward Ruth. “The weather's taken a turn for the worse and the Collinses aren't going to show.”

“Wait a minute,” the sheriff said, holding out his hand. “We're not really going to shoot her?”

“Yeah, we
are
,” Gavin said with a half snarl as he narrowed his gaze.

Jace swallowed hard. He believed the man
would
. Glancing around for a sign of the Tanners or the rest of the Collinses, he didn't see any movement and wondered where they were. Didn't they see what was happening here?

Jace cast a glance at Delaney and did a double take. He'd been so preoccupied looking for the others he didn't see what Delaney had been doing beside
him
. She'd placed the tip of an arrow through the deed, loaded it onto her bow, and prepared to shoot. Then she let go of the string and with a sharp
twang
the arrow flew into the air with the attached paper and stuck up straight in the ground five feet in front of the group of kidnappers.

“Good shot,” he murmured, and Delaney flashed him a quick smile.

Gavin glanced around, his gun at the ready, then motioned toward the rusted mining wheel in front of them. “It came from over there.”

A jolt of adrenaline shot up his spine and he realized Delaney had just given away their location. “We've got to get out of here,” he whispered, pulling her arm.

She nodded and together they scrambled back the way they had come. But when they dove behind the original outcropping of rocks, two rifle tips snapped to attention in front of them. For a heart-­stopping second, he thought their lives were over.

A guy Jace recognized as one of Gavin's men said, “Drop the gun.”

Not seeing he had another option, Jace complied, even though it left him and Del dangerously defenseless. With an inward groan, he realized that when she said she had a plan, he should have insisted she share it with him.

G
AVIN
M
C
K
I
N
L
E
Y
'
S
M
A
N
kept a tight grip on Delaney's arm and pulled her forward toward the outfitter himself. She'd dropped her bow when Jace dropped his gun, and wished she'd thought to wear a boot knife, but she hadn't thought things through before she left her house that day.

Obviously she hadn't thought things through when she shot the deed to the kidnappers on the end of her arrow either. Now she'd placed them in danger, for she feared that anyone who could kill an animal just for the value of its horns wouldn't care about ­people either.

She glanced over at Jace as he was pushed forward by another of Gavin's men.

“You were told to come alone,” Gavin complained, eyeing Jace by her side. “Although I guess none of us believed you would.”

“Her father must be here somewhere,” Wade Randall warned. “There's no stopping that old coot. He never listens to anyone but himself.”

“Hurry,” Susan hissed. “We need to have the old woman sign the paper and get out of here.”

“Wade Randall!” Delaney heard her father's voice bellow as he stepped out from behind the sheriff's truck and joined them, unarmed.

Susan smirked. “What are you calling him for? This was
my
idea.”

“Actually, it was
mine
,” Gavin said, keeping his gun leveled at Delaney's father. “I'm the one who came up with the idea to drive away your business to make you sell. You see, I need that river, Jed, and all those nice cabins of yours to expand my outfitting business.”

“You?” her father sputtered. “But the Randalls hired the others who sabotaged us all summer long.”

Gavin nodded. “And I hired
them
.”

Delaney's father looked at her, his face full of concern. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, then Gavin ordered, “Hands in the air, Jed.”

Her father raised his hands and Gavin motioned for him to join her and Jace. Unfortunately, they were separated from her grandma, who stood on the other side of the group.

“Let Delaney and her grandma go free,” her father barked. “You have what you want.”

“Not yet, we don't,” Isaac Woolly said. Pulling the arrow Delaney had shot out of the ground, he removed the deed, and placed it on the large overturned mining cart beside them. “Who has a pen?”

“I do,” Susan said as Wade untied Delaney's grandma's hands and feet and brought her over to sign the document.

“Don't forget to have her write a letter to go along with it,” Gavin instructed. “One that says she's decided to sell the designated land to the named buyer because her family is greedy and they want to force her to divide her ranch between them.”

“If anyone is greedy, it's you,” Delaney's father barked, coming forward. Two of Gavin's men held him back.

Delaney's heart pounded as she watched her grandma take the pen the Randalls handed her and sign the paper. Her grandma's hands were shaking. Usually it was her grandma who was the tough, strong one, but Delaney had seen Grandma glance her direction, and her father's, and knew the old woman wasn't afraid for herself. Her grandma was afraid for
them
.

“I'll sign next,” Susan said, grabbing the pen. Except the writing implement slipped out of her hands and fell on the ground.

As she scrambled to pick it up, her husband yelled, “Susan, we can't waste any more time!”

“The pen is
slippery
,” Susan said, fumbling it again. “There's some kind of cream on it.”

Grandma's hand cream?
Delaney watched her grandma smirk, then step back away from them.

Wade lunged for the pen, but it slipped out of his fingers, too. Isaac reached out to catch it, but Gavin snatched the pen in midair and clenched his hand to keep it secure. “You won't be needing to sign after all,” Gavin told them. “The deed is mine.”

“That wasn't the deal,” Susan exclaimed. “The Collins ranch was supposed to go to
us
. You've set us up to take the fall again and again, while you kept your hands clean.”

“And you set
me
up, by bringing in your cousin Woolly here, to be our new partner, and sending over his daughter to spy on me and my operations,” Gavin sneered, waving three more of his men in from the edges of the field. “You should have known better than to try to double-­cross me by bringing in a rival poacher.”

“We're taking over,” Isaac said, trying to rip the deed from Gavin's hands. “Alicia's meeting with a ­couple of game wardens to turn you in. You and your father.”

“Over my dead body,” Gavin growled.

“That is the plan,” Isaac said, waving his hand. A group of six men came forward, their guns on Gavin, the startled sheriff, and Gavin's two men. “After we kill Aldridge and the Collinses, the authorities will find your dead bodies here and think there was a shootout.”

Gavin scoffed. “You're deluded. Ballistics will nail you to the scene. But you're right, we do have to kill the others.”

Kill them?
Delaney sucked in her breath and glanced at Jace. This was
not
the end she had in mind for them. Her stomach squeezed tight and her legs trembled from more than the cold. Jace stepped closer and took her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. From the tight, rebellious expression on his face, Delaney knew he would do everything in his power to protect her, no matter the cost. And that scared her even more.

“After we take Ruth into town to make the deed transfer official, I will be the only outfitter in the area,” Isaac continued, “with Susan and Wade as silent partners, running the management behind the scenes.”

As two more of Woolly's men closed in, Delaney suddenly realized why Luke, Ryan, the Tanners and the hunters, and everyone else in her group hadn't moved forward. Both Gavin and Isaac had men out in the field, keeping watch. She and Jace had somehow slipped past them because they'd come up from the south. But now that both outfitter groups had moved in for what looked to be a rival poacher war, she could see her brother's head pop up to take a quick look, then wave his arm in some kind of signal.

Jace had also taken the opportunity the argument gave them to drop his head in close to her ear and say, “Get ready to run.”

Run? How was she supposed to do that? The two guards who had pulled them from hiding still had guns trained on them. Did Jace know Luke's plan? Her brother was ex-­military and great at leading recon missions, although he rarely included her in them.

Something flew through the air and a second later the boarded opening of the silver mine exploded, sending bits of wood flying out everywhere and blanketing the area with smoke. Mingled with the falling snow, it was practically a whiteout.

Jace's strong hand pulled her back and he tucked her into his side as they ran toward the trees. Shots rang out behind them, and shouts erupted in almost every direction. The only voice she could clearly recognize was from her father, who called out, “I've got Grandma!”

Seconds later she and Jace ran into Bree, and together they moved farther back, running as fast as they could.

“We've got them surrounded,” Bree said, her voice coming out in shallow gasps.

“Did you hear the shots?” Delaney asked, her voice filled with panic. “I couldn't see if anyone was hit, could you?”

Bree shook her head. “We'll find out soon enough.”

Dozens of armed, uniformed men ran up the trail toward them. A few stopped to ask questions while others charged on ahead toward the mine. Sirens wailed in the distance. The road to the mine that the vehicles used was located opposite them, sandwiching the poachers and blocking off both paths of escape. Their only other option would be on foot through the trees, but Delaney didn't think they'd get far.

After they were a safe distance, Jace spun her around and cupped both sides of her face in his hands and kissed her with an intensity that she had only dreamed about.

“I never want to lose you,” he said, his voice low. “Please tell me I'm not going to lose you.”

Delaney's heart flipped over in her chest and she assured him, “If I can face down a group of rifle-­bearing poachers who want to kill me, I suppose I can stand up to my ex-­husband in court.”

Jace broke into a grin and wrapped her in a warm, bear hug. Then after sharing a profound look of relief that the ordeal was over, she snuggled against him, and they walked the rest of the way back to the ranch.

 

Chapter Fifteen

T
HE
C
OLLINSES'
DINING
hall transformed into a refugee camp of sorts that night with uniformed officials questioning each person and making sure they hadn't suffered any injuries. A ­couple of the hunters had some scrapes and cuts that Delaney helped the other medics bandage.

Jace watched her, admiring her nursing skill, and wished he had a few cuts she could attend to so he could capture a few moments alone with her. But he'd been luckier than most. The only one who sustained any real injury had been Delaney's father, who twisted his ankle.

“At least it isn't broken again,” his wife had told him. “A ­couple days on crutches isn't going to kill you.”

Jed shook his head and chuckled. “No, it won't. But losing the ranch to those Randalls would have.” He narrowed his gaze and turned toward Delaney. “You were awful quick to hand over that deed.”

“Grandma's life was in danger,” Del said defensively, then smiled. “Besides, the deed was a fake. I printed it off the computer while you were searching for the real one.”

“A fake?” Jed chuckled and slapped his knee, then shouted to Bree and Luke, “Did you hear that?”

Delaney's siblings shot him a grin, then gathered closer as Eli Knowles and his two “sons” walked in the door.

“What's the news?” Grandma demanded, lifting her white bushy brows. “Did you catch them?”

Eli took off his hat and nodded. “Yes, ma'am. Gavin McKinley, his father, Isaac Woolly, the Randalls, and all their accomplices are accounted for. Not only do they face enormous fines for poaching, but they've been arrested for kidnapping, extortion, and aggravated assault.”

An audible sigh circled the room and relief washed over Jace as he thought about his mother. She'd be happy about that. Hopefully this would put an end to the threats.

“What about Alicia?” he asked.

Eli chuckled. “She was quite helpful. Alicia gave us photocopies of paperwork incriminating Gavin McKinley and his father for taking guests on hunts without the proper licenses and tags. He's also been selling antlers and animal parts on the black market for thousands of dollars. What she didn't know was that the cook Isaac Woolly had hired turned in evidence against her and her father. She was arrested, too.”

“Are you talking about the cook who used to work for
us
?” Delaney's ma asked, shooting Ruth a sideways look. “The one Grandma
fired
?”

“Yes,” Eli confirmed, and he, too, looked at Ruth. “It's a pity that after helping you she's now out of a job. Both Fox Creek Outfitters and Woolly Outfitters have been closed down.”

Grandma pressed her lips together in a tight line, then relented. “I guess I
could
use a little help in the kitchen.”

Jace grinned. It appeared the Collinses had their own undercover agent and didn't even know it.

“Gavin admitted to tranquilizing the deer and placing it in the cabin,” Eli informed them, “but it was Isaac who put the carcasses around the property.” Turning toward him, Eli added, “Jace, we also now know for sure it was Isaac who sent those letters to your mother. He and Gavin were part of a larger poaching ring covering different parts of the state. Looks like your mother's going to get her wish to see those rings brought down. It should boost her campaign ahead in the rankings.”

“Not when the video Gavin gave the media shows up and I'm featured shooting a bear on the front page of the newspapers,” Jace said, glancing at Delaney.

Eli reached into his jacket and pulled out a disc. “You mean
this
video?”

Jace stared at him, then swallowed hard. “What about the memory chip in his camera?”

Eli reached into another pocket and held it up. Delaney crossed the room and took the camera chip into her hands. “Are there no more copies?”

“The cook assured me there wasn't,” Eli said, and grinning, he slapped a hand on Jace's shoulder. “I've got you covered, son.”

Jace looked up, clasped Eli's hand, and nodded his thanks, so overcome with emotion that he couldn't speak. No reporters would be knocking at his door, no camera flashes would be flaring in his face, and no one would be able to twist the truth or blacken his name. He looked at Delaney, who smiled at him through tears.

Happy tears.

D
EL
ANEY PICKED UP
the pen in the county assessor's office in Bozeman and signed her name on the quick claim deed beside the signatures of her parents, Grandma, Bree, and Luke.

“Now it's official,” Grandma cackled in her gravelly voice, a smile on her face. “We each legally own one-­sixth of Collins Country Cabins.”

“And we're the
only
guest ranch in the area offering accommodations and recreational activities,” Bree added. “We're already booking cabins for spring.”

“Who knows?” Delaney teased. “We may have to expand.”

Luke grinned. “I could build a few more cabins.”

“Jed,” Ma said with a frown. “Are you all right?”

He rubbed the corner of his eye and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, and glanced around at them all. “I just can't stop thinking that the trouble we've had this summer was all my fault. I never wanted to drive you three kids away from your home in the first place. Then I hired Susan and Wade Randall, and because I'm so good at offending ­people, they had no trouble finding others to turn against us.
I'm
the reason we almost lost the ranch.”

Her father paused and Delaney caught her breath as his gaze fell on her. “I know you think I blame you for your failed marriage, but I was the one who made you feel like you had to go prove yourself. I was the reason you felt you had to marry that creep instead of coming home.”

“No,” Delaney said, shaking her head. “That was my mistake. My choice. No one can take responsibility for that except me.”

“Although it's good to admit your faults,” Grandma said, pinching his cheek as if he were still just a boy, “there's no sense having a pity party over the past.”

Delaney nodded. “We need to look forward to the future, right, Grandma?”

“That's right, sweet pea,” Grandma said, lifting her chin.

“I don't show it very well, not very well at all,” Delaney's father said, his eyes glistening as his gaze circled to each of them. “But I love you. And I'm proud of you for stepping up and helping your old man out.”

“That's what family does,” Bree said, smiling, and a tear ran down her cheek.

Luke cleared his throat, as if he'd had something lodged, and asked, “Hey, Del, did Meghan get that bug catcher yet?”

“Not yet,” she said, wiping her own eyes, and teased, “You'll just have to use tissues.”

J
ACE JUMPED OUT
of his truck and hurried around the other side to open the door for his mother. She hesitated before getting out and stared at the single-­story house surrounded by vast acres of fields for both hay and cattle. Of course, the last of the hay had been harvested and the ground lay white from the six-­inch layer of snow that had fallen the night before.

Taking her hand so she wouldn't slip, he said, “C'mon, Mom. It's going to be all right.”

She nodded, but looked as if she didn't believe him. Her wide eyes stared at the house as if it were haunted. But clutching her purse, she raised her chin, like he'd seen her do before giving one of her campaign speeches, and climbed out of the truck, her confidence intact. Or at least so it seemed on the outside.

Natalie slid over from the middle of the truck seat and got out behind her. “The Tanners didn't do too bad,” she said, gazing over the outlying stables, and various sheds.

“They are hard workers,” Jace assured her. “Oh, and Nat—­they like to tease.”

“I'm sure I can handle it,” she said, smiling. “After all, I'm used to
your
teasing.”

“Yeah, but there's
four
of them,” he said with a grin.

“Teasing would be better than giving us the cold shoulder,” their mother muttered.

Jace nodded, thinking of his first meet with Ryan and Zach. “You've got that right.”

There was still a lot he had to learn about his new cousins, but since the wolf attack the week before they'd made him feel as if he were a fifth brother. He hoped they accepted his sister as one of their own, too.

The front door opened, and Aunt Lora stepped out on the square concrete landing. For a moment she and Jace's mother just stared at each other. Then Lora gave them a smile and motioned them inside.

Jace entered first, glanced over his cousins' attire, and raised his brows. “Suits? Were we supposed to dress up?”

“The only reason I'm wearing this,” Ryan said, pointing his thumbs toward his dress shirt, vest, and blazer, “is because Delaney's retaking engagement photos.”

“Me, too,” said Ryan's son, Cody, showing off his new dress shoes.

Dean glanced down at his similar attire and said, “We didn't want Ryan to make the rest of us look like slobs.”

“Yeah,” Josh said with a smirk. “We wanted to make a good first impression.”

“Especially since we didn't do so well the last time,” Zach said with a nod. Coming closer he added, “I didn't mean to be a jerk around you and Delaney either. I know she doesn't think I'm the guy for her. I was just looking out for her. I didn't want her to get hurt, you know?”

“I'll take care of her,” Jace assured him, and Zach grinned.

Then Jace's mother and Natalie walked into the kitchen and the Tanner brothers went silent. Their eyes were all on Natalie, but they just . . .
stared
at her. Oh, no.
Not
good. Natalie dropped her gaze and her skin paled three shades whiter, contrasting all the more with her dark wavy hair, making her look like Snow White. Hurrying to her side, Jace looped his arm through hers and introduced her to Aunt Lora and Uncle Bo, then his cousins, from oldest to youngest, Dean, Ryan, Josh, and Zach.

Jace was afraid from their reactions that they weren't going to accept her into the family after all. But seconds later, they were all talking at once and vying for their new cousin's attention.

Figuring she was in good hands, Jace walked back to his mother, who was making polite small talk with his aunt and uncle. As if his presence gave her extra courage, his mother opened her purse and retrieved an envelope in which he knew she'd placed a check.

“I should have given this to you a long time ago,” his mother told Lora. “I'm so sorry. Your brother, Trent, he was a good man. He would have wanted you to have it—­no matter how late.”

Aunt Lora glanced at her husband, then reached out and took the envelope. “Thanks, Grace.”

“Thank
you
,” his mother said, nodding toward Natalie as she and her followers rejoined them. “For welcoming us into your home.”

Aunt Lora caught Jace's eye, then turned back toward his mother and smiled. “Not just into our home, but into our
family
. Are the three of you free for Thanksgiving?”

Jace hesitated. “I'd love to, but I'll have to check with Delaney first.”

“No need,” Aunt Lora assured him. “It's already been decided that this year the Collinses and the Tanners are eating turkey together. And other dishes, of course,” she added quickly. “For those who don't eat meat.”

Jace accepted, and glanced at his watch. He couldn't wait to get back to Delaney. They hadn't had much time to speak while being interviewed and writing statements for the authorities the night before, and there was still so much he had to tell her.

He also needed to make amends with Meghan, who he'd heard was mad at him.

D
ELANEY DITCHED THE
overalls and put on a dress over warm leggings, then pulled out the rubber band that held her ponytail and let her hair drop loosely about her shoulders. Jace had told her she didn't need to dress up for him, but she'd discovered over the last few weeks that she kind of liked it.

Dashing down the stairs, she ran into Sammy Jo, who took her hands and spun her around in a little dance. “Luke showed me the cabin he's building for us to live in after we're married,” she said excitedly. “He said he got the idea when he heard that Ryan and Bree are going to move into the extra cabin on the edge of the Tanner property after they marry.”

“I guess Meghan and I will be the only ones living in the main house with the old folks,” Delaney teased.

Sammy Jo gave her a mischievous look, then nodded toward Jace as he walked in the door. “Maybe not.”

Delaney swallowed hard as the stocky, dark-­haired cowboy whose image continuously graced the cover of every regional western themed magazine smiled, his eyes on her—­yes, definitely
her—­
as he drew near.

She broke away from Sammy Jo to go to him, but the twins intercepted him first.

“Look what the papers printed about you,” Nora said, thrusting the newspaper into his hands. “They're calling you—­”

“A
‘True Country Hero,'
” Nadine announced. “For saving Delaney from that ferocious bear and then going up to the mine to fight those poachers.”

“I didn't do much fighting,” Jace said, narrowing his gaze as he read the headlines.

“You know the media prints whatever they like,” Delaney teased. “But I do think the title ‘True Country Hero' suits you.”

“I'm sorry the sheriff didn't turn out to be the hero Grandma hoped he was,” Bree said as the rest of the family filtered into the kitchen.

“That's all right,” Grandma assured her. “I was married to my true hero for many long years—­your grandpa. And I still have my Clint Eastwood movies.”