Janet Dailey Calder 05 Calder Pr

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They weren't just driving around, saw the cattle, and decided to shoot a few.
This had to have been planned by someone familiar with the area. If it's
someone with a grudge against you-as I suspect-maybe slaughtering some of your
cattle will satisfy them. But I wouldn't count on it. This kind of thing can
feed on itself and escalate. I'd have your men keep a lookout for anything
unusual and anyone with no business being around."
"We'll get the word out tonight." Chase looked to his son, silently passing
the chore to him.
Satisfied, Logan said, "Get that employee list to me as soon as you can. And
if you think of anyone whose toes you might have stepped on, inadvertently or
otherwise, add their names to it."
"Of course," Ty said.
"If there's nothing else you can add, I'll be going," Logan said and proceeded
to take his leave of the two men.
In silence, Cat looked on, aware of Logan Echohawk as she had been of few men
in her life. He stood with a balanced straightness, as though ready to whip
into action at the first hint of danger. For the first time, she realized that
he had a capacity for violence, sharply controlled, but present just the same.
In profile, his bronzed and angular features were chiseled in unsentimental
lines, vaguely tinged by a distant bitterness. She briefly wondered at that,
then pushed that curiosity aside. She had other, more important matters on her
mind.
During those initial moments after he first arrived, the old fear had rushed
back that he had learned the truth about Quint. It had driven her to the den
where Cat discovered again that her fear was groundless. He didn't know, and
there was no reason to believe he ever would. She had overreacted before. She
was determined to correct that now.
When he turned to leave, Cat said calmly, "I'll see you out."
His eyes briefly locked with hers, setting off a small tingle along her nerve
ends. It was, Cat thought, the dangerous gray color that made his glance feel
like a jolt of electricity.
"That isn't necessary," he told her, his voice cool in its rejection.
Cat didn't answer, instead simply turned and headed for the door, asserting
her will through action. The accompanying sound of his footsteps was an echo
to her own. She continued through the door and onto the porch, then paused
near a white column and gazed into the night. Moonlight sprayed its frost glow
over the ranch buildings and silvered the vast sweep of prairie beyond them.
Familiar as it was to her, the scene pulled at her, stirring up again the deep
attachment she had to this land that was her home.
Drawing level with her, Logan halted and faced the front, for a moment looking
into the night as she did. Then he angled his head toward her, and she felt
the force of his gaze tunneling into her.
"There is obviously something you wanted to say before I leave." The
challenging dryness of his voice held a faintly sardonic note.
She squared around to face him, coolly composed and serious. "Anyone who knows
me well will tell you that I tend to be too impulsive and quick-tempered,
traits that I have worked hard to control. But recent events have shown that I
haven't succeeded all that well," she said. "The things I said to you the
other night at my uncle's-I was out of line. What you do or don't do, who you
see or don't see, is really none of my concern. I had no business talking to
you the way I did."
"You don't apologize very often, do you?" A whisper of her perfume reached
him, emanating from the smooth curve of her neck and conjuring up unsettling
images of sultry nights and satin sheets.
"Probably not as often as I should," she admitted, then asked, slightly
defensive, "Why?"
"Because you don't do it very well." Logan turned a sidelong glance on her and
felt the instant play of electricity between them. "It's all that pride you
wrap yourself in, like armor."
"And you don't, I suppose," she murmured with some heat.
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Something that passed for amusement slanted the line of his mouth. "We weren't
talking about me."
Cat chose to ignore that. "I should explain that I never expected to see you
again. In fact, I hoped I never would. That night in Fort Worth was a mistake,
one that I have tried very hard to forget-"
"It seems you were no better at it than I was," he observed.
She continued as if he hadn't spoken. "As far as my family is concerned, they
think you are a complete stranger. I prefer that they never find out
otherwise. Unfortunately, I can no longer control that."
"Am I supposed to take an oath of silence now?" he mocked, then turned
serious. "If I did, would you believe me?"
Cat hesitated, stung by how vulnerable she was. "I would want to," she said at
last, lifting her chin a notch.
"It goes against your grain for someone else to hold your reputation in their
hands, doesn't it?" Logan observed and watched her eyes turn stormy. He didn't
fault her for that. Pride and honor were two things he understood. Sometimes
they were all a man had, especially when he lost his faith in things like the
goodness of his fellow man.
"Naturally, it does," she replied, very cool and controlled again.
He could feel the invisible barriers she threw up to keep him at a distance.
It rankled. Logan had little respect for barriers; he had battered in too many
of them in his job. The impulse was there to do it again. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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