Texas Cowboy Sheriff Read online

  Texas Cowboy Sheriff

  Barb Han

  TorJake Publishing

  Copyright © 2022 by Barb Han

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing: Ali Williams

  Cover Design: Jacob’s Cover Designs

  To my family for unwavering love and support. I can’t imagine doing life with anyone else.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Also by Barb Han

  About the Author

  1

  SAMPLE ONLY—IF YOU RECEIVED THIS COPY IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT RETAILER FOR A CORRECT FILE - Regina Anderson tucked her earbuds in, tied off her running shoes, and pushed off her front porch. She turned up the volume on the heavy metal rock band music she played. Mornings sucked. Running sucked. Loud music sucked. The ritual kept Gina, as everyone but her mother called her, from taking her anger out on the world.

  The loose, wet gravel on the drive of the fishing cabin caused her foot to slip as she rounded the corner onto the familiar country road. A couple extra forward steps righted her as she struggled to find her pace. Those first few steps were always the hardest to take, she reminded herself. Nothing in her wanted to do this.

  The morning air didn’t help matters. With every breath, she felt the crisp edge to the frigid temperature burning her lungs. The simple act of taking in oxygen was the equivalent to painful stabs at her rib cage.

  Gina pounded the pavement with her feet. The stress of a major move with a baby, even though she was moving back to the small town where she’d grown up, had given her a tension headache.

  It was early. Six a.m. was an ungodly hour.

  Head throbbing, what she really wanted was caffeine. Big cup. Quiet room. The quiet room was a fantasy once her daughter, Everly, woke but the coffee was realistic.

  The sun beat down on a spot at the crown of Gina’s head. April weather in Gunner, Texas, was unpredictable. Today, the sun was out and the temperature was expected to hover around forty-seven degrees. This time of year, days could be swallowed up with thunderstorms and the kind of lightning that raced sideways for miles across a dark sky. Much like the thunderstorm from last night, but Gina didn’t mind. That kind of weather matched her mood.

  At thirty-two-years-old, she was a single mom to a little girl who would never know her father, a man who’d been so anxious for his daughter’s arrival he’d painted her room pink the day a sonogram revealed her sex. Little did Gina know it would be the last day she’d ever see her husband again. Their daughter, Everly, would never meet her father.

  The music matched the level of her anger at losing a decent man who would’ve been a great father. The things she would go back and do differently if she could. The regret that filled her chest and hardened her heart toward the world, but not towards Everly, was heavier today.

  Bright sunny days just soured her. The run gave her a sense of normalcy in a world that had turned upside down. She’d stayed in Dallas for the rest of her pregnancy; bringing her baby home to the house she’d shared with Des had been important to her. After all the work he’d done on the nursery, she wanted baby Everly to spend her first year there. It only seemed right to Gina, a small way to honor Des.

  Gina’s mother had put up a strong argument for her to move home to Gunner so she would have help with the baby. Gina loved her mother, don’t get her wrong; the woman was a saint in many ways. But she just hadn’t been ready to love her mother full-time. Mom was a little too free with advice about pretty much every aspect of life and a little too needy when it came to attention.

  Growing up, it had only been Gina and her parents. There’d been no siblings or cousins around, no extended family. Gina had always wondered what it would be like to be surrounded by a large family. Big holiday gatherings with all the trimmings. Boisterous laughter around a table brimming with every food a kid could imagine. Kids running around wild and happy. Her parents had been busy with the restaurant, or too tired from it to do anything but relax after work, and so she’d been left to her own devices for much of her childhood.

  Mom had been right about one thing, though. Everly needed as much family to surround her as possible, even if it was down to an overbearing mother and her friends.

  Thinking about the piles of unopened boxes lining the walls of the family’s cabin on the lake, Gina already felt defeated. She would get there, she reminded herself on almost an hourly basis. It had become her mantra.

  The boxes would eventually be unpacked. She’d make the two-bedroom cabin feel like home. It might take some time, especially considering she had a little one to care for and was starting right in with the family restaurant tomorrow, but the work would get done. It always did.

  It was good to remind herself of her other favorite mantra in moments like these. Chin up. Smile on. Power through. God, she was so damn tired from ‘powering through’ the past year-and-a-half.

  Plus, she’d always planned to come back and take over the family business at some point. It’s what her mother had done. And her grandmother before that. The restaurant had been operating in Gunner for three generations already. Gina would be number four and she hoped Everly would want to carry on the tradition someday. But only if she wanted to. Gina wouldn’t force her daughter into a life she didn’t want.

  For Gina, the restaurant gave her a connection to family. There was so little of that left. Another benefit now that she was a single mother came in the form of extra time with her daughter. A breakfast-only job would make Gina more available to Everly and after losing Des so suddenly, she was never more aware of just how precious time could be.

  Those thoughts were too heavy for this early in the morning. She cranked up the volume but even the loud drum banging and screech of a metal guitar couldn’t distract her today. She hated days like this where missing Des was an ache. There were too many days she didn’t want to get out of bed. In times like these she felt the dark clouds hanging over her head might never clear.

  The sun comes out in every season, even spring. How many times had her mother repeated the mantra? It obviously gave her mother great comfort. For Gina, not so much. The only bright spot in Gina’s past year was asleep in a crib while her new babysitter hovered.

  Gina rounded the corner onto a country road and finally hit her stride. At least her run was working for her this morning. The runner’s high kicked in, temporarily abating her need for a caffeine IV, although she wouldn’t turn one down. The move had brought on plenty of additional stress. Then there was leaving her job—a job that had been her lifeline in recent months.

  The heavy metal band, RockSlam, pounded her ears, penetrating her thoughts, numbing her. A half hour into her run and it had finally hit. This was the point that made the whole get-out-of-bed early bit worth it. The point when she took control of her thoughts and could bury the heartbreak. The moment when she believed she’d actually be able to get through the day and maybe somehow be okay.

  Her thighs no longer burned and her head stopped hurting for a few glorious minutes that, when she was lucky, turned into hours. It wasn’t exactly peace, but her brain
was still. And that was the best she could hope for under the circumstances.

  Rounding the next bend, she was in top form. She let go of the belief she was crazy for forcing herself out of bed. She let go of all the thoughts that constantly churned in her head. She just let go.

  And then something hit her, knocking her out of her rhythm. An awful smell blasted her nostrils. At the rate she was breathing, it hit hard. She coughed hard enough to break her stride.

  The acrid smell could only come from a dead animal. Out at the lake, that wasn’t uncommon. Whatever it was, it must’ve been dead for hours or days. Gina pulled the collar of her cotton T-shirt up and over to cover her nose and mouth. A few more steps in and her gag reflex engaged.

  A side cramp stopped her, doubling her over. She took her earbuds out and glanced around, searching for the cause of the stench. She could make a call to animal control if she could figure out where the smell came from.

  Checking underbrush, she heard a sound—like a dog whimpering—to her left. She steeled herself for what she might find and headed toward the noise.

  Yesterday’s rain had everything soaked. Her running shoes were swamped with mud as she pushed closer to the wounded animal. And then she saw something move under a scrub bush. As she got closer, she saw a black Labrador retriever on his side.

  Gina made slow and deliberate movements toward the animal. “You’re okay, buddy.”

  The dog cried as he rolled onto his belly and tried to crawl toward her. She could see his tail wagging. He was friendly. Someone’s pet?

  Gina had only moved in two days ago. She hadn’t had five minutes to introduce herself to the neighbors. Being on acre lots made privacy even easier and that was part of the reason she’d taken over the family cabin. That, and the fact rent was affordable. The restaurant did okay, but there was just enough money to set her mother up with retirement and give Gina enough of a salary to raise her daughter.

  “You’re a good boy.” Gina bent down, making herself as small as possible so the dog wouldn’t see her as a threat. He hadn’t give her any indication that he would bite. At least not so far. Still, a wounded animal could be unpredictable.

  Labradors were great dogs, though, and he seemed to know on instinct she was there to help. He moved again and that’s when she saw the blood. A lot of it. Gina moved to his side and smoothed her hand along his body.

  And then she found it. Bullet hole. Who in God’s name would hurt such a beautiful animal? And how could she live right down the street and not hear it? The storm. Thunder pounded last night. It must’ve muffled the noise. “Hold on, buddy. We’ll get some help.” Anger raged through her as she pulled out her cell.

  Gina took off the jacket tied around her waist and put pressure on the spot where the animal bled. Her first call was to her mother. The woman had half the town on speed dial. She knew everyone. Gina quickly explained where she was and what she’d found. The second call was to her babysitter to let her know she’d be running late.

  The dog stirred. He was trying to get up.

  Stroking the animal’s fur, tears blinded her. Who could be so cruel?

  And then it dawned on her. The acrid smell. It wasn’t coming from the animal. She cursed.

  He kept trying to get up. Was he trying to take her to his master?

  From out of nowhere, Gina heard a twig snap right behind her. She made a move to whirl around. The strike to the back of her head barely registered. Everything went black.

  Gina blinked blurry eyes open. Her head pounded and she felt an overwhelming urge to vomit. Her stomach roiled as she bounced up and down. Panic gripped her. Her first thought was Everly. If something happened to Gina, what would happen to her daughter?

  Moving was next to impossible. She struggled to gain her bearings. It didn’t take long for her to figure out she was in the back of a vehicle. Some kind of SUV. The driver was speeding, too. A getaway?

  Her wrists hurt and so did her ankles. She was bound in some way. The cold metal cutting into her wrists gave her the answer. Cuffs.

  The dog. Her heart ached for the Labrador she’d been trying to save. Was he just left there to die? That poor animal. A sob escaped against the tape covering her mouth. Gina stuffed her panic down deep. Call it survival instinct. She’d gotten good at denying her emotions in the last eighteen months. Hell, she could go further back than that, but Des was gone. She was a widow. There was no use thinking about the shortcomings in their marriage now.

  Right now, all she cared about was getting home to Everly. Determination welled inside her as she took a mental inventory. Hands tied behind her back. On her side. She maneuvered, slipping her hands around her legs and in front of her without drawing attention.

  Then she paused, listening for any clues about who was in the vehicle with her. From what she could discern, there was only one person in the car. She didn’t want to think about what that meant for the Labrador who’d been left all alone. She couldn’t think about that right now if she wanted to live. And she needed to live.

  Was there anything inside the vehicle she could use as a weapon?

  Gina tried to twist out of the metal cuffs. They were generic, the kind anyone could buy off the internet so she doubted the man driving was in law enforcement. She managed to squeeze the left cuff off her wrist and then the right. Her hands immediately flew to her ankles.

  No such luck there. Those weren’t coming off so easily.

  At least her hands were free. She had no idea how long she’d been out of it. The sun was still rising, so she couldn’t have been out for long. She flattened her palm on the floorboard and felt around. There had to be something she could use against her assailant.

  Cell phone.

  She felt around in her pockets and then remembered she’d had it out after calling her mother. Since it wasn’t on her person, she figured it was probably back in the mud.

  Bouncing around, she did her best not to make a peep. Her skull felt like it had been cracked open. She felt around and winced when her fingers landed on a lump the size of a golf ball.

  Where was she? In town? She’d only been back in Gunner for two nights but she’d grown up here and visited often. There wasn’t much about the area that could throw her for a loop. Could she risk a glance without giving herself away?

  The main thing she had going for her right now was that the driver had no idea she was awake and alert.

  The SUV slowed to a stop. A stop sign? A red light?

  With her hands in front of her and the cuffs off, she could open the emergency hatch. She’d read somewhere a long time ago that if someone was abducting her to make the biggest racket as fast as she could. Lying low was a bad idea. If the person got her to a different location it would be secure and would drastically cut her chances of survival or escape.

  The thought of being stuck in a home or building with no escape, no chance to see her daughter hit Gina hard. This was not happening. This could not happen. Everly was not losing both of her parents.

  Determination fueled her next bold move. She popped up, saw the dark-eyed man’s gaze grow wild in the rearview mirror. She pulled the trunk latch and the door opened. A beeping sound alerted the driver. He already knew.

  Those dark eyes of his burned into her memory as his gaze bore into her. He turned his head to one side and she caught the outline of his profile through the ski mask. She focused on details. Hooked nose. Long chin. Tall forehead.

  He stomped the gas pedal. She tucked and rolled out the SUV.

  The hard concrete pounded her shoulder. She tucked her chin to her chest to keep her head from slamming the pavement. Sheer luck and good timing had her out the back before he could speed up enough to cause severe damage to her when she exited the vehicle.

  Brake lights filled her vision as she looked back.

  She heard him shift into reverse.

  2

  The SUV came speeding toward Gina in reverse. At the intersection, a blue king cab truck roared through the
red light. Pain shot through her left ankle as she pushed to her feet.

  Sheer will power kept her upright as she hopped sideways to avoid colliding with the SUV. At the same time, the truck rocketed toward her. The driver swerved before hitting her, using the massive truck to block the SUV from careening into her.

  The truck took impact before the driver in the SUV must’ve jammed the gearshift into Drive. He sped off.

  Ankles still cuffed together, Gina tripped and fell. Her left side screamed at her. The pain so great her breath came out in bursts. She’d hit the pavement hard, same side as before. Her head felt like it might split open even though she’d managed to keep it from smacking the ground. She was certain she’d sprained her wrist in the fall while trying to catch herself. But she’d escaped her abductor. She was alive.

  The driver shot out of the vehicle. All she could see was a mass of muscle and determination racing toward her. The sun was to his back, making it difficult to make out who he was.

  And then his face came into focus. Isaac Quinn? It took a second to register. Last she’d heard he was still overseas, serving his country. Her heart hammered at the sight of him. She chalked it up to the fact he’d just saved her life and not their past that inconveniently came roaring back. Memories flooded her of the unbreakable bond they’d had as teenagers. The attraction that not one man could measure up to since. And the way he used to look at her, like she’d been the missing piece to his complicated life.

  “What happened? Are you hurt?” At six-feet-four-inches, Isaac towered over her. Recognition seemed to dawn as he took a knee beside her. Those serious blue eyes of his felt like they saw right through her. Black irises surrounded by the kind of pale blue that could only be found on a perfect cloudless summer morning. “Jesus, Gina. Is that you?”