A Cowgirl's Pride Read Online Free Page A

expected to
get hit with that one.
    “So that’s why you think he’ll come here.”
    “Not at all. He doesn’t know. He’ll never know.”
    “Okay, that’s your decision to make, but what
now? I can arrange a safe house for you,” he offered.
    “I feel safe here, but I don’t want to put Luke’s
family in danger,” she said as she fiddled with her badly crumpled napkin.
    “Let me worry about that. You’re my family,
too,” Luke said, covering her hand with his own and giving it a squeeze of
reassurance.
    She nodded. “Thanks, big brother. Even if I
wasn’t here, he’d terrorize you guys, or worse, trying to find out where I was
holed up. So, it’s best that I stay at the ranch.”
    “Good thinking. You know him well,” Michael
said.
    “Yeah, too well.”
    “Leah, this club of his, would you say his
customers are mostly friends, business partners, or mere acquaintances?”
    “Casual acquaintances would never be allowed
through the door. He owns quite a few businesses and has a lot of friends, so
the majority would fall in line with that. There’s even a secret entrance at
the rear of the club to admit those who wouldn’t want to be seen coming and
going.”
    Michael sat up straight. “What people would
those be? Did you recognize any of them?”
    “Recognize them? I knew them…all of them. Those
were the ones invited to his estate for dinner meetings and private dancing
shows.”
    “Can you throw out a few names?” he asked.
    “Senator Metcalf, Chief Simmons, Judge Holden.”
    “No wonder the man gets away with murder,” Luke
said.
    “Exactly!
Kendall
has been the prime suspect for several murders in the area, but we could never
find proof. Leah, love, you may just hold the hammer that nails his ass to the
wall.”
    “Good! It’s what that bastard deserves.”
    Luke flinched. “Picked up some colorful language
out there, too, I see.”
    She grinned for the first time since the
inquisition started. “Nope, got that from you and the wranglers, but it sure
came in handy at times.”
    “I can imagine,” Luke said as he grinned back at
her.
    “These meetings at the house, what did they
discuss?” Michael asked.
    “What didn’t they talk about is more like it.”
    “I’ll need you to get me a list of names and
write up every conversation you can remember along with the dates, if
possible.”
    Leah picked her oversized purse up off the floor
and, finding what she wanted, passed Michael a thick diary. “Will this do?”
    He rummaged through it then looked up, his eyes
twinkling merrily. “Oh, yeah! Girl, you just made my day! I could kiss you. As
a matter of fact....” He came around the table and gathered her into his arms
to plant a delectable, mind-numbing, leg-noodling kiss on her. If he hadn’t
been holding her so tight, she most assuredly would have collapsed to the
floor.
    Gentleman that he was, he seated her again and
resumed his questions.
    “What period does this cover?”
    “The past year. I have three others coming in
the mail. Not wanting to chance being caught with them, I mailed them all from
different locations along the route home. They should arrive within the week,
but this one I kept as proof.”
    “Good girl! The question is, who can I trust in
Vancouver
? Did
Kendall
have any friends in the R.C.M.P. out there?”
    “Not that I’m aware of, unless they passed
themselves off as city cops for my benefit, but I can’t see it. Not with the
other higher ups that frequented the place.”
    “That makes sense, but tell me this—do you ever
remember meeting a man named Victor Swartz?”
    “No, why?”
    “He’s my old partner. I’d trust him with my
life, but I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t in with
Kendall
’s
crowd.”
    “If you could produce a picture, I could tell
you for sure. Believe me, many of Roddy’s friends got up close and personal,
and I never forget a face.”
    “I’ll go through my photos when I get home and
bring one over in the