Rangers: Silver-Star Seductions: A Two-Book Box Set Read Online Free Page B

ranch house and surrounding outbuildings. What met her eyes was nothing she’d expected to see.
    There was a slaughter taking place. Makeshift tables had been set up behind the main barn, pieces of plywood or slats of lumber laid across homemade wooden sawbucks. There were easily a dozen men visible, half of them Hispanic. The slaughter was not being conducted in any manner that could be considered humane.
    A cow was tethered to a stake in the ground via a rope around its neck, shot in the head and, once the body fell a man would slice the cow open along its belly. What was odd was that once that happened, another man was reaching in to pull out the stomachs and cut them open.
    Willa’s mouth dropped open as she watched. She’d heard about it but had never seen it. What was being removed looked like round clumps of plastic. Drugs. It had to be. As soon as the clumps were dumped from the stomachs, another man would take them to the spigot, rinse them and then put them on one of the makeshift tables.
    An overseer kept a sharp eye as the plastic-wrapped balls were opened and the drugs transferred to a satchel. Clancy Ellis was the overseer. Shit. Willa’s eyes moved from one man to the next. Sure enough there was Carl and his brothers Clarence and Carter
    It was definitely time to skedaddle. The last thing Willa wanted was to be spotted. She turned Jet and just as she did, a rattler appeared out of the brush. It coiled and rattled its tail in warning. Jet reared, whinnied and took off – in the wrong direction.
    Oh hell! Willa had no doubt she’d been seen. Which meant she needed to report it. Just as soon as she got this runaway horse under control. And that took a bit more time than she anticipated. Jet’s fear had him completely unresponsive. All she could do was hang on and let him run it out. They traveled almost a mile before his fear, or his energy gave out and he slowed.
    Willa rubbed his sweat-slicked neck, talking softly. “It’s okay buddy. You’re okay. We need to go home now. Come on, Jet. Trust me.”
    He balked once before he let her turn him in the direction of home. With him having galloped full out for so long, she didn’t try to force him beyond a walk, which made the return trip home take longer. That gave Willa time to think. If she called the Sheriff and told them what she saw, she’d have to give a statement. Which meant old man Ellis would find out who had turned him in.
    She knew she shouldn’t let the fear of the Ellis clan deter her from doing what was right, but she knew that family and had no doubt that if they found out it was her then they wouldn’t rest until she was six feet under.
    A sudden dizziness had her grabbing onto the saddle horn with her free hand. What the heck?  Her heart was racing and she felt cold as ice. Come on, get a grip . Was she having a stroke or some kind of panic attack?  Her vision swam and her body jumped involuntarily as Zeb’s face appeared before her. Do you remember?
    Willa bit down on her lip to keep from making a sound and spooking the horse. As quickly as the attack had come, it departed. It had to have been some kind of anxiety attack. That was the only explanation.
    And Zeb’s face appearing? And that voice?  What the hell was going on?
    She didn’t want to answer her own questions. Zeb had been on her mind non-stop since the moment she opened the door and found him standing on her front porch. Truth be told, he’d never been far from her thoughts since she was eight years old. She’d grown up, had her share of men and even married one, but Zeb had always been there in the back of her mind.
    You’re my ever after. Willa could remember saying those words to him when she was nine years old. She’d meant it with all her heart and if she was completely truthful with herself she’d admit that even now she meant it. Despite the absurdity of it, she’d loved him her whole life and knew no way to un-love him.
    For all the good it would do either