Texas Lonestar (Texas Heroes Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

charge.”
    His conceited drawl infuriated Lennon as much as his thoughtless insults did. “Listen, Sheriff. I am not coming on to you. Believe me. You are the sheriff of Hudspeth County. It’s your job to investigate matters like this.” She refused to bring up the fiasco from so long ago, even though he was baiting her to mention it. Lennon knew he would get some type of perverse pleasure if she were to apologize again for something that hadn’t been her fault. This verbal battle was normal for their exchanges since graduation. Neither he nor any of his crowd ever let her forget what had happened so long ago. Colin had been teased unmercifully about her crush, long after Lennon’s infatuation had turned to dust. In retaliation, he directed all of his anger and embarrassment into a venom-laced crusade to make her life miserable.
    Alone in her living room, Lennon sat down, resting her tired head in her hand. Small town living…memories were long and tongues were longer.
    “You don’t have to remind me of my duties, Miss Haley.” Colin snapped at her. “If you want to come down and file a report, I can’t stop you. What I can do is prioritize the work my department is responsible for. And I can tell you now–you are a low priority.”
    Lennon didn’t even bother responding to his rude comment. She just ended the call.
    “He won’t help you?” George had been listening.
    “No, he won’t.”
    “Bastard.”
    Lennon smiled at her friend and mentor. “Language, George. Little ears.” She pointed toward the sunroom where Sally was playing with her dolls.
    “You know what you ought to do?” George whispered, raising a crooked finger in the air. When she looked at him quizzically, he continued. “Contact the TSCRA, they employ Special Rangers to deal with exactly this kind of thing.”
    “Special Rangers, do you mean Texas Rangers?”
    “No, not exactly. They’re retired Rangers, mostly. But, they’ll listen to you.”
    Lennon considered his suggestion. The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association was the governing body that incorporated all of the ranches in several states. Her father had joined years ago and she still paid the dues. “All right. Good idea. I’ll call them. Frankly, I’d rather deal with a rattlesnake than Colin Ferguson any day.”  
     
    *  *  *
    Dallas removed his gray Stetson and hung it on the wooden hat rack by his front door. His beautiful lakeside apartment was dark and lonely. With a yawn, he flipped on a light and noticed he’d left the electric fireplace on. Finding the small remote lying on the table next to his recliner, he turned it off, then went to the double patio doors and opened them wide. The night was nice and he could certainly use some fresh air. The last few days on the road had been tedious and then he’d come back to the office with a butt-load of forms to fill out. Paperwork was his least favorite part of the job. Hell, he knew being a Texas Ranger couldn’t mean constant excitement, but that was exactly what he lived for.
    He sure as hell didn’t have anything else in his life.
    Crossing to the small kitchen, he opened one door of the side by side refrigerator and took out a locally brewed beer. Several containers of spoiled Chinese food greeted him with a less than savory odor. Turning up his nose, he slammed the door. He’d deal with that mess a little later. Right now, Dallas just needed to put his feet up and rest. The last few weeks he’d been dealing with a stand-off between the Bureau of Land Management and some homegrown terrorists who’d allied themselves with an old Texas rancher in a controversy over what they viewed as an illegal seizing of private land by the federal government. Even after the hostages had been released, he’d had to deal with the aftermath. Building a case to punish the radicals responsible and trying to convince the state authorities that the rancher had no intention for things to get so out of hand was not