Natural-Born Protector / Saved by the Monarch Read Online Free PDF Page B

sheriff’s office and met with Zack West. He’d assured her that they were doing everything in their power to find Lainie’s killer.
    “But I’ll be straight with you, Melody. We don’t have any real leads and your sister didn’t have a conventional lifestyle.”
    “The night of the murder she left a message on my answering machine and told me she was going out with somebody new. I don’t suppose you’ve identified who that might have been?” she’d asked.
    Zack shook his head, his green eyes sympathetic. “Not yet. But I’ve told your mother and I’m telling you, I won’t rest until we have the killer behind bars.”
    She’d left the office satisfied that Zack and his men were doing everything they could to solve the crime, but unsure just how successful they would be.
    As irrational as it was, she felt as if she were the only one who could find the answers. She was the one who had known Lainie better than anyone and she owed it to her sister to help her rest in peace. The only way that would happen was if Lainie’s murderer was found and punished.
    The soft knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts and she hurried to answer. Hank had underdressed for the night as well. Clad in tight worn jeans and a black T-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders, he looked both slightly dangerous and capable of handling anything that might come his way.
    “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked as she grabbed her purse from the sofa.
    “Are you sure you want to?” she countered.
    He flashed her a small smile. “I’m in if you are.”
    “Then let’s go.” She locked the door behind her and together they left the building and walked out into the warm night air.
    “We’ll take my car,” he said as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “If we run into any problems I know mine has the horsepower we need to make a fast getaway.” He gestured toward a bright red sports car, a larger model that seated four.
    “Definitely better horsepower than my rental,” she agreed. “Are you expecting trouble?”
    He shrugged. “I like to be a good Boy Scout and be prepared for anything.” He opened the passenger door and she slid inside, then watched as he went around the front of the car to the driver’s side.
    She drew a tremulous sigh. Hank Tyler had been attractive in his dress slacks and shirt, but he looked like pure sin in those jeans and T-shirt. His dark hair fell carelessly over his forehead and only added to his lethal look.
    “You don’t need that kind of distraction,” she muttered to herself as he slid in behind the steering wheel.
    Fastening her seat belt, she tried to ignore the scentof him, a pleasant fragrance that reminded her of sunshine and sandalwood. “You must have moved into the town houses right around the time Lainie did,” she said, determined to keep her focus on the matter at hand.
    He started the engine with a roar and pulled out onto the street. “She moved in a couple of weeks before me and Maddie. The first night we were there she brought over a little basket of soaps she’d collected from hotel rooms over the years.” He smiled. “She said she didn’t have any fruit and refused to bake a cake, but wanted to welcome us and bring us something. Maddie still uses the soaps. She says they’re just her size.”
    A new edge of grief crawled up in the back of Melody’s throat as she thought of her sister. “Lainie loved hotel soap and shampoo. When any of us stayed at a hotel, we always grabbed the freebies for her.”
    They cruised slowly down Main Street and Melody looked at him curiously. “Where were you before coming here? You mentioned something about Texas?”
    “Just south of Dallas. My grandfather was an Oklahoma oil man, and when he passed away he left me an embarrassingly large inheritance. I used it to buy a ranch. I raised cattle and horses.”
    “What made you decide to leave it all and come back to Cotter Creek?”
    In the illumination from the