RESCUE AT CARDWELL RANCH Read Online Free PDF Page A

gingerly touched the side of his head where she’d hit him with whatever canned good had been in her grocery bag. Fortunately, other than being painful, the bruise didn’t show through his thick hair. His shin was only slightly skinned from where she’d nailed him with her high heel and his fingers ached. No real visible signs of what she’d done to him. Not that he didn’t feel it all and hate her for hurting him.
    It could have been so much worse. He tried to console himself with that, but it wasn’t working. The woman had made a fool out of him. It didn’t make any difference that he shouldn’t have gone for so long since the last one. But it had begun to wear on him. Otherwise, he would never have taken one this close to home. He would never have taken the chance.
    The television flickered. He glanced up as the news came on. This was why he couldn’t let them live, he thought, as he watched the story about a botched abduction at the small, out-of-the-way grocery store the night before. He waited for the newsman to mention the woman’s name and put her on camera to tell of her heroic rescue by the cowboy. He wanted to see the fear in her eyes—but more than anything, he needed her name.
    The news station didn’t put her on air. Nor did they give her name or the cowboy’s who’d rescued her.
    Furious, he tried several other stations. He’d gotten a good look at her last night after he’d punched her and had her on the ground.
    But he foolishly hadn’t bothered to take down her car license number or grab her purse. He hadn’t cared who the woman was. She’d been nobody to him. But now he was desperate to know everything about her. All the others, he’d learned about them after their bodies were found. It had never mattered who they were. They’d already served their purpose. Now it was inconceivable that he didn’t know the name of the only woman who’d ever gotten away.
    Without her name, he wouldn’t be able to find her and finish what he’d started.
    * * *
    S TANDING IN THE hospital room half-dressed, McKenzie tried to still her trembling fingers. The morning sun was blinding. Her head still ached, but she’d kept that from the doctor. After the police had left, he’d made her spend the night in the hospital for observation. Today, though, she had to get back to work. It was the only thing that could keep her mind off what had happened. Worse, what could have happened if someone hadn’t stopped the man.
    “Let me,” her sister said and stepped to her to button the blouse.
    She stood still, letting her big sister dress her—just as she had as a child. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have called but I needed a change of clothing before I could leave the hospital.”
    Shawna shook her head. She was the oldest of nine and had practically raised them all since her mother had been deathly ill with each pregnancy, especially with her last baby—McKenzie.
    “Mac, I would expect you to call because I’m your sister and, after what you’ve been through, you need your family.”
    She didn’t like needing anyone, especially her big sister. “I didn’t want to be any trouble.”
    Her sister laughed. “You have always been like this.” She straightened McKenzie’s collar. “You’ve never wanted to be any trouble. So independent. And stubborn. There. You look fine.”
    She didn’t feel fine. From an early age, just as her sister had said, she had been fiercely independent, determined to a fault, wanting to do everything herself and driven to succeed at whatever she did. She was still that way. Nothing had changed—and yet, after last night, everything felt as if it had.
    It was as if the earth was no longer solid under her feet. She felt off-balance, unsure—worse, afraid.
    “Are you sure you’re ready to leave the hospital?” Shawna asked, studying her.
    “The doctor says my head will hurt for a while, but that I should be fine. I need to get to the office and reassure everyone. I had to fire