Cornered in Conard County Read online

  They were glaring at him now. He glared back. “You two don’t know how lucky you are that I don’t send you to a boot factory.”

  He finally heard a motor approaching and the sound of tires on the gravel. Both birds redirected their attention and backed up, settling low to the ground in a protective posture. “Stay that way,” he suggested, then went to greet his guests.

  A smile lit his face the instant he saw Betty. Something about her always made him smile. But the woman who climbed out the other side of the car made him catch his breath. He wouldn’t have thought a living woman could have the face of a Botticelli angel, complete with long blond hair, but this one did. She caught and held his gaze until he realized he was being rude.

  Then he saw the rest of her. Oh, man, no angel could have a body like that. Or at least shouldn’t, because it caused an immediate firestorm in him, jeans and loose blue polo shirt notwithstanding.

  “Hey, Cadell,” Betty called with a wave.

  Cadell gathered himself with effort, mentally whipped himself back into line and focused on her. He approached with outstretched hand. “Good to see you, Betty.”

  “Same here,” she said, shaking his hand. “And this is my friend Dory Lake.”

  He turned and could no longer avoid looking at her. Simply breathtaking. With blue eyes the color of a summer sky. At one glance she made him feel dusty, unkempt and out of his league.

  But she smiled warmly and extended her hand. When he reached for it, the touch was electric. “I heard about your ostriches.”

  “Not everything, I’m sure.” Well, at least he could still talk, and the ostriches provided a bridge over his reaction to her. Never had a woman left him feeling so...well, hell, he was a cop. No one, male or female, ever left him gobsmacked.

  Until now.

  “Betty said you inherited the birds with the ranch?”

  His grin returned. “Yup. I have no idea where they came from, just that apparently my dad had been taking care of them. Long enough to put in electrified fencing so they can’t escape. So there they are.” He turned and pointed to the pen. “Don’t get too close—they peck.”

  She smiled, a beautiful expression. “Betty says you want to get rid of them?”

  “To a good home somewhere the climate will suit them better. So far, no takers.”

  “I have to confess I had no idea how big they are,” Dory said.

  “Eight feet or so at maturity. Say, let’s go look at the dogs. They make much better company.”

  He could feel the evil eyes following him as he led the ladies around his two-story ranch house to the dog run and kennels out back. At the moment he had six in various stages of training, mostly Belgian Malinois, but a German shepherd had joined the mix. In all he had ten kennels with access to fenced areas behind. It would have been unkind to expect them to live on concrete with their messes.

  The dogs stood immediately, curious, ears pricked attentively. No barking, no crazy antics. Training showed.

  He waited while the ladies looked them over, then Dory surprised him, pointing at the shepherd. “That’s a different breed.”

  “Most people don’t even notice,” he answered. “Yeah, he’s a German shepherd. The others are Belgian Malinois, sometimes called Belgian shepherds.”

  She looked at him with those blue eyes. “Do they behave differently?”

  “A bit. The Malinois can be stubborn. He needs a good handler, but he’s also more powerful than he looks. A great police dog. But the shepherd is more obedient, so...” He shrugged. “I’ve worked with both breeds over the last decade or so, and I love them both. Either breed would make you a good guard dog, but they’re energetic. I hope you like to jog.”

  Her smiled dawned, and he felt his heart skip. Too much perfection?

  “As it happens, I jog every day. Two or three miles. Would that be enough?”

  “Like anything else, the faster you go, the faster they tire. They’ve got a lot of endurance, though, which is why they’re such good working dogs. Both are also courageous to a fault.”

  He watched her look from dog to dog almost pensively. He pointed to two on the right end of the kennels. “Those two are almost ready to join the force as K-9s. Their handlers are about to finish training with them. But the other four are at various points in training, and any would make a good guard dog quite quickly.”

  She nodded. “Which would you recommend for a computer geek who can forget the time of day half the time?”

  Cadell couldn’t suppress a laugh. “The shepherd would lie at your feet and give you soulful looks. The Malinois might poke you with his nose to get your attention. But...they can all be mischievous. No guarantees on that.”

  He didn’t expect her to decide just by looking, so he opened two of the kennels, freeing the shepherd and one Malinois. Far from racing away along the dog run, they stepped out, surveyed the newcomers, then politely sniffed both Betty and Dory. Once their immediate curiosity was satisfied, both sat on their haunches and waited expectantly.

  “I’ve never seen dogs so well trained,” Dory exclaimed.

  “Most people don’t want to be jumped on,” Cadell replied. “They will if you want them to, but I don’t recommend it. Hold out your hand palm up. Once they’ve sniffed it, you should be able to pet them.”

  * * *

  DORY LOVED THE look of both dogs. Something about their eyes, at once alert and...empathetic? Did dogs feel empathy? She had no idea, but she was drawn to squat down so they were at eye level. Both dogs met her gaze steadily, which surprised her. She held out both hands, one to each dog, and as promised got nosed. Only then did she reach out to bury her fingers in their thick coats.

  She’d never had a pet, she knew next to nothing about what she was getting into, but she knew in that instant that she very much wanted one of these dogs. She had the worst urge to wrap her arms around both their necks and hug them.

  Amazed by her own response, one she almost never felt with people, she sat back on her heels and tried to regain her composure. “They’re both beautiful. I have to decide right now?”

  “Of course not,” Cadell answered. “But it might help if we went out in the paddock and played a bit with them. They have different personalities, just like people do. One of them will catch your eye more than the other.”

  So, for a little while, Dory forgot everything else as they played fetch with tennis balls and tug with a twisted rope. In the end she settled on the Malinois. Yeah, she could see the mischief in him, but she loved his coloration, a dark muzzle and legs that looked like they were cased in dark socks. There was something else, too, something that happened when their eyes met. It was almost as if the dog were saying, “I’m yours.”

  Crazy, she thought, but she announced her decision. A Malinois it would be. As she turned toward Cadell to tell him, a smile on her lips, she saw the heat in his gaze. Quickly shuttered, but not so quickly she didn’t feel a responsive heat in herself.

  She swiftly looked to the dog that had stapled itself to the side of her leg. Cadell Marcus was a very attractive man. Well built, a strong face and a great smile. He stood there in his sweatshirt, hands on narrow jean-clad hips, waiting, and she didn’t dare look at him again.

  These kinds of feelings frightened her almost as much as her nightmares. She was broken, she thought as she stroked the dog’s head. Broken in so many ways, and all those ways led back to George. A spark of anger stiffened her spine.

  “This one,” she said to Cadell.

  He smiled. “You’re already a pair. He really likes you. Great choice. We can start training you right now, if you like.”

  “Training me?” she asked, surprised.

  “Training you,” he repeated. “All we’re going to do is ask him to use his native personality and skills for your benefit. But you need to k
now how to bring that out of him.”

  Looking down at the dog, she felt a real eagerness to get started, to develop a relationship with him. “Sure. What’s his name?”

  “Flash. But you can call him something else if you want.”

  She smiled again. “Flash is a good name, especially since I’m a geek.”

  He laughed and turned toward Betty. “It’ll be a couple of hours. If you want to stay, there’s coffee and snacks in the kitchen.”

  Betty glanced at her watch. “I’ll be back about twelve thirty, okay? You two have fun.”

  Cadell waved and returned his attention to Dory, leaving her inexplicably breathless. “Let’s go,” he said.

  * * *

  NEARLY A THOUSAND miles away in a Missouri state prison, George Lake sat in the yard enjoying the taste of sun. Two more days and he’d be out of here. He had to school himself to patience.

  At least no one bothered him anymore. He’d grown strong and tough here, and he intended to take both away with him. He would also take distrust. He knew better than to tell even his friends here what he had in mind. Any one of them could blab, and this time no one was going to be able to link him to what he had planned.

  So he sat there smiling, turning his face up to the welcome sun. Life was about to become so good. Just one little hitch ahead of him.

  “Say, man,” said a familiar voice. Ed Krank sat beside him.

  “Hey,” George answered, opening his eyes just briefly to assess the yard for building trouble. There were no warnings.

  “So whatcha gonna do? Man, I can’t believe you’re getting out in two days. How can you stand waiting?”

  “I’ve been waiting for twenty-five years. Two days look short.” Which was a lie. Right now they looked endlessly long.

  “They don’t give you much when you leave here,” Ed remarked. “You got something lined up?”

  “Sure do.”

  “Good for you. Somebody said you had some money.”

  George managed not to stiffen. He knew where that came from. Even the oldest news got passed around here relentlessly, because there was so little new to talk about. Money had been mentioned in the papers long ago. “Anything I inherited they took away from me when I was convicted. No, man, nothing like that.”

  “Too bad.”

  Except that he’d been using the computers at the prison library when he could and had been tracking his little sister’s life. She still had most of the life insurance, because she’d gotten money for the house, too. And she apparently had a tidy little business going.

  If something happened to her, say, something deadly, he’d be her only heir. This time he’d get it, because this time he was determined that they weren’t going to link him to any of it.

  Oh, he’d learned a lot of lessons here, just listening, occasionally acting.

  Dory might have disappeared a couple of weeks ago, but he’d find her. She had to surface online again, and he’d spent some time in classes learning how to use those skills, as well.

  He’d find her. Then he just had to make it look like an accident.

  “I’ll be fine,” he told Ed, not that he cared what Ed thought about it one way or another. “I made some plans.”

  Ed laughed. “Got plenty of time in here to make plans.”

  “No kidding,” George answered, smiling. “There’s work waiting for me.” He just wasn’t going to say what kind.

  “Good for you,” Ed said approvingly. “I’m getting out in eight months. Maybe you can set up a job for me.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” But he had no intention of that. Remove Dory, get his inheritance and then get the hell out of this country.

  Closing his eyes, he imagined himself sitting on a beach, with plenty of beautiful women wandering around.

  Oh, yeah. Not much longer.

  But between here and there lay Dory. Such a shame, he thought. If she’d just stayed in bed like she was supposed to, he could have slipped away and covered his tracks. Neither of them would have had to endure this hell.

  But she had disobeyed a strict rule, had come down those stairs and walked in on him. She wouldn’t even listen when he tried to tell her he’d gotten rid of the bad man.

  Instead she had run screaming into the streets, and soon the night had been filled with lights spilling from houses, people running to help her, and cop cars. He’d tried to run, but it was too late to cover his tracks. She was to blame for that. Her and no one else.

  So, she’d get what was coming to her. He’d paid for his crimes, and now he deserved the life he should have had all along. Instead she owned it all.

  Well, he was just going to have to change that. Given the group she worked for, it wouldn’t be long before he located her.

  Then he’d have to figure out how to cause her a fatal accident.

  He almost felt a twinge for the little girl she used to be, but the intervening years had hardened any softness that might have been left in him, and she was no longer a little girl who sat on his lap for a bedtime story. No, she was grown now, and not once had she written or tried to visit him.

  It was all over between them. Well, except for ending her existence the way he’d ended their parents’. Only much more cleanly, making sure it didn’t look like murder.

  His smile widened a bit. He’d bet she thought he’d forgotten all about her. Stupid woman. She’d cost him everything.

  Chapter Two

  Two hours later, Dory sat in the middle of the dog run, laughing while Flash licked her face. “He doesn’t wear out!”

  “Not easily,” Cadell agreed. “I guess he’s chosen you, too. He needs a little more training with you to cement his role, but if you want you can take him back to Betty’s with you.”

  “She has three cats!”

  “They might not like it, but Flash will leave them alone. Okay, I’ll keep him here for now. I wouldn’t mind tightening up his training some more.” He dropped down onto the ground beside her, knees up slightly, arms hanging loosely over them. “Betty told me a bit about what’s going on. Want to talk a little?”

  She tensed. Here she’d been having such a good time, and now this popped up. She wanted to resent him for it but could understand his curiosity. After all, he was training a guard dog for her. “Will it help?”

  He caught her gaze and held it, an electric moment that conveyed compassion, as well. “Up to you, but I usually like to know what kind of threats my dogs will be working on. It allows me to hone their training. A bomb-sniffing dog doesn’t always make a good attack dog.”

  She nodded slowly, looking down at her crossed legs and Flash’s head, now settled comfortably on her lap. Her fingers were buried in his scruff, the massaging movement comforting him as well as her. Dang dog was magical, she thought.

  Finally she sighed. “Betty probably told you the important parts. My older brother killed our parents. I was seven and I walked in on it. Anyway, somehow he only got twenty-five years, not life, and he’s getting out soon.”

  She turned to look at him again, her voice becoming earnest. “I have no reason to think he’ll be the least interested in finding me. I haven’t seen or talked to him since that night. He never even wrote me from prison. But...I’m having a lot of nightmares at night, and no matter how much I tell myself...”

  “You still can’t quite believe he’s not a threat to you,” he completed. “Hardly surprising, given what you saw him do.” He paused. “So he never once tried to get in touch with you all these years?”

  She couldn’t understand why that appeared to bother him. “No. Which means he isn’t interested in me at all. He’s probably all but forgotten me.”

  “Maybe so, but I guess your subconscious isn’t buying it.”

  In spite of herself, she emitted a sh
ort laugh. “Apparently not. I feel so silly sometimes. Nightmares every night? And now a guard dog. That’s over-the-top.”

  He shook his head a little. “I don’t think it’s over-the-top. Nothing wrong with having a guard dog around, not for anyone. At the very least, Flash will be good company.”

  She looked down at the dog she was petting. “He sure will be. He’s wonderful. Petting him feels good.”

  “It feels good to him, too. But you’ll have to work him every day so he doesn’t turn couch potato on you.”

  Astonishment filled her. “Couch potato? Him?”

  “Well, I don’t mean he’s going to get lazy. But he needs to remain sharp, so every day you’re going to have to work with him for at least a half hour. Can you do that?”

  “Sure. It’ll be fun for both of us.”

  He smiled. “Good. You’ll be a great handler for him. He likes the work, you know. For him it’s a fun game. Now let’s get busy on the attack training. I’m going to put on my padded suit, and you’re going to make him attack me.”

  She felt perplexed. “But he knows you and likes you! Why would he attack you?”

  “Because it doesn’t matter that he knows me. Protecting you is all that’s going to matter. When you tell him to attack, he’ll attack. It’s not his job to make decisions like that, but to take care of you. You’ll see.”

  She still hesitated, concerned. “Does he know how to attack?”

  “We’ve been practicing. Now it’s time to get serious.”

  He rose in a single easy movement and went down the run to a shed at the end, disappearing inside. When he returned he wore thick padding on both arms.

  Even so, that didn’t seem like a whole lot of padding. Flash recognized it immediately and rose to his feet, tail wagging. Dory stood, too.

  “He’s been practicing on a dummy,” Cadell said. “Now he gets the real thing.”

  They left the run and went out to a paddock, where the two ostriches stared at them over a fence. “Tell him what to do right now,” Cadell said mildly.