“It seems to me that he owes you,” Boone said coldly.
“Same here,” Hayes agreed. He got to his feet. “I’d better get some backup over here. I’ll talk to the security guard, too.” He glanced at Boone. “You staying?”
“You bet I am,” Boone replied doggedly. “I’m not leaving her in here alone in case her father gets past you.”
Hayes smiled. “I don’t think he will, but better safe than sorry. Want a gun?”
Boone chuckled. “I never needed one. I still don’t.”
“Okay. Sing out if you need help. Thanks, Keely,” he told her.
She nodded.
Hayes left and she stared curiously at Boone. “Why don’t you need a gun?” she asked him.
“I had the highest score in my unit in hand-to-hand combat,” he said simply. “I could even disarm my men when they came at me with weapons.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Wow.”
He shrugged. “It’s a skill. We all have them.” He smiled at her. “Yours is handling animals. I never told you that Bailey bites, did I?”
“He’s never bitten me,” she said, confused.
“You’re the only person who knows him who can say that,” he told her with a twinkle in his eyes. “Like I said. You have skills.”
She smiled back.
He got to his feet and moved to the door, opened it and looked both ways. He came back into the room. He’d just turned toward the closet when the door opened suddenly and Brent Welsh came into the room.
“Quick, Keely, give me the money!” he told Keely abruptly. “Hayes Carson was downstairs—he got Jock the minute we walked in the door! Somebody tipped them off!”
“Then you should be safe,” Keely told him. “If Sheriff Carson has Jock.”
“I’ll never have enough money to be safe,” he said. “But at least I can get away from the Fuentes bunch. Where’s the—”
In a movement so fluid that Keely almost missed it, Boone caught Welsh’s arm, swung him around and pinned him to the wall. He held him there with one big hand while he flipped open his cell phone and pushed a button.
“Let me go!” Brent pleaded with his captor. “I can’t go to jail here, they’ll kill me!”
“What a tragedy that would be,” Boone drawled.
The door burst open and Hayes walked in, closing his cell phone. He put away the .40 caliber Glock he’d been holding even with his right temple, and grinned at Boone. “You don’t forget that military training, do you?” He chuckled.
Boone grinned. “I get in some practice on stubborn bulls at roundup. Here.” He propelled Welsh around so that Hayes could handcuff him.
“Keely, tell them to let me go!” Brent called to his daughter. “I’m innocent. It was Jock! He did it!”
Keely felt sick. She’d almost believed her father’s false apology. “I can’t help you,” she said sadly. “Nobody can, now.”
Brent’s face darkened and he began to curse. Hayes grimaced as he pushed the man out of the room ahead of him and turned him over to a deputy.
“Sorry about that,” he told Keely. “We had him, but he slipped away. We’ve got him now, thanks to you,” he told Boone, “and his partner, as well. I’ll talk to you later. Don’t worry, Keely,” he added. “These two are wanted for murder in Arizona. I imagine there’ll be an extradition hearing very soon. Good job, Boone. If you ever want to work for me…?”
“I’d never fit in,” Boone told him. “I use real curse words.”
Hayes made a face at him. “‘Crackers and Milk’ is a perfectly good curse,” he informed his friend.
“Ha!”
Hayes left with his dignity intact.
Boone moved to the bed and tugged Keely up into his arms, careful not to jar her sore arm. “And now we can concentrate on happier times,” he said gently, smiling as he kissed her with breathless tenderness.
* * *
SHE HAD A room next to Winnie’s upstairs, the most beautiful bedroom she’d ever seen in her life. She was afraid to walk on the carpet, which was pure white, dramatic against the blue curtains and bedspread and the blue tile in the bathroom.
“Gosh, the bathroom is bigger than my whole bedroom at home,” she exclaimed when Boone carried her in and laid her on the bed.
“We like a lot of space,” he told her, smiling. “Comfortable?”
She sank into fathoms of feathery softness. “Oh, yes!”
Winnie and Clark came in behind them, bearing flowers and fruit.
“The flowers came from the girls at your office,” Winnie told her, “and the fruit’s from Dr. Rydel.”
“Does he often send you presents?” Boone asked darkly.
“Only when I get bitten by rattlesnakes and end up in the hospital,” she told him solemnly.
Winnie and Clark burst out laughing.
Boone flushed a little. “Cut it out,” he muttered. He pulled his hat low over his eyes. “I’ve got to get the boys working out on the west pasture. I’ll be back in time for supper.” He grinned at Keely. “When you’re better, you can make us some more yeast rolls.”
She laughed, flattered that he’d liked them. “Okay.”
“But not yet,” he cautioned.
She saluted him. He laughed out loud, winked at his siblings, and left them with Keely.
“Imagine that.” Winnie sighed, smiling. “You and Boone.”
Keely flushed. “He’s just being kind.”
“Do you think so?” Clark mused. “I don’t.”
“Shoo,” Winnie told her brother. “I’m going to settle Keely, then I have to go in and work for a few hours. I’m on a split shift this week.”
“You’re worth a fortune, and you’re working for wages.” Clark sighed.
Winnie made a face at him. “I like working for wages.”
Clark’s eyes twinkled. “You like working with Kilraven.”
Winnie blushed. “He’s just
