Camouflage Cowboy by Hambright Jan

Author:Hambright, Jan [Hambright, Jan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-12-04T03:35:50+00:00

NICK TRAINED HIS FOCUS on the darkening drive in front of him, on the discernible shadows of dusk gathering at the edges of the gravel lane. He reached down and flipped on his headlights, catching a brief flit of movement in his left peripheral vision.

Unease flooded his system, raising his caution level a notch.

Stepping on the brake pedal, he brought the SUV to a stop.

“What is it?” Grace asked, glancing over at him.

“I’m not sure.” He put the rig in Reverse, stared into the side mirror and backed up twenty feet to an opening in the curtain of Texas sage they’d just passed.

“But I swear I saw someone run between a couple of sage.” Staring at the exact spot he believed he’d seen someone or something, he tried to pick them out amongst the patches of upland switchgrass and prickly pear dotting the rolling landscape.

Movement sucked his attention to a scrub oak where a whitetail buck raked his antlers against its trunk with violent strokes.

“Look, Grace.” He pointed. “He’s trying to shed his horns after breeding season. I’ll have to bring Caleb out here to see if we can locate them before the coyotes drag them off to chew on.”

“He’d like that, wouldn’t you, Caleb?” She turned slightly to look into the backseat. “He’s sound asleep, Nick. I suppose it will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“It’s been a rough day for the little guy.” Nick put the Tahoe in Drive and took his foot off the brake pedal.

The deer’s movements were probably what he’d seen. Its sandy-brown hide matched the glint of color on the edge of his headlight beams, but as he eased down on the gas pedal, he realized he couldn’t be certain. For half a second, he thought he’d seen a man standing upright, wearing desert camouflage. The same broken tawny pattern he’d learned to identify with precise accuracy in Iraq. A skill he’d used a hundred times in his recon missions to avoid walking into an ambush.

Unease raked over his nerves, bringing his senses to a heightened state of alert he couldn’t ignore. What would a man in camo be doing on the ranch besides trespassing? Was it possible Rodney Marshall had discovered Grace’s location and was waiting to confirm her identity when she climbed out of his vehicle? Still, based on his proximity to the ranch house it appeared the man had been running in the opposite direction.

Nick’s guard was up when he pulled into the circle drive in front of the house and killed the engine. He didn’t plan on letting it down until they were safely inside.

He snagged the mail off the dash, climbed out and went around to the passenger side, where Grace unbuckled Caleb and took him out of his car seat.

“Here. Let me.” Nick pulled the little boy into his arms and handed Grace the mail along with his keys. “After you.” He glanced around the perimeter for visible threats, and fell in behind her up the walk to the front door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.