Cowboy Christmas Guardian by Dana Mentink

Author:Dana Mentink
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Barrett bolted through the open door, almost plowing into Shelby from behind. Blood oozed down the walls, dripping in scarlet rivulets to the wood floor. No, not blood, his brain corrected. The chemical scent of paint permeated the space.

Shelby was staring at the wall. Written in the paint was a message: You’ll Die. By the time he had the presence of mind to take out his cell phone and photograph the horrible phrase, the letters had smeared and dripped, drying in ugly trails, yet still shouting out their message of hate.

You’ll Die.

He put a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling under his touch.

“I saw the can of paint at the barn,” she whispered. “While you and I were securing the horses, he came up here and did this.”

Barrett did not know what to say. Ken Arroyo’s living room was desecrated. The man did not deserve that, no matter how Barrett felt about him. Nor did his niece.

“I’ll get Larraby,” he said, anger humming through his veins. “And when we’re done here, you’re staying at the Gold Bar. Period.” His tone brooked no argument and she did not offer one. That worried him almost as much as the fact that whoever had gone after the horses had been at large here, too.

Would Hatcher actually do such a thing? Barrett couldn’t fathom it.

His phone call summoned Larraby and another officer who began printing and photographing. At the end of the process, they allowed Shelby to try to clean up the spilled paint before it dried on the floors. Barrett helped, but they succeeded only in smearing the color over the walls and in bright arcs across the wood planks.

“I’ll leave an officer posted out front to keep watch tonight,” Larraby said, his tone more conciliatory than it had been earlier. “You can call him if you feel uncomfortable.”

“No need,” Barrett said. “She’s coming to stay at the ranch.”

Larraby mulled it over. “Okay. We’ll schedule some drive-bys to check on the property anyway.”

Shelby called her uncle. Barrett stepped outside to allow them some privacy while she packed an overnight bag and he phoned his mother.

“Can we accommodate a houseguest, Mama?” he asked after he filled her in.

“You have to ask?” she scolded. “I’ll put some clean sheets on the bed in Granddad’s cabin. She’ll be snug and safe as anything there.”

Perfect, since Barrett’s bedroom window looked directly out on the cabin.

“And when Ken gets home,” she said firmly, “we will help him clean up the mess properly.”

Help Ken. The idea would have disgusted him a week before, but now it did not feel quite so distasteful. “Yes.”

“You know,” she said softly. “God’s going to work good out of this. I can see it happening in you.”

In him? God had to be pretty amazing to work good out of the present mess with Shelby. Was it possible he could rid himself of his long-simmering rage and forgive, not for Ken’s sake but for his own? It would be a tall order, very tall.

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