Page 40 of Murder at Rescue Ridge

“Like I could do more for others than rip my opponent to shreds for money,” she said, folding her arms across her chest as she leaned back further.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, unable to tell if he’d just complimented her or issued a putdown.

“No,” she said, a slow—perhaps, proud—smile spreading across those pink, heart-shaped lips of hers. “I like it a lot, actually.”

The smile shouldn’t stir up those places in his chest that had been long-dormant as much as it did.

Nikki’s smile was like a drug—addictive and dangerous.

“But this isn’tthe time to become distracted,” Nikki said, refocusing. The warmth spreading through her caused by someone looking at her in a different light was foreign. Did his version of her fit? Or was she as ruthless as everyone expected her to be? “We need to focus on clearing your name.”

Conrad nodded as he clamped his mouth shut like he was holding back.

“All done?” she asked as she pulled her foot out of his large, calloused hands—hands that had her imagination running wild as to what else they could do to her body, considering how much heat and sizzle skin-to-skin contact created. His lightest touch electrified her nervous system, causing a well of need to rise up like she’d never experienced. She couldn’t afford to need anyone in any sense of the word. After she helped Conrad clear his name, she would figure out her next move in life.

“Any bright ideas as to who might be behind setting me up?” he asked as he stood up and returned the supplies to the junk drawer.

“The guys who turned you in and basically abducted me were able to access the property with relative ease,” Nikki said, turning her attention back to solving the case. This was her comfort zone. “Is it usually that easy for outsiders to move around the ranch?”

“As far as security goes, Beaumont slept with a shotgun next to his bed,” Conrad said. “Most of our workers know how to use a gun, too. Plus, there are barbed wire and electric fences in the most vulnerable areas of the property. The bunkhouse is near the barn. Kade lives there with his new wife and baby. There are a couple of ranch hands who live there full-time. So, it’s not like there aren’t people around who might see something.”

“What about the trainer, Lukas Wayne? Didn’t you say he was doing shady deals behind the family’s back?”

“That’s right,” Conrad said. “But Harrison was on Lukas’s side.”

“What if one of those deals was going south?” she asked. “When will Lukas be back on the property?”

“Tomorrow, I assume,” Conrad said as daylight slipped into night. “I had intended to dig into Lukas’s background to find out about his hobbies, like maybe axe throwing, before the warning came that I was about to be arrested.”

“What about a wife and kids?” she asked, the wheels starting to turn. They were finally getting back on track. This was where the answers were waiting to be found, answers that would give Conrad his freedom back.

Once they’d accomplished that, she’d be free to go back to her life, too.

Why did that suddenly sound like a curse?

Nikki shook it off. She’d been through an ordeal. Emotions were bound to get the best of her. Besides, Conrad was a good person who didn’t deserve what was happening to him. Had he been right about her earlier? Did she have a soft spot for the underdog? It would explain why she’d always felt the need to stick up for her friends. That was half the reason no one had been surprised when she’d decided to go to law school. Even Heath had often remarked about her killer instincts but she never showed a different side to him. Those words had felt less like a compliment than he’d intended.

Once again, she thought about calling home. Should she at least call her mother to let the woman know she was fine? Would Heath have the call traced and send someone else to abduct her?

Nikki’s cell phone was at the sheriff’s office, along with Conrad’s. Both would have been picked up and stored as evidence, especially since no one knew if Conrad had been holding her hostage at the time they’d tossed their phones. However, someone on the property should have a cell she could borrow.

Again, would making contact alert Heath to her location? Would he come storming through the front gates, demanding she return home with him?

Would he assume she’d returned to pick up her vehicle? Or to stay with Conrad?

“Hey,” Conrad said, “are you okay?”

She blinked a couple of times to refocus. “Yes. Good. I was just thinking that I’d like to let my mom know that I’m all right, but I don’t want to risk another stunt being pulled by Heath.”

“You think he’s tracing your mother’s phone calls?” Conrad asked.

“Maybe,” she said. “Since my so-called disappearance, he might be taking extra measures.”

The look Conrad issued made her realize that made it sound like being in a different kind of prison.

In the past, she would have jumped to her stepfather’s defense. Not now. She was too tired and too frustrated with the man. In fact, all she wanted to do at this point was eat dinner, shower, and go to bed.

“Can we talk about something else?” she asked. “Like maybe what we’re going to eat for supper? Washing my feet felt like a miracle. I can only imagine what having my whole body clean would feel like. Besides, I can’t think any longer, and I’d like to take a hot bath before crawling into a warm bed.” The wordswith youdied on her tongue. She shouldn’t ask that of him when they were both being so good about maintaining distance from their attraction—an attraction that would only lead to heartbreak and disappointment.

---