Page 11 of The Cowboy's Wild Side

She had two days before her parents returned from their trip.

Two days before they’d want to know where she was and why.

Two days for her to think of something to tell them.

Two days to find a way out of the mess she was in.

* * *

While Karen had spent an idyllic day at Cade’s ranch, Gino Stallone had been receiving a string of calls from the thugs he employed to collect unpaid gambling debts. He referred to them as his ‘security guards’. It was his own private joke. Theysecuredthe money owed to him. Some worked full-time, others were used when a client was particularly difficult to track down. But in spite of all their efforts, Karen Harper remained missing.

Now standing trackside staring at his phone, he had no choice but to call a private detective and enforcer namedPaddy O’Brien. The man was as Irish as his name promised. He claimed his thick accent and enigmatic smile could charm the panties off any woman, and Gino believed him. But he also knew Paddy could use those same qualities to bring terror to the hearts of the toughest of men.

His calling card was a set of custom-made knives.

He had designed them himself, then had them made by Patrick Joseph, the famous Irish knife company.

Paddy always achieved results.

But he cost a fortune.

Reluctantly Gino sent him a photograph of Karen standing with her parents in the winner’s circle, then placed the call

He had no choice.

He only had two days to find the spoiled rich bitch and silence her.

CHAPTER NINE

As Cade watched the white SUV head off down the quiet country road, he let out a heavy breath. He was sure Karen had been lying to him. When he’d asked the simple question about what happened to her phone, she’d looked panic-stricken, then rattled off an excuse that sounded implausible.

Striding into the house, he continued thinking about the odd conversation as he fed the dogs then showered and changed. Whenever he left the ranch to work with Annie she sent over one of her security guards. As if on cue, Cade was pulling on his jacket when he heard a car rolling to a stop outside his door.

“Come on you two,” he called to the happy retrievers. “We’re off to see Annie and your friends.”

The two dogs always joined him when he worked with Annie. She adored them, and they loved playing with her two her dogs, Bella and Merlin. As he hurried outside, Jack and Diane jumped into the bed of his truck while he waved at the security guard and climbed behind the wheel. But as he rolled away from the house he wanted to drive straight to the cottage, confront Karen and ask her what was really going on. Fighting the temptation, he made the short trip to Annie’s home.

The studio was at the back of the property near the base of the Smoky Hill forest. Pulling to a stop at the gate, he punched the code into the keypad, then drove past the house and came to a stop in the parking area.

“Hi, Cade,” Annie called, stepping outside with Bella and Merlin running ahead of her. “I thought we could leave the wild beasts out here to play for a while.”

“Good idea,” he replied with a grin as Jack and Diane jumped from the truck and ran across to meet their friends. But as he walked into the studio with Annie his smile quickly faded.

“Do you want a beer? Though, from that worried look on your face maybe you need something stronger,” she remarked. “What’s up?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ve known you for a hundred years.”

“True,” he muttered with a sigh. “One of Helen’s friends is here and she spent the afternoon at the ranch with me. She’ll be takin’ lessons in exchange for helpin’ around the place.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all, except—something odd happened. She was leavin’, and when I said we should exchange numbers she panicked.”

“What do you mean?”

“She said she didn’t have a phone. She claimed she’d driven over it in her car.”

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