Page 36 of Texas-Sized Secrets

He’d made a mistake. He shouldn’t have left Mona at the trailer. What if the shooter circled back and took her hostage or shot her?

Feet shuffled in the gravel in front of the silos and another shot rang out, followed by a loud groan and a heavy thump.

From the direction of the trailer court, another shot popped off.

Reed hoped like hell Mona was lying on the floor of Maria’s trailer, staying out of trouble.

A car engine revved, peeling out of the gravel parking lot onto the highway.

Careful so as not to create too big a target, Reed peered around the silo. Car taillights disappeared past the houses farther down the street.

On the gravel lay a man-size lump. It stirred and moaned.

Keeping low to the ground, Reed ran out to the figure sprawled in the shadows.

Flat on his back, with a gaping hole in his gut lay the man with the cut on his forehead. He reached out to Reed and grasped his arm.“Traidor.”

“Qué?”Reed asked.

“Traid—”His eyes closed and his grip loosened on Reed’s arm.

Reed felt for a pulse in his neck, but there wasn’t one to find. The man was dead.

“He said traitor.” Mona’s voice startled Reed and he leaped to his feet. She stood with her hair being whipped around her face, her dress billowing around her body and a rifle in her hands.

“What the hell are you doing out here?”

“I heard gunshots. I tried to wait like you said, but I couldn’t. You might have been hurt.” She stared out at the road. “Lot of good it did, I missed the shooter. Heck, I didn’t even hit the car.”

“You and the baby could have been killed.”

“I stayed in the shadows of the trailer as much as possible. I wouldn’t put my baby at risk.”

He grabbed her arm. As he turned her toward Maria’s trailer, sirens wailed across the small town.

“Great.” Before he could get Mona away from the dead man, a sheriff’s SUV swung off the road and skidded to a stop in the gravel. Toby Braxton jumped from the car and pointed his pistol at Reed and Mona. “Drop the gun!”

Chapter Nine

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the female rancher and her hired gun.” Parker Lee circled Mona and Reed sitting in the sheriff’s office, both cuffed. “Interesting that Miss Grainger was the one caught holding the smoking gun.”

Mona bit hard on her lip to keep from spewing the scathing remarks she wanted so badly to say. Now wasn’t the time to tell Parker Lee exactly what she thought of him. The way it looked out at the granary made her appear like the shooter.

“She didn’t shoot the man I found.” Reed stood, his brows drawn in a deep frown. “Someone in a car did. She was shooting at the man who did the killing.”

“Sit down, Bryson.” Sheriff Lee shoved against Reed’s chest.

Reed stood solid, glaring at the sheriff, in a staring standoff. When Parker Lee looked away, Reed took his seat.

Mona’s heart swelled at Reed’s defense. She had to admit, on the surface, the evidence was damning. One man dead and she was the one holding a rifle that had been fired recently.

Lee leaned into Reed. “No one reported a car, and you were the only other person there. Does that mean you shot the man?”

Reed glared back at the man. “Therewasa car and if you do a ballistics report on the bullet, you’ll see that Mona didn’t kill that man. You’re wasting your time arresting us.”

“You can go, Bryson, but Miss Grainger has to stay until the judge sets bail. Not that she can post that bail. Can you, Mona?” He touched a finger to her chin and lifted her face. “Told you that ranch was too much for you to handle.”

The touch of the sheriff’s finger on her chin made her skin crawl and her rage burn. “Up yours, Parker. Rancho Linda has been in my family for a long time. It’s staying in my family.”

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