Her Lone Star Protector Read online

  This month, in

  HER LONE STAR PROTECTOR

  by Peggy Moreland,

  meet Robert Cole—private investigator and drop-dead-gorgeous bachelor. Rob was on a mission to solve a murder, but instead he found himself falling for Rebecca Todman—his lovely young suspect!

  SILHOUETTE DESIRE

  IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE

  Five wealthy Texas bachelors—all members of the state’s most exclusive club—set out to uncover the traitor in their midst…and find true love.

  And don’t miss

  TALL, DARK…AND FRAMED?

  by Cathleen Galitz, the third installment of the Texas Cattleman’s Club: The Last Bachelor series, available next month in Silhouette Desire!

  Dear Reader,

  Celebrate the rites of spring with six new passionate, powerful and provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire!

  Reader favorite Anne Marie Winston’s Billionaire Bachelors: Stone, our March MAN OF THE MONTH, is a classic marriage-of-convenience story, in which an overpowering attraction threatens a platonic arrangement. And don’t miss the third title in Desire’s glamorous in-line continuity DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS, The Sheikh Takes a Bride by Caroline Cross, as sparks fly between a sexy-as-sin sheikh and a feisty princess.

  In Wild About a Texan by Jan Hudson, the heroine falls for a playboy millionaire with a dark secret. Her Lone Star Protector by Peggy Moreland continues the TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: THE LAST BACHELOR series, as an unlikely love blossoms between a florist and a jaded private eye.

  A night of passion produces major complications for a doctor and the social worker now carrying his child in Dr. Destiny, the final title in Kristi Gold’s miniseries MARRYING AN M.D. And an ex-marine who discovers he’s heir to a royal throne must choose between his kingdom and the woman he loves in Kathryn Jensen’s The Secret Prince.

  Kick back, relax and treat yourself to all six of these sexy new Desire romances!

  Enjoy!

  Joan Marlow Golan

  Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

  Her Lone Star Protector

  PEGGY MORELAND

  This book is dedicated to W. J. and Carmen Ann Fisher. Thanks for all the free advice on goat raising, cattle breeding, fence building, brush clearing, snake dodging, poison ivy cures and heavy-equipment driving lessons. We’re in your debt…just don’t ask us to pay up!

  Books by Peggy Moreland

  Silhouette Desire

  A Little Bit Country #515

  Run for the Roses #598

  Miss Prim #682

  The Rescuer #765

  Seven Year Itch #837

  The Baby Doctor #867

  Miss Lizzy’s Legacy #921

  A Willful Marriage #1024

  *Marry Me, Cowboy #1084

  *A Little Texas Two-Step #1090

  *Lone Star Kind of Man #1096

  †The Rancher’s Spittin’ Image #1156

  †The Restless Virgin #1163

  †A Sparkle in the Cowboy’s Eyes #1168

  †That McCloud Woman #1227

  Billionaire Bridegroom #1244

  †Hard Lovin’ Man #1270

  ‡Ride a Wild Heart #1306

  ‡In Name Only #1313

  ‡Slow Waltz Across Texas #1315

  Groom of Fortune #1336

  The Way to a Rancher’s Heart #1345

  Millionaire Boss #1365

  The Texan’s Tiny Secret #1394

  Her Lone Star Protector #1426

  Silhouette Special Edition

  Rugrats and Rawhide #1084

  PEGGY MORELAND

  published her first romance with Silhouette in 1989 and continues to delight readers with stories set in her home state of Texas. Winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award, a nominee for the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award and a finalist for the prestigious RITA Award, Peggy has appeared on the USA Today and Waldenbooks bestseller lists. When not writing, she enjoys spending time at the farm riding her quarter horse, Lo-Jump. She, her husband and three children make their home in Round Rock, Texas. You may write to Peggy at P.O. Box 2453, Round Rock, TX 78680-2453, or e-mail her care of eHarlequin.com.

  * * *

  “What’s Happening in Royal?”

  NEWS FLASH, March—There’s a murderer loose in Royal, Texas! Sources report that the death of Eric Chambers was no accident—someone wanted Wescott Oil’s vice president of accounting out of the way for good. But who? The police don’t have any leads at the moment. Luckily, Royal’s own sexy sleuth, Robert Cole, is on the case!

  Our sources have been trying to talk to Rebecca Todman, the attractive florist who discovered the murder—but it seems Rob has beaten us to the punch! He’s been spending an awful lot of time with Rebecca…and are smoldering glances and searing kisses part of his new interrogation procedures? If so, we predict Robert will have suspects lining up at his door for questioning….

  First theft and now murder—things have gone from bad to worse at Wescott Oil. Our reporters tried to get hold of Sebastian Wescott, but the CEO has refused to comment on the proceedings. Could Sebastian be hiding something? While nobody seems to know for certain, rumors are flying, and his friends at the Texas Cattleman’s Club seem worried….

  * * *

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  One

  Rebecca glanced down at the clipboard she’d propped on the console of her minivan and worried her lip as she did some quick math. Ten, fifteen minutes tops at Eric Chambers’s house to water and tend his plants, another fifteen at the Olsens’ to do the same. Ten or less at the Mortons’ to deliver the new potted palm Mrs. Morton had purchased for her sunroom. Factor in driving time of about twenty minutes and she should make it to her shop, In Bloom, in time to open for business by 9:00 a.m.

  But barely, she reflected with a frown as she pulled to a stop in front of Eric’s house. Her frown deepened to one of puzzlement when she noticed Eric’s car parked on the drive. Strictly regimented about every aspect of his life, Eric always left for work precisely at 7:30, which allowed her to tend his plants undisturbed, an arrangement they’d made from the get-go that had suited them both.

  Wondering if perhaps he was ill, she gathered the tote filled with her supplies and headed for the back door. Though he had given her a key to his home when he’d hired her to care for his plants, she opted to knock, rather than let herself in as she normally did. She didn’t want to catch him unawares…or worse, in his underwear. She choked a laugh as she waited, imagining the expression on the face of the very prim and proper Eric Chambers if she were to catch him dressed in only his B.V.D.’s.

  Her smile faded when her knock produced no response. With a harried glance at her wristwatch, she rapped her knuckles on the door again, louder this time, then pressed her ear to the wood, listening, but she didn’t hear a sound from inside. Convinced that Eric was indeed ill and possibly too sick to get out of bed, she tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it turned in her hand.

  She hesitated a moment, unsure whether she should just barge in. With another glance at her watch, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Though the kitchen was immaculate as always and flooded with cheerful morning sunshine that streamed through the breakfast-room windows, goose flesh popped up on her arms. The house was quiet. Almost too quiet.

  “Eric?” she called uneasily. She tiptoed toward the doorway that led to the hallway and his bedroom beyond. “Eric?” she called again, raising her voice.

  When she didn’t hear a reply, she waited uncertainly, wondering if she should go to his bedroom and check on him or just tend his plants and leave.

  “He’s your neighbor,” she scolded herself under her breath, “and he lives alone. The least you can do is see if he needs anything, especially since he’s been so kind to send customers your way.”

  Silently berating herself for her selfish ingratitude, she marched toward the bedroom door. She paused at the open doorway, sent up a silent prayer that he was decently covered, then peeked inside. The room was empty, the bed neatly made. A suit coat was draped with meticulous care over a valet stand near the closet. Certain that she would have found Eric in bed, delirious from a raging fever, she glanced toward the partially open bathroom door.

  He had car trouble, she told herself, and turned back for the hall. Probably caught a ride with someone from his office. Promising herself that she would call Wescott Oil and check on him the minute she arrived at her shop, she filled her watering can at the kitchen sink and hurried through the house, watering the potted plants and checking for signs of disease as she nipped off the occasional dead bloom and withering leaf. When she had completed her duties, she returned to the kitchen and rinsed out her watering can, anxious to be on her way.

  But he could have had a heart attack, her conscience scolded as she tucked the watering can back into its slot in her tote. Or a stroke! You can’t leave without first making certain he isn’t home. You’d never forgive yourself, if you find out later that he was lying on the bathroom floor, praying someone would find him.

  Rebecca groaned, wishing her conscience—as well as her overactive imagination—would, just this once, take a holiday. She was running late enough, as it was. She headed for the back door.

  But you can’t leave! Not until you make sure he isn’t here!

  She stopped at her conscience’s frantic urging, her hand on the knob. But I’ve been in every room of his house, she argued silently. He’s not home!

  You didn’t look in the bathroom, the stubborn little voice reminded her.

  Rebecca glanced over her shoulder at the hallway and the bedroom beyond. Knowing her conscience was right, that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if Eric was indeed lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, she dropped her tote onto the counter and trudged down the hall. She passed through his bedroom, the deeply piled carpet muffling her steps, and nudged open the partially closed bathroom door. “Eric?” she called as she stepped inside.

  Rebecca stumbled back, her eyes widening in horror, her hand flying to her mouth to smother the scream that clawed its way up her throat. Eric was slumped on the closed toilet seat, dressed in crisply pleated black slacks and a starched white shirt, his hands, bound by a black belt, lying slack between his knees. A dark silk tie with a burgundy paisley print was tied nooselike around his neck and secured to the towel rack above the commode. His eyes were open, staring, his mouth slack, his skin a deathly chalk-white, his features distorted by an unnatural swelling.

  Numbed by the sight, Rebecca stared, knowing without moving any closer that Eric was dead. She knew what death looked like. She had seen it firsthand on her husband’s face, even applauded it, knowing that with his death, she was at last free of him. She gulped, staring, as memories flashed through her mind, blurring Eric’s features, until it was her husband’s face she stared at. Blood had spurted from the gash on his forehead when the impact of the automobile crash had thrust him forward, his chest hitting the steering wheel and his head slamming against the windshield. The gurgling sounds of his last breaths screamed through her mind.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the anger that had twisted her husband’s handsome features prior to the crash, the fear for her own life that had gripped her when he’d forced her into the car with him.

  The scream that had risen to her throat when she’d first entered Eric’s bathroom burned higher and higher, pushing against her tightly pressed fingers. Wheeling, she ran blindly for the kitchen. She yanked the phone from its base and frantically punched in 9-1-1. One ring buzzed in her ear before her knees gave way beneath her and she sank weakly to the floor, her fingers trembling as she clutched the phone to her ear.

  “This is the 9-1-1 operator. May I help you?”

  “Yes,” Rebecca sobbed, the single word scraping like a razor over her raw throat. She pressed her hand over her mouth to hold the emotion back. “He—he’s dead,” she managed to choke out.

  “Who’s dead?”

  “Er-Eric.” She gulped and turned her head to stare at the hallway, picturing again Eric’s face. His unseeing eyes. “Eric Chambers,” she murmured, the image slowly changing, the face becoming that of her husband’s, the unseeing eyes the eyes of the man who had made her years as his wife a holy hell. She banded her fingers around her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to remember…and knowing she would never forget.

  Mornings were usually quiet at the Texas Cattleman’s Club. But on this particular morning, there was a different quality to the silence. A heaviness. A somberness. Yet the air seemed to hold an electrical charge, as well. A sense of expectancy crackled through the club. One of impatience. A need for action.

  A murder had been committed in Royal, the victim an employee of a member of the Texas Cattleman’s Club, and what affected one club member affected them all.

  Though usually empty at that time of day, the club’s cigar lounge was almost filled to capacity, with members having dragged the heavy leather chairs into huddled groups of four and eight. The members’ conversations were low, hushed, as they reviewed the facts of the case and speculated on the identity of the murderer.

  In a far corner of the room Sebastian Wescott sat with a group of his closest and most trusted friends. William Bradford, CFO and partner in Wescott Oil Enterprises. Keith Owens, owner of a computer software firm. Dorian Brady, Sebastian’s half brother and an employee of Wescott Oil. CIA agent Jason Windover. And Rob Cole, private investigator.

  Though all the men were included in the conversation, it was Rob and Jason whose expertise Sebastian sought in finding Eric Chambers’s murderer.

  Sebastian glanced at Jason. “I know that your participation in this case will have to remain unofficial, due to your status as a CIA agent, but I’d appreciate any assistance or advice you have to offer.”

  Jason tightened his lips and nodded. “You know I’ll do everything I can.”

  Seb turned to Rob Cole. “The police, of course, are conducting their own investigation, but I want you on the case. I’ve already informed the police that they are to coordinate their efforts with yours.”

  Rob nodded, his mind moving automatically into investigative mode. “Brief me on what you know about the murder.”

  Seb dragged a weary hand down his face, but didn’t come close to smoothing away the deep lines of tension that creased it. “Not much.”

  “Who found the body?”

  “Rebecca Todman. New in town. A neighbor of Eric’s. She owns a floral shop and, according to her, was hired by him to tend his plants.”

  Rob frowned as he studied Seb. “You don’t believe her story?”

  Seb shot to his feet, tossing up a hand. “Hell, I don’t know who or what to believe!” He paced away a few steps, then stopped and rammed his hands into his pockets. He heaved a breath, then glanced back at Rob. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I haven’t had more than three straight hours of sleep in the past week, and when I arrived back at the office this morning, I had this dumped on me. The only thing I know for sure is that Eric is dead. And I want his murderer found.”

  “Okay,” Rob agreed, aware of the responsibility Seb assumed for all his employees. “Let’s start at the beginning and review the facts.”

  Seb sat back down, more in control now, but a far cry from calm. “According to the police reports, the Todman woman found Eric this morning around eight o’clock when she went to water his plants. He’d been strangled with his o wn necktie.”

  Rob leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Any sign of a break-in?”

  “No.”

  “Robbery?”

  “Not that the police have been able to determine.”

  “Any known enemies?”

  “None that I’m aware of.”

  “How about women? Any disgruntled girlfriends in his past? A jealous husband maybe looking to get even?”

  Seb lifted a brow. “Eric?” At Rob’s nod, he snorted. “Hardly. I don’t think Eric’s ever had a girlfriend. Lived with his mother until she died a couple of years ago. The only woman in Eric’s life is—was,” he clarified, frowning, “a cat. Sadie. Treated her like she was human. Rushed home from work at lunch every day, just to check on her.” He shook his head. “No. Eric didn’t have any jealous husbands gunning for him, and he didn’t have any girlfriends, either. Just old Sadie.”

  “What about this Todman woman?” Rob pressed. “Do you think she and Eric could have been involved?”

  Seb lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Though I doubt it. Eric was…well, he was a bit on the strange side. A loner who kept to himself. Very protective of his personal life. No,” he said, his frown deepening as he considered. “More like secretive. Forget it,” he said, waving away Rob’s suggestion of a possible relationship. “There was nothing between them. He was a lot older than her. And he was fussy, if you get what I mean. About the way he dressed. The way he kept his house and car. Lived his whole life on a time schedule, never deviating a minute or two one way or the other. Hell, a woman would have messed up his life too much for him to ever want one around. The guy was a confirmed bachelor.”

  “Sounds like about 90 percent of the members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club.”