Kerry Connor - Her Cowboy Defender

He was the last thing she expected—and everything she needed

From the moment he finds himself staring down the barrel of her gun, Rancher Cade McClain knows Piper Lowry isn’t just another stranded tourist. Armed and desperate, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to carry out her mission. A mission she claims only he can help her with. Knowing it would be impossible to walk away from this tempting, determined woman, Cade offers her a place to hide from the gunmen on her trail. Despite his broad shoulders and intimidating gaze, it isn’t long before the straight-shooting cowboy realizes he can’t guarantee Piper’s safety. Even if his heart is beginning to tell him he has no choice but to try....

He knew he had no choice but to help her.

“Come on,” Cade said roughly. “Let’s get out of here.”

Piper frowned. “Where are we going? Back to my car?”

“No. My ranch isn’t far from here. It’ll be safer there. We can figure out what to do next.”

“‘We?’” she echoed faintly. “Why would you want to help me?”

It was a good question, one he would have asked if he was in her shoes, one he was still asking himself.

A smart man would get away from this woman and her mess as fast as humanly possible. But it seemed he wasn’t that smart.

So, he gave the only answer he could. “Because somebody needs to.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A lifelong mystery reader, Kerry Connor first discovered romance suspense by reading Harlequin Intrigue books and is thrilled to be writing for the line. Kerry lives and writes in New York.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Piper Lowry—On a desperate mission to save her sister, she finds an unexpected defender in the form of a long, tall cowboy.

Cade McClain—The rancher’s honor demands that he offer his help, even if it means risking everything for a stranger.

Esteban Castillo—A man who wants information…and vengeance.

Matt Alvarez—Cade’s right-hand man warns him not to get involved—for more than one reason.

Pamela Lowry—Piper’s twin sister is in a coma.

Tara Lowry—Piper’s younger sister is a pawn in a dangerous game.

Jay Larson—He’s on Piper’s trail, but what are his true motives?

To Jodi, who introduced me to New Mexico,

for being the kind of friend who’s there when I need her, even when she’s on the other side of the world.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter One

This can’t be happening.

Piper stared in disbelief at the black smoke billowing from the engine of the rental car. She’d barely managed to pull over to the side of the road before the giant plume erupted from beneath the hood, along with a crackling she suspected might be outright fire. Any hope the car would keep running long enough to make it to her destination evaporated into the air much faster than the smoke.

She shot a glance at the clock on the dashboard. The digits glared back, relentless, unforgiving.

Thirty-four minutes. She had thirty-four minutes to be at the rendezvous point. If she wasn’t—

No.

She cut off the thought before it could form. She couldn’t afford to think about that, couldn’t think about anything but what she was going to do now, how she was going to make the deadline.

But when she tried to come up with a solution to this latest hurdle, her mind remained stubbornly blank except for the words that had been running through her head nonstop for the past two days.

This can’t be happening.

The words raced together in a constant loop, picking up speed along with her pulse, her heart pounding so fast and so hard in her chest she found it tougher and tougher to breathe.

It couldn’t end like this. She couldn’t come this close only to fail.

This can’t be happening.

Beneath the shock clouding her brain, some preservation instinct forced her limbs into motion, recognizing the fact that it wasn’t safe to remain in the car. For all she knew, the engine could explode at any moment. She had to get out of there.

Numbly, she switched off the key, then grabbed her bag and the map. Lurching from the vehicle, she slammed the door shut behind her. It was all she could do not to give the door an angry kick. She’d known as soon as she heard the knocking sound that something was wrong, but couldn’t stop. Even if time wasn’t an issue, she knew nothing about cars. She had no choice but to keep pushing on and hope she made it to her destination.

So much for that.

Which just left what she was going to do now.

The sun beat down from directly overhead, her fair skin already beginning to tingle under the unrelenting beams. Raising a hand to shade her eyes, she glanced around. The desert road stretched endlessly in either direction, disappearing into the horizon on both sides with no indication where it stopped. She had no idea where she was, other than that it was somewhere in New Mexico. She’d been following the map that had been provided to her, having no other choice. She hadn’t passed a single vehicle or building on the road in at least a half hour, had no reason to believe she would find any the same distance up ahead if she started walking. She’d known that she was being sent to the middle of nowhere, but she was more aware of that fact now than ever before.

She checked her watch, already knowing what it would show, painfully aware of how quickly time was slipping away.

Thirty-two minutes.

The backs of her eyes began to burn, and she immediately squeezed her eyelids together to keep the tears that threatened from falling. She wasn’t going to cry. She refused to. She hadn’t one bit since this ordeal had begun. She hadn’t cried when she’d learned of Pam’s accident. She hadn’t cried when she’d received the horrible call two days ago. She hadn’t cried during the long journey, even knowing what awaited her at the end.

But never had she been as close to giving in to the tears as she was right now.

A sob rose in her throat.

This can’t be happening.

With her eyes shut, it was the sound of an engine that reached her first, the sound so faint she didn’t immediately recognize it. When she did, she froze in disbelief, afraid to open her eyes, afraid she was hallucinating. It seemed too much to hope for, too much to believe possible, that a vehicle could pass by at this particular moment when she needed it most.

Her heart pounding anew, she slowly opened her eyes and turned toward the sound.

The vehicle was still far enough away that she could barely make it out, its shape shimmering in the sun, almost like a mirage. She held her breath as it approached, gradually gaining enough substance to confirm that it was very real. It was a pickup truck. Red, she guessed, though it hardly mattered. All that did was that it was here.