Delores Fossen - Wanted

“I should be the one to get those results,” she challenged.

But that was as far as her challenge got, because his phone rang. Maybe because he thought she might bolt, Wyatt kept his eyes on her while he took the call.

“Declan,” he greeted, and even though she couldn’t hear what his brother was saying, it caused his forehead to bunch up. “I’m putting you on speaker so Lyla can hear this.”

Please, not another death threat or news of some other violation to her privacy that she was just being informed about.

A moment later, his brother’s voice began to pour through the room. “As I said, the lab lifted a print off the camera, and we got a match. Nicky Garnett. He’s got a record a mile long.”

Lyla shook her head. The name meant nothing to her. “You know him?”

“We know him,” Declan confirmed. “He works muscle for a rich rancher, Travis Weston. No record for him, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have one. The man’s dirty and with plenty of money to cover his dirty tracks.”

Another head shake. “What does this Travis Weston have to do with me?” she asked.

Declan didn’t jump to answer that time. “I’ll let Wyatt finish the explanation, and I’ll get started on bringing Travis in for a little chat.”

“Do that,” Wyatt agreed, and he ended the call and looked at her. “Travis and Jonah Webb were old friends.”

Oh, she didn’t like the direction this was going. She’d just been put in charge of the evidence gathered from Webb’s murder, and now his old friend had ties to a man who’d not only spied on her but had fired shots at Wyatt?

“Webb used to send some of the boys from Rocky Creek to work on Travis’s ranch,” Wyatt continued. “Including me. At best the arrangement was shady, probably illegal, and there were rumors that Travis used some of the boys to move illegal weapons in and out of Mexico.”

She pulled in her breath. “He used you for that?”

Wyatt shook his head. “Probably because Kirby was looking out for me. Kirby was a marshal at the time. A good one. And they wouldn’t have wanted him to have an insider like me in on their schemes.”

Lyla tried to make sense of all of this, but she couldn’t. “So, maybe Travis wants to make sure I help prosecute his friend’s killer? Maybe he doesn’t want me dead after all.”

Wyatt made a soft grunt. “Webb and Travis had a falling-out. No one’s sure about what exactly, but they were bitter enemies before Webb was killed.” He paused. “Travis is a suspect in his murder, and the Rangers have been questioning him along with keeping any evidence they might have against him close to the vest. I’m sure Travis would like nothing more than the head CSI to clear him of any possible charges.”

She swallowed hard. Lyla had thought it would help if she had a name to go with this mess, but from the sound of it, that wasn’t a name she wanted associated with her.

“Travis is a killer?” she risked asking.

“Oh, yeah. If he hasn’t killed already, it’s only because he hasn’t had to. He usually hires muscle like Nicky Garnett to kill for him.”

It felt as if a chunk of ice had settled in her stomach, and Lyla pressed her fingertips to her mouth to try to steady the trembling. “How do we get out of this?”

“For starters, we lie. And not some little white lies, either. Big ones. We turn this con right on them and eliminate their reason for wanting you involved in any of this. That’ll keep you and the baby safe.”

Maybe it was the dizziness, but Lyla wasn’t following him. “How do I do that?”

Wyatt stooped down, going onto one knee so they were literally eye to eye. “You’ll marry me—today.”

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.