Margaret Daley - Texas Ranger Showdown

“Stop me.”

She was taunted by a killer.

Margaret Daley’s thrilling Lone Star Justice series continues, this time pitting radio therapist Dr. Caitlyn Rhodes against a methodical murderer. First, her patients are found dead, then the mocking phone calls start. The evidence is pointing Texas Ranger Ian Pierce to one conclusion: he must protect Caitlyn from becoming this vicious killer’s next victim...before he loses the woman he once loved—for good.

MARGARET DALEY, an award-winning author of ninety books (five million sold worldwide), has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread, and corralling her three cats, who think they rule her household. To find out more about Margaret, visit her website at margaretdaley.com.

Also By Margaret Daley

Lone Star Justice

High-Risk Reunion

Lone Star Christmas Rescue

Texas Ranger Showdown

Alaskan Search and Rescue

The Yuletide Rescue

To Save Her Child

The Protector’s Mission

Standoff at Christmas

Guardians, Inc.

Christmas Bodyguard

Protecting Her Own

Hidden in the Everglades

Christmas Stalking

Guarding the Witness

Bodyguard Reunion

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Texas Ranger Showdown

Margaret Daley

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08266-2

TEXAS RANGER SHOWDOWN

© 2018 Margaret Daley

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Fear struck her as she opened the door.

The office was destroyed—a chaotic mess in front of her.

Ian grabbed her before she could walk in. “Stay here. Let me check it out.” He withdrew his gun and slipped past her.

Moments later she followed him inside. Ripped papers and books, smashed objects littered the floor, along with items from storage boxes, a foot deep. She stepped into the bathroom, surprisingly left untouched. Then she saw it. STOP ME was written on the mirror in bold black letters. She shook her head, as though in shock, not believing what she was seeing.

“Caitlyn?”

Finally their gazes embraced across the turmoil, tears pooling in her eyes. He came to her and she plastered herself against him, her whole body shaking.

“Why would someone do this?” she asked.

“He left a message on the mirror.”

A shudder rippled down her spine. No. “He doesn’t want me to stop him. He wants to scare me...and then kill me.”

Dear Reader,

Texas Ranger Showdown is my third book in my Lone Star Justice series about Texas Rangers, the state police in Texas. I love writing about strong heroes and heroines. In this story, I wanted my heroine to be the target of a killer who made it personal and taunted her. As a therapist, Caitlyn had faced a traumatic situation that had changed her life. She used her pain to help others solve their problems. She had to dig deep to deal with the killer who wanted to destroy Caitlyn’s life.

I love hearing from readers. You can contact me at margaretdaley@gmail.com or at PO Box 2074 Tulsa, OK 74101. You can also learn more about my books at www.margaretdaley.com. I have a monthly newsletter that you can sign up for on my website.

Best wishes,

Margaret Daley

And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

—Luke 11:4

To the Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense editors

Thank you for all your hard work

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

Called in by the Longhorn sheriff, Texas Ranger Ian Pierce pulled up to the crime scene outside of town. A woman’s body had been found by an older couple out for a morning walk on the country road.

Ian approached Sheriff Tom Mason and shook his hand. He’d been the sheriff in the community when Ian was a teenager. He’d always admired the man and the way he ran his department. The people in this county did too because he’d been in his current position for twenty-five years. “It’s good to see you again. I just wish under different circumstances.”

“So do I, especially with this one. The woman murdered was Jane Shephard.”

“Senator Shephard’s daughter?”

Tom nodded. “I figure with a state senator’s family involved, I should have you involved too.”

“You think it might be politically motivated?”

“No indication of that, but it’ll be a volatile case.” Tom headed toward the roped-off crime scene. “It appears she was dumped here sometime early this morning. She hasn’t been dead long. We’ll know more after the autopsy.”

Ian ducked under the yellow crime-scene tape and made his way down the steep side of the ditch where the victim lay faceup in about an inch of dirty rainwater, posed with her hands across her chest. No outward sign of how she’d been killed. “Do we know how she died?”