Dana Mentink - Treacherous Trails

Falsely accused...

Can she escape the real killer?

In this Gold Country Cowboys story, farrier Ella Cahill is accused of murder—and only former marine Owen Thorn, her brother’s best friend, can help clear her name. Now with someone trying to kill Ella, Owen must protect her...despite his promise to her brother to stay away from her. But can they work together to find the true killer before she becomes the next to die?

DANA MENTINK is a national bestselling author. She has been honored to win two Carol Awards, a Holt Medallion Award and an RT Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award. She’s authored more than thirty novels to date for Mills & Boon. Dana loves feedback from her readers. Contact her at danamentink.com.

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Wings of Danger

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Treacherous Trails

Dana Mentink

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08261-7

TREACHEROUS TRAILS

© 2018 Dana Mentink

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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“Don’t get in trouble for me.”

“Ella, I’ve risked my life for people I will never meet. You, I’ve known since you were in grade school.” As Owen looked at those lush green eyes, his heart beat to a faster tempo, the pulse thundering loud in his ears. He cleared his throat. “You’re my best friend’s sister, and my family loves you. Why wouldn’t I take a risk for you?”

“Because I don’t want you to,” she said firmly. “Because this isn’t your battle.”

“Well I’m making it my battle.”

“Why?”

“I just told you.”

“No. You could let the police handle it. Family friendship doesn’t go this far. Ray would understand.”

“No he wouldn’t.”

She blew out a breath that ruffled her bangs. “You’ve nearly been run down. Isn’t that enough?”

He fought to keep his tone level. “Have we cleared your name yet? Have we gotten back everything you’ve lost? Your work? Your reputation? Your freedom?”

“No,” she said, voice breaking.

“Then I guess you have your answer.”

Dear Reader,

Did you ever give up on a dream that you wanted with all your heart? That hurts, doesn’t it? It’s almost like experiencing a death, in a way. In Treacherous Trails, both Ella and Owen come to realize that God’s plans for their lives are so much better than those they fashion for themselves, but the lesson is not learned without struggle and pain. That happy ending could not come a moment too soon for those two!

In this book we’ve gotten a closer look at Owen Thorn, the second of the Thorn brothers. It was a joy to write about a close-knit family of brothers who support each other through thick and thin. As one of four sisters, I value so much the unconditional love of my family. I hope that you have experienced that kind of unconditional love, whether via a sibling or a close friend. These are the people that hold us up when our dreams lie broken at our feet, the earthly hands and feet God uses to carry us through the darkest time until the sun shines again.

I enjoy hearing from my readers, so feel free to pop by my website at danamentink.comand leave a comment. There’s a physical address there as well if you prefer to correspond via letter. Friends, I sincerely thank you for coming along for this second Gold Country adventure.

God bless!

Dana Mentink

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

—Matthew 16:24

To Nancy and Phil, God loving, horse loving, Kingdom serving souls. Thank you.

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

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

Extract

ONE

Ella Cahill rubbed her eyes as she climbed behind the wheel of her old van and sipped tea out of her thermos to revive herself. The pounding behind her temples was growing more and more painful. Probably fatigue. Trying to squeeze just one more appointment into her farrier’s schedule meant another small step toward covering the monthly bills, but it took a toll. You can sleep tomorrow was her motto, but that luxurious day of rest never seemed to come. She rolled down the window halfway, hoping that since the tea hadn’t worked, the cold January temperatures would restore her. Sucking in a deep lungful of crisp air, she felt grateful once more for Gold Bar, her sleepy little hometown tucked deep in the heart of California’s gold country. Funny how her craving for travel and adventure had mellowed away, leaving quiet contentment behind.