Delores Fossen - Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge

A TEXAS SHERIFF IN NEED OF A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

Sheriff Jake McCall is about to break the law. To find a bone marrow donor for his ailing baby girl, he’ll hack into WITSEC to track down Maggie Gallagher—the only person who could be a genetic match. Yet by doing so, he is jeopardizing not only his badge, but Maggie’s life, as well. Expecting to have to force Maggie against her will, Jake is unprepared for her willingness to help—and for the desire and hunger she arouses in him. Still, those forbidden feelings could make Jake reckless, and losing focus now isn’t an option. With time running out and a killer on their heels, Jake has to keep Maggie alive—and give his daughter a Christmas miracle.

“Has my identity been compromised?”

“Not that I’m aware of. But I’m here to take you back to Mustang Ridge.”

“You can’t take me back there, Jake. It’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t want to harm you.”

She wasn’t sure she believed that—Jake had good reason to want to do her harm. If only Maggie could go back in time three years....

“If you’re not taking me to the man who put me in WITSEC, then where are you taking me?”

“To the hospital for some tests. After that, I’ll let you go.”

The hospital? “But I’m not sick.”

Maggie stopped. What would make Jake McCall come all this way to take her to Mustang Ridge for some tests?

There was only one thing.

Sunny.

She reached across the seat and latched onto his jacket, wadding up the fabric in her fists. “What’s wrong? What happened to my niece?”

Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Delores Fossen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imagine a family tree that includes Texas cowboys, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, a Louisiana pirate and a Scottish rebel who battled side by side with William Wallace. With ancestors like that, it’s easy to understand why USA TODAY bestselling author and former air force captain Delores Fossen feels as if she were genetically predisposed to writing romances. Along the way to fulfilling her DNA destiny, Delores married an air force top gun who just happens to be of Viking descent. With all those romantic bases covered, she doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Sheriff Jake McCall—He’s willing to do anything to save his daughter’s life, and that includes finding his former sister-in-law, the woman he blames for his wife’s death. But Jake’s life isn’t the only thing he’ll have to risk. He’ll have to risk his heart, as well.

Maggie Gallagher—Once a tough-as-nails cop, she becomes a killer’s target, and the one man who can rescue her is Jake McCall. However, Jake comes with the ultimate strings attached, because falling for him means they first have to stay alive.

Sunny Lynn McCall—Jake’s three-year-old daughter. She’s too young to realize the danger and the steps her daddy has taken to save her.

Deputy Royce McCall—Even though he doesn’t welcome Maggie back with open arms, he’ll do whatever it takes to help his brother protect her.

Chet McCall—Jake’s father, who might be willing to deal with his enemies to get back at Maggie.

Bruce Tanner—He’s on death row for killing Jake’s wife, but he could still be calling the shots from his prison cell.

Wade Garfield—The computer tech who helped Jake but might also have betrayed him.

David Tanner—Bruce Tanner’s son. He claims he’s a changed man, but is it all a ruse to help his father?

Dr. Gavin Grange—The once-trusted town doctor, he could now be on a killer’s payroll.

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 Nineteen

Excerpt

Chapter One

Sheriff Jake McCall knew what he was about to do could put a woman in grave danger. Maybe even get her killed. He wasn’t certain he could live with that, but he sure as hell couldn’t live with the alternative, either.

Risking Maggie Gallagher’s life, and his, was the only choice he had.

He pushed the stallion hard, its hooves chopping into the frozen ground. The icy wind whipped at him and burned his eyes and hands. But he rode harder. Away from the ranch house and away from what was waiting for him there.

It didn’t help.

Jake had known that when he saddled up, but he couldn’t face what was inside. Not yet. Though delaying it didn’t change the fact that he’d have to do things he had sworn he’d never do.

Like see Maggie again.

He hated her more than he wanted her. Far more. And he hated himself for still wanting her after what had happened. That settled like a deadweight in Jake’s gut, and he figured that particular feeling wasn’t going to get better anytime soon.

Cursing, Jake pushed that thought aside and rode the half mile to the creek, not stopping, not slowing until he got to the ice-scabbed water’s edge. He reined in the stallion, put his thumb to the brim of his Stetson to ease it back a bit, and he sat there, his forearm on the saddle horn.

He stared out at the glassy black surface of the creek and at the cottonwood trees, all veiny and bare. In the thin white moonlight he glanced down at the silver star badge pinned to his denim shirt pocket and felt a pain of a different kind. The badge meant something to him. Always had. It was his anchor. His cause.

Him.

Yeah, that was a sappy cliché that he’d never admit aloud. Not here in rural Texas where the only acceptable feelings for a real man to show were anger, appreciation for good-looking women and love for animals and small children.

But it was true.

People didn’t call him Boy Scout for nothing.

The stallion snorted, its breath mixing with the air and creating a milky haze around them. He looked back at Jake with a judgmental dark eye and snorted again.

It was too butt-freezing cold to be out on this December night trying to ride off his troubles. But he’d wanted one last look at the place, just in case he never saw it again.

Jake gathered the reins, maneuvered the stallion around and headed back. No gallop this time. He kept the stallion’s gait easy and slow, but each step still took him home.

There were twinkling lights around the windows. A holly wreath on the door. A plastic Santa and his sleigh perched on the roof. It still didn’t feel like Christmastime even though it was only three days away.

Jake spotted his brother, Royce, on the porch that ran across the entire front of the ranch house. Royce was on the top step, his lanky jeans-clad legs stretched out in front of him while he took a long drag on a cigarette.

Since Royce had quit smoking some four years ago, it was a reminder to Jake that he wasn’t the only one in for a bad night. Royce flicked the cigarette into what was left of their sister’s petunia bed. She’d complain about that come spring when she found it.