Lenora Worth - Body of Evidence

She turned toward the horses. “I’m so tired of hearing that.”

Anderson whirled her around so quickly, she felt the rush of air passing over her face.

“Jennifer, this isn’t a joke. It’s real.”

“You’re scaring me, Anderson. And I’ve never been scared before.”

Untying Sadie’s rein and handing it to Jennifer, he said, “I get so caught up in the facts, I forget the reality of things like this. I get that you’re used to being on your own and doing things your own way. But I took on this assignment for many reasons, one now being that I need to protect you whether you like it or not.”

“Thank you. It’s been a long time since anyone has bothered to worry about me.”

Then she took off, leaving him sitting there on a stomping horse because she was too afraid to look back to see if he was following her.

TEXAS RANGER JUSTICE:

Keeping the Lone Star State safe

Daughter of Texas— Terri Reed, January 2011

Body of Evidence— Lenora Worth, February 2011

Face of Danger— Valerie Hansen, March 2011

Trail of Lies— Margaret Daley, April 2011

Threat of Exposure— Lynette Eason, May 2011

Out of Time— Shirlee McCoy, June 2011

has written more than forty books for three different publishers. Her career with Steeple Hill Books spans close to fourteen years. Her very first Love Inspired title, The Wedding Quilt, won Affaire de Coeur’s Best Inspirational for 1997, and Logan’s Child won RT Book Reviews’s Best Love Inspired for 1998. With millions of books in print, Lenora continues to write for the Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense lines. Lenora also wrote a weekly opinion column for the local paper and worked freelance for years with a local magazine. She has now turned to full-time fiction writing and enjoying adventures with her retired husband, Don. Married for thirty-five years, they have two grown children. Lenora enjoys writing, reading and shopping…especially shoe shopping.

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

For by Him all things were created:

things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;

all things were created by Him and for Him.

—Colossians 1:15–16

To Tori Luce

Part tomboy and part girly girl!

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

She was caught between a hungry alligator named Boudreaux and a tall drink of water named Anderson. And they both had way too much attitude.

Jennifer Rodgers had had better days.

And worse ones, too, come to think of it. Someone didn’t want her to build her alligators a fancy new pen. Maybe that was why the handsome Ranger, who’d discreetly flashed his badge for her eyes only, was here.

Deciding to do things in the order of greatest urgency, she ignored Mr. Tall, Blond and Texas while she finished feeding chunks of raw chicken to cranky old Boudreaux. It didn’t take long for the younger alligator sharing this temporary pen with Boudreaux to slide toward the evening meal.

“C’mon, Bobby Wayne,” Jennifer called. Tossing some of the meat toward shy Bobby Wayne, she smiled. “Don’t worry, Boudreaux will save you a bite or two. I hope.”

Boudreaux didn’t seem worried about his buddy. He was too busy tearing at the meal. Jennifer threw the last of the bucket of stinky meat into the water hole then turned on the nearby spigot and pulled the big water hose toward the bucket to give it a good rinse. Then she pulled off the heavy rubber gloves she always wore to feed her animals and tossed them in the bucket. She’d soap the whole thing down later.

After she got rid of the Texas Ranger waiting a little too impatiently to talk to her.

Ranger Anderson Michaels used the time waiting at the Rodgers Exotic Animal Rescue Farm to analyze both the place and the woman running the big compound.

Jennifer Rodgers was cute and just about as exotic as some of her animals. Her long curly dark brown hair was caught up in a haphazard ponytail that kept shifting around to her face each time she leaned over. She was fit, her figure almost boyish, but Anderson could tell she was all woman even if she did have on grungy khaki pants and an old brown work shirt. Her brown eyes gave away her feminine charm. So did the way she grinned at that nasty-looking alligator lunging toward the meat she held down over the rickety old fence.

Surprised to see yet another gator opening his snout to snap at the raw chicken, Anderson strolled closer to the chain links surrounding the makeshift pond.

“Do they stay in there?” he asked, wondering if he could outrun old Boudreaux. He’d always heard an alligator could get up to forty miles per hour in speed. Anderson didn’t want to test that theory.

Jennifer laughed, then turned to wipe her wet hands on a towel draped over a post. After pulling a small bottle of hand sanitizer out of the deep pocket of her baggy pants, she squirted some on her hands and rubbed them together. The fruity scent of the sanitizer filled the crisp October air while her laughter filled Anderson’s head.

“Boudreaux is too old and lazy to even try and get out, but Bobby Wayne…well, let’s just say he doesn’t like surprises. Even though he’s shy and reclusive at times, he’s been known to turn aggressive if you look at him the wrong way.”

Her expression challenged Anderson to do just that. And suggested she might do the same thing as the gator.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Anderson said, grinning at her. “But right now, I need to talk to you.”

Jennifer nodded, then started up the dirt lane toward the long square log cabin where, according to his notes, she worked and lived. “Is this about the incident with the fence on the back end of my property?”

Anderson’s radar went up. “Has something happened back there already?”

She frowned. “Yes. I thought maybe that was why you were here. The local authorities said there wasn’t much I could do but fix the fence.”

Anderson’s gut tightened. Had the cartel and the Lions already made her a target?

He glanced around, then pushed at his tan cowboy hat. A teenaged boy and a middle-age woman were working down a hill inside the goat pen and a few curious visitors milled around watching and asking questions about the “Closed for Renovations” sign. No one was paying him much attention. He’d purposely changed out of his official uniform into a sportscoat and jeans and his own hat. “Could we talk somewhere private?”

“Sure. I was just finishing up for the day, anyway.” She nodded toward where the two other workers were busy with the goats. “That’s Jacob—he’s my part-timer and the woman with him is a volunteer. They’ll close up and leave when they finish up with the goats.” Giving him another bold stare, she said, “C’mon in and I’ll pour you a cup of coffee.”