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.“Thank God you didn’t take more.”“What did he put in it?”“Malathion,” he muttered.“It’s dangerous.Very dangerous.We have to use precautions when we put it out on the ranch.Once we had a guy covered with it.We had to have him decontaminated and we had to call the EMTs.That was an accident.What happened to you wasn’t.The sheriff’s investigator will probably want to talk to you, too.”“I’ll tell him anything I can.” She looked up at Tank.“I remember that the blinds in my room were sort of crooked.I didn’t think anything about it.I just straightened them before I lay down.My head was throbbing.Oh, and the pills weren’t in my drawer.Why didn’t I say something? I never leave them sitting out.and there was an odd odor to them, but I thought it was the headache making me smell things.”“Your head was hurting.” He smiled gently.“You gave us a real scare.”She smiled.“Sorry.”His expression became grim.“We have to get this guy, before he does something worse.”“I totally agree.Unfortunately I won’t be able to help you run him down and hog-tie him,” she teased.“The way my doctor talks, I’m going to be here for several days.”“You’ll be safe here.”“Yes.” She sighed.“But tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” she moaned.“Mama will be all alone.”“Don’t worry about Clara,” he added before she could speak.“We’ve got people watching her.”“Okay.”“Carson offered to let me punch him,” he then told her.“He felt bad that he was out of sight and sound when it happened.”“He was trying to keep us safe,” she said.“Don’t be mad at him.”He frowned.“Don’t tell me he’s working that magic on you, too?”“Excuse me?”He averted his eyes.He hadn’t thought of Carson as a rival.Now, remembering the man’s way with women, he was stunned.Merissa had been almost his until Carson came back with him.Now, she was backing away.Because of Carson?He glanced at her.“You and Carson, you’ve been talking, haven’t you?”She nodded.“He isn’t what he seems,” she said softly.She smiled.“He’s had a very hard life.”“He told you about it?”“Yes.He isn’t the sort of man who tells anybody private things, I think.But he told me a lot.I felt really bad for him.”“I see.”“So don’t blame him,” she said softly.“I know he feels terrible, like he let me down.But it could have happened anytime.This man seems to know very well how to get to people,” she added quietly.“He’s like a snake.He can get in anywhere, without being noticed.”“We’ll find him.”She turned her head on the pillow.“You have to be very careful,” she said.“If you have medicines that you take, check them.”“I’m way ahead of you there,” he assured her.“But there’s no way anyone could get into my house without being noticed.”“Don’t assume that,” she said.“It’s what we assumed, too.And here I am.”He grimaced.“You could have died.”“Yes.But he miscalculated,” she said.“That will hurt his confidence.It will make him pause and rethink his methods.It will give you an opportunity to find out who he is.” She squeezed his hand.“Dalton, he’s done this before.Not exactly like this, but he’s killed someone.Someone important.That’s your key.That’s what you have to look for.” She swallowed, hard.She let go of his hand.“Sorry.I’m so.sleepy.”“It’s all right.You rest.I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”She nodded.“Thanks.”He smiled, when he’d never felt less like smiling.“Hey, what are friends for?” he asked her softly.She opened her eyes and looked at him.Something flashed there, something odd.But she only smiled back and said, “That’s right.” Then she closed her eyes again.* * *HE LEFT HER.His mind was working overtime.He wanted to throw Carson through a wall.The man was the devil himself.He remembered Carson charming the beautiful flight attendant, all smooth talk and smiles.It hadn’t mattered about that woman, who was a stranger.But this was Merissa.And Merissa was his.If only he hadn’t botched it when he’d blurted out that proposal.He’d even had the rings in his pocket.He was going to press them into her hand and ask her right then.That wasn’t really how he’d meant to do it.He wanted to do the whole courtship thing.Send her flowers, buy her presents; take her on moonlight rides.But he’d lost it when he had her so warm and soft in his arms.She loved kissing him, he could tell that.But she was backing away and just when he wanted to get closer, much closer.So was it Carson pulling them apart? Was he a rival? And if he was, how could Dalton, who was no rounder, compete with him? The thought tormented him.* * *“WHAT DO YOU know about Carson?” he asked Rourke later, when they were going over new safety precautions for the ranch.Rourke lifted both eyebrows.“Not a lot.Why?”“He told Merissa things.”“Oh?” Rourke’s one brown eye was twinkling.“What sort of things?”“Hell, I don’t know,” he muttered.He ran a hand through his thick hair.“He’s one smooth operator.He turns on the charm and women fall at his feet.”“Well, yes, they do.But he’s a one-nighter, if that helps.”“What do you mean?” Tank asked.“I mean, he doesn’t date the same woman twice.He has no staying power.In fact, if you want my honest opinion,” he added, “he hates women.”Tank gave him a disbelieving look.“No, I’m not joking,” Rourke continued.He finished connecting two wires on a monitor.“He even said something about it once, to the effect that women are no damned good.He said they’ll crawl to a man who treats them like dirt, but turn their backs on one who’d die for them.”“The reverse of that is often true,” Tank commented.“I know.”“I’ve seen him in action, too,” Rourke added.“I can’t say I wasn’t a bit envious.Never had that sort of luck with the ladies.”“And that’s not what I’ve heard about you,” Tank mused.Rourke shrugged.“I’m like Carson.I like variety.”Tank pursed his lips.“I believe you helped Carson feed a man to a crocodile over a woman.?”Rourke’s face hardened like steel.He averted his eye and didn’t say another word.“Sorry,” Tank said.Rourke didn’t look at him.“There are things I never discuss.Tat’s one of them.” He turned his head, and his one good eye was blazing.“K.C.Kantor’s another.”Tank held up both hands.“I didn’t say a word.”Rourke shrugged.“Sorry.” He tuned the device he was working on.“I used to have a higher boiling point.”“We all have weaknesses.” Tank leaned back.“Mine’s lying in a hospital bed, mooning over your damned womanizing comrade.”Rourke’s eyebrows almost blended into the blond hair at his forehead.“She’s what?”CHAPTER ELEVENTANK FELT EMBARRASSED.He shifted his posture.“He tells her things.”He chuckled softly.“She’s that sort of woman.It doesn’t mean she’s got eyes for him,” he pointed out.“Well, I think.”His cell phone rang.He pulled it off his belt and answered it.“Kirk.”“Can you bring Rourke and meet me in the parking lot of the Custom Kitchen?” Carson asked.“What in hell for? Are you hungry?” Tank asked sarcastically [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]