Cowboy's Texas Rescue. Beth Cornelison

and he continued in that direction, picking up a fishing trophy from a bookshelf to use as a weapon if needed. He peered around the corner into the dim kitchen. Saw no one. Sadie paused to sniff around her food bowl.

      A squeak of hinges pulled his gaze to a utility closet at the other side of the room. Then Chelsea’s voice. “Oh, thank God.”

      Sadie raised her head and perked her ears.

      “Chelsea?” Jake crossed to the closet.

      “In h-here.” She pushed the utility room door open and shuffled out, into a weak beam of light from the kitchen window. “Gas water heater.” She shot him a wide grin, and Jake’s breath backed up in his lungs. Her bedroom eyes sparkled, and her smile transformed her face. Sure he’d noticed her sexy mouth before, but he hadn’t really appreciated how attractive she was. Okay, her near-nudity had been distracting, and because of their dire situation, he’d tried to keep his mind on the business of saving her life. But gentleman or not, he’d have to have been dead not to notice her womanly curves and smooth skin.

      A flash of heat swept through him, reminding him it had been months since he’d been with a woman. Down, boy. Wrong time and place.

      Chelsea pulled the throw tighter around her shoulders as she stooped to give Sadie’s head a pat. “I c-can have a hot b-bath!”

      Jake set the trophy on the kitchen counter and cleared his head. “No. I mean…later. A hot bath now could cause heart arrhythmia.” Her grin faltered, and he felt as if he’d kicked a puppy. “But hot water is good news. We can fix something warm to drink and wrap you up with a hot water bottle.”

      His body tightened, and heat crawled through him. That wasn’t all he wanted to wrap around her… .

      She shuffled to a kitchen chair, the dog at her heels. “The b-bad news is the kitchen phone is c-cordless, too. We have n-no way to call the c-cops, unless we find a cell phone.”

      Jake grimaced. He considered for a moment keeping his recent discoveries to himself but decided Chelsea needed the truth. “Actually, there’s worse news.”

      She met his gaze, her mesmerizing green eyes wide with alarm. “Did you find Brady? Is he here?”

      “No, not that I can tell. But…he was.” Jake dragged a hand over his mouth and sighed. “The gun case is open and empty.”

      Chelsea puckered her brow. “That doesn’t necessarily mean—”

      “I found Mr. Noble in the stable.”

      She sat taller, stiffening her back as if bracing for a blow. “And?”

      “He’s dead. Gunshot wound to the head.”

      Chelsea gasped and slumped back in the chair, shaking. “Oh, my God…”

      “I’m sorry. We’re you close to him?”

      “I—No, not really. I mean, he’s been our neighbor for as long as I can remember, but…it’s just—” Her gaze drifted down to Sadie, and she stroked the dog’s head. “Sad. Scary.”

      “My best guess is Brady came upon the house shortly after he left us locked up, searched the house and took whatever he thought he might need. He ran into Mr. Noble and shot him rather than leave a witness. Don’t know yet if he shot him in the house and dragged him to the stable or killed him there. Hell, Noble could have confronted him with a weapon, for all I know. But however it went down, Brady armed himself from Noble’s gun cabinet and was gone before the hardest snow started.”