She just wished she could exorcise the ghosts. According to her shrink, with whom she’d continued therapy after the mandatory Bureau psych evaluation, until she stopped blaming herself, punishing herself, she’d never be fully healed.
Blah, blah, blah. As if she’d ever be normal again. Shrink talk. Mentally cursing, she pressed the button for a new paper target and began the sequence again.
The ghosts still taunted her, dancing just out of reach of her bullets. Though they’d caught the guy who’d robbed the bank and gunned down her husband and son, his lifetime prison sentence hadn’t helped ease the grief. Even his death wouldn’t bring back her family.
Finally finished, she clicked her safety on and holstered her Glock. Removing her eye and ear protection, she turned and exited.
The shrink had been right about one thing. The pain had sort of faded over time. Gradually over the past five years, the agonizing vise grip on her heart had been replaced with numbness. She’d welcomed the lack of sensation, of feeling. It allowed her to focus her attention, laser-sharp, on her job. Only her job mattered anymore. She might as well be good at it.
After she headed home, she dressed and packed her bag. Sensing something was up, her border collie, Talia, twirled in circles around the bedroom.
Smiling, Skylar reached out to ruffle Talia’s furry head. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m going undercover, so you’ll be staying at the kennel.” She hated to leave her beloved pet’Talia had been her son’s new puppy, only six months old when he’d been killed.
But then, did she really have to leave her? Her new assignment would be on a horse ranch, after all. What better place for a dog?
“Would you like to go with me, girl?” Skylar asked.
Talia barked, as if to answer in the affirmative.
Before she had time to reconsider, Skylar picked up the phone and called the kennel, canceling the reservation. Talia would go with her. Who knew’a dog with herding instincts just might come in handy around large animals.
She instantly felt the knot in her stomach ease. In a few hours, she’d be going undercover. From everything she’d read, Matt Landeta loved animals. He shouldn’t have a problem with one hyperactive border collie.
Once everything was packed, including Talia’s dog food, favorite toys and bed, Skylar got out the asignment file folder and flipped through it one last time.
Here. Her target. Studying his picture, she speculated, trying to figure out what it was about Matt Landeta that drew her in. He was a tall man with a ruggedly handsome face and muscular build. The peculiar blue shade of his eyes, sapphire mixed with summer-sky, was striking in his tanned face. Idly, she wondered if they really were that color or if he wore contacts. She’d be finding out soon enough.
Today, she’d begin an intricate game of cat and mouse with Matt Landeta. Wealthy and good-looking, he was a local celebrity due to the massive ranch he’d built on the outskirts of town and the beautiful show horses he raised.
She just had to remember not to act as if she worked in law enforcement. Over the years, this had become her biggest challenge, especially since she pretty much lived and breathed her job.
Ostensibly, she’d come to write an article on his Arabian horses for Today’s Arabian Horse magazine. This was her cover. In truth, she had to discover if the millionaire had gotten rich because he was illegally selling ammunition to Mexican drug cartels. If so, she would take him down.
Once she had her rental car packed, she whistled for Talia. Since there was nothing the dog loved more’except playing ball’she came running and jumped into the backseat.
Now Skylar had everything that mattered to her. According to her records, her destination’Matt’s ranch’was about a half hour west of town. Her entire body vibrating with anticipation, she settled in the driver’s seat and started the car.
Usually when she went undercover, she drove a department-issued vehicle. This time she’d left the Ford Taurus behind and rented a snazzy little Volkswagen Bug. Her boss should have seen that this car was more realistic to her journalist persona.
As she navigated the country roads, her beloved dog happily panting in the backseat, she couldn’t help but feel confident. She’d thoroughly prepared herself with every video, every article about Matt. She knew how this first meeting would go. He’d be charming and arrogant, just a touch condescending, confident that his darkly sexy looks would make her willing to cut the next notch on his headboard herself.
She hadn’t yet decided how she’d react to him. She had two choices’she could go for professional and detached, which would be more natural, or the blushing, tongue-tied pseudo virgin, which would undoubtedly appeal to him more. Now that she thought about it, she’d have to react on the fly and go with her gut, once she discovered the type of woman he found attractive.
She relaxed and looked at the passing landscape with interest. Though she’d grown up here in Anniversary, Texas, it had been years since she’d bothered to drive out here from her home north of Dallas. Her family had moved to Anniversary her junior year of high school and any friendships she’d forged in those days had long since died out.
Amazing how not much ever changed in small towns. The shops on Main Street had been renovated and were apparently now thriving in this lakeside community. She saw two martial-arts studios, several cafés, bars, clothing shops and even a general store. People strolled the sidewalks and shopped and ate at small outside tables.
Pushing down the weird sense of longing the sights brought, she continued to drive past the city limits, over the long bridge that crossed the lake. There were a couple of marinas here, with bait shops and lakeside bars, frequented by the locals who drove up in their boats.
As she stared at the sparkling blue water, the unexpected ache in her throat made her furious. Once, this was the sort of place she might have brought her family. Now that opportunity was long gone.
Giving herself a mental shake, she gripped her steering wheel and drove on. Sentimentality was not compatible with her life or her job. She’d returned here for a reason, one that had nothing to do with her personally.
She’d do best to remember that. Finally she turned from the paved two-lane road to the single-track gravel one that, according to the map she’d been given, led to Matt’s impressive spread.
After a series of left and right turns, she pulled up to an immense black wrought-iron gate. Closed, of course. As she coasted to a stop in front of it, she stared, wondering if its resemblance to a biblical entrance to heaven was intentional.
If so, the irony wasn’t lost on her.
Rolling down her window, she spoke into the call box next to the gate, identifying herself. A moment later, the imposing barricade swung slowly open.
As she proceeded up the drive, she craned her neck, looking for a glimpse of the ranch house. No such luck; the first buildings were barns and sheds. She counted three outdoor riding areas, a large arena and then a huge building that had to be an enclosed arena next to a square place with a large sign that said Ranch Office. On the far side of the parking lot, away from everything else, was a lovely old barn made of stone and wood. Exuding a sense of age and history, it looked as if it had sat on this land long before anything else was built.
There were several horses, wearing light blankets to protect their coats from the sun, grazing in various green pastures. She even saw one fenced-off field full of cattle.
And still no house.
Then, as she drove around the side of the indoor arena, she saw it, slowing her speed to a crawl so she could take it all in.
The red-tiled roof gleamed softly in the afternoon sun, perfectly complementing the creamy stucco walls. Low-slung and elegant, the house blended with the landscape, managing to look as though it had sprung from the earth decades ago. Even though she knew