Read Online Cowboy Behind the Badge by Delores Fossen - Free Book Online

irritate the rest of us and to rub it in our faces that it’s her house, too.”
    Laine couldn’t argue with the reason Rayanne was staying at the ranch. It was pretty much what she’d heard around town, though that wouldn’t help with Laine’s own situation.
    But what would?
    She couldn’t take the babies and go to her place. The missing gunman could easily find her there. She definitely didn’t want to turn the babies over to Hague, either. Not until Tucker and she had figured out what was going on. Her brother was the county sheriff, but he, too, was out of town and wouldn’t be back for days.
    That left her hiring a bodyguard of some kind.
    But that would take time, and she didn’t have much of that. It wouldn’t be long before the babies would need to be fed, and Tucker had already made plans for that. So for now, Tucker and his family seemed to be her best short-term option.
    Heaven help her.
    â€œHow long will we have to stay there?” she asked.
    â€œProbably a lot longer than either of us want.”
    Heck, two minutes would qualify as way too long.
    Tucker motioned for them to get moving, but then Laine stopped when her phone buzzed. She tried to balance the babies so she could retrieve her phone from her jeans pocket. She’d managed it earlier with one baby in her arms, but it wasn’t possible with two.
    Since the call could be important, she handed the infants to Tucker. He didn’t scowl, but he did get the look of a man who was way out of his element. He shook his head and tried to hand them back, but Laine ignored him and checked the caller ID on the screen.
    It was her mother, Carla.
    It wasn’t a call that Laine wanted to take. Their relationship was shaky at best, but by now news of the shooting was likely all over town, and her mom had heard about it.
    â€œI’m all right,” Laine answered right off the bat.
    â€œGlad to hear that, but why in the world were you out at Tucker McKinnon’s place?”
    â€œWho told you I was at Tucker’s?” she asked.
    â€œYour sister. One of her reporter friends gave her the details of what happened. She’s not happy about you being there, either, so why’d you go running to the McKinnons?”
    â€œIt’s a long story.” And one that she didn’t want to discuss with anyone. Well, with anyone but Tucker. Strange that they were finally on the same side about something. “I’ll call you later and tell you all about it—”
    â€œA McKinnon killed your father,” Carla snapped. “Don’t you forget that.”
    Laine would have a harder time forgetting how to breathe. “I won’t be here much longer.” And when her mother’s tirade continued, Laine worked in a hasty goodbye and pressed the end call button.
    She glanced up at Tucker, expecting him to be in a hurry to hand off the babies, but he was no longer looking at the babies as if they were some alien creatures. The corner of his mouth had lifted, and both babies were quietly staring at him. He’d told his sister that he wasn’t the fatherly type, but those babies suddenly looked very comfortable in his arms.
    â€œYour mother’s not happy about you being here,” Tucker commented. He obviously hadn’t needed to hear the conversation to know what’d taken place.
    Laine made a sound of agreement. “You’ve no doubt heard the story of Jewell and my father from a different perspective than I have.”
    â€œBut with the same results. Whitt’s dead, and everything points to my mother having killed him. If she did it, then she’ll pay.”
    â€œIf?” Laine repeated. “You’re not certain she killed him? Because this is the first I’m hearing about any doubts from you.”
    â€œDoesn’t matter what I think. I just want her and the kids that she raised to be out of our lives.” No longer smiling, he handed