Read Online Rebel's Claw by Afton Locke - Free Book Online

coming. Her button-down work shirt was dirty from chores, and she surely smelled like a cow. “How about some coffee?”
    “I’d love some.”
    To her delight, he sat at her kitchen table, looking as if he belonged there. The house needed a man in it again, she thought as she reheated this morning’s brew.
    “Did you go to South Dakota?” she asked.
    “Yeah, I’m transporting more people there tomorrow. I plan to move there myself.”
    “Oh.” Disappointment bloomed cold in her chest while she filled two mugs with coffee. “You came to tell me good-bye, then.”
    She set the cups on the table and sat across from him, watching the mixed emotions swirl in his black eyes. They had dark circles under them as if he hadn’t slept the whole time he’d been away.
    “Yeah, I guess I did,” he said.
    “You didn’t have to.” Her spoon clanked against the cup and clattered to the table. “But I’m glad you did. I enjoyed making your acquaintance.”
    “You’re always so formal, Carrie.” He sipped the coffee and stared out the window. “Even though my friend died here, and your father probably killed him, I’m letting it go.”
    The stiff flexing of his fingers told her how hard his decision must have been.
    “Thank you,” she whispered.
    Relief washed through her as the hot coffee warmed her stomach. She had everything she wanted! He was going to leave her in peace on her ranch. The life she’d worked so hard to maintain could continue as before, unhindered.
    But the coffee chilled to a hard ball inside her. He was such a good man. Maybe even more honorable than her Daddy. The shame inside her roared like a beast. She could not sit across from such goodness when so much evil permeated her to the bone.
    Even though she’d probably lose the ranch, he deserved to know the truth. And she was so damn tired of hiding it. She couldn’t conceal it anymore. Not from him.
    She lurched to her feet, accidentally knocking her coffee cup to the floor. Amusement glittered in his eyes as the brown puddle spread to her boots.
    “I must make you nervous.” He stood. “Let me help you clean it up.”
    “No,” she said with a force that surprised her. “I need to tell you something first.”
    His face paled. As if he knew. “Shoot.”
    Her gut contracted at his choice of words. She took a giant breath. Then another. Because what she was about to do would be harder than shoveling all that dirt.
    “Daddy didn’t kill your friend.”
    The warmth in his gaze cooled. “Then who?”
    “I did.”

 
     
     
Chapter Five
     
     
    Roark fell back into his chair. “What?”
    “You heard me.”
    His heart hammered at double speed until logic kicked in. “There’s no need to cover for your father, Carrie.”
    “I’m not. I shot Jared.” She pointed to the corner. “With that rifle.”
    He rested his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers. “Why?”
    “I-I thought he was a wolf.” Her voice cracked on the last word.
    Wolf. Shit . Lara was right. Nausea flickered through his stomach, turning the coffee sour. The woman behind the innocent green eyes—the one he’d made love to—was a killer.
    “Tell me what happened.”
    She gripped the back of the chair in front of her, her knuckles even whiter than his.
    “I-it was raining, like the night you arrived.” She tugged at her shirt. “I heard a noise, so I walked outside. Th-the wolf was big and brown. It growled at me and lunged low. S-so I shot it before it could jump me.”
    “Go on,” he uttered despite the strangled feeling in his throat.
    “I killed it.”
    “What happened to the body, Carrie?”
    “I buried it.
    Roark blinked. “All by yourself?”
    “Yes.” She winced before continuing. “When the lightning flashed, I saw a hand. The face.”
    “The guy in my picture.”
    She nodded and covered her mouth. “I don’t know where he came from or where the wolf went. For the past three years, I’ve been telling myself my eyes had played