Read Online Winds of Wyoming (A Kate Neilson Novel) by Rebecca Carey Lyles - Free Book Online

“I’ll see you around the ranch …” He hesitated. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
    Kate handed him his coat. “My name is Kate. Thank you for helping me—and for lending me your jacket …” She laughed. “I don’t know your name.”
    “Mike. Mike Duncan.” He turned to go but stopped, a half grin creasing his face. “Welcome to Wyoming—and the Whispering Pines. Call the house if you need anything. Band-Aids or whatever.”
    “Thank you.” Though she hurt all over and had started to shiver again, she watched him leave before stepping inside the cabin. She ran her fingers across the bumpy log wall and felt for the light switch. Finally she had a place of her own, a place to call home . It wouldn’t be long before finding the light switch in every room was second nature. She turned the porch light off and the ceiling light on before closing the door.
    “Hey, lil’ darlin’.”
    Kate gasped and whirled.
    Jerry Ramsey sat at her kitchen table, a whiskey bottle and a half-filled glass in front of him. “Knew you’d be lonesome for me tonight.”
    Kate stared at him. This couldn’t be happening. She tightened her grip on the doorknob.
    He lifted the bottle. “Remember our good buddy Jack?” He snickered. “The three of us will have a fine time. We’ll be a sweet threesome, same as old times.” His lip curled. “Too bad your fridge is empty. With a little Coke, we could a made it a foursome—Jack ‘n’ Coke an’ me ‘n’ you.”
    Kate yanked the door open. “Out!”
    He picked up the glass and drained it. “Get real, baby.” “You know you want—you need— Jer an’ Jack.”
    “How did you find me?”
    “Like I’ve always told you, sweetheart—I have my ways.” His dark eyes were as flat and empty as one-way mirrors. “You owe me. Big time especially after I just caught you whoring around with someone else.”
    His aftershave stabbed at her sinuses. How could she not have smelled him before she saw him? “Out. Get out of my cabin!”
    He jumped to his feet and was across the small room in two strides. He grabbed her arm, but she jerked from his grasp.
    He swore, kicked the door shut and threw her onto the couch. “I’m done being nice.”
    She rolled away from him and grabbed the floor lamp beside the couch, ripping the cord from the wall.
    Ramsey seized the lamp pole and twisted, but Kate held tight.
    Someone pounded on the door. “Everything okay in there?”
    “No!” Kate yanked at the pole.
    Ramsey released his hold, and she fell onto the couch. He whipped a gun from beneath his jacket flap and dashed for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
    Mike burst into the cabin. He glanced at Kate, who was on her feet again, then at the bathroom door.
    They heard a bolt being shoved into place. Mike charged across the room, his boots hammering the floorboards, Kate right behind him. “Open up!” He rattled the doorknob. At the sound of breaking glass, he spun on his heels and hurried out the front door.
    Kate ran to the doorway, calling, “He has a gun!”
    The only response was the thump of running feet receding to silence.
    She locked the door and fell onto the couch, staring at Ramsey’s empty glass. He’d contaminated her cabin before she’d spent a single night in it. She had to find Uncle Dean’s hunting knife before she went to bed—or some form of protection.
    A loud rap sounded on the door. She sprang to her feet, clenching the lamp like a battering ram. “Who is it?”

Chapter Seven
     
    “IT’S MIKE. CAN I come in?”
    Kate set the lamp down and hurried to open the door.
    He staggered in, chest heaving. “The guy headed toward the highway. Probably parked up there.” He bent over, hands on his knees, sucking in air. “I would have followed him, but I thought he might circle back. Did he hurt you?”
    She shook her head and sank onto the couch. Her legs felt like boiled noodles.
    He dropped into the recliner and pointed at the bathroom.