Praise for the Novels of New York Times bestselling author Susan Krinard
âSusan Krinard was born to write romance.â
âAmanda Quick
âDarkly intense, intricately plotted, and chilling, this sexy
tale skillfully interweaves several time periods, revealing key past elements with perfect timing but keeping the reader firmly in the novelâs âpresentâ social scene.â âLibrary Journal on Lord of Sin
âKrinardâs imagination knows no bounds as she steps into the
mystical realm of the unicorn and takes readers along for the ride of their fairy-tale lives.â âRT BOOK Reviews on Lord of Legends, 4½ stars
âA master of atmosphere and description.â
âLibrary Journal
âA poignant tale of redemption.â
âBooklist on To Tame a Wolf
âWith riveting dialogue and passionate characters,
Ms Krinard exemplifies her exceptional knack for creating an extraordinary story of love, strength, courage and compassion.â âRT BOOK Reviews on Secrets of the Wolf
In memory of all the great Western movie directors I love:
Anthony Mann, Delmer Daves, and John Sturges, and for the great Western actors: Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Glenn Ford, Richard Widmark, William Holden, Clint Eastwood, Audie Murphy, Jack Elam, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef.
Pecos County, Texas, 1881
JEDEDIAH MCCARRICK WAS DEAD.
Heath rode carefully around the body sprawled at the bottom of the draw, gentling Apache with a quiet word. The horse was right to be scared. Jed hadnât been dead more than a few days, and the scent of decay was overwhelming.
An accident. That was the way it looked, anyhow. Half Jedâs skull was bashed in, and his legs stuck out at strange angles. The rocks were sharp around here, and plentiful.
But Jed was a damn good rider. You had to be, in the Pecos, so far from civilization. The old man had been on his way home, just as his letter had said. He would have let go the cowboys heâd hired for the drive once it was finished, and he didnât trust many people. He would have risked riding alone rather than let some stranger get close to his hard-earned money.
That was his mistake.
Heath dismounted and scanned the horizon. Jedâs horse was gone, so there was no way to be sure exactly how it had happened. Maybe something had spooked the animal: a rattler, a rabbit, a gust of wind. Heath couldnât smell anything but the stink of rot, no trace of another human who might have been around when Jed died. Any hoofprints or tracks had been blown away. If some drifter or outlaw had helped Jed to his grave and taken his horse, he was long gone.
I should have been with him, Heath thought. But Jed hadnât wanted him along.
The old man hadnât acted like the others when he found out, when Heath was stupid enough to forget all the hard lessons heâd learned. Jed wasnât easily scared. He hadnât yelled or run away or tried to shoot him. Heâd pretended it didnât matter, that Heath was still like a son to him.
But Heath had known Jed was lying. He knew what he saw in the old manâs eyes. Jed had understood that Heath would never hurt him, but he was still human. The only reason heâd kept so calm and reasonable was that he needed Heath at the ranch to keep Sean in check. Heâd been willing to use Heathâs secret for his own endsâuntil Sean was no longer a problem and he could run Heath off like the animal he was.
Heath laughed. It was almost funny that Jed was more worried about his nephew than a man who wasnât even human. The devil knew why Heath had stayed on. He supposed that three years of friendship, of letting himself trust the man whoâd saved his life, had held him at Dog Creek. That and his contempt for Sean. Heâd owed Jed, and he had meant to pay off the debt. But Heath had been ready to ride out as soon as Jed returned and could deal with Sean himself. That would have been the end of it.
He just hadnât expected this kind of end.
Apache snorted and tossed his head. âEasy, boy,â Heath murmured, and knelt beside the body. He touched the bloody depression beneath Jedâs thinning hair. The old man had probably died quickly. No sign of knife or gunshot wounds.
Closing his nostrils against the stench, Heath patted Jedâs waist and pockets. Nothing. If heâd brought the money back with him, he would have carried it in the saddlebags. Everything heâd received for the sale of fifty percent of Dog Creekâs beeves, driven north to Kansas and the rail lines.
Before heâd left, before Heath had made his big mistake, Jed had expected to make a good profit. Enough to buy better stock, make Dog Creek grow into a concern that could compete with Blackwater on its own terms. No more risky investments that brought Dog Creek to the brink of ruin. No more wild ideas. No more foolish dreams.