Vendetta

With many thanks to wonderful editors

Krista Stroever and Johanna Raisanen for giving me this opportunity to write for Love Inspired Suspense!

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

Four Winds Ranch lay in the valley below, rimmed to the west by the Wyoming Rockies. Lush meadows spread like emerald blankets among stands of pine and aspen. Even from this mountain road, Cole Daniels could see the sparkling water of a stream that meandered from a high canyon and traversed the property. His property, now.

Postcard perfect, the ranch represented everything he’d ever worked for, everything he’d lost—and a nightmare that had lasted for sixteen long years.

But now he was back, and he was going to make things right.

Grim memories assaulted him as he shifted his pickup into gear and drove down to the home place, where a construction crew was framing up a new fifty-by-eighty-foot horse barn and refurbishing the old one.

Irwin Benson, the crew boss, nodded to Cole and strolled over to his truck, offering his hand for an overly hearty shake. “It’s coming along.”

The crew of eight had stopped to watch them, but when Cole returned their stares, they all turned back to work. “Will it be done by Labor Day?”

“Maybe.” Irwin pushed up the brim of his ball cap and mopped at the sweat on his brow. “If we get the materials in time.”

Cole narrowed his gaze on Irwin’s face. “I thought everything was ordered a month ago.”

“I did, just as promised.” Irwin shifted his weight and looked away. “The siding hasn’t come, and the hardware for the sliding stall doors is still on back order.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Just some sort of delay. That’s all they told me.”

“When is it supposed to arrive?”

Irwin shrugged. “I didn’t get a straight answer. I did check with some other suppliers in the area, but then we’d be starting all over. And if they’ve got back orders, too…”

“I’ll stop in Wolf Creek and talk to the lumberyard manager.” Cole thought back to his senior year of high school, sorting through the names and faces that he could still remember. But after so many years of trying to forget this town and everyone in it, many of its inhabitants were just a dim memory. “Is it still owned by the Olsons?”

“Yep, so good luck.” A faint smirk twisted Irwin’s mouth, but quickly faded. “They were good friends of Wes Truly, you know.”

“Really.”

“Not to say they’d hold a grudge or anything, but some people just don’t forget.”

Cole stilled, a deadly calm spreading through him. “What about you?”

The older man’s eyes flared wider, as if he’d suddenly realized his mistake—and now faced danger he hadn’t expected. He held out his hands, fingers splayed. “All of that’s old business. Nothing to do with me back then, and not now, either.”

Cole bared his teeth in a smile. “But you were around in those days. Right?”

“Er…guess I was. But I had no stake in anything that happened.” Irwin nodded vigorously. “I…liked Rand. A lot.” He cast a nervous glance over his shoulder. “I better get to work, so we can get the windows framed up before we leave today.”

Cole watched the man head back to the barn. There’d be other days, other chances to see how much Irwin really knew. And before the barn was finished, Cole planned to have conversations with every last man on the crew. Unlike the people in town, they were temporarily in his employ…which meant he had a better chance at getting them to talk.

Sixteen years ago a jury had convicted his father of murder, and two years later, he’d died in prison.

At least two of the witnesses had lied.

But someone in this town had to know the truth.

If it took the rest of his life, Cole was going to find out what had really happened that night, because despite local opinion, Rand Daniels had died an innocent man.

Leigh McAllister had dreamed of this day throughout all four years of vet school.

Planned every last detail. Felt her anticipation rising with every long-distance call from her uncle Gray, who’d offered her space for a clinic at Four Winds, his Wyoming ranch.

The news of his unexpected death last winter had left her grieving for months.

She’d finally rallied over the summer. Found another place to begin her practice. But now, with a hot August wind kicking up dust devils across the desolate parking lot and everything she owned packed in the back of her ancient pickup, Leigh wasn’t sure if the precious contract in her hand was an opportunity or a life sentence of debt.

The weathered building ahead of her had seen better days. Much of the veterinary equipment inside was outdated. And the blue-sky part of the practice—the warmth and skill of the county’s beloved Doc Henry Adams—would be moving with him to Arizona at the end of the week.