Cowboys In Her Pocket by Jan Springer

her.
    “Ross…what are you doing here?”
    Like she needed to ask? Now everything made sense. Ross had been the one causing the trouble. He was the one who had hurt Dan. She’d met him when she was a teenager. He was as violent as his father and had thrown his unwanted attention on her every chance he got during his infrequent visits to visit his father. She had no reason to believe he’d changed.
    His disturbing grin widened. She shivered and recoiled with disgust.
    “I’ve come to visit my long lost stepsister, of course. We’ve got some unfinished business to attend to, baby girl.”
    She stiffened at his nickname for her. Her stepfather had also called her that.
    “Don’t call me that.”
    “Why, you’re right, of course. You’re no longer a baby or a girl.”
    Ross took a step toward her. She took two steps back. He’d tried to get alone with her during his visits. She’d always managed to elude him and her mother had done a great job deflecting his advances. Just thinking of her late mom brought a sting of tears.
    She forced her sadness aside and feigned happiness.
    “It’s great to see you again. Come on, you lead the way. Let’s go back to the ranch and I’ll introduce you to my bosses. We can show you around. You can stay a few days.”
    His smile disintegrated into a severe frown. His eyes narrowed into evil slits.
    “Why would I return you to those three bastards, Jennifer Jane? Do you think I enjoy watching what they do to you? Do you think I enjoy watching them take what’s mine?”
    Shit . It had been him watching Dan and herself that day when she thought she’d seen something while Dan had been making love to her up against that tree.
    She needed to find a way to get away from him.
    “Come on, I’ve baked a delicious raspberry cake. It goes great with hot chocolate. You must still like hot chocolate like we used to have, with those miniature marshmallows. Follow me. I know the way back.”
    Yeah, right .
    JJ turned and began to walk in the direction she’d just come. The ranch had to be this way.
    Somewhere far away she heard the low drone of an airplane. Was someone coming to the ranch?
    Or were they just flying past?
    She would just take a few more steps away from him and then she’d run like hell and—
    Rough hands clamped around each of her elbows, stopping her cold. Her breath halted as he painfully yanked her arms behind her back. Before JJ knew what had happened, her wrists were cuffed.
    “Not so fast, baby girl. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for, and I intend on showing you exactly how good a time I can give you. Better than those three cowboys all at once.”
    Terror paralyzed her. He’d been stalking them!
    She tried to pull away but Ross grabbed her upper arm. His grip was so tight she couldn’t budge as he pushed her forward.
    No! Please! No!

Chapter Seven
    The roar from the engines of an approaching plane had Rafe, Brady and Dan rushing out from the various buildings they’d been checking for JJ.
    Irritation snapped through Brady. No sign of JJ. He could only hope whomever was coming would be able to help them search for her.
    He joined Rafe and Dan on the trail and they hurried down to the dock to find Blue angling her blue floatplane against the dock. A few anxious minutes later, they had the plane secure and Blue stepped onto the dock with a giant cooler in her arms.
    “Brought some supplies that JJ ordered the other day,” she said as she handed Brady the cooler.
    He placed it onto the dock and swore he’d never been so grateful to see someone in his life. Blue had been a cop. She would know stuff about how to search for a missing person. Besides, an extra person on hand to search for JJ was a good thing.
    As Blue stared at the three of them, she frowned.
    “Uh oh. I get the feeling I’ve come at a bad time?”
    “JJ’s missing,” Rafe said.
    “For how long?” Blue asked. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the surrounding buildings.
    “Maybe an