Dark Secret by Christine Feehan

constantly. He shoved dark glasses on, but not before she saw his expression. Where Tony Harris annoyed her, this man frightened her. Harris was a bully; this man was truly evil. Daniels had himself a wonderful crew. Most likely they were stealing him blind. “So you were returning my cattle,” she said thoughtfully.
    “That’s right, Colby, those little critters of yours just don’t want to stay put.” Tony took another step closer to Colby, watching her carefully with hot eyes.
    “What the hell is taking so long?” Daniels strode up to the fallen fence, glaring at his foreman. “Get back to work, Harris. It shouldn’t have taken the two of you all this time to return a couple of steers. And you could have fixed the fence.” He dismissed the two men with a wave of his hand, ignoring Harris’s surly grumbling and the other man’s mocking insolence. “Sorry, Colby, it didn’t occur to me they wouldn’t fix the fence.” For the first time he seemed to notice the rifle. “They weren’t giving you any trouble, were they?”
    Colby faced him across the fallen fence. Smooth. Charming. A shark. Clinton Daniels had deliberately used her stepfather’s terrible accident for his own gain. The hospital bills were piling up and Colby had taken out a loan using the family ranch as collateral, the terms nearly impossible to meet. A blur of movement caught her eye. Up on the ridge one of Everett’s somber, silent workers stood beside Juan Chevez, surveying the scene below. The worker lifted a hand at her, still watching from his vantage point.
    Colby burst out laughing. “It’s a regular convention out here. I thought I was all alone, but we’ve got enough people out here to have a party.”
    Daniels was scowling up at the two silent men. “I don’t think it’s so funny, Colby. There’s something strange about Everett’s hands. Every last one of them is an ex-con. It makes me nervous to know they sit up there watching everything we do.”
    “They just want to be left alone.”
    “It isn’t safe for you riding around alone out here.” Daniels cast another fierce glance up at the two men. “Andthose foreigners are a strange bunch too. I think they’re up to something.”
    Colby gathered up the reins as Domino sidestepped nervously. “Thanks for returning my cattle, Clinton. I’m sorry about the fence. I’ll get some materials out here as soon as possible and we won’t have the problem anymore.”
    “You might want to hold off a couple of months, save yourself time and expense,” he told her suavely.
    Colby’s chin went up. “You don’t have to worry, I’ll have your money for you.”
    “Colby”—he shook his head, clucking his tongue at her—“I understand you went to the bank and they turned you down. How do you expect . . .”
    “They turned me down because of you, Daniels. Don’t think I don’t know that. And it’s none of your business how I come up with the money. You’ll get it.”
    He reached out and caught her reins, preventing her from moving. “You’re being stubborn, Colby. Let the Chevezes take the kids away. Marry me. You’ll still have your ranch, it will all work out. You shouldn’t be running yourself into the ground. Look at you, you’re pale and tired. You have dark circles under your eyes. And you’ve lost weight. Let me take care of you.”
    She backed Domino away from Daniels. “No one is taking my brother and sister anywhere. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” Abruptly she turned the horse, urging him back over the rocks as she thrust the rifle into the scabbard. Automatically her eyes were on the ground, picking up signs, noting Tony Harris’s mount needed a new shoe on his left rear foot. It took a few minutes before she realized she hadn’t seen any fresh cattle tracks accompanying Tony’s mount.
    One last time she looked up at the high, craggy peaks, feeling the familiar curling in the pit of her stomach. She was already running behind