Vera was thinking she’d start somewhere in the south of France when suddenly a deer came flying up out of the barrow pit directly in front of the SUV. Instinctively she swerved, missing it by a hair and blowing one of the front tires. She fought heroically to keep the vehicle on the road, but lost control.

  She would never know exactly how many times the SUV rolled before it crashed at the bottom of a deep ravine and exploded.

  But at one point, her purse came open as the SUV rolled. The last thing she saw were hundred-dollar bills floating in the air around her before she saw nothing at all.

  * * *

  KEN YARROW OPENED his eyes and seemed surprised that the first person he saw was his deputy sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed. He blinked. “Jaxson?” His voice was a dry rasp from lack of use.

  The deputy started and rose quickly to come to his side. “You’re awake.”

  Yarrow was looking around as if confused. “How long?”

  “You’ve been in an induced coma for almost a week. Welcome back.”

  He closed his eyes again. “What happened?”

  “You were shot. Do you remember any of it?” He’d been told that a woman named Shar had called the ambulance and the police after finding Yarrow shot and bleeding in his driveway. A former boyfriend of hers was picked up not too far from Yarrow’s house. The woman had saved his life.

  Ken opened his eyes again. “I do remember that I needed to talk to you, but can’t remember why,” his voice broke. Jaxson got him some water and a straw and handed it to him. “Just that it was important,” he said hoarsely after taking a drink.

  “Whatever it was, it may no longer be important.” He told his boss everything that had happened. It had made him question again whether he was cut out for this work.

  His boss looked as if he couldn’t believe the way it had all shaken out. “You solved the murders.” He coughed and took another sip of water. “Maybe you really will be a US marshal someday.”

  Jaxson laughed. “Not in the cards. For the time being, I’m happy as a deputy marshal.” Tom Eaton had contacted him, telling him that his lawyers were drawing up papers that would give Jaxson one-third of the ranch, free and clear. He figured Tom was trying to make up for a lot of wrongs from his past, but probably also worried that he might sue for half of the ranch.

  He’d said he would talk to Luna about it and get back to Tom, but he was touched and thought the offer more than generous.

  Right now though he had other things on his mind. Marshal Leroy Baggins would be returning from his honeymoon next week and Jaxson was going to ask for some time off to reevaluate things. He’d spent so many years with Amy’s disappearance hanging over him, that his decisions had been made based on knowing that one day she would turn up—probably dead and that he would be the number one suspect.

  Now that he was free of that, all he wanted was Luna and the life he could see for them together here in this small Montana town in the middle of nowhere.

  “Anyway,” he said, “I’m never leaving Buckhorn. I’ve asked Luna Declan to marry me.”

  “The hairdresser?”

  He chuckled at that since Luna was so much more. He still couldn’t believe how close he’d come to losing her. “She said yes, so we’re getting married. I hope you’re well enough to attend the wedding. The doctor said you should be able to go back to work before long,” he told Yarrow, who surprised him when the man shook his head.

  “Not going back.”

  “Well, you don’t need to make that decision now,” Jaxson assured him. “You almost died. Give it a little time.”

  “No, I’m quitting. I’m done.”

  “What will you do?” he asked the older man.

  Yarrow smiled. “Anything I want to.”

  The doctor came in to check on his patient. As Jaxson was leaving, he passed a woman in her early fifties. He overheard her asking what room Ken Yarrow was in. She carried a bouquet of flowers and what looked like a box of candy.

  It made Jaxson smile as he walked away.

  * * *

  AT THE MENTAL HOSPITAL, Jennifer Mullen sat staring blankly straight ahead. She seemed to be in her own world now, unreachable since her escape weeks before and return to the mentally insane ward. Not even being told about the death of her mother and her aunt Vi seemed to register. Nor was she interested in anything that was going on in Buckhorn, her former hometown.

  Still the orderly had brought her down to the lounge. He’d put her scrapbook in front of her even though she hadn’t seemed to notice. He’d also made some copies of articles about Buckhorn, Montana, that he thought she might want. She used to paste them into the scrapbook for hours on end. But she hadn’t had an interest in doing it now for a very long time.

  He missed her, he thought, as he sat down in a chair across from her so he could watch the clock and take her back when her time was up. Picking up the latest article, he turned it where she might see it. “Look at this, Jen. It says here you are one rich lady. Your mother left you a bunch of money. It’s waiting in an account for you.” He didn’t tell her why the story had hit the news. He knew the doctor had tried to tell her about her mother’s and aunt’s deaths. She’d deal with that if she ever came back from wherever she’d gone mentally.

  “Just think, one day you might be released from here. Rich. You could buy anything you wanted. Imagine that.”

  Her expression didn’t change, but he thought he caught a glint in her blue eyes. Dr. Moss kept saying that he could rehabilitate her. That there was good in her and one day she might walk out of here.

  “You might drive away from here someday,” he told her. “In some fancy car. I can see you in a convertible, the top down, your hair blowing back.” He smiled, hoping it happened, but doubting either of them would be leaving here, especially in a new expensive convertible.

  But if anyone could, it would be Jen, he told himself as he put her scrapbook and the articles away for next time and led her down the hall to her appointment with Dr. Moss.

  * * *

  THE SUN ROSE over the mountain, the rays making the dewdrops on the pine needles glisten. There was a scent in the air, a promise of warmth and blue cloudless skies ahead. It was spring in Montana, just days away from Memorial Day weekend and the start of tourist season in the town of Buckhorn. There was excitement and expectation on the cool breeze as Luna opened the door of her salon. Her petunias were flourishing in the large pot out front.

  She carried a large pitcher of water, but stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to breathe in the day, unable not to smile. Buckhorn had come alive again after the long winter and short spring. She waved to a couple of the shop proprietors out getting ready for the steady stream of travelers who would soon be coming down this highway in search of the real Montana.

  Down the block, Luna waved to Bessie and Earl Ray in front of the café. When she glanced the other way, she saw the new owners of the Buckhorn General Store hard at work. Windows were being washed and awnings going up. Summer was just a blink away and everyone was getting ready.

  Luna glanced at the engagement ring on her finger and felt the excitement and expectation fill her to floating. She felt as if her life was just beginning and there was nowhere she wanted to be but right here in Buckhorn with Jaxson.

  “Good morning,” he said as he came up behind her and took the water-filled pitcher from her. “I wondered where you’d gone.”

  She smiled as they stepped out to the curb, looking at the petunias that now filled the pot, overflowing with color. Lately she couldn’t quit smiling. It wasn’t just the start of the town’s true season that had her feeling this way. She met Jaxson’s gaze as he finished watering her precious petunias and stepped to her for a kiss.

  “You’re going to have the whole town talking,” she warned him as the kiss ended.

  “The whole town is already talking about us,” he said with a grin. “Most of them will be at our wedding. I finally get to meet Lawrence Declan.” He’d visited with her father on the phone since saving her life. Luna wasn’t at all surprised that the two men had bonded.

  So much had happened. She’d come so close to dying. But all she could think about was that Jaxson was finally free of the past. His father wouldn’t be at the wedding—but she knew they would be in his thoughts always. Jaxson finally knew the truth. She’d seen the change in mind. He was stronger, yet at the same time gentler. He was finally free to be the man he wanted to be.

  “Ken was telling me that you once said you wanted to be a US marshal,” she said. Ken Yarrow had recovered from his gunshot wound and retired. He had promised to be at the wedding even though he was thinking of leaving the county, maybe even leaving the state. He said he needed to make some changes in his life. “A US marshal?”

  Jaxson laughed. “I was just pulling his chain. He figured I had my eye on the marshal position.” He shook his head. “I’m happy right now being a deputy marshal.”

  They’d talked late into the night about Tom Eaton’s offer of one-third of the Eaton Ranch. They both felt it was more than generous. It would be a wonderful place to raise their children. They planned to go out to the land today to decide where they were going to have their house built. Luna knew he was as excited as she was.

  “I like being a deputy,” Jaxson said as he waved to Mabel Aldrich who was headed down to the café for the morning get-together with her other women friends. “But I feel as if my roots are calling me.” He turned to meet Luna’s gaze. “There’s a lot of cowboy in me, Luna.”

  “Don’t I know it,” she said, snuggling against him as they walked back inside.

  * * *

  Also by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels

  Buckhorn, Montana

  Out of the Storm

  From the Shadows

  At the Crossroads

  Before Buckhorn

  Before Memories Fade

  Under a Killer Moon

  When Justice Rides

  Harlequin Intrigue

  A Colt Brothers Investigation

  Murder Gone Cold

  Sticking to Her Guns

  For a complete list of books by B.J. Daniels, please visit www.bjdaniels.com.

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  ISBN-13: 9780369719034

  When Justice Rides

  Copyright © 2023 by Barbara Heinlein

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at CustomerService@Harlequin.com.

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  B.J. Daniels, When Justice Rides

 

 

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