Roan by Jennifer Blake Read Free Book Online

swift-drawn breath was almost blotted out by Doc Watkins’s bellow.
    â€œGawd-a-mighty, Roan, what you been up to with this girl?”
    â€œNothing,” the sheriff said with a harried glance at the elderly physician. “At least nothing that wasn’t absolutely necessary and perfectly innocent.”
    Wounded bird: that seemed the best bet. She could do that one in her sleep. She murmured sadly, “That’s what they all say.”
    â€œIt’s what you said, too, if I remember it right,” Roan observed with grim dispassion as he stepped to the end of her bed and braced his hands on the high mattress. “I didn’t believe it then, and I don’t believe you now. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but it won’t work.”
    â€œDon’t browbeat my patient, son,” Doc Watkins ordered. “She doesn’t need this kind of hassle.”
    Roan gave him an impatient look. “I’m not browbeating her or doing anything else to her. Yet. But if you think you can do better, then have at it.”
    â€œDon’t see how I could do much worse.” The older man snorted his disapproval, then moved closer and picked up Tory’s hand. Patting it a little, he said, “Now, look, love, it’s like this. Roan’s got a job to do, and he takes his work seriously. He needs a little cooperation from you. You owe him that, don’t you think? I mean, he stopped to help you when he could have taken out after the bad guys. What’s more, a nice percentage of the blood running through yourveins right now belonged to him yesterday morning. So how about it?”
    â€œHe gave blood for me?” Tory couldn’t keep the amazement from her voice.
    â€œYou’re both universal donors, type O positive. You can give blood to any other type, but only take type O yourselves. The hospital was short, and Roan was willing.”
    â€œAnd maybe feeling a little guilty as well?” she suggested with a glance from under her lashes at the lawman. The tips of his ears turned red as she watched. Whether it was from embarrassment at being caught out in his good deed, or anger that she’d guessed the reason, was impossible to tell.
    It was Dr. Watkins who replied. “Oh, he might feel a tad responsible, but that’s all. Roan’s a regular blood donor. I only mentioned it because I thought it might make a difference in how you look at things. If you could just give us some hint of how to go about finding the two creeps who were with you, it would be a big help. The trouble you’ve got yourself into can be worked out, I promise, if you’ll give us half a chance. But we can’t help you if won’t trust us.”
    It was masterly, that appeal. That it was undoubtedly sincere made it even harder to combat. Trust didn’t come easy for Tory, however, especially now.
    Harrell would be looking for her as soon as his goons reported that they’d lost her. Her loving fiancé had ordered her kidnapping, possibly even her death, because she’d discovered he had forged her name to legal documents. He hadn’t thought she’d mind, he said when she confronted him; they were almost man and wife, after all. It was a tremendous deal he was working on, the chance of a lifetime. He had to keep it hush-hush because the men he was dealing with were heavy players. They were looking fornew capital and had agreed to let him in on the action, but wanted to see serious cash, like her old money inheritance, up-front. It was just a guarantee, the paper he’d signed for her; it didn’t obligate her to anything. Anyway, the partnership would make them rich beyond imagining.
    She’d refused to condone his act, had threatened to go to her stepfather with what he’d done. Then she’d returned his ring, to his flabbergasted fury. Shortly thereafter, she’d been abducted. It didn’t take a member of Mensa to figure