Spanking Her Highness by Patricia Green Read Free Book Online

stayed around. Will had no regrets about choosing him over the other ranch hands who'd applied for the foreman's position, though there had been some grumbling. Apparently, the grumbling was over more than the job.
    Will wanted to explode with fury. He'd come to Texas rather than choosing some other western state because he found the people friendly and open-hearted here when he was looking for a place he could call home. He reasoned that they'd accept him while he got his ranching feet under him. What Marco was telling him completely shattered his notion of how things were supposed to work. Cynicism ate at him. Things weren't much different among people after all.
    "Well, we can't sit around on our butts and hope the vandals will just lose interest!"
    "Nope."
    Although it had all been make-believe, Will had been a good screenwriter for the detective series. He could plot his way through a mystery as well as the next writer. Maybe he could solve this crime as well.
    "Have there been any strangers coming around to visit? New relatives or that kind of thing?"
    Marco stopped working as he thought about it. "Nope. But a few of the hands are men I haven't worked with afore. All came with recommendations, though. Some folks are quiet haters, though."
    "Hmm. Well, round them all up. I want to talk to them one by one."
    "Yup. It'll take a few hours. A couple are a ways out fixin' fences."
    Will nodded and turned toward the house, but thought of something else. "We might want to put a guard on duty until this shithead is caught."
    "I'll do it myself."
    "It might be dangerous, Marco, and you have a wife and kids."
    The other man waved it off. "Yeah, well. I'll keep my Smith & Wesson nearby."
    Will looked at him for a moment, deciding if it was the right thing to do. But as he was thinking, Arthur ran up, his face a mask of worry and alarm.
    "Queenie Journey is here, and she's mighty upset."
    "Is she hurt?"
    "I dunno. She's near hysterical."
    "Damn!" Will turned back to Marco. "Handle it however you see fit. But I want to meet with those men."
    "Got it, boss."
    Arthur led the way back to the house and pointed toward the sitting room where Will kept his books and entertainment center. "She's in there."
    As Will approached the archway to the room, he could hear sobbing, and it made him hurry even faster. He'd heard Queenie sob before, after a spanking, but these were heart-wrenching, panicked sobs. He took her hands as he sat next to her on the couch.
    "Hey, honey. What's wrong?" Tears were coursing down her face, but as she looked up at him, it touched him that she was trying to be brave. He plucked a fresh tissue out of the box nearby and handed it to her.
    "Calm down, honey. Tell me what happened."
    "I-I-I was drivin' down the road. On my way over to-to-to you…" She wiped her face and took a stuttering breath. "I have papers from my Daddy for you to sign."
    Will thumbed a tear off her face. "Okay. What happened?"
    "A woman drivin' an SUV pulled up behind me and bumped my car. Hard!"
    "So, there was a traffic accident?"
    "No! She bumped me several times! She was tryin' to run me off the road and into the storm ditch!" Queenie began to sob again.
    The subtle scent of fear surrounded Queenie like fingers of fog. Heat radiated off her body as though she was feverish. "But you got away." Thank goodness she got away! Will wanted to present a calm demeanor in the face of this near-tragedy, but it took a lot of effort.
    "Y-y-yeah. But, fuck, Will, it was scary! I could have died!" She began to cry hard, and Will tried to curb his feelings of helplessness. She was hysterical and didn't seem inclined to calm down.
    "Honey…honey, you've got to get hold of yourself." He pushed her hair off her forehead and tried to soothe her. "You're okay, right?"
    Her breath was hitching. Maybe she was going to hyperventilate.
    "Calm down, Queenie." He tried to get her to look at him, but she wasn't paying attention, too upset to think straight. Pulling her