Cameron, Paige - Commando Cowboys Desire Their Queen [Wyoming Warriors 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance) Read online

  “Here, the phone call is for you.”

  “I didn’t hear it ring.” She took the phone and said hello.

  “This is Mitch. You’d better join me at the hospital. We have another victim. This one is almost dead.”

  “I’ll be there soon.” She hung up and ran into the shower then dressed in a white flannel shirt, jeans, and her boots. As she started to run out of the house, her mother handed her a roll with ham and egg inside and a covered mug of coffee.

  “You can’t go all day on no food. Eat it on the way.”

  “I will, Mom. Thanks.” She stopped in her tracks when she got outside.

  Her mother came up behind her. “You’ll need these keys. Your Dad and I thought since you’re planning on staying here, you’d need you own vehicle. Do you like it?”

  The shiny red truck sat next to her mother’s blue car. “It does stand out. I love it.” She hugged her mom. “Thank Dad. I’ll thank you both more when I get back.”

  She swung into the seat and took a deep breath of the new-truck smell. Carefully, she put her coffee in the slot for drinks and kept her wrapped sandwich in her lap. The engine fired immediately when she turned the key. Waving to her mother, she backed out and turned to go to the hospital. She hated to get crumbs in her new vehicle so she waited until she parked by the emergency room and got out before unwrapping her sandwich.

  She walked around her truck, admiring it while she ate and sipped on her coffee. The sandwich did give her more energy. She hadn’t eaten since early yesterday.

  “Did your dad get a new truck?” Hakan asked as he walked up.

  “No. Mom and Dad surprised me this morning. It’s mine.”

  “You can easily drive to Sahale’s whenever you want in comfort.” Hakan had opened the door and looked at the seats.

  Finished with her meal, Kira rushed toward the ER entrance. “I’m late. Mitch said we had another patient in very bad shape.”

  “I’ll come with you.” He opened the emergency room door, took her trash, and tossed it into a container.

  Kira rushed on ahead. A nurse saw her and pointed to room five. Mitch must have heard her. He came out of the room and stopped her.

  “You have to prepare yourself. She’s not a pretty sight. Not only was she poisoned, but an animal bit her many times. She’s suffered badly, but for some reason is hanging on. Her parents saw her. Her mother got hysterical, and the nurse gave her a shot. She’s sleeping in the next exam room. But she’s waiting for someone besides her family.”

  “Who is she?” Hakan asked from behind Kira.

  “Gala, one of our cooks. She’s a sweet girl. We have no idea why she was riding at dusk in our thickest woods. When the mare she used came back to the barn without her, Sahale formed a search party. He and Lang found her.”

  Kira straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. Without intending to, she took hold of Hakan’s hand, and then walked into the room.

  She smelled death. “Has she had shots for the poison?” she asked as she trod closer to the bed. Kira nodded to the man sitting slumped in the chair.

  Dr. Jack stood beside the bedrail. “We’ve used a shot of the medicine with the antibodies, pumped blood into her, and still we see little improvement.”

  Holding in a gasp and the bile that rose in her throat, Kira stared at the young girl she’d talked to yesterday. Stitched bite marks covered her face, neck, shoulders, and arms.

  “She has marks all over her body. Whatever attacked her did so in a violent manner. Lang’s taken a cast of the bite marks to Sahale and Justin to see if they can tell us what animal we should be looking for.” Jack brushed Gala’s hair back. “The poor thing. She was in such pain when they found her. We had to give her heavy doses of medicine to ease the agony.”

  Kira touched the pale hand lying on the cover. Thin fingers wrapped around hers.

  “That’s the first movement she’s made in hours,” Jack said, astonishment in his voice. He went to the door and called the nurse. “Contact the lab. We need blood work done stat.”

  “Don’t bother.” The words were so softly spoken Kira had to lean almost against Gala’s mouth to hear her.

  “We want to save your life, Gala.” Kira squeezed her hand.

  Gala licked her dry lips and tried to speak again. “What is it, Gala?”

  Her eyes opened and looked frantically around the room. Tears seeped out when she saw the man sitting close-by. She looked at Kira and shut her eyes.

  “I must go get her mother.” The man jumped up and ran out.

  “Mitch, I’d like you and Hakan to leave. Jack and I will stay with her. Don’t let her parents in here until we open the door.” She realized the man who’d left the room must be Gala’s father.

  Mitch nodded. He and Hakan went out, closing the door behind them.

  “You think she wanted them out?” Jack asked.

  “I do. I sensed it was too many people for whatever she wanted to say.”

  Kira leaned closer to Gala. “You can open your eyes. Dr. Jack and I are the only two left in the room.” A minute or two went by. Finally, Gala’s eyelids fluttered and opened. Fear crossed her face.

  “Don’t be frightened. We won’t hurt you,” Kira reassured her.

  “You will hate me.”

  “No. Here have a drink.” Kira lifted her head while Gala sipped on the straw. Then she gently laid her down.

  “Better?”

  Gala swallowed. “It can never be better. I poisoned the people.”

  Dr. Jack and Kira were both speechless. Kira remembered having questions in her mind yesterday about Gala, but she was so tired she didn’t follow up on them.

  “My father was Phillip.”

  “Did you want revenge for his death?” Kira asked.

  “Yes, he told me what to do if anything happened to him.”

  “But who attacked you?” Dr. Jack bent down to hear her answer.

  “My partner, the devil.” She gasped out the words and fell silent. Her eyes closed. Finally, she whispered, “So sorry. Tell my mother, I’m so sorry. Dad doesn’t know.” Her hand went limp inside Kira’s.

  A knock at the door made both Kira and Jack jump. A lab tech stuck his head around the corner. “You want me to draw the blood?”

  Tears in her eyes, Kira shook her head. “It’s not necessary. She’s gone. Ask her mother and father to come in.”

  Her father supported Gala’s mother to the bedside. Both were crying.

  “I’m sorry we kept you out. She went too quickly for us to get you inside. But she wanted to share something with us about who wounded her. I’m sorry to say she couldn’t tell us much. We didn’t get a name before she died.” Kira hugged the small woman who shook with grief.

  “What did she say?” Gala’s father asked. “Something about her other father?”

  Gala’s mother raised her head. “You knew?”

  “Yes. But I also knew you regretted it, and you never strayed again. I love you, and I loved her, so I buried the hurt deep inside and enjoyed our life.”

  “She loved you both,” Kira said. “She didn’t want me to tell her mother what she said in front of you.” Kira nodded to Gala’s father. “She didn’t want to hurt you. This is going to be hard to hear, but Phillip convinced her to take revenge for him if he died. She poisoned our people.”

  Her mother gasped and held onto her husband to keep from falling. “I knew something wasn’t right. I asked her, but she denied any problems. I thought she was grieving her father’s death. I’m so stupid.”

  “No, you aren’t.” Kira confronted her. “A mother would never think her daughter capable of doing such horrible deeds.”

  Mitch had followed the others into the room. “I’m certain her father had her under his control like he did Nate. She’d have been more vulnerable than Nate because of her youth and innocence. Phillip used her love for him to manipulate her and put a spell on her. Did she say if she had a partner?”

  “The devil
. She said her partner killed her, and he was the devil. She died before giving us a name.”

  Taking hold of Gala’s mother’s hands, Mitch faced her and her husband. “Gala was not responsible for her actions. She was as much a victim as the others who’ve died in these battles. Plan her funeral, and we will all attend. No one outside this room will ever know about her last days.” Everyone listening nodded to her parents.

  “But,” Mitch added, “we will get this devil and destroy him.”

  Chapter Six

  Pearce had roamed around the countryside most of the night after he’d shifted into his wild wolf persona. He drank from the river and admired the reflection of his shiny dark-brown coat and his red eyes. He hadn’t allowed himself to shape-shift since he’d arrived. No one here knew he had such abilities, and he wanted to keep it that way. He’d been holding his wolf back, but when he stuck the needle in Gala’s neck, he’d gone wild.

  He’d shifted and tore at her in his frustration and anger. Her wide, frightened eyes had made him react more wildly. He put a paw on her mouth shutting her up until she only whimpered. They weren’t deep cuts, but if the poison didn’t work, which it should, the loss of blood would make it certain.

  As he’d run around enjoying his freedom, he heard the search party. Her horse had been tied to a nearby tree branch. It must have gotten loose and returned to the barn. He should have made sure the reins were still tight, but in his wolf frenzy it never crossed his mind. Later, he’d shifted back and sneaked through his bedroom window while his parents slept.

  In the morning, he stretched in contentment. He was rid of an annoying problem. Finally, he had complete control. Showering got rid of any lingering scent from his nighttime activities.

  He left the window open to remove any lasting odors in the room.

  In the kitchen, his mother cooked breakfast, and his father read the paper. Their usual day-in-and-day-out routine. I can’t believe they won’t run screaming out of the house from boredom someday.

  “Good morning, Mom.” Pearce kissed her cheek and sat across from his father.

  “You must have gotten in late. I didn’t hear you.” His dad glanced across at Pearce from above his paper.

  “I’ve met a lovely young lady. I took her to dinner and for a drive.” Thank goodness he’d rented a car in town the other day. Otherwise his father would be checking the odometer.

  “Maybe you’ll get married and settle on the ranch or in town.” His mother turned to him with a big smile.

  “You never know, but this is early on in the relationship. She doesn’t want me to mention her name to anyone yet. Her parents are very protective of her.”

  “I can understand why,” his father said sardonically.

  “I’d think you’d be very happy that Pearce might finally settle down.” Pearce’s mother frowned at her husband.

  “I will be when I see it happen.” He went back to reading his papers.

  Pearce shrugged his shoulders and winked at his mother. He ate the plate of pancakes and eggs she put in front of him then excused himself.

  “I think I’ll go for a ride into town.” He needed time to think away from this place, but first he’d stop by the community store on his way out. Hilda would have heard about Gala’s death. He had to be sure that witch Kira hadn’t saved her.

  He’d started out the door when he remembered the broach he’d bought his mom. He’d been waiting for the right time to present it.

  “I just remembered I have something for you, Mom.” He took long strides to his bedroom and pulled the small box out of his underwear drawer.

  Back in the kitchen, he handed her the wrapped box. “This is for you, for all you do for me and for loving me.”

  “Oh my.” Tears came into her eyes, and her hands shook as she held the box. “You didn’t have to do this.”

  “I wanted to.”

  His mother sat at the table across from his father, who’d actually put his paper down. Pearce watched as she carefully unwrapped the package without tearing the paper or breaking the ribbon. When she opened the box, she gasped in shock.

  The overhead light gave the rubies, emeralds, and diamonds an extra brilliance. She looked at Pearce.

  “This must have cost a fortune. You shouldn’t have spent so much, but I love it.” She took it out and pinned it to her plain cotton dress. “My women friends will all be envious.” She stood and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  His father gave him a hard stare before going back to his paper. Pearce whistled as he left the house. He’d buttered his mother up and annoyed his father. Gala should be dead, and he was going to find another more pliable woman to be his wife. It was going to be a good day.

  When he stopped by the community store, he saw a circle of women standing outside. He nodded hello and went inside. Hilda raised her head.

  “Good morning, Pearce. Can I help you?”

  “No. I thought I’d grab some chewing gum. I’ve quit smoking and it helps keep me from starting back.”

  “Good for you. It’s a hard habit to get rid of. I stopped twenty years ago. By the way, did you hear about Gala?”

  “No, who is she?”

  “She helped in the kitchen at the main ranch house. A real sweet girl. The monster who’s been trying to kill people by poison succeeded. She died this morning, but they also said she was attacked by an animal. A nurse I know said she had bites all over her. The nurse said she held on until Kira got to her bedside. Shortly afterwards she died with Kira and Dr. Jack with her.”

  “Was she able to identify her killer?” Pearce’s heart raced. Damn the woman. Even while dying she causes me problems.

  “Oh I don’t think so. The nurse wasn’t aware of her being conscious before she died.”

  “That’s too bad.” He paid for the gum and left. A close call. He needed to get rid of Kira. She was a potent enemy.

  As he drove into town, he relaxed. He stopped at the bank then walked to Cassie’s shop. Peeking in the window, he didn’t see Cassie.

  Her assistant, Cindy, must be working. Pearce had met her a week ago when he’d come into town. She was a pretty blonde with a nice smile. It was almost lunchtime. He’d ask her to dine with him.

  The bell over the door rang as he came in. Cindy had been dusting the large showroom. She turned and smiled when she saw him.

  “Welcome. You’re back. I bet you’ve come to buy the turquoise ring you were studying last week.”

  “You’re right. It’s lovely, and the ring will make a nice gift.”

  “Your girlfriend will be pleased.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend. I like to treat my family.”

  “How nice.” She crossed the room and got the ring, then she went to the register. “Would you like it wrapped?”

  “Please.” He watched as she took out two rolls of paper.

  “Red or green?”

  “Red.”

  When she’d finished wrapping the jewelry box and rang it up, he deliberately glanced at his watch. “It’s lunchtime. Would you join me? I hate to eat alone. I thought I’d drive out of town to a small fish place I spotted the other day.”

  “You must mean Charlie’s restaurant. The food is good. I have to be back in an hour.”

  “We can make it.”

  “All right. I’ll close up, and put the gone to lunch sign in the window.”

  Pearce led her to his car. He had to move slow, but she’d do fine. He’d start working at getting into her head today. Such an open, unsuspecting person should be a piece of cake to turn to his way of thinking, especially if she thought he loved her.

  * * * *

  Kira walked to her car. Seeing Gala die had been unsettling. She’d smelled the scent of evil around her. Whoever her partner was, Gala had been correct in calling him the devil. Any innocent person would be vulnerable to him.

  She got into her new truck and headed out toward Sahale’s. She needed time to meditate and think. The prairie spread out wide around h
er, and the wildflowers of all colors made for a beautiful scene. Her radio was not on the level of Hakan’s sound system, but she found a station that played soft jazz. Gradually the tension in her body eased.

  As she drove across the bridge she saw Nanna’s little cabin and smoke was coming out of the chimney. On impulse, she slowed and parked in front of the porch.

  Nanna came to the door. “Come in, welcome to my home.”

  “I hope I’m not disturbing you. I’m on my way to Sahale’s cabin. I saw the smoke coming out of your chimney.”

  “I always love company. Will you join me for a cup of tea before you continue on your travels?”

  “Thank you, I’d love to.” When Kira entered the house, she noted it fit Nanna. The air smelled of cinnamon and spice. The polished wood floors glistened in the sunlight. Lace doilies covered the tops of tables. Nanna led her into a bright kitchen with yellow and white curtains. Outside the window a buck stood at the river, his head and antlers held high as he sniffed the wind for danger.

  “Your home is like a picture postcard.”

  “Many people say that. It is my home and reflects me. Sit, I’ll pour us a cup of tea and cut a slice of my just-baked orange bread.”

  “Sounds delicious. When did you come home? I thought you were still at the main ranch house.”

  “Mitch agreed to have me flown home yesterday on the helicopter. It’s such a thrill to ride on it.” Her aquamarine eyes sparkled like a child’s when they’d experienced a special treat. “And it makes coming and going so much easier for my old bones.”

  “Here’s your tea.” She handed Kira a yellow mug.

  “This smells like roses and a touch of lemon.”

  “You’re right. A new mixture I’ve concocted for relaxation and clearing the thoughts.”

  “You knew this was what I needed.”

  “I did.” She put a plate with a slice cake in front of Kira. “Enjoy. I’ll get mine and we’ll talk.”

  After Nanna had sat at the table, Kira told her about Gala. “It hurt to see her dying and to know the guilt and sadness Gala suffered for her deeds. We all believe Phillip preyed on her love for him and cast a spell on her as he had done on others.”