Rugged Defender

Murder in Montana?

Cowboy Justin Calhoun is certain that Chloe Clementine is the one who got away. Now she’s back in Whitehorse, Montana, for the holidays—and Justin’s ready to make his move. But Chloe has a secret Santa who’s been sending her not-so-nice presents, each more threatening than the last. Now they must find Chloe’s stalker Santa...before their fairy-tale Christmas turns into a nightmare.

Whitehorse, Montana: The Clementine Sisters

B.J. DANIELS is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. She wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of thirty-seven published short stories. She lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and three springer spaniels. When not writing, she quilts, boats and plays tennis. Contact her at bjdaniels.com, on Facebook or on Twitter, @bjdanielsauthor.

Also by B.J. Daniels

Hard Rustler

Rogue Gunslinger

Rugged Defender

Cowboy’s Redemption

Dark Horse

Dead Ringer

Rough Rider

Renegade’s Pride

Outlaw’s Honor

Hero’s Return

Rancher’s Dream

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Rugged Defender

B.J. Daniels

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07944-0

RUGGED DEFENDER

© 2018 Barbara Heinlein

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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This book is for Lu Besel, one of the most gracious

women I know. I want to be you when I grow up.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

It all began with a kiss. At least that’s the way Chloe Clementine remembered it. A winter kiss, which is nothing like a summer one. The cold, icy air around you. Puffs of white breaths intermingling. Warm lips touching, tingling as they meet for the very first time.

Chloe thought that kiss would be the last thing she remembered before she died of old age. It was the kiss—and the cowboy who’d kissed her—that she’d been dreaming about when her phone rang. Being in Whitehorse had brought it all back after all these years.

She groaned, wanting to keep sleeping so she could stay in that cherished memory longer. Her phone rang again. She swore that if it was one of her sisters calling this early...

“What?” she demanded into the phone without bothering to see who was calling. She’d been so sure that it would be her youngest sister, Annabelle, the morning person.

“Hello?” The voice was male and familiar. For just a moment she thought she’d conjured up the cowboy from the kiss. “It’s Justin.”

Justin? She sat straight up in bed. Thoughts zipped past at a hundred miles an hour. How had he gotten her cell phone number? Why was he calling? Was he in Whitehorse?

“Justin,” she said, her voice sounding croaky from sleep. She cleared her throat. “I thought it was Annabelle calling. What’s up?” She glanced at the clock. What’s up at seven forty-five in the morning?

“I know it’s early but I got your message.”

Now she really was confused. “My message?” She had danced with his best friend at the Christmas Dance recently, but she hadn’t sent Justin a message.

“That you needed to see me? That it was urgent?”

She had no idea what he was talking about. Had her sister Annabelle done this? She couldn’t imagine her sister Tessa Jane “TJ” doing such a thing. But since her sisters had fallen in love they hadn’t been themselves.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t send you a message. You’re sure it was from me?”

“The person calling just told me that you were in trouble and needed my help. There was loud music in the background as if whoever it was might have called me from a bar.”

He didn’t think she’d drunk-dialed him, did he? “Sorry, but it wasn’t me.” She was more sorry than he knew. “And I can’t imagine who would have called you on my behalf.” Like the devil, she couldn’t. It had to be her sister Annabelle.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you aren’t in trouble and urgently need my help,” he said, not sounding like that at all.

She closed her eyes, now wishing she’d made something up. What was she thinking? She didn’t need to improvise. She was in trouble, though nothing urgent exactly. At least for the moment. And since she hadn’t told anyone about what was going on with her...

“Are you in Whitehorse?” she asked.

“No. I haven’t been back for years.” There was regret in his voice that made her think he hadn’t left because he wanted to. Odd.

“Me either. I came home to be with my sisters for the holidays. I appreciate you calling though. It’s nice to know that if I was in trouble, you’d...” He hadn’t exactly said that he’d come running. “Call. It’s good to hear your voice.”

“Yours too. It’s been a long time.”

Too long. She wondered if he ever thought of her—and their kiss. Her sisters referred to Justin T. Calhoun as her high school boyfriend. But in truth, they’d barely gotten together before she’d had to leave for college. There’d just been that snowy-day kiss. He’d gone on to reportedly get engaged to Nicole “Nici” Kent, break up, and then get married to and divorced from Margie Taylor while Chloe had been busy getting her journalism degree and working her way up from one newspaper to another larger one.

While she’d dated some, none of the men she’d met stood up to what she called The Kiss Test. None of them had come close to Justin’s winter kiss.

“So how long are you staying in Whitehorse?” he asked, dragging her from her thoughts.

“Until the first.” The truth was, her plans after that were rather up in the air. Not even her sisters knew the real story. “Maybe longer.”

“So you’ll be there for the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Dance.”

It was only days away. Annabelle had been trying to talk her into going but Chloe had been adamant that she wasn’t. Her sisters had dragged her to the Christmas Dance and that was bad enough. Nothing could change her mind... Except Justin.

She hedged. “I haven’t made up my mind yet about going. Are you thinking about it?” she asked hopefully.

He laughed. “You and I never got a chance to dance.”

They’d never gotten a chance to do a lot of things. “No,” she said. “You dance?”

He chuckled. “You’d have to be the judge of that. Maybe I’ll see you there. It’s been nice talking with you, Chloe. You take care.” And he was gone.

“Maybe I’ll see you there”? Not, “I’ll see you there”? Not, “let’s make it a date and I’ll come back to Whitehorse”? But still her heart was a hammer in her chest. Just the thought of seeing Justin again...

She told herself that it had been years. He might have changed. The chemistry might not even be there anymore. How could she even be sure it had been there to start with? It had been just one kiss.

The doorbell rang, followed by the front door opening and excited voices. Moments later, she heard noisy chatter on the stairs. Chloe wanted to put her head back under the covers.

“I bet she’s not even up yet,” she heard TJ say.

“Well, we’d better wake her up otherwise we’re going to be late.”

Chloe didn’t like the sound of this. Before she could move, her sisters burst into her bedroom.

“Get up, sleepyhead,” Annabelle said. “We have a surprise for you.”

She didn’t like surprises and said as much. Also she suspected she’d already gotten one of her sisters’ surprises this morning.

“Annabelle volunteered us to work at the local soup kitchen today just like we did as kids,” TJ told her. It had been one of their grandmother’s pet projects. When their parents were killed in a car wreck, the three of them had moved to Whitehorse, Montana, to live with the grandmother they’d never met. Grandma Frannie was gone now, but she’d left Annabelle her house a few months ago, which their sister had readied for them for the holidays.

“It will make you a better person,” TJ said, sounding enough like their grandmother that Chloe had to laugh.

“Fine. Let me get dressed.” She watched her sisters start to leave. “Justin just called me.”

They both froze before turning to face her. “Seriously?” Annabelle said, clearly trying to keep her face straight. “What did he say?”

“That someone had called him from a bar telling him I was in trouble and that it was urgent. The person apparently gave him my cell phone number.” She looked from one sister to the next and back. “I know it was you, Annabelle.”

Her sister laughed. “Wrong.”

“It was Annabelle’s idea,” TJ said quickly. “But I made the call. Too much wine. I’m sorry. Guess you should have come to the bar with us the other night.”

She wanted to scold them both but could only shake her head.

“So how did the call go?” Annabelle asked, looking excited.

“He said he might see me at the Masquerade Dance.”

“Really? That’s great!” Annabelle exchanged a high five with TJ. “I told you it would work.”

“It didn’t work. It’s not like he promised to come back to Whitehorse or attend the dance. He said maybe.” She could see that this didn’t dampen either of her sisters’ spirits or their belief that their call was successful.

“Oh, I hope he comes,” Annabelle said. “It’s so sad. I’m sure his friend Cooper told you.”

“Told me what?”

“Justin’s older brother, Drew. He was killed. Justin found him.”

Drew had already been out of high school by the time Chloe was a freshman, so she’d never really known him. “That’s horrible,” Chloe said and saw from her sister’s expression that there was more. “What?”

“It happened five years ago. Drew’s death was ruled an accident but...” She looked at TJ.

“But what?” Chloe asked.

“Justin was under suspicion,” Annabelle said. Since returning home to Whitehorse, her youngest sister had gotten caught up on all the local gossip thanks to a bunch of nosy elderly neighbors. “No one who knew him thought he’d been involved, but his father...well, I guess he still blames Justin.”

Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Poor Justin. I had no idea. So much tragedy. Why would his father blame him?”

Annabelle shrugged. “Apparently Bert Calhoun idolized his oldest son. Justin and Drew were often at odds. That day Drew and Justin had an argument. That’s all I know except that Justin left town and hasn’t come back. We’d better get going or we’re going to be late.”

TJ had picked up a newspaper that Chloe had left on a table by the bedroom door, before saying, “I’m surprised you were able to get so much time off from the paper. So you’re staying until after the New Year, right?”

“I thought we were going to be late?” Chloe said. “Let me get showered and dressed.” She shooed them out, but she could tell that TJ wasn’t going to let the subject drop. At some point, Chloe knew she would have to tell them the truth.

* * *

JUSTIN T. CALHOUN leaned back, his boots resting on the large pine stump he used for a footstool, and thought about the phone call. Just hearing Chloe’s voice had brought back the few sweet memories he had of Whitehorse. After everything that had happened, was it any wonder he’d been glad to leave it all behind?

But jumping feetfirst into a marriage to Margie Taylor had been a mistake, he thought as he looked out at the flat, white landscape of North Dakota. He could admit now that he’d been trying to put everything behind him. He’d worked her family ranch during their very short marriage. It hadn’t taken Margie long to realize that his heart wasn’t in it. Not in her or ranching her family’s place. They’d parted as friends and he’d gone to work for another rancher near the Montana–North Dakota border. He hadn’t even considered going home.

And yet the moment he’d heard Chloe Clementine was in trouble, he’d been ready to jump on his trusty steed and ride off to save her. He hadn’t been that man in years and yet, instantly, he’d wanted to be. Because as much as he tried to fool himself, he had unfinished business in Whitehorse.

He stretched out his long denim-clad legs and looked around the small cabin he’d called home for months. It kept the snow out, but that was about all he could say about it. He didn’t mind living modestly. Or at least he never had.

Talking to Chloe had left him restless. It reminded him that once, a long time ago, he’d had dreams. It also made him think about what he’d given up all those years ago. Is this what it took to get him to finally face the past? He thought about their kiss on that winter night, just the two of them with ice crystals floating around them.

“You damn fool,” he said to himself and yet he couldn’t help smiling. He’d always wanted to go to the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Dance in Whitehorse. The idea of showing up and surprising Chloe... Just the thought of seeing her again...

At the sound of a truck approaching, he cursed and stood. He had someone else’s cattle to feed, someone else’s fence to mend. He shoved his worn Stetson down on his head, aware that he needed a haircut. A shave wouldn’t hurt either. But what was the point of even thinking about making a change—let alone trying to go back to what could have been? Chloe didn’t need him. So why had he said that he might show up at the party?

Worse, why was he thinking it was time to make things right?

* * *

AT THE EDGE of town, the wind whipped the new snow, swirling it around the empty cemetery. The huge old pine trees creaked and swayed. His tracks filled behind him as Bert Calhoun made his way to the granite tombstone.

He hated this trek through the cemetery each year. He knew he should come more often, but it was too painful. He felt old, forgotten, his heart as bleak as the winter landscape around him.

His footsteps faltered as he neared his oldest son’s final resting place. A large pine stood like a sentinel over the grave. He read what had been carved into the granite as if the words were carved into his own flesh.

Andrew “Drew” Calhoun

July 4, 1982–December 10, 2013

Bert Calhoun removed his Stetson and squatted down next to the grave, his bad knee aching. The wind whipped at his too-long gray hair and beard. He was glad he was alone on this cold winter day. He kept to the ranch except when forced to come in for supplies. He knew people talked about him. They stared and whispered when they saw him. He could well imagine what they said.

Other than this yearly visit, he couldn’t bring himself to even drive by the cemetery. He never knew what to say to his son. Drew had had so much promise from the time he was born. He was the one Bert had always depended on to take over the ranch and keep the Calhoun name and brand going.

That Drew had been taken from them so soon was still dynamite to his heart. There’d been days when he thought he couldn’t go on breathing at the thought of his oldest son under six feet of dirt. Had there been anyone else to take over the ranch, he would have blessedly taken his own life. Instead, the circumstances of his son’s death had him dying slowly from the pain. It had made him into a tired, bitter old man.

The wind whipped snow past, rocking the metal container holding the faded plastic flowers on the grave next to Drew’s. He looked over at the headstone and felt the weight of his guilt. Pushing to his feet, he moved to his wife’s graveside.

Mary Harris Calhoun

May 11, 1954–December 21, 2002

Losing her so young had made him hold on even tighter to Drew, since Drew resembled her the most. Now he was just glad she hadn’t been around to see what had become of the family she’d loved so much. He knew how disappointed she would be in him. No more than he was in himself.

The promise was on his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice it. It wasn’t the promise Mary would have wanted to hear. But it was the promise he’d made since Drew’s murder five years ago this month. He would see that their oldest son’s killer was brought to justice—one way or another.

But he hadn’t been able to do even that.

The promise Mary wanted was one he couldn’t even bring himself to utter let alone make happen even for her. Each time he came here, he could hear her as if she spoke from the grave.

Bring our son home. Make amends for what you’ve done.

Just the thought of his youngest son, Justin, doubled him over. When he closed his eyes, he saw Justin standing over his brother, the gun in his hand.

Hot tears ran down his cheeks. He felt even more guilt because his tears were for himself, and Mary knew it. From her grave, she blamed him as if he was the one who had pulled the trigger and ended Drew’s life.

He shook his head. He wanted justice like his next breath. But some days he wasn’t sure what justice would look like. Maybe he was already getting it and this was his punishment for the mistakes he’d made.

And yet he couldn’t let go of what he felt in his heart. Justin had killed his brother. It felt like the truth, one that ate at him, fueled by his grief and his guilt.

He brushed at his tears now freezing to his cheeks and rose. He didn’t need Mary to tell him the part he’d played in this tragedy. He’d always loved Drew more and everyone knew it—including Justin. And this was the price he paid.

No, not even after five years could he promise Mary that he would make things right with Justin. Not as long as he believed his youngest son was a killer.

Chapter Two

The moment they walked into the local soup kitchen, Chloe spotted Nicole Kent and groaned. “What is she doing here?” she whispered to her sisters.

“Apparently arguing with Edna,” Annabelle said. “Edna Kirkland is the kitchen supervisor. Do not argue with her.”

Chloe had no desire to argue with anyone, especially the large woman who was towering over Justin’s old girlfriend, Nici.

Nici held up what appeared to be a hairnet and said in a strident voice, “I’m not wearing this.” She was still short and cute in a rough sort of way with dyed black hair cut in a pixie that suited her.

Edna crossed her arms over her abundant chest and narrowed her eyes. “You’ll wear it or I’ll call the sheriff and have you thrown in jail.” She smiled. “Your choice. Community service or jail. Those are your only options.”

“No one mentioned I had to wear a hairnet.” Nici cursed again before going into the restroom and slamming the door.

“Community service,” TJ whispered. “I wonder what she did.”

“You three come here to chat or to work?” Edna barked from across the room.

“Work,” Annabelle said quickly and hurried forward to be handed a hairnet and a soup ladle.

“We’re about to open,” the supervisor said. “You,” she said pointing at TJ. “You’re in charge of buns and you,” she said pointing at Chloe, “you’ll be helping run dishes. When we run out of soup, we all help clean up this place. Is that understood?”

“Perfectly,” Chloe and TJ said in unison as Nici came out of the bathroom.

“And you,” Edna said. “You’re going straight to the dish room and start cleaning. And,” she said as Nici started to complain, “if you say one word, I’m calling the sheriff.”

“Jail looks good right now,” the young woman said under her breath as she walked past Chloe and then did a double take. Edna had gone to open the doors. “What are you doing here?” Nici demanded of Chloe.

“We always helped at the soup kitchen with our grandmother.”

“No, what are you doing in Whitehorse?”

“Spending time with my sisters over the holidays.” Chloe wondered why she was answering Nici’s rude questions. It was just such a surprise seeing her here.

“So you aren’t staying,” Nici said.

“Nicole Kent, you’ve got two seconds to get into the dish room,” Edna called and Nici scooted off after an eye roll and a curse.