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CHAPTER ONE

WILEY

The sun was high overhead and hot Sweat trickled downto my skin and clothes My whiskers itched, and I had the roup ofof robberies across the Montana Territory over the past three months, but up until now, I'd had no leads and no luck

But perhaps e

Riding fros to Bozeal activity to the small town of Zenith I knew their ranch was just over this rise That's what the townsfolk had said—that it was three miles southeast of town—and if I just kept the tallest peak on the e in the distance directly in front of ht onto their land The inforh, for no one in town seemed overly keen on anyone in the family, except the one female Sinclair They excluded her from their less than positive commentary, which seemed odd The first robbery victims had said three men and a woman had held up the train, and the Sinclair faood description of the perpetrators, but there hadn't been a match until now I didn't care if the woman was a Sunday school teacher; if she committed the crime, I'd catch her She had to be a wife or awithout being considered What woes? What woman would be involved in crimes where innocent people had been killed? Innocent people like my father I'd learned over the years, even from my own mother, that women were sometimes even craftier than men

Being a bounty hunter these past ten years, I'd learned there were all kinds of people; ood kind Their values were skewed toward the wrong Their consciences, if they had any, eak So when I looked to the other threewith s and prepared The Sinclair faerous and I wanted them, dead or alive

PIPER

As I headed towards town, I was thankful that the bri sun The horses pulling the wagon weren't any keener on the journey than I was It was one of those days better suited for lounging on a porch with a book and a glass of le produce to the mercantile

Why it had to be done this day, I did not know, for my brothers and father had been absent for the past week, and I'd supplied Mr Banes with cucus just two days earlier But I didn't question Kevin or my father, for neither man had a tolerance for backtalk or dissension It was easier just to remain silent I savored the quiet whenever they left the ranch No one nitpickedor had me do extra chores because they were too lazy Even Bill was picking up their poor traits Just eighteen, he was steering down the wrong path with just our older brother and father as role models

I frowned as I swatted away a fly My father had grown cranky and irritable when o It seemed his broken heart had injured his spirit as well, and Kevin and Bill had grown up following his poor example The townsfolk tolerated my family's surliness but seemed friendlier with me

I knew though, that this wasn't a life for me I didn't want to feel moody and cantankerous all the time like the others I wanted to leave the ranch forsoon, but where would I go? I had just a little rown up surrounded by men, I didn't want to shackle myself to a husband who could be just as bitter and resentful about his lot in life A woman's choices in the Montana Territory were slie was eable prospects Men in Zenith did not want to marry a Sinclair And so I was trapped Trapped with a family I truly didn't like, in a life where iven my poor role models

I was pulling at the collar ofthe damp fabric from my skin when I first saw the men approach There were four riders, their pace slow and easygoing, but they held their rifles at the ready We were halfway to town, far enough from the ranch where I was coon and applied the brake to the wheel They circled, focusing their attention on arden baskets and me

They were all large men Hats shielded their faces from the sun, but also from my clear view All were dusty and travel worn; it appeared as if they'd coers; I'd never seen theon so he was just to my left Because of the size of his horse, I had to tilt my head back to look at him

And look at him I did From what I could see of it beneath the brim of his hat, his hair was sandy-colored and curled over his tanned neck His square jaas covered in the start of a beard of a sireen eyes looked at me with such intensity I shifted in my seat He was not an amiable person Every line of his body was tense frohs, to his large hands holding the reins

I responded viscerally to this man before he even said a word There was so in the air si sparks the sky I wanted to feel if his beard was soft or if it would rasp against my palm I wanted to see if he had a dimple when he smiled Was all of his hair the sahter on top?