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her mouth to say
I need your help
. But the words wouldn’t come. There was nothing wrong with her voice. She just hated the thought of asking a Blackthorne for anything.
    “I haven’t got all night,” he said. “There’s an emergency at the barn—”
    “Ruby’s foal has already been delivered safely,” she said. “I made up that story because I wanted to speak privately with you.”
    “You delivered Ruby’s foal?”
    She saw the confusion on his face. “Your sister tried to manage by herself and ran into trouble. Since your vet was out of town, she called me.”
    Owen grimaced, but to his credit, didn’t berate his sister in front of her. Neither did he thank Bay for saving the foal. “You’ve got me here now,” he said. “What is it you want?” His hands fisted on his hips in a way that made her think he was itching to wrap them back around her throat.
    She lifted her chin and met his gaze. Big mistake. His gray eyes had turned into shards of ice. His body was wired tight, like frayed barbed wire ready to snap and tear flesh.
    Her stomach clenched with unaccustomed fear, which she told herself was unreasonable. She’d simply surprised him, and he’d reacted to the threat like the lawman he was. He couldn’t know how frightening it was for her to be imprisoned against the wall by his large, muscular frame. She swallowed past the soreness in her throat and said, “My brother’s in trouble.”
    “Which one?”
    “My younger brother Luke.”
    His eyes narrowed, and his hands left his hips and crossed over his broad chest. “I knew I should have arrested him last night. What’s he done now?”
    “Luke hasn’t done anything,” Bay retorted. “But he seems convinced your brother Clay has.”
    Owen snorted with disbelief. “What’s your brother accusing Clay of doing now?”
    “The same thing he accused him of last night.”
    His lips curved in amusement. “What is it you expect me to do? Arrest my brother?”
    Bay put ice in her voice to take the smile off his face. “I believe my brother is in danger, and that your brother is the one threatening him.”
    “I’d be more inclined to think the opposite,” Owen said. “Your brother’s the one who attacked mine last night.”
    Bay was starting to feel some of Luke’s frustration. She was tempted to turn and walk away. But what if her delay in seeking help cost Luke his life?
    When Bay didn’t speak, Owen shook his head in disgust and turned back toward the house.
    “Wait!” Bay reached out to stop him but jerked her hand back, remembering how he’d reacted the last time she’d touched him without warning.
    Her raspy call was enough to turn Owen around, but he was obviously irritated at her jumpiness. “Look, lady, I’ve got better things to do than stand here—”
    He was interrupted when the screen door creaked open, and an older man wearing a Texas Ranger badge and a salt-and-pepper mustache stuck his head out the door. “So this is where you went.”
    The Ranger gave the two of them a speculative look, then joined them on the porch, waiting to be introduced.
    Owen finally said, “This is Dr. Bayleigh Creed, one of the two local vets. Dr. Creed, this is my boss, Ranger Captain Tex Mabry.”
    Bay managed a smile. “Good evening.”
    “Am I interrupting something? I hope?” the captain said, returning her smile. He glanced from Bay to Owen and back again, recognizing the tension between them but uncertain of its source.
    “You’re not interrupting a damned thing,” Owen said. “What is it?”
    The captain eyed Bay as though he expected her to leave, but when she merely smiled back at him, he turned to Owen and said, “I got a call from the FBI office in Midland. The Park Rangers found a motorcycle abandoned on a dirt road in the Big Bend near where Hank was shot. Apparently it belongs to one of the guardsmen in Bravo Company who discovered those three crates of mislabeled VX mines. We may have a suspect at last.”
    “You