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them.”
    Josh was built like their father, heavy in the shoulders, and had a shock of brown hair, but they‘d all inherited their mother‘s signature blue eyes. His eyes narrowed. “Rance Colter‘s rich. He doesn‘t need to rustle cattle.”
    John gave his brother a level glance. “Ever wonder how exactly he got so rich? I have. Besides, Rance Colter has been panting over Celia for the past year and she won‘t have anything to do with him. Has it never struck you as odd that we‘re losing cows right and left now that she snubbed him, and even more odd that Parker‘s getting it even worse? No one else seems to be having much trouble. Oh sure, here and there maybe, just for appearances, but we are definitely being singled out, Josh. Colter claims his cattle are being rustled too, but I don‘t trust that son of a bitch any farther than I can toss his sorry ass. I bet if we rode all around his property, we‘d find his fences just as right as rain.”
    “Maybe.” Josh looked thoughtful.
    “If it is Colter, he‘s not goin‘ to be real happy when Parker and Celia come back married. Because believe me, Parker is smart enough to know when he brings her back, there had better be a ring on her finger.”
    “I‘ll kill him myself if there isn‘t.” Josh said it with conviction.
    The afternoon was warm and John gazed out over the grass to where the mountains rose above the valley. “I have a fair idea where he‘s taken her.”
    “Do you?”
    He and Parker West were the same age, had been neighbors all their lives and they were solid friends. Parker had told him about the cabin a few years ago, but John wasn‘t sure exactly where it was located. West could be pretty private about some things and he liked his solitude now and again.
    “I think I could find them. He‘s got a place he goes to hunt and fish and told me once where it was.”
    “So?” Josh scuffed the trampled soil with his boot. “What are you going to do, bust in on them?”
    “No.” John frowned. “Of course not. I‘m just wondering if I‘m the only one who knows where they might be.”
    His older brother‘s jaw tensed and his eyes flashed. “If you think for a minute Celia‘s in danger, you‘d better say so right now.”
    They were all protective of their two younger sisters, but there was no question that while Rose was practical and demure, Celia was neither. Oh yes, she was a lady, their mother and three years at a private Eastern school had seen to it, but she had an underlying reckless streak that was not easy to rein in. Coupled with the fact she was so pretty, it made for a combustible combination.
    Parker—if he had his way and actually got her to the altar and everything tied up right and tight—was going to have his hands full.
    “He keeps the cabin pretty secret,” John said after a moment of contemplation, uneasy, but not uneasy enough to ride up there. “I doubt anyone else knows about it.”
    “I wish the entire territory didn‘t know he up and took her,” Josh muttered, staring at the mangled fence. “If you‘re right about Colter, it might set off something I have no desire to deal with. Colter has lots of friends. We could have ourselves a little range war damned easy.”
    “They aren‘t exactly his friends,” John pointed out, gathering the reins in his hand and swinging into the saddle. “Let‘s keep in mind he has lots of money, which buys loyalty, but only so far. Shit, this could be a mess. I‘d guess he owns every judge between here and Denver. Even if we could somehow prove he‘s behind this sudden increase in our stock being rustled, we can‘t fight this legal—it isn‘t going to work.”
    Josh grinned, vaulting on to the back of his big gelding. “Then we‘ll fight it the other way. Come on, let‘s follow those tracks.”
    ———
    The pool was cool and deep. Celia sank in, feeling the water rush over her thighs and then her breasts. Her first reaction was a shiver, but then she sighed