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  JOSH

  River Valley Lawmen Series

  Book Three

  CHERYL WRIGHT

  Contents:

  Copyright ©2018 by Cheryl Wright

  Thanks

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Epilogue

  Message from the Author

  About the Author

  Author Links

  JOSH

  RIVER VALLEY LAWMEN SERIES

  Book Three

  Copyright ©2018 by Cheryl Wright

  Cover Artist: Black Widow Books

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book

  Thanks

  Thanks to my very dear friends (and authors), Margaret Tanner and Susan Horsnell for their enduring encouragement and friendship.

  Thanks also to Alan, my husband of over 45 years, who has been a relentless supporter of my writing for many years.

  And last, but by no means least, thank you to all my wonderful readers who encourage me to continue writing these stories. It is such a joy to me knowing so many of you enjoy reading my stories. I love writing them as much as you love reading them.

  Chapter One

  Deputy Josh Wrangler had been on the mountain since dawn, much the same as everyone else.

  He tightened his grip on his horse, Brandie, and headed back to base. Not that he thought it would achieve much. They’d looked high and low, and still hadn’t found any sign of Laney Jacobson.

  He pulled Brandie to an abrupt stop as he noticed the number of volunteers now at the top of the mountain.

  Everyone was beyond concerned for Laney Jacobson, as it had been over forty-eight hours since she’d been reported missing, and there was still no sign of her.

  If they didn’t find her soon, Josh was afraid it would be a body retrieval exercise.

  He shuddered. He couldn’t bear the thought.

  As he approached base, he overheard one of the volunteers. “We’ve searched high and low, and still she’s nowhere to be seen.”

  Josh’s head snapped up. What if she’s not where she can be seen?

  His heart began to race. This was not something he’d thought of before. He kicked himself mentally. Why hadn’t it occurred to him?

  There were several tiny cottages hidden in and around the mountain. Some were holiday cottages, but most were old worker’s huts that were now abandoned.

  They were all hidden deep in the forest, obscured by the dense foliage. That was their attraction, and the reason tourists paid big money to stay in some of those run-down shacks.

  Josh had grown up in this area and had spent time hiding in many of them as a young boy. As a result, he knew where each and every one of those dwellings were.

  Laney’s sister, Emily Jacobson, dashed toward him.

  Her pretty face was tear-streaked. It broke his heart to see her so upset. He was determined to find Laney today, because if they didn’t…

  He shook himself. He was not going to think like that!

  He slowly approached Emily and dismounted his horse, holding the reins as he spoke to her. Despair was clearly etched on her face. Her lips trembled and a solitary tear slipped out of her eye and trickled down her cheek.

  “You’ve no doubt answered these questions before,” he said. “But can you help me out?”

  He waited for her to respond. She took a deep shuddering breath and nodded her head, her gaze never leaving his face.

  “Did she often hike up here,” he asked.

  She brushed the tears from her face. “No, this was the first time,” Emily said. “We only moved into the area recently. Laney loves hiking and decided to check it out. It was only meant to be a three-hour round trip.” She finished on a sob and brushed fresh tears from her face.

  Josh wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, tell her it would all be okay. But that wouldn’t be professional, and he didn’t want to give her any false hope. He had a bad feeling about this.

  Anything could have happened up here in this rugged terrain. She might have come across a rattler, fallen down a cliff, or any other number of unimaginable things.

  Without giving it another thought, shocking even himself, he wrapped his arms around her, then gazed into Emily’s face as her arms went up around him. “Don’t give up hope,” he said quietly. “We still have some areas to check out.” He smiled at her, as he’d done many times before over these past days.

  But his smile wasn’t genuine. He only hoped she didn’t notice. Laney was in grave danger. With that thought overtaking his mind, he pushed Emily away, and suddenly felt bereft.

  He put his hand to her shoulder and felt better. She reached up and covered it with hers. It felt nice, and he lingered, until it dawned on him he mustn’t. He’d just crossed the line between friendship and professional.

  At that moment, Sheriff Chase Callahan walked over to the pair. “Why don’t you go home, Miss Jacobson, and leave it to us?”

  Although Josh had only known Emily a number of days, he could tell she was a strong woman, but she’d been pushed almost to the limit by her sister’s disappearance.

  She straightened her back and stared directly into the sheriff’s face. “That is not going to happen,” she told him, resolve in her voice.

  Chase nodded and began to walk away. “Sheriff,” Josh called after him. “Do you have a moment?”

  He joined the sheriff, then they huddled as Josh relayed his idea.

  “Drury, Marshall, Holden,” the sheriff instructed. “You’re with Wrangler.”

  ~~~

  The four officers sat atop their mounts, hats on their heads, and their uniforms covered by oilskin coats. They needed them to protect themselves against the cold and the drizzling rain they would endure deep in the forest.

  At each hut, two officers dismounted and went inside while the other two waited on guard outside.

  A few hours later and Josh was beginning to feel more than a little disheartened. They’d checked nearly every hut on the mountain and found nothing.

  The only mainstay was the fact there were more huts to yet to be checked.

  As they approached the last hut, the one furthermost away from civilization, they heard a man’s voice. Josh was on high alert. This was not a residential hut. And as far as he could recall, it wasn’t even a holiday unit. It was a disused worker’s hut; abandoned many years ago.

  He was certain of it. It was now more than one hundred years old, and not fit for habitation.

  The hair stood up on the back of his neck as they moved in slowly, prepared for anything.

  “Good morning,” he said to the scruffy looking man sitting on the porch sipping from a mug.

  He glanced at the young woman slumped on the other side of the porch looking scared and wary.

  The man glared at him and gave the impression he wasn’t interested in anything they had to say.

  “Mornin,” he said gruffly and obviously reluctantly, after taking another mouthful.

  “A young woman has got herself lost out here somewhere,” Josh said, his eyes darting across to the woman on the porch. “I don’t suppose you or your wife have seen her?”

  “Nope, not seen no one,” the unshaven man replied. “Never see no one up here.”

  Josh briefly stared across at the young woman who gazed meekly into her lap and didn’t say a word. She looked too afraid to say anything, and instinctively he knew why.

  T
here was absolutely no doubt in this mind this was Laney. This woman’s features were too similar to Emily’s, plus he’d studied her photo back at base. Her image was etched into his mind.

  He didn’t need to see her mouth ‘help me’ as she glanced up briefly. He was ready to take action – confirmation or not – he was so convinced it was her.

  He wore his oilskin coat over his uniform and was convinced the man sitting before them would be even more twitchy if he realized he had four officers of the law standing in front of him.

  “Well thank you for your help, Sir. If you do see her, be sure to let the local police know.”

  Josh tipped his hat to the woman. “You too, Ma’am,” he said. It broke his heart to see the despair on her face, but she would surely forgive him in a few moment’s time.

  He turned to his fellow officers and nodded. Almost in unison, four rifles were pulled from their scabbards, quickly cocked, and pointed toward the man Josh now despised.

  As he sat on top of his horse feeling mighty happy, Josh finally remembered to bark out the words. “Police! Don’t move!” He wasn’t at all surprised when the man sat glued to his seat, his mug suspended in mid air.

  Apart from the quiet sobbing of Laney Jacobson, you could have heard a pin drop.

  ~~~

  Emily paced and wrung her hands as she waited at the base camp.

  Josh could only imagine how impatient she must have been feeling, knowing her sister had been found, but hadn’t been able to lay eyes on her until now.

  He helped Laney from the police vehicle, and the two women raced toward each other.

  It had been quite an eventful day. Adrenalin was still coursing through his veins, and his heart was pounding in his chest.

  Without meaning for it to happen, he’d become very attached to this case. To these women.

  If he was truthful, he’d become attached to Emily.

  He stared, arms across his chest, as the women stood clutching each other, tears streaming down their faces. If he hadn’t remembered the old worker’s huts, who knows what might have happened to the missing woman.

  To Laney Jacobson.

  He tried not to attach a name to the person, because that way it isn’t personal. And when it’s not personal, you can’t get attached. You can’t get involved.

  But this time it was far too late.

  Each day he’d spent time with Emily, talking to her about her sister, about where she might have gone, her experience with bush-walking, and how long she was likely to survive on the mountain alone.

  He’d come to enjoy their time together, albeit shorter than he would have liked.

  Josh mentally slapped himself. He couldn’t get involved with a victim; it wasn’t ethical.

  He felt her arms go up around him before he heard her. “Thank you,” she sniffed. “Thank you so much. I’ll never be able to repay you for all you’ve done.”

  Emily’s tear-streaked face was against his chest, and he felt it getting wetter the longer she cried. He wasn’t used to crying women.

  Truth was, he wasn’t that used to women. He’d known heartbreak, so these days he kept his distance.

  And intended to continue to keep his distance.

  He stared down into her face. “You’re very welcome,” he said, and without his consent, his wretched arms went up around her back.

  His hands also had a mind of their own and began to comfort her by rubbing circles over her back. Emily’s arms tightened in response.

  It felt nice, standing here like this. Holding her close. Comforting this woman he’d come to know and like over the past days.

  He looked down into her big brown tear-filled eyes. As a tear trickled down her face, he wiped it away with his thumb.

  “Everything is alright now,” he said softly. “That mongrel is going to jail,” he said, then regretted cussing in front of a lady.

  She stared up at him, eyes wide. “I apologize for my language, Ma’am,” he said quickly, as he studied her soulful eyes.

  She opened her mouth and laughed for the first time since he’d met her. He enjoyed the tinkling sound that came out and smiled.

  “I,” He knew he shouldn’t be standing there like this but was enjoying the moment. He looked up and the sheriff was motioning to him. “Sorry, I have to go,” he said, touching his fingers to her moistened cheek.

  He stood briefly as he watched her walk to the ambulance where Laney was being checked for any injuries.

  The thought of never seeing Emily again broke his heart.

  ~~~

  Brandie trotted over to the fence of the big open paddock behind the Sheriff’s Office when she saw Emily standing there. Her tail was relaxed but swishing, and Emily immediately knew the horse had recognized her from two weeks ago.

  She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a quarter piece of apple, which was quickly snatched up.

  The horse rubbed her head against Emily’s as she chewed.

  Four horses were in the paddock, and the other three looked up when they saw Brandie getting the apple treats Emily had brought along.

  She smiled, and her hand went up and rubbed up and down Brandie’s face. She closed her eyes and drank it all in.

  It had been way too long since she’d spent any decent amount of time with a horse.

  She heard the other horses gallop toward her, their greed apparent on their faces. She dipped her hand back into her pocket and grabbed out four more pieces. Brandie would want more for sure.

  “Hey! You can’t be back here!”

  She spun around when she heard the deep guttural voice. She would know that voice anywhere. It belonged to the man who had saved her sister from… She didn’t want to think about it.

  She smiled and waved. “Hey yourself,” she said as she continued to feed apple to the horses who were now all lined up along the fence.

  He stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh.” He rubbed his fingers across his chin. “Hey Emily,” he said, striding toward her. “I didn’t realize it was you. We don’t often get people out back here.”

  Finally, he came to stand next to her at the fence. “You’re pretty popular around here.” He pointed at the four horses waiting for more.

  She laughed, and he grinned at her. “So, you just happened to have a pocketful of apples?”

  Emily had been worried he might be annoyed. She didn’t ask permission to visit the horses. She instinctively knew they had to be around here somewhere, so filled her pocket with chunks of apple in anticipation.

  She ran her hand down the mane of one of the other horses and rubbed her head against the side of its face. She closed her eyes to get the most out of the experience.

  When she opened them, Josh was staring at her. “What?” she said abruptly. It wasn’t like she didn’t know horses.

  Brandie trotted around from behind the other horses and pushed her nose into Emily’s hand. “She’s greedy,” Josh told her. “She always wants more.”

  His grin lit up his face, and she wanted to see more of it.

  Up on the mountain, when they were searching for Laney, he didn’t smile. Not even once. His face was lined and tired, and he appeared ready to drop.

  But not once did he give in, and she’d known he’d never give up until he’d found her sister. And that’s exactly what happened.

  Even after he did find her, Josh looked after his horse before himself. She’d watched as he’d been offered and refused refreshments after they’d arrived back with Laney. He waved them away, shaking his head.

  He was dog-tired, but refused to rest until his horse was brushed and fed.

  A true horseman.

  “Are you okay, Emily?” She glanced up to see his face close to hers.

  She nodded her head slowly. “Just thinking back to that day up on the mountain.”

  He frowned at her. “Don’t. It won’t do you a lick of good to keep going over what happened.”

  Just then she felt her arm being roughly pushed. “What the�
��?”

  Josh laughed, a big belly laugh. And she loved the sound.

  He continued to laugh as he spoke. “You’re too slow. They’re protesting.”

  She distributed the remaining apple between the four horses and when she’d run out, took a moment to look him over.

  Josh was in uniform today. Although he was that day, the day he didn’t want her to think about, but it was covered by his oilskin coat and virtually unseen.

  He looked smart in his uniform.

  Why did she lie to herself? He looked downright sexy.

  “Oh heck,” he said, pulling his cowboy hat from his head. “Where are my manners. My apologies, Ma’am. Er, Emily.” He seemed downright cross with himself, but if anything, it just added to his sexiness.

  He nodded toward the horses. “You look mighty comfortable with them,” he said. “You know horses?”

  She lowered her head momentarily, then lifted it to meet his eyes. “I’ve spent a bit of time with them,” she said quietly and gave him the best smile she could muster.

  She could see the questions on his face. But he was too much of a gentleman to ask, and right now, she didn’t feel comfortable telling him her story.

  He moved a little closer. Not that she was complaining. It felt nice having him stand so close that she could feel his body warmth.

  “I…” He sounded unsure of what he wanted to say. “I have horses on my property,” he said. “And Brandie too. She stays with me when I’m not on duty.”

  She wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

  “O-kay,” she said.

  “Would you…”

  “Josh, sorry man,” the grinning sheriff called from the rear door that only staff used. “I need you if you have a minute.”

  “Sure thing, Sheriff.”

  He turned back to Emily. “Sorry, I have to go. But I wondered if you’d like to…” He hesitated again, then seemed to change his mind. “Maybe have a coffee?” He said it quickly, as thought he just had to say it.

  She was grinning at him, she knew she was.