The Complete Mackenzie Collection Read online

  “I weigh twice what you do. Do you even weigh a hundred pounds?”

  “Yes,” she said indignantly. She weighed a hundred and five.

  “Not much more than that. I weigh two hundred, and I’m a foot taller than you. If I go to sleep on you, you’ll smother.”

  He did sound drowsy. She ran her hand down the muscled ridges of his side. “I want to stay like this.”

  He thrust gently against her. “Like this?”

  “Yes.” She breathed the word.

  He settled onto her, but shifted part of his weight to the side. “Is this okay?”

  It was wonderful. She could breathe, but he was still close to her, still inside her. He quickly dozed off, as content as she with the position, and Mary smiled in the darkness as she held him.

  The dark thoughts slowly intruded. Someone had deliberately tried to frame him, to put him back in prison. The thought of Wolf without his freedom was obscene and scary, because she knew enough about him to know he would never let himself be sent to prison again.

  She wanted to keep him safe, to shield him in her arms, putting her own body between him and danger. Dear God, what had started it all? Things had been so quiet! What had been the trigger?

  Then she knew, and horror almost stopped her breath. She had been the trigger.

  While Wolf and Joe had been outcasts, punished for their heritage and Wolf’s past, everything had been calm. Then she had come to town, an Anglo woman, but instead of aligning herself with the townspeople, she had championed the Mackenzies. With her help, Joe had achieved an honor offered to very few. Other people had begun saying what a nice thing it was that the Mackenzie boy was going to the Academy. Cathy Teele had said that Wolf was the best-looking man in the county. The boundaries between the town and the Mackenzies had begun blurring. Someone, with a maggot of hate festering deep inside, had been unable to stand it.

  And she had been the cause of it all. If anything happened to Wolf, it would be her fault.

  Chapter Nine

  She didn’t know what to do. The thought that she was the cause of all that had happened tormented her, disturbing her sleep. She moved restlessly, waking Wolf, and he sensed her distress though he attributed it to the wrong cause. He soothed her with whispers and pulled her more completely beneath him. She felt him harden inside her. His lovemaking was gentle this time, and when it was over she slept as effortlessly as a child until he awoke her again in the total darkness before dawn. She turned to him without question.

  Joe drove up just as she and Wolf were preparing breakfast, and without a word Wolf broke more eggs into a bowl to be scrambled. Mary smiled at him, even though she was placing more bacon in the frying pan. “How do you know he’s hungry?”

  “He’s awake, isn’t he? My kid eats like a horse.”

  Joe came in the back door and headed for the coffee, which had already finished brewing. “Morning.”

  “Good morning. Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes.”

  He grinned at her, and Mary smiled back. Wolf watched her, his gaze sharp. She looked frail this morning, her skin pale and even more translucent than usual, with faint mauve shadows under her eyes. She smiled readily, but he wondered what had made her look so delicate. Had he tired her with his lovemaking, or were memories of the attack disturbing her? He thought it must be the latter, because she had responded eagerly every time he’d reached for her. Knowing that she was still frightened made him even more determined to find whoever had attacked her. After Eli Baugh had delivered the horses and left, Wolf planned to do some tracking.

  Joe was right behind Mary’s car on the way to the school, and he didn’t leave immediately, as she had expected. It was still too early for the students to begin arriving, so he walked with her into the empty building and even inspected the rooms. Then he leaned against the door-jamb and waited.

  Mary sighed. “I’m perfectly safe here.”

  “I’ll just wait until some other people show up.”

  “Did Wolf tell you to do this?”

  “Nope. He knew he didn’t have to.”

  How did they communicate? By telepathy? Each seemed to know what the other was thinking. It was disconcerting. She just hoped they couldn’t read her thoughts, because she’d had some decidedly erotic ones lately.

  What would everyone think of Joe’s presence? He was so obviously a watchdog. She wondered if it would trigger another act of violence, and she felt sick, because she knew it might. Instinct, sharpened by her fierce protectiveness for both Mackenzies, told her that her theory was correct. Just the possibility that they could become accepted had driven someone over the edge. It revealed so much hate that she shivered.

  Sharon and Dottie entered the building and halted briefly when Joe turned his head and looked at them as they passed the open door. “Mrs. Wycliffe. Mrs. Lancaster,” he said in acknowledgment as he touched his fingertips to the brim of his hat in a brief salute.

  “Joe,” Sharon murmured. “How are you?”

  Dottie gave him a brief, almost frightened look and hurried to her classroom. Joe shrugged. “I’ve been doing a bit of studying,” he allowed.

  “Just a bit?” Sharon asked wryly. She stepped past him to greet Mary, then said, “If you don’t feel like working today, Dottie and I can handle your classes. I never dreamed you’d be here today, anyway.”

  “I was merely frightened,” Mary said firmly. “Clay prevented anything else from happening. Cathy is the one who needs sympathy, not I.”

  “The whole town is in an uproar. Anyone who has freckles on his hands is getting the third degree.”

  Mary didn’t want to talk about it. The image of that freckled hand made her feel nauseated, and she swallowed convulsively. Joe frowned and stepped forward. Mary put up her hand to keep him from throwing Sharon out of the classroom, but at that moment several students entered, and their chatter distracted everyone. The kids said, “Hi, Joe, howya been?” as they clustered around him. They all wanted to know about his plans for the Academy and how he’d gotten interested.

  Sharon left to attend to her own classes, and Mary watched Joe with the kids. He was only sixteen, but he seemed older than even the seniors. Joe was young, but he wasn’t a kid, and that was the difference. She noticed that Pam Hearst was in the group. She wasn’t saying much, but she never took her eyes off Joe, looking at him with both longing and pain, though she tried to hide it. Several times Joe gave the girl a long look that made her fidget uncomfortably.

  Then he checked his watch and left his former classmates to say to Mary, “Dad will be here to follow you home. Don’t go anywhere alone.”

  She started to protest, then thought of the man out there who hated them enough to do what he’d done. She wasn’t the only one at risk. She reached out and caught his arm. “You and Wolf be careful. You could be the next targets.”

  He frowned, as if that hadn’t occurred to him. The attacker was a rapist, so men wouldn’t consider themselves in danger. She wouldn’t have thought of it, either, if she hadn’t been convinced that the whole thing was intended to punish the Mackenzies. What greater punishment could there be than to kill them? At some point the madman might decide to take a rifle and dispense his own twisted brand of justice.

  Clay showed up at lunch with the papers for her to read and sign. Aware of the kids watching them with acute interest, she walked with him out to the car. “I’m worried,” she admitted.

  He propped his arm on top of the open door. “You’d be foolish if you weren’t worried.”

  “Not for myself. I think Wolf and Joe are the real targets.”

  He gave her a quick, sharp look. “How do you figure that?”

  Heartened that he hadn’t immediately dismissed the idea, but was watching her with a troubled expression in his eyes, Mary told him her theory. “I think Cathy and I were specifically chosen as targets to punish Wolf. Don’t you see the link? She said she thought Wolf was handsome, and that she’d like to date Joe. Everyone k