Texas Tall (The Tylers of Texas 3)

She’d dropped her pistol as she hit the ground. Keeping her own gun leveled at the woman, Tori kicked the heavy .38 into the bushes, out of reach. Blind rage swept through Tori as she leveled her weapon. “Hands up, Stella!” she snarled. “You don’t know how much I’d enjoy pulling this trigger right in your ugly face.”

Stella’s laugh was pure evil. “You don’t have the guts to shoot me, lawyer lady. As soon as I can get my legs under me, I’m going to get up and walk away.” She pushed partway to her feet, grimaced, and lowered herself to the ground again. She’d landed hard. Tori guessed that she might have broken something—her ankle or even her leg—but despite the pain Stella kept that cruel smile on her face.

“Too bad about your daughter. She was a pretty little thing. She’d have fetched a good price if she’d lived, but she was dead by the time you showed up. Too bad about your ex-husband, too. One shot, and he went down like a load of bricks. At least you can have the pleasure of giving them both a nice funeral.”

Shock and rage blotted out Tori’s grief for the moment. It didn’t matter what she did now. Without both Erin and Will, her life was over. She’d have nothing to live for. At least killing this evil monster of a woman would give her some satisfaction.

Stella was still grinning when Tori raised the pistol. White-hot fury blurred her vision as her shaking finger tightened on the trigger.

“Stop, Tori!” Beau’s arms clasped her from behind, forcing her gun hand down. She struggled, fighting against him, wanting nothing more than to destroy the she-devil who’d taken her loved ones. “Let me go!” she muttered. “She killed Will and Erin! I want to make sure she never hurts anybody again!”

“It’s all right, Tori!” Beau’s grip tightened. “Stella’s lying! Will’s only wounded and Erin is free! They’re waiting for you out front now.”

The pistol dropped from Tori’s fingers. Too drained to speak, she began to tremble. Beau, her lifelong friend, laid an arm around her shoulders and guided her away as the police closed in to arrest Stella.

“It’s over, Tori,” he said. “Will and Erin are waiting for us. Let’s go home.”

Together they came around to the front of the motel. There, in the glare of headlights, she saw Will sitting up on an ambulance stretcher while a paramedic tended his shoulder wound. Bruised and disheveled, Erin stood in the clasp of his free arm, sobbing as she clung to her father.

Breaking loose from Beau, Tori ran toward them. An instant later, she was holding them close—the two people she loved most in the world. Her family. Whatever happened, she never wanted to be separated from them again.

EPILOGUE I

Tori would remember that Christmas on the ranch as the happiest ever. There hadn’t been time or money to put many presents under the tree. But just having the ranch family together had been reason enough for joyous celebration.

The best part of it had been waking up next to Will and seeing his sleepy face on the pillow beside her. They’d been married a few days earlier in a small, private ceremony. This time everything felt right. For Tori, it had taken almost losing her precious daughter and the man she loved to realize that they needed to be a family again. They would be a family forever.

That morning they’d looked outside to find the land blanketed with soft, gently falling snow. While the men trooped out to do chores, the women had gathered to start preparations for Christmas dinner—dressing the turkey, mixing the rolls, and setting the table with the elegant china and silver that had belonged to Will and Beau’s mother. They chatted and laughed, enjoying the time together. Lauren, her pregnancy no longer a secret, was planning her wedding. Now that she and Natalie were both expectant mothers, they’d become fast friends.

The exterior of the barn was finished, and there was other good news for the ranch as well. Days ago, a big outfit in Montana, the Triple C, run by the Calder family, had made a generous offer on twenty of the best young colts. The money would pay off the bank loan with enough left over to buy all the winter hay they needed.

When they sat down for dinner, Tori looked around the table, thinking how much she loved everyone there—crusty old Jasper and patient Bernice, Beau and Natalie, Sky and Lauren, her own dear husband, Will, and the daughter they shared. Lives would change as the years wore on. But this day was one to hold and remember for always.

EPILOGUE II

Three months later

Gatesville Women’s State Prison, Gatesville, Texas

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Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, her hair fading from red to gray, Stella walked into the prison lunchroom, where she would likely be eating for the rest of her life. It wasn’t the Ritz. But, thanks to a good lawyer, at least she wasn’t spending her days on death row.

She missed the old times, especially the Blue Coyote, which she’d sold to Abner Sweeney at a bargain price to pay for her defense. It tickled her to imagine Abner running the bar. His straightlaced wife had probably thrown a fit. But at least the bar made good money—better than a county lawman’s pay.

As a new prisoner here, she was still finding her place in the pecking order. She would keep her head down at first. But once she knew the ropes, she’d be on her way up the food chain, all the way to the top.

Goading Tori Tyler into killing her would have been a mistake. She enjoyed taking on life’s challenges, and even here, behind bars, there would be opportunities to win. Stella knew human nature, and she knew how to make her way. Another six months here, and she’d be running the place.

After going through the line, she took her tray, filled with the slop that passed for food, to an empty table and sat down to eat and watch. You could learn a lot about people from who they sat with and the way they ate. She was learning more every day.

She had nearly finished when she heard a footstep behind her. A tall, familiar shadow fell across the table. Stella’s pulse jerked. Her gaze traveled upward to the stringy black hair, and the narrow face with its slashing scar.

The crooked mouth smiled. “Hello, Stella,” said Marie Fletcher.