His Callahan Bride's Baby (Callahan Cowboys) by Tina Leonard

landscape. “It was barely the tip of his boot. If I’d wanted his toe, I’d have hit it.”
    “You know,” Ash said thoughtfully, “Falcon was a decent sniper in the military.”
    “Decent?” Taylor put the binocs down and looked at her.
    “Decent as in has his share of decorations.” Ash looked proud of her brother despite her modesty. “He probably likes a woman who could handle a weapon.”
    “I think you’ve already put me off your brother.” Taylor got down from the jeep. “Let’s go see what we can scare up.”
    Ash followed. “Let’s go to the overhang where I found Xav.”
    Taylor scanned the ground, seeing dried blood, footprints and a spent shell casing. “There’s that bit of information you wanted.”
    Ash looked down. “That makes no sense. Can I pick it up with my hands, or should I use something in case of fingerprints?”
    “I’d say if the bullet matches the casing, then that’s information enough for the police to trace the gun owner, if the bullets were bought locally.”
    “But if it’s not a registered rifle,” Ash said, “better be safe than sorry.” She grabbed the cap she kept in the car to keep the sun off her face, and scooped up the evidence.
    Taylor didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but there was certainly something fishy about all this. “Let’s get to the hospital. Give me the cap and I’ll hang on to it while you drive. We don’t want anything to happen to the—”
    They both jumped when Wolf walked up to them. “Hello, ladies.”
    Taylor slapped the cap on her head, feeling the bullet casing rest against her scalp.
    “You’re trespassing, Uncle,” Ash said. “Again, damn it. Seems to be a recurring problem you have. Maybe you need one of those shock collars that people use on their dogs when they won’t stay in the yard. Only this collar would be to keep you off Callahan land.”
    He smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. “Well, this is the lady who’s so handy with a gun. My buddy Rhine has part of his toe missing thanks to you.”
    Taylor kept silent.
    “What do you want, Uncle?” Ash demanded.
    “I lost something around here. Wonder if you’ve seen it?” He glanced around the area, his gaze passing over the dried blood as if it was of no importance. Which told Taylor everything she needed to know.
    “I’m late for my evening of cattle driving,” she told Ash. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer. You and your uncle will have to excuse me.”
    “Hang on, doll face. I’m not done talking to you.”
    “You are,” Falcon said, coming up behind his uncle. “Doll face is late for her date, like she said.”
    Taylor thought Falcon was probably everything Ash claimed: stealthy, dangerous, ominous. Fully a match for any situation.
    Wolf smiled at her. “Looks like we’ll have to talk another time, Miss Waters, Diablo’s own resident princess.”
    So he’d checked up on her, knew who she was. A slight tingle of fear ran over her. “Whatever.”
    “Say hello to your aunt and your mother for me,” Wolf said as she departed, Ash not far behind.
    “That’s enough,” Falcon said. “You’re a broken record, Uncle. Let’s send you on your way home.”
    Falcon watched his uncle mount his horse and gallop off. Then he walked back toward the women, and the first thing Taylor thought was how handsome he was, how strong and sexy.
    Her second thought was that judging by the look in his navy eyes, he was not happy. Annoyed, even.
    With her .
    “How’s Xav?” Ash asked, her voice eager.
    “I’ll tell you everything when we get back to the ranch,” Falcon said, “and out of the canyons. Again.”
    “Oh.” His sister sounded a bit despondent. Taylor guessed it wasn’t the time to bring up the spent shell. Whatever was bugging Falcon didn’t seem as if it might be assuaged by talking about evidence .
    “You ride my horse,” Falcon told his sister. “I’ll drive the jeep. I have something I want to discuss with Taylor. In