The Stranger: The Heroes of Heyday (Harlequin Superromance No. 1266) by Kathleen O`Brien Page A

of him. She had the money she needed. She would buy the blackmailer’s silence for another couple of weeks.
    And during that time, somehow she’d find a way to keep her little sister’s name out of this son of a bitch’s sleazy book.

CHAPTER FIVE
    T WO HOURS SPENT in the company of Kieran and Bryce McClintock only confirmed what Tyler had suspected about his “family.”
    They were nuts.
    First, Kieran had been sitting at the country club bar with a guy wearing a miniskirt, which apparently they had arranged for the express—and somewhat juvenile—purpose of annoying a balding guy who came in later wearing neon-green pants. If you asked Tyler, it was a toss-up who looked stupider, the guy in drag or Mr. Greenpants, who began sputtering convulsively the minute he caught a glimpse of the skirt.
    Now, though the three of them had arrived at the Valley Pride real estate offices and were trying to review an offer Kieran wanted to make on one of Tyler’s properties, they kept getting interrupted. Apparently every single tenant insisted on seeing the McClintock brothers personally, about everything from busted sewer pipes to leaky window caulking.
    If Tyler had run this ship, he would have fired Elton Fletcher, the prissy pencil pusher at the front desk, whoclearly didn’t want to get his hair mussed by tangling with the clients. None of these lunatics should ever have made it past the first pair of double doors.
    Especially not this new one, a fifty-something, wild-eyed tenant named Mrs. Milligan, who had entered ranting five minutes ago, and, as far as Tyler could tell, hadn’t drawn a breath yet.
    She seemed to focus her wrath on Bryce, and was leaning over him, wagging her finger in his face.
    â€œAnd if you think you can scare me just because you have a reputation for shooting anyone who crosses you, you’re quite mistaken, my boy. I’ve got a Doberman who’s been waiting a long time for a nice dish of McClintock stew. He’d have you by the throat before you could get your finger on the trigger.”
    Bryce looked over at Kieran with a tilted smile. “Is that really my new reputation? Gunslinger? What happened to the trashy man-slut thing? I think I liked that one better.”
    Kieran shrugged. “Now you’ve got both. Congratulations.”
    Bryce sighed and returned his gaze to the wild woman standing over him. “I don’t shoot women, Mrs. Milligan. Not unless they’re coming right for me. It’s just that you’ve had two and a half years of living rent-free—”
    She drew herself erect, in clear offence. “There were extenuating circumstances.”
    â€œYeah. I know. Your sister was kidnapped, and you had to pay the ransom. Your dog needed extensivepsychiatric help.” Bryce shot a quick look at Kieran, but somehow both of them managed to keep straight faces. “So what is it this month?”
    â€œIt’s…it’s classified. ” She pursed her lips and lifted her chin haughtily. “If I told you, good men would die.”
    Kieran made a strange sound, but he quickly buried his head in a file and wouldn’t look at anyone. Bryce sighed again, shut his eyes and put his hand up to massage his forehead.
    While both of them were distracted, Mrs. Milligan turned abruptly to Tyler and gave him an unmistakable wink, a theatrical expression so broad it screwed up one entire half of her face.
    The old scamp! This was just a game to her. Tyler wondered if the McClintock brothers knew that, or whether they really thought she was insane.
    Without thinking, Tyler winked back. And then Bryce opened his eyes. Smiling, Mrs. Milligan returned to staring him down.
    â€œWell?”
    â€œWell,” Bryce said slowly. “I wouldn’t want anyone to actually die.”
    â€œThat’s what I thought.” She picked up her purse. “You have enough blood on your hands already, don’t