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Anything for His Son
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Justice for a Ranger
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Randolph jerked on his jeans and shirt and stalked after Victoria. He couldn’t let her go to the hospital alone. She was too upset to drive in this weather.

A scream pierced the air as he stepped out the front door, and his gaze shot across the drive. Dear God. A man was trying to drag Victoria into the woods.

“Let her go or I’ll kill you!” His pulse racing, he ran toward them, every nerve in his body raging with fury.

Victoria kicked and screamed, slowing down her attacker. Just before Randolph reached them, the man spun around, his eyes flaring with hatred as he gripped Victoria around the neck. She dangled in front of him, a sob escaping as she tried to tear his hands from her throat.

“It’s over, Nugent.” “How do you know who I am?” the man spat.

“I finally put two and two together,” Randolph explained between gritted teeth. “You stole my father’s business, you and Hoffman.”

Nugent’s harsh laugh caught in the bitter wind. “Hell, Hoffman shouldn’t get any credit, much less this house. I was the mastermind.”

Randolph cut his eyes toward Victoria to calm her, but she glared at him, her eyes full of accusations. His gut twisted. If he’d figured it out sooner, he might have saved her from all this. “You stole my father’s house. Then you killed him, didn’t you?”

Another harsh laugh, then a litany of profanity. “He was expendable. But then your father -” he tightened his grip on Victoria’s neck and she moaned. “Hoffman found out. He threatened to go to the police, the coward. I told him we’d split the profits -”

“But he refused,” Victoria said in a gravelly voice. “And you killed my sister as a warning.”

Nugent smiled, revealing crooked teeth. “Ah, you blamed yourself, didn’t you, little Victoria? And your mother... she was so weak, she never got over it.”

“You threatened to kill Victoria if Hoffman came forward?” Randolph said, filling in the blanks.

The evil leer returned. “It was a perfect plan.”

Hoffman had kept quiet all these years to protect Victoria then paid Nugent off, as well. But Victoria’s father must have insisted that he remain in residence at Falcon Ridge because he couldn’t bear to leave the place where his wife and child had died.

Fury raged through Randolph. So many lives destroyed. And for what? Greed.

Unable to contain his anger any longer, Randolph attacked, landing a sharp blow to Nugent’s head. Nugent yowled in pain and released his grip on Victoria. She collapsed, gasping for air and pawing at the snowpacked ground for balance. He slammed a fist into Nugent’s stomach then landed another blow to the back of his neck, immobilizing him. Still, his temper spiraled out of control and he hit Nugent again and again, each blow intended to make him pay for killing his father and for hurting Victoria.

“Randolph, that’s enough.”

He gripped his fist above Nugent’s face, his body shaking with the need to kill the man. Sweat trickled down his jaw while blood ran from Nugent’s mouth. But Victoria’s soft plea broke through the haze of anger. Then he glanced at her, and saw she was afraid of him.

She was right. If he killed Nugent, he’d be no better than the man himself. Nothing but an animal.

Spitting out a curse, he shoved Nugent aside, rushed to the truck, grabbed some rope and tied Nugent’s hands and feet.

Victoria was shivering beside the front portico when he reached her. He wanted to soothe her, but she backed away - looked at him as if he was a stranger. She knew the truth about why he’d come. She’d seen the dark side of him now and hated him.

His heart clenched. Regret slammed into him, as well. He’d only done what he’d thought he had to do.

But Victoria had complicated everything.

And now he had hurt her.

Knowing he couldn’t change things, he slid a mask over his emotions then phoned the sheriff. An hour later, when Sheriff Colter spun away with Nugent, Randolph drove Victoria to the hospital.

But as they bounced over the ruts and grooves in the icy mountainous roads and the wind whipped the vehicle back and forth across the yellow line, the silence stretched between them as thick and cold as the walls of Falcon Ridge, which had torn their fathers apart years ago.

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