CORRALLING KENZIE
The Winter Sisters series Book 4
by
Joanne Jaytanie
Official genre of book: Romantic Suspense with paranormal elements
Will Kenzie ever find peace and security inside the corrals of her ranch again?
Kenzie Vaughn is lucky to have a big-city, big-paycheck position. But her great job serves as nothing more than the path to her dream: a horse boarding and training ranch outside the big city. Kenzie is a horsewoman who loves Dobermans and peaceful country living. Now she’s found the perfect ranch, right next door to a lovely campus that houses the Winters Corporation. Her luck is holding, for the Corporation is run by the Winters’ sisters, wonderful women who could easily grow to become great friends.
One night her peace was shattered by a gunshot that wounded her horse, Boone. Good thing for Kenzie, Victory Winters is a veterinarian. Still the gunshot was no accident, and Kenzie’s past and the Winters’ present are dangerously intertwined. Kenzie is sucked into a vortex of rogue scientists who only want her for her DNA. Fortunately, the Winters Corporation can help. Even better, a Special Ops team member, Logan Mendoza, is assigned to watch her ranch. He isn’t interested in Kenzie’s DNA; he wants her for much more. Logan takes Kenzie’s personal security personally.
Will corralling Kenzie become Logan’s full-time mission?
As she spoke gently to him, she began inspecting his body. His blanket was securely strapped around him. She left the blanket in place as she ran one hand over him. At the same time, she searched the ranch with sweeping beams of the flashlight. As her hand worked its way down his flank, she felt something warm and wet. He snorted and his muscles rippled under her touch. There was a tear in his heavy, brown blanket. Surrounding the tear was a dinner-plate size spot. Carefully Kenzie loosened the strap closest to the tear and lifted the blanket. Underneath, she found a long, deep, gouge that oozed blood. She followed the blood path and discovered deep red spatters and a pool on the pristine white ground.
“Boone. Oh Boone, you’re hurt!”
She examined the snow and spotted two sets of large boot prints. The prints crisscrossed and headed to the backside of the paddock. She gasped as it dawned on her that someone else could be near.
Smearing blood everywhere, she patted herself down frantically, hoping her phone was still in a pocket. Yanking it out, she murmured, “come on, come on,” as she impatiently waited for the phone to come to life. She punched in the number she knew by heart. The phone call went directly to voice mail.
“The doctor had a family emergency and will be out of town until next week. If this is an emergency please contact—”
“That vet is ninety minutes away,” she said as she disconnected the call. By the time she loaded Boone up in the horse trailer and drove him out to the vet, he could bleed out. The same thing could happen if she waited for the vet to arrive. She had one other option, except she told herself she would never use it. She scrolled through the phone numbers until she found it. The phone rang and rang, but Kenzie refused to disconnect the call.
“Hello?” came a sleepy female voice.
“Hello, is this Victory Winters?”
“Yes, who’s this?”
“I’m terribly sorry to call you so late. Normally I would never do such a thing. I tried to reach my vet, but he’s out of town and this is an emergency. My name is Kenzie; I own the ranch south of your campus. Todd gave me your number. He told me to call you if I ever had a problem with my animals. He said you can work on all types of animals. My horse, Boone has been injured. He’s bleeding—can you please help me?”
“What?” Now Victory’s voice sounded alert and worried. “What did you say?”
“Boone. My horse. He’s been shot, and I just found boot prints in the snow. They came from the direction of your campus. Is there someone shooting there?”
“Kenzie, is it? I haven’t heard any gunshots. I will come out and help you. Try and keep Boone quiet. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“I’m going to stay with Boone. I’ll be in the barn when you get here, right past the house. Thank you, Victory.”
Catch up with The Winters Sisters before Kenzie makes her worldwide appearance.
Joanne writes romantic suspense, paranormal, and contemporary romance. She loves to submerge herself in the world of her characters, to live and breathe their lives and marvel at their decisions and predicaments. She enjoys a wide variety of books including paranormal, suspense, thriller, and of course romance.
Joanne is a member of Romance Writers of America, and past President of Peninsula Romance Writers, which was Debbie Macomber's home chapter.
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