Winchester Christmas Wedding Read Free

care of it.”
    He sat for a moment after he hung up. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. First the debacle with TD’s last assignment, and now some anonymous phone call in the middle of the night.
    There was no reason to panic, Collins assuredhimself. He knew where Waters was headed. Montana. If Waters was going after the caller, then he must have some idea where the call had come from.
    Within minutes Collins had Waters’s phone records and the number—and where the call had come from: Winchester Ranch. He smiled. This was going to be too easy, since right next door to that ranch, so to speak, was the McCormick Ranch.
    True, it would have to be handled with the utmost of care—and not by just anyone. He needed someone he could depend on, someone who wouldn’t question any order he gave, someone who knew his way around Montana.
    It would have to be a new recruit, someone who had proven himself but was new enough that TD Waters didn’t know the person and wouldn’t suspect him. Someone who could get close to TD, watch him and at first, simply report back. But definitely someone loyal who, when it became necessary, would make sure TD Waters never left Montana alive.
    Still smiling, Collins picked up the phone and dialed. “I’m sorry to bother you in the middle of the night, Elizabeth, but I have an assignment for you that can’t wait.”

Chapter Two
    Twelve hours later
    â€œLizzy?” Anne McCormick looked shocked to see her. “What are you doing here?”
    Elizabeth “Lizzy” Calder hadn’t known what kind of reception she would get at the McCormick Ranch this close to Christmas—especially showing up unannounced. Fortunately she had the perfect excuse—she was here to see her childhood friend.
    â€œI had to come, Anne,” she said honestly. “You’ve been in my thoughts ever since I heard about your mother. I am so sorry. I came as soon as I could.” Anne’s mother, Joanna McCormick, had been arrested for murder and, after making a deal for her life, had been sent to Montana state prison.
    â€œI’m sure you were devastated when you heard,” Anne said stiffly. “More likely you weren’t in the least bit surprised. We both know you never liked my mother.”
    Lizzy couldn’t lie—at least about that. Joanna McCormick had been one of those cold, distant people who had ice water running through her veins. It had come asno surprise when she’d heard Joanna had committed a murder.
    â€œYour mother and I weren’t close, but you know I care about you,” Lizzy said honestly. “How are you doing?”
    Anne shook her head, then burst into tears. Lizzy stepped to her, hugging her friend. She did care about Anne. That much of the visit wasn’t a lie. They were childhood friends and had once been very close.
    â€œI’m so sorry.”
    â€œOh, Lizzy, it’s just been horrible.”
    â€œTell me what I can do.”
    As her friend drew back from the hug, she smiled through her tears. “I wish there was something someone could do. But I am glad you’re here anyway.”
    Lizzy tried not to show her relief. Anne hadn’t been happy to see her. There had been the chance that she would turn her away, especially this close to Christmas and considering the fact that the two of them had drifted apart.
    While she was sincere in her concern for her friend, Lizzy had a job to do and she never let anything get in the way of that. She’d worked too hard to get where she was, and she owed too much to Roger Collins and the agency. And right now she needed to stay here because of the ranch’s proximity to the Winchester Ranch—and hopefully to TD Waters, if that was really where he’d been gone.
    Leaving her travel bags at the bottom of the stairs, Lizzy and Anne moved into the once familiar living room. It had been redecorated since Lizzy had been here