Free RESCUE AT CARDWELL RANCH by B.J. Daniels

notice. Diamond studs glittered on each of her earlobes with her hair pulled up off her long, slim neck.
    She’d chosen a shade of lipstick that called attention to her full mouth. No way could this woman possibly blend into this crowd.
    “Are you listening to me?” she asked.
    He nodded, although his thoughts had been on the way the suit skirt hugged her shapely behind, dropping below her knees to her long legs and the matching high heels on her feet. McKenzie was the whole package. Any man in his right mind would want this woman.
    As it was, somewhere in this building could be a man completely out of his mind who, if he got the chance, would hurt her and bury her in a shallow grave somewhere.
    “Why don’t you stay here? You’ll be able to see me from here.” She pointed to a raised area where she would be giving her speech.
    Before he could object, she took off through the crowd. He went after her, fighting his way through the throng of people. He caught a glimpse of her head as she neared the platform and knew he wouldn’t be able to catch up to her before she was on stage.
    * * *
    M C K ENZIE COULDN ’ T HELP being irritated with Hayes. She needed his strength right now. Seeing the worry in his eyes only made her more aware of what had happened to her two nights ago.
    But she’d put it behind her, convinced the man had been traveling through town and was now miles from here.
    She cut through the crowd, not stopping even to say hello to people she knew. She was in the people business. It really did matter who you knew when you sold real estate, she was thinking as she neared the side of the raised platform and the podium and microphone waiting for her.
    Rows of chairs had been placed in front and were already full. She’d been honored when asked to speak. Some of the older Realtors resented her because she’d climbed so fast.
    She thought of Gus Thompson’s mother. She’d been McKenzie’s mentor and had taught her the ropes.
    “Of course they don’t like it,” she’d said once when McKenzie had mentioned that some of the Realtors had given her the cold shoulder. “Just keep your chin up and don’t lose sight of where it is you want to go.”
    It had been good advice. She hadn’t made enemies along the way and was glad of that. Instead, she’d kept her nose to the grindstone, working hard and now knew she had the respect of her peers. Several of the older Realtors gave her a nod as she passed.
    She made her way to the stairs at the back of the platform near the wall and had started up the stairs when her hair was grabbed from behind. Her head jerked back. She heard the sound of something sharp cutting through her hair an instant before the pressure on it was released.
    Fighting to keep from falling back down the couple of stairs she’d climbed, she swung around, thinking she must have caught her hair on something.
    There were people everywhere but none were paying any attention to her. Nor could she see anything that might have caught in her hair.
    Her hand went to her long, blond mane. In the middle of the back of her head she felt a place where a huge chunk of her hair had been chopped off only inches from her scalp.
    She looked down to see a few long strands on the stairs along with the clip she’d used to put her hair up this morning.
    Her body began to shake. Someone had grabbed her from behind and chopped off a huge chunk of her hair? It was inconceivable. But then so was what had happened to her the night in the grocery-store parking lot.
    On the stage, one of the Realtors was checking the microphone as she got ready to announce the guest speaker.
    McKenzie looked again at the people milling past. No one seemed to pay her any mind. No one had a hank of her hair in his hand. But she knew it could have been any one of them.
    She quickly stepped back down the stairs to retrieve her clip. Her fingers trembled as she pulled her hair up as best she could and anchored it with the clip.
    She could do