The Sheriff She Loved: Western Romance

By Alfred Bekker and Rowena Crane

The Sheriff She Loved: Western Romance

Novel by Rowena Crane & Alfred Bekker

based on an exposé by Alfred Bekker

 

 

Young Katie Driver loses her job. Despite her efforts, she finds nothing new. But then she receives word from a lawyer who informs her that her great uncle has designated her as heiress to his ranch. Katie flies to Medicine Bow, Montana, where she is met by a sympathetic young man, Mike Potter.

When she arrives at the ranch, she finds that the house is very run down. But more surprises await her.

But the worst thing is that someone is trying to kill her ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alfred Bekker
• Release date: Mar 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215503591

Alfred Bekker

Alfred Bekker wurde am 27.9.1964 in Borghorst (heute Steinfurt) geboren und wuchs in den münsterländischen Gemeinden Ladbergen und Lengerich auf. 1984 machte er Abitur, leistete danach Zivildienst auf der Pflegestation eines Altenheims und studierte an der Universität Osnabrück für das Lehramt an Grund- und Hauptschulen. Insgesamt 13 Jahre war er danach im Schuldienst tätig, bevor er sich ausschließlich der Schriftstellerei widmete. Schon als Student veröffentlichte Bekker zahlreiche Romane und Kurzgeschichten. Er war Mitautor zugkräftiger Romanserien wie Kommissar X, Jerry Cotton, Rhen Dhark, Bad Earth und Sternenfaust und schrieb eine Reihe von Kriminalromanen. Angeregt durch seine Tätigkeit als Lehrer wandte er sich schließlich auch dem Kinder- und Jugendbuch zu, wo er Buchserien wie 'Tatort Mittelalter', 'Da Vincis Fälle', 'Elbenkinder' und 'Die wilden Orks' entwickelte. Seine Fantasy-Romane um 'Das Reich der Elben', die 'DrachenErde-Saga' und die 'Gorian'-Trilogie machten ihn einem großen Publikum bekannt. Darüber hinaus schreibt er weiterhin Krimis und gemeinsam mit seiner Frau unter dem Pseudonym Conny Walden historische Romane. Einige Gruselromane für Teenager verfasste er unter dem Namen John Devlin. Für Krimis verwendete er auch das Pseudonym Neal Chadwick. Seine Romane erschienen u.a. bei Blanvalet, BVK, Goldmann, Lyx, Schneiderbuch, Arena, dtv, Ueberreuter und Bastei Lübbe und wurden in zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt.

Book preview

1

Crap, darn it! I overslept, Katie gasped, startled, as she opened her eyes and realized it was already broad daylight. She was about to throw back the covers and jump out of bed, but then she refrained.

There was no longer any reason for her to rush off, because she was no longer needed at the company. From one day to the next, everything there had gone down the drain. The company was bankrupt. A financial crash on the stock market had caused all the shares to plummet and were now worth as good as nothing.

And with that, unfortunately, Katie's entire life had more or less collapsed.

Everything she had worked for and built up. Her professional existence - all gone.

It could happen that quickly.

Giving up and throwing in the towel, however, was not an option.

Actually, she could have been happy to take a break, because in the last few months she had more or less gone full throttle. And she really needed a break.

Their internal energy stores were pretty much depleted.

The only trouble was that Katie now had to think about how and where to get a new job. Since she had worked in finance, it would certainly be difficult - especially now - to find something in this field that also met her salary expectations. After all, she had earned quite well in this company. And so she had also been able to save something every month, so that she could make ends meet well for a while in the near future. But this state of affairs shouldn't last too long, she thought.

Katie's apartment consisted of two not very large rooms, bathroom and kitchen. That was enough for her, because as soon as it was possible, she escaped from the noisy city out into the calming nature.

The building where Katie's rental apartment was located was on a fairly busy street in Springfield, Missouri. So she didn't have far to go to the financial office where she worked. Another advantage was that the most important stores and also good restaurants were in the immediate vicinity. However, she rarely sought out the latter. Katie preferred to stand in the kitchen to create something for herself. In doing so, she was careful to eat healthy. She also set out twice a week to jog in the nearby park, when she already knew that a trip to the countryside was not going to happen.

At twenty-five years old, Katie was not in a committed relationship. She had recently been together with Jacob. This liaison had lasted almost ten months, but a few days ago Katie had made him understand that there would be no future for the two of them. Their interests were simply too different. Jacob was a technology freak, would love to watch every motorcycle and car race, and if he could, participate in them himself. Katie, on the other hand, loved just the opposite - the quiet and beautiful, what nature had to offer.

2

On this first day without a job, Katie lived into the day, which was so unlike her. She kept her sinfully thin negligee on, which showed more than it covered, and only put on the matching robe over it.

In the kitchen, she prepared a meal that was both breakfast and lunch for her. After Katie had polished off her home-made meal, she went into the living room with a cup of coffee and sat down on her couch to zap through the TV program.

Finding nothing for herself, she turned it off again and grabbed the book from the shelf she had been meaning to read for some time, but hadn't gotten around to yet.

The next few days, Katie resolved, she would look hard for a new job.

And so she did.

Katie made phone calls, wrote applications and sent them out, waited for callbacks and checked the mailbox daily. But there was nothing positive. Only rejections, no callbacks, and when someone did make an effort to contact her in response to her request, she was only told that unfortunately the position had already been filled or that there were other reasons.

In the meantime, four weeks had passed, and absolutely nothing had come up for Katie.

If this keeps up, I'll be broke in six months, she sighed. That wasn't entirely true, but she found it frustrating that her savings were beginning to dwindle. No income, just expenses - but how was she going to change that if nothing came up for her anytime soon.

But Katie wasn't going to give up that easily; after all, she was a fighter.

When Katie looked in her mailbox again a few days later, she took out a few letters. She quickly skimmed the senders. One of the letters caught her attention. The addressee was an attorney from Springfield.

Oh, my goodness, she murmured, startled. What does he want from me?

She hurried to her apartment. Somehow a bad feeling had crept over her. She thought she knew that when you got mail from lawyers, it couldn't be good.

Katie sat down at the small kitchen table and placed the letters in front of her. Two contained advertisements. She put those aside immediately. A third, she realized, was from a bank to which she had sent an application. She opened that one first.

I knew it! Another rejection, she responded disappointedly. Well, at least they answered.

Then her eyes reluctantly fell on the letter from that lawyer.

What the hell! she muttered, opening the envelope.

She pulled out the lawyer's letter and unfolded it. She quickly skimmed the lines. Wow! I don't believe it! she exclaimed, completely surprised.

Now Katie turned her attention to this letter in more detail. A certain attorney named Russell Brown from Medicine Bow in the state of Wyoming had asked attorney Stephan McGary to contact her, Katie Driver, to inform her that her great uncle Archer Driver had passed away and had designated Katie as the heir. Attorney McGary's letter asked him to visit him at his office to give her more details.

Uncle Archer, she whispered. Only dimly did she remember. Her father had mentioned him a few times. Uncle Archer was one who was something of an outdoorsman. Katie could remember her father telling her that he owned a ranch and farmed it himself. But he, as well as her mother, had no connection to the relative.

Katie put the letter on the table and stared at it, lost in thought. She tried to imagine what the uncle probably bequeathed. Probably some money. She could use that in her current situation. Or was it some kind of junk that would bring her more trouble than good?

Call!

She should call the lawyer. Preferably right away.

3

The very next day she sat across from Stephan McGary. He was in his mid-fifties, dressed in an anthracite suit, slim, with slightly mottled gray hair at the sides. McGary radiated a certain toughness, which he probably had to prove many a time.

That was the first impression Katie got of this lawyer.

McGary eyed his guest for a moment. Then he took a thin folder from the left side of his large mahogany desk and opened it.

Miss Driver, my valued friend and colleague Russel Brown had asked me to get in touch with you.

I understand.

"As you have learned from my letter to