West's Ghost Ranch Series

Without warning, twenty-one year old Emli Collingsworth, in an effort to escape an unwanted marriage arranged by her abusive and overbearing father, disappeared from college without a trace. Her father launched an intense, but fruitless manhunt to find her. Then, eleven years later, Howard Collingsworth sees a picture of look-a-like Charlie Basset in a newspaper aviation article, relighting his temper's fuse. Now the hunt is on again. Howard has blood in his eyes and Charlie's secrets must remain hidden. --- Charlie Basset lived each day in fear, always looking over her shoulder for any stranger that might show up looking for her. She buried herself in her work, the life she had built affording herself some privacy and isolation, hiding in the many hour of secrecy the solitude of flying gave her. Then, after ten years of effectively blending in with her background, successfully evading detection by those in her distant past, two insignificant, yet key things happened. First, Charlie gave a man a ride to pick up his new airplane. Everything about the flight was normal except this flight took Charlie to a very secret airfield, West's Ghost Ranch, where she would meet the equally reclusive owner, Glen West. This chance flight and meeting would completely change Charlie's life for a second time. Second, Howard Collingsworth, an unscrupulous business man in Detroit, renewed his search for his long missing daughter, fueled by his promise to provide his daughter, Emli, for an arranged marriage in exchange for significant funds and construction allowances for his business. A message from the recipient of his promise, reminded him either he surrender his daughter or they would kill him for failing. Howard knew he had to find Emli, or maybe someone that looked like her...

When, after eleven years of fruitless searching for his missing daughter, Howard Collingsworth sees a picture of look-a-like Charlie Basset West in an airshow newsprint booklet, he is convinced she is his missing daughter, Emli. Howard sends his investigators to find and collect this woman and bring her to him; no matter what it takes. --- The widespread distribution of their fly-in pictures suddenly rekindles Charlie's recently calmed fears that her past might rediscover her. Her husband, Glen soothes her panic and flight response, and together they decide to improve their knowledge of Howard Collingsworth's activities; Glen hires a software and internet communications expert from his own past. With Jess' help, they began to follow Howard's plans and intent, while Charlie continued to live her new life; she refused to stop supporting Glen and the ranch in their presentations at various fly-ins. But nothing they did prepared her for her biggest challenge yet when she unexpectedly found herself face-to-face with Emil's sister and family at a Denver area fly-in; when she suddenly found herself caught in the net cast by Howard's henchmen...

Charlie's life quickly became complicated, more complicated that it had ever been. Befriended by Emil's niece and nephew after her rescue and escape from Howard's minions, Charlie was unprepared for the concern and worry, or the crushing, overwhelming guilt when she learned that Emli's sister, Cathy was suddenly kidnapped; taken instead of herself because Cathy was the other Emli look-a-like... --- After returning home to Detroit and sending her children off to soccer camp, Emli's sister Cathy felt a rising fear of impending, personal danger. Knowing how her father would react if he found out, she forced herself to rise to Emli's last challenge and collected the evidence against him that Emli had hidden so many years past; eviidence of his brutality and corrupt business activities, evidence of his moral and physical crimes, and the evidence of his violation of his two, high school aged daughters. Taking Charlie'off-handed offer of help as truly meant, Cathy sent her cache of evidence to Charlie for safe keeping. And with her rising fears and her husband away on a business trip, Cathy begged Charlie to watch her children. Reluctantly, still feeling that Cathy's fears were likely unfounded, Charlie agreed and brought the chldren to the ranch. But when Cathy was suddenly kidnapped days later, Charlie was crushed, overcome with a deep sense of guilt and contrition; blaming herself for not giving Cathy better protection. Feeling Charlie's deep concerns and knowing who was behind the abduction, Glen turned his resources to the search for Cathy and with the children's astute observations, located the most likely hiding place. But its location told him it was only temporary while plans to move her out of the country were exicuted. Sharing Charlie's sense of forboding and his own worries for Cathy's plight, Glen formed a strike team and planned their mission. No matter the outcome, Glen and Charlie were going to attempt Cathy's rescue and stop Howard, once and for all. Glen fervently hoped they had enough time...

Charlie's life abruptly changed again when Ratchet discovered the two South African Agents following the Ghost Ranch group at the Reno Air Races. Then Mary Collingsworth unexpectedly escaped from her house arrest and her husband, the vile Howard Collingsworth disappeared from the Police Ward of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Everything Charlie had accomplished in separating herself from Howard's tenacious pursuit and abhorrent designs on her had evaporated, and she was plunged back into a world of fear and darkness, no longer certain the seclusion of the ranch could protect her and the others.

With West shot by one of the South African Agents, and in the hospital, and the search for Howard intensifying, Charlie realized she had to be stronger than she had ever needed to be. She had to think of West and the ranch and those that lived there first, and trust the authorities would find Howard before he could do more harm. Her fear was that Howard had always been extremely resourceful, deviously treacherous and darkly fiendish beyond any normal expectations. And now he was still lose and again hunting for her.

The Detroit police thought they had located Howard Collingsworth, but when they attempted to capture him, he gave them the slip, killing ten Flint Michigan police officers in the process. He headed west to a place where he was certain no one would find him, not even the South Africans. But a misdelivered email found its way to the ranch. The South Africans, unable to find Howard, have a problem and have changed the intent of their searching; they added Emli's sister and her lookalike to their hit list, wanting all three eliminated. Then, on a routine mail run, two of Howard's hired henchmen ambushed Dani and Charlie at the Trinidad airport.  Dani was injured and Charlie was missing—