CRISIS at Rescue Ridge, page 1
CRISIS at RESCUE RIDGE
USA Today Bestselling Author
Barb Han
TorJake Publishing
Copyright © 2025 by Barb Han
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Furthermore, no generative AI was used in the making of this book nor can be trained on the copyrighted work.
Editing: Delilah Devlin
Cover Design: Jacob Art LLC
Proofreading: Judicious Revisions
To Brandon, Jacob, and Tori for being the great loves of my life. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you in my life, but I know how blessed I am.
To Babe for being my hero, my best friend, and my place to call home. I love you with all that I am.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Author’s note
Also by Barb Han
About the Author
Prologue
Hudson Sturgess double-checked the horse trailer that had been sitting unused since he’d arrived home at the ranch. The ventilation was good. The doors functioned fine. He tested the floor. It was secure. Loading up Brazos’s Best was always a test of wills, so he made certain everything within his control worked like clockwork.
“Brazos” had been taken from the Brazos River. The name literally translated to “strength and endurance.” Hudson would’ve added anxious to the mix. Brazos’s Best, or just Best as Hudson called him, had a nervous streak a mile long. Under normal circumstances, Hudson would insist the mare’s owner bring her to the ranch for the breeding transaction. The multi-million-dollar exclusive stallion service contract, one of Beaumont’s most lucrative deals from when he’d been alive, would set the rescue side of the ranch up for decades if Hudson and his siblings managed the money right. So, the family had agreed to the wealthy oilman’s demand for the stud to be brought to his ranch so he could monitor the process.
“You sure you don’t want company for the drive down?” Owen asked as he led Best to Hudson. Owen was Hudson’s brother. In total, there were seven Sturgess siblings. Hudson had grown up with four brothers and a sister, Chloe, who was the baby of the family. However, a surprise sibling who was named after their father and the same age as Kade, the oldest, had been summoned to the will reading. Not only had Beaumont Sturgess been a terrible father while alive, but he’d also been a cheat.
“I’m sure,” Hudson said to his brother. This job didn’t need two people. Besides, with all the recent crime that had been going on in town and at the ranch, Hudson figured the rest of his siblings could use some downtime. “I’m good, and the job isn’t all that complicated. Our oilman wants this to happen ‘the old-fashioned way,’ so all I need is for Best to do his part once we get there. Sending two people would be overkill.”
Owen chuckled. It was good to see a smile on his brother’s face after everything the man had been through. Owen had been mistaken for his identical twin brother in a botched blackmail attempt. Then, he’d landed right back in danger while helping Evie, who’d returned to town following a death in the family. Those two should have been a couple a long time ago, but she’d ditched the small town to work in Dallas and never looked back. Seeing Owen and Evie reunite and become a couple after all these years was good for the soul.
“If you’re sure,” Owen said.
“I am.” Hudson tipped his Stetson. “Besides, I need to get out of here before the comments start about me being next to find love.” Hudson and Beau were the last men standing when it came to being single, and Hudson had every intention of keeping it that way.
Owen made a show of clamping his mouth shut, but his knowing smirk didn’t go unnoticed. He was saying, Mark my words when I say you’ll be next.
Hudson was as close to finding “the one” as Seattle was to New York, which was just the way he liked it. His dating life might have slowed considerably of late, but it was a normal ebb and flow. Drought’s more like it, an annoying voice in the back of his mind picked that moment to say.
“I’ll take that,” he said to Owen, reaching for the lead as dark gray clouds rolled overhead.
“Let’s hope for a live foal this time next year,” Owen said, glancing at the sky with a wary eye. Ranchers were superstitious. Bad weather could be seen as an omen. The live foal clause in the contract meant the full payout. Otherwise, they were left with the stud fee and breeding fee, which were a drop in the bucket by comparison.
Hudson crossed the fingers on his free hand before taking a calm breath and walking Best up the ramp and into the trailer. Confidence and steady reassurance went a long way toward keeping a horse calm.
Within a matter of minutes, Best was balanced and securely restrained. This part of the process went surprisingly smoothly. Hudson took it as a good omen.
“Call if you need anything,” Owen said as Hudson claimed the driver’s side of the truck.
“You know I will.”
“All right then,” Owen said, taking a few steps back to give Hudson a wide berth.
“Take care of yourself while I’m gone,” he quipped. “You have a bad habit of getting in a bind every time I turn my back.” The comment landed harder than intended based on the tension lines forming on Owen’s forehead. “Hey, I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t worry about it, man.”
Hudson paused, unsure what to say next to smooth things over.
“I’m happy for you and Evie, though,” he finally said. “Finding your way back to each other after all these years is cool. Meant to be.”
Owen broke into the same sappy smile that appeared every time Evie’s name came up. “Aren’t you the same person who called fate nothing more than a bunch of horseshit?”
“Was that me?” Hudson asked with a laugh. At least the moment of tension had broken, unlike the clouds overhead. A few droplets of rain fell. “I'd better head out before this thing gets worse.”
“Drive careful.”
“Always do,” Hudson said before pulling away after a goodbye wave.
Half an hour away from the ranch, it was almost pitch-black outside.
Out of nowhere, the truck pulled hard to one side. It felt like the truck wanted to leave the road. Hudson struggled to maintain control of the wheel. Shit.
He swerved as he put more pressure on the brakes. Not without effort and skill, he managed to pull to the side of the road with the trailer intact. Best was spooked, and the tire was blown. Shit. Shit. Shit.
There were two options. Replace the tire himself or call for help.
Hudson cut the ignition after shifting the gear to park. He needed to settle Best first. Then, he could make the call about whether he should fix the damn tire himself. He refused to see this as a bad omen. Instead, he filed it under “inconvenient” and moved on.
Lightning flashed as he exited the truck.
Best snort-whistled as he shifted his weight from side to side.
“You’re all right,” Hudson soothed. For a split second, he considered turning back after he took care of the tire. He fished his cell out of his pocket and checked the weather again. The front had shifted but was expected to roll through in a matter of minutes, not hours. The decision to stay the course was made.
A forceful exhalation through Best’s nostrils as they flared sent a wave of fear rippling through Hudson. Best’s gaze fixed on something or someone behind Hudson.
He turned in time to see a mountain lion bounding toward him, in the air, not five feet from slamming into Hudson’s torso.
Shit.
1
Cassie Cartright lifted her rifle, took aim, and fired. Missed. She bit back a curse, shifted her aim, and then fired a second shot at the mountain lion a second before it slammed into its target…a rancher. He’d twisted around to block the predator with his left shoulder prior to contact.
The mountain lion snapped its head around to take a bite out of the offending bullet. A clack sounded as it bit air. The impressive animal slammed neck-first into the rancher’s shoulder before bouncing off the tall, muscled man. Blood splattered across the rancher’s clothes as well as against the trailer, indicating the bullet did its job.
Agitated, the horse whined. As for the mountain lion, the bullet had hit its hindquarters.
The rancher immediately dropped down to secure the injured animal, but it was a few seconds too late. The quick-thinking predator was in survival mode. With beauty and athletic grace, it slipped out of his grasp into the trees.
“We can follow the blood trail,” Cassie said as she started toward the rancher to make certain he hadn’t been hit by shrapnel first.
“Hudson,” he said as he held his hands up where she could see them. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d point your weapon somewhere else besides me.”
“Sorry,” she said, realizing he was right. “My gun etiquette n
“I’d think twice about running after a wounded mountain lion,” Hudson said. “If we can get cell coverage, we can call it in instead to the folks who do this for a living and know how to approach and, better yet, safely capture a predator.” The man was making good points. Cassie couldn’t argue. “Plus, I’m not leaving my horse out here all by his lonesome. He’s nervous on a good day. This whole situation has him spooked and we’re about to get more weather.”
She took a second to contemplate his suggestion before deciding to agree. She gave him a quick nod. “Are you okay? Physically?” she asked.
Hudson checked himself over before answering that he was fine and retrieving a cell from the cab of his truck. The man would be considered gorgeous by most standards. Although she somehow doubted he’d think of himself in that light. At six-feet-three-inches minimum in height with a muscled, filled-out frame and a jawline that could crack concrete, the man would turn heads without flexing a muscle. Standing this close, she looked into the most intensely beautiful pair of blue eyes. Not immediately looking away was a mistake times ten. Lightning zapped her, causing an electrical current to pulse inside her. A spark ignited a small fire inside her, and she felt an almost overwhelming physical connection to a man she’d just met.
Cassie gave a mental shake of her head in an attempt to force her thoughts back to reality and away from the attraction. All she knew about the man standing almost toe-to-toe with her was that he was some kind of horse rancher and that he had compassion for animals. She had no objections to either of those things.
“I don’t have any bars out here,” he said after studying the screen. He looked up, caught her gaze again, and caused a fireworks show to go off inside her chest.
She chalked her physical response up to excitement and adrenaline, and mentally moved on. She’d had one bar on the other side of the road and a few steps into the woods. “What’s the number? I’ll call and report the incident.”
Hudson looked confused.
“I found a connection over there.” She motioned toward the trees. “But I’m figuring you have no plans to leave your horse alone while a hungry mountain lion is roaming around.” The lion was also injured, but she wasn’t in the mood to split hairs over what that meant. The animal could be somewhere nearby, bleeding out as much as it could have circled around to watch and wait until one of them was alone.
“No, I don’t, but I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of you going over there alone.”
“Please, I’ve been out here doing just fine for two days without a problem.” Cassie decided not to add…until you came along.
“Should I ask why you’re camping on Sturgess property?”
“It’s best if you leave it alone.”
The rancher didn’t come across as the type of person who would be able to.
“Thank you for saving my backside a few minutes ago,” he said after a long pause. “I’ll keep watch from the middle of the road as you make the call. Repaying the favor is the least I can do.”
“Do you really think that animal is coming back?” The thought she’d been camping in an area where this was even a possibility helped her decide it was time to pull up stakes and get back on the road.
“It’s acting out of character in attacking a human. This isn’t the first report, either. So far, she’s evaded capture.”
“What makes you think she’s female?” Cassie asked, picking up on the reference.
“Too cunning to be a male.” He cracked a small smile. “In my experience, females are always a step ahead and can outsmart their male counterparts at every turn.”
Since Cassie couldn’t decide if that was meant as a compliment or not, she let the comment go.
“Animals like that shouldn’t be cornered and sure as hell can’t be predicted.” He shook his head. “Looked like you got a good piece of her hindquarter.”
He motioned toward the opposite side of the street.
Cassie took the hint and started walking, cell phone in one hand and rifle balanced across her forearm, while the butt of the weapon was tucked underneath her armpit. “You’re welcome, by the way. I don’t think I said that before.”
He gave a small headshake confirmation as they crossed the middle of the road. His gaze swept back and forth while occasionally checking behind them. He stopped on the opposite side of the road before pulling a bandana out of his back pocket and wiping off the blood. “I’ll wait here while you make the call.”
Cassie held out her phone. “Do you mind inputting the number?”
When Hudson took the offering, their fingers grazed. The electricity she’d felt with eye contact was nothing compared to what happened with physical contact. An explosion rocked her like she’d never experienced. Warmth spread low in her belly. Her throat dried up and cracked, like Texas soil in August heat.
She cleared her throat to ease some of the dryness.
His nose wrinkled slightly. She realized the winds had shifted, blowing her scent in his direction. She hadn’t had a good shower in two days and must smell awful, a mix of creek water, cheap soap, and sweat. Nice.
“Sorry about the smell,” she said as he handed her cell back.
He studied her. “You’re fine. But after you make the call, I’d like to know why you’re here and how long you plan to stay.”
“That’s none of your business.” The words came out harsher than intended, but she needed to slap up a boundary before he tried to get too personal. Getting close to her would put him in even more danger than he’d been in with the mountain lion. The men after Cassie wouldn’t be so easily shooed away.
“Actually, it is,” he said, “because you’re squatting on my family’s land. What happens on our ranch is very much my business.”
“I was just leaving.”
Shit.
Cassie walked away as she lifted the phone to her ear without a sideways glance toward Hudson. He hadn’t intended to upset her to the point that she planned to ditch him after making the call to wildlife services. He’d meant every word about needing to know who she was and why she was on his family’s land but could have been a little less blunt about it. Being a straight-shooter had gotten him into hot water in the past. You’d think he’d have learned by now. But had he? That would be a no.
A woman camping alone in the woods with a rifle needed compassion, not to be given a hard time, because one question jumped in front of the others: Who the hell was she running from?
His mind snapped to an ex, a boyfriend, or a husband. Women were most often hurt by those closest to them. It was one of those sad-but-true facts that caused him to clench his back teeth so hard his molars could crack when he really thought about it. His hand curled into fists even now.
Forcing a relaxed calm that he didn’t feel, he loosened his grip on the now-bloody bandana. The bullet had gotten a good piece of the mountain lion. The wounded animal would likely be nearby, ready to attack anyone who tried to help—exactly the reason they needed to call in the experts. The animal either needed medical attention or to be put out of its misery. Since he didn’t have a tranquilizer gun on him, it was time to call in the experts.
Hudson stared at the wheat-haired beauty. He hadn’t felt an instant hit of attraction like this one in far too long. But then, he’d shut down that side of him a long time ago, preferring to date women who posed no threat of growing attached to.
Funny how losing someone you loved did that to you. It caused you to tighten up the ship to avoid risking that kind of pain a second time. His own family didn’t know the details about what had happened to Adina or how he’d sat by her side and watched her beautiful brown eyes slowly lose their spark until they’d drained of everything that was her. Or how he’d held her hand until her last breath after driving her to Colorado so she could decide when the pain was too much and it was time to press the button—a button that he’d hated more than anything. Or how he’d cried like a baby when it had been time to say his final goodbye.
