She hung up. Her whole body felt tight and shaky. Morris was a past master at setting people up. Colter was very good at his job, and he might have backup, but Morris had several friends. What if they’d seen Colter leave the Martin house and followed him to that old church? Morris would have absolutely nothing to lose if Colter found evidence of a murder there. It was the sort of place Morris would have picked if he’d planned to kill her grandfather.

She stood up. Her first impulse was to go rushing over there, to make sure Colter was okay. But she had no car, and she wasn’t reckless enough to put Brenda in the line of fire.

“How can we get in touch with that sniper Colter has on the place?” she asked worriedly.

Brenda’s eyes widened. “The sniper?”

“Yes. His name is Billings, isn’t it?”

“I think so. I don’t know how to contact him.”

“Who does he work for?”

“Eb Scott, I think,” Brenda said. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Colter was going by the old church where Granddaddy used to visit Grandma’s grave, at a deserted church on the Victoria Road. Mr. Martin said he was on the way there now. If Morris and his gang follow him...!”

“Listen, it’s okay,” Brenda said softly. “Colt can take care of himself. He’s a good lawman, and a terrific shot.”

“Morris won’t come at him head-on,” she said stubbornly. “He’ll do it from hiding, like the coward he is. Who can get in touch with Mr. Billings?”

Brenda got up, concerned now. “I’ll call Eb Scott,” she said. She pulled up the numbers on her keypad and dialed—fortunately for both of them, Eb was one of the people Colter kept on both their lists in case of an emergency.

The phone rang and rang. Clancey chewed on a fingernail while Tad sat by worried and unsettled.

Finally, a deep voice answered. “Scott.”

“Mr. Scott, it’s Brenda Banks,” she said. “One of your men, Mr. Billings, is over here at the ranch with a sniper rifle, protecting us from our houseguest’s stepbrother. Colt’s on his way to a deserted church where we think he may be ambushed...”

“Where is it?” Eb asked at once.

She told him. “We understand he’s probably there now.”

“I’ll take care of it. Try not to worry.” He hung up.

“He’s going to take care of it,” Brenda said on a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness!”

Clancey was still chewing on a fingernail. She wanted more than anything to go to the church. But that was insane. She could walk into an ambush herself, be taken captive by Morris and used to put Colter in danger. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him.

Brenda put an arm around her. “It’s going to be all right. Trust me.”