Enemy Infiltration

by Carol Ericson

  As Alexa cantered away, Lana pulled out her own phone and sent off a quick text to Logan.

  I think we have our man.

  Drawn by the sound of the rushing water, Lana continued down the path to the river. Coco picked her way along the riverbank path until it veered to the right into an open field. Then Lana drove her heels into Coco’s sides and the mare burst into a run.

  As Lana’s hair blew back from her face, Coco began to move erratically.

  Lana leaned forward. “Shh, girl. It’s all right.”

  Coco tossed her head and bucked.

  Gasping, Lana gripped the reins and tried to regain control of the horse, but Coco had decided that Lana had overstayed her welcome.

  Coco reared on her back legs, snorting and pawing the air with her front. As the horse came down with a jolt and charged toward the trees, Lana got the distinct impression Coco was going to attempt to dislodge her from her back—one way or another.

  The next time Coco reared up, Lana slid from her back and landed on the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of her.

  Coco’s hooves thundered past her, and Lana curled into a ball and rolled to the side. As she lay frozen, stunned, trying to get air into her lungs, she heard the sound of another set of hooves in the distance.

  She rolled to her back and brushed the dirt from her face with the heel of her hand. She squinted at the rider approaching, his black hat bobbing as he galloped closer.

  As Drew pulled up next to her and dismounted, he said, “Are you all right, Lana? Let me help you up.”

  Her mouth dry, Lana tried to scramble to her feet, still trying to suck in air. She croaked. “I’m fine. If you could ride out and get Coco for me, I’ll take her back to the stables. I—I already called for help.”

  His gaze slid to her phone some distance away. “Really? With what? Smoke signals? I saw you take your unfortunate tumble, and you barely had a chance to catch your breath by the time I came to the rescue...again.”

  Lana blinked and tried to form her quivering lips into a smile. “Again?”

  He stood next to her, blocking out the sun. “Let’s cut to the chase, Lana. I have you alone at last...just where I want you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Drew’s low, smooth voice sent a chill up her spine. They were done playing games.

  She spit the dirt out of her mouth. “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  “Why? You stole Gil’s notes. You know as much about what he wrote as I do.” She rose to her knees and eyed Coco in the distance, relaxed and grazing.

  “C’mon, Lana. We both know that’s a lie. If anyone can decipher your brother’s notes, it’s you. We just want to find out what he was writing and who else saw it. You can help us with that.”

  “And once we find that out, we both want to turn his journal over to the proper authorities so we can find out what was going on at that outpost and why it was attacked...why my brother died. Isn’t that right?”

  “That’s right, but your proper authorities—” he straightened his hat and pulled something out of his pocket “—may not be my proper authorities.”

  “Then once you use me, you’re going to kill me. Why should I cooperate with you at all? Who are you working with and why’d they attack the embassy outpost?”

  He took a step closer, looming above her. “Because there are other people we can kill, people close to you, if you don’t cooperate with us—and you don’t need to know who we are.”

  She balled up a fist and pressed it under her rib cage. Carla. He must know about Carla.

  “You’ll never get close to her.”

  “I thought I’d never get close to you.” He spread his arms. “And look what happened.”

  Her gaze tracked over his shoulder and the corner of her mouth twitched. “We’re not as alone as you think.”

  Drew cranked his head over his shoulder and swore. In a flash, he mounted his horse and took off, calling back. “We’re not done, Lana.”

  As Logan galloped toward her on his horse, Drew disappeared into the trees. At least after showing his face, he’d never be back on the Double H again.

  Logan reined to a stop and jumped from his mount. “What the hell happened? Are you all right? If that rider went to get help, he took off in the wrong direction.”

  Lana released a little sob of relief. “That rider was Drew. Go after him, Logan. Stop him.”

  Logan rushed to her side and dropped to his knees beside her. “Did he hurt you?”

  “He didn’t have time. Never mind about me. Go after Drew.”

  “And leave you here by yourself? No way. He could circle back while I’m out looking for him. He has a head start, anyway, and he’s not going to be hanging around waiting for me to go get him. I don’t know why he decided to show his face this time. He just ruined his plan to infiltrate the ranch.”

  “I’m afraid I’m not much of an actress. He knew I knew. I think he figured that out when he and Alexa came to the stables while I was still talking to Jake.” She nodded toward Coco, oblivious to the turmoil she’d unleashed. “Wouldn’t surprise me if he orchestrated my fall from Coco—or getting me alone. I had been riding with Alexa when she got a mysterious text calling her back to the house.”

  “Did he tell you what he wanted? At least it’s not to kill you. He had that opportunity twice now, and failed to take it both times.”

  “They don’t want to kill me...yet. They want my help deciphering Gil’s notes. They want to know what he wrote as much as we do.”

  “Then the sooner we figure out Gil’s code and get a professional to look at his notes, the better we can protect you.”

  “H-he mentioned harming others close to me. Do you think they’ll go after Carla?”

  Logan gathered her in his arms. “I don’t think even Jaeger would give up that information to anyone. I think Bruce can keep Carla and the rest of his family safe...and I can keep you safe. Should’ve never let you out of my sight.”

  She pressed her lips against the side of his warm neck, feeling his pulse beneath her lips. “You always seem to save me just in time. I think Drew had a syringe in his hand—probably more of the same drug he gave us, and Alexa, last night.”

  “Alexa?”

  “I got the details of her night with Drew on our ride together. She did go back to his place on the ranch with him, but she was so tired she fell asleep almost immediately. She thinks Drew slept with her all night, but he left her drugged and crept out to set the fire and kidnap me.”

  “Bastard.” Logan curled his hands around her waist. “Can you get up? Are you injured?”

  “I’m okay, and I think Coco’s all right, too.”

  “Let’s go find out.”

  When she was securely behind Logan on his mount, Coco’s lead in her hand and her arms around his waist, she said, “At least Drew has shown his face. No more surprises from him.”

  “I noticed Alexa taking some selfies last night at the bar. Believe me, I’m gonna post his pretty-boy mug all over town, so he won’t be able to step out for a cup of coffee.”

  “Alexa will be disappointed.”

  “She’ll get over it when the next hot cowboy comes to the ranch.”

  Jake hustled out to meet them. “Logan, that new ranch hand, Drew, came out to the stables and saddled up Diablo without permission. I don’t know what that boy was thinking because that right there is enough to get him fired once I tell Hugh.”

  “Drew misrepresented himself to get on the ranch and get to Lana. He’s a bad character, Jake. Spread the word on the ranch. I’m gonna call the sheriff in town so they can keep an eye out for him there, too. He won’t be coming back to the ranch.”

  “And Diablo? That’s one fine piece of horseflesh to lose.”

  “I doubt Drew is going to take Diablo anywhe
re. He’ll probably turn her loose once he’s off the ranch.”

  “You might want to give Coco some TLC, Jake. Looks like Drew put a burr or something beneath her saddle to make her bolt when I put her into a gallop. She tossed me.”

  Jake swore. “Are you all right, Lana?”

  “I’m fine, but make sure Coco’s okay. Poor baby.”

  Jake took Coco’s reins and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry about that scoundrel, Logan. If he shows his face around here again, he’s in for a whippin’.”

  “I trust you to handle him, Jake, but I think he’s long gone.” Logan put his arm around Lana. “Are you okay to walk back to the house, or should I drive over and pick you up?”

  “I think the sooner I stretch out my muscles, the better. I’m feeling a little stiff and I don’t want to cramp up.”

  “We need to alert everyone at the house, and I want to get one of Alexa’s pictures of Drew printed off to circulate in the town.”

  “And I need to start assigning some dates and numbers to Gil’s notes. I feel like we’re racing against time now.”

  When they reached the ranch house, Logan told Hugh and the others about Drew. “Where’s Alexa? She has a few pictures of him. I don’t think he’s gonna show his face around here again, but I want to give the sheriff a heads-up.”

  Angie said, “Last I saw her, she was headed for her friend Becca’s.”

  “Can you do me a favor, Angie, and let her know about Drew? Maybe she knows something else about him that we don’t.”

  “On it.” Angie took out her phone.

  Hugh shoved a hand in his pocket. “Are you gonna try to tell us that this Drew character is after Lana because she’s a horse trainer?”

  “I’m not gonna tell you anything, Hugh, but for now Lana has other business to worry about than Charlotte’s classes.”

  However Logan felt about his family, he knew how to handle them and once again Lana felt an overwhelming sense of security in his presence.

  He propelled her upstairs, leaving them to mull over the mystery.

  When they got to the room she’d slept in the night before, Logan handed her the notebook. “You can’t go back to the guesthouse, but I’m going to clear a space in my father’s office for you to work.”

  “What about Junior?”

  “Carlton has taken him into town for some physical therapy. He’ll be gone the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Let me change clothes and I’ll be right down.”

  Ten minutes later, her face washed and dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a blouse, Lana joined Logan in Junior’s office.

  He looked up from a cleared-off desk in the corner. “Are you ready to take a trip down memory lane?”

  “Can you guarantee someone’s going to look at these notes?”

  “Once we get started, someone in a position of authority is going to want to read what Gil had to say about that outpost. Trust me.”

  She crossed the room to the desk and put her arms around Logan, resting her head against his broad back. “I trust you more than anything or anybody.”

  While Logan sat at his father’s desk with his laptop, Lana started going through Gil’s notes. Every family event he’d recorded in his books corresponded to a date—someone’s birthday, someone’s graduation, a school event. Lana recorded the month, date—when she could remember it—and year next to each event, starting with the first book.

  After an hour’s work, she had a page filled with numbers. “Logan, I have the numbers for one book. What now?”

  “Let’s see what we have.” He swept his laptop from the desk and brought it to her. “I scanned all the pages onto my computer. Which book did you do? I’ll bring up those pages.”

  “The first one you photographed.” She dragged a chair next to hers and patted the seat. “Sit.”

  He double-clicked on the file that contained the scanned pages for the first book, the event she’d translated into a date, written in Gil’s hand on the first page.

  “I’m dizzy.” She held a hand to her head. “What do we do with the numbers?”

  “We start matching them to letters on this page.” He placed the tip of his index finger under the first date and read aloud. “Two, sixteen, ninety.”

  “One of my older brothers broke his tooth on his tenth birthday. Gil and I weren’t even born yet, but we heard the story a million times. February 16, 1990 was Hector’s tenth birthday.”

  “Good job. Let’s take a look.” With a pencil, Logan skimmed through the printed out pages of the book, circling letters and words and then erasing the circles.

  “What are you doing?” She peered at the pages, the words and notes all blurring.

  “Trying to find his pattern—the two could represent every two words, the second word of every paragraph, the second sentence on the page, the second to the last word, and so on.”

  Lana slumped back in her seat. “We have to go through every date and every page like that? It could take all year—longer.”

  “We don’t have to do it, but if we can just get verification that the dates represent some system for Gil, we can get experienced code breakers to go through the rest. It won’t take them a year.”

  “Thank God. I knew Gil was bright, but I had no idea he could do all this.”

  Logan shoved his laptop out of his way. “You keep doing the dates, and I’ll keep looking for the patterns.”

  She hunched over the next set of notes and put her brain to work. She knew Gil meant this code for her because some of the dates only the two of them would know.

  Occasionally, Logan’s laptop would ding, indicating a new email. He’d glance at it and then go back to work.

  After the fifth email notification, Lana pointed to the computer. “Do you want to turn that down or close out mail?”

  “No. I sent a few email inquiries about getting this stuff decoded and I don’t want to miss a reply.”

  They worked together for the next hour with the occasional dinging from the laptop until Logan pushed back from the desk and stretched. “I don’t know about you, but I need some lunch and a little caffeine wouldn’t hurt.”

  “I’m hungry, but I’m hungrier to get all these dates out of my head and onto paper.”

  “You keep working and I’ll hit up Lupe in the kitchen and score us a couple of sandwiches and sodas. Keep an eye on that email.”

  “Deal.” Lana rubbed her eyes. “Are you going to see if Alexa checked in yet? I’m a little worried about her.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. Angie said she went to town to visit her friend.” Logan grabbed his phone. “I’ll check, anyway.”

  He left the room and Lana continued recording the dates of the events. Each time an email came through, she glanced at it.

  After several more minutes, she raised her arms above her head and reached for the ceiling. They’d made real progress and she felt confident Logan would be able to crack Gil’s code and have something to present to someone in authority. Then this nightmare would be over—and maybe she and Logan would have a chance to really get to know each other.

  Logan’s laptop rang again and she leaned over. Her pulse ticked up a notch when she saw a government email address. This could be something important.

  She opened the email and read the first few lines. Her blood ran cold and she read the lines again, her head swimming, her heart pounding in her chest.

  “Lunch is served.” Logan backed into the room, carrying a tray of food. “Sandwiches, fruit, a bag of chips and a couple of sodas—the caffeinated kind.”

  He looked up and jerked to a stop, one of the cans of soda tipping over and falling off the tray. “Lana, what’s wrong?”

  When he’d entered the room, she’d jumped up from the chair, her adrenaline pumping through her body.

  “You liar.”


  Logan’s eyebrows collided over his nose. “What are you talking about? What’s the matter?”

  She jabbed her finger in the air toward his laptop. “I read the email. I know what you did, or rather what you didn’t do.”

  “The email?” Logan gripped the tray, his knuckles white.

  “The email that assured you that you and your Delta Force unit had done nothing wrong by not coming to the aid and defense of the embassy outpost in Nigeria when it was under attack. That you’d done nothing wrong as my brother, his fellow marines and the outpost staff all died.”

  * * *

  LOGAN’S HEART TWISTED in his chest as he took a step toward Lana. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted to explain...”

  She charged past him and he dropped the tray on the floor and made a grab for her.

  She spun around and held out her hands. “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever come near me again.”

  She ran from the room and he went after her, but stood helplessly in the foyer as she crashed through the front door. What could he do, restrain her against her will?

  From the porch he watched as her figure grew smaller across the field. Was she going back to the guesthouse? Maybe she just needed time to cool off.

  He could explain—explain that they’d been ordered to stand down. It had been another reason why he’d developed suspicions about the attack on the embassy compound, a reason he had to keep from Lana. She should understand. Gil was a marine. She had to understand.

  He’d fix it. He’d get someone to decode Gil’s journal.

  His head hanging, he turned and went back into the house. The outburst had attracted a few members of his family, but the look on his face stopped them cold and they melted away.

  He returned to Junior’s office and dropped to his knees to clean up the food, his appetite as AWOL as Lana.

  Once he’d cleaned up, he cracked open a soda and collapsed into the chair at the desk where they’d been working. He read through the email that had set Lana off and then straightened up in his chair as he read the part she hadn’t reached.