I'm the one who's crazy. Out here, this is real. No wonder Morgan loves it. But I don't know if I could ever give up San Antonio the way Paige has, so what do I do now?
"Hey!” Morgan yelled back at her from several hundred yards ahead. “Come on, slow poke."
"Coming.” No more time for thinking now.
The place Morgan had picked for them to stop was at the edge of a stream, a narrow ribbon of water that splashed over a bed of stones as it gurgled its way through the meadow. The early evening sky was wearing its coat of many colors, vivid pinks and purples and golds splashed across the horizon with broad strokes. A soft breeze tickled the leaves of the oaks and sycamores and bent the tops of the mountain cedars.
Allison sat still in the saddle for a moment, drinking in the combined scents of forest and meadows, letting the seductive peace of the place wash over her.
Morgan helped her dismount, and pointed to a scene on her right. “White tail,” he whispered. “There's a huge herd around here that gave the town its name."
"They're beautiful,” she whispered back. “But how do they get along with the cattle?"
"Just fine. Neither bothers the other. If more people did the same thing, my job would be even more uneventful than it is."
"Except for the dead body,” she reminded him.
He grimaced. “Don't bring that up. The whole thing is driving me nuts."
He took a rolled quilt from the back of his saddle and unfolded it on the ground, then opened the canvas bag with their food.
"Oh, yum.” She started unwrapping the tinfoil from one of the sandwiches. “Roast beef on French bread. Does Mrs. Howell make all of the food?"
"Sure does. Although I think she and Paige have figured out how to share the kitchen."
With the sandwiches Myra Howell had packed a carton of potato salad, sliced pickles and a thermos of iced tea.
"I asked for Lone Star, but she doesn't believe you should drink and ride,” Morgan said with a slight grin.
"Sort of like drinking and driving,” Allison teased.
When they had eaten and packed up all the debris, Morgan stretched out on the quilt and drew Allison down with him. His face was barely an inch away from hers, and then he was kissing her, a deep, penetrating kiss.
The minute he touched her, Allison could feel her body respond, just like the other night. Liquid seeped between her legs and her nipples were so hard she thought they'd poke through her blouse. She wanted to yank down the zipper on his jeans, grab his erection and put her mouth over it. She felt little licks of fire racing through her body as his tongue swept through her mouth, his lips hard and firm, molding to hers. One large hand caressed the line of her jaw, trailing down her neck until it cupped her breasts. When she felt his thumb moving slowly back and forth across the already-hardened tips she began to shake with the need to have him inside her.
My God, what is the matter with me?
But that was her last rational thought. The kiss went on and on, drugging her, seducing her, whispering to her senses. But just as she began to move against him, he pulled away and sat up, bringing her with him. They leaned against the thick trunk of an oak tree.
Allison struggled to catch her breath. “Something wrong?"
He looked at her, his electric blue eyes blazing into hers, the muscles in his jaw line bunching as he dragged himself under control. “Wrong time, wrong place."
She frowned. “I don't understand."
"You will before too long.” He was still having trouble with his breathing,
Allie placed her hand on his chest and she could feel the heavy thumping of his heart.
"The wedding's coming up,” he said, when he had himself under control. “And I know you've got a lot of obligations. That's why I thought we could steal this time together. And I really wanted a chance to talk to you."
A butterfly beat its wings in her stomach. “About?"
"About the other night."
She tried to sit up but he held her too tightly. “If you're going to apologize I'm going home."
"Apologize, hell. I just wanted to tell you it was amazing, and I can't wait to do it again."
She nestled back against him. “I still say it wasn't too satisfying for you."
"Darlin', I told you. Making a woman come apart the way you did is a huge amount of satisfaction to a man.” He rolled towards her and ran his tongue along the rim of her ear. “Do you remember what else I said?"
A tiny shiver raced up her spine. “Yes,” she whispered. “I do."
"I meant it. I want to bury myself so deep in you I can touch the heart of you.” He pulled her tight against him. “But I don't want this to be just about sex. That's available any time I want it. That's not bragging, just a fact. I want this to be something more."
"I'd like that, too,” she said, her voice soft.
Morgan cleared his throat. “The other night you accused me of misjudging you. I guess you're right. I just have a lot of knee-jerk reactions. Last time I let myself get involved with someone it happened fast and nearly destroyed me. I realize now we hardly knew anything about each other, and I don't want to make that mistake again."
Allison rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “I'd like to think there's a little more to me than what you see on the surface."
"The same for me. Conversation doesn't come easy for me. I guess you've figured that out. But I want to talk to you, Allie. I want to learn all about you, and I want to tell you about me."
"Sounds good to me."
She felt his body relax.
"Okay, then. Where she we start."
She reached across his body for his other hand and linked her fingers through his. “Well, once upon a time..."
They had no idea how much time had passed when the thunder of hoof beats reverberated through the ground. Allison lifted her head and looked around.
"Someone's coming."
Morgan nodded. “In a minute my brother and Paige will come riding up, dying of curiosity. Which is the reason I didn't strip off every stitch of your clothing, even though I wanted to."
Her mouth formed a round O as two riders came into the clearing. She looked up to see two grinning faces.
"I told you they'd be decent,” Paige teased her future husband. “Allie has too much class."
"Nah,” Ryan disagreed. “My brother's too uptight, that's all."
"Don't you two have better things to do than harass us?” Morgan stood, then reached down a hand to Allison.
"As a matter of fact, yes,” Ryan told him. “I'm here because your Dudley Do-Right wanted me to get a message to you."
Morgan frowned and checked his cell phone clipped to his belt. “Why didn't he just call me? My phone's not off."
"I'm sure he figured if it came from me you wouldn't chew nails. Young Murdock is into self-preservation."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"It appears your house has been broken into."
M organ stared at his brother. “No damn way."
"Oh, yeah. Without a doubt."
Allison had already rolled up the quilt and zipped the picnic sack shut. She handed them to Morgan to fasten to his saddle. “I'm ready when you are."
"Wait. Ryan, how did they know I had a break-in? I don't have a security system or anything. God knows in White Tail the nosy neighbors are better than any electronics."
"Your dog was in the yard barking his fool head off. Everyone knows you keep him in the house when you're gone, so your next door neighbors called the station. Jace went by himself and found the back door jimmied and Cochise in the yard going crazy."
"Let's go.” He helped Allison mount, then swung up into the saddle himself. Touching his heels to the horses flanks, he urged him into a canter and headed back toward the ranch house.
* * * *
"Okay, they didn't touch the gun safe, so what did they want?"
Morgan stood in the middle of his living room with Jace Murdock and the patrolmen who'
d been sent to his house. He'd settled Cochise down, let him sniff each of his officers, and now the big dog was sitting alertly at his side, every muscle in his body shrieking of protection of his master.
Over great protest Allison and Paige had remained at the Circle C, but Ryan had jumped into the truck with him and was now leaning against the wall, just watching. Morgan was actually glad to have him. His brother's keen sense of observation would catch things others might miss.
"What else is there?” Ryan asked now. “Not that you live in a hovel, but you don't exactly keep a lot of stuff worth stealing."
"If Cochise hadn't been out in the yard barking so loud they could hear him in Austin we'd never have known anyone was here at all,” Jace told him. “I told these guys...” He waved at the patrol officers who were trying to fade into the wall. “To check all the doors. That's how we found the scratch marks on the back door lock. But they were real faint. If you hadn't been looking, you might not have seen them for a long time. If ever."
Morgan resisted the urge to slam his fist against something. “Let's go through this house room by room and see if we can find anything. I'm damned if I know what they were after."
An hour later they were even more puzzled.
"Someone accessed my laptop which I'd left in my bedroom, but they couldn't get into the files I have password-protected. Anyway, those are financial records, and I don't make enough to interest anyone."
Ryan walked back into the living room. “They've been through your desk, too. Your Rolodex is messed up and your calendar book is in a different place than you usually keep it."
"My Rolodex?” Morgan's eyebrows nearly met his hairline. “My calendar? What the hell would anyone want with those? I don't have any numbers you can't get from Information."
"If I didn't know how anal you are about your stuff I'd never have known. They were just a little sloppy putting things back."
"Chief, the guys have checked everywhere outside,” Jace reported. “And there's nothing."
Morgan took off his Stetson and scratched his head. “How did they even get in without being seen? A stranger would stick out like a sore thumb here."
One of the patrolmen turned red and looked at his shoes.
"Boyd?” Morgan stared at him. “You got something you want to tell me?"
"When we were at the D&D taking a coffee break, Sheila Garrett from the real estate office was all excited because two guys had come in asking about that old Barnes property she's had for sale forever."
"And?” Morgan prompted.
"Well, she said they sounded real interested, asking a lot of questions about the town, the people. Police protection,” he blurted out.
"Police protection?” Jace frowned. “Why the hell would anyone worry about that in a town like White Tail?"
"They'd ask if they were trying to find out about you,” Ryan said. “Check out where you live, what your neighbors are like. How they might gain access to your house without being seen."
"We didn't think anything of it, Chief,” the other patrolmen said. “I guess we should have been suspicious. We never get strangers here, much less anybody asking about things. Especially someone interested in you."
"You're pretty isolated out here,” Ryan commented. “All those trees around here make a good cover, and the only part of the yard you fenced is that section for Cochise to run in."
"I don't know how they got past him."
"If we ever find them, we can ask. Meanwhile, what do you want to do?"
Morgan shrugged, but anger simmered through him. “What can I do? I never thought I'd say this, but I guess I'll have to get an alarm system installed."
"You'll have to go to Austin,” Ryan pointed out. “There's so little need for them here no one in White Tail even handles them."
"Damn it, I know.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Damn. Damn, damn."
"What do you want us to do, Chief?” Jace asked.
"Just keep your eyes open.” Morgan glared at the two officers. “And tell me the minute anything happens the least bit out of the ordinary. And I mean anything. Come on, Ryan. I'll take you back to the ranch and make sure Allison's okay. I'm sure she's got a million questions."
* * * *
Luis Obradors looked at the two men sitting across from him, wondering how he had ever been saddled with two such incompetents. How in the hell, in an organization like Emilio Escalante's, with millions of dollars and imminent death on the line every day, did these two nut jobs manage to find a place? The old man was going to kill all three of them. He had no tolerance for incompetence.
They were in the corner booth at Domino's, a bar Luis liked to use to conduct business out of anyone's eyesight. The lighting was very dim, made even more so by the thick veil of smoke that always hung in the air. In the area where the booth was there was almost no light at all, a situation that suited Luis perfectly.
"I do not believe that the two of you could be so stupid. Imbeciles! Morons!” He sipped at the coffee in front of him. No alcohol for him tonight. He needed all his wits about him to deal with this situation. He could already hear the old man's cold voice slicing into him, asking how he could sanction something so idiotic.
The Osuna brothers were drinking ice water, afraid to order a real drink and already overdosed on coffee. If Luis's words had been acid their skin would have been peeled from their bodies. Now they sat watchfully, waiting for the next mountain of abuse to be heaped on their heads.
"Let me go over this one more time. You go to a small town where you'll stick out like a sore thumb, ask questions that will tickle someone's curiosity, and break into the home of the police chief. Have I got this straight?"
Alex nodded dumbly.
"You told us you wanted a way to find the woman,” Jorge blurted. “We thought maybe he had information in his house. You know, in private."
"I want to find the woman, but I want to be alive to tell Escalante about it.” Luis ground his teeth. “El jefe might kill all of us just as easily as the gringo we dumped on the road."
"We didn't leave any fingerprints,” Alex assured him.
"Do you think at this point I'd believe anything either of you said? When I told you to find a way to locate this woman, I didn't mean breaking and entering. Certainly not the house of the chief of police."
Alex spread his hands. “So what do we do now?"
"Go home and wait.” Obradors finished his coffee. “Don't go out. Don't call anyone. Don't do anything until I contact you again."
The two men scrambled out of the booth, nearly knocking each other down in their haste to leave. Obradors sat for a long time, the coffee in his cup growing cold and bitter. Like el jefe. A simple task was turning into a gigantic nightmare, one that could easily destroy him if he didn't wake up from it.
Chapter Nine
Allison hauled her suitcase and overnight bag out of her car and was about to drag them up to the porch of the ranch house when one of the hands materialized at her side.
"Miss Paige would kill me if I let you carry your own stuff.” He flashed a smile at her. “She is a very determined lady."
Allison laughed. “Don't I just know it?"
And here was Paige herself, flying out of the house to meet her, face flushed with excitement, eyes glowing. “I am so glad you finally got here.” She reached for Allison's hand and tugged her along. “We have a lot to do. My folks just got here, too, and my mom's in the living room going over lists. And wait until you hear their good news."
Allison loved Georgia Cavanaugh like a second mother. Paige's parents had suffered a spate of bad luck the past few months, but Ryan had ridden to the rescue like a white knight (or the cowboy in the white hat) and things were looking up for them again.
"Tell Allie your news, Mom,” Paige enthused.
"Honey, let her catch her breath first. Allie, how about some of this iced tea?"
Allison nodded. “That would be great.” She swallowed some of the
icy liquid. “Wow. That really hits the spot, especially after three hours on the road. Okay, Mrs. C., come on. What's going on?"
Georgia refilled her own glass. “Well, you know we had all that trouble with the Baldwins and their bank, which thanks to Ryan we're out of. And we were able to sell the dealerships for a good price."
"Yes. Paige told me. I saw the For Sale sign in front of your house the other day, too. Where are you moving to?"
Georgia and Paige exchanged warm looks. “Ryan found a dealership for sale in Monroe, about fifty miles from White Tail. We hooked up with a real estate agent and she's looking for a place to rent until the house sells. That will give us time to look around and decide if we want to buy or build."
Allison threw her arms around Georgia in a big hug. “That is so great. Y'all can be close enough together to see each other whenever you want."
"Ryan and I told them to stay at the ranch until they find a rental,” Paige put in. “Lord knows there's plenty of room here."
"Oh, I think we'll give the newlyweds some privacy for a while. But yes, it all turned out for the best."
Allison's smile wavered. “Wow, that leaves me all by my lonesome in San Antonio."
Paige lifted an eyebrow. “Not if you and Morgan get together."
Allison sighed. “I don't think I'm anything more than a distraction for him. He hates anything that has to do with the city and he isn't likely to risk a relationship again. Amber really did a number on him."
Paige waved her hand in the air. “Oh, Amber. That bitch. If I ever see her, she'll be lucky if I don't break both her legs."
"Well, broken legs or not, she'll still be the grey specter hovering over everything. That's a tough thing to wipe out."
"What's a tough thing to wipe out?” Ryan came in and went immediately to Paige, pulling her up into a hug and kissing her thoroughly enough to make the others in the room avert their eyes.
"Hey, not in front of the children,” Allison teased.
"No children here.” Ryan looked at Paige. “At least not yet."
She blushed and everyone laughed.
"Am I missing out on something?"
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