How Far Will You Go?

by Barbara Baldwin

  "All hands in the air. Drop your weapons!"

  Lou could tell which men were illegal because they all instantly dropped to the ground, face down with hands behind their heads. Probably scared shitless.

  Three other men, however, dodged behind the truck out of sight of the police and their floodlights.

  "They're coming this way!” Lou warned his partners as he watched the men running towards the tractor-trailers by where they hid. “Three ... two ... now!"

  Tasha, Dom and Lou rushed out just as the three men came around the corner. Lou crouched low as one of the men ran straight for him. At the moment of impact, Lou sprang up, tossing the man over his shoulder to land with a thud on the asphalt. He kicked a weapon out of reach and leveled his shotgun at the man's chest.

  He heard Tasha slap a pair of cuffs on another of the men, telling him to stay put. He quickly moved so he could keep his quarry in his sights and still find Dom, who at first appeared to be on the losing end of the fight.

  Then Lou realized that Dom was toying with the man, a Mexican of similar height, but who outweighed Dom by at least fifty pounds. As he watched, Dom tucked his revolver into the back of his pants, crouched on the balls of his feet and faced the Mexican head on.

  "Come and get me, you weasel.” He gestured with his hands.

  "Christ, Dom, he's got a knife!” Lou hollered.

  "Yeah, I know. The same one that he tried to use on me and he did use on you.” Dom answered without taking his eyes off the other man. The two of them circled warily.

  By this time, the police had corralled the illegals and two officers were hauling Lou's and Tasha's captured felons to their feet. One of the policemen drew his revolver and aimed at the Mexican circling Dom.

  Lou put up his hand. When the policeman started to question him, Lou just shook his head. “He's Italian. He loves a good street fight.” But even when the officer holstered his weapon, Lou kept the shotgun in his hands ready.

  Dom quickly got tired of playing with the guy, and after several futile attempts by the Mexican to slice him with the lethal blade, Dom took him down with a kick to the knee and a punch to the gut.

  "Damn, that was the most fun I've had since this operation started,” he said with a grin as an officer hauled the last man away.

  "Glad you enjoyed yourself,” Tasha said, “because now you've got a ton of paperwork to do."

  Dom groaned and Lou snickered, even though he felt the same. They both loved the fieldwork and the action of investigating, but neither liked the follow-up reports.

  "At least it's over,” Lou commented as he slapped Dom on the back and they headed for their vehicles.

  * * * *

  Sheriff Schmidt had told them to go home within an hour of the raid, stating nothing needed to be done that night and everyone could use a good night's sleep. Even so, it was almost dawn by the time Lou fell into bed, not moving for a full eight hours. When he had finally showered and eaten and headed into town, he thought about calling Kelly but decided to wait until the case was officially closed. That way, there would be no more interruptions.

  Hours later, Lou was regretting his seemingly rash thought. The paperwork was endless considering they had to deal with fifteen illegal Mexicans, not one of whom spoke a word of English. They called Denver for a couple of immigration people who would process them and send them back home.

  Dom and he interrogated the three men who appeared to be in charge of the operation. The two men he and Tasha had collared were the same ones who had jumped him in the bar, and Lou took special delight in knowing they would be going to prison, even though they rolled over on the man who had paid them to bring illegal immigrants into the state.

  Tasha talked to Ashford, but he said no deals would be made. Homeland security was continually cracking down on illegals, regardless of their nationality. Of course, they didn't bother telling the two men that until after they had gotten the information they wanted.

  Apparently the two construction workers had pulled similar scams in other towns. One of the top accounting men in CoKan had paid the two to bring cheap labor into the plant, doctoring the books to make it look like they were paying top wages, where in actuality, the illegals were paid next to nothing and the men in charge took the difference. A few phone calls led to raids in other CoKan affiliated plants where the contractors had recently worked and a net was dropped on the entire operation.

  The Mexican, who did happen to be a legal alien, apparently was a go between for illegals wanting into the country to work and those willing to take the risk of transporting them. Add a couple of assault charges to his rap sheet and the man was looking at prison time.

  Once the paperwork was done, Lou tried to call Kelly but she wasn't at the café or home so he went out for a steak dinner and beer with Dom and Tasha. Dom wasn't heading back to DC until after the rodeo but Tasha would fly out for the coast tomorrow.

  "Can you take me up to Denver?” she asked Lou as they finished eating.

  "What time's your flight? I've got prelims for the calf roping tomorrow night."

  Dom laughed. “You're actually going through with that? I thought you were just using the rodeo for your cover."

  Lou shot him a look. “I ride; you know that."

  His partner snorted. “Yeah, like a hundred years ago. Aren't you afraid of busting your ass?"

  "You're the same age as I am, so where do you get off calling me old?"

  "Geez, you two,” Tasha interrupted, snatching the check out of Lou's fingers and heading for the register. “You would think you were married to each other the way you argue. Get a life."

  "Look who's talking,” Dom muttered to Lou, “the original ice queen."

  "I heard that Harris,” Tasha turned towards them, slowly sliding her hand beneath her jacket towards her back. Lou wondered briefly if she was still carrying and planned to draw on Dom.

  Dom must have thought so, too, because he raised both hands in the air signaling surrender. “Hey, I was just kidding."

  Tasha flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. She had the looks of a cover model, but she was tough as nails. Of course, Lou knew better than to say that out loud.

  "When I find a man who can outshoot me with a .38 special, bench press more than me and has enough stamina to keep up with me, then just maybe I'll be inclined to try him out."

  Dom sputtered. “Try him out? You make it sound like you can just send us back if you don't like the fit."

  She tilted her head and gave him a dazzling smile. “And why not? Isn't that what you men do?” She turned on her heel and headed for the door. “Pick me up at ten, Kincaid."

  Lou laughed at Dom's startled expression. Dom was totally engrossed while on an assignment, but back in DC, he was a lady's man. He usually had a different woman on his arm every time there was any kind of political function, and as long as Lou had known him, he had never gotten seriously involved. Now he was gazing after Tasha like he wanted to be the first in line to test his stamina and take the woman down.

  "Good luck, old man,” Lou said, clapping him on the shoulder as they started walking out of the restaurant. “If you're going after her, you've got your work cut out for you."

  "Who said anything about taking her on?” Dom retorted, but there was a question in his voice that made Lou wonder if he was thinking otherwise. “Just because you're in love doesn't mean everybody else has to be."

  "How do you—” Lou started.

  "Christ, give me some credit. I am the number one investigator for N-sic and some things are very obvious, even to the untrained eye."

  "Yeah, right,” Lou said. He waved Dom off outside the restaurant and climbed into his truck. His thoughts had been on Kelly most of the day, hating that the paperwork on their investigation had taken as long as it had. Now, it was really too late to stop and see her because he knew just exactly what was going to happen the next time they were together and he wanted to have all the time in the world.

  He was g
oing to tell her he loved her and he wanted to marry her and then they would spend a wonderfully long time—days maybe—in each other's arms.

  * * * *

  Kelly was furious. She never wanted to see Loukota Kincaid again as long as she lived. And that plan would work, too, if she moved to the farthest reaches of Alaska.

  He had already called twice Friday morning and she had let the answering machine pick up every time, determined not to speak to him.

  He had lied to her. Monty had called with information as to what the real Lou Kincaid did for a living but even if he hadn't, she wasn't blind. Did he think she didn't read the paper? Front-page headlines jumped out at her from the kitchen table where her mother had left the morning paper spread open.

  Raid at CoKan Nets Illegals in an Inside Operation. The article named names, and while her mother had waxed poetic about Lou's heroism, Kelly had steamed.

  Since Wednesday night when he had left her standing in the rain with images of shootings in her mind, she had run the gamut of worry, anger, more worry, terrifying fear and back to anger. And when he didn't call the entire day on Thursday, the worry disappeared and she embraced the anger.

  Anger at him for not calling, for lying, for putting himself in danger. But in her deepest thoughts, she knew if she let go of the anger, her heart would shatter in a million pieces and she would never be able to put it back together.

  All those times when he wouldn't talk to her now made sense. He had been in Dexter on a job, and he hadn't trusted her enough to tell her. If he couldn't trust her with that, how could she trust him with her heart?

  With a sigh, she glanced at the kitchen clock, knowing she had to leave for work. Mom expected her by ten. The sidewalk sales were in full swing and the café would be busy all day. She only hoped Lou didn't come into the Crystal Water because she just didn't want to face him right now.

  Driving down Main Street toward work, her gaze automatically zeroed in on the blue truck pulling into a lot off to one side. Damn, Lou was in town after all. Her eyes widened as she watched him park in front of the Lazy K Motel, get out and knock on one of the doors.

  Horns honked behind her when the light turned green, but Kelly couldn't seem to focus on anything except the door to that hotel room opening to frame the blonde from the rodeo ... and the bar.

  "Damn you to hell, Kincaid!” she swore as she jerked her Jeep around the corner, swerving into the hotel parking lot. Her tires squealed as she stomped on the brakes, missing the side of his truck by mere inches. Both Lou and the blonde looked over in surprise as Kelly slammed the door and stormed up to where they stood by the open hotel room door.

  "You son of a bitch!” she yelled at him. She kept her hands clenched into fists at her sides, because she really wanted to hit him; to physically hurt him the way she was hurting.

  He looked totally taken back by her anger. “Whoa, sweetheart, what's—"

  "Don't call me that, you ... you...” Kelly was so mad, she couldn't even think of a word bad enough for him at this moment.

  "I'm out of here,” the blonde said, holding her hands in the air and shaking her head. “This could get ugly and I've got a plane to catch."

  Kelly narrowed her eyes at the woman. Even if she was mad at Lou, she wanted to scratch this woman's eyes out; wanted to fight her for the man standing between them.

  "Give me your keys. I'll leave them with the parking attendant at the terminal."

  The woman held out her hand and Lou tossed her the keys to his truck without taking his gaze off Kelly.

  Kelly didn't understand what was going on. They were both acting way too casual to be lovers, and the blonde was leaving and Lou didn't seem to care.

  "He's all yours, honey,” the woman told Kelly as she started the truck.

  "I don't want him!” Kelly shouted but the woman just waved as she drove off.

  "What the hell's going on, Kelly?"

  She turned to glower at him. “You finally find your voice and you swear at me?"

  His brows rose. “Let's take this inside.” He reached for her elbow but Kelly jerked back.

  "I'm not going into that room.” The room you were in with that woman, she thought but couldn't bring herself to say out loud. That would have made it all too real. It was bad enough that she was raving like a mad woman.

  With the leashed power Kelly knew he possessed but seldom displayed, Lou scooped her up over his shoulder and walked through the door, slamming it behind them.

  "Put me down!” She pounded his back. He complied, tossing her onto the bed. She flipped her hair out of her eyes to see him standing, legs braced and hands on hips, staring down at her. He took off his cowboy hat, tossing it on the small table. He didn't say a word, not for long minutes on end. He just stared at her as though trying to solve a puzzle.

  "You own and work for N-sic,” she finally accused.

  His eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?"

  "Never mind how I know. You lied to me."

  He sighed. “I wouldn't do that, Kelly."

  "You did,” she interrupted. “About your arm."

  Lou shook his head. “Look, I still rodeo and that's about as far into any conversation as we ever got. Now tell me how you know about N-sic."

  Kelly narrowed her eyes, deciding she could be just as mysterious. “I have my sources."

  He frowned. “You can access info on a top-level security company from here in Dexter, Colorado?"

  She hated that he thought she had never wandered beyond the city limit signs. Didn't he think she had dreams; that she had wanted more than Dexter offered? But as he had implied, they hadn't spent a lot of time talking. If they were ever to have a chance, they had to start.

  "I worked for the Pentagon,” she said, jutting her chin out.

  His mouth dropped open in total disbelief. “You worked ... Oh, that's rich. Here I thought I was protecting you by not telling you what was going on, and apparently you could have found out with—what, a couple phone calls?"

  "Only one call, actually,” she replied with a shrug.

  "Kelly Jean Baker, what am I going to do with you?” He was shaking his head from side to side, a half smile tugging at his lips.

  "You were trying to protect me?” His words had finally sunk in and the anger she had felt began to melt away.

  He stepped toward the bed, bracketing her with his hands on the mattress.

  "Sweetheart, we thought we were dealing with terrorists. At first, I figured the only way to keep you safe was to stay away from you.” His grin was wide now, and sexy as ever. “That obviously didn't work, so I tried not talking about it."

  By now, his lips were brushing hers and she sighed, reaching up to circle his neck when another thought struck her. She shoved him, catching him off balance and he fell on his butt on the carpet.

  "If you were so concerned about me, then who the hell was that blonde?"

  This time when Lou climbed to his feet, he came towards her with a look fierce enough to have Kelly scooting backwards up the bed. She stopped when her back hit the headboard but Lou kept coming, crawling up the bed, pushing her legs apart and settling between them, his face rubbing into her stomach.

  "Her name is Tasha. I told you that.” Lou had scooted her tee shirt up as he talked and he now planted hot little kisses on her bare midriff. Kelly knew if she was going to get any more information out of him, she had to do it quickly before she totally melted under his assault.

  "Who is she, Lou?” She tried to make her voice firm but it was increasingly difficult because he had scooted up a little, his mouth now on a beeline towards her breasts.

  In one of those swift, contained moves that she was coming to associate with him, he suddenly had her flat on her back, straddling her as he pinned her hands above her head.

  "She's a Fed, Kelly. I worked with her on this job. That's all there is to it. Finished; done.” His gaze racked her and she felt undressed. “Okay?"

  He didn't move, holding her gaze wit
h his, waiting for her answer.

  "Okay,” she said in a small voice, wondering how she had doubted him.

  "Good, because now I can get on with what I've been thinking about constantly since we left off Wednesday night."

  "Mmmm, does it involve having our clothes on?” Kelly wiggled her hips beneath his.

  He slowly shook his head. “Not a stitch.” And in no time at all, he showed her.

  Chapter 9

  Lou had promised yesterday that they would talk more and get some things settled between them, but with everything going on in town, Kelly knew it would probably not be for a few days. For once, it didn't matter, because he had told her what she needed to hear—that he had no desire to be with anyone but her. More importantly he had proceeded to show her just exactly how much he wanted her.

  They had gotten kicked out of the hotel room when the maid came, opening the door with her master key without even knocking. Of course, Tasha had already checked out and the maid thought the room was empty. Luckily, she had been dressed and Lou was only lacking a shirt when they hurried out and climbed into her Jeep.

  Now, although she would rather have been with Lou, she was hurrying down Main Street to First where all the floats and bands were organizing. Her class had decorated a flatbed last week for the parade and most of her students were already there.

  "Where's Pedro?” she asked, looking around for the little boy who had been so excited about being part of the festivities. His mother wasn't there either and she wondered if he had gotten sick.

  "I don't know,” Maria answered and Kelly smiled. When the class had started Maria could neither speak nor understand a word of English.

  "Senorita Kelly, Senorita Kelly!"

  She turned as Pedro plowed into her, grabbing her around the knees and nearly knocking her over.

  "Le golpearon a mi papá. Apurese!” He began jabbering in Spanish so rapidly, Kelly couldn't understand a word, but Maria gasped beside her.

  "Esperate, slow down, Pedro, no te entiendo.” She shook her head as she brushed his hair out of his eyes, only then noticing the bruise on his cheek. She knelt down so she was on his level.