by Rita Herron
“I don’t know,” Alex said, his voice grave. “He broke out of prison last night with two other inmates.”
Mia’s hand shook, sloshing coffee over the rim and onto her hand. He reached out and took the cup from her, then set it on the wooden coffee table. “I’m sorry, Mia. There’s a statewide manhunt out for him now.”
Mia was his.
She had been from he moment he’d laid eyes on her in that coffee shop. She’d looked so delicate as she’d rushed in, all windblown and sexy with those enormous eyes.
All slender and soft and perfect, like she’d been born to please him.
Flirting with her had come naturally. Making love to her such an innate, desperate need that he’d had to force himself to wine and dine her before taking her to bed.
And then the wedding. Ahh…Mia had no family, no mother to dote on her or interfere, no father to have to ask for her hand. Isolated and alone, she’d needed him as much as he’d needed her. Giving her the wedding of her dreams had brought him great pleasure just as molding her into the perfect wife had.
The ungrateful bitch.
He snuck into the cheap hotel room, then dropped the hair dye onto the sink. Damn, but he liked his looks and hated like hell to change his appearance.
But doing so was necessary to find the love of his life.
If she thought that being locked in a cell or that distance and time had dimmed his feelings for her, she was sorely mistaken.
In fact, the effect had been quite the opposite. Without his job to focus on, he’d had hours and hours every day to think about her. Remember her.
Imagine the two of them back together again. Sharing the same roof. The same dinner table.
The same bed.
Together they’d stood in front of the preacher and declared their love – till death do us part.
It was time Mia remembered that vow.
CHAPTER TWO
He broke out of prison. He broke out of prison. He broke out of prison.
The words reverberated over and over in Mia’s head like a drum pounding out a war song. She had to swallow to make her voice work. This tough Texas Ranger had seen her at her most vulnerable.
She’d worked too hard to regain her dignity to show him that side again. She could not, would not, let this destroy her. “How did it happen?”
Sgt. Townsend sipped his coffee. “Around midnight, one of the prisoners set a fire. Sent alarms peeling. Guards had to move the inmates in that wing. During the process, Jones and two other prisoners jumped the guards, stole their weapons and bulldozed their way out of the building.”
Mia contemplated his words, images forming in her head. When Geoff had first been arrested, she’d had a difficult time imagining how he’d react in prison. Stripped of his personal belongings, his three-piece suits, and Rolex, how would he survive?
Then again, he had money and power on the outside. Why wouldn’t he use it to help him inside?
He’d certainly been violent with her. Why wouldn’t he turn that violence on the guards who he probably perceived as wronging him?
Geoff could easily have bought contraband, cell phones, and … paid someone to track her down.
“Has he been spotted anywhere?” she asked, fighting to calm the desperation in her voice.
Alex shook his head. “We believe the three men split up once they escaped. They stole an employee’s car from the parking lot and hightailed it away. That car was found abandoned about a hundred miles away in a discount store parking lot.”
“And they did what? Stole more cars?”
“Actually no cars were reported stolen. We think they had friends on the outside who helped them.”
Mia gripped her hands together as if by doing so she could keep herself from falling apart. The image of her ultrasound flashed in her mind.
Then waking up in the hospital to the horrible realization that her baby had died.
She’d begged her lawyer not to reveal that she’d been pregnant at the trial, but Geoff’s attorney had learned about the pregnancy from the medical report.
Geoff had accused her of sleeping with someone else and said the baby wasn’t his.
But the jurors had seen that unsympathetic side of him, and her attorney had pointed out that if he thought she was having an affair, it provided motive for the vicious attack.
The fact that he hadn’t shown remorse for killing his own unborn child had clenched the guilty verdict.
“Geoff had money and friends,” she said, disgust rolling through her. “They didn’t believe the accusations about him.”
“I know. I watched his parents at the trial. They were in denial,” Sgt. Townsend said. “Plus, the photographs of your injuries were never released to the public, so it made it easier for his so-called friends to believe him.” He heaved a breath. “But at least the jury wasn’t dissuaded by his charm.”
Humiliation suffused Mia. Thank God for that.
Looking back, she realized she should have left Geoff a lot sooner than she’d tried to. But after each violent outburst, he kept promising that he loved her and would never hurt her.
Now she understood that was the typical pattern of an abuser.
She reached for her coffee and sipped it slowly, then looked out the window at the horses running freely in the pasture.
Yesterday, even this morning, she’d enjoyed that same freedom.
But Sgt. Townsend – no Geoff’s escape – had just stolen it from her.
Alex studied Mia, giving her time to absorb the news. She was taking it better than he’d expected. Keeping her composure.
Of course, she could be falling apart on the inside.
But her courage didn’t mean she wasn’t in danger.
“Pictures of Geoff along with the other inmates are being plastered all over the television news, internet and newspapers. Law enforcement officers across the States are on high alert and are looking for him.”
She offered him a tentative smile and placed the coffee back on the table, then knotted her hands to keep him from seeing that they were trembling. “Thanks, Sgt. Townsend. I know you’ll find him.”
But would it be soon enough?
The idea of Geoff hurting her again made his chest clench.
Alex couldn’t help himself. He reached over and covered her hands with his. The same shock of electricity that had sizzled along his nerve endings when he’d
held her six months ago shot through him.
She must have felt it, too, because she lifted her gaze to his, alarm flashing in her eyes.
Still, he didn’t release her hand. He couldn’t let her go through this ordeal alone.
It was his job to protect her. “We will find him, I promise, Mia.”
“Meanwhile, he could be on his way here now,” she said in a low whisper.
Unable to deny the truth, he shrugged. “He could be. Or maybe he’s going to play it smart and head for the border. He knows if he gets caught, he’ll go back to prison and any chance of parole will be history.”
Mia’s sad shake of her head mirrored his own thoughts. “We both know that he’ll come after me,” she said. “He said as much at the trial.” She pulled her hand away and stood, then walked over to the picture window and stared out at the lush green pasture. “He was obsessed with me. Now he’s going to be obsessed with getting revenge. With making me pay for disgracing him.”
Alex wanted to argue but there was no use. That would be lying to Mia, and he refused to do that.
But he ached to comfort her, so he walked over and stood behind her, watching the horses and trying to see the land through Mia’s eyes. Beautiful rolling hills, wildflowers, horses…a peaceful view that was so vastly different from her life with Geoff in his million dollar estate with its iron fenced gates, state of the art alarm system, and neatly trimmed shrubbery.
“You didn’t wrong him, Mia. He was the one who hurt you,” Alex said gruffly. “No man should ever lay his hand on a woman like he did.”
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Mia’s shoulders sagged, and she turned to him, her eyes glittering with emotions. “But he sees the world differently,” she said matter-of-factly. “In his eyes, I was the one who broke our vows. Who betrayed him by even thinking about leaving.”
“He didn’t deserve you,” Alex said, unable to keep the anger from his voice.
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if a sudden chill had swept over her. “In his eyes, he saved me. I was nothing but a small town girl with no money, no future. He told me once that he would give me the world.” A bitter laugh escaped her. “Instead he imprisoned me.”
“And gave you a world of hurt,” Alex said, his heart tugging. “I won’t let him hurt you again.”
“You can’t promise that,” Mia said. “No one can. If he wants to find me, he will.”
“We can take you to a safe house,” Alex said. “Give you around the clock protection.”
A steely look crossed her angelic face, a combination that he admired and one that stirred primal instincts inside him that he’d never felt before on a case.
And she was a case. Just a case.
That’s all she could ever be.
“This is my home,” she said. “I’m not going to leave it because of him.”
“But you aren’t safe here.”
She shook her head. “Geoff took a lot of things from me during our marriage, but I’m not his wife anymore, and I refuse to let him take me from the place I love.”
A war raged in Alex’s head. If he put her in a safe house he could assign different officers to watch her. Then he could spend every minute of every day hunting down the bastard who’d made her life hell.
When he’d first seen her in the hospital, an animalistic rage had taken root inside him, and he’d wanted to give the man a taste of his own medicine.
He’d wanted to kill him.
“If you refuse to go, Mia, I’ll assign a man to stay here with you.”
Her look turned frigid. “I can’t have some strange man following me around. I…that would be almost as bad as being locked in a house with Geoff.”
He made a snap decision, hoping he wouldn’t regret it but already doing so before he spoke.
Still, he said what was on his mind anyway, because he couldn’t very well leave her alone. “Then you’re stuck with me until he’s caught.”
Mia couldn’t have heard the Ranger right. He was going to stay with her.
No, no, no, that wouldn’t work. Although he was the one man she trusted with her life, he was also the only man she’d met since the horrible debacle of her marriage that actually made her stomach flutter with awareness.
Not that he was anything like Geoff with his expensive suits and flashy car. Alex Townsend was the opposite -- an alpha male law officer who wore jeans, boots, a hat and a silver star. He was all masculine, muscles and brawn, and had steely gray eyes that had cut through Geoff’s façade.
Then looked at her with kindness and compassion.
Pity was more like it.
She’d been a wreck, and he’d helped rescue her from hell. Maybe she’d developed some kind of savior worship complex because he’d been her hero during the worst time of her life.
But God help her, the pure sight of him did something to her insides and stirred longings that she never again would allow herself to indulge in. Still, she could easily see him riding across the ranch, rounding cattle or breaking a wild stallion.
Or kissing her gently and making passionate love to her.
But appearances were deceiving – she’d learned that the hard way. And he hadn’t gotten to be a law officer without being tough, without using physical strength to wrangle in criminals. She didn’t think he’d ever use it on a woman, but she hadn’t thought Geoff would either.
And she’d been dead wrong…
“Mia?”
“I can’t let you do that,” she said, a note of panic in her voice. “You need to be looking for Geoff.”
“I will be,” he said. “But I’m also not leaving you unguarded.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a defiant tilt to her chin. “He has no idea where I am.”
He studied her for a long minute. “I hope that’s true. But he could have contacts on the outside. Someone who tracked you down already.”
A shudder coursed up her spine. Of course, she knew that was possible. “But I’m miles and miles from Austin in the middle of nowhere.”
“You’re using your maiden name,” he said. “Even a low rent PI could find you through your bank account, debit or credit card.”
Mia bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have opened an account,” she said. “But I thought – “
“You were safe because he was in prison,” he finished for her.
She nodded. Unfortunately the only way she’d ever be safe was if he was dead.
She hated herself for thinking such horrible thoughts. But it was true.
Geoff had sworn that he’d never let her go, that their vows till death do us part meant exactly that.
It was only a matter of time until he found her and made her pay.
Sgt. Townsend gestured out the window at the stables. “Do you know all of the employees who work here?”
She frowned. “I’ve met most of the ranch hands. Henry and Joy, the owners are an older couple and wonderful people. The cook Joleen is in her early sixties and a sweetheart.”
“How many ranch hands are there?”
“Ten.”
“Any recent hires?”
A frisson of fear darted through her. “New ones?”
He nodded. “Ones who were hired since you came to work here?”
She thought back. “Yes. But – “
“I have to check them out, Mia.”
“You think Geoff could have sent one of them here to watch me?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. Right now we can’t rule anything out.” He crossed his arms, his western shirt stretching across massive shoulders.
She had the sudden urge to lean into him, to seek solace in his arms. Just for a minute, to alleviate the chill enveloping her and to stop the trembling that had started deep inside her.
“Who else knows you moved here? Any old friends?”
“No.” Stupidly she’d alienated herself from everyone once she’d married and realized how controlling and possessive Geoff was. Of course that had happened slowly, even before she’d known it. He had occupied all her time, made plans for them, swept her away on trips and kept her busy attending society functions for his law firm.
Suddenly she’d realized it had been months since she’d spoken to her old friends. And after the first time he’d hit her, she’d been too ashamed to turn to anyone.
“If I remember correctly, you didn’t have any family?”
“That’s right.”
“How did you hear about the job here?”
“Through an ad in the paper,” Mia said. “The moment I drove out and saw the ranch, I fell in love with it.”
“I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe here then,” he said. “But you have to stay close to me, Mia.”
Mia stiffened. She already felt smothered.
“I’ll need a list of all the employees,” he said. “And I’d like to talk to the ranch owners. They should be aware of the situation.”
She nodded, her heart racing. Maybe she’d been selfish in insisting on staying at the Crossties.
What if Geoff showed up and hurt the McCauleys to get to her?
Geoff cursed as he sank lower into the car. He needed to talk to his parents. But he had to be careful.
The police would already have a tracer on their phone. And the cops were all over the damn place looking for him.
Dear sweet Maureen and Ross Jones were probably having fits at the sight of his mug shot on the news.
His father had taught him about business and …how to be a man.
His mother had made her mistakes over the years, but his father had been pat
ient and trained her how to be the perfect wife.
He’d hoped Mia would turn out like Maureen. Obedient. Doting. A woman who’d keep a pristine house, keep herself in top shape for him, and pleasure him at his beck and call.
But Mia hadn’t been perfect. She’d been weak and careless with her appearance at times. The cupboards were always a mess, the canned goods not alphabetized the way he’d shown her. And he didn’t want to think about the way she sometimes let that dark hair go wild and curly.
He liked it clipped in a tidy chignon at the base of her neck.
She had been learning though. At least he’d thought she was.
Until he’d discovered her secret stash of money. And that revolver.
Still, every night when he’d closed his eyes as he’d laid on that dump of a prison cot, he saw her face. Her eyes gleaming with admiration and love for him.
He heard her whispered sigh of pleasure as he made love to her.
He would have her again.
There was no doubt in his mind.
And this time she would be his forever.
CHAPTER THREE
Mia hated to bother the McCauleys, but they needed to be alerted to the possibility that a fugitive might show up at the Crossties. If they wanted her to leave the ranch, she would. They had been too kind to her to think of doing anything but following their wishes.
She knocked on the door of the big farmhouse, rethinking her stubborn insistence about staying.
Maybe she should go to a safe house until Geoff was apprehended.
Alex stood behind her, his gaze perusing the property surrounding the house for trouble.
“I’d like to ride the ranch and scope out the in and out points?”
She frowned. “The in and out points?”
“Spots where Geoff might have easy access to enter the property. Roads nearby. Places where he could hide.”
Just the thought of Geoff sneaking onto the ranch and watching her made her stomach revolt.
The door opened and Joy looked up with a smile, her apron dusted with flour. “Come on in, Mia. And who is this handsome stranger with you?”