To Catch A Cowboy (Hunks and Horses Book 2)

by Maggie Carpenter

  "Of course," he exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "That's what I couldn't put my finger on. That's it. Theresa, you're a genius."

  "I didn't do anything. I just had a dream. Queenie. It was Queenie who took me there."

  "I don't understand, but I don't need to. This is it! I have the answer."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  A soft kiss on her cheek, and the word Princess whispered in her ear, woke Theresa from a deep sleep.

  "I've gotta go. Wanda and the captain are pickin' me up."

  "They are? Why? What time is it?" she asked, half-opening her eyes.

  "Six-thirty. I didn't wanna leave without sayin' goodbye, and tellin' you it was Duke Palmer who spiked your drink."

  "Huh. Why am I not surprised? Wait, where are you going?"

  "To The Horseshoe Tavern."

  "I'll come with you."

  "No, you stay here. I'll explain everything later, and I've already spoken to Heath. Bye, Princess. I'll call you when I can," he promised, then kissing her softly, he added, "Love you."

  It wasn't until he'd left, and she'd settled down for a few more minutes of sleep, that the words sunk in.

  Her eyes flew open. Abruptly sitting up she stared at the door.

  "Did I dream that? No. He definitely said it. But did he mean, love you, like, I love you, or was it more like, take care or have a nice day? Shit."

  Though she had no answer, a happy smile curled the edges of her lips. Knowing she'd never be able to go back to sleep, she left the bed and headed into the shower.

  Walking briskly down the driveway, adrenalin pumping through his veins with the pending drama of the morning ahead, it was the two words Josh had uttered sitting in the forefront of his mind. They'd spilled off his lips with no thought, but as he neared the gate, the black Dodge Charger waiting on the other side, an epiphany swept over him.

  He did love her.

  Was in love with her.

  He loved her smile, the ever-present challenge in her dark enigmatic eyes, her courage, but mostly he loved her huge heart.

  A honk snapped him from his thoughts. Realizing he was standing stock still, he broke into a jog, pressed the buzzer to open the pedestrian gate, and hurrying across to the car, he climbed in the back seat.

  "Did you run into an invisible wall," Wanda asked as Tom hit the accelerator. "Why did you stop?"

  "A sudden thought."

  "Okay, son, let's have it. I don't take kindly to having my feet held to the fire. I could arrest you for perverting the cause of justice, withholding evidence, obstruction, and I could probably add a few more charges into the mix."

  "But you won't."

  "How can you be so sure?"

  "First off, you wanna catch this guy probably more than anyone, and goin' through all that shit will cost valuable time. Second, you know how many hours I've given to this case and in your heart you know I deserve to be there. Third, even though you maintain a tough, gruff exterior, you're not a jerk, and only a jerk would do somethin' like that."

  "You got me," Tom said with a wry grin, staring at Josh in the rearview mirror. "Now tell me what you know."

  "You promise you won't pull to the side of the road and kick me to the curb?"

  "Only a jerk would do that."

  "Touché."

  "Don't worry, you're coming along for the ride. Now tell me why I had to wake up a judge and convince him to give me a search warrant, and why three of my best boys are waiting at the tavern."

  "Wanda, remember that cable that led nowhere, and those crates of wine and beer pressed up against the wall?"

  "Of course."

  "Behind them is a hidden space. At least, I'm pretty sure there is."

  "You don't know?" Tom said gravely. "This is a guess?"

  "More than a guess. The room behind the bar is really narrow, and when I stepped outside and looked back at the buildin', I had an itch I couldn't scratch, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what was botherin' me. I woke up last night with the answer. That room doesn't extend to the end of the buildin', so what's there? Then something else hit me. Why would you go away and leave hundreds of dollars of stock so vulnerable? Those crates were just sittin' there, along with all the booze on the shelves. Everyone knew he'd left town."

  "Bottom line, he's got a hidden space and you don't think he went anywhere."

  "That's exactly what I think. And his trailer. There's something up with that as well. When I brought my mare over to the ranch yesterday, Carly suggested I unhook my trailer and leave it there. Made sense. Freed up my vehicle, but when Duke showed up to collect his horse, he rolled in with his trailer. Now I've gotta ask myself, why didn't he leave it there. Why would he haul his trailer on a trip that's about findin' new beer?"

  "Maybe he has another vehicle," Wanda suggested.

  "Maybe, but that's still doesn't explain why he wouldn't leave his trailer where his horse is."

  "You've got a mechanical brain, son. That's smart thinking. Wanda, call the station. Have that truck and trailer impounded."

  "Yes, sir."

  "What's a mechanical brain?" Josh asked. "If I've got one, I'd like to know what it is."

  "You have a way of breaking down information and seeing how the parts fit in the bigger picture. Anything else you've figured out?"

  "That's it for the moment."

  "How do you think that scarf ended up in your trailer?"

  "That's stumped me," Josh muttered. "Not how it was done, that's easy. It's the why that I find so puzzlin'. Why would someone as smart as Duke Palmer do something so stupid?"

  "That's the right question," Tom said as he turned off the main road and started down the street to the lake turnoff. "Tell me the answer."

  "Have you come up with it?"

  "Yep. Think about it. Repeat the question just the way you put it. See what you deduce by the time we get to the tavern. We're about three minutes away."

  "He loves to do this," Wanda said with a grin. "He does it to me all the time."

  "And look how much smarter you are because of it," Tom said, shooting her a wink.

  "I just had a thought," Josh said, alarm in his voice. "Do we know where Duke Palmer is? Aren't you worried about him taking off? If you impound his—"

  "You don't have to worry. Wanda and I took care of that last night."

  "I don't understand."

  "I'll explain later. The tavern's a minute away," he continued, moving on to the gravel road. "Have you got that answer yet?"

  "It's impossible. Why would someone as smart as Duke Palmer do something so stupid? He wouldn't."

  "There you go!" the captain exclaimed as he drove into the parking lot and came to a stop. "He wouldn't. So who would?"

  "Are you suggestin' he has a partner?"

  "I'm not suggesting anything. He has a partner. A stupid partner. Not unheard of in these serial offenders."

  "Who is it? Do you know?"

  "Of course," Tom replied getting out of the car, "but I'll let you ponder that for a bit."

  "See," Wanda said with a grin. "I told you. He does it all the time, but only because he likes you. I think you can consider yourself officially adopted."

  "Sam?" Josh muttered. "He could've easily put that scarf in my trailer, and he does some really dumb things at times. Damn."

  "Earth to Josh. Are you coming?"

  "What? Sorry," he apologized, finding Wanda holding his door open. "The only person comin' to mind is the barn manager at Tall Tree. He's always struck me as a bit odd and not very bright, but thinkin' about him bein' a part of this really bothers me."

  "That's because he's someone you work with, someone you're around every day, someone who fed your horse," she said, handing him a pair of latex gloves.

  "Oh, no!"

  "What? Did a penny drop?"

  "Kinda, but I wanna focus on that space behind the crates," he said quickly, silently thinking, "Is that why Queenie was so anxious to get outta that place?"

  "Hey
, Josh, you were right," the captain called. "Get over here."

  He quickened his step, but as he hurried forward, Wanda's phone rang.

  "I need to get this," she declared, staring at the screen. "Go ahead."

  Breaking into a jog, he arrived just in time to see two burly young police officers rolling the tall pile of crates away from the wall.

  "What the hell?"

  "Yep. Only the top two contained bottles. All the ones underneath are a facade. What have we got here?"

  "The wall looks solid, captain," one of the officers said, "but there's a cable going through just above the baseboard."

  "That's the cable that Wanda and I followed," Josh remarked. "It's connected to a unit on a shelf under the bar, but why put all this in front of a wall if there's nothin' to hide? There's no door, not even a small openin'."

  "If it's not the wall," Tom mumbled, "what about—"

  "The floor!" Josh exclaimed, dropping his eyes to his feet. "Look."

  A large square seam boasted a tiny thumbhole, and quickly dropping to his knees, Josh slipped his finger through it and pulled. It didn't budge.

  "Josh, do you see any hinges?" the captain demanded. "Slide the damn thing."

  "Wait. Do you hear that?"

  "Sounds like a whining dog," one of the young officers mumbled.

  "Holy crap. Slide it, quick," Tom shouted. "Dammit slide it, Josh!"

  "I'm trying"

  It abruptly moved, and as Josh stared down into the dimly lit space he saw the form of a person curled into a fetal position.

  "Call an ambulance," he said urgently. "I'm going down."

  "Hold on, Josh, you—"

  "I can help her. I was pre-med, remember? Shit, there's no ladder. It doesn't look far. I can drop."

  Before the words had left his mouth, he had swung his legs into the opening and let himself fall.

  "Stand back," Tom called. "Here's a flashlight."

  The heavy-duty flashlight hit the floor, and picking it up, Josh shone the beam across the body.

  "No, please don't hurt me," the young woman sobbed, curling herself into an even tighter ball. "Please let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear I won't."

  "I'm not here to hurt you," Josh said softly, feeling a wave of emotion wash through his heart. "That's over. I'm with the police. I'm here to get you out."

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Though Duke had avoided taking women from his tavern, when the dark-haired girl in the leather jacket sat on his barstool, she was almost too tempting to pass up. When she'd made it clear she only had eyes for Josh Brady, Duke had seen red. The good-looking cowboy had more women than a sheik's harem, and Theresa's exclamation had pushed Duke over the edge. Theresa would be his next victim.

  But Josh Brady had beaten him to the punch.

  Ten minutes after Duke had slipped the drug in her drink, Brady had hustled her out of his bar. Frustrated and angry, Duke needed a woman, and sick of seeing Josh get all the attention, Duke decided to take the buxom redhead and make sure Josh Brady got the blame.

  Though she had already left, it was easy to slip into the back room and out the side door, then catch her attention. Once she'd hurried over to see what he needed, there had been no problem keeping her silent with a knife at her throat. Getting her into the subterranean hold hadn't been easy, but the noise of the tavern covered her pleas as he'd shoved her through the opening.

  Stitching up Josh Brady had been going well, until Sam had decided to help things along by placing the redhead's blue scarf into Josh's trailer. The moment Sam had told him, Duke knew things could unravel, but he'd been extremely careful, and there was nothing that pointed to him.

  He'd make the police decide between Sam and Josh.

  The first thing he needed to do was take care of his idiot partner. The dope would fold like a flag under questioning.

  Visiting Sam at Tall Tree Farms the night before, he'd handed him a wad of cash and convinced him to take off until things cooled down. With his help, Sam had written a note saying a family crisis had called him away, but he'd be in touch very soon. Persuading him to leave in the dead of night and take the mountain road rather than the freeway had been easy.

  Sam hadn't made it very far.

  Duke had tampered with the brakes of Sam's pickup, and at the bottom of a gorge his lifeless body was surrounded by broken metal. There had been no-one on the dark empty road to witness the horrific crash.

  But now Duke was suddenly faced with his biggest problem yet.

  The police closure of the tavern had been a gift. He'd nabbed his latest prize, and with no worries of unexpected visitors he'd dumped her in his special hideaway. He always left his victims alone for at least eighteen hours. It weakened and scared them, then he'd put them in his horse trailer and cart them away to an isolated spot. Any accidental passersby would assume someone was out for a nighttime ride.

  Returning at sunrise with his truck and trailer to collect her, he'd just parked in the hidden clearing in front of the tavern when two police cars rolled up. He couldn't leave until they did. Hidden by the trees in the spot Sam would use to watch their girls stagger out, then nab them and keep them until the tavern closed, Duke watched and waited.

  Then Josh arrived with the police Captain.

  Duke broke into a sweat.

  When the ambulance arrived he knew he had to run.

  As he began hurriedly moving through the trees, the evil Gods sent him an unexpected gift.

  Stopped by police tape stretched across the gravel road, Theresa Cavalleri was stepping from her Land Rover.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  As Duke Palmer studied his prey, his devious mind clicked into gear.

  Though she wouldn't be seen by anyone at the tavern until she reached the bend in the road, she'd only have to walk a short distance to reach it. The day was quiet. No wind, no rain, nothing to break nature's silence. Screams would be heard. He had to assume she knew he wasn't the happy-go-lucky bartender she'd chatted with. He couldn't walk up with a friendly smile and charm her as he'd done so many others. He'd have to pounce from behind, smother her mouth, and throw her in the vehicle.

  But his plotting came to a sudden stop.

  She'd started to walk, but after a few steps she paused, looked over her shoulder, then turned around, smiled broadly and waved.

  He couldn't see down the road from his vantage point, and he risked three furtive steps to get closer to the road. Seeing and hearing nothing, his eyes snapped back to her.

  His prey was gone.

  He held his breath, listening keenly.

  A tiny sound to his left. His upper lip curled in a sneer. The stupid girl had run into the trees. He had her now. This was his territory.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Theresa had three distinct advantages.

  Growing up on the rough streets of the inner city, she didn't scare easily.

  She knew how to survive.

  A guardian angel watched over her.

  When she'd climbed from the car she'd felt uneasy, and walking down the road she could feel eyes following her. She'd become a target! To walk any further would be deadly. Action. She needed to take action, but what?

  Lifting her phone from her pocket and attempting to call Josh would take too much time. A scream would bring people running, but only if they heard her. If they didn't, a scream could prove disastrous. The bend in the road wasn't far, but if her stalker was Duke Palmer she probably couldn't outrun him. He wasn't tall, but he was sinewy, and she guessed he'd be quick. Only one option remained. Hide.

  The trees? No. She might lose her sense of direction and he probably knew the forest. The only other choice, the Land Rover. As an idea sprang to mind, a glimmer of hope took hold, but success depended on only one thing. Timing. She had to guess right.

  Taking a breath, she turned around, broke into a huge smile, waved. Waiting only a split second, she scurried to the front of the SUV, picked up a stone and hurled it into the tree
s.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  In the tavern parking lot, Wanda searched frantically for her captain. She'd tried calling, but his phone had gone straight to voice mail, and he hadn't responded to her text.

  "Where's the captain?" she demanded urgently, rushing into the room behind the tavern.

  "Down there with the paramedics," the young officer replied, nodding towards the opening in the floor.

  "Captain?" she called, leaning over and trying to catch sight of him.

  "He's gone into the tunnel," one of the paramedics replied, staring up at her. "We're about ready to move the patient. If you want to go after him you need to come down now."

  A ladder had been put in place, and quickly turning around, she descended into the grimy space. Bright lights had been set up showing the passageway, but still finding it forbidding she moved with caution. The journey, however, was surprisingly short. The 'tunnel' only looked like a tunnel. It was only a few yards long and led to a door. Pushing it open she found herself in a large basement with a remarkably high ceiling. Two large monitors sat against a wall, one blank, the other showing the ugly space where the victims had been held.

  "Wanda? What are you doing here?" the captain asked moving up to her.

  "This place…" she stammered, aghast at what she was seeing. "A bed? Refrigerator?"

  "We found their trophy stash. They've been busy."

  "I think I'm going to be sick."

  "Get a grip, sergeant," he said briskly. "Focus. Something sent you after me. What is it?"

  "Sorry, sir. When the tow truck arrived at the location I'd given them for Palmer's truck and trailer both were gone. I pulled up the GPS and I found the truck here."

  "Here? At the tavern?"

  "Yes, sir. He must have driven away after I gave out the address."