COWBOY WITH A BADGE

by Margaret Watson

  "That's Red Rock property." Dev narrowed his eyes. "What's that bastard doing?"

  Ben, staring up the rutted trail, paid no attention. "It should be easier to follow him up here. Are you ready?"

  Every instinct in Devlin's body screamed at him to go faster, but he forced himself to endure the excruciatingly slow pace. Finally, when they were in a small clearing, Ben stopped his truck and got out.

  After what seemed like a long time, he laid his hand on Dev's shoulder. "Something happened here. My guess is that she got away from him, but I can't be positive. There are two tracks of footprints leading away from the area. One doubles back, and the tracks from his truck continue on the road."

  Devlin looked around grimly, finally recognizing the place. "We're not far from where that drifter was found at the base of a cliff, his neck broken. I suspect that he had the same thing in store for Carly."

  "Probably." Ben's voice held no inflection. "What do you want to do here?"

  Dev made a quick decision. "Which way do you think Carly went?"

  "Over there, I think." He pointed to the rock-strewn base of a cliff. "I can't be sure, though, without tracking her farther."

  "I'll try to find her. You go round up the rest of the deputies and anyone else who's willing to help, and bring them back here. We'll spread out and try to find Carly and the bastard who took her."

  Dev waited until Ben had turned his truck around and headed down the trail, then he started for the base of the cliff.

  * * *

  It was getting darker. Carly leaned against the wall of the cave and tried not to think about spending the night out here, alone. She could face the dark, she told herself fiercely. At least she'd gotten away from Phil Hilbert.

  The can of soda she'd hit him with had only stunned him momentarily, but it had given her enough time to scramble behind a pile of rocks. Fear and desperation had given her feet wings, and she'd managed to run quite a distance over the uneven ground while he struggled to his feet.

  His angry shouts and threats had echoed off the rocks, but she hadn't stopped to listen to them. By the time the shouting stopped, she had managed to climb down a small cliff and she was running across another small canyon.

  She'd heard him behind her, huffing on the cliff, but she hadn't slowed down. She'd just kept running, blindly, hauling herself up one cliff and sliding down the next. Her hands were torn and bleeding, and her arms and legs ached with the strain when she finally stopped, her chest burning.

  She recognized this place, she realized with a surge of hope. A small, deep blue lake stood in the clearing, and at one end was a tiny cabin. This was the spot where she and Devlin had shared a picnic.

  And a whole lot more.

  Telling herself not to think about that, she skirted the cabin and headed for Devlin's cave. There would be no protection in the cabin. If Phil managed to follow her this far, it was the first place he would look. But she would be safe in Devlin's cave.

  It took a while to find it. All the boulders and red rocks looked the same, but finally she found the entrance and slipped inside. She could see most of the small valley from the opening, and she finally allowed herself to relax as she watched for Phil.

  He never arrived, but neither did anyone else. By the time it started to get dark, she knew she would be up here all night. There was no way she could find her way down the mountain in the darkness.

  When the darkness was complete and she could no longer see out the door of the cave, she found the old set of saddlebags that Devlin left here and wrapped herself in the blanket. She ate one of the candy bars, but forced herself not to touch the cans of soda. She might need them again. Telling herself to sleep, to save her strength for the next day, she closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn't come.

  Too many noises drifted into the cave. At first the squeaks and chirps and low grunts of mountain animals and birds jarred her nerves. Every sound made her jump as she imagined that Phil had found her. But after a while she relaxed against the wall of the cave, her body exhausted. The sounds began to seem normal, simply a part of the night.

  Her eyes closed and she was drifting between awareness and sleep when she heard a different sound. A rock rolled down the cliff, bouncing off other rocks on its way. A sound like the scuff of a boot echoed sharply in the sudden silence of the night.

  Carly held her breath, and realized that all the other sounds of the night had stopped, too. Her heart began thudding against her chest, almost painful in its intensity. She closed one hand around the can of soda and the other around the pocket knife she'd set out earlier. They were pitiful weapons, but they were all she had.

  The moon had not yet risen, and the darkness was almost complete. With nothing but inky blackness in front of her, she strained to hear. In the silence, she thought she heard fingernails scrape against the stone.

  She couldn't see the blade of the knife, but she held it stiffly in front of her. Shrugging off the blanket, she crouched in the blackness, waiting for whoever was out there to stick his head above the floor of the cave. She'd only have one chance, and she would make it a good one.

  "Carly?"

  The voice was a disembodied whisper, floating up into the cave. She tightened her grip on the knife and shifted her feet.

  "Carly? Are you up there? It's me, Dev."

  His voice was still hushed, but she recognized it. "Dev?" she said, unable to force herself to speak above a whisper. "Devlin?"

  The next instant he appeared in the entrance to the cave. Hauling himself over the ledge of rock, he reached for her and pulled her into his arms with rough hands.

  "My God, Carly are you all right?" His grip on her tightened almost painfully, then he leaned back and touched her face. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

  "I'm fine," she said, but couldn't stop the quiver in her voice. Her hands fisted on his shirt, and she never wanted to let him go. "I'm fine. How did you find me?"

  His fingers trailed over her face, as if he was memorizing her with his hands. Finally, he speared his hands through her hair and pulled her close again. "Ben pointed out your trail, and I tried to follow it. It took me a while, though, because I'm not a tracker like Ben. Once I got to this valley, I hoped you'd remember the cave."

  "It took me a while to find it." She shivered, and he pulled her closer. "I was afraid to leave, afraid that Phil was waiting for me. When it got dark, I knew I'd never find my way down the mountain at night."

  "So it was Hilbert."

  Even in the darkness, she could feel the anger vibrating off him. "It was Phil," she agreed. "Didn't Ben show you the papers I'd left at the office for you?"

  "There wasn't time. Once I found your car, I radioed Ben and we followed you up the mountain. I wasn't interested in a bunch of papers."

  "I found them at the newspaper office." The memory brought back a flood of emotion. "Oh, Dev, I was right. Edmund had found proof that Phil Hilbert was stealing water from your father. He'd been investigating the whole time the court fight was going on, and afterward. He wrote a bunch of articles about it, then put them in his special box." She fingered the cord that hung around her neck. "This key was the key to that box. Apparently Edmund wanted to check one more fact before he ran his articles. He knew that if Phil was convicted of stealing water, he'd go to prison and my brother wanted to make sure everything was verified. That's when Phil Hilbert caught him and realized what he was doing."

  "Did Phil admit that he'd killed your brother?"

  "Yes. He told me he had no intention of going to prison for taking what he needed. He seemed quite proud of the fact that he'd gotten away with murder for so many years," she said bitterly. "He was going to take the copies of Edmund's articles that I had, then kill me. I told him I'd left the originals for you, but he didn't believe me. He figured I'd just put them back where I found them, in the newspaper office. And he didn't think he'd have any trouble getting them away from the Hansons. Apparently they owe him a lot of money.

  "I even s
uspected the Hansons of being involved. They seemed so upset that I was looking at the old newspapers."

  "They were, but not because of that." He sighed. "They were afraid you would figure out who they were. They'd been convicted of fraud before they moved to Cameron. Your father knew about it and gave them a second chance, but they've been afraid that you'd find out, then tell everyone in town."

  "I would never have done that!"

  "I know, but they were scared. And the Hansons would never hurt you."

  Devlin eased her against the wall and covered them both with the blanket, but he didn't take his arm away from her shoulders. He held her tightly against him, and Carly thought she felt his mouth brush her hair.

  "You're safe now. In the morning, we'll radio Ben to pick us up, then I can arrest Phil. I've been suspicious of him all along and when I interviewed him today, my suspicions grew even stronger. But the papers you've found will go a long way toward proving he killed your brother."

  "He told me he'd done it!"

  "There were no witnesses," he said, pulling her closer. "In a trial, it would be his word against yours."

  She wanted to turn to him, to lose herself in his embrace, but she forced herself to sit quietly in the curve of his arm. Devlin was comforting her now, but that was because she'd been cold and frightened. They had parted in anger, and now the harsh words he'd spoken hung between them.

  "How did you get away from Phil?" he asked, shifting his arm slightly.

  "I hit him in the head with a soda can," she said, shivering at the memory of those terrifying moments.

  "What?"

  She shrugged. "It was the only thing I could think of. He was watching me too closely to bend down and pick up a rock. I'd put two cans of soda in my backpack this morning, and I was able to take one out without him noticing. He'd been bragging about what he'd done to my brother, and how he killed a stranger to make it look like the stranger had murdered Edmund. He said that after the first time, killing was easy." She shivered. "He wasn't paying close attention to my hands. Then he noticed that I was edging away. He pulled me closer to him, and I hit him in the head with the can of soda."

  She couldn't see Devlin, but she thought she felt him smile. "I'd like to have seen that."

  "It didn't really hurt him. He fell down, but it didn't take him long to get back up. But by that time I'd managed to hide behind some rocks, so he couldn't shoot me. After that, it was just a matter of outrunning him." She managed a smile of her own. "I guess all that jogging I do back in the city finally paid off."

  "I think there was a lot more than running involved." His hand tightened on her shoulder, then he pulled her closer. "It took an incredible amount of courage to run through the mountains. You didn't know where you were, and you didn't have any food or water."

  "It wasn't much of a choice," she said. "It was either run or stay and let him kill me."

  "I'm proud of you, Carly," he said quietly. "You used your head and managed to escape. You even kept the evidence safe, and now Hilbert is going to pay for what he did. He won't be able to hide behind Bert Pickens this time."

  "You don't think Bert deliberately protected him, do you?" she asked, shocked.

  "No. Bert might not have been the best sheriff around, but he wasn't dishonest. Hilbert just used his weaknesses against him."

  For the first time since Phil had pulled her out of her car that morning, Carly began to relax. Dev was here, and she was safe. That was all that mattered right now. Snuggling closer to him, she longed to wrap herself around him but forced herself to settle for whatever he could give her.

  But suddenly he pulled her into his arms. "God, Carly, I was so scared," he muttered into her hair. "When I saw your Jeep on the side of the road, I wanted to kill whoever was responsible for hurting you."

  "I knew you would find me," she said, and her voice thickened again. "The whole time I was running away from Phil, I kept telling myself that it would be all right. You wouldn't let anything happen to me."

  "I'll keep you safe, Carly. No one will find us in this cave tonight, and tomorrow I'll make sure you get back to the ranch."

  "I know, Dev. I know you will. I trust you. Completely."

  "You shouldn't," he muttered. "I didn't do a very good job of protecting you from Hilbert in the first place."

  "You couldn't have known that he would stop me along the road," she said, tightening her hold on him. "It's not your fault."

  "Maybe if I had reopened this investigation earlier, spent more time on it, I would have arrested Phil before he was able to hurt you."

  "You don't know that, Devlin. And it doesn't matter. You found me when it counted. You're here when I need you."

  "God, Carly, if anything had happened to you…"

  His voice trailed off, but Devlin suddenly couldn't bear any separation from her. He pulled her closer, his fear a living thing snarling inside him. He found her mouth in the darkness, and she tasted of life and hope.

  Desire shot through him like a burning spear, twining and mingling with the fear that had tormented him earlier. Carly shifted beneath his mouth, opening to him, and he groaned into her mouth.

  She murmured something to him, then tightened her arms around his neck, holding him like she would never let go. He felt her desire in the trembling of her arms, in the passion in her kiss, in the touch of her hands on his body.

  The fire flared higher inside him, consuming him, completely obliterating all rational thought. It didn't matter that they were in a cave, with nothing but an old blanket between them and the rock and dirt floor. It didn't matter that he'd sworn to stay away from Carly, refused to give her another chance to break his heart. All that mattered was the need that spiraled out of control inside him, the need to claim her, to prove to both of them they were still alive.

  He fumbled with the buttons on her shirt, his fingers clumsy in the darkness. Her hands brushed his, trying to help, but she was shaking as hard as he. Finally he pulled the shirt out of her jeans and shoved it to her neck, then cupped her breasts in his hands.

  Her breath quivered and broke, and her hips arched up, searching for him. When she slid her hands beneath his shirt and splayed her fingers against his chest, a red haze of desire blotted out everything but his need for her. Taking her mouth in another searing kiss, he pulled apart the buttons on her jeans, yanking them down her legs. He barely managed to unbuckle his belt and his own jeans before she closed her hand around him, guiding him toward her heat.

  She cried out when he slid into her, wrapping her legs around him. Her fingers dug into him through his shirt, and she cried out again as he felt the waves of her release caress him. Her name was a chant on his lips as he poured himself into her.

  They lay entwined together for a long time, their rapid breathing echoing through the small cave. She held him tightly, her hands clutching at him as if she was afraid to let go. Finally he rolled over, taking her with him, so that she was lying on top of him.

  As he stroked down her back, he realized that the wad of material bunched up between them was her shirt, which he'd shoved up around her shoulders. Her jeans were tangled around her knees. He let one hand linger on the smooth skin of her bare derriere as he tried to straighten out her clothes with his other hand.

  "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I don't know what happened to me. I took you like a rutting animal."

  He felt her smile against his chest. "Did you hear me complain?"

  Desire surged back in a huge, crashing wave as she opened his shirt and began to trace circles on his chest. He felt himself harden again. "Carly, don't," he said, but there wasn't much conviction in his voice.

  She stilled her hand, and he wanted to beg her to continue. "That doesn't feel like a no," she finally said, letting her hand drift below his waist.

  He was responsible for their safety. He had to stop. He needed to pay attention to their surroundings, make sure that no one surprised them. But the night was dark, the noises from outside the cave wer
e all the normal night sounds, and as she caressed him, he felt his resolve dissipate like mist on a cloudless day.

  When he was throbbing with need, aching to feel her close around him, he pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed her palm. "God help me, Carly, I can't stop myself. I want you too much."

  He couldn't see her, but he felt her hand touch his face. "I want you, too, Dev," she said in a throaty whisper. "More than I've ever wanted anything." Her hand trembled on his cheek, then trailed down his throat to stop at the pulse pounding at the base of his neck. "Make love with me. Please."

  The darkness, the night outside the cave, the danger that still faced them, all faded away. The world shrunk to only Carly, and the need that threatened to consume him. Easing her down onto the blanket, he cupped her face in his hands and lost himself in her kiss.

  * * *

  A cool breeze drifted across his bare skin, and Devlin stirred, reluctant to open his eyes. He didn't want to wake and abandon the dream he was enjoying. Carly slept beside him, curled into him and twined around him. Her leg was wedged between his, and his hand cupped one of her breasts. Her scent filled his head, more intoxicating than reality could ever be.

  Then he heard a low, satisfied murmur next to him, a sound saturated with the memory of pleasure. Snapping his eyes open, he saw that he hadn't been dreaming. Carly was snuggled next to him, her naked body only partially covered by a blanket, and a small smile played on her lips.

  The night came back to him in a rush, the tender lovemaking they'd shared as well as the heat and passion that had flared out of control. As he looked at her, he felt himself getting hard all over again.

  But nothing was going to happen in the light of day. He'd opened himself to her last night, shown her a part of him that no one else had ever seen. He'd needed her. But he was back in control, he told himself, and he eased himself away from her.

  He was every kind of a fool for allowing himself to lose control last night. He couldn't think about what had happened between him and Carly. The sun shining into the opening of the cave reminded him that Phil Hilbert was still out there somewhere, undoubtedly searching for Carly. As they'd made love into the morning hours, completely forgetting their situation, they could have allowed Phil to find them.