by Debra Holt
“What makes you say that?”
“You’ve gone very pale. Is the heat getting to you? Or is it something else?”
“It’s just your eyes playing tricks on you. I’m fine, or I will be once we reach Santa Fe.” Kaitlyn shrugged, attempting to play off her sudden reaction.
No way was she ready to explain to her friend that she had once sat beside the window at the rear of a bus much like that one, her eyes glued to the receding distance—watching, waiting, hoping, and praying. She had prayed for a miracle. She had hoped dreams did come true in real life, not just in fairy tales. Memories pushed into her mind. Memories that had no business in the here and now of her life. But still they came… of how her eyes had searched for a car to come speeding up behind them. In her mind, the bus would pull over and stop. She could see herself flying down the steps into two strong arms. Arms that would deliver her to her most cherished dream. However, that car had never materialized and her dream had died—a slow and painful death.
The bus had kept moving. Kaitlyn had watched Texas recede into the distance through tears. It was only after one of her grandmother’s visits, a couple of years later, that she stopped hoping and believing in the impossible. She had said goodbye to that foolish little girl on an old dusty bus for good—or so she’d thought until just a few moments ago.
“Did we outrun a tumble weed or something?” Angie’s question brought reality back in a heartbeat.
Kaitlyn’s brows knitted in confusion at the unexpected question. Glancing once more in Angie’s direction, she noted her attention was on the side mirror outside her window.
“What are you talking about now?”
“Well, there are flashing red lights behind us. They’re heading this way really fast. Did you run over one of those prairie dog creatures or something like that?”
Kaitlyn checked out the rearview mirror. Angie was right. Just as she topped a rise, she caught a glimpse of a flashing light bar on a car that was quickly eating up the miles between their two cars. Then she lost it as they slipped out of sight in a dip in the road.
“There’s probably an emergency at a ranch around here. I’ll slow down and let him pass.”
In a short time, the car was almost upon them. She saw the distinctive black and white markings of the Texas Highway Patrol.
“Hmmm… I don’t think he wants to pass. I think he wants us.” Angie pointed out, still intent on the image in her mirror.
Kaitlyn’s gaze moved to the rearview mirror again where a frown visibly creased her forehead. “What is this guy’s problem?”
“Just how fast were you going?” Angie asked.
Kaitlyn glanced at the speedometer. She was going fast but, aside from when she passed the bus, she wasn’t going more than a few miles over the speed limit. And, with the distance the police vehicle came from behind her, she couldn’t imagine him tracking her speed with radar. It wasn’t like she’d blown past a speed trap or anything. With the wide open expanses of flat land and low brush, there was nowhere for the trooper to hide from view.
“I don’t think he’s after us, Ang.” To be safe, she lifted her foot off the accelerator and coasted until the car slowed to a few miles below the limit.
“Don’t stop.”
Her eyes flew in Angie’s direction.
“I mean it. I’ve seen this in a movie before. Two lone females in the middle of nowhere… do not stop.”
“You’re really losing it. You spent too much time in the sun yesterday. It baked your brain.”
Angie made a face at her. “When he gets out of his car with a chainsaw, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “You and your vivid imagination. You watch too many of those types of movies.” Slowing the car, she moved to the shoulder of the road.
At a full stop, she placed the car into park and waited. The trooper pulled up behind her, lights still flashing.
“I suggest you be quiet and let me handle this.” Kaitlyn instructed her passenger.
“I won’t say a word.”
Kaitlyn’s raised eyebrows were a silent comment on Angie’s response.
Keeping her hands on the steering wheel, she glanced at her side view mirror. She could make out the outline of a man wearing a hat in the driver’s seat.
Angie sat still, hands folded in her lap, as if waiting for that axe—or chainsaw—to appear at any moment. “Perhaps taking a jet from Atlanta to Santa Fe might have been a better idea, after all,” she muttered in the silence. “What’s taking him so long to get out of the car?” Angie spoke in a loud whisper, as if the man could hear their conversation.
“He’s probably running the plates on a computer and calling it in. I thought you watched those crime shows on television.” Kaitlyn tossed back.
“Not as much as you apparently do. How much experience have you had with the law?”
Once upon a time… Another unbidden recollection came and a shiver danced across the tender skin at the base of her neck. Kaitlyn’s eyes darted again to the image in the mirror. There was an odd quickening in her pulse.
Don’t be an idiot. You’re a long way from where he would be a cop—even if he is still in law enforcement. Why didn’t that make her feel better?
Slowly, the door of the patrol car opened and a tall, lanky frame stood and adjusted his hat and tie before moving with a slow gait toward her side door, all the while speaking into the radio microphone attached to his shoulder. Kaitlyn waited for him to approach before she pushed the button on the panel next to her. She fixed a pleasant smile on her face.
“Hello, officer. Is there something wrong?”
“Good afternoon, ma’am.” He had a soft drawl, one arm coming to rest above the open window. The trooper couldn’t be older than his early twenties, fresh-faced and performing his duty with efficiency. “I need to see your driver’s license and car registration, please.”
Kaitlyn was aware of Angie emitting a soft chuckle beside her. Ignoring her, she slid her hand into her purse and brought out her wallet. Withdrawing the license from its sleeve holder and the paperwork from the console, she handed it all over to the uniformed officer. He seemed to study it longer than was necessary.
“Thank you, Miss Russell. If you’ll just be patient while I check on this?” He sauntered back to his car and opened the door.
Kaitlyn sighed, pressing the button to raise the glass again and protect the AC from escaping into the heat outside. “At this rate, it’ll be dark before we reach the state line.”
“I think this is going well,” Angie remarked as she sat quietly, her hands folded in her lap, staring ahead. “Deputy Do-Right is certainly a talker.”
“He’s a state trooper, not a deputy.” Kaitlyn stared at the scenery ahead, her fingers playing staccato in agitation on the steering wheel.
A light tap on the window startled her. She lowered the glass with a hopeful smile. Surely they would be on their way soon.
“Miss Russell,” he said as he handed back her license. “Can you step out of the car, please?”
“What is the problem, deputy… trooper, I mean?” Angie asked as she leaned across the center console to look up at the man who turned his officious smile in her direction.
“There’s someone on his way that will let you know what it’s all about. Miss Russell, if you would please…” His hand went to the door handle.
Popping the door’s release, Kaitlyn opened it and stood. Her patience was beginning to grow thin.
Not one to leave her friend without support, Angie exited her own side and watched the scene from there.
“How long is this going to take? I really would like to know what this is about.” Kaitlyn fought to keep her voice controlled. She never liked guessing games.
“Well, ma’am, I think you’re about to get some answers.” As he spoke the words, he nodded over her shoulder.
They all turned to look. What the—She was surprised to see a sleek, dark blue helicopter moving swi
ftly toward them. Kaitlyn raised her hand above her eyes to block the glare of the sun. She tried to make out the markings on the craft, but to no avail. What on earth was going on?
“This day is finally getting interesting again.” Angie spoke up. “Do you think they could give us a lift to New Mexico?”
“I’m glad you’re finding this amusing because I’m not.”
“That’s because you always like to be the one in control.” Angie responded with a slight toss of her head and a knowing grin.
“Yes, I do. I admit it. This person better have a quick explanation so we can be back on our way.”
The helicopter made a pass overhead then descended and swung back in a wide arc. In a few brief minutes, the pilot had easily set it down a few hundred yards distant on the side of roadway.
As the blades began to slow, the passenger side door opened. Another trooper stepped down from the craft. She moved toward them, the other trooper acknowledging her arrival with a slight nod of the head.
She nodded to both Kaitlyn and Angie before moving to stand beside her male counterpart. Obviously, this was not the person with the answers for them.
“Well, well… hellooo, handsome!”
Angie’s comment, spoken in a low voice, made Kaitlyn swing her attention back to see what Angie was talking about or, more precisely, who had elicited such a breathless compliment from her friend.
In that moment, the world imploded. Everything she had trusted to not change was shattered. Time came to a screeching halt. She literally froze in place. It would be sometime later when she tried to remember if she even managed a breath of air. Everything waited… waited on the tall male figure who had stepped out of the pilot’s side door and was advancing slowly toward her.
He was the human version of a predator advancing upon a stunned prey. He was also the one person she had never expected to see again—the cowboy that all females should beware of and the memory that just refused to stay buried. Only here he was, in human form… twelve years too late. Those four words echoed through her mind with each step he took in her direction. They were quickly replaced by a feeling of immediate panic and the sudden urge to flee. Except, there was nowhere for her to run in the miles of open spaces. There was no place to hide, even if she could have made her feet move. They were cemented to the asphalt. Her hand had dropped to her side at some point.
Clay Morgan’s eyes were concealed behind dark glasses, but she could see them just as plainly in her mind’s eye as if it were only yesterday when she last looked into their depths. They could change from warm honey to deep rich caramel… with darker chocolate rings around the irises that highlighted golden flashes of sparks in the depths when he was excited. When he wanted, their warmth could melt someone into a puddle at his feet or sear them to their spot in anger. Her gaze moved to his mouth. Would he still have that smile? The thought came unbidden… along with a lot of other things moving in a kaleidoscope she couldn’t halt.
When this man smiled, the terms devilish and deliciously charming were the best anyone could use to describe it, with deep grooves creasing either side of a mouth that was too sexy for words. It was both boyishly disarming and yet devastating enough to conquer any female he turned it on. Surprising, the details one can remember in the throes of panic. That smile certainly wasn’t in evidence at the moment. There was a grim, determined set to his strong, squared jaw and his mouth was compressed in a tight line. An ivory Stetson covered his head and shaded most of his face from view at the moment.
The dark lenses of her glasses allowed her eyes to take in every inch of his remembered six foot, three inch rock hard body as he moved toward her. Her gaze skimmed across the familiar broad shoulders encased in a dark navy jacket, a white shirt made whiter by a tan obviously not from a tanning salon, the lean waist and long legs in snug fitting jeans and black hand-tooled western boots. Add in the hat and the dark glasses and he was a living, breathing ad for a man’s cologne. One could make a mint off the females who would buy the magazines just for his photo alone—forget the product. Well, Kaitlyn wasn’t buying. Not ever again.
Fight or flight. Those words suddenly jarred into her mind. She could turn into a cowering fool or stand up and show him that his sudden appearance into her life did not faze her. He held no sway over her anymore. He was a childish crush long past. Clay Morgan had turned his back on her after she’d laid her heart at his feet.
He came to a halt just a couple of feet from her. She held her ground.
“Hello, Kat.” The words were low and vibrated through her with intensity. She never thought she’d hear his voice, let alone hear him call her that name again. It picked up her stomach and flip-flopped it a dozen times, threatening to shatter her hard, fought-for resolve.
It did serve one purpose, though. It broke through the invisible chains that had rooted her to the spot at his unexpected arrival. How dare he presume? Clay Morgan had given away any right to call her that name. He had never called her Kaitlyn—sometimes Kate—but mostly it had been Kat. He had christened her with the name because of her habit of curling up like a cat on a sunny porch step when she napped in her favorite swing in the garden. In her mind, he had no right to those memories. Here he strolled into her life again and was speaking as if nothing bad had ever transpired between them. It was as if those twelve years hadn’t existed and he was greeting an old friend. Well, they were far from friends. Her fists clenched. Already she was losing ground and she needed to gain it back.
“Mr. Morgan. I suppose you’re going to tell me what this is all about?”
Addressing him by his formal name scored, as evidenced by the clenching movement along his jawline.
“Your grandmother has been trying to get in touch with you.” His voice held a deeper tone when he spoke, perhaps laced with a hint of warning? Don’t push too far or I’ll push back.
“She needs to see you. Georgia found out you were passing through Texas, so she asked me to find you and bring you to visit her. She really needs to discuss some family business. I said I’d do my best to fulfill her request. You should know she had her semi-annual checkup a few days ago. Evidently, it gave her some cause for alarm.”
Her grandmother was ill? Panic swept through her veins once again. The woman sent him to find her? Has Georgia lost her senses? Someone better pinch Kaitlyn and wake her from this bad dream.
“You drop in from nowhere to deliver this message? And what’s wrong with her? Is it serious?” Kaitlyn’s mind was trying to process everything, but she needed him gone. “Why didn’t she call me and tell me this news? Whatever is going on, you’ve delivered the message and can leave now.”
There was a definite twitch of something at the corner of his mouth. Did he find this amusing? How dare he laugh at her!
“First of all… calm down. If there was an emergency situation right now, we would already be inside that helicopter and on our way out of here. However, since I left the ranch earlier this morning, there has been a development. I was notified a few minutes ago that Georgia is being admitted to the hospital as we speak.” He held up the palm of his hand. “Don’t panic. I’m told it’s for some additional tests to be on the safe side. She’s resting and will be able to see you in the morning. That way, there will be far more answers than questions. This is what she wants. Nothing else should matter.”
“I want to speak with her myself… now. Please give me the number and I’ll call her.” Hands on hips, she was prepared to stand right there until she got answers from her grandmother.
Producing a small radio from his jacket pocket, he handed it to her. “I figured as much. Cell coverage is spotty out in this area, but this satellite link should work. Hit five. She should pick up.”
Kaitlyn did just that, the phone going to her ear. After three buzzes, there was a click.
“Hello? Hello? Kaitlyn? Are you there?”
A wave of relief mixed with a layer of emotion swept over Kaitlyn as she heard the dear, familiar voice. “Yes
, it’s me, Gran. How are you? Why are you in the hospital?”
“First of all, don’t worry. This is just a precaution this old coot wants to subject me to.” She evidently wasn’t alone in her room as Kaitlyn could hear some background noise and a couple of other voices. “He’s giving me the evil eye, thinking he can intimidate me, but he can’t. Anyway, I’m going to be a little busy here and then try to get some sleep. I want to be able to have a good visit with you tomorrow when we can have some uninterrupted time. There are some important things we need to discuss. So settle in tonight and Clay will get you here in the afternoon after visiting hours begin. He really is doing me a great favor… taking time away from his work and flying off in his own helicopter to find you. I have to go now. I’m just so glad you’re finally home again. It makes me feel better already. Love you!”
The line went dead before Kaitlyn could make any reply. She handed the phone back to Clay, who stood watching and waiting.
“I suppose I have no other recourse but to follow her plan. Sorry you had to take time from your work and waste your time coming out here. If you’ll give me directions, I can…”
“Your car will be driven to the ranch by one of these troopers. We’ll make faster time in the helicopter. You’ll want to get settled and have a rest before tomorrow.”
The two stood glaring at each other—two would-be adversaries locked in some unknown battle. That was probably how it looked to the other onlookers. Seconds ticked by.
“I have a feeling that it will do me little good to argue. I’m not happy about any of this.” Try a different tack. “I do appreciate all you’re doing for Gran. Gran didn’t need to bring you into this.” Kaitlyn tried to think of an argument that could free her and Angie from this spot, but she came up empty.
The important thing was that she needed to remain in control and not let the man’s appearance continue to rattle her. Or at least not show it. Right. That was easier said than done when every nerve in her body was screaming to be far away from the man who stood watching her with the stillness and watchfulness of a cougar waiting to go for the jugular vein of its prey. She was trapped for the time being.