Protect and Serve: Soldiers, SEALs and Cops: Contemporary Heroes from NY Times and USA Today and other bestselling authors

by J. M. Madden

  “That’s essentially what he told me. He said the next town.”

  “The next town, Lilah, is thirty miles. The officer saw him just this side of Childress almost two hundred miles away.”

  She stood there flabbergasted. She’d told him how she felt about Tag and her band members, yet he was still determined to drive a wedge between them. An awkward silence stretched out. If she had some other place to go, she’d storm off and leave him standing there.

  Thankfully, Tara walked up before she made a fool of herself. “Come on, you two, they’re starting to serve. Let’s go grab a plate, I’m starving.”

  Jack gave Tara a hug and said, “I’ll take a plate with me. Hal and I are manning the phones tonight.”

  “We’ll see you later then?”

  He looked directly at Lilah, gave her a mock salute and answered, “Count on it.”

  “What’s going on with you and Jack?” Tara asked after he walked away.

  “Nothing that an attitude adjustment wouldn’t cure. He can be so obnoxious, he’s worse than a doctor with no bedside manner. If he wants me to agree with the procedure then ease me through it. Don’t hammer me over the head with it.”

  “Didn’t we just have this conversation yesterday? Jack knows what he’s doing.” Tara snagged a plastic fork along with a napkin. “Trust him.”

  Trust him. What area would that be in? Professionally, he could use lessons on tolerance and listening for starters. He hadn’t heard a thing she’d said about her family.

  As far as his personal interaction? If this morning was any indication, he had that down pretty good. A shudder washed over her at the memory of his hands and mouth and the heat he’d sent to her center in mere seconds. Even now, she was hot just thinking about him.

  Trust Jack McCommas. That might be a tall order.

  * * *

  By the time Jack got back to the gym, the rear half, set up with cots, sleeping bags and quilts, was darkened and many were already asleep. He looked for Callie and found her next to her friend, Tawny, in their respective sleeping bags. When he heard whispers and giggling, he realized they’d zippered the two bags together and were playing games on their tablets. Since they were relatively quiet, he decided to leave them alone and find himself some coffee.

  He located an insulated carafe, poured himself a cup, and took a healthy swig of the semi-warm liquid. Surprised it still tasted pretty decent, he saw Lilah sitting at a table with Riley and walked over to them.

  Pulling out a chair, he sat down.

  “Sure, join us, please.” Lilah clipped her words.

  Even he knew patronizing when he heard it. Not that he expected anything different after their last conversation. He was just too tired to deal with her resistance. Pushing the chair back, he got ready to stand. “Lilah, it’s been a long day. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She halted him with her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry for being rude, Jack.”

  He scrubbed his hand down his face. “I admit I probably wouldn’t believe you either, if you were talking against Riley. But something’s not adding up where your friends are concerned. I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass.”

  “You can’t help it.” He flinched when she punched him in the arm.

  “You’re insufferable, I’m trying to apologize."

  Riley cleared his throat. “Y’all are wearing me out with all your back and forth. I’m going to go cuddle my wife.”

  “Nite, and thank you.” She returned Riley’s hug and, when he left them alone, she faced Jack. “After we split up to go our separate ways, I had to fight for everything I achieved in my career. People tend to perceive men as assertive and women as bitches. It’s a lot tougher than I ever could’ve imagined.

  “I know it sounds cliché, but there’s someone around every corner waiting for me to make a mistake. And I’ve made some doozies.” She grimaced. “What I’m trying to say is, it’s rare when anyone has my back. Tag’s been there for me the last few years. And, now I have you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she confirmed. “Thank you.”

  “Thing is, babe, I’ve always been in your corner. I wanted you to succeed, and would’ve gone with you, but our paths took us in different directions. After I left the Army, I started ridin’ bulls, and when my body was too banged up to go on, I came home and married Nessa. Later on, I joined the Sheriff’s department.” He captured her hand and held tight when the jolt between them made her want to pull away. Looking into her eyes, he told her, “I’ve followed you every minute of your career, and I think you’ve gotten the short end of the stick a lot of the time.”

  Her shoulders visibly sagged. “And here I thought I was paranoid.”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but you’re here now and we’re going to figure this out. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I care about you, Lilah Canfield.” He gazed deeply into her amber colored eyes.

  She took so long to answer he wondered if he’d scared her off.

  Moving her chair nearer to his, she leaned in close. “So this morning was about more than sex?”

  “I’d say so.”

  Slipping her hand to the back of his neck, she pulled him to her lips. “Good, ‘cause I’d hate to feel this way all by myself.”

  EIGHT

  Lilah woke the next morning in a swirl of mixed emotions. She was no closer to making her gig at Billy Bob’s, yet her overall mood was better than it’d been in a long time. She and Jack hadn’t done anything more than heavy petting, as the sex ed teacher had called it back in the day. And deep soul burning kisses, there’d been a lot of those, too.

  She searched the room for Tag, but evidently he hadn’t come back yet. He’d texted her and said he’d be gone for a while. He still hadn’t shown up by the time she sat down for breakfast with Tara, Meg, and Callie.

  Jack came in and joined them. He sat beside his daughter, hugged her and stole a slice of bacon from her plate. “There’s a whole lot of gorgeous sitting here this morning, ladies.”

  “Thank you, Daddy. How are the cows this morning?”

  “You’re welcome and I didn’t have to go. Terry’s taking care of them for us.” His neighbor, Terry Atkinson, had called early and volunteered to check on his cattle to save him a trip out to his place. He angled his head and pointed to his left snagging Lilah’s attention. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  She followed him into the hall outside the gym doors. She couldn’t imagine what he was up to, but since they’d decided to keep whatever was happening between them quiet, maybe . . . Grinning, she said, “Tara’s going to love this, she’s already quizzed me about last night.”

  He peered through the window and moved them out of sight and shook his head. “We’ll give her something to think about all right.”

  “Okay, you’re making me nervous. What’s up?”

  “How long have you known Tag? How long’s he been driving for you?”

  “I don’t know, maybe five years. Why?”

  “He came into the office early this morning to answer a few questions for me.”

  “You told me you wanted to talk to him. So what’d he say?”

  “He was real helpful. Filled in the gaps and then some.”

  “Well that’s good, right?”

  “To a point, but he seemed pretty eager to throw a couple of band members under the bus, so to speak, so I just wondered.”

  She had a feeling he was waiting for her to jump in the middle of him for questioning her band’s loyalty, but since he’d told her about Chase yesterday, she’d started wondering herself.

  “It’s okay Jack, I know where you’re coming from now. I’m not upset. I just can’t think of a reason not to trust him. So what did he say?”

  “He said he wasn’t surprised your friend Chase had taken off, that he and your new backup singer, Charley, had gotten pretty close. He seemed to think she might’ve put him up to it.”
<
br />   Suddenly, it hit her. She leaned against the wall when the sinking feeling made it to her knees. “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “I should’ve seen it. I must be seven kinds of stupid.” She reached up to massage her temple.

  “Lilah, talk to me.”

  “Six months ago, Charley showed up back stage after a set. Chase introduced us and asked me to listen to her sing.”

  “And did you?”

  “I did. She was phenomenal and I signed her right then.”

  “Do you usually make business decisions that quickly?”

  “It’s the first time I’d done it, but I didn’t want her to get away.” She thought of the irony. “Better to have the competition with me than against me.”

  “Makes sense, I guess. So why are you stupid?”

  “For the last few weeks, I’ve worried about the new singer Connor signed, Jessie Duke.”

  “I know that name. Callie talked about her non-stop after she won that TV competition. Why is she a threat to you?”

  She loved the fact he listened to her. He didn’t talk over her or try to tell her what she needed to do. But he was naïve about the music business.

  “She’s a hot property, and Connor told me if I missed a show, especially, Billy Bob’s, he’d put her in my place. It’d be so easy for that to happen. She’s in Fort Worth visiting her family for the holidays.”

  “He actually said that?”

  “Of course not, that would leave him and the record label open to a law suit. But he made sure I got the message.” She looked at him now with the full realization of what was actually going on. “Don’t you see? With all that’s happened since we left on this trip, the running out of oil and ruining the engine was planned. Sliding off the road into a snow bank outside Podunk with no way to replace the engine in the foreseeable future was a bonus. Chase and Charley are headed to Fort Worth.”

  “I take serious offense to Podunk, but that’s what I needed you to figure out for yourself. I didn’t want you thinking I was attacking your family again.”

  “You’re right, I’m sure I would have over reacted. Thanks for helping me see what was happening for myself.”

  He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “For some good news, a trucker found your drummer and two other guitar players locked in a storage shed behind the service station in the next town. Highway Patrol’s bringing them here as we speak.”

  “Pete, Jason and Tucker. Are they all right?”

  “They’re fighting hangovers, cold and are pretty hungry, but they should be okay.”

  “Good. I haven’t seen Tag since late last night, and he was gone when I got up this morning. Did he come back with you?”

  “No, he wanted to stay at the station until your guys get here.”

  “Should we be there, too?”

  “We’ll stay here for now. Hal will call us when they arrive.”

  “Okay, are you hungry?”

  “I could eat.”

  * * *

  Jack sat on the floor with his back propped against the bleachers. The wind howled outside, swirling more snow and sleet against the windows that ran around the top of the gym.

  Lilah slept soundly beside him, her head on his thigh. She’d given him a hard time about taking a nap, reminding him of his eight year old, but had tapped right out after closing her eyes. So far, the only part of his anatomy that had gone to sleep was his ass. He stopped running his fingers through her hair, when his phone buzzed.

  “Yeah, it’s McCommas.” When Hal had relayed his information, he said, “Thanks for the call. Let Swift know and send him on over, would you?”

  Lilah sat up and stretched. “What’s up? Will they be here soon?”

  “They’re on their way, still. But it’s slow going.” He clicked off his phone and shoved it into his pocket. “Sorry I woke you.”

  “You didn’t. I’ve been awake for a little bit.”

  “Were you faking?” he challenged.

  Grinning, she answered without hesitation, “Duh, if you’d known I was awake you’d have stopped playing with my hair. It felt too good to let you quit.”

  “You’re right. If I’d known, I’d have moved sooner and restarted the circulation in my butt.”

  Giggling, she stood and extended her hand. “Sorry, come on, Grandpa, I’ll help you up.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I see the girls are helping Tara crochet squares for the baby blanket. I think I’ll go help Meg set up for supper.”

  “I’m sure you don’t have to, but she’ll appreciate it.”

  A while later, Jack shoved in the last bite of his sandwich and set his paper plate in the middle of the table. Callie followed suit and started gathering others adding them to the growing trash pile.

  She sat beside him with her hand on his shoulder. “Daddy, when can we go home?”

  “It’ll be a while yet, Doodle. Power lines are still down.”

  “Can’t you help them fix it?”

  “Wish I could.” He gave her a squeeze. “You’ve been a big help to Grandma Meg and Aunt Tara. What are you and Tawny doing tonight?”

  “Lilah charged our tablets today, so we’re going to play Minecraft.”

  “Cool. I’ll tuck you in later, okay?” By the time the words were out, she’d already headed off to play her game. He knew how lucky he was to have Callie. She was a good kid and he hoped he’d always do right by her.

  Lilah came over, stacked her plate and plastic utensils on top of the others and then put them into a large trash bag she’d retrieved from the maintenance closet. After Jack helped stuff the last of the plates and cups into the bag, she tied it closed.

  “I appreciate your help, sir.”

  “Sure.”

  “I can’t believe it’s still snowing, can you?” She set the bag at the end of the table.

  “The news reporters have dubbed it the storm of the century.”

  “Shouldn’t Tag be here by now? It’s been a while since he was supposed to be on his way.”

  “Yeah, even if he walked, he should’ve—” A commotion and voices at the gym doors interrupted him drawing his attention. Three men, who looked like they’d spent a better twenty-four hours, entered along with a Highway Patrol officer.

  Lilah left her chair and hurried to the group. "I'm so glad to see y'all. Are you okay? I know the roads are bad, but I was beginning to think you might not make it tonight.” She hugged each one in turn. “How in the world did you get locked in a shed?”

  Jack edged into the conversation to introduce himself, shaking hands with each band member as Lilah told him their names.

  “Jack, this is Tucker January, our drummer, Pete Peden, and Jason Steele, on rhythm and bass guitar. Boys, this is my friend, Deputy Jack McCommas.”

  They shook hands and then he read the name tag pinned to the shirt of the fourth man. “Officer Hagen, good to see you made it here by dark.”

  “Same here. If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to hang out here tonight and head back tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, that’s a no brainer.”

  Tucker spoke for the trio. “When we all piled into the SUV for the ride over here, I didn’t know if we’d make it either. The trip took a lot longer than it should have for thirty miles.”

  “This is awesome, man.” Jason, pumped Jack’s hand. “You are legendary on the Pro Bull Riding circuit.”

  Lilah stared at Jack. “You are?”

  He felt the heat edge above his collar. Talking about himself made him uncomfortable. “I’ve ridden a few bulls. No big deal.”

  “It sure as hell is. You were PBR Champion, twice. That’s major!”

  Tucker scanned the room. “Lilah, where’s Tag?"

  “We were just saying he should be here by now. Jack?”

  Happy for the change in subject, he said, “He's around here somewhere. There aren't a lot of places he can go. I’m calling Hal, now.”

  NINE

  Li
lah watched and listened as her band members discussed Jack’s bull riding career. While it bothered her she hadn’t known about his obvious accomplishments, it bothered her more that she no longer knew who she could trust. Was she right about Chase and Charley? Were Pete, Jason or Tucker involved? Or none of them?

  It would help if she could get them back to the explanation of how they became locked in the shed. She realized this might take a minute, as they were easily distracted.

  Her phone rang to life, interrupting her thoughts. Connor Hill’s name popped up on the caller ID.

  “Connor, thank God, I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”

  “Sorry about that. I wondered why my phone wasn’t blowing up and finally realized last night it had shit the bed. Got up this morning and bought a new one. I’m just now contacting a few people. You should be here by now. Where the hell are you?”

  “I’m stuck in Mistletoe about five hours north of Fort Worth.”

  “You’ll be here in plenty of time to make the gig, then.”

  “Wait, haven’t you read any of my messages?”

  “No, I called you instead.”

  “Oh, for crying in the mud, you have no clue what’s happening.”

  “I know you’re not here.”

  “What? Where are you? I thought you were in Nashville.”

  “I’m spending the holidays with Jessie Duke and her family. We’re going to be there for the kickoff of your big comeback tour.”

  “That’s great news, Connor.” Her heart sunk to her toes. She couldn’t have been any less enthused than if she were about to walk barefoot on a bed of fiery hot coals. “I can’t wait to meet Jessie, even though her name makes me think of a TV show from the seventies.”

  “What can I say, her dad’s a fan of the show. Speaking of, Big Jim, he’s about to take me deer hunting, so I have to go. But we’ll all see you tomorrow night.”

  “Sure thing.” She stared at her phone. He’d clicked off so fast, she doubted he’d heard her last two words. She’d started to tell him about her predicament, but he wouldn’t have heard that either. People in the industry didn’t call Connor Hill “Mr. One-Track” for nothing.