Beneath A Texas Sky (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Winters, Rebecca

  As she drew closer, she realized it was the same man from yesterday. As their vehicles came alongside each other, they both slowed to a stop. Filled with nervous excitement, her hand trembled as she pushed the button to lower the window.

  “Hello again.”

  His window was already down. She moaned inwardly. Those dark brown velvet eyes were as gorgeous as the rest of him. She hadn’t exaggerated one detail about him to Heidi.

  “Good evening,” he responded pleasantly. “Are you just coming home from work?” As he asked the question, he reached a tanned arm of solid sinew out the window to adjust the van’s side-view mirror. She noticed his left hand was ringless.

  “Yes, I’m all through for the day, but I’m surprised to see you here. I’d have thought you’d be done with your deliveries by now.” She was talking too fast. “Do you have a package for me?”

  His black eyebrows formed the hint of a frown. “No. If there’d been a delivery for you, I would have left it by your trailer door.”

  So he hadn’t been looking for her. She’d just assumed it because he was driving on this particular road.

  Why did I stop? Now he thinks I’m flirting with him. Other women probably do it all the time. Damn.

  She started up the engine. “Well, have a good evening.”

  “Wait,” he called to her. “I think I’m lost. I had one last delivery for a Shelby Norris. Someone in town thought he lived out this way. Does that name ring a bell?”

  “Afraid not. But I only moved here a month ago. If you go to the café the owner, Millie Johnston, might be able to help you. She’s lived here most of her life and is acquainted with everyone. Good luck.”

  JACE SAT THERE in stunned surprise as she put her car in gear and pulled away.

  He’d made up a lie about looking for Shelby Norris. There was no such person, but he’d needed an excuse to be out on the road so Dana wouldn’t think he was looking for her. Now she was gone.

  He’d seen guilt do crazy things to people. Dana Turner acted guilty as hell over something. Otherwise she wouldn’t have taken off like a frightened doe caught in the headlights.

  What kind of work did she do way up here, far removed from civilization?

  Much as Jace wanted to go after her, he decided it would be better to leave it alone for now. By the time he could turn the van around and try to catch up with her, she’d be long gone.

  Letting out a sound of exasperation, he phoned Pat and told him to call off the search for the Toyota. It had been found.

  She’d been found.

  Jace had hoped that on a second meeting the appealing traits he’d gradually endowed her with throughout the night would have lost their allure.

  What a joke that was. If just looking at her again could make him feel this way…

  He reached for one of the cans of pop that Art had given him. After quenching his thirst he drove on, determined to find out where this road led and why she’d been on it.

  The van wound slowly up to the peak. At one point he passed a No Trespassing sign. Disregarding it, he kept on going.

  “Good grief,” he muttered when the observatory popped into view. The white-domed structure stood out in stark relief against a landscape of clustered trees that resembled giant green polka dots.

  The building stood perched above rugged vistas that fell away in every direction. The magnificent sight took his breath.

  Turning off the engine, he got out of the van and walked all around. The area looked deserted. He saw no sign of human life. Nothing moved.

  What did Dana Turner have to do with this place?

  As his keen eyes swept the landscape, he didn’t detect anything that would suggest pieces of plane wreckage. When the killers’ charter disappeared, police helicopters had spent days flying over miles of mountainous terrain. They’d come up with nothing.

  The Mexican authorities had been cooperating with the Rangers. To date, no evidence had turned up to prove the plane had made it across the border.

  More than ever, Jace had the gut feeling it hadn’t crashed at all. One of those killers had been a pilot. He’d found a place to land it and hide it. That meant he’d been familiar with the terrain ahead of time and knew exactly what he was doing once they’d reached the mountains.

  Jace’s gaze darted back to the observatory. He saw the remains of building materials and tire tracks, indicating recent construction, yet the structure appeared abandoned. Walking over to the door, he tried the handle but it was locked up tight.

  Dana Turner obviously had access to the building. Did she work for the construction company that built it? For two men hiding out in these mountains, this would make a perfect rendezvous spot, especially if they were using her for their eyes and ears.

  After a few more minutes of pointless speculation, Jace got in the van and started back to town. When he reached the turnoff, he decided to drive by Dana’s trailer.

  If she was there, he’d invite her to have dinner with him at the café. That way he could get to know her better while he asked Millie for directions to the Norris place in front of her.

  It was vital he allay any fears Dana might have about his being on the road to Mount Luna at the same time she passed him. The last thing Jace wanted was for her to be suspicious of an IPS driver while he was supposed to be on the job.

  He’d told himself she probably wouldn’t be home, yet his disappointment was greater than it should have been when he drove down the street and discovered her car wasn’t parked next to the trailer.

  Since he wanted her to know he’d come by, he pulled to a stop across the road. Once he’d found an IPS release form for her to sign, he got out of the van.

  “Well, well, well. What have we here?” he muttered when he saw Glen Mason letting himself out of her trailer. The man had discarded the vest in favor of a western shirt.

  As the two made eye contact, Jace said, “Hi, you’re the guy I saw at the café earlier today.”

  For someone who’d been caught by surprise, Jace had to give the guy credit for keeping his cool. Except for the ruddy spots that broke out on his cheeks, he behaved as if he had every right to come and go from her trailer.

  “Yup. I live next door. Dana rents this trailer from my grandad, but I do the upkeep.”

  “I’ve met your grandfather. He’s quite the gentleman.”

  “If you’ve got something for her, I’ll make sure she gets it,” he said without acknowledging Jace’s remark.

  “There’s no package. I’m leaving her some information.” He stepped around Glen to press the sticky end of the IPS form to her door.

  “Aren’t you working kind of late?” Glen had put his hands in the back pockets of his jeans while he rocked on the heels of his cowboy boots.

  His attitude recalled Jace’s childhood. There was always some troublemaker out on the playground. Dana Turner’s guard dog might not be a heavyweight, but he was definitely protecting what he considered his.

  “Afraid so. Maybe you can help me. I have a package for a Shelby Norris. After an hour of driving around trying to find him without success, I thought I’d pay a call on your grandfather. Maybe he’ll recognize the name.”

  Glen shook his head. “There’s no need. I’ve lived here on and off all my life. That name don’t mean nothing to me.”

  “No matter. Before I leave town, maybe you could help me out with something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Since you and your grandfather are on such friendly terms with Ms. Turner, I wondered if you knew if she’s living with a guy or seeing one on a regular basis.”

  Glen kicked his toe against the dirt. “I don’t figure that’s any of your damn business.”

  “Hey,” Jace smiled. “I’m just trying to find out if I’ve got serious competition. She’s a good-looking woman. The best I’ve seen on my route so far.”

  His hazel eyes narrowed. “You’re not the regular driver, so I guess you don’t know.”

  Ral
ph’s grandson didn’t miss much. “Know what?”

  “About Dana and me.”

  “You two have something going?” Jace couldn’t imagine it under any circumstances.

  “Yup.”

  “Then what about that other guy yesterday who came to spend the night with her?”

  He watched Glen’s Adam’s apple bob several times. Jace’s question had thrown him, just as he’d hoped it would.

  “What other guy are you talking about?” he challenged. The ruddy patches had more color now.

  “The one who hitched a ride with me from Fort Davis yesterday because his car broke down. Sorry to have to be the one to tell you, dude. Forget I said anything.”

  Jace started across the street. By the time he’d climbed inside the van, Glen had caught up to him.

  “Who’s the guy? What’s his name?” he demanded through the open window.

  “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her those questions.”

  “How old was he?”

  “Thirtyish.”

  “Did he have dark brown hair?”

  Jace nodded.

  “Was he about six feet?”

  “Yes.”

  Glen’s face screwed up before he wheeled away. By the time Jace had made a U-turn to head back to town, the Mason kid whizzed past him in the blue pickup.

  Though Jace had been describing Tony Roberts, Glen had been describing another guy, and his jealous reaction proved beyond doubt he and Dana weren’t an item and never had been.

  Maybe there was no link between Dana and Glen. But Glen might have seen one of the killers hanging around her. The description fit the general statistics given by the armored-car driver before he died.

  At this point Jace couldn’t help but wonder if Dana knew her landlord’s grandson was letting himself in her trailer with his own key when she wasn’t there. No matter what excuse he might come up with if asked, it was called trespassing.

  He watched for Dana’s white car on his way out of town. She didn’t seem to be anywhere around. The same could be said for Glen. Twenty minutes later, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Jace rounded a curve on the mountain road and saw the blue pickup in the far distance. They’d both passed Fort Davis, so he imagined Glen was headed for Alpine.

  Deciding to cover all his bases, he phoned Pat, who was having dinner with his family.

  “Sorry to bother you at home.”

  “Hey, you know better than to apologize. I’m sorry I don’t have anything on Glen Mason yet.”

  “I wasn’t expecting results that fast. Will you put one of your men on his tail? I’m about three miles out of Fort Davis. He’s driving his grandfather’s sky-blue ’92 Chevy pickup and will be coming into Alpine before long at a pretty fast clip.

  “Tell him not to give Glen a ticket. I’d like to know where he goes, who he sees, without him having any idea he’s being followed.” He gave Pat the license number.

  “I’ll get on it right now.”

  “Thanks. I’m headed for IPS to leave the van and get my car. Then I’ll drive to my apartment for dinner and a change of clothes before I head back to Cloud Rim.

  “I’m spending this weekend in the mountains to see if that plane’s been hidden inside someone’s barn.”

  “I’m with you on that, Jace. If there’d been wreckage, the guys would have sighted it at the very beginning. Good luck.”

  “With so little time left, I’m going to need it. I’ll be back in Alpine Sunday night.”

  “The second there’s any news, I’ll phone you.”

  “Can’t ask for more than that.”

  After they said goodbye, Jace pressed on the accelerator. If he hurried, he might find Dana home and could have a little chat with her tonight before he starting scouting around.

  As much as he told himself that making contact with her was all in the line of duty, he knew it was far from the truth.

  He’d been with a few women since Cassie, but they’d only helped him pass the time. Any real feelings had died when his wife took her last breath.

  But if that was the case, then what magic did Dana Turner possess to resurrect his deepest needs and desires after all this time? For all he knew, she was up to her luminous gray eyes in the kind of trouble he didn’t even want to think about.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  SATURDAY EVENING a sunburned Dana drove into Cloud Rim and headed straight for the observatory. It wasn’t until she’d wound to the top of Mount Luna that she realized she was avoiding the trailer because she didn’t want to have to deal with Glen Mason.

  The overnighter in Fort Davis would have been wonderful if she’d been able to share it with a man. She’d found out fast that despite the many friendly tourists who included her in the ranch’s activities, she felt dissatisfied, lonely even. Again she questioned if her restlessness wasn’t the fault of the IPS man whose image continued to haunt her.

  In any event, when her car came to a stop at the observatory, she was glad to be back where she could concentrate on work.

  There’d been one pleasing outcome as a result of her mini trip. After talking to the enthusiastic leaders of the young-astronomers camp, arrangements had been made for the kids to be driven up on Tuesday night for a view of the heavens. She decided to plan a star party, with something to satisfy every child.

  Excited by the prospect, she climbed out of the car. However, she’d forgotten how sore she was from spending too much time in the saddle. As she hobbled toward the door, a car came around the curve.

  Relieved it wasn’t the blue pickup, she waited to see if the visitor was someone she knew from town, or simply a lost tourist who was looking for a place to turn around.

  A man got out of the car. A tall man with curly black hair and the kind of hard-muscled physique a woman didn’t forget. Though he wore a knit shirt and jeans instead of a khaki uniform, she’d know him anywhere. With the late sun gilding his rugged features, Dana could hardly breathe.

  “Good evening, Ms. Turner.”

  “Good evening. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

  He moved toward her, his brown eyes intent on her face. “Yesterday you drove off too fast for me to introduce myself. My name’s Jace Riley.”

  Jace. It was an unusual name. She liked it.

  “How do you do.”

  Her hand disappeared in the strong warmth of his before he released it.

  “I’d just filled my car at the corner gas station when I saw you turn on this road. So I came back up. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Dana steeled herself not to jump to any conclusions. She could tell he wanted something from her. She just didn’t know what.

  “Is there a particular reason you needed to talk to me?”

  “Probably the oldest one known to man.” His eyes were smiling.

  Heat swept through her body.

  “How would you like to have dinner with me at the café?”

  She blinked. “You mean now?”

  “Yes.”

  His invitation thrilled her, but being arrested and imprisoned had made her cautious. She didn’t trust that his interest in her was the result of chemistry alone. That mistake had already been made with Tony.

  Though she might ache for a meaningful relationship with a man, her prison experience made her different from other women. She had a history that could weed out even the most ardent suitor. Even someone who seemed as together and confident as Jace Riley.

  “That sounds very nice, but I’ve already eaten and I have work to do tonight.”

  She felt his gaze wander over her features. “Is that your polite way of telling me you’re committed to someone else?”

  “Look, Mr. Riley—”

  “The name is Jace.”

  “All right then, Jace—my work is wait—”

  “Before you tell me to mind my own business,” he broke in on her, “I should let you know I’ve been by your place several times hoping to find you home. When I drove over there after work y
esterday, I found Glen Mason on your doorstep. He intimated you were his girlfriend.”

  “That’s absurd!” she blurted. “He’s my landlord’s wayward grandson who’s been making a nuisance of himself ever since I moved in to the trailer.”

  Jace nodded. “I thought it had to be wishful thinking on his part, but I took Tony Roberts a little more seriously when he told me he was your boyfriend. That is, until I was driving back to Alpine and saw him thumbing for a ride. For a man full of plans to be with his woman, he didn’t stay in Cloud Rim very long.”

  Her face went hot. “I was never his woman. We dated briefly last year, then I broke it off. If Tony had been alone when he came to see me, he would never have made it inside my trailer.”

  “In other words, you were trying to spare me.” Jace’s subtle teasing made her smile.

  Dana wouldn’t have put it past Tony to have told Jace about the gun. If that were true, then Jace didn’t scare off easily. The first time she saw him, she had the feeling he was a man who could handle anything. That impression was growing stronger.

  “What do you have to work on tonight?”

  Jace had asked the question while she’d been mentally comparing the two men. Of course there was no comparison. Hopefully, Tony had gotten the point and had gone away for good.

  “Tony didn’t tell you?”

  Her question seemed to surprise him. “He was intent on finding you, period. If he could have done it without me, I have no doubts he would have preferred it that way.”

  “He should have rented a car!”

  “Then I might not have met you,” came the quiet response. Their eyes met. “Mind if I come in with you for a while, or do you work better alone?”

  No and yes in that order. “If you’d really like to.”

  “I thought I’d made it clear I wanted to get better acquainted with you.”

  She’d noticed a gold band on his right hand. “Are you divorced, Jace?”

  “No. My wife died of cancer seven years ago.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She averted her eyes. “Do you have children?”