Ranger Guardian

by Angi Morgan

  “How did we get this far down the rabbit hole? Yeah... Where’s that time machine when you need it?”

  Chapter One

  Heath Murray was feeling just how crowded the small house he lived in had become. He slipped away to the rodeo every weekend, attempting to give Slate some privacy. But, man, come Sunday nights he needed to rest his weary old bones on a soft couch.

  He needed to pop the top on a bottle of beer, prop his feet up on the coffee table and listen to sports while he drifted off into blissful slumber.

  That never happened.

  He didn’t mind having his partner’s mom cook. Saved him the trouble of constantly eating out. He didn’t mind having Slate’s new girlfriend sneak back up to the main house after not catching the front door before it slammed shut at four in the morning. Neither of them knew he hadn’t really slept in months.

  He didn’t mind returning to his real bed twice a week to spend time with his baby girl. Skylar Dawn loved it. Kendall tolerated it. They both agreed it was better than the nights he didn’t see their daughter at all.

  He could deal with all that. He’d been dealing with it for almost six months. But this...

  “Dammit, guys. Do you always have to be making out when I open the door?”

  “Oh, man. Is it already five? I’m supposed to go see my brother tonight. I should go get ready.” Vivian Watts, his roommate’s girlfriend, tugged her T-shirt to her waist, making sure it was in place. She gave Slate a quick kiss and ran past Heath.

  “Thanks for making her feel bad,” Slate said.

  “Don’t mention it.” Yeah, he was being sarcastic. Yeah, he didn’t mean to be. Hell, maybe he did. His attitude sucked, and his side hurt. The bronc he’d been thrown from had kicked his ribs. The skin had begun turning colors before he’d started for home.

  “Well, I sort of am.” Slate took his hands from his back pockets and crossed his arms in a move of determination. “You know she’s had a really hard time lately. They told her it’s going to be at least another six weeks before they’ll think about clearing her brother to leave the center.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it and I’ll apologize.” He would. He’d probably screw up again, though. “Maybe it’s time for me to find my own place?”

  “That’s not what you need to do,” Slate said with a certain look on his face.

  The same frustrated look his friends and fellow Rangers had at least once a week. Maybe even a little more often. Like each time they tried to get him to open up about his situation with his wife. Yet if he couldn’t talk about it with her, he shouldn’t talk about it with his friends. Their separation was a private matter.

  “You, me, Wade and Jack are tight. We’re more than just Rangers, and we’re more than friends. We’re brothers. We’ve got each other’s backs. I’m telling you the truth. You should call her,” Slate urged.

  “I will. Tuesday.”

  “You are such a stubborn son of a...cowboy.”

  At that, Heath tipped his hat off his head and let the Stetson flip into his hand. A trick his little girl loved.

  “You better head on out if you’re going to catch Vivian and drive her to her brother’s.”

  “Call your wife, man. Make up. It’s been six months, for crying out loud. Tell her you don’t think your job is more important than hers.”

  “You don’t think I’ve told her? I haven’t ever lied to her. I thought she knew that. But for some reason she still can’t believe me.” He pulled a beer from the refrigerator, glancing at the plastic containers full of home-cooked meals. He was too sore to eat.

  “Dammit, Heath.” Slate stuck a ball cap on his head. “Think hard about what you’re willing to give up.” He stomped to the door and slammed it shut behind him.

  Alone.

  It was how he liked it. Right?

  “Right,” he spoke out loud and tipped the beer he’d wanted for the past hour between his lips and swallowed.

  Another couple of minutes, and he could call Skylar Dawn before Kendall put her in the bathtub. She was almost four years old, and it had been six months since he’d destroyed any chance at a normal father-daughter relationship.

  He went through the motions, just like he did every night. Nothing there comforted him like it had when he was married. There was no one to talk to about the bronc ramming him in half.

  No one to joke with about the young women hanging around the edge of the stalls. Or how he’d felt too old to notice. But they’d had fun with their wolf calls when he’d bent over and showed his backside. Kendall had gotten a kick out of coming up and laying a big, luscious kiss on him when that had happened before.

  That had been before she’d gotten pregnant and the barn smell had made her nauseous.

  Another sip of beer. It was almost gone, and he wanted another.

  Was this what life was going to be like? Waiting around while Kendall—and her mother—made all the decisions about their life? He’d been ready for months to talk with her and apologize again. He just wanted their old life back.

  Was that even possible?

  Completely aware that pressure against his side would be painful, he went back into the kitchen, filled a couple of sandwich bags with ice, wrapped them in a towel and shoved it against his ribs.

  The stinging cold brought him to his senses. He was getting too old for this routine. Too old to be afraid to talk with his wife. Too old to insult Vivian and Slate or any of his other friends because he was miserable with his own life.

  It was time to make some changes.

  Good or bad...he needed to talk with Kendall face-to-face. Soon. Maybe it would turn out better than he feared. Maybe it wouldn’t. All he knew was that it was time to move forward.

  Good thing he had a light load at work. He was mostly focused on court and testifying and paperwork right now. He set the ice on the table, then slid his shirt free from his belt. He tucked it up close to his armpit before looking closer at the bruise.

  That was going to be a big boo-boo, as baby girl would say.

  Yeah, it was time. Slate was right about that. Time to apologize and move on. How long could a woman stay mad?

  Something in the back of his mind warned that his woman could stay that way a very, very long time. Especially with a mother whispering in her ear who hated him. Hell, his mother-in-law had shouted to the world that he’d never be good enough for her daughter.

  He clicked on his phone, stared at the picture of Kendall holding a super pink baby girl and swiped to dial. He would talk to his wife face-to-face. Tonight, he’d read to his daughter.

  “Hey there. How’s my favorite munchkin?” He reached for the children’s version of The Wizard of Oz.

  “Daddy!”

  * * *

  “JERRY, I KNOW it’s Sunday night. That’s why I’m calling. I need more people. I know I’m close to a breakthrough.” Kendall Barlow didn’t back down. Her supervisory special agent should know that. She heard the house phone ring in the background, as it did every night like clockwork.

  In six months’ time, Heath hadn’t missed calling his daughter once. And not one time had he made a serious effort to reconcile. He was a man of few words—for everyone except Skylar Dawn.

  “Kendall. It’s been months and you’ve got nothing to show for it. You know we’re shorthanded. Dallas Police Department is worse off than we are. You aren’t going to get more qualified personnel for the joint task force than the people already assigned to it.”

  “If I had another competent person who knew their way around computers, I know I could prove that Public Exposure is fraudulent. We’re close. Very close.”

  “Oh furgle. Our resources have been tapped out. Run with what you’ve got, and get me something to show for your time. Of course, there is one person already on your task force you haven’t tried.”

 
“Special Agent Fisher, I’ve asked you not to use that word. I’ve looked it up and it’s inappropriate. It was fine in Catch-22, but come on. You know it doesn’t mean what you think.” She was tired of this conversation. Or was he trying to distract her? Did he really think that she needed something to justify the investigation? Couldn’t he think of one more possible agency to check? “Jerry?”

  “Yes? I promise I’ll behave. I just love that word.”

  “Please don’t—”

  “You should talk to your ex. Ask him if he’s heard anything about your case.”

  “That’s a clear conflict of interest. No one would allow him on the team.”

  “Seems like that’s my decision now. I’ll allow him to help out until the Rangers can find a replacement. Use the taxpayers’ money wisely. See you in the office.”

  The line disconnected, and she could once again hear the exclamations of surprise from her daughter as her father read about flying monkeys and sparkly red shoes. Had she mentioned to Heath that their daughter had outgrown two pairs of those red slippers while he’d been gone?

  Skylar Dawn was sitting on the couch holding the main phone extension. Her grandmother listened on an additional handset just outside the door. Heath knew about the eavesdropping even if her mother thought it was a secret. He accepted it as part of his “punishment for whatever he blamed himself.”

  As if living away from their precious little girl wasn’t punishment enough. Why he thought he needed to be punished, she didn’t understand. And no matter how she tried, her mother wouldn’t stop.

  Constant jabs at Heath kept an undercurrent of tension in the air. Kendall wanted to avoid the subject and leaned toward avoiding her mother in the evenings when she helped out with Skylar Dawn.

  Heath wasn’t her ex, and finalizing their separation wasn’t high on her priority list. So far there hadn’t been any squabbles about how to do anything. He’d taken only a few of his things and the horses.

  Other than a picture or two of Skylar Dawn, he’d managed to leave everything looking exactly like it had been when he’d walked away. Or when she’d driven him away. She could remember exactly when things had come to a pivotal breaking point. Most of that argument had to do with her mother.

  Her mother’s standards had been high her entire life. Heath had a father exactly the same way. But what had turned Heath into a strong man who held his opinions to himself—or himself and his horse—seemed to be turning her soul bitter.

  I can’t be my mother. I can’t do that to Skylar Dawn.

  “Do you have to say goodbye, Daddy?”

  Kendall waited for the familiar “Good night” and “I love you.” Her daughter clicked the red button on the phone and her mother followed a second afterward. She crossed her arms, enveloping the phone between a breast and a well-toned limb.

  Her mother, a woman of sixty, made good use of the money she’d gathered over the years. Three stepfathers and three settlements later, Kendall had a college education and two letters of recommendation for her Bureau interview.

  Getting along with the men in her mother’s life had never been the problem. More and more recently, she’d been realizing how sad her mother had become. And how demanding.

  Her mother didn’t allow Skylar Dawn two seconds to linger or even to put the phone back on its charging station. She immediately clapped her hands, and her granddaughter jumped to her feet.

  Oh my God! She’s reacting like a trained puppy.

  Kendall swooped in and picked up her little girl, who should need a bath from playing in the dirt. But she was perfectly clean.

  “Wow. Let’s go for a ride. What do you think, sweet girl?”

  “Kendall, I was just getting ready to run her bath. Isn’t it late to go out?”

  “Actually, Mother, you might be right. But we’re going anyway.” Kendall smiled and steadied her daughter back down on her feet. “Let’s go see if we can find some flying monkeys.”

  Skylar Dawn giggled as they skipped down the hall and out the front door.

  It was clear that changes needed to be made for her and her daughter. She’d set paperwork in motion the next day. She’d find out the possibilities before she approached Heath.

  Six months of living with her mother instead of her husband was long enough. Five minutes down the road, she realized she’d pointed the car east toward Heath. She slowed and turned into a drive-through. Then they got ice cream and played at the park until they both really needed a bath.

  It was fun. Spontaneous. She used to be those things. It was the whole reason Skylar Dawn had come to be.

  It was time to find that person again.

  Chapter Two

  Wade Hamilton shoved the last file into the back of the box. It represented months of work and the official end of his desk duty. It had taken him almost as long to heal from the beating he’d received six months ago. But everything worked again. Both with his body and his status as a Texas Ranger Company B lieutenant.

  Ready to take his place at his partner’s side. Ready to get out from behind his desk. Back to handling things by the seat of his pants instead of the rule book. Doing so had landed him in this desk chair. He’d learned his lesson to slow down and think a little. He liked fieldwork...not paperwork.

  Unfortunately, Major Clements had discovered Wade was good at paper shuffling. He’d been allowed to assist with a few cases as backup for Company B brothers. But the paperwork grew while he was gone.

  It seemed like the rest of the office had grown accustomed to him shuffling their requests, too. Coming in early and staying late was second nature now. Why not, since he had no life?

  That’s where he was bright and early on a Monday morning. At work before the rest of the staff or other Rangers finished their first cup of coffee, he was shuffling papers. Almost done, the latest request for his company’s support caught his eye. He knew the name of the FBI agent heading the task force. He’d attended her wedding just over five years ago.

  Kendall Barlow was the new team leader of a cybercrime task force and asking for computer and field support on the joint task force. Heath—her husband and the logical choice—had already been assigned to cybercrime. Now their relationship would need to be reviewed and disclosed. He’d been on the task force since it was headed by Jerry Fisher. But still, Murray was the best geek Company B had.

  It was up to Wade to recommend someone else or okay Heath for a couple of days in the field with Special Agent Barlow.

  It was also an opportunity to resolve his friend’s problem. He’d been listening to Slate talk about his temporary roommate for six months. How he worked the horses, cleaned the stalls, never missed a phone call with his daughter and never—ever—spoke to his wife. Heath, on the other hand, never said a word. Wade held on to the paperwork and grabbed a second cup of coffee.

  Who was he to jump in to the middle of a man’s business? Especially marriage problems? But the more he tried to talk himself out of it, the more his gut told him to assign Heath to work with his wife.

  Slate and Jack were both standing at his desk when he returned from the break room. Before he asked their advice, Jack pointed to the request.

  “What’s this?”

  “You’re sending him, right?” Slate asked. “It’s exactly what they both need to force them to figure out what’s going on.”

  “You think so?”

  “Damn straight,” they answered together.

  “The man’s turning into a bear,” Slate said. “I might take his head off if he snarls at Vivian again.”

  “If the FBI put in the request, you should accommodate it,” Jack stated, hanging his jacket on the rack.

  “What if she doesn’t want it?” Wade asked, already knowing that he would recommend Heath.

  “Then she has a friend who is thinking along the same lines we are.” Slate took
his seat opposite Wade. “Maybe she’s as cranky as he is.”

  “Who’s cranky?” Heath asked as he walked through the door.

  “The old man, Major Clements,” Jack said, jumping in. “We’re coming up with reasons he might be out of sorts. I say he’s getting ready to retire. Wade says his wife might be cranky.”

  “My bet’s on the wife.” Heath winced as he took off his jacket, holding his side. “The old man’s never going to retire.”

  The guys nodded in agreement. Slate mouthed “Bear,” while pointing to Heath behind his hand.

  Wade recognized Heath’s movement. When his own ribs had been cracked, he’d held his side the same way. Heath had probably injured himself at the rodeo this weekend. But he’d never admit it.

  Wade agreed with hiding it from the boss. If he hadn’t been unconscious with an eye swollen twice its size, he probably would have taken a couple of days off and never admitted anything about the beating. Or about the woman who’d saved his life by alerting Jack to his whereabouts.

  Time to put his own fantasies to rest and find the woman who haunted his dreams... Therese. If he couldn’t work on that, the least he could do was help get Heath and Kendall back together.

  He reached for the request, ready to recommend his friend and submit it to Major Clements. The old man would make the final decision if Company B would waive the conflict of interest. Maybe Heath and Kendall could find mutual ground and resolve their differences.

  If not, then this assignment would at least help them reach that decision, too.

  He completed the paperwork and sent it on its way. Assignment made.

  Chapter Three

  Heath held his side as he carefully lifted his arm into his suit jacket and then set his white Stetson on top of his head. The required Texas Ranger uniform wasn’t what people expected when they saw the star on his pocket. Traditionally they all wore white Stetsons, but with suits rather than jeans. He even wore a white shirt and black tie today.

  Good thing, since he’d been assigned to work with an FBI task force regarding potential cybercrime. The agent in charge thought a research company had some type of ulterior motive for collecting the data.