Her Texas Lawman

by Stella Bagwell

  He placed the plate on the kitchen table and gestured for Ripp to take a seat. “Eat. I’ll get you something to drink.” He walked over to the refrigerator and looked inside. “What do you want?”

  “Give me the same thing you drank,” Ripp told him.

  Mac fetched a longneck beer from the refrigerator and placed it in front of his brother. After that he pulled out a chair and sat opposite of Ripp.

  “So what are you doing out of Bee County?” Ripp asked him.

  “I came over to collect a prisoner. You guys locked him up the first of the week for drunken assault, but we had warrants on him for burglaries.”

  “Obviously something happened and you didn’t pick him up.”

  Mac shook his head. “Something about the court papers weren’t completed. Guess I’ll have to make another run on Monday. But that’s all right—he’ll be cooling his heels in jail no matter if he’s in your county or mine.”

  Ripp nodded as he gobbled down the first slice of pizza. He’d been so wrapped up in Lucita and that damned extortion note that he just now remembered he’d not eaten since eleven o’clock this morning.

  “So what have you been up to? I haven’t seen you for a couple of weeks.” Even though Ripp was very close to his brother, days could go by without the two of them calling or seeing one another. Yet that didn’t mean they weren’t thinking about each other. In that aspect, the two of them were almost like twins.

  Mac leaned back in the wooden chair and propped his ankle against his knee. “Same old thing. Work, eat and sleep. What about you? Anything going on around here?”

  Ripp reached for another slice of pizza. “Yeah. A hell of a lot. I just drove in from the Sandbur ranch. Matt’s younger sister, Lucita, is being threatened.”

  Wide-eyed with interest, Mac leaned forward. “Lucita! I didn’t know she was living around here now. I heard she was living in Corpus Christi.”

  Ripp looked at him while trying not to feel prickly. “I wasn’t aware that you knew the woman.”

  Mac’s chuckle was suggestive enough to put a scowl on Ripp’s face.

  “I don’t know her personally, but I remember seeing her in high school. She was quite a looker. Don’t tell me that you didn’t remember her! Matt was your best friend, you ought to have known her!”

  Frowning, Ripp said, “Matt and I were both older than Lucita. And I never hung around the Sandbur back in those days before she left the area. Besides, I wasn’t girl crazy like you, big brother. While I was in high school I had learning on my mind, not chasing skirts.”

  Mac let out a hoop of laughter. “Yeah. Right. That’s a real funny one, Ripp.”

  “Well, nothing is funny about what’s going on now. She was involved in a deliberate hit-and-run a few nights ago. Today she found an extortion note pinned beneath the windshield wiper on her vehicle. This person wants a million dollars deposited into a certain bank account or else something bad is going to happen to her or her family.”

  Mac’s face instantly sobered. “Got any ideas who might be involved?”

  “Her ex-husband’s name was typed at the end of the note, but Sheriff Travers isn’t at all convinced that it’s him. I’m not so sure, either.”

  Ripp could see the wheels in his brother’s head start to turn.

  “So she’s divorced,” Mac mused aloud. “Sounds like a typical case of stalking an ex to me. Especially when the ex is rich. I’m surprised this thug didn’t ask for more than a million.”

  Ripp quickly explained the circumstance of Lucita’s divorce and ended with the impact the whole thing had had on Marti.

  “I don’t know, Mac,” Ripp went on with a thoughtful frown. “Travers may be right. Derek is almost too obvious a suspect here. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s someone wanting everyone to blame this creep.”

  As Ripp continued to eat, Mac didn’t make an immediate reply. But after a few moments he leaned back in his chair and leveled a keen gaze on his brother.

  “I’ll tell you what I think. You’ve already gotten too close to this case. And if you don’t step back and take a deep, mind-clearing breath you’re gonna wind up getting hurt.”

  Annoyed now, Ripp rose from his chair and crossed over to the counter. As he shoved the coffeemaker’s carafe under the faucet and turned on the water, he said tersely, “Don’t be warning me about getting personal. Hell, you and I both know we wouldn’t be worth a damn at our jobs if we didn’t care.”

  Shutting off the water, he looked pointedly over his shoulder at Mac. “Maybe you’ve forgotten about the time you got so personally involved with the little boy who’d been abused that you wanted to adopt him yourself. You were devastated when the court finally handed him over to his grandparents.”

  The other man grimaced. “That’s a hell of a thing to bring up. You’re hitting below the belt now, Ripp.”

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to rub salt in an old wound. I’m just pointing out—well, standing back and looking at everything from a distance is damn hard to do.”

  Mac’s lips twisted wryly. “Especially with a woman like Lucita?”

  Ripp turned his attention back to putting the coffee makings together. “That’s a nasty thing to say. Especially when you know that Matt has been my best friend for years.”

  “That doesn’t make Lucita any less beautiful.”

  Ripp turned another frown on his brother. “How do you know she’s beautiful? You didn’t even know she was living back on the Sandbur.”

  Mac’s grin turned sly. “No. I didn’t know where she was. But I know that women like her don’t change.”

  Ripp bristled even though he realized it was stupid to let his brother’s words get to him. Lucita didn’t belong to him. She never would, so it was damned ridiculous of him to be feeling this possessive of a woman who’d merely kissed him.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked guardedly.

  Mac shrugged. “Just that her type—well, they’re born with class. Nothing, not even the passing years, can change that.”

  Yeah, she was classy all right, Ripp thought. She was classed right out of his league. His brain understood that, but it couldn’t convince the man in him to forget her.

  Chapter Six

  Ripp. Even though Lucita hadn’t seen the sexy deputy since she’d kissed him last Friday evening in the kitchen, the man continued to dwell in her thoughts.

  In the past five days, she’d spoken to him twice on the phone. He’d called to update her on the investigation of the extortion note, but even the seriousness of the situation hadn’t stopped her mind from wandering to the low, husky lilt of his voice and envisioning his strong face.

  You’re losing it, Lucita. Now isn’t the time to be thinking about a man in that sort of way. There will never be a time. Unless you want to put your heart on the chopping block again.

  With a weary sigh, Lucita hefted the duffel bag filled with work she was taking home and left the St. Francis building. For the past two days since she’d returned to work, a wrangler had followed her from the Sandbur all the way to school in the morning and would reappear when it was time for her to make the trip home.

  This evening as she made her way across the parking lot, she expected to see one of the ranch’s work trucks parked behind hers. Instead, she saw a black truck with the Goliad Sheriff’s Department emblem on the side.

  Instantly, her heart kicked into overdrive. Was it Ripp? Had something happened on the ranch?

  Hurrying across the blistering asphalt, she reached the truck just as Ripp’s tall figure stepped to the ground.

  “Ripp, what’s wrong?” she asked frantically before he could get a word out. “Is Marti okay?”

  The fear she was feeling must have been mirrored on her face. He quickly clasped a steadying hand on her shoulder and the warmth from his fingers spread like a calming drug through her veins.

  “He’s fine. He’s already home from school and staying with Gracia. Sorry the sight of me scared y
ou. I should have called and let you know that I’d be here this evening to see that you get home safely.”

  She frowned with puzzlement. “What about Frank?”

  He looked at her blankly and she hurriedly explained, “The wrangler who’s been following me home.”

  “Matt agreed that it would be better for me to be here this evening,” he replied.

  Because today was Wednesday and the extortion note had demanded the money be deposited by that time. She and the rest of the family had chosen not to give in to the note writer’s demands. Now there was nothing left to do but wait and see if there would be any sort of retaliation. But even that chilling reminder wasn’t enough to dim her joy at seeing him again.

  Just standing next to him left her feeling as though she was floating on a cloud. She couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. “Thank you for being here. I realize this must be eating into your regular duties.”

  His eyes met hers as a faint grin touched his face. “Your case has become my regular duties.” His hand slid from her shoulder to cup her elbow. “Are you ready to leave? I’m not keen on you standing out here in the open like this.”

  To emphasize his concern, he took a moment to inspect the open area around them. Lucita was instantly reminded that she could be a target and that this tough deputy wasn’t here on a social call.

  Determined not to show an ounce of fear, she straightened her shoulders and gave him a smile.

  “Sure. I’m ready.”

  He followed her over to the truck she’d been driving since her car had been laid to rest at Santee’s, but before she could open the truck door, Ripp pulled her to one side.

  “Wait. I just drove up a minute ago. I haven’t had time to make sure no one has tampered with your vehicle.”

  Lucita couldn’t believe he was taking the time to look under the hood and beneath the carriage. The whole thing was like something out of an espionage movie and a bad one at that, she thought, as he finally turned back to her.

  “Everything looks clean.”

  “Is all of this really necessary, Ripp? I mean, why would anyone try to sabotage my vehicle? If I’m dead, they won’t have a chance of getting money from me,” she reasoned.

  He helped her into the cab.

  “Think of it this way, Lucita, if something happened to you, the remainder of your family would be so scared they’d probably be glad to hand over millions to this idiot to protect Marti. That’s the way a criminal mind works.”

  There was logic to his thinking, even if the precautions he was taking seemed surreal.

  “I suppose you’re right,” she admitted. “But I don’t like this, Ripp. I want it to be over.”

  His features softened and Lucita had to believe he was looking at her purely as a man. The compassion she saw in his blue eyes was more than a deputy concerned for a county citizen.

  “I want it to be over for you, too,” he said gently.

  Feeling awkward now, she nodded and reached for her seat belt. He waited to see that she’d carefully strapped herself in before he patted the side of the truck door.

  “Drive carefully,” he ordered, his voice returning to a brisk businesslike tone. “I’ll be right behind you. If we’re separated by traffic lights, slow down until I can catch up with you. Okay?”

  With another jerky nod of her head, she said, “If that happens, I’ll pull over and wait.”

  Thankfully, the thirty-five-minute drive to the Sandbur was uneventful, but the tension of having Ripp following her coupled with the idea that someone might try to ambush them from any angle had her gripping the wheel throughout the trip.

  She was more than glad when she was finally able to park in front of the guesthouse and equally relieved when Ripp immediately pulled beside her.

  Once they were both out of their vehicles, Lucita waited at the edge of the front yard for him to join her. “Thank you for the escort home,” she said, when he finally reached her side. “Do you have time to come in?”

  Ripp realized she was probably hungry for any sort of information about the case that he could give her. He had to admit, he was hungry just for her company. It was not an admission that he was proud of. No. He didn’t like to think that any woman could make him feel things he’d long put out of his life. But Lucita had touched him someway, somehow. And now he simply wanted to take her into his arms and feel her softness against him.

  “After seeing you home safely, I’m officially cut loose.”

  She smiled at him and he inwardly groaned at the sight of her coral-colored lips curving upward to expose a tiny edge of white teeth. No one had to warn him that to kiss those lips would be his undoing. He already knew that kissing Lucita would seal his fate. All the more reason to keep a safe distance, he reasoned with himself.

  Like hell, he thought. Given the chance he’d take every kiss, every caress he could snatch from her before she came to her senses and sent him packing.

  “Good,” she said. “Then you won’t have any reason to hurry away.”

  Trying not to read too much into that remark, Ripp reached for the bag she was toting and followed her into the bungalow.

  They had just passed through a small foyer and were entering the living room, when a door slammed from somewhere in the back of the house and an exchange of voices grew near.

  “Sounds like we’re not alone,” Lucita surmised, then gestured to her bag that he was carrying. “Just put that down anywhere and have a seat. I’ll—”

  Before she could finish, Marti and his teenage cousin, Gracia, trotted into the room. Both of them were out of breath as though they’d been hurrying over from the big house.

  “Hi, Mom!”

  “Hi, Aunt Luci!”

  Both kids chimed out the greeting at the same time before they each turned their attention to Ripp. Since Gracia had known him for years, she raced over to him and flung her arms tightly around his waist.

  “Hi, Mr. Ripp! It’s great to see you! Are you gonna stay for supper? Daddy just sent us over to fetch the two of you.”

  Touched by Gracia’s affectionate greeting, Ripp patted the top of the girl’s long brown hair. “I don’t know, Gracia. I haven’t officially been invited,” he said, his gaze sliding over to Lucita.

  “You’re officially invited,” she said with a smile.

  Releasing her grip on his waist, Gracia took the bag from his hand and tossed it on a nearby couch. “I’m inviting you, too,” the teenager echoed.

  Marti, who’d been watching the whole exchange between his cousin and the deputy, hung hesitantly back as though he didn’t feel a part of the group.

  Understanding social skills were harder for a boy, especially one of Marti’s age. Ripp stepped forward and extended his hand to Lucita’s son. “Hello, Marti. Nice to see you again.”

  Marti’s handshake was firm, but his words were mumbled with less enthusiasm. “Yeah. Guess you’re here to guard my mom.”

  Earlier in the week Lucita had decided to be as truthful as she could with her son. She’d explained that some unknown person was making threatening demands on the family for money. That much was true and she’d seen no need to bring up the subject of his estranged father. But it was plain to see that the whole situation had affected him.

  “Marti!” Lucita quickly scolded. “Ripp isn’t guarding me. He’s here to make sure everything is okay with the whole family. And you should thank him for that.”

  “It’s okay, Lucita,” Ripp softly tossed at her, then with a brief smile, he said to Marti, “I guess I am guarding your mother a little. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, now would we?”

  Marti must have sensed that Ripp was being honest with him, maybe even more honest than most of his family had been, because his whole face suddenly brightened with a grin.

  “Yeah. That’s right enough. Thank you, Mr. Ripp,” he said politely.

  Ripp patted the boy on the shoulder. “You’re quite welcome.”

  Coming up beh
ind him, Gracia looped her arm through Ripp’s and tugged him forward. “Come on, Mr. Ripp. Everybody’s waiting to eat. Brady killed a wild hog while the crew was out on roundup and Juan barbecued the whole thing. And if you don’t like that he threw some chickens on the grill, too.”

  “I’ll eat anything,” he said as the two kids urged him forward.

  Behind the threesome, Lucita thoughtfully watched her son sidle up to Ripp. Ever since Marti had learned about his father’s betrayal, she’d feared that he would view all men with suspicion. And that was the last thing she wanted for her son. He needed a masculine mentor, someone other than a family member, but she wasn’t sure Ripp could ever be that person. Even though he was a friend of Matt’s and Mingo’s, she had to remember that he was really here as a duty, not because she and Marti were special people in his life.

  “You three go on,” she called as they headed out of the living room. “I’m going to take a minute to change clothes. I’ll be right there.”

  Minutes later, after Lucita had changed into a pair of jean shorts and a red tank top with spaghetti straps, she hurried out to the backyard to find the whole area more like a party than anything else.

  Tables and chairs had been set up beneath the shade of the pines and palm trees. Music was playing from someone’s radio while the smell of roasting meat drifted on the warm humid air. Beer and soda were iced down in a huge galvanized tub and in one corner of the grassy area, Gracia and Marti were tossing a boccie ball.

  Lucita walked over to where Juliet was placing a stack of brightly colored melamine plates at the end of one table.

  “What’s going on?” Lucita asked her sister-in-law. “This is supposed to be High Noon Wednesday, instead we’re celebrating—what, I don’t know! I thought everyone would be gathered around the phone or the computer or something!”

  Turning, the tall blonde gave Lucita a placating smile. “Try to relax, Luci. The FBI is closely monitoring the bank account. A deputy is working undercover at the bank. If a move of any kind takes place, someone will be watching. Besides, I’m sure you’d be the first to agree that we can’t sit around terrorized.”