by D'Ann Lindun
Like some ghost rider he came through the mist. “It’s me.”
“But you were shot.” She couldn’t wrap her mind around it even as her feet propelled her forward. “Dead.”
He reined in and dismounted. “I’m alive.”
She rushed to him as fast as her injured leg would allow. “Oh my God. How? What happened? I thought you were gone for sure. There was blood. So much blood. You didn't move—”
“I’m okay.”
Throwing her arms around him, she lifted her face to kiss him. The kiss was brief, chaste. Not what she expected. All her fears about him being another love ’em and leave ’em kind rushed through her gut. She couldn’t have misread him that badly, could she?
She had before. Lance. He’d been in love until she ended up pregnant. Then he couldn’t get free fast enough.
Damn.
She wanted to put her own boot in her butt. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
She took her lips from his to look him over. His skin appeared grayish, his right arm rested in a sling. “You’re hurt bad. We’ve got to get you some help.”
“I’m good now that I’ve found you.” His gaze searched her face. His gray eyes narrowed to slits and he touched her bruised cheek. “Did that son-of-a-bitch hit you? I’ll kill him.”
A tiny spark of hope lit in her chest. Maybe he did care a little. She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s gone now.”
“Gone?”
Taking his hand, she led him and the sorrel to the tree where she’d been resting. They sat on the damp wood. “I asked for a walking stick. When he brought me one, I kicked him. He went over the bank into the stream.”
“Smart.”
Despair filled her voice. “Not so much. Oh, Austin. He stole those girls. All of the women.”
“He confessed?”
“Not in so many words, but he said he was going to take me to Mexico and sell me like the others.” She wound her fingers through his. “They’re probably sex slaves somewhere down there. I was so crazy with grief and rage, I just reacted. Now he can’t tell us where they are.”
“Your safety was the most important thing.”
“Can your agency track them now that we have a lead?”
He nodded. “It’s a start.”
“How did I not see it sooner?” She bit her bottom lip.
“Hey.” He lifted her chin with his finger until their eyes met. “Don’t beat yourself up. No one did. He was crafty, sneaky and obviously very smart. I’ve been tracking lowlife creeps like him my whole career and I didn’t see it.”
“He’s like a wolf that steals lambs,” she said. “Except we didn’t shoot him and hang his hide from a fence like we should have.” She took a shuddering breath. “I don’t think he worked alone, either. He said we a couple times, but I couldn’t get him to tell me who he meant.”
“It’s likely whoever it is will come to the surface once he figures out his partner is dead.” Austin sounded less than hopeful.
“Obviously, Jinx found you,” she said, changing the subject. “Where is he?”
“At the camp. We both couldn’t ride his horse, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer. We’ll send someone back for him if we ever get off this mountain.”
“Did he say if he’d seen my horses or dog?”
Austin shook his head. “No. And he said your rig is missing from the trailhead.”
Jamie stared at him in disbelief. “What?”
“I couldn’t believe it either. But Jinx insists it’s gone.”
“What jackrabbit hole have I fallen into?” Jamie muttered. “Who would steal my truck and trailer? That’s just great. We’re in for a long walk home.”
“I’m walking, you’re riding,” Austin said.
“No. You’re shot, bleeding. You need the horse,” Jamie insisted.
“My legs are fine, plus Jinx patched me up.” Austin stood and held out his hand. “You’re riding. End of story.”
Jamie wanted to argue and opened her mouth to do so, but she could see by the look on his face she wasn’t going to win. She placed her hand in his. “Only for a little ways, then we’ll trade.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
Jamie took the reins from Austin and mounted the sorrel. “Let’s get going.”
He turned away and she followed him. Her mind whirled. Not sure what she expected, his lukewarm reaction to her kiss had been disappointing. It wasn’t as if she expected him to declare undying love, but a little more passion would have been nice.
Unless making love had been a mistake in his mind.
Her heart stuttered.
He wouldn’t be the first man who wanted sex and nothing else. Of course. She’d offered, he accepted. No strings attached.
She had been so naïve. Something she had promised herself to never be again after Lance. At least she wouldn’t be left with a baby this time.
Tears threatened and she fought them back. No way would she let Austin hear her sniffling over him. He’d be gone soon and then she could grieve all she wanted in private.
~*~
Austin could feel Jamie’s gaze on his back as he walked down the trail. He could sense her hurt silence. He knew his lack of response to her ecstatic hug and kiss had left her wounded. Loving her wasn’t the problem. He did. But he had a job to do, and until it was done, he had to concentrate on that and not let his feelings for Jamie cloud his judgment.
Making love to her had been all he hoped and more. But it had also made both of them vulnerable. If his mind hadn’t been on her, Alejandro Vasquez wouldn’t have gotten the drop on him, not once, but twice.
Something that couldn’t happen again.
Alejandro Vasquez might be dead, but he certainly had partners, and until they came out of whatever dark, little hole they hid in, Austin had to have every brain cell functioning. Not being all goofy like some googley-eyed teenager over his first girlfriend.
A log lay across the stream, catching debris, creating a swirling pool across the trail. Something odd in the roaring water caught his attention. He stopped and the horse’s nose bumped him in the back.
“What is it?” Jamie asked. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, but that guy isn’t.” Austin pointed at the battered body hung up on the tree.
Jamie dismounted and came to stand beside him. “Alejandro Vasquez.”
“Yeah.”
“Should we drag him out?” Jamie sounded less than enthused.
“Probably, but we both need medical attention and I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
“What if he has evidence on him?” Jamie tied the red horse to a nearby bush. “And loses it if the body washes further down the stream?”
Although he wanted nothing more than a bed, bath and big fat steak, this was the nature of his job. Austin nodded. “Makes sense.”
Jamie hobbled to the horse, then returned carrying a lariat. “Jinx had this on his saddle. He team ropes for fun on the weekends. Maybe you could partner with him someday.” She made a loop. “I can get this on him from the bank.” She bit her lip. “I think.”
“Okay.” Austin watched as she swung it over her head a few times, then let the loop fly. It went neatly around the head and shoulders of the dead man and she pulled slack until a taut line ran between her hands and the body.
“Get the horse. He can pull it out,” she said.
Austin grabbed the gelding and led him to the edge of the bank. Jamie tied the end of the lariat to the saddlehorn, then motioned for Austin to lead the sorrel forward. The gelding lunged, pulling the dead man from the swollen creek and onto the trail. Jamie untied the lariat from the saddlehorn while Austin moved to the body and loosened the rope.
Alejandro Vasquez was not a pretty sight. The rocks and other debris in the swift moving water had beaten him into a bloody, pulpy mess. Wishing he had Latex gloves, Austin searched the guy’s pockets. In his back right one, he had a wallet with a driver’s license registered to Alejandro Juan Vasquez
and two credit cards with the same name.
Jamie tied the horse and joined Austin, watching him drag a cell phone from Alejandro’s coat pocket. He handed it to her and continued to search. He half hoped to find his gun, but had no luck. Damn. He really liked that Ruger.
As Austin continued to dig through Alejandro’s pockets, the dead man’s phone rang. Jamie jumped. “I didn’t know you could get service up here.”
“I can’t believe that phone is ringing after the dunking it took,” Austin said. “Those new Droids must really work well.”
“It’s a throwaway, but it’s in a waterproof case,” Jamie said.
The phone continued to ring.
“Austin!” Jamie pointed at the phone. “You won’t believe whose calling.”
He straightened. “Who?”
She held the phone by her fingertips as if it would bite her. “My deputy. Carver. Why would Carver call this creep?” Jamie looked bewildered. “I don’t get it.”
“Next time it rings, I’ll answer and put on the speaker.” Austin’s shoulder ached fiercely. He reached under his slicker and coat, coming back with sticky fingers. Bleeding again.
Jamie looked at his face. “You don’t look good. Better sit down.”
He didn’t argue as she led him to the high side of the trail and gently pushed him to sit. She sat beside him. “I just remembered something. I saw Tad Carver and that guy”—she pointed at the body—“talking outside Mom’s restaurant. I even told Tad not to harass him because I didn’t want the sheriff’s office to be accused of picking on Mexicans.”
“A conversation doesn’t mean they have any nefarious ties,” Austin reminded her.
The phone rang again, the sound shrill in the mountain silence.
“I’m picking up,” Austin said. “Hola.”
“Where the hell are you? I delivered hours ago and you haven’t picked up.” Jamie raised her eyebrows as her deputy’s voice poured over the line. “You got to get that product out of there before someone figures out where it’s at.”
Austin didn’t respond.
“You there?” A beat of heavy breathing. “God damn it. Answer me. Did you catch Jamie? Come on, man, answer me. I need to know what’s going on. Did you get rid of them? The sheriff? And that CBI asshole?”
To keep from giving himself away, Austin disconnected the call.
“Oh my God. Did you hear that? He knows that guy was trying to kill me. And you.” Jamie looked ready to vomit.
“I heard.”
“He’s a cop. On my team.” Her eyes looked enormous in her pale face. “And what did he mean by product? And where is it?”
“I think the product might be girls,” Austin said slowly.
With a slow nod, Jamie said, “I think that’s a strong possibility.”
Austin’s mind whirred like a motor. “Here are the facts we know—Vasquez took the girls because he as much as admitted it to you. We’ve caught Carver with porn. Hard core porn, which means he has little or no regard for women. I think he might be in as deep as Vasquez.”
“My God. In my town. Right under all our noses.” Jamie shook her head. “This gets crazier by the second.”
The phone rang again. “I’m going to let it go to message. Let Carver hang himself.”
Austin recalled some of the conversations he’d had. He riffled through his memory trying to recall if Carver had been mentioned in connection with any of the missing women. The waitress at The Moon had said something about Carver being there the night Rosie went missing. Had he taken her?
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Jamie asked.
He shrugged with his good shoulder. “Just trying to remember if anyone said anything that ties him to any of the missing women.”
“He was the deputy on duty the night the girl got thrown from the pickup,” Jamie said. “And if I remember right, he was the first one there.”
“I’m betting that girl was another victim who he was going to send to Mexico.” Austin’s lips thinned dangerously. “I think she caused the wreck trying to get away. There was blood on the sliding back window, remember? And didn’t Jinx find a bloody gunnysack? Maybe she’d been stuffed inside it.” He voiced his fears. “Or maybe just her head to blindfold her.”
“That would explain her running into the desert instead of staying on the road.” Jamie’s voice wavered. “And I sent Tad out to retrieve her body. Oh, God, Austin. What if he murdered her out there?”
“He wouldn’t have killed her,” Austin said. “She was more valuable alive than dead. I’m certain the flashflood in the ravine killed her.”
“Because she was being chased by a maniac.” Jamie moaned. “That I sent after her.”
“You didn’t know. You couldn’t have.”
Her eyes grew big. “I just had a horrible thought. What if one of these men shot Big Jim? Did he get too close and they tried to kill him to shut him up?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me.” Austin shook his head. “The thing I’m missing is motive.”
“Alejandro claimed Americans have been treating Mexicans very badly, especially farm workers. Maybe that’s it.”
“Jinx also told me Alejandro lost that eye in a farming accident,” Austin told her. “I’d say he’s been carrying a lot of anger for a very long time.”
“He had a glass eye.” She shuddered. “It was really gross looking. But what does that have to do with stealing girls to sell them? What does that accomplish?”
Austin shrugged. “Maybe it’s all about the money and not revenge at all.”
“What would Carver get out of it?” Jamie questioned. “Money?”
“I think it’s because he hates women,” Austin said. A thought occurred to him. “Haley Spencer came to my motel to tell me she thinks someone slipped her a roofie and raped her. I tend to believe her story.”
Jamie’s eyes filled with fury. “Katie—Kate—was raped. Do you think he did that, too?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“How does Katie fit in all this? One of the women Alejandro or Carver tried to grab and she fought back?” Jamie stared at the body with hard eyes. “She didn’t have defensive wounds. That means she didn’t fight if it was even one of them at all.”
“Maybe she couldn’t,” Austin reminded her. “Maybe he had a gun on her.”
Jamie shuddered. “That does tend to take the fair out of a fight.”
Austin’s stomach clenched. Marisol hadn’t stood a chance against Las Carnales when they beat and gang raped her. “Did that son-of-a-bitch touch you?”
“No.”
The knot in his stomach loosened a fraction. “Good thing for him.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said with frost in her voice.
“I know.” Now wasn’t the time to sort out their relationship. “We better get off this mountain and find Carver before he figures out Alejandro is dead and bolts.”
She held up the cell phone. “This thing gets reception. I’m going to call Hattie and tell her to send the troops.”
“No.” Austin placed his hand over hers holding the phone. “We can’t alert Carver. We need to get down from this mountain and then call for backup.”
With a sigh of resignation, she slid her hand from under his and stood. “Your turn to ride. And don’t say no, because I can see you’re about to pass out, and you’re too damn big for me to lift on the horse by myself.”
Hiding a small grin, he nodded. “Only for a little ways.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Taking turns riding the horse, Jamie and Austin slowly made their way down the mountain. Although the snow had stopped, dark clouds still swirled around the peaks, obliterating the sun.
At a fork in the trail, Jamie reined in and hesitated. She and Austin had traded places not long ago, and although Jamie insisted Austin ride and she walk, he overruled her. She wasn’t sure he was going to make it much further without passing out.
Making it to town on the back of
one tired horse was not going to work.
“What’s wrong?” Austin asked.
“It’s getting late. Around three, I’d say,” she said. “The trailhead where we started is almost two hours away. If my truck really is gone, there’s still another ten miles to town. Kate’s cabin is close. I think we should detour over there. There’s bound to be coffee and maybe food. I don’t know about you, but I’m about done in. Without sustenance, I’m not sure we’re going to make it.”
He nodded. “Sounds good.”
She nudged the horse with her heels. He moved forward at a slow pace, Austin holding onto Jamie’s left stirrup for support.
It seemed like hours, but a little more than thirty minutes passed when the outline of Kate’s cabin came into view. Jamie sagged with relief. Even the tired horse seemed happy to see it and perked up his ears.
Something about the dark building seemed off and Jamie’s senses went on alert. She chalked it up to just being jumpy after a lot of crazy events in a row. For about the tenth time since she’d first fallen, she reached for her weapon and silently cussed when she remembered she didn’t have it any more.
Jamie reined in at the side of the cabin. Memories swirled in her head and heart of all the times the Hollenbreck family held barbeques here for spring brandings and fall roundups. No telling what a new owner would do with the place. Maybe use it for the same purpose the Hollenbreck’s had, or maybe tear it down. Who knew? Time marched on.
Hammer tore around the side of the building, barking like a hellhound. In spite of her irritation with him, Jamie smiled, happy to see her mutt. “Where’ve you been, boy?”
After dismounting, Jamie unsaddled the sorrel and turned him into the small pasture behind the cabin. With a grunt of happiness, he dropped and rolled in the wet grass, happy to cool off his sweaty back.
Austin hoisted the saddle onto the porch and Jamie climbed the steps, Hammer on her heels. As she reached for the doorknob, she hesitated. Someone had barred the door. “What’s this?”
Austin stood at her shoulder. “What?”