Lone Rider Bodyguard

by Harper Allen

  Even when she’d taken him to task earlier today there’d been a part of her that had felt dangerously vulnerable, meltingly weak every time she’d met his eyes, she reluctantly admitted. She knew how foolish her reaction was. What she hadn’t decided yet was if it was wrong.

  The Reverend Peabody who preached at that church Granny Lacey and I attended in Ohio would have thought so, she thought, an unconscious frown creasing her brow. He would have labeled what I’m feeling as simple carnal lust, and he’d probably say it was even worse because I’m a brand-new mama who shouldn’t be thinking this way at all about a man.

  Tye came around the corner of the porch, his stride long-legged and easy, his gaze going immediately to her and Danny. He smiled, and all thoughts of the good reverend fled as heat filled her.

  “Johnson and Bradley got the last of the horses rounded up and corralled. Paul said they seemed a little spooked, but none the worse for wear.” Leaning back against the porch railing, Tye hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets and crossed his booted feet at the ankles. “Any word from Bannerman yet?”

  “He called just after you and Jess went over to the bunkhouse,” Susannah said, wondering in embarrassed dismay whether the croak she’d heard in her voice had been audible to anyone else. “They’ve had no luck so far in identifying the shooter from Greta’s garage, and the two who got away are still at large. He offered again to arrange some kind of protective custody for me and Danny if I wanted.”

  “And you said?” Tye’s question was uninflected but his gaze sharpened on hers as he waited for her answer.

  “I said if it was all the same to him, I’d be staying here,” she replied, her tone now firmly under control. “After all, I was heading for the ranch last week when my car broke down and Danny decided to make an appearance a little earlier than expected. If Greta hadn’t told me Del was out of town for a few days, I would have shown up at the Double B before now.”

  “I don’t normally escort the boys back to their homes, and leaving the ranch at this particular time wasn’t something I was eager to do even with Tye here to keep an eye on things,” Del said. “But I owed the senator an explanation as to why I was returning his nephew in a walking cast. I contacted him again this morning and told him the man who’d been instigating the accidents had perished in a fire.”

  Del shrugged. “I told Alice Tahe that, too, when her granddaughter, Joanna, drove her over for a visit this afternoon.”

  “Alice Tahe?” Jess, his hair wetly slicked back, dropped into the chair next to Del with a grimace. “God, I’ve had three showers today and I still smell of smoke. Is she the one we used to call Old Lady Tahe?”

  “She’s the one you boys called Mrs. Tahe, after I put a couple of you on latrine duty to teach you some respect,” Del said dryly. “She had her hundredth birthday this spring, although her granddaughter’s sure Alice shaved a year or two off her age when she married her third husband. By the way, Susannah, Joanna’s a registered nurse who runs a Navajo Nation new-mother’s clinic. She said if you’d like to bring Danny in tomorrow, she could weigh him and give him his first checkup.”

  “Her clinic’s got a top-notch reputation. I’ll drive you and Danny there in the morning if you want,” Tye said, before turning back to Del.

  “What was Alice’s reaction when you told her Vincent Rosario had been trying to get back at you for straightening his little brother out?” he asked idly. Extracting a small folding knife from his pocket, he snapped it open and squinted at something on his thumb. He saw Susannah watching him. “Splinter,” he said briefly. “Stings like the devil, dammit.”

  His pose of unconcern was just that, she knew—a pose. Alice Tahe, Del had explained to her earlier, had been convinced from the first that the disturbing incidents at the ranch couldn’t be attributed to any human agency. Steeped in the old ways as she was, she’d found it easier to accept a supernatural explanation.

  “Every culture has its werewolves and its demons,” Del had elaborated. “The Navajos have Skinwalker, an evil spirit who can take on any shape he wants. Some versions say he can bend others to his will—use them as his puppets, so to speak.”

  “Vincent Rosario said he’d made a deal with the devil,” she’d said, still not reassured. “Legend or not, isn’t it possible someone learned of his grudge against the Double B and helped him…someone with an agenda of his own?”

  “Tye told me what Vincent said about Skinwalker wanting the baby, sweetheart.” Del had taken her hands in his. “That’s part of the myth—that he comes around at night and steals little children away. Rosario knew he was dying, and from what you say he was terrified his crimes would damn him. My guess is that in his guilt he seized on the local legend as a scapegoat, dredging up every detail he could remember about it to convince himself he wasn’t as bad as he feared.”

  His no-nonsense words had set her world to rights again and banished the last of her fears for Danny.

  “Alice’s reaction?” Del’s reply to Tye’s query brought Susannah back to the present. “She told me I was a fool. Then she demanded that her granddaughter take her home.”

  “So she doesn’t think it’s over.” There was frustration in Tye’s declaration. “That could lead to trouble down the road, Del. If the Skinwalker rumors persist they might be used as a smoke screen for anyone who wants to get back at you, just as Rosario used them. I know not everyone around here’s happy with the Double B taking in hellions who’re one step away from jail.”

  “But that’s the way it’s been since Del first bought this place,” Jess interjected. “At least Rosario’s out of the picture now, and we can concentrate on Susannah’s problem. Have you told her what I proposed?”

  Tye shook his head, his somber expression changing to a one-sided smile. “I thought I’d let you run it by her. You’re always complaining I never let you be the hero in front of the girls.”

  “And I’m right, dammit. After delivering Danny by the side of the highway, already you’ve got me playing catch-up.”

  Jess’s easy grin belied his aggrieved tone. He leaned forward in his chair, his gaze suddenly serious.

  “As I understand it, Susannah, these people who’ve been tracking you were responsible for the death of your husband. That’s how this whole thing started, right?”

  “With Frank’s murder, yes,” she agreed, unconsciously tightening her hold on Danny. “It’s like I told you and Del today—until then I’d never come in contact with any kind of violence at all.”

  “Except for your grandmother’s death a few weeks previous to your meeting Barrett,” Tye pointed out. “But that was an accident, you said.”

  “A hit-and-run.” She frowned at him. “For heaven’s sakes, Tye, you’re not saying my grandmother’s the key to what’s been happening. She was a law-abiding, church-going older lady who was never involved in anything shady in her whole life. How can you suggest even for a minute that somehow she got on the wrong side of a bunch of professional killers?”

  She was more incredulous than angry, Susannah thought, meeting his gaze. In fact, if the underlying subject wasn’t murder, his theory would be laughable.

  He folded the small knife he’d been holding and slipped it back into his pocket. “You’re right,” he said smoothly. “I guess the fact that the police never found the driver responsible for the accident sticks in my craw, but a lot of hit-and-runs go unsolved. Go on, Jess—you were saying we’re pretty sure the answer lies with Frank Barrett. The thing is, we don’t know much about the man.”

  “Which is where I can help,” Jess continued. He looked uncertainly at Susannah. “If you want me to, of course. It would mean digging into your husband’s past and there’s no telling what we might find.”

  “Wait a minute.” Del was shaking his head. “The authorities would have done that already. If they didn’t find a clue as to who killed Frank Barrett and why, what makes you think you can?”

  “Because I’ve got resources that law enforce
ment agencies can only dream of,” Jess said without arrogance. “Technology that hasn’t been released yet, software that won’t go on the market for another couple of years, cutting-edge equipment most police forces just can’t afford. That’s what Crawford Solutions is all about, Del. Give me a day or so and I’ll be able to provide you with a complete bio on Frank Barrett, including anyone he might have associated with. Tye can take it from there.”

  “It’d give us something to go on, Susannah.” Restlessly Tye pushed himself away from the porch railing. “We’re working in the dark here. For some reason it wasn’t enough just to kill Frank and leave it at that—you were targeted as well. But until we figure out why he was murdered we can’t do much except sit back and wait for the next attack. That’s not the way I operate.”

  “It’s the way I’ve been operating for the past nine months,” Susannah said slowly. “I’ve been running like a rabbit with a pack of redbone hounds on its tail, but sooner or later the hounds always catch up to the rabbit.”

  She looked down at her son, sleepily snuggled against her breast. “My boy’s not going to grow up scared and on the run. If your investigation into his daddy’s past brings to light something I’d rather Danny didn’t ever know, I’ll figure out how I’m going to deal with it when he’s older. You go ahead and run a check on Frank, Jess.”

  “I was counting on you saying that.” Jess’s good-looking features broke into a swift smile. He glanced at his watch and stood, his posture resolute. “I’ve already packed my duffel bag and stashed it in the utility. It’s a three-hour drive to my little spread, so if I make tracks now I’ll be able to start working on this tonight.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. “You’re saving me from another day in the great outdoors. Del’ll tell you, I never really cut the mustard as a cowboy, but give me a windowless room and a bank of computer monitors and I’m a happy camper. As soon as I learn something I’ll be in touch.”

  If Jess Crawford and Tyler Adams were representative of the kind of men the Double B molded, Susannah thought as Del and Tye left her briefly to see Jess off, she could understand why the Vietnam vet had resolved to do everything in his power to combat any threat to the ranch. From what Jess had told her, Del’s request for help had been unprecedented, and that in itself had signaled his desperation when he’d finally contacted four of the Double B’s graduates.

  “He’s a good man, Daddy,” she said under her breath, laying her cheek on the top of Danny’s head and breathing in the baby scent of him. “Granny Lacey said he saved your life more’n once over there in that ripped-apart country, and you saved his a couple of times in turn. I’m glad you sent me to him.”

  “I’m glad, too, sweetheart.”

  Opening her eyes, she saw Del had returned and was watching her. Greta had called him her tough old mustang, she recalled, and there was a rawhide strength and toughness to the man. Not only did it display itself in the way he’d overcome a physical disability, but it was demonstrated by his dogged determination to salvage young lives before they were forever ruined.

  He’s cut from the same cloth Daniel Bird was, she thought as Del lowered himself stiffly into the chair beside her. And Tye’s a lot like both of them.

  “I should have kept up the friendship, Susannah. It was my fault your father and I lost touch with each other.”

  His tone was low and he’d leaned back in his chair, his eyes reflectively closed as hers had been only moments ago. When he sighed, to her ears there seemed to be a world of regret in the sound. Danny stirred in her arms, but although she shifted her hold on him she remained silent, knowing instinctively that the man beside her had more to say.

  “There were four of us, as you know. Myself, your father, John MacLeish and Zeke Harmon. Beta Beta Force. I didn’t name the ranch after us, by the way.” She saw a gleam of gray as one eye opened a slit and glanced her way. “It was already called the Double B. I bought the place partly because of the name, though at the time I couldn’t admit that to myself.”

  Booted footsteps signalled Tye’s approach. As if he sensed Del’s mood he merely nodded as he joined them, again choosing to stand instead of taking a seat. Unexpectedly, the realization came to Susannah that if she were both deaf and blind she still would have been somehow aware that he was nearby, although this time her awareness of his presence wasn’t as edgy and heated as it had been previously. This time the feeling filling her was one of completeness, as if part of her had been missing and was missing no longer.

  Like an unbroken circle, she thought, disconcerted by the notion. Me and Danny and Tye…it seems right, as if that’s the way it should have been all along, and as if that’s the way it should be from now on.

  She realized Del was speaking again. Not exactly sure why she felt so unsettled, she focused her attention on what he was saying.

  “We were a band of brothers, and the tattoos were a symbol of how we felt. I think it was Zeke who came up with the idea, John who sketched it out and me who requested a few days R and R for us in Saigon, where we all trooped into a tiny tattoo parlor and got them done. Two killer bees fighting to the death. You’ve seen it, Tye.”

  “Your left biceps. I’ve seen it.” The corners of Tye’s mouth lifted. “It impressed the hell out of me when I was a kid. I wanted one just like it, but even then I knew it was something more than just a design.”

  “A long time ago, maybe.” Del’s eyes were open now, and he looked down at the cane lying on the porch by his feet. “Now that’s probably exactly what it is. I’m the only one left, and not all of me returned from that war.”

  He wasn’t only talking about the disability that had robbed him of his legs, Susannah knew. The pain in his voice went too deep.

  “Zeke died over there,” Del said in an undertone. “A few days later I stepped onto what looked like a patch of bamboo shoots in a swamp and the world exploded around me. When I woke up in a stateside hospital weeks later they told me the war was over and a friend of mine was waiting to see me, but neither one of those two pieces of news meant anything to me.”

  His grin was crooked. “I sent him away, Susannah. Your father kept coming back. Finally I told him that seeing him made everything worse, and he stopped visiting me. It was years after that I came across his address written on the flyleaf of a book he’d given me, but I couldn’t contact him. I was too ashamed of the way I’d treated him.”

  “What happened to MacLeish?” Tye’s eyebrows drew together. “Did he make it out?”

  “Five years after hostilities officially ceased.” Del’s gaze darkened. “You ever hear of MIA bracelets? Missing in action,” he added in response to Susannah’s look. “Plain silver, with only a name, rank and date engraved on them, the date being when the MIA in question had last been seen. I saw one once with John’s name on it. For five years he was kept in what they called a tiger cage, with the outside world not knowing if he was alive or dead. Finally he was released.”

  “He’s not the same MacLeish who went into politics, is he?” Tye’s query was sharp. “Married a young Vietnamese woman, was rumored to be in the running as his party’s candidate in the next senatorial race about ten years ago before he—” Abruptly he stopped.

  “Murder-suicide makes a pretty sensational news story, doesn’t it?” Del said heavily. “I hear some tabloid television show had their pet psychiatrist come on to explain how those years as a prisoner must have snapped something in John’s mind that eventually led him to kill his wife before drowning himself. I prefer to remember him as the patriot and comrade-in-arms he was when I knew him. I would have gone to his funeral if his body had ever been recovered.”

  Abruptly he reached for his cane. “Hell, we were four scared-spitless kids who’d been dropped into a country and a situation we weren’t sure we could handle. I guess the tattoo was our way of whistling past the graveyard, except the graveyard got everyone but me in the end.” He stood. “You know, I hear they’ve got las
ers nowadays that can remove tattoos.”

  With a small start, Susannah realized that dusk had fallen while they’d been talking. Velvety shadows pooled in the far corners of the verandah, and Del’s expression was obscured.

  “Guess I’ll check on the horses,” he said, his tone a signal the conversation was at an end. “I’d better make sure that foal’s settled down from all the excitement.”

  He was almost at the end of the porch before she called to him. Roused by the sound of her voice, Danny awoke and opened his mouth in an enormous yawn, staring in sudden fascination at Tye. Susannah’s gaze rested lovingly on her son before she lifted her eyes to Del.

  “It still stands for something, that tattoo the four of you got all those years ago.” Her voice was firm and clear. “It stands for a bond that never broke, Del. Maybe you lost touch with my father and John MacLeish, maybe you’re the only one who survived, but what those fighting bees symbolize still holds true. It brought Daniel Bird’s daughter and his grandson halfway across the country to your doorstep. You didn’t even think of turning us away. I hope you don’t get it removed.”

  For a moment Hawkins didn’t reply. Then his shoulders squared, and she saw the brief flash of his smile in the gathering dark. “Maybe I won’t, at that. After all, it seems this ranch produced the next generation of Double B men, doesn’t it?”

  He turned the corner of the porch and disappeared from view. A second later she heard the sound of his walking stick steadying him as he made his way down the steps to the yard, now illuminated with the lights he’d flicked on.

  “I’d be willing to bet there’s more to that story than we learned tonight,” Tye said. He took a step toward her, his manner offhand. “How about I hold him for a while, Suze?”

  Surprised, she blinked at him. Then she recovered. “He’d probably love it if you did. I don’t think he’s taken his eyes off you since he woke up.”

  Carefully she handed Danny into his arms, and blinked again as he cradled the tiny body as deftly as if the action was second nature to him.