Lone Rider Bodyguard

by Harper Allen

  She’d awakened in his arms this morning—in her bedroom, not his. He’d understood when she’d told him she couldn’t fall asleep with a wall between her and Danny, even though with both bedroom doors open it had been possible to hear her son’s slightest movement. At some time during the hours they’d been together Tye had stripped off his sweatshirt and jeans, and he’d put them back on with a wry grin.

  “I’d feel better being able to watch over him, too, honey. I’ll join you in a few minutes, but first I’m going to check in with Paul and Kevin and make sure everything’s been quiet on the home front.”

  He’d pulled her to him and given her a quick, hard kiss before he’d left. He’d given her another when he’d returned and had slipped under the covers of her bed, snugging her tightly to his length. She’d drowsily opened her eyes to his good-morning kiss just after dawn, when he’d reluctantly left her to return to his own room.

  Once during the night she’d come instantly awake, a moment later realizing that her motherly instinct had picked up on the quietly aggrieved hiccuping coming from the direction of Danny’s crib. Before she’d been able to push back the covers and go to him, Tye had touched her shoulder.

  “Let me, Suze. Poor guy, he sounds like he chugged back a couple of beers instead of milk at his last feeding.”

  Even as she’d stifled a giggle, he’d risen from the bed, pulled on his jeans for the second time that night and lifted Danny into his arms. As she’d drifted in and out of sleep for the next little while, every time she lifted her lashes the sight she saw had filled her with a kind of peaceful awe: a big man quietly pacing the floor, murmuring words she couldn’t quite catch to the baby in his arms staring so solemnly up at him.

  That was one side of Tyler Adams. Earlier he’d shown her another, and although that side had been equally tender, equally protective, he’d held back nothing of the heat and desire he felt for her. Heavens, who would have guessed a bath could be so erotic? Susannah wondered, feeling her breath catch as she relived every intoxicating moment. He’d lowered himself into the water behind her, a leanly muscled leg on either side of her thighs. Holding her close, he’d slipped lower in the tub, until her breasts had been two pink-tipped islands almost entirely covered with foam.

  Her wedding night with Frank had been a hasty, fumbled affair. In contrast, Tye had brought a lazy, languid intimacy to everything he’d done with her—extravagantly soaping her breasts, slowly kissing the side of her neck, gently pulling her to him and whispering in her ear as she felt his hardness pressing against her.

  He’d used the shower attachment to sluice clear water over her hair, and as the warm, needle-like spray had soaked through to her scalp she’d heard a purring sound of pure pleasure coming from somewhere deep in her own throat. Tye had heard it, too, and she’d known from his sudden tenseness that this evidence of her arousal had brought him dangerously near the edge.

  Technically they hadn’t made love, she thought now, smiling a secret smile to herself. But in the future they were destined to share, whenever she looked back on those hours they’d spent together she would count it as the night she and Tye had become lovers.

  “Thanks for the grub.”

  As Kevin Bradley’s curtly spoken words broke into her thoughts, Susannah saw he had risen from the table. She mustered some sort of reply, but before she’d finished speaking he’d already turned to Del.

  “Mister Hawkins, I’ve been wondering if you could take a look at that gelding of mine I keep in the corral by the bunkhouse. For the past week or so I figure he’s been favoring his left hind leg, but the damn thing won’t let me get close enough to check it over.”

  “The past week?” Del frowned sharply. “Sure, I’ll take a look, see what’s the matter with him. Why didn’t you ask me sooner, for God’s sake?”

  Bradley shrugged carelessly. “That horse never was worth half what I paid for him. I guess I was hoping whatever it was would clear up by itself, and save me the price of a vet bill. But it seems to be getting worse, so it looks like I’m either going to have to throw good money after bad or shoot him.”

  “And that’s not going to happen as long as the animal’s on my property,” Del said smoothly, but with an iron edge to his voice. “Give me half an hour or so, Bradley. I’ll bring hobbles and a twitch to keep him under control.”

  “Could be a wire cut gone septic,” Tye commented after the sound of Bradley’s boots clattering down the porch steps had faded. “Gotta tell you, Del, that guy just rubs me the wrong way.”

  “You and me both,” Hawkins grunted. “I hired him and Johnson at the same time and I’ve never had to tell Paul anything twice, but with Kevin it’s been one problem after another. He’s not cowboy material, in my book. If I find he’s let an animal suffer just because he didn’t want to pay for its care, I’ll be giving him his walking papers on the spot.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to rope me in to ride range? Dammit, Del, you know I’ve always said if the good Lord wanted us to sit on horses, then why would He have invented ergonomic chairs with adjustable backs?”

  With a grin, Jess pushed open the screen door and halted at the threshold of the kitchen. “I’ve spent all day catching connecting flights and I’m starving,” he announced plaintively. “Feed me.”

  Already Susannah was heading toward the stove. “You poor man,” she commiserated, her feigned tartness a cover for the butterflies that were suddenly filling her stomach. “I know what they serve at those fancy casinos—jumbo shrimp cocktails and filet mignon. How did you survive?”

  “Hey—the lady got sassy while I was away.” Jess pulled out a chair and plopped down in it. “Okay, here’s the scoop, folks. Michael Saranno swears Barrett’s murder wasn’t his doing. I think he was telling me the truth.”

  He dropped his bombshell in the same light tone as his earlier banter, but as Susannah shot a startled glance in his direction she saw his expression held no humor. He grimaced, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know where that leaves us, but I get the feeling it’s a place where a paddle might come in real handy. Saranno handed me one, but I’m not sure how reliable it is.”

  “How about we take it from the top again?” Tye said shortly. “This time slow down for the details, Jess. Michael Saranno swore to you Frank’s death and the attempts on Susannah’s life were nothing to do with him?”

  “That’s what he said. Thanks, Susannah, this looks great.” As she set a plate of meat loaf and scalloped potatoes in front of him, Jess gave her a swift smile that held none of his usual jocularity. “I know this wasn’t what you wanted to hear,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you more encouraging news.”

  “He’s a mobster. Why should we trust him?” Tye’s tone was disgusted.

  “Because if he could have fessed up, he would have,” Jess replied sharply. “He wanted to be able to give me what I was asking for—which was that he call off his goon squad and leave Susannah in peace. I was making him an offer he couldn’t refuse, except he couldn’t pony up the ante to accept my deal.”

  “What was your offer?” Up until now Del had been silent. Now his laconic question seemed to pull Jess up short.

  “That I would shut down his casino operation.” Suddenly the food on his plate seemed to require all his attention. He didn’t meet Del’s eyes. “And that before I did, I’d make sure the house had a run of luck so bad every player walked out a millionaire,” he ended weakly.

  “You what?” Tye stared at his friend. Then he gave a short laugh. “You son of a gun—there’s a built-in glitch in the software you supplied him with, isn’t there? Crawford, yours have gotta be made of brass, for crying out loud.”

  “You wouldn’t believe how uncomfortable it gets when the temperature drops below freezing,” Jess agreed readily, his grin reappearing. “No, there’s no glitch. There was one in the beta version of the software—the prototype,” he added in response to Del’s frown and Susannah’s bl
ank look, “but it was ironed out long before we delivered. Saranno didn’t know that, though. Like I say, he thought he was staring financial ruin in the face and he was desperate to avert it, but since he hadn’t given the order to target Susannah, it wasn’t his to rescind. All he could do was give me some information.”

  “Which you didn’t trust,” Tye said flatly.

  “Which I wasn’t a hundred percent sure of,” Jess corrected him. “He confirmed Frank was in hock to his casino up to his eyeballs, and that it was apparent he was never going to be able to make good on his losses. He even let it slip that he’d considered sending an enforcer out to make an object lesson of Barrett. Except then he found out someone was going to save him the trouble.”

  “There was a contract out on Frank already,” Tye said flatly. “Don’t tell me—it was a prison hit, right?”

  Jess stared at him. “You knew?” His tone took on a slight asperity. “So help me, Adams, if you let me go ahead and set up a meet with a wise guy when all the time you—”

  “I didn’t know,” Tye said tonelessly. “But something in Susannah’s statement to Sheriff Bannerman after the attack on her at Greta’s place made me see it as a possibility, and I ran my own check on Frank. My methods weren’t as cutting-edge as yours,” he added with a shrug. “Just plain old-fashioned legwork by one of my operatives.”

  “What did I say?” Susannah folded her hands in her lap and looked inquiringly at Tye. He frowned.

  “What?”

  “What did I say?” she repeated. “You said something in my statement to the sheriff alerted you, Tye. I’m asking you what it was.”

  “Oh.” He scrubbed his jaw with his hand. “It was that cornpone remark. You told Bannerman the shooter made some crack about the way you spoke, something about it being a while since he’d heard an accent like yours.”

  “I see.” She remembered now, Susannah thought. She’d tried to put those horrifying moments in Greta’s garage behind her, but in some buried corner of her mind she’d probably always be able to relive the fear she’d felt when she’d known her son was in danger. She tried to control the tremor in her voice. “And when were you planning to tell me you were following up on this clue?”

  He looked disconcerted. “I didn’t see the need to until I’d found out whether it meant anything or not.”

  He wouldn’t, she thought, her brief anger edging into resignation. All his life Tye had been used to playing a lone hand, and if that was a natural result of growing up as the son of Marvin Adams she could see how he might not realize the rules had changed.

  But they had. For her that change had come yesterday when she’d understood that he’d not only taken on the task of protecting her and Danny, but that he was fully prepared to give up his own life for theirs.

  You didn’t set a limit on your commitment to me, she thought, meeting his gaze across the table. That’s when I knew I didn’t want to set a limit on my commitment to you.

  Her decision had led to the night they’d just spent in each other’s arms—which brought her right back to the matter at hand.

  Tye Adams was going to have to get used to the fact that she was part of his life now.

  “I should have told you.” As if his thoughts had been following the same course as hers, he exhaled sharply. “Dammit, Suze, I should have told you, of course. You’ve got a right to know what’s going on.”

  “Yes, I do.” She gave the words a significance he couldn’t miss. “What did your operative find out about Frank’s time in prison?”

  “That his last two weeks there were spent in the infirmary. Apparently during an exercise period in the yard, another inmate stuck a homemade shiv between Frank’s ribs. It just missed his heart. But that’s not all. Barrett was serving his time in your home state—a fact that I passed on to Bannerman when I spoke to him on the phone today.”

  Something else he hadn’t told her about, Susannah thought tightly. But she couldn’t worry about that right now. “West Virginia Penitentiary?”

  “Mount Olive, although he started out in—” he began, but she didn’t let him finish.

  “What are you saying, Tye? My baby’s not in danger because of who his daddy was, but because of his mama? That you think there’s a link between me and these killers?”

  This was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her, she realized, nameless dread running through her. Part of his reluctance had been because he wasn’t used to opening up to someone else, but part of it had been because he’d wanted to spare her for as long as he could. He’d learned something. Whatever it was, he was afraid it would tear her world apart.

  “There is a link,” he said flatly. “Maybe it’s not relevant, maybe it’s just a coincidence, but there is a link, Susannah. And what Bannerman told me when I called made me realize it’s a stronger one than I thought. You ever hear of a little hamlet called Germantown Bend?”

  “No.” Her answer was automatic. She frowned, and qualified it. “I’m not sure. I think I remember the Amish people we stayed with in Pennsylvania asking Granny Lacey if she knew anyone there. Where’s Germantown Bend, and why is it important?”

  “Germantown Bend’s only thirty miles from another little hamlet—one called Fox Hollow,” Tye said steadily. “It’s probably not important at all, except that the prints from the shooter in Greta’s garage came back to Bannerman today with an identification. His name was Waylon Lynds, Suze. And he was born and raised in Germantown Bend.”

  “HOW ARE YOU holding up, sweetheart?” Del directed a keen glance Susannah’s way as he made his way stiffly down the porch steps beside her. She managed a smile.

  “Like I just got kicked in the stomach by a bad-tempered old she-mule,” she confessed, gently uncurling Danny’s tugging fist from her hair. “Do you think there’s any way Sheriff Bannerman’s information could be wrong?”

  Minutes after Tye’s revelation Del had invited Susannah to walk over to the bunkhouse with him when he went to examine Kevin Bradley’s horse. In a tone that had brooked no opposition he’d put Tye and Jess on KP duty, telling them to meet him at the bunkhouse corral when they were finished scrubbing pans.

  Susannah had known the older man’s maneuver had been for the sole purpose of giving her time to collect herself after the shock of Tye’s news. From his quiet agreement she’d realized Tye had understood what was behind Del’s suggestion, too.

  “Hank Bannerman’s no Columbo, and he goes off half-cocked sometimes.” Del steadied himself with his cane as they crossed the gravel drive. He met her eyes. “Yeah, I heard his theory about Greta the next day when I stopped in at his office on my way back from the hospital. I tore one hell of a strip off him over it, but I think even by then he’d found he couldn’t make it fit the facts.”

  “You love her, don’t you?” Momentarily diverted from her own problems, Susannah waited for his reply. He looked away.

  “More than I realized,” he said shortly. “When I saw she’d been hit all I could think was that if she survived, I’d spend the rest of my life proving it to her.”

  He halted. “Funny how you find out what you really want when you nearly lose it, isn’t it?” he said evenly.

  From the first she’d felt as easy with this man as she would have with her own father, Susannah thought. She didn’t pretend to misunderstand what had been behind his question.

  “Is it that obvious?” She looked down, stirring a tuft of her son’s hair with a gentle finger. “I spent the night with him, Del. He wants a future with me and Danny.”

  Gray eyes narrowed in the tanned face turned to her. “Does he, now?” He exhaled sharply, and then nodded. “Then I’m glad, sweetheart—for you and for that lucky son-of-a-gun. When’s the happy day?”

  “Oh, we won’t make any plans until this business is all over with,” she replied, slightly flustered. “Maybe I shouldn’t even have told you, but—”

  “I’ll keep my big mouth shut and act surprised when he springs it on me,” Del reassured h
er. “And if you’re looking for an ex-Double B to escort you down the aisle when the time comes, I’d be glad to stand in for your father, Susannah.”

  “I’d hoped you’d say that.” She felt a stinging moisture behind her eyelids and blinked rapidly. “For heaven’s sake, it seems like every time I turn around these days I’m tearing up,” she said shakily.

  “It’s the stress.” As they resumed walking, he frowned. “This Waylon Lynds—you sure you never heard of him before?”

  Helplessly she shook her head. “Like I told Tye, Granny Lacey didn’t stay in touch with anyone from Fox Hollow, let alone a town thirty miles away from it. She kept up correspondence with the Amish ladies we’d known, and the friends she made in the other places we’d lived, though,” she added, her brow furrowing. “I never thought much about it before, but now I wonder why she didn’t write home once in a while.”

  “Maybe after the tragedies that happened there your grandmother needed to put Fox Hollow behind her completely,” Del replied quietly. “I can understand that.” He fell silent for a moment, and then continued, his tone brisker. “Let’s concentrate on what we do know. This Waylon Lynds was a bad egg and from what Bannerman was told by the West Virginia authorities, his twin brother Lyle wasn’t any better—although apparently they were saints compared to some of their uncles and cousins. I think it’s safe to assume Lyle was one of the two other shooters,” he added. “Bannerman told Tye the Lynds brothers apparently worked as a team.”

  “Which leaves one unaccounted for, as Tye said.” Susannah bit her lip. “I’ve tried and tried, and I just can’t come up with any reason why someone would want me dead, Del. Waylon Lynds said something about it being payback. That made some kind of sense when we thought I was only being targeted because of my connection with Frank, but if I’m the one they’ve always wanted—oh!”

  Susannah felt the blood drain from her face as the full impact of what she’d just said hit her.