by Desiree Holt
Serita had casually walked out to the porch and carried in the remains of lunch as calmly as if nothing was happening.
“Take her back in the study, Frank,” she told him. “I’ll take care of things here.”
Zoe’s jaw dropped as she watched Serita open the door to the big pantry closet, reach inside, and take out a rifle. With expert ease, she broke it open, shoved two bullets into the chamber, and snapped it back together.
Serita grinned at her. “When you live on a ranch, you’d better be able to kill varmints. Go on with Frank now. It’ll be all right.”
In the den, Frank stood by the window, the binoculars hanging around his neck, and checked the chambers on a Smith & Wesson .38. Zoe recognized it because she’d done a simulation for the Texas Rangers, and it was the gun of choice many of them still carried.
“Frank, what’s going on here?” She hoped she didn’t sound as worried as she felt. She seemed to be dragging trouble around with her wherever she landed and wrapping other people up in it, too. Not for the first time, she wished she’d never heard of Nate Dunning.
“Just making sure we don’t have unexpected company.” He unclipped the radio he wore on his belt and pressed a button. “Randy, you at the barn? Come in.”
“I’m here, boss. What’s shakin’?”
“How many out riding fence and how many in the north pasture?”
“Five on the fence line on horse, two in the pickup. Seven in the north pasture cutting out the calves. Why?”
“Everyone armed?” Frank asked.
A long moment passed before Randy answered. “Checking now. Hold on.” Finally, his voice came through again. “They’re all carrying. What’s going on?”
“Watch if you see anything in the hills that shouldn’t be there, but don’t be obvious about it. Tell everyone to go about their business. I don’t think any of the men are targets, but tell them to cover each other’s backs.”
“We got unexpected company of some kind?” Randy wanted to know.
“Could be. The boss is on his way in right now. Tell everyone to check in with you at fifteen-minute intervals. And if anyone sees anything, I want to know about it right away.”
“What about Wade and Sam working the horses in the corral?” Randy asked.
“Tell them to come into the barn, but be casual about it. Not like they’re rushing or anything.”
“Got it. Randy out.”
Frank stepped back from the window and looked at Zoe. “Everything’s going to be fine. Whatever it is, Zak will take care of it.”
“I’m sorry to bring all this trouble with me,” she said. “I know this isn’t exactly in your job description.
He grinned. “My job description is whatever the boss wants me to do. I can handle things. Meanwhile, how about a glass of wine to steady your nerves?”
“Th—Thanks. That would be nice.”
He filled a goblet from the bottle of merlot Zak had opened the night before and handed it to her. She had an insane desire to chug it down but made herself sip slowly.
“How long until Zak gets here?” she asked.
Frank looked at his watch. “Maybe another fifteen minutes. Don’t you worry. We’ll take good care of you until he gets here.”
She forced a smile. “I know you will. I just hate it that I’ve brought this all down on you.”
Frank actually chuckled. “Are you kidding? How else do cowboys keep from getting rusty?”
At that moment, the radio crackled. “Frank?”
“Yeah, come in.”
“The guys in the north pasture reported seeing the sun reflecting off something at the top of Cattle Ridge,” Randy reported. “They wanted to check it out, but I told them to pretend they hadn’t seen anything.”
“Good,” Frank told him. “That’s the right thing to do. Tell them to make their way slowly to that big copse of trees opposite the Ridge. Drive the calves in front of them. When they get to the trees, they can check again and see if they catch sight of anything.”
“Okay. Randy out.”
To Zoe, the next fifteen minutes seemed an hour long. She used every bit of willpower to keep from fidgeting. Frank spent most of the time at the window, using his binoculars to peer through a tiny slit he made in the blinds.
She heard the droning of the helicopter just as Frank said, “The boss is here. He should be landing in a minute. Take a look at this.”
Zoe ran over to stand next to Frank at the window, watching as the Delaney helicopter came in low over the pasture. The side door was open and Zak was riding with one foot on the skid, a rifle braced on his shoulder. As Marty brought the bird in for a landing, Zak swept the gun from side to side until Randy jogged out from the barn and waved an all clear at him.
She waited by the desk, her whole body shaking when Zak hurried through the door, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her tight against his body. She bit her lips to keep the tears back, pressing herself as hard against him as she could.
“Zak, Zak, Zak.” She couldn’t stop repeating his name. If she could have crawled inside his body, she would have.
“It’s all right, kitten. I promise. Everything will be fine.”
His lips moved over her hair as his big hands stroked her back. He held her so tightly her breasts were crushed against the hard wall of his chest. She wondered if he could feel the hard thump of her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.
At last, he moved his hands to her shoulders and set her slightly away from him. His mouth took hers in a brief yet powerful kiss, and suddenly her world began to right itself.
“I nearly had a stroke when I saw you up there. What did you think you were doing?”
“Nothing I didn’t do in Afghanistan. Most of the time I rode the gunships doing just that.”
She pressed herself against him again. “I’m glad I didn’t know you then. I’d have died every day worrying about you.”
“No you wouldn’t, kitten.” He smoothed her hair. “You’d be brave just like always.”
“What’s going on, Zak? What’s happening?”
Gently, he sat her down in the big chair and handed her the wine goblet sitting on the desk. “This yours?”
She nodded.
“Good. Drink some more, and I’ll tell you what’s happening. Just give me a minute here.” He straightened and looked at Frank.
The foreman was still peering through the slats with his binoculars. “I don’t see anything, Zak. Could you tell anything from the air?”
“No, unfortunately. Whoever’s up there, I think I scared the hell out of them coming in low as we did.”
“It’s not the cops, is it?” Frank asked. “That’s not their style. They’d come up to the front door with enough men to arrest an army.”
“I’d actually rather have the cops than these guys. Even I’m afraid of the Russian mafiyah. Frank, when you called to tell me about the flyover, I just happened to be in a meeting with someone who’s looking for these people, someone who can give us some help.”
“I thought I was safe here,” Zoe said, bewildered.
“So did I. I thought for sure no one could find you. But maybe it’s just as well to see if we can end it here and now. As long as my reinforcements get here in time. Frank?”
“Yeah, Zak.”
“Make sure everyone’s on their toes. Marty will be back in a few with more company and another helo bringing reinforcements.”
“From the company?”
“No. Homeland Security.”
Zoe didn’t know who was more shocked, her or Frank. She stared at Zak. “Are you going to tell me what’s really going on here?”
“Right now, Frank, I need to talk to Zoe in private. We’ll be quick about it. “
“Got it.”
Zak took her arm. “Come on. Bring the wine with you.”
“Where are we going?”
“The den. No one will bother us there, and you may need to lie down when I’m finished.”
“Let’s sit down.” He led her into his den and seated her in a chair across from him. “It’s a little known fact that the Russian mafiyah has been working to get a foothold in this area. They’ve been doing this for decades, very quietly establishing themselves and consolidating their position. I wasn’t shocked to learn that Caz Morgan and Max Detwiler were involved, but I was stunned to be told they were major players in the core group.”
Zoe stared at him. “Are you telling me the truth?”
“I have no reason to lie, kitten. I was as astounded as you. They’ve been fooling a lot of people.”
“And Nate?” she asked. “Was he part of their group or whatever?”
“Only in as much as they needed a pawn. Someone to get close to you and get part of the business. They watched you, watched you build and develop Lombardo Simulations. And when you were hungry to expand they jumped.”
“So Nate was really just a figurehead? Is that what you’re saying?” She wished he’d put his arms around her again. She needed his warmth and his strength. “But why?” She held out her hands, palms up. “What’s so important about a little simulation company? Selling the programs on the black market?”
He shook his head. “Pocket change. But this came mostly from the research my people have just given me. The rest came from Homeland Security.”
“Homeland—” Her jaw dropped.
“Yes. Zoe, your company is right in the middle of supplying terrorist groups with valuable information.”
“What?” She blinked, sure she hadn’t heard right. “How—What—”
Zak sighed, sat down next to her, and took one of her hands in both of his. As he talked, he played with her fingers the way he used to. “The Russian mob and various terrorist organizations have been in bed together for a long time. The mafiyah raises money through its various enterprises like the businesses they were buying up here. Then they use the money to buy arms, sell the arms to the terrorists at an exorbitant price, plow the money back into their various enterprises, and the wheel keeps on a-turning. Dunning International was being used to funnel money through dummy corporations to sell guns and other arms to terrorist. And often to foment revolution if it would help their economic interest in a Third World country.”
“But that’s…I mean…”
“Yeah, I agree. Two things make it even worse. One, in many smaller or unstable countries, they use their money and influence to control the government, which gives them free reign for their illegal activities. And two, with a base here in the United States, they can fund attacks on this country. Think how much control they’d have if enough attacks occurred to create total chaos.”
Zoe truly felt sick to her stomach. “Again, why San Antonio?”
“A city big enough to blend into, only ninety miles from the water. Easy access for smuggling. And the drug cartels get most of the publicity so it is a good cover for everything else going on.”
“But Zak, they didn’t just open an atlas and pick out this city. Something triggered it for them. Or someone. And why my company? That same situation landed Lombardo Simulations on their radar. They needed my company for a reason.”
She swiped her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears. “I don’t believe this I don’t want to believe it. Nate Dunning involved with terrorists? And my uncle got me into this?”
She had long since finished the wine in the goblet. Now she was wishing she had an entire bottle. “And you still haven’t answered my question about why me?”
“You write training simulations for companies, right? A lot of security companies? These sims teach people hostage rescue, how to thwart hijackers, how to war game a company to make sure its security is intact. Now. What if those procedures were reversed?”
Zoe thought about it for a moment, then as the realization dawned, she blindly reached out a hand for Zak.
“Take a deep breath,” he told her.
“If the process were reversed,” she said slowly, “terrorists would know how to get around these procedures and could train their people accordingly. And the teams sent on missions based on these sims would be killed and the mission thwarted.”
“Exactly.” Zak held tightly to her hands, his warmth comforting even if his words weren’t. “Additionally those kinds of sims would fetch astronomical prices on the open market. I’m willing to bet every terrorist organization in the world has been courting the Russians once the word got out. And if they could pirate the games along with it?” He shrugged. “Well, that’s just a few more pennies in already bulging pockets.”
“My god.” Zoe had to grip her hands together they were shaking so badly. “You mean…that is…oh, sweet lord. What have I done?”
“Not you, kitten.” He tightened his arm around her. “People who took advantage of you and perverted what you did.”
“No wonder they blew up the company building and my house.” She shook her head. “It’s like you thought. I might have stored everything in the cloud, but they didn’t know what I might have kept on the hard drive of my computer. They had to destroy any hard evidence that was put there.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “How did I ever get myself into such a mess?”
“Don’t blame yourself for this. You were managed by master manipulators.”
“You think it was just Caz and Max?” She frowned. “They ran the whole thing? These two men who were pillars of the community here and in the state?”
“A lot of pillars are made of salt,” he pointed out. “But you’re right. It would take more than just the two of them. I’m hoping when Allen Fairchild gets here, he’ll fill in the blanks for us. I wish I had time to move you someplace else, but…”
“If I’m not safe here, where can you possibly take me? We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
“I thought the same thing.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and paced. “I even set it up so Arrowhead Ranch is owned by Arrowhead Corporation. I didn’t want my name on any deeds or property lists so I’d have someplace to hang out where no one can find me.”
“So how did they find us?”
Zak peered through a tiny space in the slats at the window, then turned back to her. “I’m guessing the same way I tracked down everything about them. They know how to dig. They were casting a net for every relationship you had that might factor into this, so it wasn’t too big a stretch to find my name. Plus, they use threats and intimidation when nothing else works. And believe me. You don’t want to be intimidated by the Russians.”
A tap sounded on the door, and Serita’s voice called, “Zak? Zoe? Marty just landed again and there’s another helicopter coming in right after them.”
“We’re coming,” Zak called. “I’m hoping that my people will have the answer to that last question any time now.”
“These people frighten me,” she said.
“With good reason.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. They stared at each other for a long moment. “We don’t really have time to indulge ourselves right now, but I can’t wait any longer. Before we finish this discussion, I have to clear the air between us.” He sucked in a breath and let it out. “Kitten, I’ve been a real ass.”
Zoe raised her eyebrows. “Are you speaking in general or something specific?”
“We aren’t the same people we were two years ago,” Zak went on. “That should have been obvious to me. Kitten, the fact that you came to me, not anyone else, when you were in trouble means a lot to me. A lot. I’m sorry I acted like a jerk.”
“I’m sorry I did, too.”
“I was mad about the phone call you made. It endangered a lot of people, not the least of which was you. I convinced myself you hadn’t changed. That you were just as stubborn and hot-headed as you were two years ago, not listening to me. Not—”
She pressed her fingers against her mouth. “Hush. You’re right. I wanted to call my mother, and I didn’t pay enough attention to what you said. I kn
ow that’s why you pulled back from me. But it’s okay. I’ve more than learned my lesson. Believe me. I’ll apologize forever if it will help.”
“No.” His hands slid up and down her arms. “I think we’ve both made mistakes, and we’ve both learned. I was stupid myself not to realize how important it would be for you to let your mother know you were all right. I should have figured out how to handle that, but all I wanted to do was keep you safe while we got to the bottom of this.”
“I know.” She blinked at the tears pressing against her eyelids. “I understand. Truly I do. I just wasn’t thinking.”
“This isn’t the time for this, but I can’t help myself.” He cupped her cheeks with his gentle hands, holding her gaze with his whiskey eyes before he bent his head toward hers. The kiss this time was anything but brief.
When his tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, she opened for him and the hot whip of his tongue swept inside. His fingers tangled in her hair as he held her head steady, his mouth ravaging hers. Heat traveled through her body, firing her blood and warming her down to her toes. Her nipples hardened, and her pulses throbbed. She held on for dear life as a whirlwind of emotion raced through her.
When they broke apart, they were both struggling for air. Zak recovered first, tracing the line of her jaw with his fingertips. “Okay, then. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get back to business.”
“Or the business of business,” she said, trying to make a little joke. Anything to lighten the tension of the situation they were facing.
He pulled Zoe into his arms for one more quick hug, then looked hard at her. “Too late to take a chance on moving you now. They could have eyes on the roads leading in here, and we’d be sitting ducks. Besides, I don’t want a shoot-out on a highway.”
She swallowed, then stiffened her body. “Neither do I. I just want this over, and I trust you to make sure I don’t get hurt. Or killed.”
“When this is over, we have a lot of time to make up for,” he told her.