by Taylor Lee
Tanya tossed her head and glared at the detective. “Yes, Detective Sorenson, as you can plainly see, I have a prisoner in my cruiser. And yes, it is none other than Flint Burke, one of Sledge Perkins’s henchmen.”
Nodding for Gunnar to follow her, she walked to the back of her squad to avoid being overheard. “Look, Gunnar, obviously I need to hightail it over to Douglas. You need to come too. But first, I want you to take Mr. Burke inside. When you do, grab Tony Oliver and tell him to book Burke and do the works. I’m gonna find out who the hell this guy is if it’s the last thing I do. Tell Tony I want him printed and strip-searched. I’ve already relieved him of two high-grade weapons; no telling what else he has on him. I also want his DNA. Oh, and tell Tony that whatever he finds is for his eyes only. I want him to thoroughly search the database for outstanding warrants, prior arrests, and what I’m confident are incarcerations.”
As she headed toward the station she reiterated, “Underscore with Tony that the sheriff and I are the only ones to see the results.”
Gunnar didn’t hide his consternation. “Damn, Tanya. If we’re gonna do all of that, what the hell are we charging him with?”
Tanya glared at her frowning colleague. “That’s what we’re about to find out, Detective Sorenson. In the meantime, you can arrest him for carrying unlicensed weapons and attacking a police officer.”
Gunnar’s eyes widened. “Damn, Tanya. He attacked you?”
She shrugged as she headed into the office. “Yeah, Detective. In more ways than one.” Calling back over her shoulder, she said, “Get your ass in gear, Gunnar.” Jerking her finger at the squad, she said, “Turn him over to Tony and then get the hell over to Douglas. I’ll see you there.”
****
It was after three in the morning when Tanya pulled into the CCSO lot. She should have been exhausted. It had been a long evening and a challenging night. Fortunately, in what could have been a horrific accident, the vanload of human cargo had miraculously escaped unhurt other than bruises and a few broken bones. Which didn’t minimize the fact that sitting in the holding cells at the Douglas City Jail was a family of illegal aliens with a ten-month old baby, two pre-teen siblings, a mother, father, and grandmother. Three hardened criminals known in the vernacular as “coyotes” were also arrested. In addition to the human cargo, the police seized a sizable cache of methamphetamine and cocaine, ensuring that these particular coyotes would be spending the next twenty years in prison. It was a debilitating fact of life for the local law enforcement community that the seized contraband constituted an insignificant drop of water in the never-ending flood of illegal human and other products crossing the border.
Tanya wasn’t surprised that she’d made her way over to the sheriff’s office rather than head for her ranch house. One would have thought that her nice warm bed preceded by a hefty shot of Jameson would have lured her home. She shrugged, admitting there was no way she could sleep tonight until she knew the identity of the arrogant man she’d arrested earlier. She was convinced that Flint Burke was a felon. He had to be. But she wouldn’t be surprised if he was a white collar criminal. There were too many signs that he didn’t fit the usual mold of the assholes that ended up working for Sledge Perkins. No, Sledge’s regulars were ill-educated, coarse men, consumed by hate and their own inadequacies. None of which described the man she’d hauled in tonight. She snorted, thinking that “inadequate” was the last way anyone would describe the blond-haired stud. Tanya admitted that it was crucial she know who and what he was. It was the only way she’d be able to come to grips with how she’d allowed him to get to her. In a way that no perp ever had. Heck, that no man ever had.
Seeing the light on in her father’s office, Tanya breathed a sigh of relief. Sheriff Trouble had left Douglas shortly after she arrived, turning the operation over to her. At that time, she’d alerted him to her arrest of the troubling man, indicating that Sergeant Oliver would update him when he figured out who the miscreant was. In answer to her father’s questions, she admitted that she’d mainly gone on her gut but was confident the arrest would pan out. Plus, what the hell did she care if the perp, or more likely, Sledge Perkins, filed a harassment charge against her? It wouldn’t be the first one—or the last. Her father’s raised eyebrow and agreeing cough confirmed that at least on that point her father concurred with her questionable move.
Tanya wasn’t surprised that the sheriff was still awake. Both she and her father were inveterate night owls. They spent many nights in front of the fieldstone fireplace in his comfortable office talking through the details of their day. Aided by his penchant for fine scotch, these times with her erudite father were among her most treasured moments. The only times that compared were the “girls’ nights out” she spent with her sisters. Remembering her earlier conversation with Tara, she rubbed her bare ring finger and sighed. Yeah, she had a few other things she needed to address. But for now, she had to get to the bottom of the arrogant stranger who’d invaded her life and her psyche. She was determined to expose him in the way that he had exposed her.
Walking down the hallway to her father’s private office, Tanya was surprised to hear men’s voices. She couldn’t imagine who was with her father this late—make that this early in the morning. Hours later, she would still try to come to grips with the scene that greeted her when she walked into her father’s office. As always, her father was sitting in his high-backed leather chair. A half-empty bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey was on the low table in front of him. The crackling fire in the fireplace cast a pleasant glow across the room. All in all, familiar, comforting sights.
What wasn’t familiar, or in any way comforting, was the man sitting across from the sheriff. In the chair that was usually hers, no less. Acknowledging that breathing was not going to be an option, and given that her legs had gone AWOL, she grabbed the doorjamb to keep from falling. Instead of the DOJ orange prison garb she’d expected when she saw him next, Burke was wearing the blue jeans and black tee shirt he’d been wearing when she arrested him. As if from an echo chamber, she heard her father’s resonant voice.
“Oh good, Tanya. You’re here.” He caught her gaze and held it. “Please, dear girl, come in and sit down. I need to introduce you to our guest.” He added more formally, “Tanya Trouble, I’d like you to meet Ryker Thompson. Make that Agent Ryker Thompson.”
The solemn man who was regarding her through narrowed-eyes raised his glass in a salute. When she just shook her head and clung to the door, he unwound his lanky frame from the overstuffed chair and rose to his feet. His voice was cool, as serious as his gaze. Pointing to the chair across from his, he said, “Do as your father said, Tanya. Please. Come in and sit down.” When she again shook her head no, he added softly, “Now.”
Chapter 9
Later, Tanya would wonder why she’d obeyed him. She was sure her father was the only person more surprised than she was. According to his amused recounting of his youngest daughter’s actions over the years, she’d been tossing her defiant little head of tousled curls since she was three years old whenever her patient father had tried to control her. Rather than obeying him, she would stamp her foot or march out of the room, her saucy bottom swinging from side to side, making it clear that even though she was decades younger than her challenged parent, she had the final word.
As she got older, Tanya would protest that she didn’t stamp her foot any more, although she did admit to marching out of a room and slamming a door or two to make her point. Which made her apparent acquiescence to Agent Thompson’s request, make that his quiet command, all the more remarkable. She would tell herself later that it was no wonder she’d behaved illogically. For God’s sake, she had been looking forward to seeing the arrogant man she’d arrested behind bars, dressed in prison garb. A position that she hoped would be as humiliating as she’d intended. Instead, he was lounging in her father’s private office and drinking the sheriff’s expensive scotch.
Tanya was furious that it took her as long
as it did to regain her composure. But remembering the remarkable meeting, she cut herself some slack. How the hell could she not have been shocked? When Burke rose to his feet and ordered her to come in, he’d held her gaze so strongly, it didn’t occur to her to disobey. The miracle was that she made it to the chair he pointed to without falling. As it was, she’d barely been able to lift the glass of Jameson that her frowning father had poured for her. Sloshing a good inch of the potent alcohol on the table, she managed to take a fortifying gulp without choking. Barely.
As if acknowledging her obedience, Burke, or whoever he was, nodded as he sank into the chair across from her. It was at that moment that she decided that she despised this arrogant man. Yes, she admitted that she’d been undone by the guy she’d thought was a drifter and a Hitler-lover like the rest of Sledge Perkins’s mangy men. But at least then she could look down on him. Relegate him to the dregs of her world even while she admitted that his sexy aura was more than unsettling. But now that she knew he was a fellow law enforcement professional and in fact, a national agent who had fooled her and everyone else, she was infuriated.
“Tanya, I know you are surprised that your white knight, as I’d labeled him, is in actuality an FBI agent who is here on an important mission.”
Seeing Burke’s questioning smile, her father explained. “You should know, Agent Thompson, I appreciated you before I met you. When I heard how Manny Davis went after my daughter, I was furious and at the same time grateful that you stepped in.” He added with a chuckle, “That was when I labeled you Tanya’s white knight.”
Tanya rose up in her chair and slammed her glass on the table with a sharp crack. Gratified that her anger galvanized her, but rather than taking on Burke who she was determined to ignore, she glared at her father and said curtly, “As I told you, Sheriff, I could easily have handled Manny. There was no need for him to interject himself into the situation.” She reached for her glass and took a hefty swallow, then refilled it, making a point of not looking at the agent who she was sure was laughing at her insistence that she could have held Manny off. His dry assertion confirmed he was doing exactly that at her expense.
“While I’m confident that your formidable daughter is more than capable of defending herself in most circumstances, Sheriff Trouble, let’s just say I was glad I was there at that moment. Tanya and I are both aware that Manny Davis is a dangerous man. Particularly when he is threatened.”
Looking at him for the first time since she sat down, Tanya glowered at him. “If you weren’t there, I would have taken Manny down. There was no need for you to interject yourself into the situation. To act the big hero.” She added, “And for your information, I am the deputy sheriff of Cochise County. Please, agent whoever you are, refer to me by my correct title. Do not call me by my first name.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised when her father spoke up. Unlike Tanya, he was known for his courtly manners. “Tanya, please, I know you are surprised by this turn of events, but there is no need for you to be rude to our guest.”
Before she could take issue with her father’s reproach, Thompson put up his hand. “It’s quite all right, Sheriff Trouble. I’m not surprised that Tanya”—he inclined his head and smiled—“that Deputy Trouble is having difficulty adjusting to our changing roles.” Turning from her father, he spoke directly to her, his lips quirked up in the devastating smile that had so undone her in the past. “Perhaps if I explain my mission, you will understand why I needed to assume an undercover persona.”
Tanya shook her head fiercely. “To the contrary. I am not the least bit interested in hearing why you and your hotshot bigwigs decided that you could descend on our county to clean up whatever mess you apparently think we are incapable of handling.”
Her father’s voice was unusually stern. “Tanya, that’s enough.”
Before she could answer, Thompson shook his head and murmured, “It’s okay, Sheriff. Your daughter deserves an explanation.” Before Tanya could object, he leaned forward and spoke directly to her. “First, Deputy Trouble, I’m not surprised that you assume that I am here because the Federal Bureau of Investigation didn’t think the local authorities, including the Cochise County sheriff’s office, could handle the situation. You are correct. We didn’t think you could and that is why I am here. I will also tell you, as I told your father, one of my first tasks was to determine whether the sheriff’s office was actively involved in the crimes I’m investigating.”
At Tanya’s gasp, Thompson continued, “You’ll be glad to know that I have come to agree with my high-level local contact that your father, Titus Theseus Trouble, and I quote, ‘is without a doubt, the smartest and most honorable man I’m likely to meet.’ ” My source also said that ‘we should be so lucky that in this godforsaken den of thieves there is a man of Sheriff Trouble’s stature.’ ”
He didn’t try to hide the twinkle in his azure eyes when he added, “When I asked my contact about the deputy sheriff, he said that you were a ‘chip off the old block.’ ” Ryker hesitated for a moment, then, fighting the grin that was curving his lips, added, “My source did qualify that assessment saying that ‘unlike her righteous father, the feisty daughter is as self-righteous and as impossible to control as her father is reasonable.’ ”
Startled that this arrogant man had actually been investigating her and her father and then concurred that she was self-righteous, Tanya felt her anger flare hotter. How dare he? Burke or Thompson, whatever his name was, must have seen her angry reaction because he put up his hand, stopping her.
“Hang in there, Deputy Trouble. It’s important that you understand what is happening here. In that it’s nearly daybreak and you have to be exhausted, perhaps the best way to update you is to give you Internet access to the file that I gave your father. It describes a convoluted, highly sophisticated bribery and trafficking border crossing corruption scheme that I’m here to investigate. After you’ve had a chance to review it, perhaps then we can have a cogent conversation. Before you leave, however, we need to clean up the mess you made by arresting me.”
Not missing his allusion to the fact he apparently thought she was incapable of having a cogent conversation, much less that by arresting him, she’d created a “mess,” Tanya turned on him. She didn’t care that she sounded strident and a little unhinged. How could she not be? “You’re right about one thing, Agent Burke or Thompson or whoever the hell you are, I am exhausted. Moreover, I’m totally uninterested in discussing things that don’t involve me, frankly, that bore me. Which is how I feel about any ridiculous little operation the Fibbies think is important.”
Ignoring her father’s protest, she rose to her feet and started toward the door. To her surprise, the agent also stood. His voice was as stern as his expression. “The name is Thompson. Ryker Thompson, and to you, Deputy Trouble, it’s Agent Ryker Thompson.”
Glaring at him, she said, “For what it’s worth, I don’t give a flying fuck who you are. You could be J. Edgar Hoover coming to root out the queers in our midst for all I care. Now if you’ll excuse me and, especially if you won’t, I’m going to bed and no one is stopping me.”
Before she got fully through the door she felt him behind her. When he grabbed her arm, his voice was soft, dangerously so. “That’s where you’re wrong, Deputy.” Holding her firmly in place, he said to her father, “Please excuse us, Sheriff Trouble. I need to clarify a number of issues with your daughter.”
Without waiting for her father to answer, Thompson dragged her down the hallway into an empty room and closed the door behind them.
Not believing that this arrogant man had literally hauled her from the room like a disobedient child, Tanya demanded, “Let go of me! How dare you manhandle me? In front of my father, no less.” She tried to twist free but he tightened his grip on her arm. Infuriated, Tanya’s voice rose shrilly. “Damn you, for the last time, I insist you let go of me, now . . . ”
In answer, he pushed her up against the wall. Underscoring the i
ron-hard gleam in his stormy eyes, his voice was low, compelling. “To take a page from your playbook, sweetheart, I don’t give a flying fuck what you insist you want. As I told your father, you and I have a number of issues that we need to resolve. To begin with, while I’m not J. Edgar Hoover, I most definitely will root out the criminals in your midst that neither you nor your illustrious father knew were there. Furthermore you will help me by doing exactly as I tell you to do. And yes, sweetheart, that is an order.”
Feeling his strong body inches away from hers, Tanya was startled at the flurry of sensations flooding her core. It was bad enough that his erotic scent was wreaking havoc with her overwrought nerves. Ignoring her attempts to free herself, he held her chin firmly between his finger and thumb, forcing her to meet his intense gaze. “And then, honey, we’re going to tackle those other issues we need to deal with. One being that when you arrested me, you came close to potentially fucking up my undercover mission. But we can handle that.” To her surprise, he tightened his hold and pressed her harder against the wall, his lips curling in an incipient smile. “However, in the process of arresting me, you took it upon your feisty little self to frisk me. Know that I most definitely will return that favor—at the time and place of my choosing.”
Shocked at his outrageous claim, she started to tell him to go to hell, but seeing the anger blazing in his eyes confirming he was as angry as she was, the words stuck in her throat. Making an obvious effort to contain his anger, Thompson stepped back but continued to hold her arm in a firm grip. Tanya wouldn’t be surprised if she sported a bruise from his rough handling. His voice was low, underlaid with scorn.
“As for now, like the professional adults that at least your father and I are, we are going to return to the sheriff’s office and begin to clean up the mess you made with your cocky arrest. One further word of warning. Since I met you, I’ve watched you run roughshod over every man in your life, whether they deserve it or not. To be clear, little Miss Tanya Trouble with a capital T, those days are over. Know that I will not excuse your outrageous behavior, now or in the future. In short, Tanya, you’ve met your match.”