Bravo, Tango, Cowboy

by Joanna Wayne

  “Same body build,” Hawk said. “That’s really all we have to go on.”

  “Not the same hair.” Frustration spiked her words. “Not wearing the same clothes.”

  “Hair and clothes are easy to change.”

  “Then you think this could actually be a sketch of the woman who has Lucy?”

  “I never rule out anything until I know for certain it’s impossible.”

  “So what do we do with the sketch?” She shifted, turning to face him.

  “Find the woman in the sketch and check her out,” he said. Easier said than done, but he wouldn’t bring that up at the moment.

  “I like the way you think, Hawk Taylor. I like it a lot.” A hint of a smile touched her lips as she reached across the seat and trailed the fingers of her right hand down his arm.

  The casual touch sent unwanted urges crashing through him at the speed of a bullet. He was pretty sure she would not like what he was thinking now.

  Then again, maybe she would.

  BRANDON MET ALONSA at the front door of the house at the Double M with an eager hug and endless chatter about the horses. Apparently Linney had put him in the saddle with her and taken him for his first ride.

  “Come see the horseys, Mommy. Come see them,” he’d bubbled, until they’d all set out on a walk to the barn so that his mother could see the magnificent animal that had given him such a thrill.

  Hawk and Cutter brought up the rear of the procession, dawdling and staying far enough behind the others so they could talk privately. Hawk filled Cutter in on the afternoon’s meeting with Marilyn Couric.

  “You should show the sketch to the HPD,” Cutter said. “Maybe they can match it to someone’s mug shot or one of the city’s usual suspects.”

  “You’d think they would have done that before now. Hard to believe no one ever got back to Ms. Couric and requested the sketch.”

  “For some reason they must have ruled it out as a valid sighting.”

  “Yeah, and that was probably because they were convinced at the time the kidnapping was connected to the drug cartel that Todd had been trying to trap the night he got killed.”

  “But now you say the FBI thinks it was a random act.”

  “So says Craig Dalliers.”

  “What say you?” Cutter asked.

  “I’d probably agree were it not for the phone calls that someone uses to torment Alonsa.”

  “But the calls don’t really sound like the work of a drug cartel, either,” Cutter offered.

  “Not violent enough for a hardened criminal,” Hawk agreed. “Too cruel and vindictive for someone who participated in a spur-of-the moment crime.”

  “Falls outside the box,” Cutter said, “which is probably why the case is still unsolved.”

  “But not unsolvable,” Hawk argued.

  “Not with you on the job. So how are you and Alonsa hitting it off?”

  “What makes you think there’s any hitting going on?”

  “The way you look at her. The way she looks at you.”

  “I look at her with my two eyes, same as I do anyone else.”

  “Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you the way I do. Have you kissed her yet?”

  “I’m not the kind to kiss and tell.”

  “You haven’t, have you?” Cutter gave him a knowing grin. “But you gotta be thinking about it. Good-looking woman like Alonsa and the two of you spending so much time together. Yep. You gotta be working up to the first kiss. Can’t believe you haven’t made the move on her yet.”

  “Haven’t and don’t plan to. I may not be getting paid, but this is still a job. The stakes are too high to invite unnecessary complications.”

  “You’re a smart man, but I knew that when I signed you on.”

  Carne ran back to check on them, decided they were not as interesting as the party he’d left and went back to yap a few times and run circles around Brandon and the women.

  Linney turned and propped her hands on her shapely hips. “Are you two coming with us or what?”

  “We’re coming,” Cutter said, picking up his pace.

  Hawk picked his up as well, only now his thoughts were all about Alonsa’s full lips and what they’d feel like crushed beneath his. The thought became a slow burn that burrowed deep inside him.

  No, he told himself, being with Alonsa was all about business and wasn’t likely to ever be anything more, not even when the case was solved. A sophisticated, big-city widow with kids. A cowboy type who’d never been able to fill the emotional needs of anyone.

  And yet there were those lips…He and Cutter had caught up with the women now and he saw Alonsa smiling up at him, her lips so tempting he could all but taste them.

  How much could a normal, red-blooded man take without giving in?

  Chapter Seven

  Goose Milburn was off duty the following day and so eager to take a look at the sketch drawn by Marilyn Couric that he made the hour-plus drive to Dobbin. When Hawk arrived at Alonsa’s, Goose’s unmarked Ford was already parked in her driveway. He heard Goose’s booming voice even before he reached the door. He rang the bell and waited.

  Alonsa flung the door open. “Did you bring the sketch?”

  He removed his black Stetson and raked his fingers through his hair. “That’s why you invited me to the party, isn’t it?”

  “You’re always invited to the party.”

  He wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but decided now was not the time to give it much thought. Not with her looking like a model in a pair of black trousers and a white silky blouse that draped her perky breasts to perfection.

  Her lips were a glossy red. A pair of silver earrings danced about her high cheekbones when she moved her head to nod him inside.

  Brandon ran in and wrapped his short arms around Alonsa’s hips while he stared up at Hawk. “Now we gots two companys.”

  “Mommy’s got company, sweetheart. You can go play. Goose is in the kitchen,” she said to Hawk. “Come on back.”

  Brandon was not to be ignored that easily. He scooted over to Hawk’s side. “Wanna watch me ride my tractor?”

  “Later,” Alonsa said, answering for Hawk. “We have some business to talk about. You can play in the backyard, though.”

  “Yippee!” And he was off. Carne showed up just in time to skid into a turn and follow him.

  Hawk followed Alonsa to the kitchen. Goose was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee. He got up and they went through the introductions.

  “So you’re Cutter’s latest recruit,” Goose said. “I tried to get him to go to work for the HPD, but he hates rules and bureaucracy.”

  “Can you blame him?”

  “Goes with living in a civilized world. You get used to them. But Cutter’s got the ideal life going for him out here in Dobbin. Ranching and investigating, not necessarily in that order. Not to mention a beautiful wife.”

  They exchanged the customary pleasantries while Hawk helped himself to a cup of coffee. They’d talked on the phone last night so Goose already knew the story behind the sketch. Hawk set his mug on the table and pulled the drawing from a black notebook filled with his notes on the abduction case.

  Goose studied it for moment then held it up to get the benefit of the sun’s light pouring though the back window. He shook his head after a brief inspection and let the sketch slide from his fingers back to the table.

  “Nothing here that strikes me as familiar. There were dozens of calls from people who claimed to have seen Lucy in the first days after the abduction. Most of them were obviously mistaken. How much confidence do you have that the woman who made this sketch actually saw Lucy and the abductor?”

  “Enough that I think you can list the woman in the sketch as a person of interest and spread the picture around in an effort to find her.”

  “Then you’re talking better than fifty percent?”

  “I’d say better than ninety percent.” Hawk knew he didn’t have any real grounds for making tha
t assumption other than his gut feeling, but he’d depended on that to keep him alive when a wrong move could have sent his body parts flying in different directions. No need to doubt it now.

  “Then consider it done,” Goose said. “Cutter says you have the best instincts he’s ever seen.” Goose scooted his chair back from the table. “Can I take the sketch with me?”

  “Sure,” Hawk said. “I’ve made several copies.”

  “I’ll check this out further, but don’t pin too much hope on the results.”

  “And check for other suspects,” Alonsa said. “We know now that it was a woman who kidnapped Lucy. That surely narrows the scope of the original investigation. You can rule out all the male registered sex offenders.”

  “Of which there are way too many roaming the streets,” Hawk said. And unfortunately there were female perverts out there as well.

  “Not a lot we can do about that. We arrest them. Judges and jails release them.” Goose leaned back and sipped his coffee.

  That pretty much concluded the encounter. A few crumbs gained. Not much more. Hawk grabbed his hat and walked with them to the door as Goose left.

  There was no reason for him not to head to his truck, as well, except that Alonsa was standing so close he was drowning in the flowery fragrance of her.

  So he kept standing in the same spot, wondering what it would be like to lower his mouth to hers and feel her hot breath mingling with his. With any other woman he wouldn’t have hesitated.

  But Alonsa wasn’t just any woman. She was a client and much too vulnerable to be taken advantage of by a man with nothing to offer beyond immediate satisfaction.

  “I’d invite you to stay for lunch,” she said, “but I’m enrolling Brandon in the church preschool today.” Her voice wavered a little on the word enrolling, but ended on a note of determination.

  Hawk’s thoughts switched gears, landing him back in blunt reality. “That’s a big move for a woman who never lets her son out of her sight. What about those pesky field trips?”

  “I’ll sweat them out when the time comes. I know Brandon needs to be around other children and the program is more a play opportunity for three-year-olds than anything else. I have to think of what’s best for him.”

  “Way to go, Alonsa. Or is it break a leg, when you’re talking to a performer?”

  “A has-been performer,” she corrected. “I’ve forgotten all the moves.”

  “Not all of them.”

  She stepped closer and looked up at him, her eyes hinting at a spark that needed to be kindled. Her lips were parted seductively, inviting. A man would have to be crazy not to—

  “Mom.”

  Brandon came running down the hall with Carne at his heels.

  Saved by another man’s kid and a yapping dog. “Guess that’s my signal to ride off into the sunset,” Hawk said.

  “It’s not even midday yet.”

  “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” He tipped his hat.

  “To be continued,” she whispered.

  He pretended not to hear.

  ALONSA STARTED THE CAR and drove away from the church only to stop at the end of the driveway, heart heavy and fighting tears. Every mother went through this. She’d heard their tales of the first time they’d walked away leaving their precious child with a teacher who saw them only as a member of the class.

  Mothers and children had all survived the ordeal without any permanent scars. But those mothers hadn’t already lost a child in one bizarre instant, let go of their hand never to hold it again.

  Grabbing a tissue from her pocket, she dabbed the burning spillover from the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t think that way. She would hold Lucy’s hand again. She would. Hawk would see that she did. She only had to have faith.

  And Brandon would be fine. He’d hardly noticed her leave, his attention too focused on the block area and the new and imaginative toys waiting there. She put the car in gear again and drove away slowly, the church disappearing from her rearview mirror.

  She dreaded the thought of going back to her empty house. She could call Esteban and see if Keidra Shelton was ready for her to start on her house.

  But that would mean she might not get back in time to pick up Brandon from his first day at preschool. She had no intention of turning that job over to anyone else.

  She was five miles from her house, three from the Double M. She could stop off and have coffee with Linney.

  Who was she kidding? She’d be there in hope of seeing Hawk. It had been almost three days since they’d met with Goose. Three days since Hawk’s lips had been inches from hers and she’d been dizzy with the anticipation of his kiss.

  They’d talked by phone a half-dozen times since then. They’d discussed Craig and the fact that he was not returning her calls to discuss why his investigative team had disregarded Marilyn Couric’s sighting. Discussed the fact that Goose had had no luck with matching the sketch to a suspect. He hadn’t mentioned their getting together.

  Her cell phone jangled. Likely Craig with a multitude of excuses. “Hello.”

  “Is this the mother of preschool student Brandon Salatoya?”

  Her heart skipped. “Hawk.”

  “I was thinking of you and wondering if you’d survived the big separation moment.”

  “I didn’t cry and cling.”

  “Good for you.”

  “How did you know this was Brandon’s first day?”

  “Linney mentioned it when I stopped off at the main house to see Cutter. Are you busy this morning?”

  “Just dreading going home to the empty nest.”

  “Would you mind if I stopped by?”

  “Are there new developments?”

  “Nothing significant, but I’d like to talk. I can be at your place in half an hour. Will that work?”

  “That would be great.”

  “See ya then.”

  She headed for home, for the visit from Hawk. A visit without any interruptions from Brandon. Would he kiss her this time? Did she even want him to or would it just complicate things between them and make all their meetings after this uncomfortable?

  It had been two years since she’d been kissed. Forever since she’d felt sensual passion.

  Two years and forever had probably been long enough.

  HAWK HAD TOLD THE TRUTH when he’d said there were no significant developments in the case. He hadn’t been totally honest when he’d left out the fact that this wasn’t just a personal call.

  He hadn’t exactly come to a dead end in the investigation, but at this point he was only retracing a journey the FBI had already mapped. He needed to chart a new course and to do that he needed to know exactly what had made her late husband tick. Where he hung out when he wasn’t working or with her. Who he was afraid of. Who might have reason to hate him enough to kidnap his kid and torment his wife for years after his death.

  His hunch after going over and over everything he’d gotten from Craig was that the villain might have no connections to Todd’s professional life. The kidnapping and the cruel calls were as personal as it gets. The motivation for it might be as well.

  So the purpose of this morning’s visit was to pry into her personal life and question her about her relationship with her late husband.

  She was just bound to love this.

  He was settling behind the truck when he decided talking about this in Alonsa’s cozy house would be exceedingly awkward. Fortunately, he had a plan.

  ALONSA WAS WAITING at her front door when Hawk showed up pulling a horse trailer behind his truck. She stepped onto the porch. “Now you look like a real cowboy.”

  “I am a real cowboy. The morning’s question is are you a real cowgirl.”

  She started to walk down to the circular drive where he’d parked the trailer. “You already know the answer to that.”

  “Tell me you at least know how to ride a horse.”

  “I’m a novice, but I’ve given it a shot.”

  He walked to the
back of the trailer, unlatched the door and led out a magnificent cinnamon-hued mare with a flowing thick mane. “Meet Suzy Q. She’s your mount for the morning.”

  “Oh, Suzy Q. You are a beaut,” she crooned as she gave the horse a chance to get used to her.

  The second horse was a beautiful black charger with a white patch down his nose and a belligerent snort.

  “According to Linney, Suzy Q is the gentlest and calmest horse at the Double M,” Hawk explained. “We’ll take it easy and let you get acquainted with her and familiar in the saddle before we hit a gallop.”

  “So we just climb into the saddles and ride?”

  “That’s pretty much it. The horses do the rest of the work. Are you ready to go?”

  She was wearing good jeans, a cashmere sweater and a pair of low-cut black dress boots, but why not? “Ready when you are.”

  Hawk handed her the reins, helped her onto the saddle, then checked the front cinch again. The nerves she’d felt while climbing atop Suzy Q settled quickly. She had ridden with Todd on several occasions. It had just been a while.

  “This is your ranch,” Hawk said once he’d mounted the stallion. “Any place in particular you’d like to check out on horseback?”

  “There’s a creek past the west pasture. I’m never sure exactly how to find it until I get close enough to see the branches of the big oaks that grow along its banks.”

  “Then let’s head west.”

  He gave some rein and his horse trotted ahead. Suzy Q followed with no guidance from Alonsa. Not only was the mare gentle, she was smart, probably knew to keep up with the guy who’d brought her instead of depending on the female riding her.

  In minutes, they’d settled into an easy canter and Alonsa’s heart and breath had found a more rhythmical pattern. Rhythmical, but by no means calm.

  The exhilaration only came in part from the ride. The rest was just the thrill of being with Hawk. Had someone told her before they’d met that she could be this intrigued by any man she’d have thought them crazy.

  Even when she’d first seen him at the party, she’d taken him for a playboy. A gorgeous playboy, but certainly not one she’d want in her life. That was before he’d taken on the task of finding Lucy and then jumped in as if his doing it was the most natural thing in the world. And before the night in New York when he’d held her together while her heart had splintered like cracked ice.