The Loner

by Lindsay McKenna

  Shelby listened closely to Cade.

  “Is Dakota there? I’d called over at the hospital and Jordana said she’d had him moved to your place.”

  “Yes...he’s here. Do you want to talk with him?” Shelby stared across the table at Dakota. He looked grim now, the desire doused in his eyes. Regretting losing the heated moment, she said, “Okay, hold on.” She reached across the table and handed the cell to him. “It’s Cade Garner. He needs to speak to you.”

  Surprised, Dakota took the phone. Their fingers met and he hungrily absorbed her fleeting touch. Her eyes were anxious-looking and he saw her chew on her lower lip for a moment. “Dakota here,” he rumbled, putting the cell to his ear.

  Shelby turned, wrapping her arms tightly about herself as she walked to the kitchen counter. God, her world had suddenly been turned inside out. Her mind raced. Yet she kept one ear on Dakota’s reaction to what Cade was going to ask of him. Rubbing her brow, she felt a slight headache coming on. Oh God, they escaped! And now her life wouldn’t be her own until they were caught—again.

  She turned, desperate to hold on to the beautiful, healing moments before with Dakota. His face had gone tense, eyes flashing with what she interpreted as anger. His mouth, those lips that had moved commandingly against hers, had stolen her breath, taken her on a wild, hot ride into near oblivion, were now pursed. Thinned to a single, hard line. Shelby could feel his powerful reaction to what Cade was filling him in on. Wincing internally, Shelby watched as if a bomb had gone off near Dakota. He slowly rose out of the chair, his mouth taut, his fingers curling slowly into a thick fist. What was going on? She didn’t understand, feeling the tension suddenly swirl through the room as if a tornado had just struck.

  “We’ll be there in about thirty minutes,” Dakota growled. He flipped the phone closed, set it on the table and lifted his head. His gaze locked onto Shelby’s. For a moment, she looked fragile. He recalled that wild, hot kiss that held such promise of things to come. Drenched with rage, with shock, he held her frowning gaze, those beautiful lips compressed.

  “We need to talk,” he said, gesturing for her to come and sit down at the table. “Cade wants us at the sheriff’s office in thirty minutes.”

  Hearing the low growl in his tone, Shelby nodded. She allowed her arms to drop to her sides and then sat down opposite Dakota. “Two convicts escaped. He wanted to ask you if you would track with me to find them.”

  Dakota rubbed his recently shaven jaw. “Yeah. Only,” he said as he sighed roughly, “there’s more to it you don’t know, Shel.” He reached out, gripping her hands folded in front of her on the table. “Damn, I didn’t want to discuss this with you yet.”

  She tilted her head. “Do you not want to track with me?” She remembered his initial reaction to a woman being able to track. His hand was rough on her soft skin, but it felt comforting to her.

  Shaking his head, Dakota released her hand, reared back on two legs of the chair, looking up to the ceiling, fighting his violent emotions. “No...no, it has nothing to do with that, Shel.” He took in a ragged breath, looked at the ceiling for a long moment and then back to her. “I was hoping not to have this conversation with you for a long time. You’re hurting right now. Damn. I’m sorry. So sorry...”

  Shelby could hear the undisguised anguish in his tone. “I don’t understand, Dakota. What is it? You look really upset.” Her first reaction was to get up, throw her arms around him and hold him. The raw, gritty look in his eyes startled her. Made her afraid. What was he hiding?

  “Cade told you that two death row convicts, Vance Welton and Oren Hartley, just escaped. That they’re heading for Yellowstone National Park to disappear into the forests so the authorities can’t find them.” His eyes shuttered closed for a second. His mouth became a hard line, as if he was fighting back a barrage of unknown emotions.

  “Dakota? What is going on? Do you know these two criminals?”

  His heart twisted hard in his chest. For a moment, Dakota wasn’t sure he could handle it. It took every ounce of SEAL control over his feelings to stop it from happening. The wariness on the edge of Shelby’s voice helped him. Gulping hard, he shoved everything—everything—back down deep inside himself. Opening his eyes, he stared down at the table for a moment. “This is coming at the wrong damned time,” he breathed, his voice sounding like a rasp against metal.

  Shelby reached out. She wanted to touch him. Her fingers slid over his tightly balled hands. “Dakota? What’s wrong? Let me help?” She tipped her head to catch his downcast gaze.

  How could he feel so goddamned miserable? Dakota couldn’t recall any firefight feeling as dangerous and life-threatening as how he felt right now. He opened his hands, needed Shelby’s warm, firm touch. Studying her long fingers, he turned them over gently in his palms. He struggled to find the words he needed to speak.

  He lifted his head. If it had been anyone but her, Dakota wouldn’t have said what he was going to say. The words, each one, tore out of him, a razor slicing into his tightened throat, bleeding him out, bleeding him dry until he thought he was going to die as Ellie had died.

  “When I saw you out in the parking lot of the hospital, I thought I knew you, Shelby. I was in too much shock to pursue it. And talking to Cade just now, I realize where I saw you—in the Cody, Wyoming, courthouse nine years ago.”

  Shelby kept staring at him. Her mind wrenched back to that time and place. It became clearer. She shook her head. “Your last name...Carson...I thought I knew the name, but so much was going on at the E.R., I just couldn’t remember.”

  “I know these two bastards, Shelby. My sister, Ellie Carson, was nineteen when those two jumped her when she was leaving Cody University one evening. She—she was taking classes to become a registered nurse. I was seventeen at the time. They hauled her into an abandoned house nearby and...” His voice dropped. Tears jammed into Dakota’s eyes and he was helpless to stop them from forming. Shelby’s hands tightened around his and her face suddenly went pale. The rest had to be said, like cutting into a very old, festering wound to release the toxins eating away at his soul. “They tortured her, raped her repeatedly and finally slit her throat and killed her.”

  Without thinking, Shelby stood up and quietly moved around the table. Dakota had pushed his hands across his face, trying to hide the tears coming down his drawn cheeks. She pulled up a chair, sitting facing him. Slipping her arms around his tense, bunched shoulders, she nestled her head against his clenched jaw. “I’m so sorry, so very sorry, Dakota. My God, I didn’t know....” She held him with her woman’s strength.

  The past struck Shelby full force. She’d had one day in court to testify and she remembered seeing the Carson family, the grief on their collective faces. Vaguely, she recalled the teen boy with the parents. That had been Dakota. Time had changed him markedly from a tall, slender boy into the man he was today.

  A new feeling flowed through her as she held him. They were both frozen in time over a horrific event that clearly connected them today. Dakota was still held prisoner by it. A shudder worked through him, and Shelby sensed his internal strength to control the violence of his grief. He was strong in ways she would never be. Kissing his cheek, Shelby inhaled his male scent. She continued to place small, tender kisses against his brow, cheek and jaw. Little by little, she felt him begin to relax, to trust himself to her caring arms.

  Gradually, Dakota stuffed all the rage and horror down into a hole he never wanted to open again. Shelby’s arms were strong and he greedily absorbed her silent care. Her lips were soft and healing against his flesh, and God, how badly he needed her. An IED going off under him would have thrown him into the same kind of shock he was experiencing right now with the news Cade Garner had just given him.

  He eased Shelby away from him and held her hand, a lifeline for him as he stared into her eyes filled with compassion. “Thanks,” he managed, voice rough with unshed tears.

  She continued to hold his hand. “I remember you in the courtr
oom now, Dakota. And your parents. I was there for only one day to testify in capturing them. I wasn’t there for the whole trial, although I had been briefed on it by the prosecutor’s office.” She swallowed against a forming lump. “That’s why you looked familiar to me and vice versa.” Shaking her head, she muttered, “At times like this, we all need someone. You were there for me. Now I’m here for you. Did you tell Cade you’d track with me?”

  Nodding, he studied her soft, long fingers. “Yeah, I did.”

  “There’s more to this story, Dakota.”

  What else could there be? He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was just coming on the sheriff’s force as a deputy, my first week, and my father was still the commander here. I’d graduated from high school at sixteen. I was one of those bright kids who skipped grades.” She managed a disconcerted smile. “I went to a law enforcement academy and graduated at eighteen. We got word of the terrible murder of your sister. Law enforcement was able to prove those two escaped into Yellowstone. My father had been teaching me to track since I was five years old. He knew I was good at what I did. He ordered me to go with a multi–law enforcement team of other trackers and dogs to try to find those two.”

  Looking deep into her eyes, feeling as if he could fall into them, be lost forever and never look back, Dakota nodded. “Cade didn’t tell me that.”

  Shelby moved her fingers across his hand, a hand with so many scars on the front and back of it. Each white slice was pain he’d experienced. Softly, she wanted to give him respite from a life that was obviously filled with nothing but suffering. “I left the team once we were inside the park. I had a hunch, and it played out to be correct. I found the car they’d stolen near Norris Basin. I called it in and followed them on foot into the woods.”

  His skin crawled as he realized she had been in absolute jeopardy with Welton and Hartley. Eyes widening, Dakota knew if they’d ever found her, they’d have raped and murdered her just as they had Ellie. His throat closed off. “You must have found them first?” He saw a tight grin pull at her lips.

  “Better believe it. They were like two bulls. Broken brush, bent limbs they’d stepped on. You know how hard it is to track on a pine needle floor, but they left plenty of other clues for me to follow.”

  In utter disbelief, he demanded, “Did you corner them?”

  “Yes.” She rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension of that moment when she’d suddenly come upon the two murderers. “I was fresh out of law enforcement training. The only time I’d ever fired my pistol was at practice targets. I found them resting by a group of boulders, pulled my pistol and told them to freeze. I called on my radio for backup.”

  Disbelief soared through Dakota. He remembered first seeing Shelby in that courtroom. Even though she wore a sheriff’s uniform, to him she didn’t look more than a mere slip of a young girl. “What did they do?”

  “Cursed at me,” she said wryly.

  “They didn’t think you were going to really shoot them?”

  “Oh, they got it,” she answered, her voice hardening. “They were sexual predators of the worst sort. I’m prejudiced against that kind of man, anyway.”

  “Welton was the ringleader. Didn’t he challenge you?”

  Shaking her head, her eyes taking on a dark look, she said, “I told them to make my day.”

  Dakota remembered the famous line spoken by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. A grin edged his mouth. “They believed you.”

  “It’s a side of me you haven’t seen yet, Dakota. I hated them. I’d never felt hate before, but standing there, my pistol in my hands, aimed at them, I hated. I told them to just give me one excuse to blow their heads off their shoulders.”

  Dakota saw the spark of anger deep in her blue eyes. There was nothing cute or fuzzy about Shelby right now. He was seeing her strength, an internal kind that he was well acquainted with. It was shocking to see she possessed it, too. But why not? Women were strong, he knew. “They sat there?”

  “Yes. I had them lie on their bellies, hands behind their necks. The rest of my team arrived and they cuffed them, read them their rights and hauled their asses back to Cody, Wyoming.”

  “Unbelievable.” He gave her an assessing look. “You must be one hell of a tracker, then.”

  “I am. My dad taught me well.”

  “Wasn’t he worried for your safety? He knew Welton and Hartley had already killed my sister.”

  “Yes, he was. But he also knew he’d taught me how to track and use a rifle ever since I could remember. I knew Yellowstone like the back of my hand, Dakota. What my dad didn’t want me doing was peeling off from the main team, which I did.” Her laugher was throaty. “When I got back to the office to write up my report, he chewed my ass royally. He told me never to leave my tracking partner again.”

  “At least someone had some common sense.”

  Shrugging, Shelby sighed and released his hand. “I was young and green. I’ve got nine years in with the sheriff’s department and I’m a lot more seasoned now. And smart,” she added, seeing the look of respect come to his face. It made her feel good because earlier, Dakota had treated her like a helpless, brainless doll.

  “I sat through the entire trial. My parents were shattered by the loss of Ellie. I sat there hating them, wanting to wrap my hands around each one of their throats and slowly killing them, like they’d killed my sister.”

  She sighed. “You were only seventeen. It must have been so hard on you,” she murmured, “and on your poor parents.”

  Nodding, Dakota wiped his face harshly with his hand. The past was staring him in the face. Again. “I wanted to even the scales. So many times, I tried to imagine the terror, the pain that Ellie felt. It nearly drove me insane. I finally had to get away and I escaped and went into the navy. I couldn’t handle all the feelings ripping through me. My parents were depressed. I couldn’t help them.”

  “I’m sure I’d feel exactly the same way.” Shelby watched him struggled with his emotions. “Are you sure you want to track with me? Will you be able to control your emotions, clear your head to track?” Instantly, there came a feral change in his gold-brown eyes, that of powerful focus. She actually felt an energy shift around him. The change was startling. Was this his SEAL training coming out, the warrior side taking over? Because if it was, Shelby had no question that Dakota would not only track with her; he’d find them. And he’d want to kill them.

  “You only know a small part of me.” He said the words in grate. “I’m a SEAL. I’m no longer in the navy, but the training will always be with me. I have my reflexes. My knowledge gained by six months of deployment every two years into Iraq and Afghanistan. I have the control I need to hunt down these sick bastards.”

  “Okay,” she said, standing up, “then we need to saddle up. Cade is expecting us shortly.”

  His gut clenched and he stared at her. “You let me do the tracking.” He wanted those two bastards so bad he could taste it. Find them and kill them.

  Her brows rose. “Excuse me?” She saw his face grow cold.

  “You don’t need to go along,” he grated.

  She scowled. “There’s no way I’m staying off this case.”

  Gut churning, Dakota felt a desperation similar to when Ellie was announced as missing. He’d intuitively picked up that she was in trouble. That same feeling washed over him again. Shelby stood there, looking so damned confident. And his heart lurched with new terror. What if they got ahold of Shelby this time? What if he wasn’t there to protect her? She’d gotten lucky the first time she’d caught those two. He rubbed his chin, holding her stubborn stare. “You can’t go along with me.”

  Shelby held on to her mounting anger. Instead, she tried to understand what was going on in his mind. Was he worried about her? Shelby considered his reactions carefully, her instincts telling her that Dakota’s past was bleeding into the present. He might not even see her right now. He might see Ellie. And if he did, Dakota would want her
safe, not on the trail tracking with him. She opened her hands, a plea in her husky tone. “Look, I know a lot’s gotten dumped on you, Dakota. I can take care of myself out there.”

  His heart lurched with other emotions he thought he’d never experience. And just as abruptly, he buried them. The tender expression in Shelby’s eyes touched him. All he could do was shake his head. There was no way he could get involved with her on a personal level. His rage was always there, lurking. Dakota was sorry he’d kissed her. Sorry to his soul because she didn’t need a wounded, broken man in her life. He wanted to protect her from himself, as well. She deserved something a helluva lot better than him.

  “We’ll see...” he growled, finally. He would talk to Cade Garner and convince him to keep Shelby safe and he’d do the tracking by himself. Alone, as he had been for so many years already.

  “Okay,” she murmured, wanting to defuse the tension. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Rising, the sound of the chair scraping back across the tiled surface, Dakota muttered softly, “Wheels up.” He walked over to her, cupping her elbow, looking down into her uplifted gaze. “We’re going Down Range.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Going into combat.” He was. She wasn’t.

  The warrior emerged in him. No longer did she see grief or unbridled emotions in his flat, hard eyes. His entire demeanor had shifted. Dakota was not open or vulnerable anymore. Just the opposite, hard as titanium with a ruthless, calculated expression. He meant business. He was going to extract the revenge he’d always wanted against these two convicts.

  The realization left her throat dry. If she hadn’t seen and experienced the softer side of him as a man, she would have been deeply shaken by his countenance right now. Was this how Jason was on a mission as a Ranger? Did he change faces? Put on this warrior mask to do his work?