The Fugitive Bride

by Margaret Watson

  Levi and Maria sat in the dining room, drinking coffee, when he walked in the door. They stood when they saw him, accusation in their eyes, and walked into the kitchen without a word.

  He followed them. “Why didn’t you tell me when I chased after her?” he asked Maria.

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you, if Shea didn’t want you to know.” Her face was hard and her eyes cold.

  “You’re all keeping her secret for her, aren’t you?” he asked.

  Levi glared at him. “And why wouldn’t we?”

  “Maybe because what she’s doing is wrong.”

  “It may be illegal, but it’s not wrong.” Maria spoke up. “You saw those children. Can you tell me it is wrong to rescue them from the hell that San Rafael has become?” she demanded. “Since the rebels took over, there has been constant fighting, no food, complete lawlessness. God only knows what atrocities those children have seen. Can you tell me it’s wrong to give them a future?”

  Jesse looked at the two stony faces staring back at him and felt his heart shrivel a little more. He turned and headed for the front door. “When Shea gets back, I’ll be in my cabin.”

  Chapter 14

  It was nearly dark by the time Jesse heard Shea’s truck pulling into the yard. Slamming out of his cabin, he met her as she was sliding out of her truck.

  “You said you would meet me back here.” He tried to control the anger that roiled inside him.

  She glanced over at him, then turned away. “Here I am. And there you are. I’d say we met back here.”

  “You knew I thought you’d be coming right back.”

  “I knew no such thing.” She finally swung around to face him again. “I didn’t tell you when I’d meet you back here. I only said I would.” For a moment, the fatigue and fear she tried so hard to hide was carved into new lines on her face. Then she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was only scorn. “You’re going to have to learn to be more precise. I would have thought they’d teach you that at FBI school.”

  “What’s wrong, Shea?” he said, his anger washed away by the weariness and worry he saw on her face. He reached out to touch her face, but she knocked his hand away.

  “You mean besides the fact that you’re going to arrest me?”

  “Something happened after I left you up there. 1 can tell. What is it?”

  For a moment he was sure she wasn’t going to answer him. Then her face crumbled. “It’s Rafael, the boy who doesn’t have any relatives here. While I was talking to you and then Miguel, he ran away, and we can’t find him.”

  Without thinking, he pulled her into his arms and folded her close. She stiffened against him and tried to push away, but he held on. After a while she collapsed against him. Her shoulders shuddered with her sobs, and her tears soaked into his short. Her hands dug into his back as she clung to him.

  Overwhelming tenderness swept over him for the complicated woman he held in his arms. How could he have ever thought she’d commit a crime for the sake of money? Everything he’d learned about Shea since he came to the Red Rock contradicted that. But he had been afraid to trust himself, or his judgment. And now Shea was sobbing against his chest and a boy was lost in the mountains.

  “We’ll find him, Shea,” he murmured. “We’ll go up and search for him until we find him.”

  She pushed away from him. “You don’t know a thing about our mountains,” she said, wiping her face with her sleeve. “How can you imagine that you would be any help at all?”

  Her voice was withering, and the sting of her rejection reverberated in his chest. He knew he deserved it. “I’ll help you search.”

  “We don’t have time to look for you, too.” She turned away from him, and at the same time he heard a truck pulling into the yard. It skidded to a halt, and Ben Jackson, the deputy from Cameron, jumped out of the truck.

  “I got your message, Shea,” he said, hurrying over to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a boy lost in the mountains,” she said, her voice catching on the words. “We need a tracker to help find him.”

  “You’ve got one.” He loped around to the back of his truck and pulled out a backpack. “I keep the things I need with me all the time.”

  “Can you get started right away?” Shea asked.

  Ben frowned. “Of course, but I might not make a lot of progress until the morning. The moon will be almost full tonight, but if it clouds up, I’ll have to wait. I don’t want to take the chance on missing or destroying any signs.”

  Jackson looked around the yard, as if looking for answers. “Who is the boy? Someone from one of the ranches?”

  Shea hesitated, then the entire story spilled out of her. Jackson watched her as she spoke, but didn’t try to interrupt. When she finished, he asked, “Does Dev know about this?”

  “No. But he will now.” She shot a bitter glance over at Jesse, and Jackson’s gaze followed.

  “What do you mean?” Jackson had gone very still.

  “He’s an FBI agent.” Jesse heard the loathing in Shea’s voice. “He came here specifically to stop me. This was an undercover operation.”

  Jesse saw the speculation sharpen Jackson’s eyes, followed by grim satisfaction. “That would explain it, then.”

  “Explain what?” Shea asked.

  “His references. I knew there was something wrong, but I hadn’t been able to get to the bottom of it.”

  “Those references were perfect,” Jesse said.

  Jackson looked over at him, and the dislike in his eyes told him exactly whose side the lawman was on. “That was the problem. They were too perfect. You’d never even had a parking ticket, and that made me suspicious. I figured Jesse Coulton wasn’t your real name. But I hadn’t been able to pin anything down yet.”

  Jesse knew his smile was without humor. “I’m glad to hear the FBI stayed one step ahead of you.”

  “I would have figured it out eventually,” Jackson said, and there was no inflection in his voice.

  Jesse watched as the deputy turned back to Shea, ignoring him, and realized he’d been dismissed. If he was smart, he would have accepted the dismissal. He would have walked back to his cabin and figured out what to do next.

  But he hadn’t been smart since the first day he’d arrived at the Red Rock Ranch. In spite of the fact that Shea was furious with him, that she had expressed her opinion of him in the most scathing way, he couldn’t leave her alone with her fear and her guilt.

  She felt it was her fault that Rafael ran away. She felt she hadn’t done a good job protecting him, and now he was gone. He couldn’t let her bear that burden alone.

  He stepped closer to Shea and Jackson in time to hear Ben say, “No, Shea, you can’t come with me. You’re not a trained tracker, and you’d only get in my way and slow me down.”

  “I won’t just sit here and wait,” she said, her voice passionate.

  “You and I can search together,” Jesse said.

  Both of them turned to look at him. Shea narrowed her eyes and said, “I don’t want you anywhere near my children.”

  “What’s more important, your pride or the lost boy?” he shot back, then regretted his words when he saw her stricken look

  “Are you a trained tracker?” Jackson stared at him, hard-faced.

  “No, I’m not,” he admitted. “But I know enough about tracking to be some help. Enough to make sure we don’t mess up the signs for you.”

  “It would be best for everyone to wait here.” Jackson’s voice was resigned, as if he knew he was destined to lose the battle against Shea.

  “I can’t wait here, Ben,” Shea said. She shot a sidelong look at Jesse. “And he says he knows something about tracking. Surely that’s better than nothing.”

  “All right.” Jackson’s gaze measured them. “Get a pack together, and a couple of flashlights. I want to leave in ten minutes.”

  Shea immediately ran toward the house, and Jackson fixed his harsh gaze on Jesse.

>   “If her brother was here, he’d beat the hell out of you. But Dev’s gone, and I’m standing in for him.” His gaze touched briefly on the house again. “I have other things to worry about at the moment, but I won’t forget about you.”

  “I understand.” And he did. “And just for the record, I didn’t intend to hurt her.”

  “But you did anyway.” Jackson’s dark eyes were unreadable. “Right now we need your help. That boy is more important than you. But once we find him, all bets are off.”

  Jesse nodded once, shortly. Ben couldn’t make him feel any worse about what he had done to Shea. “Tell me what you want us to do, and we’ll do it.”

  After a moment, Ben’s face relaxed slightly. “Once we get to the cabin and I’ve looked around, I’ll tell you exactly where I want you to go and what I want you to do. I expect you to follow my instructions to the letter.” His gaze traveled to the house again. “Can you keep her with you and out of my way?”

  “Yes. I’ll keep her out of your way if I have to handcuff her to my arm.”

  Jackson’s closed face became even darker. “That wasn’t the best choice of words, Coulton.”

  “I don’t think it’ll come to that.”

  The look Jackson gave him held a grim promise. “It better not, Coulton.”

  Jesse hurried into his cabin and threw a few essentials into a pack. When he emerged, Shea and Ben were standing by Jackson’s truck, talking in a low voice.

  “Are we ready to go?” Jesse asked as he approached them.

  Jackson nodded. “The moon won’t be up for another half hour or so, but we can leave for the cabin now so we’re ready to begin searching as soon as there’s enough light”

  A few minutes later, Jesse sat in the back of Jackson’s Blazer and watched Shea in the front seat as they bumped up the road toward the cabin. He could have reached out his hand and touched her, but she was miles away from him. That was the way it had to be, he reminded himself. He was here to do a job, and he couldn’t let his feelings for Shea interfere.

  Except that now he wasn’t sure what his job was supposed to be. Realizing that Shea was smuggling children into the country changed everything. His job was no longer as simple as finding the refugees and arresting both Shea and the criminals she was bringing into the country. But right now he couldn’t afford to worry about it. Because now there was a lost child who had to be found.

  Jesse leaned forward on his seat. “What’s the plan, Jackson?”

  Ben spared him a quick look out of the corner of his eye. “We’ll figure it out when I get to the PLS and take a look around.”

  PLS, Jesse knew, was shorthand for point last seen, the place from which the boy had disappeared. “Do we know what kind of shoes he was wearing?” he asked Shea.

  “Sandals. I’m pretty sure the sole was made out of an old tire. That’s what most of the kids seem to wear.”

  “That should make it easier to track him,” Jesse said.

  Jackson made a cautious sound in his throat. “Assuming there’s enough light to follow any tracks.”

  “If we don’t see anything tonight, we’ll just wait until first light.”

  “Do you know how scared he must be, out on the mountain by himself?” Shea’s voice was so quiet that Jesse wondered if she’d meant to speak out loud.

  “We’ll find him, Shea.” He wanted to reassure her, to make her feel better. But he knew Shea well enough to realize she wasn’t going to be reassured until she was reunited with the child.

  She didn’t turn around to look at him. “With three of us, we should be able to cover a lot of ground.” The deputy’s

  “You and Coulton have to stay together.” The deputy’s voice was unwavering. “Too many inexperienced people going in different directions is only going to make it more difficult to find the boy. I agreed to let you come if you took orders from me, and I’m telling you to stay with Coulton.”

  “I’ll do that if it helps to find Rafael more quickly.”

  Her voice was low-pitched and passionate, reverberating with the fear Jesse knew she was feeling. He ached to reach across the seat, to clasp her hand. But he didn’t move. He’d forfeited all his chances to comfort Shea.

  After what seemed like hours on the road, they pulled up to the cabin and stopped the truck. Lights streamed out of all the windows, and he imagined the old man and the other children inside, wondering what was happening.

  But when they entered the cabin, it was empty. All of the children and the old man were gone. And from the evidence in the cabin, they’d left in a hurry.

  “Where are the other kids, Shea?” he asked in a low voice.

  She ignored him as she pulled a pitifully small pack from one of the bedrooms. “These are Rafael’s belongings,” she told the deputy.

  He slowly pulled a tattered lace shawl, a silver comb, a chipped white mug and a small square of multi-colored cloth out of the bag. “Is this it?” he asked.

  “Apparently so. Miguel said that Rafael always kept this pack close to him, and he never took anything out of it.”

  “It’s not much, is it?” Jackson stared at the objects laid out in front of him.

  “My children often come here with nothing,” she said softly. “Rafael actually has more than some of them.”

  My children, Shea had said. Jesse looked at the meager collection of possessions that defined one child’s life, and a profound sadness moved through him. He was responsible for destroying what she had built here, destroying the security of the children she so obviously loved. And he was responsible for forcing one of them to flee into the mountains.

  “Why don’t we get started with the search?” he asked in a harsh voice.

  Jackson looked over at him, and a ghost of understanding passed over the deputy’s face. “You’re right. There’s nothing here that will help us understand where he might have gone.”

  He carefully replaced the boy’s belongings into the pack, then laid it gently on one of the beds. “Let’s take a look outside.”

  The moon had just risen above the edges of the cliffs surrounding the cabin, and a milky white light spilled on the ground. “Both of you stay on the porch,” Jackson instructed as he switched on a flashlight. Training it on the ground in front of the cabin, he crouched on the porch stairs as he examined the area.

  After what seemed like a long time, he stood up. “All the footprints here stay together. I don’t think he came out the front door.”

  Shea shook her head. “Miguel would have seen him. We think he climbed out one of the windows.”

  “Stay here,” Jackson instructed. “Don’t step off that porch until I tell you it’s all right.”

  The deputy disappeared into the darkness, and only the beam of his flashlight was visible, bouncing off the trees next to the cabin. Shea stood rigid on the porch, her arms wrapped around herself, and stared off into the night.

  “Are you cold?” Jesse finally asked.

  She turned to him as if in a trance. “What?”

  “I asked if you were cold.”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  But he saw her shiver, saw the goose bumps on her arms. Shrugging out of the flannel shirt he wore, he draped it over her shoulders.

  Immediately she handed it back to him. “I don’t want your shirt,” she said. He saw her gaze slide over his chest, saw the momentary heat in her eyes, then she looked away.

  For a moment he couldn’t speak. Desire rushed through him in a wave of need, and he wanted nothing more than to feel Shea wrapped around him one more time. Then he forced himself to look away from her. “Take it,” he said, pulling the shirt around her shoulders, being careful not to touch her. “I have another one in my pack.”

  “I have warmer clothes in my pack, too,” she muttered.

  “But we can’t get to our packs right now,” he said patiently. “So take the shirt.”

  He thought she was going to rip it off and throw it back at him, but finally she slip
ped her arms into the sleeves and buttoned the shirt. “Thank you,” she said, and he knew that she hated taking anything from him. He knew she was only doing it for the sake of the lost boy, and pain twisted inside him again.

  Neither of them spoke again until Jackson rejoined them on the porch. “I’ve found his tracks,” he said without preamble. “He went out one of the windows and headed around the lake.” He waved in the opposite direction. “You were right about the tire tread on his sandals. So far, the trail is a good one.”

  Jackson looked at the lake, placid and peaceful in the moonlight. “You know this area much better than I do, Shea. Where would he likely head?”

  “There isn’t anywhere to go up here.” Jesse heard the despair in her voice. “This little valley is surrounded by cliffs. I don’t think a boy his size could climb over them.”

  “You’d be surprised what desperation will allow a person to do. Even a child,” Jackson replied, and Jesse wondered sharply what desperation had driven the deputy to do. Because he clearly spoke from experience.

  “What are we going to do?” Shea’s voice rose, and Jesse realized she was terrified.

  He took her upper arms and drew her around to face him. “We’ll find him, Shea. Jackson knows what he’s doing, and we’ll help him. We’re three adults, and we can move a lot more quickly than a small child. We’ll find him.”

  She nodded once, jerkily, but he felt the tremors in her muscles that told him of her fear. Jesse looked over to Jackson. “Tell us what to do.”

  “I’m going to follow his trail. I want you to follow the other side of the lake, and when you get to the other end, head over toward the cliffs.” He hesitated. “Keep an eye on the ground, and if you see his footprints, stop and call me.” He looked over at Shea. “You have your phone, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “I always carry it. After I started hiding the children in the cabin, it seemed like a good idea for everyone on the ranch to he; accessible all the time.”

  “Why don’t you show us the footprints before we leave, so we know exactly what they look like?” Jesse asked.