Beyond Control

by Kat Martin

  After she had left Phoenix and moved to Houston, Damon had immediately begun to harass her. He must have had a friend who knew how to hack into computer systems because he managed to destroy her credit, run up her cards, and empty her bank accounts.

  He had even been brazen enough to admit he’d done it, though she never had any proof. He just wanted her to come home, he’d said. He’d make everything right if she just came back to him.

  In those early days, she hadn’t yet accepted reality, hadn’t realized her life, as she knew it, was over. Back then, she’d been determined not to let him win.

  She had managed to undo the identity theft and clean up her bank accounts and credit cards, but Damon’s harassment had only gotten worse, until she’d finally been forced to leave Houston.

  At least she knew what to do for Josh.

  Working in his converted bedroom-office, Tory leaned back in the chair in front of his computer and rubbed the ache in her neck. She’d been sitting there for hours, either on the Internet or the phone, determined to fix the mess she had brought down on Josh’s head.

  She heard his footfalls as he walked into the office, turned to see him standing there in a pair of worn jeans and a snug-fitting dark blue T-shirt. A zing of sexual awareness slipped through her, sending a flush into her cheeks that made her freckles stand out. She hoped he wouldn’t notice.

  “How’s it going?” he asked, coming up to look over her shoulder.

  “I made a list of everything you gave me, your bank accounts, IRAs, stocks, and bonds. Location, numbers, amounts, anything pertinent. The ranch is your only mortgage. I’m not quite sure what to do about stopping the foreclosure, but I’ll figure it out.”

  He smiled. “I know you will. I wouldn’t have had a clue how to fix this. You’re a handy lady to know.”

  Guilt swept through her. “If I hadn’t driven up in front of your barn, you wouldn’t be having this problem.”

  Josh drew her up from the chair. “I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t driven up in front of my barn. Bridger could have found you. He could have—” He broke off at the look on her face.

  “Sorry. I’m glad you’re here, that’s all.” He kissed her softly and eased her back down in the chair.

  As soon as they’d figured out his accounts had been hacked, Tory had called the credit card companies and had Josh give them notice of the theft. Acting that quickly, there was a fifty dollar limit per card, no matter how high the fraudulent charges.

  Josh would be okay there, except for the hassle of getting new cards and giving the new numbers to accounts that billed directly to the card, like Amazon and the feed store and the mercantile in town.

  As Josh’s representative, she had phoned the bank. There was something called the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which protected consumers, again with a fifty dollar liability charge. The money stolen out of Josh’s bank accounts would be replaced.

  Next she phoned in a fraud alert to the credit reporting companies so no one could make purchases using his name and Social Security number. A report would come back showing any problems, and there would be a freeze on opening new accounts.

  “You’ll need to change all of your passwords,” she said. Josh groaned, but Tory just smiled. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to come up with something a little more sophisticated than ‘river ranch one.’”

  Instead of laughing, his features hardened. “I can’t believe that guy. I’d like to stomp his balls into a grease spot on the pavement.”

  Tory’s eyes went wide. Josh rarely said things like that. Then she grinned. “Yeah, me too.”

  Josh laughed. She noticed him doing that more often.

  “We still need to call the Social Security hotline,” she said. “And the utility companies, just to make sure he hasn’t screwed things up there. And you’ll have to get a new driver’s license.” She sighed. “At least it only cost you a couple of hundred bucks.”

  “Yeah, thanks to you.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to call the police?”

  “It’d be the sheriff out here, and we both know how much good that would do.”

  Tory made no reply. She didn’t like the sheriff any more than Josh did.

  * * *

  After all the time Tory had spent on the computer, Josh figured she deserved a break. They had stopped to pick up Ivy that morning on the way back from Gainesville, but the little girl had begged to stay and work in her garden. Mrs. Thompson seemed delighted to have her.

  Now that the credit repair was done, they had the afternoon to themselves, and though it was hot, it was also cloudy and a little breezy, and being from Phoenix, Tory didn’t seem to mind the heat.

  She wanted to see the ranch, she’d said, and being proud of the home he was building, Josh was excited to show her more than just the closest pasture.

  They headed for the barn. Josh saddled Rose for Tory and Thor for himself. The big gelding had become his favorite, one of the most reliable horses on the ranch.

  They rode through the first gate, Tory handling the mare with an ease that pleased him, something he hadn’t really expected from a city girl like her. They started across the pasture toward the trail that wound along the creek to the river at the back of the ranch, the buckskin alert, the mare following his lead.

  “Josh, wait!” Tory suddenly called out. “Someone’s coming!”

  He pulled rein and turned in the saddle, his gaze going past the house to a plain black SUV rumbling down the dirt road.

  “Looks like our ride is going to have to wait,” Josh said, worried something else had gone wrong.

  Whirling the buckskin, he gigged Thor into a trot, then a gallop, glanced over to see Tory galloping up beside him, a grin on her face, her fiery curls flying out behind her. She was handling the mare like a pro.

  An odd pressure expanded in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it did feel good having her riding beside him.

  They slowed to pass through the gate, then rode past the trailer toward the house. Cole walked out of the barn just as the black Chevy Suburban pulled up and the engine turned off. Josh swung his leg over the back of the saddle, stepped to the ground, and handed Cole the reins. Noah took the mare’s reins and Josh swung Tory to the ground.

  “Who is he?” Cole asked.

  “No idea.” But the colored light bar in the front grille said it was an unmarked police car and his nerves kicked up another notch.

  “Don’t unsaddle the horses till we see what’s going on,” Josh said, still hopeful.

  The men led the horses into the shade of the barn and disappeared out of sight while a big man in a brown suit with a short blond buzz cut unwound himself from inside the SUV.

  Josh flicked a glance at Tory, who stood close beside him, clearly as worried as he.

  The blond man pulled off a pair of wraparound sunglasses. “You Joshua Cain?”

  “That’s right.”

  “FBI Special Agent Quinn Taggart. I’m a friend of your brother’s.”

  Josh remembered hearing about him. He’d helped Linc and Carly out of a jam. He’d also helped his brother’s partner, Beau Reese.

  “Taggart. I know who you are. This is Victoria Bradford. Why don’t we go inside out of the sun?”

  Taggart nodded. Josh held the door open for Tory, and Taggart walked in behind her. Josh followed them inside and closed the door.

  “How about a glass of lemonade?” Tory suggested.

  “Sounds good,” Taggart said.

  They pulled out chairs and sat down around the kitchen table. Tory brought over the pitcher and glasses and took a seat.

  Josh poured for all of them. “So what can I do for you, Agent Taggart?”

  Taggart glanced pointedly at Tory.

  “It’s okay,” Josh said. “You can speak freely.”

  “All right.” Taggart took a drink of lemonade. “You were in Gainesville for a funeral yesterday. Your friend Coy Whitmore w
as murdered.”

  “That’s right.”

  “A couple weeks back another friend of yours was killed.”

  “Murdered,” Josh corrected.

  “I stand corrected. The first man who was murdered was Pete Saldana. According to our information, both these men were special operations marines.”

  Josh’s gaze sharpened on Taggart. “The police have been looking for a connection. You think that’s what it is? Someone killed them because they were soldiers?”

  “It’s beginning to look that way. For more than a year, Homeland Security has been dealing with a group of terrorists working in Texas. Your brother ran into trouble with a guy named Bharat al-Razi. In February, there was an attack on the Texas State Capitol.”

  “Beau Reese helped find the terrorists.”

  “That’s right. A billionaire named Jamal Nawabi is now in prison for financing the cell that planned that attack.”

  He nodded. “My brother and I talked about it. Some of it I read in the papers.”

  Taggart took a long swallow of his drink. “During the sweep of the capitol and in the days that followed, members of the cell were either arrested or killed. We believed we had everyone involved.”

  “Believed,” Josh repeated. “Past tense? Are you saying there are more of those guys out there?”

  “Unfortunately, we now know several members of the cell escaped. Recently, one of them was killed when he attacked a retired police officer in Austin. We believe another man, the leader of the group, organized the recent bombing at the Houston Airport.”

  “I thought the men who set off the bombs were killed,” Tory said.

  “They were, but we don’t think they planned the attack. We think the bombing was funded by their billionaire sponsor, Nawabi, who’s somehow still managing to pull the strings from behind bars.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you saying someone in the cell killed Saldana and Whitmore?” Josh asked.

  “We won’t be sure till we have him in custody. We’ve spread a wide net, but so far it hasn’t caught anything. It was the death of your friends that alerted us to the situation.”

  “That being two marines dead in a little over two weeks,” Josh said. “Both shot in the head. The cops trying to figure out who wanted them dead and why.”

  “That’s right. When the most compelling link they found was the men’s shared military service, they called in the FBI. Turns out Saldana and Whitmore were both in Afghanistan at the same time.”

  Josh nodded. “Deployed at the same time, both fought against the Taliban.”

  “And so did you.”

  Silence fell. Josh flashed on a memory, the echo of explosions and the rattle of heavy gunfire. He had relived it in his nightmares more than once.

  Tory’s worried gaze locked with his. She was no fool. She understood exactly where this was going.

  “My team was one of several that were there,” Josh said. “A lot of marines fought in Afghanistan.”

  “You think Josh is also in danger?” Tory asked.

  “Unofficially, yes. That’s the reason I’m here. Officially, we’re still investigating. But if there’s a member of a terrorist cell still at large in Texas and he’s already killed two other men, Josh could very well be a target.”

  Josh softly cursed. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have enough trouble already. He was trying to protect Tory from Bridger. Now he had a new threat to worry about. Even if she wasn’t the target, there was always a chance of getting caught in the crossfire.

  “What about the other marines who fought over there?” Josh asked.

  “We’re contacting any soldier who fought there during the same time period Saldana and Whitmore were there. Anyone currently out of the service and back in Texas. We don’t know why the shooter specifically targeted your friends, but we’re working on it.”

  They talked a while longer, exploring other possibilities. Taggart asked if there was any chance Saldana and Whitmore could have had a mutual enemy, someone in the marines.

  “I don’t think so,” Josh said. “Both of them were well liked, in and out of the military.”

  Taggart downed the last of his lemonade. “If you think of anything, I’d appreciate a call.”

  Taggart rose from his chair and handed Josh a business card. “Keep your eyes open, Josh. You’ve got the training and the experience. Word in town is you have two other marines working on the ranch who could be of help. Be watchful. With any luck, we’ll figure this out and have the guy in custody before much longer.”

  “I appreciate your coming, Agent Taggart,” Josh said, also rising.

  “Unless we’re somewhere official, it’s just Quinn.”

  Josh extended a hand. “Thanks.”

  He walked Taggart out on the porch. As soon as the SUV disappeared down the road, Tory came out on the porch and Cole and Noah walked out of the barn.

  “Looked like a cop,” Noah said.

  “FBI Agent Quinn Taggart,” Josh said. “He’s a friend of Linc’s.”

  He set a hand on Tory’s waist, keeping her close even as he scanned their surroundings for anything out of place: colors, movement, shapes, sizes. Watching for trouble still came as naturally to him as breathing. Now he was glad.

  “Was Taggart here about the murders?” Cole asked.

  He nodded. “Looks like Pete and Coy were killed by the same guy. Could be he’s a terrorist.”

  “Whoa. Say that again.” Noah wiped the sweat off his forehead with an elbow.

  “Remember the airport bombing?” Josh said. “FBI thinks the guy who planned it got away. There’s a chance he’s responsible for killing Pete and Coy. Might have something to do with us fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.”

  “Us?” Cole stepped forward. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

  “Not if two parts of that us are dead,” Noah added.

  “They’re still investigating,” Josh said. “Could be something else altogether, but it’d be a good idea if all of us kept an eye out. Taggart thinks it shouldn’t be long before they’ll have the guy in custody.”

  Cole’s jaw hardened. “We’re already on the lookout for Bridger. What’s one more asswipe?”

  On that note, the men walked back into the barn. The sound of hammers and the buzz of a saw replaced the unpleasant conversation.

  “So I guess we don’t get to go for our ride,” Tory said glumly.

  “Darlin’, I’d really like to take you, but it’s probably not a good idea. Maybe the FBI will get lucky and catch this guy right away.”

  “Sure, then all we’ll have to worry about is Damon.” She sighed. “When do our lives get back to normal?”

  Since it didn’t look like it was going to happen anytime soon, Josh made no reply.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I’m not staying in the house,” Tory said. “I have things I need to do. I’m not going to hide out for God knows how long until they catch the killer—if they ever do.”

  She propped a hand on her hip. “Who’s to say he won’t just disappear somewhere in the country or head back to Afghanistan or whatever hellhole he came from?”

  The corner of Josh’s mouth kicked up. “He won’t be able to get through the airports.”

  “Yeah? Well, he got in somehow. Which means he knows how to get back out. Are you going to stay in the house? Because if you recall, you could be a target—not me.”

  His blue eyes pinned her, but they held a trace of humor. “I’m supposed to be your boss, remember?”

  “I’m supposed to be your cook, remember? That means I need fresh vegetables for supper. That is the reason I’m planting a garden.”

  She started to stomp away, stopped, and turned back. “And dammit, be careful. If something happened to you—” A sharp pang cut off her words and her eyes burned. Turning, she hurried away.

  Was this ever going to end? Not only did they have Damon to worry about, now there could be a terrorist in the mix.

  Jo
sh caught up with her at the tool shed. She’d picked out a spot for the garden behind the main house that was flat and accessible to water. She set out a rake, shovel, and hoe, but by the time she picked up the trowel, her eyes were brimming with tears.

  She felt Josh’s big hands on her shoulders, turning her around. He took the trowel from her hand, set it down with the other tools, and pulled her into his arms.

  “Hey. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  She slid her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his chest. “Two of your friends are dead. I’m afraid for you. I can’t stand to think of you getting killed.”

  Josh kissed the top of her head. “I’m not going to get killed, all right? I was a soldier. A good one. I know how to take care of myself. I just need to be sure you’re not in danger.”

  When she looked up at him, Josh lowered his head and very softly kissed her. He eased back and touched her cheek. “I’ll be watching for this guy every minute, okay?”

  “What about a gun? I know you have weapons.”

  “Fine, I’ll start carrying, but if I do, I’m teaching you how to shoot.”

  “I know how to shoot. I bought a .38 revolver when I got to Houston and took gun safety classes. Unfortunately, in Carlsbad I started thinking I was safe—big mistake—and hocked it when I got low on money.”

  “Wow. You know how to shoot. You manage to keep on surprising me.”

  Tory wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “Good for me.”

  Josh laughed. “I’ll carry the tools for you.”

  She let him. But with every step he took toward the back of the house, she scanned the area behind him. She thought of the funeral in Gainesville. Those men were soldiers, too, and someone had killed them.

  For the first time she realized she wasn’t just enamored of Josh, she was in love with him.

  Since she was pretty sure he was only in lust with her, loving him was a stupid thing to do.

  He set the tools down on the ground where she showed him and took a look around. “Good spot,” he said. “I’ll get some chicken wire in town and put it up around the perimeter so you won’t have to worry about deer and rabbits. I’ll pick up some soaker hose, too. That should work to keep it watered.”