Ranger Protector

by Angi Morgan

  Jack was out of the building, sliding his shades on and taking a look up the street. Turning left got him to a tree-covered lot, so he turned right. If he remembered correctly, he’d have to cross the street to the gas station to make it look like he’d walked to the diner for lunch.

  He acted like he was busy on his phone, since he had to pass by the third person chasing them. He wanted another picture to send for an ID. That was, eventually...when he had a law-enforcement agency he could send it to.

  The man next to the car had a different idea, dipping his head behind the door. Jack put his phone away and quickened his pace. When he got across the street, he snapped a picture of the license plate.

  Passing the doors to the convenience-store part of the gas station, he took off running on the far side of the building. He needed to disappear before they realized he was the man driving the truck.

  When he hit the next street, he began looking for Megan. There weren’t too many places for her to hide, and since he had the keys, she couldn’t get in the truck. In the parking lot, he remotely unlocked the doors and she popped up in the truck bed.

  Relief washed over him as strong as when he’d found Wade alive after his radio had gone dead the second year they’d been on border patrol. He was glad he hadn’t lost a woman with an APB out on her. That in itself could have been a disaster for his career. But it was more. Not only had he given his word to Wade, he’d promised Megan he’d keep her safe.

  He couldn’t do that if she was walking the streets of Leander.

  She climbed down and bent over the tailgate, retrieving their to-go order. She handed him the sack and leaned over again. He could take looking at the package inside those faded jeans once...but twice?

  Damn, he didn’t have time to think about it twice.

  “What are you waiting for? You going to put that in your built-in cooler?” She jumped from the bumper with two giant cups he assumed were filled with sweet tea. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I...I think we need to avoid the main highway back to Liberty Hill.”

  “My thoughts exactly. But can we talk about it inside the truck?” She climbed into the back seat after handing him his tea.

  He unlocked his gun safe and retrieved two handguns. If it came down to a life-and-death situation, he trusted Megan. They thought along the same lines—like law enforcement. He started the engine, and she disappeared behind him.

  “Why aren’t we moving? Is something wrong?”

  “I’m getting the address of a place I know in Wimberley. It belongs to the parents of one of my...my friends. They mainly use it on—”

  “Honestly, Jack, I trust that it’s a good place to stay a couple of days. If you think we’ll be safe there, then great. I don’t mean to sound like a nag. I just think we should go.”

  “Right. Got it. The back roads out of here are going to take us over to Marble Falls. Safer to go that direction than them spotting this truck heading back toward Austin.”

  He turned west into a residential section of town. Zigzagging through the homes and ignoring the directions telling him to go straight. He also ignored the impulse to stop at the police station and explain their situation.

  “Do you think it’s safe for me to sit in the seat? I mean, your windows are tinted and I could look for black SUVs.”

  “I’ll tell you when we clear town. It’ll be safer then. We’ll be less likely to meet them on Nameless Road. Speaking of SUVs, there was only one. Three subjects. Two male, one female. All looked like federal agents do in the movies.”

  “How in the world did you get out of the diner?” she asked.

  “Walked right past them.”

  “I don’t understand. They didn’t know who you were? So do they know what vehicle you’re driving? Are we being overcautious for nothing?”

  “I think they do. But I look a lot different out of uniform.”

  “I noticed your hair might be a tad long for a ranger.”

  Although he couldn’t see her, he could imagine the grin and hidden laugh.

  “I was undercover and on loan for a while to Brownsville PD.” A case that ended well because of Wade’s instincts. “Like I said, take away the uniform, the short hair and the hat...different man.”

  Another reason to trust Wade. His partner’s gut feeling had saved his life.

  Chapter Seven

  “Unit two is in Liberty Hill. If MacKinnon returns, we’ll extract immediately. No one will know we were there. Unit three is very close to determining the location of Wade Hamilton.”

  “MacKinnon walked right by you. Right by all of you.”

  “I’d like to point out, sir, that we were dealing with incomplete information. A partial plate, an insufficient number of vehicles.” Was this guy a numb brain? “Once we determined that Hamilton was involved, we knew he’d turn to his partner.”

  The ex-agent was either full of himself or used to sounding condescending. The agent was both.

  “Have you figured out where he’ll go if not home?”

  He couldn’t believe his horrible luck. Instead of being discredited and dying, Megan had been rescued by a Texas Ranger.

  It didn’t matter who or what he was...he would soon be dead.

  No one could save Megan from her fate.

  Death by fire. A cleansing. A purification.

  He didn’t really believe any of that nonsense, but if the person funding his operation believed it, then he could live with it.

  Revenge was his motive. Pure. Simple. Loathing.

  And maybe a little greed. Everyone knows it’s always about the money.

  “I want this wrapped up tomorrow with no possibility that the Rangers will become involved. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. We’re beginning our trace on MacKinnon’s phone now.”

  But it has to be on, you idiot. Do you really think he didn’t turn it off? He wanted to shout the words. “Are you aware of the local terrain? The hills don’t always get proper cell coverage. Is that going to affect your strategy?”

  “Are we limited to our original budget, sir?”

  “I’ll check into it. Use your resources and find out if there’s anywhere he could hide. That should be easy for an ex-CIA operative. Right?”

  “We’ll get on it right away.”

  “You better.”

  Numb brain and his associates might be good muscle, but thinking the problem through was his responsibility. He’d seen an opportunity. He’d found the backer. He’d found the reason the backer would turn over the money. And then he’d made everything happen.

  All he had to do was get Megan out of the picture.

  No...all he had to do was kill Megan Harper and make her responsible for everything.

  “Easy as pie.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Oh my gosh. Do you know how hard it is to make a good pie? And this thing...this pie is marvelous.”

  Megan closed her lips around the plastic fork, finishing another bite. All Jack wanted at that moment was a taste...

  And he wasn’t thinking about apple pie.

  “Want a bite?”

  Yes, dammit. “No, thanks.”

  Megan laughed under her breath. Was she a mind reader? Was his crotch swelling? Probably. He came to a straight piece of road and shifted in his seat before the next curve. She just laughed more.

  “The house is virtually secluded. I think there are only six homes total down here. Difficult to approach. It should be up this road, then the fourth driveway on the left. Why are you in such a good mood?”

  “One word. Pie.”

  “Any pie or one kind in particular? Does frozen work? I’d like to keep one handy and pull it out during our next argument.”

  “Fresh apple does happen to be one of my faves.” She took another bite, licking t
he fork again. “But frozen lemon or key lime is high on the list.”

  Tease. She knew what she was doing to him. But why?

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “For what?” Why thank him now? “I argue just as much as you.”

  “I have to be in this mess. You don’t. You Rangers really are quite amazing.”

  “We have a long-standing tradition to uphold.”

  “Look, I made it clear in the past two hours that we should head to Dallas. That’s no secret.” She twisted in her seat a little to face him. “At some point, you’re going to admit that I’m pretty good at this myself.”

  “That’s not my argument.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure.” She pressed her lips—which he much wanted to taste—together with a firm nod. As if she knew his mind better than him. Shoot, they’d only known each other twenty-four hours.

  “So,” she continued, “you place a lot of emphasis on keeping your word. As a side note, that only works for people who know you keep your word already. But so far, you’ve given me no reason not to trust your word as your bond. Right or wrong, I believe you.”

  “Good.”

  “I’m not finished.” She stretched across the console, placing her hand on his forearm. “I’m giving you my word that I’ll stick with you until Monday morning. After that, I’ll reevaluate. That’s logical.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Was he surprised? Had he had any problems with Megan? Okay, other than the fight where he couldn’t breathe for five minutes?

  Who could blame her for trying to steal his truck? He had handcuffed her. After they talked it out... Okay, so discussion wasn’t high on his skills set.

  “Maybe I should have...discussed coming here. I thought it was the best move to make considering we got really lucky at the diner. If they’d known—”

  She waved him off with her hands. “I’m good with the new plan. Seriously. Hey, the world really does look better after pie.”

  Pie was not the word coming to the forefront of his mind. He parked the truck close to the side of the house, pointed in the direction to leave. When he got out, he pulled as much oxygen into his lungs as possible, then bent over to stretch his back. By the time he stood straight, Megan was in front of him.

  “Nice place. Where’s the key?”

  He led the way to the back porch and pulled down a birdhouse, popping the bottom off and finding the spare key. Good thing it was there, or the past two hours of disagreeing would have been several more of I told you so.

  “Oh my God, this place is beautiful.”

  “But? I hear it in your voice.”

  “You can? The strategic part of me is fearful that we’re boxed in with no place to run.”

  “At the same time, there’s only one way in, and we’ll see anyone who approaches on the private drive.” He unlocked the door to the living area, then crossed the covered dog run and unlocked the bedrooms.

  Megan was already inside. “See who’s coming is right. There’s nothing but windows. Look up there.” She pointed. “A bird tried to fly through.”

  Sure enough, there was an imprint of a bird in flight. The weeds had grown up around the front, and there was a lot of brush between the house and the road. Both would make it harder to see an attack. But the other side of the house...

  “This is amazing. How close are we to the river—or is it a creek?” Megan went to the wall of glass doors and immediately unlocked them.

  “Lone Man Creek. I’d say about sixty yards.” He joined her walking back onto the porch that ran the length of the house. “The rock face isn’t high but makes it hard to approach from that direction. We should walk the riverbed and I’ll show you some ways to get out on foot.”

  “Do you climb?”

  “As in rock climbing? Not really.”

  “So is that a yes or no?”

  “No,” he admitted. “Not really my thing.”

  “I’ve done some traditional climbing, but never free solo. Too freaking dangerous for my taste, or my dad’s. We climbed all over the world before his retirement.” She bounced off the porch to gain a better look. “You aren’t afraid of heights, are you?”

  “I wouldn’t say afraid. I just have a healthy respect for falling.” He joined her.

  A sound to their left had them both freezing. He raised his finger to his lips. No one had them in their crosshairs.

  “Oh, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a deer before. I mean, well, not even in a zoo.”

  “Let me close the door and we’ll take a look at the creek before it’s dark. They might even have rubber boots you can wear.”

  * * *

  “GOOD IDEA.”

  Megan waited and listened. Nothing. Then what she thought was silence became relaxation at its finest. Sounds of the creek echoed against the limestone bluff and the bend that wasn’t far away. Birds settling. Locusts.

  It would be easy to let her guard down in a place like this.

  The sun was beginning to sink to the edge of the bluff. She searched for a way down the hill. Nothing permanent. No stairs, no clear-cut path, no pushed-aside grass. Just two Adirondack chairs and a stump that could be used as a table.

  The deer hadn’t been frightened. It stayed close, chomping on the drying grass and drifting farther away. She took a classic, deep relaxing breath. Part of the arguing earlier was a mix of adrenaline and being in the dark.

  Her curiosity and need to investigate was why she’d joined the fire marshal’s office at TDI as quickly as she had. And yet most of the time she felt like an accountant, studying numbers and assessing response times of fire departments.

  She’d grown to appreciate the times she’d been in the field searching for answers about warehouse fires. Following the arson investigators, talking to them about the path and reason the fire had spread, hoping for a reason to do it again. The few home fire questions she’d had she never wanted to repeat. A family losing everything was just horrible.

  “Ready?”

  She jumped at his baritone voice catching her so deep in thought. “You’re prepared.”

  He held a flashlight and a pair of rubber boots that certainly beat the flip-flops his sister had lent her. “They may be a little big but will protect you from sticker vines and bugs.”

  Glad her heels were safely tucked inside the back-seat pocket in the truck, she sat on the edge of the porch that was more like an extension of the house. He was right—the boots were too big, but she could certainly explore in them.

  “How far from town are we?” she asked as they started down the steep incline.

  “It takes about half an hour. Why?”

  “I’d like to find a place that’s safe to access my files remotely, but I don’t want to alert anyone where we are.” She grabbed a tree to keep from slipping and quickly yanked it back.

  “Here.” Jack stepped around her. “Let me go first. Those cypress trees are sturdy but rough on your hands.”

  “Are your boots slick on this loose rock?”

  “Everything’s slick when the rocks are rolling under your feet. Don’t worry. I got you.” He dug his heels into the ground, and she followed his lead.

  One almost slip and both her hands were quickly on his shoulders. She lifted one and a second later had both touching him again. He tapped her hands to keep them there.

  It took about five harrowing minutes, but they found a way to the rock embankment. With both his feet on rocky ground, he turned to help her with the last one-foot drop. Hands at her waist, her hands on his shoulders, he lifted and they stood there...waiting.

  Did he feel the anticipation spark as her lips passed his? It sure felt like he did. His heart was beating just a little faster when her palms slid down his chest. Yeah, she couldn’t help herself.

  There was an attraction. She could fight it and say th
ey shouldn’t move forward because of the obvious reasons. Or she could ignore the professional side of her brain and admit there was a connection. A connection that was getting stronger with each look and definitely each touch.

  He dropped his hands like she was on fire, giving her even more of a reason to believe he was thinking the same thoughts.

  “West takes us to Red Hawke Road. There are five or six houses that may or may not be occupied. Some are right on the creek. Others aren’t.”

  “And to the east?” She splashed into the cold water and faced that direction.

  “I believe that’s our best option to lose men chasing us. There aren’t too many homes before it turns into the Halifax Ranch. Lots of acreage once we get there. Old Indian caves, bluffs, the Blanco River. There’s a small dam and road that might throw them off, too.”

  “You already made up your mind which way we’re going.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Thanks for being considerate about it, though.”

  Jack made her feel included. She had no idea if this was deliberate in order to confuse her or if he was genuine. Scratch that. He was the genuine article. There was no talking herself out of that impression.

  Under the bluff, darkness was steadily moving in. She stepped into the middle of the shallow creek, careful not to slip and drench herself, but there was nothing to see. No lights from nearby houses. No light pollution from a nearby town.

  They really were in the middle of nowhere.

  A good place to analyze and organize.

  “You’re shivering. Ready to go up? There are some electric blankets or I could start a fire.”

  “Dinner in front of the fire? Will there be a movie, too?”

  “Only if you like a DVD they have. I didn’t pay much attention to those when I was here before.”

  They started back up the incline. Jack led the way, holding her hand, steadying her when the rubber boots slipped. Back to the deck, he stepped up, then lifted her with both hands.

  There it was again.

  A spark. A moment of anticipation.

  If they’d been on a date, she would have stood on her tiptoes until he kissed her. She might have even leaned in and kissed him first. But they weren’t on a date. They were hiding out in the Texas Hill Country. And while she debated with herself about what to do, he let her go and practically ran the length of the porch.