by Angi Morgan
“I can saddle her if you show me the tack,” he told the men as they entered the barn. He wanted both of these guys to know he wasn’t a novice.
“Doesn’t make me no never mind.” Richard mumbled and unlocked the storage room. “I’ve stayed married all these years by listening to Lisa. Doesn’t make any sense riding a horse where you can drive. I just do what I’m told.”
Fred snickered, clearly knowing something Bryce didn’t. Then again...
“I appreciate the help, but aren’t you guys curious as to why I need the horse?”
And there it was as plain as day turning to night. These honest men compressed their lips and dug the toes of their boots in the dirt.
“Did Mrs. Mackey tell you something about me?”
“Tell us what, son?” Fred asked as innocent as a five-year-old with his hand in a cookie jar.
“You know. And you want me on this horse pretty badly. In fact, I’d say you’re practically throwing me on it.” Bryce looked at the mare and had a bad feeling. “Give me your keys, Fred.”
“What’s that you’re saying?” Fred held his hand, cupping his ear.
“Go ahead, Fred. He won’t find her in the dark on his own and we’re certainly not going to help him.”
“I will not.” The older man took a step back.
Richard looped the lead rope over the stall’s gate and crossed his arms in defiance. “If we’re lucky, he might be stuck out there all night and she’ll get clean away.”
Bryce opened his palm, taking a step closer.
Fred dug deep in his jeans pocket for the set of keys. He held them in a tight fist, not forking them over. “Maybe I should drive? That old motor gets kind of cranky.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll get there faster on my own.” Wherever there happened to be. “Pick it up at my place tomorrow.”
Fred tossed. Bryce caught and hit the dirt running. Already tired, he should have been drinking a gallon of water to rehydrate. A slight headache had begun. Not to mention the idiot burn he had thanks to Jesse’s suggestion of taking his shirt off.
He shifted the truck into High and skidded to a halt at the end of the long private driveway.
“Which way?”
His cell had no reception. No GPS. They might have counted on that. But he had the map he’d downloaded of the area. With details. Lots of details.
Kylie was headed to the northeast portion of Richard’s property. Why would she go there? He enlarged the map and knew...there was no road that passed from US 281 on the west side of the Richard’s place to County Road 238 on the east.
It would delay him to double back toward Hico and try to cut her off.
“Where will I find her?”
Had she made arrangements to be picked up on the country road? Was she just going to hoof it to the next town? It wasn’t an impossible idea. But a faster way to disappear would be to hitch a ride. And if she walked the county roads northwest, she’d hit Highway 67 with plenty of traffic.
Everything rested with him making a logical guess.
He turned right instead of left back to town and pushed the truck harder than it had been pushed in a while. It sputtered a bit, but got the job done. The cooler air of twilight passed through the open windows. When he turned again, he could smell hay and cattle.
Working around Mrs. Mackey’s house for the past couple of weeks had brought back a lot of memories. The third time he’d called his mom, she’d asked him what was wrong and had kidded him about being homesick.
Homesick? He couldn’t wait to leave his family’s acreage and pass on his riding lawn mower duties to his younger brothers. They’d all left the house and were spread out across the country now, settled with families or kids on the way. He rested his elbow on the door and tapped a drum solo on the old-fashioned vent window.
Darkness was slowly growing. The moon wouldn’t rise for quite a while so it might be harder to see someone walking in the fields. He’d taken the most direct route to the next county road Kylie might be on. He turned right again and kept the truck in second gear.
Reminiscing was fine, but his job was to find Kylie Scott. After he got her back to headquarters in Waco, he’d find out how Fred and Richard had known about his cover. The only person who supposedly knew was Mrs. Mackey. Why would she tell anyone?
It was dark enough that unless Kylie had a flashlight, he wouldn’t be able to see her. He continued along the road at a normal pace for the truck. How would he explain this wild situation to Major Parker?
If she disappeared again on his watch, he might not have to explain anything to anyone.
* * *
THE DAY HAD already been long and exhausting before Kylie had started traipsing through uneven fields in her tennis shoes. She couldn’t rush. There was no flashlight or even a penlight in her bag. And it was just her luck that tonight there wasn’t even a moon.
Hours after leaving the horse, her legs were cramping and she was thirstier than she’d ever been. And hot. There was no breeze to cool the sweat that dripped in buckets down her back. She’d pulled her color contacts and stowed them in her bag.
She’d avoided the roads, but kept them just to her left. No one had driven past her. Or at least she hadn’t heard any vehicles. The birds she’d come across had practically scared her senseless.
Each time she’d carefully squeezed between the strands of wire fence from one field to the other, her fingers were crossed that there wouldn’t be a bull or something more dangerous in her path. She pulled herself through the last pieces of barbed wire fencing and picked up her bag, straightening and stretching her back.
The hardest part of the hike was done. She could follow this road to the closest thing this area had to a highway—a two-lane blacktop. Then all she had to do was hitch a ride and she was...
She was what?
The word free kept trying to finish the sentence. But she wasn’t free. If she was free to choose where she wanted to live, it would be Hico. She’d never felt more at home in a community. They accepted that she didn’t talk about her time before living there. They really didn’t know anything about her.
At least not the previous her. The Sissy Jorgenson her. Such a fake. It had taken a while, but Sissy had been laid to rest with all the cool kids she’d hung out with.
Unfortunately, Sissy wouldn’t have had anything to do with Kylie Scott. And she wouldn’t have waited two weeks to have a fling with the guy across the street. One look at his body and Sissy would have been all over him.
Bryce was nice looking. He was also a Texas Ranger ready to take her back to Austin whether she liked it or not. It didn’t matter if she knew about the Tenoreno family business. The attorneys five years ago had offered her protection in exchange for information.
Did they really think she would have walked away so quickly if she’d known enough to put those men behind bars?
Blinding headlights popped on in front of her.
“I was just coming to look for you.” Bryce’s voice came from next to Fred’s truck. “You going to run again?”
“Mind shutting off the floodlights?” Kylie saw his silhouette lean through the window and everything got dark again.
With no place to go and no energy to run, she accepted the setback, but not defeat. Somehow, she’d get away from Bryce Johnson and get on with another new start.
“Want a ride?” he asked with an air of innocence.
“Yes, if you’re heading back to Hico.”
“It’s on the way to Waco.” He casually leaned against Fred’s pickup.
“How long have you been waiting?”
“At least an hour.” Bryce tapped the old green truck. “Did the horse throw you or something during your evening ride? Get turned around finding your friend’s house or the way back? I know you weren’t attempting to run away. Right?”
She didn’t need to answer. He was making fun of her so she glared at him, even though he couldn’t see the glare in the dark. She wrapped her arm
s around her bag, almost afraid he might arrest her on the spot.
“Are you as starved as me? Or did Lisa give you something before you left?” Bryce continued, fingers tapping out an unknown rhythm against the old metal truck.
“I’m actually starved. And parched. Any chance there’s a water bottle in there?” She leaned on the warm hood.
“Nope. But it’s not far to Hico.” He threw his thumb toward the cab. “We can get something to go.”
“Nothing is open at this time of night in our little town.” The sun had been down a long time. Too long for the hood to still be as warm as it was. “You must be a really lucky son of a gun to choose the exact road I was heading to.”
“I like to think of myself as a highly skilled Texas Ranger. Come on, get in.”
“Who had his gun and ID lifted by little ol’ me,” she mumbled.
“There’s no reason to get nasty.”
“I’ll admit defeat when you confess how you found me.”
“I had a map. Calculated your foot speed—they teach us things like that.”
“And how long have you really been here?”
“All right. I tried several roads before deciding on this one. Satisfied? I got lucky and saw something moving from the road over there. Been waiting about fifteen minutes.”
“So you guessed.”
“Pretty much.” He grinned.
The dark wasn’t pitch-black, even with no moon hanging overhead. She could see that he’d found his shirt from where she’d hidden it in the barn. That meant he’d found his gun, too. Bryce could force her to go with him. If he was a dirty cop he could make her disappear. Especially now that she’d told Lisa she had to leave town.
No one would be looking for her.
There was nothing she could do to prevent it. Not here. She had to get back to town, maybe show her face at the Stop-N-Get It. But her instincts told her that Bryce was legit. A good person who believed he was following the law and had her best interests at heart.
Right. That’s what they all say.
“If I keep walking down this road...” She threw her chin in the direction behind the truck. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“Don’t make me, Kylie.”
Her fingers were already wrapped around the handle. She was getting into the truck, she had little choice. But she didn’t have to like it. They both got inside and slammed their doors.
“You need someone to look out for your safety,” he said softly, reaching for the ignition key.
“No offense, but I think I was doing pretty good without you.”
Exhaustion like she hadn’t felt in five years hit her like a slow wave as soon as she sat down. It started in her shoulders and crept up her neck, then down her back. She hadn’t stopped and had barely slowed, holding a steady pace across those fields. And yet, Texas Ranger Bryce Johnson had been waiting on her.
Just dumb luck? Or was he really that skilled?
Chapter Five
As soon as Bryce had put the truck in gear, Kylie’s head sank against the window and she was asleep. Totally and deeply. The mumbles and sleep jerking couldn’t be faked. Not that well. A little twitch, then a jerk that should have awakened anyone who was dozing.
Exhaustion had overtaken her. He’d probably have to carry her inside her house when they arrived. As long as there weren’t any alarms. Get a grip. They weren’t staying.
A quick stop to grab water and clothes. That was it. He was taking her to Waco. Tonight. No waiting. No discussion.
The truck was much too noisy to hear the sleepy words escaping her lips. He couldn’t see her face, but could imagine the soft worried crease across her forehead. He’d watched her all afternoon. Had suspected that she was up to something and should never have let her leave—especially with his gun.
But for some reason he’d trusted her to realize how much danger she was in. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she knew and didn’t expect him to be able to protect her from the Tenoreno family. He could understand that.
Sort of.
Running had been a logical choice. She didn’t know him. He had to respect that she’d had a plan. Been prepared. Five years after she’d disappeared and she’d still been ready to take off with nothing. Smart.
Then again, she’d left his weapon behind.
Crazy woman.
Maybe smarter than he’d been thinking about her for the past three years. Smarter than Sissy Jorgenson had been when she married Xander. Kylie Scott was a completely different person, who didn’t mind working hard side by side with teens who needed some guidance.
Why? What had changed her? Besides the near death experience, of course.
They were almost back to town when she mumbled something about getting down. Her head tossed back and forth in a bad dream. Her long legs kicked out, striking the metal of the truck near her feet.
Kylie jerked awake. She looked frantically all around her. “Oh my gosh. We’re not home yet?”
“Bad dream?”
“Let’s just say that for a short one, it was really intense.” She dropped her window farther and dipped her hand in the wind blowing past the mirror. “I wish the Koffee Cup was open this late. I sure could go for some pie.”
“The fresh strawberry was really good this morning.”
“This morning? You had pie for breakfast?” Her hand fluttered to the door handle.
“Fruit is good for you.” He slowed the truck to a stop, very aware that there’d be no way he could stop her from jumping from the old vehicle. She might get a head start, but he’d catch her. She might know her way around town better, but she was also more tired than he was.
“How do you eat pie for breakfast and look that good?” She shook her head. “Never mind. It’s a guy thing. I get it.”
“A guy thing?” He loved the blue flash of her eyes, even if the look was a little deadly. He really wanted to ask about the “looking good” statement. Maybe the sunburn was worth it after all.
The light turned green and her elbow rested on the window’s edge again. He liked the way this woman’s brain worked. She was constantly ready. Had distracted him with the pie conversation, yet had thought her choices through before acting rash and running.
“Where are you going? Our street is to your left.”
“Yeah, I know.” He took a second right into the motel nearest the highway. One car in the parking lot. Sliding the camera app open, he handed Kylie his phone. “Can you snap the license?”
“Sure,” she whispered like someone inside the room could hear them. “You sure this is legal?”
“Very. It will give me a heads-up if anyone’s here that might be looking for you.”
He swung around and they repeated the picture-taking at the other two hotels in town. She was out of the truck before he pulled to a complete stop once they were in front of her house.
“Kylie, wait.” He pulled the key and caught up before she opened her front door. He stopped her hand on the knob. “I need to check it out first.”
“Go ahead. Where do you want me to wait? Here on the porch all alone? Or just inside where the bogeyman can sneak up on me? Or, I know, out in the woods where the ax murderer is sure to be waiting?”
“The woods are out?” Humor or sarcasm...probably not the best way to handle the situation. Truth it was. “Hand on my shoulder. I go. You go. I stop. You stop. Stay close behind me until we check all the rooms. Got it?”
“Sure.” She shook her head and placed her hand on his shoulder with a firm grip.
He drew his Sig and entered the house. If someone was inside, they’d just given them time to secure their position and prepare to overpower them. It was a chance they’d take.
“Stop.” She tapped his shoulder. “Alarm.” She pushed the code and the light turned green.
Bryce had a feeling that Kylie wouldn’t be satisfied just getting a glass of water. He also planned to find her gun of choice that was stowed in the bathroom before she did.
&nb
sp; Slowly, he checked out each of the rooms in the small home. One uncomfortable couch, one compact kitchen, two bedrooms, one bed and an empty bath.
“Does it look like anyone’s been here?”
“No. Excuse me a minute.” She pushed on his shoulder to get him to move.
“Not yet. We need to look in the garage.”
“Seriously? My eyeballs are floating.”
He resisted laughing and managed to question her with a look. Taking her hand, he placed it back on his shoulder and kept his over it until they were back down the hall and he found the door locked.
“But—”
“Shh. Where’s the key?” Not just a dead bolt to turn. He’d assumed that it was extra protection when he’d seen the security lock that morning. Now, with her hesitation, he wasn’t that sure.
“It hasn’t been messed with so there’s no reason to go in there.”
“I need to be certain, Kylie.”
She stared at him a second. Placed her hands on her hips the next. Then reluctantly pulled open a cabinet drawer without looking. Inside was a small combination box. She rolled the numbers and dangled a set of keys from her fingertips.
“You’re going to want to know the whole story behind this and I’m not ready to share it. So can you check out the garage and forget about it for tonight?” He reached for the keys and she yanked them back. “Your word, Ranger Johnson.”
“That’s asking a lot from a guy here to protect you.”
“That remains to be seen.” She tossed the key ring, crossed her arms and released an exaggerated sigh.
Bryce opened the door and cautiously stepped down to the garage level. Kylie flipped the light switch causing him to blink. A single set of shelves across from him held some labeled boxes. Christmas decorations, patriotic, miscellaneous, fall theme, Halloween and one that was unmarked.
But taking up all the room in the single car garage was a vehicle covered with sheets. The sheets across the trunk had a layer of dust on them. Unlike the one in front. No one had disturbed anything anywhere in the house, including here.