by Angi Morgan
The steep incline he’d used before would be easier but longer. Straight in front of him, there wasn’t a path, but the incline wasn’t completely perpendicular. He could get there before the fourth man.
He pushed hard. No sound from Kate. His blood pumped hard from the strain. Little sleep and hours on horseback had taken its toll on his body, but he pushed up the hill, shouting for Kate and not receiving an answer.
A cramp seized his back. He bent forward, stretching and praying for it to end. He had to get back to Kate but he had to stop this man first. He pushed harder and evened up with the man on the side of the canyon. He ran toward the guy, ignoring when his feet slipped on the uneven hill. The small pebbles were dangerous, but he dug his boots into the soft earth, maintaining his balance.
As soon as he was in range he pulled his weapon from his waistband. “Hold it.”
The fourth man pivoted to escape.
“Come on, man, you’ve got nowhere to run! Drop the gun.”
Fourth guy stopped, began turning, but his hands weren’t in the air. Cord dropped hard to his knees, steadying his weapon. The fourth guy began firing as he turned. Cord pulled the trigger, hitting his target and planting his face in the dirt until the machine pistol was silent.
He looked up in time to see the fourth guy tumbling down the incline to the canyon floor below. The body rested at an odd angle and didn’t move.
Even if he had time to check the crates or hide the bodies, he didn’t think he could make the climb up again. He had to think of Kate. No more delays.
His body felt as tough as a marshmallow. He took the remainder of the easier trail as fast as his wobbly legs would carry him.
“Kate?” She didn’t answer. He knew what was wrong as soon as he topped the ridge and saw her lying on the ground. She was still under a bush, still gripping the rifle, finger still on the trigger. Her grip released as soon as he touched the barrel. She covered her face with her hands, dropping her head to the dirt.
She’d shot a man.
Dead.
Cord stretched out beside her, pulling her to him, ignoring the rocks, his shaky muscles and his sore shoulder. Even ignoring that he hadn’t held her in his arms for five months and how much he’d missed her.
It wasn’t about him.
She’d just killed a man.
“Kate, honey, you did what you had to do. Those men would have killed us.”
“Is he really dead?” she asked between soft hiccups.
His Kate always got the hiccups when she cried.
“Don’t lose any tears or sleep over this guy, Kate. He’s not worth it.”
“Every life is worth it, Cord.” She shoved him an arm’s length away. “Every life.”
“Go ahead and get mad at me if that’s what it takes.” They sat up, shoulder to shoulder, looking toward the high plains and Davis Mountains. “You can’t be certain it was your bullet. Could have been mine.”
“You were firing?”
He hadn’t been. He’d never admit it, but nodded affirmation.
“I thought...before it all happened, I was so confident. I didn’t think I’d...but when he turned toward you, I couldn’t just watch you get shot again.” She dropped her face back into her hands, drawing her knees to her chest. “I just couldn’t go through that again. So I pulled the...you know.”
Cord watched the little involuntary jerk her torso did when she was holding in the hiccups. He’d always thought it was cute before. Had teased her about it relentlessly. Now all he could do was rub her back.
“You did what you had to to protect yourself and the baby.”
She hurried to her feet, heading down the trail where she’d hidden the horses from view. Cord followed.
“So how do we get down to those ATVs?” she asked.
“We don’t. We’re stuck on horseback.”
“I don’t understand.” She dusted off her work pants, stowed her rifle and adjusted her saddle.
“I put dirt in the gas.” The trail was narrow and he passed on the opposite side of her horse, removing her scarf from Ginger’s head and hanging it across Kate’s saddle.
“You put—dirt, huh? I don’t guess you’ve learned to fly a helicopter in the past five months?” She tugged Candy’s cinch tight and rested her forehead against the leather. “You were going to wait it out, weren’t you? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have started shooting. If—”
“Don’t do the ‘what if’ thing, Kate. They would have left someone behind. The results would be the same. You saved my life.” He heard his shrink’s voice rolling inside his ears. Admit your mistake. Maybe it will help. “Okay, I was wrong for not having a plan before I took off.”
There, he’d admitted his feelings out loud.
“You certainly were.” She looked down on him from high on Candy’s back, having mounted while he had his back turned.
“Wait a minute! Aren’t you going to admit that you were wrong for getting us into this mess?”
“Me? So I’m responsible?”
Had he just accused her or defended his actions? Whichever, he couldn’t take it back. She closed her eyes and sighed. The long one where he was totally on her bad side until something else happened to change her attitude.
“Come on, Kate. You know I’m talking about right here, right now, this particular situation.”
“Really? Would it have happened at all if you’d been able to walk away from the Serna investigation when the threats began?”
“We don’t have time for this.” He pulled the saddle cinch, wanting to be eye level for where the next words would take them. He knew what was coming. What should have come a long time ago. She’d never accused him. Never yelled at him. Never told him he was responsible.
“You’ve never chosen to discuss it. That’s why I divorced you.” She turned her back to him, clicking to Candy to start moving.
“Right.”
How many times over the past three years had he heard the words if you’ll just talk to me. About what? They both knew what had happened when he’d gotten shot and, more important, when she’d lost the baby. Bottom line? He’d paid the ultimate price for not being there to protect her—he’d lost his family.
Talking about it wouldn’t make it any better. He’d never understood why she thought it would. What more was there to say?
“Yeah, fall into that same old habit, Cord. Lock down and don’t say another word to me. It’s a long way to Nick’s place. Good thing you decided a long time ago talking is one thing we can live without.”
She heeled her horse, not waiting for him to mount, not heeding the potential danger still out there waiting. And not before he heard her mumble, “Thanks for the reminder.”
He stepped into the stirrup and took off down the trail after his wife—ex-wife—began the all-day trek to her closest neighbor and high school sweetheart.
“Dammit.”
Chapter Seven
“Do you see that, Cord?” Kate stretched tall in the saddle but couldn’t see who was coming toward them.
They’d been riding the fence separating the Danver and Burke ranches for at least an hour. Cord had wanted to just cut through, but she’d refused. He’d given in when she reminded him that it was faster to get to the next cattle guard and follow the road. That had been the only conversation. They’d been in a hurry with a storm moving in and had taken very few breaks for the exhausted horses.
“Do you think it’s Burke?”
She leaned forward, patting Candy’s neck. “Can’t tell. They’re on the road from his place.”
“It’s unlikely Serna would send his men that direction. Logical to assume Sheriff Barber asked if we’d shown up there.”
“If you say so.”
Cord took the lead the last hundred yards to the gate. It didn’t pass her notice that he’d brought the empty machine gun pistol around from his back for show. Or that he pulled the pistol from his waist. He rode Ginger with one hand on the reins and looked like a
weathered cowboy in her dad’s old coat.
The sorrow at taking a human life hit her chest right along with the fright of who was in that vehicle. Her mouth went drier than it already had been. She stuffed her gloves into her jacket and pulled her rifle to lay it across her lap. The apprehension made her belly turn over a couple of times, just like the first days of morning sickness.
Cord slowed to a standstill, waiting for the car to top the next rise. He didn’t give any indication of what to do. Typical Cord. But he didn’t have to. Candy whinnied at the tense hold of her reins. Kate tightened her thighs around her horse, who was ready to bolt.
“The dust is still flying so they haven’t stopped. That’s good. They had to have seen us. Stay alert, Kate. Tell me if you don’t recognize someone.”
Cord’s voice had a dangerous, low warning tone, easily recognized from all the trouble they’d experienced together. She was glad for it, at least as much as she could be while waiting to see who would top that hill—gang member or close friend.
“That’s Nick’s Jeep.”
“Yeah.”
“Mr. Cauldwell’s driving.” Every muscle in her body melted. She relaxed Candy’s harness and they ambled forward in line with Ginger.
Cord pocketed the pistol and grabbed her thigh. “Don’t talk about it. Not a word to Nick, his foreman or anyone else. It’s important. We can’t trust anyone yet.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know Nick and Mac Cauldwell. They wouldn’t hurt me.”
“I don’t know anything.”
That cold steel edge in his voice pierced her heart, sending a shiver up her spine. He meant it and she should remember. Don’t trust anyone.
“What about the drugs? Are you calling the Ranger headquarters or DEA or whoever you were working with? If they know about the cabin and the canyon, can’t they arrest Serna? Wouldn’t we be safer then?”
“I’ll take care of the phone calls. Just don’t give details to anyone. Period.”
“Kate! Thank God!” Nick jumped from the doorless Wrangler and opened the gate for the horses. “We’ve had teams out looking for you since early this morning. It’s lucky we found you, there’s a bad storm moving in, shutting everything down. Some flash flooding is expected.”
They dismounted while Nick was talking. Cord gave her strange looks when Nick hugged her.
“Where have you two been?” Mr. Cauldwell asked, his arm casually draped over the steering wheel.
“We didn’t see anyone. Some rocks blocked the trail to the lodge so we trekked over here. Got a way to recall those searchers?” Cord sounded cordial enough from his horse’s side, but Kate could feel the tension zinging from his actions.
The machine gun was gone from around his chest. When had he—and where had he—hidden it?
“We’re dog tired, Nick. Got room in that thing for our gear?” she asked. She didn’t want to be rude, but Cord had said not to talk about the details. “We’ve been riding on these dang horses much too long, I’m afraid. Hey, Mr. Cauldwell, I see you’ve taken up a much cushier ride.”
She received the chuckle she’d hoped for from the older foreman, who didn’t ask for more details. There was no one in Jeff Davis County that was faster throwing a rope around a steer. She’d known the man her entire life. Things wouldn’t be the same when he retired.
“Here, let me help,” Nick said as she lifted her leg over the saddle.
Before she could say no, he’d slipped his hands around her waist to help her down. As if she’d ever needed help.
Turning to face him and be polite with a thanks, she caught his expression of disillusionment. She’d completely forgotten no one outside the family knew she was pregnant.
“How’s your dad doing, Nick?” She tried to act normal and hoped he wouldn’t cause a scene.
“Always thinking about others. He’s holding his own, Kate. In fact, he almost got dressed to come search for you himself.” Nick’s words were nice, but his questioning look toward her belly confirmed that he’d felt the baby. “So you guys are back together. You sit, I’ll get your saddle. Mac will send someone for the horses when we get back.”
Cord darted a look and a shake of his head, reminding her not to impart information. There weren’t answers anyway. They were forever together in a sense. Whatever happened, they’d both be involved with the upbringing of their child. Not if Cord had his way and she disappeared into a witness-protection program.
Leaving her family? Her friends? Her heritage? Could she do that?
Suddenly very tired, all she wanted was a hot, soaking bath to ease the ache in her muscles. And just a few minutes forgetting what might happen to the rest of her life. A little peace after a phone call to her dad. Oh, no.
“Does my dad think we’re missing?”
“You can use my cell as soon as we hit coverage,” Nick said, stowing her stuff. “No one mentioned him, though.”
“What exactly have you heard, Nick?” Cord asked, joining him with the saddle from Ginger. “How about you, Mac?”
Mac shrugged. “Nothing much. I do what I’m told these days.”
“The sheriff called, said you’d gone missing in the mountains and taken Katie with you.”
She hated being called Katie. It was such a sissy name. She’d given Nick more than one bloody nose before they were in their teens for using it.
“I’ll borrow your cell now.”
Nick joined her, handed her the phone and leaned closer. “I’m going to assume this has something to do with Jorje Serna’s release and that McCrea doesn’t want you to talk to me. But if you need anything, and I mean anything, including getting away from your ex...I’m there for you.”
Why did the offer send more heebie-jeebies up her spine?
* * *
AS HE WATCHED Kate’s high school best friend and prom date lean in, essentially trapping her to the side of the Wrangler, his fists clenched. And not from the normal pain in his backside. He fought the urge to grab Burke by his coat collar and connect his knuckles with that artificially tanned face. But he was more than a little tired and would end up losing. If you’re going to fight for a woman, you at least need to win the battle and look good. Right?
Kate had made it very plain he wouldn’t win the war no matter what kind of shape he was in. He clenched his fists and shoved them in his pockets. Drawing on every Ranger discipline he knew—and a few shrink techniques—he cloaked his anger with blandness.
Kate shot him a questioning look as Burke put her in the front seat.
“I think I’ll drive back to the house, Mac,” Burke said.
Mac Cauldwell rolled his stiff old body from the Wrangler, popped the seat forward and crooked himself in back without a word. Unfortunately, Cord felt as old as the foreman he sat next to looked.
Burke stuck to the trek everyone referred to as a road, hitting every hole and rut along the way. Cord’s back cramped more with each one the Jeep found. At least on the horse he’d been able to stand in the stirrups and relieve the pressure.
By the time they reached the main house, Nick had jabbered about the thunderstorm warnings and given them a play-by-play on the search for both them and Serna.
The gang leader should have been arrested before he left the courtroom. The lack of preparedness on the DoJ’s part just confirmed that Serna had someone on the inside. He was missing something obvious. Had to be.
He’d been over the case files a hundred times. More than a hundred if the truth were told. Lord knows he had the time. Kate assumed he was back on the job, but he’d only been allowed back in uniform for court. There wasn’t a desk for him in Valentine, Texas. Only desk work in Lubbock or El Paso. He wasn’t ready to move and give up the daily reminder of what life could have been like before Serna had destroyed it.
Searching the case file for something he’d missed had become his routine while sitting in their empty house waiting. Waiting to leave for therapy—mental or physical. That was a fairly accurate description of h
is life.
Sleep avoided him most nights. Or he avoided sleep.
Dreams plagued him.
If the darkness wasn’t filled with demons from the shooting, they were filled with thoughts of angels holding their little girl.
His thumb wrapped around his fingers again. The fists rested in his lap. They passed the cattle guard, pulling around to a row of cars and trucks to park. Mac patted him on the shoulder. When Cord caught his knowing look, the embarrassment made him physically relax his body but didn’t help with the jealousy he tasted.
“I’m going to call my dad now,” Kate said, jumping from the Jeep as if she’d been on a picnic instead of twenty-four hours of pure stress.
Cord recognized that tone in her voice. Burke had made two mistakes. One—she hated being called Katie. She’d told him that her father had chuckled when her brother had teased her with it while they’d grown up. Probably still did.
And the second was assuming that he’d told Kate to do anything.
Yeah, he could count on Burke getting a cold shoulder for the next couple of hours. It wouldn’t be long afterward that they’d be gone. Of course, he didn’t plan on letting Kate out of his sight very long.
But Kate didn’t need to know their time schedule. Not yet.
“Dad? Yes, we’re fine. What did they tell you?” Kate didn’t head to the house. She took off toward Mrs. Burke’s garden, her rifle in hand.
Nothing much there this time of year except privacy.
He threw his saddlebags over his shoulder and followed at a distance. Far enough away to not hear their conversation. Close enough to tell when she’d finished up.
“He wants to talk with you.”
He took the cell and Kate walked to the kitchen door. He hadn’t spoken to any member of the Danver family since before the divorce and had no idea what to expect during this conversation.
“Hello, David. Before you waste time complaining about the danger I’ve put your daughter in, understand that nothing will happen to her under my protection.”