Code Name: Cowboy

by Carla Cassidy

  The next morning she and Rebecca continued their journey just after dawn. The sunrise promised a beautiful day, but Alicia couldn’t take pleasure in the colorful explosion of the awakening day.

  As she drove, her thoughts alternated between the confrontation to come and Cameron. There was no way to prepare herself for what was to come, and she hadn’t been prepared for how many times in each moment memories of Cameron drifted into her head.

  Cameron, with his slow, sexy smile and dark eyes that lit flames inside Alicia. Cameron, whose laughter reached inside her to pluck at heartstrings. His vision danced before her, his deep voice a recurring echo in her head.

  Even Rebecca seemed to have trouble removing Cameron from their life. “Mr. Lallager was the bestest cowboy in the whole world,” she told Alicia as they ate lunch in a hamburger joint. She clicked the heels of her boots together, like Dorothy in Oz trying to get home. “He boughtted me these boots because he loved me.” Childish blue eyes looked at Alicia as if for confirmation.

  “That’s right, honey. Mr. Gallagher loved you very much and he was a wonderful cowboy.”

  Rebecca picked up a French fry. Again she looked at her mother. “Mr. Lallager loved me almost as much as daddy, didn’t he?”

  Alicia nodded, her throat too filled with emotion for words.

  “Will we ever see Mr. Lallager again?”

  Alicia swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat refused to dislodge. “I don’t know, honey,” she finally managed to reply.

  She refused to give Rebecca false hope, refused to entertain it herself. For all practical purposes, Cameron Gallagher was out of their lives forever.

  If she ended up spending the money he’d given her, then eventually when she got on her feet, she would return the money in regular monthly payments and that would be the extent of their contact.

  As they entered the city limits of Dallas, Alicia tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Within minutes they would be at the house she’d shared with Robert...a house just down the street from Broderick and Ruth’s home.

  She was now in the monsters’ territory and the nerves that had been silent all day now screamed inside of her. She glanced over at Rebecca, grateful the little girl had fallen asleep.

  Alicia leaned over and opened the glove compartment. Rummaging around inside, her fingers closed on the small, square garage door opener. She pulled it out and placed it on the seat next to her.

  She hoped nobody had changed the locks, prayed that she could pull into the garage and nobody would know they were in the house. She needed time...time to form a plan, time to search for the briefcase that might hold some answers. She didn’t want Broderick and Ruth to know they were back in the house until she was ready to confront them.

  Taking the exit that led to their development, her heart beat increased, pounding painfully in her chest. Please...don’t let this be a mistake, she prayed. Her worst nightmare was that the police would show up at her door, place her under arrest for some manufactured reason, and Rebecca would be taken to Broderick and Ruth’s and Alicia would never see her again.

  She shivered and fought the impulse to turn the car around, go back on the run. No more. The life she was giving Rebecca by running wasn’t healthy, and Alicia loved her daughter enough to take the chance of a lifetime.

  Her heart rocked in her chest as she turned a corner and the house came into view. It looked just as it had when they’d left—a stately two-story red brick, rather cold in appearance.

  At the end of a cul-de-sac the Randall home rose up like a feudal castle. The dozens of windows looked like large, staring eyes, and Alicia prayed nobody stood at them, peering out as she pulled into the driveway of her home.

  She punched the garage door opener and gasped in relief as the door slid soundlessly open. She pulled into the empty garage, shut off the car engine and quickly hit the button again, allowing the door to close behind them.

  For a long moment she sat, listening to the ticking of the cooling engine, Rebecca’s soft, regular breathing, and the slowing of her own heart beat. She would know within minutes if anyone saw her pull in.

  Two minutes. Three minutes. Five...ten. After fifteen minutes had passed and nothing happened, Alicia awakened Rebecca and together the two entered the house they’d left behind when they’d begun their life on the run.

  Somebody had been in the house since she’d been gone. The food had been taken out of the refrigerator and her plants were all healthy and recently watered.

  Rebecca immediately ran up the wide staircase to her room, where many of her toys and stuffed animals had been left behind. Alicia walked around the kitchen, into the living room, touching a piece of furniture here, another item there, orienting herself to the past.

  Despite the expensive furniture, the amenities of living, this place had never felt like a real home. Everything had been bought and paid for by Broderick and Ruth, and Alicia had always felt as if she were living in a borrowed house, surrounded by things that didn’t really belong to her.

  Cameron’s house, with its scuffed-up walls and worn furniture had embraced her with warmth, with the feel of belonging. But of course, that had been a false aura, for Cameron didn’t love her and so she could never really belong in his home.

  “Stop it,” she demanded to herself. She had to stop thinking of him, needed to focus on what she could do, not what she couldn’t change.

  Robert’s briefcase. She had to find it, see what he’d been up to before his death. Somehow she felt that the answers to her problems with Broderick and Ruth were contained in the leather case. And if she found the briefcase and the answers to her problems weren’t there, then she needed to think...somehow figure out a way to beat the monsters who plagued her.

  The note was tacked on Bandit’s stall in the stable.

  Meet me at dusk in the grove of trees near the pond.

  It was signed Samuel.

  Cameron tore the note down and tucked it into his pocket, his gaze scanning the stable area for evidence that he was not alone.

  He wasn’t sure when Samuel had been here, but he was certain his old partner was no longer anywhere near. The horses were too calm for a stranger to be in the immediate vicinity.

  Finally. Finally contact had been made and he knew where and when he’d face Samuel and whatever rage the man brought with him.

  After feeding the horses, he went back into the house and into his bedroom. In the drawer at the top of his dresser, he pulled out a small box, and inside the box was his nine-millimeter gun.

  He hadn’t had it out since his days of bounty hunting. He hadn’t thought he’d ever need to get it out again. But there was no way he’d go unarmed to meet Samuel.

  He carried the gun, ammunition and cleaning equipment to the kitchen table. Making sure the gun was unloaded, he proceeded to clean it.

  As he worked, the silence of the kitchen pressed around him. And in the silence came thoughts of Alicia.

  She and Rebecca should be in Dallas by now. He hoped things worked out for her, that she could somehow solve the problem of her in-laws and settle down to a normal, happy life.

  Hopefully one day she’d find a good man who would love her and be a father to Rebecca, the kind of man they deserved, a man far different from him.

  He frowned, trying to shove away a mental picture of Alicia in another man’s arms, Alicia tasting another man’s lips. These mental images created a hard knot of tension in the pit of his stomach.

  He had to stop thinking about her, needed to focus solely on the imminent confrontation with Samuel.

  Samuel.

  Cameron had last seen the man the day law enforcement officials, Jack Heggar and Cameron had set up a sting. Using an undercover cop as a felon in hiding, cameras had caught Samuel receiving a payoff from the supposed felon. Law officers had moved in and placed Samuel under arrest. At that time, Samuel had spewed threats, most of them pointed directly at Cameron.

  Samuel’s arrest had taken pl
ace three days after Cameron had caught Samuel and Ginny in bed together. Two weeks before Cameron had surprised them in bed, Cameron had begun the process of seeing Samuel arrested, unable to condone the illegal activity the man was committing. But, Cameron knew that Samuel believed his arrest had been the direct result of Cameron learning about Samuel’s betrayal with Ginny.

  “You son-of-a-bitch,” Samuel had yelled as he’d been handcuffed and led away. “A man would have settled this by coming to me, by talking to Ginny...but only a good for nothing rat would take it this far. I’ll get you, Gallagher. Sooner or later, I’ll get you for this.”

  And now that time had arrived. Cameron allowed his thoughts to take him back to that moment in time when he’d stepped through his bedroom door and seen his best friend and his girlfriend tangled together.

  He needed the anger that the memory evoked, needed to remember the hatred he’d felt at that moment for the man who was his best friend.

  The anger would make him strong enough to face whatever rage Samuel brought with him. The anger charged his adrenaline and sent it flowing hot through his veins. But more than anything, the anger shoved away any thoughts of Alicia, any memories that touched a sweet, soft place in his heart. He couldn’t afford any softness...not if he wanted to stay alive.

  At least Samuel hadn’t sneaked up on him or shot him through a window. Somehow that didn’t surprise Cameron. Samuel would cuckold him, but would prefer a fair fight to a sneak attack.

  It was the longest day of Cameron’s life as he waited for sunset. With the gun in a holster around his waist, he prowled the rooms of the house, trapped in memories both painful and pleasant.

  As the sun started its descent in the western sky, Cameron headed out for the pond and the grove of trees where he would meet his past

  He walked with determined footsteps, ready to meet whatever lay ahead. He realized as he approached the large stand of thick trees that every day for the past two years someplace in the back of his mind he had known this day would come.

  The knowledge that sooner or later he would have to face Samuel had colored every day, every event, every emotion he’d entertained in the past two years.

  It was almost a relief to finally know that the end was near, that closure, one way or another was just ahead of him.

  The snow had melted in the past two days, lingering only along the northwestern sides of buildings and trees where little daylight shone. Cameron’s footsteps sunk slightly into the thawing ground, but he knew how to walk to make as little noise as possible.

  By the time he reached the grove of trees, his adrenaline soared and his heart beat a slow rhythm of control. He knew Samuel was here, knew it by the prickling at the base of his skull, knew it by the faintest scent of shaving cream that rode on the evening air.

  Cameron stood just at the edge of the trees, his back to the wide open pasture behind him. He pulled his gun, reassured by the familiar weight and cool metal of the weapon. “Samuel.”

  Samuel Blankenship stepped out from behind a nearby tree, a gun in his hand as he faced Cameron.

  The two years in prison had not been kind to Samuel. He was thinner than Cameron had ever seen him and a livid scar decorated one cheek. But his eyes were the same...green eyes lit with humor.

  Cameron wasn’t fooled by the amusement in Samuel’s eyes. He’d seen that same expression as Samuel broke a man’s jaw in a bar fight, had seen that sparkle as Samuel was arrested and led away. Samuel had always had that impish gleam in his eyes, as if life were a big joke and he intended to have the final laugh.

  “Cameron.” He nodded his head slightly in greeting. He touched the scar on his cheek. “As you can see, bounty hunters aren’t exactly popular in prison. They rank up there with cops and other law enforcement professionals.”

  Cameron said nothing, but merely tightened his grip on his gun, unsure what to expert

  For an endless moment they faced each other, guns held steady, eyes narrowed. A million thoughts and countless memories swept through Cameron’s head.

  Their shared laughter at the time when he and Samuel had been chasing a fugitive and Samuel had gotten the seat of his pants ripped by a German shepherd’s teeth.

  He remembered his gratefulness when Samuel had nursed him when he’d developed a vicious bout of the flu and later he’d returned the favor when Samuel had come down with the same symptoms.

  Partners...friends...brothers, and now they faced each other over the barrels of their guns. Sorrow swept through Cameron., a sorrow achingly sharp and completely unexpected.

  How had it come to this? How had brotherly love turned to hatred? How had two friends come to face each other with weapons doing their talking?

  With a sigh of irritation, Cameron threw his gun to the ground, knowing he could never pull the trigger while it was aimed at Samuel. “I don’t know why you’re here, Samuel. If it’s to kill me, then be done with it.”

  “Hell, I don’t want to kill you, Cam.” Samuel’s gun hit the ground. “I just want to talk to you, get some things off my chest before I move on.”

  “I don’t figure we have anything to talk about,” Cameron replied, wanting the man to leave, just to go away and never be heard from again.

  “We do have something to talk about. We need to talk about Ginny.”

  Cameron snorted. “What’s to say? Last time I saw her she was in my bed...with you.” He stared at Samuel with an accusatory glare. “Good God, Samuel. You were my best friend, and she was my girt.”

  Samuel gazed at the ground, as if unable to meet Cameron’s eyes. “I know.” He leaned back against a tree trunk and raked a hand through his sandy hair. “Neither one of us meant for it to happen, Cam. But you were always pushing us together, encouraging us to spend time together.” Samuel looked at Cameron. “You have to take on some of the responsibility for what happened. You didn’t want her. You never really loved her.”

  Cameron opened his mouth to protest, self-righteous anger coursing through him. Just as quickly the kernel of truth in Samuel’s words sank in.

  Five weeks ago, before Alicia’s presence in his life, Cameron would have fought Samuel on the point, insisting that he’d loved Ginny. But now, with Alicia in his heart, he knew Samuel spoke the truth.

  “I loved her, Cameron. I still love Ginny.” Samuel sighed and once again tore a hand through his hair. “Hell Cameron, we both loved you and neither of us wanted to hurt you. We made the mistake of falling in love with each other. We didn’t plan it, we fought against it for as long as we could.” Samuel’s eyes were dark and tortured. “We didn’t want to hurt you, Cameron,” he repeated. “We never wanted that.”

  Cameron waved his hand impatiently. “Aside from all that, you could have gotten me killed...you could have gotten us both killed by telling fugitives when we were coming. We could have easily been set up.” Cameron’s anger rose as he thought of Samuel’s exploitation of him and the system they worked for. “Dammit, Samuel, you were gambling with our lives.”

  “I know. But at the time I wasn’t thinking with my head.” Again Samuel sighed, the sigh of regret, of grief for past wrongs and present hurts. “Let’s face it, Cameron. You’re a hell of a lot more handsome than me. The women always flocked to you. Wherever we went, you were the one the women looked at, wanted.”

  Cameron waved his hand again in frustration. “What in the hell does that have to do with you taking payoffs?”

  “I couldn’t believe that Ginny would love me just for me. I figured the way to hold her was to have enough money to grant her every wish.” Samuel frowned and rubbed a hand across his wrinkled brow. “I didn’t give her enough credit, and I damn straight didn’t give myself enough credit.”

  Cameron released a sigh that held two years of pain, two years of anger. He suddenly realized his pain hadn’t been so much about Ginny and Samuel’s betrayal. He looked at the man he’d once loved like family. “What hurt more than anything, Samuel, was that you expected me to go along with
you, you expected me to keep my mouth shut about your crimes.”

  Again a knot of anger hardened and grew in Cameron’s stomach, making him feel half-ill. “Dammit man, you tried to steal my honor, to take away my ethics. And that hurt more than your deception where Ginny was concerned.”

  Samuel nodded, the corners of his mouth pulled down with regret. “I’d lost all my honor, gave it away because I thought I had to in order to hold Ginny. I was wrong, Cameron, and I’ll never be able to go back and change things.”

  Samuel’s frown fell away and he gazed at Cameron with an expression of awe. “She loves me, and she’s waited for me. For two years, she’s waited. We’re going to put the past behind us and be happy. But before we start our life together, I needed to talk to you, needed to tell you I’m sorry for all of it.”

  Put the past behind. Cameron felt the pieces of his heart that had been frozen for so long starting to thaw. Samuel and Ginny had fallen in love, and Cameron couldn’t fault them for that.

  Samuel was right, Cameron had never loved Ginny. There had been a time when she’d begged him for a commitment and he’d refused. Was it any wonder she’d looked elsewhere? And could he really blame them for finding what they needed in each other?

  He knew there was no way to guard a heart against love. He’d sworn he’d live his life alone, never love again, and somehow Alicia had crawled beneath his defenses and penetrated the very core of his soul.

  The love he’d denied, refused to acknowledge suddenly filled him up, warming the last of the cold places of his heart.

  Alicia. He loved her. Alicia. He needed her. Sweet Alicia. He’d let her go.

  Cameron looked at the man he’d believed he hated, the man who had once been his friend. Although he knew they could never get back what had been lost, his anger and sense of betrayal were gone, leaving only a deep sadness and the memory of a man who had once been his friend.