Gambling On a Heart

by Sara Walter Ellwood

  He’d been about to leave when he noticed the license plates on the old Ford Ranger sitting in the garage. Something wasn’t right. The plates were too new to belong on the twenty-year-old vehicle. On a hunch, he ran the tags–they belonged to a Chevy Silverado registered to Brent Parker, with a traffic citation for speeding still pending.

  Jake had switched the plates. Finding the number for the Ranger was easy enough. He’d simply check the registration in the glove box. The truck belonged to his great-aunt Ethel.

  Before he turned the key in the ignition, he reached over and stroked at the stream of tears running down her cheek. A blade twisted in his gut when he thought about how he’d feel if someone ever took Mandy from him. “Baby, we’ll get him back. The Amber Alert has sounded and every cop in Texas–in the whole country–will be looking for him. I know Jake won’t hurt his own boy.”

  He hoped she believed his last statement more than he did.

  She sniffed and wiped her nose on a soggy tissue. “I’m scared. If I lose Bobby, it’ll mean I’ve lost everything. He’s the only good thing ever to come out of the charade that was mine and Jake’s marriage.”

  He glanced at her as he pulled away from the curb in front of Jake’s trailer. What did she mean by charade? He remembered the evening at the bar when Jake approached and manipulated the situation until he believed the lie.

  He got hurt and blamed me for it. Zack’s words to Bobby while they’d gone riding whispered through his mind. After that summer, his and Jake’s friendship was strained at best. They continued to do things together, but when Zack and Tracy started dating, he and Jake did less and less together. Then the week before the rodeo in Houston, Jake started coming around again. He wanted to know how serious Zack was about Tracy.

  “I’m gonna ask her to marry me,” he told Jake one day as Zack worked in the barn. “I’m hoping to win the money so I can afford the ring I picked out.”

  “I thought Tracy was goin’ to college.”

  “She is, and I’m going to ride rodeo for a little while. Go professional. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be married or engaged while she goes to school. Maybe even get a place together. Our parents won’t be thrilled, but, hey, it’s our life.”

  Jake smiled and shrugged. “I guess. She means that much to you?”

  Zack stopped mucking the stall and leaned on the pitchfork. “More than you’d ever know.”

  A couple of days later, he left for the rodeo, and when he came home, two weeks later, he’d found Jake and Tracy going at it like two dogs in heat in her barn. He shoved the pain the memory brought to the recesses of his mind as another floated in from the first Pee Wee football game he and Tracy had watched together.

  “Jake saw you as having it all. He’s only ever taken care of number one. Trust me, I know.”

  Her abject gaze met his, and in it, he realized a horrible truth.

  “Jake manipulated you into thinking I–I didn’t love you. How?” he choked out.

  Tracy couldn’t hide her surprise. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice so hoarse he almost couldn’t hear it. “He–he told me you were cheating on me with Dawn Madison and that...” Her voice broke and she sniffed. “That he loved me and would never hurt me.”

  He let out the breath he’d been holding and turned the key.

  They were nearly at the town limits when he asked, “How could you believe him?”

  She sniffed again, and he glanced at her. “He swept me off my feet at first. I won’t lie to you, I liked Jake–not romantically–but as a friend. I guess I wanted to get back at you. I loved you–I still do... How could you really be interested in someone like me?”

  Tracy’s voice cracked on the last word, breaking Zack’s heart.

  She wiped her nose on the tissue again. “I don’t understand it any better now than I did back then. Dawn is beautiful. I believed Jake’s lies that you were only playing with me.”

  He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his hands ached. He pulled to the edge of the street and closed his eyes. Bitter hatred burned through him, but he pushed back the urge to vent his rage. Tracy didn’t need his anger; she needed his love and support.

  He unclamped his jaw. “You don’t have any idea just how beautiful you are, do you?” Wishing the console wasn’t in the way, he twisted toward her. He released his hold on the wheel to caress her face. With only the greenish glow of the dash illuminating the interior of the SUV, her face was in shadow, but he couldn’t miss her eyes widen with surprise and pain that went much deeper than her son being kidnapped. His voice husky, he said, “I love you, Tracy. I think I fell in love with you the very first day you sat beside me in homeroom in sixth grade.”

  “I was cross-eyed and bucktoothed. All knobby legs and spaghetti arms. You mocked me with the nickname Olive Oyl.”

  He winced and lowered his chin to his chest, regretting one of the stupidest things he’d ever said. He remembered Logan’s tirade the morning they fixed fences together and felt as disgusting as a fresh pile of cow shit.

  His thumb continued to caress her soft cheek. When he met her solemn eyes, he saw into her soul, and what he saw twisted his gut. How could he have hurt her so badly? How could he have missed it?

  “Oh, God, Tracy, I’m sorry.” He swallowed and fought the sudden burn in his sinuses. “I didn’t fall in love with your looks. Not at first. I fell in love with your kindness–your heart and soul. No matter who made fun of you, you never held any ill will against them–including me.” His voice broke and he had to swallow again.

  He’d been lucky enough to be loved by two fantastic women, and he’d destroyed them both. Lisa’s death might be laid at his feet come Judgment Day, but long before her, he’d helped destroy Tracy’s fragile self-esteem. How could he blame her for jumping at Jake’s golden words? Lord knew he’d never offered them.

  “Remember in seventh grade when I forgot my history book and we were having a big test the next day?”

  She jerked her head in a shaky nod.

  “I called Jake first, but he didn’t have his either. He could’ve cared less about school, but I knew Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me ride rodeo if I let my grades slip. So out of desperation, I called you. I never expected you to have your granddad drive you all the way over from Oak Springs to my parents’ house. But you did, even though only days before I had you in tears by calling you that stupid name.” He sniffed back the shame and the ache in his heart at the pain his cruelty had caused her.

  He shifted more in the seat, cupping the side of her face in his hand. “I hated World History, but you made it come alive when you started telling me about all the places you visited while your father was stationed in Germany. Rome, Greece, England, France. Places I’d never seen. You helped me, not only pass that test, but I learned to like history by seeing things through your eyes.”

  Her eyes grew wide and her mouth slightly opened.

  He laughed, but it came out more like a croak. “You’re a better person than I’ll ever be. If it had been me, I would’ve told myself to go jump off a bridge and would’ve laughed when I failed the test. Instead, you helped me. You became my friend.”

  “Zack...”

  He leaned over the console and brushed his lips over hers. Above them, he whispered, “Even Popeye thinks Olive Oyl is beautiful, and I hope you give me a chance to show you just how beautiful you are to me–inside and out.”

  “You forgive me?” The words were as shaky as a blade of grass in a twister.

  “Yeah. I do.” He slid his hand along her nape. They leaned in at the same time, and he kissed her. She wrapped her arms round his neck as he wrapped her up. He cursed the console between them and Jake Parker for a multitude of sins, least of them being kidnapping her son.

  When the gentle kiss ended, she pulled away, biting her lower lip. Her eyes locked on his. “I love you, Zack. I never stopped loving you. I would never have married Jake, if I hadn’t...”

  He touched her lips with a finger to fo
restall her words. “Later. We’ll talk about this later. Just know I love you. And I forgive you. I have some confessions to make, too. But first we need to get Bobby back.”

  Before she could question him, the police radio buzzed to life. He let her go and answered the call, thankful for the distraction. The coward in him didn’t want to tell her just how ruthless he’d been to his dead wife by marrying her when he’d never completely given her his heart. Clearing his throat, he spoke into the handset. “What is it, Madison?”

  “Just got a call from the Austin PD. They spotted the suspects heading south on I-35.”

  He glanced at Tracy. She worried her lower lip again. Taking her hand into his, he squeezed it. “Ten-four, I need to drop Tracy off at the ranch, and I’ll head to Austin.”

  “Come back to the station. Wyatt says you can go with him.”

  “Ten-four, I’ll be there ASAP. Keep me posted.” He signed off and put the Tahoe in gear.

  When they passed the turn off to Oak Springs fifteen minutes later, Tracy looked at him. “Where are you going?”

  He glanced at her. “I’m taking you over to the CW. Logan’s there with Mandy. I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”

  “You don’t mind Logan and me... After what Jake–”

  “No. I know he’s your friend, but it’s more than that.” He thought about the diamond ring in his jeans pocket. “I think he’s appointed himself our own personal cupid.”

  He looked at her in time to see her weak smile. “I think you’re probably right. Logan came to me the day you announced you were engaged to Lisa.” Her smile faltered as she clenched her hands in her lap. “He wanted me to leave Jake. To come after you.”

  His heart stuttered a few times. “Why didn’t you?”

  She was quiet for so long, he didn’t expect her to answer. A few minutes later when he turned onto his road, he looked over at her and captured her gaze for as long as he could hold it.

  “I just had Bobby and I couldn’t take my baby away from his father.” Her voice came from the depths of her soul, dragged over jagged and broken pieces. “How could I ever expect you to raise Jake’s baby without resentment? How could I ever ask you to forgive me when I hardly forgave myself?”

  He had to make up for all of the wrongs he’d done. It may be too late for Lisa, but he’d been given another chance to have a future with Tracy. First, he had to deal with Jake Parker. “If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’ll bring Bobby home.” And be the best father possible to him.

  Chapter 19

  The middle-aged Hispanic man peered from Zack to Wyatt over his thick glasses, suspicion almost palpable in his dark eyes. Zack knew they both looked like horses that had been ridden hard and put away wet. A day’s worth of beard darkened their faces and neither of them had changed from the clothes they’d worn the previous night.

  Zack was certain the manager wondered if they were really who they said they were, despite the badges pinned to their Western shirts and the IDs they’d flashed.

  Enrique Ramirez, the manager of the McDonald’s in San Marcos, took only a moment to study the pictures of Jake and Brent. “Si. They were in here about a half hour ago. That’s why I called the police. I saw the Amber Alert come over TV before I came to work last night.”

  Zack met Wyatt’s gaze. They were close. When the police call came in, they’d been just south of San Marcos. They were close enough to turn back and check out the lead.

  “Was the boy with them?”

  One of the hardest things Zack had to do was let Wyatt ask Ramirez the questions. Wyatt had jurisdiction, since he was a Texas Ranger. Despite Zack’s personal reasons for wanting to find the boy who had slowly stolen his heart and the man who had stolen the only woman he’d ever loved, Zack was just along for the ride. With a hand that he consciously had to steady, Zack handed the manager the wallet-sized photo Tracy had given him earlier.

  “No, Señor.” Ramirez handed the picture back, but held onto the other two and tapped Jake’s photo. “This one looked like he was in a fight. He seemed mad that the drive-thru was closed. He kept pulling on his hat brim. You know, as if he was trying to hide his face. But I recognized it. And this one...” He pointed to Brent’s picture. “He stood back and let the other man do all the talking. But he couldn’t stand still and kept looking around. They got gas from the station next door and left. I never saw the boy.”

  After thanking the man for his time, they headed back to Zack’s Tahoe. Zack turned the key to start the air conditioning flowing. Not even six AM, but the day promised to be hot. He glanced at the Texas Ranger. “I don’t think they stayed on I-35.”

  Wyatt looked around before meeting Zack’s gaze. “You know Jake better than I do. What do you think he’d do?”

  Zack stared out the windshield. The McDonald’s was close to the interstate and Guadalupe Street, a main street through the city of San Marcos, but off the beaten path enough not to be the first choice of an investigating team. Most criminals would have gone straight for the border, the fastest route to freedom. Jake would manipulate the system by doing what wasn’t expected.

  He looked back at Wyatt. “Open the glove box and get that map out of there.” Once Wyatt had the state map open and folded to a manageable size, zeroing in on the south-central half of Texas, Zack pointed to the junction of I-35 and Guadalupe Street. He tapped on the line representing State Route 123. “He’d take this south. We know the Blackwells have distant cousins in Monterrey. It would make sense for him to head there.”

  “Yeah.” Wyatt tilted his head to study the map. “Mrs. Parker told me last night she was afraid he’d go there.”

  Zack tapped the map again. “I think we should let the state boys and the FBI chase down I-35 in case I’m wrong. But we should take this hunch and head down 123 to I-10 or US-90. I’d bet the ranch, he’ll hit Seguin and then take US-90 across…” He slid his finger over the wrinkled map. “To meet up with US-83 then US-57 on the other side of San Antonio. It would keep him off the major interstates and make it easier for him to find a way across the border. I’ll call the Guadalupe County sheriff and give them a heads up.”

  “Sounds like the logical thing for him to do.” Wyatt stared at the map a little while longer before he folded it back up. “Do you suppose Johnny Blackwell would have gone to these distant cousins, too?”

  Zack shrugged and put the SUV into gear. “It’s possible. But my biggest concern is finding Bobby.” When he slipped out onto Guadalupe Street, he looked at his friend and forced between clenched teeth, “Then you’ll have to make sure I don’t kill that lying bastard Jake Parker.”

  * * * *

  The sun shone through the windows of the truck when Bobby woke up. Brent drove the truck, and his dad was asleep in the passenger side. The aroma of breakfast sandwiches and coffee filled the air, reminding him that he was hungry even before his belly growled.

  “Hey, T-Rex.” Brent looked at him through his reflection in the rearview mirror.

  “Mornin’, Uncle Brent.” He peered out the side window. The two-lane road wasn’t the interstate. Miles of open ranchland stretched ahead of the flat strip of road. “Where are we? And what time is it?”

  “Heading south. It’s just a little past six.” Brent glanced at him again. “You hungry? We stopped for gas in San Marcos, and I talked your dad into getting breakfast.”

  Bobby nodded, but Brent had already looked back at the road. “Yeah.” He moved to the middle and leaned between the seats. The bright sunlight glittered off the gun lying on the console. “Why are you taking me with you?”

  Instead of answering, Brent dug around in a McDonald’s bag. He held up a sandwich. “Here. You better eat. Hard to tell when we’ll get a chance again.”

  Bobby took the wrapped egg and sausage sandwich. Brent then handed him a large soda. As he took a sip, Brent turned to look at him. “Don’t drink too much. Stopping to piss ain’t gonna happen anytime soon, if your dad has any say.”

  He
nodded and sat back in the seat again. He placed the cup in a beverage holder, greedily unwrapped the sandwich, and took a bite of the cold egg and spicy sausage on soggy English muffin.

  Surely, they’d have to stop if he had to go to the bathroom bad enough. Brent would, as long as Dad was still asleep. He laid the sandwich back on the wrapper in his lap and picked up the drink.

  Ten minutes later, Bobby couldn’t sit still. “Uncle Brent, I have to go to the bathroom.”

  Brent looked over his shoulder at him. “Aw, shit, Bobby. I told you not to drink it all.”

  “I didn’t.” He hadn’t needed to drink the whole soda; he’d only a few sips before he had to pee. He held up the large paper cup to prove his point. “But I haven’t gone to the bathroom since last night and I–”

  “Alright.” Brent shoved a hand through his hair and glanced over at Dad. He was still sleeping in the reclined front seat. “We’re goin’ through Seguin. A diner is up ahead and they look open. You can go there.”

  Brent pulled into the parking lot of the family restaurant. Bobby glanced anxiously at his dad as he eased open the door. Dad shifted in his sleep, but didn’t wake up. Bobby jumped out of the truck, leaving the door open a little. He didn’t want the slam to wake up his father. Brent followed him out of the truck and grabbed his arm.

  “Stay behind me. Keep your head down and don’t look at anyone or say anything.” As Brent looked around and tugged at the bill of his baseball cap over his forehead, he muttered, “Jake’s gonna kill me.”

  As they headed across the parking lot, a man and a woman got into a SUV. The woman turned to talk to the little kid on her hip and glanced his way. She met his gaze, and Bobby was close enough to see the woman furrow her brow. When her eyes widened, she said something to the man. He stopped opening the driver’s door and looked over at Bobby. When the man pulled his cell phone from his pocket, Bobby nodded and smiled.

  The must have recognized him from the news.