by Judy Duarte
“I’d be willing to volunteer for the time being,” she said.
“Now, that’s an interesting proposition. Do you have any experience?”
“I graduated recently and, other than working with children during my internship, I haven’t had a paid position yet. But I majored in music, play several instruments and sing in my church choir.”
“I’d like to discuss this further and hear more about your thoughts on a music therapy program, but this isn’t a good time for either of us. Can you come to Kidville on Monday morning? I’ll give you a tour, and we’ll talk more then.”
“Awesome. I’ll be there bright and early.”
As Mr. Hoffman strode away like Santa on a mission, Julie tugged at her skirt again. Apparently, her outfit hadn’t bothered the man in charge of Kidville, which was a relief. Another potential boss or some of her more conservative church friends might not have been so accepting.
Too bad she hadn’t thought to smear on some clown makeup before getting out of her car this evening. That would have hid her face, especially the flush on her cheeks. Oh, well... She’d just have to keep a low profile.
As she turned toward the kitchen, a tear-streaked redhead wearing a tiara and a long turquoise gown strode toward a pirate and let out a curse that made her sound more like a drunken longshoreman than the princess she was supposed to be.
She lifted her index finger and jabbed it at the pirate’s chest. “I knew you were a big flirt, Derek, but do you have to be on the prowl when you’re with me? I’ve had it with you. It’s over for good this time.” Then she removed her frilly white half mask, as well as her faux tiara, threw both on the floor and swept toward the entrance in a huff, leaving the frowning pirate in her wake.
Julie assumed he’d hurry after her. Instead, he let out a little chuckle and returned to the party.
You clearly made a wise decision, your majesty. And one you probably should have made sooner. Julie snatched the discarded white half mask from the floor, slipped it on her face and muttered, “Finders, keepers.”
The moment she reentered the party, she spotted Zorro again, and her heart made a series of somersaults that would make a young gymnast proud.
She took a moment to appreciate his costume, not to mention his muscular physique and sexy swagger. Her interest, as well as her curiosity, grew by leaps and bounds. Who was he? Did he have a connection to Kidville or to the Rocking Chair Ranch?
She supposed it didn’t really matter, so she did her best to shake off her attraction as she crossed the room. Before she reached the kitchen, a hand settled on her shoulder, warming her from the inside out.
She turned to see Zorro, his gaze locked on hers. When he offered her a dazzling smile, her breath caught.
“Lisa,” he said, “I’d heard you were going to be here.”
He clearly thought she was someone else. She probably ought to say something, but up close, the gorgeous bandito seemed to have stolen both her thoughts and her words.
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” His voice, whether authentic or altered to complement his costume, was laced with a slight Hispanic accent that set her senses reeling. “I’ve never really liked blind dates.”
Talk about masquerades and mistaken identities. Before Julie could set him straight, he took her hand in a polished, gentlemanly manner and kissed it. His warm breath lingered on her skin, setting off a bevy of butterflies in her tummy.
“Dance with me,” he said.
Her lips parted, but for the life of her, she still couldn’t speak, couldn’t explain. And she darn sure couldn’t object.
Zorro led her away from the buffet tables and to the dance floor. When he opened his arms, she again had the opportunity to tell him who she really was. But instead, she stepped into his embrace, allowing him to take the lead.
His alluring aftershave, something manly, taunted her. As she savored his scent, as well as the warmth of his muscular arms, her pulse soared. She leaned her head on his shoulder as they swayed to a sensual beat, their movements in perfect accord, as though they’d danced together a hundred times before.
Now would be a good time to tell him she wasn’t Lisa, but she seemed to have fallen under a spell that grew stronger with every beat of the music. The moment turned surreal, like she’d stepped into a fairy tale with a handsome rogue.
Once again, she pondered revealing his mistake and telling him her name, but there’d be time enough to do that after the song ended. Then she’d return to the kitchen, slipping off like Cinderella. But instead of a glass slipper, she’d leave behind her momentary enchantment.
But several beats later, a cowboy tapped Zorro on the shoulder. “Pancho, I need you to come outside.”
Zorro looked at him and frowned. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
The cowboy, whose outfit was so authentic he seemed to be the real deal, rolled his eyes.
Julie wished she could have worn her street clothes. Would now be a good time to admit that she wasn’t an actual attendee but here to work at the gala?
“What’s up?” Zorro asked.
The cowboy folded his arms across his chest and shifted his weight to one hip. “Someone just broke into my pickup.”
Zorro stiffened. “Right now? Where?”
“Here, in the parking lot. I had an envelope filled with cash donations to Kidville under the seat.”
At that, Julie’s heart thumped, and she clamped her mouth shut. Someone had stolen money meant for the Hoffmans’ kids? Who would do such a thing?
“Is the money gone?” Zorro asked the cowboy.
“I don’t know yet. I didn’t look.”
Zorro stiffened. “Any witnesses?”
“A stray dog. But he ain’t talking.”
“Very funny.” Zorro’s gaze returned to Julie. “I’m sorry, Lisa. I’m going to have to morph into cop mode.”
Now it was Julie’s turn to tense. He was actually a police officer in real life? A slight uneasiness settled over her, an old habit she apparently hadn’t outgrown. Not that she had any real reason to fear anyone in law enforcement nowadays.
When Zorro removed his mask, revealing the rest of his face, he was even more handsome than she’d imagined him to be. She stood mesmerized, darn near smitten by a face and persona that were movie-star quality.
The cowboy, who’d been frowning when he’d approached, wasn’t bad looking, either. He tipped his hat to Julie. “Would you mind excusing us, ma’am?”
“No, not at all.” Julie took a step back and glanced at Zorro.
A smile dimpled his cheeks, and little gold flecks in expressive brown eyes sparkled as he handed his mask to her. “Hold this for me. I’ll be back.”
She probably should have corrected his mistake then and there, but for the life of her, she couldn’t seem to utter a single word.
As Zorro followed the cowboy out the side door, Julie held on to his mask as if it were a glass slipper and studied him from behind. He was both gorgeous and charming. A dashing ladies’ man, no doubt. She could tell by his self-assurance and flirtatious manner, both of which were interest-snatching and blood-stirring.
They also set off flashing red warning lights. If there was anything Julie avoided these days, it was suave and flirtatious men who thought they were God’s gift to women.
And Zorro, the handsome devil, was too darn sexy to be heaven-sent.
Chapter Two
As Adam followed his old high school friend away from the dance floor, he glanced over his shoulder and took one last look at Lisa, regretting he’d have to put off getting to know her. At least he’d finally had a chance to meet her.
“I’m sorry I interrupted your dance,” Matt said as they slipped out a side door and headed toward the parking lot.
“So am I. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet that woman, and after holding h
er in my arms and catching a whiff of her citrusy scent... Hell, I need to get back inside before someone else tries to take up where I left off.”
“Hopefully, you can get to the bottom of that break-in quickly.”
“If I can’t, I’ll call into headquarters and have someone on duty come out here.” Adam needed to get back to that gala. And to Lisa.
The buddies crossed the graveled parking lot, their footsteps crunching on the pulverized granite. Unlike Adam, Matt didn’t look any different tonight than he usually did. He was sporting a pair of new Tony Lama boots, though. And he had on a spiffy new Stetson, too. But that wasn’t surprising. Costume parties weren’t Matt’s style.
And normally, they weren’t Adam’s, either. So he’d planned to cut out early, but after dancing with Lisa, he’d changed his mind. Damn, she felt good—soft in all the right places. And she smelled amazing, too. Her perfume reminded him of lemon blossoms.
Matt came to a stop and pointed to a shiny black Dodge Ram, the new registration sticker still taped to the passenger side of the windshield. “There’s my truck.”
The driver’s door was open, the window shattered. On the seat, amidst shards of broken glass, sat a good-size rock.
“It would have been easy enough for you to check and see if that envelope was still there,” Adam said. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I know how fussy you cops can be about disturbing a crime scene. But something else is definitely missing, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“What’s that?”
“My food. I hadn’t eaten since the crack of dawn, so on my way here, I picked up something to tide me over at Bubba’s Burger Barn. The bag was on the passenger seat, and now it’s gone.”
Adam furrowed his brow. “Someone took your leftovers?”
Matt scoffed. “Hell, it wasn’t table scraps. It was a double bacon cheeseburger with large fries, and I didn’t get the chance to take a single bite. I was going to eat it on the way over here, but as soon as I pulled out of the drive-through, my cell phone rang. And by the time the call ended, I’d already arrived at the party. So I decided to check out the fancy, hundred-dollar food first.”
Adam scanned the area. The ground was still damp and a bit muddy from last night’s rain, revealing small shoe prints—two sets, plus paw prints. All of which were fresh.
“Amateurs,” Adam said. “Kids, most likely. Young ones. You mentioned the dog. It might be theirs.”
“I’m pretty sure it was a stray. It had that scruffy, scrawny look. And it was tricolored—black, brown and what might be white if someone gave it a bath. I saw it when I was parking, and then again when I came back outside to eat my burger, which I figured was going to taste a heck of a lot better than those fancy tidbits they were putting out. That’s when I saw that someone had broken into my truck.”
“Did you notice anyone hanging around or hear anything?”
“No, but if they were anywhere nearby, they would have heard my reaction. I just bought that truck last week. So when I saw the broken glass, I swore loud enough to scare off the mutt. If there were kids anywhere around, they probably hightailed it out of here, too.”
Adam reached beneath the seat, retrieved the yellow manila envelope stuffed with cash and handed it to Matt. “You might want to count it.”
He fingered the thickness. “It feels like it’s all here.” Then he looked inside and counted it.
Apparently the young burglars had only wanted the food. Or else they’d been scared off before they could find anything of value.
Call it a hunch, or the memory of his own personal history, but something told Adam those kids were in some kind of trouble and that he’d better find them. And not just to put the fear of the law into them.
“Do you have insurance?” he asked.
“Yeah, but with a big deductible.” Matt swore under his breath. “Why do you think the damn kids did this?”
“I suspect they were hungry.”
Matt seemed to think on that for a couple of beats. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to look for them.” And quickly. He wanted to return to the party before Lisa, the sexy intergalactic goddess, decided to leave.
While Matt remained near his truck, picking up the shards of glass and placing them in a burlap sack he’d found behind the driver’s seat, Adam tracked the small footprints to a wooded area outside the grange hall and continued along the path they’d taken until he reached what appeared to be an abandoned, rusted-out paneled truck.
He didn’t have his gun on him, but his gut told him he wouldn’t need it. His steps slowed as he approached the vehicle. When he got close enough, he peered through the grimy driver’s-side window and spotted a young boy, a smaller girl and a scruffy mutt sitting in the cab sharing Matt’s burger and fries. The kids didn’t look much cleaner or better fed than the dirty dog.
As Adam opened the door, the mutt barked, and the children’s eyes widened in apprehension. The dark-haired boy, who was about six or seven, slipped a bone-thin arm around his little blonde companion.
The moment Adam spotted her bruised cheek and her swollen, split lip, she commanded his full attention.
“Hey, guys.” Adam offered his friendliest smile. “What’s going on?”
Neither child uttered a word. The dog, its fur matted, merely cocked its head.
Adam scanned the interior of the dusty, beat-up vehicle. “This is a cool fort you guys have.”
The kids remained silent, eyes leery. Something had them scared, and Adam doubted it was him.
“I know I’m not wearing a uniform,” Adam said, “but I’m a police officer. And I’d like to help you.”
The boy bit down on his bottom lip and studied Adam carefully, then he lifted his chin. “We ain’t going home. And I’m not telling you where we live, either.”
Kids often ran away from good homes, but given the overall undernourished appearance and defensive nature of these two, instinct told Adam that wasn’t the case. And so did the girl’s injury.
“I figure you two have a good reason for being out here.”
When he was met with tight-lipped silence, he continued his questioning, attempting to be kind and gentle as he ferreted out what he already suspected. “Did someone at your house hurt you?”
“Yeah,” the boy said indignantly. “He hurt my sister just because she peed her pants. It was an accident, and I cleaned it up. But he didn’t care. He still spanked her. And he ain’t even our dad.”
Whether one believed in spanking or not, striking a child in the face was flat-out abuse. And doing so hard enough to leave a mark was criminal.
“Who is he?” Adam asked. “Your dad? Stepdad?”
“No, he’s just a guy. The one who lived with us before our mama went away and didn’t come back. But it’s not like he takes care of us anyway.”
Adam’s gut clenched, and his thoughts took a personal turn as painful memories welled to the surface. He tamped them down the best he could, but his heart went out the poor kids, just as it always did when he came across other abused and neglected children. And he vowed to make sure that, when these two did go home, from now on, it was to a safe place, where a proper guardian would see that they had food to eat, clean clothes to wear and warm beds in which they could sleep.
“What’s the guy’s name?” Adam asked.
“Brady.”
Adam nodded, making a mental note. “And what’s your name?”
Again, the boy bit down on his lip, struggling to be strong. Holding on to his secret. Finally, he looked up and frowned. “If I tell you, are you going to promise to leave us alone and not take us back?”
“I won’t take you back. But I’m not going to leave you alone, either. It’s going to get cold—and it might rain again tonight. You’ll also be hungry by morning.”
Sure, they might sympathize and regret the crappy environment those children had once lived in, but Adam wasn’t like the others. Seeing kids who’d been beaten and mistreated hit a little too close to home.
He knew how it felt to be scared and sent to the county receiving home, where kids waited until social services placed them in foster care. Most of the parents were kind and good, but some weren’t. So he hated the thought of turning in the brother and sister to the authorities and leaving them to the luck of the draw.
“My name is Adam,” he told them, “although my friends sometimes call me Pancho.”
The boy furrowed his brow. “Why do they call you that?”
“They were just messing with me, I guess. And the nickname stuck.”
The kid seemed to chew on that for a minute, then said, “I’m Eddie. And this is my sister, Cassie. Are you really going to help us?”
“You bet I am.” And this was one of those times he’d do it in his own way, which meant he’d have to pull a few strings.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Adam turned to see Matt heading toward them.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Adam told his buddy. “I want you to meet my new friends, Eddie and Cassie.”
Matt furrowed his brow, but didn’t comment.
“I’ve got a few calls to make,” Adam said, “but I need you to do me a favor. Would you find Jim and Donna Hoffman and bring them out here?”
“Sure. I’ll do that, but what am I supposed to tell them?”
Adam was about to say that Eddie and Cassie needed a special place to stay tonight, but he suddenly had a light bulb moment. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you bring out Santa and Mrs. Claus. They’ll know just what to do. And I think the kids will feel a lot better about going home with them.”
Matt nodded, then walked back to the Grange Hall.
Adam took a deep breath, then turned back to the kids.
“Do you really know Santa Claus?” Eddie asked.