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“Are you okay to drive?” he asked.
She nodded and swung into the front seat. Scooting over to open the passenger door for Manny and the baby, she took the boy while Manny climbed into the truck and, closing the door behind him, gathered the child back into his arms.
Manny unzipped his jacket, put the baby on his chest and zipped the jacket back up over both of them, keeping the baby secure and a little warmer. If this truck wrecked on the icy roads, the baby’s position against him might be dangerous, but without Manny’s body heat the little boy was sure to go into shock.
He looked over to the woman and noticed she’d belted herself in, but her hands shook so badly he was afraid she’d never keep hold of the wheel. Manny reached across the baby and jacked up the heater’s fan.
“You sure you can drive?”
“Ye-e-e-s-s,” she stuttered. “The way the water’s rising, we’re about to be cut off by two flooding rivers. Happens every time things get this bad. My ranch is just a ways up the road. It’s the only possible chance we’ve got.”
Jamming the truck into Reverse, she eased it around on the asphalt and slowly drove away from the river.
He suddenly realized he didn’t know her name, or why she’d been there to help them. “I need to thank you for coming to our rescue. It was a very brave but foolhardy thing to do.” She kept her attention on the slick road, continuing to stare out the windshield.
“I’m Manny Sanchez. And you are…”
“Randi.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s my name. I’m Randi Cullen. And I live on the Running C ranch.”
The Running C? Son of a gun, if that wasn’t the name he’d overheard the smugglers discussing at the café in Del Rio. Was this woman involved with them? All of a sudden it occurred to him that their savior might really be the suspect he’d been seeking. But the only way to find out would be to keep a sharp eye on her.
Manny quickly decided he’d better keep her close—whatever that took and any way he could.
Randi tightened her grip on the steering wheel and slanted a glance at the dark and intimidating man who was scrutinizing her from the passenger seat. The energy emanating from him hummed with tension. Dear Lord, he terrified—and excited—her.
She couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to climb up on that minivan the way she had. There hadn’t been time to consider the ramifications, just like now, when there was no choice but to take this menacing man and his child into her home.
After she’d stopped at the bridge and heard the baby’s cry, all sense of personal danger had deserted her. She could still feel the rush of bravado, sitting here in the front seat with a total stranger. She’d never done anything like this in her entire life. Just thinking about it made her tremble.
Nevertheless, Randi felt more alive in the past half hour than she had in years. Bringing this man home might be a very dangerous thing to do, but she didn’t care. Somehow she felt sure he would be trustworthy. He had an aura about him that reminded her of her old friend, the deputy sheriff.
The stranger had been traveling with his own child. How bad could he be? And what’s more, he and his baby needed help, and she’d been able to do something about it. That frustrating feeling of being unable to do anything to help, the one emotion she’d been so familiar with over the past few years, was slowly washing away as the minutes went by.
“That’s a kind of unusual name for a woman, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Randi? It was my grandmother’s nickname.” At his seemingly confused look, she explained, “Short for Miranda…?”
“I wasn’t questioning it. I think Randi is a beautiful name.”
She could feel the flush stealing over her face. Glancing over at him, she found a smirk of amusement. The smile lit up his entire face, making him the most magnetic man she’d ever laid eyes on.
Oh, not handsome in the standard movie star way, his jaw was too sharp and his nose too long and broad for that. But he was intense, dark and a little rough around the edges, as if a thin veneer of civilized behavior covered a raging beast inside. And he was big—broad. Her breathing faltered when she realized how much of the front seat he really occupied.
“My mother named me,” she managed shakily.
“Well, Randi.” He repeated her name with emphasis. “Far be it from me to question good fortune, but what the heck were you doing out here in this deluge?”
“I…” She had to swallow down the lump in her throat and put aside her jitters. “I was on my way home from town. When I heard about the storm, I stopped at the grocery store after work. That’s why I’m late.” She was babbling and tried to slow down.
She took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of wet leather, sweat and musky man. An odd sensation, one she couldn’t name and had never felt before, coiled inside her.
Randi found herself sneaking a peek at his ring finger.
“I saw a car’s headlights turn at the creek road,” she began. “Everyone who lives around here knows not to take a low-water bridge road in a storm, so I figured it must be strangers. I knew there’d be trouble.”
Empty. No rings on his hands at all. But that didn’t mean much in these modern times. And there was the matter of his baby.
Randi suddenly remembered the child. When she turned her head to check on him, she was surprised to see the shaggy, black-haired desperado of a man gently patting the back of the baby who lay quietly on his chest.
“We can’t make it to the hospital before the highway is flooded out. Is the baby going to be all right? Will you manage?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” he mumbled.
“What’s the baby’s name?”
“Uh, I don’t…Ricardo…Ricky,” he finally stammered.
Maybe Manny was as flustered by the circumstances as she was? Nope. Not the gritty and unswerving male who’d helped her and the baby off the slick minivan in the middle of the storm.
“And I think he’s going to be fine. He stopped shivering a few minutes ago.” Manny glanced down at the top of the toddler’s head, then peered out the window into the dark night. “I would like to get him dried off, though.”
“Right. Looks like we beat the water. We’re almost there.” As a matter of fact, at that moment the rusty gate bearing the Running C brand came into view.
Randi threw the car into Park and jumped out to open the gate—which turned out to be not an easy task with all the mud flowing across the gravel road.
She groaned internally at the thought of how rutted and pocked her road would be after the rain. And she didn’t have enough money to have it graded this time, either.
Gritting her teeth with frustration, Randi shoved at the heavy gate and then plowed her way back to the truck. The darn thing could just stay open. She didn’t care. No way was she getting out of the truck again to close it in this downpour.
Back in the driver’s seat, Randi could feel icy water dripping on her neck. The droplets didn’t stop there, but ran under her collar and slithered down her back. She started to shiver involuntarily but pressed her lips together and kept driving.
Only another half a mile to go.
It seemed like an hour’s drive, but actually within a few minutes she pulled up in the yard. Ignoring her usual parking spot under the tree, Randi drove as close to the back porch as she could manage.
“This is it. Let me put on a light and then I’ll come back out and help with the baby.” She ducked her head as she opened the truck door against the heavy rain and wind.
Just inside the door to the house, Manny stomped his boots and tried to shake the bulk of the water from his body, without much luck. He was soaked clean through.
When Randi had turned on the porch light, he’d caught a glimpse of her ranch house through the pouring rain. It hadn’t made much of an impression. From what Manny could see, the porch stairs leaned precariously to one side and the back door could obviously stand a new coat of paint.
Now he found himself in an old-fashioned mud room, with thirty-year-old linoleum on the floor and yellowing wallpaper on the walls. He clutched the baby to his chest, not wanting him to get a chill. Manny could still see his breath in the air even though they were inside the house.
“That’s all of it.” Randi came back through the door, carrying two bags full of groceries. “Come into the kitchen, while I light the stove. It’ll only take a few minutes to warm up.”
She dragged off her slicker, shaking it as she hung it on a peg. Leading the way through the mud room and into the kitchen, she turned on lights as she went.
Without the raincoat, she looked like a drowned rat. Well, actually, more like a drowned mouse. Thin and pale, her long, straight hair had almost dried, and he noticed only that it was the color of dishwater. She had on a dark pants outfit that appeared to be permanently wrinkled and stained by the rain.
The only memorable things about her were her eyes. In the light he saw their magical color. Hazel, he supposed they’d call them on a rap sheet. But one minute they were pale green ringed by steel blue, the next minute they were a deep gold with bronze flecks. The vulnerability he’d found within them haunted him more than the interesting colors.
Suddenly conscious of what a wet mess he was making, Manny stepped onto one of the braided rugs covering the wooden plank floor. Holding the baby against his shoulder, he silently apologized to the child for having to make up a name and for continuing to drag him along during an investigation. He stayed at the far end of the room and let his eyes adjust to the dim light.
He slowly focused, staring into the wide-open area that served as a kitchen and looked as if it had been furnished in the forties. His gaze took in all the details of the room: the propane-powered icebox with the fan on top, the floor-to-ceiling, free-standing breakfront, used as a pantry, and the two-foot thick, butcher block table in the middle of the room.
The out-of-date feel to the place reminded him of Mexico. Everything here was well-worn but also well cared for and spotless.
Randi busied herself shoving chopped wood into a cast-iron stove, the kind that had become very trendy in some areas of the West. Manny seriously doubted if she’d bought the thing to be fashionable. It looked ancient, but usable.
She lit the fire and fiddled with a damper. “It won’t be long now.” Her gaze caught his and flicked away. “Let me get some towels and a blanket for your baby.”
When she disappeared down a hall, Manny was shocked to realize he’d been studying her with more than just the professional eye of an undercover special agent. He found he’d been sidetracked once again by those amazing hazel-green eyes.
As she spoke, she’d looked like a timid fawn. Her skin was pearly with a dash of freckles across the nose. Only average height and a little too thin, as well, he thought. But her hips did curve rather seductively in the dressy slacks she wore.
All in all there wasn’t a reason in the world for the lick of desire he’d felt when their gazes met. He’d most assuredly felt it, though. And was, in fact, still trying to recover from the jolt.
Randi came back into the room with an armful of linens. “Here, let me have Ricky. You get out of that jacket and start drying off.”
After she set the pile of towels and blankets on the counter, he handed her the little boy and peeled off his soggy leather jacket. Manny was surprised to find the room considerably warmer than it had been just a few minutes earlier. He didn’t bother trying to figure out whether the warmth was related to the temperature or came from the nearness of the woman.
He took a deep breath and smelled a heady combination of mesquite smoke, dried herbs and tangy oranges. Reaching to pull off his boots, he had the weird sensation of being here before, of feeling at home. Maybe it was because the place felt like a safe haven, reminding him of his grandmother’s house in Mexico.
Manny stood transfixed, with a water-filled boot in each hand, watching as Randi undressed the baby and towel dried his hair. She was easy with Ricky, warm and motherly, and she turned Manny’s senses to mush.
Son of a gun. This innocent couldn’t possibly be involved with the baby smugglers. It wouldn’t be fair.
For the first time since he’d taken the oath, he hated what he did for a living. Hated having to pretend to be something he wasn’t. Hated having decent people be afraid of him.
But the truth was, when push came to shove, if Randi was involved with the smuggling ring, he’d do his job and take her down. The ruthless, international baby snatchers deserved no mercy. He just had to pray this guileless young woman was exactly as she seemed.
As soon as humanly possible, Manny needed to banish his emotions once more and get out of her house and her life—with his libido and his soul safely intact.
Two
“The phone’s on the wall behind you.” The sound of Randi’s voice broke into Manny’s daydream.
“Can you dial the operator and ask to speak to the sheriff’s office?” She kept a hand on Ricky while speaking to Manny over her shoulder. “I think we should report your wreck and see what needs to be done.”
Before they contacted any sheriff, Manny needed to contact his boss at Operation Rock-a-Bye. Without saying a word to Randi, he shoved his wet jacket and boots into the washroom and picked up the phone. “The line’s dead.”
“Oh, dear. The storm must be worse. That means the electricity will be next.” She wrapped the lethargic baby in a heavy blanket and handed him over to Manny. “We’d better get a move on. There’s a shower stall off the mud room. You and the baby get under the warm water. I’ll start a fire in the front room.”
When she turned to move away from him, Manny clamped a hand over her arm. Her skin was ice-cold.
“Is there anyone else in the house? Anyone you’re expecting?”
She shook her head and jerked on her arm, but he didn’t release her. Not just yet. “You need to warm up as much as we do. You’re shivering. You take the baby into the shower. I’ll start the fire.”
“No…no.” She eased her arm away from his grasp, and he released her reluctantly. “I know where everything is. You don’t. I’ll light some kerosene lanterns just in case. And I’m pretty sure there’s a trunk in the attic with some baby things—maybe even clothes that’ll fit you.”
She tilted her head, letting her gaze travel up his full length, making him feel naked and taking him in a direction he didn’t want to go.
“Well, maybe at least something that’ll do in an emergency.” With that pronouncement, she swiveled on the balls of her feet and headed to the door. “I’ll get changed while I’m upstairs. I’ll be okay.” She turned her head to look in his direction. “Everything will be okay.”
“Right,” he muttered as she disappeared. “Everything’s going to be just swell.”
Randi almost made it back downstairs before the power went out. Almost. Instead, she wasted time speculating about the dangerous-looking man and child she’d taken into her home.
The lights blinked once, then plunged the house into a familiar darkness. Without missing a step, she reached for the candle and some matches she’d stashed in the attic for emergencies. Lately one problem or another caused a power outage every month, and she simply didn’t have the money to buy a new generator.
Lighting the candle and inching her way to the darkened stairs, Randi’s mind went back to the broad-shouldered man who’d been dressed head to toe in black. When he’d stepped into her kitchen and taken off the leather jacket, she’d caught a glimpse of rippled muscles under his inky-colored T-shirt and jeans.
The man emanated power and excitement. Never in her life had she seen so much macho packed into one person. He was charming and terribly good-looking, in a sexy sort of way. But all that was just window dressing.
He made the words take charge, dynamo, and daring seem inadequate. Did his honey-brown eyes really absorb her every thought, word and deed, especially when she hadn’t said or done anything at all? Did he really manage to discover her wishes and desires without a word? Even his body appeared to vibrate with static energy as he stood perfectly still.
No, Manny Sanchez was nothing like any of the men she’d ever known. Randi had read about such heroes in novels, had seen a couple in movies when she was a girl. She’d even dreamed about them from time to time, but the idea of really meeting one this dynamic had never crossed her mind. And now she’d taken him into her house.
A shiver rippled along her spine as she crept down the stairs. If it hadn’t been an emergency situation, and if it hadn’t been for the baby…
The thought of Ricky made Randi hasten her steps. Precariously balanced, with a basket of clothes in one hand and a candle in the other, she worried about the child. That little one didn’t seem well to her, his eyes were glazed and his cry weak. She fervently hoped that with some warmth and dry clothes he might be okay.
When she crept into her front room, she found a massive hulk huddled by the fire. Manny must have found another blanket. This one totally covered him like a tent as he kept his back to her and faced the warmth of the hearth.
Randi accidentally stepped on a creaky floor board and jumped nearly a foot at the noise.
“Did you get a shower before the power went out?” Manny asked. Wincing at the pain from his tender shoulder, he shifted the baby against his chest before turning. He’d known by her light footsteps that he’d be facing the young woman who’d given them shelter.
She’d changed into well-worn jeans and a frayed, navy sweatshirt with a Texas Aggie logo. The sweatshirt was thin with age, and he couldn’t help but notice the way her nipples beaded against it in the cold.
With her wet hair tied up in a towel, she looked so fragile his first impulse was to gather her up in his arms and set her on a shelf somewhere. In his current state of undress that would be more than stupid on his part, even if she would allow it.
Randi set down the basket she’d been carrying by the hearth. “No, no time for a shower. But I’m fairly dry and the fire will warm me up fast enough.” She pulled a kerosene lamp from the mantel and lit it before blowing out her candle. “Did you find everything you needed?”
He suppressed a chuckle. “I didn’t even bother looking. I did find the clothesline in the mud room and hung our soggy stuff over it, but Ricky needs a few things you probably don’t have.”
She dug into the basket and pulled out a square white cloth. “Like this, you mean?”
At his raised eyebrow, she laughed. “Diapers. My mom kept an entire trunk full of my baby things for…later.” She blushed and laughed again. “Mother was an eternal optimist.”
Randi held out her arms, waiting for him to transfer the baby. It was a delicate maneuver, considering the precarious state of the towel he’d wrapped around his own waist and the blanket that kept slipping down his shoulders.
She laid the baby down on the rug in front of the fire and unwrapped the clumsily tied towel he’d used as a diaper. “Well, you didn’t do so badly. With nothing else handy, the towel was actually a good idea.”
