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She didn’t say anything and the cowboy didn’t budge.
“When was the last time you had a decent meal?” he asked, standing so close that her body was aware of his every breath.
“It’s been a while. I got distracted tracking this lead,” she quipped. Exhaustion was taking a toll and she couldn’t help herself. Her tone tended toward being harsh in a situation like this. “Thanks for the hand up, by the way.”
“No problem. You don’t have to sound like I broke your arm.”
What? Did she? Okay, that did make her feel bad. She wasn’t trying to be a jerk.
The cowboy chuckled as he turned and walked away.
Oh, so he had a sense of humor. Under different circumstances, Alice might actually laugh. Searching for Isabel nonstop for the past six weeks had brought her to the brink of exhaustion. Then there were the twins. Two baby boys who had one speed...blazing. She missed her boys so fiercely it had physically hurt since she’d left home three weeks ago on a hot tip.
Isabel Guillermo had disappeared two months before her sixteenth birthday. And it was Alice’s fault. Before that, Isabel had been placed into the foster care system. Also Alice’s fault. Because Alice had had a bad day at work, Isabel’s parents were dead. Again, Alice’s fault.
A sweet and innocent teen’s world had shattered because a criminal got one over on Alice. Her mistake had cost Sal and Patsy Guillermo their lives. Alice should’ve been more aware.
She shook off the reverie, focusing on the cowboy instead. Not only had he already located the canister, but he was standing perfectly still, studying her.
Alice pulled out her cell, grateful the downpour should provide enough of a curtain between them to mask her true emotions, and covered it with her free hand to shield it from the rain.
“We need to find another gas station,” was all she managed to say. Thinking about Isabel’s case, about the past few weeks, had her missing her boys. Her heart ached and she wanted to be with them. But what kind of mother could she ever be to them if she didn’t find Isabel?
* * *
“ANYONE EXPECTING YOU at home?” Alice asked the cowboy as he took his seat in the Jeep after hiking for what felt like half the night to get gas. She needed to know if she’d just put a family in danger and that’s the reason she told herself she asked. His ride wasn’t tricked out for mudding so she figured it was his commute vehicle.
“No.”
Why did that one word make her heart flutter?
Ignoring it, Alice thought about her next move. Going back to get him had been impulsive and dangerous. She couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks or rack up collateral damage. The cowboy would have to go with her to her motel room. She hoped that he remained cooperative so she could talk sense into him.
“Where to?” He turned the key in the ignition and the engine came to life.
“Take Highway 287 out of town,” she said, rubbing her temples.
“Mind if I stop for food first? There won’t be anything once we leave town and it’s not like you can order pizza from The Bluff Motel.”
“How did you know where we were going?” She snapped her head to the left to get a good look at him.
“Not a lot of options around here.”
Okay. Fine. He had her on that point.
“There a drive-thru nearby?” She needed something to eat and she could always hide in the backseat so no one saw her. Perez had eyes everywhere and she didn’t want to risk anyone seeing the two of them together. No one should be looking for her, Perez or otherwise, at least not officially. Her SO had been texting for her return to work and to make sure she wasn’t interfering with a federal investigation. She hadn’t exactly broken any laws unless she counted unauthorized tampering with the National Crime Information Center—NCIC—database. As far as technicalities went, she wasn’t exactly hacking into the system. She was just doing a little side research project.
Her stomach rumbled from hunger and her side ached. She needed to re-dress her stab wound, a gift from the last crime ring she’d infiltrated.
“We can zip through the line in a few minutes,” he said, pulling into a burger stand parking lot.
“Okay.” Eat. Rest. Talk the cowboy into witness protection. How hard could it be to convince someone to give up the only life they knew because of a perceived threat from a stranger?
“And then you’ll come clean with why you’re tracking one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the country,” the cowboy said with law enforcement authority.
Chapter Three (#u40e05ba5-3850-54c1-a674-b054fff20deb)
The motel room was basic but comfortable. There were two full-size beds with a nightstand in between, a small table with two chairs near a picture window, and a dresser with an old-fashioned TV. Joshua would bet money there was a bible in the top drawer. The floral pattern in this room was bluebonnets, a nod to the state flower, and they were on the curtain and both bedspreads. The floor was tiled in a neutral shade.
One of the bedspreads was rumpled and the other bed was being used as a makeshift office. Papers were spread out across the comforter and there was a laptop along with a couple of cell phones and a small technological device that Joshua figured was for surveillance.
“Let’s talk about your options,” Alice said after she’d finished the last bite of her burger and drained her Coke. She wadded up the wrapper and tossed it in the trash. They’d toweled off and she’d changed into dry clothes.
Joshua couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen someone wolf down food so fast, and that was saying a lot given that he had five brothers.
“Or you could tell me what’s really going on. Why you’re on the run from the police,” he countered, motioning toward the second bed, not ready to tip his own hand.
“I’m not—”
He put a hand up to stop her. “If you don’t want to tell me why you’re in this mess we’ll bunk down for the night and I’ll leave you alone in the morning. I have no interest in playing games.”
The woman needed rest and the only reason he stuck around was because he figured she’d be crazy enough to follow him if he left her alone. Or so he lied to himself. There was more to it than that. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge whatever “it” was because she mostly frustrated him.
She slipped off her shoes, settled against the headboard on the second bed and pinched her nose like she was trying to stem a headache. “I’m trying to find a young girl. It’s my fault she’s missing and, therefore, my responsibility to get her back.”
Joshua turned his chair around to face her and clasped his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.
“She disappeared six weeks ago and I’ve been searching for her ever since. With each passing day, her odds crash...” There was so much anguish in her voice that Joshua had to fight the urge to cross the room and pull her into his arms to comfort her. She’d probably poke him in the eyes if he did, he thought dryly, remembering how unwelcomed his attempts to make her feel better had been so far. She’d been clear on where she stood when it came to accepting help or being pitied. She’d taken a zero-tolerance stance.
“How old is she?”
Alice’s eyes were closed now and distress was written all over her features. “Almost sixteen.”
He couldn’t even go there mentally...a place where one of his family members had disappeared. Two of his grown brothers had had brushes with death in recent months and that was enough to keep Joshua on full alert. They were adults capable of handling themselves. But a sixteen-year-old?
He flexed his fingers to keep his hands from fisting.
“I’m sorry,” he said and meant it. Her admission explained a lot about why she’d be staying in an out-of-town motel, alone. “What happened?”
“She was around one day and then not the next.” She opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on the wall directly in front of her. “You asked about me being on the job before. I used to be until this happened.”
“You left to investigate this girl’s disappearance?” he asked, thinking there were at least a half dozen scenarios where he would’ve done exactly the same thing.
She nodded.
“Why not do both?”
“We weren’t getting anywhere on the investigation and my boss wanted my full attention on the job. I agreed, but on my own time I had to do everything I could to find her. The longer she was gone...well, let’s just stay statistics weren’t—aren’t on her side. After three weeks of red tape and netting zero following procedure, I figured I could get a lot further my own way.”
As a cop she’d have to follow procedure to a T when all she really wanted to do was find the girl and bring her home. She wasn’t interested in prosecution and laws would get in the way.
“Did you quit the force?”
“Took an extended leave,” she said. “But I have no idea if I’ll have a job when I return. The chief threatened me and told me not to interfere with an ongoing investigation.”
“Bet you’ve covered a lot more distance than they have,” Joshua said. A flicker crossed her features. Regret? Anxiety?
What was she holding back?
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. She bit back a yawn. “This guy I’ve been tracking is the real deal. He is going to come looking for you. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”
“He won’t find me tonight,” Joshua said. “He’s probably still looking for the cute blond teenage girl who got away.”
She laughed but her amusement disappeared too quickly. She zeroed in on him. “I’m serious. This guy is nothing to joke about. He’s ruthless and no one has lived after catching him in action.”
Joshua balked. “And you were trying to get him to take you so you could investigate this girl’s disappearance?”
“Yes.”
“That makes you either stupid or brave. I can’t decide which.” He admired her dedication. He also noted that it would take a whole lot of guilt to make a cop walk away from her job. “How many other organizations have you done this with?”
“Several.”
“And that led you to Perez’s group?”
She fixed her gaze on the ceiling. “He’s my last hope of finding her and I tracked down a lead that says he’s the one who took her.”
“I’m guessing you saved him for last on purpose based on how dangerous he is.” Joshua wasn’t worried about being exposed to Perez. He wouldn’t be sticking around in Bluff for long anyway. He’d been searching for the right time to tell his family that he had no plans to live out his life on the cattle ranch. Granted, he loved the land but he’d applied for a job in the FBI and had every intention of picking up his life where he’d left off once things were settled. A cranky little voice in the back of his mind asked, Then why haven’t you told anyone yet?
The truth? He resented everyone’s assumption that he’d drop everything and change his life. His older brothers might be fine with doing that, hell, they’d all spread out and made their own millions with successful businesses. They’d proven their worth as men. But Joshua was just getting going on his future. To have that stripped away just as it was getting good wasn’t in the plans. As much as he loved his brothers, they wouldn’t understand. His only regret—and it kept him awake at night—had been that he hadn’t stepped up and told his father before he was gone.
Joshua had known on some level that his father wouldn’t have liked his plan so he kept on living a lie, thinking that the right time to bring up the subject would magically present itself. The worst part was that the old man would never have expressed his disapproval. He was a good father. There was no way he’d make Joshua feel obligated. But Joshua had seen the look of excitement in his father’s eyes last year when he’d told the boys about the plan to have them work the land he loved so much. He’d built a small empire for his sons from nothing. Rejecting his father’s offer would make Joshua feel a lot like he was rejecting the man, his legacy.
Selfish as it might have been, Joshua hadn’t wanted to see disappointment in his father’s eyes. Now it was too late and he felt trapped.
“I thought I was alone with Perez and his men in that location. Never saw you coming,” Alice admitted.
“How’d you know he’d be there?” he asked, redirecting his thoughts to something he could fix.
“I’d tracked him to the area based on a meeting he’d set up to talk to someone about a new transportation route and so I used an informant to plant a tip. I knew that if he could get me on Perez’s radar that I’d have a good chance of becoming his target. My informant had already told me that Perez had a buyer for a sixteen-year-old blonde, so he set me up.”
She’d fit the clean-cut American teenager to a T. Even now with her blue-striped pajama pants and white tank, she looked years younger. Her hair was drying and the rubber band looked barely able to contain her waves.
“And then you came along and...” She didn’t say that he’d ruined it but he could tell based on her expression that’s exactly what she was thinking.
“If I interrupted your plan to be kidnapped by one of the most dangerous men in the country, then I’m glad I came along when I did,” Joshua said. He pointed to her right side below her armpit where blood flowered. “How bad is that?”
She glanced down and panic flitted across her face as she hopped up. “Oh.”
“Don’t move. You’ll only make it worse.” He glanced around the small room looking for some kind of emergency kit. “You have first aid supplies?”
“Not much. I meant to pick some up.”
“Hold on.” He ran out to the Jeep and retrieved his, shivering in the cold. The temperature must’ve dropped fifteen degrees in the last hour alone. On the ranch, he never knew when he’d need first aid so he’d gotten in the habit of keeping supplies on hand wherever he went.
The thunder had eased and the rain was coming down in a steady beat. He planned to head out at first light as soon as he knew she’d be okay.
Joshua returned to the room a few minutes later and found Alice as he’d left her. Head against the headboard with her eyes shut. Since her hand was closed around her Glock, he didn’t want to startle her.
He moved closer so that he could disarm her if need be. He didn’t take her skills lightly. She was good with a weapon but he was better. Couple that with the fact that exhaustion was slowing her reaction time and he had the edge he needed.
Her eyes snapped open the second the bed dipped under his weight.
“It’s me,” he said, his hand covering hers on the weapon as she brought it up. Physical contact sent a different kind of heat through him. A sexual attraction wasn’t appropriate or wanted, especially under the circumstances.
She apologized and then shook her head.
“How long has it been since you’ve had a good night’s sleep?” he asked. There were other more pressing questions he needed to ask, but he reminded himself not to get too personal with someone he would never see again after tonight. Because he had every intention of helping her and then getting back to the ranch to deal with his own problems.
“A while, I guess.”
“What else do you know about Perez?” he asked to distract her as he lifted her shirt enough to see where the blood came from. He was worried about Alice. He peeled back the bloody bandage to reveal a two-inch gash three inches below her armpit.
“Most of these criminal rings take girls from places where huge crowds are gathered, like the Super Bowl. Not Perez. He searches for just the right one, looks for a certain kind and mostly prefers all-American types. He seems to have a particular affinity for blondes although Isabel—” she flashed her eyes at him as he cleaned the blood off the cut and then she continued “—that’s her name, is a brunette. I can see why he’d take her, though, because she’s a beautiful girl.”
There was probably no way he could convince Alice to follow him to the ranch until he could dig deeper into the situation and things settled down. Her eyes were pure blue steel and determination and she’d left behind a job she loved to track down this girl. This was the closest she’d been to getting answers and he highly doubted he could convince her to slow down.
“Innocent girls and blondes fetch a higher price. His target age range is twelve to sixteen years old.” She winced.
He apologized as he finished cleaning her wound, warning her that the next part might hurt more. “I’d be happy to take you to the ER.”
Her head was already shaking before he could finish his sentence.
“Those are practically babies,” Joshua ground out, thinking about what she said about the girls. Anger bit through his normally easygoing nature.
She nodded. “He likes to target places where there won’t be a lot of extra security or cameras. Remote spots in small towns like this.”
Joshua blotted her wound with fresh antibiotic ointment on a clean piece of gauze.
“Then, he sells them to various jerks or uses them to farm babies for high-profit adoptions,” she said.
Didn’t this conversation just spike Joshua’s blood pressure in two seconds flat? No matter how many years he spent on the job he’d never get used to people who hurt children. He shook his head as he placed a new bandage over her cut.
“I learned that several of his girls have been used for the sole purpose of being impregnated and then held captive through multiple pregnancies,” she continued.
Joshua knew all about those sickening operations. He’d get more information out of Alice if she believed he was a civilian. He pretended to be hearing this for the first time even though he didn’t feel right deceiving her. “Do I want to know what Perez does once he...uses the girls?”
“Dumps the bodies once he’s made enough from the babies and the girls start to become liabilities,” she said with an involuntary shudder. “And that’s just one of the things they could be doing with her. Perez has been known to sell them to a high bidder, which is why he likes a specific look. He knows the market and what his customers like. He gets a sense for their taste and then snatches a few girls to give a ‘client’ options.”
