Protector

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“Deeper and deeper,” Cash mused.

“It gets worse.” Hayes’s jaw was taut with stress. His dark eyes narrowed. “This reclusive drug lord has ties to our country in a way that could cause some very harsh problems locally.”

“Don’t tell me. He’s related to the mayor of Jacobsville,” Cash chuckled.

“Much worse.” He drew in a breath. “He has a daughter. She doesn’t know it.”

Cash frowned. “There’s a new wrinkle. Her father is a notorious drug dealer and she doesn’t know about him?”

Hayes nodded. He felt a twinge of guilt. “He’s the one who supplied Brent and Ella Walsh, who gave Rachel Conley the coke that she injected my brother, Bobby, with...a fatal dose of narcotics.”

“Sorry,” Cash said gruffly. “That must make it harder.”

“It does.” He leaned back against the pillows. He felt older than his years. “My father, Dallas, was sheriff here for many years, right up until he died, as you must know. He told me about the connection, in case I ever needed the information, but he made me swear that I’d never tell the woman what I knew about her real father.” He made a face. “It’s tied my hands in terrible ways.”

“I can imagine.” He cocked his head. “Which means you can’t tell me, either.”

“That’s the case.” Hayes drew in a long breath. “I’m not sure what to do,” he confessed. “I don’t know how she’d react. I don’t know,” he added, “if her father even knows about her. But I have to assume that he probably does. If that’s the case, and he finds himself in a corner, he might try to use her to help him out of it.”

Cash’s eyebrows arched. “She has influence?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, boy.”

“I never thought I’d have to wrestle with a decision like this,” he replied. “It’s keeping me awake at night.”

“Family secrets,” he murmured. “Tippy and I have had to deal with those, too. She still doesn’t know who her real father was. Her mother couldn’t tell her, although her brother’s dad is a police chief in Georgia.”

“I heard about that,” Hayes replied, and frowned.

“What are you going to do?”

Hayes shrugged, wincing when it made his chest uncomfortable. “I’m not sure. It depends on circumstances.” He met Cash’s eyes. “I’m putting Minette’s family in danger by staying here,” he added unexpectedly.

“Not really.” Cash’s dark eyes were amused. “Things are going on that you don’t know about.” He held up his hand when Hayes tried to speak. “Better you don’t know.”

“I gather our every move is being watched,” Hayes mused.

“Oh, you can count on that.” He propped his forearms on his knees. “Now about this physical therapy thing...”

“Stop right there,” Hayes muttered.

“Sorry, I promised. I always keep my promises. I know what it’s like to be shot, and I have vaster experience than you do,” he added. “You don’t want to end up losing the use of that arm, do you?”

Hayes’s eyes popped. “What do you mean?”

“Surely the doctor explained how muscles atrophy?”

“Well, he said something of the sort. I wasn’t really listening. I was trying to get him to sign me out of the hospital at the time. I’d have agreed to paint his house if he’d asked.”

Cash chuckled. “I’ve been there, too.” He pursed his lips. “It’s just a little sacrifice, having that treatment and doing the exercises. You don’t want to have to hire somebody to carry your gun and shoot it for you,” he added.

“I have been shot before,” Hayes argued.

“Yes, but not this seriously,” Cash replied. His dark eyes narrowed. “You know, most people who carry more than two gunshot wounds would be said to have gone looking for trouble.”

Hayes glared at him.

“I won’t believe you’re suicidal, Hayes,” Cash continued. “But you do walk in blind. I don’t want to have to learn how to work with a new sheriff,” he added meaningfully. “It would be time-consuming.”

Hayes managed a grin. “I’ll buy that. You’re not the easiest acquaintance I know.”

“I’ll get worse with age,” Cash promised. “The point is,” he sobered, “that you’re less cautious than you need to be. Gunshot wounds add up. They cause problems later in life.”

“I’m not going to start watching my shadow.”

“Not asking you to,” Cash replied. “But you need to pay more attention to your surroundings and call for backup. You’re not one of those caped heroes. We don’t have any radioactive spiders around here.”

Hayes chuckled. “You sure about that?”

“Go to rehab,” Cash advised. “And take advantage of the last rest you’re likely to get in the coming weeks. I think we’re going to find that we’re in the middle of a drug turf war.”

“You’ve been talking to Cy Parks.”

“Yes, I have. You remember that property a former drug trafficker bought that adjoins his?” He waited while Hayes nodded. “Well, it’s never been resold and Cy’s seen some new activity there. Buildings going up, semitrailers coming in. He checked it out, but the workers don’t seem to know much. They say some horse breeder is moving in. Cy thinks it’s going to be a front for drug distribution. He’s worried.”

“He does love his purebred Santa Gerts,” Hayes agreed, mentioning the one native breed of cattle, Santa Gertrudis, which hailed from the famous King Ranch in Texas.

“I told him I’d have a few people I know check it out and get back to me. But if you want my opinion, the man behind it is El Ladrón’s competition.”

Hayes sat straight up. “No. Not him. Not here, for God’s sake!”

“Afraid so, if my theory is right.”

“Damn. Damn!”

“It might work to our advantage,” Cash said. “We’d have him where we could watch him.”

Hayes didn’t dare say what he was thinking. It would have revealed too much.

“What if he’s the gent who sent the shooter after me, instead of the other?” Hayes wondered aloud.

“Not him,” Cash replied. “He’s got too much class for hired assassins.”

Hayes lifted an eyebrow. “Too much class?”

“The man goes to church,” Cash replied. “He’s devout. He takes care of his workers, buys insurance for all of them, makes sure the kids are educated.”

“Is he a drug lord or a saint?” Hayes asked, exasperated.

“Why do you think they call him ‘El Jefe’? They speak of him with reverence. He’s as far removed from the other one as a saint is from sin.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how he ever ended up involved in the drug trade in the first place. He’s independently wealthy. He doesn’t need it.”

“Maybe he likes the risk and the rep,” Hayes replied.

Cash chuckled. “Maybe he does.”