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He turned her way for a second before returning his gaze to the road. “I hope you’re not doing anything really stupid, like trying to set Dan up.”
“Of course not. What kind of woman do you think I am?”
“How would I know what kind of woman you are? We just met.”
“I’m trying to help. That’s all.”
They settled into a strained silence. Apparently he was still angry that she’d run from him back at the airport, but he could just get over it. They were in this together. They might as well make the most of it. And she hated to ride in silence. Better to ask questions and force him to talk. “Are you married?”
His face twisted into a scowl. “No way.”
“You don’t have to bite my head off. I was just thinking that it must be rough to leave your wife at home when you go off on one of these missions. If you had one.”
“That’s why I don’t. What about you? Why didn’t you marry that Todd guy you were talking about?”
“Todd didn’t want me. Well, actually, he did want me. He didn’t want our child. He thought I should, you know, get rid of it or at least give it up for adoption.”
“But you wanted to keep your baby?”
Wanted. The word was probably accurate, but it seemed so mild compared to the feelings that had come over her from the second the pregnancy test had come back positive. It wasn’t that she was against adoption. She knew there were many wonderful people out there who ached for a baby of their own and couldn’t have one, people who could give the baby a good home.
But the baby growing inside her was wanted by its biological mother. Wanted and needed. And already loved. “There is no way I’m giving up my baby.”
“So Todd just took off and left you stranded?”
“Something like that.”
“He isn’t the first man to walk away and leave an expectant mother to shift for herself. Guess fatherhood puts too much of a damper on some men’s lifestyles.”
Sarah had the strange feeling that Cody was no longer talking about her at all. His tone had taken on an intensity that seemed too personal for conversation between strangers.
But then nothing about their being together was normal.
“Were you in love with Todd?” The question took her by surprise. If he’d asked her three months ago, the answer would have been an unqualified yes. “I thought I was at the time. Now I think I was only in love with being in love. A woman dreams of that all her life. Romance. The perfect man. I mean, songs, poems, movies—they’re all about falling in love.”
“So what changed your mind?”
“I expected to fall apart when he left. I didn’t. The truth was my life got easier with no one around to tell me that I couldn’t do anything on my own. Two years of hearing that constantly and you start to believe it.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying you dated this guy for two years and then he just walked out of your life because you were pregnant with his baby?”
“Two years and three months to be exact. He counted it up for me when he left, just in case I couldn’t.”
“You must have been a teenager when you started dating him.”
“I’m a lot older than I look, twenty-seven on my next birthday. But Todd was my first serious beau.”
“Looks like waiting around didn’t improve your judgment.”
“I wasn’t exactly waiting around. My life was too busy to think of relationships before that. I worked my way through university, taking night classes until I could earn my degree in business.”
“Didn’t your mother help you pay for your education?”
“My mother?”
“Yeah, you know, your wonderful nurse mother who practically runs the hospital.”
She turned to stare out the window. “She wanted to, but she had quit her job at the hospital by then to do missionary work in Africa.”
“She sounds like quite a woman.”
“She is.”
Cody reached down and checked the beeper at his waist. “Looks like Dan is ready for us. Too bad your cell phone got destroyed in the attack.”
“Don’t you have one?”
“Not anymore.”
“What will you do?”
“Find a pay phone somewhere.”
“Last minute directions. Secret destinations.” She stretched her legs in front of her. “This is awfully intriguing, don’t you think?”
“I never thought of it like that.”
“That’s because you’re a cowboy who’s merely serving as a guide and bodyguard. You don’t have a full understanding or appreciation for the importance of this mission.”
He glanced her way and rolled his eyes. “No, ma’am. I’m just an ignorant cowboy at your service.”
He was making fun of her now. She’d never been able to pull off that sophisticated routine. But, this was exciting, whether Cody Gannon wanted to admit it or not. Living on the edge. Doing something important. She’d waited for this moment all her life. Too bad that Cody was the only one around to see her, and he apparently wasn’t impressed.
And too bad reality reared its ugly head every so often and reminded her what would happen if anything went wrong with this operation. Only nothing would go wrong. Dan Austin was one of the best agents the DPS had ever had.
They drove another ten minutes until they came to a gas station. Cody pulled off and parked near the phone booth. “I’ll only be a minute.” He killed the engine and yanked his keys from the ignition.
“I didn’t plan to leave you,” she said, as he jumped out of the truck, dangling the key ring from his fingers.
“I’m not taking any chances. Not with my truck.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. A not-at-all sophisticated thing to do, but he was way too cocky.
She watched as he deposited his money and punched in the number. His mouth moved, so he was talking to someone, but his scowl indicated he was not happy with the call. After a minute or two, he slammed the receiver into its cradle and climbed back behind the steering wheel.
“Did Dan tell you where we’re supposed to meet him?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound as if you like it.”
“Driving into Mexico with a pregnant woman is not my idea of fun, especially when we’ve spent the last two hours driving in the opposite direction.”
Without warning, her stomach turned inside out. “I didn’t bargain for going into Mexico.”
“You can always back out,” he said.
And if she didn’t know better, she’d think that was what he wanted her to do. But that wouldn’t make sense. He worked for Mr. Austin. “I won’t back out. I always keep my word. But I might pass out if we don’t stop for dinner soon.”
“Then dinner it is. Better to give the devil his due on a full stomach.”
“You know, Cody Gannon, half the time I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Then we should make a good pair, because I don’t have a clue what I’m doing here.”
He swerved out of the parking lot and onto the road. “The rest of the ride may be a little bumpy.”
“Why?”
“Look behind you.”
She did. “I see a highway, passing fence posts, and there’s some horses in that field we just passed.”
“There’s a blue car back there somewhere, too. He’s been with us for the past fifteen miles or so. When I slow down, he slows down.”
“So that’s why we’ve been racing along half the time and crawling the other half? Do you think it’s the man who attacked me at the airport?”
“Whoever it is, I plan to lose him. So make sure your seat belt’s buckled.”
She checked the buckle, excitement dancing along her nerve endings. A cute cowboy, a secret mission, and someone following them. If this were a movie, the action music would start up right now.
THE RESTAURANT where they stopped was little more than a clapboard shell with a roof, but the parking lot was crowded. New and old cars and several pickup trucks jammed into the narrow space in front of the building, and that was always a good sign. Eat where the locals chow down and you can’t go wrong.
Cody opened the door for Sarah and helped her out of the truck. She planted her feet on the cracked asphalt and then reached back for her coat.
“I don’t think you’ll need that.”
“Not for warmth, but if you think I’m going in there sporting bloodstains, you’ve got another think coming.”
“Well, excuuuse me. If I’d known I was dining with a fashion plate, I’d have wiped the dust off my boots. But I can tell you without walking in the door that no one in this place is going to get all bent out of shape over a couple of stains.”
“Nonetheless, I’ll wear my wrap. My mother always says that if you want to be treated like a lady, you should look and act like one.”
“Then I’m glad your mother wasn’t there to watch your performance in the airport.” But still he held her coat while she slid her arms into the sleeves.
Her hair brushed his fingers. The softness of the strands contrasted with the rough texture of the coat, and he jerked his hands away. She might look and act and even feel like a lady, but she wasn’t one. She was just another criminal playing innocent, and he was way too smart to fall for her act.
He opened the door to the restaurant and was greeted by an assault of odors and a sudden attack of homesickness. The peppers, the onions, the smell of freshly baked tortillas. It was like walking into Rosa’s kitchen back at the Smoking Barrel. Only it wasn’t his buddies sitting around the table but a room full of strangers.
A waitress with a tray laden with sizzling fajitas sashayed by them. “Welcome to Carmelita’s,” she said, flashing them a smile. “Sit where you like. I think there’s still some empty tables in the back.”
Sarah made her way through the maze of tables and mismatched chairs without waiting for him. He followed along behind, glancing about the room as he did. The place looked safe enough, mostly families and a few young guys still sporting ranch dust on their faded jeans. A pudgy woman in a flowered dress caught him staring her way and smiled. He smiled back.
All well and good. Not that he expected trouble in here. He’d watched his tail ever since they’d left the gas station, cut through a field and down a deserted road before pulling out on this highway. But the attack back at the airport had him spooked. And the first thing he’d learned from Mitchell Forbes had been to never let his guard down.
He’d made a mistake back at the airport, but he didn’t plan to make any more.
Sarah had already pulled out her own chair and taken a seat by the time he caught up with her. “Didn’t your mother tell you that a lady waits for a man to hold her chair?”
“I’m perfectly capable of doing that for myself.”
“Still, it makes me look bad.”
“I didn’t know you were into playing the gentleman.”
“A real cowboy doesn’t play at being a gentleman. It comes naturally.”
“Do tell. Then I may have to reconsider my opinion of the saying on my tote bag. I’m not used to dining with a gentleman.”
“I take it Todd wasn’t one.”
“He probably was in the beginning. You know how it is after you date the same person for a long time.”
“No, can’t say that I do. Not unless four or five dates qualifies as a long time.”
“Four or five dates? You could do that in a week.”
“Maybe you could. Ranching hours don’t lend themselves to that kind of courting, especially when the ranch is five miles past the end of the world.”
“So why aren’t you out on the edge of nowhere punching cattle tonight, Cody Gannon, instead of taxiing me around?”
The answer was simple enough, but he kept it to himself. He wasn’t punching cattle because he no longer had a job. He didn’t belong on the Smoking Barrel anymore. He didn’t belong anywhere, and even if he had, he wouldn’t be at liberty to discuss it with Sarah.
If she had any idea that he was one of the good guys, that this was a trap, she’d run like a hellion at the first opportunity, maybe even destroy the disk completely. Or worse yet, actually get it to Calderone.
The waitress set a basket of greasy chips and a white crockery bowl of salsa in the center of the table. “Watch that stuff,” she said, tapping a painted fingernail on the edge of the bowl. “It’s hotter than a honeymoon hotel.” She laughed at her own joke and then pulled a pencil and order pad from her apron pocket. “What can I get you folks? Everything on the menu’s good and the bartender makes a great margarita.”
“I’ll take a beer,” Cody said. “Whatever you have on tap, as long as it’s cold. Maybe the lady would like a margarita.”
“Indeed not.” Sarah stared at him as if he’d committed a cardinal sin. “Alcohol is strictly off-limits for pregnant women. Haven’t you read the warnings? They’re posted on the bathroom door of every ladies’ room in the country.”
“Sorry. I don’t spend a lot of time hanging out in ladies’ rooms. But I wasn’t trying to force a drink on you. It was just a suggestion. Drink and eat whatever you like.”
“Are you paying?”
“Sure. Why not?” She was awful tight for a woman who was about to collect more money than he’d probably accumulate in a lifetime. At least she thought she was about to get paid.
Of course, she might be busted, and if she really was hard up for cash, that might explain why she’d sold out to the enemy. An unmarried woman about to have a baby could probably feel pretty desperate if she didn’t have the money for medical expenses and diapers and such.
