One Tough Texan

by Barb Han

  “We’ll need to clean up the wound this morning to make sure infection doesn’t set in.”

  “Hold on a second, cowboy. We don’t need to do anything. I’ve got this.” Her defenses were set to high gear again.

  He shot her a disgusted look that she didn’t want to overanalyze.

  “Of course you do,” he said.

  Well at least he took a hint. Or so she thought. Until he got up, moved to the bathroom and then returned with the first aid kit he’d stashed there last night.

  “I’m not the most agreeable person before coffee and I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot this morning,” she started but he interrupted her. He was trying to help and, although that grated on her, she also realized how nice it was to have a friend.

  “Letting me clean and bandage your wound doesn’t make you dependent on me, or weak.” He spoke slowly as though he didn’t want to leave any question about his intentions. There was also a sharp edge to his voice.

  “I never said it did,” she protested but he was already by her side, kneeling down. And if it wasn’t for those intense green eyes of his she’d stop him right there.

  “Then lift up your shirt and quit being a baby about it,” he dared.

  Alice did and then took a sip of coffee, realizing for the first time in weeks just how tired she was. Her still-foggy brain wasn’t helping with her disposition. The caffeine was starting to make headway toward clearing it. As it was, she’d been running on power bars and adrenaline, and even though she’d slept like a champ last night she knew it barely scratched the surface of what she really needed. Careful not to hurt her already aching side, she tried to stretch the kinks out of her arms and legs.

  “I need to come up with a new plan,” she said on a heavy sigh, not sure why she was confiding in the cowboy.

  “Since I have no confidence in your plan-making abilities, I’m willing to offer my services,” he said with a smile.

  “Great. Thanks for the confidence,” she said and then laughed. The cowboy had a point. And a great smile. “I guess I can see where I might look a little crazy from someone else’s point of view.”

  “Desperate or determined are probably better words. I just don’t want you to get yourself killed in the process,” he said. Maybe it was too early in the morning and Alice’s brain hadn’t fully engaged but the deep timbre of his voice sent sensual shivers down her back. “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve done and where you’ve been so far? We can go from there.”

  Alice took another sip of coffee and then leaned her head against the headboard. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Okay. Let’s see. Isabel went missing six weeks ago.”

  “And we’ve already determined that she’s not a disappear-with-a-band type,” he said with another endearing half smile.

  “She’s more of a Taylor Swift person,” Alice said, wishing she could return the smile. Just talking about Isabel made her heart ache.

  “When did you realize she was gone?” He said the last word quietly and his reverence was duly noted and appreciated.

  “We were supposed to meet at Lucky Joe’s Café right after school. She didn’t show.” Alice took another sip and opened her eyes.

  “Is that when you realized something was wrong?”

  “No. Not right away. I called her first and her phone went straight into voice mail. I thought maybe she got tied up with a teacher. She’d been stressing over her upcoming exams and didn’t feel prepared. The whole semester had been stressful. I thought maybe she was biting off more than she could chew. She’s a motivated student and she signed up for AP World History, Pre-AP Chemistry, Pre-AP English, and Pre-AP Algebra 2. Even though she speaks fluent Spanish, she signed up for AP French.”

  “Sounds like an intense load,” he said. “I think I took one AP class before graduating.”

  “Times have changed. Kids push themselves harder these days. Isabel wanted to get a college scholarship and she had no athletic ability.”

  “So, she had to push herself that hard?” His dark brow arched.

  “She thought she did. Her parents didn’t leave her any money and she didn’t have any other family in the US. The rest of her family is poor and live in Mexico. Conditions are worse there. She wanted to stay in the States and make a better life.”

  “Why don’t you sound convinced?”

  “Part of it was true. I do think she wanted to make a better life for herself but I also believe she was pushing herself so hard because she wanted to keep busy. Not deal with the fact that her parents were gone or that her foster parents didn’t care. She and her parents were close-knit and I could see how much she missed them.” An emotion passed behind the cowboy’s eyes that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. He didn’t say anything, so she kept going. “She’d been spending a lot of extra time at school, going to tutoring early in the mornings and staying late so I figured she forgot about our plans.”

  “And you’re sure that’s all she was doing?” the cowboy asked.

  Alice shot him a look.

  “Whoa. Don’t get mad at me. I have to ask and you know it.” He put his hands up in the surrender position, still gripping his coffee with his right. “Don’t mind me. I’m just a rancher.”

  Alice noted that he seemed to be pretty darn good at asking questions for someone claiming to work on a ranch. A simple life sounded damn amazing to her at this point. Was there a place she could get away with Isabel and the twins? Away from the world and all the stressors it contained? Or did a place like that even exist? Alice was anxious and that was the only reason she was thinking about escaping. The truth was that she loved everything about her job except for the guilt that came with making a critical mistake. When she had a bad day, someone could die.

  The thought sat bitterly on her chest.

  “Isabel didn’t have a lot of friends. Her school counselor said she’d always been a shy, bookish girl. She never got into trouble.”

  “Did she have any friends?”

  “No one close. She liked school and turned all her homework in on time.”

  “You mentioned that she was feeling overwhelmed with her studies,” he said.

  “Well, yeah, wouldn’t you? She was pushing herself too hard and I told her that I thought she should lighten her load,” Alice said.

  “How did she respond?”

  “She agreed with me. But the school wouldn’t let her change out of her Pre-AP classes until the end of the semester. She was worried about her GPA dropping in the meantime, so she started going to all available tutoring sessions,” Alice defended.

  “Which is the reason you didn’t think too much about her blowing off a meeting with you?” he asked.

  “I should’ve realized she was in trouble or that something had happened right then. She was dependable. I should’ve known that she would’ve shown if she’d been able to.” Alice couldn’t hold back the tears threatening any more than she could stop the heavy feeling pressing down on her chest. “I should’ve sounded the alarm right then and maybe we would’ve found her before she was taken out of town.”

  “Hold on there a second,” the cowboy said. “Had she ever missed a meeting with you before?”

  “Well, yes. Once or twice at midterms,” she supplied, trying to tamp down her guilt before it overwhelmed her and tears flooded.

  “So, this time was no different than before. Experience had taught you that when Isabel got stressed she could get distracted like any normal human being, let alone a fifteen-year-old.” His words stemmed the flow of tears burning the backs of her eyes.

  “I guess you’re right. I just keep replaying that day over and over again in my mind trying to figure out what I could’ve done to stop all this from happening in the first place,” she admitted, unsure why she was dumping the truth on a complete strang
er. Maybe it was easier to confess her sins to someone she didn’t know and would never see again once she left Bluff, Texas.

  “Unless you have some kind of crystal ball that’s not possible.” His tone was matter-of-fact.

  She took a minute to let those words sink in.

  The cowboy spoke first. “When did you realize she was missing?”

  “Not until the next morning when her foster parents called, Kelly and Bill Hardings. Kelly assumed that she’d gone home with me to spend the night. When the school called the next morning to say she didn’t show up, they called to find out what was going on.”

  “Sounds like they cared about her,” he said and she could tell he was reaching for something positive out of the situation.

  “I think they were more worried about them looking bad to the state. They’d already talked to her caseworker about having her removed from their house and replaced with someone younger,” she said, frustration rising.

  “Why would they do that? She sounds like the perfect foster kid. Studied hard. Got good grades.”

  “She’s also fifteen, which pretty much means moody and self-absorbed. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great kid. But teenagers aren’t exactly the easiest people to deal with. Plus, Isabel still hadn’t gotten over missing her parents so she didn’t really open up to them like they’d hoped.”

  “Why take her on in the first place? They had to know what they were getting into.”

  “I’m not sure they did. They were new. After reading her file I think they thought she’d be a good way to get their feet wet with foster care. And then when she didn’t bond with them right away they got discouraged.” Alice knew that scene a little too well.

  “I don’t understand that thinking. I mean, either you want to help or you don’t. These are human beings we’re talking about not pieces of furniture.” She appreciated the outrage in his tone because she felt the same way.

  “The caseworker said the couple is asking for someone quite a bit younger next time.” Alice bit back her anger. “Isabel is a good kid and she doesn’t deserve any of this.”

  The look of compassion in the cowboy’s eyes was like comforting arms around her. Alice needed to change the subject and get back on track. She didn’t deserve to feel at ease until Isabel was home. “Fast forward to that next morning after I got the call from the Hardings. After contacting Isabel’s caseworker and confirming she hadn’t heard from her, I pleaded with my boss to issue an AMBER Alert. The Hardings filed the paperwork, so he did. At that point, we had to assume it was a stranger abduction since she had no relatives near.”

  “And you already knew something was very wrong by that point,” he said.

  She nodded before taking another sip of coffee.

  “What did you do next?” he asked.

  “I started investigating right away. Went to the school and talked to the last person who saw her, her AP World History teacher. He didn’t notice anything unusual that day. Neither did her other teachers. I already said she didn’t have a lot of friends but the few she had didn’t notice anything strange.”

  “How far was Lucky Joe’s from her school and how was she planning to get there?” he asked.

  “It’s across town. She had to take two city buses, which I didn’t like. I volunteered to pick her up from school but she insisted on taking the bus. Said it was good practice for when she left for college and that she needed to learn how to get around on her own. She was almost sixteen and most people were already driving. I think she was worried about me being in the car instead of spending time with the boys. I work the evening shift and that means I don’t get home until the boys are already in bed most days.”

  “I already know you spoke to the bus drivers. What did they say?” he asked.

  “Isabel never made it on to the second one. There’s a half hour wait in between buses. Again, I didn’t like it but she said it gave her a chance to get ahead on her homework so she could focus on me and the boys during our visit.” Those words were getting harder and harder to choke out. Isabel’s connection to Alice also made it harder for her to bond with the foster family. Alice would’ve stepped aside if she’d believed that was best for Isabel but she never did fully trust that Kelly and Bill had Isabel’s best interests at heart. So, she’d interceded and bonded with Isabel, which most likely messed up her foster situation. Alice had messed that up for Isabel, too.

  Chapter Five

  “I already know you canvassed the area, so I’m guessing no one claims to have seen her,” Joshua said. Alice bore the weight of the world on her shoulders and he found himself wishing there was something he could do to ease her burden.

  She cocked her head to the side and stared at him for a long moment before answering. Joshua needed to be more careful or his cover would be blown and she’d stop talking.

  “Either that or no one wanted to admit to seeing something, which doesn’t surprise me since I’ve narrowed down the possibilities to The Ghost. He’s powerful in the small area of town we live in, in the southeast of Tucson. The locals wouldn’t dare go up against him. They fear him too much. There are other criminal groups there, too. The people in small towns off Interstate 10 know to look the other way if they want to keep their own families safe. Everyone is aware of human trafficking and prays that it never happens to one of their own,” she said.

  “Sounds like a great place for criminals to thrive.”

  Alice nodded. “There are three main groups with strong footing there—the Santos, the Giselles and Perez.”

  “You’ve already ruled out the first two.” He motioned toward the stab wound on her side, trying to keep her focused on something besides putting the pieces together that he was in law enforcement. Her exhaustion worked in his favor.

  Alice may be bone-tired but she was still smart. And beautiful, an annoying little voice in his head added.

  “That’s right. I’m down to Perez,” she said. Her forehead crinkled when she was frustrated.

  “You already mentioned that your informant set you up.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “In fact, I need to touch base with him this morning. I meant to do that last night.”

  “Sounds like he was taking his life in his hands in order to help,” Joshua said. The pieces of what Alice had been through were starting to fit together and he was beginning to understand the depth of her guilt.

  “It was that or go to jail for the rest of his life,” she said quickly. “I gave him an out if he’d help me.”

  “What about Isabel’s cell phone records?” he asked.

  Alice motioned toward the other bed. “Whoever got to her must’ve taken away her phone and destroyed it. I couldn’t trace her using the GPS I’d downloaded. You can look at the log if you want. It’s over in that stack of papers. Basically, she didn’t make any calls all day while she was in school. Me and her foster parents were the last people calling her cell.”

  “At least they cared enough about her to try to track her down,” he offered, trying to ease some of her remorse.

  “Really? Check the records. They phoned all of once at nine o’clock at night, which was the time she was supposed to be home. They went to sleep and got up the next morning not concerned enough about her to call me to make sure she made it in the first place,” she said.

  “What about since then? It’s been six weeks, surely they’ve had some reaction to all this,” he said. Now that her cover was blown with Perez she needed to come up with another plan that didn’t include being abducted by the most dangerous criminal in America. And if she had to go after Perez, it would be best to gather evidence and present it to a law enforcement agency who could then go in for the bust. He had a strong feeling she’d never go for this idea.

  “I haven’t spoken to them since the first week.” Alice absently toyed with the l
id to her now-empty coffee cup.

  “And how did they act then?” he asked.

  “Shocked and grieved at first. Maybe a little relieved, too. Like a problem had been solved.”

  “Have you ruled them out as suspects?” he asked. He didn’t like to think someone who had been trusted with a child could do anything horrible, but his experience in Denver had shown him otherwise. “They would’ve known the route she was taking that day.”

  “True. Everyone was a suspect in my mind at first. I had my boss interview them because a) I was biased and b) it was a conflict of interest given our relationship. They met up with friends for dinner and a movie. I checked into their financials in case they benefitted financially from her disappearance and there was nothing.”

  “You got access to their financial records that quickly?” It was too fast for her to have gone through proper channels.

  She shrugged, kept on talking, “None of their actions so far have indicated they were involved. There’d be a trail. They had no financial difficulty other than the usual things like still paying off student loan debt. His job is stable and she works part-time at a bank. Neither has bought a new car and they haven’t taken an expensive vacation. I’ve looked at every possible angle and they came up clean.”

  “What about Isabel’s caseworker?” he asked.

  “Michelle Grant? She’s actually decent. I’d spoken to her about Isabel’s file a few times and she listened to my concerns. She was keeping an eye on Kelly and Bill, and their relationship with Isabel based on my concerns.”

  “When was the last time you spoke with her?”

  “Three, maybe four weeks ago. Why?”

  Hearing Alice’s thoughts on the investigation and the people involved helped Joshua put a picture together. Based on what she’d told him so far, she was a solid investigator. “I can tell that you’re depriving yourself of sleep and you’ve been doing all this on your own. Thought it might help to talk through your leads so far.”

  “I’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s. I’m convinced this has to be Perez’s group.”