by Barb Han
“They had Joshua, or so I thought, and it was only a matter of time before Perez’s men killed him,” she admitted. “I didn’t know how long that would take. They’d try to get information out of him first and I knew for certain he wasn’t about to give them any, which would anger them and probably speed up the whole process. I couldn’t live with his blood on my hands since he got into this mess trying to help me in the first place.”
Ryder pushed up to his feet, walked to the bed, and hugged her. “Thank for saving me but especially because you thought you were saving my brother.”
Alice awkwardly hugged him back with her one good arm before bowing her head and wiping her eye. Joshua was pretty certain she’d just tried to hide tears. He gently squeezed her calf where his fingers rested, ignoring the electricity pulsing up his arm from contact.
She glanced at him and he was pretty certain her cheeks flushed and that didn’t exactly help with his inappropriate attraction to her.
“So what now?” she asked, clearly needing to change the subject.
“I made contact with the task force and offered my resources to the team,” Tommy said, throwing her a lifeline.
One that sank to the ocean floor instead of floating.
“That’s all?” Her stress levels had just spiked based on the anger thinning her lips and her tense expression.
“You of all people know that I have to follow protocol. The good news is that after looking at the property on the map and realizing it’s in my county we have a good chance they’ll take me up on my offer,” he added quickly.
That seemed to strike a chord with Alice although she stopped short of relaxing. Joshua already knew how much she distrusted the task force. He also knew they’d warned her to stay out of their investigation and he didn’t want to think about the fact that he might be killing his own chances for a job with the FBI by associating with this case.
“Until we know what’s inside that house, I can’t do much of anything,” Tommy said honestly.
“Do you know the area very well?” she asked.
“Yes. Most of the folks are decent and like to keep to themselves. That’s why they buy an acre of land because they want space between themselves and their neighbors,” Tommy said. “The house itself is small but there are several barns on the site and that could be used to hold victims.”
“Have you sent a deputy to canvass the neighbors yet?” she asked.
“That’s the easiest way to get myself excluded from the investigation, so the answer is no.”
Alice blew out a breath and she looked completely at a loss. “What’s the next step then?”
“Wait until I hear back from the leader of the task force. Get myself included in the process.”
“Isabel could be long gone by the time they act,” Alice said, more than a hint of hopelessness in her voice.
“We won’t give up until we find her,” Joshua said and Ryder quickly chimed in with his pledge.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Tommy said on a harsh sigh. “I know this is asking a lot but I need a commitment from all three of you to give this a little time.”
“There’s no—”
“What? Time to do this the right way?” Tommy stopped her. “Let me put it this way. You may rush in and save Isabel but what then? Perez is still on the loose. All three of you are constantly looking over your shoulder and I already know that you’re going to tell me that’s okay. You don’t mind making the sacrifice to find someone you obviously love so much. But here’s the kicker. Perez is still out there because the entire operation was botched. Other girls are still being taken, girls like Isabel. They’re being ripped from their lives and their families destroyed all because you ran out of patience.”
Tears streamed down Alice’s cheeks but she didn’t make a move to clear them or speak. Tommy’s words were obviously scoring a direct hit.
“I don’t mean to sound harsh, or maybe I do. There’s a big picture here that we can’t lose sight of even though I understand your reasoning one hundred percent. Perez has to be stopped because he is ruining lives. And if that means I have to shout from the rooftops or remind you every day, I will. If I have to get down on my knees and beg you to take a step back, I’ll do it. He’s a monster and he belongs behind bars where he can’t hurt any more girls.” Tommy stood and started pacing. “I don’t even have to remind you guys that if anyone tied to this case sees Alice so much as park her car on the same block as a stakeout she’ll be arrested on the spot, which will do Isabel absolutely no good.”
No one spoke for several long minutes that stretched on, even though Joshua knew that his friend was right. Joshua moved to the window, and cracked open the curtain, flooding the room with natural light.
“You won’t get any interference from me,” Alice finally said. “But I want your word that you’ll keep me posted every step of the way. Anything happens, even something you think means nothing, I want to know about it.”
“Deal,” Tommy said without hesitation, which seemed to ease some of Alice’s anxiety. “And since I know you won’t be able to walk away completely, I want the same courtesy.”
“I’ll touch base with my informant and see if I can squeeze him for more information about possible routes or what the compound might be used for,” she said motioning toward her cell. “I’ll let you know if I get anything out of him.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Tommy glanced from Ryder to Joshua. “Are we good?”
“We’re all on the same side,” Joshua said as Ryder nodded. “We want to put an end to Perez’s operation.”
“I’ll text the minute I hear from the task force,” Tommy said, and then moved toward the door.
“I’ll walk him out,” Ryder said, pushing to his feet.
“We need to fix up that arm,” Joshua said to Alice, moving the tray table filled with supplies next to the bed.
She was already picking at the tape holding her gauze together with her left hand.
“I can do that,” Joshua said quickly.
When she looked up, there were tears streaming down her face.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked, taking a seat on the bed next to her. He leaned to the right placing his weight on his fisted hands on either side of her thighs. “You can talk to me.”
She turned to face the opposite wall. “I’m just frustrated that’s all.”
There was more to it than that. He could read her pretty well by now. But she still seemed determined not to let him in.
* * *
ALICE’S BOYS WERE in Tucson, safe. Isabel was out there somewhere, in trouble. Alice was stuck in a bed, wounded. This wasn’t the life she’d envisioned for the people she loved. And the worst part about the whole situation was how helpless she felt. She picked at the corner of the medical tape. It didn’t budge. She yanked at it, ripping the gauze instead of the tape. Great. She couldn’t even do that right.
“Let me help,” Joshua soothed. His masculine tone offered more comfort than she knew better to take.
“I need to make the call to my informant that I promised the sheriff,” she countered, reaching for her cell on the nightstand next to the bed.
“It can wait until I’m finished.” He shot her a look that begged the question of why she was being so difficult.
Relaxing and being “helped” wasn’t exactly her forte. She’d never been a spa-day girl. She’d rather poke her eyes out than get a massage although Joshua’s hands on her felt pretty damn good. Her body hummed with awareness every time he got close enough to reach out and touch. So, she did reach out for him just to see what it did to her body.
With her left hand she grabbed a fistful of his black V-neck and pulled him toward her. Her arm might be burned and her side stabbed but there was nothing wrong with her lips and right
now she wanted to kiss the cowboy more than she wanted to breathe. She pressed her mouth against his, briefly, and then pulled back to check his reaction.
Big mistake looking into those deep green eyes this close. They opened slowly and a flash of primal need registered before he spoke.
“This a good idea?” he asked, that spark growing into something more flaming.
“Probably not but I don’t care.” She pressed her lips to his again, need rising from low in her belly and sending warmth to that feminine spot between her thighs.
The cowboy’s tongue surged inside her mouth and she parted her lips, ready for more.
His fingers cradled the base of her neck and she lost herself in the moment. His mouth moving against hers, their tongues tangled, and all she could think about was how much she wanted more.
And then he pulled back. He stared into her eyes daring her to speak.
She didn’t.
“I need to change your bandage,” he said.
“Did I do something wrong?” Her heart pounded against her ribs and her breathing had become a little frantic in those few seconds their mouths fused.
“We don’t need this distraction right now.”
Was that how he classified what was simmering between them since they’d met? A distraction. At least she knew where she stood with Joshua O’Brien.
Alice stuck out her burned arm and looked the other way while he grabbed the container of salve that looked like white cupcake frosting and then smoothed the cream over her blistered skin. When he was finished dressing her wound, he handed her a pair of ibuprofen and a glass of water.
“You can take more than two of these according to the doc,” he said and his voice was low and gravelly.
She tried to ignore that fact.
“Two’s fine,” she said, thinking how much she needed to check on her twins, to hear their little coos. As soon as Joshua left the room, she’d make the call. In the meantime, she took the pills from his opened palm, ignoring the fissures of heat the contact brought. Lot of good those did her. Apparently, the need to act on their attraction was one-sided.
“If you need anything, I’ll be in the shower,” he said, adding, “a very cold shower.”
Alice couldn’t hold back a smile as she watched him walk out of the room, checking out the ripple of muscles down his back through his T-shirt.
Maybe it was out-of-control hormones or the fact that she hadn’t had sex in longer than she cared to admit, but Joshua O’Brien was probably the sexiest man she’d ever met.
Once he cleared the room she phoned her neighbor who was watching the boys. Marla picked up on the first ring.
“How are my babies?” Alice asked, forcing cheer in her voice she didn’t feel.
“Wonderful. Let me round them up and I’ll put them on,” Marla said.
Alice ignored the stab of pain in her chest that had nothing to do with her injuries and everything to do with missing her boys. She could hear sounds of them laughing in the background and an image of Marla chasing them around the living room instead of her doing it sent another shard of pain through her chest. Their given names might be Alex and Andrew but she should’ve named them Rowdy and Rambunctious, and she missed everything about them both.
“Hel-low?” Rambunctious, aka Andrew, got on the line first.
“Hi, baby,” Alice said, loving the sound of his little voice.
“M-m-momma!” he exclaimed.
“Are you being a good boy for Miss Marla?” she asked, knowing full well her boys were energetic angels. Having a retired school teacher as a neighbor had been a godsend. Marla’s only child had a job overseas and her husband’s health was failing, so she’d needed to stick close to home. She’d offered to take care of the boys to help Alice, but also because she missed her own grandchildren.
“Uh-huh,” Rambunctious said. His heavy breaths from crawling around coupled with his sheer excitement vibrated across the line.
“I love you, Andrew,” she said, fighting tears, figuring she’d held his attention about as long as he could.
Rowdy popped on to the line next and she could hear shuffling noises, and bare feet on Marla’s tile floors as Rambunctious belly-laughed in the background. Was he walking? No, she didn’t want to know. It did no good to know what she was missing out on. Knowing wouldn’t bring Isabel back faster.
Alice sighed. She missed those belly laughs.
“Momma?” he said in his adorable baby talk.
“That’s right, baby. It’s me.”
His burst of excitement nearly crushed her heart. She heard something that sounded like the phone being dropped before Marla’s voice returned to the line.
“All is well here,” she said, recovering quickly.
Alice needed that. She desperately needed to know that her boys were okay. She needed someone else, too, as scary as it was to admit that fact. He was currently in a cold shower in the other room and she’d probably just ruined their friendship by kissing him.
“How are you?” Marla asked.
“I’ll be better when this whole ordeal is over and I can come home,” she said on a sigh.
After chatting about bedtimes and activities for several minutes, Alice ended the call having safely avoided the topic of how she was really doing. With two boys less than a year old in tow, Marla didn’t have time for lengthy conversations and Alice was grateful for that fact. She’d broken down in tears enough in the past twenty-four hours to last a lifetime and she’d never been much of a crier.
Next, she called Dale, hoping her informant might know something about the address on the map. She was getting restless sitting in bed while everyone else worked on the case. Doing nothing, being alone with her thoughts was the worst feeling. She needed to keep her mind busy.
The call rolled straight into voice mail.
* * *
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, Joshua figured the meeting with Tommy had gone well. After dressing Alice’s burns like the doc had trained him to do he decided to return to the trailer site so he could survey the area. At least that was the excuse he used to get out of the house. Being with Alice 24/7 was messing with his mind. He needed to get some fresh air to clear his head, but his thoughts kept winding back to that kiss. The softness of her lips. How much he wanted to kiss that little dimple on the corner of her mouth to the left.
He dismissed it as dangerous. Joshua couldn’t afford the slightest slip right now. Too much was on the line with people he cared about, not to mention his own life. He could chalk this attraction up to primal need in a life-and-death situation but it was more than that. There was so much more to Alice than a physical attraction and that stirred his heart in ways he didn’t want to think about while he was about to make a serious life change. Momentarily being trapped in a life he didn’t want wasn’t the best time to let his emotions run wild. The best thing he could do for both of them was redirect his thoughts to the case.
It played to Joshua’s hand that Perez believed he was dead. Even so, he planned to have a conversation with Ryder about staying at the ranch until Perez was safely out of town. In the meantime both needed to keep a low profile, which was why Joshua had borrowed Dr. McConnell’s pickup truck rather than take his own Jeep. In this part of the country, there were more pickups and SUVs than sedans on the road, so it was the best way to blend in.
A cold front had blown through and it was too chilly outside for Joshua’s taste. One of the best parts about leaving Colorado for Texas was gaining sunshine and warmth. Nature wasn’t cooperating with his plans today. He buttoned up his denim jacket, tucked his chin to his chest and adjusted his gray Stetson low on his forehead as he made his way through the brush, retracing his steps from yesterday. There could be feds on-site or staking out the place to see if one of the criminals returned so he needed to stay alert.
>
While he’d expected crime scene tape cordoning off the place, he didn’t anticipate seeing deputies and feds crawling everywhere. He couldn’t risk getting closer to the single wide, so he retreated and placed a call to Tommy once he was back in McConnell’s pickup.
“Did you connect with the task force?” he asked as soon as Tommy answered, hoping there was some good news to come out of this.
“I just sent over the map and Ms. Green’s statement,” he replied with a questioning overtone to his voice. “Do I need to ask why?”
“You didn’t reveal her identity, did you?” Joshua asked.
“It’s best that they know she’s cooperating. They’ll go easier on her,” Tommy said.
He was right so Joshua let it go.
“I’m at the crime scene and the place is crawling with law enforcement. You have any idea what that’s about?” Joshua asked, trying not to think about just how badly he could be blowing his chances at ever working for the FBI if he was caught interfering with a federal investigation.
“No, I don’t.” Tommy paused for a beat. “I don’t have to tell you not to stick around, do I?”
“I’m on my way back to McConnell’s,” Joshua said, turning the key over in the ignition. “Think you can find out what’s going on?”
“Can’t make any promises they’ll tell me, but it never hurts to ask.”
The call from Tommy came a few minutes before McConnell was due back for lunch. Ryder joined Joshua in Alice’s room as he put the call on speaker.
“I have bad news so I’ll cut to the chase,” Tommy said. “A body was found inside the trailer.”
Being able to identify one of Perez’s men could go a long way toward cracking this case open. There were a few knowns, so Joshua hoped this wasn’t a no-lead. “I’m guessing it’s too early to have a positive ID on the body.”
“No. We got it.”
“How is that possible?” Joshua asked. “I figured with the fire—”
“Because he wasn’t burned at all. He was stabbed through the throat and his tongue had been cut off,” Tommy said wearily. “He was found in the living room with his wallet in his pocket. Does the name Dale Sanders mean anything?”
