When the sky lightened, Kade awoke again and stroked a strand of hair from Kelsey’s face.
“I’ve got to get ready for work.” He kissed the curve of her smile, breathing in her vibrant scent. “Have breakfast with me.”
“Mmmm.” She nuzzled his neck. “Too bad you can’t play hooky.”
“You tempt me.” He laughed softly. “I work today and tomorrow, and then I’m off for the next two days. So don’t make any plans that don’t include me, all right?”
She kissed his ear and whispered, “Okay.”
The doorknob rattled, and then a knock interrupted the morning quiet. Kelsey bolted upright, clutching the sheet to her chest, her eyes wide.
“Kelsey. Is Dad in there?” Trent’s muffled voice came through the door. “He’s not in his room and I can’t find him in the house. His bed’s already made up, too.”
“Ah—” She bit her lip, a panicked look on her face.
Kade caressed her shoulder. “I’ll be out in a minute, Trent. Kelsey and I are talking.”
“How come the door’s locked?”
“Never mind. Go eat breakfast and I’ll be there after I take a shower.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Kelsey fell back on her pillow and covered her head with the sheet. “Oh, my God. What were we thinking?”
Kade traced her features through the cloth, and kissed her nose. “It’s okay. As far as Trent knows, we’re just talking. He’s only nine.” He peeled the sheet away from her face and kissed her lips. “Come on and get up.”
“What about Sadie and Chuck?” She looked so worried that Kade had to struggle to hold back a smile.
“We’re two consenting adults. Besides, Mom and Chuck like you.”
Kelsey groaned. “I can’t believe I did this. In their home.”
Kade kissed her soundly. “It’s my home, too. Don’t regret what we shared last night. It was too special.”
She smiled, the warmth coming back into her chocolate eyes. “You’re right. It was wonderful. Incredible.”
“Good.” He sprinkled kisses over her face, eyes, and nose. “Now get up. I’ve gotta take a quick shower.”
He grabbed his robe from where it had landed the night before and slipped into it. After he made sure the hallway was clear of nine-year-olds, he dodged into the bathroom.
Just thinking about Kelsey and her passionate lovemaking made Kade’s cock hard all over again. With a curse, he switched the water from warm to cold.
When he finished showering, he ducked into his room and pulled on jeans, his bulletproof vest, a T-shirt, and then a button-up shirt over that. As he headed to the kitchen, Kelsey came out of her room wearing shorts and a blouse, her hair back in a French braid.
“Ready to face the cavalry?” he asked.
She attempted a smile. “I think so,” she murmured.
He kissed her, then followed her into the dining room, letting her get there a little ahead of him. He didn’t care if Chuck and Sadie knew he and Kelsey were together, but he knew that she needed to get adjusted to it.
Kelsey slipped into a chair and scooted up to the table. “Looks like a gorgeous day out.”
“Well don’t you look fine,” Chuck said as he put orange marmalade on a biscuit.
“Thanks.” Kelsey smiled as she reached for a biscuit and started to butter it.
Sadie speared a sausage. “Did you get a good night’s rest in spite of Trent being sick?”
Kelsey nodded, her eyes avoiding Kade’s.
“ ‘Morning.” Kade ruffled his son’s hair, then slid into the chair next to Kelsey and pressed his knee close to hers. “Feeling better, Trent?”
“Yeah. I could eat ten eggs.” Trent grinned at his dad. “Hey, how come you were in Kelsey’s room this morning? Did you sleep in there? What were you guys talking about?”
Kelsey dropped the butter knife, and it clattered on her plate. She blushed a deep pink and Kade had to hold back a grin.
“We were just talking.” He turned to Sadie. “Please pass the sausage links, Mom.”
Sadie raised her brows and glanced from Kade to Kelsey, who was intent on ladling scrambled eggs onto her plate. Sadie passed the platter of sausages to Kade, and he could see that she was trying to hide a smile.
“Well then.” Chuck reached for the gravy. “Let’s have us some breakfast.”
Kelsey was mortified. Her palms tingled and her face flushed so hot she felt as if her cheeks were sunburned. As wonderful as the scrambled eggs, sausages, and biscuits smelled, the food tasted like rubber and sawdust.
But the night had been so wonderful. She blushed again at the turn of her thoughts, and avoided looking at anyone.
Trent’s chatter rolled over her like the sound of a June bug buzzing on a summer day. He jabbered on as if he’d never been sick, telling anyone who’d listen about his plans for taming the new calf in the barn and starting a rock collection.
Kade squeezed Kelsey’s knee beneath the table, and she almost jumped out of her skin. A slow burn invaded her belly when she looked at him. He was so sexy. And she had seen every charming inch of him. The thought of their passion sent another wave of heat over her skin.
He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Don’t be embarrassed, and don’t regret anything. You’re too special. We’re too special together. All right?”
She nodded, unable to speak, feeling like a lump the size of a baseball had lodged in her throat.
“I’ve got to get to work.” He grabbed his plate and headed to the kitchen. “Great breakfast, Mom.”
Chapter 19
As Kade drove to work, his thoughts remained on last night and making love to Kelsey. It was better than he’d imagined. The woman was so warm and sensual. He wasn’t sure he would be able to get his mind off her and onto his job.
When he arrived at the Border Patrol station, he forced himself to get a grip on his thoughts and get them back on the problems at hand. He had to track down Gordo and El Torero and he needed his usual single-minded focus to accomplish it.
Kade walked into the station and found a message from the Herald reporter, Gerald Spitz, waiting for him.
Maybe the worm had a conscience after all.
Kade sat at his desk and dialed the number.
“Spitz,” a voice answered.
Kade grabbed a notepad and pen. “Owen here, returning your call.”
A pause. “Can you meet me at Mario’s at noon, Agent Owen?”
Kade set the pen on the desk. “I’ll be there.”
The line went dead. Real sociable guy. Probably killed Spitz to make the decision to talk to him.
Kade arrived at Mario’s early to make sure he could snag a good booth and grab a bite to eat. The lunchtime boozer crowd was there, the air so thick with cigarette smoke it was like walking into a giant ashtray. The corner booth where he’d met with Jorge Juarez was open, and Kade eased into it, facing the door, and waited for Spitz.
His skin crawled at his nape, and he knew someone was watching him from the back room. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Mari, the waitress. Her full lips were painted in shimmering red. The color matched her low-cut dress that looked as if she’d been poured into it then tossed in a dryer for good measure.
She slunk up to Kade on spiked heels that must’ve been a good four inches high. “Have you come back to see me?” She leaned forward and her hair swept across his arm, her breasts almost spilling from her dress.
He forced a tight smile. “I’ll have a plate of nachos supremos, and iced tea.”
“Is that all?” She traced her red-tipped fingernail along his bicep.
Kade gave a slight nod. “That’ll do it.”
Mari gave a seductive pout and walked away with swaying hips.
He had little patience for women like Mari, but in his line of work, she could eventually make a good contact. That is if a man didn’t have to sleep with her to get information.
Within a few minutes, Mari brought Kade the nacho
s and tea. She slipped her arm around his shoulders, her gold bangles scraping his neck, and probably would’ve slid onto his lap if the bartender hadn’t called her away. Cheap perfume hung in the air along with the smell of sour beer. Wood-bladed fans spun overhead, but about all the good that did was recirculate the stench of sweat and smoke.
The nachos were tasty, and Kade had munched down half the platter by the time Spitz walked through the front door. The reporter strode to the bar and ordered, then looked around like a man checking to see if there was anyone he knew. He nodded to a couple of guys, then spotted Kade. With a beer in one hand, Spitz sauntered to Kade’s table.
“Owen.”
“Spitz. What’s up?”
Mari brushed by Spitz, and he said loud enough for her to hear, “If you ever want to spill your guts, give me a call.” He flipped a business card on the table and walked back to the bar. Kade heard Spitz order another beer and ask the bartender to turn on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ game.
The side of the card facing up had Spitz’s name and office information. Kade didn’t bother to turn it over. He left the card where the reporter had dropped it, and finished eating his lunch.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mari serving a patron on the other side of the bar, her gold bracelets glinting in the artificial light. When Kade stood, he dropped a ten on the table, slipped Spitz’s card into his pocket, and walked out the front door.
The sky was hazy bright, like the morning after a good rain, but clouds were building over the mountains. They’d be getting a good storm that night, no doubt. He slid into the driver’s seat and started his truck, then pulled Spitz’s card out of his pocket and flipped it over. PEDRO RIOS, 123 AVENUE A was written in sharp black letters.
Kade radioed the station on a secure channel and informed his ASAC—Assistant Agent in Charge—that he had a lead, and gave the name and location. Then he put the truck into gear and drove to the address Spitz had given him.
Weeds and refuse choked the front yard of the small house. The blue paint, likely vivid at one time, was now bleached ghostly pale and crackled like a parched riverbed. Like most homes in the border town, iron scrollwork barred the windows.
The rusted gate creaked as Kade swung it open. As he walked up the concrete steps, he saw the door standing open about an inch. His gut clenched. He glanced up and down the street and pulled out his Clock, shielding it. No cars were parked in front of the house or the houses next door. The street was empty of people.
As soon as Kade crept up to the door, he smelled it. The heavy miasma of decomposing flesh.
Bile rose. He leaned back, his head against the house, fighting to keep his stomach from heaving up the nachos.
A rhythmic whoosh-whoosh-whoosh echoed from inside the house. With his Clock in his right hand, Kade eased the door open with his left.
No sign of anyone inside.
He knocked. “Police,” he said, the universal word for law enforcement.
No answer. Not that he expected any.
Kade pushed the door wider with his boot, but remained out of sight. When nothing moved and he heard no sound but the whooshing noise, he held his Glock in front of him and rounded the corner.
The overwhelming stench slammed into him, enough to damn near drive him to his knees. His eyes and throat burned, and he struggled to swallow. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and covered his nose.
The body hung on a rope. A rope tied to a meat hook. A man. His swollen head tilted at a bizarre angle, and his tongue... Kade closed his eyes for a moment, then made himself look again. That thick, engorged tongue—and the face, hideous purple-blue like the hands. His hands looked like surgical gloves blown up and painted black.
A ceiling fan churned next to the corpse, the blades skimming the top of his black hair and striking the rope, causing the whoosh- whoosh-whoosh noise. The room was trashed. Chairs smashed, garbage littering the floor, the couch on end.
Damn.
Kade listened for sounds inside the house and heard none. He headed back outside and jogged down the stairs, filling his lungs with clean air.
From the looks of the man, not to mention the smell, he’d been dead for a while, and Kade doubted if anyone had hung around to see what happened next. He kept his weapon drawn and went back to his truck to radio the Border Patrol headquarters and the police.
While he waited for the cops to arrive, he checked out the front room again. He didn’t recognize the man, but the face was too bloated to be sure. The cadaver’s body was at least two feet off the floor. No chair, or anything else he could’ve stood on, was close enough to the man for it to be a suicide. Plaster had chipped away from around the meat hook, exposing the beam it was screwed into.
Sirens screamed in the background as he glanced at the garbage around the room. Fast-food wrappers, a sock with a hole, a toothpick, a matchbook cover, and sunflower seed shells were scattered among the trash.
Kade noticed a torn piece of paper. He couldn’t quite make out the word. Was that Toro scrawled across the top of the scrap?
Was it related to El Torero, meaning the matador? Or toro, meaning bull?
Red and blue lights flashed through the open doorway into the interior of the dim house as the first law enforcement vehicle arrived.
Two hours later Kade headed home, after giving his statement to the police about how he’d come across the body, and why he was there.
He’d hung around to gain information during the police investigation. Identification in the corpse’s pockets said the man was indeed Pedro Rios. After examining the scene and the body, the homicide detective said he had no doubt Rios had been murdered but would have to complete a full examination.
Gerald Spitz would be in for a nasty surprise when he got hauled down to the police station for questioning. Protecting sources was one thing. Murder was another.
***
After she returned from her interview with another rancher, Kelsey headed out to relax beside Sadie’s pond. She sank into the swing’s cushions, slowly rocking back and forth in time with the sound of toads croaking by the pond.
The waterfall’s gentle babble soothed her nerves, and a late afternoon breeze stirred and caressed her face. The air smelled of rain, the sky dark with pregnant storm clouds.
Pregnant. What would it be like to be pregnant with Kade’s child? To have his baby? Kelsey stretched out on the swing and covered her face with her hands. How could she think of such a thing, when she’d known the man for such a short time?
What an incredible night they’d had, not to mention the hours before dawn. She never knew it could be like that. So fulfilling. So incredibly good.
That’s what Theresa and Calinda had always talked about. Now, after her night with Kade, she believed them.
And yes, he was right. No matter what happened next, she couldn’t regret what they had shared last night.
She relaxed, imagining all the tension in her body seeping through the cushion of the swing, swirling into the ground, deeper and deeper, until everything around her faded and she slid into a deep sleep.
The sun warmed Kelsey’s face, caressing her lips, her eyelids, her brow. A heady sense of pleasure enveloped her and she sighed, content to bask in the gentle, loving heat.
“Kelsey,” the sun called to her in a throaty whisper.
“Mmmm,” she murmured, then opened her eyes to see that it was dark outside and Kade was bent over her. “Kade.”
He balanced on the edge of the swing, his arms propped on either side of her hips. He shifted and ran his finger down her nose. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
She smiled. “I dreamed the sun was kissing me.”
“Not the sun.” He bent and brushed his lips over hers. “Me. I kissed you here.” Her lips. “And here.” Her nose. “And here.” Her eyelids. “And I want to kiss you in places the sun can’t reach. In places that only I can touch you.”
Kelsey flushed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I want to k
iss every inch of you, too.”
Kade gave her his sexy grin that made her stomach flutter. “I’ll consider that a promise.”
She noticed his hair was wet and he smelled of apple shampoo. “You’ve taken your shower.”
He ran his hand down her neck and over the curve of her breast, and she gasped, her nipples tightening at the sensual touch.
“It was one of those days,” he murmured. “I knew if I came near you first, I couldn’t control myself.” He nuzzled her ear, then kissed it. “See? I can’t even keep my hands or my mouth off you.”
“Mmmm.” She loved what he was doing to her, how he was making her feel. “Let me sit up.”
“Why?” Kade nipped at her chin and then her lips. “I like you where you are. Beneath me. But if you want to be on top that’s all right with me, too.”
Kelsey grinned. “Maybe.”
He helped her up, then drew her onto his lap. She didn’t protest. The strength of his arms made her feel safe and secure, and wanted, something she hadn’t felt since her parents and sister had died.
“Are you ready to tell me what your ex did to you?” Kade murmured, surprising her with the directness of his question that seemed to come out of nowhere.
She slipped one arm behind him and the other across his hard stomach. The scent of Sadie’s roses mingled with the smell of impending rain. A chorus of crickets filled the night and in the distance a coyote howled. The only light came from the windows of the house, and stars had begun to appear through patches of clouds in the evening sky.
Kelsey gave a deep shuddering sigh as Kade caressed her shoulder, down her arm and back again. “Do we have to talk about him?”
“I think it’ll be good to realize that he was just a bastard who didn’t deserve you.” Kade gently massaged the nape of her neck. “How did someone as sweet as you ever hook up with a son of a bitch like that?”
She tensed at the thought of her ex-husband’s so-called courtship. “We started dating during my junior year of college. Davis was charming, attentive, and handsome. And I was young and naive.”
Kade: Armed and Dangerous Page 15
