The Defender

by Lindsay McKenna

  “I discovered my mother and I like chicken salad. I ordered it and so did she. That shocked me.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I was thrilled, to tell you the truth, but she seemed surprised, too.”

  “Mothers always share similar traits with their children. But you grew up in foster homes, so you couldn’t know that until now.”

  Katie sighed. “Did your mom ever make you feel like she didn’t want you around?”

  Joe drew in a deep breath. “No. Never.” He searched Katie’s confused gaze. “Why?”

  “When I asked Janet how to address her, she got really angry.” And then, Katie shared the incident with him. As she did, the expression on his face grew grave. “Did your mom ever do anything like that to you, Joe?”

  “No, and no decent parent would ever make their child feel like Janet made you feel.” His remark had teeth in it. Joe couldn’t keep the emotion out of his tone. If his FBI boss was still convinced Katie was working with Janet, this was clear proof she was not. This innocence could not be an act on Katie’s part.

  “Janet said I’d never make it in the business world.” She told him the rest of the story.

  Joe sat quietly listening as Katie struggled with her emotions. He hung on to his building anger, not wanting Katie to know how upset he was. “Iris thinks differently about you. She believes in your ability to run a business, Katie, or she wouldn’t have spent over a hundred thousand dollars to build this facility and underwrite your efforts. While your mother may see herself as a good business person, Iris is a proven product. She put her money on you.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t believe everything Janet said about me.”

  “Maybe not,” Joe agreed in a quiet tone.

  She liked how understanding he was. He wanted her to see that her mother might not always be right. She then told him about Janet’s reaction to her being a falconer and needing donations in order to survive. “She said I was a strange one.” Tilting her head, she asked, “Joe? Am I strange?”

  Damn! He knew how much this meeting had meant to Katie, and from the sounds of it, Janet wasn’t anywhere near a good parent, much less a loving mother. “You’re not strange. Why do you think Janet said that?”

  Opening her hands, Katie shrugged. “She likes to make money and yes, I know money is important. We got into kind of a tense argument. She didn’t approve of the way I was living my life. Falconry relies on donations. I don’t make a dime, really. And she thought I was ‘strange’ for being okay living that way.”

  Sitting back in his chair, Joe pushed his fingers through his hair. He had to be careful and quell his anger. “I think most parents want their children to make enough money to be secure. Maybe she was thinking along those lines?”

  “Well, she must have been because she’s offered me part-time work in the office of the courier service she’s going to be bringing to town pretty soon.”

  “Really? Can you tell me more about it?” Joe’s heart took off in excitement mixed with dread. It was a possible clue that Katie had no connection with her mother before this. But if Katie did start working for her mother, it wouldn’t be a safe job if Janet was still dealing in guns and drugs. But was she? No one had proof. As he listened to Katie’s account of the lunchtime conversation, his mind spun with options and choices.

  “And is she going to hire you when the store is completed?” Joe asked.

  “She said she’d call me next week.”

  “That’s hopeful, isn’t it?”

  Katie stood up and gathered the papers into a neat stack. “I guess. I don’t know. I got the feeling she wanted a worker bee in the front office. She said I was too skinny and weak to work in the back room hauling boxes and stuff to the truck.”

  Joe stood. He couldn’t stand the hurt in her voice. “Hey,” he said in a whisper, grazing her shoulder and turning her toward him. “You’re hardly weak.” A smile tugged at his mouth as he cupped her shoulders. They were so close. He inhaled her special scent and it was like drinking an aphrodisiac. Hands tightening, he added, “And take it from me as a man, Katie, you are not skinny. You’re beautiful in every way....”

  Katie drowned in the sincerity of his deep voice and the burning look in his eyes. She hadn’t thought of kissing Joe, but right now, it seemed like the most right thing in the world. She had been wounded by Janet and wanted to neutralize those feelings. Lifting her hands, she framed Joe’s face, the stubble making her palms tingle. His gaze turned predatory. Breath hitching, Katie closed her eyes and leaned up...up...to feel his mouth settling hotly against her lips.

  Whatever pain and uncertainty she’d felt seconds before fled as he tenderly captured her. Katie felt his lips take hers more surely as she sank against his hard, tall body. He was taller than she and easily took her weight. The kiss deepened and her breathing became as ragged as his. The scent of pine encircled her. She felt his hands move from her shoulders and embrace her, bringing her fully against him. Anchoring her whole existence on his mouth plundering hers, she responded with equal fervor. Joe’s kiss was dizzyingly wonderful and so different from that of anyone she’d kissed before. His hands ranged slowly down her long spine, sending wild, fiery tingles all across her back. It was as if he were memorizing her, inch by inch, the sensation one of velvet luxury. Every time his fingers moved, her flesh responded wildly. She felt her breasts tightening, her nipples growing hard against his broad chest.

  Joe groaned. What was he doing? He tore his mouth from Katie’s and held her at arm’s length, staring down at her. His whole body was on fire, a throbbing ache making him wildly aware of how quickly the kiss had enflamed him. Katie’s eyes opened wide and he saw an unnamable emotion in them. Her mouth was soft, lips parted, beckoning him to kiss her again. No, he couldn’t. She blinked several times, as if coming out of a stupor. Joe didn’t dare release her because she swayed slightly, her fingertips coming to rest on her lips. There was a look of shock mingled with pleasure in her gaze.

  “I’m...sorry,” Joe managed in a strangled tone. “Are you all right?”

  Shaken and feeling heat racing between her mouth, breasts and lower body, Katie raised her brows and nodded. “Yes...” She stared wonderingly at Joe. His green eyes were narrowed with hunger—for her. His kiss had rocked her world. Her lips tingled as though tiny flames licked across them from the power of his mouth searching hers. As he steadied his hands on her shoulders, heavy desire coursed through her.

  “Katie, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Joe said in a ragged voice. “It shouldn’t have happened...I’m your employee. You’re my boss.” He lifted his hands from her shoulders.

  “You’re right,” she managed, touching her brow. “I’m the one who should apologize. I kissed you first. I don’t know what happened....”

  The forlorn look in her eyes gutted Joe. Mouth tightening, he forced himself to step away from Katie or he was going to drag her back into his arms and finish what they’d started. His FBI boss wouldn’t be pleased, that was for damned sure. Katie was his target, not his lover. Joe couldn’t mix business with pleasure, but damn, she tasted like sweet clover honey straight out of the comb. He never wanted to forget her taste, her texture or that fragrance that was only her. Zoe had never made him feel the way he felt right now. Mind tumbling like an avalanche out of control, Joe reached for his falconry bag.

  “Listen, I think we need some time to feel our way through what just happened. We can talk tomorrow?”

  “Sure, no problem,” Katie heard herself say, her wispy voice sounding as though she was in an echo chamber. Fiery explosions were still occurring deep within her. Trapped in the strength and tenderness of his kiss, Katie lifted her hand in farewell to Joe. He nodded, gave her a strained smile and left the facility. Katie sat down before her knees gave out. What had just happened?

  She felt shell-shocked,
as if a bomb had exploded between them. Why, oh why had she initiated the kiss? What had driven her to do that? Joe had never made any overt moves toward her. She had always treated him as an employee. Resting her elbows on the desk, Katie closed her eyes, trying to think her way through the unexpected kiss. What had she done? Would Joe quit? Her heart skittered with fear. Suddenly, Katie realized just how much she liked him. Unlike her past partners, Joe was steady and reliable.

  Moaning, Katie sat up and rolled her eyes over her assertiveness. Had she just lost the man who fitted into her own and her raptors’ lives like a glove on a hand? Miserably, Katie’s imagination ran away with her, as it always did when she was under stress.

  As the sun moved lower in the sky, Katie glanced at her watch. It was nearly time to eat. Hurrying through the facility, she made one more check on her raptors and then closed up for the night. Her mind and heart lingered on Joe. She walked across the parking lot to the ranch house, realizing she’d all but forgotten about meeting Janet. Such was the power of Joe’s kiss upon her lips.

  * * *

  JANET’S FEET ACHED. She hated dressing up but she’d had to look at potential leases for her courier service. Inside her newly rented apartment, she kicked off her shoes, threw her purse on the dark brown sofa. She shut the door, craving a drug fix. Only cocaine would do. Hurrying to the bedroom where she had a suitcase, she opened it and dug into one of the pockets. Locating the coke, she laid out the powder in thin, white lines. She took a small straw from her purse and quickly snuffed the powder into her nostrils. She closed her eyes and stood in her stocking feet on the cool tiles of the kitchen, sighing.

  The euphoria started to move through her, making her feel heady and light. How good it felt! Opening her eyes, she made it to the bedroom and flopped down on it. The window in the room was large and western sunlight was shooting across the room to the beige wall opposite. Her eyes were sensitive to light and she closed them. She relaxed onto the bed and sighed. Finally! Relief from this damned hard world.

  As she fell into the pleasure of the drug, her mind moved back to lunch today. Her daughter was pretty. She wiped her mouth and smeared the red lipstick. Katie was soft, not hard like her. She even had a soft voice. Her hands were soft. There were no calluses on the palms like there was on hers. Where the hell did she get such softness? Janet wondered. God, she’d thrown her baby to the wolves of the world. Yet, as Janet had looked at her across the table in the booth, the girl had seemed absolutely unscarred by life. How could that be? No one escaped the misery of this hell they called Earth.

  Her cell phone rang in her purse. Groaning, Janet sat up, disoriented. Rummaging and fumbling through her huge leather purse, she found it. Blearily, she looked at the caller. It was Xavier! Quickly sitting up, Janet opened the phone.

  “Xavier. What a nice surprise,” she said.

  “I’m back from Idaho Falls. How did things go today? Did you find a place to put the courier service?”

  “Yes, yes, I did.” Janet scrambled to focus on the conversation. She didn’t want to tell him she was high. He disapproved of her doing such a thing when there was work to be done. She didn’t want to disappoint him. “I found a nice redbrick two-story building a block off the plaza. The first floor has three thousand square feet available.”

  “Good, good. And have you signed the lease agreement?”

  “Yes, I did. Tomorrow, I’m going to get one of your men over in Cheyenne to drive a truckload of machinery and office equipment over here. The place needs to be painted. I need to find a desk and stuff like that tomorrow.”

  “And your daughter? Did you see her?”

  Wincing, Janet mumbled, “Yeah, I saw her.”

  “You sound disappointed?”

  “She’s weak, Xavier. Nothing like me.”

  Laughing, Xavier said in a seductive tone, “Mi corazón, few women have a set of balls between their legs like you do.”

  Janet chuckled over their private joke. “She’s a girly girl.”

  “Will she work at the office?”

  Hearing the edge in Xavier’s tone, she said, “I talked to her about it. There’s been no firm decision. I told her I’d call her in a week. I figure it’s going to take me that amount of time to get this new office up and running. There are electrical and plumbing problems that have to be resolved. I need to make sure the rear room where all the packages come in is made secure.”

  “Yes, that’s most important. Well, get her to say yes, eh?”

  Janet scowled. “Listen, Xavier, I may not care much for her being weak and all, but I don’t want to put her life in jeopardy, either. I worry about the Mexican drug ring trying to set up shop here in Jackson Hole. You know their way to get rid of any competition is to kill the enemy.”

  “Tut, tut, Janet. Your weak little daughter is safe and sound.”

  “I don’t know,” she grumbled, frowning. “She’s the type that would faint at the sight of blood.”

  Laughing, Xavier said, “She’ll come around. She’s your daughter, Janet. Some of your genes must be in her?”

  “I didn’t see any. The only thing we agreed on was we both liked chicken salad.”

  Xavier laughed deeply. “Give her and yourself some time to get to know one another, eh? As you Norte Americanos say, she’s a chip off the ol’ block. Sí?”

  “Sí,” Janet agreed, feeling her focus dissolve. The cocaine was deepening inside her and all she wanted to do was stop talking, lie down and float away. “Hey, are you going to come over once I got this place prettified?”

  “No, I can’t. I don’t dare show my face there, you know that.”

  The censure in his tone scared her. “Okay, no problemo.” Janet was always afraid of losing Xavier. Oh, it was true he had a wife and children, but she didn’t want to be thrown away for not doing what he wanted done.

  “I’ll be going incognito shortly and heading south to Guatemala. You have plenty of dollars to get this business up and running. As soon as you do, use a throwaway cell and call me. Then I’ll have one of my lieutenants come up and work with you for a week or so until we get the new routing completed.”

  Her nose was running like a faucet. Janet unsteadily pushed to her feet and grabbed for a bunch of tissues from the box on the chest of drawers. “Yes, that sounds good, Xavier. Be safe crossing the border. I miss you already.” She wiped her nose and sniffed.

  “Are you crying?”

  “Sure I am. You know how much I love you, Xavier. We’ve been together since I was eighteen. It’s a marriage of sorts,” she said.

  “A long time, mi corazón. But I am already married, as you know. What we share is different.”

  Janet wished otherwise. She’d begged Xavier to marry her when she’d lived with him. His father, who was not into drugs, wanted a Guatemalan woman for his son’s wife, and Janet was sure Xavier had bowed to the stern man’s wishes. Damn the old bastard. “I just wish,” she slurred, “that this kid of mine was your daughter, too.” The words slipped out before Janet could stop them. Alarmed, she felt her heart start to pound. There was a long silence on the phone. Gripping it, Janet added hastily, “Forget what I said, Xavier. I’m just wishing in the wind, I know. Have a safe trip south.”

  “I will. Adios...”

  The cell phone went dead. Janet stared at it and cursed softly. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? Xavier was impatient and dismissive when she brought up his family. He was utterly protective of them. Dammit. Throwing the cell against the wall, Janet sank back onto the bed with a frustrated groan.

  Her last thought was she had to get her weakling daughter on board. Xavier wouldn’t take no for an answer. Yet, as she felt herself floating into euphoria, Janet was worried about the other cartel. From long experience, she knew warring cartels took no prisoners. She might not think much of Katie, but she sure as
hell didn’t want the kid caught in a crossfire, either.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “AT LEAST WE KNOW Katie Bergstrom wasn’t working for her mother before this,” Hager told Joe.

  Joe stood at the picture window in the living room. The sun was still below the eastern horizon. “My gut was telling me as soon as I met her that she wasn’t hooked up with Janet.”

  “You were right. Now, Katie is being drawn into Janet’s fold.”

  Rubbing his brow, Joe felt his heart squeeze in fear for her. “I don’t know if she’s going to work for her or not. Janet’s supposed to call her in a week.”

  “No other contact with her that you know of?”

  Joe shrugged. “Katie’s world revolves around her raptors. She feels safe with them.”

  “Not surprising that she’s found an anchor after being tossed around like a billiard ball on a pool table. She went through a lot of foster homes.”

  “Right,” Joe agreed. He stopped pacing and felt his nerves tighten. He shouldn’t have kissed Katie. And his boss would never know about it. Above all, Joe had to keep his eye on the prize: connecting Janet Bergstrom to the Los Lobos cartel.

  “The Garcia cartel from Mexico is starting to create a beachhead in Jackson Hole,” Hagar went on, “and now, we know Los Lobos wants to do the same thing. That’s a serious problem because sooner or later, these two cartels are going to have bullets flying at one another. I need you to go over to the sheriff’s office and let the commander know what’s happening. We need to make them aware of this escalating situation.”

  Joe glanced at his watch; it was 6:00 a.m. “I’ll get over there before I have to go to work.”

  “There’s a deputy sheriff by the name of Cade Garner who is the head of the drug task force for Teton County. He’s the one you want to make contact with.”

  “Okay,” Joe said. He saw a raven fly nearby, cawing into the dawn light.