Ultimate Cowboy

by Rita Herron

  Brody grabbed her arms, his expression feral. “Walk away from it, Julie. You don’t belong there with those monsters.”

  Julie lifted her chin. “Where do I belong, Brody?”

  Brody’s gaze latched with hers, a myriad of emotions flickering in the depths, but the ambulance driver announced they were ready to roll, and Johnny appeared, and Brody didn’t reply.

  Disappointment filled Julie. She’d wanted him to tell her she belonged with him.

  But too much had happened between them. And now he had Will back, he had to focus on helping his brother recover.

  * * *

  THE NEXT WEEK Brody and Will spent talking and making up for lost time. Will had shared some of what had happened to him, and as painful as it was to hear, Kim assured Brody that it meant Will was making progress.

  Will still had nightmares, but he admitted that he fought them because he knew now that he had a home and a brother who loved him.

  He was a natural with the animals and also had warmed up to some of the boys and was making friends. He and Carlos seemed to have bonded. He’d also found some kindred spirits on the BBL.

  Ms. Ellen had made it her project to fatten him up. Will already treated the sweet, kindhearted cook like family, like the grandmother he’d never had.

  Brody smiled, watched him working with Carlos to groom two of the quarter horses they’d taken for a ride. He had everything he’d wanted for so long. His ranch, the BBL, his little brother back.

  He had everything except for Julie.

  Her short phone call after Johnny had whisked him to the hospital to be with Will after the arrests still disturbed him. She had sounded the same...yet distant. As if now the case was over, she was moving on.

  He didn’t want her to move on. Not without him anyway.

  But she’d gone back to the TBI to question Moody. How could he stand to live with her if she continued to do that job? He’d constantly be terrified she wouldn’t come home at night.

  Hell, she could have gotten killed a dozen times these past few years.

  And he would never have known because he had let her go.

  Dammit. He tied his own horse to the rail.

  He couldn’t let her go now, could he?

  Will finished with his horse, then strode toward him, a smile fighting with the wary look that dogged him when the dark memories crept back to taunt him.

  “There’s supposed to be a special news report about the case,” Will said.

  Brody grimaced. All of the staff and most of the counselors were aware of what Will had endured, at least that he’d been kidnapped and held for years.

  Brody slung his arm around his brother’s shoulder. Already Will was putting on muscle, his skin glowing from the fresh air. “Do you really want to watch it?”

  “No,” Will said. “But we both have to face it. I can’t run or live in the dark anymore.”

  Emotions welled in Brody’s throat. He was so damned proud of his brother he wanted to cry.

  But he and Will had shed enough tears and heartache, so he clapped him on the shoulder and together they walked back to the house. They washed up, then met in the den to watch the newsfeed.

  Chief Hurt and Julie appeared in the pressroom, both looking worn and tired. Still, Brody’s breath caught at the sight of her, his heart beating double-time.

  The reporter introduced herself, then gestured for them to take the podium. The room was filled with reporters, all anxious to hear the story on Moody and his twenty-year reign of terror.

  “It is true that we have arrested a man named Barry Moody for the kidnapping and murder of several young boys spanning the last twenty years,” Chief Hurt said. “He is now in custody awaiting trial.”

  One reporter waved her hand. “What triggered his kidnapping spree?”

  Chief Hurt indicated for Julie to take the question. “Mr. Moody suffered trauma while in combat overseas. When he returned his wife had left him and taken his little boy. Apparently when he couldn’t find his son, he decided to replace him by kidnapping a boy named Jeremy. That was only the beginning. I can’t divulge all the details, but the boy Jeremy is now in a psychiatric hospital undergoing evaluation and treatment.”

  More hands waved, voices shouting questions at Julie.

  “What happened to the other boys he took?”

  “Did he molest them?”

  Julie held up a hand. “The boys were not sexually abused although they were definitely physically and emotionally abused. As Chief Hurt stated, we are not at liberty to divulge details, but all of the surviving victims have been reunited with their families, and are also undergoing extensive psychiatric evaluation and treatment.”

  Brody noticed Will’s slight flinch and patted his back. “You’re doing great, Will,” he murmured. “You’re the bravest guy I know.”

  Will slanted him one of those wary looks.

  “How many victims were there?” another reporter asked.

  “You said there are murder charges?” another one asked.

  Julie’s eyes flickered in pain then she grripped the podium. Brody saw the fatigue and anguish on her face, and wanted to drag her in his arms and comfort her. Dammit, she should be here with him and Will, not out there fighting monsters like Moody.

  “Again, we cannot reveal details, but I can say that Moody kidnapped a total of ten victims. Sadly, we’ve recovered the bodies of four.” She exhaled a labored breath. “On a positive note, that means we saved six lives. And the man who abducted and abused them is now awaiting trial.”

  She squared her shoulders. “So if you take anything away from this, folks, go home and love your children. Watch them, hug them, love them, and most of all know where they are.”

  Then she released the podium, dropped her head and walked away.

  Chief Hurt stayed to answer more questions, but Brody stared at the screen, wanting more of Julie. Wanting her to be there with him.

  “She’s amazing,” Will said.

  Brody smiled, all his hesitations and rationalizations for not calling her fading away.

  “You and she...you had a thing, didn’t you?” Will asked.

  Brody nodded.

  “What happened?”

  Brody shook his head. No way would he tell him that his disappearance had torn them apart.

  It hadn’t, he suddenly realized. He had torn them apart by not turning to the one person who had loved him most back then.

  The question was—did she still love him, or had he hurt her too much to have a chance with her now?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Julie had to get away from the cameras. The last few days of interrogating Moody, of listening to the horror stories from the other victims had taken its toll.

  She punched the elevator button inside the building, desperate to escape. Her chest hurt from trying to breathe, and for the first time in her life she thought she was going to have a panic attack.

  She couldn’t do this anymore.

  Between the last case she’d worked, where women had been brutally slashed, and now this case, where so many children and families had had their lives destroyed by such a sick man, her trust in humanity was being slowly eaten away.

  Guilt weighed on her. There were going to be more kids, more families, more women, more couples torn apart by some maniac.

  When would it ever end?

  It wouldn’t. She couldn’t save them all.

  And that tormented her.

  But you did save Will. And you brought him back to Brody.

  As selfish as that was, for now, it might have to be enough.

  Agent Cord rushed toward her, his expression concerned. “Are you okay, Julie?”

  She fought back tears. “I...can’t do it anymore, I have to get out.”

  His understanding nod somehow made the guilt slightly abate. “You did good, Julie. You did real good.”

  She pressed a hand to her mouth, swallowing back tears. If she started crying for all the victims she’d s
een, all the horror she’d seen, she’d never stop crying.

  “What will you do?” he asked softly.

  “I don’t know,” she said, her voice cracking.

  He sighed. “Julie, you love him. Go and tell him. Don’t waste another seven years.”

  A laugh bubbled somewhere in the depths of her throat. Jay was such a good friend. And he was right.

  “But what if I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same way?” she whispered.

  “My God, woman, you are a fool,” he said with a smile. “The man loves you, and if he’s too scared to admit it, remind him you stared down a bullet for him.”

  Julie nodded, blinking back tears, then hugged Jay just as the elevator dinged.

  She would go to the BBL and see for herself.

  After all, Brody had broken her heart seven years ago.

  She wanted him to put it back together again.

  Had he forgiven her for the past?

  * * *

  DUSK HAD JUST started to set when Brody realized he had to go to Julie.

  Will was finishing dinner with some of the other guys, and he couldn’t leave without telling him. He pulled him aside, wanting to make sure it was okay with his brother. After all, Will had only been back with him for a week. He was just adjusting, just getting used to his new life.

  Trying to work through the past.

  “Will, I... You were right about me and Julie,” he said. “I was a fool to let her go, and I want to make it right.”

  Will arched a dark eyebrow. “What are you waiting for then?”

  Brody shuffled on his feet, then pressed a hand to his brother’s shoulder. “You,” Brody said. “I’ve waited so long to have you back. I don’t want to jeopardize our relationship—”

  “Shut up and go get her,” Will said with a teasing smile that warmed Brody’s heart.

  “You’re sure?” Brody asked.

  “Yeah, she’s hot,” Will said with a full grin this time.

  Brody laughed for the first time in weeks. “Yeah, she is.” He gave his brother a big hug, then jogged back to the main house.

  His mind raced as he mentally made plans. He’d have to pack a bag in case he needed to stay overnight. Should he order flowers? Buy a ring?

  Just as he stepped outside to go to his Jeep, a dark blue SUV rolled up. Brody frowned. He didn’t recognize the vehicle.

  Then the door opened, and Julie slid from the seat. She looked so beautiful that he could hardly stand it.

  But worry quickly crept in. Had she come to tell him something more about the case? Had Moody escaped?

  “Julie?”

  “Hi, Brody,” she said with a smile that looked so tentative his pulse hammerd.

  “Where’s your other car?” he asked, suddenly noting that she wasn’t driving her FBI-issued black sedan.

  She shrugged. “I turned it in and bought this.”

  It took him a moment for her statement to register. “You turned it in?”

  “Yes, when I resigned.” She shut the door, then walked toward him, a hint of the old Julie back. The flirty one who’d stolen his heart years ago.

  “You resigned?”

  She climbed the steps. “Yes. I don’t know what I’m going to do now though.”

  The fact that she was here, that she’d left the job he hated, that she was smiling and wearing cowboy boots and jeans and a hat suddenly sank in, and hope budded in his chest.

  “I know what you could do,” he said as he reached for her and pulled her up against him.

  Her gaze locked with his, a teasing playfulness lighting the depths that had been missing the last time he’d seen her. Of course, that had been when they were facing down Moody.

  But he didn’t want to think about Moody now. He wanted to enjoy the fact that Julie had come to him.

  He nudged her cheek with his own, then whispered, “You could marry me.”

  Julie looped her arms around his neck and looked him in the eye, her face awash with the same love she’d shown him when she was just a girl. “I reckon I could do that,” she said softly.

  His heart stuttered. He was so damn happy he thought he would burst. “I love you,” he said gruffly, then swung her up into his arms and twirled her around. “I’ve always loved you, Julie.”

  She threaded her fingers in his hair. “I love you, too, cowboy.”

  Then she closed her lips over his and kissed him. “You won’t mind if I don’t work for a while?” she murmured when they came up for air.

  “You can help me here on the BBL.” He kissed her again. “And you can give me babies.”

  She threw her head back and laughed, a musical sound that warmed his heart. “How about we just start with one?”

  “One sounds good to me,” Brody said. “That is, for a start.”

  She laughed again, and he lifted her in his arms and carried her upstairs to the bedroom.

  Epilogue

  Julie had dreamed about a June wedding, and seven years after she’d talked about having it with Brody, it was finally coming true.

  She had also dreamed about having a big family and between the boys at the BBL, Will, the men who ran the ranch and their wives, that was coming true, as well.

  She and Johnny’s wife, Rachel; Brandon’s wife, Kim; Carter’s wife, Sadie; Miles’s wife, Jordan; and Mason’s wife, Cara, had become like sisters. She waved to them all as they filed into their seats with their husbands. Rachel’s son, Kenny, sat with Miles’s son, Timmy, and Kim and Brandon’s little girl, Lucy. Both Rachel and Kim were pregnant, and she’d heard Sadie, Cara and Jordan all talking about babies in the near future.

  But the biggest surprise had been the phone call from her aunt. She had seen the news story featuring Julie and the abused boys, and finally decided to leave her husband. She said she’d taken the last beating of her life.

  Julie had talked to Brody and like the honorable man and cowboy he was, he had offered her a place at the BBL. She was helping Ms. Ellen in the kitchen, and had blossomed under the other woman’s loving care. Her uncle had come after her, but Brody had put the fear of God in him, and her uncle had slunk away. Between her warning and Brody’s, they didn’t expect to ever see him again.

  Brody stood next to Will, his best man, beneath the same gazebo where Mason and Cara had married a few months ago. White chairs and ribbons adorned the outdoor festivities, with flowers adding color.

  It turned out Agent Cord played the guitar and had offered to play for them.

  It was a perfect spring day.

  But it would have been perfect if it had been raining and there was no one here to watch, because she was marrying the perfect man.

  Her cowboy and the love of her life.

  Jay began strumming the wedding march, and she clutched her roses in one hand and started the bridal walk toward the man she loved.

  And her soon-to-be husband.

  * * *

  BRODY HAD NEVER felt as blessed as he did on this day. Surrounded by his best friends, the ranch hands, counselors and kids on the BBL, and his brother, life just couldn’t get any better.

  Sunlight painted a radiant picture of his bride as she walked toward him, the golden light shimmering off her simple but elegant wedding dress.

  “She’s great, Brody,” Will whispered. “Someday I hope I find a girl like her.”

  Brody choked back emotions. The fact that Will was looking ahead was a good sign. “You will one day, Will. And she is wonderful. I wouldn’t have you back if she hadn’t kept looking the way she did.” He loved her even more for that.

  Because she had sacrificed her dreams for him.

  He would make sure she followed her own dreams from now on. Hell, if she still wanted to go to vet school, he’d pay for that.

  Or if she wanted to have babies and raise a family, he was all over that, too.

  Still, Will was the amazing one. He was not only making great strides in his own recovery but also opening up and helping others. He and the boys wh
o’d survived shared their own special bond and Brody had welcomed them onto the ranch as part of the family.

  The guitar music faded as Julie took his hand, and the reverend began the ceremony. Ten minutes later, he walked his wife down the aisle and the celebration began.

  Food, champagne and cake added to the party, then the music started again and Brody swept Julie onto the makeshift dance floor for their first dance as man and wife.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again as he swung her around. “I love you, Brody.”

  “I love you, too,” he whispered. “Forever and always.”

  She smiled into his eyes. “Forever and always.”

  Then Brody looked across the dance floor and saw Will smiling. He returned the smile, so proud of him he wanted to shout it to the heavens.

  Moody had taken him away seven years ago, but Julie had brought him back.

  She and Will were both heroes.

  And he had no doubt that one day his brother would take over the BBL and continue the work that he had started.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Cowboy Cop by Rita Herron!

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  Chapter One

  Three months later

  “Dugan is out.”

  Miles’s fingers tightened around his cell phone as he wheeled his SUV around and headed toward the station. “What?”

  His superior, Lieutenant Hammond, didn’t sound happy. “Based on the Kelly woman’s murder and some technicality with the chain of evidence when they’d searched the man’s place, Dugan’s lawyer got his conviction overturned.”