Zeph Undercover

by Jenny Andersen

  “Sit behind this bush and watch.”

  “So why did you suggest the back seat?”

  He put down the binoculars and gave her a long, level look. “Why do you think?”

  “Well, that’s not right. I didn’t mean to get in the way of your work. I’ll sit out here with you.” She plopped down in a spot shielded from view. “I didn’t ask to come along just so…”

  Heat burned up her neck and spread over her face.

  Zeph settled in beside her. “Now I’m the one disappointed.” He took one more survey of the ranch yard below and put down the binoculars. “And I didn’t say that in the heat of the moment. It was the next day.” He leaned toward her and that newly familiar electric zing shot through her.

  The slam of a car door brought Zeph’s head up. He fumbled for the binoculars.

  “What are they doing?” Allie asked.

  “Getting ready to leave, looks like. Two trucks. And those duffles suggest his friends don’t intend to come back.”

  It was like watching a hunting dog focused on its quarry. “We’re going to follow them, aren’t we?”

  His mouth set in a grim line. “No.”

  “Because I’m here?”

  “Be reasonable, Allie. I can’t take you—what are you doing?”

  No way would she be a stumbling block for him. She slid into the driver’s seat, locked her door, and stretched to see which way Seldon and company turned when they reached the road. “If you’re not coming, I’ll follow them alone.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  The sarcasm in his voice sparked her temper and she started the SUV. “I can follow them as well as you can.”

  “Get out of there.”

  “I can. And I mean it, Zeph. Now get in before they get too far ahead.” She shoved the gearshift into drive and the SUV moved forward.

  Zeph yanked open the door and vaulted into the passenger seat in a cloud of words she hadn’t heard since grad school. She hit the accelerator and sent them down the narrow track to the road.

  “Don’t get too close.” He pulled out a map and bent over it. “There aren’t any side roads for about ten miles,” he said.

  Allie glanced at him in surprise.

  “I do my homework, Allie.” He checked the road ahead when she topped a hill and he could see. “Slow down. I can see them.”

  “It’s getting dark.”

  “Don’t turn on the lights,” he warned.

  “Right. But there’s a side road about a mile ahead. It’s too new to show on that map. I’d better close up enough to see which way they go.”

  The SUV rounded a bend just in time to see Wendover turn onto the narrow, winding set of tire tracks that didn’t appear on Zeph’s map.

  “That’s it, Allie. Let’s go home.”

  “No way.” Excitement fizzed like champagne through her. She knew exactly how a hound felt near the end of a hunt.

  “No. Absolutely no. This could get dangerous. I refuse.”

  “Then you’ll have to walk.” But she hit the gas just to make sure he wouldn’t take her at her word, and skidded through the turn onto the dirt track. “This road goes about two miles to the new reservoir. It’s a good place to swim, but it’s a dead end.” Allie slowed, evaluating the dust left by Wend’s truck. “There’s a spot where we can hide the car up ahead, and walk in.”

  “Damn it, Allie. You’re making me feel like a wimp.” He pulled a gun seemingly out of nowhere and checked the magazine.

  Shock jolted through her. “Well, you can’t shoot me for that,” she said, trying for flip instead of intimidated.

  “Of course not. Spank, maybe, but not shoot. This is just in case. I’m guessing this is a drug deal, and—you know—none of our business. It could still get dangerous.” He followed the gun with a camera. “We’ve come about a mile. Turn around. We do not want drive into whatever they’re doing.”

  She started turning, nosing into a wide spot behind some bushes. “I’m sorry, Zeph. I shouldn’t have—” The SUV jolted across some unseen obstacle, cutting off her words.

  “No, you shouldn’t.” His mouth had set in a hard line.

  She pressed on the gas. The SUV didn’t move. She shifted into low, and the vehicle grudgingly crept a few feet farther behind the bushes.

  “Now what?”

  “I think it’s a flat.” She eased her door open and slid out, careful of the scratchy branches. “Oops.”

  “What?”

  “Both tires on this side are flat. We’re stuck.”

  Zeph looked at the tires and swore softly. “Let’s get away from the car.” He eased Allie’s door shut noiselessly. “Be quiet.”

  Shivering with excitement—and a touch of fear—Allie walked around the SUV to his side. “Now what?”

  “Since we’re stuck here, we might as well see what’s happening.”

  She nodded and walked out to the road, checking to see if the SUV was visible. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and they won’t notice it.” She led the way into the woods, cursing the adorable sequined velvet flats she’d chosen for dinner. At least she could be thankful she hadn’t gotten the mile-high spikes that had tempted her for one insane minute in the store.

  When they neared the water, she stopped and crept to a spot behind a pile of rocks big enough to shield them. “There’s Wend. I don’t see the Johnsons or their truck.”

  Wendover stood facing out toward the water.

  “They might have stayed on the highway. Where would that take them?”

  “If they stay on that road, they’ll get to three ninety five. Reno, maybe.”

  “Looks like he’s waiting for a boat,” Zeph murmured. He produced a camera and snapped pictures of Wend’s truck and license plate, and Wend himself before settling against a rock and reaching for her.

  She leaned against him and they waited silently. Her velvet pants were never going to be the same, and when she came to her senses, she’d mourn the Taryn Rose shoes. The fizzing excitement had fizzed away, leaving her definitely scared, but Zeph’s hard-muscled warmth reassured her.

  Wendover paced back and forth on the shore of the reservoir, puffing nervously on his cigarette and tossing the butt on the ground. Idiot. Allie heard a motor in the distance and tensed. Zeph put a warning hand on her shoulder.

  Wendover snapped to attention. A moment later the boat growled up the shore. Zeph pulled her farther back into concealment.

  She went dizzy with shock. She’d never really believed Wend was anything but a sleazy low life who didn’t treat animals well, but here he was, involved in what looked like a real criminal deal. The two men in the boat had hard, cold eyes, several plastic bags of white powder, and guns. They moved like well-synchronized machines. Wend handed over a fat roll of bills and took the bags in return.

  Her knees turned to jelly. She’d just witnessed a drug deal. In Stone’s Crossing.

  As quickly as it had come, the boat pulled away from the shore and scooted across the water. Wendover stared after it. When the sound of the engine died in the distance, he turned and walked into the forest. Zeph silently shifted around the rocks, pulling her with him. When Wend had disappeared behind the trees, Zeph whispered, “Wait here,” and followed.

  In a pig’s eye. She pulled her jacket around her and chased after him.

  With amazement, she saw Wendover pause about fifty feet into the woods, pick up a stick, and, after a furtive look around, start digging at the base of a huge split pine. Zeph froze behind a tree and pulled her behind him. He pulled the gun out of his belt.

  God, did he plan to shoot Wendover? Allie’s heart thumped into her throat. She made a murmur of protest.

  “Shh,” Zeph breathed in her ear.

  Wendover’s head snapped up and he looked around wildly.

  Allie froze, matching Zeph’s rigid stance.

  Apparently satisfied, Wendover turned back to dump two of the packets into the hole and cover it.

  Zeph tugged at Allie, p
ulling her silently back into the trees, away from Wendover. “Just in case he comes over here to check,” he murmured almost silently in her ear. After another thirty feet or so, he looked around. Allie gestured at a pile of brush and rocks. “Behind there,” she whispered.

  He nodded and followed her to crouch between two rocks.

  Just in time. Wendover slid between two trees and looked around. “Dammit, you fool. You’re hearing things,” he said, apparently to himself.

  Something scuffled in the brush in front of Allie. Zeph went rigid and she caught her breath.

  “I know you’re there,” Wendover shouted. “You come out or I’ll shoot.”

  The click of Zeph’s gun being cocked sounded like a cannon shot in Allie’s ear.

  Wendover glared around wildly, waving his gun.

  Too much like a television show. There should be background music. Allie clutched Zeph’s arm. Things like this didn’t happen in Stone’s Crossing.

  Wendover took a panicked step toward them, then another.

  Allie’s heart clutched. Zeph shoved her behind him and raised his gun.

  The rustle came again at the foot of their sheltering rocks and Wendover fired a couple of shots that blasted the silent forest with sound, deafening Allie. Shards of rock zinged by like bullets. She didn’t dare move.

  After a frozen moment, he turned and ran back toward his truck.

  Allie crouched against Zeph until Wend stopped crashing through the brush, until the frantic grinding of his truck starter turned into the chugging of the old engine, and the truck had groaned up the hill into silence.

  Zeph straightened. “Well, that was entertaining.”

  “My God.” Allie started shaking.

  “Hey, hey. You did fine. Don’t fall apart on me now.” Zeph put his arms around her and drew her close. “We’d better get out of here. If Seldon spots our car, he might either come back to find us or ambush us.”

  “So we don’t go up the road,” she said, trying for calm and competent instead of the adrenaline shakes. “We can cut off to the right and get to the main road. We’ll have to walk back to town.”

  She led the way through the gathering dark, shuddering at the idea that Wend might actually harm her—them. The shady but harmless Wendover she’d known all her life had disappeared, replaced by a wild-eyed, gun-waving drug smuggler. And Zeph had switched from sophisticated playboy to cold-eyed warrior right in front of her. He’d stepped in front of her without any hesitation, ready to take whatever bullets came their way.

  “Too bad you couldn’t arrest Wend,” she said after a few minutes. “We could have ridden back to town in his truck.”

  “I don’t arrest people.”

  She stopped so suddenly he ran into her. “But—but—he just did a drug deal. He’s a criminal. Surely you’re not going to let him go.”

  “Nope. I’m going to give Monty the pictures and let him do the arresting.”

  “But—”

  “What? You think I should have shot Wend? Beaten him to a pulp? Honey, that only happens in the movies.”

  She knew that. “Sorry.”

  When they arrived at the road, Allie stepped onto the paved surface with gratitude. Stumbling through the forest in the dark wearing decorative shoes didn’t make it to her Top Ten Fun Things To Do list.

  “It’s what, about five miles to your dad’s house?” Zeph asked.

  “About that.”

  “You okay?”

  “Just peachy. What would you do if I said no? Carry me?”

  Zeph wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “If necessary. But you’ll never know how much I appreciate it that it isn’t.”

  The smile in his voice sent warmth through her. She closed her mind to all thoughts of bears, snakes, the possibility that Wend was behind them, and the way her father would yell when they got home. Color her hopelessly romantic, but walking down a pretty country road with your honey wasn’t all bad.

  ****

  God only knew what was out there in the dark. But right now, walking along with Allie’s hand warm in his, the world looked pretty damned good. Allie beside him, solid evidence against that worthless horse abuser, and his mother’s chocolate cake waiting at Lincoln’s. How could life get better?

  Everything had turned out all right even though he’d almost had a coronary when that idiot Seldon had started shooting. If they’d been behind bushes instead of rocks… He should have his head examined for bringing Allie out here, but damned if he could see how he could have stopped her. Quite a woman, Allie.

  He froze at the sound of a car.

  “It’s coming from town, not behind us,” Allie said. “Not Wendover.”

  “Also not anyone who’ll give us a ride,” he said sourly.

  Instead of speeding past as he expected, the car slowed and stopped beside them, and Monty leaned out the window. “Need a lift?”

  Allie had already made it halfway into the back seat.

  Zeph went around to the other side, stopping when he saw Allie’s father in the front seat. He sighed, climbed in beside Allie, and waited for Lincoln’s wrath.

  “Where’s my car?” Lincoln asked in a deceptively mild voice.

  Allie squeezed Zeph’s hand. “Down by the reservoir. I’m sorry, Dad. It has two flat tires. I ran over some rocks or something. I’ll call the service station from your house and get Ted to fix it and bring it back to the house.”

  Lincoln harrumphed but didn’t say another word until they’d reached his house and Monty and Zeph and Allie had followed him into the living room, giving Zeph enough time to work up a good head of guilt. Bad enough to lose the guy’s car, but if he heard about the shooting…

  “Sorry about the—” he began.

  Before he could say “car,” his mother bustled into the room and threw her arms around him. “Oh, you’re back. I was so worried. Allison, are you all right? What happened? Lincoln, how did you find them? Monty, thank you so much for—”

  “All right, Elena,” Lincoln said. “Be patient, my dear. Give Allison a chance to tell us why she—it was you doing the driving, Allison?”

  The “my dear” diverted Zeph’s attention for a moment, but he snapped back to attention when Lincoln continued. “As I was saying, would you care to explain why you were driving down to the reservoir? I thought you planned to stay up at the lookout.”

  Actually, no, he wouldn’t like to explain. “Well, uh, sir, we—uh—” He’d faced enraged cheating husbands and drug dealers intent on murder, but he’d never felt guilty before.

  “I’ll tell you what happened,” Allie interjected. “And it wasn’t Zeph’s fault. Those two Johnson guys did leave, and so did Wend, in his own truck, and I thought we ought to follow them. Zeph said no, but I got in the driver’s seat and—” She gulped. “And we saw Wend turn down toward the reservoir. So I followed him and...” She gave a concise summary of the events.

  Zeph figured Lincoln’s attention stopped at the part where Seldon started shooting. He turned an interesting shade of red and said something garbled and half swallowed.

  “You saw him do a drug deal?” Monty interrupted before Lincoln recovered.

  “Here are the pictures. There’s a good one of the other two guys. And the registration number on their boat.” Zeph popped the memory card and handed it to Monty.

  “Come in tomorrow and make a statement,” Monty said, and sprinted out the door.

  “He shot at you,” Lincoln said in a preternaturally calm voice.

  “Not exactly,” Zeph said before he thought, and winced. Not a good idea to substitute wild, out of control shots in Lincoln’s mind.

  “Shot.” Lincoln’s face edged toward purple.

  “Dad,” Allie said. Zeph took her hand and found it ice cold.

  “He shot at you. And this irresponsible, unreliable idiot—”

  His mother bounced to her feet. “My son is not irresponsible. Or unreliable. Or an idiot. You can’t say things like that—”

/>   “Calm down, Mother.”

  “He took you on a stake-out,” Lincoln continued, “And led you into gunfire. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t—” He stalled, incoherent with fury.

  “Dad. Calm down,” Allie begged. “Nothing happened. This isn’t good for your heart. Please. It was my fault. I insisted on going with him, remember? I was the one who insisted on following Wend and his friends.”

  “And you couldn’t stop her.” Lincoln’s glare raked Zeph.

  “And just how do you think he could have done that?” Allie demanded. “You couldn’t stop me from going with him. And I had the keys.”

  “You can’t say anything that’s worse than what I’ve said to myself,” Zeph said quietly to Lincoln.

  “He didn’t have a chance. Dad,” Allie said. “I—well, I kidnapped him.”

  A flush of red colored Zeph’s cheeks. “It wasn’t her fault,” he insisted, still not sure how he could have stopped her. “I didn’t intend to do anything but watch from a safe distance—”

  “I told him I’d follow them if he didn’t agree. So leave him alone.” She stepped closer to Zeph. “He didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, he did everything he could to protect me.”

  “I’m sure he did,” Zeph’s mother said. “Zephram would never knowingly put a woman in danger. But you, young woman, what did you think you were doing?”

  Allie hung her head. “I was wrong, Mrs. Granger. I’m sorry.”

  “I suppose you’re going to say he would have taken a bullet for you,” Lincoln growled.

  “Well, he would have. He pushed me behind him when Wend started shooting.”

  Zeph noted with some relief that Lincoln’s color had returned to almost normal.

  “All right, Allison. It was your fault and I’m wrong to worry when some young pup takes my daughter into a shoot-out. Just call me an old fuddy duddy and stick me in a corner.”

  “You’re not a fuddy duddy, you’re just a worry wart,” Allie said.

  “Very touching,” Zeph said. “But he’s right. I had no right—”

  “You couldn’t—” Allie began.

  “Give it up, Granger,” Lincoln said. “Or this will go on all day. Allie never gives up. And there’s always your mother to contend with.”