by Rita Herron
Although judging from the looks of him, he had delved too deeply into his delusional state for her to break through.
“Robert,” she said again in a soothing tone. “We talked about this before, remember? You don’t want to hurt Timmy. He’s just a kid like you were back when you wanted someone to rescue you.” Jordan eased up beside him, her demeanor so calm that it helped to stem Miles’s churning stomach. “You can do that for Timmy now. You can save him and be his hero.”
Miles ground his teeth to keep from calling Dugan the murdering bastard he was.
“If you do,” Jordan continued in a gentle tone, “I’ll let everyone know what you did for him.”
“The whores had to die,” Dugan shouted, then waved the knife at his mother’s face. “They had to die for their sins.”
“Just release Timmy,” Jordan said. “You aren’t angry at him. It’s your mother that you’re mad at for how she treated you.”
Dugan slowly pivoted his head to look at her, then down at Timmy, whose face was pale, his eyes huge in his little face. “Please, mister,” Timmy said. “I wanna go home with my daddy.”
“See, Timmy has a father that cares about him, that will treat him right,” Jordan continued. “I know you wanted that all along, didn’t you, Robert? You wanted your daddy to come and rescue you from your mother and what she put you through.”
Dugan nodded, a tear slipping down his ruddy cheek. He had once looked polished and smug, but now he looked like a sick, crazed animal caught in a trap.
“Come here, Timmy.” Jordan eased closer and held out her hand. “Let him go, Robert, and you can be a savior, like the man you always wanted to save you.”
Dugan suddenly released Timmy, and Timmy ran toward Miles, but Dugan grabbed Jordan by the arm. Miles jerked Timmy behind him, then his gaze met Jordan’s. She gave a quick nod as if she’d read his mind and knew he was going to shoot.
A second later, Jordan ducked and he fired. The bullet slammed into Dugan’s chest. He looked shocked for a moment, then his hand flew to his chest where blood pooled, and he staggered back against the kitchen sink.
Jordan jerked away and raced toward him. Miles caught her, and she grabbed Timmy and cradled him against her, pulling him back toward the opened door.
The old woman muttered a string of profanity, berating Dugan and spilling hatred for her own son. “Got what you deserved,” she said, then broke into another terrible cough.
Dugan suddenly lunged toward Miles, but Miles fired another round, and Dugan slumped to the floor with an anguished cry at his mother’s feet.
She shoved his body away with her foot, and Dugan rolled over and looked up at her, blood seeping from his chest. “It was your fault,” he choked out. “All those women... I wanted to kill you instead.”
“Go to hell,” the old woman muttered. Then she turned her head toward Miles. “Untie me now.”
Miles glared at her, the disturbing inclination to let her rot for what she’d done to her son eating at him. She had started the chain of events that had led to so many senseless deaths, to Dugan’s sickness.
And to the fact that Miles had almost lost his son.
But he was a man of the law, and he knew he had to do the right thing. His son was watching, and he’d seen enough violence and evil in his lifetime. Miles wanted to be a man he would be proud of.
Then his son whispered his name, and Miles knew he had a second chance.
He would never let Timmy down again.
Five days later
JORDAN WATCHED THE special awards ceremony where the boys’ achievements over the past two weeks were acknowledged with a mixture of joy and sadness. Carlos, Justin, Wayling, Malcolm and Rory all received awards for bravery, and Timmy was awarded a special certificate for toughest cowboy on the horizon.
Two days ago, the press had run a story, complete with photographs of her, the kids and Miles, detailing the events that had led to Ables’s arrest and Dugan’s death. Miles had been the true hero though and was receiving a commendation from the governor for finally solving the Slasher case. Janet Bridges had also come forward and admitted that Dugan had hidden his dark side from her; she had found trophies of the victims, but run out of fear for her life.
Ables had been born when Dugan was a teen and the old woman had given him away, but he’d come looking for his family and thought he might find it with his brother.
Pride filled Jordan as Timmy stood up to speak in front of all the other kids. He had made tremendous strides in his progress since they had returned to the BBL. The nurturing hands of the workers, the other boys who talked more openly about their own struggles and Miles’s constant attention had turned him back into a happy child once again.
Not that he didn’t still grieve for his mother, but Jordan had helped him realize that talking about her was okay, that missing her was okay, that his mother would want him to be happy though, and that she was always with him.
She walked to her cabin, her heart aching. She had fallen hopelessly in love with Miles, but since their return, they hadn’t shared a private moment. Hadn’t talked about the night they’d made love.
In fact, an awkward chasm had fallen between them.
Miles didn’t love her. Like Marie said, he was married to his job.
And she couldn’t keep him from what he wanted.
She had given herself to him out of love and comfort, not because she expected anything in return.
Miles had enough on his plate being a single father. And one day soon, she was sure, he would return to his job. He was too good at it not to. She’d also heard he’d been hunting for a small ranch to buy himself.
Then he and Timmy would have a home and be gone from her life forever.
Tears blurred her eyes at the thought, and she turned to leave. Timmy suddenly ran toward her then thrust a piece of paper in her hand. Miles strolled up behind him, his hands in his pockets, a sheepish look on his face.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“It’s what I see when I close my eyes now. No more red.”
She smiled and patted his shoulder, then studied the picture. It was his drawing of her and Miles and him, the three of them hand in hand. Stars glittered brightly from the night sky shining a halo around them.
Her heart squeezed.
“Those two stars are touching,” she said as she noticed two of the brightest ones in the corner, their points coinciding.
“You told me Mommy lived in heaven. That’s her.” Timmy pointed to the bigger star. “And that’s your little brother. Mommy tolded me she’d take care of him till you got to heaven, since you took care of me.”
Jordan’s heart thumped wildly, and she looked up at Miles. His expression looked as stunned as hers.
“Did you tell him?” she asked.
Miles shook his head no.
“I told you,” Timmy said. “Mommy did.” He tugged her arm down and gave her a big sloppy kiss. “She likes you.”
Then he turned and ran back to the other boys. Jordan saw the shock on Miles’s face, and her stomach tumbled to her throat. She wanted to believe that the three of them could be together, but Miles had made no declaration of love. It was only Timmy’s childish wishful thinking.
Unable to speak for the emotions clogging her throat, she gave him a slight wave, then turned and ran toward her cabin.
Images of her little brother hit her, then images of Timmy and Miles, and tears spilled over. She was glad she was alone and in the dark so no one could see them.
A chill had set in, and she swiped at her wet cheeks, then rubbed her arms, tugged her key from her pocket and let herself into her cabin.
She thought she’d left a light on, but the room was bathed in darkness. Then a sound squeaked. A footstep.
Jordan froze, her senses alert. Dugan was dead... Had Ables escaped?
Her derringer was locked in the desk drawer and she headed toward it, but suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and put her in a strangli
ng choke hold.
* * *
MILES WATCHED JORDAN disappear with a dull throbbing in his chest. He had been so relieved to have Timmy back alive and so worried about his health that he hadn’t had time to think about what had happened between him and Jordan.
He’d assumed that the sex had been a frantic, emotionally charged release of pent-up frustration at the time.
But deep down he knew it was more.
He simply hadn’t been ready to face it or the questions that the possibility of an ongoing relationship with Jordan brought.
The complications...his job...her feelings...his...Timmy’s...
Hell, he didn’t want to think about it. He just knew what he wanted.
He wanted Jordan.
In his life. In his bed.
With him and his son.
For good.
Determination suddenly cleared his head of the questions and doubts. Timmy’s drawing and comment about Marie had also dissipated his guilt.
Jordan had helped his son see that he could still love his mother while he moved on. That it was okay for him to love Jordan.
Just as it was okay for him to love her.
But he’d seen the emotions on her face when Timmy had given her the drawing of the three of them—did she not want them in her future?
Would she feel the same as Marie—that he was married to his job?
Dammit. He had to know.
He laid his hand on his little boy’s shoulder. “You okay, son?”
Timmy nodded. “Can I spend the night with the other campers tonight?”
Miles barely breathed, he was so happy. He and Carlos had discussed this earlier, but he hadn’t been sure Timmy was ready.
It was such a monumental step that he wanted to jump for joy and shout his thanks above.
But he stooped and gave Timmy a knuckle-up instead. “Sure, son. Have fun.”
Timmy threw his arms around him and hugged him, then ran back to the group. Miles gestured to Carlos to watch out for him, and Carlos nodded that he would.
A sense of relief filled Miles and lightened his mood, and he strode toward Jordan’s cabin. Now that he knew what he wanted, he couldn’t wait to tell her.
The nerves he expected left him, and he practically jogged to her cabin. As he neared it though, he noticed a light burning in the den, then saw the silhouette of two bodies through the window.
Two bodies?
He froze, wondering if Jordan might have company. A friend? Lover?
No...
Then he spotted movement, the silhouette of a hand holding a knife, and his instincts kicked in. Automatically he reached for his gun and slipped up the steps to the porch, crept to the edge of the window, pausing to listen.
“Please, you don’t want to do this,” Jordan pleaded.
“Didn’t think we’d see your picture in the paper, you stupid bitch.”
The voice, low and throaty, trying to sound adult. A teenager.
The memory of Jordan’s brother’s death and her fear of gang retaliation struck him, and he realized the publicity over Dugan’s arrest had placed her in the limelight.
And brought danger to her door.
Dammit, he had just found her. Had just realized how much he loved her.
He and Timmy couldn’t lose her now. She was their future, their life.
Chapter Twenty-One
Miles inched up to the door, eased it open and crept inside, careful to make his footsteps light. Still, his boots must have hit a weak spot in the floor because the plank squeaked and the big guy holding Jordan swung around, the knife at her throat.
Déjà vu of Dugan’s attack on Jordan hit him, nearly blinding him, but Jordan’s voice broke through the haze. “Please, there’s no reason to do this. What you did to my brother is over, but I can help you if you let me.”
Dear Lord. Jordan was trying to help the kid who had her in his clutches.
She was a fool.
And the most courageous, wonderful woman he’d ever met.
But he didn’t give a damn about the kid. Not if he hurt Jordan.
He raised his gun and pointed it at the teenager. “Listen, I’m a cop and a damn good shot. And I’ve taken down a lot bigger, tougher men than you.”
The kid was big, angry and, judging from his tattoos, a member of the gang who had killed Jordan’s brother. Here to get retribution for her testimony against one of his own.
Loyalty misplaced.
Angry lines slashed grooves around the boy’s face, accentuating the scar on his jaw. A knife wound. Probably a gang fight.
“Let her go, man. I’m a lawman. There’s no way this is going to have a happy ending.”
“Please,” Jordan said gently. “There are people who can help you. I’ll help you.”
The kid released a curse. “Why the hell would you help me, lady?”
“Because you’re young, and you’ve had a tough life, but I think you can do better.” Jordan gripped his hand where he had it at her throat. “My brother wouldn’t want anyone else to die.”
Miles kept his gun trained on the teen. “Do as she says and no one gets hurt.”
The kid looked him in the eye, and for a moment, Miles thought he was going to fight. But he dropped the knife to the floor instead and released Jordan. Miles vaulted forward, spun the kid around and handcuffed him.
“Miles—”
He cut her off. “He’ll have his day in court, but I can’t let him go. Not with all the other boys’ lives at stake.”
Her eyes glittered with emotions, but she knew he was right. Then he called the sheriff’s number. Jordan continued to talk to the kid and encourage him to seek help while they waited on him to arrive.
Miles had no idea if the teenager had any redeemable qualities, but his admiration and love for Jordan grew because he knew she wouldn’t give up.
As soon as the sheriff left with the boy, he planned to tell her how he felt.
* * *
JORDAN’S HEART TUGGED with sadness as the teenager was arrested. She hoped he’d let her help him, but she also realized she couldn’t save everyone.
Timmy’s drawing caught her attention where it lay on the table and she smiled. His childlike insight and wisdom brought tears to her eyes.
Miles stepped back inside, then gave her a fierce look and gripped her arms with his hands. “God, Jordan, I was scared when I saw he had you.”
Jordan’s heart stuttered. She had been afraid, too. “Why did you come here, Miles? Did you know he was here?”
He shook his head, a flicker of possessiveness back in his eyes. “No, I came to tell you that I love you.”
Her mouth curved into a surprised smile. “You do?”
He nodded. “The past few days I was so worried about Timmy, and trying to figure out what to do, where we would go. I felt so guilty over Marie—”
“You can’t keep blaming yourself,” Jordan said quietly. “She wouldn’t want that. And Timmy needs you to forgive yourself.”
“I’m working on it.” His jaw tightened, then relaxed a fraction of a second later as if he was trying to do just that. “I’ve been looking for land, and I bought a small spread.”
“I heard you were looking,” Jordan said softly. “That you were leaving...”
“I am, but the ranch is close by. I want to be a part of the BBL and I want Timmy to be part of it, too.” Hunger deepened his expression. “But I want you to come with us.” He nuzzled her neck. “I want you to marry me, Jordan.”
Jordan’s heart soared with happiness.
Then he lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. “Jordan?”
“I love you, too, Miles.” She licked her suddenly dry lips.
“I can’t promise I’ll leave the job, but we can talk about it,” he murmured.
“No, you’re good at what you do. It’s who you are. I would never ask you to give up your work.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw. “The world needs men like you. Men who fight for justice
and teach kids how to overcome obstacles and do what’s right.”
A tenderness flickered onto his face as if her words had touched a chord deep inside him. But uncertainty lingered there as well. “Then you will be my wife?”
Jordan threaded her fingers in his hair. “Yes, Miles. I love you and I’ll marry you.”
She kissed him with all her heart, then he took her to bed, and they made love long into the night, sealing their whispered promises of loving with erotic touches that would forever stay in her mind.
And when Jordan stirred and looked through the window at the stars twinkling in the sky, she saw two of the brightest stars she’d ever seen.
Just like Timmy’s drawing, their points were touching as if Marie and her brother were holding hands, shining their approval down on the BBL.
And on her and Miles and Timmy and the love that they shared, and the family that they would be together.
* * * * *
Award-winning author Rita Herron’s BUCKING BRONC LODGE miniseries continues next month with NATIVE COWBOY. Look for it wherever Harlequin Intrigue books are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt of Mason by Delores Fossen!
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Chapter One
The scream woke Deputy Mason Ryland.
His eyes flew open, and Mason stumbled from the sofa in his office where he’d fallen asleep. He reached for his shirt but couldn’t find it. He had better luck with the Smith & Wesson handgun that he’d left on his desk.
