Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

  She collapsed on the hard rock and rolled onto her back. The thunder of their hooves was so loud August could literally feel the vibration in the ground. She closed her eyes against the blinding sun. The thunder was fading, but a chorus of wolf howls and a distant whup of copter blades rang in her ears.

  Chapter Twenty

  August hummed at the soft kiss then the tickle of tongue against her chapped lips. She kept her eyes closed but couldn’t stop the slow smile. “I know that tongue from somewhere,” she said. “Come snuggle with me, Rio.”

  “Rio?”

  August opened her eyes at the light slap at her arm and indignant response. “Hey. Don’t injure the patient.”

  “It’s okay. You’re in a hospital. There are plenty of medical personnel here to patch you up,” Teal said, climbing onto the bed and into August’s outstretched arms. “Besides, four days is long enough.” She indicated some papers on the counter next to the bed. “The doctor has signed your dismissal orders, and someone should be here any minute with a wheelchair so I can spring you.”

  “Thank God. I thought I’d never get that cute blond nurse out of my room last night.”

  Teal narrowed her eyes. “That’s precisely why I’m taking you home. It felt good to actually sleep in a bed last night rather than in that chair over there, but I’ll bet that little minx was in here the minute I left to offer a nice sponge bath or to rub lotion all over your body.”

  August feigned surprise. “She said the lotion was part of my treatment.”

  Teal, single eyebrow raised, pushed up to stare down at August. “She better not have had her hands on you.”

  August laughed again. “Not to worry. Your hands are the only ones I want on me.” She pulled Teal back down and kissed her, running her tongue along Teal’s lips. Teal took her inside and their tongues danced together. August grasped Teal’s hand and guided it between her legs as she ended the kiss. “I could use one of those sponge baths right now.” She groaned as Teal cupped her and squeezed.

  “How about we get you dressed and home? Then you can have a nice hot shower. I promise to wash every inch of you and take care of every need you have.” Teal squeezed again.

  August stared into those beautiful brown eyes and thought her heart would burst. “I love you,” she whispered. “I thought I loved Christine, but what I feel for you is…so much more.”

  Teal’s eyes shone with affection, and she smoothed her fingertips along August’s jaw. “I’m so glad,” she said softly. “Because you’ve stolen my heart, and I need to know it’s safe with you.”

  “Always, baby. I’ll guard it with my life.”

  The door swung open, and the cute blond nurse pushed a wheelchair into the room. “They tell me you’re leaving today, so I thought you’d like some help with a bath and dressing.” She stopped at the sight of Teal cuddled in the bed with August. “Oh, sorry. I should have knocked.”

  “No problem,” Teal said, rising and climbing out of the bed. “Thanks for the chair. I can help her dress, but we’re going to wait on the bath until we’re home so I can give her a good scrub in the shower.”

  The nurse swallowed, her eyes going from Teal to settle on August. “I see.” She licked her lips. “Well, your paperwork is done. Do you have the doctor’s instructions on how to care for your wounds?”

  August pointed to the papers on the counter. “Teal talked to the doctor.” She sat up and smiled at Teal. “She has everything I need,” she said to the nurse without taking her eyes from Teal.

  Teal bent to give her a quick kiss, then lifted a small duffel onto the bed. “Right now, I have the clothes you need to get out of here.”

  The nurse cleared her throat. “Right. Then I’ll leave you to it.” She raised her hand in a small wave. “I hope the rest of your recovery goes well.”

  August slid to the edge of the bed and carefully swung her legs over the side. Cobra’s last bullet had only grazed her calf, but his earlier shot had gone through the thick muscle of her thigh, narrowly missing bone. Until it healed more, her right leg was encased in a removable splint to keep her from bending it. She’d be on crutches for several more weeks.

  “I found some light jogging pants in your closet,” Teal said as she pulled the Velcro closures loose on the splint. “I thought they’d be the most comfortable. You can wear the splint over them.”

  “Okay. Can we go by to see BJ and Pops before we leave?” August asked. Even though BJ’s injuries had required more than one surgery on his shoulder wound, she’d been most worried about the pneumonia that settled in Pops’s lungs.

  “I thought you’d want to. The doctors say Pops can probably go home in couple of days if he continues to improve at the rate he has. It will likely be another week for BJ.” Teal exchanged a bra and polo shirt for the hated hospital gown August stripped off.

  “Ha. BJ’s probably bribed the doctors to get Pops out of his room so he doesn’t have to listen to his complaining.” She ran a brush through her hair, then handed it to Teal, who was checking the small closet and drawers to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind. Teal had taken the half-dozen gifts of flowers and fruit baskets back to the ranch the night before, so only the small duffel was left.

  August stood carefully and rotated on her good leg to sit in the wheelchair, then settled the duffel in her lap and carefully laid her crutches across her injured leg that rested on the chair’s leg extension. Man, she couldn’t wait to see the ranch. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”

  *

  “What the hell are they doing here?” August stared from the backseat of the truck at the collection of sheriff’s cars and black DEA SUVs parked next to the bunkhouse.

  “I don’t know,” Teal said, parking in front of the ranch house. “Let me get you inside and I’ll go see.”

  “Oh, no. I expect they’re looking for the thumb drives, but they sure as shit better have a warrant.” She opened the door at her back and was trying to figure how to slide out when Teal’s arms came around her from behind.

  “If you don’t wait a second, you’re going to end up on your back in the dirt. God, you’re stubborn.” Teal backed her out and held her upright until her injured leg was free and August could gently lower it to the ground.

  “Thanks.” August hated being so dependent.

  “I love having you helpless,” Teal said, kissing her quickly before handing over her crutches. “As soon as we take care of whatever’s going on over there, I’m going to clean you up and have my way with you since you can’t escape.”

  August tucked the crutches under her armpits and clutched the front of Teal’s shirt to draw her into a long, deep kiss. “I think I’m going to need lots of your kind of physical therapy.”

  Teal broke their kiss and laughed. “So, let’s see if we can clear these people out of here.”

  Tommy spotted them before they were halfway across the compound and jogged over. “August, you’ve got to stop them. They’re getting ready to dig up Pops’s garden. He’ll have a fit when he gets home and sees it.”

  Pierce stood in the middle of a dozen deputies, some holding shovels, and pointed to a map grid as he issued assignments to search every inch of the ranch compound. The deputies stepped back to make way for August after she banged a couple of them on the legs with her crutches.

  “I hope you have a search warrant,” August told Pierce.

  He wheeled to face her. “Glad to see you’re home. I was going to call you later. Reyes is in custody. After getting statements from your men about what happened here, we’ve charged him with conspiracy to commit murder. I need those thumb drives, though, to charge him with everything else and put him away for life. Since we both want that, I didn’t think I needed a warrant.”

  “You do if you think you’re going to dig up Pops’s garden,” Teal said. “He’ll be the one in jail for murder if you harm one plant that he’s lovingly cultivated.”

  “Look, Ms. Giovanni—”

  “No, you
listen, Mr. Walker. If you turn over one shovelful of dirt in that garden, I’ll make sure the media knows your first concern was evidence and August’s life came second.”

  August rubbed her hand along Teal’s back when she stopped talking, and tears filled her eyes. “Look. Before you dig up my entire ranch, why don’t we just ask Rio where she hid the thumb drives?” She turned to Tommy, who stood at Teal’s side and looked like he wanted to hit Pierce. “Where’s Rio?”

  “In the bunkhouse. You want me to get her?”

  “If she’s up to it.”

  “Yeah. She’s limping around pretty good.”

  Having recovered her composure, Teal was in a stare-down with Pierce when Tommy returned with Rio at his side. The dog yipped and hobbled to greet August, her tail sweeping back and forth as August attempted to squat, then just sat on the ground to accept a good face licking. “Hey, girl. Did you miss me,” she crooned to the dog as she hugged her. “I sure missed you. How’s your paw?”

  When she held out her hand, Rio carefully placed her leg in August’s palm. The hair had been shaved away, and a strip of black, dying flesh ran from the top of her foot to half the length of her leg.

  “Steroids took care of the swelling after a couple of days, but the vet said she’ll have a deep scar where the venom killed the flesh near the bite. He said it’ll be best if we leave it open until the dead flesh sloughs off.” Tommy held up one of the cones all dogs dread. “She has to wear this, but I took it off so she could welcome you properly.”

  They all laughed when Rio glanced at the cone and hid her head under August’s arm.

  “Sorry, girl. Looks like you’re stuck with that like I’m stuck with these crutches for a while.” She handed them up to Teal, then held her hands up for Pierce and Tommy to lift her to her feet. Once she was standing, she secured the crutches under her arms again. She was already tiring and wanted to save some energy for a shower and a chance to make love to Teal before she had to swallow another pain pill and give in to a nap. She looked down at Rio. “Remember what Pops gave you to hide?”

  Rio tilted her head and gave a sharp bark at the sound of Pops’s name.

  “Go find, Rio.”

  Another sharp bark and Rio hobbled toward the barn.

  August crutched after her, followed by Tommy, Teal, Pierce, and two deputies holding shovels.

  Inside the barn, Rio went into the tack room and used her nose to flip up the top of a wood box, then nosed through an assortment of old leg wraps, first-place ribbons, and other memorabilia from August’s teen years of rodeo competition and barrel racing. After a few seconds, she sat back with a box of Pops’s favorite cigarillos in her mouth.

  August laughed and took the box from Rio and gave it to Teal. “Good girl. We won’t tell Pops about your hiding place, but this isn’t what I’m looking for.” She bent low to talk to the dog. “Pops gave you something else to hide, didn’t he?”

  Rio’s tail swished back and forth in a slow arch.

  “Go find, Rio.”

  The others crowded into the tack room scrambled to get out of Rio’s way as she limped out and turned toward the back entrance of the barn’s wide corridor. Rio sat down outside the garden shed and waited for the procession of people following to catch up.

  August’s arms ached, her leg throbbed. She had gone from leading the group to bringing up the rear. She sagged between her crutches when she reached Rio.

  “This is ridiculous,” Pierce said. “This dog is leading us on a wild-goose chase.”

  Rio looked up at August and barked.

  August pointed to the deputy standing nearest the garden shed. “Open the door for her.” She looked down at Rio. “Is it in the shed, girl?”

  Rio barked but ignored the open door and hobbled a few feet toward the garden before looking back and barking again for August to follow. She wasn’t sure she had the energy, but Rio was better than a padlock. She would accept a “find” command only from August or Pops.

  August eyed the distance from the shed to the garden. “I need a moment,” she confessed to the people around her.

  Teal was at her side in an instant, taking August’s left crutch and handing it to Tommy, then substituting her body in its place. August closed her eyes as Teal wrapped an arm around her waist and grasped the wrist of the arm August draped across her shoulders. So much better than a crutch. August shifted against her and absorbed her strength. She was about to tell them she thought she could go on, when Hawk drove up in one of the ranch’s golf-cart-sized utility vehicles.

  “I thought you might need a lift somewhere,” he said.

  “Remind me to give you a raise,” she muttered as Teal helped her into the passenger seat. When she was settled, August gave Teal’s hand a squeeze and spoke to Rio. “Go find, girl.”

  Once again, Rio tucked her hurt paw up close to her body and hopped off so fast the humans had to jog to keep up. Hawk guided the John Deere Gator alongside them.

  “I knew it was in the garden,” Pierce said as he jogged beside August.

  But Rio veered at the edge of the garden and led them to a pile of rotting wood shavings matted together by a green-and-black substance. They all covered their noses and mouths when the wind shifted.

  “Whew, that stinks,” one deputy said. “What is it?”

  Teal’s laugh was muffled by her shirt she’d pulled up to cover her nose. “That’s my compost pile. Some of it is rotting vegetables scraps from the kitchen, but it’s mostly wood shavings and manure from the chicken coop. Pops and I use it for fertilizer in his garden and the flowerbeds.”

  One of the deputies peeled off from the group, and August could hear him gagging over by the garden.

  “If he’s going to upchuck, he should do it over here,” Hawk said.

  Pierce and the other deputy stared at him, and Hawk shrugged. “It makes good compost,” he deadpanned.

  August shook her head and laughed, but her eyes were on Rio, who pushed her nose into the stinky pile. “Rio, sit.” The dog’s odor when she’d found them in the canyon made sense now, but there had to be a ton of bacteria in that compost, and Rio didn’t need to be digging in it with an open wound. She pointed to the spot Rio had been nosing. “Start digging there,” she told the remaining deputy.

  Rio backed away while the deputy, who apparently had a stronger stomach, carefully spread shovels of compost from that spot onto the ground in search of Rio’s prize. He froze the fourth time he stuck the shovel into the pile, then wiggled the shovel around before extracting it and dumping the spade’s contents at Pierce’s feet.

  Pierce took a pen from his pocket and flicked away the wood chips that clung to the small tin box, then accepted the handkerchief the deputy offered to pick it up and wipe it clean. He opened the box to find the thumb drives tucked neatly inside. “God bless that old man.” Rio barked and Pierce laughed. “And one very smart dog.”

  “Remember our deal,” August warned him. “Steve will be the one to open those. He’ll do it in your lab with your folks watching, but a lot of people risked their lives to keep that information safe, and I don’t want to lose it like your lab lost the information from the original computers.”

  Pierce held up his hand. “You have my word. We’ll fly back to Dallas this afternoon, and I’ll call ahead to have an agent pick Steve up. Are you coming back to Dallas any time soon?”

  “Not until you tell me to show up to testify in Reyes’s trial. Hopefully, it will be the last time I have to step into a courtroom.” August reached for Teal’s hand. “Ranching was always my real dream, especially now that I’ve found someone who shares it.”

  “I know we don’t always see eye to eye.” Pierce glanced at Teal. “And I’ve said a few things I regret.” Pierce held out his hand to August. “But I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. I know you gave up a lot—a partner you’d trusted and a law practice you’d spent years building—and it took real courage to come to me when you realized what Luis and Chris
tine were doing.”

  “Thanks.” August shook his hand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope I have to see you only once more—when we lay out the evidence before the court that will break Reyes’s organization.”

  “For now, you need to rest.” Teal settled her hand on August’s shoulder and gave Pierce a pointed look, then waved Tommy over. “Can you pick up Rio and hold her in the back of the Gator? Hawk, if you guys will get August and Rio to the house, I’ll show our guests to their vehicles.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Hawk said, waiting as Tommy scooped Rio up and held her in his lap as he sat on the small bed of the Gator.

  August smiled and looked up at Teal. “Gotta love a woman who takes charge.”

  Teal kissed her quickly, then led Pierce and the deputies around the bunkhouse to their cars.

  August leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, appreciating that Hawk drove slowly and skirted as many potholes as possible.

  “Tommy, you need to scrape these drives tomorrow,” Hawk said.

  “That’ll have to wait a day or two. I’ll ask Teal to call for a load or two of fresh gravel to spread,” August said. “Maybe they can deliver that tomorrow, but I want Tommy to drive to Amarillo. The doctor said BJ has to stay a while longer, but Pops can come on home. He asked if Tommy could go pick him up.”

  Hawk parked as close as he could get to the front-porch steps, then hopped out of the Gator to help August with her crutches. She navigated the stairs carefully, then paused on the porch and waited until Tommy set Rio gently on her feet and straightened. She laid her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

  “Hawk said you saved all of them from drowning. I’m in your debt as much as they are.”

  Tommy’s face flushed red, and he stared down at his boots. “I did what I had to do. Hawk was holding BJ up, and I knew Pops was too old to do it.”