by Jodi Thomas
“I’ll do it,” she said.
“It’s not going to be a big deal. If anyone stops you just say you’re picking up a friend who went horseback riding and must have gotten lost.”
“I’m worried,” she whispered against his shoulder.
“We’re just checking out a few things. We’ll be careful, I promise.” He slid his hand along her cheek and into her hair.
Then he kissed her full-out as if he truly loved her. This time there was no hesitation, no holding back.
“When this is over,” he whispered against her ear, “we start over. I’ll show you what that old key goes to. Until then, hang on to our future for me. Try to believe there might be an ‘us’ for just a bit longer.”
Before she could answer, he was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY
BLADE SAT IN the passenger side of the sheriff’s cruiser and studied the map while Dan Brigman covered every back road surrounding the Bar W. “Mind telling me what we’re looking for? It’s going to be dark soon and I’d like to know if we found it.”
“A way into and out of the Bar W that is not on the map. This is my third time to circle the ranch.”
“Oh.” Blade closed the map. “Any reason we’re looking for an invisible road?”
“If we could watch the back roads, we might find a shipment of something being delivered to the Collins place. I got a call from your headquarters saying they stopped two trucks heading north out of Crossroads yesterday. Both were loaded down with drugs. When they checked a truck matching the same description this morning about a hundred miles south of Crossroads, it was clean. The ATF can be tight-lipped, asking for help without giving much information, but I got the feeling they think there’s a big drug operation around here.”
Blade grumbled. “This is the first I’ve heard about it. They didn’t call me?”
Dan smiled. “You’re on vacation, remember. My guess is they don’t even know where you are.”
“They will as soon as I call in.” Blade stared out the window. He hated the idea that drug dealers were anywhere near his land. “There are a dozen roads, not counting breaks in the barbed wire, where you could drive a truck through pasture. We’d need a dozen men to guard all this for just one night.”
Trouble was too close to his land. The ATF didn’t move in on a hunch. They had something, maybe not enough to make arrests, but they had something. Too close, Blade almost said aloud. Like it or not, his slice of Texas had claimed him.
Dan seemed determined. “We’ll circle one more time and look for some evidence that one place has been used lately.”
Blade thought it was a long shot, but he opened up the map and tried to help. “Funny how cracks in the earth break off this flat land. You can’t even see most of them from the road, but from the air it looks like long ruts twisting through the plains.”
“That’s how several borders are marked between ranches.” Dan slowed at a gate. No evidence of traffic on the road. He moved on.
“I know. One side of Hamilton Acres looks like a wiggly line ruining the farm being a perfect rectangle.” Blade drew his finger along the map as if marking where his land started.
“I noticed that north side too. It’s steep and rocky. Good divider. If it wasn’t for that canyon running several miles, your land would touch the Bar W. It’s a great natural border, too steep for even a horse or calf to cross.”
Blade laughed. “Sheriff, you never cease to amaze me with your knowledge.” He thought of asking, What is it about you people? You talk of the land like it is a living, breathing thing.
But Blade didn’t say a word. Maybe to Dakota, the sheriff, even Grandmother, it was. He couldn’t imagine loving any place that much. He was probably feeling a small part of it because he’d breathed in a few pounds of it in the past week.
He’d heard that people born near the sea long for the sound of waves every night when they sleep. Maybe it’s that way with Texans. The open sky, the flat land, the sound of tall grass, is in their blood. If you take a Texan out of Texas, he’s still a Texan.
Blade moved the conversation back to something he could understand. “Want to tell me where Lucas is?”
“He’s staying with a friend tonight. To keep him safe, we need to keep him moving.”
“Who is he with?” After seeing the steady stream of people visiting Lucas in jail, that narrowed it down to about half the town.
The sheriff glanced his direction. “You.”
“Me? I don’t even have a home, Sheriff. I’m staying with Dakota and her crazy grandmother who pops in hourly like some deformed cuckoo clock. I don’t want him there. What if someone comes looking for him? I could protect him, but who’d protect the women?”
“Grandmother, probably. Dice told me the old woman can shoot dandruff off a bald head without even creasing the skin.”
“Great. It’ll be another shoot-out at Indigo Lake, and judging from the past, the most likely man killed will be a Hamilton, and I seem to be the only one breathing.”
Dan laughed. “Lucas isn’t staying with the women. He’ll be with you. I talked to Jerry Cline at the construction site at your place. He said he’d have the upstairs ready for you tonight, but the one bathroom that was working two days ago has stopped working. You’re both staying there in sleeping bags. And if you have to go pee, you’re doing it outside and armed.”
“This is crazy. Can’t we go back to jail? I wouldn’t want to stay at my falling-down place, and now I have a houseguest. It’ll be like staying at the No Bed and No Breakfast from Hell.”
“Only for a night or two. Until we know for sure those bullets you took weren’t meant for Lucas, I plan to move him every few nights.”
Blade shrugged. “What if they were really meant for me? Then am I going to have to hide out? It’s not my style.”
“Think about it, Hamilton. Who’d want to kill you? No one knows you well enough to want to shoot you. Give it time.”
“After some study and soul-searching, Sheriff, I narrowed a list of possible shooters down to about half the women I’ve ever hooked up with,” Blade answered. “I’ve discovered I don’t know how to communicate.”
“Some woman tell you that?” Dan asked.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.” The sheriff slowed once more. Another gate. No sign of traffic on the road.
Dan sped up and turned toward Crossroads. “How about we call it a day, Deputy? I need to go talk to a judge, and you can take off early.”
Blade grinned. “But I haven’t put in my eighteen hours yet.”
“Maybe you need to get a life, Hamilton. You can’t just hang around the office.”
“That’s a good idea. How long do I have?”
“About three hours. A few hours after dark Lucas will be delivered to your place. He’ll be your problem for the night.”
As soon as they were back in town, Blade called his home office with questions, asking that the answers be texted. Then he climbed into his truck and went in search of Dakota. It was late afternoon and he was hungry for a chocolate-dipped cone.
He found her in her office. For a moment he just stared at her as she worked behind her computer. She was too short, hair way too wild to ever be tamed, she had no idea how to dress, didn’t wear makeup, and he still thought she was sexy.
It occurred to him that she might be working on toning her perfection down just to keep him from having a stroke, he was so attracted to her. He’d painted a mural on the back wall of his mind about what she’d look like in tight jeans and a cropped shirt, or in a thin silk nightgown, or in the Western clothes he’d bought her, low necked and short skirt. But, none of his mental paintings could match the memory of her trying to pull that T-shirt off.
Only one other theory made sense. If he wasn�
�t going mad, he’d finally found a woman who would be hard to walk away from. Maybe even impossible.
She looked up with those big dark eyes and said, “May I help you, stranger?”
“You can. I’d like to take my girl out for an ice cream. Any chance she’s available for a break?”
“Sure, but you’re buying this time and I’m not your girl.”
“Fair enough. You’re driving.” He pitched her his truck keys. If he only had one arm, he planned to use it for something besides holding the wheel.
By the time they ate their ice cream while parked in the back lot of the Dairy Queen, both had chocolate on their faces and clothes. They talked and laughed. He kissed her a few times, gentle chocolate ice cream kisses.
She seemed to enjoy their time. She was flirting with him, something he had a feeling she never allowed herself time to do.
They drove over to a new house that she’d be putting up for sale in a few weeks and he’d been surprised to learn that Dakota had worked on the floor plans with the builder. They walked through the home, holding hands, talking about all the little additions she’d made on the original designs.
Once, on the pull-down stairs to the attic, he’d trapped her on the steps and kissed her until she was out of breath. She giggled and ran up the stairs, then returned his kiss in the shadows of the attic.
Blade was surprised how much he liked just being with her. All the problems of the day slipped away.
She was having fun too. Teasing him one minute and cuddling close the next. They talked of nothing important. They laughed when she tried to teach him to talk with an accent. They looked at each other, really seeing inside.
She thought they were just having fun.
But he knew what was really happening. Foreplay.
It continued when they got back to her farm. In the tiny bathroom she’d checked the bandage at his side. No more blood. The healing had begun.
He leaned so close he could whisper in her ear as she worked. “Remember when you stormed in here wearing nothing but a body-hugging T-shirt?”
“I thought you were gone. I was in a hurry to get to work.”
“You almost had that shirt off. I almost had a heart attack. You have beautiful breasts.” He moved one hand along her side, barely brushing one of her breasts. “It was quite a sight.”
“You noticed? I was hoping you hadn’t.”
“I could never forget seeing you through the foggy air. All wild and panicked and almost free of your clothes.” He touched her again as his hand caressed her side. “I’ll be dead in my coffin and still thinking about seeing you like that.”
She giggled. “Laying it on a little thick, Hamilton.”
He kissed her as she laughed. “You said you wanted to talk. I’m talking. I’m telling you what I’m thinking.”
“I meant talking about something other than my chest...or any other body part.” She finished taping on a clean bandage running an inch above his waist.
Just as she straightened and met his lips with what promised to be a deep kiss, a rap sounded at the door. “Any chance you two are finished doctoring?” Grandmother yelled loud enough for the ghost across Indigo Lake to hear. “Maria’s started supper and I don’t want to be late. I got to wash my hands, among other things.”
Blade fought down a string of swear words while Dakota laughed.
“Later, we’ll talk,” she whispered as she pulled his shirt over the bandage.
Blade didn’t trust himself to say a word. He knew in an hour or two the sheriff would call and he’d have to go over to his place and meet Lucas. It was safer to keep him there, but right now with Dakota was the only place he wanted to be. He opened the door and followed her out past Grandmother, who frowned at him until she finally disappeared into the bathroom.
“Ever think of building on another bathroom?” he asked as they walked into the kitchen.
“No,” Dakota answered. “Never had a reason to need one until today.”
Both the Davis girls insisted that he sit at the bar while they cooked supper. Maria talked on about the romance book she was listening to. “This couple were coworkers at a big company and secretly met for their own little private morning breaks. They didn’t even know each other’s names, but they had a mad passionate affair on the floor of the empty boardroom or in one of the storage closets. Once in an elevator. Once on an abandoned rooftop. He seemed to always have the key to any vacant room and she seemed to always forget to wear panties.”
Blade frowned. “Couldn’t have been too wild if it only lasted fifteen minutes. Maybe they should have met for lunch. And the storage room couldn’t have been very comfortable.”
Maria pointed a spoon in his direction. “You’re just not romantic, Hamilton. Love grows romantic and hot even in the corporate world. Maybe fifteen minutes of passion is enough for some people.”
Grandmother sat down at the other end of the long bar. “They must have been very thin people,” she said as she stole pieces of the apple Dakota was slicing.
“Why?” Blade asked.
“They never ate the doughnuts that everyone in the big businesses always has on break.”
“How do you know that?” all three asked.
“I see it on TV. Office workers are always having doughnuts or birthday cake.”
Blade laughed, thinking he’d never had a more enjoyable conversation with three women in his life.
An hour later when he offered to help do the dishes, both girls told him to walk with Grandmother.
“Take your camera,” Dakota suggested. “You might catch the last slice of the sunset.”
Blade picked up his camera and followed Grandmother. She marched out as if she were going to battle and he was no more than the pup following along.
The sky was clear for a change and the night held a hint of spring. They walked to the water’s edge and just looked at the water. Grandmother was silent.
“Did the Hamiltons and the Davises really fight?” he finally asked.
“You figure I’m so old I’d know?”
He grinned. “I figure you might be.”
Grandmother was silent for a while and he decided she wasn’t going to answer.
Finally, her words came low and serious. “I’ve made up many a tale, but this I tell you is fact. My grandmother told me a feud started when a Hamilton horse was found on Davis land. Rumor was it was put there on purpose to start the two families fighting, but no one knows if that was true.
“The Hamilton men accused the Davis men of stealing it. One thing led to another. The next morning a fight broke out between the families at the mercantile, where Crossroads is today. It left one Davis man dead and his son swore to even the score. A month later two Hamiltons were found dead after a snowstorm. Some say they were killed. Others say they just froze after wandering blind in the freezing weather.
“The Davis clan said they had nothing to do with the deaths, but a Bar W rider claimed he’d seen them out riding that wintry night as if they were hunting for something, or someone, to kill. The Bar W cowhand said they were leading extra horses, but he couldn’t see who they belonged to because of the falling snow.”
She walked close to the water, looking toward his land, and he followed. “The feud continued for years. A fight would break out between them now and then when they bumped into one another, but neither ever stepped foot on the other’s land. If they had, both knew it was a killing offense. The Davis men blamed all accidents and bad luck on the Hamiltons. The Hamiltons did the same to the Davises. I don’t know how many were true or how many years it went on.
“Finally, a Davis daughter was fishing in her little boat on Indigo Lake and decided to cross the water and try to make peace. She met a young Hamilton boy. They were both about fifteen, as the story was told. Every night
when the moon was missing from the sky, she’d cross the water in her little boat and meet with him.
“Eventually, they were caught. He was told never to see her again. She was beaten because she wouldn’t swear she would stop seeing him. She was stubborn like my people have always been, so her father beat her twice.
“The next night she was all bruised and weak. There were stormy waters on the lake, but she crossed, anyway. The boy fought to go to her, but he was locked up and she was turned away at the shoreline.
“She never made it back to Davis land. Maybe she was too weak or heartbroken. Maybe the storm fought her and won.
“When the Hamilton boy saw her boat float up to his shore, he knew she was dead. He just walked into the water until it covered him. Neither body was ever found, and the two families swore they’d never speak again. The feud ended, but the rules remained. Until you, no Hamilton has ever walked this side of the lake since.”
“Is there a record of this?” Blade believed every word the old woman said, but he wanted proof. No matter how dark, he had a family history for the first time.
“At the cemetery on Davis land are the names of those killed. I’ve heard that high up in the rough ground of your land is another cemetery that has the same. It’s in the back, where the breaks crack the earth, deep and rocky, between your land and the Collins ranch. It’s told that the Hamilton dead stare out at the family who egged the feud on, hoping to absorb both Hamilton and Davis land into theirs.”
Blade took the story in like hard whiskey on a cold night. It fired his body and left him a little sick.
“There!” Grandmother pointed across the water. “Do you see the ghost move?”
Blade studied where she pointed. He did see movement. But it wasn’t a ghost. Someone was on his land.
The silhouette crossed in the darkness, melting into the shadows of the cottonwood trees and wild plum bushes.
Blade raised his camera and zoomed in. One man, tall and well built with what looked like a weapon strapped on his back. He stayed close to the rocks when he moved from the trees. Low. Fast. Obviously trained.
