Rustling Up Trouble

by Delores Fossen

  Things about his boss, Rex Gandy.

  Blue paused, thought about that some more. “So maybe this is a simple case of revenge. Gandy wanted to get back at us for the arrest or even the death of his thug cohort, and he set me up to make it look like I’m a criminal.”

  Rayanne made a sound to indicate she agreed with that. “One who’d accept a contract to kill me.”

  Yeah, and that was where their theory fell plenty short. “Gandy must have known that I wouldn’t kill the woman carrying my baby.”

  “He probably didn’t know I was pregnant.” She gave him a quick glance. “I haven’t told anyone other than family, and I’ve been trying to keep it hidden.”

  Blue had several questions about that but decided to go for the obvious one. “Why?”

  Another shrug. “I just wasn’t ready to deal with the questions yet.”

  Yeah, because questions about the baby meant questions about him, too. Not that he needed it, but it was yet more proof of how much he’d hurt her.

  And how much she detested him for hurting her.

  Heck, he detested himself, too, and the only thing that would make this better was for him to learn why he’d walked out on her in the first place. Even if he’d had doubts about sleeping with her, he wasn’t the sort to go slinking out on a walk of shame. And he especially wouldn’t have done that to Rayanne.

  Rayanne’s gaze came to Blue’s, and this time it wasn’t for just a glimpse. Their eyes met, held. “Swear to me that this memory thing isn’t an act.”

  The woman certainly knew how to keep him on his toes. “Why in the name of heaven would I fake that?”

  “So that you can keep the details of whatever you’re involved in to yourself,” she readily answered, which meant she’d thought this through.

  He huffed, cursed. “There’s no reason for me to do that.” Blue pointed to the bandage on his shoulder. “This bullet could have hit you. Trust me, I want to remember anything and everything about the idiots who put you in danger.”

  And he intended to stop it.

  That stopping started with his figuring out how to get Caleb off his back. Then he needed to find their attackers and force them to talk. The first was doable.

  Maybe.

  The second would likely take some solid detective work and a hefty dose of divine intervention.

  Blue forced himself to get up. He was moving a little easier now, and the caffeine had indeed helped with his throbbing head, but he required more than moving just a little easier. He needed a break in this case, and he needed it yesterday.

  “I’ll make some more calls,” he explained. Maybe to some other CIs who could perhaps explain what the heck he’d been doing for the past five months. Someone out there had to know. He doubted he’d been living in a hole in the ground all this time.

  Rayanne took her phone from her pocket and handed it to him. He reached for it, wobbled just a little, and lightning fast, Rayanne set her cup on the floor and came off the bed to take hold of him.

  Just like that, he was in her arms. Well, almost. She slid her arm around his waist, putting them side to side with a whole lot of touching. His body didn’t seem to understand that this was just part of her nursing duties.

  “Best not to get any more head injuries,” she mumbled. “And if you smile, I might hurt you.”

  Oh, he smiled, all right, because he was obviously losing it. The proof of that was the stupid stirring in his body, especially one part of him that thought he might get lucky. He wasn’t in any shape to get lucky, even if Rayanne had been willing.

  And she clearly wasn’t.

  “Just resist the temptation,” she snarled.

  He wasn’t sure if they were talking about his smile or something else. “Trust me, I’ve had a lot of practice resisting you.”

  She blinked, stared up at him. “Excuse me?”

  Blue was surprised that she was surprised.

  “You think all that time we worked on those cases together that my mind was solely on the job? It wasn’t,” he assured her before she could respond, though it looked as if she was too thunderstruck to say much of anything. “I’ve been attracted to you since day one.”

  For just a heartbeat, she looked a little pleased about that, but then Rayanne shook her head. “How can you remember that?”

  “Oh, I remember some things.”

  Things that caused him to stray into the stupid realm again, because he brushed a kiss on her cheek. Thank goodness it was only her cheek, because he could have sworn he saw little lightning bolts zing through her eyes.

  She let go of him so fast that he had no choice but to sit back on the bed or he would have fallen. “Blue, this can’t happen again.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  And he did.

  Didn’t he?

  Well, his brain knew that it was a dumb thing to do, but his brain and other parts of him hadn’t exactly made some good decisions lately.

  Cursing that and himself, he put Rayanne’s phone on the nightstand, took the clean shirt that Rosalie had left for him and put it on, trying not to wince or make some other sound to prove he’d lied about the pain. However, before he could even button up and start those calls, her phone rang, and he saw Caleb’s name on the screen.

  Blue hit the speaker button so he could talk while he finished dressing. “Still plan on arresting me?”

  “The criminal informant won’t back down. He’s pressing for the charges against you, and he added more than his sworn testimony to the table.” Caleb paused. “He’s got proof.”

  That brought Rayanne to her feet, and she moved closer to the phone. “You’d trust so-called proof from a criminal informant over the word of one of your agents?”

  “I would if the agent can’t vouch for what he’s been doing for the past five months.” Caleb paused again. “The CI has photos of Blue meeting with a guy named Burrell Parker. He’s a low-life arms dealer, and we’re almost positive that he’s the one who arranged for the hit on you.”

  Blue didn’t have to think long and hard about that. “Maybe I was meeting with this guy Parker because I got wind of the hit and was trying to stop it.”

  “Maybe, but you took money from him. The CI got a picture of that, too. And before you say anything, yeah, it smacks of a setup, but I can’t just dismiss it. I need to bring you in and try to clear all of this up.”

  Blue had a different notion about that. “I’d rather not be behind bars while you’re clearing up things that affect me and the people around me. I need to help.”

  “Then help by telling me why you met with Parker,” Caleb fired back.

  “I don’t know.” And he cursed himself again. This blasted concussion was beyond an inconvenience. “But I’m guessing Parker works for Rex Gandy like those thugs who tried to kill Rayanne and me yesterday?”

  “No,” Caleb argued. “Well, if he does, there’s no obvious proof or connection with Gandy, but Parker had a connection with someone else we know. Your former partner and friend, Woody Janson.”

  Of all the things Blue had expected Caleb to say, that wasn’t one of them.

  “Woody’s missing,” he reminded his boss. Or at least, that was what Rayanne had told him.

  “Yeah, missing under suspicious circumstances. You remember he phoned you right before you, too, disappeared under that same cloud of suspicion. What I need to know is what you two discussed that night.”

  Blue tried again to pick through that whirl of thoughts in his aching head and came up blank. “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t, either,” Rayanne volunteered, “but I’m pretty sure that Woody called because he was in some kind of trouble. What about the CI? Did he say where Woody was?”

  “Like the two of you, he claims he doesn’t know, but Woody’s in a couple of those pictures of Blue meeting with Parker when the hit on Rayanne was arranged.”

  Again, Blue hadn’t seen that coming, and he wished he could force the memories to come. But the more
he pushed, the worse the pain got.

  “We need to find Woody,” Rayanne mumbled.

  “I need to find him,” Blue corrected. To get some answers about that meeting that had put him in hot water. “It’s too risky for you to be involved in this.”

  A burst of air left her mouth, and it was most definitely not a laugh. “I’m already involved. There’s a hit order out on me, and just because you didn’t fill it, that doesn’t mean it’ll go away.”

  “She’s right,” Caleb said. “But the question is, why was the hit ordered on her in the first place?”

  Blue had already gotten a headache over that question, too, and it’d been the very thing on his mind when he’d fallen asleep the night before. “Someone must have thought I told her something she shouldn’t know. Maybe something about this thug Parker. And that means I want to talk to him.”

  “I’m already working on getting him in for questioning, but you won’t have any part of that. Rayanne, either. Look, I’m trying to buy you some time, Blue, but I’ve got people breathing down my neck. They want you brought in now.”

  Blue hated to play the pain card here, but it wasn’t a total act. “What if I’m still under care of a doctor? I had a bullet dug out of my shoulder just yesterday, and I’m thinking the last thing the doctor would want is for me to be hauled off to jail.”

  Where he wouldn’t be able to work on clearing his name. Or where he wouldn’t be able to protect Rayanne. Something she wasn’t going to like, but Blue didn’t plan to give her a say in the matter.

  Caleb didn’t jump to agree, so Blue continued bargaining with him. “Give me forty-eight hours.”

  Now Caleb reacted. He cursed again. “Please tell me you don’t want that time so you can interfere with an active investigation where you clearly have a conflict of interest?”

  Now it was Blue who didn’t jump to answer. “You want the truth?”

  “No,” Caleb said. Then he groaned. “Don’t do anything that’ll make me regret this, and I’ll see what I can do about getting you those twenty-four hours.”

  “I asked for forty-eight.”

  But Blue was talking to himself because Caleb had already hung up.

  Blue stared at the phone a moment and considered calling his boss back to push for more time. However, he had more important things to do. Like arrange for some extra protection for Rayanne and her sister since these bozos had already tried to use Rosalie to get to them.

  “How much are you going to fight me on this?” Blue came out and asked Rayanne.

  She stared at him, put her hands on her hips. “Probably a lot. Why? What do you think you’re planning to do?”

  Oh, yes. She’d fight him, all right. “I want Rosalie and you to move to a safe house.”

  “And you?” Rayanne tipped her head to his bandage. “Of the three of us, you’re the one who’s least capable of fighting off bad guys.”

  “You’re wrong. I’ve got plenty of incentive to fight off anyone who comes after you.” Now he did some head tipping. To her stomach.

  She groaned. “I knew this would happen, but I want it to stop. You left, and I learned how to get along without you. It stays that way, got that?”

  Blue would have assured her that she was wrong and that he didn’t intend to agree to her got that? but there was some movement in the open doorway. He looked up, expecting to see Rosalie with the supplies to change his bandage, but it was her brother Colt.

  “You two need to table this discussion,” Colt said, not exactly in a friendly tone, either, “because someone just drove up. He says his name is Rex Gandy.”

  “Gandy’s here?” Rayanne blurted out, already hurrying to the window.

  Blue hurried, too. Well, as much as he could, and even though it earned him a huff, he stepped in front of Rayanne. He had no trouble spotting the man leaning against the white Cadillac that was parked in the drive at the front of the house. Bulky build, salt-white hair and a chunky cigar clamped between his teeth.

  Yeah, it was Gandy, all right.

  If the man was nervous about walking into the lion’s den, he sure didn’t show it. He appeared to be lounging, his legs stretched out in front of him, not paying any attention to the two ranch hands.

  Both had guns trained on the man.

  As if he knew he was being watched, Gandy looked up, his gaze sliding across the windows. The sliding stopped when his attention landed on Blue.

  He smiled.

  It was even more motivation for Blue to get Rayanne moved to a safe house. He didn’t want men like Gandy being able to get this close to her. Heck, a hundred miles was too close for this snake.

  “What does he want?” Blue asked Colt.

  “Says he wants to talk to you.”

  Blue kept his stare fixed on the man. “Did he give any reason why I’d want to talk to him?”

  “Yeah. Gandy says he’s here to help you. In fact, he claims he’s got exactly what you need to clear your name.”

  That got Blue’s attention, but he was betting that Gandy hadn’t shared what he had with Colt.

  If Gandy had anything at all, that is.

  This could be some kind of ploy to draw them out into the open.

  “You want to talk to him or not?” Colt asked.

  Blue nodded and grabbed his vest and Stetson. “But not here. Let’s haul him down to the sheriff’s office and see what this piece of slime has to say.”

  Chapter Seven

  Twenty-four hours.

  With everything so crazy around them, that was what Rayanne’s mind kept going back to—the very short deadline that Caleb had doled out to Blue. The minutes were just ticking away, and if Caleb followed through on his threat to arrest Blue, then he would soon be hauled off to jail.

  Blue had done plenty of things to rile her.

  And crush her.

  However, she hadn’t seen a shred of proof, not proof that she’d believe, anyway, that he’d intended to carry out the hit on her.

  Now they were on this too-tight time limit, and despite how she felt about the scumbag waiting in the interview room of the sheriff’s office, if Rex Gandy could clear any of this up, then she would welcome anything he could give them.

  Not because Blue was the father of her child.

  No.

  It was because the sooner they got all of this cleared up, the sooner Blue could leave. Again. And the sooner her life could get back to the seminormal it’d been before he’d reappeared in her life.

  Rayanne moved out of the doorway of the deputy’s office where Blue was finishing up some phone calls, and she went across the hall to the observation room. Blue hadn’t wanted her to be involved when he talked to Gandy. Rayanne hadn’t exactly wanted that, either, but she also didn’t want to be sheltered like a damsel in distress.

  Even if that label did sort of fit her these days.

  She wanted to have an active part in identifying the men who’d taken shots at Blue and her, and that part started right here with Gandy.

  “You’re scowling,” she heard someone say, and she looked up to see Seth standing in the doorway of the observation room.

  Seth was the lone black suit in a sea of jeans, cowboy boots and rodeo buckles. Mr. FBI with the star-quarterback looks. And even though she didn’t like that he’d no doubt put aside plenty of work to be here, she was thankful he’d done that for her. She was even more thankful there was no need to tell him that.

  Saying thanks wasn’t her strong suit.

  Hearing it wasn’t Seth’s.

  Her brother walked closer, until he was shoulder to shoulder with her, and he looked through the two-way mirror at Gandy, who was seated at the table.

  Not alone.

  Gandy had two lawyers flanking him, both dressed in cowboy duds like their boss. Both looking as much like snake-oil salesmen as he did.

  “When’s the last time you combed your hair?” Seth asked, glancing at her.

  Rayanne frowned. “When’s the last time you had a bu
sted lip, because you’re working on one.”

  It was a customary sister-brother exchange, no doubt something Seth had started to get her mind off her troubles—both Blue and the ones on the other side of the glass. However, Rayanne ran her hand over her hair and shoved some of the strands back into her ponytail.

  Fixing herself up a little had nothing to do with Blue, she assured herself, and she was almost certain she believed it.

  “How are you?” Seth asked.

  He didn’t look at her stomach, but Rayanne knew what he meant. “I’m taking my prenatal vitamins,” she settled for saying. “Drinking my milk and eating right.”

  “Dodging bullets, too, from what I hear.” He paused. “I agree with Blue. You need to go to a safe house.”

  Great. Now they were ganging up on her. “When did you talk to Blue?”

  “Last night after the doctor left the ranch.” It was Seth’s turn to scowl. “I told Blue if he hurts you again, that I’d kill him.”

  Oh, man. “You what? You had no right—”

  “It’s a brother’s right.” He leaned in, dropped a kiss on her cheek. “But I gotta tell you, I don’t think he’s got any plans to hurt you. And I don’t believe for one minute that he was at the ranch to carry through on a hit. I think he was there to save you.”

  Because she was riled at Seth’s threat, she wanted to snarl and argue, but she couldn’t. Not about that, anyway.

  “I don’t need you to fight my battles,” she grumbled.

  “No, but I do enjoy seeing you riled, so I’ll try it more often.” With that brotherly jab, Seth strolled away, and it was only after he was out of the doorway that she saw Blue standing there.

  “Everything okay?” Blue asked, eyeing Seth with slightly narrowed, cautious eyes. The way a man would eye a coiled diamondback rattler.

  “Far from it. Apparently, Seth wants to play the part of my personal protector, too.” She paused, reined in her temper. “He threatened to kill you, but you know he wouldn’t do that, right?”

  Blue lifted his shoulder, winced a little. Something he’d been doing not only on the ride over but since they’d arrived. She made a mental note to call the doctor and have him check those stitches again.