by Marin Thomas
Harley held the bull rope out to her and Lucy nodded her thanks. She recalled how Tony had taught her to wrap the rope around her hand and she made sure her pinky finger lined up with the center of Beastmaster’s back.
“Tight but not too tight?” Tony asked.
“Got it.”
“Shift your hips,” he said.
Lucy complied.
“Shoulder.”
She repositioned her shoulder.
“Relax your spine.”
Not as easy as it sounded, but she tried.
“Remember to dismount on the left side.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t have to stay on until the buzzer,” Tony said.
Time crawled to a stop. Beastmaster snorted, the sound echoing like a horn blast inside Lucy’s head. It’s now or never.
She nodded and the chute door opened. The bull vaulted into the arena. Lucy clenched her thighs tightly against the animal’s girth, the effort keeping her from shifting.
The first buck sent her butt high into the air, and when she crashed down on the bull’s back she swore her tailbone would be swollen for months. The pain quickly diffused to numbness and her thoughts shifted into survival mode. After two bucks the strength in her arms waned and she looked for an opening to dismount. When Beastmaster’s back hooves hit the ground, Lucy released the rope and launched herself sideways off the bull.
The ground came up fast, knocking the air from her lungs. The buzzer rang through the arena. Tony’s voice penetrated her stupor and her body automatically obeyed his instructions. Rolling to her knees, she checked over her shoulder and saw that Beastmaster had run in the opposite direction. Even though the bull was no threat, Tony shouted for her to get to her feet and run for the rails. She had just enough adrenaline left to accomplish the feat.
“Ma’am, you rode Beastmaster for four seconds!” Harley said.
Lucy whipped off the face mask. “Four seconds?”
“Four seconds.” Tony grinned.
She’d calculated her eight thousand in donations based on lasting three seconds on a bull. Now, she intended to set her goal higher. She took a step in the direction of her gear bag then gasped and froze.
“What’s wrong?” Tony’s gaze roamed over her body. “Did you break something?”
Embarrassed, she said, “Yeah, I think I broke my butt.” She rubbed her sore tush.
Harley laughed then communicated Lucy’s predicament to Bob, who’d returned after putting Beastmaster into his pen.
“C’mon,” Tony said. “I’ve got a donut pillow you can sit on during the drive home.”
The men chuckled and Lucy joined in their laughter. She’d survived a real bull ride for four seconds—for now, she’d bask in her success. At least today she’d proven she could manage her fears. There’d be no turning back.
Chapter Eleven
Tony glanced across the front seat of his truck. Lucy had fallen asleep as soon as they’d left the rodeo grounds. Strands of blond hair had escaped her ponytail and framed her face. She looked vulnerable and soft, and he imagined waking each morning with her snuggled against his side, her quiet breathing echoing in his ear.
In your dreams, buddy.
He shifted his attention to the road. Nothing made sense. There was no rhyme or reason to the universe. People just existed—targets with bull’s-eyes on their backs, waiting for the next hit life hurled at them. Was it only yesterday that he and Michael had danced with pretty girls and wrestled bulls? Now his focus was on survival—physical and mental.
Unable to resist touching Lucy, he brushed her hair off her cheek, his finger lingering long enough to rouse her.
“Where are we?” Her voice, rusty with sleep, sounded sexy and intimate.
“Almost to Yuma. I need to speak to your father tonight. I’ll follow you out to the ranch.”
“Sure.” She sat up straight, wincing when she repositioned the donut pillow beneath her.
“Is your bum still sore?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “But it’s a good pain.”
“If I were you, I’d soak in the hot tub tonight and again in the morning, then stretch throughout the day. Don’t let your muscles tighten up on you.”
Lucy’s stomach grumbled. “Sorry. I’m starving.”
“We can grab a bite to eat at the truck stop on the way to the ranch.”
“Is your mom working tonight?”
He nodded. “You can tell her all about Beastmaster.”
After they picked up Lucy’s truck at the border patrol station, they headed to the Fiesta Travel Stop. Tony’s mother gestured toward the lunch counter when they walked through the door.
“Hey, Mom.” Tony hugged his mother.
Maria looked Lucy up and down. “I’m glad to see you’re in one piece. How was the rodeo?”
Lucy beamed, and in that instant, Tony felt a sense of pride in her accomplishment today. He admired the courage she’d shown when she’d gone through with the bull ride.
“I lasted four seconds on Beastmaster,” Lucy said.
Maria let out a whoop that drew attention from a table of truck drivers. “This calls for a celebration. Ice cream or food?” She glanced between Tony and Lucy.
“Both. I’ll have the fried chicken special with a chocolate malt,” Lucy said.
“Make mine the same.”
“Comin’ right up.” Maria scribbled on her pad then passed the ticket through the order window before walking off to serve other customers.
They waited for their food in silence. Tony hated the strain between them but figured it would last until he packed his bags and moved to San Diego. Stagecoach would become the place he’d grown up and nothing more.
“Michael…”
Tony held his breath.
“Wow.” Lucy rubbed her finger over a burn mark on the Formica countertop. “Sorry, Michael’s name just popped out.” She exhaled loudly. “Tony. Do you really want to move to California?”
Lucy had guessed his train of thought. “It’s not a matter of wanting to leave town. I have to.”
“Because you blame yourself for Michael’s death.”
Of course he blamed himself for his best friend’s death, but Tony wasn’t so naive that he didn’t realize he couldn’t outrun guilt. The reason he had to leave Stagecoach had a little to do with Michael and a whole lot to do with Lucy. His actions that fateful night cost Michael not only his life but Tony’s future with Lucy. Even if Lucy found it in her heart to forgive him for leaving her brother at the bar, Tony didn’t deserve to be happy.
“What if it wasn’t your fault?” Lucy gripped his arm. “Would you stay in Stagecoach then?”
The truck stop wasn’t the best place for confessions, but he had to make Lucy understand that his actions in the past made it impossible for them to be together.
“There’s something you need to know about the night Michael died,” he said. “After your brother won in Prescott, we were on our way back to Stagecoach when he learned that he’d moved into the top spot in the rankings, and if he continued to ride like he had been, he’d go to the NFR at the end of the season.”
“We didn’t find out Michael’s ranking until a few days later,” Lucy said. “Dad was upset that Michael hadn’t told him.”
“Your brother called your father, but he got his voice mail and didn’t want to leave a message.”
Lucy’s smile was tinged with sadness. “My dad will appreciate knowing that.”
“Michael wanted to stop for drinks at the bar but I didn’t want to celebrate with him.”
“Why not?”
“Envy.” Jealousy was only part of the reason for Tony’s bad mood that night. The other part had to do with Lucy, but Tony kept that to him
self. “Michael was a great bull rider. I was just a mediocre one.” He closed his eyes against the memory of him and Michael arguing.
“I was feeling sorry for myself. I’d been friends with Michael since elementary school and I’d grown up watching how easy life had been for him. By the time we were old enough to rodeo, nothing had changed. Your father gave him money for entry fees while I busted my ass working odd jobs to pay my own way on the road.” Tony swallowed hard. “A week before the Prescott rodeo I told Michael I was quitting.”
Tony hadn’t wanted to lose Lucy. She’d been just about to graduate from college and had job offers from companies out of state as well as in Phoenix. He’d wanted to give her a reason to return to Stagecoach—him. He’d intended to find a respectable job and believed that, with time, he and Lucy could have convinced their parents to accept their relationship.
“What did my brother say when you told him you were quitting?”
“Michael insisted I stay on the circuit, because I was the only one he trusted to watch his back.” Michael had taken advantage of their friendship, placing Tony in a tight spot. In the end, Tony hadn’t been able to disappoint him. “I told your brother that I’d stay with him through the finals in Vegas but after that I was done.”
Tony had resented having to put his relationship with Lucy on hold, but there had been no other way. If he and Lucy had made their feelings for each other public there would have been a stressful adjustment period for both families, and Tony hadn’t wanted that to affect Michael’s rodeo performances and ruin his chance of making it to Vegas.
“I was pissed I caved in to your brother and I spouted some things I shouldn’t have.”
“Like what?”
No point in confessing if he sugarcoated the truth. “I said he was nothing but a spoiled rich kid.” Tony was embarrassed to admit he’d been envious of the Durango wealth. “I told Michael to call your father for a ride home if he drank too much and I left the bar.” But Michael hadn’t listened to Tony. “If I’d stayed, Michael would be alive today.”
Lucy’s eyes filled with tears and she dabbed at the corners with a paper napkin.
Maria arrived with their meals, her smile faltering at the sight of Lucy’s watery eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yep. I’m fine,” Lucy said.
“Holler if you need anything.” His mother grabbed the coffeepot from the warmer behind the counter and walked off.
“Leaving Stagecoach won’t make you forget Michael,” Lucy said.
No, but at least he wouldn’t chance running into Lucy and being reminded that his foolishness had cost him a future with her.
“Michael was my dad’s favorite.” Lucy sniffed. “Did you know that in his younger days my father rodeoed?”
“Michael mentioned it a couple of times.”
“Dad’s career was short-lived, but he loved rodeo and encouraged Michael to get into the sport.”
“What about you?” Tony asked. “Why didn’t you barrel race? Your family has the money to buy expensive horses.”
Lucy laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “Dad never paid much attention to me. I was my mother’s responsibility.”
“Is that why you’re riding bulls—because your father loved rodeo?” Lucy might believe she could make her father love her the way he’d loved Michael.
“Maybe a little.”
Did Cal Durango even care that his daughter was risking her life for him? “What happens after the rodeos?”
“I don’t know. If I can find permanent funding for the Pony Express, I’d like to add additional vans and drivers.”
That’s not what he’d meant. He wanted to know how Lucy intended to earn her father’s love if she stopped riding bulls.
“I thought it would be great if the Pony Express offered rides for school dances, weddings and private parties, but I’d need to find investors willing to sponsor a van or a school to make that happen.”
A sense of urgency ate at Tony as he stared at the cooling chicken in front of him. The sooner he and his department apprehended those responsible for the human-smuggling ring, the sooner he got his promotion and the sooner he got the hell out of Dodge and found the peace he desperately needed. Once he left the area, he’d move on with his life and Lucy would move on with hers.
The thought of leaving her behind hit Tony hard. If things had ended differently the night Michael had died, he and Lucy would be married now, and who knows, maybe parents. Or was that only a fantasy? If Michael had lived, Lucy might not have returned to Stagecoach after graduating college and Tony would have married Evita.
He looked at Lucy and felt the pull of her blue eyes. Honest to God, he didn’t know how he was going to find the strength to walk away from her when everything inside him loved her.
You’ll walk away because you love Lucy.
“Let’s eat and hit the road,” he said.
Forty-five minutes later, they arrived at the ranch. Lucy parked under the carport and Tony kept his truck in the driveway. They met at the porch steps, Lucy leading the way into the house.
“What are you doing here again, Bravo?” Cal Durango stood in the hallway.
“Dad, be nice.” Lucy closed the front door and smiled at Tony—not a smart thing to do with Cal staring daggers at them. “Thank you for your help today.” She climbed the stairs to the second floor, leaving Tony to square off with her father.
“Speak your mind.”
“We’re putting a surveillance team out at the mine either Tuesday or Wednesday night next week.”
“Well, which one is it?”
Damned if Tony would explain every step in the process of the investigation. “We’re waiting for intelligence to confirm the day. Don’t allow anyone near the area until you hear from my supervisor.”
“I’d better hear from someone by Thursday morning about what was going on out there.”
“We’ll keep you informed.”
“Don’t screw this up, Bravo.” Durango strolled closer. “I don’t want any bad press. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Tony left the house and jogged to his truck. He doubted he could outrun the demons chasing him, but he was going to give it one hell of a try. Dust spewed from the back tires as he took off like a bat out of hell.
* * *
LUCY LIFTED THE binoculars to her eyes and scanned the desert. Two hours until sunset was a long time to wait, but she made sure to arrive at the mine before the border patrol agents.
This past Saturday she’d hovered in the hallway, listening to Tony inform her father of the planned stakeout. She’d made the trek to the mine on her father’s ATV yesterday—Tuesday—but the border patrol had been a no-show. Today was her lucky day. From her vantage point along a low-lying slope a hundred yards from the mine she could see agents setting up their lookouts. She hadn’t seen Tony in a while and wondered if he’d moved behind the ridge.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Lucy squawked and rolled onto her back. Slapping a hand against her throat, she wheezed, “You scared the crap out of me, Tony.”
His eyes were hidden behind his mirrored sunglasses but the firm set of his mouth didn’t bode well for her. “How did you know I was here?” She’d hidden the ATV behind a bush, hiking the rest of the distance to her hiding spot.
“You left a trail wider than the Mississippi.” He rubbed his brow. “You can’t stay here, Lucy. There’s no telling how dangerous things might get if the thugs show up tonight. They’ll be armed and you might get hit by a stray bullet if gunfire is exchanged.”
The thought of Tony getting shot worried Lucy more than her own safety. “I promise I won’t get in the way.”
Tony reached down and helped her to her feet. Tightening his grip on her arm, he escorted her to the ATV
. “Go home and stay there.”
“I’ll go crazy if I have to sit at the house and wonder what’s happening.”
“Then drive out to my mom’s and practice on the mechanical bull for Saturday’s rodeo.”
“I don’t want to bother your mother.”
“You won’t. She’s in Tucson with Juan until tomorrow and Maddie’s at the trailer by herself. I was planning to drop her off at your house tomorrow.”
“Did Nina’s parents come get her?”
“Yep.” Tony fished his key ring from his pocket and removed his mother’s house key. “You can take Maddie back with you after you finish practicing. Leave the key under the welcome mat. It’ll be late by the time we’re finished here, so I’ll crash at my mom’s tonight and pick up the key then.”
Realizing she wouldn’t change Tony’s mind about her joining the stakeout, Lucy caved. “Okay.” Tony walked her to the ATV and she stowed her binoculars in the small storage compartment.
“I meant what I said, Lucy. Stay away from here.”
She hopped on the quad bike. “Be careful.” Tony might be the boss out here in the desert, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get even with him. She started the engine then glanced over her shoulder before pressing down hard on the accelerator and brake at the same time. Dirt and sand shot into the air and Tony scrambled to move out of the way. Satisfied she’d made her displeasure at having to leave known, she sped off. Let him chew on that tonight while he waited in the dark for the bad guys.
Several hours later Lucy found herself sitting in the dark on Maria Bravo’s porch, Maddie sleeping soundly by her side. She and the dog had had a grand time, strolling through the desert and chasing lizards before Maddie ate her bowl of kibble and conked out for the night.
Lucy wished she knew what to do about Maddie. The boxer loved people and shouldn’t be kept locked in her kennel all day. Maybe Maddie could join the border patrol team—after all, the dog had saved Nina’s life. The Yuma station could use Maddie to calm the children when families were detained for crossing into the country illegally.
Lucy stared at the star-filled heavens, knowing Tony had the same view of the sky. Was it as quiet at the mine as it was here in the trailer park or had all hell broken loose out there? A vehicle entered the park and Lucy checked her watch. Two in the morning. When the truck turned onto Maria’s street, her heart thumped heavily. Tony was back. He opened the driver’s-side door and Lucy exhaled loudly, unaware she’d been holding her breath.
