The Ranger

by Angi Morgan

  “Will ya kiss me so we can get this part over and done?” She smiled hesitantly, wondering how he’d react or if the request was completely out of line. Then he pulled her to meet him halfway.

  His lips slashed across hers—full of tension, control and desire. His tongue slid into her mouth completely at home. It didn’t seem like their third or fourth kiss. It seemed like something they’d been sharing every early morning and every late night. Both of them were reluctantly pulling away, putting an end to a very precious moment.

  “For the record, that part will never be over and done with.”

  He ducked out of the car and was gone before she had both hands back on the wheel. She pressed the gas and would be at the border station in a matter of minutes. Kissing might not have been the appropriate thing, but it had bolstered her resolve. Had some of his courage shot into her?

  Mitch had told her twice how brave he thought she was, how strong. Yet, she was always so frightened. She’d always been frightened of losing everything. Since her mechanic had come to work, she’d grown into that strong woman he saw and encouraged her to be. She parked the car and made it inside because of Mitch’s faith.

  Her hands shook when she handed her driver’s license to be copied and completed the paperwork. The women looked like ordinary teenagers. Brandie assumed they’d been thoroughly searched and must have swallowed the drugs. At least none of them looked ill. They actually didn’t look scared or concerned about any part of the process.

  They were out the door, one calling “shotgun” as they took off running in their pretty heels and short skirts. The tight-fitting T-shirts showed off slim, young figures. They chattered away in Spanish, not caring who she was or why she was there.

  It took only a few minutes to get to the post office. She looked around for a car or someone who was Sadie’s contact. But as soon as she parked in a spot, the girls were out the door and waving as they walked in four different directions.

  Following them wasn’t her responsibility. Toby was. She didn’t see anyone moving after the women, but what was she supposed to? If they were covertly there she couldn’t tell. She didn’t see Mitch, either.

  She tapped the leather steering wheel cover with a broken nail. If she’d been in her car, a file would be in the change holder. Waiting on the phone call, she tried to even the ragged edge. She needed someone to tell her what to do past this point. She’d kept her end of the bargain—twice. She’d broken the law—twice. Where was her son?

  There wasn’t a soul in sight. The street had been empty since the four women had gone their separate ways. She hadn’t asked specifically about her next step. Maybe they’d meant to go inside the post office. She cracked the door open and her cell rang, making her jump out of her skin.

  “Be at the border station same time tomorrow.”

  “Sadie, please. Please tell me where Toby is. He must be scared. I promise to do anything you need me to do. I’m begging you to give him back.”

  “You have too many law enforcement friends, Brandie. I’ll call tomorrow with an address. For now...he’s safe and one more night away from you is just an adventure.” She disconnected.

  “No!” Brandie threw her cell into the opposite floorboard. “No!” she screamed, hitting the dash with both of her fists. “No, no, no!” She grabbed the wheel and shaking the car. She rested her head on the horn and cried.

  She could have sworn that there weren’t any tears left, but she’d been wrong. She had to meet Mitch. They had a pre-arranged meeting, and he’d probably been waiting for her a good ten minutes.

  The engine of his car reminded her of him. Fine-tuned, quiet and when you stepped on the gas it raced ninety to nothing. He leaned against the wall of the building, head down with a splash of graffiti at his back. She barely braked for a stop before he opened the door and slid down in the seat so he couldn’t be seen.

  He pushed her phone away from his feet with his boot. “Did she call with a location?”

  “No.” The single word choked her up, but she kept driving. They were out of Presidio and heading back to Marfa.

  “Brandie, pull over. Come on, sweetie, let’s slow down.”

  She glanced at the speedometer. They were going eighty-five. She eased off the gas and slowed, turning to stop on an old overgrown road.

  “Sorry.”

  “I think it’s better if I drive us back and you tell me what happened. Let’s meet at the hood.”

  They got out, but all she could think about was wringing that thirty-something-year-old neck. She threw her fisted hands in the air, screaming her frustrations to the late-afternoon sun. A picture-perfect blue-sky day. Ironically, she’d be picking her son up from day care about now.

  It was the slowest time at the café so she spent it with Toby.

  Mitch handed her a rock as big as her hand. He spun her to face the field. “Throw it.”

  “What?”

  “Just do it.”

  When she’d let it go like a wimp, he opened her palm and set another giant rock on it. Then another, repeating the process until she was exhausted and tears ran down her face.

  Mitch spun her again, but this time he held on to her. She buried her face against the soft comforting cotton of his T-shirt.

  “She said nothing. If I want my son back I have to show up here tomorrow. Do the same thing. What if she says to come back again? How many days do I do this? How many times before Toby gives up that I’m coming to get him?”

  His strong arms wrapped her tight. The safer she felt, the worse she felt that Toby wasn’t there, too.

  “I can’t tell you that Toby isn’t scared or missing you. You’d never believe me anyway.” He spoke above her head. The sun blazed its descent in the sky. “But you know that he loves you. He’ll heal. We’ll make sure of that.”

  The sound of a telephone ringing was faint in the background. It took a second for her to realize her cell was in the car. Mitch’s cell buzzed in his denim jacket.

  “Yeah? Wait and slow down a second. Putting you all on speaker.” They ran back to the car so they could hear the conference call.

  * * *

  THEY NEEDED A BREAK in this case. Toby had been missing long enough. No matter how strong Brandie acted, it was still an act. He’d hate to see her shut down like she talked about that morning. He couldn’t bear that.

  Everyone was finally connected to the call, lots of voices talking to others around them. Mitch and Brandie were silent. Waiting. He tried to be patient and was about to take the phone when she frustratingly spoke up.

  “Excuse me. What’s going on?”

  The voices quieted.

  “We’ve found her. Believe it or not her real name is Patty Johnson aka Patrice Orlando, aka Sadie Dillon. She owns a lot of property. One is a newer place where her mother lives in Presidio, 642 Bledsoe Boulevard,” Andrea said.

  “Do you really think Toby’s there?” Brandie asked from the passenger seat, holding the cell between them. “Does anyone know if that’s where my son is being held?”

  “We’re less than ten minutes out.” Mitch put the car in gear, the tires spun dirt and dust into the still air. “We’ll look. It’s worth a try. Sadie, Patrice or Patty—whatever her name is—she doesn’t know we’re onto her or she would have upped the stakes for Toby’s return. She thinks she has all the time in the world. That’s why she thinks she can order you back here tomorrow.”

  “She did what?” Andrea asked.

  “We’re sending county backup.” Pete’s connection wasn’t as strong, but they still heard him give commands. “You can’t go in until I get a team there. If I call Presidio PD they’ll go in hot and we’ll lose the advantage. We don’t want that. You got it?”

  “I’m obtaining a search warrant,” Cord told them. “We need to be sure about this. Once we go in, our target is going to know everything.”

  “Okay, we’ll watch the place to see if there are any signs of Toby,” Mitch told them, knowing in his gut that
he wouldn’t wait if they saw him. Screw the case. He and Brandie weren’t taking any chances with a delayed rescue.

  “Mitch, I’m repeating myself,” Pete said clearly. “I want you to hear me. Do. Not. Approach. That. House.”

  “I hear you, Sheriff.” They’d do what was needed.

  “But—”

  “Hang up.” He cut Brandie off before she could ask about any exceptions. It was better to ask forgiveness than break a direct order. He knew that it didn’t matter. Pete knew he was lying through his teeth. The man had gone against Homeland Security to protect the woman he loved.

  “You can wait if you want to. I’m getting Toby.” Brandie tossed his cell on the dashboard and crossed her arms.

  “I know.”

  She wouldn’t be silent for long. There weren’t many streets in Presidio. He knew where to head and even knew what side of Main Street the house number indicated. He didn’t know what they were heading to, but one thing was certain. He’d protect them both. They needed a fast, safe way to do it.

  “A simple way to check out the house and not alert them is to get invited inside.”

  “How do you suppose we do that? And don’t you think they know who we are? She worked at the café for over two months.”

  “We can hope that whoever is inside doesn’t know what you or I look like.” He wasn’t crazy about this next part, but waiting for Pete’s men and the warrant would be harder. “I can raise the hood, act like we’re having car problems. Do you think you can go to the door and ask for water? I can hang back, cover you and cross my fingers they ask us both.”

  “Can we go in without a warrant? I thought that was illegal.”

  “Not if whoever’s in that house invites us. We’ll take a look around, see if we need to tip our hand to our opponent. I’d hate to lose that advantage if we don’t have to. If we get inside and Toby’s there, we don’t need a warrant, either.” He coaxed her hand into his, getting her to really look at him.

  “What if Sadie is inside?”

  He shrugged because she knew the answer. “We can wait around the corner for Pete’s men. It’s your call.”

  “You know I’ll do anything for my son.”

  “So will I.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Iron gates, three sides iron fence, brick wall on the east with a twenty-foot easement. The windows give them a pretty good view of anything on the street.”

  Brandie heard cussing as Mitch gave the report. He’d left the speaker on without Brandie asking this time. When circling the block, they’d made notes from a distance and parked on the far north side of the house. They’d talked themselves out of approaching the house.

  “No way to observe who’s inside. Garage is closed. Can’t tell what type of vehicles it’s holding. Curtains closed, dark. There are lights on. I’m not close enough to determine shadows if anyone passes.”

  “What you’re telling me is that they’ve got a 360 degree view. There’s no possible way we’ll get surveillance on the inside to see if Toby’s there.”

  “It gets worse. There’s a field at the back of the house.”

  This time Brandie wanted to join in on the cussing.

  “Then that means we serve the warrant. ETA for my deputies is nineteen minutes. We’re right behind them. They’ll be there by the time we determine what to do,” Pete said in the background. Cord was in the same vehicle heading to Presidio. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  They disconnected, and Mitch looked through his binoculars again.

  “I don’t know where either of those men get off telling us not to do anything stupid. They’ve both put their lives at risk more than once for the ones they loved.” Brandie refused to cry and lose her determination. “Isn’t it my decision? Don’t I have any say in what happens?”

  Mitch set the binoculars in his lap. “They’re being overly cautious.”

  “They want to do everything by the rules and they’re forgetting that the most precious thing to me in the world may be in that house.”

  “Dammit. There’s a car pulling out of the driveway. I can’t see the tag number, but it looks like the make and model of the blonde Queen’s.”

  The woman had so many names, they’d given up on using any at all. It was ironic because Brandie felt like she’d been doing nothing except bowing to the woman’s will for the past two days.

  “I’m not waiting.” She reached over and turned the key. “Let’s go.”

  And just like that they were on their way. It was a knee-jerk reaction needing to do something herself to get Toby back in her arms. Mitch stopped at the first corner, a worried look clouding his eyes.

  “Remember, you’ll have to leave your cell phone in the car. Think of a reason why neither one of us would have one or they couldn’t be used. Be mad at me—it’ll cover the nervousness.”

  She nodded. They’d been over this several times, but as soon as he’d mentioned nerves, she’d realized how horribly nervous she was. “What do I need to look for? Besides the obvious, that is.”

  Her hands were shaking even with her fingers laced together.

  “Listen for other people. Someone trying to keep Toby quiet. See if you can get into the kitchen. Look for kid food. Ask for a map or to use the phone. You’re a smart woman, Brandie. You got this.”

  “You’re sure this is the right thing?”

  “No. I’m not. I’m impatient to get this over with, too. Look, if you have any doubts...it’s fifteen minutes. Just fifteen minutes.” He shook his head and reached for the key. “I shouldn’t have suggested you do this. It’s too dangerous. We’ll wait.”

  “What if she’s leaving with him right now, taking Toby to another location that isn’t one of her properties? If no one follows her we might lose him forever. I’ll stay here and watch the house. You go after the car.” She opened the door. He caught the back of her jacket as she swung her legs outside.

  “I’m not going to let you do something so—”

  “Stupid?” She relaxed her arms and came free of the jacket as she got out and slammed the door. “You don’t control my actions, Mitch Striker.”

  She pointed in the direction the car had left, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t jump out and throw her back inside. She was no match for his strength or up to another debate on what was the right or wrong move. She turned and ran down the edge of the street. She’d watch the house from behind the brick wall. It was beginning to get dark and there were no streetlights to expose her.

  Mitch’s car engine seemed loud, but no one inside would pay any attention to it. He drove straight, and she headed back to the house. It was a relief not to argue with him. Making a decision and moving forward was scary but she’d done it.

  Brandie hadn’t realized that the wall was just a little shorter than her. She had to stand on tiptoes to peek over it. She walked even with the backyard, searching it again for signs that a little boy had been playing there.

  Nothing. And no movement in the house. She ran back to the opposite end of the wall straight into a very large man with a very large shotgun pointed at her. He jerked the barrel toward the house. So much for her secret agent training.

  The man shoved her inside the garage door. “Sit. Cross your legs. Keep your hands behind your head.”

  She complied since she didn’t really have a choice. He had a gun and she had nothing. He slid his hands across her sides as she sat, removing her cell and smashing it under his boot.

  The two-car garage looked new with neatly stacked boxes on metal shelves against the back wall. It was unusual that there were two windows, both barricaded with bars. No tools, either, for yard work or for a car. And no escape as he pushed a button, shutting the door and closing it at her back.

  He stood silently in the corner, gun pointed at her casually. She wasn’t a threat. They both knew it, just like they both knew she couldn’t talk her way out. Her legs were beginning to cramp when the door leading to the house opened.

 
“Sadie, where’s Toby?”

  “Well, hello to you, too.” Her son’s kidnapper acted like they were long-lost friends. She was still in her chic outfit, beautiful studded shoes clicking against the concrete floor. “This could have been so easy. You do as I say and Toby would have mysteriously turned up tomorrow. You could have created any story and everyone would have believed it.”

  She was wrong, but Brandie wasn’t going to argue.

  “I go by Patrice, and if you found this place, then you already know that.”

  Her palm stung Brandie’s cheek without warning.

  “You have complicated my life beyond your small comprehension level.

  “Mamacita, pack only what you need. ¡Vámonos!” she called through the door then took the shotgun away from the man standing guard. “Go help her. Only essentials. Remind her of our talk.”

  The man stepped inside.

  “I don’t have time for you.” She rested the shotgun against the wall near the door button, replacing it with a handgun she pulled from one of the open boxes.

  “Just give me Toby and we’ll sit here out of your way long after you’re gone.”

  She flipped open another box and began loading the pistol. “I’m afraid we both know that won’t work. If you’re here, I can assume that Mitch is chasing after our decoy. Was he hiding in the trunk when you picked up the girls? I should have known that he wouldn’t keep his nose out of your business. He’s clearly got a thing for you since he wouldn’t look twice at me.” She spun around, gun at her waist. Her long blond hair was free, straight and past her shoulders.

  Although she was very beautiful, her face was full of hatred. Gone was the woman who happily waited on tables, smacked gum and brought Toby Mexican jumping beans. The evil seemed to ooze from every motion, but especially her eyes. Brandie knew what the gun was for. Her.

  “You can use us as hostages. I’ll cooperate. I swear. Just don’t hurt Toby.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Mamacita would kill me if I hurt your little boy. She’s taken quite a shine to him. We can raise him to use his pale skin to our advantage. Don’t doubt that. But you, on the other hand. You are just a sacrificial pawn. I might let you say goodbye to your son if you tell me what they know.”