Lonestar Homecoming

by Colleen Coble

Michael’s form filled the doorway. “I thought I heard your phone. Is everything okay?”

  “Just fine,” she said with a smile.The air thickened between them. The day had been so good, and she hated the suspicion that simmered like water about to boil. “Thanks for making the day so fun.”

  He smiled then, and the fog lifted. She pointed to the chair. “Sit down a minute. I need to talk to you about something.”When he nodded, she realized he thought she wanted to unburden herself about the phone call. “It’s not about me,” she said. “It’s Jordan. And Evan too, though he’s hiding it better.”

  He settled on the chair in the corner, then she kicked her way out of the covers and perched on the edge of the bed. “Jordan is taking her mother’s death hard.They argued the night Kate died, and Jordan’s worried the upset caused the accident. Guilt like that is hard to get past.”

  “She’d never mentioned it to me,” he said.

  “Swimming today reminded her of her mother.The last time they were there, Kate was with them.”

  “I remember that day,” he said. “It wasn’t as idyllic as Jordan remembers.”

  “I tried to comfort her, but you might do a better job.You’re her daddy. A little girl needs her daddy. No one is as big and strong as you in her eyes.” She choked over the words and cursed her weakness.This wasn’t about her—it was about Jordan.

  “I know so little about raising kids,” he said. “I’m used to commanding men.”

  “Kids are these little creatures packed with emotion.You never know if they’re going to laugh or cry.”

  “Maybe that’s it.”

  Questions hovered on her tongue, but none of them was any of her business. He was her employer, nothing more.“You’re a good father and always try to do the right thing by them.”

  He smiled then, but just barely. “What is the right thing? It’s hard to know. I want them to be good citizens.”

  “You love them too,” she said. She didn’t doubt it. “It’s not just your responsibilities that drive you to rear them right.”

  “Kate always said I kissed her like it was one more thing to check off my list.” He shook his head. “Sorry, that was out of line.You’re not interested in my personal issues.”

  She found she was more than interested. And it needed to stop. “I’m sorry.” She forced an air of finality into her voice. Maybe he’d take the hint and leave.

  He leaned forward. “I can talk to you, Gracie.Why is that? I’ve wondered about that all day.”

  “I’m nothing special,” she whispered.

  “You are. Maybe it’s the way you listen so intently.You take in everything around you.”

  “I like listening to your voice,” she said, unable to hold the words back.

  He looked down at his hands. “This might anger you, but I looked you up on the Internet today.”

  It would all come out now. The whole sordid mess. She should have expected this.Yesterday she’d avoided his questions. He wasn’t one to let a puzzle go unsolved.That gaze of his was too keen and penetrating.

  “And did you find out enough to send me packing?” she asked in a choked voice.

  “All I found out was that your ex-fiancé is a Border Patrol agent. You came back before I saw anything more. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

  “N-no,” she whispered, fighting the despair rising in her chest. He’d find out everything the very next time he looked her up. Then she and Hope would be on the streets.

  “I’ve known of plenty seemingly good men who smack around their wives or girlfriends. I’m not judging you for running, but did you even explain to your fiancé why?”

  She shook her head and clamped her trembling lips together.

  He leaned forward. “Who are you really, Gracie?You’re like shale. For every layer that slides off, there’s another one under it.”

  “I’m just me.A single mom who wants the best for her daughter.”

  He shrugged. “You’ve been here a week, and the only thing I know about you is that you are good with kids, you see colors in sound, and you know how to decorate rooms.”

  She forced a smile. “Isn’t that enough weirdness to last a lifetime?”

  He shook his head. “I have no idea where you grew up or if your parents are still alive. I don’t know how you came to have Hope or how you’ve managed to raise her alone. I don’t know what made you run off on the day of your wedding without any of your belongings. It’s all a blank.”

  “A dull and boring story you’ve likely heard a million times.”

  “Most women talk all the time, but you sit and watch more than you speak.”

  She couldn’t take the intensity in his eyes and glanced down at her feet dangling from the edge of the bed. “I’m your employee.We’re hardly friends.”

  “I’d like to think we could be friends and still maintain a professional relationship. There’s no servant-master hierarchy here in West Texas.A man or woman is judged by character.”

  Please,please leave me alone.No more questions. “I thought the West had the reputation for not probing,” she whispered. “For letting people be who they are now rather than who they used to be.”

  “Is that what you want? A clean slate?”

  “Yes,” she said, finally holding his gaze.

  He rose from the chair. “Fair enough. If you ever want to talk, I’ll listen. But no more questions.”

  He might not question her, but she knew he’d keep digging. And she’d have to confess it all.

  ON MONDAY, THE LAST THING MICHAEL WANTED WAS TO LEAVE HIS WAILing children on the front porch with Gracie, but he was already late for his first meeting with the Border Patrol. Dressed in his camouflage uniform, he hugged the kids and promised to be back, then rushed to the truck and drove to headquarters in Presidio.

  The sleepy town hadn’t changed in the years he’d been away. He parked outside the small stucco building and trod the boardwalk to the open front door.The temperature already hovered near a hundred on this sunny August day.

  A man in a Border Patrol uniform picked desultorily through a filing cabinet and barely looked up when Michael stepped in. “Good morning. I’m here to see Chief Patrol Officer Lanny Pickens,”Michael told him.

  The portly man straightened and turned to face him. Blue eyes looked out from under shaggy white hair and brows, though his face bore no lines of advanced age. “That’d be me, soldier.”

  Only then did Michael see the two stars on the man’s collar. Numerous awards decorated his uniform as well. “Sorry.” He saluted. “Lieutenant Wayne with the army reporting, sir.”

  The man swept a thatch of white hair from his forehead.“Welcome to the circus, Lieutenant.Your unit is set over just north of Terlingua. If you decide to join them.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I want to be here.”

  “If I were you, I might hightail it back to civilization. Or Iraq.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “If having a price on your head is a problem, then yeah, there’s a problem.” He pulled out his desk chair and settled into it. “Have a seat. Coffee?”

  Michael had tasted enough stale office coffee over the years. “No thanks.What’s happening?”

  Pickens flipped a pencil around in his fingers. “When it got out that you were returning home, we heard rumblings of a price on your head. Vargas has offered to pay twenty thousand dollars to the man who kills you.”

  “Vargas. As in the man who killed my brother?”

  Pickens nodded. “He’s a snake. Kills without compunction.”

  A flash of his children’s faces gave Michael pause.What would happen to them if he was killed? There was no family left to look out for them.“Why would he want to kill me? I haven’t been back here in years. Does he think I’ll seek revenge for Phil’s death?”

  “It was Phil’s fault his two brothers were killed, so to Vargas it’s justice to take out Phil’s brother.”

  Michael blocked the familiar pain. Phil had
died six months ago in a car accident. Prior to that, he had stopped a large shipment of arms from passing through to Mexico. In the fracas, several men were killed, including the brothers of the kingpin, Lazaro Vargas.Vargas himself was still behind bars.

  He marshaled this thoughts. “Phil’s dead. Isn’t that enough for Vargas?”

  “Not to that madman.You’ll need to watch your back.”

  “I always do.What’s happening in the field right now?”

  Pickens stepped to a large map of the Big Bend area and stabbed a meaty finger at the Rio Grande. “Normally we deal with illegals crossing the river for jobs, or smuggling marijuana. But this is bigger. We thought they were coming across right by El Paso, then an agent saw two men on horseback cross here.”

  “Drugs?” Michael asked.

  Pickens stabbed a point farther to the west. “We’re pretty sure last time they brought in over ten million in cocaine. Your unit is here.” He pointed to a spot by the river. “They’ve got an observation post set up.”

  Michael whistled softly. “I was told they might be bribing someone on this side.”

  Pickens shrugged. “I’m not convinced about that, but we do know this is likely only a part of what’s coming through. It’s our job to jam the pipeline.”

  “Where do you want me?”

  “With your knowledge of the area, I’ve asked for you to be on mounted sentry duty.You’ll need a horse. Bailey out at Bluebird Ranch has offered to let you pick any of his rehabilitated stock.Take a gander at them and get one with stamina.You’ll need one by next week.”

  Michael nodded. “Good of Rick to offer.”

  His boss studied Michael’s face. “Let’s get something clear, Lieutenant. I heard you requested this duty, and that you’re planning on taking Border Patrol training and staying here permanently. If you’ve come back to the area to avenge your brother’s death, you can turn around and leave. I’ll not have a vigilante on my team.”

  Michael kept his face stiff. “I’m not out for revenge.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Michael’s muscles tensed. “Look, sir, this is my job, nothing more. I’m here to bring criminals to justice.”

  Pickens’s large mustache twitched. “Your brother had a lot of passion for his work and believed in the importance of protecting our borders.You don’t share that passion?”

  Did he? Michael hadn’t thought of it in those terms. “I believe in following orders. In doing my duty.”

  “Without emotion?”

  “Emotion can keep me from thinking clearly, so I never let it get in the way.”Michael shrugged. “It’s what I’m trained to do. If my commander tells me to apprehend terrorists who are strapping bombs to kids in Baghdad, that’s what I’ll do. If you need me to stop drug traffic, I’ll be Johnny-on-the-spot.”

  “Good. I thought it best to clear the air. Finding your brother’s killer is not your job. It’s mine.” Pickens’s teeth showed briefly in a smile under his mustache.

  Michael kept any expression from his face. “Of course.”

  “With that out of the way, I’ll be glad to have you on my team after your training. Oh, and I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  Michael rose from his chair and stood at attention. Maybe a superior officer was in the building. Pickens entered a door behind them and returned a few moments later with a leash. Michael gasped when he glanced from his boss’s hand to the pooch trotting behind him. “Caesar!”

  The black lab’s head came up, and he lunged toward Michael. Pickens dropped the leash and let the dog go.Michael fell to his knees as the dog leaped against his chest and showered him with wet kisses. He hugged Caesar and inhaled the good scent of clean dog. Caesar’s coat was like fine silk under his fingers.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, buddy. Last time I saw you was under a date palm tree in Iraq,” he muttered. Leaving his dog had been harder than he’d expected.The two of them had been a team for three years. He roughed up Caesar’s ears and the dog whined with pleasure.

  “I thought you’d be pleased,” Pickens said.

  Michael glanced up to find Pickens wearing a grin nearly as big as the one stretching his own lips. “How’d this happen?”

  Pickens shrugged. “If we’re going to bust this drug ring, we need a good sniffer.Your commanding officer said this guy was the best and the two of you work like one. He arranged to send him over and had him wait here for you.”

  Michael kept his hand on the dog’s head. “He’s lost weight.”

  “He wouldn’t eat much after you left.Your commander says he’s yours.”

  “Mine?” Michael’s smile widened.

  “He’s no good to the regiment without you. I hear that all he did was lie on the floor after you left.Wouldn’t work with anyone else.”

  Michael had been nearly as inconsolable. “Thank you, sir,” he managed to choke out.

  “Don’t thank me. Thank your commanding officer.” Pickens glanced at his watch. “If we go now, I can introduce you to Phil’s old partner. He’ll take you out to your unit. Ready to get to work?”

  “That’s why I’m here.” Michael followed him to the green SUV parked outside. He put the dog in the backseat, then hopped in beside Pickens. “Where we headed?”

  “We located a crossing west of town. The last storm created a sandbar across the Rio Grande, and the coyotes found it.”

  “You have someone watching it?”

  Pickens nodded. “Hector Estevez. He was Phil’s partner. He’s assessing how many have come through there so far and is going to give direction to your unit’s watch station.”

  Michael watched the desert landscape zip past the window. He’d never thought to be living here again. They rolled through Bluebird Crossing, and it was like going through a time warp. The place hadn’t changed at all, but he had. He was older and wiser, he hoped, the only one of his original family left now that Philip was gone.As they drove, he caught a glimpse of the old house on the outskirts of town where he’d grown up. It wasn’t possible that his little brother was dead.

  Pickens pulled off into the desert behind a parked SUV with the Border Patrol logo on the door.The other vehicle’s front tires nearly touched the muddy water running past. A stocky man in his twenties squatted beside tire tracks. Another man in his forties stood watching.

  “I’ll leave you here,” Pickens said. “I’ve got an important call coming in.”

  Michael nodded and got his dog out, then joined the men. Estevez glanced up when Michael joined him and asked, “You’re Estevez? What’d you find?”

  “Three trucks through here so far,” Estevez said. “Loaded.” He stood and looked Michael over. “You’re Lieutenant Wayne? You have the look of Phil. I’m Special Operations Patrol Agent Estevez.”

  The guy was making sure Michael knew his rank. “I hear you were my brother’s partner.” He glanced at the other man, then extended his hand. “Lieutenant Wayne.”

  The man took it. “Senior Patrol Agent George Parker.”

  Estevez put his hands on his hips. “Let’s get one thing straight right up front: I know you’ve got more decorations than a Christmas tree, but I’m the expert here.You need to listen twice as much as you talk for a while. This isn’t Iraq. And you’re on my turf.You National Guards are here in a supplementary position only.You’re to do what I say when I say it.”

  Cocky kid. Michael could have him on the ground in two seconds. “Of course.”

  Estevez’s lips tightened. “I just want to be clear who’s in charge.”

  “We’re clear,” Michael said. He was used to taking orders, but this kid was still wet behind the ears. His irritation faded when he saw Caesar’s ears go up. A low growl emanated from the dog’s throat. “Someone’s out there,” he said. “Hit the ground!” Some sixth sense made him grab the kid and yank him down behind the SUV.

  Estevez tried to shake off Michael’s grip, but the first bullet pinged against the bumper. Both border agents drew thei
r guns and returned fire as a volley of shells hit the vehicle. Michael pulled his revolver. He saw a flash of green and aimed at the movement, then fired.A man fell. He heard a shot, then the sound of an engine. Dust billowed from the tires of an old pickup that sped away.

  A heavily accented male voice floated out the window. “Señor Wayne, you are a dead man.”

  He rose from his crouched position and followed Caesar to the fallen man, who lay behind an agave plant. He was dressed as a Mexican national, in his forties, and his sightless eyes stared at the glaring sun.

  Vargas was wasting no time in trying to kill him.

  7

  APACK OF COYOTES HOWLED IN THE DISTANCE. ANOTHER PACK ON THE other side of the canyon replied. Michael sat in the living room with his Bible in his hand. Only one light pushed back the night.The clock on the mantel read 11:00. After tossing and turning for half an hour, he’d finally gotten up and come downstairs. The nightmares that haunted him had little to do with the unseen faces of his enemies and much more to do with concrete fears.

  He’d done the right thing all his life, and to the best of his ability. God should have honored his faithfulness, yet here he was with two motherless kids, an experience he’d sworn he’d never allow his children to go through. He leaned his head against the worn headrest on the chair. Once upon a time he’d thought serving his country and his God would result in fulfillment and contentment.Then why did this ache still keep him awake?

  The last four days on sentry duty had confirmed that he stood directly in the line of fire. The man he’d shot and killed his first day out was part of the cartel that had killed his brother. Michael wasn’t a man to second-guess his decisions, but he did now.What would happen to his kids if he died? At Michael’s feet, Caesar raised his head.The floorboard creaked.

  Gracie stood in the doorway. Her blond hair spilled onto the white robe she wore. She clutched the top of it closed at her neck. Her eyes were wide, and they went from him to the Bible in his hand, then back to his face. “I thought you were down here.”

  He put down the Bible. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

  She stepped into the room. “No.”