Camouflage Cowboy

by Jan Hambright

  Nick gritted his teeth and tried to put a semipositive spin on the ever-developing situation. Maybe having Grace and Caleb there was just what he needed to convince the governor to change her mind about the transplant. To finally put a face on the very one who needed her help the most of all right now.

  Every muscle in his body pulled tight, the tension crushing him in a viselike grip that wouldn’t release. His only hope was that he’d be able to keep them all safe from a crazed killer with his crosshairs on Governor Lila Lockhart…

  And any collateral damage that happened to be standing too close to her at the moment he decided to strike.

  NICK GLANCED into the classroom as it filled with preschool students and their parents.

  Bart Bellows was in the process of parking his electric wheelchair in the back corner of the room, with the assistance of his medical attendant, Roger Adams, a burly guy capable of physically lifting Bart whenever necessary.

  Notes of music being played by the high-school band drifted in through the open doors as their version of “Hail to the Chief” echoed from outside in the parking lot.

  Half the town of Freedom appeared to have shown up already, and the event wasn’t scheduled to begin for another half hour.

  Everyone seemed to be in a festive mood, and happy about the governor’s announcement—everyone except the CSaI team members wandering around, watching for anyone who might try to hurt the people they cared for. Still, he couldn’t help but notice he hadn’t seen Lindsay Kemp, or her and Wade’s twins, Lacey and Lyric.

  If only he’d have been able to convince Grace and Caleb to stay home, as well. Though Grace had considered his request, she’d ultimately decided to come, citing her admiration for Governor Lockhart and her respect for Bailey.

  Blood really was thicker than water, even if she had no idea they were her mother and half sister.

  He sucked in a breath and turned back into the hallway, spotting Governor Lockhart through the panel of glass in the security door leading out to the playground area of Cradles to Crayons. He watched her makeup artist, Becky Davis, dab her face with a makeup sponge and go over her lipstick with a brush.

  This was his one chance, and he might not get another anytime soon. Hell, he wasn’t even certain he’d be able to return to CSaI after he’d said his piece.

  Determined, Nick walked across the corridor, pulled open the door and stepped inside, just as Becky finished up and stepped out, leaving Nick and Governor Lockhart alone together.

  GRACE TOOK THE STEPS up to the main entrance of Cradles to Crayons clutching Caleb, and stepped well into the corridor lined with book nooks and coat hooks before she put him down.

  An armed officer stood at the threshold out into the main hallway. She took Caleb’s hand and approached him.

  “Officer.”

  “Howdy, miss. What’s your name?”

  “Grace Marshall, and this is my son, Caleb Marshall.”

  He casually scanned the clipboard he held. “There you are. Take a left once you’re in the hall. The classroom will be immediately on your left.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled and nodded even though she didn’t need directions.

  The officer stepped aside to let her pass and waited for the next person behind her to approach.

  Glancing up at the security door directly across from the main entrance, she caught a glimpse of Nick on the other side in a heated discussion with someone she couldn’t see.

  A little buzz of excitement worked through her body, leaving her limbs tingling. She’d fallen for him. Her heart knew it, her mind knew it, and her body knew it, too. Had from the first time he’d touched her.

  Caleb must have seen him, too, because he jerked his hand free of her grasp and bolted for the door.

  “Mister Nick!” he yelled, banging his hand on the door once before she could reach him and pull him back.

  Grace knelt in front of her son. “Caleb, Nick’s speaking with someone right now. It’s rude to disturb him. We’ll see him after the governor gives her speech. Okay?”

  “All right.” Caleb dug the toe of his right boot into the tile, his mouth pulled down in disappointment.

  “Put a smile on and cowboy up. You get to sit next to Zachary-G.”

  In less than a second, he was grinning, and she rose to her feet just as Nick moved slightly to the side, revealing the person he was speaking with in the hallway beside him.

  Governor Lila Lockhart—and she wasn’t happy, judging by the firm set of her jaw.

  “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get to our seats.” Con cerned, Grace quickly took Caleb’s hand and headed for the classroom, wondering what on earth she’d just witnessed, but once they entered the classroom, her curiosity evaporated, replaced by the palpable excitement of the parents and students waiting for the governor’s entrance.

  Freedom, Texas, was proud of its own native daughter.

  Grace focused on her seat on the end of the second row and smiled at Stacy Giordano where she sat in the third row directly behind Zachary.

  “Here, Caleb.” She pointed to the chair next to Zachary and stepped in next to her son to take her seat. Immediately, the two boys’ heads tucked in a conspiratorial bow, as they each pulled out their favorite toy horse for a competitive gallop.

  The feel of a familiar hand on her shoulder brought her head around, and she stared up for a moment into Nick’s steel-blue eyes. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself,” he mouthed over the hum in the room, then bent toward her ear. “I’ll meet you out by the Tahoe at the conclusion.”

  She nodded, missing his nearness the moment he straightened and worked his way to the back of the room, where he joined several other men she recognized from Corps Security and Investigations.

  Bailey Lockhart stepped to the podium at the front of the classroom and a whisper of shushes passed between parents and their children, until the room had quieted as much as possible for a passel of excited four-year-olds.

  Even Caleb and Zachary reined in their horses long enough to look up at Miss Lockhart.

  “Good afternoon, students and families,” she said into the microphone. “And welcome to Cradles to Crayons. This afternoon I have the pleasure of introducing you to my mom.”

  A round of applause broke out in the room as Governor Lila Lockhart stepped through the entrance into the classroom and made her way to the podium where she stopped next to her daughter.

  “The governor of the great state of Texas, and the next president of the United States of America, Lila Lockhart!”

  Emotion closed Grace’s throat as she clapped so hard her fingers stung. Caught up in the excitement, she looked directly at the governor, and found her staring back with an odd look of interest furrowing her forehead and narrowing the space between her sky-blue eyes.

  Time seemed to move at half speed as she retrained her stare on Caleb for half a second before Bailey hugged her and surrendered the podium.

  Taken back by the exchange, Grace pulled in several deep breaths and straightened in her seat. Perhaps Nick had told the governor just how sick Caleb was in an effort to plead that the sealed adoption records be opened. She was the most powerful woman in Texas at the moment.

  Nick shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he watched the exchange transpire between Grace and Lila, wondering if he’d gone too far, but knowing he hadn’t gone nearly far enough in convincing her to help her grandson.

  The clapping died down and the governor started her speech.

  “Since I was a child, I’ve loved a good book. It didn’t matter who read the words to me before I could read, or who turned the pages, I enjoyed the story. So today I’m proud to announce my early-reading program, See Me Read. A community grant program that will involve local libraries, school libraries, community centers, parents, grandparents and siblings. A city-and town-wide effort to share the written word with every child and tap into the vast store of folks in our communities who would love to share their time and effort to help beg
inning readers learn—”

  Sheriff Hale stepped into the room and headed straight for Governor Lockhart with two deputies hot on his heels.

  In less than five seconds, she’d been escorted out of the room.

  Nolan’s finger went to his earpiece, and a hush fell on the crowd as Hale grabbed the microphone.

  “Everyone, stay calm. There has been a bomb threat called in to our dispatch center. I need y’all to file out of the room in an orderly evacuation of the building. We’ve got a five-minute window.”

  The hair on the back of Nick’s neck prickled.

  Agitated, he turned to where attendant Roger Adams was already helping Bart Bellows get his wheelchair turned and pointed in the right direction, but as he looked out over the crowd, he could see panic starting to build.

  Mothers grabbed their children and pulled them onto their laps. Fathers bolted up from their seats.

  Two seconds later, the earsplitting whine of the school’s tornado siren violated the air, and pandemonium erupted as all hell broke loose in the crowded classroom.

  Nick sucked up against the wall to avoid being stepped on in the ensuing crush to get out. Worried, he tried to pick out the exact spot where Grace and Caleb had been sitting near one of the doors, and caught sight of the top of Caleb’s head as he filtered through the opening with Zachary and several others, then vanished into the hallway.

  Where was Grace?

  In under two minutes the stampede was over, and Nick surveyed the chaotic scene in front of him.

  “Nick! Over here,” Wade hollered, as he knelt next to an elderly gentleman who’d been knocked down. Charging over, he helped get the man up, and Wade put his arm over his shoulder, wrapped his other around the man’s waist and headed for the door.

  Matteo was busy scooping up a little girl who was holding her arm, and Harlan was clearing a pile of overturned chairs out of the path of Bart’s wheelchair.

  Scanning the debris, Nick spotted something, then prayed to God he was wrong. The end of the pink scarf Grace had been wearing.

  Panic drove him forward, as he tossed kiddy chairs like Tinkertoys, and found her in almost the exact spot she’d been sitting.

  “Grace!”

  She rolled over and sat up. “Once I was down, I couldn’t get up. Where’s Caleb?”

  Nick helped her to her feet and followed the last person out of the room, Nolan, carrying a little boy whose face was tear streaked as he cried for his mother.

  “I saw him zip out the door with one of the first waves. He’s gotta be in the parking lot right now with Zachary Giordano.”

  “Thank God,” she whispered as she leaned against him. “I can’t believe how fast that went bad.”

  They hurried through the main door and headed for the back of the parking lot where everyone stood, staring at the building in a state of shock.

  Grace’s heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she scanned the crowd, trying to remember exactly what Caleb had on, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think.

  “Do you see him, Nick?” she pleaded, finally spotting Zachary standing next to his mother, Stacy, but no sign of Caleb.

  Hopeful, she hurried toward them. “Stacy, do you know where Caleb is?”

  “No. He came through the class door with us, but I don’t recall seeing him after that.”

  Grace went to her knees, reached out and touched Zachary’s arm. “Zachary. Do you know where Caleb is? Did you see which way he went?”

  Slowly, Zachary raised his arm and pointed his index finger at the building.

  Horrified, Grace turned to stare at Cradles to Crayons. “Oh, dear God. The tornado siren. The storm cellar. He’s in the storm cellar.”

  Panic invaded her cells, shooting adrenaline into her system. She bolted, focusing on the building as she dodged a couple of officers who tried to stop her.

  Behind her she heard the sound of Nick’s voice calling her back, but it was quickly drowned out by the blare of the tornado siren. As much as she cared for Nick and trusted his judgment, she loved her son and could never let anything happen to him if it was in her power to stop it.

  Nick got within a hairbreadth of Grace, but missed his tackle as she took the steps faster than him and ran into the preschool.

  “Grace! Wait!”

  Heart pounding, he rushed down the hallway and out into the main corridor, where he slid to a stop. Storm cellar. Where in the hell was the storm cellar?

  The pounding of footstep on stairs brought his head around to the right. Less than twenty feet down the hall, he spotted a door ajar several inches, and sprinted for it.

  He pulled it open just in time to see a flash of blond hair at the bottom. “Grace!” Hell, their five minutes was almost up according to his internal clock. Any second now he expected to be blown to bits, but he couldn’t let that happen to Grace and Caleb.

  Pounding down the stairs behind her in the eerie emergency lighting, Nick took the corner and stared at the big empty room, and the storm cellar at the far end, where he could clearly see Grace on her knees in front of Caleb.

  “Grace! Let’s get out of here.”

  Nick took three steps forward and stopped.

  Turning slightly, he stared in disbelief at the open wire grate under the stairwell.

  At the red digital clock ticking off the seconds in tiny red numbers.

  10…9…8…7…6…

  Bolting for the tornado shelter, he burst through the door and pushed it closed behind him, hearing the latch lock into place.

  3…2…1…

  The explosion rocked Cradles to Crayons.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nick slowly raised his head but kept his hold on Grace and Caleb from behind their makeshift barricade, a pallet of water bottles.

  Overhead, the emergency lighting continued to shine and a fresh-air-ventilation fan kicked on behind a small grate in the ceiling.

  “Are you both okay?” he asked, stepping back to visually check them over.

  “Yes,” Grace whispered as she smoothed her hand along Caleb’s cheek. “What happened, Nick?”

  “The bomb was planted under the stairwell. I just happened to see it, but by then it was too late to do anything but get inside the shelter before it detonated.”

  “I never expected to have to use it after all the tornado drills we’ve practiced down here, but it saved our lives.” She blinked and looked around. “What do you suppose it looks like outside?”

  Nick pulled in a breath. “Don’t know. But fortunately everyone got out of the building in time.”

  “They probably think we’re dead.”

  “It’s a good bet.” He pressed a kiss onto her forehead, and caught Caleb staring up at them. Nick squatted down to look him in the eyes. “You doing okay, Caleb?”

  “I didn’t like that big noise.” His chin started to quiver and the first sign of tears illuminated his wide blue eyes.

  “Neither did I, buddy. But we’re okay. Not a scratch on us.”

  Caleb nodded, and Nick put his hand on the child’s shoulder. “I’m going to get us out of here.”

  Caleb lunged forward and threw his arms around Nick’s neck. He reciprocated and gathered the little guy up, feeling his tiny body tremble. “Don’t be afraid. Just start thinking about the story you’ll have to tell Zachary-G.”

  The diversionary tactic seemed to work and he felt Caleb relax in his arms. Nick hugged him tighter, then released him and came to his feet.

  “Stay here next to your mom. I’m going to see if I can get the door open.”

  Grace pulled Caleb back against her. “Be careful, Nick.”

  He turned for the heavy blast door that had been built to withstand a tornado’s direct hit. The latch was intact, a good sign, but it didn’t mean it hadn’t been compromised on the outside, or that there wasn’t a ton of debris piled up in front of it on the other side.

  Nick gritted his teeth, grasped the latch handle and jerked it. It jammed the first try,
but on the second pull it released.

  Easing it open a crack, he smelled the air coming in for smoke, but only a hint lingered. A good sign that the bomb’s blast percussion had snuffed out most of the flames. They wouldn’t be walking into a wall of heat.

  “No fire,” he said over his shoulder to Grace as he strained to swing the door open wider against some resistance.

  Staring out into the dust-filled air, he could see the stairway they’d used to come down no longer existed. It had been annihilated in the explosion, but the sound of sirens echoed through the gaping hole it had once occupied.

  He looked back at Grace. “Stay put. I’m going to see if I can get someone’s attention.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

  Turning, he slipped through the gap, and scrambled over a two-foot-high pile of twisted debris that had been blown against the door.

  Nick could hear the sound of voices above him.

  Hurdling the last obstacle in his path, he got as close as he could to the opening.

  “Help! Down here! Help us!” He listened for a response, then shouted again.

  “Nick!”

  “Harlan! We’re down here. In the storm cellar!” He picked his way closer to the opening, climbing over the debris field blocking his path.

  “Harlan!”

  “I can hear you, Nick! The fire department is on its way. They’ll get you out. Hang on.”

  Relief surged inside of him and he sat back onto a piece of debris he was sure had once been a stair tread. They’d been seconds from death. Reality pushed the air out of his lungs in a long, steady whoosh.

  Times were, he’d gotten a rush out of a scrape with disaster, but he now knew his internal landscape had changed. Emotionally, he knew why.

  He’d fallen for Grace and Caleb Marshall. There was no going back.

  He didn’t want to.

  GRACE PULLED THE BLANKET an EMT had given her a little tighter around her body and tried to follow the man’s instructions.