by Karen Anders
He cupped her face, his heart aching. “I can’t give you an answer right now,” he said. “I really need to talk to you. In private.”
She released a sigh, telling him she was disappointed he didn’t jump at the chance and it hurt like hell. She cupped her palm against the back of his hand where it lay on her cheek. “Jake, I wasn’t just offering you...a partnership in business.”
He closed his eyes then and pressed his forehead to hers. “Alanna, you astonish me one minute, then clip my legs out from under me in another.”
“Then say yes,” she pleaded.
“I can’t. Let me explain. Could we go to your office?”
“No. We can talk here and get this all out in the open.” She resisted his pull. “I like getting my way. I’m definitely a spoiled princess about this. It’s just I’ve realized something and I’m a little scared about that, too. I treated you badly, but my only defense is I’m not used to being without armor. I’m not used to opening myself up to anyone. I never have. I have had two marriage proposals and they were wonderful with flowers and extravagant dinners. I thought I was in love with those men, but I know now I hadn’t even come close.” She looked away, the fear escalating in her. “Not even close.” Alanna closed her eyes and pressed her hand to his chest, her fingers clenching in the fabric of his shirt. “I learned a hard lesson with my family that keeping my guard up was tantamount to survival.
“When I was in Dallas, I thought I saw my father. I chased him down in the street and discovered it wasn’t him. It shook me up so badly, made me feel so utterly exposed and vulnerable. That’s why I acted the way I did with you. My family taught me to be tough in a tough world. But there is also love. It’s below the surface, but it’s there. I don’t doubt that. But because I had to build walls, I had acquired a kind of internal toughness.
“Then there was this cowboy who walked into my arena with a beautiful blue roan, confident, oh so handsome, the kind of warmth in his eyes that scared the hell out of me. And he got down to a difficult task. A task to tame a rogue stallion, and along the way, he taught me about courage and vulnerability. He taught me about deep, abiding trust.”
“Alanna...dammit.” He paced away in agony, his shoulders stiff. His hands running violently through his hair, the agony in him expanded. What he said next was going to shatter her trust, cripple her. After all they had been to each other these past weeks, this would effectively tear them apart. And, dammit, her heart was hanging in the balance.
“Alanna, for the love of God—”
“I’m in love with you, Jake.”
His brain ground to a rushing halt at her words and his throat cramped up. He watched her with an intensity as his heart broke. He’d known, but he felt like he was on a runaway train and the track was running out. There was no way he could explain his way out of this or make this right. He was going to lose her. It was a fact, but one he had to live with. Hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do, and the joy of winning this woman’s love was overshadowed by this secret between them. He stared at her for an instant longer, and then he closed his eyes briefly, crossed the few feet separating them and grabbed the back of her neck. He hauled her into his arms, his unchecked strength nearly crushing her. He didn’t say anything for the longest time. He just held her as if he couldn’t let her go, knowing Alanna was holding on to him for the last time.
Finally, he let all the air out of his lungs, and with unsteady fingers, he swept her hair back from her face. “Listen to me, Alanna,” he said, his voice rough and unsteady. “Listen. You need to think about this, babe. Don’t do something you’re going to regret later. I need to talk to you about something, now,” he said fiercely. “Not here out in the open. Can we go to your office?”
Suddenly the door opened and then slammed.
Alanna’s face changed from confusion at his response to alarm. “Fowler?”
“You hack!” He heard before he turned around. Fowler advanced on Jake, his face contorted in an ugly sneer, cradling his hand against his chest. Buck was trailing behind him, giving Jake a warning look.
Jake faced Fowler, who went toe-to-toe with him. Fowler jammed a finger into his chest. “That horse isn’t tamed! He bit me!”
Jake stood his ground, angry his discussion with Alanna got interrupted and tired of taking orders from a man who had no respect for anyone. “He was fine when I left him. Maybe he just doesn’t like you.”
Fowler’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he yelled. “You’re fired! Get off this property.”
Alanna wedged herself between the two of them. “Fowler, you can’t do that. He worked miracles with that horse. This isn’t right.”
“Alanna, stay out of it!” Fowler said, pushing her to the side.
“Jake!” Mike Jensen shouted as he ran into the arena and skidded to a stop beside him. Panting, he grabbed Jake’s arm in a frantic grip.
“What is it?”
“Clay...he’s gone!” Mike said, the concern for his friend evident.
“Gone?” Jake said in confusion. “Where?”
“I don’t know. Mr. Colton ordered Clay to saddle Zorro, but he bit him. He threw the reins to Clay. He just got this look on his face. You know the one when you know someone is just at the end of his rope. He mounted Zorro and rode off.”
Jake grabbed Mike’s shoulders. “Holy hell! Clay’s on Zorro?”
“Yes. He seemed real broken up.”
“About what?” Jake shouted.
“I don’t know!” Mike shouted back.
“Which way did he go?”
“Toward the lake.”
“I’ll have that kid’s hide. If anything happens to Zorro,” Fowler said.
Jake took off at a run with Alanna on his heels. He headed straight for the tack room. He grabbed his saddle, blanket and bridle. Alanna caught his arm. “I’ll come with you.”
“No.” he said, his concern for Clay almost overriding how pissed off he was at the kid for such a reckless act. “Your brother’s fit to be tied. You stay here and calm him down. I’ll find Clay and bring that fool kid back and we’ll get this all sorted out.”
He went to Valentine’s stall and quickly and efficiently saddled the gelding. He led him out of the barn and mounted.
“I’ll find him,” he said and kicked Valentine into a gallop as he raced out of the stable yard and onto the road that led to the lake. Sitting deep in the saddle, one with the horse as the gelding’s powerful muscles moved beneath him.
Broken branches and flattened grass showed Jake the way Clay hand gone. He urged Valentine on, feeling the horse bunch under him as he jumped an old log at the gallop, his hooves kicking up dirt and chunks of grass.
The wind whipped by tearing at his hat. In the distance he saw a black horse galloping full out as the rider on his back urged him on.
“Ya!” he said, giving Valentine a kick with his heels, and the blue roan increased his speed. Zorro was fast, but Valentine had the kind of stamina and speed bred into Ranger horses to go the distance. The black stallion was no match for him. He lost sight of Clay as he topped a rise and descended down the other side. As Jake hit the top of the hill, the Lone Star Lake glittered a deep blue and spread out before him. Clay had taken Zorro along the shore and was heading for the far side toward the dock where Jake had confronted Marceline.
“Clay,” he shouted again, but again the kid ignored him.
With pounding hooves and another burst of speed, Valentine closed the gap between them. He raced after the stallion as they both skirted the lake.
“Clay!” Jake shouted. “Stop!”
Clay either didn’t hear him or had no intention of stopping.
Valentine pulled out yet more speed and Jake gained on him now only about a length away. Clay looked over his shoulder and saw Jake.
“Leave me alone!” he shouted.
Jake came alongside Clay and yelled, “Stop, Clay. We can figure this out!”
“No! He’s going to hurt her. I’v
e got to get out of here. Keep her safe!”
Jake leaned over and grabbed Zorro’s bridle and immediately pulled back to slow his own horse.
Their speed decreased by increments until Jake brought both Zorro and Valentine to a halt. He dismounted and went between the heavily breathing animals and pulled Clay out of the saddle.
“Are you out of your mind? You could have been hurt. You could have hurt the horse.”
He shook Clay who dropped his head, despair radiating out of his eyes.
“I had to,” he shouted, his head coming up as he struggled out of Jake’s grasp and made a run for it. Jake swore under his breath as he went after Clay and wrestled him to the ground. Lying heavily on him, he straddled the kid when he started to fight.
“Stop it. Tell me what’s wrong!”
Clay covered his eyes, his chest heaving, his voice thick. “You can’t help me. He’s going to hurt her if I don’t do what he says and... I can’t. I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I just want to keep her safe.”
Jake pulled down his hand and shook him again. “Who’s going to hurt whom? Clay, tell me right now. I’m a Texas Ranger! I can help you!”
Clay stilled and his breath hitched in his throat. He stared up at Jake, hope springing there. He clutched at Jake, his words filled with a powerful fear. “Are you really a Texas Ranger?”
“Yes. Now tell me, Clay. I’ll help you.”
“I thought you were a cop the minute I laid eyes on you.”
“Clay. We don’t have time for this. Who gave you that black eye? Who is threatening you?”
“Henry. He said he’d hurt Daisy if I didn’t get out of this program and get back to Dallas. He wants me to sell drugs for him. He’s been smuggling them through the Colton ranch right beneath their noses.”
“How?”
“In the hay. He showed me to get me locked in when I agreed to help him.”
“You know where they are?”
“Yes!”
Jake hauled the kid up, realizing this was even more dangerous than he’d thought. “Show me.”
Chapter 16
The crisis with Clay aside, Alanna had stood and watched the man she’d only come to realize moments ago, a man she adored, loved and didn’t want to lose, ride heroically and confidently away. He’d been trying to tell her something and now she was terrified at what that was. What had she expected? He would fall into her arms and pledge to her that he loved her, too. Well, yeah, that is what she’d hoped. Now there was something he was keeping from her. He’d tried to get her to go with him to her office for privacy before they were interrupted. What was it he wanted to say?
He didn’t love her?
“Miss Colton?” a tentative voice broke into her thoughts.
Alanna pulled her gaze from the now empty pasture as Jake had disappeared to find Daisy standing next to her. The young daughter of their apartment cook, Ellen, stood there, her face white, her mouth trembling. “What is it?”
“I know why Clay ran off,” Daisy said, her voice wobbly.
“You do,” Alanna said, clasping the girl’s shoulders. “Why?”
It was clear the girl was terrified. She looked around with the look of a child checking under her bed for the bogeyman and said, “He’s in trouble. You need to help him.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“There’s a man here who is threatening him and he wouldn’t tell me why, so I followed them last night. There are drugs on the ranch.”
Anger rushed through her and she clamped her jaw so hard, she felt the pressure all the way to the top of her head, a load of adrenaline dropping into her stomach like jet fuel. “What? Where? Show me!”
Daisy headed in the direction of the barn where Zorro was stabled. They entered the dim interior and Alanna was running on anger and adrenaline. How dare someone use her stables for drug smuggling!
With determination and hope, they headed down the alleyway as Daisy led her to the loft and Alanna followed her up the stairs into the hot, dusty hayloft.
Bales and bales were stacked up there and the loft to the outdoors was open, the view of the pastureland and the purple-hazed shadow from the overcast day. A pallet of bales waiting to be unloaded and stacked swung just below the frame on a heavy rope and pulley, intermittent creaking and the muffled stamping and snorting of horses below them breaking the eerie silence. Bracing her hand on the side of the open door, she looked down. It was quite a drop with more hay to be hauled up on the winch.
“Where are the drugs?” Alanna said, her voice naturally hushed as Daisy wrung her hands.
Her eyes shadowed with worry, Daisy whispered, “Do you think Clay is okay?” Her voice filled with both concern and affection for the boy.
Alanna hugged her hard. “Jake will find him. I’m so sure of that.” She clasped Daisy’s shoulders and said, “Show me where the drugs are.”
Daisy went over to the hay and with plenty of grunting, tugged out one of the heavy bales. When she had it on the floor, she pulled a small penknife out of her pocket and cut the yellow twine wrapping the bale.
The sun came out and shone through the wide opening, the climbing dust motes creating a shimmering haze between Alanna and the door. A big black barn cat materialized through the nonexistent barrier, like a shape coming through a waterfall, and Alanna watched as Daisy knelt down, part of her mahogany hair blazing in the shaft of sunlight, the red highlights burning in the bright light. Alanna’s breath ceased as she pushed apart the hay to reveal four plastic-wrapped white bricks.
The cat wound herself around her legs, momentarily distracting Alanna. To get the animal out of the way, she stooped and lifted it onto a bale, aware from her generous tummy, she was heavy with kittens.
The cat arched its back, then sat and began washing its face. Unconcerned with the terrible human drama unfolding before it.
The dread she experienced only moments ago compounding into something cold and heavy, her heart laboring as if she were wading through quicksand.
Then hard on the heels of dread came fury. She clenched her fists at the nerve of whomever it was that had decided to use her family’s business as a way to smuggle and store this filth.
“Who is responsible for this?” she said.
“That would be me,” someone rasped out.
This time it wasn’t a cat who came through the waterfall of light. It was a man, his eyes glinting with threat and menace, a gun in his hand. The barrel pointed directly at her.
*
Jake hauled Clay to his feet. “You take Valentine. I’m not letting you back on that stallion.”
“I already rode him. Besides, Zorro likes me.” Clay walked over to Valentine. “He for sure does not like Mr. Colton,” he muttered as he grabbed the blue roan’s reins and flipped them over his head. With the ease of a seasoned cowboy, he mounted. The kid sure had learned a thing or two.
They road back to the ranch at a cantor, Zorro acted totally chill after the run-in with Fowler and the race from his corral. A good sign that he had settled into life here.
Jake was determined to bring Henry in today once Clay showed him where the drugs were stashed, knowing he was going to blow his cover. The kid kept glancing at him every so often as they rode, obviously absorbing the fact that Jake was a Texas Ranger.
“You’re not in trouble, Clay,” Jake said, giving him a reassuring look. “But you might have to testify against Henry.”
Clay glanced away, the muscles along his jaw tensing, his voice quiet when he said, “As long as Daisy is safe, I’ll do anything to get that guy off the streets. He’s an animal.”
“You made the right choice here, Clay. We’ll get him arrested and behind bars and you can get on with changing your life around.”
He rode directly to the apartment, loosely tying the horses and ran up the stairs. Once in his apartment, he dug in his suitcase and found his gun case. As Clay’s eyes widened, he pulled out his department issued SIG and shoved in the magazine, chamb
ered a round, then thumbed off the safety. He picked up his badge and turned it over in his hands. This was it. Alanna was going to find out in the worst way that he was a Ranger. There was no help for it. He would have given anything to tell her himself before she saw him in action and knew without him owning up to it that he had been there to spy on her. He’d betrayed her even as he lay with her. Guilt twisted around him so hard, he clenched his teeth at the pain.
With resignation and pride, he clipped his badge onto his shirt and grabbed his cell. Dialing, he said, “Boss, I’m about to discover a cache of drugs Henry Swango has stashed on the ranch. I have an eyewitness. I need backup.”
“Well, hell, son,” his boss drawled. “That’s good work. We’ve got the cavalry on the way.”
“Roger that.”
Clay’s eyes, riveted to the star on his chest, said with awe, “Damn, you are a Texas Ranger.”
“Let’s go,” Jake said, his voice filled with steel.
They went down the stairs and Jake asked where the drugs were.
“In Zorro’s barn.” Clay headed that way and Jake followed him. When they got to the doors, Clay went to open them, but they wouldn’t budge.
“What’s wrong?” Jake said.
“They’re locked...from the inside.”
Alarmed, he walked around to the other side of the barn, but all those doors were locked, as well.
“He must be inside,” Clay said, a healthy dose of fear in his voice. “Jake,” he said, grabbing his arm. “Henry has a backup plan.”
“What’s that?”
“He said he’d torch the place and all the evidence would go up in smoke. My God! There’s like forty horses in there.”
Jake’s heart lurched.
Then they heard a soft muffled scream and Clay looked up toward the open doors to the hayloft. “That’s Daisy!” he choked out. He ran to the bales, but Jake hauled him back.
“You stay put,” he ordered. Tucking the gun into the small of his back, he climbed the bales and grabbed onto the pallet when he heard another voice.
