One Tough Texan

She didn’t say anything and the cowboy didn’t budge.

“When was the last time you had a decent meal?” he asked, standing so close that her body was aware of his every breath.

“It’s been a while. I got distracted tracking this lead,” she quipped. Exhaustion was taking a toll and she couldn’t help herself. Her tone tended toward being harsh in a situation like this. “Thanks for the hand up, by the way.”

“No problem. You don’t have to sound like I broke your arm.”

What? Did she? Okay, that did make her feel bad. She wasn’t trying to be a jerk.

The cowboy chuckled as he turned and walked away.

Oh, so he had a sense of humor. Under different circumstances, Alice might actually laugh. Searching for Isabel nonstop for the past six weeks had brought her to the brink of exhaustion. Then there were the twins. Two baby boys who had one speed...blazing. She missed her boys so fiercely it had physically hurt since she’d left home three weeks ago on a hot tip.

Isabel Guillermo had disappeared two months before her sixteenth birthday. And it was Alice’s fault. Before that, Isabel had been placed into the foster care system. Also Alice’s fault. Because Alice had had a bad day at work, Isabel’s parents were dead. Again, Alice’s fault.

A sweet and innocent teen’s world had shattered because a criminal got one over on Alice. Her mistake had cost Sal and Patsy Guillermo their lives. Alice should’ve been more aware.

She shook off the reverie, focusing on the cowboy instead. Not only had he already located the canister, but he was standing perfectly still, studying her.

Alice pulled out her cell, grateful the downpour should provide enough of a curtain between them to mask her true emotions, and covered it with her free hand to shield it from the rain.

“We need to find another gas station,” was all she managed to say. Thinking about Isabel’s case, about the past few weeks, had her missing her boys. Her heart ached and she wanted to be with them. But what kind of mother could she ever be to them if she didn’t find Isabel?

* * *

“ANYONE EXPECTING YOU at home?” Alice asked the cowboy as he took his seat in the Jeep after hiking for what felt like half the night to get gas. She needed to know if she’d just put a family in danger and that’s the reason she told herself she asked. His ride wasn’t tricked out for mudding so she figured it was his commute vehicle.

“No.”

Why did that one word make her heart flutter?

Ignoring it, Alice thought about her next move. Going back to get him had been impulsive and dangerous. She couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks or rack up collateral damage. The cowboy would have to go with her to her motel room. She hoped that he remained cooperative so she could talk sense into him.

“Where to?” He turned the key in the ignition and the engine came to life.

“Take Highway 287 out of town,” she said, rubbing her temples.

“Mind if I stop for food first? There won’t be anything once we leave town and it’s not like you can order pizza from The Bluff Motel.”

“How did you know where we were going?” She snapped her head to the left to get a good look at him.

“Not a lot of options around here.”

Okay. Fine. He had her on that point.

“There a drive-thru nearby?” She needed something to eat and she could always hide in the backseat so no one saw her. Perez had eyes everywhere and she didn’t want to risk anyone seeing the two of them together. No one should be looking for her, Perez or otherwise, at least not officially. Her SO had been texting for her return to work and to make sure she wasn’t interfering with a federal investigation. She hadn’t exactly broken any laws unless she counted unauthorized tampering with the National Crime Information Center—NCIC—database. As far as technicalities went, she wasn’t exactly hacking into the system. She was just doing a little side research project.

Her stomach rumbled from hunger and her side ached. She needed to re-dress her stab wound, a gift from the last crime ring she’d infiltrated.

“We can zip through the line in a few minutes,” he said, pulling into a burger stand parking lot.

“Okay.” Eat. Rest. Talk the cowboy into witness protection. How hard could it be to convince someone to give up the only life they knew because of a perceived threat from a stranger?

“And then you’ll come clean with why you’re tracking one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the country,” the cowboy said with law enforcement authority.

Chapter Three (#u40e05ba5-3850-54c1-a674-b054fff20deb)

The motel room was basic but comfortable. There were two full-size beds with a nightstand in between, a small table with two chairs near a picture window, and a dresser with an old-fashioned TV. Joshua would bet money there was a bible in the top drawer. The floral pattern in this room was bluebonnets, a nod to the state flower, and they were on the curtain and both bedspreads. The floor was tiled in a neutral shade.

One of the bedspreads was rumpled and the other bed was being used as a makeshift office. Papers were spread out across the comforter and there was a laptop along with a couple of cell phones and a small technological device that Joshua figured was for surveillance.

“Let’s talk about your options,” Alice said after she’d finished the last bite of her burger and drained her Coke. She wadded up the wrapper and tossed it in the trash. They’d toweled off and she’d changed into dry clothes.

Joshua couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen someone wolf down food so fast, and that was saying a lot given that he had five brothers.

“Or you could tell me what’s really going on. Why you’re on the run from the police,” he countered, motioning toward the second bed, not ready to tip his own hand.

“I’m not—”

He put a hand up to stop her. “If you don’t want to tell me why you’re in this mess we’ll bunk down for the night and I’ll leave you alone in the morning. I have no interest in playing games.”

The woman needed rest and the only reason he stuck around was because he figured she’d be crazy enough to follow him if he left her alone. Or so he lied to himself. There was more to it than that. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge whatever “it” was because she mostly frustrated him.

She slipped off her shoes, settled against the headboard on the second bed and pinched her nose like she was trying to stem a headache. “I’m trying to find a young girl. It’s my fault she’s missing and, therefore, my responsibility to get her back.”

Joshua turned his chair around to face her and clasped his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

“She disappeared six weeks ago and I’ve been searching for her ever since. With each passing day, her odds crash...” There was so much anguish in her voice that Joshua had to fight the urge to cross the room and pull her into his arms to comfort her. She’d probably poke him in the eyes if he did, he thought dryly, remembering how unwelcomed his attempts to make her feel better had been so far. She’d been clear on where she stood when it came to accepting help or being pitied. She’d taken a zero-tolerance stance.

“How old is she?”

Alice’s eyes were closed now and distress was written all over her features. “Almost sixteen.”

He couldn’t even go there mentally...a place where one of his family members had disappeared. Two of his grown brothers had had brushes with death in recent months and that was enough to keep Joshua on full alert. They were adults capable of handling themselves. But a sixteen-year-old?

He flexed his fingers to keep his hands from fisting.

“I’m sorry,” he said and meant it. Her admission explained a lot about why she’d be staying in an out-of-town motel, alone. “What happened?”

“She was around one day and then not the next.” She opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on the wall directly in front of her. “You asked about me being on the job before. I used to be until this happened.”

“You left to investigate this girl’s disappearance?” he asked, thinking there were at least a half dozen scenarios where he would’ve done exactly the same thing.

She nodded.

“Why not do both?”

“We weren’t getting anywhere on the investigation and my boss wanted my full attention on the job. I agreed, but on my own time I had to do everything I could to find her. The longer she was gone...well, let’s just stay statistics weren’t—aren’t on her side. After three weeks of red tape and netting zero following procedure, I figured I could get a lot further my own way.”