The Winter Soldier

“Yes, I do. He came back with the express purpose of seeing his father and mending fences, but the old man refused to see him. It hurts him that his father won’t even speak to him. And I’ve seen the way he looks at Callie, even if you haven’t.”

“Then why does he live in Nassau?”

Eb glanced around warily. “He’s over here doing a job for me, so watch what you say,” he cautioned. “I don’t want him on the wrong side of me.”

Cy leaned back in his chair and sipped coffee. “I suppose we all have our crosses to bear.” He narrowed one eye at his oldest friend. “Do you think Lopez will make a try for Lisa?”

“It’s possible,” he said flatly. “Down in Mexico, a ‘mule’ crossed him. He killed the man’s whole family except for one small child.”

“That’s what I thought. I sent Nels Coleman over to her ranch to stay nights in the bunkhouse. He used to work for the Treasury Department back in the late seventies.”

“I know him. He’s a good man.”

“Yes, but not in Lopez’s class. Your guys are.”

Ebenezer nodded. “I have to have good people. The government and I are more than nodding acquaintances, and I run a high-tech operation here. I can’t afford to let my guard down, especially now that I’ve got Sally to think of.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had to consider a woman,” Cy replied, his green eyes quiet and thoughtful.

“Lisa Monroe is sweet,” Ebenezer said. “She’ll love that child to death.”

“She’s like that,” Cy agreed, smiling. “I wish she wasn’t so bullheaded. I went by to see her this morning and found her out in the barn, trying to pull a calf all by herself with her bare hands.”

Ebenezer chuckled. “I won’t turn your hair white by mentioning some of her other exploits, before she got pregnant.”

“This isn’t the first time she’s done something outlandish?”

“Let’s see.” Ebenezer pursed his lips, recalling gossip.

“There was the time she stood in the path of a bulldozer that was about to take down the huge live oak in the square that a peace treaty with the Comanche was signed under. Then she chained herself to a cage in the humane society when they were going to put down half a dozen dogs without licenses.” He glanced at Cy. “The Tremayne brothers suddenly developed dog fever and between them, they adopted all six. Then there was the time she picketed the new chain restaurant because they refused to hire immigrants…”

“I get the idea,” Cy murmured dryly.

“We were all surprised when she married Walt. He was a real man’s man, but his job was like a religion to him. He didn’t want anything to tie him down so that he couldn’t advance in the agency. If he’d lived, that baby would have broken up the marriage for sure. Walt said often enough that he wasn’t sure he ever wanted children.” He shook his head. “He wasn’t much of a husband to her, at that. Most of us felt that he married her on the rebound from that model who dropped him. He felt sorry for Lisa when her dad died and she was left all alone. Even after the wedding, he flirted with every pretty woman he saw. Lisa went all quiet and stopped staying home when he was around. He wasn’t around much of that two months they were together, either. He volunteered for the undercover assignment the day they married. That shocked all of us, especially Lisa, and he got killed the same day he was introduced to Lopez.”

“They knew who he was,” Cy guessed.

“Exactly. And it was Walt’s first undercover assignment, to boot. The only reason Rodrigo hasn’t been discovered infiltrating Lopez’s distribution network is that he’s still a Mexican national and he has at least one cousin who’s been with Lopez for years. The cousin would never sell him out.”

“Lucky man,” Cy remarked. “I hope we don’t get him killed.”

“So do I,” Eb said with genuine concern. “Rodrigo’s been in the business for a lot of years and he’s the best undercover man I know. If anybody can help us put Lopez away for good, it’s him. But meanwhile, we have to keep Lisa safe.”

Cy went thoughtful. “She’s a kind soul.”

“Kind and naïve,” Eb replied. “People take advantage of her. That baby will wrap her right around its finger when it’s born.”

“I love kids,” Cy said. “I miss mine.”

“Lisa will love hers,” came the quiet reply. “She’ll need a friend, and not only because of Lopez. She can’t run that ranch by herself. Walt was good with horses, and the men respected him. Lisa can’t keep managing those two cowboys who work part-time for her, and she can’t get a foreman because she hasn’t enough capital to pay the going rate. Besides all that, she doesn’t know beans about buying and selling cattle.”

“Didn’t her father teach her?”

“Not him,” Ebenezer chuckled. “He didn’t think women were smart enough to handle such things. He ran the ranch until the day he died. She was kept right out of it until then. Walt proposed to her at her father’s funeral and married her shortly after.”

“She loved her father, I gather.”

“Of course she did, and he loved her. But he was a nineteenth-century man. He would have fit right in after the Civil War.” He shook his head. “That ranch isn’t solvent. Lisa’s going to lose it eventually. She needs to go ahead and put it on the market and get the best price she can.”

“I might see if she’ll sell to me. I could rent her the house and have my own men work the ranch.”

Ebenezer grinned. “Now, that’s constructive thinking.” He leaned forward, emptying his coffee cup. “As for those so-called beehives, I think we’d better send somebody over to have a quiet look after dark and see if there are really any bees in them.”

“Good idea. Then we can start making plans if it looks like Lopez is sending drugs through here.” Cy got to his feet. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“Anytime. Watch your back.”

Cy smiled. “I always do. See you.”

* * *

When Cy got home, Harley was out in the front yard having an animated conversation with a foreigner in an expensive pickup truck. He turned as Cy drove up in front of the house. He cut off the engine and eyed the newcomer’s vehicle with knowing eyes. Here was an opportunity not only to meet one of Lopez’s executives, but to throw them off the track about him as well.

“Hey, boss, this is Rico Montoya,” he said with a grin. “He’s our new neighbor with the honey export business. He just dropped by to say hello.”

Sure he did, Cy thought, but he didn’t reply. He got out of the utility vehicle slowly and deliberately favored his left arm as he moved to the pickup truck.

“Glad to meet you, Mr. Montoya,” Cy said with a carefully neutral expression. “My men noticed the warehouse going up.” He tried to look worried. “I don’t really like bees close to my purebred Santa Gerts,” he said without preamble. “I hope you’re going to make sure there aren’t any problems.”

The man’s eyebrows rose, surprised at Cy’s lack of antagonism. Surely the rancher knew who he was and whose orders he was following. Or did he? His dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Parks was holding his crippled left arm in his right and he had the look of someone who’d seen one tragedy too many. Lopez had been worried about interference from this rancher, but Montoya was certain there wouldn’t be any. This wasn’t an adversary to worry about. This was a defeated man, despite his past. He relaxed and smiled at Cy. “You’re very straightforward,” he said with only a trace of an accent. He was wearing a silk suit and his thick hair was not only cut, but styled. There was a slight bulge under his jacket. “You have nothing to fear from our enterprise,” he assured Cy. “We will be meticulous about our operation. Your cattle will be in no danger. I give you my word.”

Cy stared quietly at the other man and nodded, as if convinced. Near him, Harley was gaping at the lack of antagonism that Mr. Parks showed to most visitors. It wasn’t like him to favor that burned arm, either.

“I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Parks,” Montoya said with a grin. “I hope that we will be good neighbors.”

“Thank you for taking the time to stop by and introduce yourself,” Cy said with a noticeable lack of animation. He got a firmer grip on his injured arm. “We don’t get many visitors.”

“It was my pleasure. Good day, Señor.” Montoya smiled again, this time with faint contempt, and pulled his truck out of the driveway. Cy watched him go, arrow-straight, his mouth making a firm line in his lean, taut face.

“Mr. Parks, you are the oddest man I know,” Harley said, shaking his head. “You weren’t yourself at all.”

Cy turned to him. “Who do you think that was?”

“Why, our new neighbor,” Harley said carelessly. “Nice of him to come over and say howdy,” he added with a scowl. “Your arm bothering you?”

“Not in the least,” Cy said, both hands on his lean hips as he studied the younger man. “What did you notice about our new hardworking neighbor?”

The question surprised Harley. “Well, he was Latin. He had a bit of an accent. And he was real pleasant…”