A Texas Child

“Levi, just check into it. Stu is willing to pay your fee plus expenses and a five-thousand-dollar bonus if you bring his grandson back.”

“You’re asking me to get involved with the drug cartel in Mexico? That’s like signing my own death warrant.”

“All you have to do is locate him. The police will take it from there.”

“In Mexico? I doubt it.”

“I can see you’re not eager to go into Mexico.”

“No. Valerie and I are talking marriage and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that. I’m ready to settle down and have a family. Putting my life in danger is not going to happen.”

She stepped forward and a heel sank into the ground, almost toppling her over. “Good grief, it’s like quicksand in here.”

“You’re in a barn, Myra. It’s called dirt. No one wears high heels in a barn.”

She yanked the heel out and managed to stand upright. “I thought you would be in your office. I didn’t plan on driving way out here to the middle of nowhere.”

He pushed away from the saddle. “You wasted your time. I’ll give you the names of some investigators in Houston. They can do just as good a job as I can.”

“I work in the D.A.’s office. I know investigators all over Harris County, but it’s going to take someone willing to go the extra mile to flush out Marco. I thought that man would be you. So did Stu.”

“Sorry.” He remained firm.

“You’re one stubborn asshole. Do you think it was easy to come out here and face your wrath once again? It wasn’t. A little boy’s life is at stake. You may be able to ignore that, but I can’t.”

Myra was getting revved up, like he’d seen her do in a courtroom. When she was passionate about something, her Mexican lineage came out and she was unstoppable.

“And since you don’t care one way or the other, there’s another sad twist to this story. Did you know Stu had part of one lung removed?”

“Yes. I went to see him at the time.”

“The cancer has spread. He’s very ill. If I have to go to Mexico myself, I will. Stu and Natalie need a break and I won’t turn my back on them.”

Her heels sank into the dirt again and she reached down and yanked them off. “I’m not going to rehash the past with you again. It’s done. It’s over. I was young and stupid. I’m not sure what your excuse was other than being a total asshole with a high and mighty attitude. I’m human. I made a mistake. Get over it.”

She swung toward the door, heels in her hand, and just as quickly swung back. “Good luck with your marriage. I hope she never disappoints you, because you’re one unforgiving bastard.”

Levi drew a sharp breath and slung his hat across the barn. It landed softly on a bale of alfalfa. His horse skittered away and he stroked her to calm her, but nothing was going to calm the churning in his gut. Myra made him madder than anyone. She knew how to push his buttons. Damn her!

He removed the bridles and saddle blankets from the horses, and then opened the door to the corral so they could eat the sweet feed he’d put out earlier. They trotted through and he closed the gate. He always liked to rub them down after a hard ride, but today he feared he might rub through their hides. He was that angry at her.

Leaning on the gate, his thoughts turned inward. Seeing Myra again was like someone touching him in the middle of the night when he was alone. It was startling, jarring and frightening. And he’d responded badly. He was struggling to figure out why.

When they’d met seven years ago, he was a cop with the Austin police department and she’d just joined the D.A.’s office. They’d worked a murder case and theirs was an instant attraction. They’d slept together on their first date and, by the end of that week, he’d moved in with her. Their need for each other was insatiable.

At first, he’d thought it was just about the hot sex, but as the weeks passed, he realized it was much more. He admired her drive, her determination to succeed in a man’s world. And her devotion to her friend Jessie was admirable, too. He liked everything about Myra. Her Latin looks were an added bonus.

He wasn’t a dreaming man, but she’d had him dreaming about a future, babies and a home. And forever. He just hadn’t counted on how much her career meant to her. More to her than he ever would. That’s what hurt the most.

Things had blown up so fast they’d never had a proper goodbye. One wasn’t required. Maybe that’s what bothered him. Maybe he needed closure. Closure? Hell, that wasn’t a word men used. He didn’t. Men just moved on. And he planned to keep on moving. He’d found the woman for him and Myra Delgado was just a bad memory.

CHAPTER TWO

MYRA WAS FURIOUS and she had to let off some steam. The only way to do that was to talk to Jessie, who understood her better than anyone. Myra had never told her why she and Levi had broken up. There was a reason for that. She wasn’t sure her friend would understand.

Jessie firmly believed in love and everything it encompassed, so how did Myra explain to her that she’d screwed up? Myra was angry enough to lay it all on the line this time and be honest. Mainly because Jessie would love her no matter what. She was that type of person.

Jessie was the motherless daughter of Roscoe Murdoch, the oil tycoon. When Roscoe’s niece had been kidnapped and murdered, he became paranoid about Jessie’s safety. He’d hired guards to watch over her, and Rosa and Felipe Delgado to care for her. Myra was two years older than Jessie and they’d grown up as best friends in the Murdoch household.

Since Jessie was guarded twenty-four hours a day, her life was a living hell. She rebelled numerous times, but Roscoe was always in control. Jessie gained her freedom the day Roscoe passed away. She fired the guards and went after what she wanted out of life—a man named Cadde Hardin. She was now happily married and living in High Cotton, Texas.

Myra set the GPS for the small town and sped down U.S. 290. When Jessie had lived in Houston, they saw each other all the time. But since she lived so far away now and had two babies, they had to make time for those special occasions.

As Myra drove, she thought of her next course of action. She wasn’t giving up. She’d promised Stu she’d do everything she could to bring the baby home and she intended to do that with or without Levi. Like he’d said, there were other investigators and she just had to find a capable one.

The urge to pull the car over and have a pity cry was strong, but she was stronger. She didn’t do the weak female crying bit. But, oh, God, she wanted to. However, she wouldn’t waste one more tear on Levi Coyote.

She’d never dreamed it would be so hard to see him again and to reexperience all the anger he still carried from her betrayal. It was time to let it go—for good. There was no going back and there was no more apologizing. She had begged Levi for the last time.

Taking the cutoff to the county road that ran through High Cotton, she soon pulled into the driveway of the two-story colonial. Jessie’s Suburban was in the garage, so Myra knew she was home. She glanced toward the house a short distance away. Cadde had built Myra’s parents their own home as a way to repay their service over the years. They wanted to be close to Jessie because they loved her and had taken care of her for more than twenty years.

Myra didn’t see her dad’s truck. That meant they were out. She was hoping to see them, but considering her state of mind, it probably was best if she didn’t. Her mother had a knack for ferreting out her moods as if she were five years old.

The back door was open, so she went inside. Childish giggles and laughter echoed through the house. “Jessie,” she called.

“We’re in the den,” her friend shouted back.

Jessie sat on the floor playing with four little kids, three boys and one girl. Jessie’s hair was in a ponytail and her eyes were bright with happiness.

“Hey, friend, what are you doing out this way?”

Myra squeezed into the little group on the floor. “I was out this way and thought I’d drop in. You know, unannounced, like my mama told me never to do.”

Jessie hugged her. “I’m glad you did.”

Myra looked at the shining little faces. Jacob, who was two and a half, toddled over to her and plopped into her lap. She hugged him a little tighter than she should have because she needed to feel loved today. Cadde Thomas, twelve months younger than his brother, also fell into her lap and she held them close.

“I think they remember me.”

“Of course they do.” Jessie reached over and kissed her sons. “They know Auntie My.”

Myra glanced at the other two children. “Are you running a kiddie day care now?”

“No.” Jessie poked her in the ribs. “There’s a problem with the oil well on the property. They’re fracking it or something, and the Hardin boys of Shilah Oil are keeping a close eye on it. You know how Cadde and his brothers are about the oil business. They have to personally supervise everything.”

Cadde had worked for Roscoe for years, and on his deathbed Roscoe had made a deal with Cadde: marry my daughter and keep her safe and I’ll give you half of my oil company. It was a dream come true for Cadde and he gladly took the offer. He just didn’t know that Jessie had put her father up to it because she’d been in love with Cadde since the first moment she’d met him. Luckily, it had all worked out, but not without a lot of heartache and pain. Myra wondered if real love had to be tested first, put through the bowels of hell before it could survive.

“That’s Cody,” Jessie was saying, “Chance and Shay’s son, and the blonde cutie is Carly, Kid and Lucky’s daughter.”