Cowboy in the Crossfire

A gruff throat clearing from the doorway drew her gaze. Blake’s eyes looked bloodshot, but he forced a smile on his face and knelt down.

“I’m sorry, Ethan. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

With a shaking hand, Blake passed the yellow truck to her son. “This was my little boy, Joey’s, favorite toy. I think he’d like you to have it.”

“Joey?” Ethan’s face screwed up in thought. “Uncle Vince said Joey’s in the clouds.”

Blake’s jaw throbbed with the struggle to keep himself in check. He nodded.

“I wish he was here,” Ethan said.

“So do I.”

Amanda could see Blake was close to the breaking point. “How about I cook everyone breakfast?” she said brightly.

“Bacon?” Ethan asked, the word cautious and hopeful.

She looked at Blake. He gave a slight nod, his expression haunted.

“Sounds good, sweetie. You go play in the living room.”

Ethan walked to the door. He paused and turned to Blake. “I wish you had a green tractor like my friend Billy, only little, but I’ll take good care of the truck. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Blake said softly. He reached out to Ethan, but then pulled his hand back.

Ethan hugged the yellow toy to his body and disappeared into the hallway.

Amanda turned to Blake. “I’m—”

“Don’t. I shouldn’t have yelled. It won’t happen again.”

“You made it okay. That truck means more than you know. He bonded with one of the construction workers who took him for a ride on a green tractor.” Hesitantly, she stepped toward him. “Blake, I just wanted to say I can tell you were a wonderful father. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah.” He backed away and tugged at the football bedspread, his look bleak. “This was my room when I was a kid. Mom and Dad had it ready for Joey whenever he visited. They’d updated everything right before…” Blake’s voice trailed off. “He never…”

She crossed toward him and soothed him with a tentative touch. When Blake didn’t pull away, she squeezed his solid arm and looked at him, her eyes burning, his face swimming as she gazed at him through her tears. “I saw you with Joey. I came to you because I knew if anything happened to me, you’d protect Ethan.” She bit her lip. “You’re the only person I can say that about.”

His hand covered hers. “If you’ll trust me, Amanda, I can help.” He cleared his throat. “I promise to protect you and your son.”

“I know. You’re one of the few people who can understand what I’m facing now.” She studied the strain behind his eyes, the tightness of his mouth. “Help me disappear. It’s what Vince would’ve wanted.”

Blake stiffened and removed her hand from his arm. “Don’t mention his name, Amanda.”

Fool. Why had she said that? She had to make him appreciate what was at stake. Amanda closed her eyes. Should she tell him? Was it the only way to make him understand? The only way to convince him to help her vanish?

She drew in a slow, deep breath and lifted her chin, praying for courage, hoping she was doing the right thing. “You have to listen to me, Blake.”

He shot her a skeptical look. She could tell he was ready to turn away.

“Vince was devastated when we heard the news about Kathy and Joey,” she rushed. “You didn’t see what it did to him. He changed. He avoided me and Ethan. I didn’t know why.”

“Showing his true colors.” Blake bit out the words through clenched teeth.

“He loved Ethan. I spent eighteen hours in that car trying to figure out why Vince acted the way he did. And why he was murdered. I realized ever since Joey was killed, Vince has been hiding something. From me, from you, from everyone.”

“The fact that he was a cop on the take?”

“No! When I was forced to move in with him because of the debts Carl had racked up, Vince was furious, even though he’d made the offer the year before. He wanted me out of the house fast, but he also made me take self-defense classes. He taught me escape routes. I thought he wanted me safe from Carl. Now I recognize Vince knew it was dangerous for us to be with him. Not because of my ex, but because of the men you suspected.”

“At least he had some sense of honor and responsibility.”

Amanda ignored the bitterness in Blake’s voice. “Vince said you’d been through enough. That you’d already paid too high a price for being a good cop.” Her eyes burned with compassion. “I don’t think he was talking about losing your job.”

He froze and clasped her by the shoulders. “What are you saying?”

She wrapped her arms around her body. “If you don’t let Ethan and me go, I’m certain we’ll have an ‘accident,’ too.” Amanda paused. “Like Kathy and Joey.”

Blake’s expression turned deadly, his eyes narrowed and cold. “Are you telling me Kathy and Joey’s car wreck wasn’t an accident?”

“I don’t have proof, but I can’t take the chance. I’m desperate. Ethan saw the killer. He’s gone after us once. We have to leave before anyone else dies.”

His face had gone gray as death. He reeled from her and sank into Joey’s bed, staring up at her. “They were murdered?”

Chapter Three

“We’ve got a problem with the sister and the kid.”

The words spoken through the lieutenant’s prepaid cell phone made him frown. He rose from his desk and shoved his arms into his old leather jacket, irritated he couldn’t wear the winter coat that cost more than his colleagues made in a year. Maybe two. These days, though, he couldn’t be too careful. He exited the police station and rounded a corner. Damn it all. His entire setup was imploding. Millions of dollars still to be had and Vince had ruined everything.

“Talk.”

“The car she ripped off just popped up on a plate check.” The man at the other end paused. “In Carder, Texas.”

The lieutenant punched the brick wall of the station. “I knew that bastard Vince was working with Blake all along. I should’ve killed them both.”

Redmond had been too goody-goody to make it in the big city. He’d never understood how to the play the game.

He’d talked too much, though. Enough that a convenient accident to the whistle-blowing cop would’ve started an investigation. Until his family had been killed—accidentally, of course. Still, it had taken his father’s death—accidental, of course—for Blake to drop everything, pack his bags and crawl back to the Podunk town where he belonged.

The lieutenant frowned. Convenient. Well-planned. But stupid. Well, mistakes could be rectified and learned from. “Get to Carder. Vince must have sent the evidence there. Find it, then kill them. I want Vince’s family eliminated, and I want Blake Redmond silenced once and for all.”

A slight pause over the phone spoke volumes.

“You have a problem with that?”

“Even the boy?”

The tentative voice set his teeth on edge. Was the man getting squeamish?