Luke (Armed and Dangerous Book 2) (13 page)

“A lot of tracks, from one man, going back and forth.” Rios lifted a foot off his bar stool rung and pointed to the boot. “About the right shoe size for Larson, though we need to check that out for sure. Zack Hunter’s got himself a computer expert analyzing the print patterns. The expert says it was just one guy, and our people confirmed that. Hunter’s expert wants body temp info from the doc. Says maybe we can get a search grid based on how thawed the body was.”

Luke pushed his nearly full beer toward Rios as he got up. “Sounds promising. Sick, but promising.” He checked his watch. “Think Clay Wayland could find out Larson’s shoe size for us?” “Already called him.” Rios took a look at his own watch. “Expect to hear from him in an hour or so. Want me to head out to Gina Garcia’s and give winning her over a go?”

Luke shook his head. “She’s already suspecting I’m more than a ranch hand. If you show up, too, asking similar questions, she’ll be on to both of us. Let Wayland handle it.”

Rios’s normally friendly, open face tightened a notch, and Luke knew he was thinking about Gary Woods, the deputy who went bad and rustled cattle at Skylar’s ranch, not to mention others in the area. “Are we sure about Wayland?”

“Sure as we can be about anybody in Douglas. Catch you this afternoon.”

“Hot date?” Rios gave a low whistle behind Luke. “Give her a good one-two for me.”

A blinding surge of protectiveness almost made Luke wheel around and punch his best friend and partner, which immediately made him remember the depth and level of shit he had stepped into with respect to one Trinity MacKenna.

Yeah, he had it pretty bad.

And in a few minutes, it was about to get worse.

Warm, heated air brushed Trinity’s cheeks as she sat at a table in the back section of Zappati’s, the newest restaurant in Douglas.

Unusual these days for the border town, the place had a certain class to it, with low lighting, even at lunch, and clean, bright tablecloths—with, er, no red checkered pattern. The Mayan decor and motif gave the place a Mexican flavor, but the dining area smelled like fresh baked bread with a hint of spices and fruit, and the establishment served an eclectic menu.

What was a place like this doing in a dirty border town?

Trinity had allowed herself some cheese sticks to munch on while she worked on Zack’s footprint analysis on her laptop and waited.

For Luke.

God, I’m really doing this.

She looked up from her computer screen and the folder of photos next to it and almost groaned. She still couldn’t believe what had happened that night in the hot tub. Every time she thought about Luke—naked and doing the things he’d been doing to her—her stomach twisted and her body had an instant reaction. She swore she was walking around with permanently damp panties and her nipples poking through her T-shirt like someone had stuck jelly beans in her bra.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a couple of cowboys trooping in for lunch, but she refused to look outright at the door to see if Luke might be there. Of course she knew she really didn’t have to see him to know whether or not he was near. If he had been, she’d have been able to sense him, to feel his presence.

“Work, MacKenna,” she told herself, and got lost in the calculations all over again.

It took her some time, but between chewing cheese sticks and mumbling curses at dark digital photographs, she finally managed to superimpose the footprint data over a satellite-generated topographical map of Douglas. For a touch of the bizarre, she added a wavy-looking pirate’s X to mark the spot where the body pieces had been found. Now, when she got the temperature and weather information from Zack, she could—

“Señorita. What a pleasure it is to see you again.”

Trinity jumped so hard at the smooth, lightly accented voice that she almost knocked her dish with its last half of a cheese stick onto the restaurant’s stone floor.

The man standing beside her had on jeans and a white casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the collar open. His tanned skin and muscled build accented his dark hair and eyes, and in another place, in some other world, Trinity would have thought he was way past handsome.

As it was, Luke had warned her about this man, then Nevaeh and Skylar and Zack had taken turns doing the same thing.

Drug lord...

Bastard...

Scary son of Satan...

She’d heard enough to be a believer, and she just wanted to close her folder and computer without being too obvious. “Mr. Guerrero.” She pushed down the lid of her laptop, hearing the motor rev, then switch off as the machine hibernated. “I remember you from the Christmas party.”

“And you, you are unforgettable as well.” The man’s smile made him look like a heart-stealing movie star, but Trinity saw a hint of wolf in his gaze as his eyes roved over the pictures of footprints she was trying to slide back into the folder. “Forgive me, but do you work in law enforcement?”

Trinity managed a laugh that didn’t sound too fake. “Me? No. I’m a software engineer. I work for a gaming manufacturer.”

“Computer games.” Guerrero didn’t sound convinced. “And what does your boyfriend think of your work?”

“My boyfriend.” Trinity almost gave an automatic response, that her boyfriend worked in the same field, but then she remembered. No more Race. No more comfortable, easy future with comfortable easy answers.

Next, she almost said she didn’t have a boyfriend, but that wasn’t true either, was it? Because she was meeting Luke here for lunch, because she intended to sleep with him as soon as humanly possible. More than once. All night long. All week if she could, before DropCaps called her back with moving plans.

Her lust didn’t make Luke a boyfriend.

But since he’d touched her, since he’d kissed her—hell, since the first moment he’d looked at her, Trinity had felt... taken.

Claimed.

“He’s—ah, we haven’t talked about it that much.” She picked up her piece of cheese stick, then laid it back down. “But I’m sure we will soon.”

Guerrero’s gaze turned more wolfish, and Trinity wished Luke would show up fast. To cover her own rising anxiety, she said, “So, yeah, computer games. That’s what I do. Like
Grand Theft Auto
— oops, sorry. You own a luxury car dealership, right?”

“I do. And if I could be so bold, you would look splendid in our new Jaguar XK-5.” Guerrero held up his hands to frame her face. “Black would accent your natural beauty, though silver would work well, too.”

Trinity shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with how Guerrero was looking at her cleavage. “Do you come here often?”

“This is my restaurant now.” Another meant-to-be-dazzling smile radiated from his angular face. “A recent acquisition. What are you driving, Ms. MacKenna?”

“A Mustang. It’s rented—but it’s a sweet ride.”

Damn, that was stupid. He might not have known—but he could find out pretty easily, I bet.

Trinity had a sense she was in some sort of chess game, and losing. Badly.

“A Jaguar is infinitely faster than a Mustang. Much more powerful.” Guerrero flexed one of his well-ripped arms, and his expression turned downright dangerous. “If you ever want to experience true speed, Ms. MacKenna, a thrill you cannot imagine—see me.”

Coming from anybody else, Trinity would have found that line laughable, but nothing about Francisco Guerrero seemed humorous to her.

“Let me give you a ride,” he said, moving closer to her table. “A ride you will never forget.”

“If the lady needs a ride home, I’ll be the one to take her.”

Luke!

Trinity almost jumped to her feet and threw her arms around Luke’s neck.

He was standing behind Guerrero, a quiet mountain made out of muscle, handsome as sin in his dark T-shirt and jeans. He laid his Stetson on the table but kept one hand on the top of the table’s empty chair, like he was thinking about smashing it over Guerrero’s head.

“Sorry I’m late, sugar.” Luke’s eyes swept over Trinity, and she heard how his voice vibrated with possessiveness and concern. When she saw the pain and death radiating from Luke’s overly calm face, she almost jumped to her feet a second time, this time to throw herself between the two men before Luke did something to Guerrero that might land him in prison.

Guerrero wasn’t giving an inch of ground, and his expression didn’t look any friendlier than Luke’s.

“You’re not late, Luke,” Trinity babbled, trying to diffuse the tension. “I came early to work on the new gaming program I’ve been trying to develop.” She tapped her nails against her laptop as her pulse raced. “Made good progress, too. Are you thirsty? I could order us some tea.”

“Have a seat, Mr. Rider.” Guerrero gestured to the chair Luke still seemed to be considering as a weapon. “I trust you’ll enjoy something on our menu.”

“Our menu?” Luke’s question came out low, through his teeth.

Trinity tried to catch Luke’s eye as blood rushed in her ears. “He bought the restaurant.”

Luke’s posture stayed hair-trigger tense, but he finally looked away from Guerrero. “I’m not that hungry. Want to get some air, sugar?” He smacked a bill on the table that was more than enough to cover her diet soda and cheese sticks.

“Sure.” She got up so fast she jostled her water glass and had to snatch her laptop and the folder full of footprint pictures off the table. She barely got them stuffed in her laptop bag before Luke had her by the elbow, steering her toward Zappati’s front door. He took the laptop bag and carried it in his free hand.

“I hope you will come back soon, Ms. MacKenna,” Guerrero called after her, but Trinity didn’t even turn around to tell him no thanks.

When she and Luke hit the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, the cool December air chilled her skin in a wake-up, calm-down sort of way. He gripped her hand and started walking down G Avenue where most of the businesses were. She could barely remember when the town was more alive and not so... dirty.

“I warned you about that man.” Luke’s low, angry voice didn’t help Trinity’s heart stop hammering, but she had her wits back enough to slow them down and pull free of Luke’s grip. “I know your sister did, too.”

“I didn’t ask him to come snooping around my table.” She stopped in front of a store with cheap dresses displayed in the window with circular racks lined up behind the display. “I was working. I didn’t even see him standing there staring at what I was doing until it was too late.” She rubbed her fingers over her eyes, willing her heart rate to slow back to normal. “Zack’s probably gonna be pissed Guerrero got a look at those pictures.”

“You mind?” Luke gripped her laptop bag like it wasn’t really a question, he was just trying to be polite.

“Uh, sure,” Trinity said as she studied Luke.

He reached into her bag, took the folder with the water stains, examined its contents, and frowned. In a too-quiet voice, he asked, “What does this have to do with designing computer games?”

“Patterns. Tracking.” Trinity finally got a whole breath and took back the folder, stuffing it into her bag with her laptop. “We make all kinds of games, including mystery and detective scenarios. Space battles, car chases, Old West shootouts—you name it, and I’ve helped design most of the programs, or supervised their creations.”

“And Zack asked you to use your software to analyze footprint patterns.” Luke sounded six kinds of pissed off about that, and for a minute, he reminded Trinity of Skylar.

“I volunteered, but I haven’t found much his own people couldn’t tell him, except—” She broke off, not sure she should be talking about any of this, then deciding for the moment, she really didn’t care. “I think the origin of these prints—most of them at least— might be the Bar F.”

Luke’s blue eyes flicked to the folder in her bag as he started carrying the bag for her again. “Bull Fenning’s place.”

Trinity heard the skeptical tone and nodded. “Doesn’t make sense, I know, if it’s UDAs. Not unless they got lost and walked east-west instead of south-north.”

She looked up and sucked in another breath, because Luke was studying her so intensely she could feel his stare down to her toes.

“You should tell Hunter all this as soon as you see him. He’ll want to look into it.” Luke’s slow drawl touched her as surely as his hands would, the minute she got him alone. “There’s a lot I don’t know about you, sugar.”

“Likewise.” She leaned against the stone wall of the Gadsden Hotel which had been built back in the early nineteen hundreds. She refused to look away from Luke. “How about we start with the basics? I like Mustangs better than Jaguars.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. His shoulders relaxed, and some of the rage he’d been carrying since he showed up in Zappati’s seemed to leave him. “Do you like your stallions wild?”

God, he was so sexy, she could ride him right here, right now. “I don’t know,” Trinity murmured. “Never tried to ride one that bucked. Skylar wouldn’t let me.”

Luke offered her his hand, and they started walking again, this time more slowly, allowing Trinity to enjoy the sun and the cool air.

“Did your sister raise you?” Luke’s question came out sounding more normal, like he’d let go of the thought of killing Guerrero, at least for the moment.

“Yeah.” Trinity squeezed his fingers. “It was just us.”

Luke kept his gaze forward, and Trinity watched his eyes scan the street and everyone approaching them, like he was intent on looking out for her. “I hate that you were so alone. I had a big family—still have a big family. There’s comfort in that.”

“Big family?” Trinity hadn’t expected that from a man who seemed like such a loner. “Where are they?”

Luke hesitated, then seem to make a decision. “Texas. But I had an aunt from around Douglas, so I know Douglas, Bisbee, and Tombstone pretty well from all my visits growing up.”

She liked how it felt, walking with him, holding his hand, like they were courting the old-fashioned way, only without the chaperone. “How’d you start working on ranches?”

“I did a lot of that as a kid, too. Good money, and I seemed to have a talent with horses.” His expression got a little tense again, but the pressure of his hand on hers never changed.