Protecting Their Child (6 page)

Chapter Seven

“Do you see that, Cord?” Kate stretched tall in the saddle but couldn’t see who was coming toward them.

They’d been riding the fence separating the Danver and Burke ranches for at least an hour. Cord had wanted to just cut through, but she’d refused. He’d given in when she reminded him that it was faster to get to the next cattle guard and follow the road. That had been the only conversation. They’d been in a hurry with a storm moving in and had taken very few breaks for the exhausted horses.

“Do you think it’s Burke?”

She leaned forward, patting Candy’s neck. “Can’t tell. They’re on the road from his place.”

“It’s unlikely Serna would send his men that direction. Logical to assume Sheriff Barber asked if we’d shown up there.”

“If you say so.”

Cord took the lead the last hundred yards to the gate. It didn’t pass her notice that he’d brought the empty machine gun pistol around from his back for show. Or that he pulled the pistol from his waist. He rode Ginger with one hand on the reins and looked like a weathered cowboy in her dad’s old coat.

The sorrow at taking a human life hit her chest right along with the fright of who was in that vehicle. Her mouth went drier than it already had been. She stuffed her gloves into her jacket and pulled her rifle to lay it across her lap. The apprehension made her belly turn over a couple of times, just like the first days of morning sickness.

Cord slowed to a standstill, waiting for the car to top the next rise. He didn’t give any indication of what to do. Typical Cord. But he didn’t have to. Candy whinnied at the tense hold of her reins. Kate tightened her thighs around her horse, who was ready to bolt.

“The dust is still flying so they haven’t stopped. That’s good. They had to have seen us. Stay alert, Kate. Tell me if you don’t recognize someone.”

Cord’s voice had a dangerous, low warning tone, easily recognized from all the trouble they’d experienced together. She was glad for it, at least as much as she could be while waiting to see who would top that hill—gang member or close friend.

“That’s Nick’s Jeep.”

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Cauldwell’s driving.” Every muscle in her body melted. She relaxed Candy’s harness and they ambled forward in line with Ginger.

Cord pocketed the pistol and grabbed her thigh. “Don’t talk about it. Not a word to Nick, his foreman or anyone else. It’s important. We can’t trust anyone yet.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know Nick and Mac Cauldwell. They wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I don’t know anything.”

That cold steel edge in his voice pierced her heart, sending a shiver up her spine. He meant it and she should remember.
Don’t trust anyone.

“What about the drugs? Are you calling the Ranger headquarters or DEA or whoever you were working with? If they know about the cabin and the canyon, can’t they arrest Serna? Wouldn’t we be safer then?”

“I’ll take care of the phone calls. Just don’t give details to anyone. Period.”

“Kate! Thank God!” Nick jumped from the doorless Wrangler and opened the gate for the horses. “We’ve had teams out looking for you since early this morning. It’s lucky we found you, there’s a bad storm moving in, shutting everything down. Some flash flooding is expected.”

They dismounted while Nick was talking. Cord gave her strange looks when Nick hugged her.

“Where have you two been?” Mr. Cauldwell asked, his arm casually draped over the steering wheel.

“We didn’t see anyone. Some rocks blocked the trail to the lodge so we trekked over here. Got a way to recall those searchers?” Cord sounded cordial enough from his horse’s side, but Kate could feel the tension zinging from his actions.

The machine gun was gone from around his chest. When had he—and where had he—hidden it?

“We’re dog tired, Nick. Got room in that thing for our gear?” she asked. She didn’t want to be rude, but Cord had said not to talk about the details. “We’ve been riding on these dang horses much too long, I’m afraid. Hey, Mr. Cauldwell, I see you’ve taken up a much cushier ride.”

She received the chuckle she’d hoped for from the older foreman, who didn’t ask for more details. There was no one in Jeff Davis County that was faster throwing a rope around a steer. She’d known the man her entire life. Things wouldn’t be the same when he retired.

“Here, let me help,” Nick said as she lifted her leg over the saddle.

Before she could say no, he’d slipped his hands around her waist to help her down. As if she’d ever needed help.

Turning to face him and be polite with a thanks, she caught his expression of disillusionment. She’d completely forgotten no one outside the family knew she was pregnant.

“How’s your dad doing, Nick?” She tried to act normal and hoped he wouldn’t cause a scene.

“Always thinking about others. He’s holding his own, Kate. In fact, he almost got dressed to come search for you himself.” Nick’s words were nice, but his questioning look toward her belly confirmed that he’d felt the baby. “So you guys are back together. You sit, I’ll get your saddle. Mac will send someone for the horses when we get back.”

Cord darted a look and a shake of his head, reminding her not to impart information. There weren’t answers anyway. They were forever together in a sense. Whatever happened, they’d both be involved with the upbringing of their child. Not if Cord had his way and she disappeared into a witness-protection program.

Leaving her family? Her friends? Her heritage? Could she do that?

Suddenly very tired, all she wanted was a hot, soaking bath to ease the ache in her muscles. And just a few minutes forgetting what might happen to the rest of her life. A little peace after a phone call to her dad.
Oh, no.

“Does my dad think we’re missing?”

“You can use my cell as soon as we hit coverage,” Nick said, stowing her stuff. “No one mentioned him, though.”

“What exactly have you heard, Nick?” Cord asked, joining him with the saddle from Ginger. “How about you, Mac?”

Mac shrugged. “Nothing much. I do what I’m told these days.”

“The sheriff called, said you’d gone missing in the mountains and taken Katie with you.”

She hated being called Katie. It was such a sissy name. She’d given Nick more than one bloody nose before they were in their teens for using it.

“I’ll borrow your cell now.”

Nick joined her, handed her the phone and leaned closer. “I’m going to assume this has something to do with Jorje Serna’s release and that McCrea doesn’t want you to talk to me. But if you need anything, and I mean
anything,
including getting away from your ex...I’m there for you.”

Why did the offer send more
heebie-jeebies
up her spine?

* * *

A
S
HE
WATCHED
Kate’s high school best friend and prom date lean in, essentially trapping her to the side of the Wrangler, his fists clenched. And not from the normal pain in his backside. He fought the urge to grab Burke by his coat collar and connect his knuckles with that artificially tanned face. But he was more than a little tired and would end up losing. If you’re going to fight for a woman, you at least need to win the battle and look good. Right?

Kate had made it very plain he wouldn’t win the war no matter what kind of shape he was in. He clenched his fists and shoved them in his pockets. Drawing on every Ranger discipline he knew—and a few shrink techniques—he cloaked his anger with blandness.

Kate shot him a questioning look as Burke put her in the front seat.

“I think I’ll drive back to the house, Mac,” Burke said.

Mac Cauldwell rolled his stiff old body from the Wrangler, popped the seat forward and crooked himself in back without a word. Unfortunately, Cord felt as old as the foreman he sat next to looked.

Burke stuck to the trek everyone referred to as a road, hitting every hole and rut along the way. Cord’s back cramped more with each one the Jeep found. At least on the horse he’d been able to stand in the stirrups and relieve the pressure.

By the time they reached the main house, Nick had jabbered about the thunderstorm warnings and given them a play-by-play on the search for both them and Serna.

The gang leader should have been arrested before he left the courtroom. The lack of preparedness on the DoJ’s part just confirmed that Serna had someone on the inside. He was missing something obvious. Had to be.

He’d been over the case files a hundred times. More than a hundred if the truth were told. Lord knows he had the time. Kate assumed he was back on the job, but he’d only been allowed back in uniform for court. There wasn’t a desk for him in Valentine, Texas. Only desk work in Lubbock or El Paso. He wasn’t ready to move and give up the daily reminder of what life could have been like before Serna had destroyed it.

Searching the case file for something he’d missed had become his routine while sitting in their empty house waiting. Waiting to leave for therapy—mental or physical. That was a fairly accurate description of his life.

Sleep avoided him most nights. Or he avoided sleep.

Dreams plagued him.

If the darkness wasn’t filled with demons from the shooting, they were filled with thoughts of angels holding their little girl.

His thumb wrapped around his fingers again. The fists rested in his lap. They passed the cattle guard, pulling around to a row of cars and trucks to park. Mac patted him on the shoulder. When Cord caught his knowing look, the embarrassment made him physically relax his body but didn’t help with the jealousy he tasted.

“I’m going to call my dad now,” Kate said, jumping from the Jeep as if she’d been on a picnic instead of twenty-four hours of pure stress.

Cord recognized that tone in her voice. Burke had made two mistakes. One—she hated being called Katie. She’d told him that her father had chuckled when her brother had teased her with it while they’d grown up. Probably still did.

And the second was assuming that he’d told Kate to do anything.

Yeah, he could count on Burke getting a cold shoulder for the next couple of hours. It wouldn’t be long afterward that they’d be gone. Of course, he didn’t plan on letting Kate out of his sight very long.

But Kate didn’t need to know their time schedule. Not yet.

“Dad? Yes, we’re fine. What did they tell you?” Kate didn’t head to the house. She took off toward Mrs. Burke’s garden, her rifle in hand.

Nothing much there this time of year except privacy.

He threw his saddlebags over his shoulder and followed at a distance. Far enough away to not hear their conversation. Close enough to tell when she’d finished up.

“He wants to talk with you.”

He took the cell and Kate walked to the kitchen door. He hadn’t spoken to any member of the Danver family since before the divorce and had no idea what to expect during this conversation.

“Hello, David. Before you waste time complaining about the danger I’ve put your daughter in, understand that nothing will happen to her under my protection.”

“Right now, Cord, you’re the only one she trusts. Just get her to the airport tomorrow. They’re telling us there will only be a short window between these merging storm fronts. We’ll call as soon as we’re allowed to lift off.”

“That’s not what I have planned, sir.”

Silence.

Cord looked at the phone to make sure they hadn’t been disconnected. “I don’t believe it’s safe to wait.”

“I see. You think he’s coming after you?”

“The less details I share with you, sir, the less danger your family’s in.” It wasn’t that Cord didn’t trust Kate’s father. He just didn’t know how thoroughly Serna’s men had infiltrated the local area.

“You’ll notify me?”

“Yes, sir.” Cord had a few other things to say to convince David he was right. He hadn’t planned on one hundred percent cooperation. Made for a shorter call.

“I’ll tell your parents you’re both all right and that you’ll call when you can.”

What an ungrateful son. He hadn’t even thought about calling his parents to let them know he or Kate were okay. The Rangers had probably contacted his dad as soon as Serna was freed.

“Thank you for that.” He paused. “And for your trust.”

“Goes without sayin’.”

The old man had thrown him off his rehearsed dialogue. He would never have thought David would openly support his decisions. “Wish there were more time to bring you up to speed, but—”

“Yeah, Kate told me a bit about the cabin and confrontation this morning.”

“She didn’t hesitate.”

“That’s what’s bothering her, son.”

“Sir? I...” Cord knew he needed to say the words. There was a chance he’d never see David Danver again. He owed him an apology. The shrink had stressed that ignoring everyone in his life for the past three years had hurt them. He knew that without the shrink’s constant discussion. “I wanted to tell you—”

“This isn’t the time for regrets, son. I would have kicked your ass a couple of times already if Kathleen hadn’t stopped me. Take care of my little girl.”

This time there was a distinct click as David Sr. hung up. Cord dialed his parents’ house phone. They should hear from him directly. His mom was probably worried sick. The call went straight to voice mail.

“Hey, Mom. Just wanted you to know we’re okay and I’ll be keeping Kate safe for a while. I’ll call as soon as I can. Just borrowed this phone so there’s no reason to call back.”

He had a few more phone calls to make. He stuck the phone in the bag still hanging on his shoulder. Man, he was tired and starving and filthy.

Time to face Burke’s mom and crew, get cleaned up and maybe—just maybe—give his aching back a rest. Their host was right about one thing. The storm moving in would complicate everything he had planned.

* * *

N
ICK
’
S
MOTHER
WAS
a sight for very tired eyes. Juliet waved her inside through the back door.

“Oh, my dear, don’t take this the wrong way, but you look awful.” She pulled out a kitchen chair and gestured for Kate to sit.

“I probably do look a wreck.” She removed the scarf and work coat and collapsed on the seat cushion.