Rancher Rescue (9 page)

A blush reddened her cheeks at the admission. Caleb could feel his heartbeat at the base of his throat. She was sexy when she was embarrassed.

Caleb motioned for her to sit on the bed while he positioned the desk chair in front of her and sat on the edge.

“You think she got mixed up dating Kane? Maybe saw something or found something while she was at his place?”

“Anything’s possible. Hard to imagine her in a relationship with the head of a conglomerate. Although, she was beautiful.”

“She could’ve met him at work. Maybe he stopped into the coffee shop where she worked? We could find a way to ask her coworkers.”

Katherine had cleaned up and looked even more sexy wrapped in a bath towel. The thought of her naked in the shower sent heat rocketing through him. That was the last thing he
should
be thinking about. But hell, if he were being honest, he’d admit seeing her naked was actually at the top of his list of appealing ideas. He gave in to his appreciation for her body. Looking at those long, lean legs, small waist and smooth hips stirred an immediate reaction. When his gaze slid from the smooth curve of her calves down her slender ankles to her bare feet, his mouth dried.

He forced his gaze to her face.

She slicked her tongue over her lips and damned if the image wasn’t even sexier. He lowered his gaze to her neck. Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breathing. He saw her breasts tighten under the thin fabric of the towel.

The need to protect her and kiss her surged. If he didn’t get a grip she’d know exactly how badly he wanted to make love to her.

Max’s bark crashed him back to reality.

He forced himself to think rationally. She was in trouble. He was there to help.

He’d have to work harder to contain his growing attraction.

“Let’s get a look at those.” He hated the idea of causing her more pain, but her cuts needed tending to, and she needed antibiotic ointment. He’d have to get her to a clinic soon for a tetanus shot, too.

“What about your injuries? We should make sure you’re okay,” she said, her lips set in a frown.

“I’ll live. Do you always put others first?” He wasn’t used to that. Wasn’t he always the one saving the day? Rescuing others? Denying himself?

“What if something happens to you? Is there anyone I should notify? Girlfriend?”

“Not now. A few before.”

She gifted him with her first real smile of the day.

“I told myself I didn’t have time for them when I moved into the Dust Bowl Ranch outside San Antonio as a kid. I was busy working and trying to stay under the radar.”

“I’m sure they made time for you.”

He shrugged. “I dated around. Couldn’t find anyone special enough to marry.” Caleb figured he’d rather spend his time building his empire than on an evening out with a woman who made him want to stick toothpicks in his eyes for how dull the conversation was. Waiting for the right girl had taken too long. He’d dated here and there. He’d all but given up when Cissy showed up. “Almost got married once.”

“What happened?”

“Didn’t work out. She left. Said life on the ranch was boring.” He didn’t want to get into the details about the little girl she’d taken with her. Savannah had been all smiles and freckles. Her heart was bigger than the land. Caleb still wondered if Cissy was taking good enough care of the little angel.

“How long ago was that?”

“Couple of months, I guess.” Caleb tucked the remaining gauze back into the box and closed the lid. “Leg’s looking better. Swelling’s going down. I thought it might get worse after all the running today. Take these.” He handed her a couple of ibuprofen and a bottle of water.

“Not sure if I’ll know what to do without pain,” she said with a weak smile.

He liked that she was relaxing with him. Her sticking around was an idea he could get used to. He mentally slapped himself. Nothing personal, but the last thing Caleb needed to do was to get romantically involved with another woman who needed rescuing. Even if this did feel...different.

Keeping his feelings in check became a bigger priority. Besides, they needed to get dressed and find the business center.

“Took a guess at your size.” He tossed the bag onto the bed. “Think you’ll find a few things in there you can wear. Can’t promise they’ll be fashionable.”

Katherine took out the cotton shorts and pink T-shirt, blushing at the underwear and bra. “These will work fine.”

Caleb fed Max, and then moved to the sink in the bathroom. He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off.

In the mirror, he saw Katherine, now dressed, approaching. She stopped when she saw his shirt was off. Her gaze drifted across his bare torso.

A lightning bolt of heat spread through him, flowing blood south.

Not one woman had brought instant lust like this before. The closest he’d ever been to this was with Michelle and that still paled in comparison. She’d appeared at his doorway broke, asking for work. She’d had no money and no place to live.

He’d taken her in and helped her find a job. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out where his bedroom was.

The sex had been hot. Chemistry outside the bedroom, not.

She’d moved her things in though, and seemed intent on staying for a while.

Caleb had started working longer hours than usual, looking for excuses to stay out of the house. Eventually, she’d left. No note.

He’d learned his lesson. He didn’t do sex for sex’s sake anymore.

Sex with Katherine would be amazing. No, mind-blowing. He had no doubt they’d sizzle with chemistry under the sheets.

Connecting in the everyday world would be no different than his past relationships. At least that’s what he told himself. The thought this could be anything deeper or more real scared the hell out of him.

Katherine cleared her throat. “Here. Let me help you with that.”

She moved next to him without making eye contact, took a clean washcloth from the counter, rinsed it under the tap and wrung it out. Dabbing his gash, she pressed her silken fingers to his shoulder. Contact sent his hormones into overdrive. Need for her surged faster than he could restrain. His erection pulsed, reminding him of all the things he’d like to do to her and with her. He wanted to be inside her. Now.

“Get ready. This might hurt,” she said with a tentative smile, scooting in front of him.

“I’m fine.” But was he? His head might be screwed on straight, but his body had ideas of the sexual variety. Damned if he wasn’t thinking about sex with Katherine again.

She rubbed the wound with the washcloth until it was clean. Next, she gently dabbed antibiotic ointment on the cut.

He wasn’t used to hands like hers. Soft and tender. It felt like a caress.

A crack appeared in his mind, like light in a small dark tunnel. His exterior armor threatened to splinter. He couldn’t figure out why he’d told Katherine about Cissy. Weren’t those wounds still fresh? Didn’t they sting worse than the exterior cut on his shoulder?

Shouldn’t he feel guilty for being this close to a woman in a hotel room given that Cissy had walked out so recently?

He didn’t.

Instead he felt the strange sensation of warmth and light that accompanied allowing someone to take care of him for a change.

The whole concept was foreign to him. He’d taken care of himself and everyone around him for as long as he could remember.

Her touch, the way it seemed so natural to have her hands on him, suddenly felt more dangerous than the men with guns. All they could do was end a person’s life. A woman like Katherine could make it not worth living without her.

Caleb eradicated the thought.

She was a woman in trouble. He was there to help. When this was all over, she’d go back to her life and he’d return to his.

He backed away and slipped on a new T-shirt.

“Let’s see about that CD.”

Chapter Seven

Katherine tucked Max inside her handbag and followed Caleb downstairs. The business center was a small room adjacent to the lobby. A wall of desks and two computers occupied the space. The wall between the business center and the lobby was made of glass. There wasn’t much in the way of privacy, but it would have to do.

Katherine fished the CD out of her bag and handed it to Caleb.

Max squirmed and whimpered.

“Poor little guy. You miss her, don’t you?” A wave of melancholy flooded Katherine as she stroked his fur. “He lost his home.”

“He can come to the ranch. Unless you want him.”

“Might be too sad to go home with me. Although when this ordeal is settled, I’ll be looking for a new place to live. Can’t imagine going back to my apartment after...”

“Either way, he’ll have a new home.”

“Poor little guy might need to go out soon after eating and drinking all that water.”

“I saw a green space on the side of the building. We can take him there as soon as we see what we’re dealing with here.”

There was one file on the disk. It was labeled “Katherine.”

Caleb’s gaze flicked from hers to the computer screen. “Nothing stood out before. Let’s see if a closer look tells us what your sister wanted you to know.”

Katherine’s pulse raced. She took a deep breath. “Okay.”

He clicked on her name as she looked over his shoulder.

“I can’t help but wonder why she would send snapshots of Noah through FedEx when she was meeting me to hand him off.”

“She must’ve realized she was being followed and wanted to be sure they weren’t intercepted. Let’s look through ’em. See if we can find a clue.” Caleb started the slide show.

Katherine watched, perplexed, as picture after picture of Noah filled the screen. There were photographs of him at Barton Creek. He’d been to the zoo. It looked like a montage of his summer activities.

“Check your email. It’s possible she sent you a note. Pull up her last few messages and look for anything that might signal the file’s whereabouts. There might be hints. A word out of place in a sentence. A location she mentions more than once. See if there’s anything we can go on.”

She logged on remotely. There was nothing unusual as she scanned the last couple of notes from Leann. No extra emails from her sister mysteriously appearing posthumously, either. Not a single clue.

From the lobby, the TV volume cranked up.

“An elderly woman has been gunned down in front of her neighbor’s apartment in a normally quiet suburb. The news has rocked a small North Dallas community. The name of the deceased is being withheld until family can be notified but two persons of interest, Katherine Harper and an unidentified male, are believed to have information that would assist in the investigation. An eyewitness saw them running from the scene with a weapon, and police are warning citizens not to approach them but to call 9-1-1 if they are spotted...”

Katherine’s heart dropped. She glanced around. The man behind the registration desk picked up the phone and stared at her. Was he phoning the police? She nudged Caleb.

He turned around and cursed under his breath.

“How on earth could we be tied to Ms. Ranker’s murder?” The feeling of being trapped made her pulse climb. How would they get out of the hotel unseen? And if they did, where would they go? Everyone in the area would be looking for them. If they so much as tried to get coffee or food, they might be spotted. There would be nowhere to hide.

Caleb ejected the CD. “We’ll figure this out later. Right now, we’ve gotta get out of here.”

“Do we have time to get back to the room? I left everything in there but my purse and Max.”

“I don’t know how much time we have, but we need to try. I changed clothes and the car keys are in my old pants.”

An uninvited image of Caleb’s shirtless chest invaded Katherine’s thoughts. Reality crashed fast and hard. She glanced around wildly as Caleb led her out of the business center half afraid the guy working the front desk would give chase.

As soon as they entered the stairwell, he urged her to run. They made it up the couple flights of stairs easily thanks to the ibuprofen tablets she’d taken earlier. The medicine saved her from the pain that would be shooting up her leg otherwise.

Caleb stopped at the door. “I’ll grab everything I can. You watch the hall. If anyone darkens that corridor, let me know. A second’s notice might be the difference between freedom and jail.”

He disappeared.

Not a minute later, the elevator dinged.

Katherine stepped inside the room. “Someone’s coming.”

“Damn.” He threw a bag of supplies over his shoulder and took her hand. His grip was firm as he broke into a full run, leading her to the opposite stairwell.

“Stop!” came from behind.

Katherine glanced back. A man dressed in a suit and wearing dark glasses gave chase. How could they escape? Where would they go?

She and Caleb slipped inside the stairwell. The shuffle of feet coming toward them sounded at the same time Max whimpered. How would they get anywhere quietly with him on board?

“It’s okay, boy,” she whispered. His big dark eyes looked up at her from the bag, and she realized the little guy was shaking. Max was in a totally foreign environment without his owner.
Poor thing.
She lifted him and cradled him to her chest to calm him.

The door from the third floor smacked against the wall at almost the same time as the one from the floor below them. With men coming in both directions, they were sandwiched with no way out.

“Stick close to me,” Caleb said, squeezing her hand.

He entered the second floor.

Halfway down the hall, the maid’s cart framed a door.

“In here,” he said, urging her toward it.

“We’ll be cornered in there. I don’t see another way out.”

“Trust me.” Caleb darted toward the room as he glanced back.

She saw more than a hint of recklessness in his eyes now—a throwback to his misspent youth? “How did you get so good at evading people?”

“I told you, I had a rough childhood. Learned a lot of things I didn’t want to need to know as an adult.” Caleb ducked into the room and shooed out the cleaning lady as doors opened from both ends of the hallway. He slid the dead bolt into place.

Shots were fired and Katherine ducked. Oh. God. She was going to die right there.

Before she could scream, Caleb pulled her to the floor and covered her with his body. His broad, masculine chest flush with her back, she felt the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

More shots were fired; bullets pinged through the walls. She had the split-second fear her life was about to end and all she could think about was her family. The memories brought a melancholy mix of pain and happiness coursing through her.

What did Caleb have?

Other than his mother, hadn’t he been alone most of his life? Her heart ached for him. Maybe that’s why he’d gotten so good at taking care of others.

Because of her, he’d end up in jail or dead today.

His exterior was tough. Tall, with dark brown eyes she could look into for days. With his broad shoulders, lean hips, stacked muscles, he was physical strength personified. His substantial presence would affect anyone. He was like steel. But what did he have to fortify from within?

Katherine felt herself being pulled to her feet as she held tight to Max. He’d stopped whimpering. “What are we doing?”

He made quick work jimmying the window open. “Escaping.”

A bullet pinged near Katherine’s head. Caleb pulled her to the floor and covered her again before she had a chance to react.

The bullets stopped as a thump sounded against the door. Could they kick it in?

“From here on out, we’ve got to stay off the grid.” His carved-from-granite features were stone.

Katherine took a moment to absorb his words. He was saying they couldn’t show their faces again in public. They’d go into hiding and then what? How would they eat? And worse yet, what would happen to Noah? How would she make it to the drop? The center of a mall was about as public of a place as she could imagine.

The crack of an object slamming into the door wrenched her from her shock.

“You climb out first. I’ll hold you as long as I can.” He set Max on the floor. “I’ll toss him down to you, and then I want you to run. Don’t wait for me. You hear?”

Not wait for him? Was he kidding? Katherine wouldn’t make it two steps without Caleb.

“But—”

“No time.”

She sat on the edge of the window for a second to gather her nerves. Caleb helped her twist onto her belly to ease the impact to her leg. He lowered her.

“Ready?”

She nodded, bracing for the impact on her hurt leg. She landed hard. Her legs gave out. As soon as she turned, Caleb was half hanging out the window, making himself as low to the ground as he could before he made sure she was ready and then he let Max drop.

Catching him with both hands, she breathed a sigh of relief when Caleb followed almost immediately after.

“Aren’t we near Mockingbird and 75?” he asked as he broke into a run.

“Yeah, but my car’s the other direction.” Katherine pointed west.

“We have a better shot of getting lost if we can get to the train.”

Then what?

Before Katherine could wind up a good anxiety attack, a flurry of men in dark suits came pouring out of the building.

She powered her legs forward to the edge of the lot with the adrenaline thumping through her, ignoring the throbbing pain coursing up her leg. Caleb pushed them forward until they disappeared into a tree line.

The roar of the train sounded nearby.

“If we can get across the tracks, we can make it.” He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and sprinted toward the station.

The train was coming fast. Too fast. They’d never make it in time, especially with him carrying her. “I can run.”

“Not a chance.” Caleb picked up speed, clearing the rail with seconds to spare.

The train car doors opened and he hopped inside, placing Katherine in the first available seat. She prayed the Dallas Area Rapid Transit police or fare-enforcement officers wouldn’t be checking passengers for tickets. The last thing they needed was to give someone a reason to notice them, and she remembered reading the rail had increased security after a series of recent murders.

She tucked Max in her purse and watched out the window as the buildings blurred. “Think they saw us?”

“It’s a pretty good bet. We’ll jump off at the next stop. Get lost somewhere on the Katy Trail.”

The engine slowed and the light rail train stopped. They hopped off.

She didn’t want to weigh them down. His shoulder was bleeding again from carrying her. He’d never admit it, but he had to be exhausted by now. He was going on no sleep as it was. “I can make it.”

“You sure?”

Katherine nodded. They ran for a few minutes before her leg gave out. “I’m sorry. I need a rest.”

He found a small clearing and stopped to catch their breath. “Squeeze into these bushes. This should provide enough cover to hide us for now.”

Katherine was beginning to wonder if she’d ever feel secure again.

He took Max from her arms. “Better let him stretch his legs.”

Max scuttled to a nearby bush and relieved himself.

“C’mon, boy,” Caleb said, patting his leg. His breathing was hardly accelerated whereas Katherine’s lungs burned.

The sound of pounding footsteps broke the quiet.

Peering through the leaves, Katherine’s heart skittered when she saw the men in suits. They were staring at something in their hands.

Caleb backed out of the underbrush and urged her on the move again as he scooped up Max.

The men seemed to be a few feet behind everywhere they went.

“It’s no use,” she said, panting. The pain in her leg was staggering.

“Dammit. I didn’t even think about this before. It makes sense now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Give me your phone.” He held out his free hand.

She dug it out of her purse and placed it on his flat palm.

“Hold Max.”

She did.

He pulled out the battery and smashed the phone under the heel of his cowboy boot. Did the same to his own. Then picked up the pieces and tossed them.

Panic gripped her as it felt like icy fingers had closed around her chest and squeezed. All the air sucked out of her lungs in a whooshing sound. “They can’t contact me now. What have you done?”

“They can’t find us anymore, either.” He took her hand in his. “They’ve been following us using the GPS tracking in the phone. It’s the only way they could always be a step behind.”

“How can they do that unless they work for the government?”

“It’s surprisingly easy. Anyone can buy the program online.” He urged her forward as he took Max, and then ran for what seemed like half an hour before stopping. “We should be safe now.”

She hobbled a few feet and settled onto a large rock, stroking Max and fighting waves of tears from exhaustion and panic. “Any idea where we are?”

Caleb shook his head.

He sat beside her and braided their fingers together. “You don’t have to keep it together all the time.”

Yes, she did. He didn’t understand. She had to be strong for Noah. She’d had to be strong her entire life. “I have a lot of responsibility, and the last thing I can afford to do is break down.” She sniffed back a tear.

“It’s okay to cry. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Her heart skipped a beat when she realized those words comforted her far more than she should allow. She shivered and raised her gaze to meet his. Warmth spread through her body.

His chest moved up and down rhythmically, whereas her breathing was ragged. And not just because she’d outrun bullets and scary men with guns. Her pulse rose for a different reason. His body was so close she could breathe in his masculinity. Her arms were full of goose bumps. She knew the instant her body shifted from fear to awareness...

Awareness of his strong hands on her. Awareness of the unique scent of woods and outdoors and virility that belonged to him. Awareness of everything that was Caleb. A sensual shiver raced up her spine.