The Texas Ranger's Reward (Undercover Heroes) (7 page)

“That makes sense.”

He pulled off the road next to some other cars parked in front
of Grampy’s, where they had to get out to be served. She opened the cab door and
jumped down to get in line behind half a dozen other people. Travis followed. In
a minute it was their turn.

Melissa knew just about everyone who ran the businesses in
town. But she didn’t recognize the dark blond employee manning the window.
Probably mid-forties, he had a buzz cut and a deeply burnished complexion, with
that leathery kind of skin normally seen on a sailor or a beachcomber.

She likely wouldn’t have noticed details about him if he hadn’t
given her that blatant kind of once-over some guys did. Closer now, she saw a
glazed look in his eyes. For a second it reminded her of Russ’s crazed
expression before he’d struck her.

This man didn’t stop staring until Travis moved behind her.
Then his gaze turned away to Travis, who didn’t need a Texas Ranger uniform to
be formidable. Melissa was thankful he was with her.

“What can I get for you and the wife?” The question didn’t fool
her. Neither she nor Travis wore wedding rings.

She leaned inside the window. “Is that your
wife
cooking back there?”

He glanced at the older woman at the grill, giving Melissa a
glimpse of a tattoo on the back of his neck. “I don’t have a wife.” Melissa
could tell that her question had angered him.

“I see,” she said. “Well, as it happens, I don’t have a
husband. Now, I’ll have a burger and fries to go. Heavy on the onions.”

She pulled out her twenty-dollar bill and plunked it down in
front of him. People in the line behind them must have heard her, for they
started chuckling. She wasn’t sorry. The man had disgusted her. He stood there
with spots of anger on his cheeks. The spots went even darker by the time he’d
waited on Travis and handed him his order.

By tacit agreement they took their food to a picnic table
around the side of the building.

Chapter Four

Travis hadn’t liked the way the other man had looked at
Melissa. And when his shifty eyes had seen Travis, the way he’d tried to cover
up. A woman as pretty as Melissa would always be a target, but there was more to
it than that. After chasing down criminals for years, Travis had a gut instinct
about them, and this man’s behavior put up a red flag.

Obviously, Melissa had seen that look, too—she’d paled in
reaction—but she’d camouflaged it by turning the tables on the man. But
something had gone on inside her, and Travis planned to get to the bottom of it.
He’d wait until she was ready to talk.

Melissa had been a constant surprise from the first moment
she’d connected with Casey. Travis might have a problem getting past the
similarities to Valerie, yet on the drive up the canyon, he’d enjoyed talking to
Melissa, and recognized she was her own person.

Now she sat across from him and tucked into her burger and
fries. He wondered how long it would be before they resumed conversation. Before
long he’d finished his food, noticing she had, too. “If you’re through, shall we
drive to the church we passed?”

Her head lifted. “I don’t usually behave that rudely to people,
even if they deserve it.”

He got up and threw their sacks in the receptacle. “The man
did
make a false assumption.”

“You mean after he’d—”

“That, too.” Travis broke in, reading her mind. “You were
certainly within your rights.”

“Well, things like that happen often enough.” Travis didn’t
doubt it. “He just happened to pick on the wrong man and woman today.”

Curious, Travis cocked his head. “Wrong man?”

“Because of my resemblance to your deceased wife. You must have
hated the reminder.”

Ah. Now he understood part of her reaction, but not all. She
jumped up from the bench and started toward the truck. After they were both in
the cab, he angled his head toward her. “Actually, it was probably the first
time since her death Valerie wasn’t on my mind, but I appreciate your
sensitivity. Don’t give it another thought.”

The more he was getting to know Melissa, the more he realized
how different she was from his wife. Since they’d be working together for a
while, he needed to get over it. He started the truck and they drove down the
street to the church. “How long ago did new management take over there?”

“Around the first of July. Why?”

“Have you noticed any other changes? New people in town?”

“You mean like teens who work here for the summer?”

“That and anything else you find unusual.”

“Not really. Normally, I drive straight through to the cabin.
But I have to admit that man gave me the creeps.”

“You actually went pale.”

She jerked her head toward him. “I did?” she asked in an
anxious tone. That made him even more suspicious.

He nodded. “What would make you do that?”

“I have no idea.”

He knew she was lying.

“Have you ever seen him before?”

“Never. He certainly has no social skills.”

Travis agreed. “Do me a favor. Until I’ve had a chance to take
a look around Kamas, don’t go to Grampy’s for a while.” He was afraid Melissa
could have made an enemy without realizing it.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Something wasn’t right about him.”

Amen
. Travis would get the whole
story out of her later.

He parked in the church lot, where the truck could be seen from
the main street. He grabbed his backpack, and once the vehicle was locked they
headed out of town and began the ascent to her cabin.

She flashed him a smile free of her earlier tension. “We’ll
keep heading up this road. It’s not that far.”

“I’m not complaining.” She was entertaining, as well as
incredibly beautiful. He took some invigorating breaths of fresh air.

Everywhere he looked, the quaking aspen showed some yellow.
Signs of fall were creeping into the landscape. He saw a smattering of orange in
various areas, but it would be another month before the heavy mountain foliage
would turn into full autumn splendor. With the air still warm and a hot sun
shining overhead, Travis felt a sudden infusion of well-being.

Maybe it was being out in nature again, but as they gained in
elevation and he used leg muscles that had needed a workout, he found himself
thinking he was glad to be alive. He couldn’t remember feeling like this in a
long time.

He glanced at Melissa. She was keeping right up with him.

“How do you stay in such great shape, Melissa?”

“I usually go to the gym after work.”

“It shows. I’m probably holding you back.”

She responded with a laugh that said his comment was absurd. He
liked it that she didn’t take herself too seriously. “You can see a few cabins
here and there, but the higher we get, the more isolated things are.”

“And more magnificent.”

She spread her arms and whirled in a circle. “It is!”

Amused by her behavior, he said, “You sound happy.”

“I am, and you’re the reason. Since midsummer I’ve been nervous
being up here alone, but today I’ve got you with me. Casey told me you go after
bad people. I’m counting on you to find out what’s going on up here.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“That’s good enough for me. The cabin is around the next curve
in the road.” She picked up speed, forcing him to move faster. In a few more
minutes he saw the medium-size two-story log cabin half hidden by trees. Tons of
pine needles and cones covered the ground. A lot of family life had been lived
up here. He spotted an old swing and furniture on the front porch. There was a
rope swing hanging from a nearby tree.

The branches of one enormous pine brushed against the eaves.
Any agile person could climb the tree and get in an upstairs window using the
right device. No glass would have to be broken. Two squirrels chattered noisily,
then darted across the sun-dappled roof.

“Aren’t they cute?” Melissa said in a quiet voice.

Travis smiled. “I recognize them from several of your
paintings.” They drew closer. “Before we go inside, I want to walk around and
check all the windows and doors from the outside.” He looked at the ground.
“When you or your family come up, do you always park here in front?”

“Yes. There’s no other place for cars.”

With further inspection he could see what she meant. Foliage
grew too close to the cabin for a vehicle to drive around it. “I see track
marks.”

“Those are mine.”

“All of them? You always come in the Jeep?”

“Yes.”

He walked over by some trees. “There’s another set of tracks
here that have dried since the last rainstorm. They don’t match your Jeep
tracks.”

For a few minutes he took pictures and measurements. He felt
her interest as he got out some material to powder the most prominent of the
tracks, then lifted it with tape. “I’ll drop this off at the lab. In time it
might tell us something useful.”

Melissa stuck with him as he moved around, trying to open the
ground-floor windows. They didn’t give way. At the back of the house he noticed
cigarette butts leading from the back door into the forest. They were embedded
in the dirt and pine needles. In some cases they were ground in.

“Does anyone in your family smoke?”

“No.”

He pulled out a pair of disposable gloves and a plastic bag
from his pack. After hunkering down, he retrieved what he could. There were
enough butts to convince him more than one person had been here.

“I’ve never noticed those before!” Melissa exclaimed. “I have
no idea how fresh they are.”

“The forensics lab will run a test and let us know the
approximate age and make.” He zipped the bag and stowed it in his pack before
walking to the back door. When he tried the handle, the lock seemed solid, but
again, someone with special tools could open it. “Have you been in and out of
this door recently?”

“Not since I realized it could be dangerous. But the last time
I was here, I did notice dirt on the floor right inside and left it to show the
police.”

“Good thinking. I’ll check for that in a few minutes.” He made
the full round of the cabin’s exterior before asking her to unlock the front
door. “Don’t touch anything. When we go inside, what I’d like you to do is point
out the items you’ve noticed that have been moved or disturbed over the last
month. I might be able to get some fingerprints.”

“Oh…okay.”

He put on a fresh pair of gloves. For the next hour he followed
her around, finding objects and surfaces to dust. The cabin had a
straightforward floor plan. Two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and on the
ground floor two more bedrooms, a bathroom, a family room with a fireplace and
comfortable furnishings, and a kitchen with a pine picnic table and benches. All
very cozy.

With painstaking care Travis lifted the prints he’d found and
put the tapes into bags. “So far, so good.”

They’d finished in the kitchen where he’d gone through shelves
and drawers. His gaze swerved to her smoky-blue eyes, watching his every move.
“You have a very inviting cabin and it’s…fairly secure.”

“In other words, a child could get in with the right
tools.”

He chuckled. “Afraid so. Anyone wanting in here is a
professional, and probably had a key made to the back door. Since I didn’t find
any cigarette butts in front of the cabin, it stands to reason they’ve chosen
the rear entry, so they won’t be seen from the road.”

“You think there’s more than one person?”

“Maybe three or four.” She stood close enough to him that
Travis felt the shudder that passed through her body. “My hunch is they’ve come
on foot through the forest. Maybe they’re the hunters, teenagers or the
Sasquatch family you mentioned.”

She smiled. “So what do
you
think?”

Now that he’d given himself permission to look at her, he
wondered if he was more attracted to her than to other women because of the
resemblance to Valerie. If so, did it matter?

Hell, yes.
While they’d been moving
around the cabin, his mind should have been on the task, yet he’d imagined
sliding his arms around her supple waist from behind and kissing the side of her
neck the way he used to do with Valerie. And that was just for starters.

He was as bad as the letch at Grampy’s. Worse even, because her
father had hired him to find out who was trespassing on their property, and
Melissa trusted him.

In frustration he reached for his pack and pulled out the mini
cameras. “It’s too early to tell. You say you come up on weekends, but so far
you’ve never seen anyone hiding inside. I have to assume they only come after
dark, on week nights. While I was gathering the dirt samples, I found some
residue I didn’t recognize mixed in, and I want to have it analyzed.

“In the meantime I’ll install these cameras around and we’ll
get pictures on tape. One in the kitchen and one at the back door. Another I’ll
put at the top of the stairs. I’m also going to plant this listening device in
the geranium pot on the kitchen table. The recorder will catch any conversation.
“

“What if they notice?” She stayed with him and handed him
things he needed.

“I doubt they will. You told me they’ve been coming around
since Pioneer Day. Now that it’s September and they haven’t been caught or
scared off, they feel safe and aren’t looking for a trap.”

He’d come up tomorrow morning and see if anything incriminating
had shown up on the surveillance tapes. Maybe he’d get lucky and find some new
cigarette butts and traces of anything else the intruders might have left
outside. The garbage can out back hadn’t revealed anything.

Except for the cigarette butts, Travis had to admit they’d been
careful. No incriminating papers or wrappers in the wastebaskets or closets.
Nothing had been hidden in the cushions or under the mattresses. Someone had
been careful. Too careful for amateurs.

She cast him a questioning glance. “Does that mean you’re
through for now?”

It sounded as if she didn’t want to leave. “I saw all your art
supplies in the upstairs bedroom. You probably wanted to do some painting. But
I’d prefer we go now, in case someone’s scouting around to make sure it’s all
clear for tonight. I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t be. I’m grateful to you for agreeing to solve
this nightmare. Our whole family is,” she added.

Her pleasant disposition was one of the many remarkable things
about her. “That’s nice to hear. You can do some painting the next time you’re
able to come with me.”

“I’m free anytime.”

That news came as a revelation. “What about your work at the
clinic? I don’t understand.”

“Today is the official beginning of my week’s vacation. I take
a week off every fall around this time of year, and another one in late spring
when the wildflowers are in bloom.”

Travis grabbed an extra breath. A whole week with her… “I can
see why. The scenery up here is breathtaking.” Including her.

He started across the family room. “We’ll leave through the
front door and head down to town, looking like two hikers out enjoying the
sunshine.”

On the way back they drank from the water bottles he’d brought.
She shared a granola bar with him and he experienced a period of contentment
with her that had been foreign to him for too long.

Closer to town, a car drove past them. Melissa knew the couple,
but they weren’t neighbors who’d noticed anything disturbed or missing at their
place. She provided an invaluable service to Travis by pointing out other cabins
and the names of the owners. It all helped him put a picture together.

“How many cabins are above yours?”

“None. Ours is the highest one on this ridge. There’s nothing
else but forest.”

Travis planned to go exploring tomorrow when he came back up,
but now he realized he wouldn’t be alone. “We’ve accomplished what I wanted, in
time to get you home before I pick up Casey.”