Cowboy Commando

Chapter Three

The adrenaline rush hit the way it had hundreds of times before, producing an instantaneous honing of all Cutter’s instincts and training.

Cutter lay on his horn, then veered to the left, crossing the center line and ramming the right-front fender of the shooter’s car just as the crack of gunfire thundered in the night.

His breath burned in his lungs. His move had been worse than risky. It was damn near suicidal. But better than doing nothing while Linney’s head was blown off at close range.

The shooter’s car raked the side of Linney’s, then sped away. Linney’s sports car skidded out of control. She careened off the right shoulder, kicking up dirt and dry leaves before lurching down an incline and slamming into a ditch. Miraculously, the sports car didn’t flip.

Cutter skidded to a stop on the muddy shoulder, grabbed his flashlight from the glove compartment and raced to Linney’s vehicle.

His heart was racing as he peered through the window. The airbags had inflated and were pushed against Linney’s chest so that all he could really see was her face. Blood trickled down her left cheek but there was no visible gaping wound.

“Were you hit?”

“Cutter?” Her eyes were wide, riveted to his, though even in the moonlight he could see that her flesh was ghostly white. “How did you get here?”

“Lucky move.” His breath scorched his lungs. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. Nothing hurts, but someone just took a potshot at me.”

He gasped huge gulps of air and the burning in his chest eased to the point that he could breathe without searing pain.

Julie started to wail. Cutter opened the back door and slipped into the backseat to check on her. Linney managed to extricate herself from the airbag and tumble over the back of the seat, squeezing in between him and Julie. She cradled Julie’s head in her arms.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here with you.”

Cutter did a quick visual scan for injuries while Linney tried to calm her. There was no sign of a bullet wound. “She appears okay,” he said.

“Thank God! Does anything hurt?” Linney cooed.

Julie wrapped her arms around Linney’s neck and clung to her as if she were afraid her protector would disappear into the darkness if she let go. “I want my mommy.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

Linney’s voice dissolved into a quake that felt like shrapnel exploding in Cutter’s gut. Linney had come to him for help and he’d practically kicked her out of the condo.

Chances that the attack was random were slim to none. She’d been ambushed. Was that why Dane hadn’t called? Had he killed his wife and then tried to kill Linney to silence her and her suspicions? If he had, he’d risked killing his own daughter as well.

But then he wasn’t expecting interference from Cutter. A sharpshooting cop would have been able to place the bullet exactly on target at that speed and distance.

Cutter crawled from the car and did a quick assessment of damage to the vehicle. It would require towing and bodywork, but there were no bullet holes. Apparently, the shooter had missed his target altogether. But if Cutter hadn’t been here…

He swore under his breath as fury raced through his veins like a roaring river. He scanned the area. The road was deserted. No sign of headlights. No sign of trouble, but that didn’t mean this was over.

Let down your guard for an instant and the enemy gained the advantage.

This enemy was already armed, while he wasn’t. And the enemy had known exactly where to find Linney, had likely followed her when she left Cutter’s condo. There was only one valid explanation for that.

With the help of his flashlight, Cutter searched every inch of the car, working quickly, and making a call to Goose as he did. He explained the latest developments.

Goose let fly a few expletives Cutter hadn’t heard since leaving the Navy.

“Were you able to get in touch with Dane?” Cutter asked.

“I left a message at the phone number the GHPD gave me. He hasn’t called me back. The clerk on duty said he’s on the scene of a major crime and has been for hours. He promised to let Dane know that his daughter’s with Linney Kingston and that she’s fine.”

“Does that mean there’s not an APB out for Linney?”

“Nope. I’m assuming the day-care center got the word to Dane that Julie was with Linney. He must be okay with it.”

“Then I guess we’re covered on that score.”

“As long as Linney cooperates in reuniting father and daughter at the earliest opportunity.”

“I’ll see that she does.”

“I suggest you all go to bed and try to get some rest for now. I know I am. But be careful.”

“Yeah.”

Cutter finished checking out the car. When he was done, he stuck his head through the open back door. “We need to get out of here. I’ll help you get Julie to my truck.”

“I can’t just leave my car here.”

“You won’t be driving it out of that ditch. It’s practically standing on the front bumper. I’ll call a tow truck.”

“I can’t go to the cops, Cutter. You saw what—” Linney stopped herself before blurting out Dane’s name. She buried her face in Julie’s soft hair, kissing her on top of the head. “You saw what he’s capable of.”

“I saw what someone’s capable of. Now let’s get moving. We can decide on an operational plan later.”

“Forget a plan,” Linney said. “I just need a ride back to my house in Green’s Harbor. I’ll handle things from there.”

Linney stayed entangled with Julie, but turned her face so that she was looking at Cutter. Her disheveled mass of red hair was loose now and bouncing about her shoulders. Arbitrary curls rested against her bloody cheek.

Her chin was jutted at a defiant angle and she had a determined strength in her stare that the more youthful Linney of six years ago would never have been able to pull off. Unfortunately, she was as damn irresistible as ever.

“I’m not leaving you,” Cutter said.

“You saved our lives. You’ve done enough.”

It sounded reasonable, but Cutter knew that the instant he’d spotted that gun pointed at Linney’s head, his choice in this was gone. He could no more walk away now than he could sprout wings and fly or whisper some kind of chant and have his old life as a Navy SEAL back.

“I don’t want to make any rash decisions about what to do next. I like a clear plan of action before I engage. But I’m not leaving you, so get in the truck before the lunatic returns and I have to save you again.”

She shifted, peering out the back window as if she thought his prediction would hex them and conjure up headlights. When she didn’t see any, she picked up Julie’s teddy bear and tossed it to him. “I’ll carry Julie if you’ll get her booster seat and grab my handbag out of the front seat. And remember, you asked for us.”

Mere moments later, they’d abandoned Linney’s car in the ditch and were heading back in the direction they’d come from. He’d hold off on telling her of his conversation with Goose until Julie was asleep or they were alone.

“Why did you choose this road to nowhere?” he asked.

“I’ve been on it before with Al. He has a warehouse a couple of miles farther down. The company outgrew the facility, but Al held onto it. Said he couldn’t get enough for it to make selling it worthwhile.”

“Tell me you weren’t planning to hide out there like some criminal on the run.”

“I don’t owe you any explanations.”

Which meant that was exactly what she’d planned to do. “Do you have a key to the warehouse?”

“No, but I could probably figure out the alarm code to keep it from going off. Al’s not the most creative guy when it comes to passwords and codes.”

“So you were going to break in to one of your ex’s properties and hide out with Julie instead of meeting with Goose.”

“Desperate situations call for desperate measures.”

Desperate measures didn’t appeal to Cutter. He liked his risks spelled out and alternate courses of action in place in case he met resistance. As a SEAL, he’d never accepted failure as an option. He definitely wouldn’t now.

When he reached an intersection, he took a road less traveled, a narrow FM road that headed north, as a plan of sorts started forming in his mind. Somehow the claustrophobic condo with one bed and no weapons didn’t seem conducive to strategy planning or keeping Linney safe.

“How do you feel about Dobbin?” he asked.

“You can’t bring your aunt into this.”

“She’s on an Alaskan cruise.”

“What about her foreman? Doesn’t he still live on the property and take care of the land and her horses?”

“Aurelio is still there, but I can’t see what difference that makes. He has his own house.” The more Cutter thought about it, the better the idea of crashing at the Double M sounded.

So it was back to Dobbin, Texas, and the ranch. And back to Linney and an almost guaranteed one-way trip to heartache.

CUTTER STOPPED at the metal gate.

“I’ll get it,” Linney offered, already opening her door to jump into action.

The weathered condition of the rectangular, hardwood Double M sign suggested that it had endured years of Texas thunderstorms and blazing summer heat. It clattered a dubious welcome as Linney jumped from the truck.

The iron scrolls in the gate seemed to be staring at Linney, as taunting as an evil grin carved into a Halloween pumpkin. Even the ranch didn’t want her here, causing trouble for Cutter.

She unlatched the gate and swung it open. The headlights of Cutter’s pickup truck pushed into the darkness, illuminating the rutted dirt road in front of her.

She knew from past visits that the road led through acres of fenced pastureland before banking what counted as a hill in this part of Texas and then veering off toward a huge pond and the sprawling ranch house.

She’d visited the ranch dozens of times before, albeit never with Cutter. As a teenager she’d come here for hayrides with laughing church youth groups or for the mini-rodeos or 4-H events that Hank and Merlee had hosted.

Good folks, people said of his aunt and uncle, the words not nearly conveying their wealth or the influence the couple had held in the small rural community.

Hank can close a deal on a smile and a handshake, and you can stake your life that he’ll keep his word.

Linney’s own dad had said that too many times to count and she knew that Hank Martin had bailed him out financially on more than one occasion.

Once the vehicle rattled across the cattle gap, she closed and latched the gate and scrambled back into the truck. “I’m surprised your uncle never blacktopped this road,” she said as they dodged a deep rut. “When there’s a heavy rain, the road must be almost impassible.”

“Uncle Hank believed a ranch should feel like a ranch and that cows didn’t need paved roads. And he always had four-wheel-drive vehicles.”

“Your uncle was one of a kind.”

“He would say he was just from good Texas stock.”

“Merlee must miss him a lot.”

“I’m sure she does, but she stays upbeat and busy with her gardening and church activities. And traveling with her friend, Josie Watts. I think they’ve cruised every place there’s a tour. This is their second time to Alaska.”

“What do you think she’d say if she knew you were bringing Julie and me here?”

“She’d tell me I’d better not let anything bad happen to either one of you.” Cutter slowed as a large deer stepped into the beam of his headlights. The buck stood motionless, head high, his impressive rack pointing skyward until they were almost upon him. Only then did the magnificent creature turn and run away.

She wondered if the deer sensed danger the way she sensed it now that someone had tried to kill her. No, not someone. Dane. It had to have been him, though she couldn’t imagine how he’d found her so quickly. More disturbing was the fact that he’d opened fire on her with Julie in the car. Now she was expected to just turn the child over to the murderous lunatic.

She checked to see if Julie was still asleep. Satisfied that the toddler was in dreamland, Linney shifted and turned to face Cutter. “Coming here was probably a major mistake.”

“You tell me.”

“I’m serious,” she said, keeping her voice low so as not to wake Julie. “Dane could show up any minute. He must have someone tailing me. How else would he have known I’d be on that road?”

“With this.” Cutter took a black gadget the size of a half dollar from his shirt pocket and tossed it into her lap. “It’s a tracer, the newest model, highly efficient.”

“Where did you find this?”

“Attached beneath the back bumper of your car.”

“Dane must have planted it there right after I made that complaint to the police department,” Linney whispered. “I’ll bet the clerk went straight to him with my suspicions.”

“He probably thinks of Dane as a reliable cop.”

“No wonder no one’s called me back. Dane probably tossed the report.”

“We’re going on a lot of assumptions here. It’s possible the good detective hasn’t seen the report, didn’t plant the tracer and wasn’t tonight’s sniper.”

“Oh, puh-leeze!” She checked again. Julie was still fast asleep. “He’s behind all of it. He’s so arrogant he thinks he can get away with anything. He would have killed me, then stopped and rescued his daughter. End of his problems.”

“Aren’t you forgetting that the day-care center attendant knows Julie left with you today?”

“But they don’t know that I didn’t drive her home.”

Cutter wrapped both hands around the wheel and stretched, grimacing a bit as he rubbed his left thigh. He was probably seriously regretting his offer of help about now. Maybe he figured that six years involved in some of the Middle East’s most dangerous counterterrorism operations was enough heroism for one guy.

She lowered the window a few inches and took a deep breath, letting her lungs fill with the fresh, country air. Smells of pine mixed with wild verbena and the sweet magnolia Merlee had planted along the drive.

Julie stirred in the backseat, and Linney raised the window quickly before the sting of wind had her fully awake. Hopefully the three-year-old would sleep through the night.

“The ranch house is just ahead,” Cutter said. “I’m sure the freezer will be fully loaded but I’m not sure about perishable provisions.”

“We’ll make do until morning,” Linney said, suddenly hit with mind-numbing fatigue. “Then we’ll need milk for Julie. She’ll need clothes, too.”

Cutter rounded the last curve and brought the truck to a jerky stop in the driveway. He yanked the gear into park and turned to face her, his muscles taut and his jaw set at the same unyielding angle as when he’d told her she had to go to the police.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this is not a permanent arrangement.”

“But—”

“No buts. The minute we hear from Dane, Julie goes home.”

“Fine.” She jumped out of the car before she said something that would really piss Cutter off. She opened the back door to get Julie.

“I’ll carry her inside,” Cutter said, handing Linney his key ring with an oversize bronze key protruding. “You get the door.”

“You’re sure no one’s here?”

“I’m sure Merlee’s in Alaska.”

Cutter unbuckled the seat belt and lifted Julie. She squirmed, raised her head, then let it fall to his broad shoulder. His hand splayed across her back. She looked even more petite in his strong arms, Linney thought. And Cutter looked…

Linney swallowed past a disturbing lump that swelled at the back of her throat. He looked strong and protective. Yet gentle. The image was incredibly seductive and not one she needed to carry into a house where she’d be spending what was left of the night with Cutter.

This was all about getting justice for Amy. Even a hint of the passion that had burned inside her six years ago could screw up her mind and make this even harder than it already was. Far better to just stay aggravated with him.

She opened the door, stepped inside and flicked on the light. The feel of the house wrapped around her like a silken cocoon. It was Merlee to the core. Comfortable. Overflowing with warmth, from the hooked rug to the large overstuffed chairs upholstered in a muted plaid the color of autumn hay.

“We can put Julie in the guest bedroom at the end of the hall,” Cutter said. “There’s only a twin bed, but it’s next to the master suite and it will be easy to hear her if she wakes during the night. The other bedrooms are upstairs.”

“I want her near me.”

“I planned on you taking the master suite.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“I’ll bunk down somewhere if I get tired. But nearby. You’ll be safe, so try and get some sleep. And by the way, there’s no APB out on you. Dane’s working a case, probably the one we heard about on the evening news. So obviously he’s fine that Julie’s with you, at least for tonight.”

“When did you hear all that?”

“I talked to Goose while I was checking out your car. I didn’t mention it then because Julie was awake.”

So that’s why he didn’t believe that it was Dane who’d fired at her. But if not Dane, then who? Someone he’d hired? Or just another dirty cop? Danger might come from a dozen directions, but she wouldn’t back off. Amy deserved justice.

Still, Linney doubted she’d get much sleep tonight.

CUTTER STOOD on the back porch of the house staring into the darkness. No night goggles the way he’d had on nights like this in the Middle East when he’d peered into pockets of danger that lurked behind every tree.

Tonight there was just a Texas moon, its silvery light filtering through the pines and painting shadows that danced in the slight evening breeze. But inside the house where he’d grown up, mere feet away, the woman whose image had haunted him night after night for the last six years was showering and getting ready to spend the night under his roof.

He’d told himself he was over her, that the skyrockets that had lit up his life for those five days and nights of lovemaking had never been as fantastic as they seemed. It was just that they followed on the heels of the endless days of BUD/S training.

Nice theory. Too bad that seeing the machine gun pointed at her head had blown the hell out of it. He’d make certain he wasn’t stupid enough to let those uncontrollable desires take hold again.

But there wasn’t a chance he’d walk away while she was in danger. Even if she went to the police or the FBI or hired a dozen bodyguards, he wouldn’t be able to retreat from the situation until he knew she was safe.

Not that danger had ever deterred him.

Like that night in Afghanistan when he’d dropped from the helicopter with two other team members. They’d carried their full packs as they’d climbed the steep grade to the spot where Henry had last been heard from.

Sweat had dripped from Cutter’s body until he was soaking wet as they’d tramped and cut their way through the heavy underbrush where one wrong step could have sent them plunging to their death.

The difference was that Cutter had understood the danger then. The threat against Linney made no sense at all. If Dane had killed his wife and covered his tracks well, which he would surely have known how to do, then why risk killing Linney just because she’d made a useless trip to the police station?

A piercing ring broke his concentration. Not his cell phone, so it was either someone calling Merlee or Linney. He hurried through the back door and found Linney’s phone on the counter.

He checked the ID. Dane Colley. Ringing phone in hand, Cutter rushed down the hall to the master bedroom that Linney was using and knocked on the door.

“What is it?”

“You have a call from Dane.”

The door flew open, but Linney didn’t make a grab for the phone. Instead, she just stood there, wearing a white T-shirt that she must have pulled from Merlee’s closet. The shirt fell off one shoulder and barely skimmed her private area.

The sight of her like that affected Cutter like a streak of lightning, all fire and hot desire. He pushed the phone into Linney’s hands.

“Answer it.”

Finally, they might find out what was going on in Dane Colley’s mind.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.