Colorado Flames WIth A Texas Twist (3 page)

Two years ago, when a new distributor of premium grade cocaine had shown up on the market, the man had killed off a couple of drug kings, cleaning house and ridding the world of a few headaches. But the clean sweep brought in new problems that were ten times worse than the previous ones. This new drug lord not only dealt in drugs, but also human flesh, and to make matters worse, he was dipping into the arms market. It had taken the team at Wild Bluff more than a year to piece it all together. In that time, the home base for the drug lord had moved four times. He’d hidden his activities well, making it hard to track their location, but now Duff had it. A politician from another country was willing to pay to have the drug lord exterminated. He should be happy, but he wasn’t.

Duff’s head pounded as he stared at the computer. Getting rid of this guy would be huge. The politician was willing to act because girls and boys from his country were disappearing. One girl every few months wouldn’t be troubling, but seventy children were missing in the last six months. How the fuck did seventy children go missing? The media wasn’t reporting anything because the kids weren’t all taken at the same time or from the same place. Duff hadn’t believed the evidence at first, but once he delved into the material, the truth was undeniable.

Duff called a meeting, wishing they had James around to help with the decision process. Marshal was incapacitated physically, but not mentally, so he was in. Roger had come aboard recently compared to the other guys, but he was smart and would add value. There were enough guys available to have a good discussion and to raise counterpoints. James being gone was an annoyance, but not enough of a bother to call him home. Billy’s leg was fine. The bullet had just scratched him, leaving him with a mark, but no lasting damage.

As Duff looked at it, there was no delaying the mission. The window for the kill would be small. Truthfully, Duff had already made up his mind, but he might be biased in this circumstance since this bastard had basically been thumbing his nose at law enforcement. The drug lord seemed invincible. Duff really wanted input from all of the guys before he said what he thought. Part of him hoped the guys would find some hole in his logic and they’d be spared having to do the mission, but he really wanted this guy gone.

Duff sent a text to everyone except James, asking them to gather in the den at two. The ranch chores were complete and their noon meal was done. A few of the guys were watching a movie, and the others were relaxing. It was as good a time as any to have the meeting.

The guys filed in to the den, the atmosphere jovial until they saw the serious look on Duff’s face. The mood changed and everyone settled quickly. He stared at each of them, making sure they knew this was serious. James’s logistical expertise would be missed, but Zander and Grant were both logistics experts and could handle the situation.

“I guess you know I didn’t call you down to party,” Duff said. They all nodded and Duff continued, explaining the situation. “This opportunity comes from a government contact.”

“You going to tell us which one?” Grant asked.

“Not yet, though we have worked with the government contact before. The only question is, can we trust that they’ve given us the correct date. This is going to be a tricky mission because the DEA is set to go in the day after we do our deal.”

After a collective groan, silence filled the room. None of the guys liked to work against their government. They all knew that the government was limited, and even when a conviction was secured, that didn’t mean the criminal would actually serve any time. Sometimes the government messed up situations, making the problems worse. The US government operating overseas made it even more tricky. Would Brazil fight to prosecute this guy, or would he be the responsibility of the US government? Making the decision to step in before the DEA made their move was difficult, adding a layer of complexity to the operation.

“I’d like to see the documentation,” Tucker said.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Our preparation window isn’t long. Let’s work this. I want every question raised, and remember nothing is too small. I think we should have a plan in a few days.”

“Sounds good,” Grant stood and stretched. “I’m going to freshen up and start a pot of coffee.”

“I’ll start a stew in the crockpot,” Zander said.

“We should probably check the supplies, make sure we don’t need to do a run to the grocery store,” Billy added.

Duff sat back and watched his guys break down the assignments. They were preparing for the long haul. It would take them hours and hours of examination to figure out if they wanted to go in and take down this bastard, if it was feasible, or if they should leave it to the government to clean up the mess.

Most of the guys left the room, but Roger stayed behind. Duff moved to sit beside him. “You feel okay about this?”

“It’s odd. I mean with Craig, we were on our own. No one really knew how bad he was. Sure, the English government wanted to close in on him, but they didn’t have a clue who Craig was or his location. It was different. Then with Grayson McKay and Saoirse we were trying to shut down the money trail. But this one, we already know the US government and the Brazilian government is going to go in the day after we strike to make an arrest. Should we even be thinking about killing the guy?”

“That’s why were discussing this. It’ll take hard work to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“What about James?” Roger asked.

Duff shook his head. “He’ll show up eventually.”

“I don’t know.” Roger stood, his lips turned down in a frown.

“Just give us a few days to go over this information. We’ll drop ranch duties to a minimum and focus on the mission. If you still have misgivings at that time, we’ll address them.”

“I’m going to go shower with Grant.”

Duff opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out. Roger halted midway across the room and turned back to him, his face red.

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Just ignore that.”

“Don’t worry, son. Go have some fun. This will be the last bit of relaxed alone time you and Grant have until we figure this out.”

Roger left the room, and Tucker and Billy came in holding hands. Everywhere he looked the men were paired off. It almost made him want to find a woman to call his own. He sighed and shook his head. Making any attachment would be dangerous. Women wanted to know everything, and he would never be able to tell a woman one thing about his life, who he worked with, and he’d damn sure never be able to bring her home. All in all, dating was off the agenda for him.

Chapter Four

James hadn’t felt right since arriving back at the ranch. He’d not shown his face in the house, instead he’d gone directly to the barn to work off his emotions. Maybe it was the kiss that had freaked him out, but there was something else that didn’t fit. As he cleaned the horse stalls he thought about his latest trip into town. Fuck, that kiss still had him hard. Normally, if he were this worked up, he’d jerk off and be over it, but he wanted to hold onto the feeling for as long as possible, remembering exactly how Brody had felt in his arms.

Leaving the parking lot had been hard. He’d wanted to stay and embrace Brody again, kissing him more than once, but that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, he’d be lucky if Brody ever said another word to him.

Still, there was something off. Maybe it had to do with Becky and her chatter. He went back over the conversation, well, they weren’t real conversations Becky had with him, but monologues where she dumped information. Nothing stood out there. The guys Brody had been eating with were the normal firemen he’d seen while he’d been watching Brody.

The town was lazy, nothing much happened to cause a stir. Their biggest events were the Christmas dance and the spring bazaar. Nothing stood out and no one was out of place. Nothing big drew his attention in town, but there had been something he’d witnessed that left him feeling uneasy.

As he loaded more straw into the horse stalls he went over everything he’d seen while in town. Something didn’t belong. He got distracted on the kiss again and shook his head. That’s when it hit him. After the kiss, when he’d still been in shock from having Brody’s lips plastered against his, he’d seen someone watching from an alley. Fuck, the guy didn’t belong there, and James had almost missed it.

He finished at the horse barn and raced to the house, blowing through the kitchen door and into the den.

“Hold on there,” Duff called out.

“Sorry, I need to...” He slowed down and took a deep breath. “Did you need something?”

“You’ve been gone a lot. What’s up?”

Telling the truth wouldn’t help Brody right now. Later, once everything was settled and he figured out who the person watching Brody was, he’d tell Duff about his obsession. For now, it needed to stay quiet.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind. I’m just trying to work through it all. Nothing big, just you know, stuff.”

Duff stood and stepped close, placing a hand on James’s shoulder. “There are things—never mind. I’m here if you need me. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Duff nodded, dismissing him. He took off to his room, tossing his clothes in the corner before stepping into the shower. It was the fastest shower he’d ever taken, and he was out before a minute was over. His jeans caught on his damp thighs as he tugged them on, raking the stiff material over his skin, causing his legs to sting.

Brody would hate him for coming back, but that was okay. The guy probably hated him anyway. He left the ranch without seeing any of the guys. It was odd, but he dismissed it, concentrating on Brody. The drive into town went quickly, and he parked down the street from Brody’s house. The night was quiet and he breathed out slowly, calming his racing heart. He’d snoop in just a bit, after he figured out if anyone was close.

Like most of the neighborhoods in the small town, the houses were spread out, with few houses close together. The sun had already set, leaving the landscape washed in shades of black with few pools of light to break up the darkness. He grabbed his night vision scope and started looking for anyone else in the area.

Maybe he was overplaying the situation, but what if Brody really was in trouble. Everything seemed quiet, and he was about to exit his truck when he saw a figure dash from behind Brody’s house. He grabbed his scope, searching for the movement. The person came into view, and he realized it was Brody. The man was going for a jog in the middle of the night. James tossed his scope on the seat and grabbed his keys, stuffing them in the front pocket of his jeans. He’d run in jeans before, but the stiff material slowed him down. At least with the chill of the mountain cooled air the denim wouldn’t be plastered to his legs, but this jog wouldn’t be comfortable for him.

By the time he rounded the corner, Brody was at least a half-mile ahead of him. The night wasn’t turning out how he wanted. Following Brody was probably the dumbest thing he’d done in his life. The man wasn’t his to look after, but that kiss had spoke of a different story, one where he and Brody could make a go of it in a relationship filled with passion and something more.

*~*~*

Brody shut the door to his house and leaned against the wall, wondering just how far those psychos at that ranch would take their threats. Had they entered his house already? He didn't think his home had been violated, but he wasn't sure.

The blinds were still shut, and nothing looked like it had been gone through, but would he know? Nothing smelled different, and it didn’t seem like anyone had been inside. He was probably making a bigger deal out of the situation than any other sane person would.

But what if they were watching him right now?

He blew out a breath and threw his hands up in the air. "Fuck, what the fuck do you want from me? I swear I won't tell anyone. Just fucking leave me alone."

It was crazy to yell at no one, but was it no one? The questions he had were driving him crazy. What if that guy was outside, watching him? He glanced at the window, seeing that his blinds were closed securely. He hadn't opened them once in the last week. The paranoia was driving him crazy.

It was like he was back in Washington again. Fuck, that had been a messed up time in his life. He’d fucked up so badly he’d almost died. God, if only he could go back and do things over again. The circumstances had thrown him into it, so maybe he wouldn’t do anything differently.

Brody ripped off his shirt and tossed it on the floor. Next he shoved his jeans to the ground and kicked off his shoes, getting tangled up in his pants. He tried to recover, but toppled over, catching himself on the couch. Heat flashed through him and he stared up at this ceiling, searching for hidden cameras.

"There, did you think that was funny? Did you? Fuck!"

Grabbing his jeans, he wadded them up and tossed them across the room. He raced to his bedroom and grabbed a pair of running shorts. It was dark outside and he didn't give a shit that he hadn't grabbed a jockstrap. If he could, he'd run naked. The temperature did drop at night, so running naked would be cold, but it would feel damn good to run free.

Last year, he'd installed a keypad lock on his backdoor so when he went for a run he didn't even have to carry his keys with him. With his running shoes on, he raced outside, stopping to press the lock button before starting his run. He cruised through his yard, jogging slowly before turning onto the street.

Keeping pace was important to him, so he ramped up his speed and ran along the road, staying off the grass and dirt. Running here in this scrubby landscape was different than back in Washington where huge trees and lush gardens were part of the backdrop. In this part of Colorado, near desert conditions created a special kind of stark beauty. Little grew from the ground, and what did usually was pine or cedar trees.

He settled into his run and his thoughts bounced from work to James. Part of him, the stupid part with balls for brains, wanted James to stick around. The guy was built, sexy as hell and had luscious lips. But why the fuck was he thinking about any guy that way? He was dating Jessica. At least he was supposed to be dating Jessica, but they'd only gone out to a few movies, and he habitually avoided being alone with her. She'd mentioned more than once that guys usually were itching to get private time with her, giving him subtle hints but growing bolder the longer he held out. He never played along with her game, only going as far as simple kisses on the lips. Anything more, he couldn’t do.