Guardian Ranger (14 page)

“We’ve got a problem.” She marched down the hallway, passed the small lobby area, then headed upstairs. This was her workspace. He knew that Sydney always liked privacy when she worked with her computers and—

A whistle slipped from him when he saw the destruction. “What the hell happened?”

She headed toward the laptop—Reed Montgomery’s laptop. The machine had been smashed, again and again, broken into sharp, hard pieces. Keyboard buttons were on the floor. It looked as if the machine’s hard drive had been hit repeatedly with a hammer.

“Someone didn’t want me seeing evidence,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if it was luck or whoever did this knew just what he was doing, but he smashed the platters inside the hard drive.” She looked back at Jasper. “It’s highly unlikely that I’ll be able to recover any information from this machine.”

“When?” A snarl from him.

“I was up here less than two hours ago. Logan wanted that intel on the shrink, so I had to leave before I could start processing the computer.”

Every muscle in his body was on high alert. “Only the EOD agents had access to this building.”

“The agents...” She nodded, but said, “The sheriff. The deputy...and Veronica Lane.”

He was already shaking his head. “It wasn’t her.”

“Maybe she was trying to help her brother, by hiding his guilt.”

“It wasn’t her.”
And there it was...blind trust. The same kind of trust Veronica had for Cale. The same kind of trust she’d given to Jasper just twenty-four hours ago. He spun for the door. “Where’s the sheriff?”

“Gone.” Her footsteps rushed after him. “Both Wyatt and the deputy went out to do some patrols. Logan is looking for them now but...”

He glanced back over his shoulder.

“I think you should be the one who brings Veronica in for questioning,” Sydney said, eyes wide.

“It’s not her.” He knew it with every fiber of his being. But if it wasn’t Veronica, and Cale couldn’t have smashed the machine because he’d been in custody, then someone else out there was trying to make sure that Cale Lane wasn’t cleared.

“Someone is setting me up.”
Yeah, Jasper was starting to believe Cale’s words.

“As soon as Logan finds the sheriff and deputy, I want to know.” He hurried down the stairs.

“Jasper! What about Veronica—”

“I’ll take care of her.” Sydney could interpret that any way she wanted.

Jasper grabbed his keys and raced out into the night.

* * *

V
ERONICA
’
S
SHOULDERS
HUNCHED
as she walked. She was soaked through, and the wind and rain seemed to slap at her face with every step that she took.

She didn’t have a cell phone. It hadn’t been recovered after the crash at the ranch. And no one was on this road to help her.

People were too smart to be out in the storm.

The flash drive was still in her pocket. She’d been too afraid to leave it behind in the car. It was her only evidence. She
had
to hold on to it.

She heard the growl of a motor behind her.
Yes. Finally someone!
Veronica hurried back onto the road. The car was a good distance away now. She waved her arms as soon as the headlights hit her.

The headlights were so bright.

As bright as they’d been before, when the car had come rushing at her.

She froze, with her arms still over her head. The car wasn’t slowing. The driver had to see her, even through the rain, but he wasn’t slowing.

Veronica ran back toward the side of the road. Just as she left the pavement, she slipped in the mud and fell down hard. Mud soaked her clothes, and it felt as if her shoulder slammed into a rock, but she dragged herself forward to the row of trees near the edge of the road.

Behind her, brakes squealed as the car stopped. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. Maybe the driver had seen her. Maybe he was coming to help her and she was panicking over nothing.

Maybe.

Cautiously, she turned back around. Because of the darkness, she could see very little about the car. The vehicle seemed low to the ground, with a long hood and a stretching trunk, but she couldn’t determine the car’s color or make. Veronica inched a bit closer. “Hello?” she called out. The driver’s door had opened. She’d heard it creak.

And, over the rain and her racing heartbeat, she seemed to hear footsteps.

She pressed her muddy hands against her jeans. “Hello?” Veronica tried again.

But there was no response. She crept forward, just a little, and a sudden blast of gunfire ripped right past her head. Veronica slammed into the earth instantly.

Her breath heaved in her lungs.
He shot at me.
She remembered the eyes of the men who’d died before her.

Footsteps thudded toward her.

That was no Good Samaritan up there, coming to help a stranded motorist. Her instincts had been right about that.

Whoever it was out there...he was hunting her.

Carefully, she slid back into her cover. The line of trees was thin, and wouldn’t provide her much protection. She glanced to the left, to the right. If she tried to run away from the road, she’d be running straight into the middle of nowhere. And the shooter could just follow her. Then what would she do?

Die.

Her gaze went back to the road even as she began to creep to the left, a path that would take her away from the shooter’s car and—

Another shot blasted. Veronica stopped trying to creep away. He had a lock on her. Creeping wasn’t going to work.

So she just ran. Dodging left and right, the way her brother had always told her she should run if someone was ever shooting at her.

Another Cale Lane rule...
“Never give ’em a steady target. The more you move, the harder it is for them to hit you.”

So she moved as fast as she could, dodging in between the trees, never moving in a straight line and praying,
praying,
that someone would come along soon to help her.

Then...then another vehicle’s rumbling engine cut through the wind and rain.

* * *

W
HEN
HE
HEARD
the gunfire, Jasper’s foot slammed down even harder on the accelerator. His windshield wipers sliced through the rain, and he kept a strong grip on the steering wheel. He hadn’t been able to reach Veronica at her home. The phone had just rung and rung. Every ring had made him more afraid.

There was another roll of thunder—no, hell, another blast of gunfire. He knew that familiar sound too well. He rounded a curve, headed hard and fast down the long, narrow road. He didn’t see anyone, not yet.

Then his lights cut across the darkness and the rain, and there was a shadow, a person, running right into the road. Running right at his vehicle.

He slammed on his brakes, and in that one frozen instant of time, Jasper was able to see her face.

Veronica.
Terrified.

So afraid that she’d just run right into the path of a car. He jerked the wheel to the left, determined not to hit her, and his rental car bounced twice, then came to a jarring halt in the thick sludge of mud on the shoulder of the road.

Grabbing his gun, he leaped from the vehicle.
“Veronica!”

Before his booted feet could even touch the asphalt, a car came racing right by him, sending him leaping back. The car’s engine screamed and the smell of burnt rubber filled his nose. He had a fast impression of a black car, long and lean, slicing right through the night and rain.

No tag.

Then the car was gone. Rushing away into the night.

His fingers tightened around the handle of his gun. “Veronica!” he shouted again. He rushed into the road. He hadn’t hit her, he knew he hadn’t.
Please, don’t let me have hit Veronica.

She slowly rose from the other side of the road. She walked toward him with trembling steps.

He ran to her. He grabbed her, making sure they were out of the road in case that maniac came back, and he held her as tightly as he could. “What the hell happened?”

She was soaked. Her clothes were caked with mud, and her hair hung in wet clumps around her face. She shook against him, and her fear made the rage inside Jasper burn even brighter.

“H-he... That car, it forced me off the road.”

What?

“Then th-the driver...he came back for me.” Her arms flew up and wrapped around his neck. “He shot at me. He tried to kill me...and I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to get away.”

He shot at me.

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you out of here.” He ran with her back across the road, put her inside his car, then did a quick check of the tires. They
should
be able to get out. If not, he’d claw their way out of that mud if he had to. Because he was getting her someplace safe.

He hurried back around to the driver’s side, jumped in, gunned the engine. He pushed his foot down on the gas, and, at first, the wheels just spun.

“That’s what happened to me,” she whispered. Her hands were in her lap. Her shoulders hunched.

Clenching his jaw, he tried again. The tires found traction, and the vehicle lunged forward. He drove fast and hard, even as he yanked out his phone to call Logan. The other agent answered the call on the second ring.

“I’m on Hawkeye Road with Veronica.” His words snapped out. “Some SOB in a black vehicle just took shots at her.”

“What?”

“Classic car, the kind that would stick out in a place like this,” Jasper said, his voice clipped. The length of the hood and trunk had been familiar to him. “No tags, but that car is going to be easy to track. Looked like an Impala.”

“On it,” Logan said. “You bringing her in?”

He slanted a fast glance at Veronica.
Someone had tried to kill her.
If he’d been just a few minutes later...

“I’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep her safe.” Because in that one instant, when he’d seen her on the road, her beautiful face illuminated by his headlights, fear so heavy on her features, everything had changed for him.

This wasn’t about a mission and not about a case. It wasn’t even about the poor men who’d lost their lives.

It was about Veronica. For him, she
was
the goal. Keeping her safe, keeping her alive and stopping the fool who thought that he’d hurt her.

Not on my watch.

Because until the EOD caught that guy, Jasper wasn’t leaving Veronica’s side.

Chapter Eleven

She entered the makeshift EOD headquarters with slow steps. Veronica knew that she looked like hell, but she didn’t care. She was pretty much just glad to be alive at this point.

Sydney’s eyes widened when she caught sight of Veronica, and she hurried toward her. “Are you hurt?”

A few scrapes and bruises didn’t qualify in Veronica’s mind, so she shook her head. Jasper stood behind her, and she was far too conscious of him, and of the deadly look in his eyes. She’d made the mistake of looking into that lethal stare a few moments before. She’d never seen that level of rage before, not from anyone.

He’d been silent after that phone call to the other agent, but she’d felt his anger. When she looked into his eyes, she could see his fury.

Veronica cleared her throat. “I’m going to assume that my brother is still under guard.”

Sydney nodded.

Veronica reached into her pocket and pulled out the flash drive. “Then you know he wasn’t responsible for the shots taken at me. Someone else is hunting in this town.
Not Cale.
And this...this can prove his story about heading down to the Caribbean to work a case.”

She handed the flash drive to Sydney.

A frown pulled Sydney’s brows together. “Where’d you get this?”

“From Reed Montgomery’s computer.” She shrugged. The mud felt cold and hard on her skin. “So I tampered with the scene. Lock me up if you—”

“
No one
is locking you up,” Jasper snarled immediately.

Sydney’s eyes widened. “That’s why the computer was smashed.”

What? Veronica shook her head. “Look, I called earlier and told Jimmy what I’d found. He was supposed to tell—”

The doors burst open behind her. Wyatt rushed inside, his face haggard. “Veronica!” He grabbed her and pulled her into a crushing hug. “Oh, damn, when Logan got me on the radio and told me about the attack...” He pushed her back, stared down at her with blazing eyes. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. She wasn’t going to let herself think too much about the bullet that had missed her head by about, oh, an inch.

Jasper clapped his hand down on Wyatt’s shoulder and jerked him back. “Where were you?”

“I— What?” Wyatt frowned at him. “Kyle Jamison’s house took a hit from the storm. A tree crashed into the side of his place. I went to see how he was, to make sure everything was all right.”

“And where’s your deputy?” Sydney asked him quietly.

Wyatt glanced back at her, brows rising. “Jimmy’s out patrolling. With the storms still running through the area, we needed to make sure folks here were safe. That no one was stranded anywhere.”

Stranded as she’d been. Stuck on the side of the road. Easy pickings.

No. Her shoulders straightened.
Not so easy.

“Why are you checking on me?” Wyatt asked as his eyes suddenly narrowed. Then he looked over at Veronica. “Oh, no, you don’t think that I—”

“Evidence has been destroyed,” Sydney interrupted. “Evidence that only a few people in this town had access to.”

“What kind of evidence?” Wyatt wanted to know as he yanked a hand through his wet hair.

“Reed Montgomery’s computer. I think the killer smashed it to hell and back because he didn’t want us to find...” Sydney held up the flash drive. “This
.
”

He shook his head. “I haven’t destroyed anything. Why would I care about Reed Montgomery’s computer? I
want
you to catch any killers in my town. This is a safe place.” His voice dropped. “Or it was.” Raindrops trickled down the side of his face. “I came to Whiskey Ridge so I could get away from all the death and violence. I sure never thought it would follow me here.”

The door opened once more. Logan stepped inside. He swept a fast glance at Sydney, then at Jasper. The gaze he gave Wyatt held suspicion.

“I can’t seem to locate your deputy,” Logan said. “He won’t answer his radio or his cell.”

Wyatt’s chin lifted. “Jimmy’s probably just out of his car. Helping someone.”

“Maybe.” Logan’s tone said he doubted that possibility.

Wyatt’s gaze narrowed as he snapped to his full height. “You said someone
shot
at Veronica. Jimmy would never do that! The kid wants to keep everyone safe in this town. He’d have no reason to go after Veronica. She’s—”

“Did he tell you that I called?” Veronica asked because she had to know this.

Everyone went silent.

She could hear the ticking of the clock on the desk in the lobby.

The lines on Wyatt’s face deepened. Confusion clouded his eyes. “What call?”

That was the answer that she needed, and the one that she dreaded.

Jasper eased closer to her. “Why did you call the sheriff?”

“Because I didn’t know your number.” Her shoulder lifted in a sad shrug.
Jimmy.
She’d tutored him when he was in high school. Little Jimmy Jones. His dad had been killed in the military, and his mom had always struggled to make ends meet. Struggled...until Jimmy had been eighteen; then his mother had cut out of town and left him behind.

She’d never come back.

Taking a deep breath, Veronica said, “I called Wyatt because I thought he’d believe me about the evidence I’d found.” She nodded toward Sydney’s hand and the small drive that the agent had gripped in her fingers. “I knew the evidence was also on the computer that had been taken from the scene. A file that Reed had. By itself, it’s not that much. I mean, it’s a start, anyway. Bread crumbs that can help lead us to what’s really happening.”

“When did you call?” Sydney wanted to know.

“I... Jimmy didn’t tell me that you called.” Wyatt’s voice was low now. She could see the suspicion in his gaze. When Jimmy had been left alone, Wyatt had stepped in. He tried to help the teen as much as he could. She knew Jimmy was a deputy because of Wyatt. Jimmy had wanted to be just like him.

And like Cale.

Cale had always been there for Jimmy, too. Teaching him to shoot. To hunt.

To...kill?

“When did you call?” Sydney repeated.

Veronica glanced at the clock on the desk. “About two hours ago.”

“Right before the computer was smashed.”

Jimmy? She just never would have suspected him. He still blushed when girls smiled at him. “The car that drove me off the road, it went back down Hawkeye, heading toward my house.”

“Probably because he was going to search for the evidence,” Jasper said, voice rumbling, “and when he couldn’t find it there, he went back to make sure you didn’t get a chance to tell anyone else about what you’d found.”

Logan closed the distance between him and Sydney. “Can you get a GPS track going on his phone?”

She nodded. “As long as the phone’s on.” Then she turned away and headed out of the room.

Wyatt swore. “You’re telling me...my own deputy...is the one who did all these murders? Him, and not Cale?”

Her gaze snapped up to Wyatt.

“Cale hasn’t been cleared on anything yet,” Logan said, eyes and voice both hard. “We’re gonna find Jimmy. We’ll bring him in, and then we’ll see just what the hell is happening in this town.”

For such a sleepy town, Whiskey Ridge sure had a lot of deaths.

Jasper’s fingers curled around Veronica’s wrist. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I’m sure Sydney has some clothes she can borrow,” Logan murmured. “You taking her to the motel?”

Jasper nodded. He tugged on Veronica’s wrist. She didn’t move. She was remembering that car, coming at her. At the time, she’d been so scared, but now... “Wyatt, didn’t Jimmy buy an old car a few years back? One that he wanted to restore?”

“That black ’67?” Wyatt gave a nod. “Yeah, he’s been keeping it in his garage, but I think it’s almost...”

He trailed off as he saw the tension on Jasper’s face.

She thought about Jimmy’s old car. About the long, heavy lines of the ride he’d loved so much. Then she said, sadly, “I’m pretty sure that’s the car that ran me off the road.”

Logan swore. Then he rushed to follow Sydney. “Syd, I need that GPS
now.
”

Because it looked as though they’d found the man who’d just tried to kill her, and it was one of the men who’d promised to protect and serve everyone in Whiskey Ridge.

* * *

V
ERONICA
CAME
OUT
of the shower, dressed in a white terry cloth robe. Her hair trailed over her shoulders, and her skin was flushed.

She still looked too fragile. But he’d realized that the delicate appearance was only skin deep for Veronica.

The woman had a core of steel.

“When were you gonna tell me that you lifted that flash drive?” he asked her.

She paused at the threshold of the bathroom. Steam drifted around her. They were in his motel room. He had the door bolted, and he figured it was time they cleared the air between them.

Provided, of course, that he could keep his hands off her.

“I was going to get around to that,” she murmured, “but there was the little matter of you getting shot, me finding out you were an EOD agent and, then, well, you arresting my brother.”

“Yeah, the little matter of all that.” He stalked toward her.

She tensed. “I thought I had the room to myself. You were supposed to wait outside while I showered.”

“I’m not going anyplace. You were almost killed tonight.” The memory had his heart racing. “Do you know what that did to me?”

She looked confused. As if she couldn’t figure out why her death would matter to him.

He put his hands on her, right near her shoulders. She smelled fresh and clean and just looking at her made him ache. So the whole no-touching-her bit had lasted for all of five seconds. The woman made him weak.

“You were worried,” she said, giving a little nod. “You’re an agent, so your job is—”

“Forget the job.” Anger thickened his voice. “This isn’t about a job any longer. It’s about you.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I’m not on the EOD’s side, okay? I’m not using you. I’m not trying to get information on your brother. I’m here, right now, because there is no other place on this whole earth that I’d rather be. I
want
to be with you.”

“Jasper.” Her gaze searched his.

What was she looking for? What emotion? What truth? Whatever it was, he sure as hell hoped that she found it.

“The case is between us, I get that. You think your brother’s innocent? You think he’s being set up by that deputy?”

“Yes.” She breathed the words. “I do.”

Such incredible faith. He wanted her to have that kind of faith in him.

“Then consider me on your side from here on out.” The choice really was that simple to him. He couldn’t keep ripping her apart by going after her brother. He’d resign from the EOD. He’d be with her.

If she wanted him.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

He had to kiss her. That little stutter got to him every single time. His lips brushed hers, gentle, because he was determined to be, for now. “I’m saying that I have your back, always.” Another kiss against her lips. “I’m saying that you can trust me to be there for you.”

Her lips parted in surprise.

Another kiss. This time, his tongue dipped inside her mouth and tasted that sweetness.

“If your brother is being set up, we’ll find the evidence that links Jimmy to the kills. We’ll clear Cale.”

And if he isn’t innocent...if Jimmy and Cale are somehow working together...

He’d still be there for Veronica. From now on, he planned to be the man she needed him to be.

“Why?” she asked him softly. “Why are you changing your mind? Is it because of—”

“It’s because of you.” Simple. “I won’t lose you.” Not when she was everything that he’d ever been looking for his whole life.

Once, he’d told Logan that if a woman ever looked at him the way Logan’s fiancée, Juliana, looked at that guy...well, Jasper had said that he’d hold as tight to that woman as he could. Jasper hadn’t known a lot of love in his life, but he’d seen it in Juliana’s gaze when she looked at Logan.

And, too late, he realized that he’d seen the same look in Veronica’s eyes. Hope, trust, love—all of that had been in her eyes.

I want that look again.
He’d work for it, do anything necessary, in order for her to look at him that way again.

“You wanted me once,” he whispered against her mouth. “I can make you want me again.”

Her hands rose, slowly, and settled lightly on either side of his jaw. Her stare was guarded now, but he could be patient. He could prove his worth to her.

“Jasper...”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I can’t lose you.” How had she come to mean so much to him, so quickly? The image of her on that rain-soaked road would haunt him until he died.

“I’m not going anyplace,” Veronica told him. She stepped closer to him, erasing the last bit of distance that separated them. “I want to be with you.”

His control began to fracture. He kissed her again. Harder. Her hands dropped to his chest, smoothed over his skin. His fingers went to the belt of her robe, pulled the tie loose and slid inside to find smooth, naked skin.

But she pushed against him. “Jasper, your shoulder, your wound...”

“I’ll hurt more if I can’t have you.” The need to take her again blazed through him. Death had been too close. He had to know that she was safe. Jasper wanted her body against his, and he wanted the pleasure to wipe away the fear that made him feel hollow inside.

And to think that some of his EOD buddies believed he was a man who didn’t understand fear.

I understand it now.

Jasper kissed his way down her neck and enjoyed the shiver that slid over her body. Her hands were being so careful on him, but a little pain wasn’t about to slow him down.

He led her to the bed. Kissed her, caressed the flesh that seemed to have been made just for his hands. Her nipples were tight, pink and he laved them with his tongue. She liked that. He could hear her pleasure in the moan that slipped from her lips. Good. Because he sure liked tasting her.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said again. Her hands were hesitant on him. He glanced up at her. Desire was warm in her eyes, and her flush had deepened.