Lonestar Sanctuary (29 page)

She'd always been attracted to the bad boys.

Even Jon had had a wild streak, one that caused him to leave her
and Betsy and go off to save the world. Allie wondered how many of
those impulses Rick had. He seemed so upright, so steady. Someone
to depend on. Jon certainly had trusted him.

His eyes opened, and she found herself staring into the depths of
those blue pools of light. He stared at her with a steady gaze she
couldn't look away from.

"Good morning," he said. He made no move to pull his arm away.

She wet her lips. "Good morning." She barely breathed, let alone
moved. One part of her wanted to bolt from the bed, and the other
wanted to move closer.

His arm shifted, and she felt a stab of disappointment until she
realized he was moving his hand up to cup her face.

"You're beautiful even in the morning," he said. His thumb rubbed
her bottom lip.

Warning bells screamed in her head, but she ignored them and
shifted closer ever so slightly. His eyes darkened at her response,
and he pulled her closer, his lips seeking hers. She fit so perfectly in
his arms.

"Mommy?" Betsy's voice was still rusty and hoarse.

Allie jerked from Rick's arms and rolled over to stare at her
daughter, whose face was by the pillow. "Hi, baby. Did you sleep well?"
Her cheeks burned, and she was sure her face had to be red.

Betsy nodded. She tugged on Allie's hand. "Can I have pancakes?"

"Okay, I'm coming."With a rueful glance at Rick, she threw back
the covers and climbed out of bed.

She wasn't sure if the reprieve was good or not.

THE TEENAGERS TALKED EXCITEDLY OYER BREAKFAST, AND RICK DIDN'T
get a word in edgewise -a good thing since he wasn't sure what to say
to Allie.

He'd totally fallen for her. Five foot two and maybe a hundred
pounds soaking wet, she had a heart as big as Texas. She'd take down
a tiger in defense of her daughter too. He liked that kind of courage
in a woman. Okay, loved that kind of courage.

He grabbed the keys to Elijah's Jeep. "Charlie, I'm going to town
today. I'll be gone most of the day, so you're in charge," he told the
young man. Eyeing the boy's plate, he grinned. "That has to be your
tenth pancake. You can sure put them away."

Charlie grinned and shrugged. "The kids want to practice barrel
racing. That okay with you?"

"Fine. Just be careful."

"Always."The kid gave him a cheeky grin.

"You ready?" Rick asked Allie. She nodded but still hadn't looked
him fully in the face since she'd scrambled from the bed.

He couldn't blame her. Everything was so weird and off kilter
right now. She'd slept in his bed, and they hadn't really acknowledged the depth of their relationship yet. Between the guy terrorizing her and Rick himself trying to win her heart, she must be
confused.

But he wasn't going to let this continue. He would find that man
and get him out of Allie's life. Then they could plan for the future.

Future. The very word set his teeth on edge. All his plans had been
set spinning by her arrival. He hadn't had a single peaceful moment
since she arrived. Maybe that was a good thing. He'd been getting
complacent, settled on a course that might have taken him right into
a life of more isolation.

He hadn't felt this alive since he'd been a kid.

Neither of them talked on the way to town. Instead of just dropping her off to spend the day with Dolly, he went inside with her to
say hello to Grady. Betsy and Courtney ran off together, and Dolly and
Allie went to the kitchen for tea.

He found Grady in his office. "Got a minute?"

Grady looked up from his Bible with a smile. "Sure, I was ready for
a break." His grin faded. "Did God die or something, bucko?"

Rick managed a weak grin. "Do I look that bad?" He should have
known Grady would call him to task.

"Worse." Grady pointed at the chair. "Sit."

Rick shut the door and dropped onto the armchair. "Someone shot
at Allie last night."

Grady studied Rick's face. "What else?"

"Isn't that enough?" Rick was in no mood to be analyzed.

"You're all still alive, so no, me bucko.You look like someone died."

Rick gave a short laugh. "I can't seem to keep my wife safe."

"She's dead?"

"No, she's in the kitchen with Dolly." In spite of himself, a grin
started to lift the corners of his mouth. Grady always did that to him.

"Then you've managed to keep her safe." Grady grinned. "You've
fallen for her, haven't you? That's the real problem. The mighty Rick
Bailey has finally fallen hard."

"Don't joke about it."

"Why not? You've gone through your life keeping everyone at
arm's length because you think you might fail them. That's being only
half-alive, bucko, and you're finally finding it out."

Rick pressed his lips together. "I'm scared," he admitted. "Why
would she want to stay with someone like me? I've got no family, no real
assets other than a strong back. I told her I wanted to work on making
the marriage a real one, and she hasn't really given me a clear answer."

"Maybe she's scared too. Have you thought about that?"

He hadn't. "Why would she be scared? She's been married before.
She knows more about it than I do."

"Exactly. She knows how bad it can hurt when things go wrong.
Maybe she's afraid of being hurt again, of loving again."

"She's probably smart to be afraid I couldn't do it," Rick muttered.

"Have you told her about your problem?"

"Nope, and I'm not going to." Rick set his jaw. "It's behind me."

Grady pointed a pencil at him. "But it's shaped you. She needs to
know the demons you deal with, just like you need to know hers. You
need to tell her before the next counseling session. It will come out
sooner or later."

"Then make it later. I'm just not ready to show her what a loser
she married," Rick muttered, standing. "I'm going down to talk to the
border patrol today. Maybe they've heard of something going on
through here."

"I thought her troubles started before she came here."

"They did." Rick shrugged. "I've got nowhere else to look." And
keeping busy was the only way to avoid running scared. On the outside, he was this strong, take-charge guy, and on the inside, he knew
his shortcomings. The trick was to make sure no one else did.

THE TEA WAS AS STRONG AS HER HUSBAND. ALLIE CHUCKLED TO HERSELF
and sipped from her mug before setting it on the coffee table. The girls
were in Courtney's room, and she and Dolly sat in the living room.
Allie was hungry for some girl talk, and maybe she'd even find out
more about her fascinating husband.

"How long have you known Rick?" she asked, curling her legs
under herself on the comfortable sofa.

"Seems like forever." Dolly stopped knitting and wrinkled her
nose. "I guess it was about two years ago that he came to help Elijah."
She shook her head. "Man, he was such a case when he walked into the
church the first time."

"What do you mean?"

"He had this tortured expression, like he'd just come through the
desert and survived. I think it was a month before he even spoke to
me or anyone else. He'd slip into the back pew at the last minute, then
rush out at the final amen."

"Was it the war?"

"I think it was more than that." Dolly's glance held curiosity. "You
don't really know him very well, do you?"

"I'd never met him before we came here."

Dolly put her hand to her mouth. "I didn't know. Grady never tells
me anything told to him in confidence." Her tone was injured. "I don't
get it, Allie. How did you marry so fast?"

"Rick was my husband's best friend. Jon, my husband, told me if I
was ever in trouble to go to Rick. My in-laws were trying to take Bets
from me, so I ran to Rick."

"And that guy was after you."

Allie nodded. "Still is. I was most afraid for Betsy. When I told
Rick about the custody issue, he told me he'd promised Jon he'd take
care of us. The marriage was all Rick's idea."

Dolly sighed. "So romantic."

Allie's lips twitched with the need to laugh. If Dolly only knew
how the marriage really was.

"He's quite a hunk." Dolly waggled her eyebrows.

Allie burst out laughing. "You're terrible."

"I tease Rick like that all the time. He knows I love my Grady."
Dolly's smile was impish. "I just like to embarrass Rick. He is so clueless around women and doesn't know what to say. It's quite endearing"

Endearing was an understatement. Appealing, infuriating,
compelling.

Allie couldn't stop thinking about Rick and what life was like for him while growing up. The little snippets Dolly had told her indicated
his childhood wasn't pleasant. What about the scars on his back? How
did he get them?

There was so much about her husband she didn't know. "I -I
noticed scars on his back. Has he ever said anything about them?"

Dolly winced. "I've seen them. He always passes them off as nothing. If he's told Grady, I wouldn't know. I know he was removed from
the care of his parents. He'd been in trouble some breaking and
entering, taking a car on a joyride. Elijah turned him around."

"I saw a picture of his brother on his nightstand. Where is he?"

"They were separated in the foster-care system. Rick used to look
for him, but all the records were lost in a fire a few years back, and he
ran up against a dead end. Chad was five when he was removed from
the home, I think. Rick never forgave himself for it. He always felt if
he'd taken better care of Chad, welfare wouldn't have moved him to
foster care. Rick never saw him again."

"And he's searched for him all these years?"Allie's heart swelled at
the thought of such devotion and dedication. There was so much more
to him than brawn.

"He gave up about a year ago. Grady told him the kid could have
changed his name. Maybe he was even adopted."

"I wish I could find him for Rick," Allie said. "What a gift that
would be. A way to say thank you for all he's done to protect Betsy
and me."

"You never know," Dolly said slowly. "Even though Rick has given
up, Grady and I try now and again to find out something. Grady
tracked down Chad's sixth-grade teacher."

A surge of excitement rolled through Allie. "Where is she?"

"She's retired now and is in an assisted-living facility in Alpine."

An hour and a half away. Still Allie had to try. "Maybe I could call."

Dolly shook her head. "Grady tried that. The woman has Alzheimer's,
and she didn't make much sense on the phone."

So much for that idea. "It probably would be a worthless trip to
try to go talk to her then."

"Maybe not. She probably has lucid times like most Alzheimer's
patients. It's worth a try. We could leave the girls with Grady and run
up there."

"You think he'd mind?"

"Nope. They won't be any trouble, and he's off today anyway."

"Then let's do it!" Allie found the more she dug under Rick's
brawny surface, the more tenderness she found.

ONE OF RICK'S FRIENDS FROM CHURCH WAS A BORDER PATROL AGENT. RICK
knew Walker Rivera would be his only hope of getting some insider
information. After stopping at the checkpoint, he was directed out to
one of the landings along the Rio Grande.

Cactus tore at his tires and bumper, and he nearly bottomed out
in the potholes along the narrow dirt road down to the river. The area
was a desolate desert until he got close to the water where trees grew
and vegetation sprouted, grabbing onto the moisture the river gave
up. The fresh scent of water made the day brighter.

Walker's SUV sat on hardpan clay. A large patch of prickly pear
cactus sprouted from under it. Rick parked behind his friend's vehicle, then followed the voices he heard echoing off the red canyon
walls that lined the river. The walk down to the river was a little steep
and treacherous, with small pebbles sliding away from his boots.

Walker and his partner were interrogating two handcuffed men. About five ten with stocky features and a handlebar mustache, Walker
had been with the border patrol nearly twenty years. The other agent
was younger, blond, and scared.

Walker fired questions at the prisoners in Spanish, then turned to
march them to the SLIV. The Baggies of brown weed in his hands told
the story.

When he saw Rick, he motioned for his partner to take the prisoners on to the vehicle. "Hey buddy, what are you doing out here?"

"Looking for information. Drugs?" he asked, nodding toward the
men who were nearly to the top of the slope.

"Marijuana."

"Seen any evidence of coyotes running illegals through the area?"
When Walker raised his eyebrows, amused, Rick added, "More so
than usual."

Walker's gaze sharpened. "How'd you know? There have been
nearly three times what we usually see."

Rick told him about the group he'd seen on the ranch and about
Allie's situation. "I even checked out the brother of the guy she sent
to prison, and he seems clean. He was up in Albuquerque."

The men had started walking up the hillside. Walker stopped and
grabbed his arm. "Albuquerque. What's his name?"

"Luis Hernandez."

Walker began to smile. "He's been on our radar, and I've got a
search warrant to deliver. That's my next stop."

Rick could have sworn the young man was clean. He was losing his
touch. "I'd like to tag along."

Walker studied Rick's face. "You know, maybe you can get us in
the door without him running. I've got a pilot ready to go. You free
right now?"

"You bet. Let's hit it."

The men climbed back in their vehicles and headed to the post.
Walker and his partner turned over the prisoners, filled out their
forms, and came out to join Rick at his truck.

Two hours later they parked outside the same dilapidated apartment house that smelled of black beans and tacos.