Taking Aim (4 page)

His lips twitched, the movement softening his features to almost human. “Both.”

Jacie sat back, her gaze back on the road, her chest tightening. “Turn left at the next road.”

Zach nodded.

“Did she know you loved her?” Jacie closed her eyes. “That was too personal. You don’t have to answer. I’m sorry. While Tracie went into the FBI, I knew I couldn’t because I can’t keep my mouth shut unless I’m out hunting.”

“Pretend you’re hunting.” Zach turned where she’d indicated. “And no. She didn’t know.” He pulled up to a closed gate attached to six-foot-high fencing. “Game ranch?”

“That’s what I do. I didn’t go to Quantico or study to be a doctor. I got my marketing degree from the University of Texas and came back here to work as a hunting party coordinator, a fancy title for trail guide. It allows me to be where I love to be, outside, and working with horses and people.” She couldn’t help the defensive tone in her voice.

“I’m not judging.”

“I love my sister and I’m so proud of her, but part of me feels as though I didn’t push hard enough, that I’m not living up to my potential. I went on trail rides while my sister ran off to be an FBI agent working for the good of her country.”

“And look what it got her.” Zach’s lips thinned. “Betrayal by that country she’s fighting for.”

“I don’t believe that. One bad apple, and all that, doesn’t mean everyone will turn traitor. I still believe in the FBI and the other branches of service dedicated to protecting our freedom. And I’m sure Tracie feels the same. If she knew there was a mole in the organization, she didn’t run from it, she went looking for it. Especially since she asked Hank for help.”

Zach nodded toward the gate. “I take it the gate doesn’t open without a remote.”

Jacie’s face heated. She slipped from the truck and ran to the gate, punching in a code, triggering the automatic gate opener arm to swing out.

Jacie climbed back into the truck and sat quietly as Zach drove the winding road that led to the lodge at the Big Elk Ranch.

The lights shone bright, unusual for the earliest hours of the morning.

Before the vehicle came to a halt, Richard Giddings leaped off the porch and opened the passenger door to the pickup. “Oh, thank God.” The tall man with the slightly graying temples reached out. His hands circled her waist and he lifted Jacie to the ground. “I’d been so worried about you. When your hunting party never returned, I had everyone out looking until midnight. When Derringer called to say you were on your way, I was relieved and sick all at once.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her toward the house. He’d taken a couple of steps before he stopped and stared down into her eyes. “I’m so sorry about your sister.”

Despite the exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her, Jacie planted her feet in the ground and threw back her shoulders. “Tracie will be all right. We’ll get her back.”

Richard smiled down at her with his warm green eyes. “She’s a fighter, just like her sister.”

“Damn right.” Jacie backed away from her boss. “Richard, I’d like you to meet Zach.” She stopped, realizing for the first time she didn’t know Zach’s full name. She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, hoping he’d take the hint.

Zach stepped forward and held out his hand. “Zach Adams.”

Richard’s eyebrows V’d over his nose. “Should I know you?”

“Not at all.” He glanced at Jacie and smiled. “Jacie and I go way back to college, don’t we?”

“Y-yes. We do.”

“We dated for a while, lost touch, but I just couldn’t forget her. And since I was in the neighborhood, I planned on reconnecting in the morning, once I got my bearings.” He shook his head. “Imagine my surprise when she found me first at Hank’s place.”

Richard held out a hand and shook Zach’s. “You picked a really bad time.”

“No, actually.” Jacie crossed to Zach’s side. “I’m glad he’s here. With Tracie being gone and all, it’s nice to have the support of...friends.” She hooked her arm through his. “Do you mind if he stays in the Javelina Cabin? I know it’s empty.” And it was the closest one to the tiny cabin she’d called home since she came to work full-time at the Big Elk Ranch.

“Sure.” Richard nodded. “You can show him the way. I’ll have Tia Fuentez make up a plate of food since you missed dinner. How about you, Mr. Adams? Hungry?”

“Call me Zach. And no, thank you. I had my supper.” He pulled Jacie close. “But I’ll use that time to get a shower and hit the rack.”

“Make yourself at home. The ranch is big, but the people are friendly.”

“I’ve noticed that.” He smiled again at Jacie. “I’m looking forward to catching up with Jacie, and maybe we’ll hear something about her sister soon.”

Jacie steered Zach toward the line of cabins leading away from the lodge. As soon as they were out of listening range, she whispered, “Why did you lie to my boss?”

“I’d just as soon everyone in this part of Texas think that I’m here as an old college buddy or boyfriend, rather than an agent searching for your sister. In this case, we don’t know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. So we play it neutral and I blend in. The best undercover agents are those who blend in.”

“Okay, then. When do we start looking for my sister?”

“Was that a helicopter I saw out by the barn?”

Jacie frowned, taken off guard by the change in subject. “Yes, Richard has a helicopter he uses occasionally for the big game hunts or flight-seeing tours over Big Bend.”

“Think he’ll take us up so that we can fly over the canyon?”

Her heart fluttered with excitement. “I’m sure he will. I’ll ask.” Maybe they’d spot the people holding Tracie.

“Good. It would be better coming from you, since it’s your sister and you work here. Remember, I’m just a boyfriend.”

Her cheeks warmed at the thought of Zach as her boyfriend, even if it was pretend. “I’ll get right on it.”

“I’m gonna hit the sack for a few hours of sleep. We have a busy day ahead of us. I suggest you do the same.”

She nodded, staring out at the night sky, wondering what her sister was going through and if she was okay. “We’re going to find her.”

When he didn’t respond, Jacie’s fists tightened. “We
will
find my sister.”

“I promise you this.” He faced her, capturing her cheeks in his hands, his gaze severe, his lips pressed into a firm line. “I’ll do the best I can.”

A shiver rippled across Jacie’s skin as she gazed into his brown-black eyes. The intensity of his stare and the tightness of his grip on her face gave her a sense of comfort and commitment. This man had lost someone he loved to terrorist cartel members. He wouldn’t let it happen again if he could help it. They would get her sister back or die trying.

Chapter Four

Jacie showed Zach to the cabin and left him to get a shower.

After retrieving his duffel bag, he checked his cell phone, surprised that he had reception. Out in the boonies of south Texas, he hadn’t seen much in the way of reception outside the small town of Wild Oak Canyon. The Big Elk Ranch must have a cell tower of its own.

Glad for the ability to use his own phone, Zach didn’t lose time in contacting an old buddy from his Quantico days back on the East Coast.

“Hello?” a gravelly voice answered on the fifth ring.

“Jim, Zach Adams.”

“Zach?” James Coslowski paused. The sound of something falling in the background, followed by a curse, crossed the airwaves. “Do you realize it’s only three in the morning?”

“Sorry for the late call, but I need a favor.”

“And it couldn’t have waited until morning?”

“No. I need to know everything about Special Agent Tracie Kosart that you can find, and as soon as possible.”

“I repeat...this couldn’t wait until I’ve had a gallon of coffee, say after a more reasonable hour like seven?”

“She was abducted tonight by what appears to be a Mexican drug cartel.”

“Damn.” The gravel had been scraped from Jim’s voice. “You know I’m not supposed to release any information—”

“I know. I’m asking as a huge favor. I’m working this case as a private investigator, but I need to know why they would have abducted her. Anything you can find out and share would help.”

“Still, you’re no longer with the agency.”

Zach snorted. “Since when are you a rule follower?”

“Since I got married and have a wife, and a baby on the way.”

Zach’s chest tightened. “Sorry, man. I didn’t know. Congratulations.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know, having dropped off the face of the earth for the past two years.” Jim sighed. “I’ll do the best I can. Just don’t go all vigilante and get yourself into trouble.”

Zach’s fist tightened around the cell phone. “What difference would it make? I didn’t get any help from my employer last time. I certainly don’t expect any better this time.”

“Just stay safe. Some of us care what happens to you.”

His heart pounding against his ribs, Zach ended the call, grabbed a towel from the bathroom closet and hit the shower.

So much time had passed since he’d been gone from the FBI. Jim had been a good friend and Zach hadn’t even acknowledged his wedding. The invitation had likely been tossed with all the mail he’d ignored for so long.

About time he rejoined the human race and pulled his head out of the dark fog he’d sunk into.

* * *

J
ACIE
HURRIED
TO
the main lodge and entered through the back door. Richard had only left them a few moments before; surely he hadn’t gone straight to bed. Not with members of his guest list dead and Jacie’s sister missing.

As she’d expected, she found him in the resort’s office, surrounded by rich wood paneling and bookshelves filling two walls from floor to ceiling.

Richard sat behind his desk, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Jacie cleared her throat.

Her boss glanced up, his eyes bloodshot, the lines beside his eyes and denting his forehead deeper than she’d remembered. “Come in, Jacie.” He rose from his chair and rounded his desk, opening his arms to her.

She fell into them, pressing her face against his broad chest. This man had been like a father to her since she’d come to work full-time for him. “Will we get her back?”

“Damn right we will,” he said, his voice gruff, his arms tightening around her for a moment. He then pushed her to arm’s length. “I’ve been thinking. Tomorrow at sunup, we’ll take the chopper up and do our own search for her. To hell with waiting for the government to get out there. I figure the more people looking, the better.”

Jacie stared up at her boss, blinking the tears from her eyes. Richard wasn’t good around emotional women, and Jacie made certain she didn’t put him in a position to deal with female emotions. She forced a smile, though her lips quivered. “Thank God. I was just coming to ask you if we could use the helicopter.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to find your sister, Jacie. This should never have happened. I should have done a better background search on those DEA agents.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

His hands squeezed her arms. “That could be you out there.”

She hadn’t thought of it that way, and she couldn’t now. “But it wasn’t.”

“Still. I might have lost my best PR woman and trail guide. Do you know how hard it is to find someone like you?” He dropped his hands from her arms and stepped back, running his fingers through his graying hair. “We’ll find her. Mark my words.” His voice was thick and he appeared to be on the edge of a rare emotional display.

“Thanks.” Jacie touched her boss’s shoulder. “You and I better get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.”

He nodded without speaking.

Her chest tight, emotions running high, Jacie left the lodge and returned to her cabin with her first glimmer of hope.

Once inside, with the door closed behind her, she felt the walls press in around her. She paced the inside of her tiny cabin, her heart alternating between settled and crazed. Her sister was out there with terrorists and she could do nothing about it until daylight. The canyons were dangerous enough without the cloak of darkness hiding the animals and drop-offs. It would be suicide to ride back out there. Yet every fiber of her being urged her to do just that.

A woman of action, she felt the inaction eating at her like cancer. Jacie entered the little bedroom, determined to shower and try to rest. Tomorrow would be a long day spent in the canyon. Hopefully they’d find something that would lead them to Tracie.

And to think Tracie had come here to get away from the stress of her job. Some stress relief. Or had she come for an entirely different reason?

Jacie glanced at the phone on the nightstand. Hank had promised to contact the FBI and DEA, but what about Tracie’s boyfriend, Bruce Masterson? Granted, he was an FBI agent himself, but large federal agencies like the FBI didn’t always communicate to all persons involved.

She hesitated.

Her sister hadn’t admitted to any trouble between the two of them, but she hadn’t been as excited as she’d been about Bruce the last time Jacie spoke with her on the phone. Still, the man had been Tracie’s boyfriend for the past year and had moved in with her six weeks ago. He deserved to know his girlfriend was missing.

Jacie pushed aside her misgivings and reached for the phone, dialing the number Tracie had given when she’d moved in with Bruce.

On the fourth ring, a male, groggy voice answered, “Masterson.”

“Bruce?” Jacie asked.

“Tracie?” The grogginess disappeared. “Where are you?”

Bruce’s response told Jacie a lot. Tracie hadn’t informed him of her destination. “No, Bruce, this isn’t Tracie. It’s Jacie, her twin.”

“Oh.” He paused. “Is Tracie with you?”

“No.”

“She’s not here, if that’s what you wanted to know.”

“I know.” Jacie dragged in a deep breath. “That’s why I’m calling.”

“What’s wrong?” Bruce demanded. “Is it Tracie? Is she okay?”

A sob rose in her throat and threatened to cut off Jacie’s air. “I don’t know,” she managed, her voice shaking.

“What happened, damn it?” Bruce’s voice rose.

“She came to visit the night before last and insisted on coming with me on a hunt.” Jacie told Bruce what had happened, her voice ragged, emotion choking her vocal cords. “She’s gone, Bruce. Captured by what appears to be members of a Mexican cartel.”

For a long moment, Bruce didn’t say anything. When he finally spoke, his voice was deadly calm. “I’m coming out there.”

“I’m not sure who will be involved. The local law enforcement plans on a search party as soon as it’s daylight. We notified the DEA and the FBI and—”

“You notified the FBI already?” Bruce asked. “Why the hell didn’t I get word?”

Jacie shrugged, then remembered Bruce couldn’t see her. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re still trying to organize a recovery team. All I know is that my sister is missing and I want her back. Alive.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there by morning.” The phone clicked in Jacie’s ear.

She set it back on the charger, and let out a long steadying breath. The more people she had looking for her sister, the better.

If Jacie planned to be one of the search team, she had to be at her best. A shower and sleep would help her maintain her strength through what looked like a long day ahead.

After thoroughly scrubbing her hair and body, she toweled dry, slipped into a tank top and soft jersey shorts she liked to sleep in and blew her hair dry.

All her movements were rote behavior, her mind on her sister, not the tasks at hand. By the time she stepped out of the small bathroom and into the bedroom, she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Her imagination had taken hold and spun all kinds of horrible scenarios Tracie could be enduring. She’d gone over and over all the events of the day, hoping to find one grain of information that might help her locate her sister. And nothing.

The walls closed in around her, and her heart beat hard in her chest, forcing her toward the door and outside, where she felt closer to her sister than anywhere else. She didn’t have any other family. Her father and mother had died in a car wreck five years ago, shortly after Jacie finished college. She had no one to turn to, to hold her and tell her it would be all right.

Jacie stared up at the stars, their shine blurred by the rush of tears. Overcome by the events, she sank down on the porch steps and buried her face in her hands, letting the tears flow.

* * *

A
COOL
SHOWER
went a long way to waking Zach and clearing his mind, as well as dousing the craving for a strong drink to dull his wits. He lay on the bed, settling on top of a quaint, old-fashioned quilt, not ready to sleep, but hoping he’d find comfort in the reclining position.

The air conditioner struggled to reduce the heat inside the cabin after being off during the hottest part of the day. After fifteen minutes of trying, Zach gave up and rose from the bed. He checked his phone, knowing it hadn’t rung and probably wouldn’t until the following day.

He wished it was morning already so that he could get started on the search for Jacie’s sister. Inaction drove him nuts.

Zach stepped out on the front porch in nothing but his jeans.

The cabin beside his had a soft light glowing through the window. But it wasn’t the window that drew his attention.

A shadowy figure hunkered low on the steps leading up to the porch. Soft sobs reached him across the still of the night.

Careless of his bare feet, Zach left his porch and crossed the short distance to the cabin where Jacie lived.

She didn’t hear his approach and Zach took a moment to study her.

Jacie’s long, deep-brown hair lay loose about her shoulders, free from the band that had secured it in a ponytail for the hunt. Starlight caught the dark strands, giving her a heavenly blue halo.

Unable to stand still any longer, he climbed the steps.

Her head jerked up and she gasped, her eyes wide, the irises reflecting the quarter moon. “Oh, it’s you.” She sat up straighter, her hands swiping at the tears. “Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?”

“I wanted to know if your boss agreed to using his helicopter.”

Jacie sniffed and glanced away. “I didn’t have to ask. He volunteered its use. We will leave at sunup.” She glanced back at him as she rose. “If that’s all, I’ll be calling it a night.”

Zach should have let her go, but he couldn’t, knowing she’d go on to her bed and probably continue her tears into the early morning hours. He reached out and grabbed her arm before she made it to the door. “Your sister is tough. If she’s still alive, we’ll find her.”

Jacie whirled. “Not
if.
My sister is alive. I know it. Either you believe it, or leave.” Her chin tipped up and she glared through tear-filled eyes.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You two are twins in more ways than one. I wouldn’t be going after her if I didn’t believe there was a chance of bringing her back alive.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek, scraping away an errant tear.

“She has to be.” Jacie’s lips trembled. “I’ve gone over and over everything I saw and heard since Tracie got here. There has to be something. Some indication as to what happened. I feel like she came here for a reason.”

Zach gripped her arms. “What do you mean?”

“She’s never shown up unannounced until last night. Tracie has been all about the bureau since she trained at Quantico. I thought she really missed me, but the more I think about it, the more I realize she wouldn’t have come without telling me ahead of time.”

“Did she say anything about anyone? Was she working undercover?”

“I asked her why she’d come. She only said to get a break from work and stress.” Jacie’s eyes narrowed. “What worries me is that when I called her boyfriend, the man she lives with, he didn’t know where she’d gone.” She glanced up at Zach. “She didn’t even tell him where she’d gone.”

Zach didn’t like it. Something wasn’t right about what Jacie was telling him. “Did she say anything about the men you were guiding? Did she give you any indication that she knew them?”

“No and no.” Jacie dragged in a deep breath and stared up at the sky. “I wish I’d been more persistent. But she wasn’t being very forthcoming with her answers. I didn’t want to butt in if she wasn’t ready to talk.” A single tear slipped free and trailed across her skin. She swiped at it, a frown marring her brow. “Damn it, I never cry.”

“It’s not a crime.” Zach pulled her into his arms and held her, stroking his hand across her hair, the silken strands sifting through his fingers, the scent of honeysuckle wafting around him. She fit perfectly against him, molding to his body, her soft curves belying the strength it took to lead a hunting party into the dry, dusty terrain of Big Bend country.

She wasn’t wearing a bra and her breasts pressed into his chest, the material of her shirt providing little barrier between her naked skin and his.