The Sheriff
Authors: Angi Morgan
TEXAS-STYLE PROTECTION
Sheriff Pete Morrison knew the secret in his past could destroy his father. Yet instead of resigning his job and exposing the lie, he found himself protecting Andrea Allen—a beautiful astronomer who witnessed a gun-smuggling operation and a college student’s abduction. Determined to be independent, a relationship with her conflicted protector isn’t in the cards. No matter how safe she feels in Pete’s strong arms. But when things take a turn for the worse and Andrea exchanges herself for the abducted student, only Pete can save her from the horrible fate that awaits her.
“You’re serious?” Pete challenged. “Someone’s trying to kill you and you want me to leave you here, defenseless?”
“And I appreciate you saving me. Twice. But I can’t tell you anything else, so isn’t it more important to catch that creep and find clues at the accident?”
“The scene and
Suit Man
aren’t my priority.
You
are.”
His blue eyes searched hers. If she’d known what he needed to hear, she would have said it. But she was a little frightened or worried or maybe just confused from the blow to her ear.
What was she thinking? These men had rammed her car off the road with the intention to kill her. And in all probability they had killed the man she’d been trying to help.
“I’ll concede that you don’t know me, but I’m not defenseless.” The soreness in her jaw screamed otherwise. “I can take care of myself.”
“Not tonight.” He stepped back, one hand pushing through a thick head of short, light brown hair. “I’m escorting you home until someone decides what to do with you.”
THE SHERIFF
Angi Morgan
Angi Morgan
writes Harlequin Intrigue novels “where honor and danger collide with love.” She combines actual Texas settings with characters who are in realistic and dangerous situations. Angi and her husband live in north Texas, with only the four-legged “kids” left in the house to interrupt her writing. They recently began volunteering for a local Labrador retriever foster program. Visit her website,
angimorgan.com
, or hang out with her on
Facebook
.
Books by Angi Morgan
Harlequin Intrigue Hill Country Holdup
.38 Caliber Cover-up
Protecting Their Child
The Marine’s Last Defense
Texas Family Reckoning
Navy SEAL Surrender
West Texas Watchmen The Sheriff
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Pete Morrison—
Acting Sheriff of Presidio County, Texas. Adopted by a deputy who became sheriff, he was raised at the department and has been in law enforcement since high school.
Andrea Allen—
Working on her PhD in Star Studies. A daughter who would like to succeed without the help of either of her very successful parents. If she finishes her paper, she can secure a job at one of the top observatories in the world.
Joe Morrison—
Retired as sheriff after suffering a heart attack. He adopted Pete twenty-five years ago. Everyone in Marfa knows and loves him. But everyone has secrets.
Honey & Peach—
Sisters who dispatch for the Presidio County Sheriff’s Department.
Commander Tony Allen—
Andrea’s father, a former astronaut working for Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection Office.
Cord McCrea—
Texas Ranger and ranch owner, head of the newly formed West Texas task force tracking drug and gun runners.
Sharon—
An undergrad working at the McDonald Observatory.
Patrice—
A woman who delivers messages for the drug/gun runners.
Mr. Rook—
A sadistic man of perfection who plays chess like he’s playing with people’s lives.
Thanks so much, Jan, you’ve been a rock star this year. Jill and Allison, your understanding and support is unsurpassed.
Contents
Chapter One
“This is not happening. Aliens are landing and I can’t find the camera.”
Lights moved in an erratic pattern low in the sky. Not aliens, but it was fun to think so. Someone on the ground? No. The lights were moving too swiftly. It had to be a chopper. It could not be a phenomenon. And especially not a UFO.
Andrea Allen was very familiar with everything that flew. She had to be when she was the only child of an astronaut and a pretty good pilot herself. It was definitely not a plane. It didn’t look like a chopper, but it had to be. The lights weren’t in the correct place. It hovered and disappeared.
Pulling the cords from her ears, she heard the faint drumbeat of “Bohemian Rhapsody” rocking in the background, but no mechanical sounds echoing in the distance. She rubbed her eyes and found the hovering object with the telescope. Whatever it was, it just wasn’t producing enough light to distinguish an outline above the desert with a mountain ridge in the background.
Normally, she was bored out of her mind with the study on the Marfa Lights. Even though several tourists had posted seeing activity recently, no one with credentials had verified anything. Tourists posted all the time. Didn’t they know it was just an occurrence similar to the aurora borealis? Everyone had heard of the northern lights, right?
The UT students studying the local phenomenon from the McDonald Observatory got excited, clamoring for a turn to watch the uneventful sky. Three nights later with no activity, everyone assumed the sighting had been taillights from the highway and then they all wanted the weekend off for a party.
Bored. Tonight had been no exception.
Nothing happened in this West Texas desert except lots of star time. Which she loved. She loved it a lot. Much more than she missed friends and family. Staring at a clear night sky was something even her astronaut dad didn’t understand.
Since it hadn’t been her night to stare through a telescope at the far distant universe, her coworker Sharon had begged Andrea to take her place on the university study. Sharon wanted the night off because she had a hot date with her boyfriend, Logan. Granted, the young student had been here three nights in a row, since it was part of her class assignment. Andrea didn’t mind. She needed to switch sleeping to days anyway.
Another sparkle of red twinkled. Just a bit closer than the last spot.
With her spare hand she dug around in the disorganized bag her coworker had dropped in her front seat before leaving the observatory. “Where’s that silly camera?”
She lost sight of the floating light through the scope and bounced her gaze to the horizon. Nothing. Had it disappeared?
If the darn thing came back, she needed the camera to record it. Dumping the satchel upside down, she searched through the assortment of items that resembled a loose picnic basket. Snacks, bottles of water, gum wrappers, a notepad, a small tripod, a spoon to go along with the empty yogurt containers, three different bags of candy—the butterscotch made her pause and unwrap a piece to stick in her mouth. No video camera.
She scooped everything back into Sharon’s UFO-watching sack.
Where’s the camera? It was just here.
She closed her eyes to visualize getting in the car. Sharon had run outside with the bag in her hand as the car backed out of the parking space. The window had been down. “Passenger side. It must have fallen under the seat.”
“My gosh.” The adrenaline rush grew each time she saw the light a bit closer. A burst of red. A burst of blue. A plane would have red or green running lights on its wings and a white strobe light would be a consistent flash. A chopper, same thing. There were ways to identify what was in the air. Flight patterns.
Amazed, she just stared.
“Camera!” She ran to the car, pausing when she caught sight of the red flash again. She still couldn’t distinguish an outline of what was flying haphazardly and low to the ground. It couldn’t be a UFO. There were no such things.
Did she really believe that? No life in the universe other than on Earth? No time to debate, she needed pictures. Lots of pictures and evidence.
No one was around for miles to break into Sharon’s tiny compact car, so it wasn’t locked. The keys were still even in the ignition. Andrea yanked open the door, immediately feeling under the seat. “Gotcha!”
The strap was caught on something. The sky behind her was empty as she switched to the backseat, dropping to her knees again to get low enough to search.
If she could obtain evidence of the Marfa Lights, she could publish in addition to her PhD, make a name for herself as an astronomer. Finally be worthy of her Allen heritage. It all hinged on concrete evidence. Could it happen? She recognized the sudden nausea and shakiness as fear. Fear of jumping to conclusions and being discredited. She’d verify the facts.
“What am I thinking? I have my own study to finish. I’m not chasing another subject. This is university work. I. Can’t. Switch. Again.” Her teeth ground against each other in frustration—not only with the silly camera strap, but also with the lack of focus her parents had accused her of. “What is this stuck on?”
The flashlight was back on the viewing platform with the UFO bag, and the dome light had been out for months. She couldn’t really see anything under the seat, even bent at another awkward angle. But she finally came up with the handheld video camera, pressing Record and immediately scanning the sky for her mystery lights.
Andrea maneuvered from the tiny car, resting the camera on the door frame. “I don’t know if it’s appropriate to talk while recording, but I think it’s better to describe what I’m seeing. Mainly because I don’t know what I’m seeing. Five minutes ago there were flashing lights. Nothing about it suggests standard aircraft. And yet nothing suggests the Marfa phenomenon.”
The corner of her eye caught a blur, something running from the darkness in her direction. She swung the camera toward it.