The Sheriff (24 page)

Curses. Gunfire. Pings from the ricochets off the steel. He dropped the gun down his T-shirt so he wouldn’t lose it while crashing against the side, then pulling himself to the top.

They were flying through the air. Andrea yelled below him, asking what was going on, but there was no time to explain. He slipped his arms through the loop and dropped slowly down in front of the lock. The Rio Grande was below him as he banged around. He finally reached the door, kicking it with his boots to get Andrea’s attention.

“Grab hold of something, I’m going to open this thing!”

“Ready.”

The lock fell, clanging against the train below. He pushed out from the container. Gravity helped open the door as the chopper got closer to the empty flat car of the train. The darkness helped hide him against the black container. Shots from below. Andrea’s smiling face in front of him. Apprehension that he might fail stabbed at his gut.

“Do I pull you inside? Or do you have an escape ladder?” she shouted.

The container was almost in place. A bullet ricocheted too close for comfort. “Steel between us and them might be a good thing.” His hand caught the opening, and she caught his waistband.

Once inside, she pulled him close, kissing him before he could get the loop from his body. “So, what’s the plan?”

“This is as far as I got.”

“Can anyone come to our rescue on this side of the border?” she asked, lifting a handgun, arming it and aiming behind him.

“Not officially. All we have to do is get to the Port of Entry.” He pulled the tie-down loop off his body and caught men taking cover behind several vehicles.

“Well, there’s plenty of guns and ammo in here.” She turned over a tub similar to the one he’d carried to the smugglers. Then she sorted through the smaller boxes in search of the right ammo. “All we need is a getaway car.”

“Are you hurt?” He tugged her back into his arms and searched her eyes while she shook her head. “It’ll be risky. No brave stunts. You run and you keep running. No matter what happens.”

“I promise.” She softly touched his split lip, then brought hers to his, clinging for the briefest of moments. Then she darted to the other side of the opening, drawing a couple of shots. “Grab what you need before they shut the door and lock us both in here.”

He found ammo, pulled his shirt from his pants and retrieved his weapon. He took another, quickly loading and dropping it in his boot. She was right. If the smugglers were smart, all they had to do was close the door. One thing to their advantage was that the chopper was still attached, so the container was still wobbling around a bit.

“I’ll lay down cover while you get to the other side of the train.”

“Then I’ll do the same for you.”

“Look, Andrea. This isn’t the same as shooting targets.”

“Come on, Pete, we don’t have time for lectures. I got this.” She placed one gun at the small of her back and had the second ready to fire. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

He fired. She jumped, rolling out of sight below him. He didn’t wait, just reloaded, fired in the direction of movement and followed her.

Backs to a train wheel, Andrea pointed to floodlights from a helicopter hovering on the other side of the river. “Do you think that’s my dad? Can we swim across?”

“We can probably walk.” He dialed the cell. McCrea answered on the first ring. Pete stated their plans and disconnected. “They agree that it looks like our best way out without your father flying over the river and causing an international incident. Stay low, drop to your belly if you hear anything and don’t say a word.”

“Got it. But before I stop rambling, thanks for coming to rescue me.”

“No problem. It was my—”

“Let’s shut up now before you say it was just your job. Go.”

She ran. It wasn’t far, but it was dangerous. He kept a close eye on the activity behind them. The men at the railroad were no longer worried about the prisoner’s escape. They were more worried about their own. Pete followed, knowing that as soon as they crossed that river, he’d lose Andrea for sure.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Andrea ran. And when her lungs were screaming, she ran some more.

There was very little ground cover, but apparently losing her as a hostage was less important than getting their train out of there quickly. No one followed her and Pete, and in no time at all they were back on U.S. soil. Her father was waiting, hugging her as soon as she sloshed out of the river. Publicly.

“You’re not hurt? Thanks to heaven for that. Now your mother won’t divorce me,” he joked.

Andrea was handed a bottle of water and gulped it down. “What about Sharon?” she finally got out when her dry throat was soothed.

“She was with the men in the truck with the shipment of drugs—if you could really call it a shipment. We stopped it six miles up the road. She looks okay, but drugged so she would cooperate.” Her dad squeezed her shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. “We rounded up more than a dozen men at the concert. All in all, I think we can call this a successful operation.”

Sharon was okay. She’d helped find her. All the risk had been worth it.

The man who had abducted her on the ATV was lying on his stomach with the rest of the smugglers, hands behind their backs. She felt safe next to her father, but she wanted Pete. She watched him about twenty feet away accepting slaps on the back from his deputies. Their eyes finally met. She gestured for him to come closer. He stayed where he was, his face full of sadness.

“And what about the guy who orchestrated it all?” she asked her dad. “What happened to Mr. Rook?”

“Ranger McCrea radioed that they found him speeding to Alpine and an awaiting private airplane.”

“So everything’s okay and I can go back to the observatory.”

“Absolutely not. We don’t know the extent of this operation. You’re heading back to Austin with me. In about three minutes. No arguments.”

“Yes, sir.” She knew Pete heard. His chin dropped to his chest, but he didn’t move.

There was so much she wanted to say.

“Pete?” She ran to him, leaving her pride behind. “Come with us,” she said, hugging him, not wanting to let him go, wanting to beg him, knowing she wouldn’t.

“I can’t.” He lowered his voice, his breath close across her ear. “You know why, Andrea.” He pulled back, his mouth only a whisper away. “I’m resigning. I can’t let my dad’s reputation be destroyed.”

“But you love being sheriff. I could stay, I don’t have to go...”

Pete looked around her to the waiting helicopter and her father. “Yes, you do, darlin’, and I have to stay in Marfa. As much as I’d like things to be different, they aren’t.”

“But I lo—” He covered her lips with a soft touch of his fingers, stopping the words but not the thought. She loved him. Yes, it had only been a week, but she was certain of it. Her heart felt heavenly with the realization, then plummeted with the miserable look on his face.

“Don’t say it,” he whispered hoarsely. “I couldn’t let you go if you said it.”

“We can work this out. It doesn’t have to be your father or me.”

“Dammit. I’m not choosing my dad over you. It’s just rotten luck that our fathers are who they are.”

“You make us sound like Romeo and Juliet. This can all be worked out. Our families aren’t at war. They actually like each other.”

“That’s just it. You can’t lie to your dad. It wouldn’t be fair to you. And I can’t tell the truth. Not after everything my father did for me. I just can’t turn my back on him. If they found him guilty of perjury or forgery, what then? Think of every criminal he’s ever put away. They’d appeal their cases. They’d be out of jail faster than a jackrabbit back in its hole.”

“I understand, but there has to be a better solution than never seeing each other again.”

“Andrea, it’s time,” her father called behind her.

She wrapped her arm around Pete’s neck and gave a little tug. He came closer—a willing partner, knowing her intention. He meant their kiss to be a goodbye. She couldn’t stand that it was. Hot, hurried, desperate. Their bodies molded together. She didn’t want to let him go.

She couldn’t let him go.

“Please don’t cry, Andrea,” he said against her lips, wiping a tear that had fallen to her cheek. “You’ve got to go. He’s waiting.” He reached up, holding her hands as they slid across his chest.

She already ached to touch his warm skin and play with the hair falling across his forehead. She turned and ran, afraid to look back at him. She’d scream how wrong he had to be. Or she’d shout over the whirling blades that she loved him. Then everyone would know she’d been rejected, that he was letting her go, practically chasing her away.

The door of the chopper closed, and they lifted off.

“I was thinking about offering Pete Morrison a job,” her father said without the benefit of the headset and microphone. No one else could hear their conversation. “Funny thing. Pete Morrison doesn’t exist on paper. At least not the man you just desperately kissed goodbye.”

“And you didn’t arrest him?”

“I’m assuming there’s a logical explanation. I don’t know the particulars yet. Do you?” He smiled. Totally her father. The Commander was nowhere in sight. He could tell Pete was a good man.

“Dad, I have a huge favor to ask you as soon as we get back.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight It was a night just like all the rest before Pete had met Andrea. He was in his service vehicle driving Highway 90. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. The quieter it was, the more he thought about the mistake he’d made letting Andrea go.

Would he be destined to live on the ranch alone like his dad? Keeping secrets, scraping together enough to keep a few head of cattle.

His father was angry with him and as a result so were Peach and Honey. His family. And they were all disappointed that he’d let Andrea leave and hadn’t called her in the week since.

There wasn’t another way round it. He couldn’t ask her to live a lie with him. It was his burden to bear.

“That sounds so stupid. Just get a grip on yourself. It wasn’t a mistake. You were protecting her.” He hit the steering wheel, leaving the palm of his hand stinging.

“Sheriff?” Honey’s voice came through the radio.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We have a report of unusual activity at the Viewing Area. Do you think the smugglers are back?”

“I’m heading there now. Out.”

He was only a couple of miles away. Heading east, he couldn’t see if the Marfa lights were visible behind him. There wasn’t anything to the south—at least not in his line of sight. He slowed his approach.

There was one car in the lot, one person standing on the platform. Tight jeans hugging a figure he remembered all too well.

Andrea?

That was wishful thinking. Her father would never let her set foot in this town again. He got out of the car, not mentioning to Honey that he’d arrived. His feet wanted to run and spin the woman around to verify what his heart told him. It was her. It had to be.

And in that moment he knew beyond a doubt that he couldn’t stay away from her. He loved Andrea Allen. Sure, they needed to learn more about each other, but this was different than anything he’d experienced. And he wanted more.

“Did you call for assistance, miss?”

“No. Honey thought it would get you here faster.” Andrea turned, leaning on the railing with a large envelope in her hand.

“What are you doing— Should you— Why are you here?” he stammered.

“I need to ask you a question.”

“Right here? Couldn’t you just ask on the phone?”

“No. I needed to see your face. But out here in only starlight might not have been such a good idea.” She slid her fingers around the edge of the envelope, nervously touching every side as it rotated in her hands.

“What’s your question?”

“To answer your second question, I didn’t want an audience when I asked. Or when I gave you this.”

“What’s in the envelope?”

“First, my question. Do you like me?”

“Of course. Is there more?”

“Do you like me enough to give whatever’s between us a shot? I mean, if you’re not forcing me to lie to my father. That was the only reason you gave, but it could have just been an easy way out for you.”

“There was nothing easy about letting you get on that helicopter.” Protective emotions slammed him. She shouldn’t be anywhere close to Marfa and yet he couldn’t let her go. Not again.

She sighed and turned to face the mountains. He didn’t analyze his actions. He simply walked to her and dropped his arms around her waist, pulling her into the curve of his body. He wanted to spin her around and kiss her into oblivion, but that’s where he stopped. She’d come a long way to say whatever she was trying to say.

“I could get used to this.” She linked her fingers with his and rested her head on his shoulder.

He could, too.

“I thought the only thing I wanted was to make my own discovery. A distant star that no one had ever seen before. Then I came here. With all the stars up there to see every night, I ran out of reasons to find another.” She twisted in his arms, staying close, then skimmed her fingers through his hair, ending at the back of his neck. The envelope stayed in her left hand, dangling behind his back.

“I missed you. Missed the conversations that I didn’t totally understand. Missed smelling your shampoo and soap when the steam from your bathroom found its way into the hall. Everything you feel about stars...I feel about you. I—” He was choking up, but had to tell her. It might be his only chance, and she deserved the truth. “If things were different, I wouldn’t let you go. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Andrea.”

He leaned in to kiss her, but his lips found her neck instead.

She tilted her head enough to meet his eyes. “I feel the same and I’m so happy. I think you should know that I accepted a job.”

Gut kicked. Stomped by a bronc. The pain shooting through him was worse. His lonely life passed before his eyes. He’d looked up just how far away those jobs were. They might as well be on one of those stars she studied, since he couldn’t follow her.