Her Texas Ranger Hero (6 page)

She couldn't wait to give him the information. It would be the excuse she needed to see him again. Already he was so important to her, she couldn't imagine life without him.

* * *

W
EDNESDAY
MORNING
L
UCKEY
got started early and met Randy at the site where he'd found the body last week. His brother had copies of the crime scene photos with him, and the two scoured the area, trying to see if the detective had overlooked any evidence that could help identify the car involved in the drop.

After that, Luckey met with the police officers who'd found the other three bodies. They walked around the crime scenes. He'd hoped to find something that had escaped the forensics team, but didn't come up with any new evidence.

En route to work he phoned the lab at headquarters. “Stan? What have you got for me on that DMSO cream used by athletes?”

“Wish I could help you out, but no brand on the market in the US matches the evidence. It had to be manufactured in a foreign country. Where do you want me to look?”

Luckey made a mental list. “Indonesia, China and Japan, for starters.”

“For starters, huh? You're funny.”

“I know. It's like looking for one particular grain of sand on the beach.”

“I'll get on it, but it's going to take time.”

“I know,” he repeated. “Thanks.”

He clicked off, only to accept an incoming call on his car phone. “This is Ranger Davis.”

“Luckey?”

Only one woman had that slightly breathless voice. Ally had been on his mind throughout the night. He'd planned to call her later in the day, but to his delight she'd come to him.

“Would you believe I was about to phone you?”

“That relieves my guilt for bothering you once again.”

He drew a sharp breath. “In case you've forgotten, I invaded your office on Monday.”

“That was our family's lucky day.”

Luckey was happy to accept that collective compliment. But he was waiting for the moment when it became more personal.

“I'm calling to find out if you'd like a copy of my mother's work on female trafficking that she compiled while we were in China. She has names, addresses, descriptions of lost girls and in some cases photos, all from areas in the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the Hunan Province. I was thinking—”

“You were thinking maybe one of the photos might match one of the girls in the morgue?” he interrupted.

“Yes.”

“It's entirely possible. That would be a real gift for the department. Are your parents on board with this?”

“I wouldn't have offered it otherwise.”

“No. I'm sure you wouldn't. Where are you going to be this afternoon?”

“I'm helping out at the orphanage that brings in special-needs children from China and finds them homes here.”

“One of your father's projects?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “He got the foundation started a long time ago, through friends and donors.”

Why wasn't Luckey surprised? Her family was amazing. As for Ally... “What time will you be through?”

“At five.”

“Why don't I meet you there.” He wanted to see the orphanage and find out the backgrounds of the staff who worked there, but he'd talk to Ally about it when the time seemed right. “Then we can decide on a restaurant to go for dinner and I'll look through the information. Tell me the address.” When she'd given it to him, he said, “You've made my day. See you this evening.”

The rest of the afternoon he made phone calls to silk merchants in several of the big cities in Texas, until he located a fabric store called Hui's, in Houston. The employee who answered the phone explained that they got their silk fabric from a Chinese merchant who traveled from their main outlet in Beijing every other month. He happened to be in Houston right now. Luckey made arrangements to meet with him the next day.

With that accomplished, he'd done as much as he could on the case today. Tonight he'd be having dinner with the woman who'd captured his attention the moment she'd accidentally run into his arms. He couldn't think about anything else.

After stopping in at home to take a quick shower, he drove to Barton Creek and looked for the historic home on Maravillas Loop that had been converted into an orphanage. As he pulled up in front, he saw Ally sitting on a porch swing holding a toddler-aged girl in her arms. He got out of the car and started up the pathway to the door. That was when he noticed a young Asian woman in a chair next to the swing.

“We're glad you're here,” Ally said. “Meet Shan. She works with the day shift.” He shook the timid woman's hand and was surprised to see bruising on her arms. “And this is little Bu. She has cystic fibrosis, but it can be managed with the right care.”

“How do you say ‘hi' to her?”

“Ni hao.”

Luckey tried it. The little girl didn't respond, but stared hard at him. “Her parents couldn't keep her?”

“I don't know the whole story, but she's precious.”

Ally kissed both her cheeks and said something in Chinese. It was the first time he'd heard her speak the language. The little girl said something back and started to cry. Clearly, she didn't want Ally to go. The tender scene pulled on his heartstrings.

Ally turned the girl over to the other woman, who looked to be about nineteen or twenty.

“Let's go before she has a meltdown.” Ally reached for her purse and a loose-leaf binder that had been on the swing beside her. She and Luckey walked down the steps together.

“Where's your car?”

“Around the side.”

“We'll go in my car and I'll bring you back later.” When they reached it, he opened the door for her, then got behind the wheel. “Ally? One of the penalties you have to pay for being with me means I've got this latest case on my mind. Sometime soon will you do me a favor and let me see the orphanage books? I need to make a list of all the Chinese people who've worked or still work there.”

She looked alarmed. “What are you thinking?”

He took a deep breath. “I'm anxious to track down as many young Chinese women as I can, in case they're in trouble. If any of the employees here are tied up in any way as part of this trafficking ring, maybe one of them will recognize the girls in the morgue. I'm acting on every lead possible.”

“I'll talk to my father.”

“Thank you.” He pulled onto the main street. “Now that we have that out of the way, what are you in the mood for?”

“Anything.”

He smiled. “Then let's go to The Grove and sit on the deck.”

“I love that place. All those huge trees.”

“The Italian food isn't bad, either.”

Before long they reached the restaurant and were shown to a table. Once the waitress took their orders, Ally handed him the binder. He thanked her for it, but didn't open it.

“When I get home tonight, I'll spend hours digesting this. But right now I want to ask you a question.” She looked so beautiful in her filmy, short-sleeved blouse and white skirt. He hadn't been able to miss the fact that every guy who walked past their table openly checked her out.

“What's that?”

“Is there an important man in your life? Am I treading on any toes?”

Her eyes seemed to turn a deeper blue. “No.”

“Not even someone back in China?”

“I dated several American men while I was there. There was one I was pretty serious about. His name was Jack Reynolds. He was a judge advocate in the Marines Corps, working in international and operational law. I came close to marrying him.”

“Why didn't you?”

“It would have meant living all over the world. I'm afraid I'm a Texas girl at heart, despite spending so many years overseas. When you asked me why I didn't stay in China with my friends, the truth is, I was homesick for the ranch.”

“Did you have opportunities to ride over there?”

“Yea, but it wasn't the same. Hunan Province has great beauty, but it doesn't have hot spots of bluebonnets you can't wait to run through. We always came home in April so we wouldn't miss them in bloom.”

“I take it you're happy to be home,” Luckey murmured. The dreamy expression on her face said it all, and a vision filled his mind. He could see her riding through purple-blue fields with the wind blowing her lustrous black hair back from her face.

“Oh, yes. I'm never leaving again, except to go on vacation.”

While her pronouncement trickled through Luckey's awareness like mist, exciting him, the waitress brought their dinner.

“I'm a Texas man myself.”

Ally flashed him a smile that blew him away. “I would never have guessed. Since we're exchanging information, are you involved with someone who wouldn't like it that you're having dinner with me tonight? Even if it is because of the case you're investigating?”

He put down his fork. “For me it stopped being about this case the moment you opened your office door and we ran into each other. Does that answer your question?”

“Not all of them,” she said unexpectedly. Her smile had faded. “If you told me you'd never been in love, I wouldn't believe you.”

“I fell hard for a woman in college and married her. We were both twenty-two. But when I was taken on as a Ranger, our problems began. I thought she understood what it meant, but I was naive. Within two years we divorced, and she went back to Houston, where she lives now with her new husband and two kids. He sells insurance, a nine-to-five man.”

“Not every woman could handle what you do for a living. I was surprised my mother could handle the life she shared with my father.”

Luckey was extremely interested in the answer to his next question. “What do you think was the key?”

“When I asked her, she said, ‘Ally? I fell in love with a cowboy and that never changed, because no job can ever take the cowboy out of a real man.'”

“Your mother sounds a lot like mine.”

Ally cocked her head. “In what way?”

“Both my parents came from ranching families who've done it for generations. Dad was a rancher before he became a police officer and eventually the sheriff of Travis County. Mom got her nursing degree. Last year they both retired and are back to full-time ranching.”

“Where?”

“In Dripping Springs.”

“That's only half an hour away. How nice that you can be close to your family. I bet your mom loves it. Are you an only child like me?”

“No. I have a younger brother, Randy. He's on the police force here in Austin.”

“Law enforcement is alive and doing well in the Davis blood. Didn't he want to be a Ranger, too?”

Luckey nodded. “It's odd you'd say that. Randy hopes to be taken on next year. He's married and has two little girls.”

“Do you have lots of extended family?”

“Lots. They all live in Dripping Springs. What about you?”

“I have my share, too. Some of our relatives lived on our ranch for different periods while we were away, to keep watch over everything.”

“That's the beauty of a large family.” They'd finished eating. “My twenty questions are over. With that discussion concluded, what do you say we go get your car? I'll follow you home.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

The whole time they were driving to the orphanage, and after, on his way to her house, Luckey had a hard time believing that this was really happening. He could thank providence that TJ had let him take this trafficking case. If it hadn't been for Randy and their conversation about the dumped body, Luckey would probably have picked the case of the wheelchair-bound victim who'd been set on fire.

His grandfather had used a wheelchair before his death. The possibility of him being murdered that way didn't bear thinking about. In any event, Luckey couldn't comprehend not knowing Ally now.

He could hardly believe that, after all these years of being alone, he'd met a woman who'd managed, without even trying, to break through the wall he'd built around himself. She brought out every male instinct in him. Thank heaven her father had forbidden her to travel back to China. At this point Luckey's protective instincts were on full alert. No matter how much she cared about her friend, one wrong move and Ally could disappear. He'd known her only a few days, but that didn't matter. He wanted her in his life.

She drove fast. He liked that.

By the time they reached her house, twilight had turned into night. He jumped out of his car and walked around to hers. She'd just turned off the engine. Luckey wanted to pull her out of the car into his arms and take her home with him, but of course he couldn't do that. In fact, he didn't dare touch her yet, fearing he wouldn't be able to stop.

Fighting his desire, he opened the door so she could climb out. It was impossible not to notice her shapely legs in the tight, knee-length skirt she wore.

“Thank you for dinner, Luckey.”

Their bodies were close enough that he could feel the heat between them. “I enjoyed our evening. Please tell your mother I'm in her debt and yours for the binder you've given me. I'll be poring over it all night. I'll get it back to you soon.”

“No, no. It's yours to keep.”

He still didn't want to let her go. “What's your schedule like tomorrow?”

“I'll be home reading over my graduate students' theses.”

“Sounds like heavy work, but you like it, right?”

“I do.”

Get away from her, Davis.

“I want to see you again. Friday some of my friends are getting together for a family birthday party. You met Cy. He'll be there with his wife and daughter. Would you like to go with me?”

After a pause Ally said, “If you're asking me to a Ranger party, how could I possibly refuse?”