Protecting Their Child (10 page)

“Remember the first time I took you to the observatory?” The thought popped into her head along with the hunger for salty nacho chips and artificial cheese. “We got the reservations for the night owl thing, but it was too foggy to see.”

Cord knelt next to her, set his hat on the ground and took her palms in his hands. His gentle touch, cleaning the scratches, warmed more than her fingers. He was so familiar. So concerned about even a little thorn in her thumb.

“Isn’t that when you were on a natural juice kick and they didn’t have anything for you to drink?” he asked.

“I was never high maintenance. I remember you almost drove off a cliff on the way home.”

“We were never in danger.”

“We had to pull over.”

He looked up and shook his head, laughing at her with his eyes. “The fog wasn’t the reason we pulled over.”

Oh, my. Every inch of her skin tingled. Every molecule was colliding with the one next to it, wanting to jump into Cord’s arms. What a night that had been. It started in the car—no, it actually began at his house. A rushed dinner and a drip of salsa landing on her chin.

She’d never been so grateful for fog in her life.

“This one’s pretty deep.” He skimmed her right palm, close to her wrist. “It’s clean, though. Wish I had first aid. Didn’t think about it,” he said, replacing his hat.

She wanted to tip that old Stetson and let it blow back to Valentine. The desire to mess up his hair while she made love to him on the top of this mountain was overpowering. She couldn’t understand it. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable places they’d ever been but, somehow, she felt closer to the man kneeling in front of her.

He stood and took a swig of the water before stowing it in the pack. “You okay? Maybe you should eat an apple.”

“Cord, about what you said on the ledge—”

“Forget it. Bad timing.”

She couldn’t let him walk away. After three years, he’d finally tried to talk. “But I
need
to say something.”

He stopped but didn’t face her. “Go ahead.”

If she went to his side... She wanted to hold his hand or be held in his arms. She couldn’t predict what would happen or prepare for it. How could she?

She was perched on a rock, on top of a mountain, being chased by the Mexican cartel and here’s where he’d chosen to talk to her about their little girl. So she stayed where she was...longing to hold his hand and comfort him.

He was finally allowing more than a cover of indifference to show. He was grieving.

The man’s timing absolutely stank to high heaven.

Chapter Fourteen

Say it already!

Cord scanned the horizon. That chopper would be back. No question of if, only when. They should be looking for their best way down the other side. They needed an escape route, not a conversation.
Come on, Kate, just say it.

He could listen to her tell him how much she hated him
and
look for a trail. Keeping his back to her, he moved to the place he’d last seen the chopper. He should have borrowed the binoculars when he’d lifted the ammo and pistol from Burke’s gun cabinet.

Trying to look past her, he made the mistake of looking at her. She’d pulled her knees to her chest. No sighing. At least none that he heard. How was he supposed to know what this gesture meant?

“I’m listening, but we have to find a way down. You have to understand.”

“Oh, I do.” She jumped to her feet, pulled her gear on and joined him.

“I thought you had something you needed to say.”

“I’m still debating if you’re actually ready to hear it.”

“I could quote my shrink if you want. She’d say it’s—”

“It’s a woman?” she interrupted.

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Her short inhale and momentary hold of its release told him she was more than surprised. “Go ahead. What would your doctor tell me?”

“She’d
advise
that you can’t decide if someone’s ready for a confrontation. You can’t wait for perfect timing. Things just happen. Life happens.”

Kate cocked her head curiously. “All right. No perfect timing. Lord knows, yours certainly wasn’t, perched on a four-foot mountain ledge like we were.”

“Go on then.” He should have listened to himself. Talking was a bad idea.

“You need to believe me. I only blame one person for the death of our daughter. Jorje Serna is a murderer many times over.”

“It’s easy to say that, Kate. But I know you blame me.”

“You blame yourself enough for the both of us, Cord!” Kate yelled. “I’m not angry because you were shot, near dead in a hospital and couldn’t be there twenty-four/seven protecting me.”

“He wouldn’t have come after you—”

“Stop it! Just stop it!” She closed her mouth and began shaking her hands to calm down. “Listen to your own advice and stop thinking you can interpret everyone’s thoughts or predict their reactions. I did not divorce you because of the shooting.”

“Then why the hell did you?” The words were out quickly, surprising her, if that look was any indication. “I can’t remember how many times you said I wasn’t there. Didn’t you know I couldn’t be.”

“I knew you were a Texas Ranger when we met. You never hid your career goals. You transferred here because of me. I couldn’t and still don’t
want
to change you. I loved the man who wears that uniform.”

“You divorced me.”

“I couldn’t do it anymore.”

A piece of rock chipped near Kate’s boot and flew into the air off the cliff.

“Back.” He rushed between her and the open canyon, and they scrambled to where she’d been sitting earlier. “I didn’t hear anything. You?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have—”

“Shh. Listen.”

Quiet.

Then a shot rang out from the distance. Followed by an immediate ricochet.

“He’s less than three hundred yards and not a very good shot.”

“Probably not, considering the wind,” she stated, looking into the canyon between him and the rock. “Or he doesn’t
want
to hit us. So do we run or do I cover you?”

“I’m not putting you through that again.”

“And I’m not guaranteeing to hit anything, Cord. But I’m good enough to cover you.”

“Did you see an animal trail, any logical switchback down?” He dropped his hat on the ground.

She reached for the rifle. “No, we’re really limited. We can’t go back. There’s only forward. We climbed this thing right here because the ridge stretched east and west too far to go around.”

She was right. “Forward. I just need to eliminate some speed bumps.” He dropped his coat.

“You think the chopper spied us earlier and dropped these guys off?”

“Or they were searching already. One problem at a time.” He stuffed Burke’s 9mm in the small of his back, dropped an extra clip into his jeans pockets. Pulled the hunting knife and connected its sheath to his belt.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Honestly, Kate, I don’t have any plan. I’m going to do my best to find out how many are with the shooter. You stay here to make ’em think we’re pinned down. Keep an eye open. Watch your back. You fire a shot for cover, then I’ll move.”

“What if there are more and they get too close?”

“That’s why I’m leaving this.” He hung the machine pistol around her neck. “Don’t hesitate to just point and shoot.”

“For the record, that’s a plan,” she said, grinning.

“If it makes you feel better to call it that.”

It did make her feel better. He could see her relaxed demeanor this time round. Unlike at the canyon the day before. She’d realized he’d tricked her into staying. As he’d left her holding the horses, her eyes had been sparkling, deep bluebonnet-blue. He loved her eyes that way.

He tipped her chin up so their eyes met. Sky-blue. He loved them this color, too. “And for the record, I appreciate you talking to me, so don’t think you caused us to get pinned down.
Here
is a lot better to have a face-off than being caught on the side of this mountain with no cover, nowhere to run and no options.”

“I hate splitting up, Cord. What if—”

He placed his finger across her lips. “I’ll hear you when you yell for me. That’s a promise.”

If he’d been closer, he would have kissed her. No question. He wanted to assure her he’d be back. He left, leaving her alone with a MAC-10 for protection.

Not the hardest thing he’d ever done...but close.

The only way to get behind the shooter was back the way he’d come along the cliff. Work his way unseen, hanging along the edge for a couple of hundred yards. Keeping his head down, he heard Kate’s intake of breath. He couldn’t look at her, so behind his back he held up the sign language for “I love you” she’d taught him early in their relationship.

He did. Love her. He’d never stopped. Not since the first moment they’d met. His first homecoming game back at UT. A chance meeting in the student section. She was with a date in the row in front of him. He was with loud former football players.

His grip slipped and he hung by the dang arm of his weak shoulder. “Dad blast it, keep your mind on what you’re doing,” he chided himself. He couldn’t pull up. He swayed. The pressure on his shoulder threatening to dislocate increased with every movement. He recovered, reaffirmed his right grip and rested the wrenched left side.

Move it. You’re losing time!

He could see the ledge where they’d spent the night. The cover he needed was in the opposite direction than they’d climbed this morning. Twenty more yards should do it. Sweat saturated his face but not because of the sun warming his head. The pain in his shoulder and back had been bad before this last climb. Now it was... He couldn’t think about it.

Kate needed him. He’d lost track of the shots being fired while he’d dangled in the air. He could still distinguish rifle shots from Kate—different than Serna’s crew. Still only one returning fire, though.

That might lean things in their favor. Something going right? What were the chances?

The only way to see how far he’d come was to perform a chin-up. It was going to hurt like hell. Kate fired. He pulled eye level with the ground. Good cover. He just needed up. His muscles shook as he pulled himself to the top. His arm was mush.

There was no time to waste. He’d recover along the way. He didn’t know what Kate was shooting at, but he watched the area where her bullet smacked near a gap in the rocks. Sure enough, Serna’s crewman returned fire.

He hadn’t been raised a huntsman. He hadn’t served in the military. He didn’t really have experience moving unseen from one scraggly bush to another. But he loved Kate and would get to that shooter. And he would take him out.

He ducked behind rocks, crawled on his belly and lay frozen to the ground, holding his breath as he unintentionally found the shooter’s partner. The second man was crouched several feet below him. Kate was safe from the shooter, but not from the man near him.

No choice who his target was then. He’d lose his surprise advantage on the shooter if he didn’t keep this quiet. He let the man pass him, silently unsheathing the blade, flipping it to use the hilt. If he could knock the man unconscious—

Rocks busted apart near his head, shards pricking the back of his hand. Serna’s shooter alerted his partner, who stood and leaped at him. The only thing going in their favor was Serna’s orders to bring them in alive. Otherwise, he’d have been shot several times over.

The second man trapped his arm—and knife—between their chests. He’d caught this guy by surprise with his gun still in his waistband while they’d been crawling. Cord used his longer legs to wrap around the shorter man and kept him from getting any leverage. He punched the man’s head with his weak left hand. He grunted but that was about it. Useless. Another shot, very close to his head.

“Okay, okay. Don’t shoot.” Cord relaxed his body and released the man’s legs. The man shoved up to his knees and gave a sign to the shooter. Cord raised his hands and dropped the knife to the ground near the top of his head.

The man couldn’t reach the knife or his weapon without shifting his weight off Cord. When he did, Cord swept up his knife and sliced his side as they both rolled downhill a couple of feet and heard another shot.

He shoved the limp body off him. His blade hadn’t killed him, but the sniper had miscalculated, hitting his partner square in the back. Cord used him as cover to get safely to an outcropping.

No radio. No ID. No cell. Nothing on this guy except a gun. He’d either dropped everything with the sniper or they hadn’t been prepared to leave the chopper. Now for the sniper and to get back to Kate.

“Cord!”

She was in trouble and her cry shot him through his heart faster than any sniper bullet.

Chapter Fifteen

Face-to-face, looking the stranger in the eyes, seeing the moment of hesitation there. The split-second thought wondering if he saw the same thing on her face flashed in her mind. It wasn’t the first time either of them had looked down a gun barrel. She knew that just looking at him.

Serna’s man showed his surprise when she didn’t pull the trigger. But he also showed confident knowledge that she wouldn’t.

One thought merged into the next. Just a split second hesitation. But long enough for the man to jump forward, knock the rifle aside and stick the barrel of his weapon straight under her chin.

That same split second she’d lived before—three years ago—blurred with this one on top of a mountain.

Serna had burst into her living room, having already killed two police officers in front of her home. She’d been petrified and unable to move. It was so unexpected. Serna had wanted her to talk or maybe beg. When she wouldn’t, he’d waved the gun around and walked toward the door. He didn’t look where he fired his gun. If he had, she’d already be dead. The bullet only caught her in the shoulder, but the resulting trauma caused a miscarriage and killed her baby. She’d lost everything.

The man now shoving the hot barrel into her skin shouted in Spanish for a comrade’s help. There was more gunfire.
Cord!

What should she do? Fight and take a chance on injuring the baby?
Think logically.
But Serna is anything but logical. You’ve seen the craziness in his eyes and actions. So you’re not dead. This guy didn’t pull the trigger straightaway.

Serna wants you alive.

Then I stay alive and wait on Cord. He’ll come. He always keeps his promises.

“Jorje, he tell us to bring you alive, but he say nothing ’bout
bambina
.” He kicked the machine pistol away. Knocked the rifle out of reach. “Sit. Hands on head. I keep mouth shut if you not want kick to stomach.
Comprende?
”

She followed his instructions, first shoving loose stones from the site she’d occupy, then crossing her legs to use for protection if needed. She could pull them to her body and maybe stop a direct kick to the baby.

“Hands.”

Reluctantly, she put them on top of her head.
Protect the baby
became the mantra in her mind. The last shot might have hit Cord, but she couldn’t let the fear take control. Why hadn’t he returned yet?

She would not allow herself to become distracted. She could defend herself. Baby or no, she just had to wait for the right moment.

The man tugged the backpack away from her, dumping everything. Never breaking eye contact with her, he rifled through the contents and brought objects between them so he could see what they were. For some reason, she couldn’t look away and watched him toss bottled water and fruit over the edge.

Shots echoed among the hills again. Serna’s man looked in the direction, the same as her, but there wasn’t anything she could do. No weapon close enough, not even a rock large enough to throw. But the sound confirmed Cord was still alive.

After the rapid gunfire, minutes ticked by with nothing, just the wind gusting through the few trees and canyons. A shout in Spanish from a voice stating he was on his way. What had happened to Cord?

The man relaxed and continued his inspection of the backpack. He held up a small bag, and she recognized it as part of what had been under the floor at the lodge. He laughed, pocketed the drugs.

If she didn’t have other things to worry about, she might be extremely angry over Cord concealing that he’d removed one. She kept watching, listening for signs of Cord. He might come back the same way he left, but he couldn’t execute a surprise. To get to where the sniper was, he’d have to have gone the way this guy had come. So she kept watching, looking for movement of any kind.

“What are we waiting on?” she asked.

“Impatient to meet Jorje?” He laughed again, tossing aside an apple.

“No. Him.”

Cord was fifty yards away, rifle to his shoulder, taking aim. The man faced him in time to aim his handgun. Both fired.

As soon as the man toppled sideways, Kate jumped to her feet and ran to Cord, never looking back.

“Sorry that took so long, babe,” he said when she was steps away.

She threw herself at him. He lifted her into his arms and she dropped her head on his shoulder.

“I was so frightened. I’m getting really tired not knowing if you’re alive or dead.”

“I didn’t mean for you—”

She didn’t need any more words and cut him off with a kiss. A long, in-depth kiss that couldn’t be misinterpreted. Even though she couldn’t stay married to him she had to let him know how much he meant to her. While their tongues entwined, she remembered the other close calls he’d had as a Ranger. Were they all like this?

She only had the shooting for a comparison and that had all happened so fast. The hardest part had been dragging Cord into the car to get him to the hospital. He’d been deadweight, unable to use his legs. With every moan, she questioned if she should wait for help.

They’d never know if her dragging him into the car had caused the paralysis or if the bullet was completely responsible. Either way, if she hadn’t moved him he would have bled out.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I know. You can’t be close to me.” He walked away for once. “Well, guess what, Kate?
I can’t, either.
”

He’s angry?
He’d never been angry before.

“It’s not that.” She needed to explain. She hadn’t stopped because she was near him. She’d never told him that she’d been responsible for the paralysis.

“Stay there. You don’t need to look at this guy,” he commanded.

For once she obeyed without questioning. She knew where the bullet had struck. She’d seen the man’s head whip back and closed her eyes before he fell.

“Ah, man, the bastard took my apples.”

“He tossed them over the edge.” She sank to the ground and drew her knees to her chest.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just suddenly exhausted.” She crossed her arms and buried her face, blocking the view of Cord with the dead man.

She woke with a start and Cord’s hand on her shoulder. No dead guy in sight. “Did I fall asleep?”

“I know, but it’s time to get moving.” He squatted in front of her, handing her a water bottle and energy bar. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. I don’t blame you for dozing.”

“What now?” The dead guy had been covered with his own jacket.

“Well, I’m not sure when the chopper will circle back around for these guys so we should probably get started to the observatory.” Cord picked his too-big hat up from the ground and set it on top of her head.

“You think we can make it there without being seen?”

He shrugged and finished off his bar. “We stay under whatever tree cover we can find and we hope for the best.”

“There are houses on this side of 118, Cord. They’re closer.”

“Do you know which way? Heading directly to a white dome I can see from just about any hill around here is a sure thing, a definite direction. We’d be guessing about anything else. It might take even more time if we guess wrong and have to climb one of the hills between those valleys. Not to mention it’s flatter where the ranch houses are, less cover than in the canyons.”

“I agree.” Whether he was seeking her opinion or not, she agreed. At least he’d explained why he’d made the choice. But he wasn’t smiling. There wasn’t a hint of a smile in his eyes, either.

No matter what happened once they arrived wherever they were going...in the end, Cord McCrea needed to know someone cared and loved him. He couldn’t go through life like this current whitewashed version.

He stood, offered his hand and pulled her to her feet. Pack on his back, carrying the remaining water, energy bars and all the weapons, he led the way around another jut of rocks.

“Want your hat?” she asked.

“You need it worse than me. You’re already burned from the sun you got yesterday.”

She hadn’t been. Not really. But she wasn’t going to argue. She appreciated the shade. The sun was bright in the sky and they had a long walk ahead. “You can see the front coming from the northwest. Think we’ve got time?”

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened with the sniper? Or why you think the men were in the helicopter?” Did she really want to know the answers?

“None of them had survivor gear, just weapons.”

“So the helicopter dropped off two guys to wait on us and just flew away?”

“Three. That’s why I was late.”

Three dead men. He’d fought and killed three men today. Three yesterday.

“Don’t do that, Kathleen.”

“What do you
think
I’m doing?”

“I know you’re thinking about the men who died. But you can’t think of them as men. They’re drug runners and murderers. Would-be executioners delivering us to Serna.” He faced her. “They’re part of the gang and may have been the actual scum who put a gun to our friends’ heads and pulled the trigger.”

“Stop! I get it.” She threw up her hands, wanting to cover her ears and block the images from her mind.

“No, you don’t.” He grabbed her shoulders, giving her the slightest of shakes. He pulled the pistol from the back of his waist and handed it to her. “Next time, don’t hesitate—pull the damn trigger. Shoot the son of a bitch before he gets close enough for you to see what color his eyes are.”

He didn’t apologize and she didn’t ask him to. Because she’d hesitated, they might have been captured. As much as she worried about him while he was gone, he worried about her. He’d showed her an “I love you” hand. The only word he knew in sign language.

He walked away from her, down the hill in a direct line to the observatory. They might just make it sometime today at this pace. If she could keep up and if Serna’s men didn’t find them. This side of the mountain was less rocky. Better for grazing. Easier to walk. She just wished it was easier to believe they’d actually make it out of this alive.

* * *

D
AMN
,
WET
WEATHER
. The drugs and weapons had been tediously moved to a second location as soon as the storm had let up. Slower, without the benefit of the ATVs. Both engines had seized. His guess was dirt in the gas. And damn McCrea for figuring out it was the easiest way to completely halt the vehicles.

They’d barely moved the last of the shipment before the DEA had shown up and begun their search. He’d been gone all night and it was time to get back to work preparing for a doozy of a snow front. He cranked the heat up a notch, hoping that the McCreas didn’t have the luxury.

God, he hated them. It didn’t matter what their last names were. They were all from the same cloth. Men who thought they knew more than anyone else. Men who told you to suck it up and let your family sink into a mire. Holier-than-thou men who needed to be brought down several notches so they could be walked on for a while.

Yeah, he hated them.

And pretty damn soon...they’d be hating him.