The Bull Rider Wears Pink (6 page)

“It's just a matter of when,” Logan
said, leaning closer to his sister. He tapped her on the nose with the bread
stick. “You have to be ready for it financially, physically, and emotionally.
Let me tell you,” he continued, “it sucks hanging around the house all day
watching Caleb vacuum.”

“I know,” Cassidy agreed. She'd
seen Caleb vacuum, he was obsessed with the dog hair or maybe Carrie was
obsessed. Either way, Cassidy knocked on the wooden table. “But I haven't
gotten hurt yet,” she told her brother as she wished Logan
would stop talking about broken bones. She poured salt from the shaker into her
hand and tossed it over her shoulder.

“Don't get too cocky,” Logan
warned. “Sooner or later you'll find yourself sitting on the couch, ice packs
all over your body with a flicker balancing on your belly.” He took a bite of
the bread stick, crumbs rolled down his chin. “Now that Oprah is gone
everything on in the afternoon sucks.”

“I know how to fall,” Cassidy
explained. She glanced at Kevin. He was smiling at his computer screen. “Remember,”
she reminded Logan,
“I was a gymnast.” She looked at Kevin again. He was still smiling. She wished
she knew what was entertaining him. Maybe they could share a laugh,
particularly one that wasn’t at her expense.

Then the casual atmosphere changed
in the dark restaurant. The red walls got redder, the violin player got softer
and the hostess talking on the phone stopped. Cassidy looked around to see what
happened just as John Risk walked through the door. John smiled sheepishly at
the hostess as he asked for a table for one, his index finger awkwardly in the
air. Then he looked around the room. His eyes settled on Cassidy.

Logan
noticed John too. “Why is the preacher man looking at you?” Logan
asked. Cassidy was surprised he noticed. Observant was also a word Cassidy
wouldn’t use to describe her brother. Maybe all that Oprah viewing had turned
him into a new man. Then again, it probably had something to do with Rachel
entering his life.

Cassidy shrugged. Self-conscious, she
leaned over and studied Kevin's computer screen. Was she hiding—probably? She
leaned in a little further. John really needed to get those baby blues of his
off of her. Even with all her denials, the man was still her personal kryptonite.
Now that he looked and acted like an extra from the television show “Freaks and
Geeks” the pull was worse. Who would have thought?

“Look at him, Rachel,” Logan
told his wife while pointing that half eaten bread stick in John's direction. “I've
never seen a woman catch the nerdy pastor's eye but he's enthralled with my
little sister.” Logan held the bread stick
like a cigar in the corner of his mouth. “Honestly, I thought the guy had gotten
himself castrated when he took his vows.”

“Logan,
please tone it down?” Rachel suggested as she shifted the baby in her lap.

Rachel was right. Cassidy shook her
head at her brother while pointing at Kevin. But Logan
wasn't done with John as he watched the man follow the hostess to his table.
John was still looking at Cassidy, even turning his head while he walked across
the green, leaf carpet.

Logan
laughed after John sat down. “I don't know what the good pastor is thinking
looking at you like that,” Logan told Cassidy. “You
two are mismatched—it's the lion and the lamb, the gladiator and the water boy,
the badass and the dork.”

Badass, Cassidy sort of liked that
one, but she wasn't going to compliment her brother’s clever analogy. It would
only encourage him. Instead, she continued to hide behind Kevin's computer
screen. Her son figured out what she was doing. “Mom,” he moaned. He slammed it
shut. “This isn't your business.”

“I didn't read any—” Cassidy
started.

“Woo-wee, it's getting hot in here,”
Logan
interrupted while pulling on the front of his shirt. “The preacher man is
moving his seat so he can get a better look at my sister.” They all watched
John grip the arms of his chair and hobble it to the left. When he was done, he
returned his attention to Cassidy.

If Logan
knew John and Cassidy’s history both personally and professionally he'd be
doing a lot more than tugging on his shirt, he'd probably be calling John out
and challenging the man to a duel. But Cassidy didn't say anything, instead she
commented, “Do you think he's a real preacher or just one of those online
certified phonies?” Maybe if she put doubt in the minds of the cowboys about
John's credentials he'd pack up his bags and go.

“As far as I know,” her brother
replied.

“Maybe John is—” Cassidy started.
She wasn't going to blow John's cover but it'd probably be better for her if he
wasn't around. No more skipping heart when he walked by or sweaty palms when he
talked to her. Yes, she was trying to get rid of him at the same time she was
thinking passionate thoughts about him. Ugh!

“John,” Logan shouted.
“You're on a first name basis with that Bible thumper.” Logan
shook his head. “Everyone calls him Pastor John or no balls,” he added under
his breath. Then he chuckled as he glanced at Rachel.

“No balls,” Kevin said. He opened
his computer. “I've got to write that down.”

Before Cassidy had a chance to tell
him his uncle was being crude again, John appeared at their table. He held a
stack of fliers. Kevin lifted his head out of his computer. “Hey, Pastor John,”
he said with a giggle while Rachel eyed John suspiciously.

“We're having a prayer meeting
tomorrow morning,” John told them in a voice that was a little too loud and a
little too high. Plus he wouldn't look at Rachel. With hands scarred by road
burn and a knife fight, he placed the flier on the table.

It was printed on blue paper with
white clouds at the top. Nicer than the one he'd done back in Tulsa.
Cassidy wondered if John had gone to a print shop that morning and picked out
the paper himself. Even the font was cursive. The title said, “Redemption.” In
smaller print was information about the place and time of the service.

“Re-redemption,” Cassidy sputtered.
“Who's redemption?”
So okay.
Maybe she was a little
protective of the word. But right now it was hers. She was in the middle of her
own eight second redemption. John could have salvation or deliverance. Yes,
those words appeared on the bottom of the flier along with information about
donuts and coffee being served.

“Anyone's redemption,” John
replied. “It's personal,” he explained with a quick nod of his head. He still
wouldn't look at Rachel, which was interesting. Back in LA, when taking a five
minute break from fighting the bad guys, John always admired a beautiful woman.
“It's about assuming responsibility for something bad you’ve done and making
amends.”

“What if you did something bad to
one person, for example a loved one, but your actions helped the greater good?”
Kevin asked, his words coming from the mouths of babes. “Do you still get
redemption?” He scratched his arm pit.

Cassidy stared at her son for a
moment. When in the world did he become so perceptive? Did he know
instinctively Cassidy left him because she was trying to do something for the
greater good? After eight months of undercover work Cassidy and John had given
their colleagues in uniform enough information to intercept two hundred illegal
firearms and seize twelve million dollars’ worth of cocaine.

John glanced at Cassidy with wide
eyes. She shook her head. She hadn't told Kevin anything about her life in L.A.
and she would talk to her son later about the greater good. She just needed to
figure out what she was going to say first.

However, it seemed John wanted to
dive head first into this parenting quagmire. Cassidy had to give him credit
for not being afraid. “Sometimes,” the cop turned preacher said slowly, “families
hurt each other trying to protect people they don't even know.” He looked at
Cassidy with a nod.

“Sort of like River on Firefly,”
Kevin started. “She had to protect her geeky brother Simon because he was
pathetic and unable to protect himself and occasionally she had to lie to him
for his own good.” Kevin leaned back and smiled. “I hope you folks appreciate
the excellent character study I just gave you.”

Wow, on top of being impressed by
her son's ability to grasp the situation, Cassidy was also unnerved. The kid
could have been talking about her life. Did he know something that she didn't
want him to know? It wasn’t possible because Logan and Caleb had no idea what
she was doing in Los Angeles so Kevin
wouldn't have an opportunity to figure it out.

“Right,” John said. He looked a
little bewildered too. “And tomorrow I'm going to talk about
Battlestar
Galactic during my sermon.” He pushed a flier
toward Kevin. “You may want to show up.” It seemed John had given up on
addressing the meaning of the greater good with Cassidy's son.

Kevin glanced at the flier. “Not
Firefly?” he asked.

“Haven’t seen the show,” John
replied.

Kevin closed his laptop and stood
up. “Okay,” he said to John. He looked again at the nonexistent watch on his
wrist. “Got to go,” he told the rest of them.
“A previous
engagement.”

“Where are you going so fast?” Logan
asked.

Kevin shook his head.
“No place.
Just meeting someone.”
He shoved his laptop into his backpack.

“Who the hell do you know around
here?” Logan
continued to interrogate while Kevin bristled and the baby cried.

Cassidy didn't know much about
parenting but she did know Logan's style wasn't
working. She turned to
Rachel,
the woman had already
put her hand on Logan's arm. “That's great,
you are meeting people here.” Rachel said evenly to Kevin. The woman was quick
thinking. “Do you have a new friend?” she asked gently. Cassidy needed to watch
and learn.

“Maybe,” Kevin replied.

“Do you mind telling us who?”
Rachel asked. She glanced at both Cassidy and Logan but wouldn't look at John. Hmm,
that was interesting as well because Cassidy thought Rachel would notice a good
looking man. Then again maybe John wasn't her type with the ponytail.

Kevin's eyes shifted back and
forth. “That rodeo clown, Mike Shannon said he would let me interview him.” The
boy shrugged. “I thought maybe I could write an article for my school newspaper
about him.”

Cassidy was relieved to hear he
wasn't meeting a girl. Kevin was too young for that sort of stuff. Wasn't he?
However, she didn't like that Mike Shannon fellow much either. But she didn't
have a concrete reason why, except the man was even cruder than Logan.

Then again, writing the article was
a good idea. It kept Kevin out of trouble.

Both Rachel and Cassidy looked to Logan
for guidance. “The guy's fine,” Logan said. “Have fun.” he
told Kevin with a nod of his head.

“Are you sure Mike is—” John
started.

“He's fine,” Logan
interrupted. Then he called to Kevin. “You’re meeting him in a public
place—right?”

As soon as Kevin
was gone.
John stared at the door. Then he
fidgeted with his fliers. “I've got to go,” he said to nobody in particular
after a minute. “I think I left the television on in my room.” He glanced at
the door again. “But congratulations on making it into the men's division,” he
told Cassidy.
“Can't wait to see you ride tomorrow.”

As Cassidy watched him rush out the
door she got a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart. It was really nice of John to congratulate
her. She knew he remembered how much riding in the men's division meant to her.
She was starting
to
really like this user friendly
version of John Risk.

Then she remembered why he was at
the rodeo—breaking up a prescription drug ring. Dammit, she needed to get her
head in the game and out of the clouds. John was probably following Kevin
because Kevin was meeting Mike Shannon. Now, Cassidy understood. John’s hairs
were on end after her bull ride back in Tulsa
because he had the same fishy feeling she had about the rodeo clown.

Cassidy started to gather her
stuff. The plan was to follow both John and Kevin. Her eight ounce burger would
have to wait. Logan
stopped her with a hand on her forearm. He held up John's flier.

“How well do you know this guy?” he
asked. Both Logan and Rachel sat across the table with their mouths in thin,
tight lines. Oh no, John must have offended them in some way at some point.
That was why Rachel wouldn't look at him. Couldn’t they focus their indignation
on the real source of the problem—Mike Shannon?

But maybe it was more than just
being offended? Cassidy tried to play it casual as alarms were going off all over
in her head. Did Logan know about John's
work? Was John's cover already blown? If so, John needed to know before he went
after Mike Shannon. Kevin could get hurt if he got caught in the middle of that
take down. “Not well,” Cassidy lied. She pushed her arm through the sleeve of
her jean jacket.

“Don't ever end up alone with him,”
Rachel warned. She moved the baby's head to her shoulder. “He's a deviant,” she
added tapping the baby on the back.

Deviant?
Cassidy wasn't sure where this was going. The most dangerous of situations for
an undercover cop is exposure. But maybe that wasn't the case here. Before she
went running after Kevin and John she needed to take her time, gather more
information and think carefully. She pulled her jacket off her arm and sat
down.