Читать книгу Ranger Protector - Angi Morgan - Страница 12

Chapter Two

“What do I get? Not a thing. Call me crazy, but I’m doing a favor. I won’t let you down. Do you need a pinkie swear or something?” Jack crooked his little finger in the air like kids did and held it out to her.

“This isn’t funny. I have no idea why I’m here or why I listened to instructions over a phone call.”

It didn’t matter if Megan believed him. He’d keep his word to his partner no matter what. “I’m actually one of the good guys. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

Just mentioning sleep had her eyelids drooping a bit. Right up until the phone rang. Megan jumped out of her skin. He’d dropped his phone in the drawer with his badge and gun. She stared as he answered.

“MacKinnon.”

Jack hesitated for a moment. Just a moment while he watched Megan turn white as chalk. Would she faint? Good thing she was already sitting on the couch. Her arms plopped down without much grace.

Jack tapped the speaker button and kept the phone in one hand while he picked up a hunting magazine. He waved it in front of Megan’s face while his next-door neighbor chattered in the background.

“I’m...I’m all right. Answer your call,” she whispered.

Megan wasn’t doing a good job making him think she was fine. Jack had serious doubts she wasn’t about to hyperventilate. He was looking around for something he could use like a paper bag to have her breathe into.

“Little Jack, are you there? Is someone there with you? Am I interrupting something?” His neighbor crooned her curiosity.

He was about to hang up when Megan drew a long breath and covered her face with a pillow. Whatever had her freaking out was beyond him. Maybe she was just tired. It must have been a shock to discover someone wanted to kill you. And to be thrown in the care of a complete stranger... There couldn’t be much comfort in any part of her situation.

“Little Jack? Little Jack!”

“Right here, Mrs. Dennis.”

“What was that ruckus a few minutes ago? Did a group of motorcycles come through town again?”

The pillow landed where Megan threw it, to the right of his desk.

“Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Dennis. I was late getting back. Sorry the truck woke you.” Jack gestured for Megan to drink some water.

She shook her head and mouthed the word no. She rested her head on the back of the couch. Her eyes glazed over, focusing on a point—if his calculations were right—just next to one of the cracks in his ceiling. Why would him answering the phone send her into a tailspin?

“There should be a noise regulation or something. Maybe you should have your muffler checked out, young man. It’s so loud it woke Junior. You know he goes to sleep at eight,” Mrs. Dennis complained over her bloodhound’s baying.

“All I can do is apologize, Mrs. Dennis. I’ll try not to do it again.” His eyes wandered to the long, silky-looking thigh showing under Megan’s tight skirt. Before she regained her composure, he forced his eyes to look at her feet.

Bare feet. Had he forgotten her shoes in the truck?

“That’s good, but it woke me from a perfectly sound sleep. You know we have a busy day tomorrow. You be sure to give Junior an apology.”

“Sorry to wake you...and Junior. I understand why you’re upset.” All he could do was agree and hope she’d hang up. “But while I’ve got you on the phone, is there a possibility of postponing the homecoming meeting until Monday afternoon?”

“Little Jack, you know a couple of the reunion committee members are driving in from Austin. It would be rude to ask them to drive after work on Monday. So it’s better if we keep it for noon tomorrow at Major’s Restaurant.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He’d always be Little Jack to anyone who knew his father—especially the ones who had worked for his father. And probably to anyone who knew him in high school. Hell, a few junior-high kids had snickered that afternoon and whispered “Sure thing, temporary mayor Little Jack” behind their hands when he told them to stop skateboarding on the sidewalk.

He clicked the phone off and looked at his guest. She visibly gulped in front of him. He waved the phone back and forth, trying to break her trance. “That’s the problem with living in a small town. Everybody has my cell number.”

“You have a gun. And badge. Are you with the police?”

“No.” Hadn’t he told her? “I’m a Texas Ranger out of Company B in Garland. Is that a good thing or a problem?”

“Can I see your ID?”

“Sure.” He opened the drawer again, thought better about tossing the phone back inside and shoved it in his pocket. He picked his badge up from next to the remote. “Habit after having a dog that loved to chew on electronics instead of toys.” He handed her the official picture ID and badge.

Megan took a look and handed it back to him. “Things might have been simpler if you’d shown me that at the beginning.”

“Honestly, I saw the guy approach you and couldn’t get through security to help. I’d already shown my badge a couple of times. I was more concerned about getting you away from the airport. Then you passed out.” He rubbed his chin, conceding she was right. “I don’t know your friend Therese. I’m doing a favor for my partner.”

Before trying to pick her up, he’d assumed she already knew he’d be there to help. He wouldn’t be assuming anything about this so-called favor again. Jack liked a good mystery. He just didn’t need one this particular week.

“A man I don’t know. Why would Therese tell me to hide from the police, then send me to hide with a Texas Ranger?”

“Maybe to protect you?” Jack mumbled the smart-ass question. He was stunned whenever Megan looked up at him. He’d never seen eyes as green as winter rye. Outlined with smudged mascara, they were still as pretty as they came.

Stop. This woman was in trouble. He wasn’t going to admire anything. Not how she looked or how logical she was about staying with him. Letting her stay was a means to an end. He did this favor...his partner would get back in line. Okay, so he could hope.

“It’s been a long day. Where can I clean up?”

“Straight through there.” He pointed past the bedroom, through the hallway that was mainly hidden from view.

She pushed herself up tiredly from the old couch and looked him almost eye to eye. “For the record...I know how to defend myself. I’ll stay until the morning, if it’s really not a problem.”

Feisty. Determined. Cute. Stop.

“I don’t mind.” It wouldn’t have made any difference to his rogue partner if Jack had minded. Wade would have asked for the favor no matter the consequences. It was just the way he was. “You can take the bed and we’ll work out what to do in the morning.”

She gave him a two-fingered salute and followed the hall. He trailed behind and tried to lean against the wall casually. All of his senses were on alert. The ones concerning his guest shouldn’t be, but he couldn’t help it.

“Just my luck. There really is only one bed.” Megan turned slowly, grabbing the bathroom doorknob after passing his room. “And oh, gosh. No shower?”

“My grandmother always said a hot soak will do you good. You said you were sore.”

Her eye roll said more than words. She didn’t appreciate that he knew details from her day. Or was the fact that someone had gotten the jump on her embarrassing? It wasn’t important now. He could find out tomorrow.

“Are you going to stand guard? Because it’s not necessary. I have nowhere to run...tonight.”

The slight hesitation didn’t escape him. She wasn’t looking to stay around longer than necessary. But that wasn’t his deal with his partner. He’d given his word, and the only way his partner was ever going to obey the rules for good was if he kept it.

“No need to waste my time standing here. The window’s too small to crawl through and the house is small enough that I hear every floorboard creak from anywhere inside or out. I’ll go grab my camping cot. You can take the bed.”

She stopped dead in her tracks before crossing into the old bathroom. “Oh, good grief. There’s no lock on this door.”

“The place was my grandmother’s. She didn’t need them. I won’t barge in. Just hand me your clothes. There’s a robe hanging inside that you can use.”

She gasped. There weren’t too many times in his life that someone looked as shocked as they sounded. Plenty of times they’d acted like it. Especially when pulled over for a moving violation. But this woman...either she had the gesture and sound down perfectly or she’d really gasped at his suggestion.

“That’s ridiculous. Ranger or not, I don’t know if you’re trustworthy. Would you expect your sister to just hand over her clothes to a stranger?”

“I wouldn’t expect my sister to be in this position. And I do have a sister who I expect to do whatever’s necessary. That is, if she’d been rescued from someone trying to hunt her down and murder her. Yeah, she’d do whatever the man protecting her suggested. Within reason, of course.”

“Murder is a strong word.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not mine. Your friend is the one who used it. Don’t forget, we’re both in the dark here. Especially the part where Wade felt this was the only place for you to stay.”

“Who’s Wade? And if I knew details, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be getting to the bottom of whatever’s going on. Life would be a little less complicated if Therese had just explained everything.” Megan mumbled the last sentence, mixing it with a yawn. “Can’t you call and ask or something? Surely your phone’s okay to use.”

Jack couldn’t blame Megan. Not really. Right now he didn’t know if his partner was safe, either. Whatever had happened, it must be disconcerting to be drugged and told to stay with a stranger with no other place to hide.

“Wade isn’t big on phones when he’s suggested someone needs to lie low.” He really did hope the phone was just off and that his partner was alive. But he couldn’t get distracted. This woman knew he was a ranger, but he didn’t trust her to stay put. He perched his fists on his hips. That stance always worked to make him look serious. “For the record, Megan, I am willing to barge in or to handcuff you to the bed. Don’t doubt me.”

“I’m not giving you my clothes.”

“Just doing you a favor. Thought you might want clean stuff that fit you tomorrow.”

“I have a change of clothes in my roll-on.” Realization showed in her expressive eyes as she released a long sigh and dropped her chin to her chest in defeat.

She’d left her bag at the airport. “Yeah. So I’ve got a washing machine for your clothes and I’ll leave a T-shirt for you to sleep in. Take your time in the tub.”

He was confident she wouldn’t run out the door naked. Or... How the heck did you judge if a person would run around without clothes? So he held off on finding the only set of pajamas he owned. He heard the water and went to the storage closet on the back porch for the cot and to start her laundry—right after he removed his wet uniforms and shoved them in the dryer.

The bathroom window was open a crack, and a “blast it that’s hot” floated through along with a “right about one thing” from Megan.

“What’s the deal with her, huh, Junior?” he asked the bloodhound on the other side of the chain-link fence.

Jack leaned against the porch post, watching the old hound do his business and creep back through the dog door he’d installed for Mrs. Dennis a couple of years ago. He didn’t have an opinion one way or the other about trouble appearing on his doorstep. Life had been simple for the last several years. At least his life.

Now, Wade’s, on the other hand, was one complicated mission after another where only he knew the agenda. Why or what his partner was punishing himself for, Jack didn’t know. And Wade would never say.

There was one thing for certain. If Jack’s partner was going out completely on his own again, there’d be hell to pay. The Rangers didn’t operate that way. Sure, they were invited to help with cases all the time, but their superiors decided those cases. The secretiveness about Megan Harper had trouble written all over it.

“What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into, Megan?” she asked herself in the tub. Her voice was nice and alto deep.

Smooth enough that he wouldn’t get tired of listening to it. He should probably go back inside instead of hoping she’d spill why someone was trying to kill her.

There was plenty of time to figure things out in the morning with a cup of caffeine so everything made sense.

* * *

STAKEOUTS HAD PREPARED Jack for sleeping on any surface for any short amount of time possible. Four years later and the training still kicked in when needed. Late nights on assignment, helping a small-town sheriff or chasing after his partner, who was only an arm’s reach from trouble when left on his own.

He’d done his best to convince Megan, but she’d chosen the cot stretched across the bedroom door. He didn’t think she’d managed any real sleep at all. She’d tossed all night long. So much, in fact, that Jack had debated waking her up to insist she take the bed. But he doubted she would have slept soundly anywhere.

Megan had cried in her sleep—sort of whimpering, as if she was having a nightmare. Her eyes were still closed when he pulled a T-shirt on, lifted her from the cot and tucked her under his blanket. He’d waited several minutes before sneaking out of the bedroom.

Tonight she’d be in his bed. Period.

“Hell, I’m glad I didn’t say that out loud to her.” He flipped the switch on the coffee maker and waited within sight of his bedroom door.

There wasn’t any way for him to get out of the homecoming meeting. He was the one who needed to confirm the parade route and who would be in charge at the beginning and end. He ended his one-sided debate knowing that Megan would have to go with him.

Clicking on the TV, he texted his sister about borrowing women’s clothes and sat in his chair to drink his coffee. Just like he did most mornings. There wasn’t much of a routine to follow or disrupt when he was home. Simple life in a simple town. He’d just slurped when the news program splashed a picture of his houseguest in full-screen fifty-seven-inch HD glory.

He spewed. Coffee went everywhere, including up his nose. It wasn’t pleasant and the rest was nearly in his lap as he read the accompanying scrolling headline.

“Hell’s bells. What is Wade thinking?”

“Is everything all right?” Megan came hurrying into the room, shoving her hair away from her face. “Oh my God. They’re using all three of my names as if I’m a serial killer.”

Ticking across the bottom of the screen was a limited account of a man being shot in Dallas last night, allegedly by TDI Intelligence Analyst Megan Lilly Harper.

It registered, even if only for a fraction of a second, that the robe she’d slept in was now open. It was hanging loose over the long T-shirt he’d given her and showing the well-toned body he’d done his best to ignore more than once.

They both listened as the news report recounted events from the previous evening in Austin. The little bulletin strip kept running Megan’s name and that she was wanted for questioning by state authorities.

“Rethinking that promise not to betray me?” Megan asked.

“Actually...no. I was with you yesterday, so I know you’re being framed.”

“Where are my clothes? I’ll get dressed and we can go clear this up.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Megan. They have witnesses, too.” Damn. “Who the heck do you work for, and what’s an intelligence analyst?”

“The Texas Department of Insurance, and I work for the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Our agency is a part of TDI. ‘Intelligence analyst’ sounds a lot more dramatic than it actually is. I gather information about fires and—” she shrugged “—analyze it.”

“The news is making it sound like you’re a spy or something.”

She shook her head, her long brown hair framing her face, hiding her expression. “Oh, no. Seriously, most of my job is in a cubicle. I have no idea why anyone wants to frame me for murder.”

No idea? She was holding back why, and he knew it. “They have eyewitnesses.”

“So do I, and mine’s a Texas Ranger. I mean, if you need an alibi, I have a great one.” She shoved her hair back behind her tanned face, then dropped her palm against the bare skin of her thigh. “Look, I don’t know what’s up, but you know I didn’t do this. Whoever’s behind the murder must be using a woman who looks like me.”

“That makes sense, but I’m not the one who has to be convinced you’re telling the truth.”

“So where are my clothes? I need to rent a car and get back to Austin. I made a huge mistake leaving.”

“I don’t think you did.”

Her mouth dropped open. If he looked hard enough, he might just see her tonsils. He was fascinated with how all her emotions were just...visible. No second-guessing what this gal was feeling.

“So we’re agreed. I need my clothes.” She pulled the robe closed and tied the belt.

“First of all, they aren’t dry. I was sipping my coffee before actually doing anything. Second, there was a reason you chose not to stay. Someone drugged you and tried to abduct you. Maybe you should remember that. Third thing—I might agree that it’s gonna look like a mistake by not turning yourself in, but that doesn’t mean you need to...yet. I gave my word to keep you safe. I’m keeping it. And fourth—”

“There’s more?”

“No rental cars or taxis in Liberty Hill. Only way you’re getting back to Austin is to hitch a ride. I’m pretty sure that’s not the best way for you to travel right now.”

“For a small-town man, you certainly take a long time to get to the point.”

“Sorry, I’m not trying to be evasive.” Nope, he was teasing her and couldn’t help it. “I’m a little distracted by the dilemma facing me if anyone finds out I’m harboring a...what? Or is it a who? You aren’t really a criminal. Not yet, anyway. So I can’t call you a fugitive.”

“Please stop. Just stop.” She covered her eyes with her fingertips and then rubbed her temples. “I can’t think.”

“This isn’t complicated. Okay, it’s a little complicated. Someone convinced my partner to protect you—” His brain screeched to a halt as realization clicked things in place for his guest. Or prisoner. He could see it going either way.

She nodded. “Your partner? I thought Therese said they’d worked with you.”

Jack was cussing a bit in his head. Since joining the Rangers, he’d given up smoking and curbed his four-letter vocabulary to consist of hell. It was much better for his image.

His partner, on the other hand, didn’t have any reason to hold back and wouldn’t when he found out Megan was wanted for murder. That was, if he checked in anytime soon. Why would he put them in this situation?

“So what now? How fast should I be ready to go?”

“I’m not sure. This is a bit unusual.” Jack hated to think that his partner might be in serious trouble for circumventing an arrest. It didn’t make sense. He couldn’t get the sound of gunfire out of his head. And he was certain it had been gunfire.

“Well, it certainly is for me. I’ve never been in trouble before. For crying out loud, I used to be a cop.” Her arms bounced up and down against her thighs, the sound muffled by his robe.

“Wade might have a history of jumping in headfirst without checking how deep the water is. But...”

Megan arched her eyebrows, clearly wanting the rest of the explanation.

“I’ve never known why or how, but he’s almost always right.” There was no turning back. “The man has a sixth sense about things like this. He said you need protecting, and not twelve hours later you’re being framed for murder.”

Hell, she was wanted for murder.

“You can’t keep me here. You’re a Texas Ranger.”

“Right.” He covered the short space to the door with a couple of strides. He needed to take a minute. Just think of something other than the consequences of going against orders—although he didn’t really have any at the moment.

“You aren’t seriously thinking about trying to hide me. I don’t want to be hidden. No matter what anyone thinks, I’m the best qualified to discover why someone wants to frame me for murder.”

He could believe that. If she was an analyst like she claimed, that meant she looked through information and solved problems. She probably had more experience than he did at solving mysteries of this nature.

He hooked his thumbs in his belt and looked out back across the pasture. Mrs. D. waved as she got in her car. “See you in town, Little Jack.”

Thoughts were racing through his head faster than he could collect him. If he did this, then that would happen. And if he did that, then this would happen. He pushed through the emotional tug of wanting to please everyone. A physical impossibility. Someone was going to get hurt.

Or fired. He watched the horses grazing, wishing he’d carried his coffee with him across the room. When all was said and done, he could count on Wade. He already had done so more than once. Bottom line, he should wait before moving forward. Gather more information, but wait.

“We may not know much about what’s going on, Megan. But there’s one thing you can count on.” He paused, waiting on her to look at him so she’d see his sincerity. “You can trust my partner.”