The Ranger Page 6

  Chapter Seven

  Little fingers pried at his eyelids. Mitch had peeked at Toby a couple of minutes earlier, as the little boy had poked at Mitch’s puffed-up cheek to get him to make a popping sound with his lips.

  It was still early, still dark. He hadn’t slept much. The couch was too short and his mind too uneasy. First with the threats from King and his men. Then the accusations Cord had made about his personal life.

  It was a revelation to Mitch that he had a personal life at all. Popping the air from his cheeks was a game he and Toby played often. The kid had been excited to find him on the couch, but not freaked out. Mitch expected Brandie to come in at any minute and tell him he needed to leave.

  Funny thing was, he didn’t want to leave. He was fine keeping Toby occupied and letting his mom get some extra sleep. He let the little fingers poke his air-puffed cheeks one more time, made the noise the kid loved and popped his eyes open at the same time.

  Toby jumped and giggled. A sweet sound Mitch never got tired of.

  So he was involved. So what? It reminded him what he was undercover for. He was protecting women and children like this family from the threats of men like Rey King. There wasn’t anything wrong with that.

  To which Cord had replied there was if it interfered. So was it?

  Mitch tickled Toby, who squirmed on the beige-carpeted floor. “You ready to eat, kid?”

  “Scrambled eggs?”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  “I’ll get mom.”

  He took off, but Mitch’s arm got him around the middle. His little feet kept running like a cartoon and his giggle filled the room. Another trick they did when Toby visited the café and he was running when he should be walking.

  Cord had warned him to hang in the background, to let the situation with King happen without interference or rushing in to save the day.

  Maybe he was ready to let those close to him know he could save the day. It just seemed like he smiled a lot more in Marfa—at least when people couldn’t see him.

  He had the eggs scrambled in the bowl and the pan hot when Brandie wandered into the kitchen.

  “Morning.”

  “Nice shirt.” He noticed his T-shirt and the blush that crept up the fair redhead’s neck and cheeks. She crossed her arms and did a one-eighty from the room.

  Mitch had also noticed her pert nipples and her long curls messed up like she’d had a restless sleep, too. He cooked Toby’s eggs, gave him chocolate milk and buttered toast, then sat at the table with him.

  “Mitch?”

  “Yup, that’s me.”

  “Are you gonna live here now? ’Cause if you did, we could get bunk beds and share my room.” Toby was all eyes and seriousness, milk-stained lip and all.

  Mitch didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t a possibility. Then again, what was stopping him? He remembered the way his T-shirt had looked on Brandie earlier. Sharing a room with someone wasn’t such an unpleasant idea.

  “Eat up, kid. We’ll talk about those bunks later.”

  He was scooping the last bite of eggs in his mouth when Brandie emerged. Her plate had grown cold before she returned completely dressed and ready for another day at the café.

  She put the eggs between two pieces of bread and wrapped it in a napkin. “I laid out your clothes, buddy. Go brush your teeth and get dressed.”

  “Does Mitch have to brush his teeth?”

  “Sure I do, kid. But mine’s at the garage.”

  “You need one here then, ’cause you gotta brush before you leave the house.” Toby pushed in his chair and scampered from the room.

  “You shouldn’t encourage him,” she said while washing up his mess.

  “I was going to do that.”

  “It’s okay. You cooked, I’ll clean.” She stretched on her tiptoes to peek out the high window over the sink. “Better get your boots on. Mrs. Escalon’s on her way over to stay with Toby. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this. Maybe you can leave without her seeing your car.”

  “How about the truth. I stayed here because of the attack on your family. And your car’s at the café. Remember?”

  “I’m afraid you staying here will be gossipier news than my dad filling an intruder’s behind with buckshot.” She dried the pan, looking away again.

  He didn’t know what to say. He’d put her in a compromising situation. His first thought was that he didn’t care. It had been the right thing to do. Then again...he cared. Enough to blow his cover and tell her the truth about himself. Something he’d never thought of doing before.

  * * *

  “I KNEW I HAD some catching up to do in the garage.” Mitch pushed hard to get the door open. “But this?”

  Supplies were everywhere. Shelves had been overturned. Invoices, estimates and receipts out of their file folders and on every surface.

  “Why didn’t the alarm go off? I thought you said the sheriff would have extra patrols?” Brandie said right behind him.

  He’d had a great morning, sharing a homemade breakfast with the kid who had been superexcited to see him. Until a reminder that the real world would see his staying overnight as wrong. Then a phone call from Brandie’s dad had shifted all the good to bad. Mitch heard him yelling through the cell about a certain car parked all night in her driveway.

  He hadn’t set the alarm. “I think we were in too big of a hurry last night and left without turning the blasted thing on.”

  “You’re right. All I did was lock the door.” She scooted paperwork out of her path with her toe. She looked up to see the vandalism to his immaculate garage. “Would you like me to call Ricky in to help you clean this mess up?”

  “I’ll take care of it after the sheriff finishes.”

  “We’re not calling Pete.”

  He spun around, letting her walk into his chest. He secured her balance and quickly dropped his hands because in spite of all the distraction, he was still thinking about her in his T-shirt. “Why not? What are you afraid of them finding?”

  “We already know who did this. There’s no reason to bring the sheriff’s department into it. It’s not like I’m going to tell them anything.” She pointed a finger at him. “You can’t, either.”

  “No, we don’t. I know you’ve been threatened by King. Your family’s been threatened. And now you’ve been robbed. I also know you’re too frightened to go to the police.”

  “I’m not afraid, Mitch. I’m angry.” She dug her phone out of the piece of luggage she called a purse, scrolled and dialed. “There’s a huge difference.”

  She passed through the garage to the café, growling as she tripped on a ratchet extension and slid in some spilled brake fluid. Mitch followed, picking up Jacob’s radiator replacement hose that he’d been waiting a week to arrive. He didn’t have time to think about garage customers and yet he was.

  “Hand him the phone, Zubict. I want to talk with Rey.” She waited at the café entrance, not moving into the room.

  He could see over her head and it wasn’t a pretty sight. Everything was trashed. He heard a sniff, saw her fingers swipe away a tear. Then he saw the irreplaceable jukebox...smashed, the records thrown around the room, destroyed.

  He thought he’d been mad seeing the garage. This was senseless and clearly a threat. The cost of repairs and replacing everyday items they needed for the café would be astronomical.

  “I’d like to listen.” He stood behind her while she pressed Speaker without asking why or telling him to mind his own business. He wanted her to bury her face in his chest so he could comfort her completely. Instead, he stiffly put his hand on her sweater-covered shoulder.

  Mitch had given his word to Cord that nothing was going on between him and Brandie. The teasing last night had been fun, but that’s all it was. The needless destruction hit him deep in a place he didn’t know he had. He wanted to find Rey King and rip his head to shreds.

  “Hola, baby.”

  “I hope you found whatever you were looki
ng for,” she demanded. “But you went too far tearing my place apart.”

  “You know we didn’t find it, Brandie. Moving the package somewhere else won’t help you. We’ll get everything back. But this is your last warning, sweetheart. Give us what we want or someone’s going to pay the price. Might even be that new boyfriend of yours. Thanks for getting him out of there so we could have a looksee.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You’re forgetting our agreement. You return my property or your parents will be in for a shock.”

  King disconnected. Mitch nudged Brandie forward into the room, flipped over a chair that was still intact and made her sit. He took another of the old-fashioned café chairs and straddled it so they were facing each other.

  “You ready to tell me what’s going on now?” he asked.

  Tears filled her when she looked up at him. “The staff will be here in a few minutes.”

  “We tell them to come back after the sheriff has processed the scene.”

  “But—” She swiped at another tear. “Fine. It’ll look weird if I don’t let them.”

  “More than weird, Brandie. At the moment you’re connected with a known criminal organization.”

  She shook her head. “Rey King is an Alpine college professor in the Spanish Department. He’s got his mind set that my former mechanic hid something of his here.”

  “Like what? Money? Drugs?”

  “At first I thought he was kidding around. But then I assumed Glen had been selling weed. I didn’t realize that he even knew Rey.”

  “And you haven’t moved anything from the garage? Did King get in touch with you after Glen disappeared?”

  “You mean after he left. You found a note in the desk, remember? Was that a lie, too?”

  “Look, Brandie, you have to remember that I’ve been undercover. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone why.”

  “Just how long have you been lying to everyone you know, playing Mitch the Mechanic?”

  He recognized that she needed a place to vent her anger at the situation as much as she was hurt by finding out he’d been lying to her. They needed to stay focused on one problem at a time. Right now, it was her problem with King.

  “We don’t have time for my life story. I need you to tell me how you know Rey King and why he has control over you.”

  “I can’t trust you with that.”

  “Brandie, you either trust me or you spill it to the Texas Rangers’ captain who will be showing up when you’re arrested for obstructing justice. It’s that simple. I’ve already been told I don’t have much time.”

  She jumped up. “You’re leaving?”

  He’d just threatened to arrest her and she asked if he was leaving. At any other time, he might think that was a good sign. Hell, it was a good sign.

  “I’ve already been here too long.” He tugged her to the office chair. “But the main thing is that the Rangers think they have enough for a real investigation. We need solid connections to bring in the DEA or more Rangers.”

  “About me? I haven’t done anything. Why would they want to look into my life?”

  That was the second time she’d flinched about her past. This was about Rey King. He needed anything she’d spill. “You’ve got to give me something to hold them off.”

  “I...can’t.”

  The pain in her eyes was genuine. It wrenched his heart and his gut, but he pulled his phone out and got in touch with Cord. “Yeah, another break-in. They smashed the place up pretty good.”

  “Do you know what they’re looking for?”

  “She won’t tell me.” Mitch looked at a fiery redhead determined to keep her secrets.

  “Something’s not adding up. You said she was angry at King. I just have a hard time thinking that she’d be in business with him. What about the former mechanic? Think he was the problem?”

  “Didn’t everyone have a hard time believing the last informant you found who worked with Bishop? What about the one who worked with Rook?”

  “I’m not an informant,” Brandie said with a huff. “Rey wrecked the place because I’m not telling him anything.”

  “I get it,” Cord stated in his ear. “Brandie’s listening to your side of the conversation and you’re trying to scare her into telling you? I can tell you that the only people I’ve seen scare her are the Quinns themselves.”

  “So you think I should talk with her parents?”

  “Don’t go there, Mitch,” Brandie said softly.

  “Good advice. You might need to run interference with the locals.” He disconnected and called the sheriff’s department, reporting the break-in.

  “From what I can tell, you have less than ten minutes to convince me.” He hated threatening her. Hated it.

  Once Cord heard that Rey King was involved, he explained that he was a new major player in gun running across the border. All law enforcement agencies were under pressure to take this guy off the streets.

  “Are you a man of your word, Mitch? Are you trustworthy?”

  He took her soft, shaking hand in his. He was the person responsible for the uncontrollable tremor. King had destroyed her place and she’d grown angry. It was his threat of talking to her parents that made her tremble. His threat.

  “You don’t have any reason to trust me, Brandie. But I swear to you, I want to help. I want to get you out of this mess. But I can’t unless I know what’s going on. You have to tell me.”

  “This—” she pointed to her wedding ring “—is my mother’s. I’ve never really been married.”

  “I don’t understand. Isn’t there a picture of you with your deceased husband at your parents’ house? What about Toby?”

  “The picture is really Toby’s dad, but we were never married. My parents were embarrassed that I went away to school and came home pregnant. I had nowhere else to go.” Her hands twisted in the edge of her shirt. Tears fell down her cheeks.

  He couldn’t imagine being alone and going through something like that. “What, were you eighteen?”

  She nodded. At eighteen, he’d been a senior in high school, stealing beer and partying ’til dawn. One thing his dad had been blunt with him about was using protection to prevent early fatherhood.

  “What about Toby’s dad? I haven’t seen anyone around in six months, so I assume he’s not in the picture? Does he know?”

  “My dad said I couldn’t live here, that it would shame them with the community. So my mother came up with the story that I married a man in the Army, he shipped out and was killed in action. So, you see, I’m a liar, too.”

  She hadn’t answered his question about the father.

  “He should know people don’t think that way about unwed mothers anymore.”

  “Don’t you see? It didn’t matter what people would really think. It only mattered what my dad thought they were thinking. In his eyes, his friends pity me now.”

  Mitch had heard Bud talking about Toby’s war hero father more than once. He told the story like it really happened. “King thinks you have his property and is going to expose your secret if you don’t give it back. How does King know?”

  “He was my advisor in college.”

  Their attention was drawn to the garage door before he could ask more details. Great, not a deputy. It was the sheriff himself. Again. The man was always on duty.

  “Anybody here?”

  “We’re in the café.” Mitch dreaded another confrontation. In fact, being the town drifter and the first place the police looked for answers after trouble happened was getting sort of old.

  “So Pete doesn’t know you’re undercover?” she whispered.

  “It’s better that way.”

  “Funny meeting you here again, Striker.” The sheriff leaned against the door frame. “I’d say good morning, but I don’t think that would be accurate.”

  “You work a lot of hours, Sheriff. Late last night, early this morning. You must be exhausted.” Mitch looked at his watch, wondering how soon he could call Cord.
“Looks like they came in the back garage window.”

  There was no way he’d share all of the story. His captain would kill him if he didn’t give over all the details. It wouldn’t change how they went after King, but if it got out, it would really destroy Brandie.

  “My dispatchers have been instructed to call me whenever there’s a problem concerning you.” Pete started to push his fingers through his hair but stopped before they got caught in his hair gel. “I saw the broken glass. The extra patrols I had by here last night didn’t see a thing. Any working theories?”

  “Sure,” Brandie answered before Mitch could take a deep breath. “They didn’t find what they wanted yesterday morning, so they tied my parents up as a distraction last night and came back while all your deputies were on our lawn?”

  “Makes sense. It would be a reason why they harassed your parents.” He walked around along the wall to the jukebox. “Now that’s a downright shame. That smash looks like someone was angry. Any idea what they were looking for?”

  “Not a clue,” Mitch answered quickly. The look of relief he received from Brandie was worth all the ear chewing he’d receive from his captain.

  Chapter Eight

  “Mind if I take a look around, Brandie?” Pete asked, seeming to look at whatever he wanted anyway. “I’ll need a list of anything that’s missing. Hardy will be here to take pictures and document the damage for insurance. His shift starts at seven.”

  “Thanks, and go right ahead. It all looks the same, though.”

  “Have you told Bud yet?” he asked as he sifted through chairs toward the garage.

  No two ways about it, her parents were going to freak. How would she break the news?

  Mitch steadied her shoulders again and said, “You were the first call today. Surprised they aren’t here already considering your 9-1-1 gossip line.”

  “Mitch, can you help me look at the storage room?” She had to get them away from each other. She gave a tug on his arm. Once in the back room she went to the wall and they cleared the shelf in front of the safe. “I bet you’d be best buds if he knew you were a Ranger.”