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“Thank you.” His tone revealed he maintained a tight control over his emotions.
Brent rose to his feet and set the gift on the side table.
Adriana thought at first his action meant that he didn’t appreciate Inez’s thoughtfulness and was discarding the gift, but then she saw the emotion boiling up in his gaze. He glanced at Inez, true gratitude in his eyes before he shuttered it away.
He unholstered and brandished his weapon, surprising them both. “And now, for my gift, I’m going to check the perimeter. Make good on that promise of protection. Double-check the booby traps. You might want to let me know what and where all of them are so I can find and check them.”
“Let this be a test to let us know how well I’ve hidden them.” For a moment, she felt pleased and proud that he needed to ask. But then a dark thought crept in. “Except,” she admitted, “you got through some of them before on your own.”
He frowned, his thoughts clearly running on the same track as her own. “Right. If it had been anyone else, you’d be dead right now.”
* * *
Brent had to step away from this situation that had grown far too personal.
“We’ll be eating Christmas dinner in a couple of hours. Don’t be gone too long,” Inez called after him as he shoved through the front door, clomped across the porch and down the steps. He kept his eyes sharply attuned to his surroundings, though his mind remained muddled by the fact he’d found Adriana Garcia and was spending today with her and her friend like they were some kind of happy family.
He never in a million years could have imagined he would be eating Christmas dinner with the sister of drug cartel head Rio Garcia. She’d disguised herself to look nothing at all like the woman who had saved him. And it would have worked, except for those beautiful eyes. All he had to do was look closely and he saw the Adriana he remembered. Her warm brown eyes had been a dead giveaway. Those had been the same eyes that had signaled a warning to him to stay hidden while she’d distracted Garcia’s men searching for him. It astounded him to think that, even then, he’d had an instant connection with her and been able to read her easily enough to trust her silent offer of protection.
Then she’d come back for him after leading Garcia’s men away. She’d hidden Brent in her own home until she could safely spirit him out of danger. They’d spent that one day together, two years ago. He would never forget that day or those eyes. The hair and glasses might fool others, but up close and personal, they hadn’t hidden the luster and compassion in her gaze. At least, not from him.
When he’d seen her before, she’d had long dark hair, but she’d done a great job of disguising it with auburn curls to go with the plain farm clothes that hung loosely off her body. But changing her appearance hadn’t diminished her beauty or hidden away her spirited nature. Brent found himself insanely attracted to the woman. Still. After two years. It was why he’d had to be the one to find her.
Her disguise and the fake name, Tanya Parker, had worked well enough that the Texas Rangers and Garcia’s cartel had initially gone after the wrong woman—Danielle Segovia, who had been misidentified by a local policeman in El Paso after seeing photos of Adriana. Of course, she had turned out to actually be Danielle Segovia and not Adriana Garcia. Danielle just happened to be a dead ringer for Adriana, that was, before she’d disguised herself.
The Rangers had received intel that Adriana was hiding in El Paso and running a small crafts shop, Mexican Artifacts and Crafts by Danielle. Though it had seemed odd that she’d attempted no disguise beyond changing her name, they’d thought she was hiding from her cartel brother in plain sight. Ranger Colt Blackthorn, Brent’s close friend, had gone undercover to determine if the woman was actually Adriana. But it had turned out she wasn’t, and Colt, well, it looked like he had fallen in love. Good for him.
As for himself, attracted to Adriana or not, Brent wasn’t relationship material. At least, he kept telling himself that, but Adriana was causing a war between his heart and mind.
Confusion about what his next move should be clouded his thoughts. And he needed to focus in case he’d inadvertently led Garcia and his men to Adriana’s llama ranch, as she’d suggested. He couldn’t dismiss the possibility when there were lives at risk, even though he didn’t think that it was very likely that he’d been followed. No one knew he was coming. Only Colt knew that Brent had gone in search of Adriana, following the clues in the letters he’d received. And even if the whole of their reconnaissance unit had come searching for her, how would Garcia know about it? How could he find out? Was there another mole—someone else, like Greg Gunn, who’d been working both sides?
All this he considered as he carefully made his way to the perimeter of the ranch, vigilant for Adriana’s booby traps even as he thought that Garcia’s men would know to look for them, as well. In fact, the traps themselves had given the ranch away, confirmed to Brent that he had found the right one. Even though the traps warned the occupants of intruders, they also signaled to others that the property owner was someone who expected trouble.
And this didn’t bode well for Adriana.
Regardless of her innocence or guilt, it was his duty to keep her safe. Except Brent knew deep down that his feelings of protectiveness went beyond his duty as a Ranger.
He wanted to believe in her innocence, but he could be misjudging where her loyalties rested. He had a murderer for a father—a man he’d admired his whole life until he learned the truth. His instincts couldn’t be trusted. Yeah, Brent could be completely wrong about her. He couldn’t let his attraction to her—not to mention his lingering gratitude for the way she’d saved his life before—lead him astray. He had no idea just how much that swayed his judgment, if at all, but he had a feeling it did.
Now that he’d found her, seen her in the flesh again and talked to her in person, seen the passion in her eyes, he realized he’d been thinking about her eyes for the last two years. He’d been thinking about her all this time. And he might actually be in trouble here.
He came across an air horn’s trip wire and carefully stepped over it, grateful for the distraction. Adriana had tripped the outer booby traps to his heart already—and he reminded himself she was a fugitive. Could be guilty of crimes as heinous as murder. And even if she wasn’t guilty of that, she’d certainly stolen drugs and money from her brother and had not turned them over to the authorities. There was a lot she had to answer for—and until he got those answers, he had no business thinking of her in romantic terms. It could mar the Rangers’ investigation.
After he’d successfully avoided more of her booby trap alarms and was reassured that no one nefarious lurked near the ranch, his tension eased, if only a little. The cartel drug lord might not be in the near vicinity, but Garcia could very well be on the way. According to Agent Alvarez’s intel, the drug lord already knew his sister was staying near the border, which had prompted the Rangers to be on the lookout for him.
Brent glanced back at the ranch house, the barn and the distant pasture where thirty or so llamas grazed. The temperature had already reached the high forties and might even reach the fifties. Christmas in Texas was nothing like the white Christmases he used to have in Baltimore where he grew up. But he shoved his past aside and concentrated on the present.
Okay. So, he’d found Adriana. Though it surprised him, that had been his hope and prayer. But Colt would want to know that, too. The Rangers needed to know. Only problem was that they all thought she was guilty of murdering border patrol agent Greg Gunn. Brent needed more information—like if she had an alibi. Something, some kind of evidence, that he could use to prove she was innocent before he called them. And he shouldn’t wait too long. That could get them killed. Not just Brent and Adriana, but also the sweet, elderly Inez.
Brent needed his team here, one way or another, but not yet.
And...it was Christmas Day.
Brent just might learn more from her by spending time with her today—this special day of all days, when she might let her guard down a little—than he could if the Texas Rangers descended on the ranch to arrest her for Gunn’s murder and the drugs and money she’d taken. And that was exactly what would happen if he made that call. But if he didn’t make that call in time—with the proof he needed, the evidence of her innocence—then Garcia’s men could descend on the ranch and kill her.
God, please help me find the truth before it’s too late.
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