The Outsider's Redemption

“I don’t know what you’re up to, Sarah, but even if I slept with you, even if I made love to you until sunup and it was the best I ever had, it wouldn’t change anything.”

“Make love? Is that what you thought I was asking you to do?”

“It sure sounded that way to me.”

“Then you don’t listen too well, cowboy.” Sarah sat up straight, this time holding the sheet so that all Cody could see was her face. “I was having a bad case of nerves and thought you were feeling down yourself. A little closeness sometimes helps, but I had no intention of—of being intimate with you.”

Cody stared at her, his mouth open, his ego slammed down a peg or two.

“But just for the record,” she continued, so angry she couldn’t bite back her words. “If I had made love with you, it would have been the best you ever had!”

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

The holidays are upon us again. This year, remember to give yourself a gift—the gift of great romantic suspense from Harlequin Intrigue!

In the exciting conclusion to TEXAS CONFIDENTIAL, The Outsider’s Redemption (#593) by Joanna Wayne, Cody Gannon must make a life-and-death decision. Should he trust his fellow agents even though there may be a traitor among their ranks? Or should he trust Sarah Rand, a pregnant single mother-to-be, who may be as deadly as she is beautiful?

Another of THE SUTTON BABIES is on the way, in Lullaby and Goodnight (#594) by Susan Kearney. When Rafe Sutton learns Rhianna McCloud is about to have his baby, his honor demands that he protect her from a determined and mysterious stalker. But Rafe must also discover the stalker’s connection to the Sutton family—before it’s too late!

An unlikely partnership is forged in To Die For (#595) by Sharon Green. Tanda Grail is determined to find her brother’s killer. Detective Mike Gerard doesn’t want a woman distracting him while on a case. But when push comes to shove, is it Mike’s desire to catch a killer that propels him, or his desire for Tanda?

First-time Harlequin Intrigue author Morgan Hayes makesher debut with Tall, Dark and Wanted (#596). Policewoman Molly Sparling refuses to believe Mitch Drake is dead. Her former flame and love of her life is missing from Witness Protection, but her superior tracking skills find him hiding out. While the cop in her wants to bring him in, the woman in her wants him to trust her. But Mitch just plain wants her back….

Wishing you the happiest of holidays from all of us at Harlequin Intrigue!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

The Outsider’s Redemption

Joanna Wayne

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Joanna Wayne lives with her husband just a few miles from steamy, exciting New Orleans, but her home is the perfect writer’s hideaway. A lazy bayou, complete with graceful herons, colorful wood ducks and an occasional alligator, winds just below her back garden. When not creating tales of spine-tingling suspense and heartwarming romance, she enjoys reading, golfing or playing with her grandchildren, and, of course, researching and plotting out her next novel.

Joanna loves to hear from readers. You can request a newsletter by writing her at P.O. Box 2851, Harvey, LA 70059-2851.

Books by Joanna Wayne

HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

288—DEEP IN THE BAYOU

339—BEHIND THE MASK

389—EXTREME HEAT

444—FAMILY TIES*

471—JODIE’S LITTLE SECRETS

495—ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

505—LONE STAR LAWMAN

537—MEMORIES AT MIDNIGHT

569—THE SECOND SON*

573—THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR*

577—A MOTHER’S SECRETS*

593—THE OUTSIDER’S REDEMPTION

The Confidential Agent’s Pledge

I hereby swear to uphold the law to the best of my ability; to maintain the level of integrity of this agency by my compassion for victims, loyalty to my brothers and courage under fire.

And above all, to hold all information and identities in the strictest confidence….

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Cody Gannon—Being a Texas Confidential agent meant everything to him until he learned why he’d been selected.

Sarah Rand—Has she sold out to the enemy or is she just an innocent woman running for her life?

Penny Archer—The Confidential agents’ right-hand woman has a secret longing to get into the action.

Daniel Austin—A Texas Confidential agent for fifteen years, he was killed by Calderone. Or was he?

Tomaso Calderone—A ruthless criminal whom the Confidential agents have been trying to stop for years.

Elmore Cochran—The man whose office Sarah broke into to steal classified information.

Mitchell Forbes—The crusty, dynamic leader of Texas Confidential and Cody’s hero—until he learned the truth about the man behind the badge.

Brady Morgan, Jake Cantrell and Rafe Alvarez—The other members on the Confidential team. Their allegiance is to Mitchell, and Cody is not certain he can trust them with details of his current mission.

Grover Rucker—Sarah’s previous boss, recently retired.

Peter Rucker—Grover’s son, but his sudden appearance at their hideaway has Cody and Sarah wondering if he doesn’t know more than he claims.

Maddie Wells—A neighboring rancher and a widow who’s been trying to get Mitchell Forbes to pop the question for years.

This book is dedicated to my friend Virginia, who not only lives the life of a romance heroine but is a true friend who makes me laugh, even on my worst days. And to Wayne, always.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Cody Gannon’s boots clicked against the hospital’s polished tile floors as he hurried toward Mitchell Forbes’s room. The old warhorse was recovering and already raising cane with the doctors to let him go back to the Smoking Barrel. Not that anyone was surprised. A mere heart attack could never keep a man like Mitchell down.

Still, Cody had been scared to death when Mitchell had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains. The depth of his emotion had surprised him, especially since he was convinced he wasn’t quite the man Mitchell had hoped for when he’d hired him on to work with Texas Confidential. The other three guys on the undercover team did no wrong. Cody seldom did anything right, at least in the critical eyes of Mitchell Forbes.

But the cantankerous old rancher-lawman had recruited Cody himself, offered him a position based strictly on his one brush with fame and heroism. He’d said he had faith in Cody’s ability to handle the job in spite of his trouble-plagued past.

So Cody was living at the Smoking Barrel, had been for two years. The rest of the Texas Confidential agents weren’t all that impressed that he’d foiled a bank robbery attempt and saved a young girl in the process. They knew it was more instinct than bravery that had spurred him into action, but they’d welcomed him all the same and taught him what they could about working for the most exciting covert operation in the whole state of Texas.

No doubt about it, he owed Mitchell Forbes a lot for giving him the chance to be part of Texas Confidential and to finally make something of himself. He was going to make sure Mitchell knew that, and he was going to work twice as hard in the future to make the man proud of him. He picked up his pace, anxious to see for himself that Mitchell was doing as well as the others had reported.

He heard a female voice as he approached the room and recognized it at once. Maddie Wells, a neighboring rancher. He wasn’t close enough to eavesdrop, but he could tell from her tone she was in her lecturing mode. Probably reading Mitchell the riot act about smoking his cigars. She was the only one who could jump him about his bad habits and get away with it. One day Mitchell was going to slow down a tad, and Maddie would snare him.

The door to Mitchell’s room was open just a crack. He started to barge in but thought better of it. It was always a good idea to knock when a man was entertaining a woman, even if it was in a hospital room. He touched his knuckles to the door.

“Cody deserves to know the truth, Mitchell.”

He hesitated, not sure he wanted to know any truth that brought that kind of seriousness to Maddie’s tone. And if he was about to be canned, he sure didn’t want to hear that.

“Give it up, Maddie.”

Mitchell’s voice was scratchy and Cody could picture him in the bed, his muscles tight, his face drawn into stubborn lines. He waited silently, torn, knowing he shouldn’t be listening in on a private conversation but knowing he couldn’t turn away until he knew what Maddie was talking about. After all, this did concern him.

“Suppose you had died when you had that heart attack,” Maddie said, her voice far softer than usual.

“You would have gone to your grave without Cody’s ever knowing the truth.”

“That’s the way I intend for it to be.”

Cody’s muscles tightened. He’d had his share of ugly secrets in his life, but he’d thought they ended when he’d buried Frank Gannon.

“Are you telling me that you have no intention of talking to Cody about this?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. My biggest mistake was in ever telling you.”

“No, your biggest mistake, Mitchell Forbes, was in walking away from your own flesh and blood in the first place. Cody Gannon is your son, and he deserves to know it.”

Cody backed away from the door, but the words echoed in his mind, growing louder and louder until he wanted to scream at them to stop. He ducked into the stairwell and fell against the wall. He felt as if someone had slammed him in the gut with a two-by-four.

Maddie was wrong. He wasn’t Mitchell Forbes’s son. His father was Frank Gannon. He had the scars to prove it.

He took the steps two at a time, rounding one level and flying down the next. Scenes from his past reared up in his mind. Dark, ugly images that filled him with a dread so real he could taste it. Could taste the blood. Taste the fear.

But as quickly as they’d come, they were replaced by new images. Mitchell Forbes and his mother. He’d gotten her pregnant and walked away. Left her to marry Frank Gannon. Left her to die in her misery.

Cody reached the first floor and pushed out the door and into the stifling Texas heat. But it was not the sweltering heat that crawled over his skin and sucked away his breath. It was a bitterness so strong it destroyed his ability to reason.

All he knew was that if he never saw Mitchell Forbes again, it would still be eons too soon for him.

Chapter One

Cody Gannon picked up the glass and downed the bourbon. He seldom touched hard liquor, but tonight was special. A hard ball of emptiness had settled in the spot where his heart should have resided, and he needed the burn in his throat and the pain-numbing sting of the drink as it plunged into the pit of his stomach.

Cody Gannon. Illegitimate son. The words tore at his insides like crushed glass. Or shrapnel.

“Mitchell Forbes.” He said the name out loud, rolled it over his tongue, spit it past the disgusting lump that had settled in his throat.

A week ago, the man had been his hero. But that was before Cody had found out the truth about Mitchell. That’s why Cody’s gear was in his pickup truck. All he owned. Amazingly little. Jeans, shirts, boots, a couple of jackets, his guns and a saddle. Even his horse belonged to Mitchell and Texas Confidential.

He had no idea where he was headed, wasn’t even sure what town he’d stopped in. He didn’t much care anymore, as long as it was far away from the Smoking Barrel.

Regret balled in his gut. He tried to force it away, but he hadn’t drunk nearly enough to make it subside. Being a part of Texas Confidential had been more than a job. It had been his life. The first real commitment he’d ever made to anything. The best friends he’d ever had.

Now Cody had no choice but to walk away. Calderone and his band of murderous drug dealers would still be stopped, but Cody wouldn’t be in on the operation that brought them down.

“Thank you, Mitchell Forbes.” He downed the rest of the bourbon and pushed the glass away as a bearded man who smelled like he was two days past needing a bath slid onto the bar stool next to him.

“Buy me a drink, mister?”

“I’d sooner buy you a bar of soap.”

“Then save your money.”

“Suit yourself.” Cody stood and turned away from the drunk, ready to move to another stool or one of the tables in the back of the smoky saloon.

“You better save your money anyway. You’ll probably need it now that you’ve walked off your job.” The stranger leaned over the bar, his hands spread out flat on the marred wood.

Cody stopped and stared at him. His hair was gray, thin and wiry, and his skin was bronzed and weathered from hours spent in the sun. “What makes you think I lost my job?” he asked, studying the man’s facial expression as he waited for an answer.

“I don’t think. I know.” The man fingered the brim of a soiled western hat. “Tell me, is Penny still as bossy as ever?”

“I don’t know any Penny,” he lied.

“Sure you do. No one works at the Smoking Barrel without knowing Penny Archer.”

So that was it. The dirty drunk had probably worked for a while on one of the ranches near the Smoking Barrel, though he didn’t look familiar. It was no secret Cody worked for Mitchell Forbes. It was what he and the other Texas Confidential agents really did for Mitchell Forbes that was kept under wraps.

Still, the man made Cody nervous, and he might as well move on. He reached for his wallet and pulled out a few bills, enough to pay his tab and purchase one drink for the aging cowboy.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” The man reached over and wrapped his fingers around Cody’s left wrist. “I thought we’d get to be buddies.”

“Think again.”

“But we have so much to talk about. Mutual friends. A mutual enemy.”

Cody smoothed the bills he’d tossed to the table, instantly aware of the change to the man’s voice. He was no longer slurring his words, and his voice had lost all traces of frailty. He stared into the man’s eyes, and experienced a vague sense of déjà vu. “What enemy would that be?”

“I was thinking of Tomaso Calderone, but I guess if you’re not a Confidential anymore, you wouldn’t be interested.”

Cody swallowed hard. The man definitely had his attention now. No one outside of the powers in charge was supposed to know about Texas Confidential. The agents’ ability to do their job depended on people believing that they were just everyday cowboys running a ranch. So did staying alive. He lowered his voice to a mere whisper. “Who are you?”

The man met his gaze. “Don’t you recognize me, Cody?”

The voice was no longer disguised. It was smooth. Easy. Almost familiar. He squinted, taking in the wrinkles in the man’s face, his stringy beard, his wispy gray hair. The voice and the appearance didn’t match. He only knew one man who could come up with a disguise that good, and this couldn’t be him.

“I don’t have any idea who you are or what you want from me.”

“I’m Daniel Austin.”

“Daniel Austin is dead.”

“No. I’m too tough to die, though I wished for it a time or two.” His lips curled into a half smile. “I was captured by Rialto’s men, kept prisoner for months. Finally, I escaped, but by then, I knew enough about Calderone and how he worked that I was able to infiltrate his organization. I’ve worked my way all the way to the top. Calderone and me—we’re like that.” He indicated how close with two fingers on his right hand.

Cody shook his head. “No, Daniel is dead.”

“Because that’s what Mitchell Forbes told you? Believe me, that doesn’t make it true.”

Suspicion reared up inside Cody. He was supposed to be walking away from his life as a Texas Confidential agent, not being drawn into some secret conspiracy. But this man obviously knew all about them. And if he really was Daniel Austin…“Why would Mitchell be told you were dead if you’re not?”

“You know the head honchos. They don’t trust anyone.”

“They trust Mitchell Forbes.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Cody tried to digest that last bit of information, but it boggled his mind. No one had ever infiltrated Calderone’s circle. And if someone did, and Calderone found out, the man’s body would be found in tiny pieces. Still, if anyone could do it, it would be Daniel Austin.

“So, if you’re so close to Calderone, what in the hell are you doing here?”

“My job. But I can’t do it alone.”

“Then you need to talk to Rafe or one of the others. I’m out.” Damn, here he was giving away information. The man was blowing his mind. He knew too much, but he couldn’t be Daniel Austin. Or could he?

“Listen, Cody. I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. I didn’t just happen into this bar tonight. I followed you here. I need you. But before I give you the assignment, I have to be certain you’re not going to go running back to Mitchell Forbes.”

“Why’s that?”

Daniel, or at least the man claiming to be Daniel, stared straight ahead, his back still hunched, his head still low, as if he really were an elderly man. He didn’t face Cody when he talked, but when he paused, his Adam’s apple rode up and down like it was bobbing in a pail of water.

“As you know, someone has been leaking secrets to Calderone. We think it might be Mitchell himself.”

A curl of smoke from the cigarette of a man a few stools down wafted into Cody’s face. His eyes burned, but not nearly as severely as the acid that pooled in his stomach. There was a leak somewhere. That part was true. But, Mitchell?

Even as angry as Cody was with the man, he’d never imagined Mitchell capable of deceit where Texas Confidential was concerned. Not when stopping Calderone seemed to be the cause that fueled his incredible drive.

But this would be just like the department. The same minds that had dreamed up Texas Confidential would like nothing better than having Daniel Austin, their master of disguises, working so far undercover that even Calderone himself would take the man into his confidence.

“What is it you need me to do?” he asked, still suspicious, but warming to the idea of getting in on the action of bringing Calderone down. Especially when it meant he’d outdo Mitchell Forbes.

“I need you to go to the airport and pick up a woman named Sarah Rand. She’ll be flying into San Antonio and arriving at five o’clock tomorrow afternoon. After you pick her up, I’ll contact you and tell you where I’ll meet the two of you.”

“And who is this Sarah Rand?”

“She’s a secretary for the Department of Public Safety. Works for Elmore Cochran.”

Cody recognized the name though he’d never met the man. He’d just been promoted and was now the final authority over anything involving Confidential agents.

Dan leaned in closer, his voice lowered to a barely audible whisper. “Evidence indicates that Miss Rand may have been selling secrets to Calderone, and that’s what she thinks she’s doing now. I’ve offered her one million dollars to deliver some secret files to me. If she delivers, it will prove her guilt.”

Cody parted his lips as a low whistle escaped. “I don’t see how this would prove anything except that she can be bribed for a million dollars. Selling you top secret info now doesn’t mean she’s done it before. Not to mention that there are laws against entrapment.”

“You let me and the department worry about that end of it. All I need from you is a simple yes or no.”

There was nothing simple about the answer Cody was about to give. If this man was Daniel Austin, then a yes would put Cody into the thick of things. He could be a major player in the action that brought the mighty Tomaso Calderone to his knees. And how sweet it would be to let Mitchell Forbes see that he was his own man.

But if this wasn’t Daniel Austin, then he could be walking into a trap. He’d have to watch his back every minute. Nothing new there.

“I’ll go with the yes.” Daniel nodded and his eyes warmed, though his lips stayed drawn in the same thin line.

“So after I pick up Miss Sarah Rand, where do I deliver her?” Cody asked.

“I’ll let you know that at the time.”

“How do I reach you?”

“You don’t. I’ll reach you. You just pick up the woman and get her into your truck. I’ll make the connection at that point.”

“I don’t have a cellular phone anymore. The one I had belonged to Texas Confidential and I turned it in when I left. All I have is a beeper, and that only until someone cancels the contract.”

“Then I guess that will have to do.” Cody scribbled his pager number down on a napkin and handed it to Daniel though he had the sneaking suspicion the man already knew it. “How will I recognize this woman?”

“She’s young—in her twenties. Her hair’s a reddish blond and she wears it straight and just long enough to cover her ears. She’ll be wearing a hot pink suit.” Daniel stood up. “Oh yeah,” he added. “She’ll be carrying a canvas tote that says ‘So many cowboys, so little time.’ You can’t miss her.”

With that, Daniel Austin slid off his stool and staggered to the door, doing a flawless performance as an elderly drunk. His baggy pants rode his thin hips, and the back of his gray hair zigzagged in and out of his shirt collar. One of the younger cowboys moved out of his way in deference to the man’s apparent age and condition.

Cody waited a few minutes, then left the bar and walked back to his pickup truck. A few minutes ago, he’d been wallowing in his bad luck. But now the old juices were starting to flow. He was back in the saddle again.

CODY STOOD aside as the first eager passengers from Flight 109 made it to the end of the exit ramp. A few men and women in business suits, a hot-looking babe in a pair of skintight jeans, a group of elderly ladies all laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

The stream of arriving passengers slowed, and doubt started to nag at the back of his mind. If this turned out to be a fishing trip to a dry creek, he was going to be downright mad at himself. He craned his neck at the first sight of hot pink. Nope. False alarm. The woman was pregnant.

The hair color fit though. Hers was shiny, strawberry blond, straight. And just long enough to brush the edges of her blushed cheeks. Dressed in hot pink with a black coat and a leather purse draped over her shoulder and pulling a wheeled carry-on bag. Cute as a button, but pregnant, and Dan would surely have mentioned it if Cody was supposed to pick up a pregnant woman.

She stopped a few feet away from him and looked around. Cody expected some young, expectant father to rush up to meet her. No one did, and he couldn’t help but notice the worry that creased her forehead and shaded her gorgeous green eyes.