Her Texas Ranger Hero (11 page)

Any one of the three criminals could be involved in human trafficking here in Austin, where they stayed under the radar. Luckey needed to get through the other fifty names, but this was a start. He glanced at his watch and realized he'd have to hurry to get to Ally's house on time. After calling ahead for Mexican food, he got ready, grabbed his index cards and raced out of the house.

When he pulled up to the ranch, he met her father walking around the front in his cowboy boots. “Mr. Duncan.” The two men smiled and shook hands. “I want to thank you for the information from the orphanage.”

“You're welcome, but please call me Larry. To be honest, I would never have thought of looking into the staff's backgrounds, but it makes perfect sense.”

“I've got a surveillance team set up in case any of the workers could be in a bad situation. I'll know in a few days if we find anything.”

Mr. Duncan's eyes went to the sack Luckey was holding. “Something smells good. Don't let me keep you.”

“You're welcome to eat with us.”

“Thanks, but Ally's mother and I have already had dinner. I still have work to do out here. Go on inside. I'm sure my daughter's waiting.”

Chapter Seven

Luckey climbed the front steps and had started to ring the bell when the door opened. “I thought I heard voices out here.
Ni hao
, Luckey.”

“Laoshi hao.”

With a feeling of déjà vu, he followed Ally into the dining room. She was a vision, as usual, in khaki pants and a white blouse that tied at the side of the waist. She'd done her hair in a loose knot. How her students were able to concentrate when looking at her was beyond him.

“Did you get those tiny orange earrings in China?” he asked her.

“Yes. They make the most delicate enamel jewelry.”

“I like them. In fact, I like all your jewelry,” Luckey said. “I like the way you dress, think, act, eat, smile, walk, ride, look, smell, feel.”

Ally's cheeks turned pink and she smiled. “Thanks,” she said, looking at the floor and then raising her eyes to meet his again. “How was your day?”

“Like climbing a mountain. I couldn't decide where to start my ascent.”

She chuckled. “I bet you've blazed half a dozen trails up that mountain.”

“You're close. How did things go at the university?”

“My day was long and busy. You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this evening. This smells fantastic.”

“I'm hungry myself.”

He reached inside the sack and put their containers of enchiladas and black beans with rice on the table. She'd set it with place mats and sodas. With the addition of a container of chips and salsa, they were all set. “Mexican is one of my favorite foods,” Luckey told her.

“I think it's everyone's.”

“Just so you know up front, I didn't have time to listen to the disk yet, but I've been memorizing the meanings of the tone pairs.”

She ate a chip. “How did you manage to do that while climbing a mountain?”

“On top of Persey.”

Ally broke into laughter. “Better be careful or you'll turn your palomino into a new version of Mister Ed, the talking horse who spouts Mandarin. I saw a rerun of that old television series a while back. It had some ridiculous episodes.”

They both ate with relish. “The nice thing about a horse is that it doesn't talk back. It just listens. Persey is very patient with me, especially when I'm frustrated over a case.”

Her smile deepened. “If my horse could talk, what tales she would have to tell. Silver knows all my secrets. Imagine what those two would have to say if they could speak to each other.”

“Who says they don't have a secret language? Nüshu Texas-style for equine lovers only.”

“Hilarious!”

“He let me know he wants me to bring Silver over ASAP.”

An impish look crept into her eyes. “Maybe they
do
communicate. When I went out to the barn a little while ago, my horse wanted to know when Persey was coming again.”

“You can tell her it will be as soon as my
laoshi
wants me to drop by for my next lesson. Maybe if I impress her enough tonight, she'll take pity on me and invite me over again tomorrow evening.”

Luckey could hear Ally's mind working. “Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a lighter schedule. Tomorrow, depending on your workload, we could plan to ride around four, then come back to eat and study.”

It was music to his ears. “In that case, let's get started on my homework.”

While she cleared the table, he cleaned up the cartons and put everything back in the sack. Once that was done, he pulled the cards out of his pocket and handed them to her. “Go ahead and ask me anything you want.”

She looked down. Let's start with the word
easy
.”

“Rong yi.”

“Next time.”

“Ming yian.”

“Thanks.”

“Xie xie.”

“What.”

“Shen me.”

“China.”

“Zhong guo.”

Ally went through all twenty pairs before handing the cards back to him with shock written on her face. “You have one of those photographic minds. I can't believe you've memorized those perfectly since last night.”

“But I haven't pronounced them right.”

“Can I expect that you'll be able to say them flawlessly tomorrow during our ride?”

“I'll try.”

“Luckey—I'm kidding. I don't know anyone who learned all the pairs as fast as you have. You're amazing!”

“I'm motivated.” Especially when she looked at him the way she was doing now.

“I'm speechless, to be honest. Let's go through each card and I'll work on the pronunciation with you.”

For the next half hour she got him to mimic each sound until she was satisfied. “You have a gift,” she said, once they'd gone through all of them.

He put the cards in his pocket and sat back in his chair. “Let's list yours, shall we?”

“I mean it.” The blue of her eyes deepened. “I lived in China fifteen years. It took me a long time to master what you've already done. I'm not at all surprised you're a Texas Ranger. It's almost scary how fast your brain takes in a concept, pulls it apart, figures it out and builds on it.”

“You make me sound like a machine, but I assure you I'm not.” After a pause he said, “Do you still have work to do tonight?”

“Yes. I wish I didn't.”

He believed she meant it. “So do I.” Time to leave. Luckey got up from the table. Her parents were around. “Better not see me to the door.”

Her head reared back. “Why?”

Luckey sucked in his breath. “Do you really have to ask?” He wheeled around and walked out of the house to his car. If she'd followed him to the door, the promise he'd made not to touch her would have gone up in smoke.

Tomorrow night he'd tell her he couldn't abide by it any longer.

* * *

A
LLY
WAITED
TOO
long to chase after him. By the time she reached the door, he'd gone. The sensual tension between them had reached flash point. Aching with need, she realized she couldn't do this anymore.

After turning out the light, she hurried up the stairs to her room. Her cell phone was in her purse. She pulled it out and sat on the side of her bed to call him. It rang three times.
Please answer, Luckey.

On the fifth ring she heard the click. “Ally?”
Thank heaven.
“Is something wrong?”

“I—I didn't want you to leave.” Her voice faltered. “Surely you know that.”

“It was better I did.”

“If it's all right, I'll bring Silver over to your house tomorrow after work. I'll supply the food and we'll talk.” They couldn't be alone at her house.

“I'd like that very much, but answer me a question. What are you afraid of?”

She gripped the phone tighter. “Of making a mistake with you.”

“In what way?”

“I've never been married, but
you
have.”

“Go on.”

Ally shivered. “It would be the most normal thing in the world for you to see traits in me you don't like that remind you of your ex-wife.” Her voice shook. “Sorry. That didn't come out right. I know you loved her and I didn't mean any disrespect. I just keep putting my foot in it. I guess what I meant to say is, I'm trying to be careful with you.”

“That works both ways, Ally. Since you're unlike any woman I've ever known, the possibility of comparing you to anyone else doesn't exist.”

“But there's one truth we can't escape from. I
am
a woman.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Yes, you are, and I'm a man. How do you expect me to respond to that?”

“I don't know. I feel like a fool.”

“We'll figure it out tomorrow when you come over. Call me when you leave the university, to give me a heads-up.”

“Okay. Good night, Luckey.”

She didn't know if she could last that long. Ally knew for sure she wanted to throw out the rules she'd imposed. All she could think about was getting in his arms.

* * *

A
LLY
'
S
PHONE
CALL
had given Luckey his first real indication that she felt the same way about him that he felt about her. Tonight she'd been the one to reach out to him on a purely personal level. She had initiated tomorrow evening's meeting and wanted it to be at his house, where they could be alone.

Overjoyed by this much progress, he drove home feeling a kind of euphoria he'd never experienced before. Ally was the real deal. He couldn't believe she'd been living here in Austin since summer, right under his nose. He'd flown over her parents' ranch while he'd been working another case.

Never would he have dreamed she lived there. They didn't live that far apart from each other. Luckey was getting the feeling it was all meant to be. He didn't want to think anything else.

After he got home he put the disk in the computer and stretched out on the couch in his den to practice the tone pairs. Ally had gone over the pronunciation with him tonight. The sounds were easier to understand now. He marveled over the knowledge she'd acquired. Because of it, he'd been able to delve deep into this murder case.

After half an hour had passed, he removed the disk and checked his email one more time. Nothing of any consequence showed up on the screen. Before he went to bed, Luckey looked through the remaining names from the criminal database. He scrolled halfway before he found another possible suspect.

“Robert D. Martin, known to hold a US and Chinese passport, is sought for the armed robbery of eight million dollars from a security company in Las Vegas. He took two security employees hostage at gunpoint, handcuffed them and injected them with a poison, killing them. Fled to China and is still at large. Fluent in Xiang. Has awards in kung fu and gymnastics. Aliases are: Dino Morten, Bobo Marten, Sid Marteen, Momo Demott, Angelo Martin. Carries a .32 caliber pistol.”

Luckey read the rap sheet.

Caucasian with red hair, but the passport listed him with black hair. What was his real hair color?

Age forty. Fluent in Xiang. Why?

A gymnast. When and where? Why did he come through Texas?

A poison to disable his victims. Did they eventually die?

It wasn't until Luckey went to bed that he remembered something Stan had said about DMSO.

The cream acted like a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and was used by athletes trying to cut down on joint pain. It could also be poisonous if injected in gross amounts.

Was it possible that Robert Martin used DMSO and that it was also his brand of poison?

* * *

F
IRST
THING
THE
next morning, Luckey got on the phone to the Las Vegas police. He wanted to know the facts in the security robbery case involving Robert D. Martin, and asked to speak to the detective who'd investigated it. Like always, he had to wait for the man to call him back.

After feeding Persey and taking him out to the corral, he hurried back inside for a phone conference with TJ. Luckey learned that the judge had issued the warrant. That was the news he'd been waiting for. He gathered up the folder with the sheets of names and took off for headquarters to pick the warrant up.

* * *

C
Y
STOPPED
HIM
in the hallway. “I wondered when you'd show up. Come on in and talk to me.”

“You're just the man I wanted to see,” Luckey said, following him into his office and perching on the edge of his desk.

“The guys are waiting to hear how things are going with you know who.”

Luckey smiled. “They're getting better and better, but I've got some murders to solve.”

“I know what that's like. I was in the middle of Kellie's case when I fell headlong in love with her. What can I do to help speed things along?”

“You mean it?”

“I offered, didn't I? TJ hasn't assigned me a new case yet.”

“Then come with me and I'll give you the lowdown on the way. Give me a minute to pick up the warrant.”

A short time later, the two men got into Luckey's car. He handed his friend the folder. “Go ahead and read over the four rap sheets. I'm hoping an alias of one of these felons will match up with a name on a carrier's records as someone who received a package from Indonesia. To make a connection would mean solving the case.”

“And getting on with the important stuff in life,” Cy added.

“I can't wait for that,” Luckey mumbled.

“Then let's make it happen!”

Together they did the rounds of three international express carriers and obtained copies of the available information. Then they returned to headquarters and sequestered themselves in Luckey's office to begin hunting for a match.

Cy shook his head. “No matter how many times I go over a rap sheet, I'm stunned to see how much evil exists out there.”

“Tell me about it.”

While they worked, Cy took a phone call on his cell. After he hung up he said, “TJ wants to talk to me. I'll be back.”

“I'm not holding my breath. I've got a feeling you might be getting a new case. Thanks for the help.”

“You've done the same thing for me before. Keep us all posted, hear?”

“Will do, Cy. Thanks again.”

Cy's leaving reminded Luckey the day was getting away from him. They hadn't found a match yet. He gathered up everything he'd been working on and left the office for home. He wanted to take a quick shower and shave before Ally came over.

She phoned while he was on his way home and said she'd be at his house in forty-five minutes with Silver.

“I'm holding you to it, otherwise I'll come looking for you,” Luckey said, grinning. “You're pretty important to me, you know.”