SWEET CALLAHAN HOMECOMING (16 page)

“Not so simple,” Ash said. “More explosives can be easily bought.”

“Not without raising red flags all over some government computer somewhere,” Tighe pointed out.

“My suspicion is they’re smuggled. That much explosive material should have flagged computers like crazy. But it didn’t. And you know that the right palms can be greased with silver.”

“It would buy us time if we let the feds take care of it.” Sloan shook his head. “But Ash is right. Wolf will strike again. We just won’t know when. At least this time, we know what’s being planned.” He looked at his sister. “Good work, sis. Even if we’re not happy you went there, you did good work.”

“I can’t believe Xav allowed you to do that, though.” Galen’s scowl went deeper. “You should be stronger, Xav. Withstand her wild side.”

Dante snickered. “Good luck with that.”

“Probably he should be as strong with Ash as you are with Rose,” Sloan pointed out. “Kind of bad if you’re looking in your own mirror, bro.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ash said, “and in spite of all your well-meaning flapping and acting like roosters, you know I’m going to do what I think is best for Rancho Diablo. And since I’m the only one who has visions, I have to go with it.”

“You have Grandfather’s spirit,” Jace said, and she nodded.

“I know. And I have the strangest feeling Skye has it, too. Sometimes she has the sweetest expression on her face, like she knows all is right with the world, and I think she’s seeing beyond what any of us can see.”

They all looked at her with deep concern.

“It’s okay,” she told her brothers. “I’m not afraid.” She took a deep breath. “Xav knows, too. He has my back.”

“Good thing we like him,” Sloan said gruffly, eyeing Xav. “Otherwise we’d have to kick his tail up between your ears, Xav.”

“I’m doing the best I can to not bring evil here,” Ash said. “I need you all to understand that. Quit being my big brothers and start being—”

“Your platoon,” Sloan said. “We get it. Done.”

“That’s right,” Dante said. “Consider us your team.”

“Whatever helps,” Tighe said. “Ash’s army reporting for duty.”

“Okay.” She looked at them, knowing the next step would be difficult. “You’re not going to like this, but I suggest we detonate those explosives under Loco Diablo.”

“Oh, good,” Jace said. “I’m always in the mood for a party.”

“We discussed this before—” Galen began, and Ash waved him quiet.

“They’re not our explosives. Nothing can be traced to us. They can, however, take out those tunnels, and maybe, just maybe, run the cartel off. They’ll blame it on Wolf, for starters,” she said, “and that alone may be worth the price of admission.”

“Brilliant,” Falcon said. “If that’s the way we get rid of our uncle, I’m all for it.”

Ash looked at Galen, who was ruminating doubtfully.

“If it meant that our parents could return one day,” she said softly, “what price would you pay?”

Galen looked at her, looked at all of them. “Hell, I’d do it just so our Callahan cousins could bring their children back and live here safely. Just think—they could come home.”

She nodded. “Since I’m the only one here right now with children on the premises, I agree. Sawyer, too, would agree, Jace. She stays here as much as possible with your children. But we’re all either operatives or bodyguards. Our Callahan cousins’ wives are good people, but they’re not trained. They need real lives to come home to. And that is what we agreed to when we took this assignment.”

She couldn’t help the persuasion in her tone. Her brothers nodded.

“For that, I’d light the match myself,” Galen said. “You’re sure the tunnels are deserted?”

She understood the doctor in him coming to the fore. “Totally deserted. No animals, no people. We’d check again before we detonated. I mean, I don’t really want to endorse that, I’m just saying it’s an option if we find ourselves with our backs to the wall.”

“I’m all for it,” Jace said. “That place is going to go sky-high, and those tunnels will be history.”

“And when it’s over,” Ash said, “we roll that land with cement. We put good back where there was bad. Hospitals, libraries, schools. Anything that would make our parents proud. They were all about protecting the community, and that’s the mark we’ll leave here when we’re gone.”

“Where will we go?” Tighe asked.

“Probably where Grandfather sends us,” Ash said. “I hope one day to show my children to our parents.”

The library went silent.

“Me, too,” Galen finally said, and all her brothers nodded.

“That’s our next stop, then,” Jace said. “But brother’s keeping a secret about that.”

They stared at Galen. Ash noted he didn’t seem all that comfortable suddenly; her big brother doctor looked out of sorts and disgruntled. “What’s the secret, Galen?”

“He knows where our parents are,” Jace said quietly. “I remember hearing Grandfather tell Galen that he was the keeper of the secret when we were boys. The secret being our parents’ whereabouts.”

“Do you know, Galen?” Ash demanded, shocked.

Galen sighed. “I’ve always known. Grandfather told me long ago. In case anything ever happened to him, one of us needed to know.”

“Why not me?” Ash demanded.

“Because you were, like, a baby,” Dante butted in unhelpfully.

“He could have told me later,” Ash said. “I have his spirit.”

“Too many burdens dampen the spirit,” Tighe said. “Don’t question Grandfather’s ways. He knows more than any of us ever will.”

“This is true,” Falcon said.

“So can we go to them?” Ash asked, excitement filling her.

“You have to ask Grandfather. Even though I knew, I was never given permission to go. However, two of us were closer to them than you realized.”

Ash felt wild flutters in her heart. “That’s cruel, Galen! You have to tell us!”

“I can’t. It’s not my story to tell. It’s our parents’ story, and Grandfather’s. I was just the keeper of that one secret, in case anything ever happened to him.” Galen sighed. “I can tell you one more thing. That website Running Bear launched is him getting technological.”

“In what way?” Sloan asked.

“He used to leave photos of the babies under the rock in a cave, and a runner took them to the Callahan parents. As technology became easier to use and access, Running Bear hit on the idea of constructing a Rancho Diablo website, which detailed the history of the ranch, the tours that are conducted here in the fall, and any operations we offer, such as horse breeding. But,” Galen said, “certain passwords were given out to access a part of the website that contains family photo albums. All baby photos, and photos of the children as they’ve grown, are in the private family photo albums, designed for our parents.”

Ash was hurt. “Grandfather hasn’t even been to see my children.”

“So you think,” Falcon said. “I know for a fact he was here one night. I saw him slink out the back. At first I thought it was a shadow, but then I realized Grandfather had paid a call to Fiona. And remember, Fiona took pictures of your babies when we had our first meeting after they were born.”

“Fiona and Running Bear!” Ash was miffed. “Those two are thick as thieves. Someone should tell us something every once in a while.”

“Who would benefit if they did?” Sloan asked.

Disgruntled, Ash waved her hand. “I’m just complaining. I want to see our parents. I’m tired of living driven by Wolf.”

“Ashlyn!” Tighe stared at her. “Do you realize our parents have lived it much longer? Forever? We’ve given up nothing compared to them.”

“I know, I know. Ignore me.” Ash drew a deep, shaky breath. “Motherhood has hit me funny. I have all these emotions I didn’t have before.”

“You want to show your beautiful darlings to their grandparents,” Dante said, coming to sit by his sister. “We understand. You got some real peaches, thanks to Xav.”

“Thanks to Xav, nothing.” Ash knew she was being horrible and couldn’t seem to stop herself as she looked at Xav. “For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like an operative. I feel like I’d clobber Uncle Wolf if he walked in the door right now. I’m just not able to think rationally and unemotionally anymore. I’m at the end of my tether as far as my training. I know I’m well prepared for anything, military training does that, but I’d still smack him into the next county.”

They laughed at their sister.

“You’re braver and tougher than all of us combined,” Galen said. “You’ll feel better when you blow Wolf’s underground rabbit warren to pieces.”

“I don’t think I ever forgave him for shooting Jace,” Ash said fiercely. “I never forgave him for trapping the Diablos. I never, ever will forgive him for destroying our families. And that’s why I’m the hunted one. Because I don’t understand forgiveness. That makes me dark in my soul.”

They stared at her, inscrutable.

“I like dark,” Sloan said cheerfully.

“Think of all the good stuff that’s dark,” Tighe agreed. “A dark room, for one. I like to sleep.”

“Dark meat,” Galen said. “Tasty stuff.”

“Black is the essence and inclusion of all colors, for example, if one is speaking strictly of the color spectrum,” Dante said, sounding like a total nerd, a show-off, which all of her brothers could be when they went rogue nerd-ball.

Ash scoffed at him. “Even if you have all your facts straight, Dante, you’re all just trying to make me feel better because I’m actually a horrible, vengeful person.”

“I’ve never told any of you this,” Jace said, his tone professor-thoughtful, “but I’m actually a film noir buff. I like the old black-and-white movies, the darker the—”

“She said she gets that we’re trying to make her feel better,” Falcon interrupted. “Don’t be a total jackass.”

“I’m not! I’m merely chipping in with my two cents’ worth,” Jace said cheerfully. “All this talk of darkness is making me want to break out some
Bride of Frankenstein,
circa 1935. You have to admit, the bride the scientist created for Frankenstein had quite a do. It’s worth watching the whole movie just for her.”

They all looked at him. Xav shrugged at Ash, looking as if he was trying not to laugh.

“Jace, you might want to put the bats back in your belfry. Pretty sure they’re flying around up there unchecked,” Galen murmured. “But I’ll add Black Diablos, because they’re at the top of my list of dark things I live for. Now, can we get on with the meeting? Or have we completely exhausted anything of importance we could ever possibly discuss?”

“Probably,” Ash said. “Although if you think about it, we’ve had some doozy discussions up here.”

“We’re not going anywhere, yet, Ash,” Dante said. “We’ll probably have more family meetings up here.”

“No.” She looked out the window, staring into the darkness. “No. We won’t. It’s time.”

And just as she spoke those words, the sound of the Diablos running through the icy, snowy canyons came to them, an audible specter, louder than ever, guiding them to their destiny.

Chapter Seventeen

“Listen,” Xav said, watching his lady get ready for bed. “This time tomorrow you’ll be my bride, Mrs. Xav Phillips. I know your mind is on other things, but I think this calls for a celebration.”

She smiled. “I, do, too.” She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you for joining us in the meeting. You’re a Callahan now.”

He hopped in bed, taking her with him, kissing her deeply. “Right now, I’m going to make love to you. Later, we’ll talk about whatever you’re cooking up in that beautiful little head of yours.”

“Just so you know, I don’t really have a plan. I was directing my brothers, putting our heads together in case they come up with a good idea. Maybe they will, likely they won’t. It’s okay, it helps me think things through to talk it over with them.”

“Where does that leave me?” Xav asked.

“In my arms,” Ash said. “Letting me do things to you that I like doing.”

“Why do I have the feeling you’re luring me with kisses so I don’t focus on what you’re really doing?” He stroked her face as his lips captured hers. “You kind of keep me knocked to my knees.”

“That’s so sweet,” she told him. “You have no idea how a woman likes to hear that after she’s had four babies.”

“Those babies made you even more beautiful than ever, to me,” Xav whispered. “You’re an awesome mother. And I can’t wait to make you my wife.” She felt so good underneath him he wanted the magic to last forever.

“I love you like Jace loves old movies,” she said, and when he chuckled low in his throat, she said, “I’ve loved you for years.” She ran her hands up his back. “This feels like old times in the canyons, doesn’t it?”

“No.” He captured a nipple in his mouth, loving hearing her gasp and then moan, went back to kissing her sweet lips. “It’s better. Because after tomorrow, we’ll be married. The funny thing is, the night I put in my secret bid for you at Fiona’s Christmas ball, I really won a family. Can’t beat that, huh?”

She moaned again as he touched the places he knew made her soft and gentle and eager in his arms.

“You could have asked me out anytime, you big chicken.”

“You were hard to tie down.”

“You tried very hard to put distance between us.”

“You have scary brothers.”

She giggled. “You’re not scared of them.”

“No. Losing you scares me.”

“You’re not going to lose me. We’re together forever. Even if we never got married, we have four children that bind us.”

“Don’t say that,” Xav said. “Don’t even speak the idea that we might not get married. I’ve learned around Rancho Diablo that word is deed. It’s something in the water or something, but a man’s word turns into action. Like that crazy magic wedding dress. One day it’s a fairy-tale gown, the next day it’s dust. Sometimes I thought there was a conspiracy against us.”

“No conspiracy,” Ash said. “Now make love to me and quit worrying. You’re borrowing trouble.”

He hoped he was. He probably was. Xav tried to forget all about the strange sensation he had that something just wasn’t right, and lost himself in loving Ash.

* * *

A
SH
AWAKENED
IN
THE
NIGHT
, the same dream haunting her. She peered at Xav, who slept soundly, his handsome profile just visible in the moonlight streaming through the window. One leg draped over the side of the bed, as if he were ready to spring into action if the babies called.

She went to the foot of the bed to look at them in their baskets. They slept soundly, everything right in their world. Just the sight of them reassured her. She adjusted their blankets, amazed that somehow today was her wedding day, and the day before Christmas.

She was a mother, and she would be a wife. Here in this room was her family, who meant more to her than anything. All in the space of a year, she’d been blessed with more than she’d ever dreamed of. So far from the days when she’d been a girl going into the military, struggling to make sense of herself and who she was to be in the world. Now she had all the pieces of herself she could ever need. With Xav and her babies, she was whole.

It was a miracle, one she deeply appreciated.

Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only four in the morning, not quite time for Xav to be up for chores. She decided to go downstairs and put the coffee on, get a jump on Fiona’s breakfast preparations. She pulled on jeans, put on her rubber-soled black boots, grabbed a black T-shirt and sheepskin jacket, smiling at the thought that these were hardly the clothes of a bride.

But she had a pretty blue dress for later, and while it wasn’t the magic wedding dress, she would still become Mrs. Xav Phillips.

It was a most magical and exhilarating thought.

She turned on the coffeepot, set out some small dishes for muffins and breakfast cake. Put on the teakettle for herself. Grandfather always preferred tea, she thought with a smile. He wasn’t one for coffee. Running Bear loved sitting in this kitchen with Fiona, chatting and drinking tea. Plotting.

Those two had certainly worked hard for everything that was Rancho Diablo. Ash looked around the kitchen, hardly able to wait until sunlight came pouring in the many windows to herald Christmas Eve.

Her babies’ first Christmas.

Joy sparkled inside her—disappearing when a shadow crossed one of the windows. Something about the shadow caught her attention, alarming her. A ranch hand wouldn’t walk so stealthily, and Running Bear would just walk in the back door that led to the kitchen. None of her brothers would be at the house yet. Fiona and Burke wouldn’t come down until closer to five o’clock.

Her blood running a bit colder than it had a moment before, she opened the door, peering out.

There was nothing there, no prints in the fresh, bright snow visible in the porch light.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief, closed the door. Poured herself tea, grabbed a zucchini muffin. Tried to shake off the chilly sensation that had come over her.

She hadn’t been wrong about Wolf. She knew he was planning to blow something, but whether Rancho Diablo or Loco Diablo she couldn’t be certain. That had not yet been revealed to her. But with one of the barns being set on fire before, it made sense that Rancho Diablo was under siege.

Under siege. Of course it was. They just hadn’t realized the war had begun and was right at their doorstep.

She ran to head up the stairs to get Xav, tell him that they needed to get the babies to safety, when something grabbed her out of nowhere, fingers biting hard into her shoulders as something cold landed across her mouth.

Velvety blackness descended upon her.

* * *

X
AV
SAT
UP
IN
BED
, his heart hammering. He’d heard something, felt something eerie, a warning thrusting him into instant wakefulness. He jumped out of bed, checked the babies. Ash was probably showering—but no. She wasn’t there, and her boots were gone.

He texted her, pulling on his clothes while he waited for a response. His gaze lit on her phone suddenly, on the nightstand, turned off. He wanted to hurry downstairs to check the kitchen, but leaving the babies alone wasn’t an option. The babies slept soundly, completely secure in their cozy worlds. Only Skye stirred, opening her eyes once to look at nothing in particular, then went back to sleep.

He texted Burke and Fiona.

Can you come sit with the babies for a minute?

It wasn’t sixty seconds before Fiona flew down the long hall, Burke at her back.

“Mercy!” Fiona exclaimed. She wore a pink robe and tiny curlers in her silvery-white hair. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine. I need to find Ash. I’ll be right back.”

“Isn’t she in the kitchen?” Fiona asked. “I should be there now, making breakfast.”

“For now, stay up here. Let me make certain I just woke up with a case of the heebie-jeebies and nothing more serious is going on.” Xav checked his gun, slid it into his holster. “Once I find my bride, I’ll know I had an epic panic attack.”

“Panic is good,” Fiona said. “Sometimes the subconscious knows more than we think. Go. Burke and I can handle our adorable angels.” She went over to peer into the bassinets, and Xav hurried downstairs.

She wasn’t in the kitchen, as Xav had somehow known she wouldn’t be. But maybe she’d gone to the barns.

Maybe all the Callahan hocus-pocus was getting to him, but he’d swear he was picking up some kind of fear communication from his wife. His scalp tingled and it felt as if ants were crawling all over his skin.

His gaze lit on a muffin, with one bite taken, and a mug of tea barely sipped and still hot.

She wouldn’t have left the kitchen this way.

His heart shifted into extreme fear, and he pushed it away. Texted her brothers.
Can’t find Ash.

Instantly, six texts hit his phone.

On it,
from Jace.

Locked and loaded,
from Dante.

From Tighe’s phone:
Time to kick some ass.

Galen’s text read simply,
Hang tight.

Stay calm,
from Sloan.

On my way,
Falcon’s text said.

Xav felt a little better with the instant backup. He checked the kitchen door, looking out in the snow for footprints, signs of a struggle. Went to the front door, saw sweeping motions in the fresh snow. Ash had put up a good fight, her boots scrabbling as she’d kicked at her captor. Fresh anger poured over him, whipping him into a red-hot desire to put Wolf out of his misery— and theirs.

“Fiona!” Xav yelled up the stairs.

Fiona’s rollered head and pink robe appeared at the top of the stairwell. “Find her?”

“Get the babies. You and Burke go in your room and lock the doors.”

Her eyes went wide. She scurried down the stairs. “I have to grab bottles for the babies!” She threw several into her robe pockets and disappeared into the secret elevator, a whirl of motion.

Xav pulled on his jacket and hat, grabbed a gun from the locked gun cabinet in the kitchen, not surprised when the kitchen doors burst open a second later and Callahans spilled in. They stamped their feet on the floors, glancing around, scoping everything for information, in instant military mode.

“What’s happening?” Sloan demanded.

“Whoever grabbed her took her through the front.”

“Then we’ll have him in five. Good work, brother,” Jace said, and hauled ass out of the kitchen with his fierce brothers.

Yet something held Xav back. He glanced at the door they’d come through, went to it, trying to figure out what was niggling at him. He knew Ash had been taken out the front.

He stepped out the back anyway, not sure exactly what was bothering him. Saw someone in the shadows throw something fiery through the kitchen window.

He ran back inside. A bottle lay on the kitchen floor, smoking from the flames inside it. It should have burst, should have lit the kitchen into an instant inferno. He knew what it was, knew he had a limited time to get it out of the house. Maybe he wouldn’t even make it—but he had to try. His children were upstairs, as well as Fiona and Burke.

In a split second, he’d thrown a heavy cast-iron pot over the Molotov cocktail, smothering it as it belched flames underneath it. He grabbed Fiona’s fire extinguisher, putting out the flames. Dialed the sheriff to let him know they needed backup and coverage on the house—then called Galen.

“They took Ash out the front as a decoy, knowing we’d give chase, then threw a Molotov cocktail through the kitchen window.”

“Holy hellfire,” Galen said. “Is everything all right?”

“It is now.” It had been close—too damn close. “I’m going to stay here until the sheriff arrives. You get Ash.”

“Dante and Tighe are riding back with Ash right now. They found her walking back, pissed as hell and sporting a gash on her cheek. She doesn’t take well to being dragged off against her will.”

“Who did it?” If it had been Wolf, he’d be lucky to still be alive—Xav was going to take him out with his bare hands.

“Dante said it was two henchmen. By the time Ash nearly bit off her captor’s finger and kicked his kneecap almost to China, he was ready to get rid of her. His buddy lit off when she said if he so much as moved she was going to do something to his balls that would leave him singing like a girl for the rest of his life. Wolf must not pay enough to make the job worth it, because I don’t think their hearts were in it. Then again, Ash is scary when she’s ticked.”

“That’s my girl.” Xav grinned proudly, relieved, but still seething and ready to kick some Wolf ass. He had the sexiest spitfire in New Mexico. Hell, in the whole country. “Thanks, Galen.”

“Thanks for keeping Rancho Diablo from burning to a cinder.”

He heard a gasp and Ash’s sweet voice came on the phone. “Xav! Are you all right? What happened?”

He got a blinding rush of relief at the sound of her voice. “It’s all right. Someone threw a parting gift through the kitchen window. Fiona got a little something in one of her pots she won’t be too happy about, but fortunately, cast iron does a good job of containing an incendiary device.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Ash said.

“You can’t,” Xav said. “We don’t know that it was Wolf. Could have been the cartel. Dante and Tighe said you were taken by a couple of henchmen, and I didn’t know the asshole who tossed the cocktail. I didn’t get a good look at him.”

“It’s Wolf’s fault for bringing them here. He’s the reason the cartel got so dug in. He’s the reason everything has been screwed up for so long, for all of us. And will be for our children, all of our children. Galen, don’t try to stop me.”

“Galen? What just happened?” Xav said, as Galen came back on the line.

“Ash took off. She grabbed Jace’s horse and she’s gone.”

“I know where she’s going,” Xav said. “She’s going to the tunnels, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s thinking to set off that dynamite. Stay with her. I’ll catch up.”

He knew exactly what his bride-to-be would do.

* * *