The Guardian (The Wolfe Series) (23 page)

             
Sweat trickled down Francisco’s back, wetting his shirt as he continued to stare at the floor.  “I met Manuel Ortega for a drink last night at a cantina.”

             
“Go on,” Vega prompted.  He could see that Enrique’s patience was being tested by the young man’s reticence.

             
“Manuel was very drunk and very scared.  He told me he was leaving the country to escape the wrath of the patron.”

             
That statement got Enrique’s full attention as well as his anger at having to pull the information out of the man.  “Look at me, you fool.  Tell me what you know.”

             
“The woman you’re looking for, Manuel shot her by mistake.  He thinks he may have killed her or at least wounded her. That’s why he’s running.  He knew your orders were to take the woman alive and unhurt.  He’d failed in that and knew his life would be forfeit if you ever found out.”

             
Enrique’s blood froze in his veins.  The woman had been alive!  But was she still alive or had one of his bumbling subordinates destroyed Enrique’s last chance for revenge?  He grabbed Garza by the throat and forced the man to look him in the eye.  “Where did this happen?  Tell me!”

             
“Manuel said it was somewhere on Kingdom Ranch,” the man croaked, his face slowly turning blue from lack of oxygen.  Enrique tossed the much smaller man aside as though he were a worthless piece of trash and turned toward Poncho Vega.

             
“Where is it, this Kingdom Ranch?  Gather the men, we’ll go there immediately.”  If the Kincaid woman was being sheltered at that ranch she and all of those who had sheltered her would be made to pay a terrible price.  He would see to it personally and with much relish.

             
“Kingdom Ranch is a fortress and the three brothers who own it deal harshly with trespassers.  Our coyotes avoid it and believe there are strange goings on there.”  Vega didn’t elaborate about the tall tales he’d heard of the giant wolves his coyote smugglers had told him about or that very few coyotes had escaped those encounters with their lives.  Vega didn’t know if he believed the tales about demonic wolves but he certainly wasn’t eager to find out either.

             
“You sound as though you’re afraid of them,” Enrique scoffed.

             
“It’s not that,” Vega assured his superior.  “I just think there’s a better way to handle this than charging in there with guns blazing.”

             
Enrique took a moment to consider the other man’s suggestion.  If they ran into resistance at that ranch getting the Kincaid woman back she could be seriously wounded or killed and at this point they weren’t even sure if she was still alive.  The bumbling fool that shot her may have killed her.  “You could be right.  What did you have in mind?”

             
Vega breathed a little easier when he saw that Perez had gotten himself back under control.

             
“They have a Ranch Roundup each year where they open the ranch to outsiders.  That would be the best time to snatch the woman, when there are lots of people around.  We could have her out of there before anyone would be the wiser.”

             
Enrique fingered the slowly healing scar on his left cheek.  “The idea has merit.  Find out when this so called roundup takes place.  Then we’ll make our plans to take the woman, and in the meantime, find out if she’s still alive.”

             
“I’ll look into it right away,”  Vega said as he helped Francisco get to his feet.  The younger man’s face still had a bluish cast from Perez’ rough handling.

             
“Oh, and one other thing,” Enrique said, addressing Poncho Vega, his eyes shining with an unholy light.  “Find Manuel Ortega.  I want you to take care of him personally as a warning to others not to make the same mistake.  The woman is mine and any who would harm her will pay the ultimate price.” 

Enrique
knew Luzaro still considered the Kincaid woman his.  The showdown between him and Luzaro had been building for a long time and Enrique wondered if perhaps it wasn’t time to eliminate Luzaro Rivera and take over leadership of the Crótalo for good. 

Enrique s
miled at the thought as he left the other two men staring after him.

              It was a meeting of three brothers.  Jake had called Taggert and Rand as soon as he’d gotten Laurie safely back to the ranch.  Her shoulder was healing nicely and hadn’t seemed to bother her on their return trip.  Her emotional state was another matter, one that would take time and a great deal of persuasion to heal.

             
“So, have you mated her yet?” Rand asked in his usual brusque manner.  His black hair was slicked back from his forehead allowing his lethal golden eyes to dominate his face.  And dominate they did, pinning his older brother’s troubled blue eyes with brutal intensity.

             
“Gees, Rand,” Taggert scolded, always the peacemaker between his older and younger siblings.  “Give the guy a break, will ya?”

             
Jake sighed, resigned to the fact that Rand was going to be his usual relentlessly mule-headed self, and not liking the fact that a woman was going to be interfering in their lives.  “That’s none of your damn business, Rand.”

             
“I’m making it my business, bro.  You want to tell us just what you’ve gotten us into?” Rand asked sourly.  He dearly loved his older brother but there were times when the romantic in Jake overruled his common sense, as in the case of the woman he’d rescued.  “Tag thinks she’s running from someone, mind telling us who and how you almost got yourself shot yesterday?”

             
Jake decided that an abbreviated version of what had happened to Laurie would be best and that a frontal attack would back Rand off, for the moment at least.  “She’s running from Luzaro Rivera.”  Jake didn’t comment further, waiting for the drug cartel king-pin’s name to register with his brothers.

             
“Hell,” Rand finally said, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen over his forehead.  “Gotta give you credit, bro.  When you do something you sure as hell don’t do it half way.”

             
Taggert’s face had turned as white as the t-shirt he was wearing.  “Holy shit!”

             
“I guess that about sums it up,” Jake said.  “They obviously know where she is now so they’ll be coming for her.  I’m sorry I’ve put you guys in this position but there’s no way I’m going to give her up and that’s that.”

             
“No one’s asking you too,” Rand snarled.  “We just need to put our heads together and figure this out, call a meeting with the rest of the pack and see how we’re going to go about protecting everyone on this ranch. 

“Gees, Jake, Rivera’s the head of the C
rótalo drug cartel,” Taggert exclaimed.  “They’ll come to get Laurie and kill anyone who tries to stand in their way.

“Believe me, I know that, Tag.  But this is a big ranch and we’re far enough away from the main road to know well in advance when they’re coming.  It’ll be like the old days when our forefathers first settled the land and had to watch out for Indian raids.”

“That’s true,” Rand said, backing off.  He had no qualms about fighting to protect the ranch and everyone who lived on it.  He still thought his brother had made a mistake keeping the woman here, but that was over and done with, spilled milk as far as Rand was concerned. “I’ll call the others and set a meeting for this afternoon here at the main house.”

“Sounds good to me,” Taggert said, getting to his feet and stretching
lazily.  “I’ll set up sentries in the meantime.  We don’t want to be taken unaware in case they decide to challenge us right away.”

             
None of the brothers had noticed Laurie standing in the shadows of the hallway and listening to every word that had been said.

             
Gripping her sides with both hands Laurie bent over double, afraid she would wretch and embarrass herself in front of Jake and his brothers.  Taking several deep breaths she finally straightened and then hurried back to her room.

             
So that was Rand?
It certainly didn’t sound as though he was going to welcome her with open arms.  Laurie had been amazed when she’d seen the six-foot four-inch Rand sitting at the kitchen table with his brothers.  His black hair and golden eyes were a lethal combination that would attract many women she was sure.  His surly attitude would also attract a certain type of woman, a woman the polar opposite of what Laurie was. 

             
She felt bad that she’d put the three men in such danger, especially Jake who seemed to want to defend her against any and all comers.  If she’d had any doubts about leaving, though, the conversation she’d just overhead had changed all of that.  She wouldn’t allow the three of them to jeopardize their lives by trying to protect her.

             
Laurie sighed, her thoughts unhappily envisioning Jake’s handsome face and how she would have liked to have gotten to know him better, more intimately. 
Why the hell can’t you?  You’re not gone yet!

             
No, she wasn’t gone yet.  And for the hundredth time she once again considered having sex with Jake, the kind of sex that she’d dreamed about. 

             
Didn’t they both deserve that?

C
hapte
r
T
wenty

            
 
M
eticulous, that was the word that came to mind as Laurie sat at the kitchen table with Jake and watched him clean his weapons and replenish his medical supply kits.  He’d told her that he and his brothers kept stashes at several different locations along various escape routes in case they ran out of ammo or were wounded during their rescue attempts.  She’d been shocked when she’d found out that Jake and his brothers took it upon themselves to rescue illegals who’d been stranded in the desert.  Her admiration grew for this man who seemed to hold the key to her happiness.

             
“Many crossers are dropped near the border and told Phoenix or Tucson is just a few miles over the hill.  Many people have died as a result of being dumped out in the middle of nowhere without water or resources and a total misunderstanding of what lies ahead.”  Jake’s eyes darkened at the thought of the bleached bones he had often seen in the distance, only to find that when he got closer the bones were those of a human being.

             
“And you say Luzaro has his hand in this as well as drug trafficking.  Doesn’t the Border Patrol know who these serial killer coyotes are?”  Laurie felt ill when she thought of the rich lifestyle that Luzaro enjoyed at the expense of others.

             
“It seems they can do little to stem the growing tide.”

             
Jake laid the gun aside that he’d been cleaning and took Laurie’s hands into his own.  He felt the sizzle as he always did and was certain he saw the same thing in Laurie’s eyes.  “Nothing that has happened is your fault, Laurie,” he said as he leaned toward her and brushed his lips lightly against hers.  He was encouraged when she parted her lips, inviting further intimacy.

             
Laurie’s heart raced and she was sure that Jake must have been able to hear the frantic beating.  She trembled when his tongue tangled with hers, her own tongue responding in kind. 

T
he urge to kiss Laurie seized Jake and his body instantly hardened.  The need to cover her mouth with his and taste her lips was overwhelming.  His tongue thrust deeper and deeper, and Laurie felt her bones begin to melt as she leaned toward him, seeking that which she knew they could share together, an intimacy that would move past physical passion and into the realm of their own personal paradise.

             
Jake pulled back reluctantly and drew a ragged breath deep into his lungs.  He wanted to take his time courting Laurie, not rushing her into something she might regret later.  His libido wasn’t thanking him for his restraint though and he shifted in his chair to relieve some of the discomfort a rock-hard erection was causing him.

             
“Are you feeling any different, Laurie?”

             
“About the Change, you mean?  I can honestly say I don’t know yet, Jake.  It feels like I may have a heightened sense of sight and smell but I don’t feel any differently inside.”  She was secretly terrified at the thought of changing into a wolf.  Would she be able to control when she shifted?  What would it feel like?  Would she know how to change back into her human form?  Was there pain involved?  The more she thought about those things the more uncomfortable she became with the situation.

             
“I can’t say for sure because I haven’t known anyone who was changed.  The Change effects people differently.  We’ll know soon enough.  There’ll be a full moon in a couple of days.  You won’t be able to resist the Change when the moon is full.”