The Texas Ranger's Reward (Undercover Heroes) (12 page)

Once at their destination, she followed him around the back.
Melissa saw fresh cigarette butts outside the door the second he did.

He spoke at last. “There were more visitors here last night,
but they didn’t come from the area where we were hiking today. That leaves the
section of forest I haven’t explored yet.”

He opened his pack to collect the samples and bag them.
Returning to the front, he unlocked the door and they moved inside. “The
lanterns have been transferred from the end table to the floor,” she
blurted.

“So I noticed. Your squatters have grown careless.”

While Melissa drank water from the kitchen tap, he got busy
removing the memory cards and replacing the batteries in the cameras. His last
action was to hide a new listening device in the geraniums and pocket the other
one.

“Shall we go?” he asked, his tone frigid.

She couldn’t let things continue this way. The thought of
trekking back to the truck and then driving down the canyon with him without
saying a word was too painful to contemplate. In desperation she reached the
front door ahead of him and flattened herself against it, so he’d have to remove
her physically to go outside.

“We’re not leaving until you let me explain.”

His face was a study of lines and shadows. “It’s not
necessary.”

“When I told you the reason for my divorce, I didn’t tell you
everything.”

With that remark, he lifted his head. She had his attention.
“Go on.”

“Russ and I met in Kamas at the beginning of the summer. He was
at his parents’ summer home in Park City, and drove to Kamas with friends. We
met at a local dance. He was good-looking, fun, funny, smart. He had lots of
friends I really liked, and he liked my friends. I fell for him. In the fall, we
got married.”

Travis looked at her through veiled eyes. “What happened?”

“My parents had paid for my college education, and suggested
that we wait and get another year of schooling behind us first, but we both
wanted to marry. My siblings were married. All my friends were getting married.
Love was in the air. I wanted what every girl wants, and didn’t want to waste
any more time. Mom and Dad got behind me, like they always do, and provided the
beach honeymoon. It was great.”

“You were still in love at the end of your honeymoon?”

“Yes. He was terrific to me and I assumed our wonderful lives
would go on forever. Russ’s father is a prominent, well-to-do Realtor, and he
gave us a luxury house in an elegant neighborhood near the University of Utah
for a wedding present. We had everything the upwardly mobile couple could ask
for. Except for one thing I didn’t see coming.”

“What was that?”

“You’ve heard of Jekyll and Hyde.”

Travis’s features tautened. “How soon did he turn into Mr.
Hyde?”

She averted her eyes, remembering the moment as if it was
yesterday. “The day after our return from Laguna Beach. He wanted to control
me.” Her voice shook. “I’m not talking once in a while. I’m talking about every
aspect of our lives. It was like a sickness.”

“Why don’t we sit down while you tell me the rest.”

“I can’t sit. Let me just tell you everything so you’ll
understand me better.”

He folded his arms and stayed silent.

“Russ dictated when I went to bed, when I got up, what I
cooked, what I ate,” she stated numbly. “What I wore, what I did, where I went,
what I read, who I did things with, how I spent his money. He curtailed the
amount of time we spent with my family. He hated the cabin. He hated it when I
painted. He chose what we watched on TV. When I was home from school, he checked
on me all the time.”

A pained expression crossed Travis’s face, but he didn’t
interrupt.

“At first I thought I was living a nightmare. I prayed I would
wake up, but it went on and on, and I knew I had to get out. But being beholden
to both sets of parents, and knowing what our getting a divorce would do to
them, I was afraid to tell them what was going on, afraid his parents would
never believe me.”

“You were trapped,” Travis said with conviction. “I’ve seen it
with other victims.”

She nodded. “The only thing he couldn’t control was my
schoolwork and nursing classes. I immersed myself in my studies to stay mentally
and emotionally away from him. I couldn’t bear for him to touch me. One
afternoon he came home while I was studying for midterms. He wanted to make
love. The thought was so abhorrent to me, I did the only thing I could do, and
told him I didn’t have time.

“He got this crazed look in his eye and yanked me out of the
chair. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer and
slapped me in the face, with such force, I fell to the floor.”

“Melissa—”

“Luckily, when I got up, he saw that my cheek was all red and
swelling, and he asked me to forgive him. He promised he’d never do it again.”
She swallowed hard. “I didn’t give him the chance, and fled the house with my
car keys.”

“Thank heaven.”

“The next day I filed for divorce. He didn’t contest it. To my
relief it went through without a hitch, and I never saw him again. But I heard
he remarried, and it makes me ill for his new wife, just thinking about it.”

Travis studied her for a tension-filled minute. “When I kissed
you, it was the first time a man kissed you since your divorce, wasn’t it?” His
voice was low.

She drew in a deep breath. “I’ve dated a bit, but yes, you’re
the first.”

His dark brows met in a frown. “And it brought that horrific
moment back.”

“No, that’s not it. From the first time we met, I found myself
attracted to you. When you told me I reminded you of your wife, I was utterly
dismayed. Last night, when you watched me go in the town house, you said it was
necessary because if you’d been on guard for your wife, she’d still be alive. To
think that after six years I finally meet a man who appeals to me, and then I
learn you only see Valerie when you look at me…

“On the drive up the canyon today, I told myself I was going to
be strong and fight the attraction I felt. But when you told me you wanted to
kiss me, that’s what I wanted, too—more than anything. You know I did, and you
know how much I enjoyed it. That’s what I meant earlier when I said you had the
power to make me respond when I had no intention of doing so. I lost control
with you, but that was my problem, not yours.”

Her explanation appeared to satisfy him. “So after giving in,
why did you stop?”

“Because I remembered you were kissing
her,
not me. You were remembering your wife, and how you felt when
she was in your arms. I could have gone on kissing you back, but I would have
been lying to myself that it was me you really wanted.”

He rubbed his jaw. “I can see that you and I both need more
time together to dispel our ghosts from the past.”

Melissa wished he hadn’t said that. “I’m glad you feel that
way,” she whispered.

His gaze was centered on her mouth, causing hers to tingle in
response. “We’d better get going. I have to drop off the latest samples at the
lab before I pick up Casey.”

“I’m ready.”

Together they left the cabin. Unburdening herself turned out to
be cathartic. By the time they reached the truck in town, Melissa felt a
lightening of her spirit.

Once they were sitting in the cab, he gave her a searching
glance. “Tell me something,” he said. “Were you reminded of your ex-husband when
the employee at Grampy’s leered at you?”

She nodded.

“When you went pale like you did, I knew you’d been deeply
disturbed.”

“No wonder you Texas Rangers are so legendary. Nothing gets by
you.”

His disarming smile chased away her earlier fear that she might
never see it again. “Let’s hope that holds true during my investigation.” He
pulled the listening device from his pocket. “We know from those fresh cigarette
butts that someone was in your cabin last night. I’m curious to hear what this
picked up.” He turned it on so they could both listen.

She heard a number of male voices. That alone made her
shudder—to think a bunch of men were in the cabin’s kitchen as if they owned the
place. Melissa listened more intently. “They’re all speaking Spanish. Do you
understand what they’re saying?”

“I can pick out a little, but they’re not conversing in the
kind of Spanish I used to hear in Texas. This is a fast-paced dialect with
certain phonetic changes I’m unfamiliar with. I’ll need Jose for this. He’s our
expert.”

Melissa watched Travis turn off the device and put it in his
pocket. “What are you thinking?”

“This and that.”

“Travis—” she half moaned in frustration “—that was one of your
nonanswers again.”

His jaw hardened. “After I get back to the office, I’ll look
through the camera memory cards and will know a lot more. Once I’ve pieced
everything together, I’ll tell you my suspicions.”

He didn’t have to say it; a bunch of men up to no good had to
be armed and dangerous.

He switched on the ignition. On the way out of town he stopped
in front of the Quickie Mart. “I have to go inside, but I’ll only be a minute.
Do you want anything?”

“No, thank you.”

Maybe he needed to use the restroom, Melissa decided. But with
him you never could tell, because he operated on his own private agenda.
Whatever was going on, the tension was building.

* * *

T
RAVIS
ENTERED
THE
MART
,
where he’d arranged to meet Jose back by the cold
drinks section. His friend had driven up in the R & T Painting Company truck
from the P.I. shop. It had been parked alongside a dozen other vehicles. There
were still a lot of tourists on vacation.

When Travis found him, he was dressed in a painter’s overalls
and cap. They both reached for a Coke. Travis took a second one in case Melissa
wanted one. “What did you find out so far?”

“The same man and a woman I tailed Tuesday showed up at
Grampy’s for work at five to ten. They drove the same cars as before. I checked
with the DMV and found out there’s no police record or warrants out on them.
Both driving records are clean.

“Our man with the tattoo left the camper on foot and arrived at
Grampy’s at eleven. I’ll watch till he goes off shift and follow him again. When
I find out anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Travis nodded. “I’ll check to see if those fingerprints taken
at the cabin produce results. Who knows? We might get lucky and some names will
turn up, his among them. You’ve got enough backup?”

“Plenty.”

“Good. When you’ve got a minute, listen to this and give me
your expert opinion.” He handed him the listening device. “I pulled it from the
flowers in the kitchen.”

“I’ll do it as soon as I get back in the truck.”

“Thanks.”

Travis went to the checkout stand first to pay for his drinks,
then joined Melissa in the truck. “I bought you a Coke.”

“Thank you.”

On the way down the canyon he decided to share some information
with her. He was aware he’d been secretive, yet she never asked about the case.
That was a quality he respected in her more than she could possibly realize.

“I went in the mart to meet up with Jose and give him the
listening device. He’ll translate for me when he gets a chance.”

She nodded. “You don’t do anything without a reason.”

They had just emerged from the canyon when Jose phoned. Travis
picked up. “What’s new?”

Jose whistled, and that alone told him plenty. “Give me five
minutes and I’ll call you back,” Travis suggested.

“It’s probably a good idea you’re alone when I tell you.”

He didn’t like the sound of that. “Understood.”

He drove straight to Melissa’s town house and pulled up in
front. She climbed out in a hurry and retrieved her pack from the backseat.

“Casey and I will be over at six to get you,” he said.

“You still want me to come?” She looked anxious.

“At the cabin I thought we agreed we needed to get to know each
other better. Or have you changed your mind?”

“No,” she said quickly. “No. But let me come to you. Give me
directions to your house and I’ll be there at six, okay?”

He agreed. And her positive response relieved him. They had
things to work out. After she’d unburdened herself today, he feared she’d
retreat emotionally before they got to know each other better. Travis didn’t
think he could handle that. Much to his surprise, he recognized she was becoming
important to his existence.

And he realized that he was seeing Melissa in her own right and
not as a clone of Valerie. In time he hoped to prove it to her.

“Okay, see you later.”

She nodded. After she’d gone inside the condo, he pulled out
his phone and rang Jose. “Go ahead and tell me what you heard. I’m alone
now.”

“It’s all coming together, Travis. Those men in the cabin are
from Colombia. I counted four distinct voices. They’re speaking the Choquano
dialect from the northern coastal region. They talked about the hard work and
the isolation. One of them said the pay was going to be great, so stop
complaining. Another talked about finding women when this was over. They were
getting tired of the job.

“One complained of a bad toothache. Another guy said he was
going to jump the woman whose bedroom was upstairs before they cleared out. He
described in detail what he wanted to do to her. His friend suggested they wait
to get paid, then kidnap her. She would be of interest to the boss, who’d want
her for himself.

“It could be worth a lot of extra
dinero
for them if they took her back with them, he said. Her family
wouldn’t know what had happened to her, and would never be able to find her.
There was laughter and then silence.”

Rage curled Travis’s hands into fists. The mention of their
plans for Melissa twisted his gut. If Casey hadn’t told her about Travis’s job
while they were at the movie, she might not have sought help soon enough to
avoid the fate awaiting her. At least he could be thankful that Valerie hadn’t
been molested before she was killed.