Secrets of the Lynx (26 page)

Paul watched as the first two men walked briskly up on opposite sides of the road, apparently eager to get this over with. He kept his sites on the man farthest from them, knowing that, according to plan, Kendra would be targeting the closer of the two.

Paul spoke into the headset and signaled the house. Behind him a light came on in the cabin. An image silhouetted by a lamp crossed in front of the kitchen window.

The two men closest to them stopped, as did those across the road. Soft words were exchanged, too low to understand, then all four men picked up speed. Soon they were across the road, crouching low and angling toward the house.

A noisy generator started up just then, and three large strobe lights came on, flashing in the faces of the advancing men, blinding their night vision devices. Two of them cursed, raised their weapons and opened fire on the lights. The other two ducked down behind some brush.

Daniel turned on the floodlights next to his position, illuminating the two trying to hide and drawing more misdirected gunfire from the confused attackers.

“We need prisoners,” Kendra said. “Don’t shoot to kill unless there’s no other option.”

The spotlighted men fell prone and returned fire, but they were caught in the crossfire, trapped out in the open.

Daniel added hand-directed lasers to his regimen of confusion, forcing the assault team to tear off their night vision devices.

Preston, speaking from beside the house, called out from a bullhorn. “You’re surrounded and outgunned. Lay down your weapons.”

One of the gunmen whipped his weapon around and fired toward Preston, but someone near Daniel’s position took him out with one shot.

Two of the remaining assailants put their weapons down and sat on the ground, hands locked behind their heads. The fourth set down his rifle but, instead of sitting like the others, suddenly spun around and raced toward the gate.

Kendra jumped up to cut him off, Paul right behind her. The man was fast, but Kendra was between him and the gate. She stopped and fired into the ground right in front of him.

The man tried to dodge, tripped on a prickly pear cactus and fell facedown on the ground.

“Careful now,” Paul said, rushing forward, his weapon aimed.

Kendra, barely ten feet from the fallen man, turned her head for a second as Paul came up.

At that instant the man yanked a pistol from his jacket. Kendra caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and swung her weapon around.

Paul fired first. The wounded man clutched his side, dropping his pistol.

“You knew before he even reached for the gun,” Kendra said, this time not looking away from the target. “I’m glad you had my back.”

“Always.” Paul stepped in front of her, standing between her and the gunman, his eyes and weapon still on their assailant.

Kendra and Paul helped the rest of their team collect the captives as a medic tended the man who’d pulled the pistol on Kendra.

After all the prisoners were secured, Kendra went inside the cabin. Thomas was sitting, handcuffed, on the floor, his back against the kitchen counter. “It’s over,” she said.

“I still want to cut a deal,” he said.

“Forget it. You set us up again, but now we have the evidence we need. You’re going down this time, Evan, and there won’t be a way out.”

* * *

T
HREE PHONE CALLS
later, however, Evan Thomas
had
struck a deal with the federal prosecutor and had been flown out by state police helicopter to Albuquerque.

“The ones responsible for your partner’s death are going away for a long time,” Kendra said.

“The fact that Thomas cut a deal doesn’t make this feel like a win.”

“I know, but he’ll still spend life in prison for killing your partner, and look what we got in return. Thomas gave up the names of all his contacts in the weapons cartel and revealed the location of the Colorado mountain hideout used by Garrett Hawthorn, the leader of their operation. He also pinpointed two weapons stashes on a Google map and the entrance of a smuggling tunnel that leads into a Mexican warehouse just across the border. Combined agency strike teams are already en route.”

Paul nodded thoughtfully. Deals were everyday compromises in the criminal justice system. “This is the end of a long road.”

“Yes it is.”

“Time to look to the future,” he said, but before he could say more, Kendra was called away to work the scene.

* * *

H
OURS AFTER
the remaining prisoners and the crime scene had been processed, Kendra stood outside the cabin beside her dusty rental car. The sun would be coming up soon and the return trip to Denver would be a long one, so it was time for her to go. Yet she just couldn’t make herself leave.

This was the moment she’d dreaded. Prolonging their inevitable goodbye wouldn’t help either of them. She’d made her decision. Good friends with benefits would never be enough for her. Working with Paul every day, being part of his world yet knowing that she’d never be at the center of it, would break her heart.

She looked down at her hand, staring at the antelope fetish he’d given her just yesterday. The message was clear. To survive, she had to go.

“What are you doing out here? You getting ready to leave?” he said, coming over to join her.

“Yeah, it’s time,” she said, and swallowed hard. She’d always stunk at goodbyes.

“It’s almost dawn. Can you hold off a bit and come with me? There’s a place I want to show you, and we can talk there. Afterwards, if you really want to leave, I won’t stand in your way.”

“All right,” she said. He wasn’t going to make leaving easy, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to say no. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a place that has special meaning to me. I’d like to take you there. It’s not far.”

He took her hand, and together they walked into Copper Canyon. As the first rays of sunlight fell over the land, small animals stirred in the brush, scampering about in search of food. A hawk flew overhead, idly circling from rim to rim.

As they climbed up a narrow trail that cut into the cliffs, Kendra told herself not to expect anything except one final, beautiful goodbye. Paul had already told her what he was willing to give her—everything, really, except his whole heart. She couldn’t expect him to change who he was. She had to accept it and move on.

Soon they reached a ledge that overlooked the canyon floor. He gestured to the vista below them with a sweep of his arm.

“Look to your right,” he said. “See that spot that gleams in the sun? That’s the metal roof of
Hosteen
Silver’s house. About six months after he brought me here, he and I got into an argument. He’d had us carrying water to the livestock and filling two stock tanks hundreds of yards away—by hand. I’d never worked so hard in my life. I accused him of taking us in just for the cheap labor, that he didn’t really care about me and Preston.”

“Harsh words,” she said, eyebrows raised. “What did he do?”

“Nothing. He told me to go check the water in the trough behind the house.” He smiled. “He wasn’t the kind to explain himself.
Hosteen
Silver felt that by sharing his home and taking care of us, he’d said all that was needed,” Paul said. “He was right, but I didn’t understand that at the time.”

“So what happened?”

“I walked off and came here. I sat down with my feet dangling over the edge and tried to figure out what I should do,” Paul said, staring at the shiny metal roof, gleaming like a beacon calling them home. “
Hosteen
Silver tracked me here in less than half an hour.”

“Was he angry?”

“No, he just sat down next to me and told me that he’d take me back to the foster home if I wanted to go. If not, I had a family waiting below. The next step was up to me, but if I stayed, I’d have to follow his rules.”

Paul paused for several long moments. “That was the first time anyone had ever given me a choice, particularly on something that would determine my future.” He turned to face her. “To me, this is a place of beginnings. That’s why I wanted to bring you here.”

“I’m not sure I understand....”

“It wasn’t Lynx who warned me when the gunman you thought was down drew his weapon. I felt the threat to you inside my gut. I acted out of instinct, protecting the woman I love,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Everything that makes me a man tells me you don’t want to go, but you think you can’t find what you need here.” He held her gaze. “Antelope People see with their hearts. Look into mine now. I’m no longer a man chained to the past. When I see you, I see our future. A home, a family, it can all be ours. Say you’ll stay with me.”

Her whispered yes became nothing more than a sigh as his mouth closed over hers.

Epilogue

Eleven months later

Kendra laughed as Paul dove into the hedge trying to catch the Nerf football flying end over end. Jason, the four-year-old Navajo boy they’d fostered since the death of his single mother, hadn’t quite mastered the art of a spiral pass.

“Sorry, pop,” Jason yelled, running around the end of the hedge for the ball, which was still out of Paul’s reach.

“Paul, you’re going to get grass stains all over your knees, and, look at you, Jason. Can’t you keep your shoes tied for more than thirty seconds?” Kendra called out, smiling.

Paul laughed, catching Jason’s surprise hike as it came over the hedge. “Get back here, boy. Your mom wants us to look our best when we sign those adoption papers today.”

Kendra laughed as Paul picked up their feisty soon-to-be son and carried him on his shoulders across the lawn. “Now go put that ball back into the toy box, J.,” Paul said, setting him down.

As Jason, the little boy who’d become the love of their lives, raced away, Paul stepped up and gave her a sweet kiss, one hand caressing her swollen belly gently.

“I’m glad we get to make the adoption official before our next little guy arrives,” Paul whispered.

“Look on the bright side,” Kendra said, resting her head against his chest. “It gave me time to get used to my new job as a working mom.” She smiled. “And to think I actually got full maternity leave from your brother Dan so soon after he hired me. That was great.”

“It comes from knowing the company’s MVP,” Paul said, smiling. “Life is as perfect as it can be for us right now, isn’t it? I never saw myself as a family man, but now I can’t imagine being happy any other way.”

She reached up and touched his cheek in a soft caress. “Things didn’t always go so smoothly for us. Remember the first time we met? I was stranded and you rescued me at gunpoint. Your confidence was so annoying.”

Paul chuckled. “Hey, but in the end, Antelope tamed the Lynx.”

“No, not tamed, gentled.”

“Maybe so,” he murmured, taking her mouth in a kiss as tender as the love that burned in his heart.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt of
Mason
by Delores Fossen!

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Chapter One

The scream woke Deputy Mason Ryland.

His eyes flew open, and Mason stumbled from the sofa in his office where he’d fallen asleep. He reached for his shirt but couldn’t find it. He had better luck with the Smith & Wesson handgun that he’d left on his desk.

He threw open his office door and caught the scent of something he darn sure didn’t want to smell on the grounds of his family’s ranch.

Smoke
.

The wispy gray streaks coiled around him, quickly followed by a second scream and a loud cry for help.

Mason went in the direction of both the smoke and the voice, racing out into the chilly October night air. He wasn’t the only one who’d been alerted. A handful of his ranch hands were running toward the cabin-style guesthouse about a hundred yards away. It was on fire, the orangey flames licking their way up the sides and roof. And the place wasn’t empty.

His newly hired horse trainer, Abbie Baker, was staying there.

That got Mason running even harder. So did another shout for help. Oh, yeah, that shout was coming from the guesthouse all right.

“Call the fire department,” he yelled to one of the ranch hands.

Mason also shouted out for someone to call his brothers as well even though they would soon know anyway. All five of them, their wives and their children lived in the family home or on the grounds of the ranch.