The Outsider's Redemption. Joanna Wayne
after I pick up Miss Sarah Rand, where do I deliver her?” Cody asked.
“I’ll let you know that at the time.”
“How do I reach you?”
“You don’t. I’ll reach you. You just pick up the woman and get her into your truck. I’ll make the connection at that point.”
“I don’t have a cellular phone anymore. The one I had belonged to Texas Confidential and I turned it in when I left. All I have is a beeper, and that only until someone cancels the contract.”
“Then I guess that will have to do.” Cody scribbled his pager number down on a napkin and handed it to Daniel though he had the sneaking suspicion the man already knew it. “How will I recognize this woman?”
“She’s young—in her twenties. Her hair’s a reddish blond and she wears it straight and just long enough to cover her ears. She’ll be wearing a hot pink suit.” Daniel stood up. “Oh yeah,” he added. “She’ll be carrying a canvas tote that says ‘So many cowboys, so little time.’ You can’t miss her.”
With that, Daniel Austin slid off his stool and staggered to the door, doing a flawless performance as an elderly drunk. His baggy pants rode his thin hips, and the back of his gray hair zigzagged in and out of his shirt collar. One of the younger cowboys moved out of his way in deference to the man’s apparent age and condition.
Cody waited a few minutes, then left the bar and walked back to his pickup truck. A few minutes ago, he’d been wallowing in his bad luck. But now the old juices were starting to flow. He was back in the saddle again.
CODY STOOD aside as the first eager passengers from Flight 109 made it to the end of the exit ramp. A few men and women in business suits, a hot-looking babe in a pair of skintight jeans, a group of elderly ladies all laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
The stream of arriving passengers slowed, and doubt started to nag at the back of his mind. If this turned out to be a fishing trip to a dry creek, he was going to be downright mad at himself. He craned his neck at the first sight of hot pink. Nope. False alarm. The woman was pregnant.
The hair color fit though. Hers was shiny, strawberry blond, straight. And just long enough to brush the edges of her blushed cheeks. Dressed in hot pink with a black coat and a leather purse draped over her shoulder and pulling a wheeled carry-on bag. Cute as a button, but pregnant, and Dan would surely have mentioned it if Cody was supposed to pick up a pregnant woman.
She stopped a few feet away from him and looked around. Cody expected some young, expectant father to rush up to meet her. No one did, and he couldn’t help but notice the worry that creased her forehead and shaded her gorgeous green eyes.
She turned, and that’s when Cody saw the cloth tote bag swinging from beneath the coat. The inscription was there, just like Dan had said. So many cowboys, so little time.
Undoubtedly this was Sarah Rand. Now all Cody had to do was pick her up and take her to meet Dan so that she could be arrested. Some hero he was, apprehending a pregnant lady.
Cody backed away and then stopped. Pregnant or not, if Sarah Rand was selling secrets that could give Calderone the winning edge, she had to be stopped. He only wished she looked like Calderone or like his right-arm man Rialto had. Those were the kind of criminals a man could get his kicks from sending to prison.
He walked over and tipped his Stetson. “Mind if I help you, Mrs. Rand?”
She stared at him, then looked away, nervously scanning the crowd. Hot pink outfit, tote bag. It had to be her, so why was she ignoring him? He stood his ground. “You are Mrs. Rand, aren’t you?”
Her brows furrowed. “Why do you ask?”
“I was sent to pick you up.”
She smiled slightly. “You’re not what I expected,” she whispered, turning to glance over her shoulder.
“You don’t have to whisper,” Cody said. “We’re just a couple of friends meeting in the airport. Try to appear that way.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath, but didn’t relax. “I know I’m supposed to act cool, but ever since I caught the plane in D.C. I’ve been a nervous wreck. The man sitting next to me kept trying to talk to me and I finally told him I had a migraine just so he’d back off. I thought about telling him I was married to a very jealous husband but I don’t wear a ring. I mean I’m pregnant and all but…”
“Okay, let’s take it easy here. I’m a cowboy. We talk and listen nice and slow.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve been so worried. I mean this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. I’m usually very calm, in perfect control. Well, maybe not calm, but better than this.” Her eyes darted from one side of the terminal to the other. “I’m not afraid or anything. Well, actually, I am a little scared, but it’s just because this is, well, you know, like stepping into a James Bond movie. Not that I think I’m a femme fatale. I didn’t mean that.”
He shook his head to clear it. If she talked this fast all the time, he’d grow dizzy trying to follow her. “Actually, it probably would be better if we saved the talk for later. Do you have the diskette?”
Her manner changed, grew suspicious. She tilted her head to one side. “I have it.”
He took the handle to her luggage. “Is it in here?”
“Wait a minute. Mr. Aus…, I mean my associate told me that I’m to give the disk to no one but him. I follow orders.”
“I didn’t ask you to give it to me. I only asked where it was. But don’t get all riled up. I was just trying to make sure we kept it safe. Is it in that tote bag you’re carrying?”
Her chin jutted out and her lips curled into a defiant pout. “I don’t like your attitude. I’ve a good mind not to go with you at all.”
Cody shrugged and nudged his tan Stetson back on his head. She was a spunky little thing. He guessed it took that to be the kind of woman who’d sell out to the enemy. “If you don’t go with me, you might not get paid. And your associate would be very upset with both of us. Besides, I have no intention of letting you leave here without me.”
“Okay, but don’t try to boss me around. You’re supposed to protect me and take me to…”
He threw up his hands to stop her babbling. “I’m Cody Gannon and I’m to take you to meet your associate, who we both know is Dan Austin. So let’s just get the show on the road.”
She took off down the corridor, and he followed, pulling her bag behind him. He slowed to dodge a man with a white cane who was walking against the flow of pedestrian traffic. “My truck is just outside,” he said, catching up with her easily.
“I have to stop at baggage claim to get the rest of my luggage. I wasn’t sure where I was going so I had to bring sweaters and jackets and everything.”
“It’s September, Mrs. Rand. You’d have to go a long way to need a suitcase full of sweaters and coats in Texas in September.”
“Well, it’s late September. Anyway, I’m not a Mrs. I was about to tell you that earlier, but you didn’t give me a chance to finish.” She looked down at her stomach. “The baby’s due in late December. I hope it’s born for Christmas. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s a girl, but I don’t want to know until she’s born.”
She took a deep breath and looked up. It was the first time they’d made real eye contact, and the sudden intimacy of it bothered him. He looked away and walked all the faster.
“I’m sorry,” she said, obviously taking his action for disapproval. “When I get nervous, I just can’t seem to stop talking. Todd says it’s my insecurity. I guess he’s probably right.”
“Who’s Todd?”
“It