Cowboy Commando. Joanna Wayne
air turned steamy. “Just leave it,” she murmured, backing away.
Her cell phone rang, startling her and making her jump so that she tripped over the leg of her chair. Cutter caught her and steadied her. “Are you all right?”
Not even close, but she nodded. The phone kept ringing.
“Don’t you think you should get that?”
“It’s probably someone calling about Al. I don’t want to deal with that.”
“It could be Dane.”
She went to the living area and grabbed the purse from her handbag, checking the caller ID. “Margie Clemens. She’s a teacher at the kindergarten. She probably just caught the news about Al.”
Linney sank to the sofa to catch the rest of the news. Cutter propped himself up on the arm of the overstuffed occasional chair near the window. There was no mention of the kidnapping.
“Check your cell phone,” Cutter suggested at the next commercial break. “See if you have a message from Dane that you missed earlier.”
She checked. There was none.
“This smells rotten,” Cutter said. “Surely Dane’s gone to pick up his daughter by now and heard that she left with you. Or is the day-care center open all night?”
“No, the last pickup is seven o’clock sharp. Not complying can get you replaced with another child from their waiting list. I’ve had to pick up Julie before when Amy was tied up and Dane was working. That’s why I’m on the emergency contact list.”
“Being on the list doesn’t mean Dane doesn’t have an APB out on you by now. I’ll call Goose. He’ll know where to go from here. By the way, did you have any idea your ex was involved in tax fraud?”
“Not a clue, but I’m not surprised. Al’s whole life was about acquiring and spending money. The pending charges may explain why we still don’t have a property settlement, though. He may think he’s going to need his ready assets for attorney fees.”
“You’ve been divorced two years and you still don’t have a property settlement?”
“We’ve been separated two years, divorced one. My attorney says we’re close to a property settlement, or at least we were before this came up.”
“Okay. Forget Al for now. I’ll call Goose. Stay calm this time. You know it’s the only sensible thing to do.”
And just like that, Cutter was taking over, calling the shots and ignoring the fact that he was helping a man get away with murder. And it wasn’t as if she were putting Julie in danger.
A plan started taking shape in Linney’s mind. Not perfect, but better than seeing Amy’s killer live to abuse and kill again.
This one’s for you, Amy. If you have any influence up there, try to keep me out of jail, will you?
“GUESS IT’S TIME for Julie and me to hit the road.”
Cutter looked up as Linney came back from the bedroom where she’d gone to check on Julie. She’d freshened up a bit, put on some lipstick and returned the escaping tendrils of red hair to the clasp at the nape of her neck.
“I’d like to go with you,” he said.
“No. I made a mistake in coming here, but I’m not going to compound that by involving you any more than I already have.”
“You’re in good hands with Goose.”
“So he says. He’s meeting me at the precinct. I’ll give him a statement of my suspicions about the drowning not having been an accident and he’ll go with me to take Julie home unless he’s gotten in touch with Dane by then. If so, he’ll have Dane pick her up. Either way, if there’s any confrontation between Dane and me, it will all be a case of police record.”
“Goose means it when he says he’ll follow up with the GHPD on your suspicions of murder.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“But you’re not convinced that it will do any good?”
“Green’s Harbor is out of his jurisdiction.”
Which could be why Cutter had this sinking feeling that he’d let Linney down. “I’ll carry Julie to the car for you.”
“Thanks. She’s heavier than she looks, but try not to wake her. I’d rather she remain asleep until I get her home.”
Cutter tried to be gentle, but he had no experience with kids. Julie’s head rolled and then settled against his chest. He felt an unexplained tightness. Poor kid. She’d lost her mother. Now her only parent was a man Linney was convinced was a murderer.
Holding Julie like this, he could almost understand Linney’s determination to see justice done. But having Linney go to prison for kidnapping was not the way to do it.
Linney led the way to her car, a silver BMW sports convertible that was waiting in a visitor’s slot on the third floor of the parking garage.
“Nice wheels.”
“A present from Al just before I left.”
He’d love to know more about that breakup, or maybe he wouldn’t.
Linney opened the back door and he placed Julie inside, fastening the seat belt around her. She squirmed and then let her head drop to the cushioned headrest of her booster seat without ever opening her eyes.
Cutter shut the back door and walked around to the driver’s door. It was standing open, though Linney was already behind the wheel and fitting the key into the ignition.
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind about my going with you?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine, Cutter. You know, you really should visit your aunt Merlee more. And get some groceries in your house.”
He leaned in to kiss her good-bye. Not smart, but he wasn’t feeling particularly smart right now. She turned so that his lips brushed her cheek as she shifted into Reverse. Not a lot left for him to do except close the door and watch her drive off.
He did, then slumped against the back bumper of the red pickup truck that was parked right behind him. She waved and smiled as she turned toward the exit, then gunned the engine and took off.
Feeling emptier than he’d felt since leaving the service, Cutter started back to the elevator of the parking garage, then decided to take the stairs to his fourth-floor condo. Before the accident, he would have run them. He’d be able to again soon, but never with the speed and agility he’d had when his body had been at its peak of performance.
The metal steps rattled on impact, the sound echoing around him as he ascended the lighted stairwell. The sound took him back. The clanking became Russian-made tanks in the distance rattling their way toward him and his team.
They’d been on a rescue mission, one that sane men would have called off when that kid had spotted them in the heavily forested terrain and took off running. One kid was all it took to alert a small army of the Taliban’s men.
They could have stopped him with a bullet. Not one of them ever would have. He was just a kid.
But they were not leaving their captured buddy in the hands of the enemy. It was against the code of the SEALs and everything they lived by.
Linney must feel a similar commitment to get justice for her friend Amy. He knew she wasn’t convinced that Goose could make that happen. Yet she hadn’t seemed that upset when she’d driven off, certainly not as irate as she’d been when he’d first insisted it was the right thing to do.
Cutter came to a screeching halt. What the hell had he been thinking? Linney wasn’t going to meet Goose. She was on the run again. It was an idiotic act that would likely land her in prison for the best part of