Chapter Fourteen

Getting out of the van, I watched the molten sun turn the sky a fiery red before it dropped behind a jagged crown of mountains. The silence was broken only by the wind in the trees, and the hoot of an owl. Peace seeped into my bones. It was like I had come home.

Stone gestured at the large, adobe hacienda with pink bougainvillea cascading down the walls. “What do you think?”

“Your house is beautiful.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Could you think of it as home?”

“I’ve never belonged anywhere. Never had a family.” I smiled at him. “This place is like a dream come true.”

Something intense flared in Stone’s eyes. “All of this can be yours, if you marry me.”

“What? Marry?” I felt a curious swooping pull on my heart and I wanted to shout yes, but I wasn’t sure he even liked me. “Are you serious?”

“I am.” Stone smiled. “I knew you were the one when you started throwing your precious food at me.”

“It’s about time you got here,” a tiny Hispanic woman scolded from the doorway.

My squad groaned.

“Say yes,” Tex urged.

Rodriquez interjected, “C’mon Chiquita, you know you belong with us.”

I gaped at them. It was like all of them were proposing.

The Hispanic woman hurried toward us. “Is someone hurt? What did Doss do?”

Hector strode over to her and planted a hot one on her lips. “Hush momma, I told you what happened at the rodeo.”

“They really arrested Doss?”

Stone picked her up, swung her around and kissed her cheeks. “They did, Momma Rosa.”

“And you didn’t hit him?” Momma Rosa asked.

With a huge grin, Stone replied, “No, but Tess did.” He set Momma Rosa on her feet.

“Hey, the ass was trying to get away,” I replied.

Momma Rosa stared at me for a moment, then nodded. “You are just like Alex described you.”

I was?

“You should have been there Momma Rosa. The local television station showed up. They interviewed everyone and took pictures of us herding the livestock back into the arena,” Tex said.

Johnson laughed. “There were over one hundred witnesses, and the Sheriff couldn’t let it slide, this time.”

“What nailed it was Doss didn’t know about the security cameras Buffalo Bill just installed. Once the Sheriff reviewed the tapes, he had to arrest his nephew. You should have seen the expression on Doss’s face when he learned the property damage was over ten thousand dollars. I think he shit himself,” Rodriquez chortled.

I sniffed the air. “Something smells awfully good.”

“I made tamales,” Momma Rosa answered.

“Tamales!” The guys charged into the house.

Mamma Rose and Hector followed them into the house.

I laughed. “That good, huh?”

“Yes, they are.” Stone held the door open for me. “And call me Alex.”

I stared up at him in surprise. “You sure?”

“I am.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. “I’m keeping you.”

“I have a lot of baggage.”

He kissed me again. “So do I.”

“The food is getting cold,” Hector called.

Alex escorted me to the dining room, and being the perfect gentleman, he pulled out my chair and took the seat next to me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed so much or eaten such wonderful food.

That’s when it hit me. This was my home, and they were the family I always longed for. “Can you teach me how to make tamales, Momma Rosa?”

“It would be an honor to teach you, Tess.”

Shooting her a nervous smile, I added, “I don’t know how to cook. Anything. Will that be a problem?”

“No, it will not.”

I beamed happily. “Great.”

The phone rang.

Everyone stared at it.

“What’s wrong?”

Alex scowled. “That phone is only used for business.” He got up and answered it. “Stone.”

My stomach knotted when anger clouded Alex’s face. Had Roberts or Pops found us?

“I understand. I appreciate the update.” Alex hung up the phone. “That was General Masters. He wanted to let us know the fiasco at the rodeo made the national news and it shows us rounding up the loose livestock. Masters doesn’t think anyone will recognize us.”

Damn, Pops would. “Did they show me too?”

“No.”

The wall phone in the kitchen started ringing.

“That can’t be good,” Tex muttered.

Alex picked it up. “Hello. What? How did that happen?”

I stiffened when Alex’s gaze fixed on me.

“Thanks for the heads up, deputy.” Alex replaced the receiver.

“What’s wrong Sarge?” Johnson asked.

“Doss escaped custody, didn’t he,” I interjected.

A muscle jerked in Alex’s jaw. “He did.”

“Or the Sheriff let him loose,” Hector spat.

I shook my head in disbelief. “Instead of heading for the border, that idiot is coming here, isn’t he?”

“Yep.” Alex cracked his knuckles. “And get the beat down he so richly deserves.”

Rodriquez stood up. “I’ll get my gear and do a perimeter check.”

“I’ll go with him,” Johnson said.

The kitchen phone rang again. Alex picked up the receiver. “Stone. Uh huh. Okay. How long? Thanks.” He hung up. “Watch over Hector and Momma Rosa, Tess.”

“Okay. Is Doss close?”

“Yes, he is.” He motioned at Tex. “Get your gear.”

“Yes, sir.”

Alex strapped on his weapons and went out the back door.

I frowned. Doss wore his sidearm gunslinger style. “Can Deputy Doss shoot?”

“Hell no,” Hector replied. “As far as I know, he has never qualified at the range.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. “How is he still a deputy sheriff?”

“His mother has a lot of money,” Momma Rosa said. “Which she uses to cover-up all of Doss’s mistakes.”

A patrol car with its overhead lights flashing skidded to a stop in the front yard.

I looked out. “Dammit, that jerk ran over your flowers Momma Rosa.”

The sound of a shotgun being racked had me spinning around.

The expression on Momma Rosa’s face didn’t bode well for Doss. She threw open the front door and stormed out.

“Shit!” I ran after her.

Hector was right on my heels. “He ran over her roses?”

“Yep.”

“Dios Mios!”

Boom!

Screaming blue bloody murder, Doss rolled around on the ground, clutching his butt.

“You evil man! You ran over my prized rose bushes,” Momma Rosa hollered.

Hector peered under the patrol car and shook his head sadly. “They will have to be replaced.”

“My babies are dead?”

Hector nodded.

“You shot me over a bunch of stupid roses? I’m going to put you in jail for the next hundred years,” Doss screeched and tried to get up.

Momma Rosa shot him again.

“Stop it you crazy bitch. I’m a cop!”

“No, you are not.” Momma Rosa reloaded the shotgun.

“Get away from me! I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.”

“I think Doss got the message.” I carefully took the shotgun away from her. “Did you use bird shot, Momma Rosa?”

“No, rock salt. It hurts like hell, and he won’t be able to sit down for a week.”

A giggle escaped me as the squad rushed up. “Momma Rosa has it all under control.”

“Just because I’m old, doesn’t mean I’m helpless.”

Tex grinned. “No, ma’am, helpless you’re not.”

“We will buy more roses tomorrow.” Hector led her into the house.

Two patrol cars pulled up.

“I’ll be right back.” Alex walked over to them.

A short time later, a paramedic unit showed up.

The back of my neck began to itch. Shit! Pops had found me. I pulled my guns and carefully moved across the front yard. He was close. Too damn close.

A sharp pain erupted in my right shoulder. Ouch! I yanked out a tranquilizer dart. Before I could call for help, the world spun around me, and everything went black.