Texas Ranger Takes a Bride. Patricia Thayer

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      Chase stood. He needed to put some space between him and her. “I’ll be heading out to the camp. If the search dogs picked up their scent we’ll follow.” He looked around to see the room empty. “You shouldn’t be alone. Is there someone to stay with you?”

      She shook her head. “No. I sent Rosalie to bed.”

      “What about your…husband?” Why wasn’t the man there with his wife?

      She looked at him a long time, then said, “Alan died two years ago. It’s just Ryan and me.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      AS THE SUN ROSE in the sky from the east, Chase knew that the twenty-four-hour mark had come and gone, and they hadn’t found them.

      He swung his leg over the back of the horse and climbed down, as the other rangers did the same. The bloodhounds were taking a break, too, from their long trek across the dry plains, crossing Interstate 10 into Reeves County. Their trainers had them drinking water beside one of the prison vehicles.

      Chase concentrated on his job and knelt to examine the tracks in the sandy soil. There were two sets of hooves and they were headed south. Mexico.

      It didn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with that equation. Once they crossed the border the two men could get lost for a long time, especially when Jacobs and Reyes had been sent to prison under the “three strikes you’re out” law. They had nothing to lose.

      And that was what worried Chase the most.

      The two weren’t taking the easiest route. They were heading toward the Barrilla Mountains. There were fewer towns and traveled roads, but mostly because the rocky terrain provided better cover from the search helicopters.

      Still, the escapees had to get across the Rio Grande. That was his job. To make sure they didn’t make it to the border, or they might never find them…or the boy.

      How could he go back and face Mallory with that kind of news? He recalled the devastated look on her face. It had affected him more than it should have, especially when he needed to keep this case on a professional level.

      Hell, how was he supposed to do that when he knew if he’d hung around years ago, so many things might have turned out differently.

      Chase took the small picture of the boy, Ryan, out of his pocket and studied it again. His chest tightened as the cute kid with his curly dark hair and big eyes grinned back at him. Envy and regret surged through him as if he were on a runaway horse.

      He shook it away as Raines came up beside him. “Same tracks?”

      “Looks like we’re headed for the border.” He slipped the photo back in his pocket, then reached for his cell phone and called headquarters.

      Bob Robertson came on the line. “Tell me you located them, Landon.”

      “Sorry, not yet, Captain. We’ve picked up their tracks again.” He gave their location. “And as we thought, they’re headed for the mountains.”

      “Damn, I wish I wasn’t right on that one. Maybe they aren’t as dumb as we thought. Do you need more manpower?”

      “No, we have enough to handle it.” Chase hesitated, then asked, “How is Mrs. Hagan holding up?”

      “She’s scared, of course,” the captain said. “I was hoping to give her some good news.”

      Chase had hoped that, too. Suddenly he heard Mallory’s voice in the background.

      “Hold on, Chase. Mrs. Hagan has something to tell you.”

      “Chase…” She said his name like a plea.

      “Mallory, we haven’t found them yet.”

      “I know. It’s just that when you do, make sure you tell Ryan that Buck is okay.” He heard the tears in her voice. It killed him. “Dad’s worried because Ryan saw him get shot.”

      “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

      There was a long pause, then she said, “Ryan will trust you because you’re a ranger.”

      “Mallory, I’m going to do everything I can to bring him back to you. You got my word on that.”

      “I know you will. Thank you, Chase.”

      When the line went dead, he was glad. He needed to concentrate on finding the suspects and forget the past. He clipped the phone back on his belt as Jesse watched him.

      “This job is harder when a kid’s involved—and especially when it’s someone you know.”

      Chase nodded. Although he’d given Jesse the brief rundown of his past with Mallory, Chase didn’t want to delve any deeper. What he couldn’t understand was why after all this time Mallory could still get to him.

      “It’s okay to admit you have feelings for her,” Jesse said. “She’s a beautiful woman.”

      Chase glared at him. “This isn’t the time to notice a woman. We’ve got a little boy to find.” He thought back to the choices he’d made in favor of his career. Being a Texas Ranger had been all he’d ever wanted. Mallory had been the only woman he’d even thought about sharing a life with. In the end, he chose the career over her. He tried to tell himself she’d been too young for him. Too late he realized that she was everything he’d wanted, but it was Mallory who didn’t think he’d been worth waiting for.

      She’d married another man.

      Chase quickly wiped away that thought as he took a drink of water from his canteen. Too many years had passed to renew a relationship that had been doomed from the start.

      “We need to get moving.” He walked around his horse, then climbed on and adjusted his hat as Jesse followed suit.

      He’d recalled earlier that day when he glanced toward the house and saw Mallory. She tried to look hopeful, brave, but he could see her pain…her misery. Who could blame her? Her child was out there.

      He rode off, praying today was the last one they had to spend in this West Texas heat. More importantly, that a little boy would be found safe and could go home to his mother. And Chase could go back to business as usual.

      Or could he?

      “Stop smothering me, woman,” Buck Kendrick growled at Rosalie. “I can walk just fine.”

      “You’re supposed to take it easy so you won’t open the wound,” the housekeeper told him as she followed him into the kitchen.

      Mallory watched her father’s slow gait. He suddenly looked old and he wasn’t even sixty yet. He had thick, gray hair, and warm hazel eyes. He was tall and trim, but right now, his broad shoulders were a little slumped over. His expression was pained, and she knew it wasn’t from the gunshot wound he’d received in his side.

      “Any news?” he asked.

      “No. I did talk to Chase Landon.”

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