Wyoming Bold. Diana Palmer

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СКАЧАТЬ was a very significant silence on the other end of the line.

      “He helped us shut down El Ladŕon,” Hayes added quietly. “And he saved the man’s family who helped rescue me and Minette. For a bad man, he’s something of a closet angel. They call him El Jefe.”

      “A sheriff with an outlaw for a future father-in-law,” Tank said. “Well, it’s unique.”

      “So is he. I can ask him to dig into his sources and see if he can come up with anything, like a budding politician with drug cartel ties.”

      “That would be a help. Thanks.”

      “I’m just as much involved as you are. Stay in touch.”

      “I’ll do that. And we should both watch our backs in the meantime.”

      “Couldn’t agree more.”

      * * *

      TANK’S NEXT MOVE was to drive over to Merissa’s house through the blinding snow. What he wanted to talk to her about wasn’t something he was comfortable discussing over the phone. If there was an assassin after him, he might monitor calls. Anyone in black ops would have that talent.

      When he pulled up at the front door of the small cabin, Clara, Merissa’s mother, was waiting there. She smiled as Tank got out of the truck and came up the steps.

      “She said you’d come,” Clara said with a sheepish smile. “She’s lying down with a migraine headache,” she added worriedly. “She woke up with it, so the medicine isn’t working very well.”

      “Medicine from a doctor?” Tank asked softly, and with a smile.

      Clara lowered her eyes. “Herbal medicine. My grandfather was a Comanche shaman,” she said.

      His eyebrows arched.

      “I know, I’m blonde and so is Merissa, but it’s true just the same. I had a little boy just after I had Merissa. He died—” she hesitated, still upset about it after all the years “—when he was just a week old. But he had black hair and dark brown eyes. It’s recessive genes with Merissa and me, you see. Our coloring, I mean.”

      He moved a step closer. He noticed that Clara, like Merissa, immediately backed up, looking uneasy.

      He stopped dead, frowning. “Recessive genes.”

      She nodded. She swallowed, relaxing when she saw that he wasn’t coming closer.

      “Clara, I don’t really know you well enough to pry,” he began softly, “but it’s noticeable that you and Merissa start backing away from me if I come close.”

      Clara hesitated. Oddly, she trusted Tank, even though she barely knew him. “My...ex-husband...he was scary when he lost his temper.” She managed a laugh. “It’s an old reflex. Sorry.”

      “No offense taken,” he replied gently.

      She looked back up at him with wide green eyes the same shade as Merissa’s. “I divorced him, with help from our local sheriff—the one before this one. He was so kind. He got help for us, sheltered us through the divorce and made sure my ex-husband left not only the town, but the state.” She managed a weak smile. She swallowed, not dealing with it well, even now. “We were always afraid of him, when...when he got mad. He was big, like you. Tall and big.”

      Tank looked into her eyes. “I’m a teddy bear,” he told her with pursed lips. “But if you tell anybody on my ranch that, I’ll send an email to Santa Claus and you’ll get coal in your stocking.”

      Clara, shocked, burst out laughing. “Okay.” She sobered. “Merissa says the man who led you into the ambush is coming.”

      His face hardened. “When?”

      “It doesn’t work like that,” she said. “It’s why you can’t prove it scientifically, because experiments under scientific control very rarely work. It’s sporadic. I know things, but they’re usually nebulous in my mind and I have to interpret what I see. Merissa is much more gifted than I am. It’s made her the subject of much cruelty, I’m afraid.”

      “I heard about that. May I see her?”

      “She’s not well...”

      “My older brother Mallory is subject to migraine headaches. He has high-powered medications that can prevent them if they’re taken in time. The ones he wakes up with, though, don’t even respond to meds. He has to try to sleep them off.”

      “Merissa’s are bad,” she commented. “Come on in. I’m sorry I kept you out here talking in the freezing cold!”

      “I’m wearing a very heavy jacket,” he assured her, and smiled.

      * * *

      MERISSA WAS NOT in bed. Terrible sounds of a meal returning were heard in the bathroom.

      “Oh, dear...” Clara began.

      Tank walked right into the bathroom, found a washcloth and wet it while Merissa, kneeling at the toilet, was still heaving.

      “You shouldn’t...be in here!” she protested weakly.

      “Bull. You’re sick.” He waited until the last of the spasm was over, flushed the toilet and bathed her pale face. Her green eyes were enormous. “Is it over, you think?”

      She swallowed, tasting bile. “I think so.”

      He pulled out mouthwash and poured a little in a cup, smiling as she took it and ruefully washed her mouth out. He turned on the faucet to flush it away when she pushed it out into the sink.

      He bathed her face again, as he would a child’s, appreciating her delicate, elfin beauty. Her complexion was truly peaches and cream; exquisite, like that pretty bow-shaped mouth. “You are beautiful, you know that?” he murmured softly.

      She stared at him blankly.

      “Never mind.” He put the washcloth in her hand, swung her up in his arms and carried her to bed. He tucked her in. “Just lie still. I have a friend who’s a doctor. Do you mind if I call him to come out here?”

      “Doctors don’t make house calls,” she protested weakly.

      “Oh, this one does.” He pulled out his cell phone, punched in a number, waited for a second until it was answered. “John. Hi. Tank here. Have you got a couple of minutes to take a look at a young woman with a massive migraine and no meds?”

      He paused, grinned. “Yes, she’s gorgeous,” he said, eyeing Merissa.

      There was obviously a question.

      “Merissa Baker,” Tank replied.

      Merissa closed her eyes. He wouldn’t come now. He’d know it was the witch woman, whom everyone in town avoided.

      But Tank was laughing. “Yes, she is a phenomenon. I can attest to her skills. Yes, I know you would. We’ll be expecting you. Want me to send one of the boys to drive СКАЧАТЬ