A Texas Child. Linda Warren

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СКАЧАТЬ not. Marco’s parents have a home in Brownsville. The police there checked it out, but they said they hadn’t seen their son in weeks. They could be hiding him, though.”

      “If he’s wanted in Houston, he’s not hanging around in Texas.”

      “Levi, please,” she begged, her eyes dark with emotions he remembered too well. “I know you can track Marco down and find him when no one else can.”

      “You have a lot of confidence in me.” Confidence that came just a little too late.

      “I always have.”

      He lifted a hand. “Let’s not go there.”

      “Levi, just check into it. Stu is willing to pay your fee plus expenses and a five-thousand-dollar bonus if you bring his grandson back.”

      “You’re asking me to get involved with the drug cartel in Mexico? That’s like signing my own death warrant.”

      “All you have to do is locate him. The police will take it from there.”

      “In Mexico? I doubt it.”

      “I can see you’re not eager to go into Mexico.”

      “No. Valerie and I are talking marriage and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that. I’m ready to settle down and have a family. Putting my life in danger is not going to happen.”

      She stepped forward and a heel sank into the ground, almost toppling her over. “Good grief, it’s like quicksand in here.”

      “You’re in a barn, Myra. It’s called dirt. No one wears high heels in a barn.”

      She yanked the heel out and managed to stand upright. “I thought you would be in your office. I didn’t plan on driving way out here to the middle of nowhere.”

      He pushed away from the saddle. “You wasted your time. I’ll give you the names of some investigators in Houston. They can do just as good a job as I can.”

      “I work in the D.A.’s office. I know investigators all over Harris County, but it’s going to take someone willing to go the extra mile to flush out Marco. I thought that man would be you. So did Stu.”

      “Sorry.” He remained firm.

      “You’re one stubborn asshole. Do you think it was easy to come out here and face your wrath once again? It wasn’t. A little boy’s life is at stake. You may be able to ignore that, but I can’t.”

      Myra was getting revved up, like he’d seen her do in a courtroom. When she was passionate about something, her Mexican lineage came out and she was unstoppable.

      “And since you don’t care one way or the other, there’s another sad twist to this story. Did you know Stu had part of one lung removed?”

      “Yes. I went to see him at the time.”

      “The cancer has spread. He’s very ill. If I have to go to Mexico myself, I will. Stu and Natalie need a break and I won’t turn my back on them.”

      Her heels sank into the dirt again and she reached down and yanked them off. “I’m not going to rehash the past with you again. It’s done. It’s over. I was young and stupid. I’m not sure what your excuse was other than being a total asshole with a high and mighty attitude. I’m human. I made a mistake. Get over it.”

      She swung toward the door, heels in her hand, and just as quickly swung back. “Good luck with your marriage. I hope she never disappoints you, because you’re one unforgiving bastard.”

      Levi drew a sharp breath and slung his hat across the barn. It landed softly on a bale of alfalfa. His horse skittered away and he stroked her to calm her, but nothing was going to calm the churning in his gut. Myra made him madder than anyone. She knew how to push his buttons. Damn her!

      He removed the bridles and saddle blankets from the horses, and then opened the door to the corral so they could eat the sweet feed he’d put out earlier. They trotted through and he closed the gate. He always liked to rub them down after a hard ride, but today he feared he might rub through their hides. He was that angry at her.

      Leaning on the gate, his thoughts turned inward. Seeing Myra again was like someone touching him in the middle of the night when he was alone. It was startling, jarring and frightening. And he’d responded badly. He was struggling to figure out why.

      When they’d met seven years ago, he was a cop with the Austin police department and she’d just joined the D.A.’s office. They’d worked a murder case and theirs was an instant attraction. They’d slept together on their first date and, by the end of that week, he’d moved in with her. Their need for each other was insatiable.

      At first, he’d thought it was just about the hot sex, but as the weeks passed, he realized it was much more. He admired her drive, her determination to succeed in a man’s world. And her devotion to her friend Jessie was admirable, too. He liked everything about Myra. Her Latin looks were an added bonus.

      He wasn’t a dreaming man, but she’d had him dreaming about a future, babies and a home. And forever. He just hadn’t counted on how much her career meant to her. More to her than he ever would. That’s what hurt the most.

      Things had blown up so fast they’d never had a proper goodbye. One wasn’t required. Maybe that’s what bothered him. Maybe he needed closure. Closure? Hell, that wasn’t a word men used. He didn’t. Men just moved on. And he planned to keep on moving. He’d found the woman for him and Myra Delgado was just a bad memory.

      CHAPTER TWO

      MYRA WAS FURIOUS and she had to let off some steam. The only way to do that was to talk to Jessie, who understood her better than anyone. Myra had never told her why she and Levi had broken up. There was a reason for that. She wasn’t sure her friend would understand.

      Jessie firmly believed in love and everything it encompassed, so how did Myra explain to her that she’d screwed up? Myra was angry enough to lay it all on the line this time and be honest. Mainly because Jessie would love her no matter what. She was that type of person.

      Jessie was the motherless daughter of Roscoe Murdoch, the oil tycoon. When Roscoe’s niece had been kidnapped and murdered, he became paranoid about Jessie’s safety. He’d hired guards to watch over her, and Rosa and Felipe Delgado to care for her. Myra was two years older than Jessie and they’d grown up as best friends in the Murdoch household.

      Since Jessie was guarded twenty-four hours a day, her life was a living hell. She rebelled numerous times, but Roscoe was always in control. Jessie gained her freedom the day Roscoe passed away. She fired the guards and went after what she wanted out of life—a man named Cadde Hardin. She was now happily married and living in High Cotton, Texas.

      Myra set the GPS for the small town and sped down U.S. 290. When Jessie had lived in Houston, they saw each other all the time. But since she lived so far away now and had two babies, they had to make time for those special occasions.

      As Myra drove, she thought of her next course of action. She wasn’t giving up. She’d promised Stu she’d do everything she could to bring the baby home and she intended to do that with or without СКАЧАТЬ