LITMIR.BIZ

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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.”

      Her dad didn’t look surprised at the mention of Chase’s name. “We’ve got the rangers looking for the boy, we can’t ask for anything more.”

      “You both need to eat,” Rosalie interrupted the silence and began to put together the fixings for lunch.

      Her father frowned. “Crazy woman. She thinks about food at a time like this.”

      “Rosalie is trying to stay busy the best she can.”

      Buck cursed. “I should be out there looking, too.”

      Mallory felt the same way. “No, Dad. Let the rangers do their job. Like you said, they’re the best. And they’re trained for this kind of thing.”

      “I know. I know.” He sank into the kitchen chair. “I shouldn’t have let them take Ryan…. He’s so little. I begged them to take me instead.”

      Even though Buck wouldn’t normally have begged any man, he would have for his family…his only grandson. He loved the boy more than his own life.

      Mallory sat down beside him. “I know you did, Dad. None of this is your fault.”

      “Damn. What kind of world is it when you aren’t even safe on your own land? They stole my grandson.”

      Mallory remained silent and let her father vent. This was a second time Buck Kendrick hadn’t been able to protect his family from the cruelty of the world.

      He finally looked at her. “Have you told Landon about Ryan?”

      Although they’d never openly talked about it, her father knew about Ryan and she’d wondered when this day would come. She shook her head. “No. But he’ll know soon enough.”

      Buck nodded in agreement. “Whether he figures it out himself or not, it’s time he knows the truth. And Ryan, too.”

      Nearly three hours later, the search team finally lucked out.

      A local rancher gave them the information they’d been hoping for. Two men and a boy on horseback rode along the back of his property, heading toward the foothills. The rancher also told them about a line shack at the base.

      “If the rancher hadn’t spotted them,” Jesse began, “the shack could have made a perfect hideout.”

      Chase nodded. “And there’s some supplies there. Even if they just stop for some food, we’ve gained some time.”

      “They still have about an hour on us.”

      Chase discussed the situation with the other men. They decided to keep the dogs at the ranch house. And Chase and Jesse would ride up alone, hoping to catch the escapees off-guard. After the rancher gave them directions for a back route to the cabin, Chase and Jesse headed through the rough terrain of the mountain range, using the thick trees for natural cover. The jeep, with backup men, waited about a mile way. Chase hoped the surprise element worked. They didn’t need to put Ryan in any more danger. If they weren’t careful, this operation could go bad real fast.

      At a group of rocks behind the rough-hewn cabin, they climbed off their horses and tied them to a tree. Silently, they made their way toward the back of the structure, happy there weren’t any windows. Once flattened against the structure, Chase crept along one side as Jesse moved along the other side toward the open front door. He listened to the voices inside.

      “We can’t stay the night,” one of the escapees said. “We can’t even stay another hour. I tell you they’re on our trail.”

      “The kid’s asleep in the saddle,”

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