LITMIR.BIZ

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to the two horses being lunged at each end of the ring, he waited expectantly. If she’d done her research, she’d know that these two animals were among the finest examples of the purebred Arabian horse breed.

      “They’re beautiful,” she breathed. Raising her fancy camera, she snapped shot after shot.

      Idly, he wondered if she even knew how to take decent photographs. One way to find out. “Let me see.” He held out his hand for the camera.

      Slowly, she handed over the expensive piece of equipment. “Please be careful with it,” she said.

      He’d already located the button that would display the digital images. Calling them up on to the display, he viewed them one by one.

      They were first-rate. Professional quality. She’d truly done his horses justice.

      Surprised and impressed, he handed the camera back.

      “They’re good,” he said. “Very good.”

      She gave a nonchalant shrug and turned away. “That’s my job.”

      “How’s your dog around horses?” he asked. The last thing he needed was a crazed dog frightening his stock.

      “She’s good.” Her easy smile told him she once again spoke truth. “I used to have a couple of my own. She came with me to the stables every day. I promise she won’t be a problem.”

      “That’ll work.” If the dog couldn’t handle it, he’d simply ask her to keep it in the trailer.

      His cell phone buzzed, indicating a text message. Digging it out of his pocket, he saw it was from José. I have news, it said.

      “I’ve got to go,” he told Skylar. “Feel free to take a look around the barn and talk to my employees. I’ll see you up at the house later, if you’d like to eat with us.”

      Her eyes widened, as though she hadn’t been expecting the invitation. Finally, she nodded. “Sounds good,” she said, then turned away.

      Matt hurried up to the house.

      José had apparently watched everything from the kitchen window.

      “That’s her?”

      Matt nodded. Skylar McLain hadn’t been at all what he’d expected. The slender redhead looked strong and fit, as befitted a federal agent, yet she was lushly shaped. Her facial bones were delicate, showing off her full mouth and wide green eyes. Worst of all, she was beautiful, even with her silky straight hair scooped back in a careless ponytail.

      “Wow!” José’s grin showed his crooked teeth. “A looker, isn’t she?”

      “Not at all what I expected when you said the woman coming to do a story on me for the Arabian Horse magazine was going to be an undercover ATF agent. I still don’t know how you found that out.”

      José’s grin widened as he executed an exaggerated bow. “One of my many talents. I know people who know things.”

      Despite the worry that gnawed at his stomach, Matt forced himself to smile back. His friend had gone the extra mile, using his past prison experience and connections. Not only to place himself between the ATF and Matt, but with the Mexican drug cartel La Familia, as well.

      “She’s pretty damn hot for a federal agent.”

      “I agree.” José briefly grinned, then frowned. “You can’t let that distract you.”

      “You know better than that,” Matt said, not bothering to try to hide his anger. José knew better than anyone else what he lived for.

      Vengeance, plain and simple. And he didn’t give a damn who or what he had to go through to get it.

      “Take it easy, man.” José cuffed him on the shoulder. “It’s all gonna work out.”

      “Maybe. I’m still not sure why we don’t just send her packing. If the cartel gets wind that we have an ATF agent here...”

      “They will.” José sounded confident. “We just have to make sure they learn about it when we want them to.”

      Elaborate plans. Even as a kid, José had always engineered complicated schemes that always seemed to work out. This time, he’d planned the most intricate of them all. Not only did they have to fool the ATF, but La Familia, as well. Good thing Matt trusted his friend implicitly. He wanted revenge, and that was what José promised he would get. With no collateral damage. This was important, too. Matt didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

      Jamming his hands into his pockets, he stared out the window at the ranch he’d developed from the ground up. Too late for his family to enjoy it.

      “You’re right, though. I’ll have to be careful,” he muttered, thinking out loud. “Since you’re positive your plan is going to work, I’ve got to figure out a way to let Skylar McLain hang around without allowing her to find anything.”

      “At least until you want her to,” José reminded him.

      “Yeah.” Matt gave a short laugh. Reaching deep inside to that dark, still place he carried with him always, he straightened, infusing the steel into his spine the way he’d learned in the army. “Let’s hope it all works out the way we’ve planned. I’d hate to be the one responsible for getting someone else killed.”

      “Amigo, you need to stop.” José cuffed his shoulder again. Matt braced himself to blow off the words he knew his friend was about to say. He ignored them at least once a month.

      “None of this is your fault.”

      José always said this, like a litany, and by now Matt thought his friend truly believed it. Of the two of them, José had changed the least. Oh, prison had hardened him, shown him life was not all sunshine and roses, but José somehow managed to remain an eternal optimist, just like he’d been when they were kids. Most times, Matt envied that. Other times, he couldn’t help but feel José was foolish, destined to get hurt.

      Rubbing the back of his neck with a tired hand, he thought he’d been playing this game for far too long. He was more than ready for it to be over. Patience had never been his strongest trait, but in this he’d had no choice.

      “These things take time,” José said, correctly reading the expression on Matt’s face.

      “So you keep saying.” Matt knew he sounded sour, but didn’t really care. “With your newfound serenity and all, you’re starting to remind me of our old priest, Father Peter, from Wednesday night catechism.”

      José grinned, taking it as a compliment. Matt suspected José himself had once toyed with the idea of becoming a priest. Growing up, they’d both attended the same church, worshipped at the same masses. They even briefly served as altar boys together. Back then, the future had seemed rosy and bright. Neither had imagined what life would have in store for them, though they’d each been certain they were going to change the world.

      After high school, though they’d remained best friends, they’d drifted apart. After all, they’d taken opposite paths after graduation. Matt had enlisted and had become a sharpshooter for the army. José had gone to work at his cousin’s body shop. He’d gotten into trouble soon after that.

      By the time Matt had completed his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and finally returned home, José had already been arrested and was doing time. Possession with intent to distribute.

      José had done his time and emerged better for it. He’d cleaned up, gotten reformed and, when Matt picked him up outside prison the day José was released, he’d been ready to help his best friend get revenge for the brutal murder of his entire family. José was the only one who’d known Matt before the complete identity change, back when Matt’s name had been Miguel Lopez. José knew about Matt’s past and understood his future.

      These days, Matt trusted no one. Except José.

      * * *

      Skylar

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