Texas Ranger Takes a Bride Read online

  She nodded. “Dad said Ryan wasn’t hurt when they took him. Joe’s horse wandered back to camp—that’s how he was able to come for help.” She blinked at tears. “Please, you’ve got to get my son back before they do anything bad to him.”

  Chase wanted to promise her he could, but there weren’t any guarantees when it came to finding prisoners who had nothing to lose. “We’re going to do everything we can to find them, Mallory. They took your father’s cell phone, so we’re hoping to be able to make contact with them.”

  “Do you think they’re heading to the border?”

  “It’s a possibility,” he told her. “The convicts didn’t plan this escape. From the second they’d carjacked the vehicle on the interstate until now being on horseback, I’m thinking that they’re just making it up as they go along.”

  She shivered. “That’s what scares me. They’re desperate men, Chase. They could just decide there’s no need for Ryan any more.”

  He reached for her hand, a natural reflex. It was cold and shaking as he cupped it in his. “No, Mallory, they do need the boy now. He’s their bartering tool. So you have to stay positive.” He worked up a smile. “I have a feeling Buck taught his grandson how to survive out there.”

  She nodded, and surprisingly returned with a hint of smile.

  It immediately took his breath. Finding his voice, he asked, “Tell me what Ryan knows, Mal.”

  She released a long breath. “He’s a good rider.” Her brow wrinkled in concentration. “And can read animal tracks. Dad taught him to how find a direction by the sun and the stars.”

  “That’s good…the boy knows how to handle himself.” Chase didn’t want to think about the other dangers out there…mostly human ones.

  “So you think that could help him?”

  He nodded. A strange feeling came over him as he studied Mallory. The woman he’d once cared about…she’d always wanted a husband and family. He couldn’t give her that all those years ago. Hopefully he could at least bring her son home.

  “He sounds like a great kid.”

  “He is, but he’s still my baby.”

  He watched a tear fall and he reached out and brushed it away. He couldn’t imagine how she felt, but he did feel for her. It was something that hadn’t changed. “Mallory, I promise to do everything I can to bring him back.”

  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 li
ttle 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,” the other man said. “And I’m tired of carrying him. Besides, the horses aren’t going to last much longer.”

  “Then we’ll take fresh ones from that rancher. There were several out in the pasture.”

  Suddenly one of the men came outside, wearing jeans that were too short, and an open shirt revealing a once-white T-shirt. Charlie Jacobs. As far as Chase could see he didn’t have a weapon on him.

  “I’m going to get us some fresh mounts,” he called over his shoulder as he jumped down the step and walked to his horse.

  Chase made his way to the back of the cabin as did Jesse. He motioned for Jesse to go after the man.

  The ranger nodded, then hurried off toward his horse.

  Chase went back to the side of the shack. He couldn’t see inside to tell where the boy was. And he didn’t want to take a chance on rushing in if one of the escapees had a gun pointed at the kid. He had to wait him out.

  Ten minutes later, he got a text message from Jesse. Got him.

  Chase knew Jesse would return as backup. Should he wait? Suddenly there was more commotion inside and the prisoner came to the door. “Stay where you are, niño, I need to pee, but I’ll be close by.”

  Chase’s heart rate accelerated as the man he recognized in the picture stepped off the stoop and started for the outhouse. He wouldn’t get a better chance than this.

  Chase took off running and tackled the guy to the ground with a thud. He knocked the air from his lungs, but the man was still able to put up a fight. Finally Chase landed a punch that connected with the man’s jaw and threw him to the ground again. Enough time for Chase to pull his gun and aim it at the suspect.

  “Go ahead. Give me a reason to shoot you…dead.”

  In answer Reyes cursed in Spanish, and raised his hands over his head. Chase instructed him to get into position, then he pulled his handcuffs off his belt and put them on him.

  About that time, Jesse showed up. He grinned. “Sweet mercy. This is turning out to be a good day. Really good day.”

  Chase wasn’t sure about anything until he saw the boy and knew he was safe. Once Jesse took charge of the prisoner, Chase holstered his gun and took off toward the shack. At the doorway he stopped, not wanting to frighten the boy.

  “Ryan,” he called out. “Ryan, it’s okay. I’m a Texas Ranger.”

  He looked inside to find a small figure huddled in the corner of the bunk. His eyes were big and red from crying. Chase blinked in the dim light and studied the boy’s dirty face, but he recognized him from the picture.

  “Are you gonna take me home to my mom?”

  Chase allowed himself to smile. “Yes, I am. She said to tell you that your grandpa is okay.”

  Ryan’s eyes brightened. “Grandpa tried to fight them. I’m glad he’s okay.”

  The kid had dark eyes and curly brown hair. His face was long and there was a small cleft in his chin. His features were so unlike Mallory’s, but he looked familiar.

  “Are you really a Texas Ranger?” Ryan said, interrupting his thoughts.

  Chase nodded as he pointed to the silver badge on his camouflage shirt. “Yes, I am. We’ve been tracking you for miles. Boy, is your mom going to be happy to see you.”

  With a smile the boy climbed off the bed and came to Chase. “I bet she cried ’cause I got kidnapped.”

  Chase knelt down in front of the boy. “She’s been pretty brave, too. You’re very important to her and your grandpa.”

  Chase felt something tighten in his chest. What if they hadn’t got here in time?

  “Did they hurt you?” Chase asked.

  Ryan shook his head. “Not much. They pulled me around some. But I didn’t cry,” he said as he pulled up his shirt to show off some bruises and red welts along the thin torso.

  Chase examined him and was drawn to a strawberry-colored birthmark on his small chest. It was very similar to the one Chase had on his lower back. The sam
e type that his Uncle Wade had on his shoulder.

  Chase stood, but his gaze remained on the boy. His lungs didn’t seem to work as he noticed so much more about the child. The similar chin with a small indentation. His dark eyes…

  He shook his head. He couldn’t think that Mallory would do this to him. Nothing this cruel.

  “Are you taking me home?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes, so we need to get going.”

  It surprised Chase when the boy slipped his small hand into his. “I’m ready.” Together they walked out to the porch to see Jesse come toward them.

  “Boyd and Grant have the prisoners secured….” A slow grin appeared as he studied the two of them. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you two looked like—” He paused. “Sweet mercy,” he breathed as his smile died away.

  “Close your mouth, Raines. We need to get the boy back to his family.”

  Jesse nodded. “Right. Then you bring…Ryan down by horseback. And the helicopter is going to meet us at the ranch.”

  Chase nodded. He didn’t want to speak right now. What could he say? Until he confronted Mallory, he wouldn’t know for sure. He stole another glance at the boy.

  That wasn’t true. There was no doubt in his mind that Ryan Hagan was his son.

  Hearing the helicopter overhead, Mallory hurried outside. It had been two hours since Chase’s phone call and she’d heard Ryan’s voice. Her son was back safe.

  They landed about a hundred yards away in the pasture, but she didn’t care. She took off running. She needed to hold her child in her arms, to see for herself he was safe.

  The blades were slowing down as Chase stepped out, then reached back and lifted Ryan to the ground. Together they started toward her. Father and son.

  She stumbled on seeing the two together. They were so much alike, everyone had to see they were related. As much as she dreaded this day, she was happy it was finally here. The only problem was how much Chase and Ryan would hate her for keeping this secret?