Her Texas Ranger Hero

She texted her mom that she’d be home in half an hour. They were planning to take some of the orphans to Zilker Park. Years earlier, Ally’s father had established the Austin orphanage for Chinese children with disabilities. They would ride the Zilker Zephyr miniature train and enjoy a picnic on the grounds before dark. With her father back from Washington, maybe he’d go with them.

After reaching for her handbag in the desk drawer, Ally started for the door and opened it, only to collide with a tall, rock-hard, masculine body. “I’m sorry,” the man murmured, and grasped her upper arms to steady her, while securing a file folder under his arm.

After noting the badge on the pocket of his khaki shirt identifying him as a Texas Ranger, she lifted her head and let out a quiet gasp. The man was gorgeous. He had neatly trimmed dark blond hair and rugged features, but it was his brown eyes roving appreciatively over her face that infused her with warmth. She stepped back, forcing him to release her.

“I was looking for Dr. Duncan.” His deep voice resonated in the room. “I’m James Davis with the Texas Rangers.”

She swallowed hard, unable to remember the last time she’d met anyone so attractive. “You’ve found her. I was just leaving, obviously, but it’s apparent you’re here on official business.”

“You’re the Director of Asian Studies?” he blurted.

Ally took a quick breath. “I’m not what you expected?”

The hard line of his compelling mouth softened into a smile. “Frankly, no.”

She chuckled. “You don’t fit the type of student I normally see in my classes, either. Please, come in and sit down.”

He waited until she’d gone back to her chair behind the desk. “The secretary out front said that spring break has started and I might not find you in, but I took a chance, anyway.”

Ally’s cheeks were burning; she could feel it. She cursed herself for acting like a starstruck teenager instead of a twenty-eight-year-old woman meeting her first legendary Texas Ranger. “How can I help you?” she asked.

“First, may I ask you a question? Has anyone from the police department been here to talk to you yet?”

She looked surprised. “No. No one.”

He removed the file from under his arm and opened it to retrieve some pages, which he handed to her. “I’m just starting an investigation. These photos were taken by a forensics expert after the latest body of a young Chinese girl was brought into the morgue last week.”

Latest?

Just like that the conversation had turned to something hideous, something Ally was very familiar with. Women from the Hunan Province of China were noted for their beauty. Men from all over the world were willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money to traffickers in order to enslave these poor young women. It was too sad and ghastly to dwell on. Her hands trembled a little as she lifted the first page and stared at the photocopy.

“Do you recognize this?”

Nothing could have surprised her more when she saw that the page contained writing rather than a woman’s picture. Not just any writing, though. The realization of what she was looking at caused Ally to break out in a cold sweat. Reading it, she felt her stomach muscles clench. She lifted the next page and the next, until she’d read the horrifying contents of all six, then she shot to her feet.

“Where did you come across this?”

“On the victim’s body. All this was done in her own blood on the underside of the dress she was wearing.”

Ally moaned.

“It’s apparent this writing has great significance for you.”

She closed her eyes for a moment before she sat back down. “This girl knew she was going to die. The writing is a desperate plea for help in the only way she could communicate in order to prevent her captors from knowing what she was doing.”

The Ranger seemed perplexed. “Is it in Chinese, then? The chief forensics expert said they couldn’t identify it as such.”

Ally took a deep breath before launching into an explanation of what he’d brought her. “This message has been written in Nüshu, a secret language that has evolved over a thousand years in the Hunan Province of China. Nüshu means ‘women’s language’ and comes from a remote area of Yongzhou City in Jiangyong County.”

“Why secret?”

“Since the traditional Chinese culture was male-centered, girls were forbidden from any kind of formal education. Nüshu was developed for the women to educate themselves. They were sequestered away from men, and males never learned their language. These sworn sisters took an oath never to reveal their secret language to anyone.” Ally picked up the first sheet and studied it again. “This victim was begging for help.”

The Ranger studied her intensely. “How do you know all this?”

“For one thing, my best friend, Soo-Lin, was born in Yongzhou and has lived there all her life, except to attend the university in Changsha.”

He cocked his attractive blond head. “Which means you’ve lived there, too?”

Ally sat back in her chair. “I’ll have to give you some background. My birth name is Allyson Forrester Duncan.”

The moment she said her full name, she saw a flicker of understanding in his eyes. “Duncan...as in former Senator Lawrence Duncan from Austin, then ambassador to China, who now resides here in Austin instead of Washington, DC? It’s been in the news.”

“He’s my father.”

“Incredible that you would be the expert I sought out first,” he murmured.

“My mother’s name is Beatrice Forrester Duncan.”

“Forrester,” he said aloud. “Her name came up among a few others at a conference I attended recently. The panel praised her work devoted to ending the trafficking of female victims from the Far East here in Texas.” He sat forward. “Your mother...”

“Yes. I have fabulous parents and am extremely proud of them.”

“How could you not be? Tell me more about your life in China.”

“We spent equal time in Beijing and Changsha, for fifteen years. Twice annually we flew home to Austin for two weeks, then went back. Being thirteen years old when we moved, I had tutors and was at the perfect age to pick up Mandarin and Xiang—a dialect of the Changsha region. As soon as I was old enough, I studied at the University of Changsha, under some brilliant teachers.

“Soo-Lin was also studying there and became my close friend. I spent time at her home in Yongzhou and came to love her family, as well. I loved it in China. I never wanted to come home and almost didn’t.”

“Why did you, then?”

The Ranger was direct, but then, that was his job.

“Last year my father was recalled to Washington. A new ambassador was named, but my dad now serves as a consultant to the president for Far Eastern affairs. So we returned to the Duncan family ranch here in Austin. I joined the university faculty last fall.

“Dad flies back and forth, but my mother and I stay here. She’s more involved than ever in her work against trafficking and I help her when I can. We’re committed as a family. If I’d stayed in China, I would have missed my parents too terribly.”

Ally heard Ranger Davis clear his throat. “You’ve led a fascinating life. I’m so glad I decided to seek your department out first.”

“I must admit the hairs stood up on the back of my neck when I read what’s on those pages.”

“Mine, too, when you said what they contain.”

“It was through Soo-Lin I learned about the secret language.”

The Ranger got to his feet. “When we bumped into each other at the door, you said you were on your way out, so I won’t keep you. What’s your schedule like tomorrow? I’d like to meet again. Get from you an exact translation of what’s written on the dress so I can build my case. Out of four similar cases in the last ten months, this is the first piece of tangible evidence to turn up.”

“You mean the other bodies were all young Chinese women, too?”

“No. One was Indonesian, but I highly suspect they were all victims of human trafficking. It’s imperative we find the person or persons who did this. Unfortunately, there are thousands of trafficking victims currently working in the underground sex trade here in Texas. Trying to escape often means death. Even if these girls don’t die, it’s nearly impossible for them to get their lives back on track after going through something like this. The men who are responsible need to be caught and locked away forever.”

The emotion in his voice convinced Ally that this Ranger was the one who could do it. “I couldn’t agree more. Since I don’t have a busy schedule right now, why don’t you tell me when and where you want to meet?”

“If morning is all right with you, how about we say nine o’clock at the Magnolia Café?”

“Morning is fine,” she said. “I realize you’re anxious to get going on this case. The Magnolia Café is in my neck of the woods. I suspect you love their chocolate-chip pancakes.”

One corner of his mouth lifted.

“So do I,” she said, smiling.

He gathered the photocopies and put them back in his folder. “If you’re ready, I’ll walk you out.”

Be still, my heart.

Ally locked her office door behind her and left the building for the faculty parking lot. Several students were milling about outside and one of the young women called out to her. Ally waved, but the other woman was staring so hard at the Ranger, Ally felt a ridiculous sense of pride over the fact that he was escorting her to her car.

She pressed the remote to unlock the door of her silver Audi. “Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Let me get your cell phone number. That way, in case an emergency arises, I’ll be able to reach you.”

Ally told him her number. After he’d typed it into his phone, his eyes fused with hers, melting her insides. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Please remember that for the time being I must ask you to keep this to yourself. If you were to say anything to anyone, even your parents, they could give something away without meaning to that could jeopardize the case. It’s for their protection, too.”

“I understand.”

“I’m sure you do. What should I call you, by the way?”

“Just Ally.”

“Until tomorrow, then, Just Ally.”

She laughed and watched him head toward the public parking area, then got into her car and pressed her head against the steering wheel. She hated that she’d scanned his left hand for a wedding ring, and hated it even more that the fact that he wasn’t wearing one made her so happy.

Had she gone out of her mind? It didn’t mean he didn’t have a girlfriend. Ally felt shaky after colliding with him in the doorway of her office. Her world had suddenly changed. Fear and excitement waged a war inside her as she pulled out of the parking lot and drove off toward the ranch.

Chapter Two

As soon as Luckey got home, he went straight to the kitchen for a cold cola and ended up in his den. The first thing he did was phone Stan at headquarters. Stan was one of the best forensics experts in the country.

“Luckey? What do you need?”

“What can you tell me about a cream called DMSO?”

“That old underground home remedy?”

“Is that what it is? Traces of it were found on the sleeves of the dress of a suspected murder victim, a sixteen-or seventeen-year-old Chinese girl.”

“Hmm. Dimethyl sulfoxide is a by-product of the wood industry, used as a solvent. It acts like a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. In the 1970s, rumors spread that athletes were using it to cut down on joint pain. The controversy stemmed from the fact that some people believed it to be poisonous, but in reality, DMSO isn’t dangerous unless it’s injected in gross amounts. Most athletes have since moved on to other treatments.”

Luckey made notes. “So the person who dumped the deceased’s body in the street had to have been using it at the time. I’m faxing you a report from Dr. Wolff. I need your team to do a global search on DMSO and find a cream that matches the properties on the evidence he identified. Then I can track down where it’s sold.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks.”

Once he’d sent the fax, Luckey sat back in his comfortable leather chair and pulled out the six pages of secret writing. To think Ally Duncan had taken one look at these and made sense of them...

What were the odds of him quickly finding anyone else who had her incredible knowledge? All the years he’d been a Ranger, she’d been growing up in an entirely different culture. What an amazing woman.

A gorgeous woman with raven-black hair tumbling to her shoulders and eyes the color of Texas bluebonnets.

When she’d opened her office door, he’d been knocked sideways in more ways than one. The contact had awakened something inside him. She was well-endowed and probably about five foot seven. The scent of her skin and hair, the breathless way she’d responded to him had made Luckey conscious of her as a living, breathing woman.

It had been eight years since his divorce. Since then he’d had relationships with other women, but none had lasted long. He’d always made it clear to the woman he was dating at the time that he wasn’t interested in a permanent commitment. Too much damage had been done for him to feel the emotions necessary for a relationship to flourish. But all that changed today. Today he’d been caught totally off guard by a rush of desire so foreign to him he was stunned.

He knew his family worried that he might stay single for good. Luckey hadn’t given it a lot of thought until now. Damn if meeting Ms. Duncan hadn’t pierced through the armor he’d built up around him to the part that had either been asleep or in a deep freeze. What if he still felt this way tomorrow after meeting with her?

Luckey didn’t want to experience these feelings again. He couldn’t take it. He was just going to meet her for breakfast and record the translation, then he’d get on with the investigation, and that would be the end of it.

Needing to get his mind off Ally ASAP, he phoned Randy. His brother was still on patrol, however, so Luckey left a message that he’d get in touch tomorrow. He thought about calling one of his best friends, but all three were Rangers and he knew they’d be busy working other cases. Restless, he fixed himself a TV dinner, then walked out to the barn and saddled his horse, Persey, who needed the exercise. A good ride would help Luckey put his feelings in perspective.

When it was dark, he came back in and turned on the TV. But he was unable to concentrate on anything. In the end, he returned to the den and pored over the information he’d gathered at the coroner’s office. Luckey worked until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and then he went to bed.

* * *

TUESDAY MORNING HE woke up early to shower and shave. After dressing in a long-sleeved Western shirt and trousers, he went out to feed his horse and noticed he needed to buy more food for him. Once back in the house he remembered that his cleaning lady, Ruth, would be coming by later. She came twice a month and did odd jobs for him. Luckey left her a note to drop by the feed store as well as the grocery store for supplies, and then he took off for the Magnolia Café.

He always felt a certain excitement when he began a new case, but driving to meet with Ally, he recognized an eagerness that had nothing to do with his work.

His pulse picked up speed when he spotted her Audi in the parking lot among at least a dozen cars with license plates from other states. The place got a ton of tourists because the food was reputed to be so good.

He walked in and was greeted by a hostess. “Your party is already at your table,” she told him. “She’s over in the south corner.”

Luckey was surprised. “How did you know?”

The woman smiled. “You’re the man with the badge. Can’t miss you.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Ally Duncan stood out from every other female in the room. This morning she’d tied her glossy black hair back at her nape with a simple leather cord. Those purple-blue eyes fringed by thick black lashes met his as he approached the table. Everything about her was classy. Her nails were manicured in a soft pink shade that matched her lipstick.

“Hi.” She smiled at him.

He sat in the chair opposite her and took in the creamy blouse she wore, covered by a sleeveless crochet vest in the same color shot with gold. “Hi, yourself. You were smart to get here early. This place is hopping.” He would have suggested a quieter spot, such as a park, for their meeting, but felt a public space would make her more comfortable.

“I remember the last time I came here, with friends. We had to wait an hour to get a table. Since I knew you were in a hurry to get going on this case, I thought I’d make sure we beat the rush.”

“Well, I thank you for your consideration.”

The waitress came to the table and poured them coffee. Ally murmured, “Go ahead and give her our orders, since you already know what I want.”

He smiled. “Chocolate-chip pancakes?”

She smiled back. “Of course.”

“Would you like some juice?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll take apple.”

“Anything else?”

Ally shook her head.

“Two orders of chocolate-chip pancakes, one apple juice and one glass of OJ, please,” he told their waitress.

Once she had left, Luckey was free to focus on the beautiful woman sitting across from him. She wasn’t wearing a ring. How could she still be single? If she was, it had to be by choice. Had she been wounded in the past, like he had? Was she reluctant to open up her heart for fear of being burned again? The question hung in the air. Of course, she could be in a relationship right now. Either way, he would get an answer soon, so help him.

She sipped her coffee. “If you’ll show me those papers, I’ll look over the writing and translate it for you once we’ve eaten.”

With those words he was reminded of the reason they were there. What she said made perfect sense, but his mind had been on her instead of the case. “Why don’t we eat first, then I’ll let you read from the file while I record you. It will probably be more horrifying on a second reading.”

Quiet reigned as they both drank their coffee. When she lifted her head, he saw the pained expression that had snuffed the light from her eyes.

He put down his mug. “Will it be too horrifying, second time through?”

“Horrifying and heartbreaking, Ranger Davis.”

“Call me Luckey. With an e.”

Ally cocked her head. “I thought your name was James.”

She remembered. That was something. “Luckey is my nickname.”

“Because you’re such a successful Ranger?”

He shook his head. “That’s a nice lie, but no, I inherited it when my parents named me for our ancestor. Luckey Davis was one of the original forty Rangers serving under Jack Hayes at the Battle of Bandera Pass. That name determined my destiny by osmosis.”

“Osmosis instead of genetics? I don’t think so. You’re the real deal.” She chuckled as the waitress came to the table with their food. “Shall we eat?”

They both tucked into their chocolate-chip pancakes. He darted her a glance. “I bet you didn’t eat these in China.”

“You’re right. We had several native cooks who taught me how to prepare local meals from scratch.”

“So if there’s a revolution—”

“Yikes!” she interjected, causing him to chuckle.

“—and you’re not needed as a professor,” he continued, “you could open a Chinese restaurant.”

“A mediocre one to be sure.”

“Ally Duncan? I can say in all honesty that there’s nothing mediocre about you.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, he detected a slight flush on her high cheekbones. But she drawled, “Well, Luckey Davis, it seems we’re quite an amazing pair.”

He broke into laughter, but doubted anyone noticed, because the room was filled with noise. Though they’d met on a serious matter, she didn’t take herself seriously. He liked that about her.

“How would you feel if we went out to your car so you can translate for me?” They’d finished eating. “We’re going to need the quiet.”

“That’s a good idea,” she said. He helped her up from the chair and, after he paid the tab, let her walk ahead of him as they made their way to her vehicle. He had to admit she looked terrific in her designer jeans.

Concentrate on the job, Davis. What he’d have given to have met Ally under other circumstances. He wanted to know if she was involved with another man. And after that he wanted to make plans to see her again that had nothing to do with business. But there were rules a Ranger had to follow. Luckey wanted and needed her trust while he worked on this case. Rules had to come first.

Once they were inside her car, he passed her the papers from the file and pulled out his handheld digital recorder.

Her gaze met his. “Luckey? Before we start, I want to thank you for breakfast. I enjoyed it very much.”

“So did I. Don’t forget you’re doing me a great favor. It was my pleasure.” I want to do it again and again. “When you’re ready, I’ll turn this on.”

* * *

WAS THIS A one-time happening with Luckey? Would she ever see him again? Ally wished it didn’t matter, but she was so attracted to him she could hardly think about anything else.

Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the writing. She ought to be used to this after working alongside her mother in China on human trafficking cases. They’d assembled statistics about lost girls disappearing from Hunan Province for several years. But each case was heart wrenching in its own right.

Ally knew she could never be indifferent to the suffering of these young women. Thank heaven there were people invested in fighting this brand of evil, people like the bone-achingly attractive man sitting beside her. If Ally’s mother were to find out about this, she’d be overjoyed to hear that the Texas Rangers had been called in to work on this case. But Ally had promised Luckey complete secrecy and she meant to uphold that promise.

“I’m ready.”

He turned on the recorder. “This is James Davis of Company H, Austin, Texas, investigating the case of Jane Doe, a young Chinese girl who died March 2. It is now March 10, 10:30 a.m. Dr. Allyson Forrester Duncan, Director of Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, will translate a message from the secret Nüshu language of the sworn sisters in the Hunan Province of China. It is written in the deceased’s blood on the underside of the dress she was wearing when mounted police found her body dumped on an Austin street.”

Shuddering over the circumstances of the poor girl’s death, Ally began translating while he held the recorder.

“‘Someone help us. We are being held by an evil man with a dragon’s forked tongue. He smells like garlic and speaks English, Xiang and Indonesian. There are many of us imprisoned here, and other evil men speaking English come to do terrible things to us. We’ve been kidnapped and stolen from our homes. We don’t know where we are. We miss our families. I know I am going to die. Some of the others with me have been killed already for trying to escape. There is no way out of here. Please, someone help us.’”

Ally handed him back the pages. He turned off the recorder, then rewound it and played it back so she could hear. When it was over, he clicked off and said, “That part about the men speaking English is significant. But even more so is her mention of the man who smells of garlic and speaks with a dragon’s forked tongue. Those have to be clues.”

“Definitely,” Ally said. “We know that a forked tongue means the same thing in every language. But because she was Chinese, I would have thought she’d use the analogy of a snake. Instead, she did refer to the Komodo dragon, the long forked tongue of which is a deep yellow. That was an unusual thing for her to do.”

“Agreed. Komodo dragons come from Indonesia,” Luckey mused. “Perhaps her reference to the tongue meant he was blond haired. She said he spoke Indonesian as well as English and her native language. What is it again?”

“Xiang, which she would have spoken in Yongzhou and Changsha, but being upper-class, she would have spoken Mandarin, too.”