Wyoming Bold

“Put her neck hairs up again, did you?” Tank asked.

Rourke cursed. “She’s gone in with the troops, over in Nganwa,” he said, naming a small country involved in a nasty revolution. “I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. It’s a bloodbath over there. I know seasoned mercs who won’t go near the place!”

“Journalists are usually protected,” Tank said quietly.

“Sure they are. Want to hear how many bought it last year on assignment?” he asked pessimistically.

“Sorry to hear she’s in danger,” Tank said finally.

“Her own damned fault. Stupidity has a price. For two bits, I’d go in and drag her out...” He hesitated. Swallowed. “Send me the ticket. I’ll be right up.”

“I’ll email it on my alternate account,” Tank said.

“Good man.”

“Thanks, Rourke,” he said quietly.

“Hey, what are friends for?” came the reply.

* * *

MERISSA WAS WEARING a soft beige dress that clung to her slender figure, outlining her pert breasts and tiny waist and flaring hips. She wore flat shoes with it, and her blond hair waved in soft curls around her elfin face. She wore a small Christmas tree pin on the dress and a matching clip in her hair.

She smiled shyly at Tank, who stared at her with open admiration. “If it’s too dressy...” she began self-consciously.

“I don’t very often see women in dresses these days,” he replied with a gentle smile. “I think you look lovely.”

She flushed and then laughed. “Thanks.” She indicated her shoes. “I can’t wear high heels. I suppose this looks peculiar...”

“It looks fine.” He didn’t question the odd remark. “Ready to go?”

“Yes.” She peered into the living room. “See you later, Mom. Lock the doors,” she added firmly.

Clara laughed softly. “I will. Got your key?”

“Yes.”

“Have fun.”

“Thanks.”

Tank stuck his head in the door and grinned. “I’ll take good care of her,” he promised.

“I know you will,” Clara replied.

* * *

ROURKE HAD ARRIVED the day before. He got to work at once on the security cameras, swept the house for bugs—and found several—and swept the truck just before Tank got in it for his date.

“We’re going to Powell to have supper,” he told her. “Sorry, but we’ve had a hitch in our security.”

Merissa was very still. “It was him. The man in the suit.”

He glanced at her quickly. “Well...yes, we think so.”

“How ironic,” she said breathlessly. She shook her head. “He’s very confident.”

“He is, but it will be his undoing,” he said coldly.

She didn’t speak. Her face was drawn.

He stopped the car at a red light as they approached Powell. “What do you see, Merissa?” he asked very softly.

She swallowed. “Something bad.”

“Can you be more specific?”

She glanced at him. “I don’t know.” Her face contorted. “It’s just a feeling right now. I can’t...I can’t see what it is.”

He reached across the seat and caught her soft hand in his. “It’s all right. We’ll handle it.”

She felt a jolt all the way to her feet at his touch. His hand was big and warm, callused from work. She looked down at it in the light from the streetlamps. It was a beautiful hand, very masculine, with neatly trimmed and clean flat nails.

“You have beautiful hands,” she burst out.

He chuckled. “Thanks. Yours aren’t bad, either.”

She grinned.

He felt the same electricity that she did. It was comforting, to have that physical contact with another human being. Tank had imagined himself in love a couple of times, but it had never been this intense. He wanted to protect her, take care of her. She was a strong, capable woman. She could support herself, and did. But she made him feel taller, stronger.

“What are you thinking?” she asked suddenly.

He squeezed her hand gently. “That this is one of the best ideas I’ve had in years.”

She laughed. “Thanks.”

“You’re comfortable to be around.”

“Not many people in Catelow would agree with that.”

“They don’t know you. People are afraid of the unknown, of anything that isn’t scientific.”

“Well, this certainly isn’t scientific,” she agreed. “I’ve spent my life seeing things that terrify me.” She glanced at him. “So many people want to know the future. But if they could see what I see, they wouldn’t. It’s never good to know what lies ahead.”

“I have to agree.”

“I mean, it’s one thing to have a handle on the weather, or what fashions will be in vogue the next year, or if you’re going to meet someone who will change your life. But to want to know what’s going to happen to you in a year, two years... You should never want to know those things.”

He rubbed his thumb gently over the back of her hand as he drove. “You never talk about your father.”

Her hand jumped, as if it had been jolted by electricity.

He looked toward her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She swallowed. “You’ve...heard things.”

He pulled into the parking lot at the Chinese restaurant and cut off the engine. He turned to her. “Honestly, yes, I have.” He searched her eyes, huge in that pale face. “You don’t have to talk to me about him if you don’t want to. We barely know each other.”

She hesitated. “He was...brutal.”

“Was?”

She bit her lip. “We haven’t seen him in years,” she said. “We don’t know where he is. But we’re always afraid that he might come back.” She closed her eyes and shivered. “He was a big man. He was so strong...!”

“He hurt you.”

She looked up at him with tragic eyes. “Me, and Mama,” she agreed heavily. “I was so happy when he left. She threatened him. She told him what would happen if he stayed in Catelow. She knew, you see, and it wasn’t only a premonition. He beat up one of our farmhands and almost killed him. Mom told him that the man would press charges and he would go to jail. It’s the only reason he left.”

“I see.”

She drew in a breath, and shook her head. “No, you don’t. I lived in terror all my life that he would kill my mother.” She closed her eyes. “Once, I got brave, and tried to stop him.”

“With almost fatal results,” he added.

Her eyes were huge. “You know?”

“Catelow is a very small town, Merissa,” he pointed out. “Yes. I know.” His expression hardened. “If I’d been here then, he’d never have touched either of you.”

Her face lightened, and her eyes widened. “He would have been afraid of you.”

He searched her eyes. “Are you? Afraid of me?”

She swallowed. “Not so much anymore,” she said. “A little, maybe.”

His face softened. “A little?”

She shifted on the seat. “Not in the way you mean. You...confuse me. You make me uncomfortable. But not in any way I’ve felt before....”

While she was talking, he unfastened his seat belt, and hers, and moved closer. “Uncomfortable?” he asked, propping his hand on the door beside her ear.

“A...little,” she stammered. He was very close. She could smell the spicy cologne he wore, feel the heat from his body. His lips were at her forehead. “Just...a little,” she amended.

He laughed softly. “Just a little?”

She struggled to keep her breathing steady, but it was a losing battle. One of his hands came up and rested against her cheek. His thumb worked at her soft lips, parting them very gently.

“I like making you...uncomfortable,” he whispered as his head bent. “Just a little.”

His chiseled mouth traced her lips, teasing them apart very tenderly, so that he didn’t frighten her. She was very nervous. Her hand came up to touch his, and it was ice-cold. He didn’t need a program to know that she wasn’t used to having a man this close. It made him feel more protective than ever.

“Easy, now,” he whispered, and his lips parted hers so that he could ease between them. “Easy...does it.”

His mouth moved down onto hers. It was unfamiliar. It was disconcerting. But after a minute, it became more familiar, more comfortable. Very soon, her lips relaxed. Her body relaxed.

She liked it.

He drew her closer, but slowly, gently. He wrapped her up against him like fragile treasure and worked on her mouth until he made her hungry for him.

She reached up, around his neck, and clung to him quite suddenly as the hunger flashed in her like lightning. She kissed him back with the same urgency that he kissed her.

But very soon, it became clear that he was going to have to start undressing her or stop kissing her. It had been a very long dry spell.

He drew back, flattered that he had to uncouple her hands from his neck and ease her away from him.

He smiled gently at her embarrassment. “Don’t worry. It’s all perfectly natural.”

“It...is?”

“Yes. It is.” He brushed back her hair, loving the feel of it. “We should go inside.”

She swallowed. She could still taste him on her lips. He tasted of coffee and mint. She smiled slowly. “I guess so.”

He chuckled. He got out and helped her down. He held her hand all the way into the restaurant.

CHAPTER FOUR

“WHY DID YOU change your mind about where we ate?” Merissa asked when they were halfway through huge plates of chicken lo mein, which they discovered was a mutual favorite. “I mean, I’m not complaining, I love Chinese food. But why?”

“Same reason I hired a man to sweep my truck for bugs,” he said heavily. “It seems I hired the bad guy to put in a surveillance system for me.”

“Oh, my gosh!” she exclaimed.

“I’m usually more careful,” he said with a smile. “But I had no idea he was that close. You see, your premonition was right on the money. You really do have a gift.”

“I hate having it,” she replied.

“This time, it might save my life,” he said. “I’m grateful.”

She grimaced. “I was so afraid, turning up at your door in a snowstorm.” She laughed. “But I felt I had to tell you.”

“If you hadn’t, I’d be in a world of trouble right now,” he pointed out. “I had no idea that I was even a target after so long.”

“You wouldn’t have been, I think, except for the politician running for federal office,” she said. “He’s trying to get rid of any embarrassing loose ends before the campaign heats up. Imagine what his adversaries could do with information like his friendship with a drug cartel.”

“Yes.”

“This man you hired, to look for the bugs your adversary placed,” she began. “There’s a woman. She’s in very great danger.” She bit her lip.

“She’s a photojournalist covering a war in Africa,” he supplied, not even uneasy now about her gifts.

She nodded. “An unexpected thing will save her life,” she said slowly. “A necklace, of all things.”

“She’ll be all right?” he asked, concerned.

“She won’t die,” she amended.

That sounded ominous.

She drew in a breath. “Someone told a lie. It’s what separates them. He believed it.” She sipped hot tea. “It was said to protect her, but instead it destroyed her happiness.” She looked up at him. “She loves him so much,” she said heavily. “It’s a shame.”

He wondered if he should tell Rourke.

“Don’t,” she said, as if she’d read the thought. “Don’t say anything to him. Things are at a crossroads right now. If he acts too soon, she could die. Everything is connected. We live in a silver web of activity, binding all that lives on the earth.” She laughed again. “I sound like a tree hugger. Well, I am a tree hugger. But we’re much more connected than people think.”

“A butterfly flaps its wings and there’s a typhoon?” he teased.

“Something like that, yes.”

He leaned back in his chair and studied her warmly. “You’re amazing,” he said. “I’ve never known anybody like you in my whole life.”

“I hope that’s a compliment.”

“It truly is,” he confessed. He smiled. “And tonight is a beginning. Isn’t it?”

She started to say something. Her eyes grew opaque. She lost color. Her green eyes were terrified when they met his. “We have to go home. Right now! Please!”

He didn’t bother to ask what was wrong. It was enough that she knew something was urgent. He got up and paid the check and then led her out to the truck.

“At my house or yours?” he asked as he started it.

“Mine. And please, hurry!” she said. “It may be too late already!”

He didn’t spare the engine.

They pulled up in front of Merissa’s cabin and ran onto the porch. Merissa worked her key in the lock, fumbled and finally opened it.

“Mom!” she called frantically. “Mom!”

There were sounds of movement. A door opened. Clara came out into the hall, a little foggy, laughing.

“Here I am. What’s wrong?” she asked when she saw their worried faces.

“I...had a feeling,” Merissa said, hating to put it even into words, for fear it might come true.

“A feeling?” Clara asked gently, and now she was frowning, too.

Merissa relaxed. She laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She turned to Tank. “I rushed you home for nothing!”

“It’s always good to check,” Tank replied gently. “I’m beginning to put a lot of confidence in your ‘feelings.’”

She smiled at him warmly. “Thanks.”

“What sort of feeling?” Clara asked, because she knew that Merissa didn’t give way to panic.

“I don’t know. Something dangerous. Something planned.” She closed her eyes. “Soon. Very soon.” She opened her eyes. “I don’t know what!” she groaned.

Clara hugged her. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be okay.”

“Just in case,” Tank said slowly, “I’m going to put a man over here, to keep an eye on the place.”

“That would be so kind of you,” Clara began.

Merissa frowned. “Do I smell smoke?”

They split up, going from room to room. All of a sudden, the fire detector in the back bedroom went off like an explosion.

Tank ran ahead of the women, rushed into the room and stopped dead. There was smoke coming from an extension cord. Beside it, a squirrel was squirming in agony.

“Oh, dear,” Clara murmured. “I forgot to close the flue in here... Squirrels love to come in the cabin and build nests in the ceiling.” She grimaced. “Is he dead?”

Tank picked him up. The squirrel was shivering. “He’s not dead, but he’s going to need some attention. I have a friend who’s a wildlife rehabilitator. I’ll call him as soon as I get home. Have you got a shoebox and an old towel?”

Clara rushed to get them for him so that he could transport the injured squirrel.

“I’ll unplug it.”

“Be careful, honey,” he told her.

She glanced at him and flushed prettily. She laughed and eased the plug out of the wall.

He loved that blush. He loved calling her pet names. She was the sweetest woman he’d ever known.

“You think he’ll be okay?” she asked, gently touching the head of the injured squirrel.

“Careful, he may bite,” he said.

“Oh, they never bite me. I’ve picked up all sorts of injured things, even a snake, once. I had to put a bandage on his back. Weed eater got him,” she said ruefully.

“You aren’t afraid of snakes?” he asked, curious.

“I’m terrified of them,” she said. “But he was bleeding and obviously in pain. So I picked him up. He didn’t seem to mind, even when I started putting antibiotic ointment and a big Band-Aid on him. I had to take him to a wildlife rehabilitator, too. I wonder if it’s the one you know?”

He chuckled. “Probably. There aren’t too many of them around Catelow.” He paused. “What sort of snake was he?”

She blinked. “I don’t really know. He was quite large.”

“Color?”

She described it.

He burst out laughing. “I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it. That’s a rattlesnake, you crazy woman! They’re deadly poisonous!”

“Are they? He was very tolerant. He didn’t even rattle when I put him in the box and took him to the rehabilitator. I guess that explains why he was upset when I wanted him to let the snake go. He didn’t tell me.”

He was amazed, and it showed. “Truly gifted,” he murmured.

“Animals like me, I suppose,” she said shyly. “I have to shoo the birds away from the feeders. One stood on my wrist while I filled up the tube feeder.”

“I like you, too,” he said softly, searching her pale eyes.

Her lips parted on a quick breath. “You do?”

He smiled.

“I mean, you’re not afraid I might turn you into a frog or something in a temper?” she asked, not quite facetiously.

“You don’t have a cat.”

“Excuse me?”

“Everybody knows that witches keep cats,” he pointed out. “Look it up.”

She burst out laughing.

“Should I tell him about the two stray cats we feed every morning?” Clara teased as she came back with a shoebox and a piece of towel.

“Shh!” Merissa said quickly, putting her finger to her lips.

They all laughed.

Tank made holes in the top of the shoebox while Merissa held the squirrel.

“You’re going to be just fine, don’t worry,” she told the little animal. It looked up at her from wide, dilated eyes. It was still shivering.

“I think it’s in shock,” Tank said. He took the squirrel and put it gently in the box with the towel and closed it up. “I’ll call my buddy right away.”

“You’ll let us know?” Merissa asked.

He smiled. “Of course.”

“I hope they don’t eat the wiring in the attic,” Clara said nervously. “I’m going to close the flue right now!”

“At least he’s a boy squirrel. We don’t have to worry about any babies in a nest inside that the mother couldn’t get to,” Merissa said. “They say if it’s a mother squirrel and you close her access, the babies will all die. It’s so sad.”

“True. But so are electrical fires.” Tank glanced at the wall where the cord had been plugged in. “Don’t use that until I can get one of my men over here to check the wiring.”

“Okay,” Merissa said. “Thanks. I’m terrified of fire.”

“Me, too,” Clara seconded.

“Not much danger of that, just from a blown extension cord, especially when you’re standing beside it when it blows. But it’s always best to be cautious. I’ll take our friend home with me. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he told Merissa.

She grinned. “Okay.”

He grinned back. “Good night.”

They went out to the porch to see him off. He waved as he went down the driveway, still covered with the remains of the snowstorm.

They went back into the living room. The small Christmas tree they’d put up that day was beautiful with its colored lights. Clara didn’t have them set to flash because it gave Merissa headaches. It was pretty just the same. Clara put an arm around Merissa’s shoulders. “So now I can see which way the wind is blowing, and I don’t even need to be psychic.” She laughed.

Merissa leaned her head against her mother’s. “I’m so happy. I never expected to find anyone who’d like me the way I am.”

“I thought I had, once,” Clara said quietly. “I made a terrible mistake. And you paid more for it even than I did.”

Merissa was very still. “Dalton knows.”

“What?”

“He knows, about what Dad did. He said if he’d known us back then, my father would have gone to prison for it.”

“I lived in terror for so many years, afraid that Bill would return, that he’d find us, that he’d want to get even with me for divorcing him,” Clara confessed.

“Do you know where he is?” Merissa asked worriedly.

Clara shook her head. “The last I heard, from his cousin who’s still in touch with me, he was working on the docks in California. I hope he stays there.”

“So do I,” Merissa replied. “Oh, so do I!”

* * *

TANK DROVE THE squirrel to the rehabilitator. It was necessary, because law prevented any veterinarian from treating a wild animal. That had to be done by a trained rehabilitator, and there were so few that many injured animals died. The rehabilitators were so overworked that many just stopped answering their phones in self-defense, not having realized the incredible number of injured wild animals they were signing up to treat. The law was in place to protect animals and the public, but it seemed to Tank that it was designed to let wounded wildlife die. Like so many other little-known laws, its good intentions sometimes were outweighed by its tragic consequences.

“At least this one will live,” Tank told Greg Barnes, his friend.

“Yeah, he’s just shocked and burned a bit.” Greg chuckled. “A couple of days rest and some good food, and he’ll be back out chewing up electrical cords again.” He put the squirrel in a clean cage with water and food. Nearby were many other cages, containing a raccoon with a bandaged leg, a wolf with a leg missing, even a raven with a broken wing.

“What happened to all of these?” Tank asked.

“Kids with guns” came the irritated reply. “A teenager shot the raven for sport. I had words with him and his father, and court action is pending.”

Tank shook his head. “And the wolf?”

“Ate two of a rancher’s calves. He was trapped. He lost the leg and would have died if I hadn’t found him. People and wild animals just don’t mix.”

“Ranchers have to live.”

The rehabilitator nodded. “So they do. Nobody wins in a situation like this. The rancher is being fined for trapping the wolf. It’s an endangered species. The rancher said his calves were also endangered, but it won’t help him.” He glanced at Tank. “Most of the people who write law concerning wild animals have never seen one.” He had a strange, wicked look on his face. “You know, I have this recurring daydream about putting a couple of these legislators in a room with several hungry wolves...” He sighed. “Well, never mind. But I guarantee it would change attitudes. The survivors would probably legislate for change.” He put his hand to the wolf’s muzzle through the cage and stroked it. The wolf didn’t seem to mind. “Not you, old fellow,” he said gently. “There are sweet wolves and mean wolves. Sort of like people.” He glanced at Tank. “But in the wild, a wolf is going to do what comes naturally, whether it’s kill and eat elk or cattle. The trick is to make sure the numbers aren’t so big that the habitat can support the pack and they don’t resort to raiding cattle ranches.”

“Don’t tell me. Tell Congress.”

“Wouldn’t I love to tell Congress how I feel about what goes on in the real world out here. How do you tell a wolf it can’t cross a property line? Or a raven that if it goes to ground hunting a rabbit it’s likely to be shot in lieu of a target?”

“At least you’re trying to help,” Tank pointed out.

Greg smiled. “Trying to. Yes.” He waved an arm around the room full of cages. “I have two more rooms like this.” He cocked his head and pursed his lips. “Ever wonder why I’m not married?”

Tank chuckled. “Not really. I don’t know a lot of women who’d like to share space with a wolf. Even one in a cage.”

“Got a cougar in the other room. A ferret and a couple of skunks. All victims of trapping.” He shook his head. “The raven was a special case, I mostly do mammals.”

“Who brought him to you?”

He grimaced. “The boy’s mother. His dad thought it was great, how he hit the raven on the fly. His mother was horrified.”

“Good for her. I like to target shoot, but I don’t do it with animals. Well, except deer, in hunting season,” he amended. “I love venison.”

“Me, too,” Greg confessed. “That’s rather a different case. Not enough forage for an overpopulation of deer, so we hunt the excess to keep the herds healthy. Can’t explain that to outsiders, either. We’re killing Bambi.”

“Bambi can kill you with those hooves,” Tank commented. “They’re like razor blades.”

“Indeed they are. Deer are powerful, especially the bucks, with those big racks.”

“Think the squirrel will live?”

“If he doesn’t it won’t be my fault,” Greg said. He smiled. “I love animals.”

“Maybe someday you’ll find a woman who does, too.”

He shrugged. “Or not.” He eyed Tank. “You got this squirrel from Merissa Baker, didn’t you?” he asked.