The Texas Ranger's Bride

“Please sit down.”

“Thank you.” She’d dressed in jeans and a creamy-colored Western shirt. Beneath the overhead light, her neck-length wavy hair had that silvery-gold metallic sheen he found stunning. So were her face and the rest of her curvaceous figure. Absolutely stunning.

“Can I get you coffee or a soft drink?”

“Neither, thanks.”

“I’m going to record our conversation if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course.”

“I have the notes taken by the police. It says here this stalker last contacted you by phoning in the middle of the night.”

“Yes. That was Friday,” she said, tight-lipped. “I don’t know how he knew my cell number.”

“How many people have you given it to?”

“My parents, closest friends, my cousin Heidi and of course my horse handler, Cody.”

“Tell me about him.”

“He’s been my closest horse friend since middle school. We’ve both had our dreams. I was going to win the PRO Finals Rodeo this year and teach barrel racing. He was going to help me and then run a stud farm. Cody is engaged and plans to get married after Finals.”

He nodded. “When you fill out forms of any kind, do you list it as your contact number?”

“No. It’s not written anywhere. I always give out my parents’ number. No...wait. I did give my cell phone number to a friend, Olivia Brown, who works at the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She used to ride with our Blue Bonnet Posse, but her husband was transferred to Colorado Springs, so she got a job with the rodeo association there.”

“I’ll want to talk to her. Now I’ll need a list of your friends and cousin, and their phone numbers. Here’s some paper.”

“All right.” She got right to work. When she’d finished, she looked up.

He took the list from her. “Thank you. What did the stalker say on the phone?”

She bit her lip. “‘You lied about having a husband. Don’t you know it’s not nice to lie?’ Then he hung up.”

“Was there just the one call that night?” She nodded. “Now let’s talk about everything that happened the first time this man made contact with you.”

She shuddered visibly. “It was right after the barrel-racing event and awards. I was in the process of removing the saddle from Trixie when I heard an unfamiliar male voice from behind call me by my first name. I turned around to discover a total stranger invading my space. A lot of guys have approached me over the years wanting a date, so it wasn’t unusual.”

Cy could believe it.

“I don’t mean to sound full of myself. It’s just part of what goes on during the racing circuit, and I’ve always taken it in good fun before turning them down. But this was different. He came too close. After telling him no, he just stood there with a smile that made my stomach churn. Something about him wasn’t right.”

“Could you tell if he’d been drinking?”

“No. I couldn’t smell alcohol. I was holding the saddle in front of me with both hands and I told him I was married, hoping he’d get the message and go away. When he calmly told me to prove it, I would have thrown the saddle at him and called security, but a couple of friends happened to walk over and he disappeared. I didn’t see him again until I drove to Utah for the next rodeo at Eagle Mountain a week later.”

“You drive a truck and horse trailer?”

“Yes. I live in the trailer while I’m on the road. My horse handler drives his own truck and trailer carrying one of my other horses.”

“Do you own a car?”

She nodded. “A four-door white Toyota sedan. I keep it at the condo when I’m gone.”

“Do you own or rent?”

“Rent. After I leave the rodeo circuit, I’ll be buying my own place.”

“Where’s the parking?”

“The double-car garage is in back, but there’s parking in front.”

“Is it in a complex?”

“It’s a two-story town house with neighbors on either side of me.”

Cy paused long enough to buzz the artist to come to his office, and then he turned to her. “We need a picture of this man. Without a photograph we’ll have to rely on your eyes. Our department artist has a singular gift.”

She clasped her hands together. “All right.”

“While we wait for him, I want you to think back. Before Pendleton, have you ever had the slightest suspicion that someone had targeted you?”

“No. Never.”

That sounded final. Jim showed up at the door with a sketch pad and electric eraser pencil. “Come on in, Jim. Ms. Parrish, our state’s reigning barrel-racing champion, is being stalked. Let’s see what you can work up.”

“Sure.” He sat in the chair next to Kellie, eyeing her in male appreciation. “It’s a privilege to meet you, Ms. Parrish. We’ll start with a sketch. I could use the computer, but a sketch can tell you things the computer can’t. Don’t get nervous or frustrated. You may think this won’t work, but in three out of ten cases a culprit has been caught through a sketch. I’ll work from the eyes on out. Shall we get started?”

She nodded and answered one question after another while he sketched. They worked together while he refined his drawing.

Cy asked her for a more thorough description while Jim was working.

“He looks like the guy next door. You know, someone’s brother. Maybe late twenties. Kind of lean. Okay-looking. Nutty-brown hair that curls. Short-cropped. Maybe five-ten, but he was wearing cowboy boots. Weighs probably 150 to 160 pounds. Brown eyes. He wore jeans and a different pullover the second time I saw him.”

Jim kept working at the sketch and showed her what he’d done. She said, “His nose was a little thinner.” After fixing it he asked her to take another look. “What do you think?”

“You truly do have a gift. It’s remarkably accurate.”

“We try.”

Cy took the drawing from him. The guy bore a superficial resemblance to Ted Bundy, the serial killer from several decades back, but he kept the observation to himself. “That’s great work, Jim. We’ll go with this to put in the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He turned to Kellie. “All bets are on you winning the championship in December.”

“Thank you so much.”

“If anyone can catch him, Ranger Vance can. See you, Cy.”

When Jim left the office, she looked at Cy. “You’re called Cy?”

“Short for Cyril.” Don’t get sidetracked. “Your next rodeo is in South Dakota in two weeks, but I understand your parents want you to quit the circuit.”

“Yes, but since we talked with the police, Dad has told me he’ll hire some bodyguards for me so I can continue to compete.”

Cy shook his head. “That won’t work. We want to draw out this stalker and arrest him. He’ll know if you have people protecting you. That will change the way he has to operate. It will hinder our efforts and prolong the time you’re forced to live in terror.”

Her eyes clouded. “I don’t want to give up competition, not when I’m so close to the Finals in December. Isn’t there another way?”

Yes, but he didn’t know if she’d consider it. He knew her parents would raise objections.

“There’s always another way. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll be right back.” He left the office and headed for TJ’s, knocking on the open door.

His boss’s head lifted. “Come on in.”

Cy shut the door and sat down. “Where are her parents?”

“In the reception area. Have you got an angle on this case yet?”

He nodded and brought him up-to-date. Then he told him his idea. TJ didn’t say anything at first. That didn’t surprise Cy. “I know it’s unconventional.”

“Unconventional? Hell, Cy. It’s unorthodox and unheard-of in this department.”

“But it could work. This way she could continue winning rodeos.”

Another few minutes passed before TJ said, “I’ll admit it’s brilliant. You realize the two of you will be walking a very thin line.”

Yup. Cy knew exactly what he meant and he wasn’t talking about the culprit. “I’ll need another Ranger working with me. Whoever you can spare.”

His eyes squinted. “You think she’ll agree?”

“Probably not, but it’s worth finding out. She’s had the world championship in her sights since she was eleven years old. If she says no, then I’ll know I was wrong to think she’d do anything to achieve her goal.”

He nodded slowly. “All right. You bring her in here and I’ll send for her parents. She doesn’t need their permission, but they’ll have to be in on this from the start or it won’t work. I’ll make sure all three of them are fingerprinted before they leave the building today.”

“Right.”

Chapter Two

Cy’s plan was bold. But no matter how many ways he could think of to attack the problem, he kept coming back to his first idea.

“Ms. Parrish?” he spoke to her from the doorway. She got to her feet. “If you’ll come with me, we’re going to meet in the captain’s office with your folks.”

They walked down the hall, where Cy met Kellie’s parents. She took after her father in height and coloring. From her mother she’d inherited her good looks and figure. He shook their hands.

TJ invited everyone to sit down. “Ranger Vance has looked at every aspect of this case and has come up with a strategy. Every so often our Rangers plan a sting and go undercover. It’s a very effective way to flush out a criminal. Your daughter’s case presents a challenge because no one wants to see her quit the barrel-racing circuit when she’s so close to winning the championship in Las Vegas.” He glanced at Cy. “Tell them your thinking.”

Cy got to his feet. “You could hire bodyguards. But it would probably cause the culprit to stay away for a time, not go away. We want this stalker to be put away permanently, and ASAP. The best thing to do is flush him out.”

“That makes sense to me,” her father said.

“What if he’s followed me here to this office?” Kellie sounded anxious, but was still keeping her composure. Cy admired her for that.

“I’m sure he’s done that and a lot of other things. He knows where you and your parents live. He knows your rodeo schedule, your phone number. He knows your routine and enjoys frightening you. But we’re going to turn the tables on him and produce the husband he doesn’t believe exists.”

Those blue eyes rounded in shock.

“A husband is different from a bodyguard who goes with you everywhere. A husband and wife have their moments of separation. While I’m not with you, one of my team will be guarding you from a distance.

“To set this up, you’ll announce your secret through your blog. I’ve read through it. Your fans have pressed you over and over again to reveal if there’s a special man in your life. After telling them all this time that your life is private, you’re going to tell them that you recently married a cowboy. Furthermore you are looking forward to a long honeymoon after the Finals in Las Vegas.

“By putting the announcement out on the internet, it will prove to the world you are telling the truth. Of course, this stalker still won’t believe you because you’ve been his fantasy for a long time and he doesn’t live in anyone’s reality but his own. I still have yet to discover if he’s a psychotic who has lost all connection to his world, or a psychopath with a serious mental disorder. But in either case he’ll be enraged when he reads your blog.

“I can assure you he’s been reading it for as long as he’s been stalking you, and so far there’s been no mention of a husband. He thinks he’s safe. I have no doubt that some of the people making comments about your personal life on your blog have come from this lowlife.”

At that observation she paled.

“It will torture him that you really could be married. He thinks he knows everything about you and won’t be able to stand the fact that he could be wrong. That will bring him out of lurk mode. When he does that, it will be his big mistake.

“We have no idea of his place of birth or where he lives. He could be from Austin and followed you all the way to Oregon to begin his reign of terror. You can be sure he has already cased your condo and your parents’ ranch and knows every move you make. The Pendleton police are sending me a list of stalking victims in the Pendleton area in case there’s a way to link him to your case.

“If he’d wanted to kidnap you to compel your parents to pay a ransom, it would have already happened. So we can conclude money is not his motive. Though you didn’t see him in Albuquerque, we know he was out there somewhere putting a note on your windshield and phoning you in the middle of the night in Bandera. According to your schedule, you have another rodeo in South Dakota in two weeks. For the time being I imagine you’ll be training here in Austin every day until you leave. He’s probably planning to do something to you while you’re not on the road. Remember—he feels invincible.”

When she heard Cy’s assessment of the situation, he noticed she’d lowered her head, causing the strands of her molten hair to catch the light from overhead.

“So far you’ve had your handler and other people around while you’ve been taking care of your horses. But he’ll assume you’ll be alone in your condo part of the time for the next two weeks. The beauty of this plan is that when he comes after you, I’ll be there watching for him. When he makes his move, he’ll discover your husband on the premises. Do you have any questions?”

Now was the time for Kellie to tell him she couldn’t go along with his plan. He held his breath, waiting for her parents to voice their objections. Instead, her mother looked at her daughter with an anxious expression.

“His plan sounds solid, but how do you feel about it, honey?”

He watched Kellie nervously moisten her lips. “I’m thankful I won’t have to be alone.” She looked up at Cy. “Even if it means everyone will think I’m married, I want that disgusting creature caught.” Her voice shook.

TJ sent Cy a silent message. I’ll be damned.

“Before you go home with your parents, I’ll need your key to the condo and your phone, Ms. Parrish.”

“All right.” Her hands trembled as she rummaged in her purse for those items and handed them to him.

“What’s the code to get into the garage?” She told him. “Keep your mailbox key.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He looked at his watch. “Give me six hours, then all of you come to the condo with any luggage you took on the road and I’ll let you in. Pick up your mail on the way in, but don’t go through it. Act as normally as you can. We’ll talk details inside your condo so we’re all tuned in to the same channel.”

Kellie’s father shook Cy’s hand again. “Our daughter didn’t tell us what had been happening to her until this morning. It’s a nightmarish situation and we’re very grateful that you’re willing to take her case. We’ll all be praying this plan works.”

“Thank you for helping her,” Kellie’s mother said with tears in her eyes.

“It’s our job and I’m happy to do it. I’ll see you later.”

He watched Kellie walk out with them. Cy knew in his gut that this stalker didn’t want money. He wanted to do her harm. She’d said he looked as if he was in his late twenties. He wondered how many women before Kellie had already been terrorized by him. The stalker fit the general profile for a predator who was usually from eighteen to thirty.

After they left TJ’s office, Cy turned to his boss. “Her condo is in West Austin. I’m going to need help to set things up before they arrive.”

“This is a high-priority case. Vic just finished a case and is in the building right now. I’ll ask him to assist you before assigning him a new case.”

Nothing could have pleased him more. “Thanks, TJ.” There wasn’t a lot of time. They’d have to assemble a team fast.

Not long after he’d returned to his office to send the artist’s sketch to the database, Vic walked in. “I’m all yours.” He planted himself on a corner of the desk. “That stint on the radio must have put the boss in a good mood.”

“It was so important to him, he actually went along with my plan.”

“Which is?”

“Outrageous, but Ms. Parrish agreed to it, too, rather than leave the circuit. She wants to win that championship. I figured she would put her desire to achieve her lifelong goal over her fear of this stalker. We’re going to pretend to be married so I can protect her day and night.”

“What?” Vic’s black eyes narrowed. He got to his feet. “You’re kidding me.”

Cy gave his friend a sharp look. “Can you think of a better way to get the job done?”

They’d known each other a long time. “Hell, no. It’s genius, but—”

“But it doesn’t hurt that she’s a beautiful woman, right?” He couldn’t help but read his friend’s mind. “I’ve examined my motives and have decided that even if she were someone else, it wouldn’t make a difference. She’s been working her whole life to achieve her goal. For her to quit now would be the end of her dreams, not only for this year, but maybe forever. Anyone with her kind of skill and drive deserves all the help she can get.”

“I agree with you.”

“This guy is a creep who’s been tormenting her for a month. She told him she was married so he’d leave her alone. All that did was fan the flames, so I’ve decided it’s time she produced a husband. I want to catch this stalker, Vic, and believe this is the best way to capture his attention and nab him.”

“Where do you want to start?”

“We’ll get a surveillance team set up in the van to monitor her when I can’t be with her.” Cy handed him the sketch.

Vic studied it for a minute. “You know who he looks like?”

“Yup, but let’s not go there. In case he’s camped out by her condo, you and I will impersonate roofers so we can get in around the back of the building through her garage without him suspecting anything. I want to lift any fingerprints we can find. We’ll rig the interior with a camera. Let’s move.”

He folded her list of names and numbers and put it into his pocket. The note she’d given the police needed to go down to the lab. He already had a list a mile long of things to be done before she arrived with her parents. They’d need wedding rings.

* * *

KELLIE CHECKED HER watch as her father drove them to the front of her condo in her parents’ Volvo sedan. Six thirty p.m. She still couldn’t believe what she’d agreed to. She and the striking Texas Ranger had to pretend to be married starting tonight!

What have I done? She closed her eyes. You’ve done what’s necessary to survive.

“Come on, honey. Let’s go in and have dinner. You haven’t eaten all day.”

“I couldn’t.” But her parents had insisted on picking up some barbecue for all of them.

She hadn’t had an appetite since this first started. As for sleep... Nothing seemed real. That monster could have been following them from the ranch. She almost expected him to suddenly appear at the mailbox.

The normal number of bills had stacked up. She put the mail into her purse before getting back in the car. Her mom had been over to her condo several times this past month to water her plants and make sure everything was all right. Thank goodness the Ranger would find her house clean and in good shape. There were times when it looked a mess.

She eyed the condo. No one would know the secret it was holding. If everything had gone as planned, then the Ranger was inside. A vision of the way he’d looked when she’d bumped into him in Bandera was indelibly impressed in her mind. He was a man whose aura gave the impression he could deal with anything or one. Her pulse raced at the realization they would be spending time together.

Kellie got out of the car and hurried up the front steps ahead of her parents. He must have heard them because he opened the door to let them in.

“Hi.” His deep voice filtered through to her insides.

Kellie looked up at him. “Hi.” He’d changed into a dark blue sport shirt and jeans. His eyes matched his shirt. Outside the radio station, he’d been wearing his white Stetson. But in his office as well as now, the light in the living room illuminated the sun-bleached tips of his wavy light brown hair.

Her mother was carrying the food. “I’ve brought dinner for all of us.”

The Ranger smiled and took the bag from her. “Thank you, Mrs. Parrish. How did you know I’m starving?”

The way the corners of his eyes crinkled sent a surprising curl of warmth through Kellie, who put her purse on a chair. While he and her mother went to the kitchen, she turned to help her father carry her bags upstairs to the bedroom. That was when she saw that another couch had been added to the living room. Everything had been rearranged so it would fit.

As they passed the guest bedroom upstairs, she saw some of the Ranger’s things on the bed. She avoided her father’s eyes and continued to her room.

“Are you okay, Kellie?”

“I don’t know what I am yet, but knowing this Ranger is here to protect me is all that’s helping keep my sanity right now.”

Her dad gave her a big hug. “I’m relieved, too. The captain told me Ranger Vance was one of the men who brought down the drug cartel earlier in the year. He says there’s no one better, and I believe him. Come on. Let’s go back down and hear what this Ranger has to say.”

Kellie nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute.” She needed to pull herself together.

He kissed her forehead and left. She took time to freshen up in the bathroom before joining everyone at the dining room table. When the Ranger saw her, he stood. “I’m sure it’s strange for you to feel like a guest in your own home.”

“I’m too thankful you’re here to think about it.”

He sat back down. “These ribs are delicious. Thank you. I work better on a full stomach. Tonight I’m going to help your daughter draft her marriage announcement message for her blog. By ten it will be out on the internet. As her parents, you’ll be bombarded with questions from everyone who knows you. I want you to tell them that Kellie and I met on the circuit. It was love at first sight and we couldn’t stand to wait, so we were privately married before her rodeo performance in Montana.

“Tell people there will be a wedding reception for us at the ranch in December, after Finals. Don’t say any more or any less. We’ll worry about explanations after this stalker is caught.”

This is really happening. She eyed her parents, who agreed to do exactly as he said. He had a way of instilling confidence and trust.

He looked at them. “From here on out, Kellie is going to do what she would do if there were no threat. The three of you will carry on with your lives while I work behind the scenes. No one is to know about this case except the four of us and my team.”

“Sally and Cody know a man was bothering me.”

“I talked with both of them earlier in the day. They won’t be telling anyone about this.”

Kellie’s father thanked him again. “I think it’s time we left the two of you alone so you can get on with your plans. Come on, Nadine.”

They both got up from the table. Kellie jumped up to hug them. “I’ll call you all the time so you’re not worried.”

“We love you, honey.”

“We do,” her father said in a gruff voice and gave her a bear hug. “Do everything the Ranger says.”

“I promise.” She walked them to the front door. “I love you. Thank you for being the best parents on earth.”

“I won’t let anything happen to her,” the Ranger assured them before they left the condo. The conviction in his voice prevented Kellie from breaking down.

Kellie shut the door and hurried past him to clear the table. He helped put everything in the waste bin while she wiped down the top. “If you want to get started on the blog piece, we can do it here.”

“Sounds good, but let’s sit down for a minute and lay the groundwork.”

She nodded and followed his suggestion. He sat across from her. “First of all, I’d like you to call me Cy and I’ll call you Kellie. Next, we need to make this real.” He reached in his shirt pocket and set three rings on the table. After putting the larger gold band on the ring finger of his left hand, he said, “Go ahead and see if they fit.”