The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret (11 page)

“Clear as mud.” Rather than compliant, she sounded mad as hell. “I have nothing to lose. My cover is blown. If you’re not illegally selling ammunition to the Mexican drug cartel, then tell me what you’re doing. If you’re convincing enough, I might be able to persuade the ATF to leave you alone.”

Now, that would be nice. But could he trust her? He wanted to, damn he wanted to. But the stakes were too high and he couldn’t risk it.

So he did what he did best, deflected. Or tried to. “Look, I’m just a regular guy who happens to have a lot of ammo. Just because—”

“Spare me the crap.” She sounded disgusted. “I get it, Matt. The cartel murdered your family and you’re out for revenge. But this isn’t the way to go about it. Those people don’t play. They’re ruthless and they have no qualms about killing.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” He spat the words, the old ache mingling with fury in his chest. “I’m well aware of what they do. I’m the one who found my mother’s body, right next to my father, a few feet from my brother. So don’t talk to me about what the cartel is willing to do.”

His voice had been rising as he spoke, and by the time he got to the end of it, he was shouting. She looked at him as though he’d sprouted horns.

Glancing back down at his friend, he saw José had nearly reached the bottom of the hill. Once he started climbing, he’d be there in a matter of seconds. Matt wondered how much he’d overheard.

“Go,” he told Skylar, refusing to look at her now that he’d laid bare his grief. “Pretend like we never talked.”

“Shall I also pretend like we never made love?” she asked, deliberately scathing, before moving away and beginning the hike back down the trail.

She lifted her hand as she passed José, but didn’t stop. Instead, she kept going, back toward the ranch house, moving away. Away from him and out of his life.

Though he knew this was all for the best, that didn’t stop it from hurting.

* * *

Pigheaded man. Skylar strode past a startled José, steaming back toward the ranch. She was a trained federal agent. She could help him. Why couldn’t he accept her words at face value? If he wanted justice, she was willing to help him capture the man or men responsible and make sure they stood trial.

She would not, however, be a party to murder or illegal ammo sales. Not even for him.

The distance was farther than she’d remembered and the sun beamed down hotly. She began wishing for water after ten minutes, and the unfamiliar soreness of her body turned into an actual ache by the time the ranch house came into sight.

Also, for no good reason, she felt perilously close to tears.

Stupid man. And foolish Skylar. Because for the first time in a long time, she hadn’t made her job her number one priority. She’d let her cover be blown, and rather than try to bluff her way out of the discovery, she’d actually
admitted
the truth about who she was. That was her first mistake.

Her second was even worse. Despite everything, she’d actually begun to care for someone who cared only about revenge.

Hurrying to her trailer, she let Talia out and then began packing to leave.

* * *

“Are you all right?” José asked when he reached the area where Matt stood. “I knew something was wrong when one of the field hands reported Saint running around saddled but without a rider.”

“I’m fine. Did you make sure Saint was unsaddled and brushed out?”

“Of course.” José looked disgusted that Matt had even asked. Though he wasn’t a horse person per se, he took pride in making sure Matt’s animals were well taken care of.

“He’s back in the barn, safe.”

“Good. What about the mare Skylar took? Did you find her, too?” Matt asked, starting out for home.

“Yep. What the hell happened to you?” José eyed him up and down. Matt knew he looked like crap, covered in mud and grass with a bit of blood thrown in for good measure.

“Someone took a few potshots at me,” he said. “I squeezed off a few of my own, and I’m thinking I scored a hit, judging from the amount of blood.”

“Are you all right?”

Matt nodded, indicating his arm where he’d used a strip torn from his shirt as a makeshift bandage. “Surface wound. He barely hit me.”

“Do we need to get you looked at?”

Matt suspected José already knew the answer to that, so he didn’t bother answering. Instead, he focused on what they needed to do next.

“I want word sent that I need to meet with Diego immediately,” Matt said. “This is a bunch of bull.”

José raised a brow. “I doubt it’s Diego’s men who are shooting at you.”

“You don’t think so? It’s either them or someone from La Familia. Either way, Diego knows who did this.”

“You might be right.” Now José looked pissed. “I’m thinking whoever it is might be trying to locate where you’ve got it stored. Getting a good price on it is one thing. Getting it for free is something else entirely.”

They’d talked at length about this possibility. No one except the two of them had any idea where the ammunition was stored. Matt wanted to keep it that way.

“What about the Fed?” José asked, gesturing in the direction Skylar had gone. “How was she involved?”

“She wasn’t at first. I was out riding alone at dawn like I sometimes do. When I caught sight of one of them and tried to chase him down, the others opened fire.”

“Were you...”

“Nope, nowhere near the caves.” At least this was a bit of good news. He grimaced. “I never saw the rest of the shooters until they jumped into their vehicle. But I still think I got one of them.”

“They’re probably aware you’re a sharpshooter,” José put in.

“You think? I don’t know about that. Either way, Skylar showed up and covered my back. She hit one, too.”

José stared. “Seriously?”

Matt described what had happened.

“Damn.” José hurried to keep pace. “So now she knows Mexican cartel members are involved. Great, just great.”

“Of course she does. Who else would be searching my land? ATF agents wouldn’t look without a search warrant, despite sending Skylar here undercover.”

José’s expression turned even grimmer. “Do you think they found the caves?”

“No. That I’m sure of. The sensors didn’t go off, which means no one got within ten feet of the caves.”

“Yeah, but still. It’s bad they had the balls to show up here.”

“And shoot at me. I’m not sure what the outcome would have been if Skylar hadn’t shown up.”

“I don’t like the way you say her name.” The look José shot him was both disgruntled and worried.

Matt shrugged again. They walked in silence for a bit, each man lost in his own thoughts.

“I told her almost everything,” Matt said as he and José reached the bottom of the first hill and strode across the pasture. Skylar was no longer anywhere in sight.

“You did what?” José stared at him, shock and disbelief written all over his face.

“I told her the truth.”

“All of it?”

Picking his steps carefully, Matt nodded. “Almost.”

José winced. “Why’d you go and do that, man?”

Silence. They were almost at the house.

Since Matt hadn’t responded, José asked the question again.

“We, uh, made love.” He didn’t use the far more crude term he might have because this was Skylar he was talking about. The slight narrowing of his friend’s eyes told him José had noticed.

“So she got to you. I hate to say I told you so, but, dude, I’ve seen that coming for a while.”

Matt shrugged. He supposed he should have felt angry or betrayed or worried. Instead, he felt a weird sense of relief, strangely glad the subterfuge was over.

“Do you think she believed you?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I also told her she has to leave.”

“Oh, no.” José shook his head. “That’s the worst thing you could have done. Revealing the truth to her was bad enough. If she goes, you know she’ll make a report on everything. That could seriously mess things up.”

Considering his friend’s words, Matt stepped up onto his rear porch, entering his house through the back door.

Once inside, he got them both bottled water, taking a deep pull of the cold liquid before speaking. “What are you suggesting?”

“You need to keep her here.” Water bottle in hand, José began to pace, a sure sign of his agitation. Matt watched him, wishing the tightness in his chest would ease up and wondering if he’d really made a mistake in talking honestly to Skylar. It didn’t feel like it. But that could also be because they’d made love.

Made love.
He nearly snorted out loud. Who was he really kidding—José? It had been sex. A purely physical thing, nothing more. And he knew once José thought about it, he would try to figure out a way to use that tidbit of information to manipulate Skylar somehow.

Which would actually be perfect, except...Matt didn’t want to do that.

So he closed his mouth and watched as José struggled to come up with a plan.

Finally, José stopped, right in front of the window that overlooked the guest trailer. “She’s loading up her car. You’ve got to stop her.”

Matt didn’t move. “Why? If she knows we’re not trying to sell ammo, she’ll tell her superiors at the ATF and they’ll leave us alone.”

Without taking his gaze from the window, José shook his head. “First off, they’ll never believe her. If—and this is a big
if
—she actually thinks you told her the truth and puts this in her report to her supervisors, they’ll think it’s a story fabricated to throw them off the scent.”

“So? Either way, it’ll keep the ATF out of our hair. I send her away and refuse to let anyone else onto the ranch.”

Now José faced him, his expression grim. “And then what? The ATF sends someone else. What if this leaks to the cartel? You know they have moles everywhere. That’s the last thing you need.”

Matt cursed.

“So once again, I ask you, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, obviously.” Dragging his hand through his hair, Matt exhaled. “She had my back in the shoot-out. That’s got to count for something.”

“She was just doing her job,” José said, turning his attention once again to the window. “I still think you should go down there,” he said. “Of course, it’s your decision, but the enemy we know is better than the enemy we don’t. If keeping her here will keep the ATF out of our hair...”

Finally, Matt pushed himself away from the wall. “Fine. I’ll go talk to her. Though what I could possibly say to convince her this time to hang around, I have no idea.”

“You’ll think of something.”

Matt only hoped his friend was right. Jaw clenched, he headed outside and down to the trailer.

Chapter 10

T
he VW’s doors were open and Skylar had begun stacking her belongings on the backseat. As Matt approached, she emerged from the trailer with a large duffel bag. At the sight of him, her entire body stiffened.

“Yes?” she asked, her voice chilly. Talia, staying close to Skylar’s side, wagged her tail and cocked her head uncertainly.

“I came to apologize,” he said, winging it and hoping like hell he managed to make sense by the time he was through. “I shouldn’t have treated you that way.”

When she didn’t respond, instead continuing to regard him suspiciously, he knew he’d have to say more. But what?

Since honeyed words and such were foreign to him, he took a deep breath and went with the truth. “Don’t go.”

This stopped her in her tracks. Staring at him, her frown deepening, she narrowed her eyes. “Again? Make up your mind. You just told me, not even an hour ago, that I had to leave.”

“I know.” Eating crow was never pleasant, but he swallowed his pride and continued, “I was wrong. Please stay.”

“You’re like a yo-yo, you know that? This is the second time you’ve done this and then changed your mind.” She continued to regard him suspiciously. “Why?”

“Because I need your help.” Simply put, the instant he spoke he realized it was the truth. “Now that you know what I’m trying to do...”

Though she still stared at him, to his relief she slowly lowered the duffel bag to the ground. “Are you serious?”

“Definitely.”

Her gaze searched his face. “You want me to help you catch the men who killed your family?”

Since no more words were necessary, he simply nodded.

“It won’t bring them back, you know.”

Anger flashed through him. What did someone like her know of loss, especially the kind of loss he’d suffered? Squashing that fury, he spoke carefully. “I’m aware of that. But my family’s honor requires this.”

She cocked her head, considering his words. “I’ll help you, but I have several conditions.”

“Go on.”

“One, if we catch these guys, we’ll arrest them and make sure they stand trial.”

Crossing his arms, he didn’t bother to tell her how unrealistic that idea was. The government of Mexico was so corrupt, so afraid of the cartels, that if Diego and his men here in the U.S. were arrested, once they were extradited they’d be given a free pass to freedom.

And then their vengeance would be a bloodbath.

When he didn’t respond, Skylar narrowed her catlike eyes. “Do you agree?”

He sighed. Though he hated to lie, he suspected if he told her the truth she’d refuse to stay. And despite the fact that he figured she wouldn’t be satisfied with a half-truth, he still gave it a shot. “I’ll consider that possibility.”

“Not good enough,” she responded, crossing her own arms. “I’m sworn to uphold the law. I will not help you murder a man in cold blood.”

Suddenly, despite José’s warning, Matt realized he’d had enough. “The fact that you could say such a thing makes me wonder how much you actually know about the Mexican drug cartels,” he said, his voice harsh. “Are you truly familiar with the way they operate?”

“Of course I am,” she responded. “I’ve read up on them. Their crimes are notorious.”

“Reading up is not going to cut it. You need to experience it in person. Go hang out in some of the border towns, even on the U.S. side. I promise you that you’ll see and hear things that will help you realize these men are no more than animals. Cold-blooded killers.”

“Maybe so, but they’re still entitled to a fair trial,” she said stubbornly.

“Fair?” His voice dripped with scorn. “The cartels don’t know the meaning of that word.”

She took a step closer. “Take it or leave it,” she said softly. “I’m not staying any other way.”

Damn. Matt considered himself an honorable man, but she left him no choice. After all, she wouldn’t be able to stop what he meant to do when the time came.

Unfortunately, this meant that once again he was back to lying.

“Fine,” he said, glad she didn’t know him well enough to be able to know when he wasn’t telling the truth. “We’ll try it your way.”

Regarding him in silence, she stood a moment longer. Finally, dipping her chin in a nod, she turned and carried her duffel bag back to the camper.

She made two more trips, waving off his offer to help. When she’d finished, she dusted off her hands. “Let’s go talk to José,” she said. “I’m guessing he’s watching us right now from your house.”

He felt a quick flash of discomfort. With anyone else, he’d have wondered how much she knew of José’s involvement. But since she was ATF, she’d no doubt been briefed. José was wise to want to keep her around.

“I have to ask one favor first,” he said. “I need you to keep all of this out of any reports you make. Just in case there’s a leak, you understand.”

To his surprise, she chuckled. “You know, if I tried to report something like this, they’d want to work with you to set up a sting.”

“If they believed me, that is.”

Looking thoughtful, she nodded. “You do have a point. I’ll keep quiet, for now. But I won’t do anything illegal, understood?”

“Perfectly.” He dredged up a smile. “I appreciate the favor. Come on, let’s go find José.”

José waited exactly where Matt had left him. Arms crossed, he watched them approach, unsmiling.

Apparently undeterred, Skylar walked up to him and stuck out her hand. “José Nivas? I’m Skylar McLain.”

At first Matt thought José wouldn’t respond, but finally he shook, quick and fast. “Matt told me you’re helping us now.”

She smiled modestly. “As much as I can. What do you need me to do?”

Matt waited to hear what his friend would say.

“Whatever Matt wants,” José finally said, lobbing the ball back into Matt’s court.

Fine. He’d always been good at winging it.

“Do you make reports?” Matt asked, realizing what he needed her to do.

Skylar nodded. “Of course.”

“How often?

She shrugged. “When I can. If nothing is going on, every couple of days.”

“I want you to make a report now. Tell them you’ve discovered the location of the ammo.”

“But I haven’t...” She bit her lip. When she spoke again, her voice had gone flat. “You want me to lie to my boss.”

“You said you’d do whatever it took to help me,” Matt pointed out. “I can’t take the chance of them trying to interfere.”

“Then I make the bust, the arrest. Right?”

Hating that he had to lie, but well aware that he’d long ago vowed to do whatever it took, he nodded. “Right.”

He watched while she considered, her internal struggle plain on her face. When she finally nodded, he resisted the urge to share a high five with José.

“Where do you want me to say it is?” she asked.

For this, he looked at José. “What do you think?”

José shrugged. “You’ve only got a couple of choices. You could say you rented a warehouse in town.”

“No. That’s too easy to check out.”

“Okay. We can’t say any of the barns—we don’t want to endanger the horses.”

“True.” Matt thought. “The tack room and office aren’t big enough. We’ve got the hay storage building. What about there?”

“Who in their right mind would put explosive ammunition with highly flammable hay?” Skylar pointed out. “I’m not sure anyone would believe that.”

“Good point.”

“What about the ruins?” José finally spoke up, referring to a pile of rocks that had once been the ranch homestead a hundred or so years ago.

“All that’s left of that is the chimney,” Matt said. “Where could we hide anything?”

“The cellar.” Now José grinned. “It’s fully intact. Remember you were talking about using it for a tornado shelter, if you could move it closer to this house?”

“Perfect.” So perfect, in fact, that Matt had to wonder why they hadn’t actually stored the ammunition there. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to secure than the caves. He’d had to install steel doors like a bank vault with a keypad to which only he knew the combination. And as a further security measure, he’d set up remote security cameras.

“We could actually move it there,” José said, as if he’d read Matt’s mind, “and then leak the real location instead. Maybe even leave a few boxes there as a decoy.”

“Damn, that’s brilliant.” Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Matt grinned back. “But since I’ve got the true hiding place all secured, I don’t want to move anything, not with the cartel snooping around.”

Glancing at Skylar, he noted her frown as she followed the conversation. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You’re both acting like this is a game.”

Behind her, José rolled his eyes. “
Chica,
it
is
a game.”

With a stubborn tilt to her chin, she ignored him, keeping her gaze trained on Matt. “Is it a game to you, too?”

Abruptly, he sobered. “No, Skylar. It’s not. It’s intensely serious. But sometimes, it helps to joke to break up the tension.”

“I see.” She tried to summon up a smile, falling short. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t find the humor in what I’m about to do. I’ve never made a false report in my life. I could lose my job over this.”

Now she’d succeeded in crushing his earlier optimism. “Once again, I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. If you can’t make the report, we’ll figure out something else.”

Once again, the choice was hers.

Crossing to her, Matt put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Go back to your trailer, play with your dog and think about what you want to do. We don’t need a decision immediately.”

From the rigid way she held herself, he could well imagine what she’d choose. When she moved away from him, she wouldn’t meet his gaze, reinforcing his hunch.

“All right. I’ll be down at my camper. I’ll let you know later what I’m going to do.”

At the doorway, she turned. “When I get back, I’d like to go for a ride. I find it helps me clear my head. I’ll take out the same mare I rode earlier, if that’s all right with you.”

“No, I’d prefer you didn’t.” Matt smiled to take the edge of his words. “I have another horse I want you to try. We’ll go together.”

Instead of accepting his offer, she narrowed her gaze. “Safely in numbers and all that?”

He nodded.

“I’ll be back in under an hour,” she said. “We’ll ride then.”

Both Matt and José watched in silence as she walked away.

Once she was out of sight—and hearing—José cursed. “I don’t think she’s going to be of any help at all.”

“I agree.” Refusing to let the knowledge get him down, Matt set his jaw. “So we’d better come up with an alternate plan.”

“Yeah, especially since I have news. I didn’t want to tell you in front of her, but I heard from Diego’s man,” José said, his voiced laced with calm resolve. “He’s agreeable to a meeting with you, the sooner the better.”

Matt pushed away the fierce rush of joy. “Where? I refuse to go down to Matamoros.”

“You’re in luck, then. I don’t think they want to take a chance with border patrol. As you suspected, they must have people on this side of the border. He’s sending someone to talk to you.”

Instantly, Matt shook his head. “No good. I meet with Diego himself or no one.”

“Hear me out.” José held up his hand. “This is the first meeting. There’s no way he’s going to handle this himself. It takes time to instill a sense of trust. They’re going to want proof that you can deliver.”

José made sense. Still, he didn’t like it. “Proof? As in what, show them the ammunition?”

“Pretty much,” José said. “We can do that. Blindfold whoever they send, drive him around the ranch and then let him see the ammo.”

“Fine,” Matt agreed, blowing his breath out. “As long as we don’t give them any clue where it’s really hidden.”

“About that,” José said. “I think it’s time to move it off the ranch. Have you given any thought to my idea of renting a warehouse in town?”

Scratching his head, Matt nodded. “I have, though I like the abandoned-cellar idea better. I’ll be honest, though. It sounds too risky. We’d have to move it in secret, in small increments, and there’s a huge chance someone would see it.”

“I take it that’s a no, then?”

“I’ll think about it.” Matt wouldn’t, and they both knew it. “Right now, I think it’s safest where it is.”

With a grimace, José dipped his chin to show he understood. “I’m curious. What are you going to do with all that ammunition once you accomplish what you want?”

Matt smiled. “Donate it, if I can. I’d like to give it to underbudgeted police departments or something.”

Apparently surprised, José gave a grudging nod. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Will you look into that for me?”

“Sure.” José’s expression turned troubled. “What about me?” he asked quietly. “What am I supposed to do once you’re gone?”

“Gone?” Attempting to lighten the mood, Matt gave the man he considered a brother a light punch in the arm. “I have no plans to go anywhere.”

“Humph.” José made a rude noise. “Messing around with La Familia? If you don’t get killed trying to get Diego, you’ll probably end up doing some jail time.”

“Not if I do it right.” Infusing his voice with more optimism than he felt, Matt shook his head. “No worries, old friend. Whatever happens, I’ll make sure you have a job here.”

José looked away, but not before Matt caught a glimpse of something strange crossing his friend’s face.

“What’s wrong, man?” Matt asked.

Jaw rigid, José sighed. “I don’t like this. I think we should have gone with the original plan. It’d be way better if you could get into Mexico and take him down there. Drug-cartel killings are so common there that the
policia
barely notice them anymore.”

“We already discussed that. Too much risk. Once I shot him, I’d never get away. The cartels have too many eyes. Someone would take me down long before I could make it back across the border.”

“Maybe.” A hint of stubborn defiance sparked in José’s eyes. “But with you being a sharpshooter and all—”

“I’d need a specialized type of weapon, impossible to get through customs and difficult to obtain in Mexico without someone noticing.”