Cowboy, Undercover Page 29

  “You never know.” Gil tried to keep a straight face. He really did.

  “It’s not funny,”

  Gil chuckled. “Yeah, buddy. It kinda is.”

  “Screw you.”

  Gil took his eyes off the road and grinned at his buddy. “It’s good to see you, too. You got any feeling back?”

  Isaac offered a one-shoulder shrug, but his expression was non-committal. “I get this tingling sensation sometimes. I don’t know. The doctors won’t say it’s nothing, because they don’t want me giving up all hope, but I can see it in their eyes, man. That look that all but says ‘you’re gonna have to learn to live with it.’

  “What about one of those spinal specialty places back east—”

  “Look, I appreciate your concern, and your help getting the ramp built at the house and all that, but can we talk about something else?”

  “Sure thing.”

  They lapsed into a comfortable silence, the wind rushing in through the truck’s open windows, the smell of fresh cut grass filling the truck as they passed a large hay field.

  “You move in with Tessa and the kid yet?”

  “We’ll get there.” Gil wasn’t in the mood to discuss his relationship with Tessa. On the one hand, it wasn’t where he wanted it to be, but on the other, it was much more than he’d ever imagined it would ever be.

  “But things are good with you two?”

  Gil drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel. “Yeah… Good. Really, really… good.”

  “You said that with the enthusiasm of a guy going in for a prostate exam. What gives?”

  The turnoff for the ranch was coming up. Gil slowed and took the bumps and ruts with extra caution. Isaac had assured him at one time that he couldn’t do any more damage to his spine than what had already been done, but Gil wasn’t taking any chances.

  “It’s kind of personal.”

  “And my lack of a boner isn’t?”

  “I didn’t ask. You volunteered.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Spill.”

  They came over a rise, and the big house and the barn came into view.

  “Tessa’s late,” Gil said, at last.

  “Late for…?”

  Gil gave him a pointed look, and Isaac snapped to. “Oh. Late. Late. As in congratulations?”

  “As in, what the fuck were we thinking.”

  “Oh.” The word sat between them. Fat and pregnant.

  Gil rolled on past the house and followed the dirt road back to his cabin. The two new veterans were due to arrive the next day, but he had the place to himself for one last night. He parked and killed the engine. Neither one moved to get out.

  “You know, there are ways you can find out for sure if you’ve got something to worry about,” Isaac said.

  “I bought her a test two days ago.”

  “And?”

  “She hasn’t taken it.”

  “Why?”

  He’d asked himself that about a million times over the last forty-eight hours. Tonight, after the party, he’d ask her that. “I don’t know. I think maybe because it could change everything? Things are going great. I love her. I love her kid. All in all, the relationship is in a good place, especially for a relationship with a woman who was only looking for good time. Adding a pregnancy to the mix…”

  Gil shook his head. Their decision back at Martin’s to have unprotected sex weighed heavy on him. He’d only recently fully come to understand what a pregnancy would mean for Tessa. For him. Still, he didn’t regret it, but often wondered if she might. “She wouldn’t be able to fly, she—”

  “Or,” Isaac raised his voice over Gil’s. “Or it could make things better. Talk to her.”

  If Wikipedia had a page on epic bonfires and barbecues, you’d find the Lazy S Ranch listed first. The buzz of voices and laughter mixed with the scent of tangy sauce, sausage, beans, and brisket.

  The fire popped and cracked, sending tiny red embers into the air. There were coolers and chairs and logs to sit on. Somewhere a radio was turned to a country music station, filling the void between the chatter and chuckles.

  Everyone was there. Dale, Lottie, and Pepita had returned from their trip to the UK. Dale manned the meat. Lottie stirred her world-famous beans over an open fire. Pepita had latched onto Jack, and they were off to one side, feeding treats to Sidney’s beer loving horse Eli who appeared miffed to find out no one had brought any real brew to the party.

  Alby and Santos settled into a good-natured argument with Hank, while Mac looked on, her hand on her ever-expanding belly and her eye on her husband. She had a white envelope in her hand, and she tapped it absently on the arm of her camp chair.

  Mia was around somewhere, but Tessa didn’t know where, and Massey hadn’t yet arrived.

  Gil had parked Isaac on one side of her and he had taken the seat on her other side. Jenna and Sidney came out of Sidney’s cabin with their arms loaded with plates and cups. Boomer and Quinn right behind them with the sweet tea, napkins, and cutlery.

  Tessa jumped up, her calf hardly complaining. “What can I do to help?”

  Jenna set the plates down on the folding table some of the guys had dragged down from the barn. “Sit. Enjoy. We’re done.”

  Boomer made a sharp whistle, and the conversations died. “Soups on.”

  A cheer went up. Gil stood, and asked Isaac, “What do you want?”

  Isaac deflated. He clearly didn’t want help. He glanced over at the table, and the growing buffet line, and she could see his gears whirling as he tried to figure out how he would manage his wheelchair in the dirt with a plate in his lap and a glass in his hand. Finally, he gave in and said, “A little bit of everything, I guess.”

  Tessa’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of her chair’s cup holder and must have made a face because Gil said, “Who is it?”

  “It’s my mother.”

  “You think it’s happened?”

  She blew out a breath and stood to take the call. “Gotta be. She never calls.”

  “Need me to stay?”

  Needing and wanting were two different things but dealing with her mother wasn’t anything he could help her with. However, knowing she wasn’t in this thing alone, wasn’t going through life alone, gave her strength. Before the call could go to voicemail, she accepted it and brought the phone to her ear.

  He kissed her on the forehead and whispered in her other ear. “Come find me when you’re done.”

  She nodded to Gil and said, “Hello, Mother.”

  “Tessa? Tessa, where are you? I can barely hear you.” Was that panic in her mother’s voice or was it the static?

  “Hang on, let me find a quieter spot.”

  She put a finger in her ear to block the noise until she could walk further away. She stopped at the high spot in the road before it dipped down, and she would lose the signal.

  “This better?” Tessa asked.

  “They’ve arrested your father.”

  Tessa had known this was coming. Spinks had told her a judge had already issued a warrant to search her father’s office and home, taking both hard copy and computer files. Between what they’d recovered, what Drew Ross had given up after being taken into custody, and now with Bradley making deals faster than a game show host to save his own skin, it had only been a matter of time.

  “Tessa? Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yeah, Mother. I heard you.”

  “I don’t know what to do, I—”

  She would give her mother the same advice she’d give anyone when dealing with a run in with the law. “You hire the damn good lawyer—”

  “I’ve done that. The news… The hateful things they’re saying about your father. And the reporters. They’ve camped outside our gates. I feel like a prisoner.”

  Yeah, a prisoner in a fifteen thousand square foot home on twenty acres appointed with every luxury dirty money could buy. Tessa tamped down on the guilt she felt for not feeling sorry for her parents.

  They’d gam
bled.

  They’d won.

  They’d lost.

  “Tell me, Mother. Tell me you knew nothing about this. That you didn’t know that Dad supplied weapons to the black market. Tell me that you didn’t know that that money was dirty, and that innocent women and children were dying because of his greed.”

  There was a long pause, and Tessa held the phone away from her ear to see if she’d lost the connection, but the call timer ticked away at the top of her screen.

  Tessa pinched the bridge of her nose, but it had no impact on the pounding headache building behind her eyes. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

  “I don’t know why I called you. I should have known you, of all people, would have no sympathy.”

  “I’m in law enforcement, Mother. If Dad broke the law—”

  “They can’t have much of a case. Your father said Bradley won’t talk and if their stories are straight, the law has nothing on them. I’m sure your father will make bail in no time.”

  If her mother only knew. Thanks to Massey and his new algorithm, they’d been able to backtrack the CoinIt data they thought had been permanently erased. Seems like that old saying was true, you can delete something, but it’s never really gone.

  Even on the Dark Web.

  Her mother had no clue. The authorities had a case. In fact, they had a compelling case.

  “Dad doesn’t know what I’ve always known about Bradley. Bradley looks out for number one. Always. Which means he’s making deals and spilling his guts.”

  Her mother sputtered on the other end, unable to form a coherent sentence.

  “You want my advice, Mother?” Tessa didn’t wait for an answer because she was going to give it whether her mother wanted to hear it or not. “I think you need to find yourself a good lawyer as well.”

  “Tessa.” Her mother scolded her like she was a little kid who’d said a cuss word.

  Tessa glanced down the hill at the campfire. Dusk had settled in and shifted toward dark. Gil stood in a group with Hank, Boomer, and Isaac, with a root beer in his hand. He tossed his head back, laughing at something Isaac said.

  Pepita had found a couple of riding helmets, and she and Jack were bareback on Eli, walking around with only a lead rope tied to the halter for reins. Jack laughed when Eli broke into a gentle trot around an old tree.

  These people. These people were her real family. They’d opened their arms and accepted her in a way her parents and Bradley never had. She’d never felt as loved and supported. They had her and Jack’s back, always.

  And Gil… He’d done the impossible, he’d given her back a piece of herself she hadn’t even known she was missing… her heart.

  “Goodbye, Mother.”

  Tessa hung up the phone, not waiting for a reply.

  “You okay?”

  At the sound of Mia’s voice, Tessa spun around. “Hey. Um… yeah.” But even as she said it, she shook her head no.

  “Family problems?”

  Tessa’s laugh came quick and hollow. “How’d you guess?”

  “It was either that, or guy problems, but you’ve got Gil, so…” Mia shrugged as if that was a complete answer.

  Mia stepped closer and raised a hand. Tessa wasn’t sure if Mia was going to hug her or—

  Mia’s hand landed on Tessa’s shoulder, giving her an awkward, but sincere pat. The veteran wasn’t the touchy-feely type, but she was trying. “Fuck family.”

  Tessa snorted. “Tell me about it.”

  “If you want to feel better, talk to me about mine sometime. You’ll think you won the jackpot in the family lottery.”

  Those two sentences were probably the most Mia had said to her all at one time. It wasn’t much, but slowly, it seemed like Mia was opening up.

  “Are you coming down to the fire, or are you heading out.” It was early even for Mia to head out into the bush for the night, but crowds weren’t her thing.

  Mia glanced over at everybody, a longing in her eye, instead of the usual quiet panic. It was unexpected. “I don’t know. I—”

  “Come on,” Tessa said. No wasn’t an option. Mia could leave whenever she wanted, but she was going. “One root beer, then you can go if you want.”

  Mia hesitated but gave Tessa one short nod. “One root beer.”

  At the last minute, Mia turned off and headed for the food. At least she came. Gil raised his arm and Tessa settled beneath it. To Quinn, Gil said, “Toss one of those to Tessa.”

  Quinn reached into a nearby cooler, twisted the top off a bottle of root beer and handed it to Tessa. She took a sip. “Thanks.”

  “Gil was giving us the play by play,” Quinn said. By the grin on his face, you would think Quinn was talking about a sporting event and not a helo crash.

  “More of a hard landing,” Gil said.

  Tessa pulled a face. “No. It was a crash. If you hadn’t—”

  Her throat tightened, and she cut herself off because she wasn’t going to go there. Not tonight.

  Quinn knew the dark corner where her mind had gone and deflected the attention when he said, “Lightweight. I’m one crash ahead of you.”

  Isaac stuffed a bite of brisket into his cheek and said to Quinn, “With a track record like that, the task force should give that new pilot your job, not hers.”

  “How is the new pilot?” Tessa was almost afraid to ask.

  “She’s good,” Quinn allowed. “Not you. But yeah, she’s good.”

  Not you, didn’t mean, not better. She couldn’t wait until she got her medical clearance and could fly again.

  Mac caught Hank’s attention. Hank raised a hand to her as if saying ‘give me a sec,’ then asked, “When do you think you’ll be back in the air?”

  Tessa stiffened, and the carbonation turned flat on her tongue. Gil gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. If she was pregnant, it could be a long time. Gil’s words came back to her, the words he’d spoken the day he’d bought her the pregnancy test. I don’t understand why you won’t take the test.

  It certainly would give them the answers to a lot of their questions. She wanted to take it. She did. As soon as she got it right in her mind what she wanted the outcome to be.

  On the one hand, she had worked her ass off as the lead pilot for the task force. She loved her work, was proud of what she’d accomplished and didn’t want to give that up. On the other hand, was Gil, and the prospect of a new baby, and all the joys and chaos that would bring into their lives.

  Gil nudged her with his hip and brought her back to herself. “Hank asked you when you thought you’d be back in the air.”

  “IA dropped their investigation allowing Spinks to drop my suspension. The leg’s healing well. If I get a clean bill of health from the flight surgeon next week, I could be back in the air shorty.” Or give or take nine months. Nine months. Which would give the other pilot plenty of opportunities to win Tessa’s job.

  “Good for you.” Isaac tipped his bottle toward her, and his smile came close to his eyes. From what Gil had told her, Isaac was struggling with his own recovery, trying to hold out hope he would make it back to the job, but his prospects didn’t look promising.

  But even if Isaac never regained his legs, there was plenty of good work he could do in law enforcement. It wasn’t like his career was over if he didn’t want it to be.

  Maybe you should take your own advice. Pregnancy is temporary. It’s not the end of the world, or even your career.

  Just take the damn test.

  Ok. Fine. She would. Tonight.

  She thought making that decision would tie her stomach up in knots, but if anything, a weight lifted, and she felt hungry for the first time in days.

  “I’m going to grab some food before it’s all gone.”

  “Hurry back,” Hank said as he let Mac pull him away from the group. “We’ve got an announcement.”

  Tessa returned to Gil with a full plate and a smile on her face he hadn’t seen in days.

  “What’s up
with you?” Gil said, unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

  “I’ve decided to take the test.”

  “Really?” Those six little words made his heart tumble, and suddenly the world sitting on his shoulders didn’t feel as backbreaking. Not only had Tessa agreed to take the test, she seemed happy about the idea. What had changed in the last few minutes? The barbecue was good, but it wasn’t that good. He grabbed her wrist and took a step toward the cabins. “Let’s go.”

  She dug in her heels but laughed. “Later. I want to hear the announcement.”

  Hank and Mac stood side by side. Hank’s arm around Mac’s waist. Boomer climbed onto one of the logs and let out a loud whistle. “Can I get everyone’s attention, Mac and Hank have something they wanna say.”

  Everyone quieted down. Sidney climbed onto the log next to Boomer. Pepita and Jack walked Eli to the outside of the circle of people. A van door slammed, and Massey crutched his way in from the road, stopping at the far edge.

  Mac waved the white envelope. “First, we are terrified—”

  “And excited,” Hank cut in.

  Though Mac looked more nauseated than anything. “And excited, to announce that we’re having twins.”

  The crowd went nuts. Cheering and high-fives all around. Hank had a proud look on his face like he was the prize bull set out at stud.

  When everyone settled down, Mac said, “I had my ultrasound. We were going to wait and be surprised on the sexes, but Hank won’t believe me when I say that they’re going to be boys. We decided instead of arguing, we’d find out, and he’ll know once and for all that I’m right.”

  Hank coughed into his hand, but he clearly said, “Girl.”

  “That’s where my money is, boss,” came Alby’s voice from somewhere in the crowd.

  “Boy,” Mac insisted.

  “Lucky for me,” Hank said, as he adjusted the hat on his head and widened his stance, “you’re not the one who decides that. They’re girls. So far I’m batting a thousand on that.”

  Jenna laughed. Mac rolled her eyes, and Hank reached up and tugged Mac’s ponytail.

  “Open it!” Isaac hollered out. There was a sparkle in his eyes that wasn’t there earlier.