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They were all listening to him and had stopped working. Jace leaned on the handle of the shovel and Ridge chewed on a piece of hay. Beck crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“They go outside of Salvation to the medical center and law offices. Lois and Kenny are in counseling.”
“Counseling for what?” Beck asked.
Sparrow shook his head. “Don’t know, and if Gunner knows, he didn’t say a word.”
“We should call Helena,” Beck suggested.
“And say what? We have the hots for her best friend? I don’t think so. Maybe it’s a sign, a reason we shouldn’t let down our guard and take a chance on some woman we don’t even know. A woman who has baggage, apparently,” Ridge added.
“He’s got a point. None of us are exactly commitment types, and it seems to me a woman like Valentina would want and need commitment. You guys didn’t even ask her out on a date or over for dinner. You kissed her in the woods when she was crying and vulnerable,” Jace said to them, shocking Sparrow. So it seemed his brother Jace did have an interest in Valentina. after all.
“You sound jealous,” Beck stated.
“Fuck that. I’m not jealous. I could have kissed her.”
“With a gun to her throat? Yeah, that sounds about right and your way of getting a woman in bed. Gunpoint,” Ridge teased him and they chuckled.
“She and I don’t even get along,” Jace added.
“You both get under one another’s skin and neither of you are willing to admit to an attraction. You’ll remain stubborn and so will she,” Sparrow said to him.
“Then what’s the point?” Jace asked.
“The point is that we’re all in this together. We share women. We’ve done so in the past, and we felt content, just not fully into the woman. This is different. We all feel an attraction to Valentina. We’re concerned over her well-being and even her sister and nephew. That, right there, is more serious than any other relationship we’ve had,” Ridge said to them.
“What we had in the past weren’t relationships. They were weekend and week-long love affairs, wild times. We’re too old for that shit. At least, I’m too old for it,” Sparrow told them.
“I don’t think I’m in on this. It’s already too complicated and we haven’t even taken her to bed. Seems like trouble to me. A damn disaster,” Jace said, and they mumbled in agreement, but Sparrow looked at Beck and Ridge.
“We got time, let’s see what happens. We’re not going anywhere and neither is Valentina,” Ridge said, and they agreed.
* * * *
It had been four weeks since Valentina started the part-time job at the business center. She was working for the Texas Rangers, helping investigate issues of violent crimes. It was the overflow of information the Rangers needed investigated. It also involved interviewing victims to gather more information.
Valentina wasn’t too sure if she would like it at first. She was required to be law enforcement, to be trained and have some counseling experience, which she did. Working with victims of violent crimes was emotionally draining, especially since she was dealing with it herself on a personal level. Having Lois and Kenny in counseling was a step in the right direction. They were beginning to establish their own lives, and she was starting to pull back a little from being in control of Lois and the decisions she made.
Working here along other law enforcement officers made her feel a little more normal, like she was back on the job again. Helena had been right. Together, her law experience, her experience with counseling, and her experience dealing with the intensity of violent crimes were definitely helpful in the services the Rangers offered.
A lot of the women and children who came in were on edge and scared, some even angry. She had to filter through those emotions and get concrete information the detectives could use to investigate the crimes and gain knowledge of the suspects.
She liked being here and helping victims get the counseling, the financial and supplemental support they needed to move on with their lives in a positive fashion. She was also establishing a name for herself.
Valentina was looking forward to getting together with Helena. Helena had called her to meet up at the farm tomorrow to show Kenny the animals there.
“Valentina.” She heard her name and looked over toward her boss, Gus. He was a Texas Ranger and head of the department. They’d hit it off immediately.
She was filing some new paperwork for one of the clients and making sure the secretary got the right ones signed before the end of the day.
“I need to talk to you a minute,” Gus said and waved her over. She gave Liz, the secretary, a smile and then went into Gus’s office.
“What’s going on?” she asked him. He gave her a serious look as he walked around his desk and picked up a file.
“Okay, I have this case. It’s a tough one. I have all the information here. The thing is… I know we talked about your family situation. This is similar in a lot of ways. Roxie has three children, all under six years old. Her ex, a gangbanger, forced her to make some deliveries with the kids in the car and things went wrong. He came back to her apartment and messed her up good. The details are in the file. Whatever he did, he made sure that she won’t say a word to any of the detectives or Rangers. We can’t get a location on her ex, but she knows where he is. She’s our only lead.
There’s more. Samuel, her ex, shot a cop two months ago. The officer lived, but we never got our hands on him. He’s known to be abusive, confrontational, and irrational. We need information on this guy, and Roxie is holding out because she’s scared for her life.”
