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We get back to making out, and I’m ready to pick her up and carry her to bed when I hear a phone buzzing. I break my lips away from Megan’s and look around. My cell is on the counter, five feet away, vibrating.
“Don’t check it,” Megan urges.
I want to do as she asks, but I’ve been burned by not answering the phone before. When you’re a Texas Ranger, the next phone call could mean life or death for someone.
Including you.
And, in this case, it might be Carlos with news about the investigation that’s preoccupied my mind all evening.
“Hang on just a sec,” I say, squeezing out from under Megan.
She has a put-out expression on her face, and I don’t blame her. But it doesn’t stop me. I grab my phone and see it’s a message from my mom.
Can you come to the house and help your dad with something?
I huff in frustration and explain to Megan what the message is about.
“It can wait,” I say, setting the phone down.
But Megan is already tugging her dress back on, easing it down her body, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. There’s nothing worse than seeing a woman getting dressedbeforeyou’ve made love.
“I’m not in the mood to have a quickie so you can run off to other priorities,” she says, obviously irritated.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I should have ignored it. I tell you what. Let me go help my dad with whatever he needs. Then I’ll come back. We’ll turn my phone off. Hell, I’ll lock it up in my truck so it won’t distract us again. Whatever you want. I’m all yours for the rest of the night.”
She lifts her eyelids and the tiniest hint of a smile curves up her pursed lips.
“All right,” she says. “But don’t be long. I’m going to climb into your bed and wait. You better be back while I’m still in the mood.”
CHAPTER 26
I STEP OUT onto the porch, tugging my T-shirt back on.
I shake my head, cursing myself for answering the phone. I usually like living within a couple hundred yards of my parents’ house, happy to be close to them and help out whenever I can, but I’m irritated with them at the moment. Didn’t they see that I had company?
I trudge through the tall grass toward their home. The sun is setting, with the sky to the east already dark and the western horizon barely lit from the sun’s last dying ember. Fireflies start to light up around me. Out in the pasture, a couple of Mom and Dad’s horses whinny and snort like something’s got them irritated, but I’m lost in thought, trying to get my head straight about how I’m going to make this up to Megan.
As I approach the ranch house, I notice there’s an old pickup sitting in their driveway that I don’t recognize. I wonder what my parents could need my help with that their guests couldn’t do. Considering who’s back in my bed right now, I hope this is important.
And quick.
I open the back door by the kitchen. No need to knock. They’re expecting me.
“Mom?” I call, not seeing them anywhere. “Dad?”
“In here,” I hear someone call from Dad’s office.
It’s a man, but not Dad. I wonder for a moment what’s going on. Do they really need my help or is this some kind of surprise? Has an old friend come to visit? I don’t want this to take longer than necessary—I’ve got a woman waiting for me.
The door to the study is closed, and I open it and step through without hesitation. What I see freezes me to the bone.
Mom and Dad are seated in chairs, secured there with nylon ropes wrapped around their bodies and duct tape covering their mouths. Behind them stands a man dressed in black, with a ski mask hiding his face.
He holds a six-inch knife to Dad’s throat.
“Hold it right there, Ranger,” says another voice.
This voice comes from behind the door, as another masked man steps out and aims a small revolver directly at my face.
