Kade: Armed and Dangerous Page 8

  Kelsey pulled away, her lips parted and moist from his kiss, her eyes glittering in the dim light. “I can’t do this, Kade.” She released him and backed away.

  He hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his Wrangler jeans. “Do what, Kelsey? Kiss?”

  Kade imagined a flush staining her cheeks in the darkness. “A casual relationship.” She cleared her throat. “I’m just not a casual kind of woman.”

  “And I’m not a casual kinda man.” Kade tried to step toward Kelsey, but she moved back again. “All right, darlin’. First things first. Let’s get to be friends and see if it takes us anywhere. Is that fair?”

  “Friends.” Kelsey raked her hair away from her face. “Okay.”

  Kade held the screen door open. “Have you thought about dinner with me?”

  “No.” Avoiding his eyes, she ducked past him and entered the house.

  He shut the door slowly, keeping it from slamming and making any noise. “Why not?”

  Kelsey’s heart pounded as she watched Kade kick off his boots and toss his hat onto the rack. “It’s not a good idea. I don’t want to go there.” Now that is a bald-faced lie, she told herself, trying not to show it in her expression.

  “You keep saying that.” He caught her hand and pulled her to him. “But I haven’t heard a single good reason. We can go as friends.” Kelsey studied her pink-painted toenails, struggling to calm her raging desires. She had to remember why she couldn’t develop a relationship with him.

  He lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look into his azure eyes. “What does it take to cross your border, Kelsey?”

  With a slight shiver, she stepped back and pulled her hand away from him. “This border is closed. Indefinitely.”

  Kade smiled and gazed at her with a look that turned her heart inside out. “I can wait.”

  Chapter 8

  Douglas had seen its better days at least three decades ago. Memories from Kade’s childhood flickered through his mind like a series of postcards as he sauntered toward the place that had once been the town’s only drugstore.

  The building had changed. Hell, the whole town had changed since those times he’d perched next to his father at the drugstore counter, drinking a malted milkshake. Every Saturday when he was a kid it’d been their routine, when the man who fathered him was still around.

  Smoke and sour beer filled his nostrils as he stepped into the dim recesses of Mario’s Cantina, the drugstore-turned-bar. He waited for his eyes to adjust and forced himself to focus on the upcoming meeting with Jorge Juarez, a flighty contact he’d been developing.

  The seedy tavern/discotheque bore no resemblance to that sunny milkshake bar of Kade’s childhood. Bright-red-and-chrome chairs had been replaced by black vinyl bar stools, cracked with neglect and pitted by cigarette burns. It was mid-afternoon, and the only occupants were a couple of habitual barflies he recognized from previous visits. The men were hunched over as they sat on stools and nursed beers.

  Kade slid into a corner booth where he could keep an eye on the front door yet remain close enough to the bar’s back room, so that he could slip out the rear door if necessary. He’d already scoped it out and the alleyway was clear. He laid one hand on the scarred table-top, the waxy buildup under his palm a good indication the surface hadn’t received a decent scrubbing in a long time.

  The waitress was new, younger than the woman who usually worked the day shift. With a practiced eye for detail, he sized her up in one glance—young and accustomed to using her body to get what she wanted.

  Not much over five feet, she wore a tight blouse, unbuttoned just far enough to expose the tops of her full breasts. Her skirt stopped at her upper thighs and hugged her hips so high that she’d be giving peep shows if she didn’t pull the material down. Black hair flowed to the middle of her back, and she’d applied her makeup with a heavy hand.

  If Kade hadn’t noticed the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, the years of experience in her eyes, he would’ve wondered if the woman was old enough to be employed in the bar.

  She tossed her hair back and stood with one hand on her hip and her breasts pushed forward. “A drink, señor?”

  He nodded. “Michelob on tap.”

  Within a couple of minutes, the waitress returned with a hefty mug and slid it in front of him, her rows of gold bracelets clattering as she moved. She stood so close he could smell the cheap perfume she wore. “You are alone, señor?”

  “Yeah.” With his drink in his left hand, Kade leaned back in the seat and felt his gun dig into his lower back. Out of habit, he kept his right hand close to his side, within reach of the closer weapon concealed beneath the unbuttoned blue shirt that he wore over his T-shirt.

  “Mari,” a man shouted from the back room.

  The woman called Mari scowled but managed to brush one hip against Kade as she turned away. Amusement flickered within him at the not-so-subtle message.

  His thoughts turned to Kelsey and he smiled. Damn but she’d felt good in his arms when they’d danced. Too bad he’d had to work so late last night before dropping by the clubhouse. He would’ve liked nothing better than to have been with her the whole evening. She was fighting it, but he knew she was attracted to him. He could see it in her eyes, and the way she watched him when she didn’t think he was looking.

  He glanced at his watch, and just as he wondered if his contact would show, Juarez slunk in through the open door.

  With a nervous glance around the bar, the slight man hurried to Kade’s booth.

  “Juarez.” Kade took a sip of his beer.

  The man answered in Spanish, his black gaze darting around the room. “This is too dangerous. I could be killed.”

  “Tell me what you know,” Kade replied in the same language, keeping his voice level and never taking his eyes off his informant. The man owed him too much to back out now.

  Juarez shifted in his seat. “The smuggler is someone who has long been known in this town. I do not yet know his name, but I am afraid. I’ve heard too many stories of how he deals with those who cross him.”

  “What do you know?” Kade repeated as he saw Sal Valenzuela and Don Mitchell walk into the cantina. Neither man glanced in Kade’s direction before taking seats at a table in the far corner of the bar. Both knew better than to acknowledge Kade and take the chance of disrupting his work.

  Juarez licked his lips. “This man. He owns a business and has many friends. Few enemies because no one knows what he truly is.” He clenched his fist, and his dark features contorted, but he kept his voice low. “A monster who cares little if the people he smuggles die. Like they are nothing more than animal skins to lie upon the floor and trample.”

  Kade gripped the handle of his still-full beer mug. “I can’t bring back Maria, but I can bring this scum to justice. What else have you got?”

  “One of the coyotes called him El Torero,” Jorge whispered. “The matador, a killer. I am very afraid, amigo.”

  “What else?”

  “Nada.”

  The tap of heels on the scored linoleum alerted Kade to Mari’s return. Before Kade could thank him, Juarez slipped out the front door to vanish into the hot summer afternoon.

  Mari stopped at Kade’s booth and pressed her pelvis to the edge of the table. “Do you need anything else?” The lustful glint in her eyes told him exactly what she meant.

  He stood, towering over the petite woman. “No thanks.” He dropped a ten on the table and headed out the door.

  Later that evening, when Kade arrived home, he was disappointed to find Kelsey wasn’t back from her interview. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been looking forward to seeing her.

  When he climbed into the shower, he ran it as hot as possible, cleaning the day’s grime from his body. All he could think of was Kelsey. That kiss the night they met and then the one after the dance. The flames that raged beneath her skin and set him on fire.

  He had to switch the water from hot to cold. That or take
care of business in the shower.

  After he’d gotten it about as cold as he could take, he finished up, then toweled off. His thoughts never strayed from Kelsey, and his erection throbbed as he squared off in front of the mirror to comb his hair. He was buck naked when the door opened and Kelsey walked into the bathroom.

  She froze, her gaze riveted below his waist and the erection he still had from thinking about her. Her eyes shot up to his face and she turned a deep shade of crimson.

  Kade raised an eyebrow and tried to hide a grin.

  “Oh, my God,” Kelsey said with a horrified expression. “I—I’m so sorry.” She backed out the door and shut it behind her, and then he heard her own door close across the hall.

  Kade dressed in clean jeans and a T-shirt, and felt a whole lot better—not to mention a whole lot more turned on after Kelsey had walked in on him. He was still smiling when he wandered into the kitchen and saw her at the table. She had on her gold-rimmed glasses that managed to make her look even sexier.

  He hitched one shoulder up against the door frame and just watched her as she scribbled notes into a notebook. A strand of golden hair fell across her forehead and her lips were pursed as she concentrated. Her nipples were hard beneath her pink blouse and he wondered if she was thinking about seeing him naked.

  “Kade.” She glanced up from her notebook and turned red again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the shower and I expected it to be locked if someone was in there.”

  He gave her a lazy smile, taking in her curves and sensual lips. “No problem.”

  “Another tough day?” She seemed desperate to change the subject.

  “Yeah, but it’s been getting better by the minute.” He winked.

  She bit her lower lip before she grabbed her things from the table and pushed back her chair to stand. “Do you have time for our interview?”

  “I always have time for you, darlin’.” Kade moved away from the wall and stepped so close to Kelsey that she had to look up to see his face.

  She placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her velvety brown eyes as if she were angry. “Listen, cowboy. You’d better behave.” But he saw the warmth and humor that warred with her desire to keep him at a distance.

  “Come on outside, and I’ll show you Mom’s goldfish pond.” He jerked his head toward the front door. “We can sit in the swing, and you can ask whatever you’d like.”

  She hesitated, then nodded. In comfortable silence, they walked through the house and out the front doors, and then the short distance to the pond.

  The sky was overcast and the air was muggy and warm, the sun just settling above the Mule Mountains. Cattails and flowers sprouted from Sadie’s pond, and lily pads floated on the surface. Kade and Kelsey stopped before the small waterfall that tumbled into the pond, and water splashed over their shoes.

  Kelsey knelt beside the pond. “I didn’t know goldfish grew to be that large.”

  Kade squatted next to her and pointed to an almost translucent fish speckled with bluish black. “That one and the black ones with gold stripes are Japanese koi.”

  “This is all gorgeous.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I love it here on the ranch. So relaxing and peaceful. What a difference from living in the city.”

  With his head cocked to one side, Kade studied her. All he could think of was how much he’d wanted her from the time he caught her watching him in the airport. This wasn’t a woman to simply enjoy sex with. This was a woman to spend a lifetime with.

  “Think a city girl like you could get used to living in the country?” he asked.

  “Who knows.” Kelsey seemed oblivious to the desire that burned beneath his words, beneath his skin. She shrugged and stood. “I’ve only been here a few days, but I think I could easily fall in love with this part of the world. Although I’d probably miss shopping in the Embarcadero and going to my favorite little place near the wharf for clam chowder and sourdough bread.” She ran her tongue along her lower lip, and he had to restrain himself to keep from leaning over and kissing her.

  Kade more than liked the thought of Kelsey staying in Arizona. “Thinking about moving away from Frisco?”

  Kelsey didn’t answer for a moment, as if deciding how much she should say. “Before I left, I considered moving to Tucson, but I wasn’t sure if I would like Arizona. Now that I’m here, I know I would, and I’m ready for a change. When I finish this feature, I plan to interview with Tucson Today magazine.”

  With a sigh, she turned to Kade. “Now about my questions for you...”

  “Why don’t we sit in the swing and you can fire away?” He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops, which helped him keep his hands off Kelsey. He’d probably only scare her off, and that was the last thing he wanted.

  She glanced to the swing and back to Kade.

  He smiled. “I promise I don’t bite.”

  Chapter 9

  “I know for a fact you do bite,” Kelsey said, then heat crept up her face as she remembered his kisses and how he’d nipped at her lower lip.

  “Got me there.” Kade eased his big frame into the swing that was wide enough for three grown adults. “How about I promise I won’t bite... for now?”

  She tried to glare at him, but the mischievous glint in his eyes made it hard to be irritated or even mad at him.

  His face grew serious as she settled into the cushioned swing. “I can tell you about the Border Patrol, and some of what we do, but due to the nature of my job you can’t use my name.”

  Kelsey tipped her head to the side. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

  “I work intelligence.” He watched the intent expression on her face as he spoke. “A lot of what I do is classified.”

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  Kade stretched out his long legs. “I can put you in touch with Miguel Martinez, Special Operations Supervisor. You can talk to him on the record.”

  “Thanks.” Kelsey turned her cell to record mode. “What’s a day like for a Border Patrol agent?”

  “Among other things, tracking and cutting sign,” Kade said.

  Kelsey adjusted her glasses as she glanced at him. “Can you ex-plain?”

  “A trail begins when we locate sign of people crossing the desert.” Kade leaned back and relaxed against the swing’s cushions. “We usually start our search along roads the Border Patrol maintains.”

  Kade loved the light in her eyes when she was obviously in journalist mode, wholly focused on what he was saying.

  “What types of sign?” she asked.

  “Sign can be footprints, a scrap of clothing,” he said, “or garbage that’s been discarded.”

  Kelsey scrawled a note on her pad of paper. “How do you maintain the roads?”

  “By pulling tires behind the vehicle.” Kade raised his arms and laced his fingers behind his head. “That makes a relatively smooth surface to help us more easily see footprints. Even if the UDAs try to eliminate their sign by walking backward, or by using other methods, we can usually determine where they’ve crossed.”

  “When you locate sign, how do you know how old it is?” she asked.

  “By a variety of factors.” He found himself studying Kelsey’s soft lips and had to make himself get back on topic. “We look to see what effect the weather may have had on the tracks, such as raindrops and wind. If it’s been awhile, detail will diminish. We can even tell if the UDAs are walking in daylight or after dark.”

  Kelsey glanced from the note she’d written on her pad. “How on earth would you do that?”

  “If the tracks head up to a bush, even though the person could’ve walked around it, more than likely they were walking at night.” She chewed the end of her pencil, staring at her notes. “Any other methods?”

  “Animal tracks assist in aging the trail. Most desert animals move around at night, so if we find animal sign on the trail at five o’clock in the afternoon, it may not be fresh.”

  He wanted to grin because her expression was so serious
. “What happens once you find a trail?”

  “We have to describe it to other trackers who haven’t seen it.” He shifted and put his arm on the back of the seat. “Rather than relaying several types over the radio, we locate the most distinct tracks and describe them.”

  Kade pushed off with one foot and the swing started to rock. “Other agents work ahead to find the trail on roads that intersect the path. If an agent picks up the trail, he’ll attempt to match the sign described by the agent who originally cut the sign. We continue until we catch the UDAs, or until we can’t follow the tracks any longer.”

  She paused while she made a note. “How large are groups that come across the border?”

  “These days twenty to thirty UDAs at a time is normal.”

  For quite a while, Kade continued answering Kelsey’s questions, giving her a better idea of what the Border Patrol was about.

  Somehow the interview itself faded away, and they moved on to other topics. He shared information with her about the Southwest and his family, and she chatted about her job and living in San Francisco. She was amazed at how easy it was to talk with Kade, and how much she enjoyed his company.

  A door slammed and then Trent tore around the corner of the house, waving a piece of paper. “Kelsey Kelsey Kelsey,” he yelled, then skidded to a stop. “Look what I drew.”

  She smiled and caught the paper Trent thrust in her lap.

  “It’s a picture of you and Dad that I drew all by myself. Do you like it?” He hopped up and down on one foot, blue eyes flashing and brown hair flying in time with his movements. “Do you, do you?”

  With one finger Kelsey traced the crayon figures, surprised at the detail the almost-nine-year-old had drawn. In the picture, Kade wore a blue shirt and jeans, with Kelsey in pink, and they stood side by side. “It’s wonderful.” She looked from the drawing to the boy. “You’re very talented.”

  Trent grinned from ear to ear. “You really like it?”

  “Love it.”

  Kade reached for the picture. “Let me see, son.” He studied it with the seriousness of a true connoisseur. “A fine work of art.”