Diana Palmer - Wyoming Bold

“I know. It’s okay,” she said, smiling at him.

Tank sat down in his own chair, but his eyes never left Merissa.

“Heard anything from the sheriff?” Carson asked.

Tank shook his head. “No, but he’ll let us know if he finds anything. Shame about that woman,” he added darkly. “I expect with a little incentive, she might have given something away.”

“Or not,” Carson added. “Men like that don’t choose partners for their loose tongues.” He crossed his long, muscular legs. “However, a little background check might turn up something.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Tank smiled at Carson, because he knew what the man was doing. He suspected there was a bug in the hospital room. He was upping the ante, giving the shadowy assassin something more to worry about.

“Unless she was working for the government in deep cover, she isn’t invisible. Someone will have known her. Your friend the sheriff will run her through the NCIC database and see what shows. I’m betting she’s got a rap sheet. Not too long, maybe. But there’ll be something there.”

“Enough, I hope,” Tank added deliberately, “to give our shadowy friend a lot of worries. I wish him as many as he’s given me lately.”

“I expect when he hears what the Texas authorities are researching, he’ll need to change his underwear,” Carson said deliberately, and stared at Tank, to warn him not to speak.

“You think so?” was all Tank asked. He sipped coffee. “This isn’t bad, for coffee out of a machine.”

“Philistine,” Carson scoffed. “This is real, honest-to-goodness coffee from a real coffeemaker.”

“How did you get that?” Tank asked, surprised.

Carson leaned toward him. “There’s this really pretty nurse. I just smiled and mentioned how much I hated coffee out of those damned machines.” He held up his cup and grinned from ear to ear.

Tank couldn’t resist laughing, too. Merissa just shook her head.

TANK HAD TO go back to the ranch to shower and shave and check in with Cody Banks. He didn’t want to talk to the sheriff in Merissa’s hospital room, in case, as he suspected, the room was bugged.

He leaned over her and kissed her tenderly. “I don’t care if he brings you a steak and a bouquet of flowers, he’s off-limits. Got it?” he teased, nodding toward Carson.

She grinned back. “Got it.”

He chuckled. He kissed her again and glanced at Carson. “You got it, too?”

“Absolutely,” Carson mused. “She’s safe with me.”

“I’ll be back in the morning, first thing, to wish you a Merry Christmas,” he told her. “Have a good night.”

“You, too,” she replied huskily.

He left, but reluctantly.

Carson followed him just outside the room.

“Why did you say that about Texas?” Tank asked Carson. “It’s a fair bet he heard you.”

“He’s pulling our chains, I’m pulling his chain,” Carson replied coldly. “He’s had a plan go wrong. Now he knows we’re looking in another direction for something about him. His girlfriend is dead. He’s got to be feeling the pressure. If he makes a mistake, we’ll get him.”

Tank relaxed a little. “You know, you’re sort of diabolical.”

Carson assumed a surprised expression. “Who, me? I have wings. You can’t see them, but they’re there.”

“Angelic, you ain’t,” Tank said.

Carson made a face. “I know. But as far as she’s concerned—” he jerked his head toward the hospital bed inside the room “—I am. You’re one lucky man.”

Tank flushed. “I know it.”

“I’ll keep her safe. Nobody’s getting past me this time,” he added.

“If you need help, call.”

Carson nodded. “Tell Rourke what I said in the room. He’ll take it from there.”

“I’m telling Cody, too.”

“The more the merrier.” He smiled enigmatically. “Isn’t it fun, putting a burr under the saddle of a murderer like this guy?”

“You know, it actually is. I just hope we can catch him before he comes after her again,” he voiced his fear. “He meant her to die this time. And there are poisons we couldn’t detect.”

“I am now your new food taster,” Carson said. “I’d prefer to test steaks, but I’ll do gelatin in a pinch. She’ll be fine.”

“Watch your own back, too,” Tank said.

“Always.”

* * *

HE CALLED CODY and met him in a grocery store parking lot.

“I don’t even trust my own damned phone anymore,” Tank said. “I think everything’s bugged.”

“It might be. No cause to apologize for being careful. What’s up?”

“Carson mentioned in the hospital room that we were looking toward Texas for answers in this case. His idea is that the man’s plan to kill Merissa flubbed, so that’s put him off his stride. Now, he knows we suspect a Texas connection, although he can’t know just how much we’ve already found out. That’s going to panic him.”

Cody nodded. “Not a bad strategy, so long as everyone’s properly guarded. It could go down hard, if he loses himself in revenge.”

“I know,” Tank said heavily. “I don’t want her hurt. I don’t want anybody hurt.”

“Neither do I.” Cody was pensive. “What if it turns his attention back to Texas and he leaves town, though? It does lessen our hopes of capturing him.”

“It also lessens Merissa Baker’s chances of meeting a sudden and terrible death,” Tank added grimly.

Cody relented. “Yes. It does. My idea would be to alert the authorities in Texas and mention this to them.”

“That’s a very good idea. I’ll do it as soon as I get home.”

“If I can help, in any way...”

“You’re already helping, as a lawman and a friend,” Tank said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. “Thanks.”

“Hey, you’re my buddy,” he teased.

“And I’m yours. You can have anything on the place except Diamond Bob.”

Diamond Bob was the famous herd sire who had his own air-conditioned, heated barn.

“Aww, darn,” Cody said, snapping his fingers. “And I do love a good steak...”

“You bite your tongue,” Tank retorted.

“Just kidding.” Cody laughed. “Drive safely.”

“I always do. See you later.”

* * *

TANK CALLED HAYES Carson in Texas and told him what was going on. Hayes approved.

“It just might do the trick,” he told Tank. “If this is the same guy who tried to have both of us hit, and who put your woman friend in the hospital, panicking him in this direction would be mostly fatal for him. We know what to look for this time.”

“I just hope we can catch him,” Tank said heavily. “It wears on the nerves, especially when a woman’s involved.”

“I know that feeling. If we can do anything on our end, let me know. I’ll fill Rick Marquez in on what’s happening. He told me about the direction the case is taking and the connections. He’s still chasing down leads on the prosecutor’s murder, now that you’ve given him a new angle to look at. He said he loves the chance to solve that case. He knew the guy from when he was a public defender. Damned shame.”

“Yes. Too many people have been hurt already. Thanks for the help.”

“I haven’t done much, but you’re welcome. Keep us in the loop.”

“I’ll do that.”

* * *

THEY’D PUT AS many safety precautions into effect as they could. Clara still insisted on staying at the cabin, and they couldn’t move her. But Tank did have a cowboy stay in the spare bedroom, with a gun, just in case.

Merissa got better very quickly. She and Tank had a nice meal together in the hospital for Christmas, complete with turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce. Clara joined them for it. Two days later, the doctor agreed to release her, and Tank and Carson drove her home.

She and Clara had a tearful reunion. “Oh, it’s so good to be home!” Merissa almost wept as she hugged her mother.

“So good to have you here, my darling,” Clara enthused.

“I wish I hadn’t messed up Christmas for us,” Merissa said miserably.

“We’ll have a late one. I haven’t even taken the tree down.” Clara laughed.

“I guess I can go home now?” the cowboy, Rance, asked.

“No!” several voices echoed.

Rance put up both hands and laughed. “No problem! I like it here. She—” he pointed at Clara “—can cook!”

“So can Merissa,” Tank said with a smile. “She’s in a class of her own.”

“I’ll prove that to you in a day or two, when I get stronger,” she promised him.

He grinned and bent to kiss her warmly. “Don’t get off your guard. We have to talk.”

She nodded, her eyes full of wonder. “As soon as you like.”

“Just a few loose ends to tie up first,” he said. He motioned to Carson to go with him. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning. If you need me...”

“I’ll call,” she promised.

He stared at her with such passion that she blushed. He walked back, scooped her up gently and kissed her. “See you in the morning.”

She laughed. “Okay!”

One thing he was certain of as he walked out the door. That woman was his. And she knew it.

* * *

HE PHONED ROURKE as soon as he finished telling the family about how things stood at the cabin now that Merissa was back home.

“I was going to call Marquez myself, but we’ve had a lot going on, with Merissa being released from the hospital. I did tell Hayes Carson, but Marquez should be briefed on everything, too. Since you know him,” he asked, “do you think you could give him a call for me?”

Rourke chuckled. “I’ll call him right now,” he added.

“Let’s hope there’s some good news.”

“Let’s hope.”