Texas Outlaw(60)

But I just can’t do it. I can’t sell out Ariana.

“You win,” I say to Kyle. “I’ll leave town. I’ll go crawling back to Waco and let you finish things here.”

He nods his head as if to say, You’re damn right you’re leaving.

“But before I go,” I say, “I’ve got just one thing to say.”

He waits. I step close to him and stare him down.

“It’s not your fault you were sleeping in the truck that day,” I say. “If I’d have known something illegal was going on inside that bank, I would have told you. You came running as soon as you heard the shot. You did everything right. But you’re sleepwalking on the job right now, and I’m telling you to wake the hell up. If this all comes crashing down, that’s on you. You’ll be a laughingstock all over again, and this time it will be your fault.”

“Get out of here, you son of a bitch,” he barks. “That’s a goddamn order.”

I climb into my truck and pull out into the street. I stop when my window is right next to him. I reach out and point to the star on his chest.

“It means something to wear that badge,” I say. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

Then I hit the gas and take off before he can get the last word in.





Chapter 76



I DRIVE OUT to the spot on the river where Ariana and I met last night, but she’s nowhere to be seen. There are fresh ATV tracks all over the place. When I walk closer to the river, I spot shell casings lying in the dirt.

I put on a pair of gloves and pick up one of the casings. WINCHESTER 223 REM is stamped on the bottom. The rounds could have been fired from an AR-15, and there are enough shells to suggest that it was equipped with a bump stock or had been converted to fully automatic. Whatever was on the receiving end of these shots, it would have been turned into swiss cheese.

I just pray to God it wasn’t Ariana.

I scan the hills for blood or any sign of bullet holes, but I don’t see anything.

Did they take her?

But then I have another thought. What if this is just some elaborate trick? Are they making it look like Ariana was shot when she’s actually in on it?

I spot something in a clump of sagebrush and investigate. It’s my sleeping bag and the sack of food I brought to Ariana, hidden away. But there’s nothing else, no sign of her.

I look around, my heart pounding. Above me, a hawk screeches as it glides through the blue sky. Otherwise the whole area is silent. The sun is still a couple of hours from setting, but shadows have already fallen across the canyon.

I don’t want to draw attention to myself—not if McCormack’s men are nearby—but I don’t know what else to do but call out to her.

“Ariana!” I shout, just loud enough to hear an echo calling back to me through the canyon.

I hear splashing in the river and look down to see Ariana wading out from under the cut bank.

“Rory?” she gasps, looking up at me. “I thought it was them again. They’ve been crisscrossing this area all day.”

She swims over to the bank and climbs out of the water. Her hair is mud slicked and her once white T-shirt is now the color of chocolate milk.

I throw my arms around her in a big hug. Her body is ice-cold, her trembling arms covered in goose bumps.

“Thank God,” I say, feeling guilty for thinking that she might have been double-crossing me. “What the hell happened?”

She says McCormack’s men have been patrolling in ATVs. They finally left for good about an hour ago, but when she heard a vehicle coming, she thought they were trying again, this time in a truck.

“I hadn’t expected you until after dark,” she says.

As she talks, she tries to catch her breath and can’t.

I give her a minute to breathe and then ask, “What about the rifle rounds?”

“They shot a snake,” she says. “They said they’d do the same to me if they found me.”

I get an old shirt out of my lock box and give it to her to try to dry off and wipe away some of the mud.

“I must be a sight,” she says, wiping dirty water from her face.

“You’re as beautiful as ever,” I say, and I mean it.

I’m still trying to get my emotions under control after fearing she was dead—or that she might have betrayed me.

“What are you doing here?” she says, dumping water out of her boots. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve got bad news and what I hope is good news,” I say.

I explain to her about being replaced by my lieutenant, how he and Harris both warned me to get out of town.

“I was told in no uncertain terms that if I step foot in Rio Lobo, I’ll be arrested.”

“Damn it,” Ariana says, “they’ve really got us, don’t they?”

“Maybe not,” I say.

I tell her about Dale Peters and how he has something to show us that will help the investigation.

“The GPS coordinates are about a mile and a half from here, over along the access road McCormack and his men have been using.”

“Are you sure you can trust Dale?” she asks. “McCormack is the one who signs his paychecks.”

“My gut tells me we can trust him,” I say, “but I’ve been wrong before.”