Texas Outlaw (Rory Yates #2)(53)

“What are we going to do now?”

She can’t hide the desperation in her voice. She can’t believe she’s in this situation.

Rory tries to reassure her by saying he’s going to report to the station tomorrow like it’s business as usual. He’s going to keep investigating, and Ariana just needs to stay in hiding long enough for him to find a break in the case.

“You know it’s just a matter of time before they try to get you out of the picture, don’t you?”

“I hope they do,” he says. “That might give us the break we need. If McCormack sends some guys after me, like he did at my motel room, maybe I can capture one of them this time.”

“That’s a dangerous game, Rory.”

“I need something to convince a judge to give us a search warrant for the ranch. I’m sure we’d find something useful if we could just get out there and look around.”

“I appreciate you saying we, Rory, but you’re on your own now.”

“Just hang in there, Ariana. We’ll get through this.”

Rory opens up the storage box on his truck and pulls out a sleeping bag for Ariana. Inside the cab of his truck, he has a grocery bag of canned goods and water bottles.

“This ought to last you a couple of days,” he says, “but I plan on coming out again tomorrow night.”

“Can you stay a little longer tonight?” Ariana asks, hating the sound of fear in her voice.

They sit back down, and Ariana wraps the sleeping bag around her shoulders. She’s shivering, but she thinks it’s more from fear than the cold. Still, Rory scoots closer to her and puts an arm around her shoulders—to warm her or comfort her, or both. Being so near him makes her heart speed up and her stomach do flips. She leans her head into the crook of his neck. She can feel his stubble on her forehead. She wonders what he would do if she tried to kiss him.

Would he kiss her back?

She tried to maintain her professional distance from him when he first arrived in town, but the more she got to know him—as a detective and a man—the more she liked him.

She tries to push away her feelings. He has a girlfriend. It wouldn’t be appropriate. But at a moment like this—with her whole world on the verge of collapse—who can say what’s appropriate and what isn’t?

They might both be going to jail before this is all over.

They might both be killed.

If they’re going to die tomorrow, what harm would it do to kiss him today?





Chapter 68



I CAN FEEL Ariana’s warmth against my body, feel her hair on my cheek, smell her natural, intoxicating scent. I know our lives are in complete turmoil right now, but I can’t help but think about what it would be like to kiss her. I even picture us stripping down, like we did two days ago at this same spot, only this time we wouldn’t dive into the water. We would dive into each other, the moonlight dancing on our skin.

I know I have a girlfriend, but not only does she seem a million miles away but our relationship seems like it happened a lifetime ago. I feel so incredibly distant from Willow, so removed.

There’s no way Willow and I can survive her living in Nashville and me living in Texas. And if I’m finally honest with myself, there’s no way I’m moving to Tennessee to work in law enforcement there. I’m a Ranger. Texas is where I belong. As long as I can draw breath into my lungs, I want that air to be Texas air.

The right thing to do is to tell Willow that I’m interested in someone else. I need to break things off before I start anything with Ariana. The problem is Ariana and I might be dead before I ever get that chance.

If I don’t kiss her now—or soon—I might never be able to.

But still, it doesn’t feel right. Willow deserves better.

“I should go,” I say.

She sits up and looks at me, her big eyes as beautiful in the moonlight as they are in the daylight.

“You’re probably right,” she says. “You better go before we do something we might regret.”

I stare at her, take in what she’s saying. She does like me the way I like her.

“When this is all over,” I say, “I’m going to sit down with Willow and—”

She shakes her head and interrupts me. “Don’t tell me,” she says. “Let’s just focus on getting out of this mess. If we’re not dead or in jail when this is all over, then we can talk about it.”

I lean forward and kiss her gently on the forehead.

“Take care of yourself,” I say. “I’ll try to visit again tomorrow night.”

To get back to town, I take a meandering route. I did the same thing when I drove out to the open space. At that time, I didn’t want to be followed. Now I want to misdirect anyone who might spot me on the road. I end up coming back into town from the opposite direction of the open space. I pass a patrol car and one of McCormack’s trucks, and I feel certain that the people inside are immediately calling their bosses to report where they saw me driving.

I tell myself that I’ll need to have an excuse ready for Harris tomorrow. My explanation will be simple: I couldn’t sleep, so I wanted to drive around looking as well.

He won’t believe it, but hopefully my misdirection won’t tip my hand that Ariana is out in the open space.