THE FINAL HAPTER
Senora drove down the highway, slowing down and watching the shoulder of the road for the almost unnoticeable dirt road that would lead her straight to Ty’s house. When she found it, she smiled, though her stomach was in knots.
Was she really doing this?
She pushed her uncertainty away and let go of her doubts. What she was doing was sharing information with a colleague and asking for a safe place to stay for the night. He could say no, and if he did, she would just drive to the airport and stay in a hotel onsite. Even if he said yes, there was no guarantee that anything would happen, and being open to it wasn’t the same as scheming.
Liar, she thought, but she didn’t care. She wanted to see him, and she wasn’t going to turn around now. She couldn’t. The trees on either side of the road were so close that the leaves brushed the car every now and then, and there was nowhere to execute a turn. She was stuck going forward no matter what.
The rental car bounced and shimmied over rough road, and she made a mental note to always rent a truck from now on if she ever found her way back to Texas for a case. A car just didn’t cut it.
When the village came into view, her heart started racing. She was really doing this. It had been just a few hours since she’d seen him, but it felt like forever. As she parked next to his cabin and released her seatbelt, the weight of her exhaustion and the fight from the night before hit her. These days in Texas had changed her, and she knew things now that she had never imagined were true. She wasn’t going home the same person she was before.
She shouldn’t have been surprised when Ty walked out of his house to greet her, clad in jeans and boots, his chest bare and his expression one of concern.
“Is everything alright?” he said.
“I have to show you something,” she said as she got out of the car.
“That sounds promising,” he teased, then tilted his head in the direction of the front door. “Come on inside.”
She followed him in and set the journal on the table along with the file from Robin’s office. Ty gathered up the papers he’d had spread across one side of the table, but not before she saw Hannah’s name on one of them.
She reached out and snagged it before he could get to it, then regretted it.
“I’m sorry; I thought it was related to the case and- I’m sorry, that was none of my business.”
“It’s fine,” Ty said. “I’m not ashamed, I just don’t like to brag.”
“I’m glad that you’re taking care of her. I was worried about her. It’s not bragging to share information with a colleague.”
“We’re colleagues now?” he asked with one eyebrow raised. “I hope that’s not a demotion.”
Senora couldn’t help but laugh. She knew what he was getting at, but she was enjoying the chase and she needed to talk to him about Addie and Robin before she got too distracted.
“So, what exactly did you do for her?”
“I’m paying for round the clock healthcare for her father in their home, and I paid off their mortgage.”
“I thought their house was in foreclosure.”
He shrugged.
“A small-town bank has small town values. Hannah was paying what she could on it every month, and the bank manager was letting it go. When I talked to him, it sounded like he was hoping the father had life insurance that would eventually catch Hannah’s payments up and pay the house since it was in Mister Wise’s name.”
“That’s a little morbid.”
“It makes sense, though. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about it.”
“Does Hannah know yet?”
“She knows about moving her father back into their house. She started crying when I told her, and she wanted to go get him so she could get him out of that place, and I didn’t think she could handle any more good news. I figure when she gets the deed in the mail and it’s paid in full, she’ll figure it out.”
They stood there in silence, and Ty’s smile widened.
“You’re not going to ask me where I got the money from?”
“It’s none of my business,” Senora said, though she was curious.
“Fair enough,” he said, then nodded toward the journal. “What’s that?”
“It’s Addie’s journal. We were right about Robin; she wasn’t a bad guy. We can’t ask her, but it looks like she took her life because she knew what the Sheriff was up to and she knew that she was in danger if he found out what she knew. Once she found out that Addie had been violently murdered, I’m not surprised she thought taking her own life was the only way out.”
“We could have protected her.”
“She had no way of knowing that. Once you realize you can’t trust everyone with a badge, you start to wonder if you can trust anyone with a badge. I wish she would have given us a chance, but I can understand her fear that anyone could be in on it. We still don’t know how many people were involved.”
“I know you’re right, I just hate that she couldn’t tell us the truth.”
“Well, between her records and Addie’s journal, the truth is here. I’ll be recommending that this case get moved to Federal Court in Dallas, and hopefully, both of these will be admissible in court.”
“You’d better hold onto those so they don’t disappear.”
“I plan on making a copy for you and for the lead investigator, as well as one for the Prosecutor and an extra just in case. I’ll hang onto the originals just in case.”
“Are they going to let you do that?”
“It’s my case, and now that I know the Gate Keeper is involved, this is just a small piece of a huge puzzle I’ve been trying to put together for a few years. I’ll need this when I catch up with the Gate Keeper, and because of that, I’ll get to pull rank and keep all the originals.”
“So, what’s next? Are you flying out tonight?”
“Tomorrow, late in the afternoon.”
“Are you staying at the hotel?”
“No. I can’t stay in that hotel. Between the missing accomplice from the nursing home and not knowing how many people were involved throughout the town, I just can’t. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”
“Would you like to stay here?”
“I would appreciate it.”
“I can see if someone has an empty bed you can sleep in if you want.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t.”
His eyes widened a bit, but he recovered quickly. He sat down at the table beside her, picking up the journal and the file and spreading it in front of them. He handed her a notepad and a pen.
“I’m sure you have better handwriting than me. Let’s get what we can between the two of these so I have something to go on while I’m waiting for my copies.”
Senora sighed, and Ty laughed.
“Dinner is in a few hours. I want to go through these and get as much as we can written down so we can enjoy the rest of the night together.”
“Oh,” Senora said.
His hand went to her thigh, and he gave a soft squeeze that set her body aflame.
“That is, if you can keep your hands off me until then.”
Senora laughed, elbowing him playfully.
“You’re something else,” she said, grabbing the first page of Robin’s file and flipping through the journal until she found the correlating date. “Enough flirting; we’ve got work to do.”
“There’s no such thing as enough flirting with you,” Ty said.
Senora shook her head and dove into the files. Ty chuckled, but Senora knew if they didn’t get to work now, they would end up in bed long before dinner.
They spent some time going over the documents together, and Senora took copious notes until her hand cramped. She stopped, massaging her sore muscles.
“Let me,” Ty said, taking her hand in his before she could protest.
His skin was so warm, and electricity shot up her arm and caused her entire body to tighten in response. She held her breath for a moment, then let it out slowly, trying not to let her attraction overtake her.
Trying to keep her mind on other things while he expertly massaged her hand and fingers, she talked to him about Addie’s role in the case, and how she thought Addie’s final moments went down.
“She was obviously going against him, and maybe even threatening him. I’m sure he realized that she was about to blow his entire operation, and he couldn’t let that happen. It makes sense. She had dozens of tickets in her glove box from him, so he’d obviously been harassing her for a while.”
“I’m not surprised. The Sheriff wasn’t one to let go gracefully.”
“Addie was going to do the right thing, and she paid for it with her life. I know that’s not the same as blowing the whistle, but I’m going to talk about applying for the reward money posthumously with J. It would help Mabel out a lot, and without Addie, the FBI wouldn’t have been here. She was pivotal to the case, and these journal entries and Robin’s notes will help make sure that everyone involved in this case goes away for a long time.”
“What about Hannah?”
“She’s an automatic recipient. I’m going to push for something more for her since she’s also a survivor. She should get at least the twenty-five thousand for the reward money, and I’m thinking there’s another ten thousand in it for being willing to testify.”
“Isn’t that bribery?”
“It’s not labeled that way, and she gets it whether she testifies or not. We just don’t tell our witnesses that.”
“I’m glad you’re doing all that for them. It says a lot about you that you care about the people and not just about your job. You’re going to change Mabel and Hannah’s lives helping them like that, and I know that Mabel will feel better knowing that Addie’s life saved so many more.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “But I’m only doing the right thing. And what about you, paying Hannah’s mortgage off and setting up twenty-four-hour care for her dad so he can stay home? I’m sure that wasn’t cheap.”
“We’re not talking about me; we’re talking about you.” He brushed a stray curl from her face and smiled. “I’m going to miss this wild hair of yours.”
His hand cupped her cheek, setting her nerves on fire. Her lips parted as her hazel eyes held his gaze, and she held her breath, hoping that he would kiss her.
When his lips finally touched hers, her heart melted. He was tender, yet somehow deeply passionate. His hands cupped her face, and she tilted her head and opened her mouth to him.
When he groaned and scooped her up into his arms, he carried her down the hall, lips still connected. He set her on the bed, stepping back and taking the sight of her in.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed heavily.
“So are you,” she said, giggling. She sat up and slid to the edge of the bed, then crooked her finger at him. “Come here, Cowboy.”
He did as she asked, standing in front of her and watching her fingers as she hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, then made her way to his belt buckle before finally unfastening his jeans and shoving them down to the floor.
“I love a woman who knows what she wants,” he said, stepping out of his clothes and standing there naked.
Her eyes went wide at the sight of his erection, her hand reaching out and stroking him gently and watching his face. His head tilted to the side, and his eyes held hers as she stroked the entire length of him with both hands. When she rubbed her palm over the tip and back again, his eyes closed and his body tensed.
“You’re playing with fire,” he said.
“Who’s playing?” she asked.
He growled, grabbing her wrists and holding her hands still.
“Slow down,” he teased. “I want to remember this.”
She grinned, and he released her hands. When she let them fall to her sides with a wry smile, he kissed the tip of her nose.
“That’s better,” he said.
She felt him pulling her shirt up and over her head and unclasping her bra in one smooth motion. The cool air from the fan above brushed her nipples, and they hardened in response. His hands were on her breasts in an instant, holding them tenderly.
She watched his eyes drink in her nakedness, her skin tingling under his smoldering gaze. Running his hands down her waist, he slid her pants down, then cradled her in one strong arm and slipped her pants and her panties off and onto the floor.
He stood up, openly admiring her laying there on the bed before he smiled and leaned down.
“One more thing,” he said.
He reached behind her and loosened her hair. The band slipped off, and she shook her head, letting the wild, chocolate curls cascade around her. His smile grew as his hands plunged into her hair, and he pulled her in for a deep kiss.
“You should always wear your hair down,” he whispered between kisses. “You’re so beautiful, but that hair just drives me crazy. You look like you stepped out of the wilderness and into my bedroom.”
Senora giggled at the image, but even though she didn’t feel like she was the wild woman he was describing, in his arms she felt free and completely uninhibited. She wanted to be that wild woman, even if it was only for the night.
Ty laid beside her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her again. His body pressed against hers, his rigid length sliding between her legs and pressing against the heat of her. He held her tight, forcing her to slow down and savor the moment.
Her arms went around his neck when he buried his face against her neck and worked her way down her throat, stopping to tease each nipple with his tongue. Her back arched, and she moaned. He tugged, sucking harder until her hips moved against him and her body begged him for the release she’d been longing for since the day they’d met. Seeing him naked in the woods that day had only stoked the fire, which had been smoldering this entire time. He was teasing her, working her into a frenzy and tormenting her with his patience.
“I need you,” she said, begging him to take her as she pressed her body against him. “I need you now.”
He kissed her again.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “We have all night.”
“You may have all night, but I can’t wait any longer,” she said.
He laughed, and before she knew what he was doing, he slid into her and buried his erection inside of her. Her breath caught, and she clung to him as he thrust into her. Her body moved with him, and moments later, she could feel the heat overwhelming her.
She threaded her fingers through his, and he held her down beneath him, driving into her until her body shuddered and bucked beneath him. Her strangled cry was cut off by his kiss, achingly tender. He held her, guiding her through the waves of pleasure until her soul shattered and she collapsed into the mattress, out of breath.
His movements slowed, his body still rigid inside of her when he gathered her up and rolled so she was laying on top of him. He was still inside her, her body clenching around him in quick bursts as it recovered from her orgasm, and she rested on his chest.
His kisses were gentle and unhurried, his hands rubbing her back, his voice soothing in her ear.
She laughed and kissed him back when she could finally breathe again.
“That was amazing,” she said.
“I’m not done with you yet,” he said, his voice husky. “I believe you promised me all night.”
“Maybe not all night,” she teased, nipping his lip before she kissed him again. “But at least half the night.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“If I’m never going to see you again, I want to make sure we make plenty of memories between now and when you leave tomorrow.”
She searched his eyes, and all she found was sadness.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t have a choice.”
“I know.”
“Maybe this was a mistake.”
He held her tight, forcing her to stay when she started to pull away.
“Leaving without this moment would have been a mistake. I’m sad about losing you, but these precious moments are worth a little pain.”
Senora groaned.
“This wasn’t supposed to be serious.”
He shrugged.
“Then, don’t be serious.” His smile was devious, and the light flickered in his eye once more, chasing away the hint of sadness she’d seen. “Let’s just have fun until we fall asleep in each other’s arms.”
Senora smiled.
“Now, that sounds like a plan.”
*
Senora watched the village disappear in her rearview mirror, then focused on the road ahead of her. She bent her head side to side and shrugged her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness from a monumental night of lovemaking.
They hadn’t gone to sleep until the sun rose, but when she woke up and the glow had faded, she knew she’d made a mistake. It was harder to leave Ty than it should have been, and she knew better than to get involved on the road.
You should have stayed at the hotel and sent him the files in the mail when you got home, she thought angrily. But she’d given into her desires, and Ty hadn’t even tried to dissuade her. It wasn’t his fault, but she was frustrated with the entire situation. She’d let her feelings get the best of her, and that was never good.
She turned on the radio, flipping through several channels in search of something that wasn’t country or gospel to distract her. After about twenty stations, she finally landed on one that had music from her childhood and a tolerable DJ. She turned the radio up and lowered the windows, singing at the top of her lungs and doing everything she could to forget Ty Mahigan.
She knew it was better this way. As much as she enjoyed sharing a bed with him, he drove her insane. He was intense and focused at times, and other times, he irritated the hell out of her. Being around him for less than a week was one thing, but could she handle him for longer than that? She doubted it.
The more miles she put between them, the better she felt about leaving. The night before had been magical, and she didn’t regret it, but she was relieved that it would be a beautiful memory and nothing more.
Her phone chirped, and a text popped up for a split second over the GPS map before fading away again. She saw the text and groaned. It was from Ty, telling her that he’d enjoyed working with her, and anytime she needed a guide, he’d be happy to fill the role. She thought about pulling over to answer, but she had a two-hour drive to the airport, and she didn’t feel like stopping. She didn’t know what to say, and she was annoyed that he was texting her when they’d just said goodbye.
Because you like him, a voice muttered in her head, but she pushed it away. Yes, she was attracted to him. But attraction wasn’t love, and that didn’t mean that they were meant to be together, right?
“Damnit,” she said under her breath.
This was harder than she thought it was going to be. If Ty hadn’t been so all out handsome and so comfortable in his own skin, she wouldn’t have been so very attracted to him. Instead, he’d reduced her to arguing with herself over whether she loved him or just lusted after him so hard that she couldn’t tell the difference. For someone like Senora who liked to be in control of herself, this was bad.
You’re going home now, and you won’t have to worry about it, she thought. Sure, she would hurt over him for a few days, maybe even weeks. But she would get over it, and there would be another case dragging her halfway across the country, and there would be no room for fantasies of the sexy werewolf. She would get through this, and she would start by erasing Ty’s number from her phone’s memory as soon as she stopped. Rip the Band-Aid off and move on, she thought, laughing to herself at the imagery the words from her childhood had evoked.
Her phone rang, and she was about to send it to voicemail when she realized it was J. She pushed the button on her Bluetooth as she fastened it to her ear in one smooth motion and smiled.
“Hi, J,” she said. “I’m on my way to the airport now. Did you get the files?”
“I got them all. Excellent work.”
“I guess I’ll talk to you when I get back, and we can debrief.”
“No,” J said simply, never one to mince words. “Your flight is canceled. I have a reservation for you at the hotel at the airport so you can turn in your car and get a good night’s rest tonight.”
“Is there another case?”
“Not in Glen Rose, but yes, there is. Just outside Odessa. A young hotel employee has gone missing under suspicious circumstances.”
“Do you think it’s related to the trafficking ring in Glen Rose?”
“It might be, and it might not. But the area is kind of out of the way and a lot of tourists that are just passing through go missing.”
Senora sighed. At least it wasn’t Glen Rose.
“I sent the address to your GPS, but you won’t be driving,” the computerized voice she’d come to associate with J said. “I’ll send someone to pick you up in the morning.”
“I prefer to work alone,” Senora said, cringing at the unfortunate tone of her words but standing by them.
“I’m aware of that, but the files you sent me suggest that you also play well with others.”
Senora grinned, surprised that J was teasing her. He was probably referencing something that was said to her in frustration by another agent, but Senora didn’t care. She didn’t like working with others and had been accused of not playing well with others more times than she could count. It didn’t bother her one bit.
“I guess, if it’s temporary, I can deal with it.”
“You’re going to be in Texas for a while, but the good news is that fall is just around the corner.”
She noticed that he didn’t speak to whether the partner would be temporary, but she wasn’t going to bring it up. J was her boss, after all, and she wasn’t in any position to tell him how to run their Task Force. He let her do a lot of things on her own, and he covered for her any time there was flak from the higher ups. But when J told her how things were going to go, there was no negotiating his terms.
“You’ll get a per diem, or course, and field pay. For anything else, you can submit expense reports as always.”
“Will do,” she said, trying to sound cheerier than she felt.
She’d been looking forward to going home and sleeping in her own bed.
“I sprang for one of the nicer hotels, so feel free to indulge. Your ride won’t be there until after noon tomorrow, so you have almost an entire day to yourself. Rest up and don’t you dare work on the Glen Rose case. I have my people following up, and they have all the evidence you scanned and submitted.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and before she could ask for any further instructions, the line went dead in her ear.
She shook her head and popped the Bluetooth piece out of her ear. J hadn’t given her a chance to tell him about the journal, but she would deal with that when she returned to D.C. It wouldn’t fit in her mobile scanner and printer bar, so she would have to copy it the old-fashioned way.
Now that she wasn’t catching a plane in a few hours, she actually had time to do it.
When she made it to Cleburne, she took the first exit off the sixty-seven and headed through town. She drove past a movie theater and a mall that looked mostly deserted, but the further into town she got, the heavier the traffic and the number of businesses got. It was another mile before she found what she was looking for.
She parked the car in the parking lot and took the journal into the home office store, going straight to the self-serve kiosk and starting to copy the journal face down, two pages at a time.
“Ma’am,” a young man’s voice said from over her shoulder. “We have to adhere to copyright laws so I’m going to have to check that book.”
She pulled her badge out of her pocket and laid it on the desk beside her, and without another word, the young man stepped away and went to help other customers. Putting the badge back in her pocket, she made fast work of copying the entire journal, then counted off the pages and went to the counter to pay.
“I’ll need an employee to count those,” the cashier said.
Senora shook her head.
“I can’t let you do that,” she said.
She was about to show her badge again when a surly looking man in his mid-fifties came out with the young man in tow. He looked at Senora and made an expression she couldn’t place, then went to the cashier and spoke quietly to her.
When he turned to Senora, she was preparing herself for an argument, but that wasn’t what happened.
“No need to pay,” the man said. “You have a nice day.”
He nodded and left, leaving behind a bewildered cashier whose expression mirrored Senora’s. Senora shrugged, leaving the store with her copies and wondering what had prompted the man to give her the free copies. Not that they were more than a few dollars, but it was an odd gesture.
She was still brooding over it when she got into the car and continued on her way toward the airport. The map showed so many tiny little towns between Cleburne and Dallas that Senora wished she had someone with her to talk to. She’d come this way on her way out, and the drive was beyond boring, the radio reception spotty.
She settled into the seat and willed herself to head out. A warm, luxury bed called to her, and if she was lucky, an in-room spa tub would be there to work the kinks out of her tired muscles and make her night a happy one.
Her hotel confirmation came up on the screen, and Senora couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t recognize the name of the hotel, but she knew it wasn’t a chain and, according to the brief glimpse she’d gotten of the email, it was ridiculously expensive. That meant it included every amenity she could want and then some. She got excited when she realized that J had given her Carte Blanche to treat herself after a rough case, and that meant that she could order Room Service, too. It was going to be a good night after all, and in the morning, she would be fresh and ready to face working with another agent. She couldn’t say she was thrilled, but the night of pampering would definitely soften the blow.
She didn’t doubt that was J’s plan all along.
*