He looked at Logan and took a deep breath. "But it was my fault. If we hadn't been fighting about moving back here... If I hadn't"

"If a rock star's boyfriend hadn't dumped her at a bar in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo, a rodeo cowboy from Central Texas wouldn't've met her and neither one of us would be having this conversation," Logan said, referring to their parents' first meeting. Zack glared at his brother, who went on, "My point is we can't control Fate and we sure as h.e.l.l can't control the actions of others. You didn't kill Lisa, Zack. A drunk driver did. Don't you dare say you're the reason she was out there, either. Bulls.h.i.t. She's the one that left, and she's the one who got behind the wheel of a car. So unless you held a gun to her head, you are not responsible."

Zack stared at him for a moment, then lifted the Coors to his mouth. Before drinking the entire bottle, he muttered, "s.h.i.t happens."

"Yep." Logan stood, walked around the coffee table, and patted him on the shoulder with his left hand. "Now, go and tell that woman you forgive her and you love her, and don't you ever believe a thing Jake Parker says again."

As Logan headed toward the kitchen, Zack said, "I can't leave now. Mandy's here."

Logan turned at the doorway and arched an eyebrow. "Uncle Logan isn't qualified to babysit? I'll camp out in one of the spare bedrooms. This d.a.m.ned monster of a house has six of 'em." Logan looked around the living room. "I'm d.a.m.ned glad I didn't inherit this place."

Zack smiled. "Why's that?"

"Because then I'm not the one who has to fill all those bedrooms with little Cartwright brats. I'm never getting married."

"Yeah, right." Zack laughed and stood. "You've always been a hopeless romantic. I'll bet within a year some Nashville starlet snags your heart." Sobering, he stepped forward and put his hands on Logan's shoulders. "You know why Tracy did what she did, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. But it's not my place to explain it to you. Just like it isn't my place to explain to her your reasons for holding her at a distance. Y'all need to talk this through, and then you can move forward. You and Tracy Quinn belong together. Now, get. I'll see you in the morning." He tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. His jaw was swollen, so was his eye. "Or whenever. Right now, I'm gonna get a gla.s.s of sweet tea, take a half-bottle of aspirin, and get ice on my hand and face."

Zack pulled his brother into a hug. "You're a bonehead most of the time, but I don't know what I'd do without you."

Logan stepped back and grunted. "Love you, too, knucklehead." He pointed to the mudroom door as he went into the kitchen. "Will you go, already? Oh, wait." He pulled something from the pocket of his jeans. "I stopped by my cabin before coming over here."

When Zack noticed what Logan was holding out for him, he gasped.

"You might need this someday."

Zack stared at the three-carat diamond platinum engagement ring. He'd bought it with the money from his rodeo wins and some of his trust fund from his grandfather. He met Logan's gaze. "I told you to sell it and to keep the money."

Logan shrugged as put the ring in Zack's hand. "I decided not to. I've been the keeper of this thing for fourteen years. I think it's high time the danged thing should go to its rightful owner, don't you?"

Chapter 17.

"What are you doin' here?" Jake asked as he looked up at his brother entering his trailer.

"Whoa! What happened to you?" Brent asked instead of answering the question.

Jake tossed the damp washcloth he'd used to wipe the blood off his face onto the counter separating the kitchen and living room. "Logan Cartwright. Now, answer my question."

As Jake pulled a beer from the fridge, Brent shuffled his feet. "I got a call from Johnny."

Jake straightened and faced his brother and scowled, which hurt like h.e.l.l. He didn't want to deal with this c.r.a.p now. "Why would he call you?"

"Because he got a call from the owner of the slaughterhouse in Breckenridge. Jake, he called to warn us. The TSCRA raided the place today. They confiscated all their records, and the owner is talking to save his a.s.s." His voice rose in pitch and became more breathy as he spoke. "He's told the cops about buying stolen cattle from us, and their faking the brands and paperwork for the inspectors. They're gonna figure out we've been stealing the cattle 'round here!"

Jake set the unopened beer on the dirty-dish-cluttered counter. "The law can't know for sure." His tone didn't sound any more convincing than he felt. Cartwright and McPherson already suspected him of the crime. And he knew the b.i.t.c.h in Waco would change her story about him being with her last Friday night when Cartwright's horses were stolen if cornered by the Texas Rangers. She'd already warned Jake his money wasn't enough to keep her quiet if the cops threatened jail time.

"What are we gonna do, Jake? I don't wanna go to jail."

With a sharp glance at his brother, he rushed past him. "Well, I for one am not stickin' around waitin'."

"Jake? Where you goin'? Why are you limping?"

Jake ignored the a.s.shole and headed for the bedroom, cursing not only the situation, but also the sharp pain in his knee. Logan's kick had probably undid the repaired ligaments. He threw a couple changes of clothes into a duffle bag, then went into Bobby's room. He grabbed clothes for him and stuffed them into the bag, too.

"Why are you taking Bobby's stuff?"

He turned to Brent standing at the door. "Because we're headed to Mexico, and I'm taking my boy with me. Now, get the h.e.l.l out of my way."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Brent moved toward him. "That's kidnapping on top of everything else."

Jake grabbed Brent by the shirtfront. "He's my boy! I'll be d.a.m.ned if I'll leave him here for f.u.c.kin' Cartwright and the b.i.t.c.h to turn against me."

He let go of Brent's shirt and headed for the gun safe in the corner of the living room. After undoing the lock, he grabbed the Colt .45 he'd inherited from his father, a hunting rifle and enough ammunition to shoot his way out of anything.

After tossing the Remington .300 and a box of ammo to Brent, he loaded the pistol. Brent shifted the rifle in his beefy hands. "Jake, that's plumb crazy. Let's just get out of here. We'll go down to Monterrey where Granny Blackwell's cousins live. Aunt Colleen, Johnny, and his boy have already skipped town and headed there. Johnny wanted me to go with them, but I had to warn you. I was with them when the call came in from Breckenridge."

Jake jammed the pistol into his belt under his shirt behind him. "Bobby's with Mary Estrada. Tracy and Cartwright were at the Longhorn"

Brent whistled between his teeth. "I thought she was screwin' Zack. So, she's really seein' Logan."

"No."

"But you said Logan beat you up."

"I wasn't beat up by that a.s.shole or anyone else. She was there with Zack. Logan was singin', and I decided to have some fun with the happy couple. It worked. Zack left her there, but Logan decided to play hero." He grabbed the duffle bag off the couch. "Let's get the h.e.l.l out of here. I'll drive. So give me the G.o.dd.a.m.n keys."

Outside, Brent climbed into the pa.s.senger side of his truck and handed over the keys. "Why don't we take your truck?"

"You sure as h.e.l.l ask a lot of questions. What are you, two years old?" Jake started the engine, but before he put it in gear, he glanced at the garage door of his service shop. "Wait here. I have an idea."

Jake punched the code into the opener and ducked in before the big door crawled the whole way upward. He removed the license plates from the old Ford Ranger pickup sitting in the bay and waiting on the part that was supposed to be in on Monday. Once he returned to Brent's new truck, Jake switched the plates and then quickly put the Silverado's tags on the Ranger.

While Jake climbed behind the wheel again, Brent said, "Wow. That's sure to confuse the law."

"Let's hope long enough for us to get to the border."

With his mind filled with questions and doubts, Zack neared the entrance to Oak Springs Ranch. He had no idea what he was going to say to Tracy when he got there, but he hoped she'd let him say something before she slammed the door in his face.

When his cell phone rang, he let it go to voicemail. Immediately, it rang again, and he knew it had to be someone at the station. He pulled it out and answered it.

Dawn didn't bother with a greeting or a smart remark about him not answering the first time. "We need you here ASAP. Jake and Brent Parker, Colleen Stryker, Johnny and Matthew Blackwell have been implicated by a sting operation at a slaughterhouse in Breckenridge."

He stopped at the end of Tracy's driveway. The house couldn't be seen from here; it sat back another half-mile. He imagined her lying in bed, crying and thinking of him as the biggest jerk in the world.

Resigned that duty had to come first, he put the truck into reverse and turned around. "Okay. I'll be there in less than a half-hour."

Tracy stared at her friend, not believing what she was hearing. "Jake told you I wanted him to pick up Bobby?"

"Yeah." Mary shifted her weight and puckered her brow. "He told me you'd called him. I knew it was his week to have him, so I just figured..." She sat on the couch in her living room.

Tracy continued to stand in the entrance of the small house a few doors down the street from her beauty salon. She and Mary Estrada had been friends since Tracy moved to Colton. Their sons had been friends since they were toddlers.

When Mary looked back at Tracy, her rotund face was red with anger. "He lied to me. I wondered why he seemedI don't knownervous, and Bobby looked at him funny, like he didn't believe his ears. Of course, that could have been because he looked like someone beat the s.h.i.t out of him."

"Logan should've knocked off his head."

"Logan? What does..."

Tracy shook her head. "A story for another day." She didn't intend to dredge up the reason for the brawl at the Longhorn. She'd spent the past hour crying over Zack Cartwright. When she'd dried her last tear, she'd decided to go over to the CW and tell Zack exactly what had happened, and either he'd forgive her or not. But she was done chasing him. However, when she called to ask Mary if she'd mind keeping Bobby all night, she'd told Tracy Jake had come and taken him home.

The thought of Zack's lack of trust in her and Jake's interference had her temper catching fire, and she paced across the living room. "I never called Jake. I decided not to let Bobby go to him this week. Jake was taken in for questioning yesterday for stealing Zack's horses. Zack and my cousin Wyatt barged into the courtroom during the hearing. It was like something out of an old movie."

Mary smiled. "With two of the s.e.xiest lawmen around, I'm sure it did look like a movie." Then she lost the grin. "So, Zack thinks Jake's involved with all the rustlin' goin' on?"

"Zack did think that, but Jake has an alibi. Some bimbo from Waco, though if you listen to Jake tell it, I'm the one who has no morals. I intend to give Jake Parker a piece of my mind." She adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder and headed for the front door.

At the entry, Mary touched Tracy's arm. "I'm sorry, Tracy. I had no idea about Jake. I just a.s.sumed you and Zack decided to spend the night together... If I'd really thought about it, I would've known you'd never call Jake."

Tracy stepped forward and hugged the much shorter and rounder woman. "Don't worry about it. I didn't tell you about Jake, so you had no way of knowing." She stepped out of Mary's embrace and opened the door. "I'll call you to have you come bail me out of jail after I kill the idiot."

Mary laughed. "Naw, we'll dump the body in Gambler's Lake. Remember that Dixie Chicks song? Instead of Earl, we'll be singing about Jake."

They shared a laugh and another hug before Tracy left to head straight across town to her ex-husband's.

Flashing red and blue lights of police cars and bright spotlights had her heart racing the moment she turned down Blackwell Drive. The sheriff department Tahoe parked across the street forced her to stop. Ben Timmons approached as she scrambled out of the Taurus. Sudden fear frosted up the blood which anger had set to boiling only seconds before.

The deputy held a flashlight on her face, blinding her until she shut her eyes and turned her head with a hand blocking the beam. "Ben, get that d.a.m.ned thing out of my face."

"Sorry, Tracy. What are you doin' here?" The deputy turned off the light.

She looked back at him, blinking the spots from her eyes. "I'm here to get my son from Jake. What are y'all doing here?" She looked past the deputy. Several Tahoes and unmarked SUVs crowded the street. Her former mother-in-law sat in a chair on the porch of her house across the street from Jake's trailer and appeared distraught as she wrung her hands and shook her head. Wyatt McPherson, Dawn Madison, and Herb Milroy were standing before her and obviously asking questions. She swung her gaze over to the trailer across the street. Zack paced the gravel drive in front of the garage doors of Jake's service shop. His hands were splayed on either side of his waist, elbows pointed out. She recognized the signs of agitation easily. Still dressed in the same clothes he'd worn to the Longhorn, he had his gun tucked into a shoulder holster and a badge clipped to his belt. He turned and the bright spotlights highlighted the harsh lines of his face.

When she saw Jake's pickup still parked off to the side and that the windows of the trailer were dark, she turned back to Timmons.

"Where's Jake? Where's my son?" Panic painted her words with a higher than normal note.

The man's pockmarked face blanched at her growing hysteria. "Neither one of them are here, ma'am. We're waitin' on the search warrant. Judge Delaney was in Dallas"

Not waiting for the rest of the explanation, she ran across the yards of Jake's neighbor and that of the trailer to the front door. After ripping open the screen door, she banged on the dented aluminum door, calling Bobby's name.

"Tracy, what's wrong?" Zack asked from her side. "What's this about Bobby?"

She stared at him and laid a hand over the pain in her chest. She couldn't get enough air no matter how fast she tried to breathe. She let the screen door bang closed and took a step toward him. "Jake took Bobby from Mary's tonight! Where is he? Where's my baby?"

He laid a hand on her arm. "Jake has Bobby?"

"Yes! Dammit, where are they?" She bent over when a sharp pain ripped through her chest, and she couldn't breathe. Gasping, she wrapped her arms around herself. "I have to..."

"Tracy, calm down. You're hyperventilating." Zack took her by the arms and guided her to sit on the step of the stoop. He sat down beside her and pressed his hand on her back. "Now, bend over your knees and take slow breaths."

"Can't."

"Shhh. Yes, you can." He rubbed soothingly over her back. "Take a breath. That's it. Let it out slowly. Now another." His voice was soft, gentle, and she found herself complying.

After a few slow breaths, the pain in her chest eased and she sat up.

"Now, what's this about Bobby?" He continued to rub her back. He turned to face her and his thigh pressed against hers. With his free hand, he reached up and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

She peered into his blue eyes and instantly felt more at ease. He pulled a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Much calmer now, she wiped her nose, then cleared her throat, but her heart was still painfully stuck. "Jake took Bobby from Mary's before I got there. They aren't here, are they?"

"No." He narrowed his eyes and his jaw twitched. "We received evidence tonight implicating Jake, Brent and Johnny Blackwell and a bunch of other people in the cattle thefts. Since we can't find Brent's truck anywhere, we're a.s.suming they got away in it. You're sure Bobby's with Jake?"

"Yes!" She struggled to stand, panic seizing her again.

He held her in place. "I just had to make sure. How long ago?"

"Sometime within the last hour. Zack, I'm scared. What if Jake hurts him? He's my world." A new wash of tears gushed from her eyes, and she bit her bottom lip.

"Shhh." He hugged her close to his side and murmured, "Bobby'll be fine, baby. We'll get him back." He held her away slightly to peer into her face. "I'm going to call the FBI and get an Amber Alert out. Do you have a recent photo of him?" She nodded and immediately retrieved her wallet from her purse. After he took the wallet-sized school picture from her, he stood and brushed his work-roughened thumb over her cheek again. "You stay here. I'll be right back, baby. After I get everything settled here, I'll take you home."

She nodded absently and stared up at him, not at all sure how to interpret his touch or the pet name. She didn't get a chance to puzzle it through for too long before he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. She blinked a couple of times in surprise as he took off at a jog toward two deputies watching from the street.

Bobby peered out of the back seat of Uncle Brent's truck and watched as the long miles of dark road pa.s.sed by. He'd gone to sleep not long after his dad picked him up from Miz Mary's. He and Andy had just fallen asleep after playing video games in the family room. Dad had woken him, and Bobby hadn't considered anything strange was going on until he woke up a few moments ago.

This wasn't the way home.

His uncle spoke over the low country music from the radio. "How far do you think we need to go before we can stop?"

"I'm not stoppin' until we need gas. If you have to p.i.s.s, you have two choiceseither go in that empty soda bottle or aim it out the window."

"I'm good. I was just wonderin' that's all."

Why wouldn't his dad stop?

"How are we gonna get over the border?" Brent asked.