Rustling Up Trouble Read online

  “Roy,” she automatically corrected. It’d been a while since she’d called him Dad, not since she’d been a kid, but Rayanne hated that she had even brought it up at a time like this. “Funny?” she questioned.

  “Yeah. They weren’t the usual guys who make the delivery. Your... Roy asked them to show some ID, and that’s when they pulled guns on him. They demanded that he take them to Rosalie, and they said she’d be fine, as long as Blue and you cooperated, that is.”

  “Cooperated with what?” Blue and she asked in unison.

  Reed shook his head. “They didn’t get a chance to say. A ranch hand saw what was going on, and he got his gun. They exchanged a couple of shots, and the men started running toward the back pasture. The ranch hand and some others went after them.”

  Oh, mercy.

  Rayanne’s imagination was much too vivid, and she could see the whole thing playing out in her head. If any of her lawmen brothers had been there at the ranch, it would have made her breathe a little easier, but they were all in town looking for the men who’d come after Blue and her.

  Maybe that’d all been a diversion.

  So these jerks could kidnap Rosalie.

  Her sister was a nurse and didn’t even know Blue, but if there was even a shred of truth in what the men had told Roy, then they would have taken Rosalie hostage to manipulate Blue and her in some way.

  “Was anyone hurt?” Rayanne asked, holding her breath.

  “No. But Roy said it was a close call.”

  Like the one that Blue, Reed and she had just had at the hospital. Rayanne was getting sick and tired of the danger.

  “You’d better get your memory back soon,” she mumbled to Blue. “And hurry,” Rayanne added to Reed, though the deputy was already doing just that.

  It seemed to take an eternity, but the McKinnon ranch finally came into view. Rayanne didn’t see any signs of chaos in the pastures. The horses were grazing as usual. But when Reed reached the house, she spotted the four ranch hands on the porch.

  The men were all armed, standing guard.

  Reed had barely brought the truck to a stop when she barreled out and raced toward the house. However, Rayanne had managed only a few steps when the front door opened, and her sister and Roy peered out. They both frantically motioned for her to get inside.

  There was no sign of the gunmen, but it was obvious the danger hadn’t passed. The goons wouldn’t need Rosalie if they had Blue and her in their sights, and that was the reason Rayanne went back and helped Blue up the steps.

  “Get inside,” Blue snarled at her.

  Again, he was doing that protector thing, and it set her teeth on edge. Of course, anything he did at this point would cause the same reaction.

  “I’m sorry,” Rayanne said when Rosalie’s gaze met hers. Her voice was all breath and clogged with way too much emotion.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about,” Rosalie scolded her, and pulled Blue and her into the foyer. “We’re fine. Dad stopped them before they could get in the house.”

  Dad.

  That was a different way of putting her teeth on edge. Rosalie had obviously gotten past the fact that twenty-three years ago, when Rayanne and she had been barely six, their parents had split over rumors that their mother had had an affair and then killed her lover.

  Rayanne hadn’t.

  She was sure their mother was innocent of murdering her alleged lover, Whitt Braddock, but still Roy had sent her packing. Rosalie and her, too. Well, he hadn’t done anything to stop their mother from taking them, anyway, despite having kept custody of his sons.

  Rayanne didn’t intend to let go of that old grudge anytime soon. Nor the grudge she was holding against Whitt’s grown kids, his widow and even his elderly father for pressing for her mother’s arrest.

  Still, for now, she mumbled a thanks to Roy for protecting Rosalie.

  “You must be Blue McCurdy,” Rosalie said. “And you obviously need to sit down.”

  Rayanne still had her arm looped around him, but her sister took one look at Blue’s face and lent him an arm, too. Together they led him toward the family room just off the foyer. Rosalie not only made sure he sat on the sofa, she began to examine the surgical wound beneath the bandage.

  Only then did Rayanne see the blood seeping through the bandage. It wasn’t much but enough for her to suspect he’d popped a stitch or two.

  “Blue McCurdy,” Roy repeated.

  Unlike Rosalie, he had no friendly, nurturing tone in his voice. Probably because he’d heard about Blue dumping her. Not from Rayanne, but Rosalie and he had no doubt had a few chats.

  Roy and her mother, too.

  He was apparently visiting her mother in jail, where she was awaiting trial. In the grand scheme of things, it was petty to think of it now, but seeing Roy always brought out the pettiness in her.

  Roy kept staring at Blue. Nope, it was a glare. He likely felt the need to defend his daughter.

  Well, she didn’t want that from him, either.

  What was it with these unwanted men in her life doing unwanted things? But that question vanished when Rosalie eased back Blue’s bandage, and Rayanne got a glimpse of the angry-looking wound beneath.

  “I’ll get the first-aid kit,” Rosalie said. “Some pain meds, too, and once the danger’s passed, you’ll need to go back to the hospital.”

  “No hospital and no pain meds,” Blue insisted. “I need a clear head in case those men return.”

  “No sense arguing with him,” Rayanne said to her sister. “He’s hardheaded and won’t listen even when he should.”

  “Like someone else I know,” Rosalie mumbled, and headed out of the room.

  The corner of Blue’s mouth lifted. Enough of a smile for Rayanne’s body to give her another punch of something else she didn’t want. A reminder that his smile had always had her hormonal number.

  Heck, who was she kidding?

  Pretty much all of him could heat her up, but those days were long gone.

  She hoped.

  “I’ll keep watch at the door,” Roy said when Rayanne sank down on the sofa next to Blue, but he paused, glanced at her belly and looked on the verge of asking how she was. However, he must have realized it wasn’t a good time to play daddy because he walked away.

  “He’s worried about you,” Blue mumbled. “I’m worried about you?”

  “I’m not the one who’s been shot and is bleeding.” And Rayanne had another look at the wound. Yep, he’d popped a stitch, all right.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Right. You can tell that lie to my sister, and she might believe it. I see otherwise.”

  That darn smile of his threatened to return. “Worried about me?”

  Rayanne huffed a lot louder than necessary to show her disapproval. “Worried that I won’t get you out of my life soon enough.” She winced, paused. “I’m also worried that you won’t get your memory back and be able to tell me why all of this is happening,” she amended.

  His gaze met hers, and the muscles in his jaw started to stir. “I haven’t had time to give it a lot of thought, but there’s only one reason I would have left you like that. And it would have been to protect you.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” she blurted out before she realized she was even going to say it.

  Good grief.

  It wasn’t the time for this conversation, one that involved admitting that Blue had been a decent man. However, since she’d jumped off this particular cliff, Rayanne just kept going.

  “Knowing that doesn’t help. In fact, it only makes it worse. I’m a cop, Blue. I can take care of myself. You had a choice. Crush me or put me in danger. Trust me, I would have preferred the danger.”

  “Crush you?” he challenged.

  Mercy, she hated that she had ever admitted something like that to him. Blue already had enough power over her with these blasted feelings that she still had for him.

  Well, those feelings could take a hike, because she didn
’t want another dose of Blue.

  Too bad her body had other ideas.

  She still had the taste of him in her mouth. Literally. From the test kiss he’d laid on her at the hospital. To jog his memory, he’d said. It’d done a lot more than that.

  It’d jogged hers.

  And it had reminded Rayanne of why she’d landed in bed with him in the first place.

  “What’s going on in your head?” Blue asked in that deep Texas drawl that did pretty much the same thing to her body as his kiss had done.

  Rayanne didn’t even bother to scold her hormones, because it was clear that her body wasn’t listening to a single warning she was doling out to it.

  “If you were trying to protect me,” she said, forcing her mind back on what it should be on, these blasted attacks, “then the questions are who’s responsible and why?”

  Blue didn’t jump to answer, but he shook his head. “I don’t know.” He paused. “If I’d known you were pregnant—”

  “Don’t,” she warned him.

  “Don’t shut me out of this,” he warned her right back. “You’ve had weeks to come to terms with it, but I’ve only had an hour or so.”

  “Trust me, it’ll take more than a few weeks to come to terms with it.”

  “You’re not happy about the baby?” Blue came out and asked her.

  “I didn’t say that. I am happy.” Scared out of her mind, too, but Rayanne kept that part to herself. She’d never admit that to him. To anyone. She already felt vulnerable enough without adding more to the mix.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, but didn’t clarify exactly what he was apologizing for this time. Nor did Rayanne have time to ask, because her sister hurried back into the room.

  Rosalie had not only the first-aid kit but a pan of water. “I called the doctor,” she said, and got busy cleaning the wound. “After we’re sure these would-be kidnappers are gone, he’s coming out to check on you.”

  Good. Especially since Rayanne figured she stood no chance of talking Blue into returning to the hospital.

  “Were you two talking about the baby?” Rosalie asked, volleying her attention between them and Blue’s wound.

  “No,” Rayanne said at the same time that Blue answered, “Yes.”

  Rosalie made a sympathetic little hmm-ing sound, one that made Rayanne mentally curse herself. Rosalie’s own newborn daughter had been stolen from the hospital only hours after she’d been born, and Rosalie would no doubt give up her life to get her baby back.

  And here Rayanne was, not jumping for joy at the idea of motherhood.

  Not on the outside, anyway, but Rayanne knew the bottom line here. She hadn’t planned on this baby, hadn’t planned on a baby, period, but she already loved this unborn hormone-generating machine with all her heart. And she would do anything to protect it.

  Rayanne was so focused on that thought that she jumped a little when her phone buzzed. Get a grip.

  “It’s your boss,” she told Blue when she saw Caleb’s name on the screen. Blue took it from her and put the call on speaker.

  “Caleb,” Blue answered.

  “Where the hell are you?” Caleb snapped.

  “Someplace safe, I hope,” he said. “Please tell me something else hasn’t gone wrong.”

  “Wish I could say that, but I just had a conversation with a criminal informant. A reliable one.” Caleb paused. Cursed. “Blue, you’d better get some rest. I’ve fought it and lost, and the department’s given me no choice.”

  Blue did some cursing of his own. “What the heck are you talking about?”

  Caleb cleared his throat. “I mean I’m going to have to arrest you.”

  Chapter Six

  Blue glanced at the bottle of pills that Dr. Howland had left for him. When the doc had examined him about twelve hours earlier, he’d insisted that Blue take one every four hours to manage the pain. He hadn’t and had somehow made it through the night in the guest room at the McKinnon ranch.

  But Blue was certainly eyeing that bottle now.

  The pain was a dull throb in his shoulder and head. Had been since he’d woken up in that hospital bed. And while Blue figured those little pills would take the edge off, they might also dull him enough so that he couldn’t think his way out of this situation that was now his life.

  Not a simple situation, either.

  This one had plenty of layers.

  One of those layers gave a sharp knock on the door and opened it before he could even issue the standard come in. Rayanne stepped inside, her gaze swinging from him to the pill bottle.

  Then to his bare chest.

  It was the second time in just as many days that she’d caught him shirtless. At least he had on jeans this time and not some butt-baring hospital gown. Hard to look like a man who could protect her while half-naked.

  Blue considered reaching for his shirt, but Rayanne walked closer, a plastic bag looped over her wrist and a cup of coffee in each hand. “Thought it’d help with the headache,” she said, and thrust one of the cups in his direction.

  He darn sure didn’t refuse it. His head might be a tangled heap of memories, but his body was screaming for caffeine. One sip, and he figured this just might be the cure for what ailed him.

  Part of what ailed him, anyway.

  Too bad he couldn’t cure the rest of it with a few sips of strong coffee.

  Rayanne dropped the plastic bag on the bed. “Your ‘good-luck charms,’” she mumbled.

  Blue glanced inside and saw that it was indeed his Stetson and his brown leather vest. Both had a few new scuffs, but he was glad to have them back. “Thanks.”

  “Thank the sheriff when you see him. He brought them when he finished his shift.”

  Which meant the CSIs likely hadn’t found any trace or fibers that could help with the investigation. The possibility of that had been a long shot, anyway, but Blue had held out hope that there would be something to give them a lead.

  “You never did say why the vest and hat were lucky,” she commented. “Or maybe you don’t remember?” Rayanne added with yet more skepticism. She clearly still didn’t believe he had memory loss.

  “I remember,” he said under his breath. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Maybe.

  Probably not, he amended, since he’d never told anyone. Some doors were best left closed.

  Rayanne made a sound that could have meant anything, maybe even a twinge of hurt that he hadn’t bared his soul. If she knew the story behind it, she’d thank him, since she didn’t deal any better with emotional baggage than Blue did. Or at least she hadn’t before the pregnancy.

  “Rosalie will be up soon to check your bandage,” she continued. “Since you refused to go back to the hospital, Dr. Howland wants her to call him if there’s been any change in your condition. Is there a change?” she quickly tacked on to her update.

  “Not with the memory. The pain’s manageable.” That last part was a downright lie, but if he said it enough, it might actually start to happen. Besides, Rayanne had enough to deal with without worrying that he was going to keel over.

  Taking some long sips of coffee from her own cup, Rayanne sank down on the foot of his bed. Not too close to him, though. But it was close enough for him to notice that she wasn’t drinking coffee but rather chocolate milk.

  She looked tired and amazing all at the same time. She was wearing her usual jeans and a plain tan shirt that hugged her body just enough for him to see another layer to this complex situation.

  The baby bump.

  “We’re not going to discuss that now,” she said, obviously following his gaze. “Or that,” she added when his wandering eyes landed on her mouth.

  Blue couldn’t help it. He smiled. Even with the danger breathing down their proverbial necks, Rayanne could do that to him.

  Sadly, his smile seemed to only rile her even more.

  “Caleb already called earlier this morning,” she informed him.

  Ah, so that was the so
urce of this particular riling. Well, it must have been darn early, because it was barely eight o’clock now.

  “And?” Blue asked when she didn’t continue.

  “He’ll be here in about an hour, and yes, he still says he’ll arrest you, that he doesn’t have a choice. The powers that be believe you’re a dirty agent.”

  Not exactly a surprise. Before he’d finally had to collapse in bed, Blue had spent a few hours trying to sort out why a criminal informant had claimed Blue was on the payroll of criminal kingpin Rex Gandy. He wasn’t any closer to learning the truth than he had been last night, but he’d need to learn it soon if he hoped to stop Caleb from hauling him into custody.

  “If Caleb’s superiors are taking the word of this CI,” Rayanne continued, “then they must have some kind of proof to go along with it.”

  Blue felt as if she’d slugged him. “We’re back to you thinking I’m a criminal?”

  She lifted her shoulder. “I think the CI might think that. Probably because you gave him a reason to believe it. Like maybe some kind of deep-cover investigation that you didn’t bother to tell anyone about. Something that would make you look like a criminal.”

  Blue couldn’t dismiss that, but without details and proof, he didn’t have a way to clear his name. “Whatever it is, it obviously involves you.”

  Rayanne stared into her cup of milk. Nodded. “Let’s play this through and see if it jogs anything in your memory. Five months ago something happened, something big enough and dangerous enough for you to start this investigation that’s brought you here. We’d just finished that case in Appaloosa Pass, so maybe it’s connected to that?”

  It was his turn to nod. “If so, then it’s linked to Gandy because we arrested one of his so-called lieutenants.”

  It’d been a solid arrest, too. His team and Rayanne had found not just a stash of illegal weapons but plenty of paperwork and even a witness who could put the lieutenant away for life.

  Except the guy’s life hadn’t lasted that long.

  He’d gotten into a fight during lockup and had been killed by another prisoner. Yet something else Blue needed to investigate. Had the lieutenant been killed in a jail fight or had he been targeted for a kill because of things he could have told the Justice Department?