Kade: Armed and Dangerous (7 page)

“Gordo,” Kade muttered as he pushed his Stetson back and scratched his head. The name
kept coming up, and in his gut he knew he was closer to tracking the bastard down.

Sal Valenzuela strode toward Don, looking like he was sweltering in his rough-duty
uniform. “The kid on the end says an old guy couldn’t keep up and they had to leave
him behind. I’ll call it in.”

Don Mitchell radioed for a transport van after he and Sal determined that all the
members of the group were indeed UDAs. They advised the men and women of their administrative
rights and took down their personal information.

While they processed the UDAs a helicopter was utilized to help search for the missing
man. Agents located him where he’d crossed Sweetwater, the ranch of the former county
sheriff John “Bull” Stevens. The UDA was to be evacuated to Douglas Hospital, but
he died from dehydration before the copter took to the air.

Kade tossed his hat into his truck as they got ready to leave the ranch. “Damn
polleros.”

“To hell and back.” Don scowled. “Those coyotes deserve to die in the desert, instead
of the people they leave stranded.”

Sal gave a short nod as he looked over his shoulder at the UDAs. Kade rubbed his hands
over his face, trying to wipe away some of the exhaustion and frustration. “Only getting
worse.”

With a shrug, Don walked back toward the group of UDAs. “The coyotes run people and
drugs. Both are profitable enough to be worth the risk.”

“Need any help here before I take off?” Kade asked.

Sal shook his head. “We’ve got it handled.”

“Then I’ve got to head on home.” Kade climbed into his truck, lowered the window,
and slammed the door.

“How long is that pretty reporter staying with you?” Sal’s dark eyes gleamed.

The possessive feeling that grabbed Kade surprised him. “Not long enough.” He buzzed
up the window, his friend’s low whistle fading as the glass rose.

***

Kelsey settled with her laptop computer at the dining room table for her interview
with Kade’s mother.

Sadie stretched a block of fabric across a hoop. “I hope you don’t mind if I quilt
while we talk.”

“Not at all.” Kelsey pulled her cell phone out of her bag and set it on the table
after she’d prepared it to record.

She admired the furnishings, including an oak china cabinet filled with crystal glasses,
goblets, and decanters. It surprised her to see crystal on a ranch, one of her many
preconceived notions of life in the country to be shattered since meeting Kade’s family.

Margarita glasses caught her attention. Heat rushed through her at the memory of what
her last margarita had led to. Kelsey shoved thoughts of Kade from her mind, praying
his mother wouldn’t notice the flush in her cheeks. She ran her hand over a quilt
block, admiring Sadie’s work.

“Incredible.” Kelsey traced one of the circles designed with small blocks of cloth.
“I love the materials you’ve chosen and the way the rings loop together.”

“You’re sweet.” Sadie slipped on a pair of half-glasses, adjusted the hoop, slid a
thimble on one finger, and started stitching. “It’s a wedding ring quilt, and the
materials are hand-dyed.”

Kelsey picked up a corner. “The circles do look like wedding rings intertwined.”

“I’ve been working on it for years, off and on. I keep hoping Kade will find a young
lady he wants to settle down with, so that I can give the quilt to him and his bride
as a wedding gift.” She glanced up and smiled. “There’s been no shortage of women
who’ve been interested in Kade. He’s just never fallen in love with anyone.” Kelsey
snatched her hand away as if it had been scalded. An image of Kade’s kiss came to
mind and a furious blush engulfed her to the soles of her feet.

“Can you tell me about your ranch?” She tried to keep her voice steady as she steered
the conversation to safer ground.

Sadie quilted with deft strokes as she spoke. “Since Kade had no interest in going
into the ranching business, a couple of years ago when we retired, Chuck sold off
all the commercial cattle. We keep enough livestock for personal use, and raise most
of our own vegetables and fruit.”

Kelsey shifted her computer as she jotted down notes. “Do immigrants travel through
your land?”

“We’re fortunate that illegals don’t cross our property as often as they cross the
Carters’, or the Grands’.” Sadie adjusted her glasses and continued stitching. “Then
there’s the Mitchells’ ranch—why, Don estimates five hundred or more go through their
back pasture every night. Like a highway. Kitty put bars on her back window ‘cause
she’s worried for her granddaughter.”

She sighed and shook her head. “That’s why Alex Grand bought himself a shotgun. Shoots
up in the air—away from them, of course—just to scare them. I don’t agree with his
tactics.”

“By Carter are you referring to Trace Carter’s family?” Kelsey asked.

Sadie nodded. “One and the same gal who arranged for you to stay here.”

Kelsey smiled. “Trace is a terrific friend. I’m going to miss seeing her while I’m
here.”

“Trace took off for Texas with her husband, Jess,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, that’s what she told me in her last e-mail.” Kelsey tapped her fingertips on
her laptop. “She won’t be coming back until Christmas.”

Sadie clipped a loose thread and started to rethread her needle. “Do you have any
more questions about illegal immigration?”

“A few.” Kelsey glanced at her notes again. “Do you come in contact with these people—the
UDAs—often?”

“The illegals we get, most of them just want water,” Sadie said. “Not too long ago,
we discovered a hole cut into our fence beside a water trough. Rather than reaching
over the fence to get water, they cut right through the wire.”

Kelsey tapped her stylus. “I wonder why they do that.”

Sadie twisted her lips in obvious disapproval of the practice, but for the woman it
was still a mild expression that fit her personality.

“Sweetwater Ranch has sustained the most damage that I know of.” She adjusted the
quilting hoop in her lap. “Bull—that’s John Stevens, who owns Sweetwater—lost thousands
of dollars in cattle when coyotes tore down his fence to run illegals through.”

Kelsey frowned and stopped taking notes. “Coyotes?”

“The smugglers,” Sadie said. “Also called
los polleros
, who are paid to sneak illegal immigrants into the U.S.”

Kelsey’s thoughts whirled. “What do you do when illegals stop by?”

Sadie glanced over the rims of her glasses. “Usually my husband gives the immigrants
water while I call the authorities.”

Kelsey looked at the dog at her feet and smiled at the large sad-eyed rottweiler.
“I’m sure Roxie is a good watchdog.”

“Nothing like a rottweiler to keep people at a distance.” Sadie smiled. “ ‘Course
she’d as likely slobber all over your shoes than bite you, but we’ll keep that to
ourselves.”

Kelsey and Sadie talked for about an hour longer. Sadie explained how deep passions
ran among people when it came to the subject of illegal immigrants, no matter which
side of the issue the person might be on.

“When does Kade get home?” Kelsey asked when they finished the interview. He’d been
gone since at least six a.m. It was closing in on a full twelve hours from the time
he’d left the house until this moment.

“Anytime now.” Sadie glanced out the front window. “Looks like he’s here.”

A low thrill invaded Kelsey’s belly, and when Kade walked through the door her senses
ran sky-high. His presence filled the room and the tired smile he gave her made her
knees quiver.

“Mom. Kelsey.” Kade hung his Stetson on the hat rack, then kicked off his boots and
left them beside the front door. He wore a faded blue shirt over a black T-shirt and
snug jeans.

“Shower?” Sadie asked as he strode by.

“Uh-huh.” Kade walked past, straight for the laundry room.

“He usually won’t say two words after work until he’s had his shower.” Sadie began
folding her quilt and packing it away. “At least on days when he’s detained illegals.”

“Why is that?” Kelsey asked.

Kade stepped out of the laundry room, his shirt off, and he was removing a black vest.
A tickling sensation rolled over her skin as she realized it was a bulletproof vest.
It had never occurred to her that Kade would ever be in that kind of danger.

“I come in contact with hundreds of people from all over the Third World.” He walked
to an oak cabinet and opened one of the doors with a key. “Due to the conditions of
their trip, who knows what viruses or diseases they could be carrying. I’ve seen HIV,
hepatitis, plagues, malaria, typhoid, cholera, TB... you name it.”

Kelsey checked to make sure her phone was still recording, forcing herself to take
her eyes off Kade’s muscular chest.

“Diseases and sickness are things that never occurred to me,” she said, her eyes drawn
back to him.

He withdrew his handgun from a holster at his side and placed the weapon in the cabinet,
followed by a second handgun he had secured at the back of his jeans. “In Douglas,
a few agents a year contract TB at work and someone always ends up sick. The last
thing I want to do is bring anything home to my family.”

“I see.” Kelsey chanced a glance at his face. “Why aren’t you wearing the green uniform
that CPB agents usually wear?”

He gripped the back of a chair and eyed her with that intense blue stare of his. “I
work intelligence, so I wear civilian clothing. It’s easier to obtain information
when I don’t look like law enforcement.”

“Ah.” She struggled to think of something to say, her brain seeming to have gone on
vacation with him standing so close. Half-naked at that. “I—uh, I’ll have to pin you
down for an interview.”

He winked. “Darlin’, you can pin me down anytime.”

A hot flush seared Kelsey. With Kade’s mother sitting next to her, she couldn’t think
of a suitable reply.

“Time to finish dinner.” Sadie slid her glasses into a case as she stood. She settled
her quilting materials into a corner and headed into the kitchen.

Kelsey pushed back her chair. “I’ll help.”

As he returned to the laundry room, Kelsey’s gaze followed Kade while she noticed
the powerful lines of his naked back. With a mental shake, she trailed after Sadie
into the kitchen, trying not to think about how good Kade looked without his shirt
on. Trying not to imagine what it would feel like to run her palms over his chest
and down, down the flatness of his hard stomach, down—

Kelsey.
She clenched her hands and took a deep breath.
Enough of that.

“What can I do to help you?” she asked Sadie.

“Why don’t you peel the potatoes?” Sadie gestured toward several brown-skinned potatoes
on the countertop, and then reached up into a cabinet filled with jars of spices.
“Now where is the oregano...”

The washing machine hummed as it started, and Kelsey grabbed the potato peeler off
the counter. She almost dropped it when Kade walked through the kitchen clad only
in black boxers. He winked at her but didn’t pause and went straight to the bathroom.

He had one of the most gorgeous male bodies she’d ever seen.

Hard, muscular thighs and calves. Powerful arms, and definitely a nice backside.

Kelsey blushed, realizing that Kade’s mom was right behind her. If Sadie hadn’t been
there, she probably would have stood with her mouth hanging open.

Awhile longer.

During dinner Kade sat beside Kelsey. The family chattered and laughed, but Kelsey
could scarcely think with the hair on Kade’s forearm tickling her arm every time he
moved. He pressed his leg to hers beneath the table, and even when she shifted in
her seat he still managed to brush up against her. It was almost a relief when dinner
was over and she could escape his constant presence.

After they all helped Sadie clean off the table and straighten the kitchen, Trent
grabbed Kade’s hand and tugged him toward the back door. “Come on, Dad. Let’s show
Kelsey my hideout.”

“You game?” Kade asked, looking at Kelsey in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

She smiled. “Sure. I’d love to see your hideout, Trent.”

“All right.” The boy snatched her hand, too, and pulled her and Kade out the door.
.

She laughed and looked over Trent’s head at Kade. “You have quite the dynamo here.”

“You have no idea.” Kade’s dimple appeared when he smiled, and her stomach flip-flopped.

The boy’s hand felt small and warm in Kelsey’s as he dragged them through Sadie’s
orchard and into the windbreak. The late-afternoon sun hung just above the mountains
and the air smelled of cut grass and marigolds. A breeze cooled her cheeks and twigs
snapped underfoot as they walked through cottonwood, eucalyptus, and juniper trees.

When they reached a grassy area, Trent pointed to a muddy pool of water. “That’s Grandma’s
duck pond.” It smelled of moss and algae, and the sounds of quacking filled the clearing.
“Don’t they sound like they’re telling secrets? That’s what Grandma always says. And
look, there’s Momma duck and her babies.”

Kelsey smiled. “I bet Momma duck is chatting about how adorable her babies are.”

They halted as the duck family waddled in front of them, about a dozen fuzzy ducklings
trailing the mother.

“Come on.” Trent pulled Kelsey’s hand and led her farther into the windbreak. “Here
it is,” he announced when they came upon a playhouse painted in cheerful primary colors.
“My dad made it for me when I was five and he painted it in my favorite colors. It’s
on the ground ‘cause the trees around here aren’t big enough to build it up high,
so it’s not a tree house, it’s a ground house, but I call it my hideout.”

The yellow house stood about five feet tall, had a green chimney, scarlet door, and
bright blue trim around the windows and eaves. It was perfect for a kid to have loads
of adventures in.