Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (12 page)

“No,
I was hoping you had.”

“Sorry,
darlin’, I’ve been all tied up in this new case. I don’t get much chance for
phone calls. You just happened to catch me last week.”

Kenzie
was quiet for a moment before asking solemnly, “This is dangerous, isn’t it,
Travis? This new case you’re involved in.”

“There’s
an element of danger in all our cases, darlin’. These are criminals we deal
with.”

“You
sound like Hardin,” she grumbled. “Is that a standard answer they teach you in
training?”

“Just
a fact.”

“Is
it hard, being back in East Texas? I know it holds some painful memories for
you.”

“To
be honest, I’ve been too busy for any strolls down memory lane.”

“So
I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to look up your old friend Emilio?”

She
glimpsed the odd look that crossed his face before he hid it. “Too busy.”

“Except,
what? I saw that look.”

He
hesitated briefly before telling her, “Funny you should mention Emilio. The
leader of the gang I’m trying to infiltrate has a familiar face.”

With
a small gasp, she guessed, “The brother who went to Juvie?”

“Oh,
he’s escalated far beyond Juvie. Two years in prison, in and out of jail a
dozen times, now the leader of a rag tag group that roams from East Texas to
Louisiana.”

“But…
won’t he recognize you? Won’t he know you’re a Texas Ranger now? I’m sure the
orphanage is very proud that one of its own became a member of such an elite
group of law enforcement. People have to know who you are.”

“Luckily
for me, I was a scrawny little kid back then. I don’t look a thing like I used
to, especially not dressed like a biker.”

“So
he hasn’t recognized you?”

“We
haven’t come face to face yet. But I’m confident he’ll have no idea who I
really am.” Despite his words, there was the slightest hint of doubt in his
tone.

“I
don’t guess you can tell me anything about the case?”

“Sorry,
darlin’. I shouldn’t have even told you this much.”

“Like
you’ve told me anything at all. What do they deal? Drugs? Guns?”

“Among
other things,” he said elusively.

“Do
you know how long it’s going to take, how long you’re going to be undercover?”

He
shrugged. “Hard to say.”

“Take
a guess. A month, a year?”

“That’s
impossible to predict, darlin’.”

Kenzie
sighed in exasperation. “Well, if you can’t tell me anything, can you at least
get me something to eat? I’m starving!”

Travis
chuckled. “Now that, I can do. If you can wait about thirty minutes, I know a
great little place we can go for the best steak you’ve ever had.”

“I’m
not sure I’m dressed for a steakhouse.” She glanced down at her attire. She
wore a pair of bluejean shorts over the swimming suit. Rhinestone-studded
sandals graced her feet.

“I
never said this was a steakhouse,” he corrected her. “And believe me, darlin’,
you look fine. Extremely fine.”

The
look that accompanied the words sent a delighted shiver over her skin,
reminding her of their heated kisses by the river, not that she was likely to
ever forget.

The
compliment deserved a peace offering of sorts. “Last night, you asked me what
picture I was looking at. Apparently, when we had that roll of film developed,
one of the pictures was stuck in with the negatives or something. I just
recently discovered a third picture. It was of my mother with Makenna and me.”

“I’m
glad you at least have a picture of the three of you.” He reached over to
engulf her smaller hand with his large one.

“You
should see it, Travis,” she said softly. Her voice turned wistful. “We looked
so happy. And she was so beautiful. Her hair was short and had just enough curl
to make it bounce around her face like a halo. It was dark, with auburn
highlights. And her eyes were green, like ours. She looked so happy.” The words
came out strangled as she fought back tears.

“I’m
sorry, darlin’, that you don’t remember her.”

“It
wasn’t the same woman, Travis.”

Her words
were so low and raw he had trouble hearing them. “What did you say?”

“The
woman in the picture was obviously our mother. We look too much like her to
doubt that. But she wasn’t the woman who raised me, Travis. Apparently,
that
woman
was not my mother.”

“What
are you saying?”

“I
don’t know what, and I don’t know why, but something happened between the time
that picture was taken in January and by the time my parents deserted Makenna
in June. Something happened to my real mother.”

“Then
who raised you?”

Her
green eyes were tortured. “I don’t know, but I have to find out. The not
knowing is killing me. It haunts me, thinking about what could have been, if
only I had been raised by a mother who loved me.” Her voice broke with the
admission. “I’m haunted, knowing she might be out there somewhere and I might
not ever get to see her again. That I might never remember her.”

“I
know your father hid their tracks pretty well, erasing most of their background
data. But there has to be some trace of your mother out there. I won’t have
much time to work on it, but I’ll see what I can dig around and pull up. I have
access to files you don’t.”

A
huge smile lit her face. “You’d do that for me?”

“You
might be surprised at what I’m willing to do for you.”

She
wanted to ask if he was willing to quit his job for her, or to at least
transfer back to Austin. She would never ask it of him, of course, but a part
of her wanted to know what his answer would be if she did. The other part of
her was terrified to find out. So instead of asking, she kept the smile
plastered on her face and cooed flirtatiously, “Aw, Stix, it almost sounds as
if you care about me.”

In
answer, he scrunched his forehead in a glower. He did not return her playful
mood. “Of course I care about you, Kenzie.”

She
pulled her hand away from his, her mood suddenly somber as she turned her head
to stare out the window. “Sorry, guess I didn’t notice in the all the dust,”
she muttered.

“What
dust?”

“The
dust you left behind when you got out of Austin as fast as you could. You
remember, it was one week after the first time you told me you cared about me.
You promised me everything was going to work out. And I guess for you, it did.”

“Is
that what you think?” A nerve worked along the edge of his taut jaw. “You think
I wanted to leave you? That it was easy to walk away, especially with all
you’re going through right now?”

“It
took you less than a week to pack up and go,” she pouted.

“Those
were my orders, Kenzie. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You
always have a choice.” Kenzie knew she was being childish, but the words were
tumbling out, fueled by the pain in her heart.

“So,
what? I was supposed to turn down this promotion because my girlfriend didn’t
want me to go? Is that what you want, Kenzie?” He did not give her time to
answer, he just grabbed his cell phone and said in a voice like thunder, “Fine,
I’ll call up my Captain and tell him I changed my mind!”  

Kenzie
felt the goofy grin that bubbled up from her heart and smeared across her face.
She forgot all about being in the middle of an argument. Making light of the
unaccustomed mushy feelings, she teased, “Aw, am I your girlfriend, Travis?”

He
looked more irritated than embarrassed. “What are we, in seventh grade?” he
scowled. “Am I supposed to ask you to go steady with me or something?”

“Well,
a commitment is always nice,” she teased. “Do you have anything for me? An I.D.
bracelet, senior ring, anything that will let people know I’m your girl?” She
batted her eyes playfully, leaning toward him.

He,
however, was serious. He did not sound at all pleased when he muttered
something beneath his breath that sounded a lot like, “You have my heart and
soul, isn’t that enough?”

“What
did you just say?” she asked softly, even though she was fairly certain she
heard him correctly. Her heart was doing a crazy little somersault in her
chest, back-flips and all. 

Travis
was suddenly very focused on the road in front of them. A faint trace of color
crept up the side of his neck. He stalled as long as he could, making a very
careful lane change that required an exorbitant amount of attention. He checked
his speed, then the fuel gauge. The entire time, she kept her gaze trained on
his every move.

At
last, Travis blew out a deep breath and met her eyes. “Is that what you want,
Kenzie? Because I’ll do it. I’ll give up my promotion if it will make you
happy.”

He
expected one of her huge, happy smiles, the kind that danced in her eyes and
made a man feel like he could waltz in the clouds. He did not expect her to
burst into tears.

“What?
What did I do wrong this time?” he cried in bewilderment.

Again,
she surprised him. She caught him off guard when she threw her arms around his
neck and kissed him squarely on the mouth. The car swerved in a crazy pattern
before she settled back into her own seat, both her arms latched around his
right one.

“That
is the sweetest thing any man has ever said or done for me,” she announced with
shimmering eyes. “Even better than taking me to my first carnival.”

He
grunted, still confused but her abrupt change in moods. “Don’t forget the cheap
motel and the overpriced stuffed animal.”

“I
could never forget any part of that night. It was wonderful. But nothing
compares to you offering to quit your job for me.” She squeezed his arm, doing
a happy little dance in her seat. Then her voice softened as she told him, “But
you don’t have to look so green around the gills, like you might be sick at any
moment. I don’t want you to give up your promotion for me, Travis. I would
never ask that of you.”

He
was more confused than ever. “Then what is this all about?”

“It’s
enough just
knowing
you would give it up for me.”

Travis
huffed out a sigh. “You are the most confusing woman I have ever known.”

“Not
really. No one’s ever been willing to give anything up for me before. I know
it’s selfish and makes me a terrible person, but it’s nice, you know?”

Travis
was quiet for a few moments before answering in a gruff voice. “Yeah, I do
know. It’s been the same for me, at least since I was seven, when my
grandmother died.”

Kenzie
hugged his arm, moving as close to him as the center console would allow. As
they traveled down the highway, Travis put his hand on her knee and let his
warmth penetrate into her bare skin. After a while he spoke.

“Did
I ever tell you I was there when she got killed?”

Kenzie
gasped as her eyes widened. “Oh, Travis, how awful!”

“I
had gone with her to the bank that day. We were almost done when the robbers
came in and demanded we all get in the vault. I was so afraid, but Gannie said
everything would be all right.”

“Wh-What
happened?”

“Someone
shoved, and I got pushed into the steel door and scraped my arm. Gannie was
just trying to protect me. She demanded they let me go. Just as I got to the
front door, a shot rang out. I turned and saw her crumble to the ground.”

She
could hear the horror in his voice, still fresh after all these years. “I am so
sorry,” she whispered, rubbing her cheek against his arm. She pressed a kiss
into the lean muscle.

“That
was the day I decided I wanted to be a Texas Ranger. It took a lot of hard work
and dedication, but I made it. I was an orphan kid without any family or any
money, but I put myself through college and got into the DPS and, eventually,
the Rangers. There are less than a hundred and fifty officers chosen for the program,
did you know that?”

“No,
I didn’t realize that. Very impressive,” she said, her heart swelling with
pride that he was among the elite of law enforcement.

“Most
of those never get promoted to Lieutenant.”

“No,
I suppose not,” she murmured, suddenly uncomfortable with where the
conversation was leading.

“It’s
been my dream since I was seven years old to be a Ranger. I never dared to
dream I would become an officer. But I would give it up, if it made you happy.”
His voice dropped an octave as he kept his eyes trained on the road. “That’s
what I would do for you, darlin’.”

Emotion
thickened her voice and she was only capable of one strangled word. “Travis.”

Travis
pulled in an unsteady breath, preparing for his question. “Would you do
something for me, darlin’?”

“Wh-What?”

“I
want you to go into Witness Protection. If you won’t do it for yourself, would
you do it for me?”