Tag, You're It! (12 page)

"I imagine a woman never introduced herself to you by way of Smith and Wesson."

"That was a Ruger, nine millimeter."

"Sure, that makes all the difference. And you know the really stupid part of this?"

"That we're arguing about the size of my gun?"

"That I saved your life to begin with." She braced her hands on the saddle and twisted to look at him. It was too dark to see her expression, but the tone of her voice made "pissed off" a safe bet. "You stuck a gun in my face, and I saved your life," she said. "Your friends in the plane came back and shot at you, and I saved your life. Then they brought in a helicopter and burned my cabin down, and I
saved your lifer

"Hold on, that third time is stretching it."

"Then I guess you're the one who shot the snowmobile driver with a tranquilizer gun."

"Okay, I'll give you that."

"And you were up to walking seventy-five miles in damp preppy clothes?"

"I repaid the favor—two of the favors," Tag amended. "I'm not counting the third one, so that makes us even."

"This isn't about keeping score. This is about stupidity. And stubbornness. I've been blaming you for being in this mess, but it's my own fault. You can't help how you are, being manipulative and dishonest and—"

"Breaking your neck doesn't sound so bad anymore. At least you'd be quiet."

"And you'd have no hope of finding the treasure before Junior does."

"We have the map, remember? I don't think that'll be a problem anymore."

"Unless he made a copy."

"If there'd been a copy it would've been in the safe."

Alex huffed out a breath. "That wouldn't be very smart. Jeez, you need to stop thinking like a treasure hunter and start thinking like a cop or something."

Damn. Tag rubbed at the back of his neck, hating it that she was right. And that he hadn't thought of it first. She kept making him crazy, and he kept losing sight of what was important. If Junior had a copy… If Junior had a copy… "If he had a copy, he would have shown that to you instead."

"Not if he wanted me to believe it was authentic. I wouldn't go out in the field with him for a copy. And even if there weren't any copies, he could've memorized the original well enough to make a useful re-creation."

"You're a regular ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Tag grumbled.

"Just being realistic," she said around a yawn. "I've had enough surprises over the past few days to last me a lifetime. The last thing I want is to get out in the field and have Junior and his merry men waiting for us."

"Let's just take this a day at a time." Or night, he thought, since most of their interaction seemed to come during the hours between sundown and sunup. "Where are we going?"

"A friend of mine owns a ranch not far from here. Her place will be safe."

Her. That buoyed him up a bit. He was getting tired of Alex's men. He was tired, period. "How far is it exactly?"

She pointed off ahead of them. "See that break in the trees?"

Tag squinted, making out the place where the treeline met the slightly lighter sky. "Do you mean that opening in the trees on the next ridge?"

"Yes."

"The one across the really deep valley?"

"That's the one."

"That's your definition of not far? It would be not far if we could fly."

"I've seen you fly," she said with a slight giggle. The painkillers were definitely kicking in.

"I didn't fly, I landed."

"Sounds like fun." She made a "wheeee" sound, listing to one side then the other, well on her way to breaking her neck.

When she swung back around in his direction, Tag braced a hand on her shoulder and shoved her upright, then had to fist his hand in her coat to keep her from going off the other side.

Good thing she'd only taken half the pills. Even at that there was no way he could stay on the ground and keep her from falling off the mare. He contemplated the possibility of riding Jackass, for all of two seconds before he gave up the idea.

Jackass wasn't in much better shape than his owner, plodding along, head down, barely able to drag his own carcass forward a step at a time. He probably wouldn't put up a fuss, but Tag didn't want to be the proverbial straw. Not that the mental picture of Jackass on his belly with all his legs splayed out hurt Tag's feelings, but Alex wouldn't be too happy about it, and he needed to keep her happy. To whatever degree that was possible.

Falling onto her head in a drugged stupor would probably be contrary to that ambition.

Tag picked up Jackass's reins, careful to keep as far away as possible, and climbed up behind Alex on Angel. He was braced for the inevitable insults and objections—or at least a feeble attempt to shove him off. Instead she sighed and snuggled back against him. Instant hard-on. Another reason he disliked riding. Not that he'd spent a lot of his time on horseback in this condition, but anything that put a man's package in close proximity to a hard surface that was under the control of something with the IQ of a five-year-old was just wrong in his book.

Alex let her head drop back against his shoulder and said, "Ummmmmmm," and things got measurably worse. And there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, tucked her head into a more comfortable position, and fought like hell to remember her whining and obnoxious instead of warm and sleepy and soft. He accomplished the first, but it didn't come close to outweighing the second.

And for the first time since he'd crashed into Alexandra Scott's life, Tag began to wonder exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

TAG FOLLOWED ALEX'S VAGUE DIRECTIONS, WISHING the painkillers would solve his problem. In the interest of distraction—and necessity—he concentrated on keeping Alex's break in the trees in sight. Kind of difficult, since they were traveling through heavy forest most of the time. He resorted to picking out a landmark and aiming for it. When he thought he'd arrived he repeated the process, always keeping the tallest mountain peak at the same general place on the horizon. Finally he topped a hill, and there spread out about a half mile below them was a flat, treeless plain, in the center of which were a ranch house, outbuildings, and corrals. Herds of animals he assumed were beef cattle dotted the pastures.

Even at that early morning hour there seemed to be a lot of activity. Jackass whinnied, seeming to perk up. Alex even stirred, pulled partially back to consciousness by the noise and the brightening light.

She stretched her arms above her head and dragged in a deep breath. And then froze. Ever so slowly she looked over her shoulder.

Tag tried to smile. He suspected he ended up with something closer to a grimace. He hadn't ridden in years, and having Alex in his lap all night had only compounded his problems. What wasn't numb was on fire, and not in a good way. He had a mean case of blue balls, and a killer charing problem. But he'd be damned if he let her know it. "Morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

She slid off the mare, stopping dead when her injured leg hit the ground. She limped a couple of steps and either got a handle on the pain or just butched her way through it. Tag would have put money on the latter.

"How's the leg?" he asked.

She yanked Jackass's reins out of his hand and put some distance between them. He didn't think she was going to answer him but she bit off the word "fine."

"You seem to be walking better."

"It's still a bit stiff, but not too sore," she said grudgingly.

"You're welcome."

That earned him a look, and a criticism. "We shouldn't have ridden double all night."

"It was only a few hours." But he dismounted, wincing when he hit the ground.

The mare whuffled out a breath, sounding suspiciously like she was sighing in relief. Tag had a bad feeling Jackass was rubbing off on her.

"Females," he muttered, thankful he was following Alex so she couldn't see that he was doing some limping of his own and ask him why. And then he noticed the way her ass swayed when she walked, and his problems increased… exponentially. He really should have paid attention to the scenery, but the mountains and the sunrise just didn't hold the same attractions.

Even wounded Alex had a strong, ground-eating walk and a sort of defiant, athletic grace that offset all the drama she created just by being a woman. And a know-it-all, and way too smart for her own good. Not to mention her annoying ability to read his mind—or in this case his libido.

She looked over her shoulder at him, lips pressed together, one eyebrow raised, doing her disapproving-matron bit. She'd probably learned it in her mother's drawing room, but Tag had been on the receiving end of that look a million times in his own mother's kitchen. It was a weapon that defied class, and it still made him feel guilty.

It didn't stop him from looking at her ass, though. Some things were stronger than guilt.

Thankfully, it didn't take them long, even walking, to get to the buildings spread in the valley below. Most of the people he'd seen moving around from a distance seemed to be gone, with the exception of a woman with short salt-and-pepper hair who appeared to be somewhere in her midforties. Either that or she spent a lot of time outdoors, because she was well on her way to getting wrinkles on top of her wrinkles.

The smile she greeted Alex with dimmed when she caught sight of Tag behind her.

"Dee Redfern," Alex said to Tag. She took Angel's reins from him and looped both sets around a hitching post. "She owns the Bar D."

Tag held out his hand. "Any woman who names her place after a bar can't be all bad."

Dee gave a bark of laughter, punching him in the shoulder. She was barely over five feet, but there was enough power in it to knock him back a step.

"Does the
D
stand for dangerous?"

Another laugh. " 'Bout time you brought 'round someone with a sense of humor, Alex."

"Yeah, he's a real laugh riot."

Alex stepped out from between the horses, and Dee's eyes dropped to her thigh, and the blood staining her jeans.

Every shred of amusement dropped out of her expres"What happened?"

"It's a long story," Alex said wearily. "The kind I won't get through without coffee."

"He ain't coming into my house until you tell me he ain't responsible for that."

Alex gave Tag a long, level stare, long enough that he started to wonder what she'd say. And how Dee would react.

"He's not," Alex finally said.

Dee didn't seem all that convinced, but she was willing to take things at face value.

"Well, c'mon inside, then, and I'll get you that coffee. Probably rustle you up some breakfast, too."

"The horses need to be dealt with."

"They'll be all right for a while longer."

Alex shook her head, already loosening the belly straps on Jackass's saddle. "Some joker in town got Jackass drunk. Then we had to race a Jeep and a Land Rover and ride all night."

"This is getting better and better," Dee said.

"He needs water, he needs some oats, and he needs to rest for a while." Alex looked over at Tag. "So does Angel."

Jackass swung his rear end around and knocked Tag into Dee. They had to grab on to each other or go down in a heap in the dirt.

Dee laughed, but she didn't appear to be in too much of a hurry to disentangle herself. "I always knew that horse was too smart for his own good."

"You're responsible for creating that freak of nature?"

"He was born here," Dee said to Tag. "A mare and a stallion created him. Alex came by here four years ago asking if she could use that old line cabin on the edge of my property. Truth be told, I didn't pay much attention because one of my men was trying to break him at the time—"

"You don't know what his name used to be, do you?"

Dee thought about it a couple of seconds then waved her hand. "Old age. All I remember is her renaming him because he reminded her of her ex-fiancé. Jackass didn't seem to care what she called him, and it allowed Alex to avoid thinking of The Jerk and insult him at the same time. And she got to keep the horse, so it worked out for everyone.

Ex-fiancé. That explained a few things, Tag thought, looking over at Alex. She wasn't the kind of woman to commit herself lightly, and deep feelings led to deep hurt. Maybe it was best if he didn't know The Jerk's name, because he had a powerful urge to look him up and teach him a lesson. Right after he found the treasure. And dealt with the man who'd killed his partner. Okay, so dealing with Alex's ex wasn't actually his top priority. It still said something that he was on the list, and that something was dangerous, since it hinted at emotional involvement. Any sort of emotional involvement was dangerous to a man in his line of work.

"Nobody could break him," Dee was saying, "but he took one look at Alex and that was it."

"Love at first sight?" Tag interpreted.

"And don't you doubt it. Horses get attached to their owners, just like cats or dogs. Not that I've ever seen one take to somebody out of the blue like that. Dangdest thing." She shrugged. "I was so glad I didn't have to put Jackass down that I tried to give him to her outright. He's got a pedigree, you know. Would have cost me more than hurt feelings to destroy him.

"Anyway, Alex insisted on paying fair price for him, and to top it off, she studs him back to me in the season. She won't take payment." Dee paused to shake her head. "Says he gets depressed if she doesn't bring him to the ranch, so I deeded her that worthless cabin and five acres."

Even more worthless now that the cabin was history, but Tag decided to let Alex break that news. "Don't his neuroses breed true?"

Dee bumped up a shoulder. "So far it hasn't been a problem. The colts have a tendency to bond with their owners, but nothing as fanatical as Jackass."

"Fanatical isn't the word for it. Unnatural is. She talks to him, and I swear he talks back."

Dee's reaction was a full, rollicking belly laugh. "It does look that way, doesn't it? Does it make you jealous?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"Tunny, you sound jealous to me." She ignored his attempt to sputter out another denial, turning to yell at Alex instead. "Let the horses be. I'll have one of the hands see to them."

Alex didn't disagree verbally, but she continued to unsaddle Jackass.

Dee shrugged and headed for the house. "It's best to let her have some space when she gets in that mood," she said by way of explanation.

Tag fell into step with her. "Are you saying she has another mood?"

Dee chuckled. "How'd you meet her?"

"If I told you that, you'd just ask me a bunch of questions. I'd wind up telling you the whole story, and Alex would be pissed." He paused before he went through the door and looked back at her, catching the death look Alex was sending his way. "Correction, she'd be more pissed."

"She's not usually all that talkative."

"She never seems to run out of things to say to me. Most of them aren't that nice."

"Imagine that," Dee said, not sounding very sympathetic.

Grinning, Tag followed her inside and found himself in a big country kitchen with a long pine table that seated about a dozen and held the remnants of a huge meal. Dee cleared off one end of the table, and Tag took the chair she indicated.

She set a steaming cup of coffee in front of him. He inhaled deeply, his eyes all but crossing at the aroma, but he didn't drink. "This isn't Rocky Mountain espresso, is it?"

Dee laughed, taking a seat across the table with her own cup. "That's generally a trick reserved for outsiders."

"You mean Alex has a sense of humor?"

"You must not've been around her very long if you have to ask me that."

"Three days," Tag said, taking a sip of coffee and savoring the slam of heat and caffeine for a few seconds before he continued. "There's been a lot of sarcasm. I haven't seen any actual humor."

Dee looked at him for a minute, then shook her head.

"So how'd you meet Alex?" he asked, mostly because it seemed like a good time to change the subject.

"Over the end of a rifle." Dee offered him the cream and sugar, and when he declined both she added a couple of heaping spoons of sugar to her coffee. "Alex got in between me and a mountain lion that was killing calves. I almost shot her."

"She has that effect on people."

"She does provoke strong emotion in everyone who meets her. Question is, what kind of strong emotion does she provoke in you?"

"She makes me want to…" yell, punch a wall, hurt something or somebody. The thoughts were accompanied by a variety of expressions and aborted motions, ending with his hands spread wide.

"Frustration," Dee supplied.

"That about sums it up."

"That's a shame. For me," Dee added with a wink. She got up and went to the stove, which was a good thing for Tag since he didn't have any comeback for her come on.

"I think those yahoos might've left some food, and it could still be hot."

Tag went to the door, intending to call Alex in, but she was leading the horses away.

"She'll be along when she's done."

He hesitated, watching even after she'd disappeared into the dark beyond the big, open barn door. He had his hand on the doorknob when Dee spoke again.

"Don't go feeling sorry for her. That girl knows her limits."

"I'm not feeling sorry for her." What he was feeling was guilt. He hated the thought of her out there alone, hurting and tired but seeing to the welfare of their horses before she sought her own comfort. He hated knowing that she didn't want him around. And he hated that he was sitting there examining his feelings. There was only one feeling he should be concentrating on, and that was gut feeling.

"Maybe I should rename you Jackass."

Tag could hear the humor in Dee's tone, but her comstung all the same. Or maybe it was the insight behind the comment. He went back to the table and sat down, refusing to acknowledge her meaning or his feelings— which was easy since there was a plate of food next to his coffee cup.

Alex came in as he was packing it away.

"Did you leave me some?" she asked, going to the sink to wash her hands.

Dee took a second plate out of the warming oven and set it across from Tag, along with a cup of coffee. Alex sat down and dug in. Except for a brief pause to turn down the strawberry jam Dee offered her, she didn't lift her head unher plate was empty, eating with a single-minded focus and a lack of self-consciousness that was astounding.

"Well," she said to Tag when she was finished, "let's take a look at it."

Tag slid a glance in Dee's direction.