Call of the Cougar

  Hal smiled.

  They finally finished baking the cakes, let them cool, and iced them, which Hal was having fun doing, though only the women actually decorated them. Tracey knew they didn't have the time to teach Hal the cake-decorating skills her mother had taught both Jessie and her over the years. Then Mick sent an escort for her family.

  Her mother said, "I'll be back in the morning to pick up the cakes. I've got to deliver them—"

  "We'll help you take them with you," one of the police officers said.

  After the family left, and before Stryker arrived, Hal took in the heavenly aroma of sweet cakes filling the air. "So what do you want to do now?"

  "I just had a thought." Tracey opened up the laptop again.

  "What are you looking for?" Hal sat with her to look at the monitor.

  "I noticed Jessie had taken pictures of the cakes mom had made. When she visits, she always does so that Mom can show off her cake designs in posts on her website and sell more."

  "Right, so…?"

  "So she is always taking pictures."

  "Not of me. Or your family. And she said she hadn't taken any of Stan."

  "When you were icing the cake, she was taking pictures of the finished ones, but when you were having trouble with the icing sticking to the spatula and not staying on the cake, did you notice she took a shot of you frowning furiously as you concentrated on trying to make it work?"

  Hal smiled. "Frowning furiously?"

  "Yeah. I motioned for her to get a shot of you."

  "So you think she might have gotten one of Stan but didn't remember? Caught him in a reflection, or was taking pictures of something else and caught him in the shot?"

  "It's always possible." Tracey began looking at the more recent photos that Jessie had taken and found just what she was looking for. Jessie had taken a screenshot of one of the games that Stan had been playing. And on that shot was a reflection of Stan on the monitor. "Bingo!"

  Hal stated at the monitor. "It's hard to see without some photo enhancing to make the picture clearer."

  "Okay, so he has brown curly hair like Jessie said. We can't see his eyes, though they appear blue. Then again, he could have contact lenses." She opened a photo processing program and sharpened and brightened the picture. Then darkened it, adding more shadow details, and more contrast.

  "There!" Hal made a copy of the picture of the man and sent it to Dan to see if he could run it through their database. Tracey sent it to her boss and just in case, she texted Ricky and sent him the photo. He immediately called her back. "That's Benny!"

  "Benny? The guy you said was with your brother and you and talking business?"

  "Yeah, it was all a setup. Benny is Stan. Unless he has a twin like you and your sister." Ricky snorted. "I can't believe you were in another shootout. I should've come with you."

  "You stay where you are. Protect Ted and the horses."

  "He won't give me my gun back."

  "Stay safe, Ricky. I've got to go."

  "All right. You stay safe too."

  "I will." She ended the call. "Other than being sitting targets in case Stan or Benny—that's what Ricky knew him by—have you anything else in mind?"

  "A movie?

  She smiled. "Somehow I thought you'd be more mission-oriented."

  "In truth, that is part of the mission."

  She chuckled.

  He found an action and adventure movie, and they began watching it. Like watching the movie with Stryker, she cuddled with Hal, but no wine this time, just in case they had any other trouble.

  When Stryker arrived, he called Hal. "Okay, good show. Let me know if anything comes up," Hal said. "I owe you one."

  Then he ended the call and smiled as he settled back down with Tracey.

  "I'm glad the two of you are such good friends," she said.

  "The best."

  "That's something I love about the two of you. I think you're both great."

  He just smiled down at her, and gave her a squeeze in response. She figured he'd prefer she said that she cared for Hal more than she did Stryker. She liked both men equally—as friends. With Hal, there was a lot more to it, and he had to know that without her saying so.

  After the movie ended, Hal said, "Are you ready to go to bed?"

  "Yeah."

  "I can sleep on the couch, if you'd like. Or shift and sleep on the floor next to the bed." He was being such a gentleman, but she suspected he was trying to be on his best behavior since Stryker was just outside and because of her comment about liking both men.

  Tracey slipped her hand around Hal's. "I think that it's important for a bodyguard to be right where the body is that he's guarding. And since we're guarding each other, I think the bed is the perfect place. Besides, now that my parents aren't here, no problem. I just didn't want them to get the notion that you and I were marrying or anything."

  He joined her in her bed. "I'll need to relieve Stryker in a few hours."

  She figured Hal wanted to know if she'd make the same arrangements with Stryker. After all, she had kissed both men. But she had no intention of it.

  "Then we better get busy and get to sleep."

  The busy part was making love. She always worried about partners on a mission, but she had really tried hard not to worry about Hal when he took off after Stan, or Benny. She had started looking at the monitor that Benny had used to see what they could learn about him pronto, but her mind had continued to work over what Hal was getting himself into and how much she wished she had been out there watching his back.

  And now, for the moment, she wanted to make love to him and fall asleep in his arms, pretending that everything was all right.

  Chapter 14

  Tracey was about to reach up to kiss Hal, but he wasn't looking at her, and she thought he must be stewing about this situation with her—regarding the case, not as far as their relationship went, for now. She recognized just how much he was like her in a lot of ways. Determined to make this right. Focused, even though she was naked in bed with him. And yet, this really wasn't his case, and she so appreciated that he had the law enforcement and Special Forces background that made him such a great partner—in an unofficial way.

  "Who did you put away?" Hal asked, his hand caressing her back as she snuggled against his chest.

  "Only a handful of men. Some had up to thirty days in the county jail. Five went to Fort Leavenworth. The rest had fines, lost their hunting license, points removed—minor stuff like that.

  "And before the first shootout at Anderson, you never had a problem like that?"

  "Minor skirmishes. A trafficker nearly dislocated my jaw when he hit me so hard."

  "Is he still alive?"

  Tracey didn't answer Hal, and she suspected Hal was angry enough he'd liked to give the trafficker some punishment of his own.

  "Tracey?"

  "No. He knocked me out. When I came to, my partner had called the agency, police, and ambulance for me, because I'd suffered a concussion. Bill said the man left him no choice. The trafficker didn't want to go back to prison, and he tried to kill my partner. Bill acted in self-defense."

  "The trafficker wouldn't be related to Mooney or this Benny guy, would he?"

  "Not that I know of."

  "Did your partner act in self-defense? I know you were unconscious, but what's your gut instinct on it?"

  "I was unconscious." She didn't want to say anything more than that. The trafficker had a knife and two guns, so he wasn't unarmed. Although her gut instinct made her unsure of the matter. She still thought that her partner might have killed the trafficker in self-defense, but she had always wondered if he couldn't have taken the man alive—wounded, sure, but alive.

  Then again, the way things were going for her lately, taking these men alive hadn't been a choice.

  "Did your partner have previous incidents where no one could corroborate his story and a perp was injured or died as a result of his handling of the case?"

  "Not an
y that I worked on with him. If he had trouble before that, Mick would know."

  "Okay, who gives you your assignments?"

  "Mick does. That's because I'm a special Special Agent."

  Hal smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "You sure are."

  Right then and there, he began to kiss her. That was the end of the focus on the case and the attention reverted to them.

  Hal knew he should concentrate on solving the case. That he shouldn't kiss Tracey, shouldn't look at her enticing lips, waiting for him to do something. See the gaze in her green eyes, dark with desire. Feel the softness of her skin against his. The fullness of her breasts pressed against his chest. The way her leg and hip were resting against him. So inviting. So willing. When he was trying damned hard to keep his mind on what the hell was going on. And not just what was going on between them. He'd already decided he wanted her for more than just these special moments. He hoped with time he could convince her how much he loved having her in his life and that he wanted her for more.

  Her father was right. There was a lot more going on between Tracey and him.

  As soon as he cupped her head to kiss her, she moved against his growing erection, and he groaned a little. He kissed her softly at first, and then deepening the kiss, he felt lost in her. In…in the love he felt for her. He broke off the dizzying kiss to take a breath of air and studied her eyes, lovely, aroused, and gazing back at him with hunger.

  "Your dad was right, you know."

  "Hmm?" She was almost smiling, as if she knew what he was referring to and was amused. Hopefully, she was feeling along the same lines.

  Then he began kissing her again, losing himself in the sensuous feel and smell and taste of her. Even her racing heart and soft sighs triggered his need to have her. Everything about her, the way she kissed him back just as tenderly and then passionately, the way she stroked his face and arms and rubbed her lush body against his made him know she wanted him as much as he craved having her.

  She continued to rub her lithe body against his erection, punishing him for turning her on—he thought—as he smelled her pheromones kick into action and his played chase with hers, teasing, tantalizing, making him want the whole package.

  Burning with white-hot desire, he flipped her onto her back, half straddled her as if he was claiming her, which for the moment he was, and began kissing her deeply again. He stroked her clit with every intent to coax a climax out of her. He relished the way she tensed with need and pleasure, the way she closed her eyes and concentrated on his touch.

  Her lips parted and she cried out, just before he inserted his tongue into her mouth and stroked her lovingly. Right before he climbed onto her and pushed his cock into her feminine folds, slowly at first, then deeply and began to thrust.

  Her soft caresses over his hips and buttocks made his skin crave her touches even more. She arched against him, welcoming him deeper, thirsting for this as much as he was. He obliged, kissing, licking, and nibbling her sweet lips as she responded in kind. And he tried to hold on as long as he could before he climaxed.

  Tracey loved Hal's tenderness, his ruggedness, his body pressed against hers, inside her. And the way he kissed, enjoying the touch and feel of her like she did him. She was burning up as the friction of their bodies ratcheted up the heat.

  She was nearing another orgasm, lost in the feel of him rubbing against her, pushing her to the edge, loving how he could make her come apart under his skillful ministrations. The climax hit hard, delicious, and bone shattering. She sank into the mattress as he said her name in a loving and husky way that made her tingle all the way to her toes.

  Making love to her ex had never been anything like this. Not even close.

  Next time, she'd have to turn the air conditioner on lower. She realized then how often she was thinking of next times. How much she enjoyed being with Hal. Not just with trying to solve the case, but everything about him. And she knew her family totally approved. Not that they had to, but that made her wonder about his father and mother. What would they think of her and the kind of job she did? She realized then, he hadn't offered to take her to meet them. She sighed. She was way overthinking all of this.

  He kissed her soundly again, then moved off her and took her into his arms. "I have to sleep and then relieve Stryker for a while. And then I'm coming back to bed, with you."

  "Hmmm," she said, liking that plan and prayed nothing bad would happen during the rest of the night. And beyond.

  ***

  At five in the morning, Tracey's phone jingled, waking her. She recalled that Hal had relieved Stryker sometime in the night and then returned to spoon her for the rest of the morning. Hal stirred and Tracey groaned. She grabbed her phone, frowned at the caller I.D., and said, "Ricky?"

  "In two hours, I'm meeting with my brother at that gold mine where you found the tusk fragment."

  Tracey sat up in bed. "You can't. Not after what already happened last time."

  "He wants to talk, but he's afraid to say something around the rest of the guys."

  "No. Ricky. You can't trust him."

  "He's my brother."

  "Right and he could have had you killed."

  "I think it was Benny who set us up."

  "It was your brother who sent me looking for the evidence at Anderson. He's been working all along with Mooney."

  "You said this Mooney guy takes people on hunts."

  "As a guide, yes."

  "Well, my brother never did any hunting. Our dad was shot and killed by a hunter who said he thought he was a deer. Anyway, neither my brother nor I ever wanted to hunt after that. We were with him, and I was seven years old and hadn't even used a rifle, but dad wanted us to know how he hunted. Father-sons kind of thing."

  "I'm so sorry, Ricky, that you lost your father like that. But your bother doesn't mind hunting people—especially those in law enforcement. And you know how to shoot."

  "Yeah, for protection. We'd go to the firing range. Sure. But we didn't hunt any animals. Besides, I think Benny is the guy who's the bad egg."

  "But your brother set me up."

  "Maybe he didn't know it was a setup. Maybe Benny or Mooney told him to do it, and he was told it was for some other reason. Not to kill you."

  "Not to kill you, either?"

  "That's different. They had to have been watching me. Seeing if I got in touch with you. And once I did, they were following us and shooting at us."

  "I don't want you going there."

  "Your choice." Ricky hung up on her.

  Damn. Had it really been Ricky? Or was it his brother?

  She explained everything to Hal. "But then I had the notion that it might not be Ricky." She kept forgetting how much the brothers sounded alike.

  "I'll call Ted and tell him to make sure Ricky doesn't leave the ranch. Hogtie him if he has to, if that really was him calling, and he has the notion to go to the gold mine." Hal made the call.

  "I'll let my boss know." She touched her boss's contact number and put the call through, then waited forever for him to wake up enough to answer the phone. She told him what Ricky had said and waited for her boss's reply.

  "I don't want you going into another ambush. I'll send men just in case. You stay out of this."

  "Ricky's already left, Ted said," Hal was sitting on the edge of the bed now, looking like he was ready to go with her if they were heading out. "And he's got his gun with him."

  "Great." She conveyed the information to her boss.

  "Stay put. I don't want you walking into another trap. I'll coordinate with other law enforcement officials and have it checked out," Mick said.

  "All right. Your call." But she didn't like it one bit.

  "Out here."

  Watching her, Hal's body remained tense, ready for action. "Go? No go?"

  "We stay here. I hate this and I hate that Ricky could be in danger. But there's nothing we can do about it."

  "If it's Ricky's brother and his cohorts, how much do you wa
nt to bet the police won't find any of them there?"

  "I agree." She laid back down and pulled the covers over her chest, but no way could she sleep.

  "Do you want to go out there?" Hal climbed into bed and pulled her into his arms.

  She appreciated Hal's offer, figuring he wouldn't want her anywhere near the danger, so he was telling her that they could handle it—together, and she really liked that. "No. I just feel that this all has to do with the ghost town of Anderson somehow. We know that the traffickers had stored the ivory tusks in the town, but it was gone, so nothing for them to try to keep secret there."

  "Then your informant calls and says that they'd had illegal stuff there at some time, maybe evidence of wrongdoing, but it's too late for you to really catch them at anything. You said he was murdered because he was trying to backstab his competition and they learned about it. How did he sound? Coerced?"

  "Honey sounded like his usual self. Cocky."

  Hal stroked her arm, and she pondered the situation further.

  "He knew you'd take the bait. It was New Year's Day, and yet, you'd still run off in a snowstorm and check it out."

  "Always."

  Hal continued to stroke her with a gentle caress. "You suspected Honey set you up at first, until you found him dead. That he was trying to set up his competition by…?"

  Her lips parted, but she didn't know what to say at first, the whole thing becoming muddled. She rested her chin on Hal's chest and looked up at him. "I…thought he was telling me about the site because he knew that they were using it. I'd catch the bad guy's evidence, enough to maybe nail them for their crimes. He would have fed me good information yet again, and I would have paid him. They could have gone to prison, and that would eliminate his competition. That's what I thought once I learned he was dead, and then I assumed his competition nailed him instead. So they knew he had sent me out there and then were waiting."

  "But wouldn't it have been better if they killed you, and left Honey alive? Then he was the one who would have set you up and the blame laid on him."

  "In this business, they don’t want the competition. And if he had tried to gain money by telling on their operation so he could continue his, I could see why they'd kill him."