Free StrongArmsoftheLaw by Cerise DeLand

feel confident handing Rex over to the ER team who met
them at intake.
    “He’ll do just fine, ma’am,” Jose told her as they walked
toward his truck in the small parking lot. The night was silent, dark and deep,
only the stars dotting the velvet of midnight. “He’s strong, healthy. And he
knows how to take care of himself.”
    “I’m grateful his wound was only the shoulder.”
    “We all are. And that you weren’t hurt badly, too.” Jose
opened his door for her, closed it and walked around to climb up in the cab.
    She shifted in the seat. Her limbs were sore, her hands and
wrists aching from the rough handling and the ropes, but with the nurses’ help
at the hospital, she felt better. But tired. Exhausted, actually. “I have no
idea how you found me.”
    Jose turned the ignition and they were off, down the road
through town. “West Texas might look gigantic, but when it comes down to it,
there are only a few roads and a few ways you can get around. We knew from
Rex’s phone message what direction those Gonzaga boys took off. It was easy to
do process of elimination and track them without them getting any idea we were
on their tail.”
    “Knowing there were three men who took me, I’m surprised you
and Rex didn’t call for more help.”
    Jose’s dark brows shot high. Then he chuckled. “You don’t
know the Ranger motto, do you?”
    She shook her head. “No. Rex didn’t tell me.”
    “I’m not surprised. We do try to be modest.”
    She snorted. “Right. Humble, too, I hear. What’s the motto?”
    “One Ranger. One town.”
    “Earned by some Ranger who stood off a whole mess of
varmints, I suppose.”
    Grinning, Jose nodded at her attempt at Texan twang. “It’s
not unusual. I was on my way to your house and passing close by to where they
attacked you both, so I came along with Rex. We figured we might need lots of
firepower, knowing how the Gonzagas kill first and ask questions later.”
    She shivered, clutching her arms. “Thanks, Jose. I needed
that.”
    “Sorry, ma’am.” He put his gaze on the road and frowned.
“While you were in the ER with Rex, I received orders for the next few weeks.”
    “Oh?” She sat back, ready for the news. Amid her worries
about Rex’s gunshot wound and his recovery, she expected that local law
enforcement would have a new plan for her until the trial. Rex needed time to
recuperate and taking care of her should not be high on his to-do list. But she
had hoped they could stay together and she could take care of him. “What do the
Powers That Be have in mind?”
    “We have no idea if your house was detected and we can’t let
you go back there.”
    Sad for that, missing Rex already, she rubbed her hands down
her jeans. Torn and dirty, her clothes were a wreck. Like my state of mind. “So
what’s the plan?”
    “I’m your new housemate.”
    Rex had told her that Jose was engaged and his fiancée was a
very possessive redhead. Skye gave him a horrified smile. “How will that go
over with your girlfriend?”
    “She knows it’s my job. Besides, it’s only for a few weeks.”
    “Two until the trial.”
    “Right. Maybe one more in court for you to testify, and then
you’re done! You go back to Chicago.”
    Skye glanced out her window to watch the muted grays and
blacks of the rugged landscape. What if I’m not going back to Chicago? Can I
live here? Did Rex mean what he said, about living together? “Then where
are you taking me?”
    “Farther west. A safe house we run over near El Paso.”
    “What happens to the other house?” she asked, wondering who
would go in, see their bed and know what happened there. She certainly wasn’t
ashamed of how they’d made love, but the intimacy of it was so real, so raw, it
should be only hers and Rex’s. “What happens to my clothes, my belongings?”
    “We’ll have an officer go in and supervise while we get your
things and get a maid service to clean up.”
    “And Rex?”
    “What about