Free Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Canyon) by Kat Martin

it... Is it Sam?”
    “I won’t know till we get a look at him. Guy named Gonzales is using him as a drug mule.”
    Her legs seemed to give way, and she sat down hard in one of the kitchen chairs. “Oh, my God, Ben.”
    “Take it easy. We don’t know if anything bad has happened to him. Hell, we don’t know for sure it’s him.”
    She swallowed, shook her head. “If he’s... If he’s been hurt or...or abused...I’ll never forgive myself.” She started crying, her long hair falling forward around her face.
    Ben eased her up out of the chair and turned her into his arms. Her body shook as she sobbed against his shoulder. “Take it easy, baby. There’s no use crying until we know what’s going on.”
    She hung on a moment more, took a shuddering breath and moved away, her green eyes glistening with tears. “I should have come to you. I should have found out for myself what you were like.”
    He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. “So now you’re sure I’m a good guy?”
    Claire’s chin went up as he had known it would. “Well, so far you’ve been great, but technically it’s too soon to make a definitive evaluation.”
    He felt the rare pull of a grin he didn’t release. “Look, you thought you were doing what was best for Sam. That means a lot to me. You may not have made the right call, but you cared enough to come to Texas to find me. You’re doing everything you can to help me find Sam.”
    She wiped away the last of the dampness on her cheeks. “I thought he would wait, give me a chance to work things out.” She swallowed. “I thought, in time, the judge would reconsider and grant me custody. I wanted that, Ben. I wanted that so much. I should have told him, let him know how much I cared.”
    Her lips were trembling. Worry lines marred her forehead. She was different from most of the women he knew, stronger, more concerned. He wanted to haul her back into his arms and kiss her. Hell, he wanted to do a lot more than that. But Claire deserved more than the lust he felt whenever he looked at her.
    “I’ve got to get going. I want to take a look around, check the layout. With people like these you can’t be too careful.”
    “I’m going with you. If it’s Sam, he’ll need me.”
    “Not this time, Claire. I can’t protect you and Sam both.”
    He went into the bedroom to retrieve his Nighthawk .45, pulled it out of its holster, checked to be sure the clip was full, then shoved the magazine back in. Sliding the pistol back into his holster, he clipped it to his waistband behind his back beneath his black T-shirt.
    He dug into his duffel and took out the envelope filled with cash he had brought from the safe in his house. Leaving two thousand in the envelope, he left the rest of the cash in the bag. He wasn’t a rich man, but he wasn’t poor, either. After he’d left the SEALs, the skills he’d acquired had earned him big money, most of which he had stashed away. He made a good living as a P.I., and he’d saved a lot of that, too.
    He returned to the living room and found Claire pacing.
    “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.” She followed him to the door. “Take me with you.”
    She was standing in the entry, her eyes full of worry, slender and elegant, so damned pretty. He paused in front of her, bent his head and kissed her, just a soft melding of lips. “Not this time, angel.”
    Ben forced himself to walk away.
    * * *
    La Fiesta was a pink stucco building in an area at the west end of East L.A. Ben was glad the meet wasn’t farther into the neighborhood. Here, only half the signs were in Spanish. Farther along the street, there was no English at all.
    He drove around the block, wishing he wasn’t in a damned-near-new, highly jackable, bright red Honda Accord, wishing he wasn’t garnering looks from the sullen young toughs loitering on the street corners.
    He spotted another new car pulling up in front of him a little ways from the bar, a black Chevy Silverado with