Debra Webb - Agent Cowboy

She found Lucas in the kitchen preparing an afternoon snack tray of fruit and cheese. The wine was already breathing on the counter. Another smile tugged the corners of her mouth upward. Who would have guessed that he would be so domesticated? It just didn’t get better than this.

“Surely you haven’t finished all those thank-you cards already?” Lucas teased as she joined him at the kitchen’s generous island. He’d tried to talk her into allowing her secretary, Mildred, to help her with the work of responding to all the gifts they had received, but Victoria refused. She wanted to attend to each one personally, even if getting around to it had been a long time coming.

“I’m making headway,” she allowed, determined not to let him know just how slowly the process was going.

“Ian called,” Lucas told her.

She’d heard the phone ring but had assumed it was for Lucas. “Really?” Anticipation percolated through her. She did so miss her work. “Is everything all right at the office?” It was Saturday, the office was closed. Or it was supposed to be, unless a case had gone awry. A twinge of anxiety quickly followed the path the anticipation had taken.

A muscle in Lucas’s jaw flexed once, twice, before he answered. Not good. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that a new client contacted Ian when he couldn’t reach either you or Mildred.”

Their home had a new telephone number, one the few clients she gave her personal number to wouldn’t have, and Mildred was spending the holiday weekend with her niece, Angel. With no children of her own, Mildred thought of Angel as a daughter…thought of her child as a grandchild.

Putting her reflections aside, Victoria asked, “Did Ian mention a name?” She knew Lucas was being purposely evasive. At this rate he’d never be ready for her to return to work permanently. It was more than simply his desire to be with her. He wanted to protect her, she’d suffered a great deal. But, he also fully understood how she felt. She would not allow her agency to suffer.

“Senator William Lester from Texas.”

Bill? Victoria frowned. She hadn’t spoken to him in years. Not since his daughter had gone missing. They’d feared kidnapping, but no ransom had come. The FBI couldn’t garner any leads so Bill had come to the Colby Agency. It hadn’t taken Victoria’s top-notch staff long to determine that the somewhat rebellious girl had run away with dreams of becoming an actress before bothering with college. She’d come home willingly and had since turned into a fine young lady, graduating from her father’s alma mater at the top of her class. She’d simply been young and gullible and hoped to spread her wings a little more than her strict father had allowed. She’d lived and learned. Luckily. Considering the young people who went missing every day and turned up dead, it could have ended very differently. Victoria knew firsthand.

“What’s going on with the senator?” Victoria prodded since Lucas didn’t appear compelled to fill her in.

His hands stilled in their work of arranging grapes on the tray. “We don’t know.” His solemn gaze met hers. “He won’t talk to anyone but you.”

Renewed anticipation soared through Victoria. “Well, I suppose I’d better get to the office then.”

“He and Ian are on their way here.”

Victoria took Lucas’s hand in hers. “Thank you. I know you don’t want to allow work to intrude right now. I appreciate your patience.”

Lucas pulled her into his arms and her heart fluttered at the strength he emanated. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you, Victoria.” He smiled, the intensity of it made her quiver with pleasure. “Your loyalty to your staff and clients is part of what I love about you. I just want to be sure it’s safe for you to dive fully back into work.”

She tensed ever so slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but, of course, he did. “Lucas, I’m aware that you still feel there are unanswered questions. I appreciate the concern, but Leberman is dead, what difference does it make how he gleaned his information about us?”

“It may not make any,” Lucas conceded. “But I have to be certain. There is no margin for error when dealing with a man like Leberman.”

She nodded. “I don’t disagree with that assessment and I’ve consented to this additional leave. However,” she dreaded his reaction to the next part, “eventually I’ll be returning to work unless you have overwhelming evidence that persuades me to do otherwise.”

“Understood,” he relented, almost too easily. Did he know something already? Had he discovered some new evidence that had prompted him to insist on this additional leave? He would tell her in his own time. “Now, let’s take the wine and the tray into the parlor and await our guests.”

Within moments of their settling, the doorbell rang. Lucas greeted Ian and the senator and escorted them to the parlor. Victoria banished thoughts of Leberman and his evil legacy back to some rarely visited recess of her mind.

“Victoria, I apologize for the intrusion,” Ian said, clearly torn between doing the right thing for the agency and following the strict orders Lucas had issued.

“It’s perfectly fine, Ian.”

“Victoria.” The senator embraced her briefly. “It’s wonderful to see you.”

“You’re looking well, Bill,” she returned. “How’s that lovely daughter of yours?”

“Getting married in June,” he beamed. “Her fiancé is in politics as well.”

“That’s wonderful,” Victoria enthused. “I’m sure you’re very proud.”

“Have a seat, Senator,” Lucas suggested, “and I’ll do the honors.” He gestured to the refreshments he’d prepared.

When they were seated, Lucas served the wine. Ian, as she had known he would, declined since, for all intents and purposes, he was on duty.

Victoria savored her wine as Lucas and Bill conversed about the current political climate in Texas as well as Washington. She could simply sit and watch her husband for hours on end. She did so love this man. But there was a time for that and it wasn’t now.

“So, Senator, tell me what brings you northward.” Lucas broached the matter at hand first. But then that was Lucas. He did things his way, in his own time and always one step ahead of even his sharpest peer.

The senator looked from Lucas to Victoria and back.

“You may speak freely,” she said before he could say what she felt certain he was thinking. “Don’t doubt the loyalties of either of these men.”

Bill nodded. “Of course.” He fingered the stem of his glass a moment before beginning. “I’m sure you’re aware that most states have their drug issues, those that border other countries in particular.”

She nodded. She was very much aware of the drug situation in Texas, especially along the border of Mexico where traffickers used the wide-open space to their advantage. It was nearly impossible to cover all those miles with any real efficiency.

The senator cleared his throat and continued. “I have reason to believe that the Texas drug cartel extends very high in the political hierarchy of the state.”

Victoria lifted a skeptical brow. “How high?” Uneasiness crept over her. Whenever one politician accused another there was always a question of motivation. Bill Lester was a fine man, but he was only human.

“The governor’s office.”

After sipping her wine she set her glass aside. “If I recall,” she said cautiously, not wanting to put him on the defensive, “this is the same governor with whom you have openly exchanged heated words in the past?” She’d put it as delicately as she could. The truth was, Senator William Lester and Governor George Vann had been at each other’s throats for years. The two men openly despised each other and the whole world knew it.