Dana Mentink - Cowboy Bodyguard

She eyed Jack. He had the same angular features and strong jaw, but there was something more pinched about his mouth, and his denim-blue eyes were harder. He wore his favorite cowboy boots, the ones he’d steadfastly refused to replace, instead having them resoled again and again. The fragrance of his barn jacket teased her, holding the faintest scent of a life far away, oiled leather, hay, the ranch. His life, not hers. You should ask about his brothers, make small talk. But the memory of a long-ago conversation with Jack robbed her of the words. Seven years ago, practically before the ink was dry on their marriage certificate, she’d told him their impulsive marriage was over.

It was a mistake, Jack.

As if she was critiquing a medical chart, instead of dooming a marriage.

I was scared, confused. I’m leaving for med school, and that’s all I can focus on.

I’m patient , he’d said.

I’m not coming back to Gold Bar, Jack. Not as your wife.

The marriage was an error in judgment. She’d been overwhelmed, and Jack had refused to admit that they’d outgrown each other. You did what you had to do. Now, if she could just get through this without losing everything she’d worked for. In typical Jack fashion, he had not pressed her for details about her current situation , allowing her to share as much as she knew. Jack was patient; he was completely her opposite.

The facts seemed clear enough. Dina was being abused by a man who lay in a coma for which the Scarlet Tide blamed her. The Los Angeles detective who had been investigating the case was on the take, and thanks to Jack, they could keep Annabell safe until Dina returned. John Larraby, an officer with the Gold Bar Police, was a high-school peer of theirs, and though she’d never liked him personally, maybe he could be trusted to help. It would be so much easier to tell him everything, but what would happen to Annabell? Whatever Dina had or hadn’t done, she did not deserve to lose her baby.

Shannon checked her phone messages. Her supervising physician was unhappy at her sudden departure, which she’d blamed on an emergency. It was the truth. What bigger emergency was there than a bunch of bikers ready to abduct a scared teen mom and her baby?

She’d had no choice but to run, but the potential professional consequences were terrifying. She’d labored for years to reach the final stages of her emergency-room internship. What if she lost it all? Then what would she be? Who would she be? She realized Jack was staring at her.

“Did you tell anyone we were coming to Gold Bar?” he asked, eyes flicking from his cell-phone screen to her.

“Only Dina. I texted her, like you said.”

“Work?”

“I phoned to tell them I had to take an emergency leave, but I didn’t mention where I was headed.”

He frowned, blue eyes darkening to the color of a restless sea.

“Why?”

“Because my brother just texted me that Larraby’s at the house, asking for you.”

Cold prickles erupted all over her skin. Had Mason alerted the local police somehow? But how would he know where they’d gone?

Her mind followed the trail. He might have found out from the hospital about her hastily arranged vacation, used his police connections to discover her hometown, checked flight plans and contacted local police. In other words, he’d made a guess that had paid off.

“We can’t trust the cops,” she said, holding the baby, as Jack helped her out of the plane and into a dusty SUV. “Detective Mason is in the Tide’s pocket. Larraby will believe what he says.”

“We may not have a choice.”

As they drove to the ranch, Shannon frantically tried to figure out what she would say to Larraby, or the Thorns, for that matter.

She knew her own cheeks were flushed red as they entered the Thorn home. Jack’s parents, Tom and Evie, had been kind and gracious to her, but she had not seen them since she left for med school.

“I’m not going to tell anyone about this,” Jack had said after their city-hall marriage in Southern California. “I want to tell my family properly, to present you as my bride.”

But that time had never arrived, and Jack had revealed during the flight that he’d never gotten around to telling them at all. So how were they going to explain it? It was ludicrous.

Her feet dragged like anchors as they neared the front door. The baby began to cry.

Evie Thorn’s eyes opened wide in shock as she looked from Shannon to the bundle in her arms. “Shannon... I... A...baby? I didn’t know.”

Me neither. Shannon gulped, with no idea what to say, but Evie offered a shaky hug, brushed back her bob of graying hair and ushered them in. John Larraby stood at the table with Evie’s husband, Tom, and youngest son, Keegan, who flashed her a puzzled smile, a half-eaten apple between his fingers. Owen and Ella were away for a while, Tom explained, visiting friends and purchasing a new wheelchair for Ella’s sister, Betsy.

Larraby greeted them. If he was surprised at her sudden arrival with a baby in tow, he did not show it. “I got a call from Detective Hal Mason in Los Angeles.”

So it had been Mason who called. She rocked the baby, who had begun to fuss.

“What did he say?” Jack asked.

Larraby’s dark gaze settled on her. “Says he wants to talk to Shannon Livingston about a patient she treated recently.” He raised an eyebrow. “And to congratulate you both on the new baby.”

The baby wriggled against Shannon, as if she could feel the embarrassment rising off her in waves. “I...uh...”

The announcement took the Thorn family by storm. Evie’s mouth was open in a wide O-shape of surprise. Keegan, too, was slack-jawed with astonishment. Only Tom seemed cool and collected.

“So, he told you about the baby?” Jack shot her a look, and in a flash of cold fear, she understood. The only way Mason could have known that Shannon was caring for Annabell was if the two gang members had told him. So, it was true. Mason was on the take.

“Well, this is a surprise, of course. We didn’t know that you two were still together,” Tom said.

“Should I pass along your cell-phone number to Mason?” Larraby asked.

Jack didn’t answer, but he locked eyes on Shannon’s. She knew him well enough to know the nonverbal. Your call. Should she lie to Larraby or trust him?

She wanted to straighten out the whole ridiculous scenario. I’m not going to fold neatly into this family and start raising children in Gold Bar. It’s all a ruse, a misunderstanding that we’re going to clear up right now.

Shannon took a breath and made a decision. “She’s not ours. She’s a friend’s, but there are good reasons why we’re pretending otherwise.”

Larraby hooked his thumbs in his gun belt. “Might this friend be the person the Tide believes pushed their brother T.J. down the stairs?”

Seconds ticked by that felt like hours. “This friend,” Shannon said carefully, “is a nineteen-year-old who has been beaten and terrorized by her boyfriend. She’s been in and out of shelters, afraid to stay and unable to leave for fear of what the Tide will do. She’s done nothing wrong. We are pretending to be this baby’s parents to give her a few days to find her brother. It’s her only chance to get herself and her baby out.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Motorcycle gang members are tough to prosecute. They stick together no matter what. They’d take a bullet for each other.”

“So would we,” Keegan said.

Larraby’s mouth tightened. “I’m going to lay it out for you. I don’t like Mason. We worked together on a task force because the Aces are the local motorcycle gang in this region, and they are sworn enemies of the Tide. We had some trouble a while back when the Tide came to town seeking revenge for some slight or another.” His gaze drifted momentarily to Keegan, who stared right back. “You know all about the Aces, don’t you, Keegan?”